THE BUDDHA’S GIFT
Sakyamuni 1
THE BUDDHA’S GIFT
Of Compassion
And Wisdom
In His Own Words
Compiled by Khor Eng Lee
Mahasthama Mindfulness Center
Taman Ipoh Jaya Ipoh Perak Malaysia
19 March 2018
22:52
Sakyamuni
2
Contents
A A(1) Buddha
A(2) Dhamma
B Faith in Buddha
C Buddha Nature
D Loving Kindness (Metta)
E Compassion (Karuna)
F Patience (v Anger)
G Diligence
H Heedfulness
I Practice of Mindfulness
J Moral/Righteous Conduct
K Teachings for the lay
followers
L Living in the present
M Knowing and Seeing
Impermanence (Anicca)
N Let go of self!
O Giving Generously
P Eradication of Ignorance
(Avijja)
Q Mental Development
R Marks of a True Man
S Self-conquest
T Self-responsibility
U Universal Oneness
V Wisdom
W The Four Noble Truths
X The Noble Eightfold Path
Y The Gift of Truth
Z Mindfulness of Buddha
Sakyamuni 3
A (1) Buddha
“… Brahmin
(Sela), I realized what should be realized (the cessation of suffering),
developed what should be developed (the path to the cessation of suffering).
Dispelled what should be dispelled (craving and other ignorance-bound
defilements), therefore I’m enlightened,” the Buddha said.
--- Sela Sutta BuddhaSutra.com
“Who
knows about his former lives,
Sees heaven
and states of deprivation,
And has
arrived at birth’s destruction --
A sage who knows
by direct knowledge,
Who knows
his mind is purified,
Entirely
freed from every lust,
Who has
abandoned birth and death,
Who is
complete in the holy life,
Who has
transcended everything --
One such as
this is called a Buddha.
---
Buddha, responding to a 120-year-old brahmin, a well-known master of the Vedas,
Brahmayu, in Brahmayu Sutta. The old brahmin became a lay
follower of Master Gotama, and shortly after when he died, Brahmayu reappeared
spontaneously in the Pure Abodes to dwell as a non-returner (anagamin) in the
third and penultimate stage of sainthood.
179
By what
track can you trace
that
trackless Buddha of limitless range,
whose
victory nothing can undo,
whom none of
the vanquished defilements
can
ever pursue?
180
By what
track can you trace
that
trackless Buddha of limitless range,
in
whom exists no longer
the
entangling and embroiling craving
that
perpetuates becoming?
182
Hard is
it to be born a man;
hard is
the life of mortals.
Hard is it
to gain the opportunity
of
hearing the Sublime Truth,
and
hard to encounter
Is the
arising of the Buddhas.
353
A
victor am I over all,
All
have I known,
Yet
unattached am I
to all that
that is conquered and known.
Abandoning all,
I am
freed from craving
Through
the destruction of craving.
Having
thus directly comprehended
all by
myself,
whom shall
I call my teacher?
--- Dhammapada A practical guide to right
living
by
Venerable Sri Archarya Buddharakkhita
published
for free distribution by Sukhi Hotu Sdn Bhd, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, and
Ayer Itam,
Penang, Malaysia. Undated.
“Insights
that flashed into the heart of the Buddha have crystallized into these luminous
verses of pure wisdom,” Venerable Sri Archarya Buddharakkhita, an Indian monk,
meditation teacher and scholar, writes in Preface (p. vi) of his lucid
translation of the Dhammapada, an anthology of 423 verses in the Pali
language.
“As profound
expressions of practical spirituality, each verse is a guideline to right
living. The Buddha unambiguously pointed out that whoever earnestly practices
the verses of the Dhammapada would taste the bliss of (spiritual)
emancipation…”
At the town
Apana in the country of the Anguttarapans, the Blessed One said to the Brahmin
Sela, also a master of the Three Vedas, at the hermitage of the matted-hair
ascetic Keniya:
“... I am
supreme King of the Dhamma,
I make the
Wheel of Dhamma revolve,
the wheel
that none can stop.”
Then, Buddha
added:
“... I am the
one whose presence in the world
Is very
rarely come upon.
I am the
Fully Enlightened One,
I, O brahmin,
am the supreme physician.
While staying
among the Vajjans at the Bhanda Village, the Blessed One taught his disciples
that understanding and penetrating the noble quartet of noble virtue, noble
concentration, noble discernment, and noble release (of self) results in
destruction of craving and attachment.
“Unexcelled
virtue, concentration,
discernment
and release
have been
understood by Gotama of
glorious stature.
Having known
them directly,
he taught the
Dhamma to the monks --
the Awakened One
the
Teacher who has put an end to
suffering
and stress,
the One
with vision
totally
unbound.
--- Anubuddha Sutta translated
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu buddhasutra.com
In the
Brahman village of Mansakata in Kosala, two young Brahmans Vasettha and
Bharadvaga came to the Blessed One to settle their dispute over the true path
to union with Brahma (the Creator in Hinduism).
“… For
Brahma, the world of Brahma, the path which leads to the world of Brahma, I
fully know. Yes, I know it, even as one was born there and lives there,” the
Blessed One said to Vasettha.
Then the
Blessed One said: “Know, Vasettha, that from time to time a Tathagata is born
in the world, a fully enlightened one, blessed and worthy, abounding in wisdom
and goodness, happy with knowledge of the worlds, unsurpassed as a guide to
erring mortals, a teacher of gods and men, a Blessed Buddha.
“He
thoroughly understands this universe, as those he saw it face to face, the
world below with all its people, the worlds above, of Mara and of Brahma -- and
all creatures, Samanas and Brahmans, gods and men, and from that knowledge
makes it known and teaches others.
“The
truth he proclaims in both its letter and in its spirit, lovely in its origin,
lovely in its progress, lovely in its consummation. The higher life he makes
known in all of its purity and in all of its perfect-ness…”
The
Blessed One concluded his teaching to Vasettha with the advice to abstain from
unfavorable deeds, words, and thoughts. He said: “The true Samana he who is
seeking the Way to the Brahma world, lets his mind pervade all quarters of the
world with thoughts of love… far reaching, beyond measure, all embracing …”
--- Tevigga Sutta BuddhaSutra.com
I.3 Kankharevata
See
this:
the
discernment of the Tathagatas,
like a fire ablaze in the night,
giving light, giving eyes,
to
those who come,
subduing their doubt.
--- Thevagatha Translated by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu BuddhaSutra.com
Knowing directly all the worlds,
The
Enlightened One who understands
Opened the door to the deathless state
By
which Nibbana may be safely reached…
--- Culagopalaka Sutta,
spoken on the banks of the river Ganges at Ukkacela in the
Vajjian country.
Those who, devoted, firm-minded,
apply themselves to Gotama’s message,
on attaining their goal, plunge into the
Deathless,
freely enjoying the Liberation they’ve
gained …
--- Ratana Sutta translated by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu buddhasutra.com
5 pages 1015 words 19-20.03.2018
02:10
Sakyamuni 4
A (2) Dhamma
“What I
have taught and explained to you on Dhamma and Discipline will, at my passing,
be your teacher…” -- the Buddha’s final injunction.
---
Digha Nikaya 16.6.1
“...
Let any wise man come, not crafty and fraudulent, is straightforward, I will
instruct him and advise him,” the Blessed One said to the wandering ascetic
Vekhanasse who came to see him in Anathapindika’s Monastery at Jeta’s Grove in
Savatthi, Kosala.
“If
he follows the method as instructed , before long he himself will rightfully
know. Thus he will be rightfully released from this bond of ignorance…”
---
Vekhanassa Sutta BuddhaSutra.com
“…
And his taints are destroyed by his seeing with wisdom. This bhikkhu is said to
have blindfolded Mara, to have become invisible to the Evil One by depriving
Mara’s eye of its opportunity, and to have crossed beyond attachment to the
world,” the Blessed One said to the assembly of bhikkhus at Jeta’s Grove,
Anathapindika’s Park in Savatthi.
