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Many persons tend to fantasise that if they could afford it, they would live the simple life in some country retreat or desert island away from persons. For others, life would be more complex.

The more complex repressed wishes cause thought of loaded dishes and flagons and luscious meals stilling hunger.

C.G. Jung describes thoughts turning to: "seductive and voluptuous beings yielding themselves to their pent-up sexual desires, riches and worldly power taking the place of poverty and lack of influence, and bustling crowds, noise and music enlivening the intolerable silence and loneliness."

These fantasies are given up only when their egocentric nature of this connection is recognised as being one-sided and the development of a critical consciousness that their nature is means that the one who runs the fantasy cares little for other persons.

The fantasies, which come from the world of instinct, when they are challenged, fight to preserve themselves.

The affronted world of instinct cannot be overcome by simple methods. Its one-sidedness, when confronted, produces visions arising from the neglected instincts.

Some persons who forget that the pure mind is colourless, odourless and without form of any kind as explained in the Buddha Dhamma texts become excited if they see white light become manifest. When accompanied with feelings of bliss, they think they have achieved something.

In their ignorance, the "something" they fabricate from the white light experience they label as anything from seeing a "flying saucer" to "a heavenly angel" to "a spirit guide" or "a departed ancestor" or whatever.

With the exception of something overwhelming happening (even if it is wrongly labelled), there is nothing to wake us up to the fact that day-to-day living has a downside.

The false labelling of something overwhelming cannot be avoided unless you practiced Buddha Dhamma in past lives at some reasonable level.

But, if you are willing to study and develop yourself you can come to the not fabricated labels of what happens. If sensation is predominant, intuition is barred, this being the function that pays the least attention to tangible facts. Conversely, a person with an excess of intuition lives in a world of unproven possibilities.

Buddha Dhamma is the middle way between such things.

The paradoxical statements seen by the clouded minds vanish when the wisdom minds that see the ways things are come to fruit. This cannot happen by chance ­ only by systematic practice of the eightfold path.

So if you wish to learn, how do you progress?

Firstly, you decide you wish to learn.

Secondly, you must be prepared to study what you may think see as being the wearisome stages of what Western thought would classify as comparative psychology.

You might begin by guessing that a cover up is happening in your minds. One form of cover up for a paralysing feeling of nothingness and lostness is compensated by dreams. But a better "cover up" is to start on the path that leads out of suffering.

Remember, if it gives you the courage to start to explore yourself, that if you stall for too long to start the practice from this day's wake up call, you will regret it tomorrow.

Even stalling for 500 years over your next few lives means you could miss out in the Dhamma ending age. The wise persons have started the path in earlier lives.

How do you start?

You start with the first perfection, called dana in Pali.

This first perfection (dana) may be thought to mean "giving". Apart from material giving, it includes giving time and service to the community in the form of teaching, counselling and work training.

There are four types of dana.

The highest form of giving is Dhamma Dana, which is the strategy of showing persons how to remove hate, greed and ignorance and therefore they can obtain nibbana.

The whole process of Dhamma Dana depends on having a person who is capable of learning what is taught. Accordingly, great emphasis is placed in practical Buddhism on making people teachable.

The process of questioning is characteristic of the Buddha's method of instruction.

Buddha Dhamma does not want to replace anything today.

Buddha Dhamma presents no threat to any religion, sect or denomination.

The fundamental attitude needed for success in the Buddha Way is that a critical examination should be made by the person wishing to learn Buddhism to see if the Doctrine being taught is wholesome or unwholesome.

If the Doctrine being taught is unwholesome, it will not match the litmus test of Buddhist Teachings.

First order learning should involve the study of other persons' lives, beliefs, trusts and values, and other times and cultures.

It should involve a more perceptive view of their hopes and suffering.

This gives an insight into the First Noble Truth - 'Life is Dukkha'.

Through the written Dhamma ('The Three Baskets'), perception can arise of the causes and effects of suffering, the Second Noble Truth.

It is very easy to put learning in a fourth 'too hard' basket or to swing too much the other way and use ethnographic knowledge to satisfy a mere need for power over others. In the words of the Buddha, "to learn, without practising, is like counting the tasks (sometimes 'cows' - ed.) of others or like carrying a raft on one's head instead of using it to cross the stream".

