The Triple Gem ! >>>> Buddhist Site with Universe Love

කිරිබත්ගොඩ ඥණානන්ද හිමිට මඩ ගැසීමේ තැතක්

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:55:00 +0000

කිරිබත්ගොඩ ඥණානන්ද හිමිට මඩ ගැසීමේ තැතක්

කිසියම් පිරිසක් විසින් මහමෙවුනාව භාවනා අසපුවේ නිර්මාතෘ කිරිබත්ගොඩ ඥණානන්ද හිමියන්ට මඩ ගැසීමේ ව්‍යාපාරයක් දියකත්කර ඇතැයි මහමවුනා භාවනා අසපුව නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් කියා සිටී.

මේ සඳහා ගිහිපැවිදි දෙපාර්ශවයම එක්වී ඇතැයි ද, කිසියම් සංවිධානාත්මක පිරිසක් විසින් එහිමියන්ට විරුද්ධව ලියන ලද ග‍්‍රන්ථ, පුවත්පත් හා පෝස්ටර් ව්‍යාපාරයක්ද දියත්කර අතැයි අදාල නිවේදනයේ දැක්වේ.

එම නිවේදනය බලන්න පහතින්

www.gossip9.com

http://www.mahamevnawa.lk/2927-2/

පිටිදූවේ හිමි නම ගැන ඇසෙන කථා

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:19:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 18:28:00 +0000

ජාතියේ පිනට පහළ වූ සෝම හිමි සමරමු

_________________

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

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 05:33:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:50:00 +0000

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.

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

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:39:00 +0000

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 ?

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:28:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:43:00 +0000

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

Apa Rata Surakina Sura Rajinde _ Vishnu Devinde _ H. R. Jothipala

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:38:00 +0000

Apa Rata Surakina Sura Rajinde ~

Vishnu Devinde

By : H. R. Jothipala

අප රට සුරකින සුර රජිඳේ
පිහිටයි ඔබේ ශ්‍රී විශ්ණු දෙවිඳේ
දෙවිඳේ දෙවිඳේ .. දෙවිඳේ
ශ්‍රී විශ්ණු දෙවිඳේ !

අප රට දැය යහපත ගෙනදී
දියුණුව සාදණු මැන ‍රැකදී
ඔබ ඇස අප දෙස යොමුවේවා
යහපත මේ අපෙ සැළසේවා !

කුළුණින් දිවනෙත් හැරබලතී
බැතිබර ලෝකෙට සෙත සදතී
පුදදී බැතිසිත් පුද පඬුරූ
ඔබගේ පාමුළ වැඳ වැටෙමූ

H R ජෝතිපාල එදා ගායනා කළ මේ ශ්‍රී විශ්ණු බැතිගී උපහාරය,
මතු බුදුවන ශ්‍රී විශ්ණු දෙවියන් ගේ නාමය වෙනුවෙන් ඔබවෙත
තිලිණ කරන්නෙමු.
අප සියළුදෙනාටත්, මවු රටටත්, සමස්ත ලෝකයටත් ශ්‍රී විශ්ණු දෙවියන්ගේ,
පිහිට හා බැල්ම ලැබේවා! යි පතමු. !
ඔබ සැමට බුදු සරණයි !

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

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:56:00 +0000

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 !

"දියුණුවට මඟ" How to develop you and your carrier

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:06:00 +0000

පූජ්‍ය විද්‍යාවේදී, පිටිදූවේ සිරිධම්ම ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේ විසින් දේශනා කරන ලද, "දියුණුවට මඟ"

How to behave yourself and to be a millionaire , with in the suitable manner , how to develop you and your carrier ,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 !

"ලෝකයේ පහළවීම හා විනාශය" World's End and The beginning !

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:56:00 +0000

පූජ්‍ය විද්‍යාවේදී, පිටිදූවේ සිරිධම්ම ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේ විසින් දේශනා කරන ලද, "ලෝකයේ පහළවීම හා විනාශය"

The Beginning Of the World and the destroy , 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 !

Wesak Maha Thorana 2011 in Matara Hittatiya - HD Video

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 15:55:00 +0000

This is the Matara Hittatiya Wesak Maha Thorana 2011. It was again , shown in Kamburupitiya at Poson 2011.

මේ 2011 වර්ෂයේ මාතර හිත්තටියේ ඉදිකළ වෙසක් මහා තොරණයි. මාතර හිත්තටිය තරුණකැළ සමඟ ප්‍රේමතිලක මහතා විසින් සංවිධානය කළ මේ උතුම් පුන්‍යකර්මය සඳහා දර්ශනීය චිත්‍ර, කිරින්දේ සරත්චන්ද්‍ර විසින් නිර්මාණය කරන ලදී. මේ වෙසක් තොරණ, 2011 පොසොන් උත්සවය සඳහා කඹුරුපිටියේදීද ප්‍රදර්ශනය කරන ලදී.

Maha Seye Koth Kerella_Chamara Weerasinghe_New Singala Songs 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 18:22:00 +0000

2011 පොසොන් පෝ දින වෙනුවෙන් මගෙන් පිදෙන උපහාර ගීතයයි මේ..

