Educational deprivation and continuing neglect The Care of Children 15

Educational deprivation and continuing neglect

The Care of Children 15

By Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha

At the meeting last week of the Muttur Divisional Reconciliation Committee meeting, the Chairman of the Mediation Board reminded me of a suggestion made by the school principals I met during my last visit to Mutur. This was in 2008, while the conflict in the North still raged, but the East was limping back to normality.

The principals were from a Muslim school, a small Tamil school and a very small Sinhala school, all of which suffered from teacher shortages. They asked with one voice why they could not have a single English medium school. Not only would that bring the children of a very fractured area together, it would give them all chances of a better future.

I pointed this out in a letter to the Ministry. I went further and indicated how it would help government by reducing costs, since far fewer teachers would be needed for one school than for three, each with few students. The teacher shortages endemic in a distant place like Mutur could also thus be reduced, with less headache for education officials who would have to fill up fewer cadres.

The Ministry did not deign to reply. In discussion I have been told, when urging that English medium be made available more widely, given the tremendous demand there is for it all over the country, that there are not enough teachers. No efforts have been made however to increase the supply of English medium teachers, or to think of new ways of producing them.

A group that was set up by the Reconciliation Office, to promote Reconciliation, Education And Peace, wrote to the President offering to help. The group consists of individuals concerned with education in schools founded by religious organizations. Obviously many ideas are provided by the Catholic Church, which has done so much for education in Sri Lanka, but we also have representatives of Buddhist and Hindu and Muslim schools, as well as the Warden of S. Thomas’.

The group was hosted by Tilak Karunaratne, who had provided many ideas to the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Education, on behalf of the Old Boys of Ananda College. He is part of a network that encompasses other Olcott schools, which were the main instrument of the development of a national system of education that aimed at high standards of a universal nature.

Javid Yusuf contributed to the deliberations and the letter to the President on behalf of Muslim educationists. He has been Principal of Zahira, in addition to all his other contributions to national and social wellbeing, which led to his recently receiving a Sahabdeen Award for sustained achievements. Hindu denominational education was represented by Mrs Duraiswamy, who also arranged a well attended meeting at Hindu Ladies College to promote twinning with less fortunate schools in the North.

I had also invited Mr Swaminathan, not because he is a member of Parliament, but because I wanted a representative of the Ramanathan family and the Navalar schools that had been set up at the same time as the Olcott schools. He however has not attended and I gathered from him that unfortunately that trust is not active now. The same goes for the Theosophist society, which is why the concept of a union of Olcott schools is so welcome. In addition, though, the Mahabodhi Society too has shown itself deeply concerned with modernizing education and also bringing children of different communities together, and their enthusiasm too should be harnessed more effectively.

Sadly there was no response to our letter to the President. Even more sadly, the Ministry of Education has not, despite a positive verbal response from the Minister of Education, responded to a letter from REAP asking for approval for a schools twinning programme. We had hoped to bring together a school from the south with one in the north and to encourage not only student links, but also projects that would help develop less advantaged schools in the catchment area of the northern school.

The idea was that, while links between students are always to be encouraged, more lasting friendships will be built when they undertake joint projects. Working together for a much less developed rural primary school would develop initiative and confidence jointly in students in both the southern and the northern school that implemented the project.

There has been a stunning silence however from the Secretary to the Ministry of Education. The same goes for the Northern Province Ministry, even though the Governor was positive. The one bright spot was the prompt response of the Western Province Ministry of Education, but given that many schools in the West are National Schools (another absurdity that the looseness of the 13th amendment has perpetrated), this is not much use. And so an excellent opportunity for bringing youngsters together productively, encouraged by the Cabinet through both the National Human Rights Action Plan and the Action Plan to implement the LLRC Recommendations, bites the dust.

Given such contempt for what has been agreed as National Policy, I have decided that there is little point in continuing with meetings of REAP, since I feel a fraud for having encouraged idealists to come up with ideas which no one is interested in. After all, as the acronym was intended to remind us, you can only reap what you sow, and the lack of interest in reforms to provide better opportunities for our children means that there will be yet more youth unrest in the future.

The children of Mutur – and Morawewa and Poonakary and Pachchilapallai and Velanai and Kopay, to name only the Divisional Secretariats in which we had meetings last week – will continue to suffer. The fact that educational shortcomings figure large in the problems brought forward by people simply will not register with government. This is tragic, for the improvement in school infrastructure shows that some elements in government care. But their efforts will be destroyed by those who do not care.

Protect ,Siri samanthabaddra Thero - Pitiduwe Siridhamma Thero

We Must Protect ,Siri samanthabaddra Thero 
(Pitiduwe Siridhamma Thero)

From the Facebook Comments ..

Prasanna J Fernando ·

aththa athisatiyen nodana obawahansege surata nigraha karanna baha namuth antharjalaya haraha pitaunu pinthura swaminwahnse gana kalakirimak athi una me karanawala aththa athisatiyen lokayata penanna anna edata obawahanse haraha yana minisun pelagasei namuth e palagasima sathya awabodaya nisa pamanakma siddawewi

Answers :
eewata hamuduruwo pilithuru deela thiyenawaa.. meVideos 2 ma hondin balanna..
( Samanthabaddra Thero has given reply for all the questions and watch below 2 videos at all, without left any moment on the picture.)

                                                                PART 1

PART 2

පිටිදූවේ හිමි නම ගැන ඇසෙන කථා

පිටිදූවේ හිමි නම ගැන ඇසෙන කථා




පැහැදිලිව කියවන්න නම් මෙතනින් බා ගන්න.
Mediafire Link > http://www.mediafire.com/i/?162356gwrjunby1

ජාතියේ පිනට පහළ වූ සෝම හිමි සමරමු

ජාතියේ පිනට පහළ වූ සෝම හිමි සමරමු

_________________

පූජ්‍ය ගංගොඩවිල සෝම හිමි අපවත් වී දෙසැ. 12 වනදාට වසර 8 ක්

පූජ්‍ය ගංගොඩවිල සෝම හිමි අපවත් වී දෙසැ. 12 වනදාට වසර 8 ක් සපිරේ. අපව කුඩා කළ පටන් නිවැරදි බෞද්ධ දේශනවට යොමුකරමින් අඳුරෙන් එළියට අපවයොමුකළ උන් වහන්සේ වෙනුවෙන් ඔබ නිවසේ හෝ ස්ථානයේ 12 වනදා පහනක් දෑල්වීමටත්, බෞද්ධ ධජයක් එල්වා තැබීමටත් අමතක නොකරන්න.

The changing role of the Buddhist laity in Sri Lanka

The changing role of the Buddhist laity in Sri Lanka

A.R.M.T.B. Ratnayake, Kandy

http://www.lakehouse.lk/budusarana

The Buddhist laymen are beginning to believe that there is more meaning in the pursuit of the Dhamma that the Buddha taught, than in traditional ritualistic practices in the hope of gaining privilege, material gain and personal protection. It is true that we have a vast collection of traditional stories, which focus on public worship, celebration and discourse and the ordinary Buddhist is more accustomed to adapt a behaviour as exemplified in them.

The Buddhist layman in Sri Lanka is gradually withdrawing from the ceremonies and rituals commonly practised by Buddhists and turning to gain wisdom otherwise.

They are beginning to believe that the Buddha’s teaching is not meant only for monks in monasteries, but also for the ordinary men and women living at home with their families. For man is his own master and there is no higher being or power that sits in judgement over his destiny. It indeed is the spirit of the teachings of the Buddha.

At his last moment, addressing his closest monk Venerable Ananda, the Buddha explained to him, “Ananda dwell making yourself your island, making yourself, not anyone else, your refuge; making the Dhamma your island (support), the Dhamma your refuge, nothing else your refuge”. So, the man today is trying to make the Dhamma his refuge.

In Buddhism, there is no initiation ceremony like ‘baptism’ which one has to undergo as in the case of many other religions. If one understands the Buddha’s teaching and believes that it is the right path and if one truly follows it, then he is a Buddhist. In short, if one truly observes the Five Precepts (Panca-sila) it is enough for a layman to call himself a Buddhist.

In this context, we must not mistakenly think that the Dhamma exists in our hearts already without the teachings and the teacher. If that were so, we would all be enlightened already. On the contrary, we believe that, not only the teaching exists for us but that there are also teachers who are able to expound it to us.

It is true that traditional religions have been experiencing drawbacks due to technological and industrial advancement and the rise of materialistic cultures. However, it is not equally true of Buddhists who have demonstrated otherwise. Although some of the Buddhists also have entered into competitive commerce, into fishing industry or poultry farming, or are making attempts to increase profits in some of the activities which may not be consistent with the teaching of the Buddha, yet they participate in these activities, while taking refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and the Sangha.

A noteworthy recent development is that more and more lay Buddhists are beginning to withdraw from these industries and also the traditional noise of various festival celebrations, ancient rites, rituals, myths and symbols. They are gradually seeking the quiet atmosphere of meditation. There are more and more meditation centres run by the laymen, one taking the lead in instruction and training. Of course some of them may be questionable or camouflaged ones but there are many truly dedicated centres and teachers.

