The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast for Sunday 21 April 2002

Broadcast Script 221

Glossary


belittle: make small, diminish in size, depreciate, decry, cause to appear small; dwarf

cite: to summon, to call upon officially, bring to mind, call to another’s attention, to mention formally in a citation, to name formally, typically in commendation or praise.

inept: unsuitable for a purpose, unfit, invalid, void; lacking in judgment or skill; foolish, clumsy, incompetent; not suited to the occasion; out of place, inappropriate.

musings: the action of thought abstraction, meditations

Today’s broadcast is entitled:

Musings towards a conceptual solution for our production
and publication of Buddha Dhamma.

We have yet to write a satisfactory conceptual solution to our position of ranking performance in Buddha Dhamma education.

The percentage of staff with doctorates is one clear measure.

Here, today, we present some musings on this matter.

At the third meeting of the World Buddhist University Council held in Bangkok, Thailand on 9 February 2002, it was estimated of the working party of 13 persons, 10 were doctorates. John D. Hughes attended this council meeting as a Council Advisor.

In addition, each of the Directors of the World Buddhist University’s four institutes held doctorates.

Over the years, many of the articles in our flagship review, Buddha Dhyana Dana Review, were written by persons with doctorates.

There is an international readership and general readership well beyond academia for the best scholarship if the authors can write well and the work is edited and packaged effectively.

We wish to train our present and future writing team members to be able to enter such markets. We are looking for persons to train in our guidelines of our systems.

Some musings on our scholarship will now be explained.

Our radio script texts are archived and can be viewed on the web for some years. We make efforts to edit in a style suitable for English as a second language readers. We try to find the balance between something that is to be read and something that is to be heard.

The lemma of our script writers is “Let goodly co-mates in the righteous life come here in the future, and let those that have already come live happily”.

This lemma about living happily is the seventh condition for communal stability of our Buddha Dhamma Centre.

The seven conditions for communal stability of anything are:

to assemble repeatedly and in large numbers,

to assemble in harmony and disperse in harmony, so long as they do the business of the Order in harmony,

introduce no revolutionary ordinance, break up no established ordinance, but live in accordance with the appointed charges,

to honour the elder brethren, men of many days and long ordained, fathers of the Order and men of standing in the Order,

to not fall subject to that craving which arises and leads back to rebirth,

so long as there shall be brethren who are fond of the forest life and lodging,
to establish themselves in mindfulness with the thought:

“Let goodly co-mates in the righteous life come here in the future, and let those that have already come live happily”.

There is no place in our organisation for anti-social persons who belittle their co-mates unless they are trained away from this mind of slander.

One of our most useful woman Members at present is nearly 50 years old. When she first came to the Centre over 3 years ago, she was depressed and suicidal by nature. She was born in Australia to a low grade family and socially inept. Her earlier life had been spent belittling authority figures and complaining about other persons. She could not deal with complexity. We convinced her to overcome her lack of education and she is studying at Tertiary and Further Education (TAFE).

We ran a speed learning course for her benefit.

She takes her moral directions for her behavior from the precepts of Lord Buddha and has chosen to weave these into some form of global humanism in accordance with the World Fellowship of Buddhists. This is because she understands the right causes and effects can be made by each of our Members and herself.

The new motivation for her present activity is now multidimensional and she presents herself as dealing with complexity without too much regret.

We produce written Dhamma having a fair degree of variation in readability so that she can understand with her reading level now at first year university level.

We assume our listeners are as intelligent as we are.

For example, our Flesch Grade Level for one year of our radio broadcasts ranged from 8.3 to 13.7. This is equivalent to secondary school to second year undergraduate. We have a fair amount of retention in defining the topic we write about.

We have introduced two questions at the conclusion of each broadcast. Our model answers are of higher knowledge orders suitable for post-graduate studies.

The position from which we write has been carefully looked at and has three faces, a host position, guest position and a functional position. Eighty per cent of our writing is from the host position. The host position is authoritative.

Clearly our writers need to be careful to produce authoritative writing for the host position. If our writers do not have that understanding of the post-graduate higher level they are trying to write about, it is better they find a reference to attribute writing from a Master via a quote.

Our quotes are accurate.

To deliver something that is both spoken on air and delivered in text on our Internet sites is a fine balance which we know we achieve. This policy is our leading edge.

Who is our target audience?

We wish to write in accordance with the Dhamma to reach persons who have minds well developed from Western education, but uncultivated from the viewpoint of Dhamma, and for well educated persons with Dhamma in their heart but who desire to learn to speak and write in this English language as a special language.

Who helps us achieve authenticity?