මහ සෑයේ කොත් කැ‍රැල්ල බුදුන් සමාන
සිත නිවනා නිවන් සුවය මිහින්තලාව
හෙළය හදා රට කරවූ දහම් වගාව
මිහිඳු මහා මාහිමිටයි ශීර්ශ ප්‍රණාම

බුදුන් ළඟට බුදුන් වූ.. මිහිඳු මහා රහතන් වහන්සේ වෙනුවෙන්
ගැයූ ඒ උත්තරීතර ගීතය, චාමර වීරසිංහ ගේ ම හඬින් නැවතත් අසමු..

ඔබසැමට සියලුම සතුට හා ජය අත්වේවා.. දළඳා සමිඳු පිහිටයි !

Meditation, heart of Buddhism

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 22:16:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 22:07:00 +0000

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.

Nawagamuwa Devalaya - Dedicated to goddess Pattini

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 09:14:00 +0000

Nawagamuwa Devalaya - Dedicated to goddess Pattini

It was the day of the ICC Cricket world cup finals. Sri Lanka was yet to play the biggest match of the season. With the intention of coming back before the commencement of the match, we started our journey from Colombo to the famous Nawagamuwa Devalaya around 9 a.m. Situated at the 13th mile post of Colombo-Rathnapura Road, 4km from Kaduwela Junction, it is one of the most visited devalayas of the country.

Nawagamuwa Devalaya is a shrine dedicated to Goddess Pattini. Buddhists as well as non-Buddhists offer poojas to the deity with the intention of getting blessings for children and pregnant mothers. On the day we visited, the place was full of devotees despite the match. History of this devalaya goes back to the Anuradhapura era. As the legend unfolds King Gajaba 1 (A.D. 114 - 136) came from India with 12,000 men as prisoners, bringing with him a Pattini anklet, he landed at a place close to devalaya. Devalaya was built enshrining the anklet.

“Other version of this legend is that Goddess Pattini arrived at this place from India with 12,000 devotees belonging to 16 castes. The men and women settled down in adjacent villages to serve the goddess,” said Nawagamuwe Podi Hamuduruvo Atigala Kunnarathana Thera.

Moonstone with floral decor

“The well, which is believed to be the one that the Goddess Pattini used to bathe, can be found near the devalaya,” said the Thera. “The oldest building of the premises is the Pattini Devalaya. Viharageya and the other artefacts had been built later to accommodate the large number of devotees arrived at the place,” he added.

The temple, which is attached to the devalaya is Sri Sugathabimbaramaya. The first historical mention of the Nawagamuwa Pattini Devale is found during the Kotte period, in the ‘Godagama Sannasa’, it is said that King Buwanekabahu V (A.D. 1521 - 1580), a gift of oil is made for the Nawagamuwa Pattini Kovil Perahera.

This area was historically important even during the period of King Sitawaka. It is renowned that King Mayadunne (A.D. 1521 - 1580) had stopped at the Nawagamuwa Pattini Devale to make a vow before he went to war with the Portuguese in the Colombo Fort. According to the reports of the Portuguese, in 1550, the King of Portuguese sent 600 troops to help King Buwanekabahu V. They fought with King Mayadunne at Nawagamuwa. It is also recorded that in 1576, the Portuguese army destroyed Nawagamuwa Devale and established an army camp there.

The devalaya was rebuilt by King Mayadunne only to be destroyed again by the Captain of the Colombo Fort, leaving a pile of ruins. According to the Department of Archaeology some building materials, Dutch coins, and iron implements have been found during an excavation around the devalaya.


Dagoba of the temple	Bodhisatva Statue

The Viharageya, which is believed to have been built in 19th century, is a beautiful building with paintings belonging to the Kandy era. It has four stone entrances and three Bodhisattva Statues. The inner part of the Viharageya has a long reclining Buddha Statue and a statue of God Vishnu. That ceiling is decorated with magnificent floral paintings. The door, which opens to the inner hall, is decorated with paintings of a flower and a picture of a worshipping ‘vamana’.

The stone pillars in front of the building are believed to be from a temple, which has been destroyed during the Portuguese period. The whole building is built on a stone foundation. The moonstone at the entrance, which belongs to the post Kandy period is rather different from what we see in other places. Instead of a liyawela this one has six petal flowers and tuskers.

There are also two doratupala figures and remains of a Makara Thorana. “The oldest shrine of the devalaya premises is the Galkanu Devalaya,” said Podi Hamuduruwo. This shrine is built of four stone posts. The remains of the original stone posts are still visible. Some people believe these as rubbles of the first Pattini Devalaya. However, this was rebuilt during the Katuwawala Sri Sumanathissa Thera, one of the Chief Priests of the Sri Sugathabimbaramaya.

