Pointing To Dhamma By Ven. Khantipalo Bhikkhu
From Dharmaweb
Selected Lectures
By By Ven. Khantipalo Bhikkhu
Foreword and Introduction
Foreword
The 'pointing to Dhamma' or 'sermons' in this book have been complied by the Author from amongst the Dhammadesana that he has given at various times and places. Most of them, however, were delivered in the Uposatha temple of Wat Bovoranives Vihara (Bangkok, Thailand). For some three years there was a Dhammadesana there for the benefit of anyone who was interested to hear the Dhamma explained in English. Many of the people who attended were from western countries.
Now I have encouraged him to edit and publish these 'sermons' and Mahamakuta Foundation to support their publication, because as I see it, they will afford benefit to those who are interested to know Dhamma. And those people too, who are skeptical about some point of Dhamma, they may find their doubts resolved here.
Pointing to Dhamma, in other words, is pointing to the Law, which operates in everyone's life, or to the various processes, mental and physical with their interrelations, which make up one's 'self'. It has been rightly said that Dhamma taught by Lord Buddha is like a mirror, which reflects an image of one's face. By using the Dhamma-mirror, one can see and know the Truth in oneself. Everyone, whatever their religion, can use this mirror, which reflects completely true to life.
One behalf of Mahamakuta Foundation may, I thank Pra Khantipalo who has composed and edited all these desana, as well as everyone who has been concerned with this work.
Somdet Phra Nanasamvara.
Director, Mahamakuta
Foundation. Wat Bovoranives Vihara,
10th of March B.E. 2516 (1973)
Introduction:
Pointing to Dhamma
This introduction gives in brief an account of ways of teaching Dhamma, as the Buddha and other Enlightened teachers have done contrasted with instruction given by those who have only studied, and by those who both have studied and practiced.
The Buddha's sermons or discourses have been transmitted to us as Suttas, literally 'threads of discussion', and are collected together in the Pali Canon, or Tipitaka. When he taught Dhamma it was exactly suited to the needs of listeners and their characters.
Some examples of his skillfulness in this can be seen in the way he led the skeptical Kalama people to understand Dhamma by using their intelligent skepticism.* Quite different methods were used by him to tame the proud Brahmins whom, after some subtle discussion, would find themselves agreeing with what the Buddha had said in the first place.
His equanimity and ability to know other's minds tamed those who were furious and used abusive language, while his loving-kindness and compassion soothed the hearts of distraught women whose children had died. A farmer who accused him of idleness was won over by a discourse on farming the interior soil and a Brahmin accusing him of greed sang his praises after hearing his spontaneous verses on "Again, again..."
And of course, the Dhamma varied whether it was spoken to Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis who were devoted to full-time practice, or to lay devotees who had work and family to attend to, or to other lay people who had not taken him as their Teacher, or to various monks and ascetics of other views. The Dhamma they heard was just right for them.
When the Buddha taught Dhamma it was not necessary for him to think, 'How shall I teach or what shall I teach?' Once Prince Abhaya asked him whether he had to ponder over the Dhamma before teaching it and he replied with a counter-question: "Are you expert in the parts of a chariot?" The prince replied that he was. The Buddha then asked him whether he worked out before hand his answers to questions on the chariot, or whether he replied on the spot. The prince said that since he knew the chariot so well, the answers occurred to him immediately. Then the Buddha remarked that he replied to Dhamma-questions without prior reflection, "as the Dhamma-element has been fully penetrated by a Tathágata." This is the complete and natural response of Dhamma, of what is right and suitable and would aid the listeners.
As Dhamma was taught by the Buddha and his Enlightened disciples, the Arahants, in this way, those who listened, if they had faith and good concentration together with wisdom, came to know the Dhamma for themselves as they sat there. They followed in their hearts, step by step, the Dhamma taught by the Teacher and saw for themselves its truth while it was being taught. This is called true listening to the Dhamma and those who have accomplished this and seen Enlightenment or Nibbána in this way are known as Noble Disciples (literally, 'listeners').
The Buddha said that he had three sorts of mindfulness. When, out of compassion, he instructed people and they did not listen but practiced the opposite, he just had equanimity, with no overflow of ill-will as unenlightened teachers would have experienced. On the other hand, when he taught and his disciples practiced accordingly and reached attainment, he was full of joy but he had no overflow of attachment, like unenlightened teachers. And when the above two kinds of disciples were mixed together he did not have depression regarding the first or attachment for the second--there was just equanimity present.
"He taught Dhamma with direct knowledge not without it; he taught it causally not without causes; he taught it convincingly not unconvincingly"--this passage means that the Dhamma was not thought out by him, it was not a philosophical system he invented nor was it borrow from existing ideals, for he ha penetrated to Dhamma at Enlightenment-time. And when he taught Dhamma he did not ask people to believe him, for the Dhamma could be understood to be true through its causality; so, it was marvelously convincing in its presentation. The Buddha was evidence of its marvelous effectiveness, the Dhamma stage by stage was marvelous in realization and the Sangha, the community of those who have practiced and attained insight into Dhamma, evidence that Dhamma was suitable and necessary for all.
The sentence "The Buddha teaches Dhamma" uses a verb (deseti) meaning literally 'indicates'. That is, he points out or indicates what is there already. Dhamma is not a teaching, which superimposes some beliefs or dogmas on reality--just the opposite--for it points out the obstructions to seeing things they really are so that they may be removed. The Buddha's discourses then, are really indications, pointing-to, Dhamma. This is the meaning of the word desana, usually translated as 'sermon' or 'discourse'. These, as indications of Dhamma (Dhamma desana)*, show the Buddhist method of teaching very well. The Dhamma "invites one to come-and-see" (ehipassiko), it is timelessly true (akaliko), but we must look to see for ourselves. The indications, the pointing fingers, are there all the time. The direction is there of virtue, meditation and in-sight-wisdom. But as the Buddha says,
(Dhammapada 276):
"The striving should be done by you:
Proclaimers--the Tathágatas!"
In other words, the Buddha is going neither to push us on the way, nor give us a finger to hold on to; he proclaims it and it is up to us to make an effort. He has left us plenty of signposts or indications in the form of his recorded discourses.
Dhamma is taught in this way by one who is Enlightened, either the original discover -- a Buddha, or those whose discover it through his indications. Some people think that the time for Arahants is passed, some Pali Commentaries supporting this ideal, but those who practice Dhamma intensively, meditation especially, know that there are still a few in this world, mostly Bhikkhus or nuns, who have penetrated to the Dhamma in their own hearts. It is still possible to listen to Dhamma spoken by those who no longer have any defilement. This way of teaching, sometimes called 'Forest Dhamma' in Thailand, is indeed inspiring and urges us all not to waste time in this precious human life but to practice while we have the chance.
These Great Teachers have picked up the snake in the right way, behind its head, so that they will never be bitten by it. This simile was used by the Buddha to show the way of using Dhamma--picked up in the right way, for Enlightenment, it is only of benefit. But some pick it up for other purposes. There are Dhamma-thieves who steal it and then call it their own teaching. There are Dhamma-scullions who prepare messes of Dhamma mixed with all sorts of impure ingredients. And Dhamma-tinkers tour around flogging the Dhamma cheap, while one may find as well some Dhamma-theoreticians who never deign to practice but have in their mouths all the words and subtle ideals.
When Dhamma is taught by people like these, for fame or for wealth they will be bitten--not by Dhamma of course, but by their own defilement of pride and conceit and so on.
These kinds of people when they teach Dhamma will do so in a dry, uninteresting way. Their emphasis will be on the history of long dead Buddhist sects and their dead philosophies, or it will revolve about unimportant questions which are wholly theoretical. The Dhamma does not come alive in their mounts and their students will not see much benefit in practicing it. Where such persons are intent on fame they may even deliberately distort the Dhamma so as to teach people only what they want to hear. They can be sure of many disciples that way! The karmic results of this for such teachers will be a mean and deprived state of rebirth, while disciples who have little wisdom and follow them cannot expect anything much better. The Buddha has been very clear on when and how others should be taught:
"First one should set oneself
In that which is proper,
Then others one may teach:
A wise man is not blamed.
As one teaches others
So should one do oneself,
Fully tamed, others one may tame.
To tame oneself is really hard!
One's own good one should not neglect
For another's good however great;
One's own good knowing well
On one's own good be intent."
(Dhp 158,159,166)
Then, people may say, this is selfish! You only want to help yourself! Everyone else may go to hell! But if we understand this aright, we shall see that the Buddha was correct. One can only give help in the worldly way if one has the necessary money, skill or resources. It is the same in Dhamma--one can only help others with Dhamma when one practices oneself.
Really, others can only be helped up to the level of one's own practice. A wise person who helps in this way cannot be blamed by others, but if instruction is given in the manner of, 'Do as I say, don't do as I do', the instructor leaves himself wide open to blame. Taming others without taming oneself first is really quite easy, so long as one can keep up the front of hypocrisy, but the crash of such a clay-footed idol may be expected eventually. Not all the people can be fooled! This is why in the last verse above the Buddha lays such emphasis on one's own training. If that is attended to thoroughly for a number of years, "then others one may teach".
The Buddha has laid down the standard for helping others with Dhamma in the Numerical Collection (Anguttara-nikaya, Fives, 159). There he says that five factors should be established in oneself before speaking Dhamma; "I shall give others a graduated Dhamma-talk; I shall give them a Dhamma-talk showing causation; I shall give them a Dhamma-talk out of compassion; I shall give them a Dhamma-talk not for material gain; I shall give them a Dhamma-talk neither hurtful to myself nor to them." He comments further that it is not easy to teach Dhamma to others.
A third class of people who teach Dhamma includes perhaps most of the practical Dhamma-teachers found anywhere. They teach on the basis not only of learning but also practice though they have not yet attained the final goal. Their teaching can be therefore lively and useful in that it incorporates their own experience. The teachings given in this book come into this category.
Originally, they were written formal 'sermons' spoken from the Dhamma-seat in the main temple (Uposathaghara, Bot) of Wat Bovoranives Vihara, Bangkok. First written onto brown-paper 'concertinas' in palm-leaf size, they were then read by my venerable Preceptor, the Abbot of the above monastery, who would comment, on anything that should be changed. It was a great honor to receive this guidance from such an eminent scholar and practices. After corrections had been made they were delivered once a month to anyone who was interested to listen to Dhamma, though most of the audience was composed of westerners. In this new edition, better translations of some of the Pali texts quoted have been substituted. Also, wherever the English language makes it possible neuter in place of masculine gender has been used for people practicing Dhamma but in some places 'he and him' must still be taken to include 'she and her'. Finally, printing errors in the first edition have been corrected--not, one hopes, to be replaced by others in this edition!
May I take this opportunity to thank Ven. Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara, Abbot of Wat Bovoranives Vihara, for his Foreword and for much time spent over these discourses, Phra Sumangalo of Indonesia who, many years ago, typed them all out, and last, Mr. Michael Shameklis who has helped this second edition through the printers.
Phra Khantipalo.
Wat Buddha-Dhamma,
Ten Mile Hollow,
Wisemans Ferry,
N.S.W. 2255 AUSTRALIA
Book One: False And True Refuges
Many are they who seek a refuge
On the hills and in the woods.
To groves they go, to tree and shrines
Men, by fear tormented.
Indeed that refuge is not secure,
That refuge is not supreme,
Not by coming to that refuge
Is one from all Dukkha free.
