Christmas - that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance.
Win over the ill-natured man by goodness…Make haste in doing good; check your mind from evil; for the mind of him who is slow in doing meritorious actions delights in evil.
Fasting in the monastic community is considered an ascetic practice, a “dhutanga” practice. Dhutanga means “to shake up” or “invigoration”. The Buddha, as is well known, emphasized moderation, the Middle Way that avoids extremes, in all things. Fasting is an additional method that one can take up, with supervision, for a time.
I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.
