Introduction to Meditation

Honour to the Lord, Arahat, perfectly and completely Enlightened one!

Meditation open doors to Wisdom. once wisdom is achieved you can see through things like you have not observed before. Meditation is an important phenomena in Buddhism. Nibbana cannot be achieved without practicing meditation. Meditation calms the mind and a calm mind can do miracles.

‘Meditation is the way to letting go’(Ven. Ajahn Brahmavamso). Therefore meditation teachers us to practise letting go. So what is this letting go?

It is a human’s quality that we have attachments. We are attached to our past, and to our un-arrived future. We always live with our past thinking of good memories and bad experiences. Then we make plans for future and live in them till they fade away. Past always beings us frustration and sad and so does our un-arrived future. We are always worried about out future. What am I going to do next year? Is my relationship going well? What happen if I am to leave him or her? Will I be in trouble? When will I get the job I want? So on and so forth. But we will not consider that the future has not yet arrived. And neither we will see the fact that we might not have control on the future. So why do we even bother about future?

Did you have control over your past activities? No. If yes, how comes things went wrong? And things did not work according to your plan? There you go. So truly speaking there is no need to worry about your past because you did not have control over them and you should not be worried about your future because you cannot have control over circumstances. Therefore lets concentrate to your present.

Concentrating to present moment will bring your attention to what you are doing and through that you can achieve success in whatever you are doing. This is a basic fact in Buddhist meditation.

Undivided attention to present moment will open path to successful meditation. In order to start meditation the basic practise is to pay attention to the present moment. Ven Ajahn Brahmavamso calls it the ‘Sustained attention on the present moment’ (The basic method of meditation, 2004).

I will illustrate on this in my next article. Be well!

Simplicity for life

Honor to the Lord Arahat, perfectly and completely enlightened One!

When we live in developed countries, though you agree or not we are complete with all the necessary components of our basic life. Most of us have jobs that give us an income to live and we have a good education so that we can stand in the society as independent individuals. But are we really happy of what we have in our life. Most of the people are not sure about their religion or what they really want to achieve in their life. All in all what we really do not need is suffering in our daily life. What we don’t like at work is stress, and what we don’t want from a family is sadness and frustration. So how do we overcome this problem. Whether you believe this or not this is the basics of all economies. How to get rid of suffering.

Buddhism is probably the only religion or teaching that introduces a clear answer for this question. A stress life will not get what you want from that life. Simplicity is a basic component in Buddhism. Having a simple lifestyle is a key to eradicate suffering. What is this simple life?

Simple life is having very minimum things to your life. If you only have what you really want in your life for usage, your life will be very peaceful. For an example what is the need for a mobile phone? Is that for watching TV? No. The need for a mobile phone is to talk and text. Well someone might use it for email and may be to go on facebook. Technology has become a easy access thing in modern day but have you realized that it has taken all your free time. If you only used to check your Email when you are at work or at a dedicative time at home after dinner, now you can check it every second. Isn’t this bit annoying? Imaging responding to facebook comments in the middle of the night. You might probably say that it is interesting. It is because that you do not understand the value of freedom.

How many of us keep quiet or appreciate silence in our daily life. Simplicity is something like that. When you go to adopt a busy lifestyle, you will lose yourself. You are just running behind something that you even do not know. If you only have what you really want in your life you will not be frustrated.

Meditation is a key function in Buddhism. But you cannot achieve goals in meditation without having your preliminaries sorted. Meditation is the only answer for suffering in life. My next article will introduced into meditation for lay practitioners. But in order to turn yourself to meditation you must practice simplicity in your life.

Be well!

The superhuman power of the Gautama Buddha part 1

As you know from our last to last article, the Buddhism scholar blog is dedicating itself for articles published in the ‘Budu Rashmiya’ blog site. The reason being that ‘Budu Rashmiya’ blog has very important articles that I think need to be published in English for English language readers. we respect the original author of the article who is Thanuja Jayasundara and articles translated from ‘Budu Rashmiya’ blog site is with his full consent.

If I take your memory to the last article we discussed, and as also mentioned in Brahmajala Sutta, we looked at how people describe the Gautama Buddha. But it was argued that those descriptions were made with the mere respect towards the Thatagatha. But isn’t it underestimating the Gautama Buddha?

One who attained Nibbana would not talk about his statues and would not especially boast about himself. And most especially we would never come across the Buddhas boasting about themselves simply because that there is nothing that they expect form that. But if it is to enrich people and to clear doubts of the people, the Buddhas will certainly do explanations about the Buddhahood.