---
Nivapa Sutta and repeated in Ariyapariyesana Sutta
“He
walks without fear, stands without fear, sits without fear, lies down without
fear. Why is that? Because he is out of the Evil One’s range,” the Blessed One
said to the five bhikkhus towards the end of his first discourse at the Deer
Park in Isipatana near Benares.
---
DHAMMACAKKA SUTTA
“I
teach the Dhamma for the abandoning of the gross acquisition of a self, such
that, when you practise it, defiling mental qualities will be abandoned, bright
mental qualities will grow, and you will enter and remain in the culmination
and abundance of discernment, having known and realised it for yourself in the
here and now,” the Buddha said to Potthapada the wanderer near Savatthi.
--- Potthapada Sutta Translated
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu buddhasutra.com
“Meditate, Cunda, do not delay, lest you later
regret it. This is my message to you,” the Blessed One
said to
Maha-Cunda Thera, brother of Venerable Shariputra, Buddha’s
leading disciple, at Jeta’s Grove in Savatthi.
--- Sallekha Sutta
“When
following after something, if faith, virtues,
learnedness, benevolence and wisdom increases, I say that
should be followed,” the Blessed One said to the Brahmin
Esukari in Anathapindika’s Monastery at Jeta’s Grove, Savatthi.
--- To the
Brahmin Esukari BuddhaSutra.com
“Banyan,
there are tainted things that have yet to be
abandoned, corrupted things that conduce to samsaric rebirth,
and fearful futures filled with pain, decay, and doom,” the
Buddha said to Banyan, one of the 180 wandering philosophers
in the Park of Wandering Philosophers in Rajagaha.
“I teach Dhamma, and I say
what I say for
one sole purpose, that people should abandon that which leads
them to sorrow. If you practice according to this Dhamma,
corrupted things dissipate and pure ones take their place, and
(you) attain to high realization, even in this very life, by wisdom
that is none other than your own…”
--- Udumbarika
Sihanda Sutta BuddhaSutra.com
In
Aggivacchagotta Sutta, Master Gotama’s
discourse at Jeta’s Grove in Savatthi is described as “pure,
consisting entirely of heartwood” (divested and shorn of
branches and foliage, bark and sapwood). lirs.ru
I. 26 Abhaya
Hearing
the well-spoken words
of the Awakened one,
Kinsman of the Sun,
I pierced what is subtle --
as if, with an arrow,
the tip of a horse-tail hair.
I. 29 Harita
Harita,
raise yourself up-right
and, straitening your mind
-- like a fletcher, an
arrow --
shatter ignorance to bits.
II. 26 Punnamasa
Shedding five hindrances*
so as to reach the
unexcelled rest
from the yoke,
taking the Dhamma as
mirror
for knowing and seeing
myself,
I reflected on this body
the whole thing,
inside & out,
my own and others’.
How vain & empty it looked!
II. 24
Valliya
What
needs to be done with firm persistence,
what needs to be done by
someone who hopes for Awakening,
that I will do.
I will not fail.
See: persistence &
striving!
You show me the path:
the straight,
the plunge into
Deathlessness.
I, through sagacity,
will reach it, know it,
as the stream of the
Ganges,
the sea.
---
Theragatha translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu BuddhaSutra.com
*Five
hindrances: sensual desire, ill will, sloth & drowsiness, restlessness
&
anxiety, and uncertainty/doubt.
4 pages 756 words 21.03.2018 03:47
Sakyamuni 5
B Faith in Buddha
“… The
bhikkhu (seeking enlightenment) places faith in the enlightenment of the
Blessed One,” the Buddha said to King Pasenadi of Kosala in the Kannakattha
Deer Park in Ujunnaya.
“The Blessed
One is perfect, rightfully enlightened, endowed with the knowledge and conduct,
well gone, knows the worlds, is the incomparable tamer of those to be tamed,
Teacher of gods and men, enlightened and blessed…”
---
Kannakatthala Sutta buddhasutra.com
The Blessed
One addressed the gathering of bhikkhus on the bank of the Ganges river at
Ukkaacela:
“... Likewise
those abiding in the Teaching through faith too cut the stream of death and
safely reach the other shore…
“Bhikkhus, it
will be for their welfare and good for a long time that some will think to
listen and take faith in me…”
---
Culagopalaka Sutta BuddhaSutra.com
Following the
request repeated three times by Brahma Sahampati who came down from heaven to
Uruvela to persuade the Buddha to teach sentient beings the Dhamma of
liberation from ignorance and suffering, the Holy One indicated his agreement
to do so in these words:
“Wide opened
is the door to the Immortal/Deathless
to all who have ears to hear;
Let them send
forth faith to meet it…”
Aparuta tesam
amatassa dvara -- ye sotavanta pamuncanth saddam.
(Narada, THE
BUDDHA AND HIS TEACHINGS, p.63)
--- First
Khandhaka BuddhaSutra.com
Commenting
on the various interpretations of the Kalama Sutta which the Blessed One
preached to the Kalamas in the town of Kesaputta in Kosala, distinguished
contemporary American monk-scholar Bhikkhu Bodhi has written: “… The Buddha out
of his profound comprehension of the human condition has imparted these truths to
us. For you to accept these truths in trust after careful consideration is to
set out on a journey. This journey will transform faith into wisdom, confidence
into certainty, and culminate in liberation from suffering…”
buddhasutra.com
When the
Blessed One stayed in the Gods’ Grove to the north of the brahmin village of
Opasada in Kosala, the 16-year-old brahmin Kapathik aka Bharadvaja, a very
young master of the Three Vedas, came to engage him in a very close Q-n-A
session in which the Master made many highly insightful and significant
statements on the Dhamma, including:
“... Now
something may be fully accepted out of faith, yet it may be empty, hollow, and
false; but something else may not be fully accepted out of faith, yet it may be
factual, true, and unmistaken…
“... If a
person has faith, Bharadvaja, he preserves truth when he says: ‘My faith is
thus’; but he does not yet come to the definite conclusion: ‘Only this is true,
anything else is wrong.’ In this way, Bharadvaja, there is the preservation of
truth… But as as yet there is no discovery of truth…
“... And the
Dhamma that this venerable one teaches is profound, hard to see and hard to
understand, peaceful and sublime, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle, to be
experienced by the wise…
“The final
arrival of truth, Bharadvaja, lies in the repetition, development, and
cultivation of those same things (hearing the Dhamma, memorizing it and
examining the meaning of its teachings, arising of zeal, applying one’s will,
scrutinizing the Dhamma, striving, “resolutely striving, he realizes with the
body the ultimate truth and sees it by penetrating it with wisdom”).
“In this way,
Bharadvaja, there is the final arrival at truth; in this way we describe the
final arrival of truth.”
Bharadvaja
forthwith pronounced himself a lay follower for life.
--- Canti
Sutta lirs.ru wisdompubs.com
Buddha’s
advice to Venerable Anuruddha, a cousin and one of the ten disciples with the
divine eye, to “abide diligent, ardent, and resolute”.
--- Culagosinga
Sutta
In the
concluding Chapter Four of THE LION’S ROAR OF QUEEN SRIMALA (Alex and
Hideko Wayman, Motilal Banarsidas Publishers, Delhi, 1990, p. 109), the Lord
said to Queen Srimala that “because with faith in the Tathagata they (present
and future disciples of the Buddha) do not abandon the profound Doctrine, they
are a great benefit to the living beings.”
3 pages 718
words 20-21.03.2018 01:32
Sakyamuni 6
C Buddha Nature
“… As all
sentient beings are endowed with Self-Enlightenment (originally and
primordially enlightened), the buddhas constantly awaken all beings by guiding
them to regain Self-Enlightenment,” the Buddha said to Apratisthia Bodhisattva
on Mount Grdhrakuta (Vulture Peak) in the great city of Rajagrha.