The Maha Pattini Devalaya, the main shrine of the area, has been built during the 19th century. A gilded statue of the Goddess Pattini is enshrined in it. There are five other shrines stands in a row in front of the Maha Devalaya. Out of these Dedimunda, Kataragama and Vishnu Devalayas belongs to the 19th century, however others are built recently. During a recent research conducted by the Department of Archaeology, Viharage, Sangavasaya (the Monks abode), Galkanu Devalaya, Maha Pattini Devale, along with these three ancient shrines has declared as archaeologically important sites.

Ancient Devala

Old avasaya ge

In addition to that, a grove of Naa-tree, which is believed to be more than 100 years old, is also one of the protected sites. “The legend says that there is a white king cobra in this grove,” said Podi Hamuduruvo. “I have never seen him, but there are people who had spotted him,” he added. The procession of the devalaya is also unique. Unlike other shrines, Bulls are used for the procession instead of elephants. This is known as ‘Gon Pita Perehera’. “The jewels of Vishnu and Kataragama are taken on bulls back during the Perehera,” explained Podi Hamuduruwo.

Stories related to the devalaya are also interesting as much as its history. The most popular out of those is that once a Jak fruit has grown out of the wooden entrance of the devalaya. A villager who had come into the devalaya premises in search of his cow had spotted this well grown Jak fruit. The hungry villager had offered a portion to Goddess Pattini and had eaten the rest. Hearing this story the angry kapurala of the devalaya had cursed the villager. “However, it is said that the Kapurala himself had died from that curse,” explained the thera. “This devalaya is a place full of miracles. Unlike today, our ancestors believed that the deity punished the drunk devotees and never allowed to pass the devalaya with loose hair,” added the Thera.

Pix: Janani Amarasekara

http://www.sundayobserver.lk

Buddhist approach to political conflicts and peace development

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:19:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:17:00 +0000

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.”

the Buddha’s visit to Kapilavastu marks Medin Poya

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:14:00 +0000

the Buddha’s visit to Kapilavastu marks Medin Poya

-Dailymirror.lk

By Gamini Jayasinghe

Medin Full Moon Poya Day and the month of Medin is of special significance because of a number of incidents have taken place on this day and those taking place at present during the month of Medin.

It was nine months after the Enlightenment or on the first Medin Full moon day after the Enlightenment that Gauthama Buddha visited the “Sakya Desha” in Kimbulwath Pura or Kapilavastu Pura - the kingdom of King Suddhodhana. For Sri Lankans this day is important also because it is the climax in the peak period of Sri Pada pilgrims.

King Suddhodhana
invites Buddha

King Suddhodhana’s kingdom was Kapilavastu which is the place known as Bihar; Piprahwa today. The King did not believe anyone who brought the news that his son had died on the contention that Sakyans do not die before the maximum span of life. After six long years the king heard the news that his son had attained Buddhahood and was preaching His doctrine at Rajagaha Nuwara, Veluvanaramaya.

King Suddhodhana who was longing to see his son sent one of his ministers as an envoy to invite the Buddha to proceed to Kapilavastu. The king got his people to construct Nigrodharamaya at the garden of Sakyan named Nigrodha in Kapilavastu Pura for the Buddha and His disciples. The King was waiting anxiously to see his son but to his disappointment the messengers had entered priesthood having heard Dharma and had not conveyed the message. On nine occasions the king sent nine ministers each with one thousand followers to invite Buddha to visit Kapilavastupura but all efforts made were of no avail because all of them had followed suit and the message had not been conveyed to the Buddha by any one of them.

At last the king summoned his most trustworthy minister, Kaludai and requested him to appease his anxiety some how or other.

Minister Kaludai undertook to invite Buddha to visit Kapilavastupura on condition that the king would allow him to become an ascetic under the Great Being who had conquered the world. The king granted him permission to enter the priesthood and Minister Kaludai has gone to Veluwaramaya, entered priesthood with his followers exactly as his predecessors did and attained Arahantship before long having listened to Dharma from Buddha.

‘Elder Sakyans’ reluctance and ‘Yama Maha Pelahara’

Sakyans who went forward to receive the Enlightened One took Him in a procession. Young Sakyans worshipped the Omniscient One but elders who walked behind did not venerate Him as they thought it was not proper when taking the age factor into consideration.

In order to dispel the arrogance of Sakyans Buddha performed the ‘Yama Maha Pelahara’ - the twin miracle, the power said to have been possessed by the Buddha to cause a stream of fire to issue from one part of His body and a stream of water from another at the same time, which is a power to issue such streams together from eyes, ears and nostrils which was the result of His having accomplished ‘Thejokasina’ and ‘Apokasina’.

This is the second occasion when the Buddha performed ‘Yama Maha Pelahara’. All the Sakyans including King Suddhodhana worshipped the Enlightened One having been astonished and took refuge in ‘Thun Sarana’ - Buddha, His doctrine ‘Dharma’ and His priests ‘Sangha’.

Buddha preached ‘Wessanthara Jathakaya’ to show how He had renounced worldly pleasures and possessions in His previous births too.

Buddha goes begging

for food

Since no one had invited Him for Dana on the following morning Buddha went from house to house in the streets of Kapilavastupura with His disciples begging for food.

King Suddhodhana being deeply moved by what had happened rushed to Buddha and having bowed down before Him inquired why He was insulting him in such a manner.