In the present society, a lot of people see the Gautama Buddha as a human. (I can remember sitting for a lecture at one of the Dhamma schools in Sydney where the teacher told the students that the Buddha was a human). Not only within lay community but also within the Sanga, we often see that the Thatagata is taken in a average context. Not only in the present days but about 2500 years ago when the Gautama Buddha was living, there were people who underestimated him. Though the technology changers, the transformation of attitudes of human does not change over generations. There are a lot of both lay and Sanga groups in Sri Lanka who challenge the virtues and the super human qualities of the Thatagatha. I feel that the Gautama Buddha discoursed the Sutta about 2500 years ago simply may be he saw that there will be people who would not realise the virtues of the Buddha in present time. I will get extracts from the suttas to depict the qualities of the Buddha and may this effort will take all the misconceptions of people about the Gautama Buddha. The best example to slam these misconceptions can be found on Majjama Nikaya. This sutta brings out a description about the Gautama Buddha by his own words. Let us taka a look at the “Maha sihanada Sutta” from here on wards for the sake of understanding the virtues and the powers of the Thatagata.

“Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Vesali in the grove outside the city to the west.

Now on that occasion Sunakkhatta, son of the Licchavis, had recently left this Dhamma and Discipline.[1] He was making this statement before the Vesali assembly: "The recluse Gotama does not have any superhuman states, any distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones.[2] The recluse Gotama teaches a Dhamma (merely) hammered out by reasoning, following his own line of inquiry as it occurs to him, and when he teaches the Dhamma to anyone, it leads him when he practices it to the complete destruction of suffering."

Then, when it was morning, the Venerable Sariputta dressed, and taking his bowl and outer robe, went into Vesali for alms. Then he heard Sunakkhatta, son of the Licchavis, making this statement before the Vesali assembly. When he had wandered for alms in Vesali and had returned from his almsround, after his meal he went to the Blessed One, and after paying homage to him, he sat down at one side and told the Blessed One what Sunakkhatta was saying.

(The Blessed One said:) "Sariputta, the misguided man Sunakkhatta is angry, and his words are spoken out of anger. Thinking to discredit the Tathagata, he actually praises him; [69] for it is a praise of the Tathagata to say of him: 'When he teaches the Dhamma to anyone, it leads him when he practices it to the complete destruction of suffering.'

"Sariputta, this misguided man Sunakkhatta will never infer of me according to Dhamma: 'That Blessed One is accomplished, fully enlightened, perfect in true knowledge and conduct, sublime, knower of worlds, incomparable leader of persons to be tamed, teacher of gods and humans, enlightened, blessed.'

"And he will never infer of me according to Dhamma: 'That Blessed One enjoys the various kinds of supernormal power: having been one, he becomes many; having been many, he becomes one; he appears and vanishes; he goes unhindered through a wall, through an enclosure, through a mountain, as though through space; he dives in and out of the earth as though it were water; he walks on water without sinking as though it were earth; seated cross-legged, he travels in space like a bird; with his hand he touches and strokes the moon and sun so powerful and mighty; he wields bodily mastery even as far as the Brahma-world.'

"And he will never infer of me according to Dhamma: 'With the divine ear element, which is purified and surpasses the human, that Blessed One hears both kinds of sounds, the heavenly and the human, those that are far as well as near.'
"And he will never infer of me according to Dhamma: 'That Blessed One encompasses with his own mind the minds of other beings, other persons. He understands a mind affected by lust as affected by lust and a mind unaffected by lust as unaffected by lust; he understands a mind affected by hate as affected by hate and a mind unaffected by hate as unaffected by hate; he understands a mind affected by delusion as affected by delusion and a mind unaffected by delusion as unaffected by delusion; he understands a contracted mind as contracted and a distracted mind as distracted; he understands an exalted mind as exalted and an unexalted mind as unexalted; he understands a surpassed mind as surpassed and an unsurpassed mind as unsurpassed; he understands a concentrated mind as concentrated and an unconcentrated mind as unconcentrated; he understands a liberated mind as liberated and an unliberated mind as unliberated.”

The Gautama Buddha then explained Ten powers of a thatagatha.

(1) "Here, the Tathagata understands as it actually is the possible as possible and the impossible as impossible. And that is a Tathagata's power that the Tathagata has, by virtue of which he claims the herd-leader's place, roars his lion's roar in the assemblies, and sets rolling the Wheel of Brahma.

(2) "Again, the Tathagata understands as it actually is the results of actions undertaken, past, future and present, with possibilities and with causes. That too is a Tathagata's power...

(3) "Again, the Tathagata understands as it actually is the ways leading to all destinations. That too is a Tathagata's power...

