NAMO TASSA
BHAGAVATO ARAHATO SAMMA SAMBUDDHASSA

'THE BUDDHIST HOUR'

RADIO BROADCAST

KNOX FM 87.6

Sundays 11:00am to 12:00pm

Prepared by John D. Hughes, Leanne Eames, Julian Bamford, Evelin Halls, Santi Sukkha.

KNOX FM RADIO PROGRAM for 27 AUGUST 2000.

Today’s program is called:

Finding the commonalities in our last 20 Buddhist Hour radio broadcasts.

We differ from others in the strength of our devotion to content.

Our executive producer, John D. Hughes, Diploma of Applied Chemistry, Trained Technical Teacher’s Certificate, Graduate Diploma in Adult and Community Education, Vice President of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, is a Buddhist scholar who has devoted many decades to part-time research on studies of the origins of Buddha Dhamma and applied that research to a teaching tradition.

The Buddhist texts that he refers to come from the earliest available collections within the Buddhist canon. They are of uncertain date and have heterogeneous contents.

Our executive producer insists on well grounded content.

They appear to contain within themselves the seeds of multiform growth.

From what we know about the Chinese Agamas, it appears safe to draw a similar general conclusion about them. Govind Chandra Pande, M.A., D. Phil., Tagore Professor of Indian Culture, made a fresh study of the subject in 1957.

The discoveries in the Indus Valley have revolutionized our perspectives of the foundations of Indian religion and culture. They have shown that a civilized non-Vedic culture once existed in prehistoric India. Civilization in India, as elsewhere has been a composite creation.

This invalidates the common assumption that all higher thought in India existing before Buddha must necessarily have had a Vedic origin. His thesis in 1947 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Allahabad, consisted of a group of organically connected historical studies relating to the origin of Buddhism.

The subject matter is for the greater part of a literary an religio-philosophic character, but the treatment was intended to be primarily historical.

Many scholars have sought to explain the principle of Paticcasamuppada (Dependent Origination) in terms of the Abhidamma’s or Theravada or Sarvastivada.

All schools of Buddha Dhamma have agreed on the central importance of Paticcasamuppada which has been identified with Dhamma and Buddha in ancient sayings as well as later texts. There is duality in the meaning of the word dukkha. It can be said it has a psychological meaning and, at other times, it means phenomenal unrest. We stress both senses.

Our Executive Producer sees both meanings as useful depending on the past lives conditioning of our listeners or in the case of persons using our Internet available scripts, our readers.

A simple example of “content” the producer can display is seen in his choice of flagging a suitable meaning in the contextual setting of a given episode.

Our broadcast content is not dictated by the advise of Mara gods.

In ancient times, the worship of Yaksas was widespread.

The Yaksas were spirits, often connected with “trees” and granted worldly desires, especially, progeny and wealth.

They were specially connected with Yama and Sakra.

Sometimes they are malevolent and sometimes they appear to tempt persons.

They provided an immense material for those more speculative minds who loved to build hierarchies of gods after gods.

Some of the Yaksas appear to have been taken up in Brahmanical and Buddhist pantheons.

They influenced later Indian iconography and Tantrika ritual.

The leading vows of the Brahmana, Buddhist, and Jaini Monks had a fundamental resemblance.

The various radio programs can clarify the differences in a multifold analysis or mandala of content.

Above all, it must be understood in Buddha’s realisation, faith played but little part. He preached in opposition to established faiths. He criticised believing on faith ALONE and claimed to teach a doctrine which anybody could directly realise each for himself or herself.

On the other hand, it is quite clear that “Saddha” was early considered essential. It is a wholesome state of mind.

Saddha, however, appears to be not simply believing on authority, but has reference also (according to one writer) “to heartfelt enthusiasm for a cause”.

Our Executive Director explains in vast detail over many talks how to put this into practice after detailed instruction of how to set oneself strenuously against a distrait habit of mind, calling it, tatra-tatrabhinandini - “the there-and-there- dalliance” as if it was a butterfly.