“Once
enlightened, all the defiled consciousnesses will be (realized and understood)
to be void, calm and non-arising…”
--- The Vajrasamadhi Sutra BuddhaSutra.com
Chapter
Four The Benediction of Self-Enlightenment
“… As the
mind is purified, one sees the buddhas. As one meets the buddhas, one then will
be born in the Pure Land (to further develop and perfect one’s wisdom and right
concentration),” the Buddha said to Ksitigarbha (Earth-Store) Bodhisattva.
--- Ibid., Chapter Eight
Concluding Summary
In
Epilogue, the Buddha said to Ananda, a cousin and closest disciple, that born
in the Pure Land “one will quickly attain anuttarasamyaksambodhi (supreme,
perfect enlightenment).”
“… O Son of
the Buddha, the Wisdom of the Tathagata, which is the immeasurable wisdom, the
profitable wisdom for all living beings, thoroughly penetrates within the
mentality (citta-santana) of every living being. And every mental
disposition of a living being has the same size as the Buddha’s Wisdom.
“Only the
ignorant, however, being bound by misconceptions, does neither know nor cognize
nor understand nor realize the Wisdom of the Tathagata (within himself/herself)…”
--- a quotation from the Avatamsakasutra,
in Jikido Takasaki, trans. A Study on the Ratnagotravibhaga, 1966, p.
191, and also quoted in Brian Edward Brown, THE BUDDHA NATURE,
1991/1994, p. 57.
Dr Brown
describes the Buddhist Enlightenment as the salvific-transformational moment of
perfect self-realization, in and through phenomenal human consciousness. As it
comes to free itself from the concealments of adventitious defilements, fully
self-explicated self-consciousness manifests itself only in the form of
omniscient wisdom.
2 pages 315 words 21.03.2018 22:37
Sakyamuni 7
D Loving
Kindness (Metta)
In
Rajagaha, the capital of Magadha, one of the first places where Gautama Buddha
taught and stayed for 12 years after his enlightenment in Bodhgaya, some 20
miles away, the Enlightened One had the occasion to teach the King of Magadha,
Seniya Bimbisara. And the Buddha made this solemn utterance:
“Do not
deceive, do not despise
each other,
anywhere.
Do not be
angry, nor should you
bear secret
resentment.
For, as a
mother risks her life
and watches
over her child,
so boundless
should be your love to all,
so tender,
kind and mild!
Indeed,
cherish goodwill and dispense it
right and
left,
all around,
early and late,
and without
hindrance, without stint,
free from
envy and hate,
while
standing, walking, sitting down,
whatever you
have in mind,
the rule of
life that is always best
is to be
loving and kind.”
After
listening to the sermon, the King of Magadha took refuge in the Buddha, Dharma,
and Sangha.
The
Sermon At Rajagaha records that the Tathagata, by exercise of his virtue
and wisdom, showed his unlimited spiritual power. He subdued and harmonized all
minds. He made them see and accept the truth, and throughout the kingdom the
seeds of virtue were sown.
BuddhaSutra.com
… Let none
wish others harm
In
resentment or in hate.
Just as
with her own life
A mother
shields from hurt
Her own
son, her only child,
Let
all-embracing thoughts
For all
beings be yours.
Cultivate
an all-embracing mind of love
For all
throughout the universe…
--- The
Hymn of Universal Love Karaniya Metta Sutta
Translated
by Acharya Buddharakkhita buddhasutra.com
In
Vatthunupama Sutta the Blessed One lists 16 mental defilements:
covetousness, aversion, anger, ill will, contempt, mercilessness, jealousy,
selfishness, hypocrisy, craftiness, stubbornness, haughty talk,
measuring/calculating, conceit, intoxication (drunkenness), negligence.
Knowing
each defilement, one dispels it.
One
“pervades the whole world” with loving kindness, with compassion, with
intrinsic joy, and with equanimity,
“with a developed and limitless mind
without enmity and anger”.
Anathapindika, the late wealthy and highly generous and kind patron of
the Blessed One, passed on to dwell in the Tusita heaven.
In Anathapindikovada
Sutta the young god versifies:
“… By
action, knowledge and Dhamma,
By virtue
and noble way of life --
By these
are mortals purified
Not by
lineage or wealth.
“Therefore
a wise person who sees
What truly
leads to his own good,
Should
investigate the Dhamma,
And purify
himself with it…”
“… Let good
will without measure, impartial,
unmixed
with enmity, prevail throughout
the
world, above, below, around…”
---
Khuddaka Patha
Translated
by Robert Caesar Childers,
Journal
of the Royal Asiatic Society,
New
Series, Volume IV (1870)
buddhasutra.com
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Sakyamuni 8
E
Compassion (Karuna)
Compassion,
the root of all virtues, particularly the root-cause of morality.
Great
Compassion, the root/foundation of Enlightenment.
In the Brahma
Net Sutra, a major discourse in Mahayana Buddhism, the first of the 10
Major Precepts against killing prescribes the cultivation of compassion.
As taught by
Shakyamuni Buddha, a disciple ought to nurture a mind of compassion and filial
piety, always devising expedient means to rescue and protect all beings.
“Compassion is
the mind of benevolence, rescuing and liberating (self and others), detached
from forms, without discrimination or attachment,” Dharma Master Thich Thien
Tam has written in BUDDHISM OF WISDOM & FAITH Pure Land Principles and
Practice, 1991 (1st edition), 1994 (5th), p.37.
In The
Flower Ornament Scripture (Avatamsaka Sutra), translated by Thomas Cleary,
Vol II p. 343, the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra has taught: “… Great (Bodhisattvas
develop) great compassion by ten kinds of observations of sentient beings: they
see sentient beings have nothing to rely on for support; they see sentient
beings are unruly; they see sentient beings lack virtues; they see sentient
beings are asleep in ignorance; they see sentient beings do bad things;
they see sentient beings are bound by desires; they see sentient beings
drowning in the sea of Birth and Death; they see sentient beings chronically
suffer from illness; they see sentient beings have no desire for goodness; they
see sentient beings have lost the way to enlightenment…”
Also known as
Universal Worthy, and personifying the transcendental practices and vows of the
Buddhas, this extremely dedicated and magnificently magnanimous Bodhisattva has
described the Bodhi Tree of Enlightenment (the symbol of Universal Enlightenment)
as “a great regal tree” in The Vows of Samantabhadra:
“It is like a
great regal tree growing in the rocks and sand of barren wilderness. When the
roots get water, the branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits will all flourish.
The regal bodhi-tree growing in the wilderness of Birth and Death (Samsara) is
the same.
“All living
beings are its roots; all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are its flowers and fruits.
“By
benefitting all beings with the water of Great Compassion, one can realize the
flowers and fruits of the Buddhas’ and Bodhisattvas’ wisdom…”
--- the
9th Vow, Practices and Vows of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, Avatamsaka
Sutra Chapter 40, translated by Buddhist Text Translation Society,
Talmadge, California. Excerpted in Appendix, MIND-SEAL OF THE BUDDHAS by
Patriarch Ou-i (1599-1655). Translated by J. C. Cleary, printed for free
distribution by The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation,
Taiwan, April 2006, p. 132.
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words 22.03.2018 01:15
Sakyamuni 9
F Patience
(v Anger)
“… Patience
(khanti) is a virtue which cannot be equalled even by keeping the
precepts (which Lord Buddha had minutes earlier exhorted his followers to keep
and treat them as a guiding light “which you have discovered in the dark”) and
(undertaking) the austere Practices,” the Buddha said, speaking on the
essentials of the Dhamma in the middle watch of the night of his Parinibbana in
the year 460 B.C.
“You should
know that angry thoughts are more terrible than a great fire, so continually
guard yourselves against them and do not let them gain entrance.
