https://buddhanussati.github.io/dhamma-quotes/1/home Dhamma quotes by Ajaan Paññāvaddho, updated every 6 hours Wed, 15 Apr 2026 03:53:32 GMT https://buddhanussati.github.io/dhamma-quotes/favicon2.png https://buddhanussati.github.io/dhamma-quotes/favicon2.png https://buddhanussati.github.io/dhamma-quotes/1/home

Training the Mind Against Habitual Tendencies

But training the mind to go in new directions is much more demanding, and difficult. Going against habitual tendencies, going against the grain, requires a purposeful effort of mind that must be intentionally brought up and applied. For instance, if a person investigates himself and finds he has a lot of greed for food, he might deliberately take food that’s unsavory in order to halt the momentum of greed and bring his mental state back into balance. If attachment to the taste of food is a problem, he may eat only rough, unappetizing food, considering only what is necessary for nutrition. Because the greed for good, tasty food is pulling his mind in the wrong direction, he needs to find a suitable practice to pull it back to the middle again. In a similar way, when we find any state of mind disturbing our meditation practice, we must search for the correct antidote. That is the Middle Way.

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The Relationship Between Fear and Concentration

"When a frightening image arises, the tendency is to concentrate on it. Like when you see a snake, you concentrate on it straight away. When you concentrate on these images they become larger. The concentration makes them larger, making them appear to come closer. That makes the fear stronger and they become larger still. It can drive people mad. The forest monks use fear as a meditation practice. They go off to the forest to practice, what we call dhutanga... One of the purposes of living in dangerous situations is to arouse fear in order to examine it and overcome it."

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Understanding Kamma as the Root of Mental Obstacles

"The most likely cause of this [paralysis and voices in meditation] is inside you—coming from your own kilesas, and your own kamma. That is the most likely cause. There may be other possible causes, but in ninety percent of the cases, the cause it comes from oneself. And cause is usually one’s kamma. The factor that has the most influence over us is our kamma from the past. Kamma can come up in many ways, and it’s quite extraordinary what it can produce. I don’t know if you’ve read any of the accounts written by psychologists about people who get mental trouble—what they see and what happens to them. Ninety percent of such occurrences originate from oneself. There are cases where other entities do have an influence, but they are rare. And most such entities are not very powerful. Generally, it’s safe to assume that those experiences stem from one’s own kamma. In order to live with them and deal with them effectively, you must counter them somehow."

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Clearing the Rubbish to Reach Nibbāna

"What we’re doing is clearing away all the rubbish. If we clear away the rubbish, we’ll reach that state. Nibbāna is not something that can arise. If Nibbāna could arise, it would cease. It must be there the whole time. It is there in everyone, but it’s covered up with all sorts of mess. Our job is to get rid of that mess. When we’ve gotten rid of the rubbish, then we can clear the last little bit and break through. There is nothing to stop us, except ourselves. Those who say it can't be done nowadays are essentially making a barrier for themselves. For them it becomes impossible because the belief that it can’t be done makes it impossible. If someone fully believes he can't become a millionaire, he’ll never try. A person who believes he can may at least try; and if he perseveres, he may succeed."

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The Nature of Kilesas and the Relentless Drive of Greed

"In the Buddhist teaching, kilesas represent the mental defilements or afflictions that cloud our consciousness and perpetuate suffering. These psychological toxins distort our perception of reality and drive unwholesome actions, creating a cycle of suffering that affects both individual well-being and social relationships. At their core, mental defilements manifest in three primary forms: greed, hatred, and delusion. Greed manifests as an unquenchable thirst, a relentless pursuit of sensual gratification and material acquisition that knows no satiation. It casts a shadow across the mind, turning our gaze constantly toward what we lack rather than appreciating what we have, leaving us feeling hollow inside despite all our possessions. When we surrender to greed's influence, our moral compass falters while ethical boundaries blur and fade as we advance our desires, blind to the consequences our actions impose upon others."

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The Original Citta and the Illusion of Existence

"The true citta is the original citta. All the rest are modifications of that basic citta. ...The nearest we can get is to say that the citta is like the ocean, and the modifications are like waves on the surface of the ocean. The waves are still part of the ocean, but at the same time they have their own separate appearance. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches and the five khandhas – these are the waves on the surface of the citta. They are just ephemeral things that arise and cease. They are not real; they are only illusionary. It’s a fundamental paradox: what exists is not real, and what is real does not exist. The meaning of that is: what is real is permanent, so you can't say what is permanent exists because the essence of existence is impermanence, constant change."

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The Development of the Noble Eightfold Path

You must first develop the factors in the Noble Eightfold Path individually. When those factors are well developed, then your practice will be strong. When it is strong enough, the factors can come together to act as a bridge to cross to the other side – to the path moment of Sotāpanna. It is necessary to develop the factors of the path individually; but you mustn’t think that those factors are the path. The path arises only when all the factors are perfect. That is why they are called: Right View, Right Attitude, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Samādhi. They are all right, which in effect means they are perfect. Once they are perfect, the path moment takes place. But the developing of those factors must be done bit by bit; and only when they are fully developed can the path arise. The way to develop the path factors, of course, is sīla, samādhi, and paññā. When the path arises it becomes vimutti and vimuttiñāṇadassana – freedom and the seeing of freedom.

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Avijja: The Fundamental Blindness to the True Nature of Existence

"Avijja is not merely a shortage of information or a lack of knowledge in the conventional sense; it is a profound blindness to the true nature of existence. This unawareness represents an inherent delusion concerning the Four Noble Truths: that is, an inability to comprehend the dynamic relationship between suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation. When the mind sees falsely in this fundamental way, it becomes fertile ground for a variety of defilements to arise and flourish. Greed, hatred, and delusion in their various forms are like weeds growing from the soil of ignorance. They cloud our mental faculties and drive our actions in ways that create further insecurity. We might say that if avijja is the darkness, then defilements are what we bump into while stumbling around in the dark."

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Tanha: The Actionable Link in the Chain of Suffering

"While the Second Noble Truth explicitly names tanha as the cause of suffering, this assessment represents a practical perspective rather than an ultimate one. Tanha is identified as the cause because it's the most immediately actionable link in the causal chain of suffering. Our craving—whether for sensual pleasures, continued existence, or non-existence—creates direct and observable suffering when it goes unfulfilled or when the satisfaction we obtain through craving's unquenchable thirst fails to last."

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The Difficulty of Defining Feeling and Dukkha

"The odd thing about dukkha is: we know it perfectly well; but when we look at it, we can't find anything there. We can't really even define what it is. That’s because it’s feeling. When you try to tell another person what feeling you’ve got, there is no way to do it. The only thing you can do is to tell them something that they can refer to in themselves. You may say you have a 'sharp' pain. What does a sharp pain mean? You have to expect the other person to refer the word 'sharp' to something in their own experience. That person checks his own experience to try to understand what you mean by it. Strictly speaking though, words and concepts don’t really define the pain at all. But there is no way of relating how you feel to another person, except in terms of their own experience. Because of that, it’s very difficult for us to define feelings and to say what they are. We can only define them by knowing them as they arise. You must pay careful attention to the nature of the feeling and know it as just that. Try and define it to yourself as far as you can."

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