Pious life

They are beginning to believe that there is more meaning in the pious life and in the pursuit of wisdom rather than performing rituals in the hope of gaining privilege, material gain and protection. For them the Buddhist belief in the concept of Anatta, (no-soul) seems contradicted by merit-making ceremonies, sometime for the benefit of the soul of the deceased.

Celebrations and rituals are characteristic of Theravada Buddhist practice and they, of course, tend to bring people together in pursuit of a common goal. But for the man who seriously takes the Buddhist path, they tend to drown certain fundamentals of Buddhism, just as the consumption of alcohol by some laymen at a domestic religious ceremony, or even a proud father at the ordination of his son into monkhood, which is both inconsistent with the holy occasion and the Buddhist concept not to consume intoxicating beverages.

The Buddhist laymen are beginning to believe that there is more meaning in the pursuit of the Dhamma that the Buddha taught, than in traditional ritualistic practices in the hope of gaining privilege, material gain and personal protection. It is true that we have a vast collection of traditional stories, which focus on public worship, celebration and discourse and the ordinary Buddhist is more accustomed to adapt a behaviour as exemplified in them. But today increasing numbers of educated lay persons are drifting away from these practices and are paying more attention to the essence of the teaching of the Buddha.

Another important development in the changing role of the Buddhist laity in Sri Lanka is the emergence of lay associations to promote and protect Buddhism. They have taken over, in part, some of the responsibilities of the Sangha. In general these organisations have helped Buddhist education and welfare.

Revival

Some of our early leaders in the movement for the revival of Buddhism formed bodies such as the Young Men’s Buddhist Association which have conducted Dhamma schools and examinations aimed at providing the youth with some standard of religious instructions as is imparted by the Sangha in temple schools.

The need arose for emergence of organisations to protect Buddhist interest nationally and internationally, when the Colonial rulers ignored Buddhism. The societies formed by laymen like the Paranavinnartha Bauddha Sangamaya, All Ceylon Buddhist Congress, Mahabodhi Society founded by the famous lay Buddhist, Anagarika Dharmapala, all took over some aspect of Buddhist education and propagation, establishment of Buddhist Schools, running orphanages, homes for the deaf and blind, and centres for the aged and delinquents.

These organisations stood in defence of the Buddhist traditions and institutions when they were largely undermined and challenged during the colonial period. In addition to these lay bodies, numerous lay writers and publishers of Buddhist books also took over some of the responsibilities of Buddhist education that was solely handled by the Sangha.

Today the society is unbelievable violent. Mothers throw away their own new-born infants to be picked up by an animal or well-wishers or to be naturally decomposed. The son kills father or father kill son. A whole family is erased forever by one gunman. A legislator kills a fellow legislator. Today killing is as common as smiling. It is against the urgency of this background that the teachings of Buddhism about violence must be studied and interpreted.

The Buddhist attitude to killing is summed up in the Dhammapada thus:

All tremble at violence,
All fear death;
Comparing oneself with others,

One should neither kill nor cause others to kill. so, the Buddhist Sangha as well as the Buddhist laity has an urgent duty of taking a lead in arresting this dangerous social menace.

NEW - Pitiduwe Siridhamma Thero, Siri Samanthabaddra Thero

සෝවාන් හා සකෘදාගාමී මාර්ගඵල අවබෝධකරගත්, පිටිදූවේ සිරිධම්ම හිමි නොහොත්,
සිරි සමන්තභද්‍ර ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේ මෑතකදී පැවැත්වූ ධර්ම සාකච්ඡාවක්....

Did Jesus Christ learn Buddhism ? ජේසුස් වහන්සේද බුදුන්වහන්සේගේ අනුගාමිකයෙක් ද ?

Did Jesus Christ learn Buddhism ??

ජේසුස් වහන්සේද බුදුන්වහන්සේගේ අනුගාමිකයෙක් ද ?

BBC වාර්තා වැඩසටහනක් වන මෙහි, මේ සත්‍යය වසන් වී ඇති අන්දමත්, එසේ නොවී , යතාර්ථය ඉස්මතු උවහොත්, ක්‍රිස්තියානි ධර්මයේ අවසානය සිදුවනු ඇති බවත් මේ වැඩසටහන නැරඹීමෙන් ඔබේ මතකටය එක් කරගන්න.

පිටිදූවේ සිරිධම්ම හිමි නොහොත් සිරි සමන්තභද්‍ර ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේ

kiyawanna oone namm Download karanna me Mediafire link ekenn..
http://www.mediafire.com/i/?r3p8td7s752ypsr
Download This Page to Read ..

Dhajagga Suttraya and Mura Piritha - ධජග්ග සූත්‍රය සිංහළ _ Pitiduwe Siridhamma Thero

පූජ්‍ය විද්‍යාවේදී, පිටිදූවේ සිරිධම්ම ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේ විසින් දේශනා කරන ලද, "ධජග්ග සූත්‍රය" සහ "මුර පිරිත" සිංහළ

"Dhajagga Suttraya" ,the Buddhism speech is made by Ven. scientist. Pitiduwe Siridhamma Thero.
here is it in YouTube , The Video made by me, Priyantha De Silva, for your best knowledge.

අපි නොදන්නා පාලි සද්ධර්මය , පිරිසිදු සිංහලෙන් දේශනා කල වදාල පිටිදූවේ සිරිධම්ම ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේට ප්‍රාර්ථනීය බෝධිය කින් නිවන් අවබෝධ වීමට මේ පිං උපකාරී වේවා !

Meditation, heart of Buddhism

Meditation, heart of Buddhism

Ajahn Brahm

It’s easy saying “I’m enlightened”, but then something happens like that and you run a mile. Another monk in Hampstead at the time was just going for a walk in the afternoon when he passed a pub. He didn’t realise at the time that there was a big soccer match between England and Scotland on that day. It had already finished and the Scots supporters where in the pub getting drunk. Around this period, there was a popular TV series about a Kung Fu monk who, when he was small, was called “grasshopper.” These sozzled Scots soccer fans looked through the window of the pub and said “Och it’s wee grasshopper,” and this monk took fright.

These where big Scotsmen and they were very drunk. So he started running away, and they chased him all the way back to the Temple. “Wee grasshopper” was running for his life. He lost it. But the sort of practical letting go that Ajahn Chah did in Hampstead is something which gives you a sense that you are on the road to enlightenment.

Gradual path

Meditation-The best way to attain inner peace

The Heart of Buddhism is a gradual path, one step after another step, and you do get results. Some people say you shouldn’t meditate to get results. That’s a lot of hogwash! Meditate to get results! Meditate to be happy. Meditate to get peace. Meditate to get enlightened, little by little. But if you’re going for results, be patient. One of the problems with Westerners is that when they make goals, they are not patient enough.

That’s why they get disillusioned, depressed and frustrated. They don’t give their practice enough time to mature naturally into enlightenment. It takes time, maybe a few life times even, so don’t be in a rush. As you walk each step, there is always something you get out of it. Let go a little and you get freedom and peace. Let go a lot and you feel bliss. This is how I teach meditation both at my monastery and here. I encourage meditators to aim for these stages of letting go, these bliss states called Jhana.

Jhanas

Everyone wants to be happy, and the Jhanas are how you can achieve happiness, I mean real happiness, deep happiness. The only trouble is these states don’t last very long, only a few hours, but still they are very attractive. They arise through letting go, real letting go. In particular they arise through letting go of will, choice, control. It’s a fascinating thing to experience a deep meditation and understand how it comes about.

Through such an experience you realise that the more you control, the more you crave because of attachments, the less peaceful you get. But the more you let go, the more you abandon, the more you get out of the way, the happier you feel. Now this is a teaching of something very profound, much deeper than you can read in a book or hear in a talk and certainly much more useful than discussing these things over a coffee table. You’re actually experiencing something. This is getting towards the heart of religion, that which people call mysticism. You’re actually experiencing it for your self. In particular you are letting go of this “controller,” this “doer.”

Prime problem

Now that is the prime problem for human beings. We can’t stop messing things up. Very often we should just leave things alone but we can’t, we don’t. Instead we make a mess. Why can’t you just relax and enjoy yourself instead of always doing something?

It’s hard to stop in meditation, but the more you stop the more rewards you get, the more peace you get. When you let go in meditation, let go the will, let go of the control, when you stop talking to yourself, you get inner silence.

How many of you are fed up yet with this racket that goes on inside your head all the time? How many of you sometimes can’t get to sleep at night when there’s no noise from the neighbours but there is something even louder between your ears. Yak, Yak, Yak, Worry, Worry, Worry, Think, Think, Think! This is the problem with human beings, when it’s time to think they can’t think clearly and when it’s time to stop thinking they can’t be at peace. When we learn how to meditate we get this sense of being more balanced, and we know how to let go. We now how to let go to the point where all thoughts disappear. These thoughts are just commentaries, they’re just descriptions. The difference between thought and reality is the difference between, say, reading a book about New York and going to New York.

Which is more real? When you’re there, you smell the air, you feel the atmosphere, you sense the character, all of which are things you can’t write in a book. The truth is always silent. The lie is always with words.

When the Body Disappears

Remember “con men,” “con women” as well. These con men can sell you anything! There’s one living in your mind right now, and you believe every word he says! His name is Thinking. When you let go of that inner talk and get silent, you get happy. Then when you let go of the movement of the mind and stay with the breath, you experience even more delight.