But who has gone for Refuge to the Buddha
To the Dhamma and Sangha too,
He sees with perfect wisdom
The (action of the) Fourfold Noble Truth:
Dukkha, dukkha's causal arising
And the overcoming of dukkha,
And the Noble Eightfold Path
Leading to dukkha's allaying.
This refuge is indeed secure,
This refuge is supreme,
By coming to this refuge
From all dukkha one is free.
(Dhp 188-192)
Today, the Dhamma-verses which will be expounded for the increase of awareness and wisdom, are upon the topic of the Three Refuges: The Lord Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, or as we may explain them; the Teacher, the Teaching and those who have been taught.
One who follows the Buddhist Teaching and is called a Buddhist is by definition, one who has gone for refuge to the Three Gems, the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. We shall return to this later.
First, let us examine the word sarana. Those of you who are Buddhists have just recited Buddham saranam gacchami and the same for the Dhamma and Sangha, meaning 'I go for refuge' to each of the Three Gems. But refuge, is not the only meaning to the word sarana, which can also be translated as 'protection', 'shelter' or even more positively as 'guide'. However, the most used translation is Refuge.
Now, a refuge is that place where one is secure. If we examine the verses here, we shall gain some idea of the meaning of 'sarana' for Buddhists.
The first verse explains the sort of places, which ordinary and one might say, ignorant people consider as refuges. Mountains, forests, sacred groves, trees and shrines are all mentioned as being thought holy and as refuges by the many.
Every religion knows of, even if not encouraging, such practices as resorting for pilgrimages to places sanctified by the life of great and saintly men and women. 'Shrines' would include all the temples, stupas, mosques, cathedrals and so forth. Such pilgrimages based upon the faith of the pilgrim, are sometimes profitable and sometimes not. They are profit when the hearts of those undertaking them are purified but they are an empty formality when done merely out of custom or tradition. But, in any case, one should not expect too much from refuges of this sort. At best they bring about a temporary improvement in the level of mental activity, while upon their completion habits reassert themselves in the great majority of people.
We should also note that the first verse speaks of why people go to such refuges: "by fear tormented". We learn elsewhere in the words of Lord Buddha that "Fear arises only for the fool, not for the wise man". The many folk who flee for refuge in this way are therefore fools. One should Understand here by the word 'fool', the opposite of being a wise person; that is, one who is ruled by ignorance and craving rather than by wisdom and compassion.
Now fleeing for refuge out of fear means a sort of blind impulse-to clutch at any straw, which looks as if it might carry one to salvation. Blind fear begets blind faith. One does not examine, one does not try to know and understand what one has faith in, one only has faith to follow. In the words of Lord Buddha: "It is like a string of blind men, neither does the first one see, nor the middle, nor the last one". This sort of faith, if one can call it that, is well seen in the crowded churches at the outbreak of war.
People, who had never thought of attending a service at other times, suddenly feel fear and seek the consolations of religion. A few people may have their ways of life altered for the better by such actions but generally most relapse after fleeing to some supposed refuge through fear.
The second verse recited here just emphasizes this: "Refuge such as this is not secure", nor is it supreme. "By going to a refuge such this, one is not released from every ill". Why is this so? All these refuges of ordinary people have one characteristic: they are all exterior. It is a feature of the ordinary, uninstructed person that he does not know what constitutes true religion, since he does not truly understand what is false religion. One of the marks of the latter is to set up and then to rely upon powers and forces exterior to oneself. This is not to say that some powers exterior to oneself do not exist, but then these are not man-made.
People generally hope to get something out of the holy places they visit. They do not understand that deriving benefit from visiting spots sacred to one's religion really entails oneself making an effort, the places being, so to speak, favorable supporting causes. Basically all such goings-for-refuge are motivated by the desire that feelings of happiness increase, while feelings of pain decrease.
People, in fact all beings, pursue pleasurable experience and try to avoid what is suffering and therefore unwelcome--and religion is one way in which they pursue this quest. But Lord Buddha says, "By going to a refuge such as this, one is not released from every ill". "Every ill" (sabbadukkha) means all unsatisfactory experience, which we know it is the goal of every person to avoid. But how can all this dukkha be avoided? It is obvious that by means of man-created shrines, man-created ill cannot be ended. It should be obvious that such refuges 'out there' cannot be considered secure or supreme.
So that of the Refuges of Buddhist religion? It might be said that surely Buddhist Refuges are 'out there' in space and time. In what follows, these Refuges and the ways of understanding them will be examined. First, we have Refuge in the Buddha. As we all aware, it is now the 2510th year of the Buddhist Era, an era that began upon the day of the Maha parinibbána, the 'Great Final Nibbána, (the death), of the Lord Buddha at Kusinara in India.
Some people take Refuge in thinking with reverence of the life of the Lord Buddha two and half millennia past. This is also an exterior refuge though better than none at all. But we should look a little more closely at the meaning of Buddha so that we may understand how it is possible to go for Refuge to him. Born as a human being but with great reserves of Punna (or merit) from the countless lives before when he had practiced the Perfection, as a young prince he aspired to understand why suffering was so rampant in the world and why happiness was so evanescent. This quest led him to renounce the luxuries of his palace and go forth to homelessness.
His quest took him to Brahmin teachers of that day as well as to the exploration of traditional methods for subduing the body. Not finding neither the true happiness nor the cause of multitudinous sorrows in the world, he forsook these methods and without a teacher, himself discovered the Ancient Way, which the Buddhas of the past in ages long before him had lighted upon. That Ancient Way is a path not to be seen outside the mind and heart, but rather, leading inward. The way uncovered by Lord Buddha leads one to know increasing happiness and to realize in the heart why one experiences sorrow.
Lord Buddha was the first man in the present age to tread this Way to the very end for which reason he is called by the title Buddha: the Enlightened or Awakened One. Though there are various formulations of this Enlightenment or Awakening, yet it remains beyond our abilities to understand fully since we have not experienced it for ourselves.
For instance, as Gotama the Buddha was a man, and as all the conditioned parts comprising a man are impermanent, we cannot grasp what it is that is "Buddha." If neither the conditioned parts separately, nor all of them as a whole, make up a Buddha, then what is the Buddha and how can one go for Refuge? The answer to this question lies in the fact that in the practice of Dhamma as the Buddha's Teaching is called faith alone is not sufficient. Faith must support Wisdom and Wisdom must guide Faith. If these two do not go together, one will never know what is the Buddha.
Faith is necessary in order to put one's foot upon the Way at all, but then so is Wisdom for one also needs to realize how necessary it is to put one's foot to Way in the first place and subsequently to guide it. We may know from this that while our understanding of the word Buddha stems from the events of two thousand five hundred years ago, this ripens into the knowledge that we must seek the Buddha here and now.
Temples, shrines and stupas have their part to play, which is to ripen people in the understanding that now is the only time really worth our attention, and if we are really to go for Refuge to the Buddha, it is now that we must do it, which really means ourselves becoming like the Buddha: Enlightened, Awakened. If we are able to accomplish this, even to some degree, then we shall have in our hearts some knowledge or wisdom of the Buddha, not only faith in the Buddha. There is thus very much depth in the little ceremony of Going-for-Refuge, much more just repeating: "Buddham saranam gacchami."
It is worth remembering that Gotama the Buddha is called "The Buddha of Present"--and from a practical point of view the present means now and not 2500 years ago. Among the teachings of Dhamma, which bring the out of the past and into the present, out of the books and into one's heart, is the method of mind-development called "Recollection of the Buddha" (Buddhanussati).
Before passing on to speak of the Dhamma or Teaching, it is good to stress the peculiarly Buddhist nature of Going-for-Refuge. At one time, Lord Buddha compared false refuge-taking with the man who stood upon this bank of a river and invoked the further bank to come to him: "O further bank, come here, do come here". Just as energy and determination are need if one is to cross from the hither to the further shore, so actively Going-for-Refuge is the mark of the true Buddhist who does not expect that by alone having faith, the Refuges will come of them-selves to him.
Sometimes in Western books we see the expression 'taking refuge' used in connection with Buddhism. But 'taking' is the wrong verb to use and conjures up the wrong set of ideals, while 'Going-for' Refuge which literally translates the Pali 'saranagamana' is proper to Buddhist conceptions of a Way to be trod.
Now this Way called the Dhamma is the second of the Refuges. People who understand only a little of Buddhist Teachings think that Dhamma means to collection of books in which are recorded all the Teachings of Lord Buddha. When they see all these books, some forty-five volumes in Thai edition, they are overawed at such abundance. But Dhamma, even more than Buddha, is a word of many subtle meanings. While the Three Collections of the Buddha-word remain upon the shelves, they are just forty-five volumes of white paper with black printing and nothing more--except they inspire some faith.
Immediately one of them is opened and read, however, one aspect of Dhamma is developed: the Dhamma of thorough learning. This has its advantages, for a learned Buddhist has better reason for Going-for Refuge than one ignorant of Buddhist teaching. But learning alone is insufficient, just as the idolizing of books is not correct. With learning alone, one's Going-for-Refuge remains an intellectual affair and even if one has read through all of the forty-five volumes, one still has not placed one's foot on the Path, which is called a practice-path.
To use another simile found in the Middle Discourses Collection, one is still running about upon this hither shore and has not yet put together a raft helping one over to the further shore of Nibbána. Contrasted with this bookishness there are the famous words of Lord Buddha:
"Better the single useful word
By hearing which one is at peace
Than floods of words a thousand fold
Profitless and meaningless.
Better the single Dhamma-word
By hearing which one is at peace
Than chanting a hundred verses
Profitless and meaningless."
(Dhp. 100,102)
Dhamma-words of meaning and profit are those, which enable a person having learnt as much as is necessary, to practice. One who practices the Dhamma, goes for Refuge to it to the same extent as he has practiced. With the knowledge of personal experience of Dhamma one goes for Refuge to the Dhamma. One of the Discourses of the Lord Buddha puts it like this:
"With faith arisen, he approaches and associates (with a teacher); thus associating, he gives ears, giving ears, he listens to the Dhamma; listening to the Dhamma, he bears it in mind; and then he examines the meaning of the Dhamma that he has born in mind; thus examining the meaning, he approved of it, and approving of it the desire to practice it arises; with this desire arisen, he exerts himself; having exerted himself, he considers it; having considered, he puts forth effort; putting forth effort, he himself experiences the highest truth and sees it, having penetrated it with his wisdom". Or, we have in other passage, following upon examination of the Buddha and his claims to Enlightenment, these words of the Lord himself: (Having realized that the Dhamma is worth listening to) "He realizes with his own higher knowledge some of those Dhammas (or teachings) and concludes that (they are true) and then reposes faith in the Teacher (Lord Buddha), believing then that the Exalted One is Enlightened, that the Exalted One's Dhamma is well-expounded, and that the Community is of good practice (or conduct)." It is thus that Buddhist faith might be better termed 'wise-faith' since it differs from the mere faith of accepting non-provable dogma. Dhamma, on the contrary, by way of practice, becomes that which one sees for oneself.
This is the third aspect of Dhamma, for after the Dhamma of learning and of practice, comes the Dhamma of penetrative wisdom whereby one sees that the nature of one's own mentality and materiality (or mind and body) is the Dhamma. The real nature of things is Dhamma, the natural of cosmic Law; it is the seeing into things as they really are. This is the Dhamma of Enlightenment or when one becomes One-who-knows, as Lord Buddha has known and seen Dhamma before us. A person like this, no longer an ignorant, uninstructed world, has, so to speak, made the Dhamma his own and being crossed over to the further shore of Nibbána even in this very life, has thoroughly verified it from his own experience. So great is the meaning in the simple phrase: "Dhammam saranam gacchami."
