to the Chan Academy Australia 2 June 2004
Visit by the Scouts
to the Chan Academy Australia 2 June 2004
On 2 June 2004, the Belgrave South Scout Group visited our Centre. Our guests were keen to learn about Buddha Dhamma. We gave a tour of our Temple and answered many questions that included some about the Bodhi tree. Our visitors went home presented with a dried Bodhi leaf and a copy of a paper titled "What is Buddha Dhamma", that we had read together. Everyone enjoyed the visit very much.
Thank you to the Scouts and their Leaders, to Julian Bamford, Peter Boswell, Evelin Halls, Lisa Nelson, Amber Svensson, Joel Svensson, and all beings who participated and helped at this event.
The following is the text we read with our visitors:
"What is Buddha Dhamma?"
The Buddha was born about 2,500 years ago in a place called Lumbini in ancient India, as Prince to the Shakya clan. He was known as Siddartha.
His father, the King wished Siddartha to become King.
Siddartha grew into a fine prince, learning all the skills of a prince and excelled in all of them.
The King made sure that no imperfect situation arose that would upset Siddartha and take his mind away from concentrating on being a King. The King ordered that all sick persons, all old persons and dying or dead persons were never to come into the sight of his son.
This perfect unnatural life was soon broken when Siddartha saw an old person, a sick person and a dead body during his visits into the city outside the castle walls.
These visions of other states of human life developed in Siddartha a yearning for the knowledge of "why is it so?"
After telling his wife, princess Yoshodhara, Siddartha left his family, his father, his wife, his son and all his royal wealth in search for the truth.
Siddartha could not believe that one day he too would be afflicted with sickness, old age and death and so would his loved ones. That he would be separated through death from his wife and child who he loved very much.
He wished to find out why there is suffering in life, why there is old age, sickness and death? He wished to find a way to help his loved ones and all beings understand this suffering and find an answer to it.
After 6 years of practising as an ascetic (holy man) Siddartha had not discovered what he was looking for. This practice involved renunciation of all worldly pleasures, refraining from taking food, water, bathing, cutting hair, speaking. This was the practice used by the holy men of the day in search for spiritual truth.
One day a music teacher was teaching his student how to play a string instrument.
Siddartha heard the teacher say "if you wind the string too tight it will break and if you have the string too loose, there will be no music". On hearing these words, Siddartha came to the realisation of the middle way of life - it must be neither strict and nor undisciplined.
The Buddha Dhamma is called The Middle Way.
Siddartha then decided to sit under the Bodhi tree to find out once and for all about the world.
He sat under the Bodhi tree for six days. On the full moon day of the fifth lunar month Siddartha came to enlightenment.
During this time he came to realise the nature of all things, the nature of existence, how to come into being and how to stop coming into existence.
From this day on he was called the Buddha.
The Buddha said that each person can find out all the things that he had found out for themselves.
He recommended that persons find out for themselves - that this is the only way to wake, by seeing for yourself.
He taught the method of what he had done so others could follow in his footsteps and come to understand about the nature of the world.
So, Buddha Dhamma is a system of practice that can lead one to enlightenment - realising the nature of all things.
Buddha Dhamma is a system that gets one out of suffering - stops the cycle of birth. One can no more come to birth, thus avoid old age, sickness and death.
The Buddha found that beings are forever being born, getting sick, old and dying.
He found that this cycle was fueled by craving - the desire for being.
The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the Buddha's teaching on the four noble truths is considered to be the first sermon the Buddha gave after his enlightenment.
The four noble truths are:
The noble truth of sorrow (there is suffering in life)
The noble truth of the arising of sorrow
The noble truth of the cessation of sorrow
The noble truth of the path which leads to the cessation of sorrow
Truth (sacca in Pali language) is "that which is". The Buddha taught that there are four such truths.
The truth of the path leading to the cessation of sorrow "ist the noble eightfold path, that is to say, right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration".
It is by realisation of the four noble truths that you can follow the path taught by the Buddha to become awakened.
The first step is to know, understand and realise the four noble truths. See life as it really is. When one understands this, the wish to find a way to be happy whether in living or in dying is generated.
This paper was written and edited by the Buddhist Hour Radio team: Evelin Halls, Anita Hughes, Lisa Nelson, Julie O'Donnell and Pennie White.
May you be well and happy.
May all beings be well and happy.
References
Chan Academy Australia, Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast on Hillside 88.0 FM, "What is Buddha Dhamma?", Broadcast 313 for Sunday 25 January 2004, URL http://www.bdcublessings.net.au/radio313.html