The
Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast for Sunday 9 June 2002
Broadcast
Script 228
Today's program is entitled: “Lending a
Helping Hand”
Today, we will read
to you the paper prepared for the Winter Five Day Bhavana Course 14
to 18 June 2002, One of the Ten Perfections: “Lending a Helping
Hand”.
This paper was prepared by Anita Hughes RNDiv1 and
John D. Hughes Dip. App.Chem. T.T.T.C. GDAIE, Julian Bamford B.A.
App.Rec., Evelin Halls, Dip. Foreign Language Correspondence, Rilla
Pargeter and Pennie White, B.A. Dip.Ed. and will be taught by Evelin
Halls, Dip. Foreign Language Correspondence and Pennie White, B.A.
Dip.Ed.
“Lending a helping hand” is one of the
Ten Perfections. To help Members access the right minds for
considering such subject matter, the Winter Five Day Bhavana Course
2002 provides Members and others with the opportunity to learn what
others see as ‘lending a helping hand’.
This week,
we received a copy of the e-journal Dhamma Times from Singapore, a
publication bringing Buddha Dhamma news and information through the
Internet highway. In this e-journal was an article titled “Chamber
wants to propagate Buddhism” published in The Lanka Web on 5
June 2002. The article reported that “The Ceylon Chamber of
Commerce (CCC) wants to use the country’s proposed World Bank
sponsored ‘Global Information Gateway’ (GIG) site as an
instrument to propagate Buddhism.
The Minister would have
noted from the Private Sector Vision 2020 published last year, that
it is a Vision of the Private Sector, for Sri Lanka by that year to
be "The Worldwide Centre for Buddhist Philosophy learning and
practice".
A Theravada Buddhism web portal site must,
inter alia, have the following information support capabilities:
1.
Access to the whole Tripitaka in roman character with a comprehensive
search facility for words and meanings.
2. Access to the
Dhammapada with a comprehensive search facility for key words and
meanings.
3. Special section on meditation and mind-fullness with
facilities for both beginners and advanced practitioners.
4.
Pre-recorded discourses by learned persons.
5. A section dealing
with frequently asked questions.
6. A series of well structured
learn Buddhism step by step lessons.
7. Links to other popular
Buddhist sites locally and overseas.
8. Link to Buddhist
libraries and list of authors, books and publications on Theravada
Buddhism.
9. Simple English information on key aspects of
Theravada Buddhism and linkages to other centres of learning.
10.
Chat rooms facilities on different topics relevant to Buddhist
Philosophy.
11. A regular mail update service.
12. A panel of
experts on Dhamma to respond to questions by visitors.
13.
Picture gallery of different Buddhist pilgrimage sites and locations
around the world.
14. Explanations on different Buddhist
traditions.
15. Inter-religious dialogue centre, where different
teachings can be compared for easy understanding.
16. Projects
and actions, visitors can join inter-actively and
17. Buddhist
calendars, bookmarks and screen savers as downloads.
We would
appreciate an early opportunity to review with you the above
proposition and to examine options available to facilitate and
support the Government and your Ministry in realising the objectives
of the Prime Minister, which we are sure will be fully endorsed and
supported by civil society."
We have been developing
information support capabilities similar to the 17 items aspired to
by Sri Lanka. The Strategic Implementation Plan for our Organisation
2002-2004 concentrates on several of these items for our eight
websites that teach the seven factors needed to awake.
Our
e-Centre is a vital learning organisation.
To practice Buddha
Dhamma at our e-Centre, persons need to deal with the emotional
labour needed. Our e-Centre's Buddha Dhamma teaching shows
opportunities can arise where we can secure new or enhanced meanings,
symbols, capacities and goods to add new vitality to our Members and
friends commitment to the propagation of Buddha Dhamma practice on a
wide platform.
But this is not an easy task for those trained
in the Western traditions of religions.