King Suddhodhana attains Sowan and Sakurdhagami
“Members of Royal families never beg for food,” the king said. The Buddha said that begging for food was the custom of the ‘Buddha Wansaya’ - Buddha lineage and standing in the street the Buddha advised the King, “Be alert, be not heedless, and lead a righteous life. The righteous live happily both in this world and in the next.”

The king realized the Truth and attained Sowan, the first stage of Sainthood.

He took the Buddha’s bowl and conducted Him and His disciples to the palace and served them all with food.

After the meal the Buddha preached the Dharma thus:-

“Lead a righteous life, and not one that is corrupt. The righteous live happily both in this world and in the next”

Thereupon the King attained Sakadagami – once returner, the second stage of Sainthood, and Maha Prajapathi Gothami attained “Sowan” the first stage of Sainthood. On a later occasion the Buddha preached Maha Dharmapala Jathakaya to explain matters.

The king attained Anagami – Never returner, the third stage of Sainthood. On his death bed the king heard Dharma from the Buddha for the last time and attained Arahantship.

Yasodhara’s

reverence to the Buddha
When the Buddha visited King Sudddhodhana’s palace all the members in the royal family except princes Yasodhara came to pay reverence to the Enlightened One. Princess Yasodhara remained in her compartment thinking that the Blessed One would visit her if there was any virtue in her.

The Buddha handed His bowl to the King and entered the apartment of princess Yasodhara accompanied by His chief disciples.

The Enlightened One and the two chief disciples sat on the seats already prepared for them by princess Yasodhara. The Enlightened One said that the King’s daughter could pay reverence to the Buddha in a manner she wished. Thereupon princess Yasodhara bent down, clasped the feet of the Enlightened One, placed her head on His feet and reverenced Him in the manner she liked.

The King told the Buddha that princess Yasodhara responded when she heard that Bodhisatva was leading a rough life. He said that the princess had started wearing yellow robes and resorted to a single meal a day.

“She had given up lofty couches, garlands and scents and did not respond to the message sent inviting her to her parental relatives,” the King said. Buddha cited the Candakinnara Jataka to explain how she protected the Bodhisatva in a previous birth.

Queen Prajapathi
After the passing away of King Suddhodhana Queen Prajapathi Gothami became a Bhikkhuni. Princess Yasodhara too entered the Order and later attained Arahantship.

Prince Nanda

The second day after Buddha’s visit to Kapilavastupura was an auspicious day for Queen Maha Prajapathi Gothami’s son, Prince Nanda. It was his wedding day, the house warming day.

Prince Nanda received Him most respectfully and offered Him Dana. After Dana the Enlightened One gave His bowl to Nanda and proceeded to the Viharaya. On the way Buddha made prince Nanda to realize that all worldly pleasures are temporary.

Buddha inquired from him whether he was agreeable to enter the priesthood. The affection and devotion he had towards Buddha were such that his obedience to Buddha superseded all his other needs and expectations. Prince Nanda gave his consent to enter the priesthood.

Esahi Tuyha Pita Nara Siho
“Esahi Tuyha Pita Nara Siho” There goes your father, “Nara Siho” hero, the eminent person. Go and ask for your share of inheritance” She said. Seven year old prince Rahula went after the Enlightened One, begging for endowment. The Omniscient One gave prince Rahula the greatest wealth, the clerical or religious endowment.

Prince Rahula was ordained by Arahant Sariputta. Arahant Moggalyana shaved his hair and enrobed him. Arahant Maha Kassapa was his preceptor.

Ordaining
When prince Siddhartha left the palace and went in search of the Truth King Suddhodhana was moved but he consoled himself thinking that his second son, Prince Nanda and his grand son, prince Rahula were with him.

However, when both of them left he could not bear the pain although he had already attained Sakurdagami. He did not want any other person to suffer that pain and made a request from Buddha not to ordain young ones without the consent of parents or guardians.

The Buddha accepted the fair and reasonable request of King Suddhodhana and instituted a precept not to ordain a young person without the consent of parents or guardians.

Meditation: Heart of Buddhism

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:13:00 +0000

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?

Need sex, don't want it

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:05:00 +0000

Need sex, don't want it

Island.lk

Buddhism, bioethics and society

by prof. Suwanda H.Sugunasiri

Sex is natural and functional, like eating or sleeping, the Buddha would say. From that point of view, a sexual relationship may be explained away as simply two consenting adults giving in to a basic human drive. But the Buddha also makes a distinction between sex as need and sex as want. If sex as need is what keeps the human (or animal) race going, sex as want is what he explains as passion, one of three desires (or tanha) of sentience that keeps each one of us going in the life cycle.

In that light, a sexual act originating in want becomes more than a mere act. "Intent I say is action," says the Buddha. So first of all, sex comes to have karmic consequences, in this life or another, for both man and woman. It can come to be desire leading to more desire or insatiable desire.

If the relationship occurs in the context of a workplace, it comes to be problematic in other ways, too. For starters, there is always the possibility of the partner’s own work performance being affected. Possibly, their professionalism may also be compromised. This is why business and industry discourage, or take a serious view of, such relationships.

