01/27/08
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For The Gain of the Many and For the Welfare of the Many
AntiVir PE Classic
http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=129719
Karnataka: Mayawati spoils Mallikarjun Kharge’s chances
While the BJP has had no difficulty in projecting its chief ministerial candidate, the Congress party has too many aspirants to contend with. ‘Cross that bridge when you come to it’, it seems to be telling itself, courtesy Mayawati
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS in Karnataka have been gathering pace. Mayawati’s recent visit to Bangalore has forced even the established political parties to redefine their poll strategy for obvious reasons. Unlike other parties, which tend to exploit certain communities or certain sections of the society, Mayawati typically tried to carry all, irrespective of their religion or community or caste, to capture power in Karnataka. This has proved to be a setback for some political parties, which usually gravitate towards certain communities or certain strata of society for their electoral success.
Well, the Congress has set the ball rolling by deciding to requisition the services of the former chief minister of Karnataka and the present Governor of Maharashtra, SM Krishna. What is more, he has been reportedly told that in the event of the party emerging victorious, he will be its chief ministerial choice. The arrangement will be formalised with Krishna taking over the overall leadership of the Karnataka unit of the Congress party in February, hardly a week from now. A co-ordination committee will be constituted for the purpose of which he will be the chairman. Such an arrangement will not, it is hoped, rub Mallikarjun Kharge the wrong way. Kharge is a senior Dalit leader of the party and is also its pradesh congress committee. He is an aspirant for the CM’s post. But this Karnataka Dalit is going to miss the bus, thanks to the ambitions of his fellow Dalit from UP, Mayawati. What an irony! The Congress cannot ignore the upper castes lest they should switch their allegiance to Mayawati, lock, stock and barrel, as they did in UP.
Another leader of the backward classes and Deve Gowda’s bete noire, the former deputy chief minister Siddaramaiah, who joined the Congress party a year ago, is also an aspirant for the CM’s post. Mayawati’s Karnataka entry has dampened Siddaramaiah’s ambition. What carrot the Congress will offer? As of now, the Congress is inclined to take up this issue only after Krishna re-enters Karnataka politics. Until then Siddaramaiah has to remain in political wilderness.
Incidentally, leaders, including the eight former MLAs who have identified with Siddaramaiah, are to be formally inducted into the Congress party on January 27 in Bangalore. Senior Congress leader in charge of Karnataka, Prithviraj Chavan and top state Congress leaders will be present on the occasion. This should have taken place in New Delhi on Dec 25, 2007 in the presence of AICC President Sonia Gandhi. Following the latter’s hospitalisation the event had to be postponed.
Fortunately, the BJP faces no such problems. And it is making no secret of it. It has already projected Yediurappa as its chief ministerial candidate. The dilemma of the Congress party has warmed the cockles of the BJP’s heart. Ridiculing the Congress party’s decision to bring back SM Krishna to state politics, BJP senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu said, “Nobody can save the Congress from defeat in the coming assembly elections. Congress is a sinking ship. Neither Ram (Siddaramaiah) nor Krishna (SM Krishna) can prevent it from sinking. In fact, Krishna’s entry will only add to the confusion in the Congress”.
Naidu challenged the Congress party to name its leader for the polls. He also had a dig at MP Prakash, the No 2 in the erstwhile Kumaraswamy government. When queried on Prakash joining the Congress party, Naidu remarked, “If somebody wants to step into the sinking ship, I can only say ‘all the best’.”
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IET20080124233634&Page=T&Title=Southern+News+-+Tamil+Nadu&Topic=0
Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath’s bullock wins race, caste clash erupts in village
Friday January 25 2008 09:58 IST
S Irshad Ahamed
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THANJAVUR: Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath’s of Peykarumbankottai village in Orathanad taluk bore the brunt of an attack by those belonging to the upper castes, just because one Dalit’s bullock won the race during Pongal celebrations.
On the Maattu Pongal day, the bullocks, owned by Caste Hindus and Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath of the village, were bathed and kept ready in front of the Melayi Amman Temple in Peykarumbankottai for the annual race.
As soon as the crackers burst, a scared bullock owned by Muthuraman alias Sevugan (21), a Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath , ran fast and finished the race first.
Unable to digest the victory of a bullock owned by a Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath, Jagadeesan (20) and Deepakumar (20) quarrelled with Muthuraman and called him names.
When other Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath youths came in support of Muthuraman, a gang of 30 Caste Hindus attacked the Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath with logs and footwear. His bullock, winner of the race, was also caned.
A head constable from Pappanadu police station reached the spot after the spar and made enquires with the two groups. He also advised the Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath to lodge a written complaint.
However, when the Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath were proceeding in a car to the police station, another group of Caste Hindus intercepted the vehicle and attacked the occupants indiscriminately with lethal weapons.
In the melee, the windscreen of the car was damaged. Eight Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath were injured and admitted to the Thanjavur Medical College Hospital (TMCH).
Based on a complaint, the Pappanadu police registered a case against 12 Caste Hindus. The police have so far arrested only one accused while others are said to be absconding.
Meanwhile, A Kathir, executive director of Evidence, a Madurai-based NGO, demanded a compensation of Rs 50,000 each to the affected.
“The District Collector and SP should visit the spot and conduct enquiry. The ADGP (Social Justice and Human Rights) should also conduct an independent enquiry. The National SC/ST Commission should suo motu investigate and submit its report to the government,” Kathir said.
“We have heard of incidents of discrimination against Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath. It is disgraceful to learn that even the cattle owned by Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath face discrimination for no faults of theirs,” he added.
http://www.siasat.com/english/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=236801&Itemid=79&cattitle=Hyderabad
Stick to SC, drop dalit
Hyderabad, January 19: The move of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes asking State Governments not to use the word Dalit in official documents, drew sharp criticism from some sections of Dalit and civil rights groups.
Asked for his views, State SC-ST Commission chairman Prof M Nagarjuna said he had no comment to offer.
“I am heading a joint commission for SCs and STs in AP and will go by the instructions of the State Government,” he declared.
But senior AP High Court advocate Bojja Takaram welcomed the move of the National Commission.
Dalit, he maintained, was a derogatory expression.
TRIPLE GEM STUDY CIRCLE Preffered to call Schedules CastesScheduled Tribes as Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa that is The Great Prabuddha Bharath that will be more apprpriate.
Caste and the word dalit complicates progress for India’s Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath.
The best solution is by way of taking Diksha by all the Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath as done by the father of the Indian Constitution Dr. B.R.Ambedkar. This will prevent all sorts of discrimination meted out to Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath by the Invaders and their Slaves.
http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=64522
Invaders and their Slave landlords threaten Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath village headwoman
Patna, Jan 20: A Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath village headwoman in Bihar has been told by Invaders and their Slave landlords to pay extortion money to continue in office or be killed.
The woman has moved every authority - from the local police station to the district administration and to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar - but her plea for help has fallen on deaf ears.
Gangtia Devi hails from a village near Bakhtiarpur, Nitish Kumar’s hometown. Her troubles began 20 months ago when she was elected chief of the Rupas-Mahari panchayat near Bakhtiarpur in Patna district.
Initially, the family was overjoyed. But she soon realised that the powerful Invaders and their Slave landowners in her village were not ready to accept her as village council head in a state known for its steep gender and caste polarisation.
“In the beginning, I was hopeful that everything would work out. But I was wrong. It is not easy for them to accept me as a ‘mukhiya’ (head) as I belong to the poorest of the poor,” Gangtia Devi said.
After her election, Gangtia Devi was regularly abused, humiliated, harassed and threatened for not paying extortion money to the powerful village landlords.
“Soon after I became the village council head, some villagers belonging to the powerful landed Invaders and their Slaves started abusing and harassing me. They questioned how a ‘chamain’ (a woman belonging to chamar caste, traditionally the cobblers i.e.Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath) could become a ‘mukhiya’ and sit in a chair in their presence,” she said.
Landless and illiterate Gangtia Devi was threatened regularly. Her husband, who works as a labourer, is afraid to leave home for work after the landlords threatened to set his hut on fire.
“No action was taken against the Invaders and their Slave men, nor was any security provided to me,” she said.
Last year, another Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath village head of Methwaliya panchayat in Chapra district was prevented from hoisting the national flag on Republic Day.
In 2006, 50 percent seats in the panchayat elections were reserved for women by the Nitish Kumar government.
IANS
http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/21/stories/2008012158290400.htm
Online edition of India’s National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 21, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version
Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath to stage dharna for patta certificates
Staff Reporter
HYDERABAD: The Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha BharathWelfare Association will stage a dharna near Indira Park on January 23 demanding issue of patta certificates to those tilling the land in Survey No. 240/1 in Mamadipally village of Saroornagar Mandal in Ranga Reddy district.
Recently several families were dispossessed from the land by the Revenue authoritieshe said and added that some of them were even arrested on the charge of land grabbing, said N. Balaraj, general secretary of the Association.
He told press persons here on Sunday that for the last 50 years Dalit families were doing farming on the 53-acre land and paying taxes regularly.
Even their names were mentioned in the revenue records.
But of late they were not being allowed to cultivate the lands.
Notified area
A representation was given to the Ranga Reddy Collector and the latter informed that it was a notified area and the land could not be assigned to them, Mr. Balaraj said.
Mr. Balaraj urged the government to issue pattas to all those tilling the land under the fourth phase of land distribution programme.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=3798
Caste complicates progress for India’s Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath
Peter Hodge 21-Jan-2008
‘I am zero when it comes to caste,’ says Moses Vattipalli. ‘I was told again and again that I was not fit, I was a Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath, untouchable, low-caste man, and leatherwork, that is my caste-work.’
A rare case among Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath to have escaped the same work as his father. One of his tasks is to record abuses against Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath on the organisation’s website. ‘Every day I have things to report,’ he says. ‘Every day killing, every day a Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath was raped, humiliated, beaten up.’
This picture of caste-based oppression is at odds with common perceptions of modern India as an economic tiger and IT superpower. Few Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath have reaped the benefits of the recent boom, due to lack of education and ongoing discrimination that mocks the outlawing of ‘untouchability’ in the Indian Constitution.
Like most Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath children, his education about caste status began early. In his own village, he knew not to take water from the well the Invaders and their slaves people used. But when visiting another village he unwittingly drew from the wrong well. ‘Those people scolded me because I went there while they were drawing water. I came home crying.’
The Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath in his village are isolated on the eastern side. ‘When the wind blows, the wind of the Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath should not touch the Inaders and their slaves. Visiting the village shop, he had to stand at a distance so the shopkeeper would not be contaminated. ‘When I asked for something from the shop they used to pack it and throw it. If I catch it, I catch it, otherwise things would fall on the ground and we have to collect them from the mud.’ Similarly, payment would be thrown to the shopkeeper and the change tossed back.
The general rule in Indian culture that respect should flow to elders is skewed by caste. It was painful for him to see his father treated with disrespect by Invaders and their slaves children. ‘I used to feel so embarrassed. My father might have had a problem, but he didn’t do anything because Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath think it’s their fate.’
Children growing up under such conditions develop a sense of inferiority. That is precisely the intention. ‘There were many times, I was told I am a Scheduled Caste i.e.Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath and equal to any other animal,’ he says .
On one occasion he was treated worse than an animal. He and his father had been invited to an Invaders and their slaves wedding.
He was performing well at school and expected to be treated well. He was in for a rude shock. ‘When the time for the feast came they asked us to sit on the mud where the cattle and cycles travel.’ Not wanting to upset the people who had invited them, they stayed. ‘There were people walking that way and I remember the sand and dirt was coming into our food. It was such a humiliation.’
01/26/08
Filed under:
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 |
Buddha - The Great Master
This statue dates back to
the 1st Century B.C.E.
It was sculpted during the reign of
of the Kushana Emperor Kanishka. |
 |
Sarnath
This place is also known as
Isipatana or “Deer Park”
Situated 5 Kms north of Varanasi,
here the Buddha is said to have preached
his first sermon. |
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The Lion-Capital at Sarnath.
- Emperor Ashoka erected such Lion Capitals
and other similar looking columns
all across his empire in India (and Pakistan)
He spread the message of Buddhism
in Central Asia and the Far East. |
 |
A Chorten
This is a Buddhist place of worship.
Chortens are found in
Nepal and Tibet and look like inverted bells. |
 |
The Kanheri Caves near Mumbai.
These caves were Buddhist Monasteries
in the period 3rd century B.C.E. up to the 7th century C.E.
There are innumerable such cave monasteries
be found especially in Western India. |
 |
The imposing pyramidal
Mahabodhi Temple
at Bodh Gaya in Bihar
The tower soars to
a height of 180 ft.
Close to the temple
near the west wall
grows a pipal tree
which is said to be
descended from the
original Bodhi tree under which
the Buddha received enligthenment |
Buddhism Resurrected in India in the 20th Century
In the mid 20th Century, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who was one of the architects of India’s Constitution, gave Buddhism a fresh lease of life by embracing it a few years after India achieved independence. A significant number of members of those castes who were denied equal rights in the Hindu caste hierarchy also embraced Buddhism. Today an over-whelming proportion of Buddhists in India are these recent converts who term themselves as Nava-Baudha or Neo-Buddhists. A comparatively recent event of significance was the 6th religious council held at Rangoon in 1954 which came 1300 years after the 5th council held at, Prayaga in 643 C.E. in the reign of the last major pan-Indian emperor - Harsha Vardhana. The Rangoon council was also the first one to be held outside India.
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Guilded image of the Buddha from Thailand
With its message of love, peace and universal brotherhood
Buddhism has exercised a sobering influence
on a section of humanity in the countries of the far east. |
 |
A gigantic image of the Great Master - Buddha
at Bamiyan near Kabul in Afghanistan.
It is this image which has been threatened to be blown off by the Taliban,
the Islamic militia that rules Afghanistan.
The statue faced its first defilement at the hands of Islamic invaders
when they invaded pre-dominantly Buddhist Afghanistan in the 8th century
Incidentally the name Afghanistan is derived from the Sanskrit terms Upa-gana-stan
which means “Lands where the Allied tribes live”. |
BSP observes it as ‘Constitution Day’
For The Gain of the Many and For the Welfare of the Many
Sindhia urges officials to implement all provisions of Constitution
Elections before delimitation opposed
BANGALORE: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has appealed to the constitutional machinery in the country to implement all provisions enshrined in the Constitution for the benefit of the marginalised and weaker sections.
This appeal was made by BSP national general secretary P.G.R. Sindhia during the Republic Day celebrations which he preferred to call as “Constitution Day” here on Saturday. He was unfurling the National Flag at the party office.
Mr. Sindhia said the party preferred to call it “Constitution Day” as it was on this day that the Constitution was adopted as framed by the Constituent Assembly headed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
He said the Constitution had enshrined several provisions for “empowering the people socially and economically” oppressed people but successive governments and the political parties had failed to implement the provisions.
With reference to the ensuing Legislative Assembly elections, he said it would be another “impropriety” if the Government was planning to hold elections without taking up delimitation norms. The Constitution clearly indicated that once in every 20 years, the delimitation process would have to be taken up by re-organising the Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies. Mr. Sindhia expressed his opposition to the declaration of election to the State Assembly before the delimitation process was completed. The BSP was concerned about the poor among the upper “castes”.
Quota
BJP and the Janata Dal (S) wants to go to court against the reservation announced for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayors in various city corporations.
BUDDHISM- Our Message of Peace, Non-violence and Goodwill
Centuries after it disappeared from India, Buddhism has staged a comeback here as a tool for social reformation. It remains to be seen whether its essence, that which makes it a way of living peacefully and gently, will be adopted as readily
On October 16, 2002, when most Indians were celebrating Dussehra, symbolic of the victory of justice over injustice, five Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa that The Great Prabuddha Bharath families in Jhajjar, Haryana were mourning relatives who had been lynched by upper caste people. The incident was a millionth repeat of the injustice that has plagued Indian society for millennia, where it has branded a section of itself as less than human and perpetrated the grossest injustices against them. Even today, 60 years after the Indian Constitution outlawed it, 22 per cent of the country’s population continues to bear the cross of ‘untochability’.
Although caste-based political movements have attempted to liberate Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa that The Great Prabuddha Bharath politically and socially, another, more controversial choice made available to them is that of religious conversion. This is the choice that families of the Jhajjar victims made, when 11 days after the gruesome massacre, they converted to Buddhism. In doing so, they followed the example of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, an architect of the Indian Constitution, and a Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa that The Great Prabuddha Bharath , who embraced Buddhism with 3,80,000 followers just six weeks before his death in 1956. Babasaheb, who had combated narrow casteist mindsets all his life, ultimately decided that the best course of action would be to forge a new religious identity for Dalits: one that would free them from oppression and empower them with inner strength.
Why Buddhism?
Babasaheb examined Islam, Christianity and Sikhism before turning to Buddhism. One reason was that right at its origin 2,500 years ago, it had become a tool for a caste revolution. Many of those oppressed as lower castes at the time took refuge in the Buddha’s dhamma because it offered the possibility of a dignified life beyond caste or gender.
Said Ambedkar: “Buddhism teaches social, intellectual, economic and political freedom—equality not only between man and man but also between man and woman. If you study carefully, you will see that Buddhism is based on reason.”
In the Buddha’s time, Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa that The Great Prabuddha Bharath had already borne the yoke of caste for a couple of thousand years. The aboriginal inhabitants of India, they were enslaved by Aryan tribes during 1800-1500 BC. Gradually, the Aryan system of division of labour hardened into a rigid system determined by birth. In this, the aboriginal Indians were the lowest of the low, made to do the most menial of jobs. Before long, they had been categorized as ‘untouchables’.
According to the law book Manusmriti, untouchables could not own property or go to heaven unless they worshipped Brahmins. It was explained that they were being punished for sins of previous lives, a hypothesis that gave Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa that The Great Prabuddha Bharath an inferiority complex.
The Buddha’s Attitude
Around the fifth century BC, an anti-caste revolution began in India. Gautama Buddha, born a Kshatriya (warrior caste) prince, began talking of a dhamma whose social expression, the sangha (community), was devoid of caste and gender distinctions.
In a story from the Pali suttas, we are told that a Brahmin enquired the Buddha about his lineage, who answered: “No Brahmin I, no prince, / No farmer, or aught else. / All worldly ranks I know, / but knowing go my way / as simply nobody: / Homeless, in pilgrim garb, / with shaven crown, I go my way alone, serene. / To ask my birth is vain.”
Indeed we hear of the Buddha equally welcoming Upali, the barber; Suniita, the scavenger; Ambapaali, the courtesan; Saati, a fisherman; Subhaa, a smith’s daughter; and Punnaa, daughter of a deerstalker, into his fold and teaching them the dharma. For, he believed: “By birth is not one an outcast, / By birth is not one a Brahmin. / By deeds is one an outcaste, / By deeds is one a Brahmin.”
Sangha Life
Bhikkus ordained by the Buddha were from various communities. A bhikku wasn’t a priest but a monk, who lived on alms and was a guide on religious and social matters to the larger lay sangha. The Buddha told them: “O bhikkus, just as the rivers when they have fallen into the great ocean lose their identity, just so brethren, do these four castes—Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras—when they begin to follow the doctrine and discipline as propounded by the Tathagata, renounce different names of castes and rank and become members of one society.”
The bhikkus would accept food from all castes, including ‘untouchables’. This was significant since caste rules dictated that one rather starve than accept food from a person of caste lower than one’s own. The deliberate breaking of caste rules signified the contempt of the aware mind for superficial distinctions, evident in this poem by an early bhikku: “I made a hut / From three palm leaves by the Ganges / Took a crematory pot / For an eating bowl,/ Lifted my robe off a trash bin / Two rainy seasons passed and I / Spoke only one word / Clouds came again / But this time the darkness / Tore open.”
Using a crematory pot as food bowl and taking a robe from garbage were marks of renunciation that indicated a blurring and eventual dissolution of caste boundaries. Needless to say, Buddhism came to be known as the religion of the common man. However by the 12th century AD, the Brahmanical religion had reinforced itself and Buddhism was practically extinct in India.
New Cycle
When Ambedkar took refuge in the Buddha, dhamma and sangha on October 14, 1956, he marked the return of what had by then become a world religion. That this was done to transcend caste oppression seemed an appropriate echo of the historical Buddha’s times. The movement that began that day is referred to as neo-Buddhism.
