The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast Archives

In Buddha Dhamma there are at least three distinct stages in learning. These stages manifest in a person in such a way that it appears as if he or she can attain to three levels of knowledge.

The first three stages of learning are:

1. Learning (Pali: pariyatta)
2. Putting into practice (Pali: patipatti) a room and
3. Realisation of the many truths of a problem in all respects (Pali: pativedha).

In Buddha Dhamma, a distinction is made between four types of knowledge. One type is called "general knowledge" (Pali: sammuti-nana). This is usually 1st order knowledge.

There are things that remain difficult for human beings and one of the difficult things is that uneducated persons think that 1st order knowledge is superior and "the end of the story".

They are mistaken in following such a closed belief because there are, at least, two better levels of learning than "general knowledge", which are called 2nd order and 3rd order knowledge.

We read of the great efforts made to prepare satisfactory translations of commentaries on Buddha Teachings. The stated intention is to make the translated commentary clear to the 3rd level of knowledge.

The more one reads, the more it becomes obvious that diligent translators, who claim no realisation of the profound meaning of a commentary text, are likely to be honest enough to reach 2nd order knowledge of the text.

They have difficulty doing the commentary justice, as they are not able to reach the 3rd order of knowledge of the text. They are not able to refer to a person having a level of understanding of the Master who proclaimed the commentary text.

Of course, translators know whether they are clear or not clear on the work in progress. It depends on past causes. There are few persons who do not know, say, Chinese, but who can improve on an English translation of a Chinese ancient text, without much effort or without consulting the Chinese original.

When a person is brave enough to think along these lines and read the prefaces written by many Buddha Dhamma translators, it becomes clear why most persons cannot reach 3rd order knowledge without great effort.

The prime example of sticking on 1st order knowledge is our comic anti-hero, Homer Simpson. Bart uses 2nd order knowledge and Lisa strives to reach 3rd order knowledge.

Defending Homer Simpson's narrow view in movies is Forrest Gump, who closes off any other order of analysis with the view: "And that's all I have to say (meaning to know) about that".

This insistence on stopping at 1st order analysis is what has been called "dumbing down" in the U.S.A.

Do we have any evidence that it not happening locally?

It is true that Internet sites supply a range of possibilities ranging across 1st, 2nd and 3rd or higher order of analysis. It is thought that Australia holds 6th place in use of Internet.

When teaching, the Teacher cannot assume that all persons listening start with the same general knowledge.

Our Teacher, who produces the weekly KNOXFM radio scripts, likes to introduce our Sunday broadcast with twenty or more items of 1st order knowledge.

Having established a limited frame of reference, on most Friday evenings, he labours with teaching some Members of our radio presentation team to understand at least some more rigorous content of 2nd order analysis.

The material chosen is from one of the 84,000 types of things taught by Lord Buddha.

As a regional Centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, it is important our organisation does not become sectarian or rigid in outlook.

The major way we prevent this happening is for our producer to write and operate from at least a 3rd order of understanding of Buddha Dhamma.

A minor way of preventing this from happening is that our producer chooses the Members of our radio presentation team by making sure we use persons who live within a wide cultural diversity framework. We try to include in the mix a range of cultural riches ranging from some persons born overseas to others born locally, even including fifth generation Australians.

Demographically, Members of our radio presentation team represent multicultural Australia Felix ­ the lucrative land. The team's professional qualifications range from dropouts from secondary school to post-graduates. We are not going to permit ageism or sexism in our selection process.

Over the last 18 months, we varied the composition of our presentation team.

No person gets paid for broadcasting. As quickly as possible, we strive to move Member's objectives for being on the team from the narrow view of mere personal development, to the wider view of broadcasting as a knowledge management process of our organisation, where the major development is to be of help to other persons.

This gives a 2nd order objective for doing the broadcasts. 3rd order objectives are to be found in our Information Technology development plan.