Then when you let go of the body ,all these five senses disappear and you’re really blissing out. This is original Buddhism. Sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch completely vanish. This is like being in a sensory deprivation chamber but much better. But it’s not just silence, you just don’t hear anything. It’s not just blackness, you just don’t see anything. It’s not just a feeling of comfort in the body, there is no body at all.

Peaceful

When the body disappears that really starts to feel great. You know of all those people who have out of the body experiences? When the body dies, every person has that experience, they float out of the body. And one of the things they always say is it’s so peaceful, so beautiful, so blissful. It’s the same in meditation when the body disappears, it’s so peaceful, so beautiful, so blissful when you are free from this body. What’s left? Here there’s no sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. This is what the Buddha called the mind in deep meditation. When the body disappears what is left is the mind.

I gave a simile to a monk the other night. Imagine an Emperor who is wearing a long pair of trousers and a big tunic. He’s got shoes on his feet, a scarf around the bottom half of his head and a hat on the top half of his head. You can’t see him at all because he’s completely covered in five garments. It’s the same with the mind. It’s completely covered with sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. So people don’t know it.

They just know the garments. When they see the Emperor, they just see the robes and the garments. They don’t know who lives inside them. And so it is no wonder they’re confused about what is life, what is mind, who is this inside of here, were did I come from? Why? What am I supposed to be doing with this life? When the five senses disappear, it’s like unclothing the Emperor and seeing what is actually in here, what’s actually running the show, who’s listening to these words, who’s seeing, who’s feeling life, who this is. When the five senses disappear, you’re coming close to the answer to those questions.

What you’re seeing in such deep meditation is that which we call “mind,” (in Pali it’s called Citta). The Buddha used this beautiful simile. When there is a full moon on a cloudy night, even though it’s a full moon, you can hardly see it. Sometimes when the clouds are thin, you can see this hazy shape shining though.

You know there is something there. This is like the meditation just before you’ve entered into these profound states. You know there is something there, but you can’t quite make it out. There’s still some “clothes” left. You’re still thinking and doing, feeling the body or hearing sounds. But there does come a time, and this is the Buddha’s simile, when the moon is released from the clouds and there in the clear night sky you can see the beautiful full disc of the moon shining brilliantly, and you know that’s the moon.

The moon is there; the moon is real, and it’s not just some sort of side effect of the clouds. This is what happens in meditation when you see the mind. You see clearly that the mind is not some side effect of the brain. You see the mind, and you know the mind. The Buddha said that the mind released is beautiful, is brilliant, is radiant. So not only are these blissful experiences, they’re meaningful experiences as well.

How many people may have heard about rebirth but still don’t really believe it? How can rebirth happen? Certainly the body doesn’t get reborn. That’s why when people ask me where do you go when you die, “one of two places” I say “Fremantle or Karrakatta” that’s where the body goes! But is that where the mind goes? Sometimes people are so stupid in this world, they think the body is all there is, that there is no mind.

So when you get cremated or buried that’s it, that’s done with, all has ended. The only way you can argue with this view is by developing the meditation that the Buddha achieved under the Bodhi tree. Then you can see the mind for yourself in clear awareness - not in some hypnotic trance, not in dullness - but in the clear awareness. This is knowing the mind

Knowing the Mind

When you know that mind, when you see it for yourself, one of the results will be an insight that the mind is independent of this body. Independence means that when this body breaks up and dies, when it’s cremated or when it’s buried, or however it’s destroyed after death, it will not affect the mind. You know this because you see the nature of the mind.

That mind which you see will transcend bodily death. The first thing which you will see for yourself, the insight which is as clear as the nose on your face, is that there is something more to life than this physical body that we take to be me. Secondly you can recognise that that mind, essentially, is no different than that process of consciousness which is in all beings. Whether it’s human beings or animals or even insects, of any gender, age or race, you see that that which is in common to all life is this mind, this consciousness, the source of doing.

Once you see that, you have much more respect for your fellow beings. Not just respect for your own race, your own tribe or your own religion, not just for human beings, but for all beings. It’s a wonderfully high-minded idea. “May all beings be happy and well and may we respect all nations, all peoples, even all beings.” However this is how you achieve that! You truly get compassion only when we see that others are fundamentally just as ourselves.

If you think that a cow is completely different from you, that cows don’t think like human beings, then it’s easy to eat one. But can you eat your grandmother? She’s too much like you. Can you eat an ant? Maybe you’d kill an ant because you think that ants aren’t like you.

But if you look carefully at ants, they are no different. In a forest monastery living out in the bush, close to nature, one of the things you become so convinced of is that animals have emotions and , especially, feel pain. You begin to recognise the personality of the animals, of the kookaburras, of the mice, the ants, and the spiders.

Each one of those spiders has a mind just like you have. Once you see that you can understand the Buddha’s compassion for all beings. You can also understand how rebirth can occur between all species - not just human beings to human beings, but animals to humans, humans to animals. You can understand also how the mind is the source of all this.

The mind can exist even without a body in the realms of ghosts and angels (what we call in Buddhism Devas). It becomes very clear to you how they exist, why they exist, what they are.

These are insights and understandings which come from deep meditation. But more than that, when you know the nature of the mind then you know the nature of consciousness.

You know the nature of stillness. You know the nature of life. You understand what makes this mind go round and round and round, what makes this mind seek rebirth. You understand the law of Kamma.

The Three Knowledges

The First Knowledge. When the Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree, according to tradition he gained three knowledge’s. The first knowledge was the memory of past lives. When you get close to the mind, there are certain powers that come with that experience.

The powers are no more than an ability, a dexterity with the use of the mind. It’s like the difference between a dog that has been running wild and a dog that has been well trained. You can tell the trained dog to go and pick up the newspaper. It wags its tail and goes and picks up the newspaper for you. Some people have got their dogs so well trained that they can actually pick up the telephone. Maybe they could answer the telephone as well, then that would really save you a lot of time!

When you get to these deep states of meditation often, the mind becomes well trained.

To be continued

Dailynews.lk

Parithrana, the greatest blessing

Parithrana, the greatest blessing

Rupa Banduwardena

Dailynews.lk

Sakyamuni Siddhartha Gautama Buddha emerged for the happiness and emancipation of humanity. The universal truth He discovered was a meaningful message to the mankind. He proclaimed that happiness was supreme among all belongings and His most sincere wish was the happiness and well-being of all living beings alike. This was nothing but love and compassion (Metta) boundless, extended to all without limitation. He saw life in reality.

His ultimate aim was “May all beings be happy safe and relieved from evils of life, sufferings of Samsara and attain Nibbana.” This is clearly stated in His teachings. The gist of Buddhism are the thoughts of Buddha himself. Buddhism is what has sprung form His intellect, to bless the people. The great Master’s parithrana recitals are an outstanding example.

Blissful message

In Sakyamuni Buddha’s teachings a high position is accorded to Parithrana Desana. It is invariably a part and parcel of His teachings. The Buddha being a fountain of compassion spent all His time journeying from place to place in North India purely for human welfare for their intellectual awakening. These words of the Fully Awakened One was in Pali, the common dialect of the region, probably the language used by Him also widely understood by His disciples all over.

These discourses preserved in pali, the ancient language the Buddha spoke, is continued up to this day and it is a widespread Buddhist practice and ceremony to conduct Parithrana Desana. Early Buddhist literature reveals that people sought the advice and assistance of the Buddha who was widely known as a healer and a saviour at various times, when they were stricken with disaster and misfortune.

Through overwhelming love and compassion Parithrana was first evolved as a protection from great perils and upheavals such as disease, epidemics and terror caused by evil spirits.

Sakyamuni Buddha believed that a healthy environment filled with Dhamma fragrance will be a solace to the fear stricken stressful minds in minimizing the tension caused. The Buddhas approach to these problems and the soothing effect of Parithrana on human mind was of no small significance and it was soon realized to be the greatest blessing on earth.

Contents of Parithrana

The ancient Buddhist chant is derived from the discourses of Buddha himself, the very words of intellect selected to suit different situations.

The discourse on blessings (Mangala Sutta – from the Sutta Nipata) composed of 12 stanzas is said to have been delivered by the Buddha to clear the doubts of the Devas (Gods) when they were anxious to know the true meaning of “Blessings”. The great Master explained that it is not something transmitted from a divine source but a state of sublime peace and wellbeing, that develops in one’s mind due to righteous living, adhering to Dhamma, maintaining human dignity.

The Sakka the king of Devas is said to have requested them to radiate there loving kindness towards human beings and protect them. Because every stanza ends with the original words of the Buddha ie. “This is the Supreme Blessing” (Etam Mangala Muttamam) as being most noble and worthy, with its soothing effect on human mind.

Ratana Sutta - the Discourse on Jewels another discourse from Sutta Nipata, is said to have been delivered by the Buddha when the royal family and the people of the ancient city of Vesali requested the Buddha to save them, from the three menacing epidemics (plaque) disease, famine and evil spirits (Thun Biya – which Veedagama Maha Thera illustrates in convincing poetic language in his Buduguna Alankaraya) a valuable literary work on the virtues of the Buddha.

