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NAMO
TASSA
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'THE
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Hillside
Radio 1620 AM, 87.6 FM & 88.0 FM |
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Today’s program is entitled: Developing benevolence
Sunday 13 May 2001
The Oxford Dictionary defines benevolence as: disposition to do good; kindness, generosity, charitable feeling (towards humankind at large); affection, goodwill (towards a particular person or on a particular occasion).
The kindness of Mothers is celebrated on a day known as Mother’s Day in some Western Countries. In Australia, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday each May which in this year 2001, today the 13th of May.
The celebration of Mother’s Day is said to have started in Grafton, West Virginia, United States of America, when Anna Jarvis observed the anniversary of her mother’s death in 1908 at the Andrews Methodist Church (Britanica, 1987).
Many Australians and Members of our Centre will visit their Mothers on this Day. On Mother’s Day this year some of our Members will clean the altars at the Centre and at home.
In these days of unstable family relationships, should we seek to relinquish our affiliation with our family?
This is a complex question.
Children should strive to hold more morality than our parents.
Generally, the Buddhist viewpoint holds that laypersons should cherish their mother and father and sibling family members.
However, when awareness is clear and full, the mind becomes dispassionate and loosens its attachments, coming to a full stop: the stopping of unawareness, the stopping of birth.
This is why the Buddha felt no attachment for home or family, for wealth, servants or material pleasures of any kind.
Our old affiliation to our family, especially to our mother, is the stock of culture which we inherited from our past lives and we have continued to practice affiliation with our family, out of the habit of many lives, since we were born this life.
Humans, like all mammals, are twice born.
We have one life, intra-utero, where we are fully dependent on our mother's food supply - we live like a parasite - taking everything and giving nothing except pain and discomfort and even death to our mothers.
Unless we have practiced well and long in past lives, we cannot generate a kind thought to our food supplier - our mother.
If we do show appreciation, it is most likely for the nutrient we receive intra-utero.
Our juvenile thought formations are selfish, because we do not seem able to generate a sense of gratitude or seem to manage to think well enough of what we could do to help our mother's well-being.
When we are born in the conventional sense, our other life commences post-utero, when we are unplugged from the umbilical cord giving us direct access to our mother's food supply.
If we are breast-fed, we still rely on our mother. Breast feeding can be painful for some mothers.
However, we still demand immediate gratification of our thirst and hunger, and do not care if our food attendant is sick or tired.
In some lives, our food attendant may not be our mother.
In the Buddha-to-be's case, his mother passed away into a heaven birth when he was five days old, and he was breast fed by a wet nurse - another woman.
This is not viewed as tragic in the Buddhist way of thinking because his mother was spared all the human pain of fretting over the growing up stages of her child.
The Buddha-to-be's life as a child was uncomplicated because he was healthy in mind and body.
The King's palace was full of luxuries for his enjoyment. There seems to be no doubt he was much appreciated by his father, the King.
He appreciated his educational opportunities and had gratitude towards his father and his efforts to educate him in the many skills thought suitable for a leader.
One of his cousins (Ananda) who shared his early education was, in later life, to become one of those responsible for recording his Teachings when he became Buddha.
In the palace, he was shielded from the sight of seeing sick, old or dead persons.
It is interesting to note that many persons have the merit from past lives to be reared in comparative plenty by world standards in Australia.
In this country, although there is much Government sponsorship of quality research on educational outcomes, there does not appear to be many accurate measures of person's attitude to their parents or guardians.
If the parents are problem gamblers or problem drinkers, it is doubtful if their childrens' relationships would be sound.
After four decades of our investigation of such matters, our teacher has stated that it appears young persons have little sense of gratitude towards their parent's efforts to rear them.
At intense levels of striving to awaken to the truth of what is what as a Monk or a Nun, it may come as a surprise to laypersons that the Buddha's advice to his Sangha about what attitude should be taken towards one's parents, and, particularly towards one's mother, requires a revolution of affiliation of considerable magnitude.
In the Buddha's rules for the Monks and Nuns, it is an offence to continue the common practice of laypersons towards his or her parents.
There is a logical connection of cause and effect which goes beyond mere sentiment.
If the matter of not having the intention to be bound into suffering once again by taking womb birth is examined, then the practice of maternal dependency (or clinging to anything, for that matter) is seen to have a downside.
Why not question the wisdom of seeking the comfort of a mother's affections?
The strong form of the argument is that these things are not designed by nature to last, because in the normal events of life, the mother passes away before the child.
The weak form of the argument is that the mother is important in her own right; she has a limited time to develop her own life practice; and it is not sensible to expect her to stand by for the whimsy of the adult who wishes to act as a child rather than grow up.
The barrier to be faced is that some mothers are "naughty" in so far as they wish to keep their children in emotional immaturity to control them.
Obviously, there are many other cultural forms of this argument in between the strong and weak cases.
The Vinita Vatthu contains cases of a bhikkhu who caresses his mother out of filial affection, one who caresses his daughter out of fatherly affection, and one who caresses his sister out of brotherly affection.