“Among the
three robbers (the main afflictions of anger, greed, and delusion), none steals
merit more than anger and resentment…”
--- The
Discourse of the Teaching Bestowed by the Buddha, translated by Kumarajiva
around 349-413 A.D.
On
one occasion when the Blessed One was staying in the Bamboo Grove, the
Squirrels’ Sanctuary near Rajagaha, the Brahmin Akkosaka (“Insulter”) came to
hassle and insult. But Buddha told him he would not play tit for tat. “But I am
not eating together nor sharing your company, Brahmin. It (your insult) is all
yours. It’s all yours.”
“… You
make things worse
when you
flare up
at
someone who’s angry.
Whoever
doesn’t flare up
at
someone who’s angry
wins a
battle
hard to
win.
“You
live for the good of both
-- your
own, the other’s
when,
knowing the other’s provoked,
you
mindfully grow calm.
When you
work the cure of both
-- your
own, the other’s --
those
who think you a fool
know
nothing of Dhamma.”
The
irascible Brahmin was converted, went on to cultivate himself, and shortly
attained the supreme goal of the holy life.
--- Akkosa
(Insult) Sutta buddhasutra.com
221
One
should give up anger,
renounce pride,
and
overcome all fetters.
Suffering never befalls him
who
clings not to mind and body
and
is detached.
---
Dhammapada trans. Ven Sri Acharya Buddharakkhita
“In whatever we do, we need to exercise
patience. As stated in the Diamond Sutra, “All natural laws of the
universe attribute their success to patience.”
“Without it (patience), we cannot
succeed in anything,” Venerable Master Chin Kung has written on the Paramita of
Patience in his book BUDDHISM: THE WISDOM OF COMPASSION AND AWAKENING (edited
by Silent Voices, and published by Amitabha Buddhist Society (M), Jalan Pahang,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 2006, p. 118).
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words 22.03.2018 02:20
Sakyamuni 10
G
Diligence
“… That
Dhamma which the greatly compassionate Lord has taught for your benefit is now
concluded, but it is for you to strive diligently to practice this teaching,”
the Buddha said in his final sermon to the gathering of great disciples, from
the first graduate Anna Kondanna to the latest, Subhadda.
“You
(present and future followers of the Dhamma) should always exert yourselves in
practicing it, lest you die after wasting a whole lifetime and come to regret
it afterwards…”
Towards the
end of his farewell address, the Buddha reiterated (what he must have said
countless times): “… But do strive diligently and quickly for Freedom (from the
existential chains of Birth and Death). With the light of Perfect Wisdom destroy
the darkness of ignorance, for in this world (of impermanence) is nothing
strong or enduring…”
--- The
Discourse of the Teaching Bestowed by the Buddha
In
the Angulimala Sutta is related the great reformation of the young
killer and robber aka bandit (and actually also an outstanding student)
Angulimala. The Blessed One was his 1000th target, but he simply
could not get near to strike despite all his attempts to do so. Angulimala
threw away his weapons, fell at the feet of the Blessed One, and begged to
enter the holy life of a monk. He had decided to “throw away demerit for good”.
“Before
long, dwelling alone, withdrawn, diligent, ardent and resolute, the Venerable
Angulimala, by realizing for himself with direct knowledge, here and now
entered upon and abided in that supreme goal of the holy… He became an arahant
(a fully enlightened saint).”
“… Like a
clansman going forth out of faith,
Like a
good man making “good” with heartwood,
When he
is diligent, he attains
perpetual liberation…”
---
Mahasaropama Sutta
“…
Let him be diligent, upright, and conscientious,
meek,
gentle, not vainglorious…”
--- Metta
Sutta buddhasutra.com
2 pages 338 words 22.03.2018 16:16
Sakyamuni 11
H
Heedfulness
“…
The wise person, heedful (in doing deeds of merit),
achieves
both benefits:
those in
the here - and - now
and those
in the life to come.
By
breaking through to his benefit,
he’s
called enlightened,
wise,”
said the Blessed One, in response to a question by King Pasenadi of Kosala at
Savatthi.
---
Appamada Sutta translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
buddhasutra.com
“Long
life, beauty, status, honor,
heaven,
high birth:
To those
who delight
in
aspiring for these things
in great
measure, continuously,
the wise
praise heedfulness
in making
merit.
The wise
person, heedful,
acquires a
two-fold welfare:
welfare in
this life and
welfare in
the next.
“By
breaking through to his welfare
he’s
called wise,” the Blessed One spoke to Anathapindika, the greatly generous
householder, multimillionaire, and distinguished patron of
the Buddha.
--- Ittha
Sutta translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu buddhasutra.com
25
By effort
and heedfulness
discipline
and self-mastery,
let the wise
one make for himself
an island
which no flood* can overwhelm.
* any
one of four floods: sensuality, becoming (existence), wrong views, and
ignorance
30
By
heedfulness did Indra
become
the overlord of the gods.
Heedfulness is ever praised,
and
heedlessness ever despised.
172
He who
having been heedless
is
heedless no more,
illuminates this world
like the
moon freed from clouds.
226
Those
who are ever vigilant,
who
discipline themselves
day and night,
and are
ever intent upon Nibbana --
their
defilements fade away.
327
Delight
in heedfulness!
Guard
well your thoughts!
Draw
yourself out of this bog of evil,
even
as an elephant
draws
himself out of the mud.
--- Five
verses from Dhammapada translated by Venerable Sri Achariya
Buddharakkhita.
“… If you are
attentive, none of the robbers, the afflictions (of anger, greed, and
delusion), can enter your mind.
“That is why
you must keep your mind in a state of constant attention, for by loss of
attention you lose all merits,” said the Buddha in his last teaching before
Parinibbana.
--- The Discourse of the Teaching Bestowed by the
Buddha
BuddhaSutra.com
3 pages 356 words 22.03.2018 17:27
Sakyamuni 12
I Practice
of Mindfulness
“I have
faith and energy and wisdom,” Gotama said to Mara who was about to flee after
failing in his his final attempt to subdue his preeminent spiritual opponent.
“Having
mastered the mind and firmly established mindfulness, I shall wander from
country to country guiding many disciples…”
--- Padhana Sutta (The Great Struggle)
Translated by John D. Ireland BuddhaSutra.com
“Mindful
should you dwell, Bhikkhus, clearly comprehending, thus I exhort you,” said the
Blessed One, speaking on mindfulness and clear comprehension at Ambapak’s Grove
in Vesali.
--- Mahaparinibbana Sutta Part
Two The Journey to Vesali
buddhasutra.com
On
mindfulness, which the great 20th century Thai wandering forest monk
and modern-day arahant Acariya Mun (1870-1949) has stressed as the principal
foundation of meditation practice, and as always indispensable in all
activities:
“Practiced
continuously, it eventually develops into the kind of supreme-mindfulness that
fosters the highest levels of wisdom.
“Mindfulness
must be used intensively at the preliminary level of developing meditative calm
and concentration.
“In
all succeeding levels of practice, mindfulness and wisdom must be developed in
tandem, working as a team.”
--- Venerable Acariya Mun Bhuridatta Thera
A
Spiritual Biography
By
Acariya Maha Boowa Nanasampanno
First published by Forest Dhamma of Wat Pa Boan Taad,
2003, translated by Richard E, Byrd, Jr. (born 1948), who was ordained as
Bhikkhu Silaratano in 1977.
Reprinted for free distribution by W.A.V.E., Malaysia,
September 2014 (sixth reprint), p. 315.
The first
and most important of the seven factors of enlightenment, mindfulness (sati)
is also one of the five powers and five faculties as well as one of the
seven right practices in Buddhism.
2 pages 288 words 22.03.2018 18:27
Sakyamuni 13
J
Moral/Righteous Conduct
Do good;
be good.