If Members choose to narrow their understanding, or deny the suggestion that the real challenge of broadcasting is to make merit, each for himself or herself, we take them off the team.

We like to think we know that most adult listeners can detect insincerity in a broadcaster's voice.

Often, team Members with confidence in Buddha Dhamma appreciate the next order of what they are reading at any given time. This implies they access different levels of pathivedha.

The team is aware that some hearers awake to some new level when they hear Dhamma on air and, in fact, a few listeners can appreciate what is being read at the next order to what is written. This is a property of Buddha Dhamma.

So, if a 1st order commentary is read, some persons of large merit can hear that reading as 2nd order Dhamma and so on.

But for this to happen, many good factors from their past lives must be operating.

One factor is the pliability of the mind of the person hearing the broadcast message and the will of the hearer to put the instructions into practice ­ patipatti.

Whether a reading leads to patipatti or not is important.

Some credit for success in the 2nd level is dependent on the good heart of the person reading the text. But the major determinant is the good heart of the listener to act to make merit by helping others.

To be practical, let us look into how 2nd order learning may help us.

Consider the given fact that for one reason or another, we decide the time is right to choose to restore our Southern Gate. At the moment, our Centre's Southern Gate of our Hall of Assembly needs major structural repair. It is over twenty years old.

Because it has started to lean from wind damage we recognise that its structural renewal should be attended to as soon as possible.

This week, some excellent timber and wrought iron pillars were donated to the Centre.

If we use this timber and the wrought iron pillars, existing supplies and our skilled members' labour, we estimate the Southern Gate can be reconstructed for less than $80.

A 1st order analysis might state that adequate planning of supply chain management made the "things needed" for restoration available just in time.

Last week, the wind speed reached 110 Km per hour.

The Gembrook Uniting Church was demolished when the wind blew over a 30 metre pine tree that fell on the building. Damage is estimated at $100,000 damage.

The 120-year-old church may be rebuilt.

Our Southern Gate at our Centre survived the wind but still needs restoration.

Our Centre's gates have superb traditional Chinese calligraphy on 'sand boards'. These sand boards are made of thick timber boards placed above each side of the gate.

They give the name of the gate. For example, the gate we are talking about has a sand board, which translates as: "Southern gate heavenly Buddha Dharma garden".

The sand boards are not structural and should last a long time. It is customary to preserve the sand boards for centuries. Sometimes, they can be moved to match new structural repairs of a gate.

Because our organisation thinks and acts about occupational heath and safety, we can guard the future safety of Members and visitors who enter by the Southern Gate.

For safety reasons, we plan to move our Southern Gate slightly away from a large tree that we do not wish to cut down.

At the same time, by thinking to 2nd order, we see we can increase the fire rating of the Gate by using metal supports and adding flame retardant to the wooden sand boards.

This is a practical example of using thought to 2nd order, instead of stopping thought at the 1st order notion that the gate be repaired.

In our organisation, all Members are encouraged to leave behind 1st order statements and move to 2nd order thinking.

When thinking up to a higher order becomes a habit, a person's lifestyle can be improved.

A person must know there is a better way than thinking habitually. It is not an act of belief; it is a fact of life. Sometimes a Master's simple words, delivered to a receptive audience, can shake them out of their habitual thought patterns.

The Ch'an Master Ming Hui told the assembly, "The sun rises at the Mao hour (which is between five to seven o'clock): usage needs no ingenuity".

In a like manner, our Teacher has challenged our radio presentation team with the suggestion that they should better their cultural understanding to consider presenting information up to the 3rd order of analysis for 10% of program time.

A conventional manner of 3rd order analysis in Western scientific culture is to formulate questions in terms of partial differential equations.

In Australia, farmers are willing to take a 2nd order approach in the scientific sense because of two cultural factors.

The first is the scientific cultural endowment of seeing how science can help. C.S.I.R.O. research findings have constructed a Commonwealth local knowledge base that can improve commodity delivery from the farm.

