The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast for Sunday 16 December 2001
Hillside Radio 87.6 & 88 FM 11am to 12pm
Broadcast Script 202

Glossary

parochial: of or pertaining to an ecclesiastical parish, of or pertaining to a civilian parish, merely local or provincial; restricted or narrow in scope.

The topic of today’s broadcast is:
A Compendium of Previous Broadcasts

As Robert Dessaix explained in an address given at a School of Languages Postgraduate Conference at Melbourne University in October 1999, Wittgenstein proposed that ‘the limits of my language are the limits of my world’.

Potted thinking is so parochial and widespread that many persons find a form of contentment in arriving at “mysteries” which are like what seems to be “chicken and egg” endless loops. This means they wish to strive to arrive at futility without understanding.

If you are willing to study and develop yourself you can come to the not fabricated labels of what happens. If sensation is predominant, intuition is barred, this being the function that pays the least attention to tangible facts: and conversely, a person with an excess of intuition lives in a world of unproven possibilities.

Learning depends on repeated hearing of the instructions.

Words, even the words of the Buddha, are like the menu at a restaurant. We read the menu to see what there is to eat, and then we order the food. We cannot eat the menu to stop our hunger.

What the Buddha taught is a complete set of instructions which if followed can guide the individual to complete awakening. Remember Buddha Dhamma is a harmless religion. No one is forced to follow Buddha Dhamma. No anger or curse is directed to the person who chooses not to follow the Teachings of the Buddha. Respect for other people’s faith, beliefs, trusts and values take a prominent place in Buddhist Teaching.

It is not the function of the Dhamma to merely suggest an increase in raw, undisciplined, undirected, lawless, “pretend” compassion (karuna), or loving-kindness (metta) is “all you need”, as one of the earlier mass-marketed pop groups sang.

The action of waking up means persons can recognise and come to terms with the enormous influence that superstition has had on shaping his or her past human actions.

We have a sense of gratitude that the ancient Romans did not destroy all the ancient Buddhist monasteries in India. Writings from such places still exist in the world today. We have a sense of gratitude towards Microsoft, without whose programming efforts this script could not be so effectively produced on our computers.

We intend to write and speak evenly with a view of adding light rather than heat to a given problem in a discourse.

A recent survey showed 43% if Australians practised no religion at all in the previous year, so it seems unlikely the notion of Christian religions, which was once based around English, Scottish and Irish migrants will tend to fade from our cultural or ethnic identity. From a Buddhist viewpoint, this is to be expected, and is yet another example of the Dhamma-ending age we are entering.

In such an age, the quite hard teaching about morality becomes watered down. In the true Buddhist sense, there has been no compromise about the questions of sila (morality) because sila is the second perfection that ought be practised.

What is confusing to many ex-Christians is that what is taught as Christian commandments about moral behaviour does not match Buddhist precepts and what is acceptable for a Christian priest to practise is, in many cases, quite outside the vows of a Buddhist Monk or Nun.

Buddhist practitioners are not Christians in yellow robes. Many writers are too anxious to stress the common ground for fear of upsetting persons.

Lord Buddha said that giving detailed instructions on how to wake up the minds and practise to get out of suffering is the highest gift. The Pali word ‘dana’ means something like ‘giving something of value to others’. So Dhamma dana - the giving of the instructions of how to come out of suffering - is the highest gift. There is nothing higher than this.

We realise that passively listening to our Teacher is like vacantly viewing a map. The Teacher produces nothing to be learnt; his or her words only point at what we need to produce in our minds there and then. Today people talk so much about physical exercise; good, but what of our hearts, our minds? We need mental discipline, mental exercise, mental training.

A Bodhisattva adds value in the world through practical actualization of his or her vision. This vision is in the form of clearly articulated vows. John D. Hughes, founder of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. clearly articulates ‘Vision for Adding Value’ through a clear and consistent theme. This theme is ‘Lifetimes of Learning’ and the cultivation of friendliness, practicality, professionalism, cultural adaptability and scholarship.