What for Going-for-Refuge to the Sangha, or Community? There are some people who when they hear the word 'Sangha' uttered, think immediately of Bhikkhus in the yellow robe and conclude that Going-for-Refuge to the Sangha means somehow pious belief in all Buddhist monks. But the meaning intended here otherwise. To understand this, we should take into account two points:
The first of these is that even in the days of the Lord Buddha there lived Bhikkhus such that He said: "From many a shoulder hangs the ochre robe, yet men are they of evil habits, unrestrained..."--and this, unfortunately, continues to be true of the present time. So a person who has little knowledge does not suppose that Going-for-Refuge to the Sangha refers here to all the two hundred and fifty thousand or so Bhikkhus in Thailand, for instance.
Having got some knowledge of Dhamma from a learned teacher who will usually be a Bhikkhu, another person wiser than the first, might think that this Refuge referred to those learned in the Three Collections of the Buddha-word. Wiser still are those who go for Refuge to a Teacher or Teachers who have themselves realized the truth of the Dhamma. The other point to be noted here is that penetration of the Dhamma is not something restricted to Bhikkhus, since lay people of both sexes, if they are diligent enough, may also see it for themselves.
All those who have penetrated to the truth of Dhamma, whether ordained or lay, all such are called collectively "the Noble Sangha" and as Teachers who have seen the Way for themselves, they do indeed constitute a secure Refuge. Some teachers explain Going-for-Refuge to the Sangha by a further step. That one has effectively gone for refuge to the Sangha when one has become as they have become, when one no longer has faith in Dhamma or in a Teacher but when one knows from one's own experience and has, like them, destroyed all the mental stains such as greed, aversion and delusion and come to inherit the treasures of penetrative wisdom. "He sees with perfect wisdom (in himself) the action of the fourfold Noble Truths"--as the verses above explain.
Having got some idea of the "noble person" (ariyapuggala), that is, a member of the Noble Sangha, we should investigate a little those aspects of the Dhamma is found in the Four Noble Truths of which only the briefest outline can be given here. However, we remember: "Better a single Dhamma-word hearing which one dwells at peace"--and the Four Noble Truths are the guide to peace and happiness. They are also called the special range of the Buddhas, meaning that only one who has penetrated to the depths of his own mental continuity, can possibly formulate in clear and unmistakable terms, the experience of the unsatisfactory, dukkha, and the Way to go beyond it.
Indeed, the Exalted One has declared: "Now as before, Bhikkhus, two things I teach: Dukkha and the cessation of Dukkha". All of what is called Buddhism is contained in this sentence! Yet how vast are its implications. Dukkha here means one's own personal experience of the unsatisfactory nature of this world and how every experience, if one is perceptive and not blinded by dullness, is somehow not quite right, leaves something to be desired, a nagging feeling of incompleteness, the unsatisfactory, the fly in the ointment.
Dukkha is everything from the slightest anxiety or fear to the most serious mental disease, or from the slightest of bodily discomforts to the most terrible physical agony. Dukkha, one might say, is a commonplace of existence, yet although so common and although everyone seeks to avoid it few understand the reason why they experience it.
The Buddha perceived in the second Noble Truth the underlying cause for our troubles. Dukkha arises dependent upon craving, that is, the craving for pleasures, for eternal life and for annihilation or the death wish. This cause of dukkha when learnt of by foolish people causes them sorrow, or they hasten to refuge it and to say why it cannot be so. But wise people are able to understand, even rejoice, when at last they perceive the cause of Dukkha.
We may notice that ordinarily as many of this world's troubles as possible are blamed upon exterior circumstances about which we can do little or nothing. But Lord Buddha lays the burden of our dukkha squarely before us and asks us to look into our own craving minds and see whether it is not there that dukkha arises. The foolish person is distressed at this since it means that he cannot blame those circumstances out there, but the wise rejoice since they know that unsatisfactory experience generally arises through the operation of their own minds which are 'inside' and so within one's power to control. This craving for pleasures, life and death, which grip everyone who is not yet Enlightened and the resulting dukkha which is experienced, are together called Samsara, literally the Wandering-on.
This is the state of ordinary people driven by cravings and blinded by unknowing from birth to death, from death to birth--and the cycle of repeated Births may be infinite, and as varied are the conditions of birth, which one may experience. One reaps as one has sown; evil giving rise to intensified dukkha while beneficial and pure conduct leads to the experience of greater happiness. The dukkha and its various forms are endless, the craving of experiences are limitless. This is called weaving the cloth of birth and death.
In the third and fourth Noble Truths, Lord Buddha has shown the Way out and the goal, which is beyond the Wandering-on, which is the overcoming of it and therefore the cessation of dukkha. This third Noble Truth is called just that: the Cessation of Dukkha and is defined by saying that it is the extinction of craving of every sort--it is Nibbána which literally means the blowing-out. No longer can the fires of greed, hatred and delusion rage in the heart of one attained to Nibbána. They are blown out in him; they are quenched and cannot be kindle again. One attained to Nibbána, to lasting peace and happiness, whether Bhikkhu or nun, man or woman, has found that happiness which everyone restlessly and halfheartedly, is really searching for.
If only the first three Noble Truths had been taught by Lord Buddha, his Dhamma would be only for the spiritually elect who might intuit the truth of it from their own purity of mind and heart. But the Dhamma is meant for anyone who wishes to practice, not only for those who are almost saints now. Hence Lord Buddha as a practical teacher has set forth the Eightfold Path with its three divisions of moral conduct, wisdom as the way whereby Nibbána may be won. The Eightfold Path which defines what is Right conduct (to become ultimately through practice and attainment, Perfect conduct) covers not only the whole range of training, but also can be applied to all the ways in which we express ourselves: mind, speech and body. It applies to the general purification of the heart, which proceeds from the grossest mental stains to the removal of the finest ones.
It becomes the day-to-day practice of the good Buddhist until his life becomes the Eightfold Path. When he has reached this, he is ennobled with the nobility of seeing into the truth at least to some degree, while his practice of the Path is no longer made with great effort but has become natural to him. It is then called the Eight-fold Path of the Nobles, or more commonly, the Noble Eightfold Path. From this explanation it is to be hoped that one may gain insight into what is meant by the Three Refuges and by Going-for-Refuge. The three Refuges are also called the Three Gems, or better the Triple Gem. This latter name emphasizes the inter-relationship, which exists between the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, and how one cannot go for Refuge to one or two of them without maiming Buddhist Teachings in a very harmful way. Going-for-Refuge must be from the heart if done at all. To be effective, it must involve strong faith of the kind called rooted, reasonable or wise-faith. An intellectual acceptance of the Refuges is not very satisfactory since the intellect itself is unstable and liable to upset from greater forces in the emotions. The sort of Refuge-going where one intellectualizes' I accept this but not that' is one which is defiled by the stains of skepticism (vicikiccha). It is true that one's Going-for-Refuge deepens as one's understanding becomes more profound, but it is still good to be aware of the dangers. It is thus not possible to be, for instance, both a Buddhist and say, a Christian. Each religion has its refuges, each its practices and each claims the heart's faith. One can be therefore a sincere Buddhist who avows, "Perfectly Enlightened is the Exalted One, Well-expounded is the Exalted One's Dhamma, Of good practice is the Community"; or else one may be a devoted Christian. Mixtures, however, are not successful. Similarly, upon the Indian scene, one may be either a Buddhist Going-for-Refuge wholeheartedly, or else a Hindu. The Hindu, who knows the word Buddha and believes the story that He is the ninth descent of Vishnu upon this world, while quite ignorant of Dhamma and probably having never seen a Bhikkhu in his life, cannot well be a Buddhist. Although Buddhists have ever chanted "There is no other Refuge for me, the Buddha is my true Refuge" (and the same for the Dhamma and for the Sangha), their faith has never led to fanaticism and no persecutions have ever resulted from Buddhist devotion to the Triple Gem. Such perversions of religion are due to blind faith in non-provable principles and cannot result from Buddhist practice where wise-faith increases side by side, or balanced by, Wisdom.
Thus it is that Buddhist have always averred that of course those following other religious paths may also gain the joys of heavenly existence as a result of their practice of skilful, beneficial deeds while yet human beings. It is possible that those of other religious can, if they develop Wisdom, also attain to Nibbána after having cut off the mental stains completely. However, as other religions generally emphasize faith, almost to the exclusion of Wisdom, a fact that is liable to lead to one-sided spiritual growth--to be seen in the peculiarities of many saints, it will be rare for a non-Buddhist to attain to the end of the round of birth-and-death, which is Nibbána.
This is not so important a consideration since all those who are ripe for the development of Wisdom will do so quite naturally. But what is important is that one's refuge in any religion, besides engaging the whole of one's heart, should also bring about great changes for the better in one's character. If it does not do so, either the refuge is a false refuge, or else one's Going-for-Refuge is halfhearted.
Now in this very life one has the wonderful opportunity not to be lost, of going to a true refuge. The wheel of birth-and-death revolving according to one's deeds may bring one to birth in states either too fearful or else too pleasurable for seeking of a secure refuge. Life as a man, in which are mixed a proportion of happiness with enough dukkha to make one think, provides the exact condition for sincere Going-for Refuge. The life of man is transitory, short indeed and it is unsure when it will be cut short. Only death indeed, is sure. One should therefore hasten to make for oneself and unshakable refuge.
"By energy and heedfulness,
By taming and by self-control,
The one who's wise should make an isle,
Such that no flood can overwhelm."
(Dhp. 25)
And Lord Buddha, the Refuge even of the greatest Gods, has exhorted his disciples thus before his final Nibbána:
"Be islands for your selves, be a refuge for yourselves!
Go to no other Refuge!
Let the Dhamma be your island, the Dhamma be your refuge!
Go to no other Refuge!"
As we, mind and body, are indeed truly the Dhamma, what other Refuge could we truly take? The finding of this true Refuge has been the occasion for deep devotion, such as the words of the cowherd Dhaniya:
"Surely our gain is great and to be praised,
Whose eyes upon the Blessed One have gazed!
O Seeing One we put our trust in thee!
O Might Sage, do thou our Teacher be!
Attentive, lo! We wait, my wife and I,
To live the Holy Life; the Pathway high
That leads beyond all birth and death to know,
And win the final end of every woe."
(Sn. 31-32)
Or we have the magnificent paean of praises sung by the rich Householder Upali who declared his sublime and wise-faith in these words:
"I follow Him, high Wisdom's faultless Lord,
Whose mind is stilled, triumphant o'er his foes,
Purged of besetting ill, steadfast in poise,
In virtue established, wisest of the wise,
Trampling down passion, Lord immaculate...
I follow Him of all-Enlightened mind,
From cravings cleansed, unclouded, clear, undimmed,
Of meet oblations worthy, chief of men,
The unequalled Lord of majesty supreme."
(M. Sutta 56)
Truly has it been said by the Conqueror:
"By coming to this refuge
From all dukkha one is free."
EVAM
Thus indeed it is.
Book Two: Honor And Respect
He of respect nature who
Ever the elders honors
Four qualities for him increase:
Long-life and beauty, happiness and strength.
(Dhp. 109)
Today, in this explanation of the Dhamma taught by Lord Buddha, a very well known stanza of the Dhamma has been chosen. This stanza is recited thousands of times everyday in Thailand. It is one of several used by Bhikkhus, or Buddhist monks, when they chant the well-wishing for householders after having received from them some gift, perhaps of food or perhaps of one of the other requisites of life given by lay people to Bhikkhus.