In the
palace of the Dragon King of the Ocean, the World Honored One taught the Dragon
King the dhamma of the ten wholesome ways of conduct: “They are the ability to
give up forever killing, stealing, wrong conduct (sexual), lying, slandering,
harsh language, frivolous speech, lust, hate, and wrong views…”
The Buddha
also told the Dragon King to practice giving as well as to adorn wholesome
conduct with morality, patience, effort, meditative concentration, compassion,
sympathetic joy, serenity, mindfulness, etc.
“Oh Dragon
King, you should know that the ten wholesome actions can lead up to the
completion of the Ten Powers of The Tathagata,” the Buddha exhorted. “You
should therefore practice and train with diligence…”
--- The Discourse On The Ten Wholesome Ways of
Action
BuddhaSutra.com
As
requested by two young Brahmans Vasettha and Bharadvaga in the village
of Manasaka in Kosola, the Blessed One taught them the path to the heavenly
world of Brahma through a person’s good conduct.
“Now,
Vasettha, wherein is his conduct good? Herein, O Vasettha, putting away all
unkindness to sentient beings, he abstains from destroying life. He lays aside
the cudgel and sword and, full of humility and pity, he is compassionate and
kind to all creatures that have life.
“Putting away
the desire for things, which are not his, he abstains from taking anything that
is not freely given him. He has only what has been given him, therewith he is
content, and he passes his life in honesty and in purity of heart.
“Putting away
all thoughts of lust, he lives a life of chastity and purity.
“Putting away
all thoughts of deceiving, he abstains from prevarications; he speaks
truthfully, from the truth he never swerves; faithful and trustworthy, he never
injures his fellow men by deceit.
“Putting away
all judgment of others, he abstains from slander; what he hears he repeats not
elsewhere to raise a quarrel; what he hears elsewhere he repeats not here to
raise a quarrel. Thus he brings together those who are divided; he encourages
those who are friendly; he is a peacemaker, a lover of peace, impassioned for
peace, a speaker of words that make for peace.
“Putting away
all bitter thoughts, he abstains from harsh speech. Whatever is humane,
pleasant to the ear, kindly, reaching to the heart, urbane, acceptable to the
people, appreciated by the people -- such are the words he speaks.
“Putting away
all foolish thoughts, he abstains from vain conversation. He speaks in season;
he speaks truthfully, consistently, wisely, with restraint. He speaks only when
appropriate for him to speak, words that are profitable, well sustained, well
defined, full of wisdom.
“Besides
being kind to all animate life, he refrains from injuring insects or even
herbs.
“The true
Samana, he who is seeking the way to the Brahma world, lets his mind pervade
all quarters of the world with thoughts of love… far reaching, beyond measure,
all embracing…”
---
Tevigga Sutta BuddhaSutra.com
53
As from a
great heap of flowers
many
garlands can be made,
even so
should many good deeds
be done
by one born a mortal.
68
Well done
is that action doing
which one repents not later,
and the
fruit of which one reaps
with
delight and happiness.
118
Should a
person do good,
let him do
it again and again.
Let him
find pleasure therein,
for
blissful is the accumulation of good.
122
Think
not lightly of good, saying,
“It
will not come to me.”
Drop by
drop is the water pot filled.
Likewise, the wise man,
gathering it little by little,
fills himself with good.
333
Good
is virtue until life’s end,
good is
faith that is steadfast,
good
is the acquisition of wisdom,
and good is the avoidance of evil.
--- Five
verses from Dhammapada
Translated
by Venerable Sri Acharya Buddharakkhita,
Published
for free distribution by Sukhi Hotu Dhamma
Publications.
4 pages 682 words 22.03.2018 19:59
Sakyamuni 14
K
Teachings for the lay followers
In
the Saleyyaka Sutta, a lesson for brahmin householders of Sala, a
Brahmin village in Kosala, the main emphasis is on righteous conduct in
accordance with the Dhamma.
Ten kinds
of righteous conduct are taught:
three of bodily conduct: abandoning killing but
abiding in compassion, abstaining from taking what is not given (stealing), and
abstaining from misconduct in sensual pleasures (sexual misconduct);
four verbal: abandoning false speech (musa
vacca), malicious speech (pisuna vacca), harsh speech (pharusa
vacca), and gossip (samphappalapa); and
three mental: abandoning covetousness,
abstaining from ill will, and having right view/undistorted vision.
According
to Buddha’s teaching, a householder or lay follower observing religiously such
righteous conduct can realize with direct knowledge and “enter upon and abide
in the deliverance of mind and deliverance of wisdom that are taintless with
the destruction of the taints” (Bhikku Nanamoli and Bhikku Bodhi, Middle
Length Discourses para 43 p. 384).
One late
morning around the time of the mid-day meal in Rajagaha, the Buddha taught the
layperson’s code of conduct and discipline to young Sigala, son of a householder.
In his comprehensive discourse, the Exalted One stressed eradicating the four
vices in human conduct.
“… The
destruction of life, householder, is a vice and so are stealing, sexual
misconduct, and lying. These are the four vices that he (the noble disciple)
has eradicated,” the Master taught Sigala.
How does
one commit or avoid evil?
“… Led by
desire does one commit evil. Led by anger does one commit evil. Led by
ignorance does one commit evil. Led by fear does one commit evil,” the Exalted
One said. “But inasmuch as the noble disciple is not led by desire, anger,
ignorance, and fear, he commits no evil.”
The Exalted
One reiterated, speaking in verse:
“Whoever
through desire, hate or fear,
Or ignorance
should transgress the Dhamma,
All his glory
fades away
Like the moon
during the waning half.
Whoever
through desire, hate or fear,
Or ignorance
never transgresses the Dhamma,
All his glory
increases
Like the moon
during the waxing half.”
On
increasing one’s merit and attaining honor, the Master said:
“… Who is
wise and virtuous,
gentle and
keen-witted,
humble and
amenable,
such a one to
honor may attain.
“Who is
energetic and not indolent
in misfortune
unshaken,
flawless in manner
and intelligence,
such a one to
honor may attain.
“Who is
hospitable and friendly,
liberal and
unselfish,
A guide, an
instructor, a leader,
such a one to
honor may attain.
“Generosity,
sweet speech,
Helpfulness
to others,
Impartiality
to all,
as the case
demands…”
---
Sigalovada Sutta
Translated by
Narada Thera
BuddhaSutra.com
3 pages 462 words 23.03.2018 11:03
Sakyamuni 15
L Living
in the present
“…
Bhikkhus, thus you should not falter with
things of
the present.
Do not
recollect the past, nor desire the future.
The past is
over, the future has not come.
These
things of the present, see them with insight
as they
arise.
Not
faltering and not moved, think about them.
Today
itself the dispelling (of selfishness/vanity/
craving/clinging) should be done.
Tomorrow
death might come…”
Said the
Blessed One, in Bhaddekarattasutam
A
Single Auspicious Attachment buddhasutra.com
“Blessed is
he who has understood the Dhamma. Blessed is he who does no harm to his
fellow-beings,” said the Blessed One.
“Blessed is
he who overcomes wrong and is free from passion.
“To the
highest bliss has he attained who has conquered all selfishness and vanity. He
has become the Buddha, the Perfect One…”
--- Mara Upasatha Sutta -- Founding The Kingdom
buddhasutra.com
The Bhayabherava
(Fear and Dread) Sutta recounts Gotama’s enlightenment experience; with his
mind totally liberated from the taints of sensual desire, of being, and of
ignorance, came the knowledge of the destruction of birth/rebirth in Samsara,
in the third watch of the night:
“... Ignorance was banished and true knowledge arose,
darkness was abolished and light arose, as happens in one who abides diligent,
ardent, and resolute…”
In another
account of the Buddha’s enlightenment, the Dvedhavitakka Sutta describes
the destruction of the three fundamental taints in the third watch of the night
as the third knowledge of the ending of the mental fermentations of sensuality,
of becoming, and of ignorance.