It is well known to
break free from established patterns of identity work can be
difficult (Sloan, 1987).
Strategy rather that short-term
parochial concerns, will increasingly drive our organisation towards
next-generation web architectures and applications that enable end to
end integration through Web-enabled enterprise applications that
distribute information quickly and efficiently - and that are
customised to needs of each individual user.
What is needed is
the wisdom to know what is the correct time and place to launch
giving something of use to others.
The management of giving
(dana) or helping should not harm oneself or others.
“Dana
means grammatically both giving and gift and liberality. Hence the
necessity of retaining the Pali word.” (1)
The
controverted point is that dana is not the gift but the mental state.
(2)
A triple distinction is in reality reduced to two: mental
and material. The view held by the Rajagirikas and Siddhattikas
recognises the former only.
If dana be a mental state, is it
possible to give a mental state away to others?
If you
assent, you then imply that it is possible to give any mental
property to others.
It is wrong to say that dana is a thing
to be given.
If you follow the controverted point that merit
(punna) increases with utility (3) you can understand why the stress
of the Centre's helping hand approach needed to be shifted towards
the utility promise of an information culture delivery.
The
utility of printing and posting our flagship publication Buddha
Dhyana Dana Review has been challenged.
Our committed Members
know they agree the pressure imposed by the rate of uptake of our new
technology to make the improved changes to that publication by
doubling its size per issue and providing one hundred or more colour
photographs on-line per issue to make it an e-publication is
effective.
We involved Information Technology persons to help
us and have learnt to work with their culture. Some power structure
adjustments were needed.
Those who have erroneous opinions of
what makes merit to drive the changes needed have changed, left the
organisation or have been sidelined to other useful work.
What
happened when we found our previous Members’ errors of non
e-culture had gathered in our heritage systems?
We find when
we electronically search previous writings that as many as three
errors per thousand in policy statements needed adjusting. These all
related to sharing our resources with non-Buddhist organisations. We
are happy to see this policy change as we make the cultural shift to
an e-Centre. Through website distribution non-Buddhists now have
equal access to our website information at no charge to us. This form
of dialogue came as an unexpected bonus from the act of setting up
e-learning websites.
Committed persons are professional and
take care to train themselves to know what conditions will result
from the management changes in direction before they (as laypersons)
lend a helping hand.
A distinction is drawn in Buddha Dhamma
practice between Monks and laypersons in lending a helping hand to
others.
Meditating on the difference of states can help
you.
A Monk or Nun may not destroy vegetable growth. (4)
The
background to this Vinaya, was a Monk of Alavi cut down a tree which
happened to be the home of a devata. The Monk wanted the timber to
repair the chief Shrine at Alavi.
After being ignored by the
Monk, the devata of the tree decided against killing the Monk and
instead, approached Buddha.
She complained to Buddha that in
desiring to make an abode for himself, the Monk had cut down her
abode. The Buddha directed her to a solitary tree in a certain
place.
We are happy that we can make vast changes of policy
towards other religions.
Our heritage systems can be
considered a type of dwelling place for past Members. But, at times,
we need to prune it. Sooner, rather than later, Members are taught
how and why we prune earlier policy codes to guard our e-learning
environment.
As we work on our websites, we invite heavenly
visitors to come to hear the Buddha Dhamma and share the merits.
These heavenly beings help us co-edit our heritage
systems.
Venerable Narada and Venerable Pannaseeha are two
Heavenly Monks who reside at our Centre. We make regular offerings to
Venerable Narada and Venerable Pannaseeha and other Heavenly beings
invited by the Venerable Monks.
To ‘shake-up’ the
past heritage binding of involved Member's views who were opposed to
e-learning, they must ‘unlearn’ their unwise luddite
versions of what they believe is lending a helping hand.
When
the self pride against e-learning is broken, the path is seen and
persons may lend a proper helping hand to others.
What you
learn with e-learning, you give up causes for ‘low’ human
births.