The Buddha expressed the above sutta, emphasising the spiritual values of the Holy Triple Gem Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha as a remedial measure to bring back normalcy to Vesali. After the recital of the Parithrana, water was sprinkled around the city to be protected by the healing power of this powerful Ratana Sutta.

At the end of every stanza the Buddha blessed everyone saying – by this truth may all beings be happy and contented (Etena sacchena suvathi hotu).

Here too, Sakka the divine king instructed his retinue to listen carefully and fulfill their religious obligations to avert human misery. After grasping the sutta, he had got so delighted that he had added the last three stanzas on his own, in veneration of the Triple Gem.

Karaniya Metta Sutta

The discourse on universal goodwill is yet another discourse also from the Sutta Nipata, consisting of 10 stanzas, based on a meditative theme on loving kindness as the name suggests, which had been delivered during Buddha’s own lifetime. Sakyamuni Buddha came to the aid of 500 monks who had gone to the forest, to practise meditation. They had been disturbed and scared by evil spirits.

They approached the Buddha for a solution upon which he advised them to go back to the same place fully armed with ‘Metta’ for their safety. The Buddha then delivered this Sutta to allay their fears and practise loving kindness.

The main objective of this popular discourse was to instill strength and create self-confidence, which was a great success. The evil spirits having repented paid their due respect to the monks. This is therefore considered to be a very powerful and an important Sutta to achieve peace and happiness.

This is terminated with the expression “By the firm determination of this truth may I or you ever be well”. During Buddha time the entire humanity was benefitted, many disasters, misfortunes and human misery was done away with by reciting Paritta Suttas describing the highest qualities of the Buddha. This was first recited in early Sri Lanka to save the people from famine and plaque during the reign of King Upatissa (362 AD – 409). The recitation of Parithrana had gradually become a common practice and it is said that Attakatha had formulated a ritual to be followed in conducting monks to a house for Parithrana recitals. These Parittas, too numerous to be mentioned here handed down in Pali, spreading its sacredness is recited islandwide in most Buddhist homes for greater blessings.

Benefits

The ancient Buddhist chant is supposed to be of therapeutic nature when it is conducted with pure love and compassion, it can absolutely bring peace, tranquility and healing to others. Every meaningful word of Buddha when recited, its soothing effect on man’s mind creates inner peace, serene joy, devoid of hatred and jealousy.

All unwholesome thoughts would disappear when undivided, absolute attention and concentration is given to the melodious chant and its vibration within its precincts. Since it is chanted in unison by an entire congregation of Bhikkhus in a serene tone, the impressive atmosphere thus created drives one to be completely free of evil thoughts and be filled with mindful spiritual virtues.

One may reap a stress free mind with protection from unforeseen danger and mental relaxation for better concentration on Buddha Dhamma – the key to Nibbana. Let the Motherland be blessed with Parithrana for Sambuddhathwa Jayanthi.

Buddhist approach to political conflicts and peace development

Buddhist approach to political conflicts and peace development

Raja Abeynayaka

- Dailynews.lk

In a world that is torn by political strife, tension and conflicts the only ray of hope for its solutions clearly rests on the noble doctrine of the Buddha. What are the key elements in Buddhism that could pave the way for elimination of conflicts and result in peace development?

1. Maithree and Karunawa which means Boundless compassion and loving kindness. These two principles strongly bring out the mutual feelings that one should cultivate towards fellow beings so that there will be no hatred and envy towards others, leading to peaceful negotiation and solutions.

2. Right thinking, right understanding and right thoughts will further cement the above process to peace and goodwill among fellow beings.

3. Right livelihood, right effort and right action will prevent most of the disasters that humanity has to face now.

4. In short the noble eight fold path if understood correctly and practised with a clear vision will help to solve most of the problems and conflicts that are ending up in warfare and bloodshed in this world today.

In our Buddhist circle we genuinely believe in toleration and compromise, that human beings have the same feelings that we should not do to others, what we will not like others to do to us. The unshakeable law of Karma if understood properly will deter people from committing evil deeds and actions. They will then want to be good and do good.

The law of Karma will make people understand that what we sow, we will certainly have to reap.

If the principles and precepts of Buddhism are practised-such as the Pancha Sila and people realize the four noble truths, most of these crimes and terror activities will diminish.

There will be peace on earth and this world will be a better place to live in. Our present Politicians in particular should be made to realize and understand this and act accordingly and refrain from greed and evil and do what is good, which is the teaching of all Buddhas.

Buddha’s first visit to relatives

Buddha’s first visit to relatives

Premasara Epasinghe

~ Dailynews.lk

Many important, significant events relative to the life and times of the Enlightened One took place on Medin Full Moon Day. Therefore, Buddhists pay homage to the Noble Triple Gem and the devotees on this day, engage themselves, in various religious activities such as Dana – Seela and Bhavana, or meditation.

This Full Moon Medin Poya is an important day in the Buddhist calendar as this was the first occasion after Prince Siddhartha Gautama left the royal palace, he visited Kimbulwathpura, the kingdom of His beloved father King Suddhodana.

The Blessed One visited city of Kimbulwathpura, seven years after the attainment of Buddhahood. Buddha’s visit to Kimubulwathpura was a moving tale.

King Suddodhana was longing to see his beloved son – Prince Siddhartha, who was his heir-apparent. He heard the happy news that his son had attained Buddhahood and was preaching His doctrine and philosophy at Veluwanaramaya, a far distance way at city of Rajagaha.

King Suddhodana sent diplomats, emissaries, envoys with a retinue of 1,000 each to invite the Enlightened One to visit Kapilavastu.

However, to the disappointment of King Suddodhana, envoys never returned. On nine occasions he sent his diplomats and envoys, they failed in their mission in inviting the Buddha to his city of Kimbulawath. King never gave up. Later, he heard all the delegates who went to invite Buddha to Kimbulwathpura, entered the Buddhist Order.

As a last resort, King Suddodhana sent his Minister Kaludai, a play-mate of Prince Siddhartha to carry out the mission impossible. Kaludai agreed to invite The Buddha to visit Kimbulwathpura, provided he was granted permission to enter the Order of Buddha Sasana.

After entering the Order, Kaludai, attained Arahatship.

In few days, Monk Kaludai conveyed the message of the King Suddodhana. He persuaded the Blessed One to visit his age old father, Princess Yasodhara, all his relatives and kinsmen at Kimbulwathpura.

The rainy season ended. The environment was fantastic and serene. Flowers bloomed. The Blessed One accepted his father’s invitation through Kaludai with nearly 20,000 monks, started the long journey (a distance of 60 yoduns) and reached Kimbulwathpura after couple of months.

The King Suddodhana, Ministers made arrangements to welcome Siddhartha Gautama Buddha and made arrangements to construct an Aramaya or Temple for the Buddha and his retinue to stay at the Park Nigrodha, named Temple of Nigrodha or Nigrodaramaya.

Although the proud, blue-blooded haughty kinsmen of the Sakya clan received the Blessed One, they were not prepared to worship or venerate the Buddha and the Missionaries.

Buddha, with his Divine Eye, realized what the Sakyans contemplated. To dispel this arrogance, hautiness and their proud attitude, Buddha sprang up to the sky and performed a miracle, known as ‘Twin Miracle’ or Yamamahapelahara. When really necessary only, the Blessed One, performed ‘miracles’.

The Enlightened One possessed the miraculous power to cause a stream of fire to issue from one part of the body and stream of water from the other part of His body together from the eyes and nostrils. This was a result of his accomplishment of Thejokasina and Apokasina.

Seeing this miracle, King Suddodhana worshipped the Blessed One. Then, all other Sakyans followed suit. The Buddha in his sermon, explained the Vessantara Jatakaya to the king.

As no one invited The Buddha for alms (lunch), The Buddha went round from house to house, begging for alms. King Suddodhana was very upset.

he spoke to The Buddha and stated, “You belong to Royalty. It is a disgrace for Sakyan clan to beg for alms in the street.”

The Blessed One replied, “Oh king, you belong to Sakya or Royal lineage. I belong to Buddha clan and lineage. It is customary for Buddhas to go begging for alms.”

Meditation: Heart of Buddhism

Meditation: Heart of Buddhism

http://www.dailynews.lk

Part I

Ajahn Brahmavamso

I want to talk in depth today about the nature of Buddhism. Very often I read in newspapers and books some strange things that are presented as Buddhism. So here, I will point out the heart of the real Buddhist teaching, not as a theory but as an experience.

What is not the heart of Buddhism

Psychotherapy. I know that some people still think Buddhism is some form of psychotherapy, some way of applying wise attitudes or skilful means in order to live more at peace in this world. Indeed, in the rich storehouse of Buddhist teachings there are many things which do help people to live life with less problems.

Using wise attitudes and compassionate intentions, Buddhism teaches an effective way of dealing with the problems of the world. When these Buddhist methods actually work, they give people faith and confidence that there really is something in this Buddhist path which is valuable to them.

I often reflect on why people come here to the Buddhist Society on a Friday evening. It’s because they get something out of this. What they get out of these teachings is a more peaceful life style, a happier feeling toward themselves and more acceptance of other beings.

