People often never really get their practices started, because they try to bypass generosity and virtue, which resemble the vehicle’s fuel or the house’s walls. Without them, a practice never develops and topples very easily. Meditation stays too shallow and wisdom too superficial to be of any life-changing value. Each virtue reinforces the next in a circular pattern, clearing the way to achieving deeper tranquility and more revealing insight.
Your intentions underwrite all of these practices, so develop them skillfully and compassionately. Formulate your intentions to extend the same compassion to yourself that you offer to others. Doing so bears witness to a heart mature in virtue.
The first five precepts are to refrain from killing, stealing; harmful sexual activity; improper speech; and substance abuse. Jewish and Christian readers should be experiencing a modicum of déjà vu at this juncture. The precepts’ functional role is fascinating because keeping them builds a sense of confidence in life—essentially your lifestyle evolves in such a way that the wise praise your qualities and you avoid becoming a target of disapprobation. But their deeper role is providing a sense of having no regrets, which removes a hinderance to incredibly powerful meditation.
The Dhammapada sums this up very neatly: there is no jhana without insight, no insight without jhana. Having both, one is close to Nibbana.
Wisdom is often engaged and boosted by generosity, since it is easy to follow one’s innate preferences, but to be patient, kind, and wise in challenging situations is an expression of a generous mind.
What distinguishes most Theravāda traditions is their emphasis the historical Buddha’s teachings, rather than on subsequent interpretations and new goals. This is largely due to geographical distance between the schools. Therefore some of the characteristics of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna schools are not present at all. Theravāda does have its own later ideas however, such as those found in the Abhidhamma and commentaries such as the Visuddhimagga, which were complied many centuries after the historical Buddha’s death.
There is usually no problem in reading non-Theravāda texts as scholars have noted strong similarities, particularly between Theravāda and Zen. But the practitioner should know the later doctrinal ideas so as to be able to recognise what is and what isn’t of the Theravāda school and avoid complicating their practice.
Exceptions to this case are actually very rare and are a result of conditions such as kamma, or (more often) the texts themselves have been proven to be late or corrupted.
Monastic life in good monasteries can be very demanding for monastic residents, generally because the temple functions as a central facet of cultural expectations and holy days, as well as offering services such as teaching, counselling, funerals and other services of what is more known as religious Buddhism. For this reason, secular or non-monastic Buddhists can learn a great deal about how one can develop a strong practice in the face of demanding expectations and service demands in a confined environment, often with very little expenditure, that monastics have to meet seven days a week.
It is best to dedicate several years for the monastic practice, as in most cases the practice really only starts to take an effect after five to six years as a full monk (known as a bhikkhu) or nun (known as a bhikkhuni). Temporary ordinations alternatively are fantastic for a cultural experience.