Most neo-Buddhists follow the Theravada school of Buddhism. Ambedkar himself didn’t wish to get embroiled in the Hinayana-Mahayana controversy, preferring to follow ‘Buddhayana’, vehicle of the Buddha. Since Ambedkar’s death, an estimated one crore Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa that The Great Prabuddha Bharath , mostly from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, have followed him into Buddhism. According to Bhante Dipankara Sumedho, chairperson of the Buddhist Cultural Foundation: “Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa that The Great Prabuddha Bharath embrace Buddhism for dignity rather than for economic reasons.”
Mass Conversions
In recent years, mass conversions of Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa that The Great Prabuddha Bharath to Buddhism have been organised.
They realized that the condition of my people could only be improved if they could embrace Buddhism, which does not believe in caste. They have found Buddhism to be rational and logical.They also sees caste as a psychological barrier. Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa that The Great Prabuddha Bharath have been psyched into believing that they can’t change their fate, that they are being punished for past sins. Embracing Buddhism has helped them come out of these fatalistic misconceptions. They not comfortable with the word ‘conversion’, though. “Buddhism is not alien; India is its motherland. Buddhist philosophy is practical; it talks of human rights and how to eradicate suffering,” They believe. It is just Dikhsa.
They have regained self-esteem. Even if the upper castes look down upon them, they know they belong to a religion that believes in universal brotherhood.
Dhamma Education
Eminent Buddhist missionary Ven. L. Ariyawnsa Nayaka Mahathera said during his 1968 speech at the Buddhist National Conference in Mumbai: “Most new Buddhists are Buddhists only in name as they have no education and training in the Buddhist way of life. Unfortunately, Babasaheb passed away within two months after initiating the movement. So, they need assistance and guidance for practicing the dhamma properly.” He advised bhikkus to roam from village to village to propagate the teachings.
Bhante Sumedho of the Ashoka Mission Vihara, New Delhi, points out: “There are many traditional Buddhists who are not religious and Awakened Buddhists (neo-Buddhists) who try their best to follow the Buddhist way of life.” A visit to the Vihara confirms this. Founded by Cambodian monk Ven. Dharmavara Mahathera in 1948, it is a place where neo- and traditional Buddhists meet regularly for spiritual practice.
Lama Lobzang, president of the Vihara, says: “Traditional Buddhist monks are unable to reach out to the neo-Buddhists mainly because of the language barrier. We need more monks who would teach neo-Buddhists in their own dialect.” Organizations like the Bharatiya Boudh Maha Seva, Punjab-based Buddha Parchar Samiti, Taiwanese Corporate Body of Buddha Education Foundation, and the Vipassana Visodhan Vinyas in Igatpuri, Maharashtra have translated Buddhist works into Indian languages for neo-Buddhists.
Many neo-Buddhists continue to be deeply connected to Hindu deities and sometimes celebrate Hindu festivals. Bhante Sumedho sees nothing wrong with this. “One finds festivals common to Hinduism and Buddhism, especially those that occur on full moon days. Also, King Ashoka accepted Buddhism on Dussehra and made it the national religion on Deepavali. So these are special days for us too.”
The Essence
One may embrace Buddhism by taking diksha from an eminent monk. The conversion ceremony is simple. One takes refuge in the Three Jewels—Buddha, dhamma and sangha, and chants the five precepts that one will abstain from killing, stealing, adultery, lying and intoxicants. Yet the essence of the dharma lies in its practice, in transcending afflictive emotions and cultivating mindfulness, compassion and loving-kindness.
Even though Buddhism has managed to stage a comeback in India as a tool for social reformation, it remains to be seen whether its essence, that which makes it a way of living peacefully and gently, will be adopted as readily. For that, conversion is not a pre-requisite at all. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama says: “If you have a particular faith or religion, that is good. But you can survive without it,” and that, “my religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”
TRIPLE GEM STUDY CIRCLE preffered to call as “Prabuddha Bharath Rathna or Arahath” as the Indian Constitution was based on Vinaya(Baba Saheb Dr.B.R.Ambedkar and Dada Saheb Manyawar Kanshi Ram Ji deserved such awards) and for the follow harrowing reason for which Bharath Rathna was conferred to any one this year:
http://ultracurrents.blogspot.com/2008/01/indias-top-award.html
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Ultra Currents
India’s top award misses congeniality
By Sudha Ramachandran
Asia Times
Ugly wrangling has broken out over the Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India), India’s highest civilian honor, with politicians openly lobbying for the award. There is growing feeling among the public that the Bharat Ratna, its value degraded over the years, should be done away with and all state awards abolished.
Established in 1954, the Bharat Ratna is awarded in “recognition of exceptional service towards the advancement of art, literature, science and public service of the highest order”. In the years since, it has been conferred on 41 people, including two non-Indians - Pakistani Gandhian Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan and former
South African president Nelson Mandela - and a naturalized Indian citizen, Mother Teresa. Over half of the award’s recipients have been politicians. Besides the Bharat Ratna, India also awards the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri to civilians who excel in various fields, including the arts, athletics and various realms of public service.
The Bharat Ratna and the Padma awards are announced annually ahead of Republic Day, which falls on January 26. The run-up to the announcements has always been marked by hectic behind-the-scenes jostling for the awards. This year the canvassing has reached a new low. It has been a very public affair with politicians engaging in a no-holds-barred fight for the Bharat Ratna. A “canonize-my-candidate campaign” has gripped India’s political class. Worse, right wing Hindu groups have unleashed violence to protest the discussion on a possible contender, a controversial Muslim painter.
It started with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Lal Krishna Advani shooting off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that the Bharat Ratna be awarded to BJP patriarch and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
That prompted Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa that is The Great Prabuddha Bharath leader and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati to demand that the honor be conferred on her mentor and partner, the late Kanshiram.
Then, Congress sprang into action and began canvassing for veteran communist Jyoti Basu.
At last count, the names of over a dozen politicians - some aged, others dead - including Karpoori Thakur, Muthuvel Karunanidhi, Biju Patnaik, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Chaudhry Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram have been put forward by their parties.
None of these nominees except Manyawar Kanshi Ram Ji are known to have done “public service of the highest order”, which is what the Bharat Ratna is supposed to honor. They have engaged in politicking, of course, but they practiced politics to pursue personal political ambitions rather than to further the public good.
It is not just the unsuitability of the nominations that is disturbing; it is also the way parties are lobbying for it to further their political agendas.
Just as Advani is keen to be seen as having “got” the award for Vajpayee, Congress would like to score some points with the left parties for having recommended the communist Basu.
The Bharat Ratna is an honor conferred on an individual, not a bone to be fought over nor an entitlement to be demanded in the streets, the media or even in letters to the prime minister. It is not an award determined by the public, political parties or parliament. Unlike the Padma awards, which are decided by a screening committee, the Bharat Ratna is the prerogative of the premier.
Interestingly, prime ministers have not shied away from awarding it to themselves. Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi were still in office when they received the Bharat Ratna.
As an after thought it is now that the BJP wants Vajpayee to be honored with the award as he shied away when he was prime minister.
The Bharat Ratna has rarely been far from controversy. It was awarded to a highly ineffective president, V V Giri, in 1975, and in 1988, it was awarded to M G Ramachandran posthumously.
Ramachandran was a popular Tamil actor and a canny politician, but by no stretch of imagination did he deserve the Bharat Ratna. Yet the Congress government conferred the honor on him - with an eye on the Tamil vote.
World famous sitarist Ravi Shankar was accused of lobbying hard for the award. The way aspiring Padma awardees work the system is no less controversial.
Loyalists of the ruling party, as well as their spouses and friends, figure among the Padma awardees every year.
Prime ministers and presidents have even expressed their gratitude to their doctors by gifting Padma awards. In 2001, for instance, Chittaranjan Ranawat, who had successfully performed knee replacement surgery on Vajpayee, was rewarded with the Padma Bhushan. But not everyone is enamored with the Bharat Ratna and the Padma awards.
Abul Kalam Azad, freedom fighter and educationist, refused the Bharat Ratna arguing that those who selected the awardees should not be its recipients.
After all, he was education minister at the time. Azad was later awarded the Ratna posthumously. Eminent historian Romila Thapar rejected the Padma Bhushan twice - in 1992 and 2005. She “would only accept academic and professional awards”, she said expressing her “sense of unease about these awards”. “State awards have become increasingly mixed up with government patronage in India,” she observed.
The left has repeatedly clarified that its leaders will not accept state awards. Incidentally, Mahatma Gandhi was never awarded the Bharat Ratna. The Mahatma, the government feels, is above such awards. Musicians, scientists and social workers have been honored with the Bharat Ratna in the past.
There are calls from the public for awarding the Bharat Ratna to a non-politician this year. The names of industrialist Ratan Tata, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and artist Maqbool Fida Husain are being mentioned. “
A uniquely talented sportsman like Sachin Tendulkar may not have performed a public service in the old definition of the term. But he is able to inspire like no other, he is a name that from the Pakistan-Afghan border to Down Under [Australia] is synonymous with Indian exceptionality and he is beloved of millions,” wrote Sagarika Ghose in Hindustan Times. Others have argued that Tendulkar might be a great cricketer and an inspiring one. Still, he is “only an entertainer”. Besides, some Indians are not too comfortable with a Bharat Ratna awardee peddling Pepsi, Adidas and Aviva Life insurance in television commercials. Husain’s name has evoked considerable anger among Hindu right wing sections.
An eminent artist, Husain has been awarded the Padma Shree, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibushan. In the 1990s, Husain’s portrayal of Hindu goddesses in the nude drew right-wing ire. Under threat from the Hindu right, he has been living abroad. A couple of days ago, one such conservative group attacked offices of the NDTV news channel to protest an SMS poll featuring Husain as a contender for the Bharat Ratna. There is growing support for doing away with the Bharat Ratna and the Padma awards. The slackening standards in the choices for these awards, their politicization and growing equation with power and patronage have clearly contributed to the feeling that the Bharat Ratna has been sullied and is best done away with.
There is no dignity, no honor left in the Bharat Ratna; it should be abolished. Besides, some are questioning the whole concept of state awards. “Awards are a hangover of monarchy. Kings gave away titles to various people as recognition of their loyalty to the throne.
But, should democracies continue with this tradition that gives fancy titles to a few privileged citizens?” asks the Times of India. While arguing that “excellence in public life and other areas of activity should be recognized”, it argues that “it’s not the business of the government to hand out awards and honors. Let the private sector, especially peer groups, award achievers.
After all, what does the government know of cinema to award film stars and directors? Or, for that matter, does it have the credentials to reward a writer or a musician?”
Given the public mood of disgust with politicians in the country, it is likely that the government will award the Bharat Ratna to a non-politician. Perhaps it will be Tendulkar or a social worker. Or the government might prefer to play safe, dodge the issue completely and not award the Bharat Ratna this year.
It wont be the first time that the Bharat Ratna is not being awarded. It was suspended from 1977 to 1980. It was revived thereafter, but has not been awarded since 2001.
In the seven years since, the government, it seems, has not found a single person worthy of the honor in a country of a billion-plus people. India is a country in which its people have achieved excellence in spite of the government, where some of the finest leaders exist not in the political class but in civil society, where the most inspiring public service is being done by those who battle against the state and its policies.
If only the government would look at civil society, it would find millions more than worthy of the Bharat Ratna.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JA24Df01.html
http://ultracurrents.blogspot.com/2008/01/indias-top-award.html
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01/25/08
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@ 5:45 pm
Wish You A Very Happy Republic Day!
May You Be Ever Happy, Well and Secure!
May All Beings in This Universe Be Ever Happy, Well and Secure!
May You Live Long!
May You All Have Calm, Quiet, Alert, Attentive and An Equanimity Mind
With a Clear Understanding that Nothing is Permanent!
Blue Bunting
Enya
For The Gain of the Many and For the Welfare of the Many
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRGfg-EBAfM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCnGPIVI1No&feature=related
you tube has so many stupid dick heads who make coments without … India Republic Day Parade. 01:27 From: johnwcollins. Views: 2,169. Indian Republic Day 2007 …
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRGfg-EBAfM -
106k -
Cached
C.M. greets the people on Republic Day
Lucknow : January 25, 2008 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Km. Mayawati has greeted the people of the State on the occasion of Republic Day wishing for their prosperity, happiness and bright future. In a greeting message, the Chief Minister said that on Republic Day we remember the known and unknown martyrs and freedom fighters, whose sacrifice gave us freedom. On this day, we should also remember the propounders of social revolution Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, Narayan Guru, Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar and Manyawar Shri Kanshi Ram ji, who devoted their entire life for the cause of equality and economic independence to the downtrodden, backwards and poor people. The Chief Minister said that on the occasion of Republic Day we should seriously ponder that how far we have become successful in achieving the objectives of the constitution. She said that all of us should do our best efforts for the prosperity and peaceful atmosphere of the State, besides taking the resolve to strengthen the feeling of social harmony and brotherhood. ———
President addresses the ConservativesChandraBhan Prasad
The head of the Indian Republic represents the collective wisdom of the nation. He is also the official moderator of the nation’s conscience. And therefore, whenever he speaks up, he does so for the common good of society and the nation. A diverse society or rather, a complex one carries a dark past - a “shadow” from which the nation had to come clean when it evolved into a Republic in 1950. At the time of its birth, it mandated a manifesto for the entire nation, those at the seat of power were expected to translate the same into reality. That meant transforming India’s varna or caste ridden order into a civil one, where a citizen’s merit and wisdom alone would define his personality and standing in the civil order.
After half a century of experimentation, the nation has moved in that direction, but very slowly and very little. The Republic’s manifesto was, to begin with, seen with some contempt by the Indian polity. The political parties showed a considerable amount of reluctance when it came to pursuing the Republic’s goals. They feared intervening with the internal affairs of society. The end result, we all know. The crises have only grown and the Dalit and non-Dalit divide has widened. The slogan of “Progress” missed the cordial message of “Peace.” Now the nation is confronted with a new choice: “Progress with Social Peace” or “Progress without Social Peace.”
The post of the President is a political one. Anyone who occupies it is a political person. We live in and hail this era of liberal democracy. Democracy allows ideologies and political formations to contend “democratically.” In a society like ours, several political persuasions are allowed to grow. But under this vast political sun, the Head of the State, irrespective of his/her political beliefs, is a mirror in which every citizen can see his/her face, voice and aspirations. But at times, the President’s individual choices, beliefs and commitments find echo in his reflections. A President of Brahman origin may visit several temples and organise Mata Jagarans at Rashtrapati Bhavan, as also seek the blessings of one of the Shankaracharyas. Similarly, a President of Dalit origin may find it fit to attend Dr Ambedkar’s birth anniversary.
Which is why the nation was expecting a major portion of the President’s Republic Day eve speech to touch on anti-saffronisation or the dual policies being adopted by the White House on the issue of terrorism. After all, the Honourable KR Narayanan is considered to be ideologically Left of the Centre or to be precise, a scholarly person with Left inclinations. But the President, departing from his life long ideological convictions, took a line which not many expected. It is not for nothing that a leading English daily, while reporting his address, said, “The President made a major departure from the socialist tenor of his previous speeches.”
The President, in his address to the nation, included the following: “Even today, it is amazing that we have not become an inclusive society, in spite of the political triumph of our democracy. The discrimination being suffered by women, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes is a crying denial of the democracy that is enshrined in our Constitution. Recently, a conference of Dalit and tribal intellectuals and activists was held in Bhopal. They issued a declaration called the Bhopal Declaration, charting a new course for Dalits and the tribal people of the 21st century. After calling for the implementation of the policies, enshrined in our Constitution and aiming at their development, the declaration emphasises the importance, in this present era of privatisation, of providing representation for these deprived classes, not only in Government and public institutions but in private corporations and enterprises which benefit from Government funds and facilities. Indeed, in the present economic system and that of the future, it is necessary for the private sector to adopt social policies which are progressive and more egalitarian; for these deprived classes to be uplifted from their state of deprivation and inequality and given the rights of citizens and civilised human beings. This is not asking private enterprise to accept Socialism but to do something like what America, with its Diversity Bill and affirmative action, have adopted and are implementing. My fellow citizens, I have talked to you of these social questions because if our great democracy is to remain great and relevant to the problems of the masses, we will have to pay heed to these crying socio-economic issues.”
The President knows that globalisation is an irreversible process and that the Dalit masses will find themselves left out of a market economy. Hence, he found it necessary to remind the nation of the commitments made five decades ago. In doing so, he refers to the American experience. Dalits have always drawn inspiration from the Black movement and if the Blacks have, through their struggle, made inroads into the American economy, why not emulate the same in India? But, will the Conservative streams - the Sangh and the Left/Socialist, in particular - listen to the President’s voice?
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Bhimji Ramji Ambedkar was born on April 14th, 1891, in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. His parents both were untouchables. His father was a retired army officer and headmaster in a military school, and his mother an illiterate woman.
Because he was born as a untouchable, he was made to sit in a corner of the class room, separated from other students. His teachers feared pollution, that is why they would not touch him. Despite all kinds of humiliations, he passed his high school in 1908. This was such an exceptional achievement for an untouchable, that he was felicitated in a public meeting
After his graduation he went to the USA to study economics at the Columbia University. After his return to India he got a job as Military Secretary in Baroda Raja’s office. Here he was ill-treated again by the upper caste employees. Even drinking water was not given to him and files were kept at a distance from him.
A great lawyer and Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath leader
In 1920 he went to London where he got his Bar-at-Law at Gray’s Inn for Law.
While coming back to India in 1923, Ambedkar again experienced humiliation. The upper caste lawyers would not even have tea at his desk. But his greatest consolation were his clients, whom he treated with a liberal mind. His reputation and fame among the Depressed Classes began to grow. He was one of the greatest thinkers that India has produced. He visualised and struggled for a casteless and equal India.
At this time he was fully convinced that nothing could emancipate the Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath except through a complete destruction of the caste system. He asserted: ‘I was born a Hindu, but never will die a Hindu. Hinduism should become a religion of social equality. What is required is to get rid of the doctrine of ‘Chatuvarna’. That is the root cause of all inequality and is also the parent of the caste system and untouchability, which are merely other forms of inequality’.
Ambedkar’s struggle for equality
In 1924 he started the organisation ‘Bahiskrit Hitakarini Sabha’, for the upliftment of the untouchables. Ambedkar adopted a two-pronged strategy:
- Eradication of illiteracy and economic uplift of the downtrodden.
- Non-violent struggle against visible symbols of casteism, like denial of entry into temples and drawing water from public wells and tanks.
Ambedkar won two major victories when the High Court of Bombay gave a verdict in favour of the untouchables and made a successful non-violent march and entry into a temple. The two struggles shook the religious foundation on which the caste system is built.
He formed a political party ‘Scheduled Castes Federation’ in April 1942. Ambedkar was also advocate of women’s rights. He struggled for women’s liberalisation from the caste-entrenched patriarchal system. At the conference of the Depressed Classes Women in Nagpur in 1942, he stated: ‘let every girl who marries stand by her husband, claim to be her husband’s friend and equal, and refuse to be his slave’.
Architect of the Constitution
He was the prime architect of the Constitution of independent India. In August 1947 a drafting committee was appointed to prepare a Draft Constitution. Dr. Ambedkar was the chairman of this committee. The Draft was submitted to the Governor General of India on February 21, 1948. The Constitution was finalised in November 1949 and came into force on January 26th, 1950; the day that India became a Republic. In that same year he became Law Minister in the first cabinet after Independence, but he resigned from the ministry as Nehru’s cabinet refused to pass the Women’s Rights Bill
Buddhism
Ambedkar was justifiably bitter and disenchanted with Hinduism and thus he changed his religion. In October 1956 he, along with about two lakh Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath men and women, converted to Buddhism in Nagpur. For Ambedkar Buddha was one of the main inspiring personalities in history who raised a strong voice of protest against inequality between people and between men and women.
On 6 December 1956 Dr. B. R. Ambedkar died. Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath will always remember him as their Liberator and Champion of their rights. ‘Rights are protected not by laws, but by the social and moral conscience of society’, Ambedkar said.
 Indian Republic Day, January 26th |
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Even before the Independence of India from the British rule on August 15, 1947, January 26th was celebrating in a different context. “It was the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress at midnight of December 31, 1929 - January 1, 1930, that the Tri-Colour Flag was unfurled by the nationalists and a pledge taken that every year on January 26, the “Independence Day” would be celebrated and that the people would unceasingly strive for the establishment of a Sovereign Democratic Republic of India”.
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India became a Republic and the constitution came into force on January 26, 1950. The Constituent Assembly was convened and appointed a committee with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar as Chairman to draft the Constitution. India declared herself to be a Sovereign Democratic Republic. The Indian Constitution, the longest in the world, consist 397 articles and 12 schedules, which provides for a single citizenship for the whole of India.