At times, the titles selected appear to mimic popular journalistic headlines although the content of the talk is far removed from standard sentiments.

The date and titles of our recent Radio Broadcasts are:

9 April :What mantra are you running from?

16 April: Learning to protect your mind

23 April: Roles of women in Buddhist activities in Australia

30 April: Approaching boundless light by remembering our heritage and averting from tarnished light

7 May: Are you moving with the times?

14 May: Celebrating Versak

21 May: Keeping a clear mind to build one world

28 May: Finding the Teachings

4 June: Do wise persons do the easy things first?

11 June: Selecting someone worthy of praise

18 June: Building global scholarship

25 June: Living the right livelihood

2 July: Balancing Buddha Dharma practice with family life

9 July: Self-funding: The eight objectives

16 July: Preservation of scientific thought in the Year of the Dragon

23 July: How near is the manifest to our assumed organisation?

30 July: What good happenings can you see today?

6 August: Buddha paths we use for understanding what we see in our lifetime

13 August: How we train our project managers

20 August: Living in a world of common fallacies

The most recent radio broadcasts texts are to be found on our website at www.bdcublessings.one.net.au.

The first thing to assume is we accept our hearers are not of one socio-economic grouping, or have the same country of birth, nor have the same religion or no religion experiences.

We are not trying to be all things to all persons, we accept as certain it is better for certain segments of the community to turn off. The reason for this approach is we know, without doubt, we are more liable than not liable to be dealing with persons who are mad, bad or sad to some considerable extent.

A fact, well accepted and noted by the Government and University medical researchers is that the general level of citizens in Australia is that their physical and mental health is not robust.

There is a tendency to deny this observation as if somehow it was unpatriotic to deal with unpleasant facts of this genre.

This is nothing new as decades ago during the cold war an Australian medical scholar by the name of Professor Wright suggested the Chinese are more healthy than Australians.

Before Federation, early writers suggested the workers of Melbourne were subject to disease because Melbourne was backward in adopting a proper sanitation and drainage system. Despite the huge sums spent on other public works, Melbourne’s drainage and industrial refuge still flowed into the Yarra river. In the early 1890’s an outbreak of typhoid was traced in part to the use of excretia from typhoid patients in certain hospitals on market gardens in Oakleigh and Moorabbin and on a dairy farm at Balwyn.

Disease was a major problem in the colony, and had been since the population influx of the 1850’s, both because of the state of knowledge of its spread and the inactivity of the authorities.

During the nineteenth century gastro-intestinal illnesses (diarrhoea, dysentry and typhoid fever) were the major causes of death. Particularly sad was the high mortality among children, with about 12 per cent of infants dying within a year of their birth, compared with less than 2 per cent in the 1970’s. Gastro-intestinal diseases were not the only cause of childhood mortality, for several other illnesses (e.g. scarlet fever, measles, diptheria and tuberculosis) which are now under now under control or seldom fatal, all took a heavy toll.

By the end of the 1880s advancing medical knowledge of the germ theory of contagion and the state of Melbourne’s drains meant that sanitation could no longer be ignored. The authorities lumbered into action. In 1888 a Royal Commission on the Sanitary Condition of Melbourne was established whose report disclosed the horrendous situation and resulted in the employment of British engineer James Mansergh to visit Melbourne in 1890 to advise on a solution.

In 1891 the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works was established to implement his proposal for construction of a deep sewerage system and treatment plant at Werribee. Fortunately the need for the project outweighed the government cutbacks during the depression. Work began in 1892 and provided much needed employment.

In our radio scripts, we employ facts and figures and anecdotes which show we are not advocating the “quick fix” over time dialogue to serve as a catalyst for creative problem identification and problem solving.

We talk of order of thinking and this is on a system which has got quite definite parameters. In any given radio script, we put a few first order statements and then analyse them through dialogue into second or third order processes or chains of events.