The Buddha taught mindfulness, a tool which is more precious than jewels as many as all the sands in the river Ganges. Why is this tool so precious? Mindfulness enables beings to analyze the mind in operation; it is through analysis of the mind that wisdom is developed, and it is through wisdom that ignorance and suffering are dispelled.

Mindfulness is powerful and timeless, however it is subtle and it’s precious value is nearly always ignored in a society in which excitement receives top billing.

Without a sense of history one cannot study Buddha Dhamma because the present depends on the past and leads to the future. The whole process of history is a continuous series of cause and effect. Without an understanding of the past, there is no understanding of cause and effect.

Our Teacher strongly encourages his students to place a value on scholarship. It is through the practice of scholarship that humans can not only develop themselves in a number of ways, but also positively influence the many generations which follow.

Because the majority of people are not scholars they are happy to stay in an unsatisfying job as it provides a sense of security.

Buddha Dhamma practice, through the experience of scholarship, enables individuals to develop a higher order of thinking. This assists in overcoming the complacency of remaining in an unsuitable environment and accepting conditions unsuitable for Buddha Dhamma practice simply because it is the conventional cultural norm which allows them to do so.

To be born or emigrate to Australia is a result of good deeds in previous lives whereby that person practised generosity (dana) and morality (sila) or other good things. In addition, the person born in Australia had contributed in past lives to the prosperity and wellbeing of the country they were native to or had emigrated to. As the Buddha taught, everything can be linked to Cause and Effect, or kamma.

It is wise to contribute to the prosperity and wealth of Australia, which is our home today. Contributing to the prosperity of your country creates the conditions to be reborn in a suitable wealthy location in future lives.

To be born in a suitable location is one of the highest blessings.

Within a section of the Dragon King realm is the most advanced teaching facility taking the form of a super Buddhist university. In that campus, the complete Perfection of Wisdom texts (millions of lines) as taught by the Buddha in his seventh rainy season about 2,500 years ago are stored.

Even today, some advanced yogi persons can visit this heavenly place and report back on the higher teachings stored there.

Over 1,000 years ago, the Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna sent his mind there and transcribed the shorter version of the Prajna Paramita texts which we have available for study in the in the human world.

We are one of the best-equipped Australian organisations to deal with the study of the complexity of learning such things as the 60,000 Perfection of Wisdom texts, and we hope to continue the development of information technology in this field of study.

The Buddha Dhamma theory of causation, as explained by Daisaku Ikeda in the publication ‘Buddhism: The Living Philosophy’ (published by The East Publications, Inc., 1st edition 1974) (1.), describes the present self as an accumulation of actions from the past. All past causes contribute to the present effect. As Buddha Dhamma sees it, fate is the continuous working of cause and effect in life; it is a stream of strict cause and effect relations extending back into a limitless past and forward into a limitless future. Buddha Dhamma teaches that by revising one’s view of life in each present moment, one can gradually change the course of one’s kamma.

What is kamma?

In a lecture given by the Venerable Sayadaw U Sobhana in 1972, on the ‘Theory of Kamma in Buddhism’, and reproduced in a publication titled ‘An Introduction to Buddha Dhamma’ , (donated by U Kyaw Thein Lwin and family) (2), the pali term “kamma” literally means action or doing. The Venerable Sayadaw U Sobhana stated that...Any kind of intentional action whether mental, verbal or physical is regarded as Kamma. It covers all that is included in the phrase thought, word and deed. Generally speaking, all good and bad actions constitute Kamma. In its ultimate sense, Kamma means all moral and immoral volition. Involuntary, unintentional, or unconscious action, though technically deeds, do not constitute Kamma, because volition, the most important factor in the determining of Kamma, is absent.

The Buddha says:

“I declare o Bikkhus, that volition is kamma. Having willed, one acts by body, speech, and thought” (Anguttara Nikaya)

Without sufficient mental effort, our activity is governed by laziness and a person becomes incapable of performing the wholesome actions and of being successful in ordinary work, let alone in their practice of Buddha Dhamma.

