Truth Is Within

Sadhu Kho Pabbaja

Book: Finished

It’s done. Not much to look at, but there you have it. If it is of use to people, I’m happy. If it’s not, well, I guess I still have to be happy… why let my happiness depend on the happiness of others? It is sad to think that inevitably there will be people who think I’m just trying to get attention, or whatever. But why become upset just because others are? Meditation sure simplifies life :)

You can download a PDF version in three formats:

1) for printing on US Letter paper, here (print even pages first, then odd pages).

2) for printing on A4 paper, here (print even pages first, then odd pages).

3) for viewing on a computer screen (A5 layout), here.

Or read it online here:

http://yuttadhammo.sirimangalo.org/articles/how-to-meditate/

Now to figure out how to publish it.

Update: That was easy… thanks to lulu.com:

http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/how-to-meditate-a-beginners-guide-to-peace/12453263

WeLoveMonk Shuts Down

My first groupies deserted me… Here’s a note from WeLoveMonk:

Hi yuttadhammo!

We’re fans, as you can tell.

Sorry about the kiss mark. :P We really couldn’t find clip art of a heart, so we figured a silly lip mark will communicate our admiration. (I mean, we don’t wanna kiss you on the lips or anything. You ARE a monk.) :]

Carp here! I love your videos (even though it seems counterintuitive to be attached to a buddhist monk’s youtube channel.) Even though I’m not buddhist, I have been learning a lot from your teachings. Mostly using them to calm myself down and see things as they are when I’m being negative. I like the different way of thinking.

ANYWAY. How in the world did you find our channel?! It’s a mystery to both of us.

Sorry for any discomfort and sadness we may have brought to the buddhist community. We’ve already received an email about how not funny we are. :p We figured the 3 views we received, none of those would be buddhists.

Take care!

Before I could send the following reply, they shut down their account:

Dear Carp,

Honestly, I thought it was quite funny… how I found you is funny as well. Do you remember the KKK guy who commented on your channel? He also found me and said something like “Skinheads unite!”. I blocked him, but first I checked out his channel and saw a picture of me in his subscription list, only with a kiss mark on my cheek. He found you, I guess.

Thanks for the positive feedback. The only reason I keep doing what I do is because people like you continue to express their appreciation. I’m especially glad to hear it is not only Buddhists who benefit from the practice.

If I can be of any help, please don’t hesitate to write. I wasn’t offended (well, the kiss mark was a bit over the top, as I said…) but then I’m not so thin-skinned as some of the people out there. You seem like sincere people, not out to hurt others, so I didn’t take it the wrong way. Some of my students may have, though, when I put your video on my weblog… but sometimes it’s good to challenge people, I think.

It’s been an interesting day; after I watched your video, I went a restaurant owned by one of my supporters for lunch and a woman who looked quite a bit like you came up to me and asked to have her picture taken with me, saying she was a big fan – I almost thought you might be stalking me :) … quite a coincidence, but her name was Andrea.

Best wishes,

Yuttadhammo

So there you have it. More ammunition for those of you who are certain I’m an egotistic maniac just looking for attention. And more humour for those looking for humour. What I really hope is that this sort of thing brings wisdom to those searching for wisdom but, as Paul said, be all things to all men. So there you have it.

Things They Didn’t Teach You In Monk School

Here’s something you don’t get everyday (thankfully ;) )… I’m not sure what to say, other than “danger, danger…” No, really, though, it’s kind of cute – love in its purist form is always a good thing, and I’m not so sexually insecure as to be afraid of such things as this. The lipstick on the cheek is a bit out of line, I would say, but other than that… well, watch it yourself:

Sociopathology 101

It took reactivating my Facebook account again to make me realize why Facebook is not for me…

I’m anti-social.

And I’m allowed to be, I’m a Buddhist monk. That’s my job.

It finally dawned on me that the reason I never really “got” Facebook is that Facebook is the opposite of monk. Even a geek monk. I can teach on-line, even answer questions via YouTube, but socialize? Ewww.

At least I got a smile out of my second Facebook account deactivation, and I hope you will too. Here’s the screenshot of the day:

Sorry guys, I’ll miss y… no, actually, I won’t :)

“He who sits alone, sleeps alone, and walks alone, who is strenuous and subdues himself alone, will find delight in the solitude of the forest.”

The Buddha (Dhp. 305)

Edited Chapters Three and Four

For those of you sitting on the edge of your seat, two more down. Once they’re all done, we can start publishing. Yay.

Chapter Two: Edited

Chapter two has been edited. How exciting :) Find it here:

http://yuttadhammo.sirimangalo.org/articles/how-to-meditate/chapter-two-sitting-meditation/

Chapter One Edited

I’ve finished editing chapter one… it’s slow going since I have other things on my plate right now. I think the revisions have made it much more readable… if you read the first chapter already and found it confusing, please read it again now that I’ve edited it. It’s here:

http://yuttadhammo.sirimangalo.org/articles/how-to-meditate/chapter-one-what-is-meditation/

Posting

First, for those of you who thought you were following me on Twitter, you’re probably not; when I deleted my Facebook account, my Twitter account went with it. Then I realized Twitter is actually useful, so I restored my account with them. It’s a good way to keep up with what I’m doing, especially when we’re doing group meditation on ustream.tv, so please feel free to follow me.

Next, I’ve uploaded the original PDF of my first book(let), this time in two formats:

Print Format (or if you like reading sideways)

Page Format (for on-screen viewing)

As you were.

Book: Chapter Six

And it’s finished. The PDF will be available here.

Chapter Six: Daily Life

In this final chapter, I will outline some of the ways in which we can incorporate the meditation practice into our daily lives, so that, even when we are not formally meditating, we can still maintain a basic level of mindfulness and clear awareness.
Continue reading Book: Chapter Six