The Samannaphala
Sutta describes the ultimate mental/moral/spiritual victory as Asavakkhaya
Nana, knowledge of extinction of moral intoxicants:
(1) of sensual
pleasures and sensuous realms (kamasava),
(2) of
being/existing (bhavasava), and
(3) of ignorance
(avijjasava) of the Four Noble Truths, the perfectly and thoroughly
clear and complete knowledge, understanding, and realization of which
culminated in the attainment of the Supreme, Perfect Enlightenment of Buddha.
2 pages 333 words 23.03.2018 11:59
Sakyamuni 16
M Knowing
and Seeing Impermanence (Anicca)
170
One who
looks upon the world
as a
bubble and a mirage,
him the
King of Death sees not.
277
“All
conditioned things are impermanent”
-- when one
sees this with wisdom,
one turns
away from suffering.
--- Dhammapada
translated by Venerable Sri Acharya Buddharakkhita
In Book
Twenty-Five of The Flower Ornament Scripture, A Translation of the Avatamsaka
Sutra by Thomas Cleary (published by Shambhala, Boston, 1993), the
discourse by the Bodhisattva Diamond Banner on the Ten Dedications of
enlightening beings, the famous 12-page-long sentence (pp 652-663) ends with
these imperishable words: “…bearing knowledge that all are like reflections,
like dreams, like illusions, like echoes, like phantoms, like space, bearing
knowledge of nullity, bearing knowledge of all realms of reality, bearing
independent knowledge, bearing knowledge of all principles of Buddhahood.”
In the Diamond
Sutra which the Buddha has described as “the highest and rarest Dharma”, he
told the elder Subhuti to teach it “without attachment to form with the
immutability of the absolute”. Why?
The Buddha
said to Subhuti:
“All
phenomena are like
A dream, an illusion, a bubble and a shadow.
Like dew and
lightning.
Thus should
you meditate upon them.”
In Anguttara
Nikaya (Collection of Gradual Sayings) Part I, the Buddha asserts:
“Whether
the Tathagatas appear or not, O Bhikkhus, it remains a fact, an established
principle, a natural law that all conditioned things are transient (anicca),
sorrowful (dukkha), and that everything is soulless (also translated as
not-self) (anatta).
“This fact
the Tathagata realizes, understands and when He has realized and understood it,
announces, teaches, proclaims, establishes, discloses, analyses, and makes it
clear, that all conditioned things are transient, sorrowful (full of suffering),
and that everything is soulless (without a self)…”
--- As quoted in Narada, THE
BUDDHA AND HIS TEACHINGS,
First Edition 2508-1964, Fourth Edition 2532-1988
Reprinted for free distribution February 2004 by The
Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, Taiwan, p. 296.
2 pages 345 words 23.03 12:52
Sakyamuni 17
N Let go
of self!
As
narrated in the Mara Upasatha Sutra, Gotama gave himself up to
meditation after his victory over Mara who had failed to stop him from
progressing further to his ultimate breakthrough in attaining the Supreme, Perfect
Enlightenment of Buddhahood.
All the
miseries of the world, the evils of evil deeds and their arising attendant
sufferings passed before his mental eye.
“Pondering
on the origin of birth and death, the Enlightened One recognized that ignorance
was the root of all evil.
“If
the selfishness of selfhood is destroyed you will be above birth, old age,
disease, and death, and you will escape all suffering…”
Moreover,
“The attainment of truth is possible only when self is recognized as an
illusion. Righteousness can be practiced only when we have freed our mind from
passions of egotism. Perfect peace can dwell only when all vanity has
disappeared.”
--- Founding The Kingdom buddhasutra.com
The
Buddha delivered The Sermon At Rajagaha in the presence of the King of
Magadha, Seniya Bimbisara, who took refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha at
the end of this highly significant teaching.
Self, let
it go! Free yourself!
The Enlightened One said: “… Those of you
who are slaves of the self and toil in its services from morning to night,
those of you who live in constant fear of birth, old age, sickness, and death
(existential fate), receive the good news that your cruel master (so-called
self) does not exist!
“Self is an error, an illusion, and a
dream.
“Open your eyes and awaken. See things as
they are and you will be comforted…
“Those that have found that there is no
self will let go all the lusts and desires of egotism.
“The clinging to things, covetousness, and
sensuality inherited from former existences, are the causes of the misery and
vanity in the world.
“Surrender the grasping disposition of
selfishness, and you will attain to that calm state of mind, which conveys
perfect peace, goodness, and wisdom…”
--- BuddhaSutra.com
2 pages 356 words 23.03.2018
13:46
Sakyamuni 18
O Giving
Generously
“… That shower of merit,
abundant,
rains back
on the one
who
gives.”
--- The
Blessed One, Archery Skills
Translated
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu buddhasutra.com
“… There is
a proper time and a proper mode in charity; just as the vigorous warrior goes
to battle, so is the man who is able to give. He is like an able warrior, a
champion strong and wise in action. Loving and compassionate he gives with
reverence and banishes all hatred, envy, and anger,” the Blessed One said at
the Bamboo Grove near Rajagaha in his first meeting with the wealthy merchant
Anathapindika, who offered to establish a vihara for the Buddha who had
recently come out to teach and to spread the Dhamma of Compassion and Wisdom.
“The
charitable man has found the path of salvation. He is like the man who plants a
sapling, securing thereby the shade, the flowers and the fruit in future years.
Even so is the result of charity, even so is the joy of him who helps those
that are in need of assistance; even so is the great Nirvana…”
--- The Sermon on Charity
When
the Buddha agreed to the request by Visakha, a wealthy woman and patron of the
Sangha, to donate robes, food and medicine, he thanked her and said:
“O noble
woman of an upright life,
Disciple of
the Blessed One, thou givest
unstintedly
in purity of heart.
Thou
spreadest joy, assuagest pain,
and
verily thy gift will be a blessing
as well to
many others as to thee.”
--- Founding The Kingdom
“Aggivessana (aka Saccaka), whatever comes about from giving to a
recipient such as yourself -- one who is not free from lust, not free from
hate, not free from delusion -- that will be for the givers,” the Blessed One
said in the Hall with Peaked Roof at Vesali.
“And
whatever comes about from giving to a recipient such as myself -- one who is
free from lust, free from hate, free from delusion -- that will be for you…”
--- Culasacca Sutta
Dana/generosity
is a Parami/Paramita, perfection, transcendent virtue in Buddhist practice.
In the
cultivation of a bodhisattva seeking enlightenment to benefit oneself and all
others, the practice of dana is abandoning selfishness and acquiring
selflessness.
In
Book Thirty-eight of The Flower Ornament Scripture (a translation of the
voluminous and highly profound Avatamsaka Sutra), entitled Detachment
from the World, the Bodhisattva Universally Good (Samantabhadra) speaks on
great enlightening beings (bodhisattvas) developing ten kinds of Universally
Good mind, including “a mind of total giving, relinquishing all they have”. (p.
1030)
177
Truly,
misers fare
not to
heavenly realms;
nor, indeed,
do fools praise generosity.
But the wise man rejoices in giving,
and by that
alone does he become
happy
hereafter.
--- Dhammapada
Translated by Venerable Sri Acharya Buddharakkhita
3 pages 487 words 23.03.14:55
Sakyamuni 19
P
Eradication of Ignorance (Avijja)
In
the Sutra on The Eight Realizations (translated from Pali to
Chinese by the Pathian monk An Shih Kao in later Han dynasty 140-171 AD), the
eighth realization is the awareness that the fire of birth and death is raging,
causing endless suffering everywhere.
It’s also
the eighth thing in The Enlightenment Sutra: “The flames of existence
are hard to escape from. They bring us to pain and to sorrow unlimited…”
The Sangiti
Sutta cites the three fires of lust, hatred, and delusion (ignorance).
