The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast Archives
The Buddhist Hour
Radio Broadcast Script 261
for Sunday 26 January 2003
Glossary
contemporary: living, existing
or occurring in the same period
materiality: that which
constitutes the matter of something
munificence: the quality or
state of being munificent
munificent: very generous in giving;
lavish, characterised by great generosity; as a reward.
Today's script is entitled:
"The blessing of
enjoying material objects"
There are four blessings that a human being can
enjoy.
They are: to be debtless, to enjoy material objects, to
enjoy the blessings of your own material objects, and to have caga or
emotional maturity.
These four blessings are attained only in
this order, as each one is a gateway to the next. The end result of
cultivating and attaining these four blessings is emotional maturity,
in Pali, caga.
The first three involve materiality. Last week
we talked about the human blessing of being debtless. This week we
will talk about the human blessing of enjoying material objects, or
materiality, in Pali, rupa.
Artists are best equipped to
appreciate the material nature of matter. An artist who likes to
paint horses will visit racetracks again and again, appreciating the
ripple of a horse's muscles, the sweat that runs down it's flanks, or
the flow of the horse's mane in the wind.
The enjoyment of
materiality is not biased. The materiality of a corpse is also to be
enjoyed.
A man may say, "I like her eyes, but I don't like
her nose", or, "I like her nose but I don't like her hair".
Such a person has not attained enjoyment of materiality, rupa, but is
rather influenced by the karmic like or dislike that he or she has
for the material object in question.
The Buddha told a story
to illustrate what is not the enjoyment of materiality. A man said to
a woman walking towards him "I like your eyes". The woman
responded by plucking out her eyes and offering them to the man,
suggesting that if he liked her eyes, he could have them. The woman
subsequently went to the Buddha, who used his special abilities to
rebuild the woman's eyes.
Our Chan Academy Australia has many
assets and resources, but the greatest resource is the Members. The
Members contribute their time, skills, energy and personal resources
for the benefit of the Centre and other beings. When these
contributions are made with mindfulness and caga the practitioner and
others benefit greatly.
The Buddha said to Anatapindika:
One
with the wealth acquired by energetic saving... lawfully gotten, is a
doer of four deeds of merit. If the wealth of anyone be spent without
these four deeds of merit, then it is called "wealth that has
failed to seize its opportunity, failed to win merit, unfittingly
made use of." But if, householder, if the wealth of anyone be
spent on these four deeds of merit, then it is called "wealth
that has seized its opportunity, turned to merit, and is fittingly
made use of."
The verse of the Anguttara-Nikaya, Volume
II, Section 61 reads:
I have enjoyed my wealth. Those serving
me
And those dependent on me have escaped
From dangers. I have
made the best of gifts,
Nay, done the obligations five. The
virtuous,
Composed, who live the good life, I've supported.
That
aim the which to win householders wise
Should long for wealth,
I've won. I've done a deed
Never to be regretted, - pondering
thus
A mortal man in Ariyan Dhamma firm
Is praised in this
world, then in heaven rejoices.
The Pali language word caga is
translated into the English words abandoning, giving up, renunciation
and more frequently, as, liberality, generosity, munificence.
Caga
in the latter sense forms one of the four treasures or blessings a
human can have.
These four blessings a human can have are
explained in the Anguttara-Nikaya, Volume II, Section 62 titled
debtless:
Now the housefather Anathapindika came to visit the
Exalted One... As he sat at one side the Exalted One said this to the
housefather Anathapindika:
'Housefather, there are these four
kinds of bliss to be won by the householder who enjoys the pleasures
of sense from time to time and when occasion offers.
What
four?
The bliss of ownership, the bliss of wealth, the bliss
of debtlessness, the bliss of blamelessness.
And what,
householder, is the bliss of ownership?
In this case a
clansman has wealth acquired by energetic striving, amassed by
strength of arm, won by sweat, lawful and lawfully gotten. At the
thought: Wealth is mine acquired by energetic striving . . . lawfully
gotten, bliss comes to him, satisfaction comes to him. This
householder, is called "the bliss of ownership."
And
what is the bliss of wealth?
In this case, housefather, a
clansman by means of wealth acquired by energetic striving . . . both
enjoys his wealth and does meritorious deeds therewith. At the
thought: By means of wealth acquired . . . I both enjoy my wealth and
do meritorious deeds, bliss comes to him, satisfaction comes to him.
This, housefather, is called "the bliss of wealth".
And
what is the bliss of debtlessness?
In this case a clansman
owes no debt great or small to anyone. At the thought: I owe no debt,
great or small, to anyone, bliss comes to him, satisfaction comes to
him. This housefather, is called "the bliss of
debtlessness".
And what is the bliss of
blamelessness?
In this case, housefather, the Ariyan disciple
is blessed with blameless action of body, blameless action of speech,
blameless action of mind. At the thought: I am blessed with blameless
action of body, speech and mind, bliss comes to him, satisfaction
comes to him. This is called "the bliss of
blamelessness."