(4) "Again, the Tathagata understands as it actually is the world with its many and different elements. That too is a Tathagata's power...

(5) "Again, the Tathagata understands as it actually is how beings have different inclinations. That too is a Tathagata's power...

(6) "Again, the Tathagata understands as it actually is the disposition of the
faculties of other beings, other persons. That too is a Tathagata's power...

(7) "Again, the Tathagata understands as it actually is the defilement, the cleansing and the emergence in regard to the jhanas, liberations, concentrations and attainments. That too is a Tathagata's power...

(8) "Again, the Tathagata recollects his manifold past lives, that is, one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births, many aeons of world-contraction, many aeons of world-expansion, many aeons of world-contraction and expansion: 'There I was so named, of such a clan, with such an appearance, such was my nutriment, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such my life-term; and passing away from there, I reappeared elsewhere; and there too I was so named, of such a clan, with such an appearance, such was my nutriment, such my experience of pleasure and pain, such my life-term; and passing away from there, I reappeared here.' Thus with their aspects and particulars he recollects his manifold past lives. That too is a Tathagata's power...

(9) "Again, with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, the Tathagata sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands how beings pass on according to their actions thus: 'These worthy beings who were ill-conducted in body, speech and mind, revilers of noble ones, wrong in their views, giving effect to wrong view in their actions, on the dissolution of the body, after death, have reappeared in a state of deprivation, in a bad destination, in perdition, even in hell; but these worthy beings who were well-conducted in body, speech and mind, not revilers of noble ones, right in their views, giving effect to right view in their actions, on the dissolution of the body, after death, have reappeared in a good destination, even in the heavenly world.' Thus with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, he sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands how beings pass on according to their actions. That too is a Tathagata's power...

(10) "Again, by realizing it for himself with direct knowledge, the Tathagata here and now enters upon and abides in the deliverance of mind and deliverance by wisdom that are taintless with the destruction of the taints. That too is a Tathagata's power that a Tathagata has, by virtue of which he claims the herd-leader's place, roars his lion's roar in the assemblies, and sets rolling the Wheel of Brahma.
"Sariputta, the Tathagata has these four kinds of intrepidity, possessing which he claims the herd-leader's place, roars his lion's roar in the assemblies, and sets rolling the Wheel of Brahma. What are the four?
"Here, I see no ground on which any recluse or brahman or god or Mara or Brahma or anyone at all in the world could, in accordance with the Dhamma, accuse me thus: 'While you claim full enlightenment, you are not fully enlightened in regard to certain things.' And seeing no ground for that, I abide in safety, fearlessness and intrepidity.

"I see no ground on which any recluse... or anyone at all could accuse me thus: 'While you claim to have destroyed the taints, these taints are undestroyed by you.' And seeing no ground for that, I abide in safety, fearlessness and intrepidity.
"I see no ground on which any recluse... or anyone at all could accuse me thus: 'Those things called obstructions by you are not able to obstruct one who engages in them.' And seeing no ground for that, I abide in safety, fearlessness and intrepidity.

"I see no ground on which any recluse... or anyone at all could accuse me thus: 'When you teach the Dhamma to someone, it does not lead him when he practices it to the complete destruction of suffering.' And seeing no ground for that, I abide in safety, fearlessness and intrepidity.
"A Tathagata has these four kinds of intrepidity, possessing which he claims the herd-leader's place, roars his lion's roar in the assemblies, and sets rolling the Wheel of Brahma.

"Sariputta, when I know and see thus, should anyone say of me... he will wind up in hell.

‘Maha-sihanada Sutta’ clearly depicts the super human qualities of the Gautama Buddha. Let us take this sutta along with a ‘Buddawansa paliya’ in Kuddaka Nikaya in the pali canon where the superhuman qualities of the Buddha can be examined.
When the Gautama Buddha arrived in Kimbulwat, where his home town is, he had to prove to his relatives that he has achieved the Buddhahood. He showed his super human powers that were observed by the beings in the entire universe. The English translation from Pali of the ‘Buddhawansa paliya’ will be added to the next article.

Being a Buddhist part 2

In the previous article, we discussed the social descriptions of the Gautama Buddha. But in this article let us look at the Pali canon to find out explanation for a Buddha as declared by the Gautama Buddha.

It is obvious that almost every Buddhist have read about the life story of the Siddhartha Gautama. The story from time of his renunciation to the first Dhamma discourse can be found in 26th Ariya paryesana sutta in the Majjama Nikaya.

But first let us pay attention to a part in the Arya paresana sutta, where the Gautama Buddha met Upaka the Ajivaka, on his way to the first Dhamma discourse to the five monks.