To secure and maintain a stable and meaningful
identity, with e-learning an involved individual is faced with the
difficulty of presenting consistent images to other persons they must
deal with. There is pressure engendered by the necessity to perform
both organisational and interpersonally derived roles.
Printed
material of all kinds, makes up only 0.003% of all information
available. In 2000, 610 billion e-mails were sent compared to the 2.1
billion static web pages available. The United States of America is a
significant producer of information, producing 25% of all textual
information and 30% of all photographic information. (5)
We
unify our writing styles as wordsmiths. An e-mail is to be polished
with the same care as a paper to be delivered. Otherwise, you
perpetuate deterioration of words.
As long as this does not
threaten core identity, people can follow the scripts they learn from
others in order to fulfill their various role expectations.
Some
Members are not given e-mail privileges because their writing styles
are nihilistic.
When a threat does arise, Members are left
with the choice to submit or resist.
Our method is to run
through the seven logic options of any proposition.
This
method has been well taught to many in the Prajnaparamita Teachings
that were given over the last 3 years. Study the Abhidhamma for
classifications. This is much better than the flight or fight choices
of persons who do not practice.
Logical analysis is
particularly difficult for persons who are not by nature or choice
likely to wish to lend a helping hand to others. But, like it, or not
like it, they must make this change if they are to be useful to our
e-learning organisation.
Our traditional learning sessions
have been recorded for some years for future use on CD-ROM, Internet,
e-radio or other mediums yet to appear.
Members should avoid
saying they will join in a high level of cooperation until they are
sure they can produce the goods. It is fair that they pledge to give
analysis of such things.
Analysis of four questions over the
Winter Five Day Course can indicate how well each person trained at
this Centre has become committed to this e-organisation and enable us
to plant b-web innovation and harvest the benefits of digital
capital.
During the Winter Five Day Bhavana Course 2002,
Members will analyse to find out for himself or herself the answers
to four questions:
1. What is the essence of the value
proposition that we offer to our end-customers?
2. What are
the most effective, value-adding contributions that we can make and
that also reinforce our leadership position?
3. How do we
design our b-web as a customer-fulfillment network, in which all
participants have the knowledge and the motivation to focus on
end-customers?
4. How do we work with suppliers to develop
win-win partnerships and improve efficiency and quality? (6)
What
we have now is a suitable location, built by a committed person, for
an e-Centre. It is useful to consider our Founder had a vow with
commitment strong enough to bring the Buddhist Discussion Centre
(Upwey) Ltd. up to the standard where it causes practice in many
countries.
Because the laws regarding buildings are segmented
in Australia, we spend much time making sure we comply with the laws
regulating buildings.
Recently, Australians have embraced
e-learning. For many, learning to live and study effectively in a
world of b-webs may pose the most gut-wrenching change of their
lives. For others, because of youth or temperament, a b-web is
already the only living kind of learning environment.
Wherever
we go, we are greeted cordially when we disclose we have eight
learning and teaching websites.
Our best future is to be held
on vows: Because we hold them, we must do it. You are, like it or not
like it, committed or involved, about to play your role at an
international Centre of Learning for Buddha Dhamma.
There is a
difference between involved and committed Members. Having found a
suitable learning environment in Upwey, it is the committed Members’
task to drive the changes needed to maximise their merit making
activities at our Centre. They do not need excess ‘emotional’
baggage.
We all know that persons who are merely involved are
less able to make merit.
The current need is for all our
Members to know and perform their e-roles. By these knowledges, we
avoid some unspecified and ill-defined future.
The analysis of
the e-platforms we intend to form with the clear view of where, how
and when and to who we direct our merit making must be understood and
in place by the end of the Winter Five Day Bhavana Course 2002.
The
expedient means of the Buddha Dhamma may become apparent along with
the realisation that much of merit goes to hidden agendas in minds
which have not strong commitment to 'lending a helping hand' within a
21st Century framework.
