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Buddhist Hour
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Script 350 for Sunday 10 October 2004CE
2547 Buddhist Era


This script is titled:
Developing a Heart of Patience and Clarity of Mission

Our Teacher, the late John D. Hughes showed his many students the way to cultivate Loving kindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity in everyday life.

By a change of heart and clarity of mission, we move away from those who enjoy sowing the seeds of economic, social, cultural or religious crisis' in the human world.

By a change of heart and clarity of mission, we prepare concrete approaches that impact the mundane processes of the human world and help disadvantaged groups.

By a change of heart and clarity of mission, we cultivate the minds that can practice.

We generate the will to do heroic right action and hold confidence and faith that when our kusala (wholesome) mind series come to fruition, then we cease to be enslaved by our akusala (unwholesome) minds.

Our Teacher, the recipient of the Visuddananda Peace Award 1999, has given this sound advice to one million persons in many countries.

His advice is simple: follow Buddha Dhamma and help other persons not because you are one of the "elect" but because you can see the senselessness of a merely functional existence driven by dependence on your ignorance.

By right action and example, we help persons walk down a sane human path of action that leads to the good things and blessings (Mangala).

In the book, ‘What Buddhists Believe’ noted:

The Buddha described the world as an unending flux of becoming. All is changeable, continuous transformation, ceaseless mutation, and a moving stream. Everything exists from moment to moment.

K. Sri Dhammanda wrote that: ‘Looking at life, we notice how it changes and how it continually moves between extremes and contrasts. We notice rise and fall, success and failure, loss and gain; we experience honour and contempt, praise and blame; and we feel how our hearts respond to all that happiness and sorrow, delight and despair, dissappointment and satisfaction, fear and hope.

These mighty waves of emotion carry us up, fling us down, and no sooner we find some rest, than we are carried by the power of a new wave again.

How can we expect a footing on the crest of the waves? Where shall we erect the building of our life in the midst of this ever restless ocean of existence?’

Through sustained practice persons can cultivate limitless antidotes to unrest. They are: Metta, Karuna, Mudita and Upekkha towards sentient beings.

These four sublime abodes are; loving kindness (in Pali Metta), Compassion (Karuna), Sympathetic Joy (mudita) and equanimity (upekkha).

Recently one of our members, Lisa Nelson attended a Buddhist Meditation Retreat at the Aloka Meditation Centre in Peats Ridge NSW. The retreat was guided by the Resident Meditation Teacher and Abbot Venerable Mahinda.

Venerable Mahinda is a renowned Buddhist Teacher from Malaysia. He has spoken at many national and International gathering including delivering the keynote address at the World Fellowship of Buddhist’ Youth Conference in Malaysia 2002.

He is a pupil of the world famous Venerable Sri K Dhammananda of Malaysia.

There were approximately thirty participants who had travelled from around Australia overseas and internationally to attend this retreat.

The Aloka Centre meditation retreat ran from 25 September to 2 October 2004. The retreat began at 9.00am on the Saturday with instructions and guidelines from one of the resident Buddha Dhamma practitioners.

Each day of the retreat began at 5.30am with morning chanting in Pali led by (Bhante) Venerable Mahinda. Included in the chanting was the Vandana to Lord Buddha, Iti Pi So, Karinyanametta Sutta, sharing of merits with the heavenly beings and deceased ancestors.

After morning chanting Bhante guided meditation on the 32 parts of the body.

From the following short description by Ajahn Sumedho, in The Way It Is’, we can gain an insight what the students felt as they
participated in the retreat.

....As we sit here during this retreat, we have to pay attention to things that are not at all interesting. They may even be unpleasant and painful. To patiently endure things rather than to run off in search of something interesting is a good discipline, isn’t it? It is good to be able to just endure the boredom, the pain, the anger, the greed - all thse things - instead of always running away from them...

Ajahn Sumedho noted that “Patience is such an important virtue. If we have no patience, there is absolutely no possibility of getting enlightened.

Be extremely patient.”

