Clear Thinking…

"Never sloth, never lust, never the senses"-
this is clear thinking, which brings great joy.
Suppressing sloth steadily, slowly,
a man climbs the tower of serene wisdom.
Sees, below, the suffering multitudes,
as one from a high hill sees the level plain.

-Dhammapada

 

Why realization of Nibbana is difficult

NIBBANA: As Buddhists we believe in a beginning-less journey of births and deaths called samsara. We also accept that there are 31 realms, like resting places, in this long samasric journey for beings to be born. These 31 realms are from the lowest i.e. the hell to the highest -Brahma realms.

When a being is caught in the samsaric journey, he delights in whatever birth he gets, so that even a wild buffalo will be delighted in its birth in the animal world for the simple reason that it has no realization of dukka, the Noble Truth of Suffering.

In the same way a puthujjana i.e. a person who has not realized the dhamma will be delighted in his birth as a human being; yet he will undergo endless dukka as long as he continues to be in the samsara.

While a being goes through this samsaric journey, he keeps accumulating all his experiences both pleasant as well as unpleasant by way of mental impressions.

All mental impressions get deposited in our consciousness. These are called sankharas, – loosely translated would mean mental formations. The sankharas lie dormant until such time the right conditions arise for them to trigger off a particular effect.

They are like the roots lying beneath the earth’s surface that grow when the rains come. But, in any form of birth there would be enough and more sankharas to continuously arise dependent on the particular conditions.

The samsaric wheel of births and deaths of a being is turned by these mental formations.

They are called kilesas or defilements being responsible for holding a being tied to the samsaric journey.

These kilesas are actually the mental impressions we keep hankering after.

We would never like to let go of them. Why ? because we have not ’seen’ the truth or the dhamma, the real nature of things.

 

Theravada – Mahayana Buddhism

by Ven. Dr. W. Rahula
From: Gems of Buddhist Wisdom

Today is Binara Full Moon Poya day

Maha Pajapati Gotamire questing for permission from the Buddha to establish the order of nuns (Bhikkhuni Sasana)

Binara (full moon Poya commemorates the Buddha’s visit to heaven to preach to his mother and celestial multitude. Also the commencing of the Bhikkhuni (nun’s) Order. Pajapati Gotami approached the Buddha and implored him to establish the Bhikkhuni Order.

Buddhist Missionary Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1996

Let us discuss a question often asked by many people: What is the difference between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism? To see things in their proper perspective, let us turn to the history of Buddhism and trace the emergence and development of Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism.

 

The Buddha was born in the 6th Century B.C. After attaining Enlightenment at the age of 35 until his Mahaparinibbana at the age of 80, he spent his life preaching and teaching. He was certainly one of the most energetic man who ever lived: for forty-five years he taught and preached day and night, sleeping for only about 2 hours a day.

 

The Buddha spoke to all kinds of people: kings and princes, Brahmins, farmers, beggars, learned men and ordinary people. His teachings were tailored to the experiences, levels of understanding and mental capacity of his audience. What he taught was called Buddha Vacana, i.e. word of the Buddha. There was nothing called Theravada or Mahayana at that time.

 

After establishing the Order of monks and nuns, the Buddha laid down certain disciplinary rules called the Vinaya for the guidance of the Order. The rest of his teachings were called the Dhamma which included his discourses, sermons to monks, nuns and lay people.

 

Dhammapada – the oldest anthological treatise

Buddha said “Tanhaya jayati soko, tanhaya jayati bhayam, tanhaya vippa muttassa, natti soko kuto bhayam” (Dmp. 16:216). It means that from craving springs grief, from craving springs fear, and for him who is holy and free from craving, there is no grief, much less fear.

Every Buddhist must have a copy of the Dhammapada at home, as its guiding light illuminates the mind to lead a virtuous life. He must read it and understand it, to achieve the best results.

The Dhammapada is a compendium of 423 verses abridged from the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka (one of the divisions of the Three Pitakas). The Sutta Pitaka contsists mainly of discourses delivered by the Buddha, during his 45 years of ministration. In addition, there are also few discourses delivered by some of his distinguished disciples, such as Ven. Sariputta, Moggallana and Ananda.