This stanza is heard with devout concentration by lay-people who have done an action, such as giving, which is called Punna or that good which purifies the mind-stream of the doer. The listening to this stanza with a purified mind can be of great fruit, of great advantage. This is not because the stanza itself is magic or itself bestows holiness or blessings, but because of the general advantages which anyone may reap by listening intently to words of wisdom.
This hearkening to wisdom when the mind is calm and filled with faith and the joy of having worked that which is wholesome, is itself another act of wholesomeness, another beneficial deed. Should one then be so much impressed with the advice given in this stanza that one sets out to practice in the same way in one's own life, why then there is still a further increase in Punna as Lord Buddha assures us, a fourfold fruit to be expected from reverence and humility: "Long life and beauty, happiness and strength".
Much is thus to be gained from wholesome actions such as giving, in the first place, while more benefit may be reaped from listening to the words of truth which are the Dhamma. But, one might say, people hear these words of well-wishing in the Pali language and so do not understand them.
Such an objection might apply to other chants heard less frequently, but so often is this verse heard by house-holders that its meaning is clear even to those who have never studied Pali, while the four advantages at the end would not be difficult to understand even for people coming from remote villages.
In the ten ways of making Punna, reverence and humility are listed fourth, following the three main headings of Giving, Morality and Mind-development. Without the aspect of humility, indeed, why would one realize that any training at all was necessary? Why would one undertake to be generous, to live an honest and upright life or to practice in such a way that one's understanding and penetration of the truth of Dhamma is deepened?
Is it not that one feels dissatisfied with one's present experience and comes to acknowledge that most of the trouble lies in oneself, not in the outside world? This is humility. When one has this, one may discover others who have gone further along the Path and can therefore offer good advice about one's life and how to live it. When this advice is appreciated, one becomes grateful and feels that one has learnt something of value.
Thus one comes to respect a teacher for his wisdom and the help given. And giving respect one reaps a fine harvest of Punna, especially when the one respected has reached to the end of Dhamma, or at least one who is striving upon the Path. All these benefits the proud man misses. He will not even meet with good teachers, or if he does so, he is unable to benefit himself by their instructions. In those books of Dhamma-similes called "Trees and Water" which have been translated from Tibetan, we read: "Just as a branch adorned with good fruits is bent down beneath their weight, so a wise man's mind adorned with all good qualities is bent downwards with humility and calm and knows no pride.
(But) just as the fruitless branch of a fruit-tree has the nature to grow aloft; so the head of a haughty man is always held high, for his heart is not humble." Who loses and who gains? The humble man has a mind pliable, workable, and therefore is able to learn in his life and profit richly from experience. Alas, for the proud man! He cannot bear the though that others might know more, be worth more, so how can he learn? In India at the time of Lord Buddha, it was the upper castes in society who were proud.
The kinsmen of Gotama himself, known as the Sakiya clan of warriors, were famous for their pride. They were humbled only by an exercise by Lord Buddha of his supernormal powers. Even then their pride proved to be their undoing for they gave a half-caste slave-girl in marriage to the prince of a neighboring kingdom, not deigning to give any maiden of full Sakiya blood.
Vidudabha, the prince in question, when he discovered the Sakiya's deception, vowed to wash their moot-hall with their own blood, a slaughter which he carried out in full when he became king. In their case, pride indeed came before a fall! Or one might think of a Brahmin’s pride, one of the Bharadvaja clan who showed no respect either for his mother or father, nor teacher, nor eldest brother. Because of his unbending pride he was nicknamed ‘Pridestiff'. When he went to see Lord Buddha, he first resolved that "If he will talk to me, I will talk to him, if not, I will not speak to him."
It is not surprising that Gotama did not speak to him and when this happened he thought to return home. At this juncture, Lord Buddha with his faculty of discerning the minds of others, spoke to him, showing Pridestiff that his mind was like an open book: "Then Pridestiff thought, ‘The Samana Gotama knows my thoughts!" and there and then he fell upon his face at the Exalted One's feet..." Then the gathering were astonished. ‘Sir, it is marvelous; sir, it is wonderful! For this Pridestiff shows no respect to mother or father, or to others, yet he utterly prostrates himself in this manner before the Samana Gotama." When Pridestiff had taken his place again, he asked the following questions in verse, of the Exalted One:
"To whom should pride not be express?
Who should one treat with reverence?
Who should one offer honor and respect?
Who is it good to worship well?
To which the Exalted One replied:
For mother and for father too, likewise
For eldest brother, for teacher, for
The Brahmin and those of the yellow robe:
For these is one to cultivate no pride,
These should one honor these should one
revere, to these if one shows reverence it is well.
The Arahants, unstained, become quite cool,
And having done what should be done,
Pride perished as to the goal they crossed.
To them beyond all others homage pay."
(S.i. 177-178)
This was the taming of a proud Brahmin, a circumstance much to his advantage since he went for Refuge to the Triple Gem and then became a devoted lay-follower. How few are the opportunities of this sort for proud person?
Lord Buddha frequently recommends to Bhikkhus that their minds should be as lowly and as humble as that of candala-boy. Now the candalas were (and are) one of the names given to outcaste groups in India and since they were everywhere despised and forced to do the most menial work, having to bear with the harsh words and blows of others without reply, so the simile is very apt. Pride after all is the increase of the feeling ‘I am", it is the process of ‘I-making' and its results in people adopting all sorts of views about their ‘selves' and ‘souls'. Humility, and the reverence resulting from it, shows the decrease of pride and will be very helpful in appreciating the true nature of this mind and body, after viewing them as ownerless and empty of a self to which they belong, for renouncing them as owned and so to the seeing of Nibbána. How, from a practical point of view, can one start upon this Path which will lead one to Peace? In the story of the Pridestiff above, we notice that he "utterly prostrated himself". This act of prostration is commonly seen to this day in Thailand: children prostate to their parents and teachers, while all lay-people respect Bhikkhus in this way and likewise pay homage to the Buddha-images.
Among those in the robe, novice or ‘samaneras' prostrate to Bhikkhus, as do young Bhikkhus to their seniors in the Sangha, while all alike respect in this way the Sangharaja or Patriarch. Everyone, ordained oar lay, prostrates in remembrance of the Lord Buddha before the Buddha-images. However great in worldly position and power, even kings in Buddhist lands have always honored the feet of the Buddha-images and those of their own teachers. Everyone has thus a chance to pay reverence and thus to increase the wholesome in his own heart.
Now why is it that prostration should promote humility and thus be a way of showing reverence? When one considers the human body, its most important sense organs together with the brain are contained in the head. It is the area where experiences are assembled together and the world is thought of as ‘out there' while I, the knower, am ‘in here'.
The head with its sense-faculties is thus a wonderful place for ‘I-making', for egoism. In prostration, it is this splendid piece of apparatus, which is lowered to the ground. From being on the top of all the body, it finds itself below the body and level with the feet. Is it a wonder that the mental stain of pride is offended by this and feelings arise which relate to not liking prostration?
Pride is always at the root of these and causes people to put out a ‘smoke-screen' of why it should not be done! This prostration is one way of showing respect.
Another is by placing the palms in ‘anjali', an action that in other systems of faith is connected with prayer. In Buddhist Teaching, however, respect is the reason for it and the one who benefits is he who pays respect. People sometimes think both with regard to prostration and to anjali that these actions are, so to speak, for the benefit of whatever is on the ‘receiving end', be it a Buddha-image, a Bhikkhu or a senior member of the family. But this is to misunderstand the reasons for making these gestures, for besides outwardly showing respect, inwardly there is by such action, the growth of reverence and humility.
Now we are considering here "He of respectful nature whoever the elders honors". A person like this does not perform the outward modes of respecting just because it is said to be the right thing to do, or just because of habit. In showing respect in every way, he does so mindfully and is thus aware of the real reason why respect should be shown:-- the lessening of the mental stain of pride and the increase of humility. To be eager to forward one's training in the Way of Dhamma is the mark of the sincerely good person who by his striving overpasses the conventionally good attitude. Of such a one it is said: "Hour qualities for him increase", that is to say, his deliberate actions by way of body, speech and mind are kamma and the fruits that are reaped by him are these four which are results of his actions. These results (vipaka) or fruits of kamma (phala) are: Long life and beauty, happiness and strength." Each of these four qualities of a reverent person has an immediately obvious meaning as well as one, which is not so easy to see.
Let us examine them one by one. First we have ‘long-life'. Most people wish for long-life, that is to say, they crave for life and fear to die and only when this life becomes too miserable and horrific, do people release their craving-grip and wish to die. Long-life sounds good when one is young, craving experiences and having good health. To one already old and perhaps sick, long-life may look different. It puts one in mind of that intrepid voyager Gulliver who after his visit to laputa came upon a land where occasionally ‘immortals' were born. He goes on to rhapsodize at length upon the advantages that these fortunate being must posses. Unfortunately, he assumes that they have ‘everlasting youth', which it, turns out, is not the case. They are condemned to an everlasting life of abject misery. It should be understood, then, that when Lord Buddha said that this was one of four qualities enjoyed by a reverent person, he meant the sort of long-life in which there is continual growth in Dhamma. Unprofitable long-life is illustrated in this verse:
"Just as the ox grows old
So this man of little learning,
His fleshiness increases
But his wisdom does not grow."
(Dhp. 152)
Long-life is for use, to one's great good and advantage and anyone who practices in this way, practices also for the good of other people. The second quality is ‘beauty'. The Pali word is very difficult to translate into English because of its varied meanings. ‘Vanno' can mean beauty, complexion and from this comes to signify caste and social position.
Here we will take it to mean beauty. It is the beauty which increases upon the face of anyone who customarily performs deeds which are wholesome and who is careful to avoid evil doing. Lord Buddha has explained how ugliness is the result, sometimes from a previous life, of anger. Is not the angry person intensely ugly? He thereby stamps himself with ugliness. The evil kamma of anger bears the resultant, which is unwelcome, of ugliness. In the same way, the kamma of reverence bears its fruit in beauty of countenance and graceful manners. But as everyone knows, though most people try to forget, physical beauty is impermanent, it is eroded away through old age, it is liable even to sudden and calamitous change in the case of accidents, and so forth.
When pointing out beauty as one of the fruits of reverence, Lord Buddha is not only referring to the very impermanent body. In this teaching of Dhamma, inward beauty of the pure mind is pointed out as excelling by far mere physical attractiveness. Indeed, Lord Buddha has said that not half but all of the holy life consists of this sort of beauty. It is the beauty of a trained mind, one which is workable, one from which the strangling creepers of the passions of Greed, Aversion and Delusion have been chopped away.
It abounds in beautiful qualities such as mindfulness, gentleness, contentment, peace, concentration and joy. It is grown cool and never becomes a stumbling-block for others but instead is full of compassion and helpfulness. This is truly an advantage from the practice of reverence.
Next we come to ‘happiness'. Happiness is commonly analyzed into that arising due to pleasant bodily feeling and that experienced through pleasant mental feelings. It is worth nothing that many feelings do arise--pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. Only the Arahant who has got beyond kamma can determine about his feelings: ‘Let this one be pleasant, let this one be unpleasant.' Although we cannot yet determine feelings in this way, what we can do is to ensure an increase of pleasant, happy feeling. Everyone actually desires just this, but few people go about increasing happiness for themselves and others in the right way. Instead of thinking that increased and varied sense stimulation is the path to happiness.
Happiness is the fruit to be expected in all cases when the wholesome has been done. It may be reaped immediately, or only after some time depending upon the other sorts of kamma, which are fruiting at the time. Reverence is specially sure to produce happiness since in showing that one respects others and has humility oneself, one promotes harmony and good understanding with others.