The emphasis on energy is evidenced by the fact that Buddhist a practitioner to operate at a heightened level of activity. The preliminary stages of training require the practitioner to make enormous quantities of good actions in order to generate the causes to help themselves and others to progress along the Buddhist path.

Here viriya (or energy) does not mean physical strength, though this is an asset, but mental vigour or strength of character which is far superior.

Buddha Dhamma is not for the faint hearted as it requires great stamina, perseverance and determination not to waver from the path.

To make good causes you require diligence and persistent effort and the will to maximize the opportunities that arise to make merit every day of your life.

We improve the culture of our Member’s through the use of real systems that stay long enough before change to allow Members to be able to use them at the lower end of their power.

To put the teachings of the Buddha into practice will get us out of suffering, this is the aim of the Buddha’s teachings. Only human beings and Devas have the opportunity to follow the Buddha’s way to end suffering for themselves.

It is merit which fuels the learning process required to ‘calm the mind and discern the real’ so as to find the way out of suffering through your own experience.

In Roman times the Latin term “Mens Sana In Corpore Sano”, which means a sound mind in a sound body, was well known and understood.

This implies the notion that a healthy mind is a function of a healthy body.

To a very large extent this notion is still predominant in western cultures, given the extraordinary emphasis given to sporting activities, physical fitness and body culture.

The reason for this is that in the process of identification with their body, people derive the notion of who they are.

In Buddha Dhamma the emphasis is shifted in favour of the mind, since the body is considered to be a tool of the mind.

The Buddha taught that if progress in ‘mind cultivation’ was is be achieved it is important to maintain a healthy body, without becoming fanatical about it.

In psychosomatic medicine there is a notion that the body reflects the states of your mind, which to a certain extent equals the Buddha’s Teaching.

The Buddha taught that the mind is chief.

There may be comfort in a notion that there is someone who you can trust and call on to help you when in need. But is this notion likely to be actualised in a human life?

There is a saying known by followers of Buddha that friends become enemies and enemies become friends.

One of the major errors that Buddha warned his followers against was the danger of eternalist thought. To take refuge in a friend is an error of mind. Your friend may die tomorrow and you may not know the place of rebirth and he or she may have forgotten everything he or she knew about you.

What happiness can be found in that?

If you incline to a sense of irony you might say you can rely on your enemies to continue to attempt to thwart you in your work, pleasure and sleep. They will not fail to annoy you if you let them.

However, it is not useful to push this example too much if you are inclined to be of a hateful temperament because the thought of your enemies will incline to heat up and that will bring sickness and short life.

It is wise action to attend classes for detailed Dhamma instruction.

When our Teacher instructs his students, he is teaching them for the benefit of themselves and others.

True teachers of the Dhamma want the students to become happy and bright. But if we cling to our old culture, which has been built up over countless lifetimes, we cannot truly understand Dhamma and keep being stuck in the game of power. This kind of use of power which stops our creativity and stops us from learning the Dhamma comes from beings that have no Buddha culture and they do not want us to be bright and successful.

This use of power by imposing ideas upon others has to do with hate. For this reason, it is necessary for us to practise and give up hate because hate clouds our mind and hinders the study of the Buddha’s teachings. It is crucial to come out of our accumulated false adopted views and come to the right view as taught by the Buddha.

When the mind awakens through Buddha Dhamma practice, one learns right view, which in turn allows the individual to see the world as it really is and not how we would like it to be.

The path to Buddhist Scholarship is a lengthy one which requires much dedication a skill.

The Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. is determined to deal through education with many of the crises that are occurring in the World. These take the form of religious, cultural, social, economic and ecological and so on. Our organisation is a learning organisation.

Our Teacher teaches his students to practice Lifetimes of Learning and the cultivation of 5 Learning styles as part of their Dhamma practice.