There is a Chinese saying that goes “If you want to know about the pine, go to the pine.” Venerable Ayya Kheminda noted in her book “Practical Guidelines for Vipassana”: In order to see things as they really are, one has to examine them, not theoretically but on the spot. That means, one starts to examine ones own body and mind by observing their processes at the moment they are present. For this observation one needs awareness or mindfulness (Sati).

Lord Buddha learnt by himself how to awaken himself.

What did he do? Lord Buddha learnt by himself and did not rely on outside devas to guide his mind. However, it was likely that devas did protect him.

He made the causes for this practice over countless lifetimes. Creating the mind and conditions necessary to achieve this birth to become a Buddha.

How did he begin to learn?

To begin to learn the Way, he listened carefully to his breathing. He noted where the air came inside his body and where the air went to outside his body.

He noted his in-breaths and he noted his out-breaths.

He noted the feelings that followed the contact when the air was going inside his body and noted the feelings which arose when the air was going outside his body.

Lord Buddha repeated this analysis of these events thousands of times, until he knew how to look inside at his body parts.

Over time, he considered the nature of the 32 parts of his body, one at a time.

Pali words for the 32 parts of the human body are:

1. Kesa - hair of the head
2. Loma - hair on the body
3. Nakha - nails
4. Danta - teeth
5. Taco - skin
6. Mansan - flesh
7. Naharu - tendon
8. Atthi - bone
9. Atthiminjan - marrow
10. Vakkan - spleen
11. Hadayan - heart
12. Yakanan - liver
13. Kilomakan - connective tissue
14. Pihakan - kidneys
15. Papphasan - lungs
16. Antan - large intestines
17. Antagunan - small intestines
18. Udariyan - gorge
19. Karisan - faeces
20. Matthalungan - brains
21. Pittan - bile
22. Somhan - phlegm
23. Pubbo - pus
24. Lohitan - blood
25. Sedo - sweat
26. Medo - fat
27. Assu - tears
28. Vasa - oils
29. Khelo - saliva
30. Singhanika - cattarrh
31. Lusina - fluid in the joints
32. Muttan - urine

The method of using these 32 practices in meditation (kayanupassana in Pali) was taught by Lord Buddha.

Lord Buddha found happenings outside his body caused effects on happenings inside to the 32 parts of his body.

Lord Buddha decided he would continue this series of investigation until he could know the way without doubt, how the inside events arose and vanished.

When he understood the in breaths and out breaths, he directed his attention to one hair on the crown of his head.

He saw for himself how that one hair changed from a young black hair to an old grey hair.

Then, he saw that the notion it is "my hair" is false; because he had no control of the hair on his crown, so could not stop the ageing change in the hair.

Having accepted the insight that he had no control over a single hair on the crown of his head, then he directed his attention to look at a hair on his skin.

By direct observation, second by second, day by day, time by time he found that the hair would disintegrate. This gave the same result as the hair on the crown of his head.

He could not stop a single hair from disintegrating. When he understood the disintegration process (anicca) of the hair on the skin, once again, he put down the attachment to "this my hair".

Then he began again and directed his attention to look at another part of his body.

This time, he looked at his fingernail, second by second, time by time.

Lord Buddha noted that his fingernail grew longer and longer and kept changing by itself. Then, he looked at one of his teeth (in Pali danta) second by second, time by time.

He noted that the tooth changes, decays and disintegrates by itself. He could not stop this form of bodily change.

He then began to direct his attention to look at another part of his body.

He looked at his skin, second by second, time by time and saw the skin change (the Pali word for skin is dajo).

By itself, the skin was not beautiful; it grew old and unattractive.

He continued to direct his attention to look at other parts of his body to see if any of the 32 body parts was unchanging inside the body.

He examined (one at a time) the 32 parts of his body: phlegm, gall bladder, heart, lungs and so on. This practice we call kayanupassana.

Then, he continued, second by second, time by time and saw the change and disintegration of whatever body part he considered.
Then, he knew what this disintegration meant.

It meant that the body changes, grows thin, grows old, grows sick, and must die.

He looked at this with his Dhamma eye.

With his Wisdom (Dhamma) Eye he could see everything.

With his Dhamma eye, everything was clear second by second, day by day, time by time.