It is by your successful learning of the Buddha Way that you establish new and lasting friendships based on morality and co-operation with one another. Your material wealth and health is improved by Buddha Dharma Training.

When you know you can manage the stress of living, your old reasons for Practice are no more.

Some of your daydreaming has finished. Contentment is a much valued virtue in Buddhism.

The Law of Cause and Effect (kamma and vipaka) determines that to attain learning and benefit in respect of meditation, it is necessary to produce an accumulation of available wholesome (kusala) kamma.

This merit is the "fuel" of all realisations and the cause of continued wholesome conditions of practice. A corollary of this means that without sufficient available merit, a Student's meditation will not produce realisations and further, the Student will find it difficult to find conditions which will support Dhamma Practice.

Some basic conditions which have to arise in order for beings to be able to practice the Buddha Dhamma are:

1 Have to be born into a Buddha-Sasana.
2 Have to be born into a suitable body or form.
3 Have to be born healthy in order to live beyond a few years:
4 Have to have sufficient food, water, warmth and conditions to sustain this present life.
(5) Have to meet the Buddha's Teaching of the Middle Way in a language that can be understood.
6 Have to be Teachable as regards the Middle Way.
7 Have to desire to Learn the Middle Way.
8 Have no major obstructions to being trained in the Middle Way
(9) Over an extended period of time, have to desire to practice and realise the Teachings of the Middle Way.
(10) Have to have sufficient leisure time to be taught and to practice the Middle Way.

Some time ago, a particular Monastery was in danger of being destroyed by an invading army. The Abbott requested local villagers to begin a new room.

Why is this a wise move in the longer term?

If you wish to practice, you may compare yourself with a Zen artist.

An Zen artist must be first of all open minded.

With the comparatively few but competent strokes used, the Chinese brush becomes a very sensitive tool and the mind can control the movement.

The concept of learning from nature is involved and this is a path to meditation. The goal of the painting classes is to lead to Calligraphy.

In like manner, it is a new need to arrange the study of the system proposed, and allow the learning experience to take place of all or some of the proposals before the next step.

About 'time', lacking of Buddhist learning and practice, especially the mindfulness, leads men to forget that 'reality' without doubt is the 'present' - seeing, hearing, touching, thinking, perceiving, feeling 'now' - because now the past is memory and the future is hope or expectance or the 'don't know' 'not yet happened'.

All these hearing, seeing, thinking, knowing presently are natural process, impermanent - the happenings.

They themselves never say that word 'present' or 'time'. The sound touches ears that are not abnormal, so hearing happens naturally, instantly.

Even thinking depends on many natural conditionings - conditions as past-experience-memory, body-mind-environment that happens presently change, especially the Lord Buddha had discovered that Ignorance is the greatest factor for its occurrence.

How are we to recognise some of us have developed some forms of thinking minds that are far removed from just being some random noise generated from the human body chemistry processes?

We need to distinguish between body and mind.

Now start by the distinction that thinking is thinking it is not cat, dog, man, woman.

It is the thinking happening, the result of many natural conditions - so it is natural happening, a phenomena, a Dhamma state.

If one realised truly that state of Dhamma, truly the ignorance about it and all other states of Dhamma as it exists (especially body-mind-life-world of that one and of all other beings seen and not-seen like Devas, hell-beings) would end definitively.

The same result comes from knowing, second by second, the 'hearing', seeing etc., instantly presently only happens, then disappears.

This is knowing thought as anicca.

The Dhamma happenings, the natural happenings that never desire to happen because they are not 'a person', 'an individual'.

This is knowing thought as anatta.

There are simply natural states of Dhamma - even the ignorance is as natural depending on natural states - like sound touching the ear- giving hearing.

This happens without any need of the idea 'I hear'.

Ignorance is "avista dhatu" (element). It is not any kind of self, person, being-individual that can have the ability to intend.

To end ignorance by the Middle Way when developed will end its effects - the suffering, the boredom - because the Truth - the truth that is highest happiness, is revealed resplendent.

The Truth comes to be known when Ignorance disappears from the thought processes. The fantasy world is exposed, known as painful, and finished with.