The second cultural factor that permits agriculture to be associated with a semi-industrial mentality is that Australia does not have an indigenous peasantry.

This week, one of our visitors had returned from visiting the land of his birth, Croatia. The eclipse in Europe gave rise to all sorts of ancient peasant superstitions.

He was told to stay indoors during the eclipse because if he stayed outside at that time, his body would become paralysed, then rot and die, and no cure could be found.

For his concerned relatives belonging to an indigenous peasant class going back many generations, the data they gave him generated from the early Middle Ages. This information represents to them at least 1st order knowledge of great importance for his well being.

It is important to know that there is nothing wrong with the intelligence of such a population, however they may have difficulty in attaining 3rd order knowledge.

By improving literacy and supplying the right kind of propaganda, most of Europe has left such thought behind within the last century.

There are many ways of bringing about a change of such a point of view without using the mathematical precision of simple Newtonian physics and simple theories of light transmission.

The ancient Chinese could predict eclipses, although the methods used were classified as State secrets. Eclipses were associated in the common minds of the time with good or bad omens. The ruling class had a tactical advantage of considerable magnitude because their servants had the predictive power of knowing the timing of eclipses.

It could well be imagined that the ruling class could gain a propaganda victory by foreshadowing such events. If we went back a few centuries, we would feel we were in an alien world.

A few persons alive today were in rebirth as human beings in such times. It would be easy for them to adopt their former belief systems.

Western science predicts and calculates solar and lunar eclipses in two parts. The first is to find out when an eclipse will occur; the other is to determine when and where it will be visible.

It is known from Babylonian and Greek history that at least from the time of King Nabonasser (whose reign began in 747BC), a dated canon of astronomical observations was preserved in Babylon.

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica references, virtually all Babylonian accounts of eclipses are confined to astronomical treatises. Those from China and Greece are found in historical and literary works.

Our organisation is not limited to using 3rd order methods from Western techniques. Although no one set of ideas contributes to building 3rd order systems, it is not uncommon for linear and multi-linear algebra to be used.

Linear and multi-linear algebra originated in the study of systems of linear equations in several unknowns, and in the attempt to find general methods for their solution.

The efforts of such mathematicians and physicists as Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Gabriel Cramer, Joseph Louis Lagrange and Carl Friedrich Gauss are largely responsible for the modern concept of linear and multi-linear algebra.

Effective transformation of expressions can be obtained in Buddha Dhamma by use of appropriate mandalas.

Mandalas are often depicted in Mongolian painting. In the book Development of the Mongolian National Style Painting, author N. Tsultem writes that although Mongolian painters theoretically relied upon on Indian sutras and doctrines, in practice, they were guided by Central and East Tibetan iconography of the 14th century.

At this time Lamaism, which had established a firm foothold in Tibet, was able to freely penetrate and spread in Mongolia. This sect was a combination of Sutrantics and Tantrism.

In The Mandala: Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism, Martin Brauen states that in order "to impart the most profound religious truths, Tantric Buddhism employs pictorial representations with an intensity found in no other form of Buddhism and scarcely in any other religion." (p.9)

Mongolian and Tibetan painting consist of many mandalas depicting tranquil Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and the fierce idams and sahius ­ the custodian geniuses.

The figures and paintings of Tantric Buddhism only hint at what they are meant to represent, and serve as an aid to the meditator who uses special practices to purify his or her consciousness. These practices are often termed deity yoga.

The monk Khenpo Thubten is quoted as saying:

"The mandala is fundamentally something secret. If you are interested in it in order to acquire reputation, and feel pride in showing what you have worked out to others, you do not have the right attitude. If however your work springs from efforts to offer help to other people, that is the right attitude of mind, which will contribute to the liberation of yourself and others."

In preparing our KNOXFM programs, we wish our listeners never to become stuck in the groove of 1st order thinking. We want to wake them up to the next level of knowledge.