"Then, having stayed at Uruvela as long as I liked, I set out to wander by stages to Varanasi. Upaka the Ajivaka saw me on the road between Gaya and the (place of) Awakening, and on seeing me said to me, 'Clear, my friend, are your faculties. Pure your complexion, and bright. On whose account have you gone forth? Who is your teacher? In whose Dhamma do you delight?'

"When this was said, I replied to Upaka the Ajivaka in verses:
'All-vanquishing, all-knowing am I, with regard to all things, unadhering.
All-abandoning, released in the ending of craving: having fully known on my own, to whom should I point as my teacher?

I have no teacher, and one like me can't be found. In the world with its devas,
I have no counterpart. For I am an arahant in the world; I, the unexcelled teacher. I, alone, am rightly self-awakened. Cooled am I, unbound.
To set rolling the wheel of Dhamma I go to the city of Kasi. In a world become blind, I beat the drum of the Deathless.'
"'From your claims, my friend, you must be an infinite conqueror.'
'Conquerors are those like me who have reached fermentations' end.
I've conquered evil qualities, and so, Upaka, I'm a conqueror.' “ (MN 26)

The above are the words of the Gautama Buddha. What does this word tell us? This self declaration clearly shows us that the Gautama Buddha is not a god or a human. He is ‘Samma-Sambuddha’ .(NOTE- there are human/animals/gods/petas and other existence in this universe so does a being called Samma Sambuddha – the only being that ended suffering with ending the circle of rebirth)

Most Buddhists request and wish material things from the Gautama Buddha by worshiping him as they do with gods. And some totally rejects the Buddhahood of the Gautama Buddha. In fact they are of the view that the Gautama Buddha is just another human. I would like to emphasise here that both those ideas are wrong and I would like to prove that by the end of this article.

Now let us look at the previous article. There, we talked about the explanations given by various academics and philosophers about the Gautama Buddha. It is important to know that those explanations are given based on what they understand by reading about the Gautama Buddha. We will now look into the explanations and discussions that occurred in the 6 BC about the Gautama Buddha and the Gautama Buddha’s explanations about the Buddhahood.

Let’s look at the first Sutta in the Digha Nikaya, Brahmajala Sutta, to get an idea as to how the Gautama Buddha explained himself in the Pali canon.