We also talk about causes and effects in some detail. We try to fully leverage our collective references with our intelligence and make sure that a picture of ourselves as a learning organisation in an organisational setting far removed from the traditional authoritarian or S1 model of management is conveyed with as much clarity as we can muster.

By emphasising our dreams of the future, our organisation shares vision that enables persons to clearly and honestly articulate their thinking and their assumptions against our robust models of how to live successfully.

Diversity of experience as a starting ground for rational analysis.

An overview our most recent 20 radio scripts offers us more than a sum of those parts.

These scripts are all underpinned by a foundation of the five styles of this Organisation of friendliness, practicality, professionalism, cultural adaptability and scholarship with varying emphasis and at varying levels. Like mantras, they work on many levels.

Some readability statistics of this radio program is as follows:

Document Statistics:

Totals: 4668

Words: 35

Sentences: 1

paragraphs: 1

Syllables: 64

Averages:

Words per sentence: 35.0

Sentences per paragraph: 1.0

Percentages:

Passive Sentences: 0

Readability Statistics:

Flesch Grade Level: 17.0

Coleman Liau Garde level: 15.0

Bormuth Garde level: 10.9

Flesch reading ease score: 16.6

Flesch-kincaid score: 19.6

People apply different methods to acquiring knowledge and absorbing new information.

[from ‘What Mantra are you running from?’]

Many young professionals begin their working career with a holistic approach, because in their early careers they are assigned to and work only with one person. As they encounter a greater number of senior colleagues, they may take a collage approach to observation, which makes it more likely that they will find behaviours that fit who they are, who they want to be, and what they can do. This becomes especially helpful as professionals begin to move from observation to experimentation.

In other words, professionals run their lives on many mantras.

The content of our radio scripts is conveyed through words.

Buddhists have always realised that the forms of words used in texts can imprison the mind in a sterile idolatry of words, and that words must be regarded merely as useful devices, helping the mind towards its goal.

The meaning behind the form of words, reached by meditation, is what matters.

It is exactly the same with Art.

The forms of Art are useful devices pointing to a meaning which lies beyond the forms.

Although mantras have a literal meaning which can be translated into English, their primary function is to transmit to the practitioner a particular type of consciousness through the mere sound of the syllables.

The sound has religious meaning and so it is not equivalent to the mere repetition of sounds or words.

[from ‘Learning to protect your mind’]

Wealthy persons are healthier and live longer than poorer persons in Australia. The advantage of being wealthy, healthy and possibly having a longer life is that it frees our time.

There are however aspects of the social life in our state of Victoria which are unpleasant. We refer to an increase of drug taking by the population. Many persons today are exposed to all sorts of illegal drugs.

Breaking the precept of taking intoxicants, if heavy and done frequently, leads to woeful states after death.

When a person indulges in any sort of intoxicant, the resultant effect is a clouded and muddy mind, incapable of seeing situations or life clearly. From a Buddhist point of view, the taking of drugs and alcohol affects an individual’s morality base because the mind cannot distinguish between right and wrong.

The instant you use drugs, your cognitive domain where you hold ideas of morality, falls over.

An active mind may hinder disease.

By keeping the five precepts and performing meritorious activities, the mind will stay healthy.

John D. Hughes prepared an Outline of the Program for Teachings, Seminars and Classes held at our Centre. This document contains the mandala from which the radio scripts come as well.

To overcome sloth and torpor, selected Students are taught over time the methods of writing about Buddha Dhamma. They become the next generation of wordsmiths.

Our publishing program provides opportunities for global private correspondence, Internet input, key articles for our Review and in house journal ( “The Bugle”) and practice in writing conceptual solutions to real projects.

Our weekly radio broadcast scripts provide a skills incubator for meeting time lines.

Regular attendance is needed and a strong wish to learn. Our superior library gives research experience.

Our Centre operates as a peak organisation carrying the ideals of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB).

We are a associated spiritual training Centre of the World Buddhist University.

