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NAMO
TASSA
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'THE
BUDDHIST HOUR'
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Hillside
Radio 87.6 FM & 88.0 FM |
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Broadcast Sunday 11 March 2001
The meaning of the Pali word khanti is vast. There is no single English word that can adequately give a good translation. The Pali Text Society, Pali-English Dictionary, translates khanti as patience, forbearance or forgiveness. The English word forgiveness is an inaccurate definition of the Pali word khanti, as forgiveness is a form of delusion caused by holding on to something that happened in the past as if it still existed, when in fact it has vanished. The qualities of Patience could be described as; steady, relaxed and alert regardless of what may be happening to the body, speech or the mind. Real inner strength comes from practicing patience. Insights appear by observing what is arising and falling without becoming involved in those thoughts and the process. The Lord Buddha said that the practice of patience leads to great compassion and loving kindness and the accumulation of much merit. Hatred (Pali: dosa) is one of the major causes of black karma and the depletion of merit. In order to remain patient in any particular situation, it is wise to remember the destructive nature of dosa and the obstruction it creates to benefiting other sentient beings. Patience can be developed in many ways and in many situations. One way might be called “the patience of having compassion for the enemy", which means practicing patience with any being who harms you or makes trouble for you. The practice of patience brings about many realisations, for example, the realisation that in the past many unwholesome causes were made for this present harm to come. Most people find it is difficult to be patient when experiencing harm, but if they do not develop patience their troubles will never come to an end. A few of our students have developed enough patience to, at times, undertake training in Ch'an by learning the ‘Way of the Garden’ over the four seasons. One method of Ch’an is the ‘Way of the Garden.’ The ‘Way of the Garden’ is difficult to understand and may be compared to bringing one hundred brooks under one bridge. The bridge represents the wisdom mind that understands that the process of re-creating the garden is not just a mere folly but an active training ground for developing the human qualities of loving kindness, compassion, patience, generosity and trust. Excavating to the right level to bring a hundred brooks together under the one bridge is an exercise in patience because no sooner have we dammed one brook than it overflows its banks, fed by the other brooks. It was not the brook itself that overflowed but the watershed from the other brooks. Ch'an implies meditation and action that does not overflow. Wise persons use this method to remove antisocial attitudes such as the culture of poverty and the culture of ill-health. When this training is successful the student understands that the Centre’s garden is a Ch’an garden and many benefits can be derived from working on it, in sometimes rigourous conditions. At our Centre the Ch'an Teachers use many Buddhist methods to drive the students sane. However, they will only teach those who have requested to be taught. We hope we earn your trust sufficient for you to be request to be taught by us. Unwholesome minds cannot build beautiful gardens because of the outpourings of the overflow of mental defilement's. In Teaching Ch’an we overtly concentrate on the ‘Way of the Brush’, but covertly, practice the ‘Way of the Garden’. We desire to make more causes for the long time preservation of this suitable Dhamma environment for the practice of Ch'an by building trust between people and removing the scripts that result in the culture of poverty and the culture of ill-health. Patience is one of the virtues that builds a foundation of tolerance. Patience is advised when any afflictions arise, internally or externally, of body, speech or mind. In last weeks program we talked about ‘Religious Tolerance by Society’. Human beings are born into different cultures, with different skin colours and speaking different languages, but we are still all members of the human race. Buddha Dhamma is the same, there is Ch'an, Zen, Yogacara, Vajrayana but it is all Buddha Dhamma and each one has the same taste, the taste of freedom or the way out of suffering. Buddha Dhamma takes different forms so that it is relevant to different cultures. No Buddhist practitioner who understands the Lord Buddha's Teaching thinks that other religions are wrong and any person who has made a genuine effort to examine other religions with an open mind would come to the same conclusion. The first thing you notice when you study different religions is how much they have in common. All religions acknowledge that the present state of human existence is unsatisfactory. All believe that a change of attitude and behaviour is required for that state to improve. The idea of practicing ‘Right Thought’ is common amongst many religions, yet cruelty, the desire to be cunning, wickedness and selfishness are displayed amongst the followers of all these religions. Likewise, the practices of kindness, compassion, honesty, patience and tolerance are also common amongst all these religious people. How then can we say that only Buddha Dhamma develops the Paramita of wisdom? The answer is that the Buddha Dhamma path is the path out of suffering. All religions