It is in that sense a therapy for the problems of life, and it does actually work. However that’s not what Buddhism really is, that’s only one of its side affects.

Philosophy

Some people come across Buddhism and they find it’s a marvelous philosophy. They can sit around the coffee table after I’ve given a talk and they can talk for hours and still not be close to enlightenment. Very often people can discuss very high-minded things; their brains can talk about and think about such sublime subjects.

Then they go out and swear at the first car that pulls out in front of them on the way home. They lose it all straight away.

Ritual. Or instead of looking at Buddhism as a philosophy, many people look at it as a religion. The rituals of Buddhism are meaningful, and they shouldn’t be discarded just because one thinks one is above ritual.

I know people are sometimes very proud, arrogant even, and think they don’t need any rituals. But the truth of the matter is that rituals do have a psychological potency.

For example, it is useful in society when two people are going to live together that they go through some sort of marriage ceremony. Because in that ceremony there is something that happens to the mind, something that happens to the heart.

There is a commitment made deep inside which echoes with the knowledge that something important has happened.

In the ceremonies and rituals of death, all of those rites of chanting, reflection and kind words actually have a meaning for the people involved. It does help them to come to accept with grace the passing of a loved one.

It helps them acknowledge the truth of what’s happened, that a final separation from that person has occurred. And in that acceptance they come to peace.

In the same way, at our monastery, in order to forgive another person and to let go of past hurt, a ceremony of forgiveness is often used. In the Catholic Church they have the ceremony of confession.

The precise details of a forgiveness ceremony don’t really matter, but what is important is that forgiveness is given, by some physical means through some ritual or ceremony.

If you just say, “Oh I’m sorry”, isn’t that a lot different from also giving a present, or a bunch of flowers? Or isn’t it different from going up to them and saying “look, what I did the other day was really unforgivable, but come out to dinner with me this evening”, or “here have a couple of tickets to the theatre”? It is much deeper and more effective when you weave a beautiful ceremony around forgiveness rather than just muttering a few words.

Even the ritual of bowing to a Buddha has a great meaning. It’s an act of humility. It’s saying I’m not enlightened and yet there is something that is beyond me which I am aspiring towards.

It’s the same humility that a person has when they go to school, or university and they acknowledge that the lecturers and the professors know more than they do. If you argue with professors when you go to university, are you going to learn anything? Humility is not subservience, which denies the worth of yourself, But humility is that which respects the different qualities in people.

Sometimes the act of bowing, if it’s done mindfully, is a ceremony, a ritual that can generate a great sense of joy. As a monk many people bow to me, and I bow to many others. There is always someone that you have to bow to no matter how senior you are. At the very least there is always the Buddha to bow down to.

I enjoy bowing. When there is a monk who is senior to me, bowing is a beautiful way of overcoming ego and judging, especially when I must bow to a really rotten monk (the good monks are easy to bow to).

This is a ritual which if done in the right way can produce so many benefits. At the very least, as I tell people at the monastery, if you do a lot of bowing it strengthens your stomach muscles and you don’t look fat! But it’s more than that.

So these Buddhist rituals are useful, but Buddhism is much more than that.

Meditation and enlightenment

When you ask what Buddhism really is, it’s a hard question to answer in a few words. You have to come back to this process of meditation because there is the crux, the fulcrum of Buddhism, the heart of Buddhism.

As everybody who has ever come across the Buddhist teachings would know, the Buddha was a man who became enlightened while meditating under a tree. A few minutes ago you were doing the same meditation for half an hour! Why where you not enlightened?

That enlightenment of the Buddha was actually what created this religion of Buddhism. It is its meaning, it is its centre. Buddhism is all about enlightenment; not just about living a healthy life, or a happy life, or learning to be wise and saying smart things to your friends around the coffee table. Again Buddhism is all about this enlightenment.

First of all you have to get some feeling or indication of what enlightenment actually is. Sometimes people come up to me and say “I’m enlightened”, and I sometimes get letters from people saying “thank you for your teachings, please know that I am enlightened now”.

And sometimes I hear other people say of teachers or gurus “Oh Yeah, they are certainly enlightened” without really knowing what that means.

The word enlightenment stands for some opening of wisdom, some understanding which stops all suffering. The person who hasn’t abandoned all suffering is never enlightened. The fact that a person still suffers means that they are yet to abandon all their attachments.

The person who is still worried about their possessions, who still cries at the death of a loved one, who is still angry, and who is still enjoying the pleasures of the senses like sex, they are not enlightened. Enlightenment is something beyond and free from all that.

Sometimes when a monk talks like this he can very easily put people off. Monks seem like “wowsers”, as they say in Australia. They don’t go to the movies, don’t have any sex, don’t have any relationships, don’t go on holidays, don’t have any pleasures.

What a bunch of wowsers! But the interesting thing which many people notice, is that some of the most peaceful and happy people you meet are the monks and nuns who come and sit here on a Friday evening and give the talks.

Monks are quite different from wowsers, and the reason is that there is another happiness which the monks know and which the Buddha has pointed out to them. Each one of you can sense that same happiness when your meditation starts to take off.

Letting go

The Buddha taught that it is attachment that causes suffering and letting go is the cause for happiness and the way to enlightenment. Letting go! So often people have asked how do you let go? What they really mean is, why do you let go?

It’s a difficult question to answer and it will never be answered in words. Instead I answer that question by saying “Now is the time to meditate, cross your legs, be in the present moment,” because this is teaching people what letting go is all about. Moreover, the final moments of the meditation are the most important. Please always remember this. In the last few minutes ask yourself:

“How do I feel?”

“What is this like and why?”

“How did this come about?”

People meditate because it’s fun, it’s enjoyable. They don’t meditate to “get something out of it,” even though when you meditate there are a lot of good benefits to be had such as health benefits or reducing stress in your life. Through meditation you become less intolerant, less angry. But there is something more to it than that - it’s just the sheer fun of it! When I was a young monk that’s what made me become a Buddhist.

It was inspiring to read the books but that was not good enough. It was when I meditated and became peaceful, very peaceful, incredibly peaceful, that something told me that this was the most profound experience of my life. I wanted to experience this again.

I wanted to investigate it more. Why? Because one deep experience of meditation is worth a thousand talks, or arguments, or books, or theories. The things you read in books are other people’s experiences, they are not your own.

They’re words and they might inspire, but the actual experience itself is truly moving. It’s truly earth shattering because it shatters that which you’ve rested on for such a long time. By inclining along this path of meditation you’re actually learning what letting go really is.

Acknowledge, forgive and let go (AFL)

For those of you who have difficulty meditating, it’s because you haven’t learned to let go yet in the meditation. Why can’t we let go of simple things like past and future? Why are we so concerned with what someone else did to us or said to us today? The more you think about it, the more stupid it is.

You know the old saying, “When someone calls you an idiot, the more times you remember it, the more times they’ve called you an idiot!” If you let it go immediately, you will never think about it again.

They only called you an idiot at most once. It’s gone! It’s finished. You’re free.

Why is it that we imprison ourselves with our past? Why can’t we even let that go? Do you really want to be free? Then acknowledge, forgive and let go, what I call in Australia the “AFL Code” - Acknowledge, forgive, and let go of whatever has hurt you, whether it’s something that somebody has done or said, or whether it’s what life has done. For instance, someone has died in your family and you argue with yourself that they shouldn’t have died.

Or you’ve lost your job and you think without stop that that shouldn’t have happened. Or simply something has gone wrong and you are obsessed that it’s not fair. You can crucify yourself on a cross of your own making for the rest of your life if you want to; but no one is forcing you to.

Instead you can acknowledge forgive and learn in the forgiving. The letting go is in the learning. The letting go gives the future a freedom to flow easily, unchained to the past. I was talking to some people recently about the Cambodian community here in Perth and, being a Buddhist community, I have had much to do with them.

Like any traditional Buddhists, when they have a problem they come and speak to the monks. This is what they have done for centuries.

The monastery and the monks are the social centre, the religious centre, and the counselling centre of the community. When men have arguments with their wives they come to the monastery.

Once when I was a young monk in Thailand, a man came into the monastery and asked me “Can I stay in the monastery for a few days?”.

I thought he wanted to meditate, so I said “Oh you want to meditate?” “Oh no”, he said “the reason I want to come to the monastery is because I’ve had an argument with my wife.”

So he stayed in the monastery. Three or four days later he came up to me and said, “I feel better now, can I go home”.

What a wise thing that was. Instead of going to the bar and getting drunk, instead of going to his mates and telling them all the rotten things that he thought his wife had done thereby reinforcing his ill will and resentment, he went to stay with a group of monks who didn’t say anything about his wife, who were just kind and peaceful.

He thought about what he had been doing in that peaceful, supportive environment, and after a while he felt much better. This is what a monastery sometimes is: it’s the counselling centre, the refuge, the place where people come to let go of their problems.