Such, householder, are the four kinds of
bliss to be won by the householder who enjoys the pleasure of sense
from time to time when occasion offers.
Winning the bliss of
debtlessness a man
May then recall the bliss of really having
When
he enjoys the bliss of wealth, he sees
'Tis such by wisdom. When
he sees he knows.
Thus is he wise indeed in both respects.
But
these have not one-sixteenth of the bliss
(That cometh to a man)
of blamelessness.
This teaching on the four blessings that
humans can have was explained by Dr. Ananda W.P. Guruge in
contemporary language. This was explained in his Keynote Address
"Contemporary Challenges and the Pathway to a Peaceful Mind"
at the Australasian Buddhist Convention, "Buddhism: Pathway to a
Peaceful Mind", 22 June 2002 to 23 June 2003, Melbourne,
Victoria Australia. Dr. Guruge said:
"When you have
wealth, according to the Buddha, you have four types of enjoyment.
You have the first enjoyment that you have wealth. We call it
atthisukhan; 'I have it'. The sense of confidence you get, the sense
of feeling that your life is secure.
How many of us approach
our senior ages when we will have to retire, when the income
dwindles... how many of us lose our peace of mind because of lack of
security?
If you have developed the kind of economic base by
saving twenty-five percent, investing the fifty percent you will have
the joy of possession, have it, then you will have the joy of
consumption, using that, sharing that.
You see, when you say
"I enjoy my wealth" it does not mean that I go on cruises,
that I eat in the most expensive restaurants, or that I wear the most
expensive clothing and drive the most expensive car or keep on
increasing the size of the television I have in my living room. No,
that is not enjoyment of wealth. Enjoyment of wealth is consumption,
which is balanced with sharing...
You enjoy your wealth by
sharing, you enjoy your wealth by using it for productive purposes,
for charity, for being able to be a remover of suffering from other
people and acquiring merit, all this is very important when you have
money and when you know how to use that money properly.
The
third enjoyment that you get from wealth is, I am sure all of you
will agree, you will live a life without debt. How many of us can say
that we are not indebted?
We have bought our houses on
mortgages; our cars and furniture are very often on hire purchase. We
are all the time worried about what will happen if I lose my job.
What will happen if something happened to me and the family cannot
pay the instalments or whatever we have to pay. This takes away from
us an enormous amount of serenity we are looking for in life. Wealth
is needed so you will live a life without debt.
The last of
the enjoyments that you get by having wealth is that you will not be
tempted to do wrong things. You will avoid improper things. You will
live a morally good life because the need for making money is not
making you to do the wrong things. So not only in one place but in
many places the Buddha has said make your present living one in which
you don't carry worries, you don't lose your peace of mind, you live
a clean life, a well organised life a life with long directed
objectives, so that at the end of your life you have nothing to
regret."
May you live a morally good life one without
dept, and where you are able to enjoy material objects.
May
you cultivate the four blessings to develop emotional maturity.
The
authors and editors of this script are Leanne Eames, B.A., M.A.,
Pennie White, B.A. DipEd, Lisa Nelson and Amber
Svensson.
References:
Guruge, Dr. Ananda W. P.
(2002) "Contemporary Challenges and the Pathway to a Peaceful
Mind" Keynote Address, The Australasian Buddhist Convention:
"Buddhism: Pathway to a Peaceful Mind", 22 June 2002 to 23
June 2003, Melbourne, Victoria Australia
Pali Text Society
(1979) Pali-English Dictionary, T. W. Rhys Davids and William Steede
(Editors), Pali Text Society, London, p 264 .
Pali Text
Society (1982) The Book of Gradual Sayings (Anguttara-Nikaya) or more
numbered suttas, Vol II (The book of the fours), Chapter VII, 61, 62,
F. L. Woodward (Translator), Pali Text Society, London, pp
73-79.
Readability Statistics
Counts
Words:
1155
Characters: 5680
Paragraphs: 66
Sentences:
61
Averages
Sentences per paragraph: 1.5
Words per
Sentence: 14.9
Characters per word: 4.6
Readability
Statistics
Passive Sentences: 19 %
Flesch Reading Ease score:
62.7
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score: 8.0
Readability
Statistics
When Word finishes checking spelling and grammar,
it can display information about the reading level of the document,
including the following readability scores. Each readability score
bases its rating on the average number of syllables per word and
words per sentence.
Flesch Reading Ease score
Rates
text on a 100-point scale; the higher the score, the easier it is to
understand the document. For most standard documents, aim for a score
of approximately 60 to 70.
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
score
Rates text on a U.S. grade-school level. For example, a
score of 8.0 means that an eighth grader can understand the document.
For most standard documents, aim for a score of approximately 7.0 to
8.0.
Disclaimer:
As we, the Chan Academy
Australia, Chan Academy being a registered business name of 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 another 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 Chan Academy
Australia (Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.)
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".
For more information,
contact the Centre or better still, come
and visit us.
© 2002. Copyright. The Buddhist Discussion Centre
(Upwey) Ltd.