The WFB objectives include:

- To promote among the Members strict observance and practice of the teachings of the Buddha

- To propagate the sublime doctrine of the Buddha

- To organise and carry on activities in the field of social, cultural and other humanitarian services

Within clear framework, the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. has a variety of Buddha Dhamma Programs scheduled for the next two years.

The Centre offers Teachings to raise Insight and Mindfulness, which is traditionally called Vipassana to view anicca (the ever-changing nature of things). The real teaching is a dynamic affair where not two students are taught the same, even if it appears they are taught as a group. We say you need to understand this fineness of anicca ( change due to rising and falling of matter).

Several Five Day Meditation courses are held throughout the year. Courses run from 9.00am - 10.00pm each day and there is no fee for attendance. All those who attend the courses are asked to maintain at least five precepts.

Master John D. Hughes will teach the Prajnaparamita Sutta on the Perfection of Wisdom every Tuesday evening starting at 7.30pm. These rare Teachings commenced on the New Moon day February 16 1999 and will be taught for three years and three moons concluding on Versak 2002. Those wishing to join in these unique teachings are encouraged to become Members of our Centre.

Buddha Dhamma practices including bhavana are taught by resident Teacher John D. Hughes at the Centre every Monday and Friday evening starting at 7.30pm.

You are invited to join us for any session or alternatively please contact the Centre to arrange a convenient time to visit and meet with our Teacher. Our phone number is 9754 3334.

At times the Centre accommodates eminent Buddhist Monks and Teachers from other Centres and overseas to conduct Dhamma talks and teachings. At present eminent Buddhist Monk Venerable Ajarn Chanhphy Manivong visits regularly on Tuesdays mornings for Dana which is followed by a Buddha Dhamma teaching.

Classes in Ch'an (Zen) methods are conducted at the Centre on the last Sunday of each month. As an ancient Buddha Dhamma practice Ch’an trains the mind by the Way of the Brush. Classes are taught by resident Ch’an Master John D. Hughes. John has empowered Julian Bamford and Jan Bennett to run these classes.

Sumi-e methods are taught at the Centre by Master Andre Sollier. Classes are conducted monthly over the four seasons. Master Sollier selects a new theme every year for his students to learn.

Please contact Julian Bamford for class fee details or more information on 9756 7477.

Selected Students are taught within the garden settings to observe the four seasons change.

This method improves their health.

Various Pujas are conducted at the Centre throughout the year by visiting Teacher Francisco So with two Pujas being conducted in early September 2000.

Selected Students who wish to stabilise the continued existence of our Organisation need to understand our financial programs are based on “self-help” . Several are trained in leadership and encouraged to become University graduates and post graduates in skills needed for them to become the future Directors of our Centre.

The Outline of Program for Teachings, Seminars and Classes describes the programs with more detail and dates, time and frequency available on 9 September at Founder’s Day 2000 celebrations or from the Centre after this date.

More and more we plan that our teaching is delivered by Internet.

We are developing more and more Internet sites so we must operate under many different regulations. In 1999, the European parliament initiated an amendment to the Copyright Directive that would outlaw random, illegal copying of material on the Internet. The move came after the Telecom companies proposed to weaken the entire copyright regime for content providers. We are studying the recent amendments to the Australian copyright law with due diligence.

We do teach minutiae when it is appropriate. Facts and figures are important to understanding issues. The lead vehicle for this style of teaching is found in the texts of our radio broadcasts. These can be read on our Internet site at www.bdcublessings.one.net.au

We are Members of the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria.

On Wednesday 23 August, our Teacher John D. Hughes and our Vice President Knowledge Management Julian Bamford attended an Internet Forum presented by the Media and Arts Policy and Planning Committee of the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria.

The forum was held at the CO-AS-IT Multimedia Centre, 189 Faraday Street, Carlton.

The theme for the forum was ‘What is the Internet Capable of? Exploring the Internet from an ethnic community point of view. .