How indeed can pride ever give happiness? The proud person is himself dissatisfied while others are made miserable by him. Reverence, not power and pride, not force and might, is a key to unlock the door of peace both for oneself and for the world at large. Lastly, there is ‘strength'.
This could be interpreted as meaning physical strength but this is not really intended. The strength resulting from reverence is an inward strength.
It is the ability to overcome obstacles in life, to be able competently to deal with all the affairs and problems, which present themselves; in such a way that wholesomeness is promoted while evils is lessened. Strengths or powers as they are usually called, are in Buddhist training, five in numbers and although these cannot be explained in detail here, still they may be mentioned: Confidence, energy, mindfulness, collectedness and wisdom.
It is not surprising that from sincere acts of reverence, these basic factors upon which the whole Buddhist training is based, increase and come to fruit.
Suffice it to say here that the person who has actualized reverence is strong, not weak; he is developed, not lacking in qualities, and he is able, not unable, to cope with the flow of life. When we again hear this stanza, so full of profound and useful Dhamma, we should remember its application to our lives. It is precisely for this reason that the Light of the Three Worlds has said:
"He of respectful nature who
Ever the elders honors,
Four qualities for him increase
Long-life and beauty, happiness and strength."
EVAM
Thus indeed it is.
Book Two: Giving Is True Gain
With house on fire it's best to bring
The goods outside not leave them to be burnt:
So in this world ablaze with age and death,
Bring out by gifts; what's given is well brought.
What's given bears fruits of bliss: naught given any happiness!
Robbers may bear away (the goods you keep)
Kings commandeers, and fire destroy the rest
The end arrives; the body must be left,
And likewise all belongings: --so let the wise,
Discerning this, enjoy his goods and give.
Having given and used according to his means,
Blameless he may to radiant realms attain.
(S.i. 5.1)
These words are not those of Lord Buddha but of a very wise devata or deity who has understood very well some part of the Dhamma. However, there is no doubt that Lord Buddha approved of them since he did not reply to this celestial being but remained silent. Now celestial beings or devata are said to enjoy much longer lives than human beings although in the end even they must be born again according to their kamma. So it is quite natural for the devata to emphasize that this world is "ablaze with old age and death".
However great the goods collected in one's life here, all must be left behind when one dies. Now one may say, 'But this fact is known to everyone!' The trouble is that very few people, though they know about the condition of the world and how life is very unstable, very few people act as though beset by old-age and death. The majority, after assenting to the fact that they must all grow old and die, behaves as though life was everlasting. They are like travelers who know that the next stage of their journey is long one and yet fail to make provision for their travel. They will come to great discomfort and distress because they have not done what travelers should do. Just in the same way are those people who never think to practice what is wholesome (kusala), do not give, do not keep the Five Precepts and do not develop their minds; they make no provisions for their own comfort in future.
Their attention is concentrated upon 'getting' in the present: not only materials comforts and money but more subtle things like fame power and position.
They are like people whose eyes are deflective, who are shortsighted and who require glasses for their proper sight. But even though advised by a doctor to do so, they do not take his advice. So they see only a few feet in front of their faces and never enjoy a beautiful landscape or the distant prospect of mountains. But the generous person does take note of the future, he does provide for his journey, he does not hesitate to use glasses of Dhamma-practice so that his sight may be repaired and he does enjoy himself as he goes through life catching sight of the future rewards which await him like a mighty panorama of snow-mountains upon the horizon. He is not afraid to face the fact that this world is impermanent and that he will surely grow old and die. It becomes part of his nature to enjoy giving away impermanent things here knowing that his gifts have many advantages.
To General Siha, Lord Buddha mentioned five such advantages which are both visible and future results of giving: "The almsgiver, Siha, a liberal man, is good and dear to many folk and since he is so, Siha, this is a visible result of giving. Again, the good and wise follow him... Again, a good reputation concerning him goes about... Again, whatever company he enters, whether of nobles, priests, householders or wanderers, he entered with confidence and untroubled... Again, the almsgiver, the liberal man, upon the breaking up of the body after death, is reborn in a heaven, in a happy born; since that is so, Siha, it is hereafter the result of giving."
The visible results of giving in the present thus outnumber the future advantages by four to one! One does not have to wait until the future in order to see the results of kamma! This is called ditthadhamma, or the Dhamma to be seen and experienced now and has always been a very important aspect of Buddhist Teaching. To promise a starving man food if he is prepared to wait for a month to get it, is not really likely to satisfy his hunger now but in Buddha Dhamma, those who hunger to see the fruit of their good kamma may be satisfied with a meal of such Dhamma-fruits here and now.
Of course this feature of Dhamma delights those who practice so that this advantage of having a mind delighting in Dhamma may be added to the others mentioned above. It is no small thing to have such a mind full of faith and clear confidence since a mind like this is intent upon the doing of wholesome things. Wholesome or kusala means those actions, either effecting the good of oneself alone or else being for the benefit of others as well, which may be made through any one of the three doors--of mind, speech and body. To have one's mind, speech and body bent towards wholesomeness is a very great advantage, for the presence of strong wholesome roots means the weakening of the unwholesome (akusala) roots of Greed, Aversion and Delusion. This is the entrance to the Path beginning with "Sabba papassa akaranam"-- "the not-doing of all evils"--which is the weakening of the unwholesome roots (akusala-ula), follow by "Kusalassa upasampada-- "the increase of wholesomeness" which is strengthening of the wholesome roots.
And the opening to this path, even to Nibbána, is by giving. How may this be explained? In the ordinary way, people who do not really know their own good, go about with their hearts full of desires, with hearts mastered by greed, with the idea of 'getting' uppermost in their minds. This is just an aspect of the Truth of the Arising of dukkha, that is, the second Noble Truth. Then they wonder why it is that in spite of all the possessions owned by them, they still feel that happiness has eluded their grasp. To put it in a Buddhist way, they experience unsatisfactory or as we say in Pali, dukkha.
Now the experience of dukkha is the First Noble Truth. So if all the time one pursues worldly ends and never gives a thought to the true heart of religion, one will only reap dukkha and find that happiness flies further and further beyond one's reach. Just as the first two Noble Truths are to illustrate the common way of unthinking people, so the last two Noble Truths, upon the Cessation of dukkha, which is Nibbána and the Noble Eightfold Path thereto, is taught as the direction towards Nibbána, proceeding in an opposite way to worldliness. Therefore, as worldliness pursues getting, which is the root of greed in action, so giving is the way to set out, the opposite way to Nibbána. One knows a Buddhist not only by the words he speaks, but also by the deeds he does. A man or women cannot be Buddhist by tradition, or family, or by race, but only by practice. And what can one practice? The first thing is to learn how to give. It is said time and again in books upon the Buddhist lands, that Buddhist people are generous, very hospitable, very friendly and willing to share, very anxious to make Punna, that is, actions, which are purifying and beneficial. And the extent of these actions or Punna kamma when giving is great indeed.
Just consider for a moment. First there is the original idea to give. Even as an idea it is a wholesome thought. Then one thinks with delight upon the idea of giving, planning the details and reflecting how pleasant it will be. A mind delighted with doing of good is full of wholesomeness. Then perhaps, one tells others of one's idea. One's speech upon that occasion is speech connected with wholesomeness. They respond to the plan to give and add their own thoughts. And so even before anything is actually done, one may set rolling a great ball of wholesomeness, which gathers goodness, as it goes.
Then comes the preparation for the giving itself, such preparation being bodily acts connected with wholesomeness. Then the giving itself which in mind, speech and body increases wholesomeness. And even afterwards, perhaps for many years afterwards, one remembers giving, one remembers wholesomeness, and one's heart is flooded with happiness. This is the way to begin practice of Dhamma in this life. This is the way that Dhamma will sustain one in life. And this is also the way that Dhamma sustains one at the time of death. As we all know that we shall one day have to face death, we shall be wise if we prepare for that event now in our daily lives.
The generous man will never regret his life as he lies dying nor will his mind be beset by fears regarding his future. For he can review all his generosity, all his giving, all his kindness, all his support for what is good. This reviewing is called caganussati, the Recollection of Generosity. And when one recollects excellent conduct even though it is one deed done many years ago, then the mind becomes quiet, peaceful and set in the way of Dhamma. How much more delighted will not that man be who has habitually made efforts to be generous in his giving? It is thus said in the Buddha-words quoted above "Datva ca bhutva ca yathanubhavam anindito saggam upeti thanan'ti", "Having given and used according to his means, blameless he may to radiant realms attain." But before the future benefits of giving, one may point out an immediate one: that giving leads to a purified mind which is fitted to experience the joys of superior human birth or birth in heaven.
And there is more far-reaching benefit for those who are dissatisfied with birth as man and in heaven. Giving puts one on the Path of Dhamma-practice whereby, having fulfilled all the other necessary factors, one may reach Nibbána called the Supreme Happiness. Whichever path one chooses to follow, giving is its foundation and therefore indispensable. And for happiness here and now, which all being would surely have, giving is the gate leading into that Path of Happiness. From worldly goods there is no surety of happiness, or from person either. But from a heart well cultivated with the noble practice of giving, there is excellent prospect of happiness. Thus has the Giver of Dhamma, our Great Teacher spoken:
"With house on fire, it's best to bring
The goods outside not leave them to be burnt...
Having giving and used according to one's means,
Blameless one may to heavenly realms attain."
EVAM
Thus indeed it is.
Book Three: The Heart Of Buddhist Teaching
Every evil never doing
And in wholesomeness increasing
And one's heart well-purifying
This is the Buddhas' Teaching.
(Dhp. 183).
This famous verse, called the 'Heart of Buddhism', summarizes the whole Teaching of Lord Buddha and as such is well known in all Buddhist lands.
Many are the sermons and books, which elaborate upon it and today there will be another effort made at its explanation. Each line of the verse has the significance of the words composing it as well as the wider meaning of some aspect of Dhamma, which it summarizes.
Taking the verse line by line, the first says: "Every evil never doing", or more literally "The not-doing of all evils." Now what is evil according to Lord Buddha? Evil are all those actions, which lead to the deterioration of one's own mental level as a result of the strengthening of Greed, Hatred and Delusion in the mind. Evil also consists of actions bringing harm and suffering upon others. Because one harms oneself thereby and because one harms others, so evil should not be done. In what ways can one bring about this harming? Either by way of actions through the 'door' of the body, by actions through the 'door' of speech or by those actions which have mind as their 'door'.
In the first group are found: depriving of life, taking what is not given and wrongdoing in sexual pleasures. Each of these involves bodily action and is liable to bring suffering both to oneself and of course to others, while the pleasure gained from the commission of these evils is brief indeed unsatisfying and ending in the experience of further woes either in this life or in the future. It is worth nothing that the first three of the Five Precepts deal with just these evils and their restraint. After the category of bodily misconduct comes that of verbal misconduct. Four varieties of this are usually distinguished, all being aspects of the fourth precept which, as you know, concerns false speech. Speech is called false if the words spoken are untrue and lying, if they are slanderous, telling back-biting stories about others, if they are harsh, such as in anger or sarcasm, or if they concern idle chatter and unimportant frivolities.