Sacca Dhamma - Amata Dhamma - Immortal True Nature or True Nature of Nature, so ends Delusion of Time or invention of past, present future concept Sanya-perception-memory;

Let this last one to be the mechanical working of DNA.

So, from this framing of correct views, there is no doubt of the Four Noble Truths and the Absolute - the Nirvana, so no doubt about Buddha, Dhamma (Truth-Natural-and-His teaching concerning it) Sangha (the disciple who can put His instructions into actuality, can turn the wheel of Dhamma).

At this stage of practice, the Four Noble Truths have become actuality for the person.

Other system statements are seen as useful but limited in scope.

One limited system deals with recent aspects or directions of education, that do not appear to have been systematically approached.

We are describing any of the Australian educational systems of which you may be aware.

The present education ideas involve learning skills, but are not strong on methods which can avoid community disorders resulting from disordered living, and appears as alcoholism, drug abuse and overeating.

Such disorders are generally labelled psychosomatic and include such socio-pathic behavior as battering babies and causing road accidents.

The "inability to cope" or "suburban neurosis" is an aspect of this disorder.

The position we hold is that there is some validity to the proposition that Buddha Dhamma can give a range of skills which can be learnt by some children and some adults in Australia which would remedy these disorders.

It does not seem likely that ordinary schools would set up altars to have an approach that encouraged students to do offerings to guarantee the ongoing help of the Deva of Learning.

We have set up such altars in our Centre library to help the scholarship of Members.

We do not worship the Deva of Learning.

In our view, this is one approach to learning how to exercise judgement.

Judgement requires the further, and related, general skill of knowing the relevant from the irrelevant. Better judgement demands and encourages broad general knowledge.

For sound decision making, the mature organisation requires its members to read and communicate in a standardised technical language.

Standardised language removes misunderstandings between members and makes the decision-making process more time-efficient.

Members are frequently required to make reports and recommendations to others in the organisation on the assumption that everybody understands each other.

The most obvious change in the learning arena this century that is useful to consider is the worldwide growth of universities.

In 1902, England possessed six Universities.

The training of Teachers has during the Twentieth Century become increasingly the concern of Universities.

The American scholar, Flexner, writing in 1930, defines a university as "essentially a seat of learning, devoted to the conservation of knowledge and the training of students well above the secondary level". At that time, he said of British university students in the arts and science faculties: "An excessive proportion become teachers."

This is not true today.

To be sure, teachers need to be educated. But a point is soon reached where a university is saturated with prospective teachers; beyond that point, leisure and inclination for research suffer, and the university tends to deteriorate into a teacher-training establishment, though, of course, the right man will win through."

Teachers who have only used research material and are not research-centred may not be the best teachers to encourage curiosity of students to do research on the Internet.

A very strong cultural learning curve is recommended for overseas Teachers prior to and after arrival to teach them they must respect that Australians elect their governments on a premise that they will implement policies and laws to achieve a high level of standard of well-being, and that visitors like themselves are bound to follow them.

Fluency and Discernment is required for productive activity in the social setting, and is necessary for the communication of the Dhamma to non-Buddhist persons of high learning and critical faculty who hold positions of social responsibility.

However, it may not be widely accepted that 'progress', as it equates with technological development, is problematised not by the perceived insincerity of State's media propaganda, but by the prevalent lack of appreciation of the difference between contemporary modes of use of
technology and the actual technology.

Modern technology is based on a foundation of world-wide co-operation.

This is a good thing. It may be clearly understood that the emerging technologies of the digital age will transform our lives.

Of commercial necessity, proponents and users of these systems, such as vendors of the Internet, make foremost the objective of acquiring an aura of charismatic authority in the medium of modern communicational technology.

Both outcomes require the communicator to have participated in a different type of educational process than is customary to the Western training experience, which wavers with the capricious fashions of zeitgeist.

One of the Highest Blessings referred to in the Mangala Sutta is "Bahu Saccanca Sippanca" which has been interpreted as "vast learning, perfect handicraft" or "much wisdom and much science".

As Williams (1961) noted; (When) we speak of a cultural revolution, we must certainly see the aspiration to extend the active process of learning, with the skills of literacy and other advanced communication, to all people rather than to limited groups.

