"Lifetimes of Learning of Scholarship"
Prepared for Founder's Day 9 September 2004
Chan Academy, 33 Brooking Street, Upwey, Victoria, Australia 3158
By Evelin C. Halls, B.A., Director, Vice-President Corporate Governance and Reporting
Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhassa.
Our Founder and Buddha Dhamma Teacher Master John Hughes established the lemma "Lifetimes of Learning" for our Centre.
The Teachings of the Lord Buddha have been praised by many great scholars. Master John Hughes has always emphasised the significance of scholarship. He explained that "Lifetimes of Learning" has many faces and layers. Here are some explanations of these faces:
In how many legitimate ways can phraseology be found to act as a useful guide to the layers of meaning of "learning"?
The one great heritage of past learning may be the ability to read as much into a text as the author intended and a greater ability would be to see implications of which the original author was barely aware.
This is one face of "Lifetimes of Learning".
Who would have guessed that the exertion of "learning" at least two prime subjects, undertaken by Lord Buddha so long ago would hold value today?
We introduce two prime "subjects" for "learning": one stresses panna, the analytical device, and the other stresses sati, the concentrative device. Together they form satipanna.
Unless these two things are practised together; then the lack of the Dhamma of satipanna will deny the novice results of his or her exertion without the practitioner realising that this is so.
Only when a person possesses any degree of satipanna directing in the present is it possible to exert herself or himself constantly.
A person does not need to have a colloquium to test what satipanna credentials are present in learning; it can be perceived within the quality and quantity of the actions undertaken by the learned person.
Our contributors make essential use of their sati and their panna to untangle concepts which enable them to pick the particular expression to use within their dhamma writings.
This is another face of "Lifetimes of Learning".
Now and in the future, writers must be coached to devise either technique or use a periapt or both to hold in mind and make it clear that entanglement includes working to uproot existences, kilesa (defilement), tanha (craving) and avijja (ignorance).
Writers should bear in mind the advice of Acariya Maha Bua (Bhikkhu Nanasampanno) who stressed one should maintain the awareness with the particular dhamma object that is being recited without changing that dhamma object too often, for this is the habit of unearnestness.
To overcome unearnestness, writers should aspire to means by which he or she can persist with a topic until cognisance of the factors present in the many-sided nature of the topic are understood.
When it is seen how these factors arise and fall over time, then, some of these factors can be mentioned if they help readers to decipher what is being written.
A thorough analysis of the faces of "Lifetimes of Learning" by contributing writers ensures that submissions to our publications are fully established within a Dhamma framing. The factors contributing to unearnestness are then perceived and a protective periapt may be established within the learning domain.
This is another face of "Lifetimes of Learning".
All advances upon the province of scholarly acumen declare that circumspection is needed in the selection of writing technique.
In general, the writings we do not publish may include references to some prior art or state of the art in some "subject matter" or "Buddhistic discipline" that, in part, we judge to be outermost from the boundaries of teaching patterns found within Buddha Dhamma investigation.
There are practical faces of "Lifetimes of Learning".
For example, John Hughes once had a debate with a person who claimed that his practice of work as a vermin exterminator, especially cockroaches, was approved of by an overseas Buddhist Monk. Another person suggested publicity be given to such views.
Our approach is that within our "Lifetimes of Learning" knowledge we observe that "no killing" is one of the Buddha's major precepts (which cannot be changed) and not one of the minor precepts (which can be changed).
Although the Buddha distinguished between precepts which are major and which are minor, Venerable Ananda did not ask to chronicle specifically which precepts belong to which category. Confusion has subsequently arisen as to which precepts are major and which are minor.
Unless it is clear to us that what a person states to have witnessed in their own practice aligns with some of the plurality of the eight-fold exposition of Buddha Dhamma; we restrict their writing to a no-publication position.
For motivation, writers aspiring to chronicle dhamma and give such chronicles as dhamma dana (the highest gift) need to tread Lord Buddha's path by holding a pledge to commit themselves to development of their sati and panna (or even better - satipanna) as their standard archetype for cultivation.
For a writer to keep this pledge in performance, day after day, not even stopping for imminent death, is another face of "Lifetimes of Learning".
If our pledge is to become a scholar then we must not become sidetracked from our pledge and become an artifact of our own practice of scholarship.
For example, there are beings whose practices are to be the Dharmapals, protectors of scholarship, chroniclers of the efforts of scholars and custodians of the works of scholars.
While these are meritorious activities, they are separate careers to the practice of scholarship.
Individuals, following the pledge of scholarship can unwittingly get to these careers by paying too much attention to either the practice of the requisites of scholarship (eg: sila, sati) or practice of the methods of scholarship (panna).
If we are too lazy, too proud, too hateful, too greedy or too deluded then we will surely depart from following the course of our pledge.
To avoid these errors, both the requisites of scholarship and methods of scholarship should be practiced together. Each face of scholarship is a consequence of method of practice of scholarship.
Likewise the diligent practice of each face of scholarship leads to practice of new methods of scholarship and its development. If we try to make any of these permanent then our practice of scholarship will atrophy.
The label of scholarship becomes understood as sunyata. The practice of requisites and methods of scholarship are also understood to be sunyata.
But we think it is fair to say that as far as the main stream of dhamma is concerned; it can be said many current issues in the modern World hardly rate a footnote in terms of the Middle Path writings.
Learning paradigms aim at constructing the framework upon which a subject matter may be viewed. This framework is not established in order to uncover any "subject-seed" which may lay within the subject-matter contained within the field of study.
Factors of learning, the faces constitutive of "Lifetimes of Learning", are not adopted to secure the determined meaning which some believe to be buried within the subject under consideration. Learning circumscribes the subject in order to understand, not to engender adherence to a particular subject-matter.
A person's learning paradigm becomes hopelessly ensnared within the confines of the subject under consideration when such adhesion occurs. The person is unable to objectively analyse the subject matter and hence is unable to construct new and improved learning paradigms. The old means of learning and the subject matter which it studies becomes an object of attachment, becoming stuck to the particular sankappa formations with which the person identifies as himself or herself.
Our rationale is to advise persons to turn their inherited life skills as best they can to make merit for Dhamma.
This text was written by our Founder Master John D. Hughes Dip. App. Chem. T.T.T.C. GDAIE. If you want to read the full version, you can find it in the Buddha Dhyana Dana Review, Volume 7 No. 2.
Thank you very much, may you live content in the Triple Gem.
Reference
Chan Academy Australia (1996), Buddha Dhyana Dana Review, Volume 6 No. 2, Registered by Australia Post Publication No. VAR 3103.
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