About These Pages

"Admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the holy life. When a monk has admirable people as friends, companions, & comrades, he can be expected to develop & pursue the noble eightfold path." (The Buddha*)

One of the reasons we started these Practice Pages was to acknowledge and celebrate our diversity. Although the Ozarks Dharma Community recognizes the importance of the Theravada tradition and the Pali canon for guiding and inspiring our practice, members of our community value teachers from many Buddhist traditions. This is important, but it's also good for us to recognize that spiritual friendship itself is an essential part of the path.

Since its beginning, members of the Ozarks Dharma Community have looked for ways to practically support and encourage one another to deepen and strengthen their spiritual practices. These pages are one practical way we can share our common questions, concerns, and skillful reflections with each other in a way that helps us all.

For example, the Buddha emphasized that:

"When a monk has admirable friends, admirable companions, admirable comrades, it is to be expected that he will keep his persistence aroused for abandoning unskillful mental qualities, and for taking on skillful mental qualities — steadfast, solid in his effort, not shirking his duties with regard to skillful mental qualities."** 

Perhaps a key to this is that friendship is a perfect setting for practicing Right Speech, since the Buddha also taught for us to be very careful and intentional about what we talk about -

"There are these ten topics of [proper] conversation. Which ten? Talk on modesty, on contentment, on seclusion, on non-entanglement, on arousing persistence, on virtue, on concentration, on discernment, on release, and on the knowledge & vision of release. These are the ten topics of conversation. If you were to engage repeatedly in these ten topics of conversation, you would outshine even the sun & moon, so mighty, so powerful — to say nothing of the wanderers of other sects."***

- and how we talk about it:

"In the same way, prince: 

[1] In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial (or: not connected with the goal), unendearing & disagreeable to others, he does not say them. 

[2] In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, unbeneficial, unendearing & disagreeable to others, he does not say them. 

[3] In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, beneficial, but unendearing & disagreeable to others, he has a sense of the proper time for saying them. 

[4] In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial, but endearing & agreeable to others, he does not say them. 

[5] In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, unbeneficial, but endearing & agreeable to others, he does not say them. 

[6] In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, beneficial, and endearing & agreeable to others, he has a sense of the proper time for saying them. Why is that? Because the Tathagata has sympathy for living beings."****

We're hoping these pages give us all some of the much needed practice we all have for speaking about the Dhamma with each other. We welcome your contributions and also requests.

Sukhi hotu!

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     *"Upaddha Sutta: Half (of the Holy Life)" (SN 45.2), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 1 July 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn45/sn45.002.than.html . Retrieved on 8 July 2012.
     **"Sambodhi Sutta: Self-awakening" (AN 9.1), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 4 July 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an09/an09.001.than.html . Retrieved on 8 July 2012.
     ***"Kathavatthu Sutta: Topics of Conversation (1)" (AN 10.69), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 4 July 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.069.than.html . Retrieved on 8 July 2012.
     ****"Abhaya Sutta: To Prince Abhaya" (MN 58), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 12 February 2012, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.058.than.html . Retrieved on 8 July 2012.