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Justice, social, economic and political Liberty of thought, ex-pression, belief, faith and worship. Equality of status and of opportunity and to promote among them all Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation Republic Day, January 26th is celebrated all over the country at national capital, state capitals, municipal corporations, talukas, panchayats and other official agencies. At the level of the people, it is observed in families, housing colonies, schools, colleges and other institutions of every kind.
A ‘constituent assembly’ is a body elected with the purpose of drafting, and in some cases, adopting a constitution.
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Republic Day, January 26, is celebrated at New Delhi “with most spectacular events include the march past of the three armed Forces, (air, sea & land) massive parades of police contingents, Home guards and Civil Defence, NCC, school children and cultural troupes folk dances by tribal folk from the different states in picturesque costumes marking the cultural unity of India.
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Further, the streak of jet planes of Indian Air Force, leaving a trial of coloured smoke, marks the end of the festival. The trees on both sides of the routes and the lawns become alive with spectators.” And, no other country in the world can parade so many ethnically different people in splendid uniforms as India’s Armed Forces. But they are all united in their proven loyalty to the Government and in their proud traditions and legendary gallantry.
Since many years, the Republic Day Parade starts from Rashtrapati Bhavan and winding its way through the heart of the city, ends at the historic Red Fort in Old Delhi.
Republic Day reminds us of the fulfillment of the pledge that was made on the midnight of Independence Day as a “tryst with destiny”. The act of framing the Constitution puts a spotlight on B.R. Ambedkar whose indefatigable efforts and sharp insights helped the preparation of the document. It endeavours to secure justice, liberty, equality and fraternity and assures the dignity of the individual by conferring fundamental rights upon the citizen. With one stroke, it abolished all distinctions of status, rank, creed, colour and sex.
The President of India at New Delhi, takes salute of the contingents of Armed Forces. In the States, the Governors take the salute, and in Taluqas and administrative headquarters on same procedure is adopted.
The celebration mood lasts for one week. It consists of the ground preparations, rehearsals, the main display and at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi, three days later (i.e. 29th January) the massed bands of the Armed Forces “Beat the Retreat” in a majestic manner, a day before Martyrs Day, which marks the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the nation . The notes of ‘Abide with me’, favourite of Mahatma Gandhi is played with final retreat marking the end of Republic day celebrations The mass media, All India Radio, Doordarshan and TV channels are agog with a variety of programmes.
REPUBLICAN DAY MESSAGES of Dr. Rajendra Prasad - the 1st president of India
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“We must re-dedicate ourselves on this day to the peaceful but sure realisation of the dream that had inspired the Father of our Nation and the other captains and soldiers of our freedom struggle, the dream of establishing a classless, co-operative, free and happy society in “his country,”
“We must remember that this is more a day of dedications than of rejoicing - dedication to the glorious task of making the peasants and workers the toilers and the thinkers fully free, happy and cultured,” he added.
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C.M. grieved on the death of senior journalist Khurshid Kamil Kidwai
Lucknow : 25 January 2008 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Km. Mayawati has expressed profound grief over the sudden death of senior Journalist and former Bureau Chief UNI and Chief Editorial Advisor of Urdu Daily Avadhnama, Mr. Khurshid Kamil Kidwai. In a condolence message, the Chief Minister said that late Kidwai was a sensitive Journalist who always encouraged ideal journalism. He remained associated with several news papers. In his death, the world of journalism had suffered an irreparable loss, she added. The Chief Minister has conveyed her deep sympathies and heartfelt condolences to the family members and prayed for peace to the departed soul.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/26/stories/2008012656740700.htm
Online edition of India’s National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 26, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version
Mayawati knocks at Governor’s door for package
Special Correspondent
| Urges him to exercise his influence on the Centre to get special area package sanctioned |
Inside Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, under tight security, arrives at the main hall of her official residence on Friday to address a press conference.
LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday urged the Governor, T. V. Rajeswar, to exercise his influence on the Union Government to get the special area incentive package and other packages sanctioned at the earliest. Ms. Mayawati observed that the Governor should use his office in favour of the drought-stricken people of Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh.
Mr. Rajeswar visited the Bundelkhand region on January 22 and 23, where he reportedly expressed his dissatisfaction at the pace of the drought-relief measures. Responding to the Governor’s remarks, and in an apparent bid to clear certain “misconceptions”, the Chief Minister on Friday shot off a three-page missive to him. She slammed the previous state governments, as well as the Centre, for their failure to retrieve the situation in the region which has been in the throes of drought for the past four years.
Ms. Mayawati noted that in the 60 years since Independence, non- Bahujan Samaj Party governments had been in power in Uttar Pradesh for 57 years, particularly the Congress which ruled the State for about 38 years. The Chief Minister accused these governments of ignoring the cause of Bundelkhand as a result of which it was today the most backward region of the State.
The Chief Minister assailed the UPA Government at the Centre for not sanctioning the packages demanded by her and said that in her meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 26 last year she had asked for his assistance in the development of the State. Thereafter, the Rs.80,000-crore special area incentive package for Bundelkhand and Purvanchal was presented to the Prime Minister on July 20, she added.
Stating that no action had been taken on the packages demanded, the Chief Minister said a Rs.3,750-crore special package was given for the Vidharba region in 2006 by the Central Government.
Ms. Mayawati accused the previous Samajwadi Party regime of taking no concrete measures for Bundelkhand, which was reflected in no drought relief money being sanctioned for Banda, Chitrakoot, Mahoba and Hamirpur in the past two years, whereas Rs.1 crore was released for Jalaun in 2005-06 and Rs.81 lakh for Jhansi district in 2006-07 by the Mulayam Singh regime.
The Chief Minister apprised the Governor of the measures taken by her government for mitigating the sufferings of the drought-hit people. She further apprised him of shortcomings in National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme and said some public measures like construction of school buildings, panchayat bhawans and cleaning of water drains in villages should be incorporated into the rural employment scheme.
New runway not planned: Aviation Ministry
Staff Reporter
KANCHEEPURAM: The Ministry of Civil Aviation has said that it had only applied for clearance from the Public Investment Board (PIB) for extending the secondary runway at the Chennai airport and not for constructing a new parallel runway.
According to a copy of a reply dated January 7 by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to queries raised by the public under the Right to Information Act, the AAI seem to have never planned for constructing a new parallel runway on the northern side of the Adyar. Claiming that there were no technical and economic feasibility reports available for the construction of a parallel runway, it said no environmental impact assessment report had been prepared either. Distributing copies of the reply to the press on Thursday, Thamizh Selvan, Balesh and Sumathi of Tharapakkam said they were at a loss to comprehend why the State government was keen on acquiring 1,650 acres of land in Tharapakkam, Kolapakkam, Gerugembakkam, Kovur and Manapakkam.
The AAI had no plans of constructing a new runway . It had not yet obtained clearance from the PIB for the extension of the secondary runway.
“Such being the case, what is the need to speed up the process of land acquisition,” they wondered.
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For The Gain of the Many and For the Welfare of the Many
Uttar Pradesh renews demand for SPG cover for Mayawati
From correspondents in Uttar Pradesh, India, 11:32 PM IST
The Uttar Pradesh government Thursday wrote a letter to the central government renewing demand for a Special Protection Group (SPG) security cover for Chief Minister Mayawati.
This is the third such letter the state government has written to the centre, urging it to give in to Mayawati’s demand.
Sources have said that Union Minister of State for Home Shree Prakash Jaiswal, while turning down the demand on the grounds that no chief minister is entitled to SPG cover, has said that best that could be done is to increase the number of National Security Guards (NSG) attached to her.
Mayawati currently has 36 NSG guards at her service as part of her entitlement to Z-plus security.
Undeterred by the centre’s repeated refusal to oblige, the state government in its latest letter has said, ‘She (Mayawati) is a frequent traveller to different states of the country to campaign for her party.’
‘Since SPG’s jurisdiction cuts across the boundaries of states, it would be in the fitness of things to ensure a SPG cover to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.’
‘The security threat to her also necessitates that she be allowed to drive right up to her aircraft at all airports of the country,’ it said.
It was the recovery of a roughly drawn map of the road leading to the chief minister’s residence Dec 28 from two suspected terrorists that prompted the state cabinet secretary to write to the union home ministry demanding SPG cover for her.
The next letter was on Jan 10 with the plea that a review of the chief minister’s security had confirmed the need for qualitative and quantitative enhancement of her protection
Faster and cheaper air travel soon!
Air travel in India would be faster, and possibly cheaper, as soon as the civil aviation and defence ministries work out ways for civilian aircraft to fly over the country’s restricted airspace.
Aircraft would then be able to fly at higher altitudes, resulting in faster travel and lower fuel consumption. Air is thinner at higher altitudes, offering lower resistance to a plane’s passage, thus increasing its speed.
‘We have already initiated a pilot project in southern India called the Chennai Flights Information Region. We will soon extend this project in other regions. Once complete, we can fly civilian aircraft at higher altitudes,’ civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla told IANS.
The civil aviation and defence ministries are working on ways to jointly manage airspace in the country.
‘This will be worked out soon and civilian aircraft will be allowed to use restricted airspace,’ Chawla said.
Currently, the defence ministry and the Indian Air Force (IAF) control more than 50 percent of India’s airspace. They have been strongly opposing the move to allow civilian aircraft into this space.
The civil aviation ministry, on the other hand, has been pitching for freeing more airspace for the smoother movement of civilian aircraft.
‘The draft of the civil aviation policy had clearly stated that the Airport Authority of India would take care of the civilian air space and the defence ministry would control the restricted airspace,’ he pointed out.
‘The security and control of restricted airspace would still be retained by the defence ministry and the IAF,’ he added.
Earlier, major differences had emerged between the IAF and the civil aviation ministry on the proposed civil aviation policy. The IAF had publicly expressed its displeasure at not being consulted at the drafting stage of the policy.
The defence ministry had also raised several objections to the proposed civil aviation policy, including a move to release more airspace meant exclusively for the IAF.
But the civil aviation ministry had said the policy should be converted to a ‘national aviation policy’ rather than be restricted only to the civil aviation sector.
Animation firm DQ will now produce for Indian market
DQ Entertainment Ltd, a Hyderabad-based animation, visual effects and gaming solutions company that produces content for Walt Disney Television Animation, now plans to target Indian users.
‘Our productions have so far catered to the overseas markets. However, DQ will now produce content for the Indian market which is thirsting for home-grown content that viewers can identify with,’ Tapas Chakravarti, the managing director and chief executive officer of DQ, told IANS.
Some of the games and animations that the company is proud of are - The Large Family, Skyland, Pet Pals 2 and amp;3, And Yet It Moves, Leonardo, Todd World 2 and Making Fiends. ‘Also, a brand for Walt Disney Television Animation,’ added Chakravarti.
Virtually all the content so far has been for the foreign market. Recently the company was ranked among the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific Companies for the second time.
‘The games industry has become a multi-billion dollar industry and it is the fastest growing segment in the animation industry. Game developers and publishers are spending more money to develop the market and distribute games than ever before. And as the market grows, so too does the consumer’s level of sophistication for advanced graphics, game play and interactivity,’ he added.
Chakravarti gives credit to digital technology for making animation and gaming industry a flourishing business.
He said: ‘Digital technology is certainly bringing about a revolution in the animation and gaming industry. New game consoles are hitting the market - Sony Playstation3, Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s Wii, to name a few.
‘These systems give games the cinematic quality of movies with real-time capabilities and are more powerful than the super computers of the past and have tremendous graphics complexities. Use of technology is fulfilling the ever increasing creative needs across the platforms of distribution and the bar to innovate is being pushed higher.’
To keep pace with its growth, DQ plans to increase its workforce to 8,500 this year. Its total workforce in 2007 was 2,500.
The company has been growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 47 percent with the company’s current order book estimated at $94.6 million.’
How much does it cost to develop a new game and make an animation film? ‘It costs about $10-40 million to make an animation film,’ said Chakravarti.
The company plans to develop a technology and knowledge campus to house the entire work force for Animation, VFX and Gaming Production in a sprawling Campus at Hyderabad’s Hi-Tech City.
The ‘DQ Film School’ will also be part of this magnificent campus. The company has decided to raise $100 million soon for expansion.
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The Buddha’s First Teaching
Wisdom-
1)Right View-The Ten Fetters((Sa.myojana)
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 The Components of the Noble Eightfold Path
The Lord Buddha explained that the Noble Eightfold Path comprises:
1. Right View [Sammaa Di.t.thii]
2. Right Intention [Sammaa Sa”nkappa]
3. Right Speech [Sammaa Vaacaa]
4. Right Action [Sammaa Kammanta]
5. Right Livelihood [Sammaa Aajiiva]
6. Right Effort [SammaaVaayaama]
7. Right Mindfulness [Sammaa Sati]
8. Right Concentration [Sammaa Samaadhi]
You can define the components of the Eightfold Path in terms of practice at two levels: low (mundane) (see more detail Chapter Eight) and high (transcendental) (see more detail Chapter Seven).
1.1 Right View (mundane): At low level Right View means having the discretion to believe in the working of karma [kammassakataa~naa.na]: that doing good deeds will merit good outcomes and that evil deeds will cause unfortunate retribution.
1.2 Right View (transcendental): At high level Right View means the ultimate wisdom, based on an attainment of Nirvana, which is devoid of any further influence of ignorance1 [avijjaa] or subtle defilements1 [anusaya].
2.1 Right Intention (mundane): At low level Right Intention means having the wholesome intention to be generous, keep the Five Precepts, renounce the world to become a monk, avoid taking advantage of other people or animals.
2.2 Right Intention (transcendental): At high level Right Intention means the intention to dedicate oneself entirely to the attainment of Nirvana.
3. Right Speech: Right Speech means avoiding the four types of False Speech:
1. Telling Lies [musaavaada];
2. Divisive Speech [pisu.naavaacaa];
3. Harsh Speech [pharusavaacaa];
4. Idle Chatter [samphapphalaapa].
4. Right Action: Right Action means practising the three wholesome physical deeds [kaayasucarita], namely:
1. Refraining from killing or physically torturing other living beings [paa.naatipaataa];
2. Refraining from stealing or obtaining things in a dishonest way [adinnaadaanaa];
3. Refraining from sexual relations outside marriage (committing adultery) [kaamesumicchaaraa].
Furthemore, one must not consume intoxicants such as alcohol that lead to heedlessness.
5. Right Livelihood: Right Livelihood means earning one’s living in an honest way - and in a way that avoids evils like telling lies or deception. In the Tipi.taka, in many places2, the Buddha exhorts even his monks, to earn their living by the monk’s equivalent of Right Livelihood, by avoiding such evils as fortune telling, sacrifices or interpreting dreams, because these are all ‘low arts’ [tiracchaanavijjaa]. The Buddha even prohibited monks from making medicines or from earning their living as a physician. As for householders, in the Va.nijja Sutta, the Buddha prohibits Buddhist laypeople from the following trades:
1. Selling weapons;
2. Selling people (as slaves);
3. Selling animals (live ones for slaughter);
4. Selling alcohol or drugs;
5. Selling poison.
6. Right Effort: Right Effort means endowing oneself with four sorts of striving:
1. Avoidance of evils not yet done;
2. Abandonment of evils already done;
3. Development of virtues not yet done;
4. Maintenance of virtues already mastered.
7.1 Right Mindfulness (mundane): At low level Right Mindfulness means a mindfulness that keeps our mind on wholesome thoughts like that of meritorious actions like generosity, keeping the Precepts, thinking of the Triple Gem, thinking of those to whom you have a debt of gratitude like your parents or teachers.
7.2 Right Mindfulness (transcendental): At high level Right Mindfulness means cultivating the Four Foundations of Mindfulness [satipa.t.thaana] - that is to concentrate one’s mind to see and know four aspects of reality:
1. mindfulness of the body [kaayaanupassanaasatipa.t.thaana]: Continuously seeing and knowing the body in the body - that is to see and know the subtle inner bodies that lie hidden within our physical body: the astral body (sometimes called ethereal, dream or subtle body) through to the various bodies of enlightenment [dhammakaaya].
2. mindfulness of the feelings [vedanaanupassanaa-satipa.t.thaana]: Continuously seeing and knowing the feelings in the body in the inner bodies - that is to see what is happiness, what is suffering and what is neither happiness-nor-suffering in the physical body and the inner bodies. ‘Outer feelings’ means the feelings of the physical body while ‘inner feelings’ means the feelings of the inner bodies.
3. mindfulness of the mind [cittaanupassanaasatipa.t.thaana]: Continuously seeing and knowing the ‘minds within minds’ in the physical body and in the inner bodies - that is continually to see and know the state of mind - knowing when the mind is caught up with defilements or knowing when the mind has become free of the action of defilements. ‘Outer mind’ means the mind of the physical body while ‘inner mind’ means the mind of the inner bodies.
4. mindfulness of the dhammas (mental phenomena) [dhammaanupassanaasatipa.t.taana]: Continuously seeing and knowing the ‘mental phenomena within mental phenomena’ in the physical body and in the inner bodies - that is continually to see and know the sphere of dhamma which gives rise to our physical body. ‘Outer mental phenomena’ means the sphere of dhamma of the physical body while ‘inner mental phenomena’ means the sphere of dhamma of the inner bodies.
7.1 Right Concentration (mundane): At low level Right Concentration means determination of mind to be generous, keep the Precepts, meditate or listen to Dhamma sermons. Such determination is a precursor of concentration called ‘kha.nika-samaadhi’.
7.2 Right Concentration (transcendental): At high level Right Concentration means attaining neighbourhood concentration [upacaara-samaadhi] and access concentration [appanaa-samaadhi] - the former means concentrating the mind to the degree that it is so stable that it rests on the brink of the ‘absorptions’ and the latter means attaining the absorptions, from the first absorption upwards.
The Dhammacakka: Transport to Nirvana
The word ‘cakka’ means a ‘wheel’ - a wheel in just the same way as a cartwheel or a car wheel. Any wheel has three important components: hub, spokes and rim. For as long as the components are separated, they could not be called a wheel. Just as a skilled wheelwright can assemble the components to make a strong wheel ready to be put to work, the Buddha, through his preaching of the three groupings of Dhamma to the pa~ncavaggiya, and relating them, gave rise to a ‘Dhammacakka’ which would bear the practitioner towards benefit and ultimately liberation. The Dhammacakka was also composed of these three components - the Lord Buddha compared the
* the hub to the Thirty-Seven Factors of Enlightenment
* the spokes to the Links of Dependent Origination
* the rim to the Four Noble Truths
The close relationship between these three sets of Dhamma teachings is manifested by their relationship in the Dhammacakka - the sets of Dhammas rely on each other for their strength in just the same way as the different components of a wheel lend each other mutual support. The sermon wouldn’t have been called ‘Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta’ if only the Four Noble Truths or Dependent Origination or the Factors of Enlightenment were important - thus by the name of the sermon, we know that the important thing about the sermon is the way it shows the interconnection between these three Dhamma groups - as if the Buddha himself were the wheelwright who had assembled the fragments into a coherent and usable whole. Thus even if only some parts of the wheel are specifically mentioned in the sermon, as students we should look beyond to the implications for the Thirty-Seven Factors of Enlightenment and the Links of Dependent Origination too.
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01/24/08
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@ 11:58 pm
Wisdom-1)Right View-The Ten Fetters((Sa.myojana)-
2) Right Intention(Right Thought)(Sammaa-sankappa)
2.1 Right Intention (mundane): At low level Right Intention means having the wholesome intention to be generous, keep the Five Precepts, renounce the world to become a monk, avoid taking advantage of other people or animals.
2.2 Right Intention (transcendental): At high level Right Intention means the intention to dedicate oneself entirely to the attainment of Nibbana.