"And if, bhikkhus, others speak in praise of me, or in praise of the Dhamma, or in praise of the Sangha, you should not give way to jubilation, joy, and exultation in your heart. For if you were to become jubilant, joyful, and exultant in such a situation, you would only be creating an obstacle for yourselves. If others speak in praise of me, or in praise of the Dhamma, or in praise of the Sangha, you should acknowledge what is fact as fact, saying: 'For such and such a reason this is a fact, this is true, there is such a thing in us, this is found among us.'
"'Having abandoned the destruction of life, the recluse Gotama abstains from the destruction of life. full of kindness, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings.' 'Having abandoned taking what is not given, Accepting and expecting only what is given, 'Having abandoned unchaste living, the recluse Gotama lives the life of chastity. He dwells remote (from women), and abstains from the vulgar practice of sexual intercourse. ''Having abandoned false speech, He speaks only the truth, he lives devoted to truth.
'Having abandoned slander, the recluse Gotama abstains from slander. He does not repeat elsewhere what he has heard here in order to divide others from the people here, nor does he repeat here what he has heard elsewhere in order to divide these from the people there. Thus he is a reconciler of those who are divided and a promoter of friendships. Rejoicing, delighting, and exulting in concord, he speaks only words that are conducive to concord.'
'Having abandoned harsh speech, the recluse Gotama abstains from harsh speech. He speaks only such words as are gentle, pleasing to the ear, endearing, going to the heart, urbane, amiable, and agreeable to many people.'
'Having abandoned idle chatter, the recluse Gotama abstains from idle chatter. He speaks at the right time, speaks what is factual, speaks on the good, on the Dhamma and the Discipline. His words are worth treasuring: they are timely, backed by reason, definite and connected with the good.'
'The recluse Gotama abstains from damaging seed and plant life. He eats only in one part of the day, refraining from food at night and from eating at improper times. He abstains from dancing, singing, instrumental music, and witnessing unsuitable shows. He abstains from wearing garlands, embellishing himself with scents, and beautifying himself with unguents. He abstains from accepting gold and silver. He abstains from accepting uncooked grain, raw meat, women and girls, male and female slaves, goats and sheep, fowl and swine, elephants, cattle, horses and mares. He abstains from accepting fields and lands. He abstains from running messages and errands. He abstains from buying and selling, and from dealing with false weights, false metals, and false measures. He abstains from the crooked ways of bribery, deception, and fraud. He abstains from mutilating, executing, imprisoning, robbery, plunder, and violence.'
(End of Chula sila)
'Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, from the marks on a person's limbs, hands, feet etc; divining by means of omens and signs; making auguries on the basis of thunderbolts and celestial portents; interpreting ominous dreams; telling fortunes from marks on the body; making auguries from the marks on cloth gnawed by mice; offering fire oblations; offering oblations from a ladle; offering oblations of husks, rice powder, rice grains, ghee, and oil to the gods; offering oblations from the mouth; offering blood-sacrifices to the gods; making predictions based on the fingertips; determining whether the site for a proposed house or garden is propitious or not; making predictions for officers of state; the knowledge of charms to lay demons in a cemetery; the knowledge of charms to cure one possessed by ghosts; the knowledge of charms to be pronounced by one living in an earthen house; the snake craft (for curing snake bites and charming snakes); the poison craft (for neutralizing or making poison); the scorpion craft and rat craft (for curing scorpion stings and rat bites, respectively); the bird craft and crow craft (for understanding the cries of birds and crows); foretelling the number of years that a man has to live; the knowledge of charms to give protection from arrows; reciting charms to understand the language of animals — the recluse Gotama abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.'
'Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as interpreting the significance of the color, shape, and other features of the following items to determine whether they portend fortune or misfortune for their owners: gems, garments, staffs, swords, spears, arrows, bows, other weapons, women, men, boys, girls, slaves, slave-women, elephants, horses, buffaloes, bulls, cows, goats, rams, fowl, quails, lizards, rabbits, tortoises, and other animals — the recluse Gotama abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.'
'Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as making predictions to the effect that:
the king will march forth; the king will not march forth; our king will attack and the enemy king will retreat; the enemy king will attack and our king will retreat; our king will triumph and the enemy king will be defeated; the enemy king will triumph and our king will be defeated; thus there will be victory for one and defeat for the other — the recluse Gotama abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.'
'Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as predicting: there will be an eclipse of the moon, an eclipse of the sun, an eclipse of a constellation; the sun and the moon will go on their proper courses; there will be an aberration of the sun and moon; the constellations will go on their proper courses; there will be an aberration of a constellation; there will be a fall of meteors; there will be a skyblaze; there will be an earthquake; there will be an earth-roar; there will be a rising and setting, a darkening and brightening, of the moon, sun, and constellations; such will be the result of the moon's eclipse, such the result of the sun's eclipse, (and so on down to) such will be the result of the rising and setting, darkening and brightening of the moon, sun, and constellations — the recluse Gotama abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.'
'Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as predicting: there will be abundant rain; there will be a drought; there will be a good harvest; there will be a famine; there will be security; there will be danger; there will be sickness; there will be health; or they earn their living by accounting, computation, calculation, the composing of poetry, and speculations about the world — the recluse Gotama abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.'
'Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as: arranging auspicious dates for marriages, both those in which the bride is brought in (from another family) and those in which she is sent out (to another family); arranging auspicious dates for betrothals and divorces; arranging auspicious dates for the accumulation or expenditure of money; reciting charms to make people lucky or unlucky; rejuvenating the fetuses of abortive women; reciting spells to bind a man's tongue, to paralyze his jaws, to make him lose control over his hands, to make him lose control over his jaw, or to bring on deafness; obtaining oracular answers to questions by means of a mirror, a girl, or a god; worshipping the sun; worshipping Mahābrahmā; bringing forth flames from the mouth; invoking the goddess of luck — the recluse Gotama abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.'
'Whereas some recluses and brahmins, while living on the food offered by the faithful, earn their living by a wrong means of livelihood, by such debased arts as: promising gifts to deities in return for favors; fulfilling such promises; demonology; reciting spells after entering an earthen house; inducing virility and impotence; preparing and consecrating sites for a house; giving ceremonial mouthwashes and ceremonial bathing; offering sacrificial fires; administering emetics, purgatives, expectorants and phleg¬ma¬gogues; administering medicine through the ear and through the nose; administering ointments and counter-ointments; practising fine surgery on the eyes and ears; practising general surgery on the body; practising as a children's doctor; the application of medicinal roots; the binding on of medicinal herbs — the recluse Gotama abstains from such wrong means of livelihood, from such debased arts.'
"These, bhikkhus, are those trifling and insignificant matters, those minor details of mere moral virtue, that a worldling would refer to when speaking in praise of the Tathāgata.
Therefore isn’t it clear that we see the virtues of the Gautama Buddha by going through the qualities of the Thatagata? So it is clear that the best explanation we can get about the Thatagata is by his own discourses. So what is this great wisdom and virtues of the Thatagata? Let’s have a look at that in our next article.

