The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast for Sunday 14 October 2001

The topic of today’s broadcast is: Preparing for Operations of War

Si vis pacem, para bellum.

If you want peace, prepare for war.

(Vegetius, 4th-5th century A.D.)

We must prepare our mind for operations of war, otherwise how can our minds be ready for peace when the war is over?

Our prediction is that the operations of war that have commenced this week could last 28 years which is much longer than the decade the American President had predicted.

It would be nice if students of Buddha Dhamma could set aside reserves of merit to account for their daily exposure to negative states of mind. Unfortunately, the quantification, to the next likely exposure to negative states is not an exact science and can be no more than an educated guess. An unexpected death may oppress us, where as an expected death of someone older may be quite manageable.

Now the beginnings of what might develop to be World War Three has started, persons could experience some unexpected death within the next decade or two. The present operations of war cannot be resolved within a short time frame because the Taliban will to fight on the ground is based on historical record. They fought Russian troops over a protracted period until Russian forces withdrew. This is a very simple summary of an extremely complex political situation that seems beyond a diplomatic solution today.

In Australia the power of Australian media networks to obtain feed from intensive networks that gather global information in fine detail, means Australians can look forward to decades of the results of operations of war.

We hope the war is not expressed in terms of one set of religious values fighting another set of religious values.

Unfortunately, Islam and Christendom have engaged in military action since the birth of Islam. The rise of Islam is explained in the UNESCO History of Mankind:

In the first years of the seventh century the inhabitants of two obscure townships in Arabia were shaken by the eloquence of a man... In the communication of Mohammed his contemporaries caught the note of a divine revelation, and his sermons, preached over almost twenty years, represent the greatest religious event in the Asia since the proclamation of the Nicene creed. Its consequences were incalculable; for it was partly as a result of the exaltation induced by the Arabs’ new faith that, before the century was half spent, they had embarked on a programme of world conquest which was to become one of the mightiest epics of human history.

The Crusaders also had ideas of expansion, their long mission was to reconquer the Holy Places. “With the Christians’ acquisition of new territory in the Mediterranean basin went a profound modification of trade relations; for European shipping had won control of the sea. The war brought to Europe the capital it had lacked hitherto, by way of tributes paid by Moslem states (as in Spain) and booty from successful raids or conquests. Most important of all, the balance of trade was better; articles made in Europe not only gave it a greater measure of self-sufficiency but also by their quality created new markets in the Byzantine and Moslem countries.”

European perceptions were formed by French poetry such as “Songs of Rowland” and “The Farewell Lament of A Christian Knight” in the Year 785 as he was leaving a Spain that was almost entirely conquered by Arabs (Saracens).

This song moves the heart because it polarises the players. As minds are likely to be heated up by the propaganda which will come from both sides, it will be necessary to bear up, otherwise at the end of the long war persons will be unable to construct a significant Peace, because they have disturbed their minds too much.

There are Buddhist methods that prevent this type of mental strain operating. These were mentioned in several of our radio scripts, the most recent being in our radio script broadcast on 18 February 2001: Effective Use of Libido.

When teaching the Prajnaparamita last Tuesday evening, our Teacher wished to commence the Teaching from the platform of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment and found that some new Members were not fully conversant with these factors.

In practice Members ought to review or attend to these enlightenment factors on a daily basis. This theoretically helps students to fairly accurately quantify their exposure to good practice and this assists them with noting whether it has been a profitable day or otherwise.

The reportage of these events will be in such a way as to hinder the understanding of the way to release from suffering.

Buddha Dhamma is the teaching of enlightenment. Persons who diligently practice to attaining enlightenment should first know clearly the impediments that block the path to enlightenment.

Life, according to the right understanding of a Buddha, is suffering and that suffering is based on ignorance or in Pali avijja. Ignorance is the experiencing of that which is unworthy of experiencing, namely evil.

The seven factors of enlightenment are:

1. Mindfulness (sati)

2. Keen investigation of the Dhamma (dhammavicaya)

3. Energy (viriya)

4. Rapture or happiness (piti)

5. Calm (passaddhi)

6. Concentration (samadhi)

7. Equanimity (upekkha)

At one time when the Buddha was living at Rajagaha, the Venerable Maha Kassapa, who was living in Pipphali Cave, was sick, stricken with a severe illness.