This is why are planning at our Centre that our data warehouse we use internally for our e-library on our intranet will one day be added to the data on our current internet site www.bdcu.org.au

We believe that Australians would welcome mind training that would supplement their conventional educational opportunity.

It would be nice if Australia could achieve a leading regional position in workplace education because it is linked with new delivery methods, using satellite and Australian-developed distance learning techniques.

What frame of reference is useful to examine present learning systems?

An organisation exhibits six main educational features: Assigned roles; Internal interest groups; Social stratification; Shared beliefs; Participation and communication; and Dependencies. (Clancy, 1989)

Our Members study these six main educational features within our learning systems.

Their study includes knowledge of our Centre's tangible and intangible asset base. Our Company's intangible asset base includes royalty-free copyright in coherent Buddhist educational material.

We are fortunate that many Buddhist Scholars from overseas countries contribute to our publications. Over the last fifteen years, shared beliefs appear throughout these publications. It is gratifying to notice the euphonious style of our publications which network into thirty seven countries, as Dhamma Dana.

This published material has been consistent with our five styles over the years because it was edited by John D. Hughes, Graduate Diploma Advanced Industrial Education, Dip.App. Chem., TTTC.

Future educational material must echo our evolved style.

Our evolved style, termed 'Lifetimes of Learning' is articulated as the cultivation of Friendliness, Practicality, Professionalism, Cultural Adaptability and Scholarship.

One of the prime difficulties is that the learning benefits of Buddhist studies in higher education cannot be studied without a considerable number of source materials.

Our Centre's library has such materials.

These materials force persons to make use of the types of minds that welcome multidisciplinary studies.

The educational climate in this country may be robust enough to be ready to "legitimise" cross-discipline approaches to problems.

For example, a few years ago, a Professor of Chemistry at an Australian University added considerable light to the deconstructionist debate ("Humanities").

Questions of religious freedom comprise many factors.

Any Australian University may not readily understand some of these factors.

Nor would the Australian Government Embassy or even the Department of External Affairs unless they are sourced by Buddhist higher education research position papers. It would seem desirable to have such input available in Australia.

Factors which position our Centre to influence this supply of good information to shape the direction of higher education research studies include elements implicit in being an active Regional Centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, and those associated with obtaining an information "trade off" by our practice of sharing "good" information on a need-to-know basis, a direct result of our willingness to help others.

Our policy of free circulation of our Buddha Dhyana Dharma Review is under pressure. Our Review, even under our cost restraints, has doubled in circulation in the last 5 years.

Overseas reprints are allowed.

The Review content has influence upon higher education thought (as current concerns).

Our correspondence files, relating to input and output from 35 countries' aspirations in higher education research in language translation, and local Buddhist studies, comprise a peak archive within this country.

In the U.K., the British establishment is about to lose a national archive of the respected Buddhist Editor, Mr. Russell Webb.

We sent a delegation to London to make efforts to obtain these archives and bring them to Australia to enhance for our organisation's holdings.

We have been advised by Mr. R. Webb that he had arranged that they are destined to end up at a French Buddhist Monastery set up by Vietnamese Buddhists.

Does it not seem ironic that future U.K. higher education research institutions could be forced to buy back their own history of Buddhist heritage?

Our Centre holds information provided by Mr. Webb. We are hoping to persuade the French authorities to allow us to copy other of the main Webb documents.

Having ownership of the major Centre of Buddhist archives physically sited on the Australian mainland under Australian control is clearly in the national interest, let alone that added value that it covers of the fastest growing religion in Australia.

We invite persons who wish to help our library in any way to contact us at 9754 3334.

Our present need is to get more metal box files. Can you help?

By lending a helping hand to our library you can help our preparedness.

We are interested in persons who feel they can give us assistance to develop a conceptual solution for our next two decades of library research and development.

Our policy is to find affordable means to best enhance and make use of our available library resources of Buddhist materials.

You can find more details of our library at Australian Libraries Gateway www.nla.gov.au/libraries.

We need more "Champions" to directly "fast track" finance into the supply chain of material for useful for higher education research activities.

Are you interested in helping our organisation?.

Our strategy of funding to achieve "fast tracking" by an existing peak resource Centre library which accepts that complexity of change is well established in Australia is under review.