 

What good is a yellow robe…

What good is a yellow robe if your mind is not pure?
What will the robe do, if truth is lacking, discipline is denied?

Cast aside meanness, stand on virtue,
learn discipline and speak the truth.
Then will the robe fit you.

- The Dhammapada (Ten Twin Verses)

 

What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday…

"What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind.  If a man speaks or acts with an impure mind, suffering follows him; if a man speaks or acts with a pure mind, joy follows him     1-2

"Those who think the unreal is and think the real is not, they shall never reach the truth, lost in the path of wrong thought.  But those who know the real is and know the unreal is not, they shall indeed reach the truth, safe on the path of right thought."        11-12

"The man who is disturbed by wrong thoughts, whose selfish passions are strong and who only seeks sensuous pleasures, increases his craving desires and makes stronger the chains he forges for himself.  But he who enjoys peaceful thoughts, who considers the sorrows of pleasure, and whoever remembers the light of his life – he will see the end of his cravings; he will break the chains of death.  He has reached the end of his journey, he trembles not, his cravings are gone, he is free from sin, he has burnt the thorns of life.  He is free from lust, he is free from greed, he knows the meaning of words, and the meaning of their combinations, he is a great man, a great man who sees the light.  I have conquered all; I know all, and my life is pure; I have left all, and I am free from craving."      -349-353

"Good is the control of the eye, ear, smell and taste.  Good is the control of the body, words, mind and our whole inner life.  When a person has achieved perfect self-control, he leaves all sorrows behind."     -360-361

"He who has broken the five fetters – lust, hate, delusion, pride, false views - is one who is crossed to the other shore."

-Dhammapada

 

Who are you?

By Suryacitta

A man who had been practicing meditation for many years, and who’d experienced a host of cosmic experiences went to a famous master for confirmation of his spiritual achievement. The master said “sit down, I’d like to ask you a few questions first.”

“Who are you?” asked the master.

“My name is William,” replied the man.

“I didn’t ask your name, but who you are,” said the master.

“I’m British,” replied the man.

“I didn’t ask your nationality, but who you are,” replied the master.

“I’m a husband and father of two sons.”

“I didn’t ask whether you are a father or not, but who you are.”

“I’m an architect.”

“I didn’t ask what your profession is, but who you are.”

“I’m a Buddhist.” And on and on it went.

“Who are you?”

“In my spare time I help the poor and needy.”

“I didn’t ask about your spare time, but who you are.”

“I’m a meditator.”

This went on and on no matter how many times he was asked he couldn’t see the master’s point.

The master finally says, “When you know your appearance from who you really are, come back.”

 

Buddhism is a journey into the depths of one’s heart and mind

Buddhism is a journey into the depths of one’s heart and mind, the inner reality of one’s essence, an exploration of who we are and what we are. This spiritual journey is nothing more and nothing less than discovering this inner reality.

Buddhist spiritual teachings present a genuine science of mind that allows one to uncover this inner reality, the nature of the mind and the phenomena that our mind experience. When we say that Buddhism is a “science,” we do not mean the dry science of analyzing material things. We are talking about something much deeper. We are talking about going into the depths of the reality of our inner world, which is the most powerful world.

The teachings of Lord Buddha Shakyamuni, which we often refer to by the Sanskrit term buddhadharma, set forth a path that frees one from disturbing emotions and fundamental ignorance. This dharma frees us from existence in samsara, defined by samsaric fear, and leads us towards the fruition of independence, the fruition of the state of complete freedom, the state of fearlessness, going beyond fear.

By closely looking at buddhadharma, or Buddhism, we thus find that it is a pure path, pure teachings, a pure science, a science of mind. In this sense, Buddhist spirituality is not what is ordinarily meant by the term "religion." It is rather closer to a humanistic science, a pure and genuine philosophy of humanity and science which works with the two sides of our samsaric mind, the negative aspect and the positive aspect of our mind. Fundamentally it is the science of working with the very basic nature of our mind.