Those whose speech is false never enjoy the confidence and goodwill of others. They are always looked upon askance and people say that they are not to be trusted. Others in their turn suffer from those with loose tongues and evil unrestrained speech, which thus does no good to anyone. Evils connected with mental actions may be listed as three in number, each one rooted in one of the Three Roots of Unwholesomeness. These Three Roots, Greed, Hatred and Delusions, which penetrate deep in our hearts, are the root-cause of the evil we bring upon ourselves. First among mental unwholesome actions is covetousness. This is the desire, which urges, "I want", when the object for which one craves is really worthless, impermanent, giving no lasting satisfaction, or positively leading to another's harm. All this is rooted in Greed. Then second comes ill will, which is the opposite mental reaction to covetousness. It is the thought "I don't want" and springs up from the Root of Hatred, while the greedy person may gain fleeting enjoyment from his indulgence, the hate-filled man is sour at heart and finds no happiness. By his ill will he curses himself just as his conduct leads to the unhappiness of others. The last sort of basic unwholesome action by the way of mind, is holding views of life and conduct which lead one astray from thing-as-they-really-are. One who views life as merely a time for 'fun', or another to whom it is an isolated existence in which some ideal must be realized regardless of the suffering wrought upon others--such as men of wrong views, wrong because they are led by the views they clutch into greater delusion than before. When deluded views become strong in the mind, they lead only to the strengthening of the Unwholesome Root of Delusion. In the same way, mental decisions involving covetousness and ill will only strengthen the Unwholesome Root of Greed and Hatred in one's own mind.
A person who permits this to happen goes from darkness to a greater darkness, he becomes a blind man wandering and groping fearfully among obstacles he cannot see. Evil is not outside and cannot be blamed on exterior circumstances. It is not a force existing apart from ourselves. It is the unwholesome way we conduct ourselves in body, speech and mind and all this has its roots in our mental process collectively called 'mind' and does not come from outside. Evil is called unwholesome because it is destructive, conflict causing, limiting, and imprisoning, --and to act in this way, as one will admit, is not the wisest of conduct. One should have the wisdom to perceive that it is for one's own good to keep the Precepts pure.
Likewise, out of compassion one should do so for others' sake. The positive side to conduct comes when one makes an effort to refrain from these Ten Unwholesome Ways of Action and tries to keep the Precepts pure. When these are pure, the mind becomes clearer, more concentrated and therefore less subject to distractions and with this comes increased happiness. Having achieved even this much, one lives at peace with people round about so that they too come to share the benefits of one's own moral growth.
This is also true to an even greater extent, of mind-development, which is the subject of the second line: "And in wholesomeness increasing." Many actions are wholesome such as Giving, Virtue, Reverence, Service, Listening to Dhamma, Teaching Dhamma or Setting upright one's understanding-but all such things are, so to speak, tackling only the side-issues and while they are certainly wholesome, more wholesome is that concerned with the direct way which, is mind-development. It is mind, which receives data from exterior objects and so processes them that we experience a fairly coherent exterior world. It is due to the processing and reactions that we perceive the World as we do--and what we perceive therefore relies to some extent upon the workings of our minds. Therefore, it is mind that is most important to us.
With a mind choked with the debris of passions we not only spoil our own lives but also complicate the lives of others. While a degree of mental defilement can be remove by keeping the Precepts, this alone will not suffice to deal with the deeper ramifications of the Roots of Unwholesomeness and for their control, mental development should be undertaken. This is usually called "meditation" in English but it is a poor word for the riches offered in Buddhist mind-development. Under this heading we shall deal only with one component of it, leaving development by insight to be described with the last line of the stanza. Many methods are known for the attainment of a calm mind and the methods selected may vary with the character of the mediator. All involve the use of an object of concentration whereby mental processes become concentrated through the withdrawal of mind from the sphere of the senses. As the mind becomes more and more aware only of the meditation-object, so distractions disappear, the burble of word dies down and a mental awareness full of peace and joy takes its place. Then arises the experience of realms of mind never before explored and which are classified into four groups of increasing subtlety according to their mental contents, the last one of which is remarkable for clarity of awareness and complete equanimity. The mediator who attains to this states known as jhanas or mental absorption, has indeed Increased in wholesomeness. The profit which he may derive from these absorption is seen not only in his possession of a surpassing friendliness and compassion together with an intensified awareness, but also in that he may now turn to "And one's heart well-purifying"--which is the third line of the stanza and the last stage in Buddhist training. Even with absorption, the Roots of Unwholesomeness can still arise, while if one ceases to practice meditation, those roots may grow again to their former strength. How can Greed, Hatred and Delusion be destroyed to arise no more? Lord Buddha says: only by the development of insight or wisdom which when it appears, cut off, as a sword, these three roots and all their ramifications. Our knowledge, if we think about it, is either gathered from reading or listening, or else form reflection, which is the synthesis of what has been read or heard. But this Wisdom leading to freedom from mental defilement is neither learnt about, nor is it born of intellectual thought. It is in no way connected with the senses and Buddhist tradition speaks of it as the "production of an unsupported thought", or as "alighting upon non-occurrence".
From the sayings of great disciples recorded from the Buddha-time and from the testimony of modern master of meditative development, this arising of Wisdom is very marvelous, a fresh and clear but ancient truth, something which, becomes marvelously clear and simple after it has been experienced.
What is this Wisdom? In so far as it may be described by words, it includes the perfect understanding that whatever one had previously considered permanent, one knows to be impermanent: whatever one had prized as happiness, one comes to see as dukkha or unsatisfactory; and whatever one thought of as substantial and in possession of a self and soul, that one sees as-it-really-is, as insubstantial and without a self. These are the insights, which free one from the drag and tangle of this world. They show the way beyond the seemingly meaningless short struggle, which is called life. When one knows these insights for oneself, then such knowledge becomes a great value for others wandering aimlessly in life or foe those devoted to basically unsatisfying aims. But if one does not turn one's mind to practice, then one remains a theorist--and Buddhist theory has no value when it is separated from practice.
When we think that the whole of Lord Buddha's Teachings can be contained in three lines of verse:
"Every evil never doing
And in wholesomeness increasing
And one's heart well-purifying..."
or in the Three Training explained by them: Virtue, Meditation and Wisdom, then this may appear little to sustain a religion for over 2,500 years. What of beliefs and creeds, religious ceremonies, services, pilgrimages and so forth? What of these things, which are usually thought of under the word "religion"? But really all these things are only the appendages to true religion, for the essence of Buddhist practice is summed up under these three headings: Virtue, Meditation and Wisdom. In spite of Lord Buddha's plain words on the subject, this has been fairly often misunderstood by those who seek the mysterious and esoteric in Buddhism. Nor is this a new phenomenon. Over 1,500 years ago when a famous meditation teacher was alive, this same mistake was made, of seeking in Buddhism what it is not. One of the stories that has grown up around that teacher who taught profound Dhamma illustrates this sort of misunderstanding rather well. At that time this Master was living in the forest far away from the crowded plains. Since he lives secluded, he had no disciples and few people knew of his existence.
However, a minister in the royal court heard that he was living far in the mountains and it occurred to him that this teacher might be able to give him quickly and without effort on his part, to understand Lord Buddha's Teachings. With this in mind he undertook the arduous journey out of the capital city, over the mountains, through rivers and across deserts.
Eventually, he came to the hermitage of that teacher and was overjoyed to see him. Having paid his respects to the solitary sage, he was soon able to ask, "What is the essence of Buddhism?" Breathlessly, he waited for the teacher's answer, which he assured, would be some strange and secret doctrine.
The solitary sage was silent for some time and then looking at the minister he said: "Every evil never doing, and in wholesome-ness increasing, and one's heart well purifying--this is the Buddhas' Teaching".
Disappointed, the minister exclaimed "But every child of three or four years old throughout the whole kingdom knows this verse." Said the teacher in reply: "But even old men of eighty with long white hair find it hard to practice."
How the minister took his reply was not recorded, but just this much shows well how knowledge, even an intellectual appreciation of Dhamma, is not enough. But when one has true wisdom and with it has cut off at the root
Greed, Hatred and Delusion, then "done is what should be done" and for such one, opened are the doors to Deathlessness, or that Unconditioned which is Nibbána. When one who has achieved this stage, he is called an Arahant, literally meaning "one who is worthy". For him there is no more birth and no more death. He can no longer be driven by desires and kamma to experience the different mixtures of happiness and suffering which characterize the various levels of existence. While he lives, the Arahant, compassionate and wise, teaches others for their welfare. But when his body finally becomes unsuitable for further life, we say that such a one, like Lord Buddha and countless of his disciples, attains Parinibbána. But precisely what this Parinibbána is that is more than words can express.
While now we suffer from a lingering unsatisfactory feeling about life in general and our own minds and bodies in particular, which is cause by the harboring of Greed, Hatred and Delusion, so when these are removed, this unsatisfactory or dukkha is removed, while perfection is attained.
But it is not sufficient to think about this. Only one who has seen the Dhamma in his heart after its purification by wisdom, only such a one really knows Dhamma. For him the Three Training in Virtue, Meditation and Wisdom are accomplished.
An Arahant is honored as the "Best of Men", one beyond training who has found the Peace of Nibbána and so dwells at peace with all beings in the world. Some other stanzas from Lord Buddha's saying in the Dhammapada, which express this same intensely practical goal from different points of view, are as follows:
Delight in becoming quite destroyed,
Like the moon unblemished, pure,
Him, serene and undisturbed,
That one I call a Brahmana*.
(413)
Skilled in the Path and not-the-Path,
Deep in wisdom, the sagacious one,
Having attained the highest aim--
That one I call a Brahmana.
(403)
For whom there is no ownership,
Before or after or midway,
Owning nothing and unattached,
That one I call a Brahmana.
(421)
In whom there are no longings found,
Whether of this world or the next,
Longing and free from bond--
That one I call a Brahmana.
(410)
Abandoning the bonds of man,
And passed beyond heavenly bonds,
Unbound is he from every bond--
That one I call a Brahmana.
(417)
Abandoning likes and dislikes too,
Become quite cool,
Hero, All-Worlds-Conqueror--
That one I call a Brahmana.
(418)
The Noble, the Excellent, Heroic too,
The Great Sage and the One-Who-Conquers all--
The Passionless, Washen, One Enlightened,
That one I call a Brahmana.
(422)
EVAM
Thus indeed it is.
Book Three: The Advantages Of Merit (Punna)
So when a woman or a man, shall have, with gifts or virtuousness, Or with refraining or constraint, a store of merit well laid by; In shrines or in the Sangha's (gifts), or in a person or in guests: Or in a mother or a father, even in an elder brother. This treasure-store is well laid by, a follower: By renouncing things that pass, that (merit) gained, he passes on, This store can satisfy indeed, every desire of god and man: No matter what they wish to have.
By making merit all is gained And every human excellence, any delight in a godly world; Even Nibbána’s excellence: By making merit all is gained So great indeed are its rewards, simply this merit's excellence; For that the steadfast and wise, commend a store of merit made. (Khp. 7)
The Treasure-Store Discourse (revised after the translation of Ven. Nyanamoli Thera). Today, for the subject of this discourse, has been chosen a matter of vital importance to the Buddhist Way of training. Upon a previous occasion the Three Training of Moral Conduct, Meditation and Wisdom were outlined as constituting the three aspects of the Buddhist Way. At that time little was said of the more practical sides to the training, while today one approach to understanding and practicing Dhamma--the Teaching of the Lord Buddha, is outlined below.
This concerns the subject of Merit. "Merit" which is the rather poor English equivalent of the Pali word 'Punna' and the Thai word 'boon' is defined by ancient scholars as: "that which purifies and cleanses the mind". The mind, if permitted to take its own course, will, because of the blemishes contained in it, drag one into all sorts of troubles and unwholesome situations. There is really no need to be ruled by the unwholesome or evil tendencies in one's own mind, nor is there any good reason why one should make life unpleasant for other people.