The evening commenced with an introduction by Adele Howard. RSN., Executive Director,

Fraynework Multimedia. Their web site address is www.fraynework.com.au

Adele over viewed the purpose of the forum as an evening to explore the Internet from an ethnic community point of view, to present speakers with a range of experiences and example web sites for the purpose of looking at the Internet as a tool for community groups.

The evening sought to address questions including: can the uniqueness of being an ethnic community in Australia be expressed in cyberspace? Is the Internet a tool to bring communities closer? and will communities be able to express the virtual world or will it alienate members of the community and produce divisions?

Two web sites developed by Fraynework Multimedia, by way of a PC based presentation and projector, the first, an award winning interactive documentary CD-ROM and web-site called ‘Lore of the Land’ - web address: www.loreoftheland.com.au, explores the indigenous culture of Australia and seeks to reconcile spirit and place in Australia’s story.

The second site presented was ‘Yarra Healing’, web address www.yarrahealing.melb.catholic.edu.au, promoting the voices of the local indigenous people of Melbourne. The site, produced by the Office of Catholic Education, Archdiocese of Melbourne, was launched on the day of the forum.

Chris Corbell from the Adult Migrant Education Service, Melbourne, has written two books on the Internet including Instructional Educational Strategy. AMES runs the Virtual Independent Learning Centre. The AMES web site address is www.virtualilc.com.au

He addressed the question and brief for the speakers, ‘what is the Internet capable of?’ by noting that it isn’t capable of anything. That it is part of the environment, with no distinction between the built and natural environment. He stated that when the environment changes opposition arises and threats emerge.

Using the Internet it is possible for communities to be built and ways of thinking can be developed. But what is important is to learn how to engage with the change in an appropriate way.

AMES offers free limited access to the AMES website to experience what it can deliver.

Since the beginning of the year the AMES site, which is being accessed by users nationally has been delivering training in languages using an interactive news service which the user can control, listening to, reading, answering questions to develop English language skills.

He concluded by sighting a recent an article from Wired magazine on global translation boom driven by the web, noting that sometime in the year 2000 a kid surfing the net for the first time will tip the net of the English speaking majority into a minority.

The second speaker was Larry Stillman from Vicnet, web address www.openroad.ivc.gov.au/new/

The Vicnet site has sixteen major languages to date and aims to deliver news and information in 29 languages.

His powerpoint presentation can be found at: go.to/larrystillman.

He discussed the importance of meaningful use of the web and the need to understand development issues surrounding it. Topics included: bridging the linguistic digital divide.

The site presented has as many as 1000 links to multicultural sites globally which then link to more sites. A back end site for technical minded persons can be found at www.openroad.net.au

The third speaker was Berni Janssen from the North Richmond Community Health Centre who gave a presentation on Gippsland On Line and Gippsland Australians On Line. A joint project of the ABC, Vicnet and Arts Gippsland, which she has been working with for one year.

The speaker noted that technology will continue to develop, asking what capability exists among potential community users?, and what access can be identified for rural communities?

Training in technical skills is important as is training and development of skills in content - writing, design and medium demand.

Will Berryman, New Media Manager from SBS (Sydney) gave presentation outlining the two part plan for exploiting the Internet.

Firstly the existing SBS site which has been operating for 6 years, supporting the SBS TV and radio channels is being renewed, to highlight what SBS does well, with deployment of 40 languages and to achieve a full 68 languages on the net by end of 2000, as audio on demand for SBS services.

He noted a second area of priority is the new platform for content which they are developing.

As an example, the SBS soccer site achieves upwards of 100,000 visits per day and went up to 150,000 visits during the FIFA world soccer cup.

News and current affairs is another area SBS is developing its Internet capability, and are about to launch www.theworldnews.com.au, as a text, language, radio, news wrap-up and world guide on line. This service is being developed in conjunction with Hardie Grant.

Another focus is the Youth Radio Network On line - delivering the diverse cultures of Australian youth through music, current affairs and community.