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Posted by:
@ 11:54 pm
Ethical Conduct-
3) Right Speech(Sammaa-vaacaa)
3. Right Speech: Right Speech means avoiding the four types of False Speech:
1. Telling Lies [musaavaada];
2. Divisive Speech [pisu.naavaacaa];
3. Harsh Speech [pharusavaacaa];
4. Idle Chatter [samphapphalaapa].
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Posted by:
@ 11:52 pm
Ethical Conduct-3) Right Speech(Sammaa-vaacaa)-
4) Right Action(Sammaa-kammanta)
4. Right Action: Right Action means practising the three wholesome physical deeds [kaayasucarita], namely:
1. Refraining from killing or physically torturing other living beings [paa.naatipaataa];
2. Refraining from stealing or obtaining things in a dishonest way [adinnaadaanaa];
3. Refraining from sexual relations outside marriage (committing adultery) [kaamesumicchaaraa].
Furthemore, one must not consume intoxicants such as alcohol that lead to heedlessness
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@ 11:50 pm
Ethical Conduct-3) Right Speech(Sammaa-vaacaa)-4) Right Action(Sammaa-kammanta)-
5) Right Livelihood(Sammaa-aajiva)
5. Right Livelihood: Right Livelihood means earning one’s living in an honest way - and in a way that avoids evils like telling lies or deception. In the Tipi.taka, in many places2, the Buddha exhorts even his monks, to earn their living by the monk’s equivalent of Right Livelihood, by avoiding such evils as fortune telling, sacrifices or interpreting dreams, because these are all ‘low arts’ [tiracchaanavijjaa]. The Buddha even prohibited monks from making medicines or from earning their living as a physician. As for householders, in the Va.nijja Sutta, the Buddha prohibits Buddhist laypeople from the following trades:
1. Selling weapons;
2. Selling people (as slaves);
3. Selling animals (live ones for slaughter);
4. Selling alcohol or drugs;
5. Selling poison.
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Posted by:
@ 11:44 pm
Mental Development-
6) Right Effort(Sammaa-vaayaama)
6. Right Effort: Right Effort means endowing oneself with four sorts of striving:
1. Avoidance of evils not yet done;
2. Abandonment of evils already done;
3. Development of virtues not yet done;
4. Maintenance of virtues already mastered.
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Posted by:
@ 11:40 pm
Mental Development-6) Right Effort(Sammaa-vaayaama)-
7) Right Mindfulness(Sammaa-sati)
7.2 Right Mindfulness (transcendental): At high level Right Mindfulness means cultivating the Four Foundations of Mindfulness [satipa.t.thaana] - that is to concentrate one’s mind to see and know four aspects of reality:
1. mindfulness of the body [kaayaanupassanaasatipa.t.thaana]: Continuously seeing and knowing the body in the body - that is to see and know the subtle inner bodies that lie hidden within our physical body: the astral body (sometimes called ethereal, dream or subtle body) through to the various bodies of enlightenment [dhammakaaya].
2. mindfulness of the feelings [vedanaanupassanaa-satipa.t.thaana]: Continuously seeing and knowing the feelings in the body in the inner bodies - that is to see what is happiness, what is suffering and what is neither happiness-nor-suffering in the physical body and the inner bodies. ‘Outer feelings’ means the feelings of the physical body while ‘inner feelings’ means the feelings of the inner bodies.
3. mindfulness of the mind [cittaanupassanaasatipa.t.thaana]: Continuously seeing and knowing the ‘minds within minds’ in the physical body and in the inner bodies - that is continually to see and know the state of mind - knowing when the mind is caught up with defilements or knowing when the mind has become free of the action of defilements. ‘Outer mind’ means the mind of the physical body while ‘inner mind’ means the mind of the inner bodies.
4. mindfulness of the dhammas (mental phenomena) [dhammaanupassanaasatipa.t.taana]: Continuously seeing and knowing the ‘mental phenomena within mental phenomena’ in the physical body and in the inner bodies - that is continually to see and know the sphere of dhamma which gives rise to our physical body. ‘Outer mental phenomena’ means the sphere of dhamma of the physical body while ‘inner mental phenomena’ means the sphere of dhamma of the inner bodies.
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@ 11:32 pm
Mental Development-6) Right Effort(Sammaa-vaayaama)-7) Right Mindfulness(Sammaa-sati)-
8) Right Concentration(Sammaa-samaadhi)
7.1 Right Concentration (mundane): At low level Right Concentration means determination of mind to be generous, keep the Precepts, meditate or listen to Dhamma sermons. Such determination is a precursor of concentration called ‘kha.nika-samaadhi’.
7.2 Right Concentration (transcendental): At high level Right Concentration means attaining neighbourhood concentration [upacaara-samaadhi] and access concentration [appanaa-samaadhi] - the former means concentrating the mind to the degree that it is so stable that it rests on the brink of the ‘absorptions’ and the latter means attaining the absorptions, from the first absorption upwards.
Right Concentration
(Sammaa-samaadhi)
M. 44
What, now, is Right Concentration?
Its Definition
Having the mind fixed to a single object (cittekeggataa, lit. `One-pointedness of mind’): this is concentration.
`Right Concentration’ (sammaa-samaadhi), in its widest sense, is the kind of mental concentration which is present in every wholesome state of consciousness (kusala-citta), and hence is accompanied by at least Right Thought (2nd factor), Right Effort (6th factor) and Right Mindfulness (7th factor). `Wrong Concentration’ is present in unwholesome states of consciousness, and hence is only possible in the sensuous, not in a higher sphere. Samaadhi, used alone, always stands in the Sutta, for sammaa-samaadhi, or Right Concentration.
Its Objects
The four `Foundations of Mindfulness’ (7th factor): these are the objects of concentration.
Its Requisites
The four `Great Efforts’ (6th factor): these are the requisites for concentration.
Its Development
The practising, developing and cultivating of these things: this is the development (bhaavanaa) of concentration.
Right Concentration (sammaa-samaadhi) has two degrees of development; 1. `Neighborhood Concentration’ (upacaarasamaadhi). which approaches the first absorption without, however, attaining it; 2. `Attainment Concentration’ (appanaasamaadhi), which is the concentration present in the four Absorptions (jhaana). These Absorptions are mental states beyond the reach of the fivefold sense-activity, attainable only in solitude and by unremitting perseverance in the practice of concentration. In these states all activity of the five senses is suspended. No visual or audible impressions arise at such a time, no bodily feeling is felt. But, although all outer sense-impressions have ceased, yet the mind remains active, perfectly alert, fully awake.
The attainment of these Absorptions, however, is not a requisite for the realization of the four Supermundane Paths of Holiness; and neither Neighborhood-Concentration nor Attainment-Concentration, as such, possesses the power of conferring entry to the four Supermundane Paths: hence they really have no power to free one permanently from evil things. The realization of the Four Supermundane Paths is possible only at the moment of deep `Insight’ (vipassanaa) into the Impermanency (aniccataa), Miserable Nature (dukkhataa) and Impersonality (anattataa) of this whole phenomenal process of existence. This Insight, again, is attainable only during Neighborhood-Concentration, not during Attainment Concentration.
He who has realized one or other of the Four Supermundane Paths without ever having attained the Absorptions, is called Sukkha-vipassaka, or Suddhavipassanaa-yaanika, i.e. `one who has taken merely Insight (vipassanaa) as his vehicle’. He, however, who, after cultivating the Absorptions, has reached one of the Supermundane Paths is called Saniathayaanika, or `one who has taken Tranquillity (samatha) as his vehicle (yaana)’.
For samatha and vipassanaa see Fund IV. and B. Diet.
The Four Absorptions
(jhaana)
D.22
Detached from sensual objects, detached from evil things, the disciple enters into the first Absorption, which is accompanied by Thought Conception and Discursive Thinking, is born of detachment, and filled with Rapture and Happiness.
This is the first of the Absorptions belonging to the Fine-Material Sphere (rupaavacarajjhaana). It is attained when, through the strength of concentration, the fivefold sense activity is temporarily suspended, and the five Hindrances are likewise eliminated.
See B. Dict.: kasina, nimitta, samaadhi.
M. 43
This first Absorption is free from five things, and five things are present. When the disciple enters the first Absorption, there have vanished (the five Hindrances): Lust, Ill-Will, Torpor and Sloth, Restlessness and Mental Worry, Doubts; and there are present: Thought Conception (vitakka), Discursive Thinking (vicaara), Rapture (piiti), Happiness (sukha), Concentration (citt’ekaggataa = samaadhi).
These five mental factors present in the first Absorption, are called Factors (or Constituents) of Absorption (jhaananga). Vitakka (initial formation of an abstract thought) and vicaara (discursive thinking, rumination) are called `verbal functions’ (vaci-sankhaara) of the mind; hence they are something secondary compared with consciousness.
In Visuddhi-Magga, vitakka is compared with the taking hold of a pot, and vicaara with the wiping of it. In the first Absorption both are present, but are exclusively focussed on the subject of meditation, vicaara being here not discursive, but of an `exploring’ nature. Both are entirely absent in the following Absorptions.
And further: after the subsiding of Thought-Conception and Discursive Thinking, and by the gaining of inner tranquillity and oneness of mind, he enters into a state free from Thought-Conception and Discursive Thinking, the second Absorption, which is born of concentration (samaadhi), and filled with Rapture (piti) and Happiness (sukha).
In the second Absorption, there are three Factors of Absorption: Rapture, Happiness, and Concentration.
And further: after the fading away of Rapture, he dwells in equanimity, mindful, with clear awareness: and he experiences in his own person that feeling of which the Noble Ones say: `Happy lives he who is equanimous and mindful’-thus he enters the third Absorption.
In the third Absorption there are two Factors of Absorption: equanimous Happiness (upekkhaa-sukha) and Concentration (citt’ekaggataa).
And further: after the giving up of pleasure and pain, and through the disappearance of previous joy and grief, he enters into a state beyond pleasure and pain, into the fourth Absorption, which is purified by equanimity and mindfulness.
In the fourth Absorption there are two Factors of Absorp-tion: Concentration and Equanimity (upekkhaa).
In Visuddhi-magga forty subjects of meditation (kamma.t.thaana) are enumerated and treated in detail. By their successful practice the following Absorptions may be attained:
All four Absorptions. through Mindfulness of Breathing (see Vis. M. VIII. 3), the ten Kasina-exercises (Vis. M. IV, V. and B. Dict.); the contemplation of Equanimity (upekkhaa), being the practice of the fourth Brahma-vihaara (Vis. M. IX. 4).
The first three Absorptions: through the development of Loving-Kindness (mettaa), Compassion (karunaa) and Sympathetic Joy (muditaa), being the practice of the first three Brahma-vihaaras (Vis. M. IX. 1-3,).
The first Absorption: through the ten Contemplations of Impurity (asubha-bhaavanaa; i.e. the Cemetery Contemplations, which are ten according to the enumeration in Vis. M. VI); the contemplation of the Body (i.e. the 32 parts of the body; Vis. M. VIII, 2); `Neighborhood-Concentration’ (upacaara-samaadhi): through the Recollections on Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, on Morality, Liberality, Heavenly Beings, Peace (=Nibbaana) and death (Vis. M. VI. VII); the Contemplation on the Loathsomeness of Food (Vis. M. XI. I); the Analysis of the Four Elements (Vis. M. IX. 2).
The four Immaterial Absorptions (aruupa-jjhaana or aaruppa), which are based on the fourth Absorption, are produced by meditating on their respective objects from which they derive their names; Sphere of Unbounded Space, of Unbounded Consciousness, of Nothingness, and of Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception.
The entire object of concentration and meditation is treated in Vis M. III-XIII; see also Fund. IV.
8. XXII. 5
Develop your concentration: for he who has concentration, understands things according to their reality. And what are these things? The arising and passing away of corporeality, of feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness.
M. 149
Thus, these five Groups of Existence must be wisely penetrated; Ignorance and Craving must be wisely abandoned; Tranquillity (samatha) and Insight (vipassanaa) must be wisely developed.
S. LVI. II
This is the Middle Path which the Perfect One has discovered, which makes one both to see and to know, and which leads to peace, to discernment, to enlightenment, to Nibbaana.
Dhp. 275
“And following upon this path, you will put an end to suffering.
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@ 11:27 pm
Jhaanas-Stream-enterer
The definition (with similes)
“There is the case where a monk — quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful qualities — enters and remains in the first jhana: rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought and evaluation. He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal.
“Just as if a skilled bathman or bathman’s apprentice would pour bath powder into a brass basin and knead it together, sprinkling it again and again with water, so that his ball of bath powder — saturated, moisture-laden, permeated within and without — would nevertheless not drip; even so, the monk permeates, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal…
What is Sotapanna, Stream Entry?
February 10, 2004
By the contemplative recluse monk Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
(copyright 2004 all rights reserved)
I have read a wide range of dogma, concepts and beliefs regarding the Buddha’s idea behind Stream-Entry (Sotapanna). After reading the three published volumes of the Nikayas (Discourses of the Buddha), the Digha, Majjhima, and Samyutta Nikayas, I can say the Buddha considered anyone who actually lived the Noble Eightfold Path had in fact entered the stream. The stream, according to him was the Noble Eightfold Path. To understand what the Noble Eightfold Path is, I would suggest you read the Nikayas (the discourses of the Buddha).
One will find an excellent suite of discourses of the Buddha on the very topic of Stream-Entry in the Samyutta Nikaya in Chapter XI, 55 Sotapattisamyutta, pages 1788 to 1837 in the Samyutta Nikaya, translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi, published by Wisdom Publishing, Boston, 2000.
Samyutta Nikaya, Chapter XI, 55 Sotapattisamyutta
I Bamboo Gate
“At Savatthi the Blessed One said this:”
2 Grounded
“(Monks), a noble disciple who possesses four things is a stream-enterer, no longer bound to the nether world…with enlightenment as (his/her) destinationÉ” “What four? …confirmed confidence in the Buddha…dhamma…sangha…possesses virtues dear to the noble ones, unbroken…leading to (absorption)” (page 1789).
3 Dighavu
“Therefore, Dighavu, established upon these four factors of stream-entry, you should develop further six things that partake of true knowledge. Here Dighavu, dwell contemplating impermanence in all formations, perceiving suffering in what is impermanent, perceiving non self in what is suffering, perceiving abandonment, perceiving fading away, perceiving cessation. It is in such a way that you should train yourself” (page 1791).
5 Sariputta
“Then the Venerable Sariputta approached the Blessed One…the Blessed One then said to him, “What now, Sariputta, is a factor for stream-entry?”
Sariputta said, “Association with superior persons (enlightened ones)…hear the true dhamma…careful attention…practice in accordance with the Dhamma…(are) factor(s) for stream-entry.”
The Blessed One asked, “What now, Sariputta, is the stream?”
Sariputta said, “This Noble Eightfold Path, venerable sir, is the stream; that is right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right (absorption).”
The Blessed One asked, “What now, Sariputta, is a stream-enterer?”
Sariputta said, “One who possesses this Noble Eightfold Path, venerable sir, is called a stream-enterer…” (pages 1792-93).
Additional instructions to householders were offered to the Chamberlains:
6 The Chamberlains
(In addition to confidence in the Buddha, dhamma and sangha a house holder also had…”He dwells at home with a mind devoid of the stains of stinginess, freely generous, open-handed, delighting in relinquishment, one devoted to charity, delighting in giving and sharing…Moreover, whatever there is in your family that is suitable for giving, all that you share unreservedly among those who are virtuous and of good character.” (pages 1795-96).
7 The People of the Bamboo Gate
(Thus) “when householders…possess these seven good qualities (following the Noble Eightfold Path and Precepts) and these four desirable states (confidence in the 3 gems plus virtues leading to absorption)…(one) could declare “I am one finished with hell…I am a stream-enterer, no longer bound to the nether world, fixed in destiny, with enlightenment as my destination” (pages 1798-99).
8 The Brick Hall
The Blessed One said, “Ananda, I will teach you a philosophical exposition called the “Mirror of the Dhamma,” equipped with which a noble disciple…could declare him (her) self “I am finished with hell…I am a stream-enterer, no longer bound to the nether world, fixed in destiny, with enlightenment as my destination.” It is “a noble disciple possesses confirmed confidence in the Buddha…in the Dhamma…in the Sangha…possesses virtues dear to the noble ones, unbroken…leading to (absorption)” (page 1800).
40 (10) Nandiya
“…not content with that confirmed confidence in the Buddha, he (she) makes further effort for solitude by day and for seclusion by night. When he (she) dwells diligently, gladness is born. When he (she) is gladdened, (bliss/piiti) is born. When the mind is uplifted by (bliss/piiti), body becomes tranquil. One tranquil in body experiences happiness. The mind of one who is happy becomes (absorbed). When the mind is (absorbed), phenomena become manifest. Because phenomena becomes manifest, he (she) is reckoned as one who dwells diligently.”
54 (4) Ill
“Then Mahanama the Sakyan approached the Blessed One…and asked, ‘I have not heard (from) …the Blessed One how a lay follower who is ill…should be exhorted by another…follower.’”
After a long sequence going through the 4 basic requirements of stream entry, as well as all of the absorption states, then he concludes with:
“If he says, “My mind has been withdrawn from the Brahma world; I have directed my mind to the cessation of identity.” Then, Mahanama, I say there is no difference between a lay follower who is thus liberated in mind and a monk who has been liberated in mind for a hundred years, that is, between one liberation and another.”
Thus in conclusion we can say the Buddha considered anyone who actually lived the Noble Eightfold Path had in fact entered the stream. The stream, according to him was the Noble Eightfold Path. To understand what the Noble Eightfold Path is, I would suggest you read the Nikayas (the discourses of the Buddha).
http://clckm.com-buddhistinformation.com-microsoft/ Internet Explorer
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@ 11:05 pm
Jhaanas-Once-returner
“Furthermore, with the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, he enters and remains in the second jhana: rapture and pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought and evaluation — internal assurance. He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of composure. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born of composure.
“Just like a lake with spring-water welling up from within, having no inflow from east, west, north, or south, and with the skies periodically supplying abundant showers, so that the cool fount of water welling up from within the lake would permeate and pervade, suffuse and fill it with cool waters, there being no part of the lake unpervaded by the cool waters; even so, the monk permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of composure. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born of composure…
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Posted by:
@ 10:55 pm
Jhaanas- Non-returner
“And furthermore, with the fading of rapture, he remains in equanimity, is mindful & alert, and senses pleasure with the body. He enters & remains in the third jhana, of which the Noble Ones declare, ‘Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasurable abiding.’ He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the pleasure divested of rapture, so that there is nothing of his entire body unpervaded with pleasure divested of rapture.
“Just as in a blue-, white-, or red-lotus pond, there may be some of the blue, white, or red lotuses which, born and growing in the water, stay immersed in the water and flourish without standing up out of the water, so that they are permeated and pervaded, suffused and filled with cool water from their roots to their tips, and nothing of those blue, white, or red lotuses would be unpervaded with cool water; even so, the monk permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the pleasure divested of rapture. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded with pleasure divested of rapture…
the ‘Non-Returner’, is a noble disciple (ariya-puggala) on the 3rd stage of holiness.
There are 5 classes of Non-Returners, as it is said (e.g. Pug. 42-46):
“A being, through the disappearing of the 5 lower fetters (samyojana), reappears in a higher world (amongst the devas of the Pure Abodes, suddhāvāsa), and without returning from that world (into the sensuous sphere) he there reaches Nibbāna.
(1) “He may, immediately after appearing there (in the Pure Abodes) or without having gone beyond half of the life-time, attain the holy path for the overcoming of the higher fetters. Such a being is called ‘one who reaches Nibbāna within the first half of the life’ (antarā-parinibbāyī).
(2) “Or, whilst living beyond half of the lifetime, or at the moment of death, he attains the holy path for the overcoming of the higher fetters. Such a being is called ‘one who reaches Nibbāna after crossing half the life-time’ (upahacca-parinibbāyī).
(3) “Or, with exertion he attains the holy path for the overcoming of the higher fetters. Such a being is called ‘one who reaches Nibbāna with exertion’ (sasankhāra-parinibbāyī).
(4) “Or, without exertion he attains the holy path for the overcoming of the higher fetters. Such a being is called ‘one who reaches Nibbāna without exertion’ (asankhāra-parinibbāyī).
(5) “Or, after vanishing from the heaven of the Aviha-gods (s. suddhāvāsa), he appears in the heaven of the unworried (atappa) gods. After vanishing from there he appears in the heaven of the clearly-visible (sudassa) gods, from there in the heaven of the clear-visioned (sudassī) gods, from there in the heaven of the highest (akanittha) gods. There he attains the holy path for the overcoming of the higher fetters. Such a being is called ‘one who passes up-stream to the highest gods’ (uddhamsota-akanittha-gāmī).”
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@ 10:50 pm
Jhaanas-Arahant
“And furthermore, with the abandoning of pleasure and stress — as with the earlier disappearance of elation and distress — he enters and remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity and mindfulness, neither-pleasure-nor-pain. He sits, permeating the body with a pure, bright awareness, so that there is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by pure, bright awareness.
“Just as if a man were sitting wrapped from head to foot with a white cloth so that there would be no part of his body to which the white cloth did not extend; even so, the monk sits, permeating his body with a pure, bright awareness. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by pure, bright awareness.”
What is the cause of anger
and how can one manage anger
so as not to harm others and oneself?
“Knowing that the other person is angry,
one who remains mindful and calm
acts for his own best interest
and for the other’s interest, too.