"Nangpa" – Insider

The Tibetan term for Buddhism illustrates the nature of this inner science. What we call Buddhism in Tibetan is nang pa,  which means insiders. It’s an interesting term, insiders; it can have two meanings. Literally, it means someone who is within a certain boundary, within a certain fence, but another meaning of this word insider is the sense that we are working with our inside, our mind, our fundamental confusion, ignorance. Therefore we can see what Buddhism is fundamentally, from this term, insider: it is a science, working with our mind, a philosophy of humanity, a human science.

Is Buddhism A Religion?

Buddhadharma is not a religion in the everyday connotation of the word. We are not talking here about the sophisticated ways of explaining religion used by university Departments of Religion. Rather, the ordinary use of the word religion, our regular mundane understanding of religion, is somewhat simple: it’s a belief, a dogma that we have about some superhuman beings outside our self, some supernatural energy outside one’s being which has power, control, over our universe and over sentient beings. This mundane understanding of religion is a theistic view.

In this usual meaning of religion, it is as if a particular external being or external energy is holding our computer keyboard and is doing the programming for us; we don’t have any power, we don’t have any energy, we don’t have any choice. We ourselves have to work with it; we have to wait and see what comes up on the screen.

Holding The Keyboard To Enlightenment

In Buddhism, however, we are holding the keyboard; we ourselves are the programmer. We program our software and we press the command keys on our keyboard. So depending on our own skill, our own energy and our own knowledge, we get what we want on the screen.

The reason why Buddha taught the dharma is to teach us the command keys. The Tripitaka is the manual, teaching us how to program, how to use the right command keys, and depending on this knowledge, we can have a successful progression of programs. Therefore there is no external energy or external being holding our keyboards in Buddhism; even Buddha himself does not hold our keyboard.

Buddha is a teacher, a human being with great knowledge, great wisdom, who can teach us the right keyboard, who can teach us how to work with it, who has the great compassion to share his knowledge, the great compassion to hand over the keyboard to us. Even though he has all this knowledge, he does not guard the copyright, saying: "Nobody can use it except me." So we can see his great compassion, his great knowledge, which he shares with us, giving us the keyboard, giving us the knowledge, giving us everything.

This path of buddhadharma is totally free from any theistic view and is totally free from any shape or color. It’s like pure water; it has no shape, it has no color. Depending on the container that we pour the water into, the water adopts that particular shape. If you want to freeze this pure water, you can do it by putting the water into the freezer, but as soon as you take the ice out of the freezer, it will return to its natural state of pure water having no shape and no color.

Teaching by
The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

Excerpted from a transcript on the "Khe-juk Teachings" (Nova Scotia 1992; supplemented 2003 for web publication)

 

Buddhist Hymns and Prayers

On Opening the Sutra

The Dharma incomparably profound and exquisite
Is rarely met with, even in hundreds of thousands of millions of kalpas;
We are now permitted to see it, to listen to it, to accept and hold it;
May we truly understand the meaning of the Tathagata’s words!

Confession

All the evil karma ever committed by me since of old,
On account of greed, anger, and folly, which have no beginning,
Born of my body, mouth, and thought –
I now make full open confession of it.

The Threefold Refuge

I take refuge in the Buddha;
I take refuge in the Dharma;
I take refuge in the Sangha.

I take refuge in the Buddha, the incomparably honoured one;
I take refuge in the Dharma, honourable for its purity;
I take refuge in the Sangha, honourable for its harmonious life.

I have finished taking refuge in the Buddha;
I have finished taking refuge in the Dharma;
I have finished taking refuge in the Sangha.

The Four Great Vows

However innumerable beings are, I vow to save them;
However inexhaustible the passions are, I vow to extinguish them;
However immeasurable the Dharmas are, I vow to master them;
However incomparable the Buddha-truth is, I vow to attain it.

The Teaching of the Seven Buddhas

Not to commit evils,
But to do all that is good,
And to keep one’s thought pure –
This is the teaching of all the Buddhas

The Gatha of Impermanence

All composite things are impermanent,
They are subject to birth and death;
Put an end to birth and death,
And there is blissful tranquility.

[The preceding quoted in D. T. Suzuki, Manual of Zen Buddhism.  N.Y.:  Grove, 1960.]

