vacchagotta
@vacchagotta.bsky.social
Pāḷi Canon suttas, Buddhist musings and art
Pinned
vacchagotta
@vacchagotta.bsky.social
· Aug 5
Remember: the Buddha is always smiling.
Reposted by vacchagotta
I love the image of the Dhamma as a wheel, set in motion by the Buddha, rolling forth across the universe, unstoppable, in every direction.
January 11, 2026 at 5:41 AM
I love the image of the Dhamma as a wheel, set in motion by the Buddha, rolling forth across the universe, unstoppable, in every direction.
[Devata:]
“How, dear sir, did you cross the flood?”
[Buddha:]
“By not halting, friend, and by not straining I crossed the flood.”
[Devata:]
“But how is it, dear sir, that by not halting and by not straining you crossed the flood?”
“How, dear sir, did you cross the flood?”
[Buddha:]
“By not halting, friend, and by not straining I crossed the flood.”
[Devata:]
“But how is it, dear sir, that by not halting and by not straining you crossed the flood?”
January 10, 2026 at 4:19 AM
[Devata:]
“How, dear sir, did you cross the flood?”
[Buddha:]
“By not halting, friend, and by not straining I crossed the flood.”
[Devata:]
“But how is it, dear sir, that by not halting and by not straining you crossed the flood?”
“How, dear sir, did you cross the flood?”
[Buddha:]
“By not halting, friend, and by not straining I crossed the flood.”
[Devata:]
“But how is it, dear sir, that by not halting and by not straining you crossed the flood?”
January 10, 2026 at 2:36 AM
Reconstructionist and Theophite blocked me a while back for saying things were going to get worse. What do they make of how things are going currently?
January 9, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Reconstructionist and Theophite blocked me a while back for saying things were going to get worse. What do they make of how things are going currently?
Worldlings subject to illness,
old age, and death are disgusted
by other people who exist
in accordance with their nature.
If I were to become disgusted
with beings who have such a nature,
that would not be proper for me
since I too have the same nature.
old age, and death are disgusted
by other people who exist
in accordance with their nature.
If I were to become disgusted
with beings who have such a nature,
that would not be proper for me
since I too have the same nature.
January 9, 2026 at 6:19 AM
Worldlings subject to illness,
old age, and death are disgusted
by other people who exist
in accordance with their nature.
If I were to become disgusted
with beings who have such a nature,
that would not be proper for me
since I too have the same nature.
old age, and death are disgusted
by other people who exist
in accordance with their nature.
If I were to become disgusted
with beings who have such a nature,
that would not be proper for me
since I too have the same nature.
Tadao Ando, Hill of the Buddha, Sapporo, 2015 #Buddhism #Architecture
January 9, 2026 at 4:24 AM
Tadao Ando, Hill of the Buddha, Sapporo, 2015 #Buddhism #Architecture
Reposted by vacchagotta
Here's the crux of the gist: we're on the cusp of a brink
January 6, 2026 at 10:22 PM
Here's the crux of the gist: we're on the cusp of a brink
Thinking about the sutta where the warrior asks the Buddha if being killed in battle means you are reborn in the company of devas and the Buddha says actually you go to hell and the warrior starts crying
January 3, 2026 at 8:49 AM
Thinking about the sutta where the warrior asks the Buddha if being killed in battle means you are reborn in the company of devas and the Buddha says actually you go to hell and the warrior starts crying
Everything is going to become even more insane in 2026
January 1, 2026 at 2:56 AM
Everything is going to become even more insane in 2026
Reposted by vacchagotta
The Bronze Buddha at #kamakura, hand–colored albumen silver print from #japan. Described and Illustrated by the Japanese (1897) by Kazumasa Ogawa.
#buddhistart #buddhism
#buddhistart #buddhism
December 31, 2025 at 3:09 PM
The Bronze Buddha at #kamakura, hand–colored albumen silver print from #japan. Described and Illustrated by the Japanese (1897) by Kazumasa Ogawa.
#buddhistart #buddhism
#buddhistart #buddhism
Suppose the earth was entirely covered with water. And a person threw a yoke with a single hole into it. The east wind wafts it west; the west wind wafts it east; the north wind wafts it south; and the south wind wafts it north. And there was a one-eyed turtle who popped up once every hundred years.
December 28, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Suppose the earth was entirely covered with water. And a person threw a yoke with a single hole into it. The east wind wafts it west; the west wind wafts it east; the north wind wafts it south; and the south wind wafts it north. And there was a one-eyed turtle who popped up once every hundred years.
I love how people try to critique Buddhism by saying "What about the desire to end desire?" Like the Buddha wouldn't have thought of that. You imbecile. You utter moron. It's addressed right there, in the Uṇṇābhabrāhmaṇasutta.
December 28, 2025 at 6:24 PM
I love how people try to critique Buddhism by saying "What about the desire to end desire?" Like the Buddha wouldn't have thought of that. You imbecile. You utter moron. It's addressed right there, in the Uṇṇābhabrāhmaṇasutta.
A lot of people assume Buddhism emerged from a Hindu substrate but Hinduism as we know it had not yet developed at that time. There was the Vedic religion (Brahmanism), and then other samaṇa traditions such as Jainism and Ājīvikism.
December 27, 2025 at 9:44 PM
A lot of people assume Buddhism emerged from a Hindu substrate but Hinduism as we know it had not yet developed at that time. There was the Vedic religion (Brahmanism), and then other samaṇa traditions such as Jainism and Ājīvikism.