Samyutta Nikaya I, 162
Question - What is the cause of anger? What can we do to ensure that we manage our anger so that we do not hurt ourselves or others whilst working towards the total elimination of anger?
Answer - The cause of anger is craving or grasping and our belief in a self. On the surface this may not be very apparent. Most Buddhists are aware that intense craving leads to attachment and greed. However, intense craving also leads to ill-will, anger and hatred.
Just as strong attachment and greed arises because we seek our own happiness, ill-will and anger arise because we seek our own happiness. Just as we crave to hold on to happy sensations that form strong bonds which lead to greed, we crave to set aside unhappy situations or unpleasant sensations. And when we cannot set them aside or avoid them, we feel ill-will, anger and hatred. We also feel ill-will and anger when our happiness is taken away or thwarted. The stronger the craving, the greater will be the suffering resulting from ill-will and anger.
Anger is a normal emotion that all human beings feel, like sorrow and happiness. The emotion of anger is felt from the time one is born. How many of you have seen a little baby turn red and cry with his little face twisted with anger? How many have witnessed a two-year-old throw a temper tantrum? They are too young to have learned this behaviour from others. And yet it is obvious that they are experiencing intense anger. It is also obvious that they have not learned to manage their anger. Because of their young age they are often excused the temper tantrum.
Unfortunately, many adults too have never learned to manage their anger. And so, just like the two-year-old, when they are angry they throw a tantrum.
Maybe not in quite the same way as the two-year-old, but in a manner that is not acceptable for an adult - in a manner that is harmful to self and to others.
Reminding us that anger harms us more than it does those on whom anger is directed the Buddha advises against anger as follows:
“The person possessed of anger; discoloured,
Does not have sound sleep.
Even when experiencing the beneficial
He mistakes it as mischief.
Then he harms another
By thought, speech and deed
As result, he will suffer.
Loss of property (fines or punishment).
Crazed by wrath he behaves thus
That invites ill-repute.
His relatives, friends and acquaintance
Shun him, for his temper - hot.
Anger fathers misfortune
Anger maddens one’s mind
It is a danger that rises from within
But man realizes it not.
The angered knows not what is right
Nor does he see what really is
Surrounded by darkness he dwells
Who now does anger defeat?
Captivated and maddened by anger
He does what is unwholesome with ease
But in time when anger is spent
Regrets he, as one burnt by flames.”
Anguttara Nikaya
As the cause of anger is craving, one often finds that intense anger is felt towards those we love the most. As such it is most important that we learn how to manage our anger so as not to hurt the people we love. One should not assume that those we love will accept and excuse our inappropriate behaviour. Even if they do not tell us how they feel, one can be sure that over time they will not love or respect us for such behaviour.
What we are going to learn today are some techniques to help us manage this anger, and over time, some techniques which will help us to reduce and possibly eliminate anger. We will illustrate these concepts with two stories that occurred at the time of the Buddha.
The first story is an incident that occurred with Visakha, the Buddha’s chief female benefactor. One day she had come to the Buddha for solace as she was angered at some unfair taxes that had been levied on a gift she had mailed. Visakha had mailed a parcel to some relatives and the border guards had charged an unreasonably high levy on the goods. Visakha had complained to the king, but due to pressures of state affairs, he had ignored her complaint. Annoyed and angry, Visakha visited the Buddha for solace. The Buddha calmed her mind by saying:
“Painful is all subjection.
Blissful is complete control.
People are troubled by common concerns,
Hard to escape are the bonds (of craving).”
These words of wisdom from the Buddha helped Visakha put this minor irritation in perspective. The Buddha’s advice is as valid today as it was 2500 years ago. So strong are the bonds of craving and attachment that often we are angered and affected by small issues, many of which are outside our control and trivial when compared to other issues of greater consequence that afflict mankind.
Visakha, as she was only a Sotapanna, felt anger. She managed her anger by not lashing out and hurting anyone. She then went to the Buddha for support. Listening to the Buddha she realized very quickly that this was something outside her control and something that was not of great consequence. This helped to calm her mind.
The second story is about Sariputta, the Buddha’s chief male disciple. A group of men were praising the noble qualities of the elder when a young Brahmin challenged them saying the reason Sariputta had never shown anger was because he had never been provoked. To prove that Sariputta, like others, would resort to anger, he walked up behind the elder and dealt him a resounding blow. Sariputta said “what was that?” and then, without even turning around to find who had hit him, continued walking. The Brahmin was overcome with guilt and shame at his conduct. Falling on his knees he begged pardon and told Sariputta how he had hit him to provoke anger. Sariputta then forgave the Brahmin. The Brahmin, not satisfied with a verbal pardon, asked Sariputta to come to his home for the noonday meal to show that he bore no malice towards him. Sariputta accepted the invitation.
After the meal, as Sariputta was leaving, he saw that a mob of angry supporters had gathered with sticks and stones to punish the Brahmin. They had witnessed the Brahmin’s treatment of the elder whom they loved and respected. Sariputta asked them what the commotion was about. When informed he asked, ‘Whom did the Brahmin strike, you or me?” On being told that it was the Elder whom the Brahmin had struck, he dispersed the angry crowd by saying, “I have pardoned him. What cause is there for anger when I, whom he struck, feels none.”
Sariputta, being an Arahanth, had eradicated all craving and as such felt no anger. The only way we cannot feel anger is by destroying craving. As such it is only an Arahanth who will be completely free of anger. Since none of us are Arahanths we should not put ourselves down or feel guilty when we feel anger. We should, however, ensure that we manage it so that we do not hurt others.
And so we have our long-term goal and our short-term goal. The long-term goal of eliminating anger and the short-term goal of managing anger. Our long-term goal will be reached only through the practice of morality - infinite compassion to all living beings and meditation. Meditation on loving kindness, awareness of breathing (Anapansati) and insight (Vipassana). Over time, all of these will help reduce and finally eliminate anger. As we are aware of the purpose of meditation in relation to the Buddhist goal of Nibbana, we will concentrate on the short-term goal of anger management whilst keeping in mind the importance of eradicating the craving which leads to anger, which is the Buddhist goal.
It must be stressed, however, that meditation also helps in the short- term goal of anger management, as meditation teaches you:
compassion and loving kindness,
to be more aware of your feeling,
to reflect before you speak or act.
The Buddha encourages anger management as follows:
“He abused me, he ill-treated me
He defeated me, he robbed me.
Releasing such thoughts
Banishes hatred for all times.”
Dhammapada 4
“Repay not the angry with anger
And you will win the battle hard to win.
He who acknowledges the other’s anger
While maintaining peace mindfully,
Has worked for the well-being of both
Himself and the other.”
Samyutta Nikaya
“Everybody loves himself
Life is dear to all
Feeling for others as for yourself
One should refrain from harming others.”
Udana
“By not retaliating in anger
At one who gets angry
One wins the battle
That is hard to win.”
Samyutta Nikaya
As meditation helps anger management, we will relate back to meditation periodically throughout this lesson.
When we are in a situation which causes us unhappiness or distress we go through many different emotions. Especially if the incident is one that is outside our control and of significant importance. According to Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, when faced with grave personal loss we go through five stages - denial, anger, depression, bargaining and finally acceptance.
Denial because at first you don’t want to believe that this is true,
Anger because you feel hurt that this should happen to you,
Depression when you feel that nothing can be done about it,
Bargaining when you start to look for alternatives or opportunities to minimise or overcome the hurt and, finally,
Acceptance when you start to heal.
At times one may go through these very quickly. At times it may take months. At times one may go to acceptance and then relapse back to denial. These emotions are often felt when there is major personal loss. It could be an unexpected death, a job loss or a sudden diagnosis of a terminal illness. Academics say that it is normal for everybody to go through these stages. These feelings are not just unique to you. However, the anger felt at such times needs to be managed because if one cannot get past this stage in a reasonable time it could lead to hatred, long-term depression and emotional problems. If we can understand that everybody goes through these stages and that this situation is outside our control, we may, on our own, be able to manage it with time through acceptance and support from good friends. Some, however, may need professional help.
The majority of us, however, get angry because of day-to-day events and day-to-day stresses. What can we do to manage anger in these situations that occur daily? Anger manifests in two ways. Sometimes anger arises spontaneously, flares up, and then is spent. Sometimes anger flares up, then one holds the anger for days, weeks and maybe even for months. This is very dangerous as anger that is not managed can build to hatred. Both manifestations, which sometimes overlap, cause suffering to self and others. How do we manage this anger that we all feel so no one gets hurt? How do we ensure that anger does not escalate to hatred?
First we try to identify where anger starts, and secondly we identify where we hold anger. This may not be easy to do and at times you may need help from a loved one. What is your first sign of anger? Is it the clenching of your palms, the grinding of your teeth or is it your flushed face? Secondly, where do you hold the anger? Whilst there are some who blow over with anger, some retain it for days. Do you retain anger in the head with migraine headaches and thoughts that go on and on, in the chest with this consuming, burning heat, or in the stomach where it manifests as ulcers?
We begin by observing how we first express anger. Is it by yelling out hurtful words, throwing things, hitting, crying or running away? Or do we suppress our anger and hold on to it? Examine yourself and try to observe and know yourself.
In other words, with mindfulness we try to be aware of all our feelings and sensations at times of anger. Once you have identified the first external symptom of anger and consciously try to feel these sensations you will be able to identify when anger arises. Over time you will know and recognize the first signs of anger and suppressed anger. Mindfulness and insight meditation will help you very quickly to identify the first signs of anger. Being able to identify the first signs of anger, you can now start strategies to cope with or manage anger.
Anger that is held is more damaging in the long run as it can build to hatred. Unchecked, it can lead to unwholesome thoughts, speech and action, with grave consequences. As such, we will begin with some strategies for anger that has been held onto. The following have helped others:
Calm discussion with person (sometimes this may be through letters)
Exercise
Self care (do something special for yourself)
Deep breathing
Reading a book
Listening to soft music
Talking to a friend (support)
Reading or listening to the Dhamma
Daily meditation on compassion, mindfulness and insight
Add to this list by reflecting on what works for you. Incidently, these strategies also help to reduce spontaneous anger by reducing stress and promoting general well-being so that trivial things don’t result in anger.
Some strategies for dealing with spontaneous anger are:
Taking time out (walk out of the situation)
Practising deep listening
Reflecting before you speak
Developing compassion and kindness to other’s needs, frailties and differences .
Looking at the other point of view
Slowing down (cutting down on stressful commitments)
Daily meditation on compassion, mindfulness and insight
Add to this list by reflecting on what works for you. The majority of us express anger in words, and so we will concentrate on words that will heal and reduce conflict as opposed to words that will hurt and escalate conflict. The Buddha has advised us to speak words that instil confidence and cause happiness, hope and joy. If we are mindful of our precepts we can, over time, move towards refraining from words that hurt, cause disharmony and suffering. With effort we can move towards words that being hope, joy, peace and harmony.
Some words and action you should avoid using when you are angry are:
Words of accusation
Old history
Personal traits
Comparisons
Pointing fingers
Hurtful words such as:
You are stupid
You are dumb
You are selfish
You are vicious
You are cruel
and definitive words such as:
You always…
You never…
Instead, learn to express anger by sharing how you feel and how the other person’s actions or words affect you. The following expressions will help to defuse anger without escalating anger. “I feel (insert specific feeling) when you (insert specific act). Instead I would like/ prefer (inserts specific preference).”
For example, the statements: “I feel hurt when you accuse me of lying. I would prefer that you hear my side of the story before you pass judgement”, defuses anger. Compare this with “You always call me a liar. You never believe what I say. I might as well lie to you. What is the use of telling the truth when you will never believe me anyway?” The first approach defuses anger and helps the situation, whereas the second escalates anger.
Reflect on the advice the Buddha gave Visaka. The following reflection when meditating on loving kindness may also be helpful.
“May I develop the equanimity
to accept things I cannot change,
The courage to change things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference.”
It is normal to feel annoyed when something unpleasant occurs. First, reflect on the issue and the magnitude of the action that has offended you. Is it really that important? If not, let it go. Do not let it escalate to anger, especially if the offender is a loved one. Instead, reflect on the positive things that the person has done for you. Also reflect as to whether this action is within your control. What is the use of getting angry and annoyed if you have lost your job and if there is nothing you can do to get your job back? Instead, spend your energy on changing or coping with the situation. Negotiate a severance package, ask for retraining, or look for other opportunities.
Remember that anger is your worst enemy. Anger harms you more than it does the person towards whom the anger is directed. The law of kamma operates despite the ignorance of man. Intentional actions by thought, word and deed will follow you and fruit at the opportune time. If you are a person who acts on anger through hitting and becoming abusive you need professional help. Spousal and child abuse is against the law. One must recognize that abuse can be both physical and through continuous harsh and threatening speech. Both leave scars. Often it is the mental scars that are harder to heal. They leave long-term emotional problems. Does your family love and respect you or are they afraid of you? One needs to earn love and respect. It cannot be got through fear. In fact, according to the Buddha’s teachings, continuous harsh words will result in aversion and ill-will in the mind of the recipient. Unchecked, aversion and ill-will in the mind of the recipient will lead to anger and hatred. And while you can change yourself and manage your own anger, you have no control over the minds of others:
The Buddha’s advice for anger management is boundless compassion and loving kindness through mental development. The Buddha said:
“Anger is never appeased by anger
Anger is appeased by loving kindness.
This is an eternal truth.”
Dhammapada 5
The Buddha encouraged others to destroy anger and hatred through loving kindness by describing the bliss of those who have conquered anger. He said:
“Truly we dwell in happiness,
as we do not hate, while others hate.
Amidst those who are filled with hatred
we live appeased,
free of hatred.”
Dhammapada 197
Statistics show that often persons are angry and abusive with their loved ones. The very same act performed by an acquaintance does not lead to anger. Most people with effort manage their anger in the workplace in order to appear professional, but vent at their loved ones. And yet it is those we love that we should treat with most tenderness. The damage done by anger cannot be measured. Reflecting on the following story may help to motivate anger management.
There was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the back fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Then it gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to manage his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to manage his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same.”
When we say things in anger, we leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. In fact it can be worse, for mental abuse takes longer to heal. Family and friends are like very rare jewels. They make us smile and encourage us to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us to help us when we are hurt. Don’t scar your family and friends. Learn to manage your anger.
01/23/08
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Posted by:
@ 7:22 pm
EASE and DIS-EASE
Hunger and Over Eating is Dis-Ease!
Eat Less for Ease!
Over Sleep and Sleeplessness is Dis-Ease!
Sleep Less for Ease!
Over Speach and Speachless is Dis-Ease!
Speak Less for Ease!
Luxurious Dress and Nakedness is Madness and Dis-Ease!
Wear Moderate Dress for Ease!
All for gain and Happiness!
HAPPIEST PERSON ON THE EARTH
Happiest Person on The Earth!
Out of His Earnings Shares Twenty Five Percent to Parents Returning as Debt!
Twent Five Percent to Wife and Children with Loving Kindness, Compassion and Good Act!
Twenty Five Percent To Educate Children as Savings, Loan and Credit!
Twenty Five Percent towards Charity and Gift!
To be The Happiest Person on The Earth!
THE BLESSED, NOBLE, AWAKENED ONE’S BEAUTY PARLOUR
Prosterating The Blessed, Noble, Awakened One, Parents, Teachers and Elders with Reverence, Morality!
Generosity as a Daily Duty!
Brings Longevity!
Beauty!
Prosperity!
And Authority!
ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF JAMBUDVIPA THAT IS THE GREAT PRABUDDHA BHARATH RATHNAS
Original Inhabitant of Jambdvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharat Rathna!
First One of The Tirathna!
Second One of The Tipitaka!
Vinaya Pitaka!
Based Father of the Indian Constitution Dr.Baba Saheb Bharath.Rathan.Ambedkar is Born with the Title Prabuddha Bharath Rathna!
Dada Saheb Manyawar Kanshi Ram Ji Lived and died for The Gain of the many and Happiness for The Many is the Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath Rathna!
First of The Trirathna!
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http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Richard-Branson/ss/events/bs/042407richardbranson
Virgin Galactic owner Richard Branson unveils the design of the Spaceship Two and White Knight Two mothership at the America Museum of Natural History in New York. Branson unveiled his newest spaceship and said that test flights for the vessel would begin this year.
(AFP/Stan Honda)
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Posted by:
@ 10:12 am
For The Gain of the Many and For the Welfare of the Many
C.M. grieved
Lucknow : 21 January 2008 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Km. Mayawati has expressed profound grief over the death of Mr. Brijendra, a senior I.A.S. officer of 1971 batch. He passed away at the Apollo Hospital in Delhi today after prolonged illness. At present he was posted as the Chairman of Administrative Tribunal and Vigilance Commission. The Chief Minister has conveyed deep sympathies and heartfelt condolences to the family members of the deceased
Outsourcing by government and semi-government bodies to have provision of reservation
Lucknow : January18, 2008 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Km. Mayawati has said that the State Cabinet while approving the New Economic Policy at its meeting held on 24th December, 2007 had taken a decision that Public-Private partnership would be an important component of this Economic Policy. She said that a decision was also taken that in the schemes, projects or industries of the private sector, being run with the partnership of State Government in any area, the partnership of State Government will be a minimum of 11 per cent and a maximum of 49 per cent. This partnership would ensure the best possible utilisation and maximum benefit in the interest of ‘Sarva Samaj’ in sectors where a large capital investment has already been made. Addressing the media representatives at her official residence 5, Kalidas Marg here today, Km. Mayawati said that with the efforts of Bharat Ratna Baba Saheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar provision for reservation was made in view of removing the social and economic disparities, so that socially backward and downtrodden could equally participate in the development activities. She said that, so far in the dis-investment or privatisation done by all the Governments or the participation sought by them from the private sector, there was no provision of reservation. As a result, the scope of reservation in government jobs is narrowing and representation of poor and downtrodden is decreasing. Thus, the shape of development is not all inclusive. Consequently, social inequality is increasing The Chief Minister said that she had also taken a historic decision that in Uttar Pradesh, in the industries and enterprises developed with the partnership of private sector, on the basis of public private partnership, in these the provision of reservation would continue on the pattern of reservation in government jobs. This arrangement has been made for the first time in Uttar Pradesh only and this would yield positive and far reaching results. She informed that there were many areas in which many concessions were being provided by the Government. This sector is huge with no provision of reservation. For this, the State Cabinet at its meeting on 10th August, 2007 had decided that where the government would provide special concessions to the private sector, voluntary provision of reservation would be made. Km. Mayawati said that her Government has made the provision of voluntary reservation to the tune of 10 per cent for the schedule caste, 10 per cent for other backward classes and backward religious minority class and 10 per cent for the poors of the upper caste in the Private Sector, so that all sections of the Sarva Samaj get included in the economic mainstream. She said that an important decision in this regard was taken at the meeting of the State Cabinet held yesterday. It has been decided that now onwards, in the outsourcing in Government departments and semi-government bodies like corporations and councils provision of reservation would be enforced similar to government jobs. This provision has been made for the first time. This decision has been taken so that the important provision of reservation is not adversely effected with the expansion of economic activities and all sections get an opportunity to join the mainstream of development.
http://womeninlawdaily.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/wild-woman-to-watch-mayawati-kumari/
W.I.L.D. Woman to Watch: Mayawati Kumari
I am always interested in learning about how other female lawyers have used their law degrees or legal education outside of litigation since litigation is basically all I know. Politicians often have a legal background. This Reuters article features someone to watch: Mayawati Kumari, the leader of India’s low-caste Bahujan Samaj party in Uttar Pradesh state. Mayawati is the first Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e.The Great Prabuddha Bharath woman to become the Chief Minister of any of India’s states.
She studied law at the University of Delhi. I’m sure that her law degree prepared her for many things in life, but administering to a group of Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e.The Great Prabuddha Bharath numbering 170 million people is not something anyone can truly be prepared for through classroom education. No matter how law schools teach the laws and legal theories on equality, discrimination, justice, and the rights of the poor, one can’t really “learn” how to identify with the poor. Either you do or you don’t, in my opinion. Clearly, she knows how to give voice to these people although she is not ‘poor’ by any means now.
http://readerswords.wordpress.com/2008/01/23/the-deafening-silence-of-dalits-in-punjab/
The Deafening Silence of Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath in Punjab
January 23, 2008 — readerswords
One of the striking aspects of Punjab politics is the
near absence of caste as a major factor during elections. It is not that the factor is wholly absent, but in contrast to even its neighboring states like Haryana and Rajasthan, it is much less in evidence, to say nothing about states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra or Tamil Nadu, where caste is most visibly present, politically and otherwise.