In each case, it is an offence against the rules - the penalty is a dukkata.
The Vibhanga does not discuss the issue of bhikkhus who intentionally make active contact with women for purposes other than lust or affection e.g. helping a woman who has fallen into a raging river, but the Commentary does.
It introduces the concept of anamasa, things which carry a dukkata penalty when things are touched; women and clothing which belongs to a woman top the list.
It then goes into great detail to tell how a monk should behave when his mother falls into a raging river.
Under no circumstances, it says, should he grab hold of her, although he may extend a rope, a board, etc. in her direction.
If she happens to grab hold of her son the bhikkhu, he should not shake her off, but simply let her hold on as he swims back to shore.
Where the Commentary derives these concepts of anamasa is hard to say.
Perhaps they came from the practices of the Brahmin caste, who are very careful not to touch certain things and people of certain lower castes.
At any rate, there is no direct basis for it in the Buddhist Canon.
Although the concept has received universal acceptance in Theravadin Communities, many highly-respected Vinaya experts have drawn the line right here, saying that there is nothing wrong in touching a woman when one's action is based not on lust but on a desire to save her from danger.
Even if there is an offence in doing so, there are other places where Buddhaghosa recommends that one be willing to incur a minor penalty for the sake of compassion (e.g. digging a person out of a hole into which he has fallen), and the same principle surely holds here.
There is no offence in touching a being other than a woman if one's intentions are not lustful, although tickling is an offence under Pacittiya 52.
The subject is complex requiring great mental effort.
Making lustful but indirect bodily contact with a woman one perceives to be a woman and a pandaka one perceives to be a woman carries penalties for a Monk or Nun.
With a woman one perceives to be a woman: Using one's body to make contact with an article connected to her body - e.g. using one's hand to touch the hem of her dress, a rope or stick she is holding is wrong practice: a thullaccaya.
Using an item connected with one's body to make contact with her body - e.g. using the edge of one's robe or a flower one is holding to brush along her arm is also wrong practice: a thullaccaya.
Using an item connected with one's body to make contact with an item connected with her body is a dukkata.
Taking an object, such as a flower, and tossing it against her body, an object connected with her body, or an object she has tossed is also a dukkata.
Another offence is taking hold of something she is standing or sitting on -a bridge, a tree, a boat, etc. - and giving it a shake.
With a pandaka one assumes to be a woman, the penalty in all the above cases is a dukkata.
These penalties for indirect contact have inspired the Commentary to say that if a bhikkhu makes contact with a clothed portion of a woman's body, or uses a clothed portion of his body to make contact with hers, and the cloth is so thick that neither his body hairs nor hers can penetrate it, the penalty is only a thullaccaya, since he did not make direct contact.
Only if the contact is skin-to-skin, skin-to-hair or hair-to-hair (as might be possible through thin cloth) does he commit the full offence.
Thus a bhikkhu (monk) who fondles the breasts or buttocks of a fully-clothed woman would incur only a thullaccaya since the contact was indirect.
While this point might be true in a technical sense, there are two points from the Vibhanga which indicate that its compilers did not have this sort of thing in mind when they mentioned indirect contact.
1. In its discussion of passive contact, the Vibhanga divides the factor of effort into two parts: effort and result.
The result necessary for a full offence is that the bhikkhu detects contact.
The important word here is "detect" (pativijanati): The Canon uses it to refer to cases where one perceives something that may not be readily apparent, and here it seems specifically designed to cover instances where the contact may not be skin-to-skin, but can still be felt as bodily contact.
Thus if the contact is such that the bhikkhu could feel the presence of the woman's body through his or under her clothing, direct contact has been made.
If this much contact is sufficient for a full offence under passive contact, it would seem reasonable that it should also be sufficient when the contact is active.
2. The Vinita Vatthu contains the following case:
"Now at that time, a certain bhikkhu, seeing a woman he encountered coming in the opposite direction, was infatuated and gave her a blow with his shoulder.
He was remorseful...'Bhikkhu, you have committed a sanghadisesa offence.'
As mentioned in the Introduction, since these things tend to become complex, we have to go on the assumption that the Vibhanga compilers were careful enough to include all of the relevant facts in describing the cases in the Vinita Vatthu.
Now if the Commentary's assertion was true - that the amount of cloth between the bodies of the bhikkhu and the woman is important in determining whether an offence has occurred - they would have mentioned this factor at least indirectly, saying, for instance, that the encounter took place in the monastery, where he might have had his shoulder uncovered, rather than outside of the monastery, where he should have had it covered; or that he had neglected to cover his shoulders when leaving the monastery; or that he was wearing a very fine robe which allowed his hair to pass through.
But it says nothing of the sort, and its silence here suggests that such questions are irrelevant.
Issues like this are unlikely to occur to the untrained mind of ordinary persons. So, there is a vast difference in the mind training on precepts between the practice of Sangha Members and laypersons.
Our organisation is interested in such training.
We instruct our female Members to avoid the cases of indirect contact mentioned in the Vinita Vatthu in the case of Monks, and our male Members to apply the same rules to Nuns, even where the Nuns are holding only 10 precepts.