The Buddha, on rising from his solitude at eventide, visited the Venerable Maha Kassapa, took his seat, and spoke to the Venerable in this way: Well Kassapa, how is it with you? Are you bearing up; are you enduring? Do your pains lessen or increase? Are there signs of your pains lessening and not increasing?

Kassapa replied: No, Lord, I am not bearing up. I am not enduring. The pain is very great. There is a sign not of the pains lessening, but of their increasing.

The Buddha said: Seven factors of enlightenment are well expounded by me, cultivated and much developed by me, and when cultivated and much developed they conduce to full realisation, perfect wisdom, to Nibbana. What are the seven?

Mindfulness. This O, Kassapa, is well expounded by me, cultivated and much developed by me, and when cultivated and much developed, it conduces to full realisation, perfect wisdom, to Nibbana. Similarly, Investigation of the Dhamma... Energy... Rapture... Calm... Concentration... Equanimity lead to the same result.

The Venerable Maha Kassapa rejoicing, welcomed the utterances of the Worthy One. The Venerable Maha Kassapa rose from that illness. There and then that ailment of the Venerable Maha Kassapa vanished.

What this shows is how our mind tremendously and profoundly influences and affects the body. If allowed to function wrongly and entertain unwholesome or harmful thoughts, mind can cause disaster, and even kill a being; but mind can also cure illnesses. When concentrated on thoughts with right understanding, the effects mind can produce are immense.

Prolonged concentration on killing others for 28 years will produce a generation of very sick persons.

It is the non-perception of the conglomerate nature of the aggregates; non-perception of sense-organ and sense object in their respective and objective natures; non-perception of the emptiness or the relativity of the elements ; non-perception of the dominant nature of the sense-controlling faculties ; non-perception of the thusness- the infallibility of the Four Noble Truths. And the five hindrances are the nutriment of (or condition for) this ignorance.

They are called hindrances because they completely close in, cut off and obstruct. They hinder the understanding of the way to release from suffering.

When one has confidence in the Triple Gem, there come into existence profound or systematic thinking, mindfulness and clear comprehension, restraint of the senses, the three good modes of life, the four arousings of mindfulness, the seven factors of enlightenment, and deliverance through wisdom, one after another in due order.

This can happen even under operations of war, if we make the effort.

The first enlightenment factor is mindfulness (sati). It is the instrument most efficacious in selfmastery and whoever practices it has found the path to deliverance .

The person lacking in this all important quality of mindfulness cannot achieve anything worthwhile. The importance of mindfulness was stressed by the Buddha on his death bed.

The Buddha’s final advice to his disciples while lying on his death bed is this: “Transient are all component things. Work out your deliverance with mindfulness” .

It is through being mindful that you can start to see things as they really are.

May you be mindful to be well and happy

This script was written and edited by: John D. Hughes, Julian Bamford, Evelin Halls, Lisa Nelson, Anita Svensson and Pennie White.

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References

Oxford, (1979) The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Oxford, Oxford University Press, p 556.

Piyadassi, Venerable Mahathera. (1999) The Spectrum of Buddhism, ISBN 955-9098-03-9, Taipei; The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, p 263 -278.

UNESCO, (1975) History of Mankind, Volume Three, No. 1, London; George Allen and Unwin Limited, p 141.

Woodruff, Lance (2001) Personal Correspondence, E-mail message, Thailand Merton Centre.

Document Statistics

Total
Words 1480
Sentences 81
Paragraphs 40
Syllables 2345

Averages:
Words per sentence 18.3
Sentences per paragraph 2.0

Percentages:
Passive Sentences: 16

Readability Statistics
Flesch Grade Level: 12.1
Coleman-Liau Grade Level: 12.8
Bormuth Grade Level: 10.6
Flesch Reading Ease Score: 52.9
Flesch-Kincaid Score: 9.5

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May You Be Well And Happy

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