teach ethical principles that include love, kindness, patience, generosity and social responsibility and they all except the existence of some form of absolute. Imagine, say, an Englishman, a Frenchman, a Chinese and an Indonesian all looking at a cup. The Englishman says “that is a cup”, the Frenchman answers "no it’s not, it’s a tasse", the Chinese comments “you are both wrong it is a “ pi”, the Indonesian laughs at the others and says “what fools you are it’s a kowan", the English man gets a dictionary and shows it to the others and says “I can prove it’s a cup, my dictionary says it’s a cup”. “Then your dictionary is wrong”, says the Frenchman “because my dictionary clearly says it is a tasse’. The Chinese scoffs at them all saying, “my dictionary is thousands of years older than yours, so my dictionary must be right, and besides, more people speak Chinese than any other language, so it must be a pi”. Now, while they are all squabbling and arguing with each other a Buddha Dhamma follower comes up and drinks from the cup, after he has drunk from it he says to the others “whether you call it a cup or a tasse or a pi or a kowan, the purpose of a cup is to drink from it. Stop arguing and drink, stop squabbling and remove your thirst”. Tolerance can be defined as "allowing others to hold opinions on religious, political and other matters differing from oneself or from whatever the dominant authority, and allowing their free expression in speech or by bodily acts provided that these do not cause harm to others in any way either mentally, emotionally or physically". There are five factors fundamental to practicing tolerance. These are: 1. Mindfulness 2. Fear of unwholesomeness 3. Wisdom 4. Flexibility 5. Amity or compassion These factors lead persons away from Mara (the negative forces acting in the world) and away from the conflicts of the world, Samsara. Practicing these five factors leads to the peaceful state of Nirvana. For those who wish to become tolerant it is indispensable that they practice patience. Furthermore, just as the Buddha guides us along the Path, all sentient beings help us to achieve our goal. For example if a being causes us trouble we should take that opportunity to practice patience. The Buddha’s Sermon on What is True Blessedness the Mangala Sutta highlights the importance of developing an intellectual framework for comprehending the Dhamma. The Lord Buddha, was asked, ‘Many gods and me, yearning after good, have held diverse things to be blessings; declare Thou, What is true blessedness?’ "Patience, obedience, the sight of the Samanas (religious practitioners) and religious discussions held in the due season - this is the Highest Blessing." Regarding the subject of protection, the Buddha states: "I shall protect myself and I shall protect others: Protecting oneself one protects others; Protecting others one protects oneself". A quotation from the Dhammapada states: "By self alone is evil done. By self one is defiled; By self evil is left undone, By self alone is one purified." If a being is in pain we should develop the understanding of compassion or friendliness. If a being is unhappy we should give them a suitable gift they may enjoy. The Dhammapada states: "One should not pry into the faults of others into things done and left undone by others. One should rather consider what oneself has done and left undone." If somebody says "he beat me" or "he slandered me" and wants to react to that beating or slander in some violent way, then that person does not understand the Dhamma, because it is just the return of what was done in the past. Hate can never be cured with hate. To unknowingly persecute a religion will bring greater suffering in the future than that of persecuting a religion knowingly. So a person who wants to close down a religious centre for imagined reasons, creates a great negative karma for themselves and for those they influence. May you not meet with bad advisors who have no religious tolerance. If you do meet with bad religious advisors (which you will in this Dhamma ending age) may you not be swayed by their negative influence. Meeting with bad religious advisors is an indication that your practice is incorrect. However, there is no doubt that if you are practicing successfully, you will meet with religious opposition, just as Buddha's' followers have done during the last two and a half millennium. Bodhisattvas Teach with great compassion and through their Teaching, some Practitioners understand and develop tolerance. All people can develop tolerance, if they try, and this can be increased step-by-step until it extends to all beings in all realms. When Practitioners have a base of tolerance, the six Paramitas or Perfections, which are: morality, generosity, patience, perseverance, concentration and wisdom, can be practiced with greater ease. When all six Paramitas accord with tolerance it is possible to help many beings who are suffering. When tolerance increases, your attachment and desire are reduced little by little and disciplined minds are developed. The relationship of the Teacher and Student is important. Rules of conduct are taught to the students and have to be developed to maximise tolerance towards the Teacher. It is normally difficult to calm the mind, but through practice of concentration comes patience. Patience and concentration lead to wisdom and tolerant actions, actions based on wisdom, are more effective than intolerant actions. Teachers demonstrate patience by explaining the Teachings over and over again without any intolerance appearing on the Teacher’s mind. Teachers have