Many scholars, Devas and Devatas help guide us in developing our writing content.

Our publishing program provides training opportunities for global private correspondence, Internet input, key articles for the Buddha Dhyana Dana Review, Longhair Australian News, our in-house journal Brooking Street Bugle, and practice in writing conceptual solutions to real projects.

We also write cost conscious training manuals.

Some of our Members have ten years experience organising flower stalls and the documentation is preserved in our files. At present, we are preparing a manual of how to run and cost a flower stall.

In cost consciousness faith cannot fly in the face of a lack of precepts and experience.

Our organisation has made much merit from training enterprises over the years.

Scripts of our weekly broadcast have been placed on our Internet website www.bdcublessings.net.au over the last two years.

Most of the time, because of weekly time pressures, very little “original work” in the Western scholarship sense is done for the average broadcast talk.

But from another viewpoint, is not presenting dozens of good ideas in the course of one talk as a critical review or “state of the art outline” a form of scholarship?

This literacy activity makes great merit because it brings Members into contact with many great authors. Great authors inspire us.

Walter Savage Landor (1775 - 1864) wrote, “ He who praises a good book becomingly, is next to merit to the author”.

So, whenever one of our broadcast team Members researches a script and cites an author, he or she makes merit.

In the near future, we intend to multiply our merit further by offering a Dhamma radio website that permits a listener to hear the one hour broadcast at any time.

Harmonious team working and delivery of content under pressure is a valuable commercial skill. Because each week, we cover a different topic, over time Members come in contact with a wide range of advice on practical new management subjects and how they can be financed.

We believe our version of literacy acquisition is not simply a cognitive process but a social and communication based skill.

The rise of Buddha Dhamma throughout the West is the countermeasure and antidote to a loss of cognitive processes with social basic skills.

Our Teacher guides Members weekly to become familiar with our library references. Our present mission is to bias present global forces to cause our Buddha Dhamma library to stay serviceable for 500 years. Many methods are used for this purpose. We reflect on Walter Cronkite’s praiseworthy vision in respect to the preservation of libraries:

“Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.”

What do our users see? The public only see library work as output and do not see the library back room work as input.

The ordering of volumes and the holding premises is work as input.

The general public do not see the work as input or the many offerings we do to the Deva of the Library and the Devata of Learning.

We will streamline our invisible work as input to strengthen for the library.

Our library has been listed on Australian libraries gateway for some years and has become a library of national importance. Its on-line publications reach a world audience.

Details of the library, including work in progress, can be found on our searchable website www.bdcu.org.au. Improvements are made regularly.

One of the highest blessings is the discipline in training the mind in the way of the Dhamma library. According to the Mangala Sutta, one of the highest blessings is “to have done meritorious actions in the past”.

Many beings are blessed upon hearing the Dhamma, as the Buddha stated in the Dhammapada.

At present, our library has some excellent examples of the world's specialist Buddha Dhamma reference materials and artifacts. Our calligraphy is of world standard.

Most of these specialist materials deal with training of the mind, otherwise known as mental culture. This culture is the first step towards taming mental unrest.

W.H. Auden (1979) stated “You must learn to choose the truth before aesthetic preferences”.

Just because something is well written or pleasant to hear does not necessarily mean it has correct information.

We must get beyond appearances.

Some books have colourful pictures that are pretty but they are meaningless for learning. Others bring the mind to rest in a single glance with a few photographs.

A source of information on Right View would be the Sammaditthi Sutta and its Commentary. The Discourse on Right View was taught by the Buddha whilst living at Saravatthi in Jeta’s Grove, Anathapindika’s Park, India:

“Indeed, friend, we would come from far away to learn from the Venerable Sariputta the meaning of this statement. It would be good if the Venerable Sariputta would explain the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from him, the Bhikkus will remember it.”
“Then, friends, listen and attend closely to what I shall say.”
“Yes, friend” the Bhikkus replied.
The Venerable Sariputta said this:
“When, friends, a noble disciple understands the unwholesome, the root of the unwholesome, the wholesome and the root of the wholesome, in that way he is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma and has arrived at this true Dhamma”.

The concept of inter-dependence is at the heart of industrial restructuring of Australia and worldwide, and so we dispense Dhamma training which allows our development to really operate the concept of inter-dependent work teams of many types of individual.

Some of our new Members are lucky enough and strong enough to conform to our written protocols and do not prevaricate about what is path and what is not path avoiding the years of practice that gives vision. Others are not.

From a Buddhist perspective, however, consciousness and the world co-exist in a relationship of mutual creation which equally requires both terms.”

To achieve success, persons need many new skills. One of these is knowing the audience. These include: knowing the time, knowing the place and knowing the order of the presenters.