Earlier, before the Dhamma Eye appeared, things were not clear.
He had changed dark vision to clear vision and he saw he could now look at anything inside or outside with wisdom eye.

By his wisdom eye, he found for himself that his memory of past events improved second by second, time by time.

Because of this improvement, he retrieved lost memories he could not look at prior to the awakening of his Dhamma Eye.

He saw how ordinary memory made errors and lost information which previously had been known.

When he looked at his previous existence’s, he knew that his body of that time and place started at birth being very strong and become weak over time.

This change from a strong body to a weak body he saw happening in every single life.

This direct knowledge of former existence’s helped to clear his mind.

Then he knew that without doubt whatever form his body took at any given time it was only a matter of time before that body disintegrates.

By now, Lord Buddha was not carrying anything like attachment any more to his body, either as a whole body or as 32 parts.
The Lord Buddha said all body (rupa) formations are "dukkha anicca anatta ".

What these words mean is if you are clinging to anything; you will come to sadness as the thing you cling to disintegrates over time. This clinging to body existence makes you worry, because, as long as you cling to anything on your body you will never have happiness in your mind .

Real happiness appears when clinging to anything ceases.
At this point, the wellness of the body increases.

The mind that knows this fact has developed some wisdom and makes you happy. You respect life. When you can look clearly with a wisdom mind you see that if you like to come to birth and live, you must die and leave things behind. It may come as a surprise but it is a relief having pleasant feeling to know "anicca" as a fact.

A person will not kill another when he or she knows this fact of "anicca".

The Pali word "anatta" means you come to the world (birth) with nothing and leave with nothing.

Whenever you come to the world, you come to nothing that can be said to be truly "your own" and so you leave the world with nothing because you cannot own anything forever.

That knowledge of "anatta" is a universal truth. It means there is not a universal permanent "me" or a universal permanent " you".

True ownership cannot be found in "my body" or "your body" notions. Who owns your body? Nature. There is no self in nature. Nature is empty of " you" or "me".

The truth is that nature is empty of ownership.

In truth, nature is "anatta". You need some familiarising with the above notions for a clear understanding of this notion.

Using the instructions left by the Buddha the students practised this 32 part investigation of the body - kayanupassana.

Participants were requested to uphold five precepts or eight precepts if they wished. The precepts were chanted in Pali at the commencement of the retreat.

Breakfast and lunch was prepared and offered to the Teacher and students each day by many kind Buddha Dhamma practitioners.

The member who attend from our Centre wishes to pay respect and thank the practitioners for their generosity and kindness in offering food dana each during the retreat.

Venerable Mahinda or Bhante blessed the students and the food they ate. The students were taught to concentrate on chewing the food, swallowing the food and meditating on the food as it was being digested in the body.

In the book “A tree in a Forest, a Collection of Ajarn Chah’s Similes”, it is written; “Don’t be in a hurry to get rid of your defilements. You should first patiently get to know suffering and its causes well, so that you can then abandon them completely, just as it’s much better for your digestion if you chew your food slowly and thoroughly.”

One student noted the importance of the food nutrient giving energy to the body and mind enabling continuation of mindfulness meditation throughout the day.

Ajahn Sumedo wrote in his book ‘The Way It Is’ the following words on reflections on food:

Wisely reflecting in this alms-food,
I use it not to distract my mind
Not to gratify desire,
Not to make my form impressive,
Or to make it beautiful,
Simply to be sustained and nourished
And to maintain what health I have
To help fulfill the Holy Life;
With this attitude in mind,
‘I will allay hunger without overeating
So that I may continue to live blamelessly and at ease.’

Mindfulness can be applied in all facets of your life, either walking, gardening, typing on a computer, reading, watching television, cooking, going to the toilet. These are but a few practical examples of mindfulness applied in everyday life.

There are two are very large and very healthy Bodhi Trees at the Aloka Centre, one from India and the other from Sri Lanka.

The Bodhi Tree is a key symbol in Buddhist culture that is worthy of veneration.

The Bodhi Tree symbolises Lord Buddha. Over 2500 years ago Siddhartha Gotama sat under the Bodhi Tree on the full moon night of the month of Vesakha in Bodhgaya in India, where he resolved not to arise until he attained Full Enlightenment. On this, his 35th Birth Anniversary, Siddhartha Gotama through earnest truth seeking and intuitive knowledge become a Buddha or a Fully Enlightened One.