Mahamangala Sutta

[Discourse of Supreme Happiness]

Pali	English
Bahu deva manussa ca Mangalani acintayum Akankha-mana sotthanam Bruhi mangala muttamam	Many deities and humans, yearning after good, have pondered on Blessings. Pray, tell me the Supreme Blessings.
Asevana ca balanam Panditanan ca sevana Puja ca puja-niyanam Etam mangala muttamam	Not to follow or associate with the foolish, to associate with the wise, and honor those who are worthy of honor. This is the Supreme Blessing.
Patirupa-desa vaso ca Pubbe ca kata-punnata Atta samma panidhi ca Etam mangala muttamam	To reside in a suitable locality, to have done meritorious actions in the past,  and to have set oneself on the right course  This is the Supreme Blessing.
Bahu saccanca sippanca Vinayo ca susikkhito Subhasita ca ya vaca Etam mangala muttamam	Vast-learning, perfect handicraft, a highly trained discipline and pleasant speech. This is the Supreme Blessing.
Mata pitu upatthanam Putta darassa sangaho Anakula ca kammanta Etam mangala muttamam	The support of mother and father, the cherishing of spouse and children and peaceful occupations. This is the Supreme Blessings.
Danam ca dhamma-cariya ca Natakananca sangaho Anavajjani kammani Etam mangala muttamam	Liberality, righteous conduct, the helping of relatives and blameless action. This is the Supreme Blessing.
Arati virati papa Majja-pana ca sannamo Appa-mado ca dhammesu Etam mangala muttamam	To cease and abstain from evil, forbearance with respect to intoxicants and steadfastness in virtue. This is the Supreme Blessing.
Garavo ca Sovacassata, Samana nanca dassanam Kalena dhamma sakaccha Etam mangala muttamam	Patience, obedience, sight of the holy ones and religious discussions at due season.  This is the Supreme Blessing.
Tapo ca brahma cariyaca Ariya sacana dassanam Nibbana sacchi kiriyaca Etam mangal muttamam	Self-control, pure life, perception of the Noble Truths and the realization of Nibbana. This is the Supreme Blessing.
Putthassa loka dhammehi Cittam yassa na kampati Asokam virajam khemam Etam mangala muttamam	He whose mind does not flutter, by contact with worldly contingencies, sorrowless, stainless and secure. This is the Supreme Blessing.
Eta-disani katvana Sabbattha maparajita Sabbattha sotthim gacchanti Tam tesam mangala-muttamamti	To them, fulfilling matters such as these, everywhere invincible, in every way moving happily. These are the Supreme Blessings.

[From William Wilson's Buddhist Reading Room, at http://www.buddhistreading.com]

 

A Buddhist perspective Do all religions say the same thing?

Can we speak of a transcendental unity of Religion Was the topic of a talk given by Professor Y. Karunadasa at the Maithri Hall on August 12.

The Professor said there are many religions in the world such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and Sikhism, but that some people believe there is a transcendental unity of religion. What this means is that although there are a number of religions, in the final analysis, they say the same thing. They are different expressions of the same eternal truth in other words, despite the apparent differences and the seeming polarities, there is a unity that transcends them all. The differences are only at the periphery, but at the core they are the same.

Apparently, the idea of a transcendental unity of religion came to be mooted originally by the Theosophiscal Movement started by Colonel Olcott of the USA and Madame Blavatsky of Russia, and two other movements: The Perrenial Philosophy, also called the Continuous Tradition, one of its proponents being Ananda Coomaraswamy, the celebrated scholar from Sri Lanka and the other movement being Neo-Hinduism, a movement ushered in mainly by the well known Indian philosopher and statesman, Sarvapali Radhakrishnan.

Professor Karunadasa posed the question whether we can speak of a transcendental unity of religion from the Buddhist perspective. The purpose of his lecture was to show that Buddhism is different from all other religions and that therefore from the Buddhist point of view we cannot speak of a transcendental unity of religion.

He pointed out that those who speak of a transcendental unity of religion maintain that all religions in common recognize a higher reality as the ultimate ground of existence. In theistic religions this higher reality is God, either a personal God or an impersonal Godhead. According to Hinduism this Higher Reality is Brahman, the Cosmic Soul. They maintain that, accordingly, Buddhism too must have a Higher Transcendental Reality and the Buddhist counterpart to this is Nibbana.