Those propagating Buddha Dhamma should have many more such skills. It is important that no element of the project will fail. For example, it is possible the tone of staging events and speakers could be placed in the wrong temporal order unless the nature of the audience’s likely attention span was clearly seen.

We position the Centre of gravity of planning on practice rather than theory. We must have access to more than one view in order to set up the correct mandala. There are at least four views:

What do you do?
What do you not do?
What do we both do and not do? or
None of the above.

This is a simple fourfold analysis.

The American diplomat, Henry Kissinger, highlights one course, "The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously". (1978) We seldom have no alternatives.

We can choose what needs to be considered first, then second, then third and so on when we set up a mandala of objectives.

We request the Triple Gem to help us.

The major objective is to cause significant awakening in those who do not practice by providing accessibility of good teachings and Teachers.

Writings about the perfection of energy is another area of Buddha Dhamma that is unique in all the world. These writings deal with energy that is not developed to conquer the world in the oppressive military sense. Rather, it has a subtle nature that a few persons in the world today who develop themselves in the Perfections can understand.

“It is a joyous energy”, according to Shantideva in his Bodhisattva-Charyavatara. It is the kind of energy that immediately leads us into situations so we never miss a chance, never miss an opportunity to generate merit. This energy is joy rather than the kind of energy with which we work hard because we feel we must.

The Lord Buddha does not sanction disclosing such statements of the level of Buddhist Teachers attainment to the public at large.

When we look at the profound changes one person can make in the world there cannot be another likely explanation for their occurrence other than the perfection of energy described by the Buddha.

"Enthusiasm finds the opportunities, and energy makes the most of them," according to Henry S. Haskins, the American writer of "Meditations in Wall street”.

This display of mental energy is real and measurable enough in its extreme force that it can be brought to bear for peaceful purposes in a darkening world.

In Buddhist practice the concept of right energy has got many components. The meaning of energy is “one who is pleased to perform virtuous actions”.

In the Pali phrase “Appamadena Sampadeta”, the Buddha referred to the meaning of Appamada as earnestness, diligence, and heedfulness or full awareness. It is an antonym of Pamada, careless, negligence or indolence. The roots and foundation of all achievement in Dhamma, Appamada is the first sight of all Dhamma attainment just as the ray of light at the first sight of the sun rising above the horizon.

During the Buddha's lifetime, He directed his energy to the service of others, untiringly working for others with no expectation of remuneration or reward.

Buddhist practitioners are encouraged to become aware of the many benefits of practicing perfection of energy and the shortcomings of not practicing.

Supreme enlightenment is achievable through the perfection of energy.

In order to cultivate the Right View towards the perfection of energy, you require diligent and persistent effort, and the will to maximise the opportunities of your everyday life.

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

It takes energy to eradicate the unwholesome mental states or in Pali, akusala cetasikas, which have already arisen and prevent those unwholesome states, yet to arise, from arising. Their appearing on the mind is due to past karma.

At our Centre, Members participate in many projects. Often one Member may be working on four or five projects concurrently. Being able to organise and plan for the complexities that arise and the need for the correct order of operation, from such a broad involvement relates to the practice of the perfection of energy.

With every new generation, Scholars of Buddha Dhamma renew the presentation of Buddha Dhamma in order to give it a contemporary flavour. In this way they are able to keep the Teachings relevant to the current generation. This means they must study the past commentaries and references.

It is in this area that Scholars display one of the most outstanding features of perfection of energy in Buddha Dhamma, that is the achievement of the skill in building new structures by utilising the resources of the past for the benefit of present and future generations. They might research one paper for a decade.

What are our organisation’s current higher educational publishing prospects?
Within our present financial restraints, we gave up use of our onsite offset printer several years ago, because we did not think printing was our core business.

Since then, University presses globally struggle to turn a profit. Our Authors invariably subsidise our publications by waiving royalties or payment for their articles.

Yet, despite being heavily subsidised by our organisation and others, our free publication, Buddha Dhyana Dana Review, came to a slow death recently. The last issue Volume 10 No.3 2000, had 16 pages instead of 80 pages of A4 format. One photograph in black and white was on the cover of this issue. It comprised of abstracts of the following topics.

Abstracted contents were :
Editorial
Buddha Dhamma Tradition - Teachings and Events at our Centre.
Five Day Bhavana Course, December 2000.
SARVA TATHAGATA HREDAYA DHATU MUDRE GUHAYA DHARANE Translation by Francisco So.
Kathina Ceremony 2000.
Lord Buddha’s Noble Supreme Way of ‘World Peace’ Poem by Venerable Bhikku Vipassanpal Thero.
The Greatness of the Buddha by Venerable Doctor B. Prajna Nandasari.
Quang Duc Monastery Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony.
The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast Sunday 10 December 2000.
Appeal for Buddha’s Light Universal Welfare Society.
Appeal for our Centre.