What, then, are these evil, unwholesome tendencies? Greed is an evil unwholesome tendency dragging one to desire and covet, to accumulation and hoarding, to a sense of exclusive possessiveness expressed in the thought "this is mine", even to lies and theft, rape and murder. Merit purifies the mind of greed. Aversion is an evil, unwholesome tendency dragging one to dislike and abhorrence, to anger, even fury, to develop the sense of "I do not want", "I will not have", even the harsh words, quarrels, fighting, murder, wars and wholesale destruction. Merit purifies the mind of hatred.
Delusion is an evil, unwholesome tendency dragging one to become enmeshed in greed and hatred, and making these two reactions seem right, true and worthy courses. The dulling fog of delusion spreads through the mind preventing learning, understanding and wisdom from arising. It encourages the spirit of "I don't know" and underlies and indecisiveness taking all sharp awareness away from the mind. Merit helps to purify the mind of delusion. We see from this that the range of merit is wide indeed and that to be a meritorious person is very valuable since it is not until the very end of the Way that one is able, having cast away demerit already, also to cast away meritorious action.
Demerit may be defined as the possession of resultant fruits from evil. Unwholesome actions, themselves rooted in the above-mentioned Roots of Unwholesomeness: Greed, Aversion and Delusion, whether these are expressed by way of the door of speech or the door of mind. It leads one into entanglement with the world and to the accumulation of sufferings.
Merit, on the other hand, is derived from all those intentional actions whether of body, speech or mind, which are rooted in absence of greed, absence of hatred and absence of delusion, which can also be called wisdom. It leads one towards freedom from the world and away from the bondage of craving and suffering.
Merit, or that which purifies, cleanses the mind of evil while strengthening what is beneficial and wholesome. How is this done? If one takes the mind just as it comes and so allows all or even most of one's desires to affect speech and bodily actions, the Roots of Unwholesomeness, Greed, Aversion and Delusion grow apace and can strangle all beneficial and wholesome qualities.
When, however, one consciously decides to make an effort at disciplining the mind, or one makes an effort to perform actions of speech and body, which are wholesome, then the roots of desire are pruned and the Roots of Unwholesomeness are checked in their growth. This effort that one makes is at the same time the strengthening of the wholesome and beneficial, either to those actions, which improve the quality of the mind. They tend to raise the level on which the mind usually runs, refining and purifying it of grosser elements. It is the making of merit that ensures that a Buddhist leads a balanced and harmonious life.
It is not sufficient just to read about Buddhism and so have a theoretical knowledge of it (as in the opposite way it is insufficient to blindly follow tradition without a knowledge of what it really means), valuable though such an outline knowledge may be. A man who never gets further than the books remains at best a good scholar, while a sincere Buddhist finds many helpful things for practice in his life. Lord Buddha has always encouraged the lay people, not only Bhikkhus, to practice the Dhamma.
To lay people this sometimes sounds too difficult. They may think on hearing the word "practice" (patipatti), "Oh, I should become a Bhikkhu and live in the forest." But practice of Dhamma is not only for Bhikkhus nor only for forest-dwellers!
There are many Dhamma-practices to do in everyday life. Generosity and giving are Dhamma. Moral conduct and keeping the Precepts pure are Dhamma. Mind-development or meditation is Dhamma. Respect and reverence are Dhamma. Help and service to others are Dhamma. Giving away one's merits is Dhamma. Rejoicing in others' merits is Dhamma. Listening to Dhamma is Dhamma-practice. Teaching the Dhamma is an act of Dhamma. Straightening out one's views is Dhamma.
All these aspects of Dhamma are also ways of Making Merit. They comprise the Ten Ways of Making Merit so frequently taught in Thailand as a guide for the layman's practice of Dhamma. These are compared in the Treasure Store Discourse, from which some verses have been quoted above, to a hoard of wealth, which unlike worldly acquisitions so easily lost or destroyed, is said to be "a follower un-losable." It follows one from life to life and the benefits of these merits cannot be lost though eventually they may be exhausted unless further merit is made, or until one aims beyond merit.
Treasure is usually hoarded with the motive of selfishness. With what motive is merit made? Motive varies according to persons, as will be explained later. Again, does one have to wait to reap the fruits of merit in the future, or even in a future life? This question can be answered by saying that the basic fruit of merit, which is happiness, can be experienced here-and-now while other fruits may be reaped in the future. Happiness naturally follows the person who purifies the mind and rejoices in doing what is wholesome.
Another fruit of merit is opportunity and ability to make use of opportunities. As the saying goes: "Merit opens doors everywhere." The meritorious man finds his way unobstructed; whatever work he takes up, he is able to bring it to a successful conclusion. When he wishes to undertake this or that venture, he finds that the necessary doors have opened to permit him to go ahead. Of course a meritorious man may also misuse his chances in this life as when born into a wealthy family, his birth there being due to merit, he then pursues wealth further by false and evil ways, or simply is just lazy and neglectful.
Then there are those who although they have the opportunities for a good education, only waste their chances...and so on. The motive in merit making, though often primarily concerned with the well being of oneself, actually has great advantages for others. Giving benefits the receivers. Moral conduct benefits all beings with which one comes into contact. Mind-development eventually benefits great numbers of people who come to be influenced by those who have but little Greed, Aversion and Delusion.
Reverence ensures harmony in any society. Service and help make the world better to live in. Giving merits to others shows that one is concerned for their well being, while rejoicing with other's happiness is a great cause of peace and harmony. By listening to Dhamma one learns a good way of conduct in this life and shows this to others through one's actions.
Teaching Dhamma is for the highest good of others, while after straightening out one's views one can teach the basic principles of Dhamma to other people. Before going on to describe these Ten Ways of Making Merit in some detail, let us look at merit from another viewpoint.
The general desire of all beings throughout their lives is to escape from painful, unwelcome experience and seek for circumstances giving rise to happiness. Many people ignorant of the true ways of gaining happiness look for it only in the round of sensual pleasures indulged in for their own selfish enjoyment. They do not understand that by searching greedily only for happiness-giving experience, they actually bring upon themselves suffering. While one may greedily enjoy a pleasure as long as it lasts, afterwards all sorts of regrets may mar even the memory of its experience.
And where there is greed, aversion is always found as well, both of these criminals being urged along by the galore of delusion. So, greedy indulgence is always the way to bring unhappiness upon oneself and never brings the sort of happiness so restlessly searched for. But this happiness is available to the person who makes an effort with merits. He notices that he is mean, so he decides to give. He sees his own envy of others' fortune so he resolves to cultivate gladness-with-others. Or he becomes aware of the narrowness of his mind, so he makes an effort to develop it.
People like these really win happiness not depending on the vagaries of the world but a happiness, which cannot be taken away, since it is born of merit and purity of mind. If Buddhists are happy people and if their happiness goes beyond the frail and transitory pleasures so much advertised in modern life, then it is because they know, those among them who practice, that the way to happiness lies through merits. As the Treasure Store Discourse relates, "This store can satisfy indeed, every desire of god or man," so that whatever one aspires to, providing one's store of merits is compatible with that aspiration that one may realize.
To take but two opposing cases as illustrations of this principle. A young man sets out in the world of business determining to make his way in some venture or other. As he works, wealth and other opportunities for gain come to him freely and these he is able to utilize well for his further advantage. These circumstances show that he is in possession of merit. Another man or woman determines to set upon a life which he will devote tot he understand of the mind and the thorough investigations of its workings. Set upon the direct course of action, he finds a good teacher and goes to the forest. Then he is able to follow his instructions, and attainments come to him with some ease.
His finding the Way and then practicing the heart of Dhamma as well as his ease of opportunity and attainment shows that he is in possession of merit too. "By making of merit all is gained" as the refrain of the Discourse, tell us. We are also told what are the best "fields of merit." A field of merit is the person or persons to whom a meritorious deed is addressed. Just as a farmer knows that this field being fertile and of deep soil will produce a fine crop, while another field having sandy or shallow, stony soil will give only a poor yield, so some persons by reason of their good qualities are good fields of merit yielding a rich crop of merits, while other men poor in virtue are less worthy fields of merits.
In the Discourse, we find mentioned the building of religious structures and the Sangha or Buddhist Order listed first, as most meritorious. Mother, father, relatives and guests are also said to be good fields of merit. We notice too that what may be got from merit ranges "From every human excellence, and delight in a godly world, even Nibbána’s excellence: by making merit all is gained."
Whether one requires ordinary beauty and wealth, whether one aspires to rule, to gain a birth in the celestial realms, or perhaps to pass utterly beyond all birth-and-death..."by making merit all is gained", though we should qualify this statement in respect of transcendental states since wisdom, not only merit, is required for their attainment.
Now we come to consider, one by one, the various ways of making merit beginning with Giving. Giving, or Dana in Pali is something so basic to the practice of Dhamma that although manifest everywhere in Buddhist countries, yet requires a little explanation. Worldliness is concerned with getting, with pulling up so-called possessions and with increasing the sense of "I am" by proclaiming, "I have." That a person gives shows that he has some concern for others' welfare, and that he knows where his own true welfare lies.
One possesses the worthwhile by giving things away, while things possessed are not possessed at all ultimately for when one die, to whom do all one's precious possessions 'belong'? What, then, is covered by the Buddhist teaching of Giving? Materials gifts include medicines for the sick, food for the hungry, money for the poor and so on.
Bhikkhus are given four kinds of material gifts by the lay people so that they may continue with their work: they are robes, alms food, shelter and medicines. Whatever is a necessity of life to one who lacks it and whoever should supply that lack is said to give material gifts. Since the giving of the gifts must be connected with wholesomeness to be accounted merit, naturally the giving of the wrong sort of thing, such as a weapon, could never become meritorious.
No less valuable is the gift of education or training, which is a gift highly, esteemed in Buddhist tradition. The first universities in the world were the Buddhist Viharas of Northern India at the height of their success over a thousand years ago. Since the Dhamma is not a system of dogmas to be believed by the blind masses, but a Way requiring understanding, it is not surprising that the Buddhist religion and education have always been connected.
Another kind of giving which involves friendliness and gentleness...the giving to other beings of fearlessness...is a gift, which may be given by even the poorest man. All beings fear death and one should try one to be the agent of death for them. Lord Buddha also gave the greatest gift of fearlessness, when he gave all beings who could understand, the Dhamma discovered by Him, for the Dhamma leads one, although surrounded by what is fearful, to dwell in the world fearless. Finally, "All gifts, the gift of Dhamma does excel" but since one aspect to merit-making concern "teaching Dhamma", consideration of it will be postponed.
The next way of merit-making is by way of observing the Precepts and leading a life which is not harmful to others, while one sees that it is beneficial to oneself, and obviously is meritorious since it involves the growth in one's character of compassion and wisdom. No Buddhist observes the Precepts either from fear of, nor from love of or reverence towards some power outside himself. It is quite an obvious fact to him that the man of upright moral conduct has many advantages over another who leads a life crooked in some way.
There is no need to wait for a future life in order to benefit from virtue--just here and now this can be found in one's own life. One does not have to take Buddhist teaching on the subject of moral conduct on faith, since advantages are found in the present. The present indeed is the time when one has to live, for the past has gone like a dream and to regret past misconduct is not only foolish, it is unwholesome; while the future like a mirage is uncertain and to resolve that one will begin to train oneself sometime then is equally foolish.