It would seem that this apparent non- chalance about caste in the state is because of the influence of a ‘casteless’ Sikh religion. Sikhism was certainly a most strident attack on casteism in the medieval period. The Guru Granth Sahib, for example, contains the writings by many saints including Guru Ravidas, a chamar. Guru Nanak also initiated the practice of langar- collective feasts where people from various dined together and thus helped blunt caste antagonism.
The last guru, Gobind Singh initiated baptism and gave the new adherents the common suffix of Singh/ Kaur, further dealing a blow to identification by caste name. Guru Nanak, like most Sufi/ Bhakti saints, makes no reference to the Gita, that many consider upholds the caste system. So different is the treatment of caste from mainstream Hinduism that Dr. BR Ambedkar seriously contemplated conversion to Sikhism much before he decided in favour of Buddhism. It is not certain why he changed his decision, but one of the conjectures is that the (upper caste) Sikh theologians were appalled at the thought of millions of converted Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath Sikhs taking over their religious institutions and thus changing the power equations.
Like any other conjecture, this may or may not be true. But the main idea certainly deserves a discussion. After Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s consolidation of the twelve warring misls in early 19th century, it is a fact that the jats more or less controlled both the political and in the last half century also the religious institutions (via the SGPC).
But the roots of the caste consolidation within Sikhism go further back- to the time of the gurus. This needs to be understood well so that one does not make the same mistake as three Sikh organisations recently did, when they termed the vision of the Sikh gurus as the creation of a casteless society:
Three organizations also want to make use services the sants and dera heads to ensure assimilation of Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath in rural areas in the mainstream. At many places, Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath are denied entry into gurdwaras and also denied access to Guru Granth Sahib for religious ceremonies, including marriage and antim ardas. This problem has been creating rift among rural Sikh masses and need to be stopped as the Sikh Gurus were for a caste less and classless society. (
news report ) (Link via Surinder S. Jodhka’s article in
Seminar January 2008: Of Babas and Deras)
The claim of Sikhism as a ‘caste less’ religion needs to be critically examined. Historian JS Grewal has pointed out, for example, that “Guru Nanak does not conceive of equality in social and economic terms.” (quoted in Scheduled Castes in the Sikh Community by Harish K. Puri). Guru Nanak’s rejection of caste was in this mainly in religious terms.
The Sikh gurus’ attack on caste ism, though admirable by medieval standards, did not go far enough, and was a far cry from modern sensitivities towards caste.
For example, till the SGPC was formed, the Sikh religious institutions were by and large controlled by the Khatri castes (the mahants). Much before that, the Sikh gurus, including Nanak had ensured that the guru- ship remained within the hands of the Khatris. No doubt it was a great achievement for the first four gurus to pass on the gaddi outside their family- something that is difficult to even conceive today with politicians and film actors passing on the baton to the next generation within their family. The trend changed significantly after the fifth guru who switched to the practice of retaining the guru- ship within the family.
However, even the first four gurus including the greatest of them all- Nanak, ensured that the guru ship remained within their own caste. All marriages in the guru families were within the Khatri sub- castes. A major, if not the determining aspect of the caste system- endogamy, therefore was retained in Sikh practice.
Even contemporary Sikhs have not taken any major reforms for eliminating the caste system. There have been probably more marriages between Hindus and Sikhs within the same caste than within Sikhs across the castes- this is likely to be true about the Khatris and the Dalit Sikhs/ Hindus, two castes that overlap between the two major religious communities in the state.
Caste distinctions are relatively stronger in rural Punjab. With the economic rise of some sections of Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath, there has been a spate of separate Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath gurudwaras in the state. In urban areas probably the distinction is less antagonistic, though not absent. In some places like Jalandhar, for example, the leather trade and production of leather related sports goods for a long time ensured that it was possible for at least some sections of Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath to wade themselves out of extreme poverty and concentrate on economic development.
However, it is a different story in the rural areas where majority of the landless and agricultural workers are Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath . The only Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath leader in the state Communist Party of India in the past many decades was the one heading the agricultural workers front. Indeed, most Communist leaders in the state have and continue to come from among the Jats and Khatris with perhaps the sole exception of Mangat Ram Pasla who was shunted out of the CPI(M) few years ago (he is not a Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath , but a nai, a backward caste). Most of the key Akalis are Jat Sikhs. Relatively the Congress party has offerred slightly more space to backward caste and dalit Sikhs- like Giani Zail Singh (a tarkhan, a relatively backward caste) and Buta Singh, a Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath Sikh. A majority of the SGPC members are Jats.
Given the continuing presence of caste antagonism, it is indeed quite spectacular that caste remains not only relatively subdued during election time, but is also not very powerfully expressed in other areas. For example, though there was a strong literary movement in Punjabi between the 1950s- 70s, there has been an absence of an identifiable Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath literary stream in Punjabi. There have been, indeed, poets from a Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath background- Lal Singh Dil and Sant Ram Udasi come immediately to mind, but both identified themselves with the jujharu or the naxalite influenced movement rather than as Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath (though they are contemporary with the Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath Panthers movement in Marathi literature.)
The Bahujan Samaj Party, whose founder Kanshi Ram, incidentally was a Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath Sikh, has made little headway in the state. One tactical mistake that the BSP made was to ally with the Jat dominated Akali party, the party of their immediate oppressor, during the late 1990s. Its electoral debacle and the subsequent disillusionment among its cadres has ensured that it remains a marginal political force in the state, though of late it has gained ground in terms of percentage of votes polled.
Many Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath from various parties including the communist and the Congress parties who joined the BSP have returned to their original ones or have at least left the BSP- disillusioned with its culture and factionalism though, happily, some have come back with renewed assertion as Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath .
The Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath question has recently come into limelight in context of the controversy around the burgeoning deras and baba cults in the state. As Surinder Jodhka cautions in the article quoted above, though these deras are certainly manifestation of a pluralistic culture in the state and attract many Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath , it is too optimistic to see them as places of dalit assertion. One of the footnotes in his article highlighting the contradiction between the interest of the deras and the dalits is quite illuminating:
The following statement of my taxi driver who took me to visit some deras in the Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts of Punjab is instructive. ‘I am a Scheduled Caste fellow. I do not own any land. Most of our people own no land. Everyone should have some land. If not more, at least two acres for each family. It would give people a sense of security and dignity. Look at these deras. They own so much land; some even more than a thousand acres. There should be some law to limit the amount of land that a baba keeps and the rest should be distributed among people like us.’
My driver Buta Singh did not mean any disrespect to the babas. He not only paid obeisance to all the deras we visited, but was upset that I did not show sufficient reverence for the babas we visited. He firmly believed in their supernatural powers and ability to do good.
Whether because of super natural reasons or otherwise, there is certainly no identifiable dalit assertion in the state, politically or otherwise. Most of the attention to their identity has been highlighted by academicians and journalists. There seems to be neither a political, literary or any other manifestation of their assertion in the state despite having the highest proportion of scheduled castes in the country (almost 30% of the state’s total population.)
There is a deafening silence on part of Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath in Punjab. One wonders why, and for how long.
*****
Notes:-
(1) It needs to be remembered that Brahmins in the state are not the dominant caste, a role usurped by the jats in rural areas and the khatris in urban areas. In this, the state does not adhere to the pattern in many other regions in the country.
(2) Sikhs in Punjab constitute aout 63% of the population. About 30% of the population is classified as Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath (mainly scheduled castes, there are no scheduled tribes in Punjab.) About 80% of the Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath live in rural areas. The share of Sikhs in rural areas is 73%, implying that Punjab villages are predominantly Sikh and Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath . (All statistics from Harish Puri’s article linked in “Related Articles”.) The Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath also have one of the lowest percentage of land holdings,a measly 2.34% (Quoted in Ronki Ram, article linked in “Related Articles”.)
Related Posts:
Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath and the Left: A Troubled Relationship
Wadali Brothers: Sufism and Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath Emancipation
Imagining Punjab in the Age of Globalization
Dr. Ambedkar and Sikhism
Significance of being Kanshi Ram: An Obituary
Related articles (.pdf files):
Scheduled Castes in Sikh Community by Harish K Puri
Punjab Census- Scheduled Caste Data by Surinder S. Jodhka
Of Deras and Babas by Surinder S. Jodhka (available online after 1st Feb 08)
Myth of Casteless Sikh Society by Ronki Ram
Caste and Religion in Punjab by Meeta and Rajiv Lochan
Dera Sacha Sauda by Lionel Baxas
Split Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The great Prabuddha Bharath Votes- Punjab Elections 2004 by (unsigned in EPW)
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INDIA: Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e.The Great Prrabuddha Bharath minister reveals PM dream - 22/01/2008
In India, the first member of a Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e.The Great Prrabuddha Bharath minister group to win office as a chief minister says she hopes one day to take office as Prime Minister. During lavish birthday celebrations Mayawati Kumari revealed she’d be moving to New Delhi, to transform the Bahujan Samaj party of India’s Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e.The Great Prrabuddha Bharath minister into a national force.
Presenter - Girish Sawlani Speaker - Chandrabhan Prasad, columnist, The Pioneer newspaper; Professor Kamal Chenoy, professor of comparative and Indian politics, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Ashraf Engineer, assistant editor, Hindustan Times.
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INDIA: Army chief hints at conscription - 23/01/2008
India’s military, the fourth largest force in the world, is facing a shortage of officers in the wake of India’s booming private sector which is competing for the nation’s best talent. Military analysts fear that the problem could seriously degrade the armed forces’ effectiveness in the event of armed conflicts. And to address the shortage crisis, India’s Army Chief, General Deepak Kapoor, has hinted at possible conscription.
Presenter - Girish Sawlani. Speaker - Dr. Ajai Sahni, executive director, Institute for Conflict Management; Lt. General (ret’d) Satish Nambiar, director, United Service Institution of India
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SFX PROMO : That incredible. Final moment of metamorphosis, leading up to the final step as the boy graduates into a man. It’s the end of a cadet’s tenure at the academy. But it is also the beginning of a long road ahead.
SAWLANI: Of the thousands of Indian stduents who graduate from high school and university, fewer are choosing the long hard road of the military. In the wake of attractive salaries offered by an ever increasing number of vocal and multi-national corporations. The number of cadets entering the various military academies are decreasing sharply.
Last year, only 190 students signed up with the prestigious National Defence Academy, which allocated a total of 300 places. Moreover, official figures state the army is facing a shortage of more than 11,000 officers, a shortfall of about 25 per cent.
But what are the consequences for one of the world’s largest military forces. Dr Ajai Sahni is the executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management.
SAHNI: It is a very severe crisis. It impacts directly on the operational capabilities of the force, because it is leadership which defines the force. You can’t just have large numbers of troops without a well trained, well qualified leadership. It is at the leadership levels that there is both on the one hand an absolute shortage of officers and also a consistent decline in the quality of available officers.
SAWLANI: But not everyone agrees that the shortage of officers will affect the operational capabilities of the Indian armed forces.
Satish Nambiar, is a retired returning general from the Indian infantry and is director of the United Service Institution of India.
NAMBIAR: There is some impact in terms of the capabilities, but it is not so serious as to have an impact on the capacity of the military capability of the force, because we have a certain resilience provided by the system in terms of its capacity to absorb these shortages, because we have warrant officer levels or something called junior commissioned officers at all levels, in all battalions and regiments, who are able to carry out the functions that are required.
So in so far as the military capability is concerned, it’s not something which is worrisome at the moment.
SAWLANI: He says there are solutions to the shortage, but blames the government for refusing to take initiative.
NAMBIAR: There are any number of ways. It’s just that so far the political establishment, the people who run the country haven’t had the guts to take the decisions that are required to set this right. Because the basic problem that needs addressing is in terms of encouraging the entry of youngsters when they are just getting through university or into the armed forces into a short service commission. We can’t have an armed forces completely of regular cadres who carry till they afford to fall on their death bed or something like that. We have to have officers coming in and then leaving at a certain period of time, so that the pyramidic structure of the armed forces can be effectively maintained.
SAWLANI: While many blame the shortage of officers on lucrative employment opportunities in the private sector, Dr Ajai Sahni cites increased stress levels associated with military occupations as another factor.
SAHNI: It’s becoming more and more a stress kind of occupation. because earlier on you were looking at may be one or two significant wars in your entire career.
Now you have significant deployment of the army and internal security operations, particularly in India’s north east and in Jammu and Kashmir, which keep men and officers in situations of extreme stress and in conflict zones over extended periods of their career. That stress is also in some measure driving out and you have a full factor due to the perks available in the private sector.
SAWLANI: As a possible measure to curb the officer shortage crisis, India’s army chief General Deepak Kapoor suggested conscription. But retired Lieutenant General Satish Nambiar does not consider compulsory national service as a solution.
NAMBIAR: No, I don’t think military conscription is the answer for the problems that we face. There’s no dearth of material to join in the rank and file, so conscription has no meaning there. When you’ve got enough volunteers. In fact our problem is to be selective enough there. For every 100 vacancies, there are about 100,000 guys who come and volunteer in the rank and file, for their entry there. The problem is at officer level and then therefore you can’t have the sort of selective military corp.
SAWLANI: Dr Ajai Sahni adds the very idea of conscription will not go down well with the Indian public.
SAHNI: There will be tremendous resistance in the Indian public, because we don’t have a culture where you can force people to do anything.
Moreover, conscripted armies, unless there is a very strong tradition within the country for such armies, tend to be inferior in terms of discipline and
INDIA: Welfare scheme failing to provide jobs - 21/01/2008
In India a multi-billion-dollar welfare drive is promising 100 days of work to every rural family that signs up with the scheme. But just per cent of households who signed up are getting a jobs.
Presenter - Murali Krishnan Speaker - Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Rural Development Minister; Rajeev Baruah, head of organic farming cooperative in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
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http://naxalwatch.blogspot.com/2008/01/maya-juggernaut-rolls-into-orissa.html
This Blog monitors all terror activities of Indian Naxals ie., PWG (Peoples War Group) and Government policies to tackle naxal menace . PWG’s current goal is to destablize India and Sub-Continent by a well coordinated strategy with the help of international revolutionaries and covert support from Pakistan and China .
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1146462
Subhashish Mohanty
Monday, January 21, 2008 02:16 IST
With eye on polls, Uttar Pradesh chief minister promises three acres to each farmer
BHUBANESHWAR: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo, whose search for new political pastures outside her home of Uttar Pradesh took her to Himachal Pradesh in the north and Andhra Pradesh in the south in the recent past, finally landed in Orissa on Sunday.
If anyone had doubts about her agenda at her latest port of call, the UP chief minister set at rest all possible speculation when she declared, while addressing a mammoth public meeting: “I am launching the campaign (for the next Lok Sabha elections) from here today.”
“Only a few months are left for the elections and so move in that direction and work for the next polls from today,” she told her party workers. She said she expected elections to be held to the Orissa assembly (an year ahead of schedule) along with the Lok Sabha polls. The reasons for her choice of Orissa as the latest destination are not hard to guess.
Less than a month ago, her bitter foe and Samajwadi party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav addressed a huge public meeting at Puri.
“Go to the villages,” Mayawati urged her supporters, explaining that there was no way BSP could gain power at the Centre unless it accorded “equal importance” to all sections of the society.
She took some time off from her mandatory hard-sell of herself as an icon and protector of Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath. “The party is never against the upper class people. It wants reservations for the poor people among the upper castes too.”
She cited the instance of Satish Chandra Mishra, an upper caste man, whom she had “promoted.”
“If the party comes to power both at the Centre as well as in Orissa, it would make provision for reservations for the upper caste poor,” she promised, adding that something needed to be urgently done to introduce reservations even in the private sector.
She said she had “never” broken a promise that she had made to people.
The crowd cheered her when she blamed the governments at the centre and the state for growing naxalite influence. “People looked to naxalites only because they had not been given land. If my party comes to power in Orissa, three acres of land will be given to farmers for farming,” she announced.
subhashish_m@yahoo.com
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSISL12943620080121?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
India’s “Untouchables Queen” gains power, enemies
By Alistair Scrutton
LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - For a leader dubbed the “Untouchables the Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath Queen” who runs one of India’s poorest states, it was indeed a birthday bash fit for royalty.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati stood as her mostly higher-caste party aides and the state police chief each scooped up slops of her 52nd birthday cake in their hands and finger-fed their boss.
“This is her revolution,” said Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh, one of her closest aides who participated in the birthday ceremony.
Since culminating an astonishing rise from “untouchable” or Scheduled caste the Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath school teacher to head of India’s most populous state by winning last year’s election outright, Mayawati has stamped her presence in Uttar Pradesh with eyes on being the next prime minister.
For supporters she is reaching out nationally to millions of Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath who feel left out from an economic boom, a new caste politics that will eat into the support of India’s traditional parties like the ruling Congress.
On her birthday, loyal party workers decked out Lucknow, the state capital, with hundreds of thousands of lights and donated thousands of dollars in a birthday “financial support” scheme that she said would be channeled to the poor.
Elected representatives were asked to donate about $7,500 to birthday coffers. Tax authorities made life easier for her by declaring her birthday gifts could be a tax write-off.
“My birthday is celebrated in a way that no other leader’s is. People donate money in my name,” Mayawati told India Today magazine this month. “
Musical CDs praising her blared out across the city.
“You’ll live for thousands of years and each year should have 50,000 days,” proclaimed one billboard.
Since her election win, she has inaugurated one of India’s biggest highway projects, spent millions on parks and statues celebrating her party, published a volume of her autobiography .
Some analysts believe she now has the political momentum to win enough seats in a likely 2009 general election to hold the balance of power in any hung parliament.
Mayawati already has an advantage. Uttar Pradesh, known as “UP”, provides the biggest single bloc of seats in India’s parliament. Most of India’s prime ministers have originated from the state, which has a population of about 170 million.
“If you are chief minister you must be the biggest fool on earth if you have no prime ministerial ambitions,” Singh said.
CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS
So far, graft accusations and charges she misspent millions of dollars have done little to dent her popularity in what is widely seen as one of India’s most corrupt and lawless states and where the average inhabitant earns half the national average.
She has already faced probes over her personal wealth as well as over a plan to build a shopping mall next to the Taj Mahal.
Now Mayawati is building a $100 million park in Lucknow in honor of her party’s founder Dada Saheb Manyawar Kanshi Ram Ji. Other statues of her abound.
India’s Business Standard, quoting finance ministry officials, said her income last year was around $15 million, based on paid taxes, putting her on par with top Bollywood stars.
Her political momentum contrasts with a lackluster Sonia Gandhi, whose Congress party has suffered in state elections and who has only managed to draw smallish and unenthusiastic crowds.
Mayawati’s relative youth — at 52 she is much younger than many top Indian politicians — has added to her freshness. In a sign of her influence, even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rang her up while on a trip to China to wish her happy birthday.
Her state win was the first time in nearly two decades a party has won an outright majority. That means she can stay in office for a full five-year term, giving her time and funds to propel her party onto the national stage.
One of nine children, Mayawati managed to study law and become a teacher through a government quota scheme for Scheduled castes the Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath before being mentored by the BSP’s founder.
Even her critics say she is a good administrator who has appointed technocrats to powerful posts and helped reduce crime.
“To understand her you have to understand she came from absolutely nothing. She really was a nobody,” said Chandra.
Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath still face huge discrimination. Often living in shacks, many are still not allowed to collect water or pray at the same temple as other higher castes.
Mayawati won the election with an unlikely alliance of Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath and the high priestly Brahmin caste. The first politician to finger-feed her on her birthday was a senior Brahmin politician — a symbol for supporters of that caste revolution.
The symbolism can have a huge impact only a few miles away, where many landless Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath live with no power or running water.
“I’m hopeful about Mayawati but let’s see,” said Mithilesh, a villager leader outside Lucknow. Villagers, who make just about $2 a day as laborers to make ends meet, stood around her.
With a population of about 170 million, Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath number about Brazil’s population and they can be a huge political force — if united.
But in Uttar Pradesh, most rulers end their rule embroiled in sleaze and scandal.
Mulayam Singh Yadav, the former chief minister who is himself now being probed for corruption.
http://309nervecenter.blogspot.com/2008/01/its-not-easy-being-gray.html
309 Nerve Center
RomneyHuckabeeObamaClinton! Oh no, oh my! News coverage of elections become literal sports commentary: big, bold flashing graphics, easy numbers, little interpretation. Who’s ahead? What do the polls say? We want facts, not discussion. With everyone fluttering around numbers, it’s easy to get lost in the plot. But what about the electoral college system itself?