The relationship may involve unequal partners – say a religious person and congregant, health professional and patient, teacher and pupil, politician and assistant, etc. Then there are other social implications such as abuse of power and the violation of a public trust.

Now if the relationship in that public domain is an extramarital one on the part of one or both partners, then the results may be catastrophic!

First, of course, is the issue of public morality – the example set by people in positions of public accountability. But from a spiritual point of view, the personal morality is surely equally problematic. One has to live with oneself or one’s God.

What if, in a relationship developed in a public context, things go sour and one partner’s "no" does not mean "no" to the other?

A sign at a Queen’s University protest a few years ago read, "Which part of no don’t you understand?" One might ask the same question of such a person. But would there be a basis for a charge of sexual harassment under criminal law as well?

Now if nary an interest had ever been shown by the offended in a relationship, then, of course, the answer would be clear. It would indeed constitute harassment.

But if the offended had agreed to sex at all, then there is what in Buddhism would be called a "supportive" condition, i.e., encouraging a behaviour (remembering the obvious that without a partner, there would have been no sex).

Sexual passion being the drive it is, and the human being not being a machine, a tap opened is a tap not easily shut off – desire leading to desire. The cells store the pleasure in the memory, and indeed a "no" may even heighten the desire.

"No" after "yes" is, then, not the same as "no" before "yes."

So to speak just in terms of harassment and to ask for the head of an offender would be to go for cold revenge, not justice. It would be worse if no accountability were asked of the offended partner.

The more reasonable and humane expectation would be for both partners to recognize their own contribution to the problem and remove themselves from the environment in which the act flourished.

The responsibility of society would be to insist that both stop pointing fingers or seeking redress, holding both accountable for their behaviour. Not to do this is to send a wrong signal to society, particularly teenagers, that if you can get another in trouble and take revenge, you don’t have to take on responsibility.

To allow for a balanced view, by contrast, is to strengthen the foundations of a just society where both women and men begin to treat each other with respect and compassion.

Let us hope that while we continue to think of sex as a healthy need, we will also think through the ramifications of sex as want, at both the personal and the public levels.

(Prof. Suwanda H J Sugunasiri, MA, MA, MEd, PhD is the Founder Nalanda College of Buddhist Studies, Adjunct Professor, Trinity College, University of Toronto and a former US Fulbright Scholar. This essay appeared in his publication Embryo As Person)

Mulhewa Royal Temple sheltered the Relics for 20 years:

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:51:00 +0000

Mulhewa Royal Temple sheltered the Relics for 20 years:

Protection of Sacred Relics

H A W Hewawasam

Daily News

Mulhewa Royal Temple of Kothmale, should be deeply commemorated by the Buddhists of Sri Lanka. It was the temple where the sacred Tooth Relic had been safely and secretly protected.

Temple of Sacred Tooth Relics

Thus Mulhewa Raja Maha Viharaya was reputed to be called as the temple of the Tooth Relic. This temple is in the Central Province and belongs to the Nawalapitiya Electorate. It is in the short proximity to the village of Sangilipalama.

Elderly Buddhist families of the area trace the history and the importance of the temple. They are highly educated and support their description referring to Dalada Siritha and Datuwanshaya.

Whenever we speak of Tooth Relic or any historical disasters which had erupted the unity of the country-our freedom-soverignity it was the Mahasangha of our country who had taken a great lead, the struggles of 1815-1818 and 1848 historical episodes were the periods of crisis where Maha Sangha led their missions, led the people and opened the eyes of the people.

During the latter part of the Polonnaruwa period a South Indian aggression under Kalinga Maga took place. He massacred and destroyed Buddhist temples and irrigational infrastructures.

Though Dr Paranavithana dressed this as a descendent of the dynasty of Emperor Sri Vijaya it was the deadlist period for the culture, religion an economy of the country. Since the sacred Tooth was brought to Ceylon, the people had their faith upon the one who takes care of the tooth Relic. Daladawa became the insignia of power.

Rising to the occasion the Mahasangha drew up their agenda for the protection of the Tooth Relic. They had taken the Tooth Relic to Kothmale Mallewa Temple.

From Polonnaruwa to Kothmale was no easy task. Going through the heavy jungle-admist of wild animals crossing rivers-mounting hills was indeed a tiresome strenuous task.

But these obstacles more courageous for them. They reached Kothmale had the Tooth Relic deposited-burried over 20 years Chulawansha and Datuwansha give more details.

Vijayabahu the third who ascended to the thrown (in 1232-1236) making his Kingdom at Dabadeniya sought protection for the sacred tooth at Mullewa Raja Maha Viharaya Mullewa use to be a rural village which has to be reached with great difficulty. However Sri Dalada Relic had to be kept at this temple until the end of the Maga period. King of Dabadeniya Parakrama Bhahu the II crushed the power of Maga and established his Kingdom in the city of Jaffna according Dr Paranavithana.