With its present resources, this Buddhist Centre has a well-known potential for moving with the current of higher research excellence based on its international network of scholars. We are not just treading water.

It operates by knowing how to source the building of useful logic frames which show what was previously hidden.

This Centre has been self-funding and has a record of building understanding with scholars of our Asian trading partners.

We estimate we need an additional $200,000 be directed towards "fast tracking" the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Limited's much needed proposed international electronic database facility, including one year's research officer's salary and sundries for such auxiliary equipment and training.

It has been stated that Australia has no world-class academic libraries at present.

Our Centre's mission is to produce a world-class academic Buddhist research library in Australia.

Our next logical step is to add to what we have put online by adding our organisation's existing 200 megabyte of "third rate" e-library resources.

Our role model is in America, at Princeton University.

It is called the Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions (IASWR).

It is believed to network on database to about 60,000 clients.

Its publication Asian Religious Studies Information (ARSI) comprises a bibliography with subject and name indexes for recent publications and current research concerning Asian and comparative religious studies.

The author of this paper has been in touch with the founder of IASWR (Institute of Advanced Study of World Religions), Dr. Richard A. Gard, Acting Editor of ARSI, for many years and is sympathetic towards their ideals and prospects for research in Higher Education.

Having established how we gather the good Buddha Dhamma information, we can now return to the main methods of mind training.

The point is that these two types of learning, experiential and intellectual, complement each other and make the desired understanding far more profound.

The acquisition of Dhamma-knowledge is no different.

The Mangala Sutta highlights the importance of developing an intellectual framework for comprehending the Dhamma: "Patience, obedience, sight of the Samanas and religious discussions at due season - this is the Highest Blessing."

The Buddhist Texts and their translations and commentaries are present in abundance to this end, and the necessity and immeasurable benefit of preserving these and related resources is evident. But no amount of theoretical knowledge can gain one True Wisdom - make the correct diagnosis, as it were. Only direct experience, or insight, can do this, and meditation is the vehicle for realising these.

Yet not any old meditation will do.

There is in western society at present a burgeoning 'meditation industry', as people turn away from traditional sources of comfort and security in their never-ending quest to make sense of and be at peace with this world.

In our papers every day are advertisements to this end, and many dedicated and genuine people are behind the movement. Please let me say here that this article in no way intends to slander, denigrate or offend those involved. On the contrary, all beings dedicated to the alleviation of others' suffering are worthy of the highest praise and encouragement.

But the Buddha Path is clearly laid out, and part of it is "Right Meditation".

One of our Members, who is a doctor, put it this way:

"Let us return to the casualty department to illustrate the point. In most casualty departments there is a continuously frantic air. Patients moan and groan, machines whir and go "beep", ambulances howl in and out, and doctors and nurses rush about from one sick person to the next.

When I was attempting to diagnose my patient that night this was exactly the case, yet when taking his history and examining him I had to block out these distractions if I was to help him to the best of my abilities.

To do this I made a few adjustments to the environment, drawing the curtains around his bed (also providing a little privacy) and switching the light
on to better focus on him.

When he was speaking I did my best to concentrate on his words and gain as much insight into his symptoms as I could.

In western medicine, this aspect of the doctor-patient interaction is given the most importance. Finally, when examining him, my attentions were directed fully to gleaning the maximum information from his body. When I placed my stethoscope on his chest to listen to his heart, for instance, and heard a faint, though definite murmur, I had to bring my hearing consciousness to the very forefront of my mind in order to distinguish the murmur from other types which could have had quite different consequences in terms of the diagnosis.

Had, at any of these stages, I received an incorrect view of what was actually occurring the potential for disaster (in terms of my patient's well-being) was high.

Fortunately, for him and me, I have been lucky enough to have received good medical teaching.

The parallel with "Right Meditation" is that while there are many ways to use a stethoscope, to draw out the analogy, there is only one that will make the correct diagnosis. While many beings offer many ways to freedom from suffering, only the Buddha and His Path guarantee it for all.

Like a glass of dirty, muddied water, there are some methods that will still the water and let the mud settle, but the real secret to always having fresh water is to remove the mud.

The Buddha outlined the way to do this and it is up to those who are interested to seek it for themselves.

May all beings find the Path, realize the Path, and follow the Path.

May all beings be well and happy.

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

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