THANISSARO BHIKKHU

MERIT THE BUDDHA’S STRATEGIES FOR HAPPINESS a study guide prepared by Thanissaro Bhikkhu COPYRIGHT copyright 2013 thanissaro bhikkhu This work is licensed

Basic Wisdom “There are some cases in which a person overcome with pain, his mind exhausted, grieves, mourns, laments, beats

Puñña: Merit A blessing:      friends when the need arises. A blessing:      contentment with whatever there is. Merit at the ending of life

Dana: Giving “Without abandoning these five qualities, one is incapable of entering & remaining in the first jhana… second jhana…

Sila: Virtue Irrigators guide      the water. Fletchers shape      the arrow shaft. Carpenters shape      the wood. Those of good practices control themselves. — Dhp 145 Through initiative,

Bhavana: Meditation This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: “All the grounds for

The Merit of Stream-entry “Sariputta, ‘The stream, the stream’: thus it is said. And what, Sariputta, is the stream?” “This

Beyond Merit As he was standing to one side, Uttara the deva’s son recited this verse in the Blessed One’s

Glossary Arahant:  A “worthy one” or “pure one”; a person whose mind is free of defilement and is thus not

Abbreviations AN Anguttara Nikaya Dhp Dhammapada DN Digha Nikaya Iti Itivuttaka Khp Khuddakapatha MN Majjhima Nikaya Mv Mahavagga SN Samyutta