Isn’t that better than lingering on the past, especially when we are angry at something that has happened?

he crux of Buddha’s teachings

he Dhammachakkapavattana Sutta:

The crux of Buddha’s teachings

by Premasara Epasinghe

http://www.sundayobserver.lk

The Buddha, the Blessed One, once said “Ananda, there are four sacred places, a pious Buddhist should visit during his life-time and look upon them with veneration. They are Lumbini - the birth place of Siddhartha Gautama. Buddhagaya - where Prince Siddhartha attained the bliss of Enlightenment by eradicating impure thoughts and defilements; Isipatana Migadaya, where the Great Teacher, Mahapurisa delivered His first Sermon Dhammachakkapavattana Sutta to Panchavaggiya Bhikkhus - namely Vappa, Bhaddhiya, Mahanama, Assaji and Kondanna.

This place was called Isipatana, where holy men who had been practising meditation in the snow - clad Himalayan Ranges. Kusinara is the other place of importance, where Gautama Buddha passed away. Perhaps, this is the only place where devotees feel sad and find it difficult to hide their tears upon entering the shrine, where the Buddha’s statue is kept in a reclining position.

After attaining Enlightenment the Buddha visited the Panchavaggiya ascetics. At first they decided not to accept Him. When the Buddha came closer they arranged a suitable seat and offered water to drink and even washed his feet.

There are 18 stanzas in the Dhammachakkapavattana Sutta. Following the “Dutiyaka bhanovara,” this Sutta is found in “Atirekani Sutta Suttani” and it is excerpted from “Samyutta Nikaya”. The discourse set motion the Wheel of righteousness .

Evam me sutam: Thus, it has been heard by me: Ekam Samayam Bhagava Baranasiyam Viharati Isipatane Migadaye.

Once upon a time the Buddha was sojourning in Baranasi at Isipatane in the deer park.

The bedrock of Buddhism lies in this Sutta, the first of its kind. It provides an indepth study of the Buddhist philosophy. The Sutta, includes the four noble truths, the core of the Buddha’s Teachings.

He analysed the human mind.

The Buddha explained to the five ascetics, that enjoying sensual pleasures, Kamasukallikanu Yoga, and self mortification - Attakilamatanu Yoga, should not be resorted to. Dve me bhikkave anta pabbajitena na sevitabba, yo cayam kamesu kama sukkhalikanuyogo, hino, gammo, pothujjaniko, anariyo, anatthasamitito oh monks! There are these two extremes, which should not be resorted to by a recluse; There is the attachment to worldly enjoyment in respect of sensual pleasures. They are low, common, belonging to the average man - Ignoble, connected with misery. There is this attachment to self-motification full of suffering, ignoble, connected with misery, and unhappiness.

Buddhism or Buddhist philosophy is meant for the wise. The deep philosophy embodied in Dhammachakkapavattana Sutta proves this beyond doubt. In the second stanza the Buddha stated: Etete, Bhikkave, Ubhoante Anupagamma, majjimapatipadha, Thathagathena Abisambuddha Chakku Karani - Nanakarani .... And oh monks! The Middle path, has been reclused by the Thathagatha as producing insight and knowledge, which leads to serenity, special knowledge, hasten enlightment - Nibbana.

In the third stanza of the Dhammachakkapavattana Sutta the Buddha stressed the importance of the noble eight-fold path. Right vision, right intention, right word, right occupation, right livelihood, right effort, right mind fullness and right concentration.

It is followed in the fourth stanza regarding the noble truth of suffering - birth, old age, illness, death, association with unpleasant people and disassociation from the beloved is suffering - Jathi - Jara - Viyadhi, Marana. ...... “This is true life which we face even now.

Another noteworthy feature of the Dhammachakkapavattana Sutta is in the stanza or verses 8 - 11, The Buddha states that in realising the noble truth of suffering, with reference to the doctrines unheard of before, His inward eye arose - Chakku Udapadi - cognition arose Nanam Udapadi - wisdom arose - Panna udapadi Knowledge arose - Vijja Udapadi - light arose Aloko Udapadi - with the thought.

This line is repeated 12 times. It shows clearly that Buddhism is for the intelligent, and the wise. There is no blind faith. Mind is the forerunner.

The Majjimapatipada and the eight stanza of eight-fold path referred to above, lead to physical and mental uplift for true happiness - Nibbana - the greatest bliss that one could achieve.

In the 12th stanza of the Dhammachakkapavattana Sutta, Yava kivanca me Bhikkave imesu Chatusu Ariyasaccha Evam tiparivattam Dvadesakaram .....

The Gautama Buddha stated in the Dhammachakkapavattana Sutta that this was his last birth. Ayamantimi - Natthidanni - Punnabbavoti - The Buddha said that the greatest Bliss is Nibbana the state of absolute happiness. He interpreted the world and showed the path to change it for the better. The Devas (gods) of the Earth, transmitted the message to the heavenly abode, Chatturmaharajika. From there, it was transmitted to the Tusitha, Yama, Nirmanarati Paranimmitavasavatti, Brahamaparrisajja, Brahamapurohita, Mahabrahama, Paritiabba, Appamanasubha, Subhakinnaka, Vetappola, Aviha, Atappa, Sudassa, Suddasi and Akanthika.

This is clearly shown in the stanzas verses 12 - 16 in the Dhammachakkapavattana Sutta. Another, notable feature in this Sutta was that tens and thousands were joyous.

The rays of light shone, where knowledge based Buddhist philosophy spread throughout India at that time. Today, Buddhism is practised by over 600 million people in the world. At the end of the Dhammachakkapavattana Sutta, ascetic Kondanna gained knowledge. He was the first to realise the truth and was known as Annasi Kondanna.Of the 30 important Suttas in the Pirith Pothvahanse - Book of the Stanzas of protection which ends with the Atanatiya Sutta,

The Dhammachakapavattana Sutta is very important and Theravada Buddhists mostly recite that Sutta, as it embodied the Buddhist philosophy.

Sabbe Satta Bhavantu Sukhitatta - May all living beings be well and happy.

Chathurarya Saththyaya - චතුරාර්ය සත්ත්‍යය >> Soma Himi

Chathurarya Saththyaya -

Part 1

චතුරාර්ය සත්ත්‍යය 1

Ganngodavila Soma Himi සෝම හිමි

අදුරෙන් එළියට .....................චතුරාර්ය සත්ත්‍යය 1 -සෝම හිමි *****************
U-Tube වෙනුවෙන් ප්‍රියන්ත ද සිල්වා ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමකි. ***********************
අපි නොදන්නා ශ්‍රී සද්ධර්මය , පිරිසිදු සිංහලෙන් දේශනා කල වදාල ගංගොඩවිල සෝම හිමියන්ට ප්‍රාර්ථනීය බෝධිය කින් නිවන් අවබෝධ වීමට මේ පිං උපකාරී වේවා ! වසර ගනනක් මාලග තිබූ මේ කැසට්පටය වැඩිදෙනෙක් සමග බෙදාගැනීමේ අරමුනින් සකස් කරනලද මෙහිදී සිදුවූ සියලු වැරදීම් වෙනුවෙන් සමාව ඉල්ලමි.

බුදුන් වදාල ධර්මය මෙලෙස පතුරාලීමට මඟ සැලැස්වූ www.Youtube.com ආයතනය ටත් , තෙරුවන් සරණයි !



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අදුරෙන් එළියට .....................චතුරාර්ය සත්ත්‍යය 2 -සෝම හිමි *****************
U-Tube වෙනුවෙන් ප්‍රියන්ත ද සිල්වා ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමකි.

අන්ධභූත ජාතකය

පන්සිය පනස් ජාතක පොතෙන්
අන්ධභූත ජාතකය

ප්‍රේමසර ඈපාසිංහ

තිලෝගුරු සම්‍යක් සම්බුදුරජාණන් වහන්සේ දෙව්රම් වෙහෙරේ දී මහණ දම් පිරීමෙහි උකටලී වූ එක්තරා භික්‍ෂුවක් අරභයා, අන්ධභූත ජාතකය දෙසා වදාළ සේක. රාග කාමයේ ප්‍රබලත්වය නුවණින් විමසා ඉන් මිදීමට කටයුතු කිරීමේ වැදගත්කම ගැන මෙයින් පැහැදිලි කෙරෙයි.

ඇතැම් කාන්තාවකගේ ඇතැයි පැවැසෙන දුර්වලතාවක් ගැන මේ ජාතක කතාවෙන් කියැවෙයි. එනම්, කාන්තාවන් මවුකුස තුළ සිටියදී පටන්ම ආරක්‍ෂා කළ ද ඔවුන් ආරක්‍ෂා කිරීම අපහසුය යන්නයි.

බඹදත් රජතුමා සහ ඔහුගේ පුරෝහිත බමුණා යන දෙදෙනා එක්ව, සූදු ක්‍රීඩා කිරීමට කැමැත්තෝ ය.

දෙදෙනා මුදල්වලට සූදු සෙල්ලම් කරති. රිදී පෝරුවේ රන් පස ඇට දැමීමට පෙර තරගයෙන් ජයගැනීම සඳහා මන්ත්‍රයක් වැනි කවියක් කියා තමාගේ කැට වීසිකිරීම රජතුමාගේ සිරිතය. රජතුමා කියන කවිය මෙසේ ය.

සබ්බානදී වංකගතා - සබ්බේ කට්ඨමයා වනා,

සබ්බිත්ථියෝ කරේපාපං - ලභමානා නිවාතකෙ

එහි අදහස නම්, සෑම ගංගාවක්ම ගලන්නේ ඇදටය. සෑම කැලයක්ම කටු සහිතය, ඉඩ ලද විටෙක සෑම ගැහැනියක්ම වරදෙහි බැඳේ යන්නයි.