It was King Vijayabahu III who had taken the Tooth Relic to Dabadeniya. When one travels or meet people interesting episodes about the story of Tooth Relic comes to light.

There is a village called Vijayaba Kanda. This was known as the place where the King on his way to Mullewa Temple spent the night. The name Mullewa has another story. People say a Hapu tree was blossomed with flowers and the smell overflowed the area. Since then this place used to be called Mullewa.

The king plugged flowers to be offered to the sacred Tooth Relic. This place was known to be Muldeniya.

“Niyam Gum Doda” is the first place from where the Dalada Journey started from Mullewa Royal Temple.

Abatalawa village is in close proximity to Mullewa.

‘Rathgama’ is a another village where the king spent a night on his way back to Dabadeniya.

Rambodagama is another village on their journey to Dabadeniya. Folktales state there shot up a ‘Golden sprout’ at this place and thus it was known as Rambodagama.

Athalagala is another temple where Tooth Relic deposited over twenty years for protection. There is a stone inscription. But it has gone so deleated that writings cannot be collected.

One who visits Mullewa Raja Maha Viharaya should not fail to look into more details about Athalagala where the Tooth Relic was deposited underground but carried out usual offerings every day.

This temple has in possession a Copper Bowl given by the palace of Senkadagala. There is the temple one can see Buddhist books such as Visudhimagga and the Jathaka Potha.” This temple possesses all the secret elements a Buddhist Temple should have. There are many other archealogied artefacts, connected with the offerings of the Tooth Relic can be seen.

Buddhist public who want to have their research and detailed information about Tooth Relic should not fail to make a visit to Mullewa Raja Maha Viharaya in Kothmale.

Footprints of the Buddha

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:49:00 +0000

Footprints of the Buddha

Premasara Epasinghe

Daily News

The Thathagatha Siddhartha Gautama Buddha uttered thus in Mahaparinibbana Sutta: There are four places Ananda, a pious person should visit and look with feeling of reverence. What are the four places – the birthplace of Prince Siddhartha Gautama – Lumbini, the place of his attainment of Buddhahood – Buddhagaya, where he set the rolling, the unexcelled wheel of Dhamma (Dhammachakkapavattana Sutta), Isipatana Migadaya and where the Blessed One passed away – Kusinara.

Lumbini

Buddhagaya

According to Achariya, Abbatadamma Sutta, of Majjhima Nikaya, when Prince Siddhartha future Gautama Buddha was born, it was stated that many miraculous things happened on that particular day of Vesak Full M

oon Poya Day.

The women normally give birth, seated or lying down. Bodhisatva’s, the future Buddha’s beloved mother, Queen Mahamaya, gave birth to Siddhartha standing up. When the Bodisatva came forth from mother Mahamaya womb, first, Gods received him. Then, human-beings. He did not touch the earth. God’s sang “Rejoice Queen, a great son of great power, has been born to you.”

Where is this Buddha’s birthplace?

Lumbini – it is situated at the foothills of the snow clad, beautiful, picturesque Himalaya mountain, the modern Nepal.

It is a beautiful garden full of green shady sal trees, a breathtaking site.

Queen Mahamaya, on her way to her parent’s (this is the normal Indo-Aryan practice, the would be mothers normally go to her mother for the confinement) village, stopped and rested in this beautiful garden and here, she got the ‘labour pains’ and delivered Prince Siddhartha, in Lumbini on the Vesak Full Moon Day in 623 BCE.

Lumbini, where Prince Siddhartha Gautama Buddha was born is a ‘Piece of Heaven on Earth’ stated the famous Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsiang.

The things to be seen at Lumbini are the Asoka Pillar, the sacred pool - ‘Pokkharani’ supposed to be where Mahamaya took a bath before the delivery of the Boddhisatva are presently the Buddhist temple, showing the architectural elegance of Buddhist shrines in Nepal.

Buddha Gaya

Buddha Gaya is situated about 10 km south of the famous city of Gaya. It is about 105 km from Patna, in the state of Bihar, India. The Temple of Gaya has a tower of 55 metres or 180 feet. It is one of the most holiest place of worship as Prince Siddhartha attained Supreme Buddhahood under the shady, pleasant, cool Bodhi tree in 588 BCE on the Full Moon Day of Vesak.

The ‘Ariyapariyasana Sutta’ of ‘Majjhima Nikaya’ in Sutta 26, the Buddha described the serene, peaceful environment and described “delightful grove with clear flowing river with pleasant, smooth banks.”

On Vesak Full Moon Poya Day, in the month of Vesak (May) the Compassionate One attained Imperturbability, calm, Bliss of Nibbana, and became a Samma Sambudda – an Awakened One at Buddhagaya.

The most sacred object is the Bodhi Tree. Under the shade of this tree, Siddhartha Gautama attained the Supreme Enlightenment. Like the Compassionate One – Gautama Buddha, the Bodhi tree is also serene, majestic and cool.

This Bo-tree is considered as the oldest and the most venerated tree in the world.

Inside the Maha Bodhi Temple there is the serene Maha Bodhi statue of Buddha, which adorns the main shrine of Buddhagaya.