Being a Buddhist

We, Buddhist, a lot of time do not understand who our teacher is. Especially Buddhist born to a tradition has no idea as to what it is like being Buddhist. Therefore this article comes into effect. Please note that this article goes hand in hand with the Sinhala blog ‘Budu Rashmiya’ by author Thanuja Jayasundara. Even thought there are many blogs and web sites online, we need to be very careful in terms of choosing them. Mr. Jayasundara appears to be someone who does his research for his articles.

It is pretty sad to start off to see that a lot of us have very small knowledge about the Gautama Buddha. Though the Buddhism is spreading in western countries rapidly, it seems to be that they only get the teachings of the Buddha forgetting that it is important to look into the teacher who is the Buddha as well in order to understand the teachings. But first let us have a look at Sri Lanka and see as to how a lot of us in the society see the Gautama Buddha as. If you are being asked as to what in your words the Gautama Buddha is, you might come up with the followings.

01. He is our teacher
02. He is the one who discovered the Dhamma and his teachings are in the Tripitaka.
03. He came up with the Four noble Truths that can take us to Nibbana once understood.
04. He was born in India and we (Sri lanka) got Buddhism through Thera Mahinda.
05. His birth, enlightenment and the passing away occurred on a Vesak full moon poya day.
06. He reminds us the five precepts

Some might recall famous monks in Sri Lanka while thinking of the Five precepts.

Though some of you might have similar as mentioned above, we also come across with interpretations from philosophers about the Gautama Buddha. Some of them as follow.

‘The Buddha's Greatness I cannot myself feel either in the matter of wisdom or in the matter of virtue Christ stands quite as high as some other people known to history- I think I should put Buddha above him in those respects.

-Bertrand Russell, “Why I am not a Christian”

Embodiment of Virtues

‘Buddha was the embodiment of all the virtues he preached. During his successful and eventful ministry of 45 years he translated all his words in to action; an in no place did he give vent to any human frailty, or any base passion. The Buddha's moral code is the most perfect which the world has ever known.’
-Prof. Max Muller, German Scholar

Blossom of The Human Tree

‘This is the Blossom on our human tree Which opens in many a myriad years but opened, fills the world with wisdom's scent and love's dropped honey ‘
-Sir Edwin Arnold "Light of Asia”

Most Noble of Mankind

‘If you desire to see the most noble of mankind, look at the king in beggar's clothing’s; it is he whose sanctity is great among men'
-Abdul Atahiya, A Muslim Poet

Homage To Buddha

‘Lord Buddha could be very easily singled out as the person known to man who received homage from the great number of mankind.’
-Prof. Saunders, Literary Secretary Y.M.C.A India, Burma, Ceylon

Philosophic Genius

‘The Buddha was a pioneer as a lover of men' and a philosophic genius rolled into a single vigorous and radiant personality. He had things to say that no man or woman, after 2500 years of bustling and hustling and chattering round the forting of knowledge' can afford to ignore. Grater perhaps than his wisdom was the example he set.’
-Moni Bagghee “Our Buddha”

Cool Head and Loving Heart

‘The most striking thing about the Buddha is a unique combination of a cool scientific head and profound sympathy of a warm and loving heart. The world today turns more and more towards the Buddha' for he alone represents the conscience of Humanity.
"Moni Bagghee' Our Buddha"

The Buddha is like a physician

‘The Buddha is like a physician. just as a doctor must known the diagnosis of the different kinds of illness' their causes' the antidotes and remedies, and must be able to apply them, so also the Buddha as has taught the Four Holy Truths which indicate the range of suffering, its origin, its cessation and the way which lead to its cessation’.
-Dr. Edward Conze, ‘Buddhism’

Buddha is the Way

“I feel more and more that Sakyamuni is the nearest in Character and effect to him who is the Way' The Truth" and the Life.”
- Bishop Milman

Sectarianism

‘Most neophytes of some other religions are controlled by there Guru and are forbidden to read the scriptures' doctrines' magazines, booklets and tracts of other religions. This very rarely happens within Buddhism.’
-Phra Khanthipalo, “Tolerance"

The above mentioned quotations were used in academic worlds to answer the question. But it appears to be that a majority of monks in present time will not have any explanations apart from explaining the five precepts. I am not denying the fact that the taking on five precepts is wrong. It is a very good conduct to follow but that is not an explanation of the Gautama Buddha. In fact five precepts is not the only teachings of the Thatagata.

