Buddhism

The man who has conquered self-love is, according to the Buddha, the highest being in the universe. The conquest can be best be acquired by practicing generosity, by following the principles of righteousness and justice, by abstaining from unworthy desires and by observing an elementary morality. The minimum required of a good man, a good citizen, is that he should abstain from taking life, from theft, from unchastity, from lying and from intoxicants, covetousness, malevolence, ill-temper, sloth and torpor of body and mind, fretfulness and irritability, doubt and perplexity - these the Buddha declares are hindrances to spiritual progress.

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When you listen to the Dharma you must open up your heart and compose yourself in the centre. Don't try to accumulate what you hear or make a painstaking effort to retain what you hear through memory. Just let the Dharma flow into your heart as it reveals itself, and keep yourself continuously open to its flow in the present moment. What is ready to be retained will be so, and it will happen of its own accord, not through any determined effort on your part.
Similarly, when you expound the Dharma, you must not force yourself. It should happen on its own and should flow spontaneously from the present moment and circumstances. People have different levels of receptive ability, and when you're there at that same level it just happens, the Dharma flows.

If anyone were to speak ill of me, my doctrine or my disciples, do not bear any ill-will towards him, do not be upset or be perturbed at heart, for if you were to be so it will only cause you harm. On the other hand if anyone were to speak well of me, my doctrine and my disciples, do not be overjoyed, thrilled or be elated at heart, for if you should be so it will only be an obstacle in your way of forming a correct judgment as to whether the qualities of praised are indeed real and actually found in us.
In the self-same way, disciple, a certain monk may be very kind, very gentle, very quiet, so long as no unpleasant words are uttered. When, however, people begin to say unpleasant things of the monk – then is the time to see if the monk is kind, or if he is gentle or if he is quiet.

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Wishing you a pleasant experience on your spiritual journey.

Namaste 🙏

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