The triad
of defilements are named as the three great robbers of merit in The
Discourse on the Teaching Bestowed by the Buddha (translated by Kumarajiva
around 344-413 AD).
In the Adittapariyaya
Sutta, The Fire Sermon, the Buddha delivered probably his most powerful
teaching in the early period of his ministry before an august assembly of 1,000
monks at Vanarasi in Gaya.
His
teaching is that every human being is existentially engulfed in the flames of
the three most fundamental passions -- craving, ill will/hatred, and ignorance
(the root of all evil).
When freed
from all these kilesas with their eventual extinguishment, one becomes a
fully enlightened saint, a complete and consummate arahant, totally liberated
from ignorance and the karmic bonds of samsaric existence. No longer “Aflame
with the fire of passion, the fire of aversion, the fire of delusion…”
All the
1,000 monks, a record number, attained their total spiritual liberation and
became arahants on the spot after hearing the highly-memorable Fire Sermon.
They could say, what the Buddha said to the naked ascetic his friend Upaka the
Ajiveka on the way to the Deer Park in Isipatana near Benares to inaugurate his
spiritual mission: “Cool am I, unbound…”
To quote
the Venerable Nandak who taught the young Salha at the Eastern Monastery in
Savatthi, on the successful completion and attainment of arahantship:
“… So here
and now in this very life he is parched no more by the fever of craving’s
thirst, his fires of greed, hate and delusion are extinguished and cooled out;
experiencing bliss, he abides for the remainder of his life-span divinely pure
in himself…”
--- Salha Sutta translated
by Nanamoli Thera
The Buddha
said: “… Those who are drowned in the filth of passion are called ignorant.
Those who overcome it are saintly arahats.”
--- The Discourse of the Teaching Bestowed by the
Buddha
“… There
comes a time when the great earth is consumed with flame, is destroyed, and
does not exist. But for beings -- as long as they are hindered by ignorance,
fettered by craving, transmigrating and wandering on (through innumerable
existences and lifetimes) -- I don’t say that there is an end of suffering and
stress,” the Blessed One said.
--- Gaddula Sutta translated by
Thanissaro buddhasutra.com
2 pages 491 words 24.03.2018 11:25
Sakyamuni 20
Q Mental
Development (Bhavana)
1
Mind
precedes all mental states.
Mind is
their chief;
they are
all mind-wrought.
If with
an impure mind
a person
speaks or acts,
suffering
follows him like the wheel
that follows the foot of the ox.
2
Mind precedes all mental states.
Mind is their chief;
they are all mind-wrought.
If with a pure mind
a person speaks or acts,
happiness follows him
like his never-departing shadow.
35
Wonderful, indeed,
it is to
subdue the mind,
so
difficult to subdue, ever swift,
and seizing whatever it desires.
A
tamed mind brings happiness.
36
Let the discerning man
guard the mind,
so difficult to detect and extremely subtle,
seizing whatever it desires.
A guarded mind brings happiness.
---
Dhammapada trans. Ven Sri Achariya Buddharakkhita
“The true functioning of the mind is very
subtle and difficult to be understood… It is only the Tathagatas and the
Bodhisattvas who are firmly established in the seventh stage (of 10 stages of
development towards attaining Buddhahood)
who can fully understand its workings…”
--- The Lankavatara Sutra buddhasutra.com
“The
mind is the lord of the five senses (the five natural powers of sight, hearing,
feeling, taste, and smell) and for this reason you will control the mind… check
it completely and there is nothing you will be unable to accomplish…”
--- The Discourse of the Teaching Bestowed by the
Buddha
In the Adanta
Sutta (translated by F. L. Woodward), the Buddha said:
“… Monks, I
know not of any other single thing that brings such bliss as the mind that is
tamed, controlled, guarded and restrained. Such a mind indeed brings great
bliss.”
In the Mahavedalla
Sutta, Ven Sariputta, Buddha’s leading disciple, said to Ven Maha Katthita
that “the unshakeable deliverance of mind is pronounced the best. Now that
unshakeable deliverance of mind is void of lust, void of hate, void of
delusion…”
57
Mara never finds the path
of the truly virtuous
who abide in heedfulness
and are freed by perfect knowledge.
--- Dhammapada trans. Ven
Sri Achariya Buddharakkhita
2 pages 357
words 24.03.2018 12:34
Sakyamuni 21
R Marks of
a true man (sappurisa)
“… And how
is a true man possessed of good qualities? Here a true man has faith (saddha),
shame (hiri), and fear of wrong doing (ottapa); he is learned,
energetic, mindful, and wise. That is how a true man is possessed of good
qualities,” the Blessed One taught on the full-moon night of Uposatha in the
Palace of Migara’s Mother at the Eastern Park in Savatthi.
According
to Buddha, shame (hiri) and fear of wrong doing (ottapa) serve as
“the guardians of the world”, because they serve as the foundation of morality
in the world.
“And how
does a true man speak as a true man? Here a true man abstains from false
speech, from malicious speech, from harsh speech, and from gossip. That is how
a true man speaks as a true man.
“And how
does a true man act act as a true man?
Here a true man abstains from killing living beings,
from taking what is not given, and from misconduct in sensual pleasures. That
is how a true man acts as a true man…”
In Buddhist practice the essence is human
development to its fullest potential, that is human perfection, culminating in
attainment of Buddhahood.
As it’s
stated in The Marks of a Great Man: “… as a Buddha, he becomes the
chief, foremost, highest, supreme among all beings…”
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Sakyamuni 22
S
Self-conquest
103
Though
one may conquer
a
thousand times a thousand men in battle,
yet he
indeed is the noblest victor
who
conquers himself.
104-105
Self-conquest
is
far better than
than
the conquest of others.
Not
even a god, an angel,
Mara or Brahma
can
turn into defeat
the
victory of such a person
who
is self-subdued
and
ever restrained in conduct.
421
He who
clings to nothing
of the
past, present and future,
who
has no attachment
and
holds on to nothing --
him do
I call a holy man.
--- Dhammapada trans.
Venerable Sri Achariya Buddharakkhita
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Sakyamuni 23
T
Self-responsibility
160
One truly
is the protector of oneself;
who else
could the protector be?
With
oneself fully controlled,
one
gains a mastery
that
is hard to gain.
165
By oneself
is evil done;
by oneself
is one defiled.
By oneself is
evil left undone;
by oneself
is one made pure.
Purity and
impurity depend on oneself;
no one can
purify another.
166
Let no
one neglect
one’s
own welfare
for the
sake of another,
however
great.
Clearly
understanding
one’s
own welfare,
let one be
intent upon the good.
183
To
avoid evil,
to
cultivate good,
and to
cleanse (purify) one’s mind --
this is the
teaching of the Buddhas.
--- Dhammapada trans.
Venerable Sri Acharya Buddharakkhita
1
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Sakyamuni 24
U
Universal Oneness
In the Alavaka
Sutta, the Buddha teaches that it takes wisdom to penetrate into the truth
that there is nothing but what is seen of the mind itself.
Mind,
emancipated from error of discrimination, enters into perfect self-realization
of Noble Wisdom.
The Truth
can only be self-realized within one’s deepest
consciousness.
The
mind-made world is no more than mind itself. The external world is nothing but
a manifestation of mind.
In Book
Twenty of The Flower Ornament Sutra (p, 452), the enlightening being
Forest of Awareness, imbued with the power of Buddha, said in verse:
If people
want to really know
All Buddhas
of all times,
They should
contemplate the nature of the cosmos:
All is but
mental construction.
In essence
things are not two (dual) but absolutely one (singular).
Even Nirvana
and Samsara’s world of life and death are aspects of the same (one) thing, for
there’s no Nirvana except where is Samsara, and no Samsara except where is
Nirvana.
All duality
is falsely imagined.