මෙකී ගීතය නැතහොත් කවිය කියා කැට විසිකිරීම රජුගේ සිරිතයි. රජු සැමවිට ජයගනී. පුරෝහිතයා සැමවිට පරදී. පුරෝහිත බමුණා, තමාට ජය අත්කරගන්නට උපායක් කල්පනා කළේ ය. එනම්, උපන් මොහොතෙහිදි පටන්ම පිරිමියකු නොදුටු දැරියක සරණ කර ගැනීමයි. ඒ අනුව, ගැබක් දරා සිටි දුප්පත් ස්ත්‍රියකට මුදල් දී, ඇයට උපන් බිළිඳිය ලබාගෙන, දැරිය උපන් මොහොතේ සිටම පුරුෂයන්ට දැක ගන්නට නොහැකි ලෙස, ස්ත්‍රීන් ලවාම හදා වඩවා ගෙන වැඩිවිය පැමිණිවිට ඇය විවාහ කරගත්තේ ය.

පුරෝහිත බමුණා යළිත් දාදු ක්‍රීඩාවේ යෙදෙන විට රජතුමා සුපුරුදු කවිය ගායනය කරත්ම දේවයන් වහන්ස, හැබැයි මගේ බිරිඳ නම් කෙදිනකවත් අන් පුරුෂයෙකු සේවනය කරන්නේ නැතැයි කීය. දැන් ක්‍රීඩාවෙහි පුදුම වෙනසකි. රජු දිගටම පරාජයට පත්වේ. පුරෝහිත බමුණා ජය පිට ජය ලබයි. ඇත්තටම, මේ බමුණා දිනන්නේ පතිවත රකින කාන්තා රත්නයක් ඔහු සතු නිසා බැව් රජු අවබෝධ කරගනී. මා දිනවන කවිය දැන් බොරු වී ඇත. ඒ රජුගේ සිතුවිල්ලයි.

දාදු කෙළියෙන් ජය ලබාගන්නට උපායක් යොදයි. එනම්, පුරෝහිත බමුණාගේ බිරිඳගේ පතිවත බිඳීම සඳහා සල්ලාල මිනිසකු යොදාගන්නට තීරණය කරයි.

එම මිනිසා රජුගෙන් මුදල් ලබාගෙන පුරෝහිත බමුණාගේ නිවෙස අසල රන්, රිදී, මුතු මැණික්, සුවඳ වර්ග හා මල් වර්ග විකුණන වෙළෙඳ සැලක් විවෘත කරයි. කාන්තාවන් වඩා පි‍්‍රය කරන විවිධ වර්ණයේ සළු පිළි මේ වෙළෙඳ සැලේ විකුණනු ලැබේ. රජතුමා උපාය ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්නට කුලියට ගත් සල්ලාලයාට, බමුණාගේ ලාබාල බිරිඳ සමඟ මිත්‍රවීම, විශාල අභියෝගයකි. පුරෝහිත බමුණාගේ සත්මහල් ප්‍රාසාදය රැකවල්ලන්ගේ කාන්තාවන්ය. නව යොවුන් දැරිය දකින එකම පිරිමියා පුරෝහිතයා පමණි. මේ ප්‍රාසාදයට ඇතුළුවීම මහා අභියෝගයකි. උපායශීලී සල්ලාලයා අපූරු සැලසුමක් පිළියෙළ කරගනී. ඔහුගේ සැලසුම ක්‍රියාත්මක වීම නිසා වෙළෙඳ සැල ගැන ආරංචිය පුරෝහිතයාගේ පතිවත සුරකින බිරිඳට අසන්න ලැබෙයි. ඒ මෙසේය.

තම සේවිකාවන් ලවා මල්වර්ග ඇය වෙළෙඳ සැලෙන් ගෙන්වා ගනී. කාන්තාවන් කිහිපදෙනකු සමග මල් ගෙනයන්නට තරමක් වයසක සේවිකාව නපැමිණි විට වෙළෙඳසැල පවත්වාගෙන යන මිනිසා ඇය දැක, ඇයගේ දෙපා වැළඳගෙන මහ හයියෙන් හඬන්නට විය.

“අනේ අම්මේ ඇයි අම්මේ මාව දමලා කොහෙද ගියේ? මගේ රටක් වටින අම්මායි කියමින් වැළපෙන්නට විය. ඔහු සමඟ සිටි සහායකයෝද අම්මයි පුතයි එකවගේමයි පැවසූහ. ගමන බිමනත් දෙදෙනාගේම එකවාගෙයි ඔවුහු පැවසූහ. කාන්තාවගේ සිතෙහි පුත්‍ර සෙනෙහස උතුරාගලායන්නට විය. මේ උපක්‍රමයෙන්, වියපත් සේවිකාව සමඟ මිත්‍ර වූ සල්ලාල වෙළෙන්දා පුරෝහිත බමුණාගේ බිරිඳට වැඩිපුර මල් යවන්නට පටන්ගත්තේ ය. ඒවාට මුදල් ලබාගත්තේ ද නැත. එක් දිනක් බොරු අසනීපයක් මවාගෙන මොහු වැතිරී සිටියේ ය.

අනේ මගේ රත්තරන් පුතාට තියෙන අසනීපය, අමාරුව කුමක්දැයි මහලු සේවිකාව විමසුවා ය. “අම්මේ, පුරෝහිත බමුණාගේ ලාබාල බිරිඳ ගැන අම්මා මා සමඟ නිතර කතා කළා රූමත් යැයි කීවා. මට ඇයගේ ඇසුර, පහස ලබන්නට නොහැකි නම් මා මැරෙනවා යයි කීවේ ය.

පුත්‍ර සෙනෙහස නිසා ඇය තම දරුවාගේ ජීවිතය බේරා ගත යුතුයි. “මං කොහොම හරි උඹට ඇය හඳුන්නල දෙන්නම්” අම්මා පැවසුවා ය.මහලු සේවක කාන්තාව තමාගේ පුතුගේ බරපතළ ප්‍රශ්නය බමුණාගේ ලාබාල බිරිඳට කීවා ය. ඔහුරහසේම රැගෙන එන්නැයි ඇය උපදෙස් දුන්නාය.

ප්‍රාසාදය රැකවල් ලන කාන්තාවන් උපායෙන් මුළා කළ මහලු කත සලෙල පුරුෂයා ප්‍රාසාදයට රැගෙන යෑමට ඉඩ කඩ සලසා ගත්තා ය. මහලු කාන්තාව විසින් ප්‍රාසාදයට ගෙන යනු ලබන විශාල මල් පෙට්ටියක් තුළ සැඟවී ප්‍රාසාදයට ගොස් රහසේම තරුණිය මුණ ගැසීමට පුරුෂයා සමත් විය. ඔහු එහි සැඟ වී දින කිහිපයක් නතරවද සිටියේ ය.

මඳ දිනෙකින් ඔහු යා යුතු වේලාව මේ යැයි තරුණිය ඔහුට මතක් කර සිටියා ය. සලෙල පුරුෂයා එහිදී කියා සිටියේ බමුණාට පහරක් ගසා යන්නට තමන්ට ආශාවක් ඇති බවයි. තරුණිය මේ පුරුෂයාගේ මනදොළ සපුරාලනුවස් උපායක් යෙදුවා ය.

ඈ බමුණා ප්‍රාසාදයට පැමිණි පසු ඔහු වීනා වයන විට තමන් නටන්නට කැමැති බව කීවා ය. බමුණාද එසේ කරන්නට ඉඩ දුන් විට තමන් ඔහු දකින විට නටන්නට ලජ්ජා බව කියා බමුණාගේ අවසරය ද ඇතිව රෙදි කඩකින් දැඩිව ඔහුගේ දෑස් බැන්දා ය.

පි‍්‍රය බිරිඳගේ අදහසට ඉඩ දුන් බමුණාට ඊළඟට ඇය කියා සිටියේ තමන් නටමින් සිටින අතරතුර ඔහුගේ හිසට එක්වරක් පහරක් ගසන්නට ආශාවක් ඇති බවයි. ඇය කෙරෙහි බැඳුණාවූ පුරෝහිත බමුණා ඊට ද අවසර දුන් කල්හි, සැඟව සිටි සල්ලාල පුරුෂයා, පිටුපස්සෙන් පැමිණ බමුණාගේ හිසට දැඩිව වැලමිටෙන් ඇන්නේ ය. අනතුරුව පලා ගිය මිනිසා තමාගේ සපන්කම රජුට දන්වා සිටියේ ය.

පුරෝහිත බමුණාගේ බිරිඳගේ පතිවත බිඳුණු පසුව, රජු සුපුරුදු ගීය ගයා දාදු කෙලියේ යෙදෙමින් යළිත් ජය ලබන්නට පටන් ගත්තේ ය.