Outside the Maha Bodhi Temple, you can see Ratanacanakamana Chetiya (the jewel promenade shrine) where the Blessed One mindfully walked for physical exercises. Then, there is Mahanama’s shrine, built by a Sri Lankan Bhikku Mahanama in 588 CE, Muchalinda lake and Spire shrine, a smaller version of Mahabodhi temple built in the 11th Century in the name of Tara and Avalokitesvara.

Tracing history an inscription revealed that first Sri Lankan visitor to Mahabodhi was a monk named Bodhirakshita.

A Sri Lankan literary work Rasavahini states that in about 100 BCE, a Buddhist Monk named Chullatissa and a tour party visited Buddhagaya.

We, Buddhists in Sri Lanka are very grateful to Anagarika Dharmapala. His timely intervention helped Buddhists all over the world an opportunity to respect and venerate Buddhagaya.

Anagarika Dharmapala, the great son of Sri Lanka, roared Sinhalayini, negitiv – Buddhagayawa beraganivu - (Oh, Sinhalese awaken save Buddhagaya). Due to this clarion call, today, we Buddhists have the opportunity of visiting Buddhagaya.

Saranath, Isipatana and Migadaya

Saranath is the place, where the Buddha set in the motion the wheel of the Dhamma, which brings real peace, happiness and the Bliss of Nibbana.

Kusinara

The famous Saranath statue depicts the Dhammaccacamudra (the posture of the setting of the wheel of Dhamma). It was at Saranath Isipatana, Migadaya, The Buddha delivered His first sermon on the Full Moon Day of Esala (July), two months after attaining Enlightenment, to the Panchavassiye Bhikkus – the five Ascetics.

What does Saranath mean? It means the sanctuary for deer and in Pali this place is called Migadaya.

It is situated 12 kilometres from the city of Varanasi (Baranas).

Sravasti, Jetavanaramaya and Ananda Bodhi

Two other important sites are Jetavanaramaya – Gandha Kuti (Perfumed chamber, where The Buddha resided) and Ananda Bodhi. The remains of Jetavana and Sravasti were locally known as Sahet – Mahet. Leading lay Dayaka, a multi-millionare banker (situ) Sudatta, popularly known as Anathapindika purchased the princely Pleasure Garden of Prince Jeta, and build a massive structure with all facilities – Blessed One’s perfumed chamber, dinning and meeting halls, bathing places, wells and ponds etc.

The Buddha resided in the rich city of Sravasti many years and Jetavanaramaya became the centre of Buddhist activity. In close proximity was the Purvaramaya constructed by Visakha, the Chief Daikawa, the kind hearted attractive pleasant lady.

In Savatthi, Jetavanaramaya, another important place of worship is the Ananda Bodhi tree.

Many devotees visit Jetavanaramaya to meet the Buddha. At times, when the Blessed One was not in, the devotees return home disappointed. After a discussion with Buddha, the Venerable Ananda Thera, planted a Bo-Sapling of the Jayasrimaha Bodhi for the devotees to pay their respect and reverence. As this Bo-tree was planted by Venerable Ananda Thera, the Bo-tree was named as Ananda Bodhiya – a great place of veneration. Some of the devotees make vows at the foot of Ananda Bo-tree.

Kusinara

According to Maha Parinibbana Sutta, the Blessed One addressed his Personal Assistant – Ven Ananda Thera (Dharmabandigarike) Treasurer of Dhamma thus:

Quote: “Let us cross the Hirannavat river and go to Mallas Sala Grove, in the vicinity of Kusinara.”

The Blessed One, realized that the end was fast approaching. The Gautama Buddha, told Ven Ananda to prepare a bed between the twin sala trees. The Buddha said that He is tired and went to rest.

Venerable Ananda Thera, who was so close to the Buddha, as the Attendant Monk, who was not an Arahat started weeping.

The Buddha stated from His death bed, Don’t cry, don’t grieve. All things are impermanent. Everything born, contains its own cessation. I am 80 years old now. I am now like a worn out cart. The Buddha advised Ananda Thera, Make effort. In a short time you will attain the Bliss of Nibbana.

Then The Buddha addressed the monks, Handa Dani Bhikkave Amantayami vo Vaya Dhamma Sankhara Appamedena Sampidetha - Now, O’ monks, I declare to you – all conditioned things are of a nature to decay, strive on with diligence. With these words, The Buddha passed away on the Vesak Full Moon Poya Day of Vesak 543 BCE.

Mahaparinibbana Stupa is constructed on the place the Blessed One passed away in Kusinara.

Lumbini

A royal funeral was accorded to the Blessed One. The funeral arrangements were made under the direction of Venerable Anuruddha, a cousin and a disciple of The Buddha.

The relics of the Buddha were distributed among the representatives of the 8 kingdoms of ancient India, namely Magadha, Vaishali, Kapilavastu, Allakappa, Ramagama, Vethadipa, Pava, and Kusinara.

Today these relics are enshrined in stupas across Asia and millions of devotees worship them.

At the time of the Buddha era, Kushinagar was the capital of the Mallas.