The Great Way is not difficult
for those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent
everything becomes clear and undisguised.
Make the smallest distinction, however,
and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.
Sengcan, Verses on the Faith Mind, Richard B. Clarke trans. #Buddhism
for those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent
everything becomes clear and undisguised.
Make the smallest distinction, however,
and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.
Sengcan, Verses on the Faith Mind, Richard B. Clarke trans. #Buddhism
December 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM
The Great Way is not difficult
for those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent
everything becomes clear and undisguised.
Make the smallest distinction, however,
and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.
Sengcan, Verses on the Faith Mind, Richard B. Clarke trans. #Buddhism
for those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent
everything becomes clear and undisguised.
Make the smallest distinction, however,
and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.
Sengcan, Verses on the Faith Mind, Richard B. Clarke trans. #Buddhism
Haven't had any good thoughts recently
December 26, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Haven't had any good thoughts recently
Reposted by vacchagotta
“Today, I’d like us all to meditate on the Buddha’s teaching that birth is suffering.”
- Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
www.dhammatalks.org/books/Intell...
- Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
www.dhammatalks.org/books/Intell...
Birth Is Suffering | The Intelligent Heart | ebook on dhammatalks.org
The Intelligent Heart : Five Dhamma Talks
www.dhammatalks.org
December 25, 2025 at 5:49 PM
“Today, I’d like us all to meditate on the Buddha’s teaching that birth is suffering.”
- Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
www.dhammatalks.org/books/Intell...
- Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
www.dhammatalks.org/books/Intell...
Reposted by vacchagotta
been lumbering so long I forgot how to be lithe
December 18, 2025 at 4:08 AM
been lumbering so long I forgot how to be lithe
Imagining that we ask the superintelligent AI how to solve climate change and it tells us to... stop flying? Or eating meat?? Or having children???
December 23, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Imagining that we ask the superintelligent AI how to solve climate change and it tells us to... stop flying? Or eating meat?? Or having children???
Reposted by vacchagotta
And for the sake of what benefit should a woman or a man, a householder or one gone forth, often reflect thus: ‘I must be parted and separated from everyone and everything dear and agreeable to me’?
Beings have desire and ...
#Buddhism #Theravada #Dhamma #PaliCanon #suttas #sutta
Beings have desire and ...
#Buddhism #Theravada #Dhamma #PaliCanon #suttas #sutta
December 22, 2025 at 11:21 AM
And for the sake of what benefit should a woman or a man, a householder or one gone forth, often reflect thus: ‘I must be parted and separated from everyone and everything dear and agreeable to me’?
Beings have desire and ...
#Buddhism #Theravada #Dhamma #PaliCanon #suttas #sutta
Beings have desire and ...
#Buddhism #Theravada #Dhamma #PaliCanon #suttas #sutta
Reposted by vacchagotta
#shakyamuni #buddha, #china 1700-1799. Ground Mineral Pigment, Fine Gold Line, Black Background on Cotton.
#buddhistart #buddhism
#buddhistart #buddhism
December 19, 2025 at 3:47 PM
#shakyamuni #buddha, #china 1700-1799. Ground Mineral Pigment, Fine Gold Line, Black Background on Cotton.
#buddhistart #buddhism
#buddhistart #buddhism
Reposted by vacchagotta
BEST low-karma sensory pleasures 2025
December 18, 2025 at 6:13 PM
BEST low-karma sensory pleasures 2025
This world, born in torment,
overcome by contact, speaks of disease as the self.
For whatever it thinks it is,
it turns out to be something else.
The world is attached to continued existence,
overcome by continued existence,
taking pleasure only in continued existence,
yet it becomes something else.
overcome by contact, speaks of disease as the self.
For whatever it thinks it is,
it turns out to be something else.
The world is attached to continued existence,
overcome by continued existence,
taking pleasure only in continued existence,
yet it becomes something else.
December 18, 2025 at 7:18 PM
This world, born in torment,
overcome by contact, speaks of disease as the self.
For whatever it thinks it is,
it turns out to be something else.
The world is attached to continued existence,
overcome by continued existence,
taking pleasure only in continued existence,
yet it becomes something else.
overcome by contact, speaks of disease as the self.
For whatever it thinks it is,
it turns out to be something else.
The world is attached to continued existence,
overcome by continued existence,
taking pleasure only in continued existence,
yet it becomes something else.
2026 will bring unprecedented AI development *and* unprecedented global high temperatures due to El Niño? That's some extremely good shit that everyone will react very normally to.
December 18, 2025 at 4:06 PM
2026 will bring unprecedented AI development *and* unprecedented global high temperatures due to El Niño? That's some extremely good shit that everyone will react very normally to.
I delight not in death;
I delight not in life;
I await my time,
Like a worker his wages.
Theragāthā 17.2, verses of the elder Sāriputta #Buddhism
I delight not in life;
I await my time,
Like a worker his wages.
Theragāthā 17.2, verses of the elder Sāriputta #Buddhism
December 15, 2025 at 10:30 PM
I delight not in death;
I delight not in life;
I await my time,
Like a worker his wages.
Theragāthā 17.2, verses of the elder Sāriputta #Buddhism
I delight not in life;
I await my time,
Like a worker his wages.
Theragāthā 17.2, verses of the elder Sāriputta #Buddhism