Only now can one practice virtue, only now is wise, only now have compassion. The various precepts established by Lord Buddha are for training the heart in the right direction, towards wisdom and away from ignorance; towards friendliness and compassion, away from enmity and callous indifference. Basically, all the precepts may be classified into actions of body, speech and mind, and a useful list of ten Paths of Actions summarizes them. Abstinence from the three Precepts of taking life, taking what is not given and wrong conduct in sexual desires, make up the first three paths by way of bodily action.
Verbal action is the fourth precept split into four: lying, harsh speech, malicious tale-telling and nonsensical chitchat. Mental action is abstinence from covetousness, ill will and wrong views. On the subject of wrong views more will be said later; so much for moral conduct as a way of making merit.
Next comes mind-development or bhávaná, often called by the inadequate and misleading word "meditation". This is basically of two kinds where one either develops calm first and then gains insight, or else, using mindfulness one proceeds to develop calm out of which also grows insight. The difference is in the use of an object of meditation as with the first, or using the events of life for one's object of meditation as in the second.
Both kinds have as the result aimed at, the experience of insight and the growth of wisdom. One meditates to calm the grosser mental defilement and develop the mind in such a way that it comes to know real wisdom, that which is beyond words and not the result of learning or thinking.
It is wisdom with which there is the realization of Nibbána. But we have now to examine briefly other aspects of merit making, which are also counted as developments of mind. Reverence or respect is one of these. It is obvious that the reverent and respectful man develops his mind, for by his attitude; he cuts down the defilement of pride and replaces it by the wise conduct of humility.
The humble man also has a flexible and adaptable mind and can therefore learn, while the proud man is at a great disadvantage. Reverence runs through a Buddhist society in all ways. Children respect adults, especially elderly relations. People pay their respect to the King and Queen. They reverence Bhikkhus by respectful salutation and offerings, while in the Sangha, novices pay respects to Bhikkhus and their latter if junior, reverence the senior. All pay their respects to the Supreme Patriarch, while he together with the King and Queen and the people all revere alike Lord Buddha as the Great Teacher. Service or helping others is the next way of merit making.
If compassion was only the thinking of the kind thoughts, it is obvious that it would be a rather insignificant exercise. The fact is that one shows, by willing and unprompted deeds, that one thinks of the comfort of other beings. Such a great range of action may be included in this way of merit making that we have no time here to illustrate it at length. Following service and just to show that one's good deeds are not egotistic, one gives away the merit from their performance.
This is indeed to illustrate the paradoxical teaching that a man makes most merit when he is not thinking, "I am making merit". The action, which is done spontaneously and out of the goodness of the heart, is the most meritorious action of all. Merit should be relinquished for other's benefit because, like "my" body, it does not really belong to me at all. As Lord Buddha said, "That which does not belong to one, that should be given up."
Besides giving away even merits, one should also rejoice in the merits of others. When others have some gain or other, material of immaterial, does one become envious? If so, one needs to arouse the spirit of gladness at other's happiness. This is done by way of the third of the four Divine Abiding, called Mudit.
One rejoices at the merit of others when for instance, a bell is struck near a shrine or holy place, or when one sees merit being made or else hears about it. The traditional exclamation at such a time is "Sadhu!" meaning, "It is well!" This is a great merit indeed. The following two ways of merit making are a pair, one being listening to, while the other is teaching Dhamma. Listening means concentrating one's whole attention so that there is only the voice of one who speaks Dhamma. One can go further until there is only Dhamma in one's own heart, thought his requires a well-trained mind not liable to stray here and there.
Teaching Dhamma is not just teaching rules and dogmas for people's belief. It is dealing with the practical Way for this life here-and-now, the Way leading to the experience of the Ultimate Truth or Nibbána. It is truly said: "All gifts, the gift of Dhamma does excel". Much merit attaches therefore both to Dhamma-listening and to Dhamma-teaching, as they are concerned with the true nature of things.
Last comes setting upright or straightening out one's views. This aspect of meritorious conduct counterbalances some of the other aspects described here. One should understand clearly and without self-delusion that one suffers from one's own foolishness and not because of any outside power. Likewise, that one will find the path to final peace and release from birth-and-death through one's own efforts and not through those outside one self. Wrong views are those, which lead one away from Reality, away from Dhamma. While Right View is the seeing of things as they really are. Such is a supreme merit. For all these reasons and in all these ways one should make merit, for as Lord Buddha says in the last stanza of the Treasure-Store Discourse: "So great indeed are its rewards, Simply, this merit's excellence; For that the steadfast and the wise Commend a store of merit made."
EVAM
Thus indeed it is.
Book Three: The Three Forms Of Restraint
Restraint in body are the wise,
Then in speech they are restrained,
Restrained in mind are the wise,
They indeed are perfectly restrained.
(Dhp. 234)
This is one of those wonderfully simple-looking verses from the Dhammapada, in which, however, all the training in Buddhism can be found.
In explaining this verse, for the increase of wisdom and awareness, a few important words occur but most important of all is the word "restrain."
There are two classes of people spoken about in our Dhamma; the first called 'the foolish' and the second known as the 'wise.' The foolish are not necessarily stupid but have this name because they cannot distinguish what is for their own and another's good, or how other actions are for the misery of both themselves and others. For this reason they are called fools, which is here used in a psychological way and has no meaning of abuse.
Now, fools lacking the power of moral discernment will also be lacking in this quality of restraint. As though drunks in charge of a train, which had been rushing along its tracks, should decide to keep going even when the tracks ended, though men of sober mind would know that certain destruction lay in such a course. Foolish people see no necessity for restraint and indeed may be given to praising 'having a good time.' And so they will go around with unrestrained bodies. What does this mean? Firstly, it may mean just that their bodily actions are rather wild or uncontrolled, so that their arms and legs are flung about in ungraceful ways and their faces contorted into strange grimaces. More important than this, however, is the undisciplined bodily actions illustrated by the breaking of the first three precepts.
You will remember, no doubt, that these are undertaken for control the body in destroying life, taking what is not given, and in wrong conduct in sexual pleasure. In each of these precepts, it is the body, which is the agent, or the doer, for these precepts are not broken by thinking about, or even by speaking about these things, but only by the use of the body. But what reason is there for keeping these precepts pure? It is a twofold reason applying to all the layman's precepts: first, the wise man looks into his own mind when he destroys life, takes what is not given or conduct himself wrongly in sexual pleasure--and what does he see?
The mind thoroughly disturbed and overspread by the mental strains. The roots of evil impel him to do these things and from doing them he has little or no peace and happiness. The wise man sees mental deterioration at the time when he has no bodily restraint and does evil with the body. He understands that it does not profit himself to be unrestrained.
If he has learnt a little Dhamma, he will know that intentional actions, or kamma, bring forth results for the doer; that the evil-doer receives only unhappiness from his evil, unrestrained actions, while the good man increases in happiness through constant practice of the good. So good conduct is as much to his own advantage in the present as it is in the future when he receives the desirable fruits of peace and happiness--and that future may be in this very life.
On the other hand, the foolish one neither knows nor cares about any of this but just scrabbles onwards throwing dust and dirt into his own face, though in this deluded way, in unrestrained conduct, he also hopes for happiness. The second reasons for keeping the precepts pure is that the wise man realizes that it is unrestrained, evil actions which give rise to all the social troubles to be seen everywhere in this world. Because people do not keep to the various excellent codes of moral conduct established by the founders of different religions, so every sort of turmoil is born in the world and multiplies, bringing with it exceedingly great suffering. But we must not blame all this on to 'those people' apart from ourselves, for we are those very people and it is our responsibility to conduct ourselves with such restraint that our precepts are not broken and others are not harmed.
In respect of ourselves, we keep the precepts because we see that it profits us--this is called having wisdom and in respect of others we keep the precepts because we do not wish them to suffer--and this is called compassion. So it is said by Lord Buddha: "Restrained in body are the wise."
Much of what has been said above will also apply to the next line: "Then in speech they are restrained." Here we remember the fourth precept, abstaining from false speech. This is amplified into four sorts of wrong speech in another list, where we find: speaking falsehoods, slandering, angry words, and idle chatter mentioned. Perhaps the fool sees no harm in these and there are plenty of people in this world who employ such sorts of speech.
But if we have taken upon ourselves any kind of moral training, including that of the Five Precepts for Buddhist lay people, then we must try to be among the wise and upon every occasion restrain our tongues from evil speech. Lord Buddha has compared the tongues in the mouth of a fool, to no axe, with which he cuts himself whenever he speaks wrongly, for the fruits of kamma which must be reaped by those with unrestrained tongues, will not be pleasant. And as for others, how much they suffer from these sorts of evil speech, which can even bring death and destruction to millions of people! So it is not surprising that it is said of the wise: "Then in speech they are restrained."
But it is further said: "Restrained in mind are the wise", and with this line we enter the realm of Buddhist mind-training, sometimes but vaguely called 'meditation.' With no restraint of the mind, a person just allows himself to think any thought coming into his head. He is adrift, as much at the mercy of powerful winds and currents, as the mariner in an open boat without oars or sail. The winds and currents of the mind are respectively, the mental stains and the fruits of kamma done in the past. Let us look at these 'winds', these mental stains, first. There are three great varieties of them called, Greed, Aversion and Delusion. The first, Greed, arises when there is a sense stimulus accompanied by pleasant feeling. As an example of this: a man who is not really hungry, sees in some food-shop, some particularly succulent morsel, which makes him feel 'I want that.' This is Greed at work in his heart. By the force of that wind of Greed, he may be blown into that shop, buy the delicacy and gorge himself with it--and then feel uncomfortably full and have to dose himself with digestion pills.
People are stimulated to Greed by different things according to their several natures--some food, some sex, some possessions, some family, some money, some with insubstantial things like fame or ideas. The wind of Aversion can also blow a breeze or a gale and vary from very slight dislike, to the depths of fury. Like Greed, one cannot say that it does the fool any good, and the wise man always tries to avoid it. It can never be justified and there is no such thing as 'righteous' anger. Delusion's airs are heavy, dense and lie upon the heart as though to smother it. One who drifts at the mercy of delusion would slowly revolve in circles and get nowhere-and understand nothing. These winds of mental stains guide to destruction the unrestrained person as much as the fruits of kamma done in the past.
When people do not understand that intentional actions have potential fruits, they do not know how to cope with some unexpected events. Suppose a man suddenly falls ill of a dire disease. If he knows nothing of kamma, perhaps he may lament his lot and actually impede his own recovery. While another who knows of kamma-fruits, may reflect that this may be the fruit of actions done by him in the past--and thus not allow himself to be at the mercy of these ocean currents of the heart. Buddhist mind-training is not a matter of occasionally sitting down in a quiet place and feeling holy, but of disciplining the mind with mental awareness while one goes about one's daily business. As with the mind the world is known, so with the mind we make the world we live in, according to what we decide to do. And we can make this our own world into a wonderful heaven for ourselves--and a heaven of happiness for others, if we are wise and have restraint in mind; or we can make a veritable hell, more terrible than any shown by artists or written of in books--this is the way of the foolish.
When restraint is perfected by us in each of these three spheres: body, speech and mind, why then, the ultimate goal of Nibbána can be said to be reached. By this threefold restraint, we can become cool, at peace with ourselves and with others. Thus it has been said by the Lord of Dhamma: "They indeed are perfectly restrained."
EVAM
Thus indeed it is.
Book Four: Eight Worldly Conditions
Gain and loss together with honor and dishonor
Blame and praise, happiness, dissatisfaction too,
Them, the impermanent conditions of mankind
Never perpetual, perturb are they:
These, the heedful man with wisdom well endowed
Carefully discerns as conditions perturb.
Desirable conditions do not a