great tolerance and use the text method to help the students understand. In the beginning, students are taught to develop tolerance for themselves, and then to develop tolerance for others. They discover that when they have tolerance for others, others have tolerance towards them, and over time this creates a good will. One day you will speak to your neighbour, and your neighbour will reply in a friendly manner. Normally people don't compare which actions are more beneficial. In simple terms, it can be reasoned that if an action is accompanied by a good feeling then that action is beneficial to others. If an action is accompanied by an unpleasant feeling then it can be altered by remembering the values and good qualities displayed by other people. How can we change our feelings towards those we view as enemies who lack tolerance towards us? If a patient did not want an operation that would cut the body, the doctor would explain the benefits, and after a time, the patient would accept the idea of the body being cut. Feelings are not permanent and can be changed. When a Student is able to sustain short periods of tolerance they can extend the practice by understanding the disadvantages of not practicing tolerance. For three years and three moons, since February 1999, the Prajnaparamita - the path of wisdom - access to the knowledge of the Prajnaparamita, is being taught by our Teacher. The third Bhumi contains knowledge of patience and concentration. At this point, Students began to learn how to develop array minds that are often referred to as mandalas. There are Ten Paramitas or Perfections. These are: Viriya (Pali) , energy (English) Dana (Pali), generosity (English) Sila (Pali), morality (English) Nekkhamma (Pali), renunciation (English) Panna (Pali), wisdom (English) Khanti (Pali), patience (English) Sacca (Pali), truthfulness (English) Aditthana (Pali), determination (English) Metta (Pali), loving-kindness (English) Upekkha (Pali), equanimity (English) The energy with which Westerners build their viharas is commendable, however, not enough energy is put into maintaining the structure after its completion. It is as if they do not wish for future generations to do anything! They work hard to present a 'perfect' building as soon as possible. There is no patience in this practice and the only outcome is great wealth in some future life for those persons actually involved in the building process. There are Members in our organisation who have the leisure time, determination and patience to examine our heritage information on building architecture and make real progress in the delivery of our goods and services. Such Members have the people skills to gather the required funds and encourage the technocrat Members to develop our information technology hardware and software. Enriched information services then become affordable to more persons who then become our clients and benefactors. An extract from the "Great Prayer for World Peace" compiled by Venerable Geshe Acharya Thubten Loden is featured today with the kind permission of Geshe-la. May all living beings be adorned with love, Compassion, joy and equanimity. May they possess generosity, ethics, Patience, effort, concentration and wisdom. Thus by the virtue collected Through all that I have done, May the pain of every living being Be completely cleared away. May the poor find wealth Those weak with sorrow find joy May the forlorn find new hope, Comfort, happiness and prosperity.
As long as any sentient being anywhere Has not been liberated, May I remain in the world for their sake, Even though I have attained Enlightenment.
May all worldly beings Never experience war, fighting or conflict, And forever remain without bad conditions, Such as earthquakes, disease or drought. May peace pervade the hearts of all That they ever abide in joy and abundance.
May you develop the courage to support wisdom and tolerance and preserve the Buddha Sasana. May you become skilled in the preservation of religious principles in this very life. May you practice patience and preserve the Buddha Dhamma. May you live in a society that practices patience and religious tolerance. May you be well and happy
This script was written by John D. Hughes, Julian Bamford, Tim Browning, Lyne Lehmann and Pennie White.
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References: Khantipalo, Phra, (1964) Tolerance, A Study from Buddhist Sources, Rider and Company, London. Davids, R and Stede, W. (1979) The Pali Text Society’s Pali-English Dictionary, Pali Text Society, London. Sasana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana Society, (1988) The Dhammapada, Malaysia. ISYS Database: ISYS Query patience gathered on notepad I:\KM\BDDR}PUBLICAT\NEWSL_21.TXT (12-Jan-96) page 17 I:\KM\BDDR\PUBLICAT\NEWSL_16.TXT (08-Jan-96) page 10 / 11 I:\KM\BDDR\PUBLICAT\NEWSL_12.TXT (22-Dec-95) page 17 / 18 I:\IDA\RADIO97.RTF (25-Feb-80) I:\KM\BDDR\PUBLICAT\NEWSL_27.TXT (05-Sep-96) Gathered from I:\IDA\RADIO126.RTF (08-Sep-80) page 20 / 21 of I:\KM\BDDR\PUBLICAT\NEWSL_26.TXT (16-Jan-96) page 32 of I:\KM\BDDR\PUBLICATNEWSL_24.TXT (13-Jan-96) page 2 of I:\KM\BDDR\PUBLICAT\NEWSL_23.TXT (12-Jan-96) page 62 / 63 of I:\KM\BDDR\BDDR06N2.W50 (14-Jan-99) page 65 / 66 of I:\KM\BDDR\BDDR06N2.W50 (14-Jan-99) page 46 of I:\KM\BDDR\BDDR05N2.TXT (31-Dec-98) I:\KM\BDDR\BDDR03N3.TXT (31-Dec-98) page 18 / 19 of I:\KM\BDDR\BDDR03N1.W50 (14-Jan-99) page 8 / 9 of I:\KM\BDDR\BDDR01N1.TXT (31-Dec-98) page 10 / 11 of I:\JDH\DATA\SERVICAG.BK! (16-Nov-97) 24 / 25 of I:\JDH\DATA\RISPS2 (24-Jan-99) |
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