The 2nd order of learning, and fastest way to consolidate learning for most people, is to put it into practice what is learnt at the 1st level.

Our Members learn that they need to make merit to foster self-development at the 1st level. As Members practice making merit at the 2nd level, they gradually become less self-obsessed, and their focus shifts to helping others. In this process, Members who make enough merit, are able to attain a 3rd order understanding of the outcomes of helping others.

The ways in which Members make merit and help others is many and varied.

One way is to offer food or drink to another person. At the 2nd level, Five Reflections on Food are undertaken:

1. This food is the labour of countless beings. May I accept this offering with gratitude.
2. This food is taken to strengthen my exertions, for greed and opinion are strong. May I deserve this offering.
3. This food is taken to help me become clear and generous. May I pay attention.
4. This food is taken to nourish and sustain my practice. May I be moderate.
5. This food is taken to help all beings attain the Buddha way. May I practice wholeheartedly.

At the 2nd level, a person offering dana is not merely giving food, they are intentionally undertaking an action that will help another to have long life and good health, conditions necessary to learn and teach Buddha Dhamma. In return, the person will also receive long life and good health.

Another way of making merit is to offer housing to another person. At the 1st level accommodation is offered when it is required or asked for. At the 2nd level, a person strives to obtain for others accommodation that is more suitable for the practice of Buddha Dhamma.

Yet another way to make merit is to offer transport to another person by driving them in our cars, or paying their fares. We can also help other persons by driving them to the airport or a seaport when required. At the 2nd level, a person undertakes to travel on behalf of another person, relieving them of the requirement to do so. Thus a person can make it easier for another to conserve their energy, and remain in a suitable location for practising Buddha Dhamma. The outcomes of helping others in this way are ease of future travel and development of Celestial eye.

We can help persons by making their beds, clean their house, tidying their garden, doing the shopping, repairing their furniture, and cleaning their carpets.

We can help other persons by carrying their parcels, carrying their food, carrying their shopping.

We can help other persons by preparing their food, washing up after their food, placing food in their refrigerator.

We can help other persons by mowing their lawns, weeding their garden, planting flowers in their garden or tidying their shrubs.

We can do all household chores that other persons need to do.

We can coach persons in their work skills, or if we are an employer and we have a vacancy, we can employ them if they are suitable.

If we are an employee, we can work diligently to make our employer wealthy.

By lending a helping hand, we are benefiting ourselves.

At the 1st level, we undertake these activities so that we receive similar assistance in the future. Whatever we give out to the world, will come back to us sooner or later.

At the 2nd level we help others with these time consuming tasks so they can devote time and energy to practising Buddha Dhamma.

This leads to an understanding at the 3rd level that we MUST help others in this way if we are to have the conditions necessary for learning and practising Buddha Dhamma ourselves.

It is the lack of understanding of cause and effect that does not make this self-evident.

The more we watch what happens to us, the more we will understand cause and effect.

You will see this in everyday life when you watch other people and you listen to what they have to say.

If we sit quietly in a garden we can notice four things using a mandala mind.

The first thing we notice is the weather. Is it too hot or too cold?

Is it quiet or is it noisy? Do you feel comfortable or do you feel uncomfortable?

Do you want to sit there or do you want to leave?

All these views and opinions arise from causes. Over time, if you practise, you will know for yourself what the causes are. They have their origin in the past.

Now this sort of questioning approach about the state of the body is useful to raise awareness in the present, second by second, under four conditions.

--The first is that the conversation is restricted to one person.
--The second is that no interpolation of relatives or friends are allowed.
--Thirdly, it is the task of the meditation master to ask questions.
--Finally, the meditation Master should discourage the client from elaboration of information in 1st order or 2nd order forms of and analysis.

Clients should be told they are responsible for their actions.

May you be well and happy.

This script was written and edited by John D. Hughes and Leanne Eames.

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