Venerable Ananda appealed to Buddha, prior to His passing away that he should chosen a big city of India like Kapilavastu, Vesali, Rajagaha etc rather than a small township like Kusinara for His passing away.

Buddha stated that in ancient times it was a prosperous city and in number of His previous births too, he breathed his last at Kusinara.

In the vicinity of Kusinara you find Parinibbana stupa and Maha Parinibbana Temple.

The two places that most people visit in Kusinara are the site of Mahaparinibbana and the place known as Makutabandana, where the cremation of the Blessed One took place.

Buddha’s concept of Sansaric journey

noreply@blogger.com (Priyantha De Silva) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:43:00 +0000

Navam Poya

Buddha’s concept of Sansaric journey

Rupa Banduwardane

Daily News

Sakyamuni Siddhartha Gauthama out of compassion for suffering humanity determines to be Buddha one day and lead countless millions into Bliss. In his last life he fulfilled this ambition of his. He discovered the truth of life and told the others “Live the good life for the destruction of suffering.”

Much of our suffering according to him is our own fault and of our own making Each person should bear the burden of one’s evil actions and thereby try to work out his own salvation independent of an external force. He emphasized self discipline self culture and hard work. His teachings were essentially a spiritual discipline. He taught his doctrine in the form of a way of life to be followed by those who sought spiritual perfection. This supreme gift of Theravada doctrine was gifted to the island by Emperor Asoka and the advent of Arahat Mahinda, his son was the most momentous occurrence in the history in this Dharmadweepa. The cardinal problems of life identified by the Buddha over 2500 years ago was brought here.

Ethics – The unsatisfactory nature of life with its impermanence and inherent suffering in Samsara, the cycle of births and deaths formed the basis of his teaching. His teachings formed the most profound thoughts that evolved from a human mind guiding us in our journey through Samsara. We are caught up in this karmic cycle. It is the noble eightfold path advocated by the Great Master that should be followed for the realization of the goal of Nibbana the state of non-existence to be relieved of all suffering. His Samsaric journey comes to an end with death.

He will not be born again. Nibbana is achieved. The noble eightfold path was advocated by the Buddha for the liberation of living beings. Buddha is an emblem of peace and compassion and loving kindness radiating from him. So called Meththa is the love for humanity, the enthusiasm for the welfare of the fellow beings. It is said that anyone with a confused mind can find ample consolation by drawing his or her attention to the serene figure of Buddha full of Meththa. Another quality closely connected to this is the idea of tolerance the sympathetic understanding of others point of view which attitude, promotes peace and Harmony. In Buddhist ethics a high place is assigned to the individual. The Buddha throughout his teachings, stressed the importance of the individual and self effort.

His view was that each person should bear the burden of his own actions. The teachings of the Buddha is for guidance and direction to seek spiritual liberation. He always emphasized that his attainment of the truth of life (enlightenment) was by his own effort and endeavour – a unique achievement in the realization of the supreme gift. Similarly the deliverance from suffering should be sorted out by each one for himself. Each living being is his own creator.

There is no other creator in the world beyond our own action. This leads to another important aspect in Buddhism – the law of Kamma. The primary meaning of Kamma is volition (Chetana) action prompted by will. As the Buddha says “Volition of monks, I declare is Kamma.” The law of Kamma and the doctrine of re-birth are very important factors in Buddhism. Subject to re-birth are all human beings, animals and heavenly beings. Those who embrace Buddha Dhamma will have to accept that this is a natural law of existence and guard their actions accordingly.

Eternal change

Buddha saw life in reality – The impermanency of life. Not only life, everything in the globe. Even the globe in it’s entirety is subject to this rule. Sabbe Sankara Anicca – All component things are transient.

This is the revolutionary message that Buddha has proclaimed to the world – that everything is changing in the human universe in the heavens too.

Everything transfers from one mode to another. The best example is the human being from the day that one sees the light of the world, to the day that he breathes his last the life is one of transition, till he faces death. This is well illustrated by the world renowned writer Shakespeare too.

This transition is realized only when one experiences it in the evening of his or her life. The complete cycle of birth, death – rebirth process in itself is the greatest example. Life in itself is a process of begun by birth, intermingled with joy and sorrow pain, grief, despair, old age, decease and death which is again followed by rebirth somewhere in the universe according to our actions as mentioned earlier.

This is the truth of suffering for which the Buddha has shown us the path of liberation. This is clearly given in his doctrine – the Dhamma – the most practical teaching that leads the follower to final deliverance.

The term ‘Dhamma’ throughout stands for the moral and philosophical teachings of the Buddha. It is meant to “come and see” - (Eahi Passiko) and not come and believe a religion purely, to practise.

The Buddha says “I proclaim to you the Dhamma – My teaching – in the parable of the raft, not for you to keep it in your possession, but use it as an instrument to cross the river of suffering.”

Therefore the interested, faithful and the devoted should utilize the region – the Dhamma to get rid of their worldly suffering.

The Dhamma guides the followers through proper and noble living. May Dhamma last forever - the greatest gift to the world.