Certainly, adherence to five precepts needs to be practised as the first step to Nibbana, but if we take a look at people like ‘Angulimala” who became Arahat (attain Nibbana) he was never a practitioner of Five precepts. It is a fact to consider that in the present society it is very difficult to have adherence to the five precepts, concentrating to the five precepts has a high risk of people being away from the Dhamma. Our monks need to reconsider this as an important issue. If someone is saying that five precepts is the only way out, this is being said without any knowledge of the ‘Name and form’ (Namarupa) in Depended Origination (Patticcasamupada) It is against to the point to think that human mind has something stable or permanent every time. It keeps on changing. It is important to notice that Sila is only one aspect for Nibbana.

Rather than looking at outer explanations to look into the Buddhahood, Let us see what the Gautama Buddha has disclosed about himself in the next article.

Please note that this is a translation from the Sinhala blog ‘Budu Sashmiya’ published by Thanuja Jayasundara.

May all being be well!.

The virtues of the Gautama Buddha

It is a very important thing to look at the life story of the Buddha before we start learning the Dhamma (the teachings of the Buddha). In my previous letter a description of Gautama Buddha came across in a very minute detail. I thought in this letter, I should elaborate on the qualities of the Gautama Buddha in order to describe the Dhamma or his teachings accordingly.
In western nations we tend to practice the teachings of the Buddha and the main aspect of the Buddhism by taking part in meditation activities. Most of the time we are attracted to meditation simply because it is a strong access to the mind. In order to calm ourselves and to develop concentration, we tend to meditate. A lot of us follow the breathing exercise called Anapanasati, concentrating to the breath. The reason why we should learn about the Gautama Buddha is that the Buddha himself if an embodiment of his teachings. If we understand the qualities of a Buddha, then we will be able to understand the Dhamma. ‘he who sees me, see the Dhamma, he who sees the Dhamma, sees me’ (SN 22.87)
If you have ever participated in any Buddhist chanting or a Dhamma discussion, you may have been noticed that most of the time the monks or the lay people would have started the discussion of the chanting by a very famous line.’Namo tassa Bagavato Arahato Samma sambuddhassa’. The meaning of this line can be simply translated from the Pali language to English as ‘honour to the Lord, Arahat, perfectly and completely Enlightened one!’ (Harver,1990)
In Buddhist texts we come across of nine virtues of the Buddha.

1 Arahan
He has discarded all defilements. He has suppressed all the enemies connected with the eradication of defilements. He destroyed the wheel of existence. He is therefore worthy of being given offerings and paid homage.

2 Sammasambuddho
He comprehended the existence of the world in its proper perspective and he discovered the Four Noble Truths through his own knowledge without a teacher.

3 Vijja-Carana Sampanna
He is full of perfect clear vision he could recall his past births and recall his past existence as well as the others. He could see into the future as well. He was full of unique gift of insight. He had the power of performing supernormal feats, a divine ear, the power of reading other’s thoughts, ability to be appeared from being one to many and from many to one. Disappear from one place and appear at another please instantly,

4 Sugato
He has achieved the great Nibbana by fulfilling the detachment . practising Dana (giving), Sila (right conduct). His path is good and the attainment is excellent. His teachings are unchanged and true in all times.

5 Lokavidu
He is perfect in all the three worlds of existence. He has experienced and penetrated of all aspects of worldly life. Not only the earth we are but he made observations to millions of other worlds existing in this universe. In short it is said that he understood the entire universe as something that is on his palm. Clearly seen being.

6 Anuttaro-purisa-damma-sarati
He is the best person to have control on any being. He could get unto control of any difficult human, Peta or even animals, beings which never come unto control. Through his power of accessibility into other’s thoughts and having control of their action, he could possibly control their thoughts. He appeared as a leader of controlling any being.

7 Satta-Deva-manussanam
What he taught was only for the betterment of human and Devas, for this life and the next lives to come. He was a teacher for gods and men. He is a universal teacher.

8 Buddho
He himself discovered the utmost noble truth of Dukka (suffering), reason of the Dukka, cessation of Dukka, the path to cessation of the Dukka. And he taught this truth to the rest of the world.

9 Bhagava
He is suitable in every way to receive all the respect. He achieved the unconditional knowledge, unconditional superhuman powers, and full of goodness. He always had loving kindness thoughts towards every being in this universe. He was the happiest person ever to be on the earth. He is the most respected person by all men and gods.

It is very important to understand the virtues of the Buddha in order to follow his teachers (Dhamma). In my next article I will be discussing how Buddha becomes an embodiment of his teachings.