රජතුමා ජයග්‍රාහී ලීලාවෙන් පුරෝහිත බමුණා ඇමතීය. “පුරෝහිත බමුණ ඔබේ බිරිඳගේ පතිවත බිඳිල නේද?එදා ඔබ ඇස් බැඳ වීනාව වාදනය කරනවිට දී ඔබේ හිසට පහරදුන්නේ ඔබගේ බිරිඳගේ සොර සැමියා” යයි කීවේ ය. පුරෝහිත බමුණා අන්දමන්ද විය.

මෙය සත්‍යයක්ද? පුරෝහිත බමුණා මේ ගැන තම බිරිඳගෙන් විමසුවේ ය. “ඔබතුමා මා ගැන සැක පළ කරන්නේ ඇයි? මා කවදාවත් වෙනත් පිරිමියකු දැකලත් නැහැ. අතින්වත් අල්ලා නැහැ. ගිනිමැලයක් සකසන්න මා ඒ බව ඔප්පු කරන්නම් මා වෙනත් පිරිමියෙකුගේ පහස විඳ ඇත්නම් මා මේ ගිනිමැලයේ පිච්චී දැවීයාවි. මා සත්‍ය ක්‍රියා කරනවායි” පැවැසුවාය.

මේ අතර තරුණිය කදිම උපදෙසක් මහලු සේවිකාවට රහසේම දුන්නාය. මා ගිනිමැලයට පනින්න සූදානම් වන අවස්ාථාවේ නුඹේ පුතාට කියාපන් ගිනිමැලයට පනින්න පෙර මාගේ අතින් අල්ලා ගිනිමැලයෙන් පිටතට අදින්න කියලා”.

ඒ පුරුෂයා අපූරුවට ඔහුගේ කොටස රඟපෑවේ ය. මේ සියල්ල සිදුවුණේ පුරෝහිත බමුණා, ඉදිරියේ ය. “ස්වාමිණී, දැන් කරන්න දෙයක් නැහැ. මේ මිනිහා මාව අතින් ඇල්ලුව නිසා මාගේ සත්‍යක්‍රියාව බිඳ වැටුණා.

මෙතෙක් කවදාවත් පිරිමියෙකු මාගේ අත අල්ලා තිබුණේ නැහැ. ඔබතුමා පමණයි මාගේ අතින් අල්ලා තිබුණේ. එහෙත්, මා දන්නේ නැහැ මේ. මිනිසා කොහේ සිට පැමිණියා ද කියා. මේ පුද්ගලයා මගේ අතින් ඇල්ලුවා බැවින් මා මෙතෙක් රැක්ක පතිවෘතාව කැඩුණා යැයි පැවසීය. මේ කාන්තාවගේ කපටි උපාය කෙතරම් ප්‍රබලද? අද සමාජයේ වූවද මෙවැනි අසම්මත සබඳතා පවත්වන ස්ත්‍රී, පුරුෂයන් ගැන අපි අසා ඇත්තෙමු. අද සමාජයට මේ කතාව සමානාත්වයක් දක්වයි.

මෙම කතා පුවත වර්තමාන සමාජ ස්වරූපය නිරූපණය කරන කෙටි කතාවක් වැන්න. සමාජයේ මෙවැනි සිදුවීම් දක්නට ලැබේ. කාන්තාවන්ද පුරුෂයන්ද මෙවැනි ගැටලුවලට ප්‍රශ්නවලට පැටලි දුක්ඛිත තත්ත්වයන්ට පත්වේ. මෙවැනි දුර්වලතා වටහාගෙන උකටලී නොවී ඉන් මිදීමට ක්‍රියා කළ යුතු බව මෙයින් අපට පැහැදිලි වේ.

http://www.lakehouse.lk/budusarana/2011/01/12/tmp.asp?ID=fea07

Death and rebirth

Death and rebirth

Rajah KURUPPU

From the earliest of times, men have speculated on the question why they are born and why they die. In ancient times, phenomena such as rain and fire were attributed to gods associated with them.

There was a creator god responsible for birth and another for destruction. With the passage of time, there developed the concept of one God, all powerful and omnipotent, who is responsible for our birth and who would judge our life at death and regard or punish us for our good and harmful actions, respectively.

The answer in Buddhism for our birth is that we are caught in a cycle of births and deaths called Samsara, in which beginning is inconceivable. The Buddha declared that it is because of our delusion of the true nature of things, we have the desire for life at the moment of death where ordinary people grasp for life.

Consequently we are reborn and continue our journey in Samsara with all its unsatisfactory features characterized by anicca, dukkha and anatta (impermanence, dissatisfaction and absence of a permanent, unchanging, eternal, self or soul).

Buddhist standpoint of birth

Man consists of mind and body. From a Buddhist standpoint what happens at death is that the physical body ceases to function. But what happens to the mind which is other part of man? A mind is a flow of thoughts. It has no location in the physical body and the Buddha did not indicate where the mind is actually located.

With the death of the physical body, the mind does not cease nor the mental forces and energies.

In fact in Buddhism, it is said that the will, the desire, the thirst to live is the greatest force and the greatest energy in the world and does not stop with death but continues to manifest itself in another form, producing re-existence which is called re-birth.

Presented differently, the most precious thing for all living beings is their own lives.

They would fight to the last or run away to save their lives. Proceeding from the known to the unknown, it could be presumed that at the moment of death although man is physically weak to resist death, he would mentally attempt to survive and is unlikely to face death with calm resignation.

The desire for life is so strong that the man will mentally grasp (upadana) another viable place such as the fertile ovum in a mother’s womb since the present body can no longer support his life. Thus the psychological process of life (bhava) will continue in the newly found place and birth (jati) would soon follow.

This is the process explained in the Buddhist law of Dependent Origination. Conditioned by craving, grasping arises; conditioned by grasping, becoming arises; conditioned by becoming, birth arises; conditioned by birth, old age, disease and death arise.

The last thought

The first mental strings of the new being in the womb of the mother will be the first thought. The process continues with the last thought of the previous life followed by the first thought of a new life. The distance between the place one has died and the new place of birth is of no consequence.

Once the Buddha, in reply to a question, said that to think of two cities: one close and other far away; it takes the same time. Similarly the time taken for the new birth, which follows the last thought of the previous life is the same, irrespective of distance.

Thus from a Buddhist standpoint, one is born not at the time that the mother delivers the baby but at the time that mental activity in a rudimentary form commenced in the womb.

Experiments have shown that if the mother is tensed and worried during pregnancy, it has an adverse impact on the baby.

It is also said that if the mother listens to a particular music frequently during the pregnancy period, sometimes when the same music is played after birth, there appears to be an element of recognition of that music by the baby.

There is another interpretation of rebirth called gandhabba where it is argued that at death, the deceased looks for a suitable place to be re-born.

However, this position does not appear to be consistent with the doctrine of kamma, an important part of the Dhamma. One’s birth and existence in the new life is largely determined by one’s Kamma, both in the previous life and the lives before and the last thought of the previous life.

One does not have a choice regarding the next birth. If there as a choice even a person who has led a life of villainy and extreme selfishness would desire a rebirth in a comparatively favourable environment.

In this connection, it should be noted that there is a possibility of one being born as a spirit whose existence is very brief between one human life and another. Such a case is mentioned by well known Buddhist scholar, Francis Story, in his book ‘Rebirth as Doctrine and Experience’.

In such a case, there is no interruption in the flow of thoughts from one life to another. The spirit life is a recognized plane of existence among the 31 planes of existence mentioned by the Buddha.

Past linked with present

It is also said in the Dhamma with regard to rebirth that one’s character is conditioned not only by one’s parents and the environment in which one lives, but also by past actions of previous lives.

The past actions of previous lives, both wholesome and unwholesome, are recorded in the mind and they influence one’s character and talents in this life. One’s knowledge, skills and spiritual progress developed in one life could be carried to the next.

It is indicated in the Dhamma that the Buddha at a very tender age engaged in the meditation on the breath (Anapana Sati) adopting the correct posture. He was not trained to do so in that life but that was a skill developed in previous lives.

This is why some children reveal talents at a very early age not gathered in that life. We notice some children take to music, swimming or meditation with alacrity which could be attributed to talents developed in previous lives.

It is also mentioned in the Dhamma that the last thought of this life plays a crucial role regarding the next place of birth. If one has made a serious effort to develop and maintain a purified mind then in all probability a wholesome thought would be the last thought.

The development of wholesome thought is an important ingredient in the practice of the Dhamma.

According to the Dhamma, all living-beings, humans, animals and others, are subject to death. The arahants or even the Buddha are not exempt from this law of nature. According to Buddhism, the cause of death is birth. Once born, one has to die. It is like a bullet fired from a gun.

Once fired, the bullet has to find its destination. The only way to avoid death is not to be born; and the only way not to be born is to overcome the desire for sense pleasures and life. The arahants who have totally eradicated the desire for sense pleasures and life and possess a fully purified mind will never be born again.

The explanation of the Buddha in this regard as indicated in Majjhima Nikaya, Sutta 43, is as follows: “How is there is no rebirth in the future? By the cessation of delusion; by the arising of knowledge (vijja); by the cessation of craving, there is thus no re-birth in the future.”

So long as man is attached to existence through delusion and craving, death is not his end. He will continue his career in the rough waters of Samsara with its painful nature. It is only through the eradication of delusion and craving for sense pleasures and existence, the will to live, that the cycle of existence ceases.

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