This week, we commenced the training
of a new Webmaster. We welcome this new key person to our staff.
We
need to locate and train another five Webmasters within the next
year. If you are interested, please contact our President Julian
Bamford on 0400 267 330.
From their side, Members intending to
lend a helping hand must decide to cultivate a volitional willingness
to assist fellow beings in harmless activities.
In time, with
persistent effort, by cause and effect, an accumulation arises from
the worldly side, from lending a helping hand again and again.
Then, when the time and place arises, just as a rising full
moon sheds its light into the dark places, the 'lending of a helping
hand' practitioner understands, each for himself or herself, that
there is an accumulation of the mind with equanimity.
About
the same time, there appears a knowledge of Buddha Dhamma ethics, the
economics of wise use of a wealth of material resources and a firmer
commitment to the deployment of such legacies to bring teachable
beings to the Dhamma.
We like to get persons to agree that:
“Value chain b-webs are the spinners of wealth in any economy”.
(7)
As the amount of merit accumulated from b-webs is
increased by the effectiveness of our action, and given the reality
of committed person's time constraints, activities here and elsewhere
should be shifted towards utilising the methodologies of an
information culture at Members’ home computers. A committed
Member uses their company for our Company’s business.
The
difference between involved and committed Members has been stressed
and naturally, we want to change the present ratio.
During the
Winter Five Day Bhavana Course 2002 running from 10am to 8pm from 14
to 18 June, our suitable technically equipped location in Upwey,
Victoria, and Members computers, our Members’ task is to drive
the changes needed to maximise our merit making activities running on
Internet at our e-Centre.
May all beings learn with
confidence.
May you be well and happy.
References
Our
eight websites
are:
www.bdcu.org.au
www.bdcublessings.net.au
www.bddronline.net.au
www.bsbonline.com.au
www.buyresolved.com.au
www.companyontheweb.com/buddhamap
www.companyontheweb.com/buddhatext
www.skybusiness.com/j.d.hughes
Buddhist
Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. (1994) “Five Day Meditation
Course 1 - 5 April 1994”, Buddha Dhyana Dana Review, Volume 4
No. 2, June 1994, pp. 2-10. Retrieved using ISYS Text Retrieval
System on Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. LAN1 on 4 June
2002.
Pali Text Society (1979) Points of Controversy: The
Katha-Vatthu from the Abhidhamma Pitaka, Aung, Shwe Zan and Davids,
Rhys (trans.), The Pali Text Society, London.
Pali Text
Society (1982) The Book of Discipline: Vinaya-Pitaka, Horner I. B.
(trans.), Vol XI, Part II, The Pali Text Society., London,
p.283.
Salaman (1979)
Sloan (1987)
Tapscott, D.,
Ticoll, D. and Lowy, A. (2000) Digital Capital; Harnessing the Power
of Business Webs, Great Britain, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, p.
102.
UC Berkeley School of Information Management and Systems
(2000) How Much Information?,accessed via
www.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/
how-much-info/summary.
Footnotes:
1. Pali Text Society,
1979, footnote 4, p. 198
2. Pali Text Society, 1979, p. 198
3.
Pali Text Society, 1979, pp. 200-203
4. Pali Text Society, 1979,
pp. 226 - 229
5. UC Berkeley School of Information Management and
Systems, 2000,
“How Much Information?”, accessed at
URL, www.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-much-info/summary,
on 6 June 2002.
6. Tapscott, D., Ticoll, D. & Lowy, A.,
2000
7. Tapscott, Ticoll & Lowy, Digital Capital, p.
118
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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 another source accessed through our website(s).
Accordingly, we accept no liability to any user or subsequent
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error or omission on either our part, or a member, employee or other
person associated with the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey)
Ltd.
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Centre (Upwey) Ltd.
For more information, contact
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© 2002. Copyright. The Buddhist Discussion Centre
(Upwey) Ltd.