Be well!

Western discovery of Buddhism

It is very important to investigate about the teacher if we are trying to practise a system that was introduced by someone. That is why we always look into the capabilities and qualifications of lectures and professors or even institutions before we follow teachings. How many of us have changed our colleges or universities because those are not recognized when we apply for workforce. Likewise it is important to have a look at the concept of Buddha before we step into follow the tradition. Some may argue that it is not important to learn about the Buddha because Buddhism is not about the person who came up with the teaching but about the teachings itself. Fair enough. But in order to have a deep understanding of the teachings why is it not important to learn about the person who came up with the concept?

Surprisingly Buddha is not a name of a person. “Buddha is not in fact a proper name, but a descriptive title meaning ‘Awakened one’ or ‘Enlightened One’. This implies that most people are seen, in a spiritual sense, as being a sleep- unaware of how things really are” (Harvey 1990).

The concept of Buddhism comes from the teachings of the Gautama Buddha who was born to a royal family near the border of present Nepal and India about 250 years before the consecration of emperor Asoka in India. Named Siddhartha at the time of the birth, he then lived a general life like every other human. History texts depict that Siddhartha got married to princes Yasodara at a very young age and renounced the palace to become an ascetic at the age of 29 on the day his Son Rahula was born. After many years of practice he then attained the Buddhahood.

Gautama Buddha is called a ‘Samma-Sam-Buddha’, which means someone who is fully awakened. The Buddhist text Dhammapada verses 153-4 “said to records his words of joyful exultation at this achievement of the carving and spiritual ignorance, and attaining the unconditioned Nibbana, beyond ageing, sickness and death”. Gautama Buddha is freed from all the sufferings and liberated himself from all forms of sufferings.

Gautama Buddha is different from other religious leaders. He is not a God and therefore he is not someone who is living at the moment. Buddhahood totally destroys the reasons to be born again so he does not continue to exist like gods. Hence he becomes someone that is special and becomes someone who should be worshiped. His qualities exceed the qualities of any god. Even gods have carving and attachments to their present status. Gautama Buddha said at his enlightenment to himself that he destroyed the creator of him (carving). Hence there is no creator there is no creation of the atman (rebirth).

Westerners or rather the people living in western countries discover Buddhism as a practise. Most of the western practitioners do not see a difference or rather do not have cultural attachments with Buddhism to choose whether one should follow Mahayana or Theravada traditions. To start off with, Buddhism does not have sections or factions introduced by the Gautama Buddha. They are different traditions that Buddhism has been evolving in the past. Most of Buddhist countries including Sri Lanka still follow the god concepts along with Buddhism. It looks like that a pure Buddhism has never been existed on earth. If you are a beginner to Buddhist practises, I recommend that you leave all your past beliefs behind in order to get the best results out of the teachings of the Gautama Buddha. Let me conclude the article by adding the main teachings of the Gautama Buddha that reads “all conditioned things are subjected to decay. Attain perfection through diligence!” (D.11.156).
May this result to end the suffering!

Introduction to the Buddhism Scholar

Western societies are now opening their eyes to the Eastern philosophy of Buddhism, by getting into the practise of Buddhist meditation. Ceasing the materialistic attachments and concentrating to the output of the life, most westerners have begun the journey to attain Nibbana. It is important to note that we as Buddhist a lot of instances do not realize that our main purpose of being Buddhists.

For the sake of argument, Buddhism can be treated as a philosophy or a practice rather than a religion. The Cambridge dictionary defines the word religion as “the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or any such system of belief and worship”. Believing on the Buddha as a teacher and worshiping him simply makes Buddhism a religion on that context but the academic argument is that Buddhism is a practice or rather a philosophy. The teachings of the Gautama Buddha is something that he experienced and taught himself. In comparison to the supreme god concept in other religions such as Hinduism, Gautama Buddha stands on a different platform. On one hand he was human and on the one hand he is enlightened. This contradicts the idea of a god. Buddhism explains that the Buddha is a one who has put an end to the rebirth. Being enlightened, Gautama Buddha has stop his circle of rebirth and his passing away confirms that he does not exist anymore. This is different to the concept of god where we come across that Gods do not have a human birth or death. Hence Gautama Buddha is a not a god. He was born as human and passed away as human.

This is a blog that covers a variety of topics that are important to practical Buddhists. It is with great please that I decided to add these articles in English to this blog so that the Dharma can be communicated to a wider audience. May this in return result to end the sufferings of us.

Prasanna Hettiarachchi
About the writer
Prasanna is a working freelancer journalist. He is also a scholar in religious studies at the Griffith University in Queensland, Australia