In general, Buddhist Monks and Nuns who hold many rules (precepts) are the least stressed persons you are likely to meet.
Many persons find it useful to learn about the secrets of how to lower stress in their life about various things.
It is simple in theory - observe more precepts. But in practice, because habit is strong, it is not easy to live with extra precepts.
It is about the only means you have if you decide to alter your life style.
However, the good news is that when laypersons become more aware of the possibility of increasing the number of precepts they might apply to their own life, their minds gain a certain type of lightness.
The person having this cetasika has a pleasant, less stressful, feeling all night and day.
Why has Buddha Dhamma lasted so strongly over 2,500 years?
The simple fact is that it works to relieve suffering.
For those who incline to take extra precepts, you are advised our Teacher teaches special students how to deeply practice the Prajna Paramita.
Our Teacher has stated he will accept two more persons in the Tuesday class.
The needed commitment is to hold five precepts and attend regularly every Tuesday at 7.30 pm for one hour over the next three years. If interested, contact us on (03) 9754 3334.
These ancient teachings involve the Perfection of Wisdom sutras.
In the matter of precepts, they are superior to most of your parental teachings.
In the prologue of the longer version of the sutra, this line presents the Buddha as being immersed in deep samadhi while the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara is absorbed in contemplating the meaning of the Perfection of Wisdom.
The statement is significant here in that the tradition insists that "a looking into" the nature of reality is not a matter of mere intellectual analysis (which the followers of Mahayana at times accused the Hinayana Abhidharmists of doing) but demands deep absorption so that awareness moves from the merely superficial to the profoundly intuitive.
This is true for the celestial bodhisattva as it is for each one of us.
In the Mahayana cosmology, "Prajnaparamita" (the perfection of wisdom) is a goddess who has been called "the mother of the Buddhas"; her presence here can be interpreted either cosmologically or etymologically.
According to the Prajna paramita, even your mother, father or any other relative cannot do you as much good as your own properly directed thought.
Yet, the support of mother and father, the cherishing of spouse and children and peaceful occupations are some of the 37 Supreme Blessings.
It is noted that after the birth of Bodhisattva Goutam, his mother Devi Mahamaya passed away within the week and took rebirth in Tusita heaven.
She could never conceive again.
The Mahaprajapati Goutami who brought up Goutam was the step-mother of Goutam. The wife Yasodhara and the son Rahula attained the Nibbana during their lifetimes.
But the Buddha, out of compassion, spent three months in the Tusita heaven with a view to teaching His mother the Abhidhamma along with other Tusita gods and goddesses for their enlightenment, and came down on this day at Sankashya, a town in northern India.
When the next Buddha appears in this world, Devi Mahamaya will then take birth in this plane and, after hearing the words of the Buddha, will attain the Nibbana.
These are called Dhammata of the Buddha.
Our Centre is a Regional Centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists.
The World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) is an organisation working for the unified spirit of all world Buddhists.
The duty of a committee member or an administrative member should be considered extremely important.
He or she should possess more special qualities than other ordinary Buddhist followers; should properly know the Buddha's Dharma; and practice according to the Buddha's words.
At the very least, committee members or administrative members of the World Fellowship of Buddhists should be spiritually trained enough to be “good people”, observing the Five Buddhist Precepts.
This set of Buddhist Precepts is the World Protector.
As to one of the Buddhist proverbs "SILAM LOKE ANUTTARAM", the Buddhist discipline is the World Supremacy.
The Buddhist discipline (sila) is the Primary Refuge, the Mother of all Virtues, and the Head of all Dharmas.
In other words, all virtues arise from the Buddhist discipline. Without the Buddhist discipline, there will be no goodness and evil may take place instead.
Most people today certainly lack the Buddhist discipline. Thus, problems and disasters caused by nature and human beings are prevailing.
In fact, all perilous events are caused by human beings who have evil hearts. They continue to commit evil deeds and get evil retributions.
This is the Law of Karma.
Nothing, except the power of goodness, can obstruct the retribution of the evil karma.
There will be no disunity, if all of you are equal in your Buddhist discipline.
Owing to the Great Wisdom of the Lord Buddha who is above all deities and human beings, the Buddhist discipline is laid down to prevent our disunity.
Thus, may I ask all of you to preserve well your Buddhist discipline in order to end all wars and dissension.
There is a Buddhist proverb: "May all of you consider disunity a disaster and consider unity as safety for our lives. May you all be in accord and a compromise with one another”.
This is truly a Buddha's Teaching.
This script was written and edited by: John D. Hughes, Pennie White and Lisa Nelson.
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References:
Brown, Leslie (ed.), (1993), The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, New York; Oxford University Press.
Encyclopedia Britannica, (1987) Britannica Micropedia, Volume Five, United States of America; Encyclopedia Britannica Inc...
ISYS database search: The Relinquishment of Affiliation From Your Family, Knox FM Radio Broadcast 25 July 1999 For more information, contact the Centre or better still, come and visit us. |
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