“... It is
because the nature of the defilements is the very nature of the state of
Buddhahood that the Tathagata is said to abide in equality,”
Bodhisattva-Mahasattva Manjusri said to the Blessed One, who concurred
instantly, in The Demonstration of The Inconceivable State of Buddhahood
Sutra, an exposition by the Bodhisattva of Wisdom in Anathapindika’s Garden
at the Jeta Grove near Shravasti.
“... I
consider Nirvana as an awakening from a daydream or nightmare,” the Lord said
in the concluding chapter of The Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters (as
translated by D. T. Suzuki).
“I consider
the doctrine of sameness as the absolute ground of reality…”
--- buddhasutra.com
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Sakyamuni 25
W The Four
Noble Truths
The
Bodhisattva Gautama discovered the Four Noble Truths (suffering, its cause, its
cessation, and the path to its cessation) while making his most momentous
breakthrough to the ultimate attainment of the Incomparable Supreme
Enlightenment (anuttaram sammasambodhim).
“Thus, O
Bhikkhus, with respect to things unheard before, there arose in me the eye
(vision), the knowledge, the wisdom, the insight, and the light (of total
illumination and revelation),” the Exalted One said when he introduced his doctrine
of spiritual self-emancipation and enlightenment to the five Bhikkhus in his
very first discourse at the Deer Park in Isipatana near Benares (DHAMMACAKKAPRAVATTANA
SUTTA, quoted in Narada, THE BUDDHA AND HIS TEACHINGS, p. 91).
The Four
Noble Truths featured strongly in his mind when he preached for the last time
to 500 monks in the night of his Parinibbana.
“O
Bhikkhus, if you have any doubts regarding the Four Noble Truths…, you should
ask about them at once. Do not harbour such doubts without seeking to resolve
them,” the Lord repeated three times. (The Discourse of the Teaching
Bestowed by the Buddha)
One of the
top ten disciples, Venerable Anuruddha respectfully addressed the Buddha on
behalf of all present:
“... Lord, all the Bhikkhus are certain and have no
doubts about the Four Noble Truths…”
Ignorance
is not knowing the Four Noble Truths, Venerable Shariputra, the Buddha’s
leading disciple, taught the monks in
Jeta’s Grove at Savatthi. The way leading to the cessation of ignorance
is the Noble Eightfold Path, he taught them as well. (Samaditthi Sutta)
Direct
knowing, right understanding, and clear penetration/seeing of the Four Noble
Truths leads irreversibly to emancipation and enlightenment.
In the Brahmayu
Sutta, the Blessed One expounded to the 120-year-old Brahmin Brahmayu “the
teaching special to the Buddhas: suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the
path…”
When the old Brahmin passed away after a brief period
of practice, he attained the penultimate stage of sainthood; he became a
non-returner (anagamin) to this world of Samsara, dwelling in the Pure
Abodes to cultivate further until his attainment of the supreme enlightenment.
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Sakyamuni 26
X The
Noble Eightfold Path (NEP)
Attangika
Magga: Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action,
Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
“Right
speech, right action, and right livelihood come under the aggregate of virtue,”
the nun Dhammadinna taught the young lay follower Visakha at the Bamboo Grove
in the Squirrels’ Sanctuary near Rajagaha.
“Right
effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration come under the aggregate of
concentration.
“Right view
(right understanding) and right resolve (right thought) come under the
aggregate of discernment…”
Right after
the long Q-n-A session, Visakha went to report to the Blessed One the
conversation with Dhammadinna, whom the Buddha called “a woman of great
discernment”, and described her as the foremost bhikkhuni disciple in
expounding the Dhamma.
In
Introduction to his book Dhammapada A practical guide to right living,
Venerable Sri Acharya Buddharakkhita has written (p. xvii):
“The Noble
Eightfold Path is arranged into three groups of training: Moral discipline,
concentration and wisdom.By the training in morality, the coarse forms of
mental defilements are kept under control. By the training in concentration,
the mind is made calm, pure and unified. The training in wisdom climaxes in the
deliverance of mind…”
275
Walking
upon this path
you will
make an end of suffering.
Having
discovered
how to
pull out the thorn of lust,
I make
known the path.
276
You
yourselves must strive,
the
Buddhas only point the way.
Those
meditative ones who tread the path
are
released from the bonds of Mara.
289
Realizing this fact,
let
the wise man,
restrained by morality,
hasten
to clear the path
leading to Nibbana.
351
He
who has reached the goal,
is
fearless, free from craving,
passionless,
and
has plucked out the thorns
of
existence -- for him this is the last body.
402
He
who in this very life
realizes
for himself the end of suffering,
who
has laid aside the burden
and
become emancipated --
him
do I call a holy man.
In
Section 17 of SUTRA IN FORTY-TWO SECTIONS, the Buddha said: “Those who
see the Way are like someone holding a torch who enters a dark room, dispelling
the darkness so that only brightness remains. When you study the Way and see
the truth, ignorance is dispelled and brightness (light of enlightenment) is
always present.”
In A
General Explanation of The Buddha Speaks The Sutra in Forty-two Sections (translated
by Bhikshuni Heng Ch’ih, published by Dharma Realm Buddhas Association,San
Francisco, California, 1977), the Venerable Ch’an Master Hsuan Hua has
commented (p. 42): “One who sees the Way is like one who takes up a torch and
thereby causes the darkness to disappear and only the light to remain. The
torch represents people’s wisdom. This means that if you have wisdom you can
break through ignorance; ignorance is represented by the dark room. If you have
wisdom, the dark room will light up: “Only brightness (the light) remains.”
“If you
study the Way and can see the genuine truth, your ignorance immediately
disappears, and your wisdom (your enlightenment) is constantly present.”
In Makhadeva
Sutta, the Blessed One describes the Noble Eightfold Path which one has to
develop, as “good practice” leading to direct knowledge, enlightenment,
Nibbana.
274
This is
the only path;
there is
none other for the purification
of
insight.
Tread
this path,
and you
will bewilder Mara.
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Sakyamuni 27
Y The Gift
of Truth
Sabhadanam dhammadanam jinati
THE GIFT
OF TRUTH EXCELS ALL OTHER GIFTS
354
The gift
of Dhamma excels all gifts;
the taste
of Dhamma excels all tastes;
the delight
in Dhamma excels all delights.
The
Craving-Freed vanquishes all suffering.
--- Dhammapada
Translated by Venerable Sri Acharya Buddharakkhita
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Sakyamuni 28
Z
Mindfulness of Buddha
“… At any
time when a disciple of the noble ones is recollecting the Tathagata, his mind
is not overcome with passion, not overcome with aversion, not overcome with
delusion. His mind heads straight, based on the Tathagata,” the Blessed One
said to Mahanama the Sakyan in the Banyan Park at Kapilavatthu, and instructed
him to be mindful of Buddha while walking, standing, lying down, working, or
resting at home.
--- Mahanama Sutta translated by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu buddhasutra.com
In The
Dharani Sutra of the Buddha on Longevity The Extinction of Offences And The
Protection of Young Children, Thus One Pervasive Light (Buddha) taught
Confusion, a 49-year-old woman: “… Confusion, you should know that only the
word ‘Buddha’ is able to sever the suffering of death…”
Buddha also
said to her, “If you are able to sincerely be mindful of the Buddha, with one
heart undivided (wholeheartedly), then you can travel from one Buddhaland to
the next Buddhaland…”
273
Of all paths
the
Eightfold Path is the best;
of all truths
the
Four Noble Truths are the best;
of all things
passionlessness is the best;
of
men the Seeing One (Buddha)
is the best.
296
Those disciples of Gotama
ever awaken happily
who day and night
constantly practise the
Recollection
of the Qualities of the Buddha.
---
Dhammapada
Translated
by Venerable Sri Acharya Buddharakkhita
NAMO
SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA
NAMO
AMITABHA
2
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