With over 2,000 political parties in the world, it’s a shame the United States champions only two of them. Travel to Germany and you’ll see five major parties listed on the ballot with more than 20 smaller ones. Travel to India and you’ll find people voting for the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Nationalist Congress, the Bharatiya Janata.
A glaring difference between how the government works in the United States in comparison to nearly all those democracies abroad is its heavy reliance on an uncomplicated two-party political system. With one side naturally pitted against another like a team sport, much of American philosophy and thought has become polarized into diametric frames of thinking as a result.
This divided system has inadvertently perpetuated a left vs. right, Democrat vs. Republican, liberal vs. conservative, “us vs. them” political mentality. Think about it - are you a proponent of national health care? You’re labeled a liberal, a Democrat, a blue-stater. Against abortion? You’re automatically considered a conservative, a Republican, red as a stop sign. The labels are easy, they’re quick, they’re convenient.
They’re also incorrect.
It is not human nature to think in pure terms of black and white and it’s not natural to polarize people’s belief systems in completely opposing blocs that are so large its members cannot agree on the same issue.
Without a proportional voting method, however, minority parties will never be counted as whole votes unless they win an entire constituency. The system must be reformed if we ever want a country that is more than two simple, stale and staid political parties whose standpoints often bleed into one another, and more often than not, cannot be distinguished from one another.
Perhaps it has to do with the fact that it’s much simpler to throw people into two opposing sides. It takes less thought and less brainpower. But the truth is humans are meant to think without concrete party labels obstructing their view. They shouldn’t have to deal with flashing words and absolute ideas. At least they should have more options. They cannot think, “I really don’t believe in this, but I think I’m supposed to since apparently I’m liberal/conservative/red/blue/bleeding heart.”
Indeed, most people, myself included, find themselves frequently thinking outside party lines on certain issues, stuck in the gray area between the two extremes. This is why the centrist members of a particular party can so easily gain control. Because in a form of government that is neatly divided along the middle, the moderates always win since parties’ leaders are too afraid of delving into either extreme. Yet, as a result, the raw political flame of change has blown out and the end product is compromise, concession, moderation, flip-flops, apathy and disregard.
An old senator once said, “Saying we should keep the two-party system simply because it is working is like saying the Titanic voyage was a success because a few people survived on life rafts.”
I like that. And perhaps poor Dennis Kucinich does too. Read about his exclusion from the Las Vegas debates here.
at 12:50 AM 
http://www.nagpurpulse.com/cong-ncp-bsp-oppose-hike-water-tariff
Cong, NCP, BSP oppose hike in water tariff
Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Republican Party of India are against the proposal of increasing water tariff in Orange city. All these parties will come together to oppose the resolution of increasing water tariff, moved by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the general body meeting slated on January 22
Water Works Department (WWD) of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has proposed a substantial increase in water tariff across the board. The proposal for increasing the tariff and amendment in the modalities would be discussed in the NMC general body meeting. NMC is revising water tariff after seven years. The earlier revision had taken place in year 2000. It is mandatory for the civic body to revise the present water tariff under Central Government sponsored Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Central government has sanctioned many water supply projects under the scheme to improve supply and water quality. It has given Rs 31 crore as first installment to the civic body. However, the Centre requires that the civic body supply water on ‘No Profit- No Loss’ basis. The revision is thus necessary to fill up the huge deficit incurred in water supply. Vikas Thakre, former Mayor said that BJP has miserably failed to provide water in the city and now they were increasing the water tariff. This will be injustice to the citizens as they were not getting safe drinking water. Congress corporators will oppose any move of increasing tariff in the house, he said. Ved Prakash Arya, Party Leader of NCP, said that inspite of regularisation of illegal water connection, NMC is going to put burden on those customers, who are paying water charges honestly. Around 40 per cent water is lost due to leakages, Water Audit had exposed the WWD. Civic body is collecting only 40 per cent water bills from the water users and 60 per cent are using water illegally, he said. Instead of improving its collection efficiency, the NMC is putting additional burden on honest citizens, he claimed. Harshala Jaiswal, Corporator of BSP, said that NMC is not supplying water even for two hours regularly in North, Central and East Nagpur area and now, in the name of JNNURM, they were increasing the Water tariff. In North Nagpur, people have to agitate every time for the regular supply of water. Satish Hole, Congress Corporator, said that NMC had failed to supply safe drinking water to the citizens. The water bound diseases were increasing in the city. Maharashtra Human Right Commission (MHRC) had slammed NMC and had summoned the Municipal Commissioner to justify the inability of the civic body to provide potable water. First let them supply safe and potable drinking water to the citizens, then implement 24 X 7 scheme in the city, he opined. Nana Shamkule Chairman of Standing Committee, said that under JNNURM it is necessary to increase the water tariff to reduce the huge revenue loss. JNNURM is the brain child of Union Government, which is led by Congress and other small parties. If Congress, NCP wants to oppose the proposal, BJP is ready to pass the resolution against central government. Under new proposal, the water users will have to pay a security deposit. In a slum area, it would be Rs 150/- for semi-pucca structure and Rs 250/- for others. The deposit in areas other then slums is also proposed to be increased manifold. For the regularisation of unauthorised connection, residential users will have to pay Rs 5000/- and non-residential have to pay Rs 15,000/- per connection. NMC will not regularise the unauthorised connection of apartments and recover Rs 6000/- from them for disconnection and illegal use of water. After this resolution, if any unauthorised connection is found in any residence, apartment or commercial establishment, the civic body will levy a hefty fine on them.
http://www.teluguportal.net/2008012020088/bsp-to-go-it-alone-in-madhya-pradesh/
BSP to go it alone in Madhya Pradesh
Bhopal:Claiming that several leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress were eager to join the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Minister Ranganath Mishra here Sunday asserted that his party would contest on its own all the 230 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh.
Mishra, who was here to participate in a convention of Brahmins organized by his party, told reporters: “No alliance will be forged and we will enter the fray with full confidence as has been the case with Uttar Pradesh where our social engineering concept paid dividends.”
“The lack of development in the state will also help us gain power. The people are fed up with both the Congress and the BJP,” he claimed.
Addressing the convention, BSP state president Bhujbal Singh Ahirwar said that a group of committed workers was working hard at the ground level for taking the party to power in Madhya Pradesh.
“More than 1,000 brahmins have come to the party fold during the convention. Over 60 such conventions have been held across the state in the recent past and many more would be organised in the days to come,” said BSP leader Komal Pande.
http://alaiwah.wordpress.com/2008/01/20/the-year-that-was-2007/
The Year That Was 2007
By Joseph Gathia
Regular readers of newspapers need no reminder that 2007 was another terrible year for the cause of religious freedom.
In 2004, Indians voted for a change in direction, and got a change in parties by bringing the Congress led UPA to power. But by the end of 2007 this changed.
Nearly three out of four Indians feel that the country is heading in the wrong direction. It’s not hard to see why: looming large are job loss for millions of people, rising prices of eatable items , more people than ever without access to health coverage, persistent threat to farmers and continued federal inaction in cases of violence against innocent minorities and privatization which threatened livelihood sources of ordinary citizens. These calamities detonated in 2007 but were years in the making.
The year was not entirely bereft of hope. The nation’s sensex continuously rose .The UPA Govt. announced special economic package for the minorities and grant in aid for low income students. Private companies made their operations more environmentally sustainable as well. Many Multi National Corporations pledged to social responsibility policy.
Yet several important policy announcements grounded to a halt in 2007, short of finding solutions that would actually benefit Indians. The push for investment in retail business collapsed amidst fear and hateful rhetoric. An overwhelmingly popular effort to enter into nuclear pact with USA failed to overcome a bitterly ideological veto. Rather than seeking a new direction on trade consistent with our new vision and the Man Mohan Singh Government yielded to the pressure of the Left.
Meanwhile, we had the first Scheduled Caste the Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath, K. G. Balakrishnan, elected Chief Justice of India. Middle of January was the Ardh Kumbh; almost one million devotees washed their sins in the Sangam at Allahabad.
The beginning of the year was plagued by the Nithari case of Moninder Singh Pandher which made headlines as skeletons of girls and children whom he and his servant allegedly raped and murdered emerged from his house in Noida adjacent to the capital of India.
With nationalist parties re-asserting themselves a new phenomenon emerged. Shiv Sena with Bal Thackeray’s son Udhav, instead of the recalcitrant nephew Raj, won the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections. More significant was the Akali-BJP alliance defeating the Congress-led government by Captain Amarinder Singh and forming government in Punjab under Prakash Singh Badal. In Uttranchal the BJP-led by General Khanduri ousted the Congress from power. Of the three states that went to the polls only Mizoram stayed with the Congress.
March saw resurgence of Naxalite and Maoist in Central India. Violence also erupted in Nandigram (West Bengal) 11 farmers protesting against acquisition of their lands were shot by the police.
On April 1, Laurie Baker (90) who designed homes for the poor and had made India his home died at Thiruvananthapuram. Three days later Jagjit Singh Chauhan (80) founder of the Khalistan Movement died in his village Tanda. Anyone who thought BJP was a spent force was proved wrong; it swept the Delhi Municipal polls.
May was eventful. India’s biggest state was won by Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party ousting Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi, with BJP in the third position and Congress in the last. Scheduled Caste the Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati forged a rainbow electoral coalition that embraced upper and Scheduled Caste the Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e. The Great Prabuddha Bharath and Muslims in one magic formula that brought her to power in India’s most populous state.
In Punjab, Sikhs were up in arms against the head of Dera Sacha Sauda for having imitated Guru Gobind Singh in dress and ritual. More sinister was an explosion in Hyderabad Makka Masjid, killing 12 worshippers. Police remained clueless about the culprits.
Large-scale protests by the Gujjars of Rajasthan demanding scheduled tribe status privileges as granted to Meenas and Jats. They started their agitation at the end of May in Rajasthan when six people lost their lives, and spread to Haryana ending in Delhi bandh.
In all those turmoil environment India got first woman President Pratibha Patil.
In July, the monsoons flood revealed chinks in the armour. The financial capital Mumbai was water logged.
August started with cheerful news for Congress party. Renowned scholar Dr. Hamid Ansari of the Congress defeated Najma Heptullah of the BJP to become Vice President of India.
In September the country witnessed two bombing episodes: one in the Chisti dargah in Ajmer and the other in a Ludhiana cinema. The biggest sensation of October was a sting operation carried out by Tehelka on perpetrators of atrocities on Muslims in Gujarat following the arson in Sabarmati Express at Godhra. Chief Minister Narendra Modi, was explicitly named as giving them permission to do what they liked.
Mumbai Christians got some good news in Oct 2007. The Archbishop of Mumbai Oswald Gracias, head of the almost 600,000-strong Catholic community in the city -became a cardinal , the only Asian in the latest list announced in Rome.
In November significant development was the erosion of power and integrity of the CPI (M) government in West Bengal. It started in Nandigram, predominantly a Muslim area. They resisted taking over their farmlands for industrialization. It led to clashes between the police and peasants in which some lives were lost. The CM apologized for the excesses by his police.
On 21 November, 2007, a political pressure group, dominated by religious Muslims, demonstrated against Ms Nasreen’s books in Kolkata (where she had been based for some months) and the protest turned violent. Soon afterwards, Ms Nasreen left Kolkata (Calcutta), the capital of the left-run state, Bengal, for Rajasthan, a northern state near Delhi, dominated by the rightist-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
December was marked by electoral battles in Himachal and Gujarat, Congress versus the BJP. The Bharatiya Janata Party registered spectacular victory in both the states.
The Gujarat election results have sent tremors across the political spectrum, thrilling the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and unnerving its opponents. Modi’s success showed, his developmental efforts, which made Gujarat attain a 10.6 percent growth in the Tenth Plan period, played a considerable part in boosting his prospects along with the combative pro-Hindu subtext of his campaign. Whether one likes it or not the Modi brand of middle class Hindu youth power is like to stay. During the Gujarat election several analysts made mountain out of mole by stating that the BJP suddenly brought Shri L.K. Advani fearing that Modi’s stature was growing. This was no where near to the truth. Those of us who were in Gujarat hearing the echoes with out ears to the ground could feel that the masses to know who the strong man at the center leadership level is ?
The year 2007 threw two possibilities before India: one, which of Sushri Bahan Mayawati who is defining aspects of affirmative actions in deeply caste divided Indian society and second Shri Narendra bhai Modi. Whatever the critics say, it’s likely that this is not the last time that the BJP will attempt to mix politics and the past.
The third alternative of Congress - Rahul baba - would have to await the results of ten assembly elections scheduled in 2008. But Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are crucial for the congress. The signs of the Congress’s weakening hold on the ruling coalition at the centre can already be seen in the meeting which took place between two erstwhile inveterate adversaries in Maharashtra - the Shiv Sena’s Bal Thackeray and union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
If the Congress has hit a low patch in its fortunes, the Left remains embroiled in its own troubles. There has been a rupture in the Left unity in its stronghold of West Bengal following political and administrative miscalculations during Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee’s industrialisation drive.
The Christmas was overshadowed by the violence against Christians in Orissa.
After every instance of turmoil and trauma, “dialogue” offers itself up as a panacea. The word is everywhere, especially now. The desire to transcend differences through discussion and peaceful communication is a powerful one, but by itself, dialogue means nothing. The tenor of the conversation—its richness, its nuance, its integration of the personal and the factual—is as important as the effort toward dialogue itself; perhaps more important. Though this review is not a direct response to events in Orissa and Gujarat, it is an attempt to take ourselves—and our thoughts—seriously. I hope that you’ll agree that our leaders need to enter into dialogue, and that they pay attention to what they say and how they say it. But whether you agree or not, I urge you to start dialogue with the people of other faiths.
With that, dear reader, I must leave you, so that 2008 can take its course. Happy New Year to you all. Who among us can predict the future? (END)
Joseph Gathia is senior media and human rights analyst and can be reached via e mail: josephgathia@yahoo.co.in Mobile 09810270489
BSP to go it alone in Madhya Pradesh
From correspondents in Madhya Pradesh, India, 10:00 PM IST
Claiming that several leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress were eager to join the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Minister Ranganath Mishra here Sunday asserted that his party would contest on its own all the 230 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh.
Mishra, who was here to participate in a convention of Brahmins organized by his party, told reporters: ‘No alliance will be forged and we will enter the fray with full confidence as has been the case with Uttar Pradesh where our social engineering concept paid dividends.’
‘The lack of development in the state will also help us gain power. The people are fed up with both the Congress and the BJP,’ he claimed.
Addressing the convention, BSP state president Bhujbal Singh Ahirwar said that a group of committed workers was working hard at the ground level for taking the party to power in Madhya Pradesh.
‘More than 1,000 brahmins have come to the party fold during the convention. Over 60 such conventions have been held across the state in the recent past and many more would be organised in the days to come,’ said BSP leader Komal Pande.
http://www.indiaenews.com/politics/20080119/92650.htm
Mayawati offers three-acre plots to poor in Chhattisgarh
From correspondents in Chhattisgarh, India, 09:31 PM IST
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Saturday said her party would allot three-acre plots to every poor person if voted to power in Chhattisgarh which goes to the polls later this year.
Addressing a public meeting at the Science College ground here, Mayawati said: ‘Congress and the BJP have ruled the country since the independence but conditions of the scheduled caste (SC) and the scheduled tribe (ST) people has hardly improved.’
‘A large number of SC and ST community people are living in extreme poverty, the BSP will arrange jobs and allot three-acre government plots to each of them for their all round development,’ the BSP chief said amid cheering from nearly 20,000 people present.
With the Saturday’s rally, Mayawati formally launched her party’s election campaign for the assembly elections scheduled in November this year.
The BSP has just one seat in the 90-member state assembly.
Mayawati held the Congress-led central government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state government responsible for the rise in the Maoist violence in the state. She said the both the government follow anti-development policies, which are pushing the youth to join the rebels.
Mayawati returned to Lucknow by a special plane late Saturday evening but her two-day visit has charged up the political atmosphere in the state.
http://www.dataone.in/en/mail.html?sid=XRzlwqzw+Ms&lang=en
Delhi on high alert ahead of Republic Day
On high alert ahead of Republic Day, Delhi Police have asked all citizens including shopkeepers, security guards, auto rickshaw drivers, bus drivers/conductors and parking lot attendants to keep a strict vigil on suspicious people and objects.
“We have requested members of residential welfare associations, second-hand car dealers, shopkeepers, street vendors, property agents, guesthouse owners and other alert citizens to become the eyes and ears of police,” said Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat.
“We have requested them to be alert as they are present everywhere in the city and come across scores of people everyday. Every citizen is a useful source of information to police and can help by dialling 1090 about any suspicious persons or activities particularly unidentified objects, individuals leaving behind bags/luggage or any unattended articles,” Bhagat told IANS.
Delhi Police are also keeping a close watch on small hotels in the city, seeking details of tenants from landlords and of Internet users from cyber café owners - especially in the wake of terror blasts in three Uttar Pradesh courts that claimed at least 13 lives in November.
The terrorists had used an east Delhi cyber café to send out a threat email minutes before carrying out the Uttar Pradesh blasts.
Police have sounded a high alert in all 10 districts of the city and held many people in the past few days, mainly cyber café owners and house owners who have not furnished details of the Internet users and their tenants.
The Delhi Police Special Cell, a wing dedicated to combat terrorism, has made elaborate arrangements and deployed personnel in all major areas.
“We have deployed special commandos, both in uniform and in mufti, at all major places. Special checks are also on at all roads,” said Alok Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (Special Cell).
Several roads in and around India Gate, which the Republic Day parade will pass Jan 26, have been blocked for security reasons.
“We are carrying out regular checks of passing vehicles and have installed special closed-circuit TV cameras on certain roads, buildings, busy market places, interstate bus terminals, railway stations and some colonies,” a senior police official said.
“Nearly as many anti-aircraft guns, installed at undisclosed locations, would scan the horizon around India Gate and Rajpath to engage any airborne target. Other hi-tech security measures are also in place,” the official said.
Deployment of paramilitary forces at the airport and Delhi Metro stations has been beefed up.
“We have increased the number of personnel both at Delhi Metro and the Indira Gandhi International Airport. As the airport is an important transit point, we are checking every person at the airport and have instructed airlines not to allow liquid material on board,” said Vertul Singh, spokesman of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) that is responsible for securing the airport and the metro system.
“The airport is being monitored and suspects are being questioned by our personnel. The aim is not to create inconvenience but to be alert and safe,” he said.
Rajiv Saxena, spokesman of the northern railways, said: “We have deployed more troopers of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) at all railway stations in the city. Additional dog squads and CCTV cameras are keeping a close watch.”
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Uttar-Pradesh-grabs-first-place/264229/
Uttar Pradesh grabs first place
Chandigarh, January 21 The UT Taekwondo Association Chandigarh organised the 3rd inter state Taekwondo championship on January 19 and January 20 at the Martial Arts Hall Sports Complex, Sector 42, Chandigarh.
As many as 200 sub junior/junior/senior colour belt Taekwondo players of Punjab, Haryana, Uttarpardesh, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh and Gujarat states took part in the event.
President UT Taekwondo Association Chandigarh S. Gurinder Singh Bhandari Deputy Advocate General Panjab and Haryana High Court Chandigarh was chief guest of opening ceremony.
Sandeep Kurya, President Indian Taekwondo Board, distributed prizes. Uttar Pardesh team bagged the first place, Punjab team got second and Haryana finished at the third spot.
http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?autono=311276&leftnm=0&subLeft=0&chkFlg=
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Filed under: General
Posted by: @ 10:10 am 
MOST IMPORTANT PRACTICE OF THE BLESSED, NOBLE, AWAKENED ONE TO BE FOLLOWED BY ALL TRUE FOLLOWERS
Noble Eightfold Path-
Wisdom-
1) Right View
The Ten Fetters
(Sa.myojana)
2) Right Intention
Right Thought
(Sammaa-sankappa)
Ethical Conduct
3) Right Speech
(Sammaa-vaacaa)
4) Right Action
(Sammaa-kammanta)
5) Right Livelihood
(Sammaa-aajiva)
Mental Development
6) Right Effort
(Sammaa-vaayaama)
7) Right Mindfulness
(Sammaa-sati)
8) Right Concentration
(Sammaa-samaadhi)
Jhaanas
1) Stream-enterer
The Sotapanna or ‘Stream-Enterer’
2)Once-returner
3) Non-returner
4)Arahath
1) Right View
The Ten Fetters
(Sa.myojana)
There are ten ‘Fetters’-samyojana-by which beings are bound to the wheel of existence. They are:
Self-Illusion (sakkaaya-di.t.thi)
Scepticism (vicikicchaa)
Attachment to mere Rule and Ritual (siilabbata-paraamaasa)
Sensual Lust (kaamaraaga)
Ill-Will (vyaapaada)
Craving for Fine-Material Existence (ruupa-raaga)
Craving for Immaterial Existence (aruupa-raaga)
Conceit (maana)
Restlessness (uddhacca)
Ignorance (avijjaa).