These styles are:

• Friendliness

• Practicality

• Professionalism

• Cultural Adaptability

• Scholarship

Our Teacher trains his students in the Art of Scholarship through a number of the merit making activities at The Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.

Good karma can be accumulated by an individual by living a morally just life.

It takes many, many lifetimes of merit to have human rebirth and to be born in a country like Australia, where one can enjoy the right conditions for a better future and practice Buddha Dhamma.

In Buddha Dhamma long life is a blessing provided you are able to maximise your merit making potential, instead of wasting such a precious opportunity.

The texts show the wisdom of offerings to many Buddha rupa because each offering brings ten Blessings. The Buddha taught that due to cause and effect there are ten Blessings arising from the offering of flowers. These are:

Long Life
Good Health
Strength
Beauty
Wisdom
Ease along the Buddha Dhamma Path
Being born into beautiful environments
Born with good skin, hair and beautiful to look at
Always having a sweet smelling body
Pleasant relationships with friends
One of the highest blessings (Mangala blessings) is to live in a suitable location.

The Buddha explained that persons should avoid a monastery unfavourable to the development of concentration and laid a map of the 18 faults of a monastery.

Our Teacher has built a suitable location in accord with the map laid down by Buddha for persons to develop concentration and practice Buddha Dhamma.

One that has any of the eighteen faults should be understood as unfavourable. And this is said in the commentaries:

‘A Large abode, a new abode,
‘One tumbling down, one near a road,
‘One with a pond, or leaves or flowers,
‘Or fruits, or one that people seek:
‘In cities, among timber, fields,
‘Where people quarrel, in a port,
‘In border lands, on frontiers,
‘Unsuitableness, and no good friend -
‘These are the eighteen instances
‘A wise man needs to recognize
‘And give them full as wide a berth
‘As any footpad-hunted road.

You can spend a lifetime in Buddhist scholarship, prowling through its caves and passageways, absorbing little more than a fragment of the whole.

Versak is Lord Buddha’s birthday.

It is a very important occasion amongst practitioners of Buddha Dhamma as this is the date that Buddha Sakyamuni was born, attained Supreme enlightenment and passed away.

Versak is the name of a month on the lunar calendar that was used over 2500 years ago.

In the local system, it is the full moon in the month of May in our calendar, where two full moon days occur in that month, it is celebrated on the second.

It was at Versak in 1955 when our Teacher John D. Hughes came to good recollection of Buddha Dhamma due to good things done in the past times.

It was not too early or too late for him to develop the resources and skills needed to help persons find the Buddhist Path.

The Buddhist goal is Nibbana. Nibbana is not a kind of heaven where a transcendental ego resides, but it is attained when the necessary conditions are fulfilled.

May such practices become better understood by all sentient beings.

May all beings be well and happy.

Today’s radio script is a compendium of our weekly broadcasts from 14 November 1999 up to 14 May 2000. You can find this radio script and previous scripts online at www.bdcublessings.net.au.

The authors and editors of this script were: John D. Hughes, Pam Adkins, Leanne Eames, Evelin Halls, Lainie Smallwood and Pennie White.

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.

References

1. Ikeda, Daisaku. Buddhism: The Living Philosophy’ Published by The East Publications, Inc. Japan 1974.

2 Sobhana. Venerable Sayadaw U, ‘Theory of Kamma in Buddhism’, and reproduced in a publication titled ‘An Introduction to Buddha Dhamma’ (donated by U Kyaw Thein Lwin and family) Thailand 1972 (reproduced by Vincenzo Cavuoto)

Document Statistics

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Words: 3063
Sentences: 152
Paragraphs: 116
Syllables: 4612

Averages:

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Sentences per paragraph: 1.3

Percentages:
Passive Sentences: 32

Readability Statistics:

Flesch Grade Level: 11.3
Coleman-Liau Grade Level: 11.6
Bormuth Grade Level: 10.3
Flesch Reading Ease Score: 55.5
Flesch-Kincaid Score: 10.1

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May You Be Well And Happy

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