With publication and postage costs, over $AUD 20,000 per year we have decided to close publication of the paper version and concentrate on our Web version.

This has expanded to over 200 page equivalent per issue plus colour photographs.

We will continue to use on-line editions unless we can find a generous benefactor, we will no longer be able to print paper versions of the last four issues ( Volume 11 No. 1, No.2 and No. 3 2001, and Volume 12 No.1 2002).

Unfortunately we receive more and more requests from third world countries that do not have Internet access, for the paper versions.

Until we have reached a conceptual solution on publication we cannot resolve this.

The first wave of our writers was our learned Teacher assisted by 3 good copy typists. The second wave was five of his students who had tertiary studies assisted by 6 regular word processing helpers.

What will be the profile of our third wave of writers and who will assist them?

Professor Judith Bessant, director of the Australian Catholic University’s Social Policy and Advocacy Research Centre has found those 20 to 24 year olds studying increased from 17 percent in the early 1980s to 28 percent in May 1998.

She said that more young people were deciding to invest in education as there was a lack of job opportunities.

Students are looking for satisfiers for their intellectual, emotional and cultural needs.

When it becomes widely known that it is exciting and satisfying to write, edit and publish Buddha Dhamma, many of these students will volunteer to help us.

At present our second wave team Members are very capable and pleasant persons who work and study in local Universities. The students and lecturers they meet and teach would look for more opportunities to associate more often with them.

Because we operate and manage our 8 web sites with 9 of our members supporting them in-house, many persons seek this type of work experience.

The third wave will include educated persons in other countries who will help us build our education operations by email.

By planning to act with others as a portal for good information in several education fields, we could develop the increased capacity to take leadership roles in our academic development of Members and friends.

May our weekly radio broadcasts be a cause for many beings to cultivate the right view towards Scholarship.

May you come to have samma ditthi.

May they attain Appamada.

May you be well and happy and obtain success in your practice.

May you consider joining us in our aspirations for world peace.

Today's radio script includes a compendium of weekly broadcasts from 24 June 2001 up to and including 5 August 2001. You can find this radio script and previous scripts online at: www.bdcublessings.net.au

This script was written and edited by John D. Hughes, Anita Svensson, Evelin Halls and Pennie White.


References:

Ngamsnit, Dr. Sman (2002). “Appamada”, cited in the World Fellowship of Buddhists Newsletter, Volume 5, No. 2, February B.E. 2545/2002.

Patrick Lawnham, The Australian Newspaper, Higher Education supplement, 17 April 2002, ‘Student poverty takes toll’ p 29.

Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 1993.

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.


Document Statistics

Totals
Words: 3,427
Sentences: 191
Paragraphs: 148
Characters: 17,111

Averages:
Words per sentence: 17.9
Sentences per paragraph: 1.3
Characters per word: 4.8

Percentages:
Passive Sentences: 17%

Readability Statistics:
Flesch Reading Ease Score: 53.9
Flesch Kincaid Grade Level: 9.8
Coleman-Liau Grade Level: 13.8
Bormuth Grade Level: 10.6


Readability Statistics
Displays statistics about the document's readability, such as the Flesch Grade Level and Flesch Reading Ease Score. These statistics help you determine if you are writing at a level your audience can understand.

Flesch Grade Level: Flesch Grade Level indicates the Flesch Reading Ease score as a grade level. See the Flesch Scoring Table.

Flesch Reading Ease Score: Indicates how easy the document is to read based on the number of syllables per word and number of words per sentence. These scores indicate a number between 0 and 100. The higher the score, the easier the document is to read. See the Flesch Scoring Table.

Flesch-Kincaid Score: Indicates the grade level of the document based on the number of syllables per word and number of words per sentence. This score predicts the difficulty of reading technical documents, and is based on Navy training manuals that score in difficulty from 5.5 to 16.3. It meets military readability specifications MIL-M-38784 and DOD-STD-1685.


Flesch Scoring Table

(Reference: Lotus Word Pro Help Files)


This Radio Script is for Free Distribution. It contains Buddha Dhamma material and is provided for the purpose of research and study.
Permission is given to make printouts of this publication for FREE DISTRIBUTION ONLY.
Please keep it in a clean place.
"The gift of Dhamma excels all other gifts".

© 2002. Copyright. The Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.

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


© 2002. Copyright. The Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.

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