The best way to consider the Buddhist response to this question is to examine the Buddhist critique of views and ideologies. Normally when we want to criticize or argue against a point we resort to intellectual tools such as logical reasoning and philosophical investigation. According to Professor Karunadasa what Buddhism does instead is to identify the psychological factors that lead to the emergence of such views. He calls this the Buddhist Psychological Diagnosis of Ideological Positions. This he stated is something that is unique to Buddhism.

The best evidence of this comes from the Brahmajala Sutta, the First Discourse in the First Collection of Suttas, known as the Collection of Long Discourses (Dighanikaya). This Discourse, Professor Karunadasa says, begins with an enumeration of some sixty two religio-philosophical views prevalent during the time of the Buddha. What is most interesting about this discourse is that here not a single ideological position is rejected as wrong. All that the discourse seeks to do is to show, from a psychological point of view, how these views and ideologies arise, why they prevail in the world and finally, he stressed, how they can be transcended.

The Buddhist term for all speculative and metaphysical views and ideologies is ditthi-gata. This term includes all metaphysical views relating to the nature of the self and universe that are beyond personal verification.

According to Buddhism all these speculative and metaphysical views can be subsumed under two main headings: One is Sassatavada and the other is Ucchedavada. Sassatavada is the Buddhist term for all religions which recognize a permanent spiritual principle in the form of an ever-lasting spirit.

Ucchedavada, on the other hand, is the Buddhist term for all materialist ideologies. From the Buddhist perspective, both ideologies believe in a separate self, a separate individualized self-entity. The spiritualist version of the self, as defined in the Buddhist discourse, is based on the duality principle: "The self/soul is different from the physical body" (Annam jivam annam sariram). Whereas the material materialist version of the self is based on the identity principle: The self/soul is the same as the physical body" (Tam jivam tam sariram). We may represent the first as the theory of the metaphysical self and the second as the theory of the physical self. As specifically mentioned in the Buddhist discourses, all speculative views and metapysical theories relating to the nature of the self and the universe can be brought under either the spiritualist or the materialist ideologies.

What is interesting to note here is that according to Buddhism the spiritualist and the materialist ideologies are both due to what Buddhism calls sakkaya-ditthi, Personality View. Embodiment View — the belief in a separate self-entity. Why is sakkaya-ditthi identified as the root cause of all speculative views? Answering this question, Professor Karunadasa stated that we have sakkaya-ditthi when we have an egocentric perspective. It gives rise to a duality between the I and the non-I. As long as we are conditioned by the egocentric perspective so long all our judgements relating to the nature of reality will remain distorted.

Thus it is the Buddhist doctrine of non-self (the denial of sakkaya-ditthi) that prevents us from concluding that all religions are, in the final analysis, different versions of an eternal truth. Therefore, from the Buddhist perspective one cannot speak of a transcendental unity of religion.

He also pointed out that there are a large number of Buddhist schools, such as Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, and what is more, what are called Mahayana and Vajrayana embrace within them a large number of sub-schools. However, what is common to all Buddhist schools is that they all reject the belief in a separate, individualized self. All their teachings are based on the denial of what is called sakkaya-ditthi. Therefore, we can certainly speak of the transcenedental unity of Buddhism. But not a transcendental unity of religion.

To conclude, he mentioned that if there is a doctrine which is unique to Buddhism, it is the doctrine of non-self.

If there is a Buddhist doctrine that is common to all Buddhist schools and traditions, whether they are Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, it is also the doctrine of non-self.

If there is a doctrine that separates Buddhism from all other religions, it is also this Buddhist doctrine of non-self.

If one is asked, what is the Buddha’s most distinctive contribution to religious discourse, the correct answer should be: It is the Buddhist doctrine of non-self.

What about anicca (impermanence) and dukkha (suffering)? They were pre-Buddhist. It is of course true that the Buddhist idea of impermanence and suffering is very much different from how they are understood in other religions. However, unlike anicca and dukkha, anatta is unique to Buddhism.

What about the Buddhist doctrine of dependent origination? Is it not more central to Buddhism than the doctrine of non-self? Professor Karunadasa’s answer is that, in a way non-self means dependent origination. They are two mutually convertible terms. Whatever is describable as non-self is also describable as dependently arisen.

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