He noted that the Internet is an important multicultural educational tool that will lead to creative development. He also pointed out its value as an important vehicle that ‘talks back’ and provides a medium for user’s feedback directly to SBS.

Promotions on mainstream TV and radio channels directs the audience’s attention to the web site, the design of which is streamed into interest groups.

One concern raised was that mainstream media runs hot and cold on content. The Internet can create impetus and momentum by which other content generation can create drive and demand.

SBS aim to have nine web sites operating in the near future.

Dr. Nicoli Morelli, from the Centre for Design at RMIT, who is also assisting CO AS IT, talked about the telecentre skills.net project. The web site address is communitas.vmore.org.au

He noted that the value to communicate is only of value if there is someone to receive the message. It is no good having an email address if no one else does, or if you do not know anyone else with one, or you don’t understand what the technology does or is capable of.

Dr. Morelli noted the problem of the gap between having languages on the net and the lack of a key to join successfully with content and cultural values.

The forum concluded with a question and answer session from the floor to the speakers raising a number of issues. These included the need for a convergence of technology and the opportunity for the Internet to be leveraged by other modes of the media.

As an example, the marketing of a web site using different mediums such as television and print to targeted sectors of the community raising awareness of the site and gets people talking about it.

There is a gap between the expectation of what the Internet can do and the reality of what can be delivered.

The attention span of readers on the web is around ten minutes. This presents the danger of sites developing a tabloid mentality. More content is now being created in traditional media. The New York Times was sighted as one example.

The session concluded with news that IBM has just donated 500 PC’s to a PC bank for use by those who don’t have access. Another organisation, Computers for Kids, which our organisation donates old PC’s to, upgrades them and distributes them to those who can’t afford new machines.

The Internet provides a medium whereby the information presented at the Forum could be captured in note form, written into this radio broadcast script and uploaded onto our website at www.bdcublessings.one.net.au within 24 hours.

From time to time, we put our position to Government Standing Committees drafting new legislation. We strive to present a balanced view of how we see the legislation affecting religious organisations in general and in particular how it will affect the operations of our organisation.

Our views are formed by extensive reading and discussion with our international peers. We cultivate direct contact with University theses to legitimatize our arguments with use of pertinent reference material.

We will not infringe copyright by publishing material that has not been cleared by the holder of the copyright. We respect industrial and intellectual property rights. Our Founder worked in the area of patents, trademarks and copyright for many years and founded AMPICTA. Our Teacher is a life member of AMPICTA, an organisation that looks after intellectual property.

We train persons towards cultural adaptability that can distinguish between generosity and stinginess and encourage the practice of dana (material assistance). Our ‘self-help’ training extends to many realms.

We train our Members and other persons to speak good things, to do good things, to be kind and to spread kindness to others. We fund Buddhist orphanages in Bangladesh and India. We help many local Australians with household goods and sound advice. We help many business persons direct their company policies towards sounder human resource development and prosperity based on a better global view of how their activities impact on their worker’s families and the need for enrichment training in a post-Fordism era.

There is no bias in our organisation between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ in the economic sense. We train persons who can organise and promote exchange of missions, scholars and students.

Bibliography

Garden, Don. 1984. Victoria – A History. Publisher: Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, Australia, p. 216 – 217.

Pande, G. C. 1974. Studies in The Origins of Buddhism. Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi.

From the Seminar "What is the Internet capable of?" Seminar notes taken by Julian Bamford ECCV., 23 August 2000.

Disclaimer:

As we, the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd., do not control the actions of our service providers from time to time, make no warranty as to the continuous operation of our website(s). Also, we make no assertion as to the veracity of any of the information included in any of the links with our websites, or an other source accessed through our website(s).

Accordingly, we accept no liability to any user or subsequent third party, either expressed or implied, whether or not caused by error or omission on either our part, or a member, employee or other person associated with the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.

For more information, contact the Centre or better still, come and visit us.

May You Be Well And Happy