On the midweek full moon evening of the retreat Venerable Mahinda conducted a Puja at the site of the Sri Lankan Bodhi Tree.

Participants and resident practitioners offered light and incense and chanted while circumambulating the Bodhi Tree many times.

The offerings and chanting were then repeated at the site of the second Bodhi Tree India.

At 6.00pm each evening chanting was lead by Venerable Mahinda and followed by meditation on the 32 parts of the body and metta meditation. At 8.00pm participants listened to Buddha Dhamma discourses taught by Venerable Mahinda.

During the seven day meditation retreat Venerable Mahinda taught the participants on the:

Four Foundations of Mindfulness,
Heart Sutra,
Five hindrances to Buddha Dhamma practice,
The importance of being born human with three roots,
Four Noble Truths,
Three different types of Buddha’s in the world,
How to best receive blessings, and
Jhana factors.

If you would like to learn more about these Buddha Dhamma topics you may like to join our multilingual reference library, the John D. Hughes Collection.


Earlier in the program we spoke of the four sublime abodes: Loving kindness (in Pali Metta), Compassion (in Pali Karuna), Sympathetic Joy (in Pali mudita) and Equanimity (in Pali uppekha).

At our Centre over many years our Teacher, Master John D. Hughes, taught these qualities to students in skilful ways.

This weekend our members organised and operated a sausage sizzle and fund-raising stall at our local Upwey village townsquare.

In the days before, members baked many cakes and biscuits to sell at this stall and obtained donations of many beautiful plants and flowers from local nurseries.

We thank each of the nurseries for their generosity in supporting our Temple through this fund-raising event.

The fund-raising stall was supported by many local shoppers and passers by who came to purchase goods.

We followed a food safety plan to ensure that good food hygiene was maintained at all times.

Offering food in a hygienic manner helps beings to be well and happy. When preparing the food members practised wishing may you be well and happy, a form of loving kindness or in Pali metta.

One of our members purchased a flowering plant and reported that her husband said on seeing it, I have great joy in seeing how much joy you get from the garden. This an example of sympathetic joy or in Pali mudita.

While preparing and selling goods at the stall members maintained equanimity or in Pali Uppekha and worked together harmoniously and with patience while serving customers.

Some of our customers experienced the feeling of compassion, or in Pali Karuna, when donating money to the Dhammarajika Orphanage in Bangladesh through our collection stand.

In a translation of Ajarn Chah’s teaching call the Pool he taught:

“Be mindful and let things take their natural course, then your mind will become quiet in any surroundings.

It will become still like a clear forest pool and all kinds of wonderful and rare animals will come to drink from it.

Then you will clearly see the nature of all things in the world. You will see many wonderful and strange things come and go.

But you will be still.

This is the happiness of the Buddha”.

May you and everyone you meet develop the four sublime abodes of Loving Kindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity.

May you cultivate the minds that can practice generosity and fund-raising for the benefit of many beings.

May you create the causes to see the true nature of things.

May you developing a heart of patience.

May you be well and happy


This script was written and edited by Julian Bamford, Jessica Cook, Ryan Cook, Helen Costas, Anita Hughes, Leila Igracki, Lisa Nelson and Julie O’Donnell.


References.

A Tree In A Forest - A Collection of Ajahn Chah’s Similies Compiled and edited by Dhamma Garden Translation Group. Yuang Kuang Publishing House. 1994. Taiwan.

Sumedho, Ajahn. The Way It Is. The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation. Taiwan R.O.C. 1991

Kheninda, Venerable Ayya. Practical Guidelines for Vipassana. Selangor Buddhist Vipassana Meditation Society. Selangor West Malaysia. 1992.

Narada, Venerable. The Buddha and His Teachings. Publication of the Buddhist Missionary Society. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 1988.

Dhammananda, K Sri. What Buddhist Believe. Buddhist Missionary Society, Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia 1998.

ISYS Search: Buddha Dyhana Dana Review Vol. 6 No.2 W50

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