The Noble Ones
(Ariya-puggala)
One who is freed from the first three Fetters is called a ‘Stream - Enterer’ (in Pali: Sotaapanna) i.e. one who has entered the stream leading to Nibbaana. He has unshakable faith in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, and is incapable of breaking the five Moral Precepts. He will be reborn seven times, at the utmost, and not in a state lower than the human world.
One who has overcome the fourth and the fifth Fetters in their grosser form, is called a Sakadaagaami, lit. ‘Once-Returner’ i.e. he will be reborn only once more in the Sensuous Sphere (kaama-loka), and thereafter reach Holiness.
An Anaagaami, lit. ‘Non-Returner’, is wholly freed from the first five Fetters which bind one to rebirth in the Sensuous Sphere; after death, while living in the Fine-Material Sphere (ruupa-loka), he will reach the goal.
An Arahat, i.e. the perfectly ‘Holy One’, is freed from all the ten Fetters.
Each of the aforementioned four stages of Holiness consists of the ‘Path’ (magga) and the ‘Fruition’, e.g. ‘Path of Stream Entry’ (sotaapatti-magga) and ‘Fruition of Stream Entry’ (sotaapatti-phala). Accordingly there are eight types, or four pairs, of ‘Noble Individuals’ (ariya-puggala).
The ‘Path’ consists of the single moment of entering the respective attainment. By ‘Fruition’ are meant those moments of consciousness which follow immediately thereafter as the result of the ‘Path’, and which under certain circumstances, may repeat innumerable times during life-time.
For further details, see B. Dict.: ariya-puggala, sotaapanna,etc.
Mundane And Super Mundane Understanding
M.117
Therefore, I say, Right Understanding is of two kinds:
1. The view that alms and offerings are not useless; that there is fruit and result, both of good and bad actions; that there are such things as this life, and the next life; that father and mother, as also spontaneously born beings (in the heavenly worlds), are no mere words; that there are in the world monks and priests, who are spotless and perfect, who can explain this life and the next life, which they themselves have understood: this is called the ‘Mundane Right Understanding’ (lokiya-sammaa-di.t.thi), which yields worldly fruits and brings good results.
2. But whatsoever there is of wisdom, of penetration, of right understanding conjoined with the ‘Path’ (of the Sotaapanna, Sakadaagaami, Anaagaami, or Arahat)-the mind being turned away from the world and conjoined with the path, the holy path being pursued: this is called the ‘Super mundane Right Understanding’ (lokuttara-sammaa-di.t.thi), which is not of the world, but is super mundane and conjoined with the path.
Thus, there are two kinds of the Eightfold Path:
1. The ‘mundane’ (lokiya), practiced by the ‘Worldling’ (puthujjana), i.e. by all those who have not yet reached the first stage of Holiness; 2. The ’super mundane’ (lokuttara) practiced by the ‘Noble Ones’ (ariya-puggala).
Conjoined With Other Steps
Now, in understanding wrong understanding as wrong and right understanding as right, one practices ‘Right Understanding’ (1st factor); and in making efforts to overcome wrong understanding, and to arouse right understanding, one practices ‘Right Effort’ (6th factor); and in overcoming wrong understanding with attentive mind, and dwelling with attentive mind in the possession of right understanding one practices ‘Right Mindfulness’ (7th factor). Hence, there are three things that accompany and follow upon right understanding, namely: Right Understanding, Right Effort, and Right Mindfulness.
Free from All Theories
M. 72
Now, if any one should put the question, whether I admit any theory at all, he should be answered thus: The Perfect One is free from any theory, for the Perfect One has understood what corporeality is, and how it arises and passes away. He has understood what feeling is, and how it arises and passes away. He has understood what perception is, and how it arises and passes away. He has understood what the mental formations are, and how they arise and pass away. He has understood what consciousness is, and how it arises and passes away. Therefore I say, the Perfect One has won complete deliverance through the extinction, fading-away, disappearance, rejection, and getting rid of all opinions and conjectures, of all inclination to the vain-glory of ‘I‘ and ‘mine‘.
The Three Characteristics
A. III. 134
Whether Perfect Ones (Buddhas) appear in the world, or whether Perfect Ones do not appear in the world, it still remains a firm condition, an immutable fact and fixed law: that all formations are impermanent (Anicca), that all formations are subject to suffering (dukkha); that everything is without a Self (an-attaa).
In Pali: sabbe sankhaaraa aniccaa, sabbe sankhaaraa dukkhaa, sabbe dhammaa anattaa.
The word ’sankhaaraa’ (formations) comprises here all things that are conditioned or ‘formed’ (sankhata-dhamma), i.e. all possible physical and mental constituents of existence. The word ‘dhamma’, however, has a still wider application and is all-embracing, as it comprises also the so-called Unconditioned (’unformed’, asankhata), i.e. Nibbana.
For this reason, it would be wrong to say that all dhammas are impermanent and subject to change, for the Nibbaana-dhamma is permanent and free from change. And for the same reason, it is correct to say that not only all the sankhaaras (=sankhata-dhamma), but that all the dhammas (including the asankhata-dhamma) lack an Ego (an-attaa).
S. XXII. 94
A corporeal phenomenon, a feeling, a perception, a mental formation, a consciousness, which is permanent and persistent, eternal and not subject to change, such a thing the wise men in this world do not recognize; and I also say that there is no such thing.
A. I. 15
And it is impossible that a being possessed of right understanding should regard anything as the Self.
Views and Discussions About the Ego
D. 15
Now, if someone should say that feeling is his Self, he should be answered thus: ‘There are three kinds of feeling: pleasurable, painful, and indifferent feeling. Which of these three feelings do you consider as your Self?’ Because, at the moment of experiencing one of these feelings, one does not experience the other two. These three kinds of feeling are impermanent, of dependent origin, are subject to decay and dissolution, to fading-away and extinction. Whosoever, in experiencing one of these feelings, thinks that this is his Self, must after the extinction of that feeling, admit that his Self has become dissolved. And thus he will consider his Self already in this present life as impermanent, mixed up with pleasure and pain, subject to arising and passing away.
If any one should say that feeling is not his Ego, and that his Self is inaccessible to feeling, he should be asked thus: ‘Now, where there is no feeling, is it then possible to say: “This am I?”
Or, another might say: ‘Feeling, indeed, is not my Self, but it also is untrue that my Self is inaccessible to feeling, for it is my Self that feels, my Self that has the faculty of feeling’. Such a one should be answered thus: ‘Suppose that feeling should become altogether totally extinguished; now, if after the extinction of feeling, no feeling whatever exists there, is it then possible to say: “This am I’?”
M. 148
To say that the mind, or the mind-objects, or the mind-consciousness, constitute the Self, such an assertion is unfounded. For an arising and a passing away is seen there; and seeing the arising and passing away of these things, one would come to the conclusion that one’s Self arises and passes away.
S. XII. 62
1t would be better for the unlearned worldling to regard his body, built up of the four elements, as his Self, rather than his mind. For it is evident that the body may last for a year, for two years, for three, four, five, or ten years, or even for a hundred years and more; but that which is called thought, or mind, or consciousness, arises continuously, during day and night, as one thing, and passes away as another thing.
S. XXII. 59
Therefore, whatsoever there is of corporeality, of feeling, of perception, of mental formations, of consciousness whether past, present or future, one’s own or external, gross or subtle, lofty or low, far or near: of this one should understand according to reality and true wisdom: ‘This does not belong to me; this am I not; this is not my Self.’
To show the impersonality and utter emptiness of existence, Visuddhi-Magga XVI quotes the following verse:
Mere suffering exists, no sufferer is found,
The deed is, but no doer of the deed is there.
Nirvana is, but not the man that enters it.
The path is, but no traveler on it is seen’.
Past, Present and Future
D. 9
If now, any one should ask: ‘Have you been in the past, and is it untrue that you have not been? Will you be in the future, and is it untrue that you will not be? Are you, and is it untrue that you are not?’ - you may reply that you have been in the past, and that it is untrue that you have not been; that you will be in the future, and that it is untrue that you will not be; that you are, and that it is untrue that you are not.
In the past only that past existence was real, but unreal the future and present existence. In the future only the future existence will be real, but unreal the past and the present existence. Now only the present existence is real, but unreal, the past and future existence.
M. 28
Verily, he who perceives the ‘Dependent Origination’ (pa.ticca-samuppaada), perceives the truth; and he who perceives the truth, perceives the Dependent Origination.
D. 8
For just as from the cow comes milk, from milk curd, from curd butter, from butter ghee, from ghee the skim of ghee; and when it is milk, it is not counted as curd, or butter, or ghee, or skim of ghee, but only as milk; and when it is curd, it is only counted as curd: just so was my past existence at that time real, but unreal the future and present existence; and my future existence will be at that time real, but unreal the past and present existence; and my present existence is now real, but unreal the past and future existence. All these are merely popular designations and expressions, mere conventional terms of speaking, mere popular notions. The Perfect One indeed makes use of these, without however clinging to them.
S. XLIV 4
Thus, he who does not understand corporeality, feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness according to reality (i.e. as void of a personality, or Ego) nor understands their arising, their extinction, and the way to their extinction, he is liable to believe, either that the Perfect One continues after death, or that he does not continue after death, and so forth.
The Two Extremes (Annihilation and Eternity Belief) and the Middle Doctrine
S. XII. 25
Truly, if one holds the view that the vital principle (jiva; ‘Soul’) is identical with this body, in that case a holy life is not possible; and if one holds the view that the vital principle is something quite different from the body, in that case also a holy life is not possible. Both these two extremes the Perfect One has avoided, and he has shown the Middle Doctrine, which says:
Dependent Origination
(Pa.ticca-samuppaada)
S. XII. 1
On Ignorance (avijjaa) depend the ‘Karma-formations’ (sankhaaraa).
On the Karma-formations depends ‘Consciousness’ (vi~n~naa.na; starting with rebirth-consciousness in the womb of the mother).
On Consciousness depends the ‘Mental and Physical Existence’ (naama-ruupa).
On the mental and physical existence depend the ‘Six Sense-Organs’ (sa.l-aayatana).
On the six sense-organs depends ‘Sensorial Impression’ (phassa).
On sensorial impression depends ‘Feeling’ (vedanaa).
On feeling depends ‘Craving’ (ta.nhaa).
On craving depends ‘Clinging’ (upaadaana).
On clinging depends the ‘Process of Becoming’ (bhava).
On the process of becoming (here: kamma-bhava, or karma-process) depends ‘Rebirth’ (jaati).
On rebirth depend ‘Decay and Death’ (jaraa-marana), sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair.
Thus arises this whole mass of suffering. This is called the noble truth of the origin of suffering.
“No god, no Brahma can be called
The maker of this wheel of life:
Empty phenomena roll on,
Dependent on conditions all.”
(Quoted in Visuddhi-Magga XIX).
S. XII. 51
A disciple, however, in whom Ignorance (avijjaa) has disappeared and wisdom arisen, such a disciple heaps up neither meritorious, nor de-meritorious, nor imperturbable Karma-formations.
The term sankhaaraa has been rendered here by ‘Karma Formations’ because, in the context of the Dependent Origination, it refers to karmically wholesome and unwholesome volition (cetanaa), or volitional activity, in short, Karma.
The threefold division of it, given in the preceding passage, comprises karmic activity in all spheres of existence, or planes of consciousness. The ‘meritorious karma-formations’ extend also to the Fine-Material Sphere (ruupaavacara), while the ‘imperturbable karma-formations’ (ane~njaabhisankhaaraa) refer only to the Immaterial Sphere (aruupaavacara).
S. XII. 1
Thus, through the entire fading away and extinction of this ‘Ignorance’, the ‘Karma-formations’ are extinguished. Through the extinction of Karma-formations, ‘Consciousness’ (rebirth) is extinguished. Through the extinction of consciousness, the ‘Mental and Physical Existence’ is extinguished. Through the extinction of the mental and physical existence, the ‘Six Sense-Organs’ are extinguished. Through the extinction of the six sense organs, ‘Sensorial Impression’ is extinguished. Through the extinction of sensorial impression, ‘Feeling’ is extinguished. Through the extinction of feeling, ‘Craving’ is extinguished. Through the extinction of craving, ‘Clinging’ is extinguished. Through the extinction of clinging, the ‘Process of Becoming’ is extinguished. Through the extinction of the process of becoming, ‘Rebirth’ is extinguished. Through the extinction of rebirth, ‘Decay and Death’, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are extinguished. Thus takes place the extinction of this whole mass of suffering. This is called the noble truth of the extinction of suffering.
Rebirth-Producing Kamma
M. 43
Truly, because beings, obstructed by ignorance (avijjaa) and ensnared by craving (tanhaa) seek ever fresh delight, now here, now there, therefore fresh rebirth continually comes to be.
A. III. 33
And the action (kamma) that is done out of greed, hatred and delusion (lobha, dosa, moha), that springs from them, has its source and origin in them: this action ripens wherever one is reborn, and wherever this action ripens there one experiences the fruits of this action, be it in this life, or the next life, or in some future life.
Cessation of Kamma
M. 43
However, through the fading away of ignorance, through the arising of wisdom, through the extinction of craving, no future rebirth takes place again.
A. III. 33
For the actions which are not done out of greed, hatred and delusion, which have not sprung from them, which have not their source and origin in them: such actions, through the absence of greed, hatred and delusion, are abandoned, rooted out, like a palm-tree torn out of the soil, destroyed, and not able to spring up again.
A. VIII. 12
In this respect one may rightly say of me: that I teach annihilation, that I propound my doctrine for the purpose of annihilation, and that I herein train my disciples; for certainly I do teach annihilation-the annihilation, namely, of greed, hatred and delusion, as well as of the manifold evil and unwholesome things.
The Pa.ticca Samuppaada, lit, the Dependent Origination, is the doctrine of the conditionality of all physical and mental phenomena, a doctrine which, together with that of Impersonality (anattaa), forms the indispensable condition for the real understanding and realization of the Buddha’s teaching. It shows that the various physical and mental life-processes, conventionally called personality, man, animal, etc., are not a mere play of blind chance, but the outcome of causes and conditions. Above all, the Pa.ticca-Samuppaada explains how the arising of rebirth and suffering is dependent upon conditions; and, in its second part, it shows how, through the removal of these conditions, all suffering must disappear. Hence, the Pa.ticca-Samuppaada serves to elucidate the second and the third Noble Truths, by explaining them from their very foundations upwards, and giving them a fixed philosophical form.
The following diagram shows at a glance how the twelve links of the formula extend over three consecutive existences, past, present, and future:
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Past Existence
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1. Ignorance (avijjaa)
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Karma Process (kamma-bhava) 5 causes: 1, 2, 8, 9, 10
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2. Karma-Formations (sankhaaraa)
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Present Existence
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3. Consciousness (vi~n~naa.na)
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Rebirth-Process (upapatti-bhava) 5 results: 3-7
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4. Mental and Physical Existence (naamaruupa)
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5. 6 Sense Organs (sa.l-aayatana)
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6. Sense-Impression (phassa)
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7. Feeling (vedanaa)
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8. Craving (ta.nha)
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Karma Process (kamma-bhava) 5 causes: 1, 2, 8, 9, 10
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9. Clinging (upaadaana)
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10. Process of Existence (bhava)
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Future Existence
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11. Rebirth (jaati)
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Rebirth-Process (upapatti-bhava) 5 results: 3-7
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12. Decay and Death (jaraa-marana)
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The links 1-2, together with 8-10, represent the Karma-Process, containing the five karmic causes of rebirth.
The links 3-7, together with 11-12, represent the Rebirth-Process, containing the five Karma-Results.
Accordingly it is said in the Patisambhidaa-Magga:
Five causes were there in past,
Five fruits we find in present life.
Five causes do we now produce,
Five fruits we reap in future life.
(Quoted in Vis. Magga XVII)
For a full explanation see Fund. III and B. Dict.
Right Intention
Right Thought
(Sammaa-sankappa)
D. 22
What, now, is Right Thought?
- Thought free from lust (nekkhamma-sankappa).
- Thought free from ill-will (avyaapaada-sankappa).
- Thought free from cruelty (avihimsaa-sankappa).
This is called Right Thought.
Mundane And Super Mundane Thought
M. 117
Now, Right Thought, I tell you, is of two kinds:
1. Thought free from lust, from ill-will, and from cruelty-this is called ‘Mundane Right Thought’ (lokiya sammaa-sankappa), which yields worldly fruits and brings good rcsu1ts.
2. But, whatsoever there is of thinking, considering, reasoning, thought, ratiocination, application-the mind being holy, being turned away from the world, and conjoined with the path, the holy path being pursued-these ‘verbal operations’ of the mind (vacii-sankhaaraa) are called the ‘Super mundane Right Thought’ (lokuttara-sammaa-sankappa), which is not of the world, but is super mundane, and conjoined with the path.
Conjoined with Other Factors
Now, in understanding wrong thought as wrong, and right thought as right, one practices Right Understanding (1st factor); and in making efforts to overcome evil thought and to arouse right thought, one practices Right Effort (6th factor); and in overcoming evil thought with attentive mind, and dwelling with attentive mind in possession of right thought, one practices Right Mindfulness (7th factor). Hence there are three things that accompany and follow upon Right Thought, namely: Right Understanding, Right Effort, and Right Mindfulness.
Ethical Conduct
3) Right Speech
Right Speech
(Sammaa-vaacaa)
What now, is Right Speech?
Abstaining from Lying
A. X. 176
1. Herein someone avoids lying and abstains from it. He speaks the truth, is devoted to the truth, reliable, worthy of confidence, not a deceiver of men. Being at a meeting, or amongst people, or in the midst of his relatives, or in a society, or in the king’s court, and called upon and asked as witness to tell what he knows, he answers, if he knows nothing: ‘I know nothing’, and if he knows, he answers: ‘I know’; if he has seen nothing, he answers: ‘I have seen nothing’, and if he has seen, he answers: ‘I have seen’. Thus he never knowingly speaks a lie, either for the sake of his own advantage, or for the sake of another person’s advantage, or for the sake of any advantage whatsoever.
Abstaining from Tale Bearing
2. He avoids tale bearing, and abstains from it. What he has heard here, he does not repeat there, so as to cause dissension there; and what he has heard there, he does not repeat here, so as to cause dissension here. Thus he unites those that are divided; and those that are united, he encourages. Concord gladdens him, he delights and rejoices in concord; and it is concord that he spreads by his words.
Abstaining from Harsh Language
3. He avoids harsh language, and abstains from it. He speaks such words as are gentle, soothing to the ear, loving, such words as go to the heart, and are courteous, friendly, and agreeable to many.
In Majjhima-Nicaaya No. 21, the Buddha says: ‘Even, O monks, should robbers and murderers saw through your limbs and joints, whosoever should give way to anger thereat would not be following my advice. For thus ought you to train yourselves:
‘Undisturbed shall our mind remain, no evil words shall escape our lips; friendly and full of sympathy shall we remain, with heart full of love, and free from any hidden malice; and that person shall we penetrate with loving thoughts, wide, deep, boundless, freed from anger and hatred’.
Abstaining from Vain Talk
A. X. 176
4. He avoids vain talk, and abstains from it. He speaks at the right time, in accordance with facts, speaks what is useful, speaks of the law and the discipline: his speech is like a treasure, uttered at the right moment, accompanied by arguments, moderate and full of sense.
This is called Right Speech.
Mundane and Super Mundane Speech
M. 117
Now, Right Speech. I tell you, is of two kinds:
1. Abstaining from lying, from tale-bearing, from harsh language, and from vain talk; this is called ‘Mundane Right Speech’ (lokiya-sammaa-vaacaa), which yields worldly fruits and brings good results.
2. But the avoidance of the practice of this fourfold wrong speech, the abstaining, desisting. refraining there from-the mind being holy, being turned away from the world, and conjoined with the path, the holy path being pursued-this is called the ‘Super mundane Right Speech’ (lokuttara-sammaa-vaacaa), which is not of the world, but is super mundane, and conjoined with the path.
Conjoined with Other Factors
Now, in understanding wrong speech as wrong, and right speech as right, one practices Right Understanding (1st factor); and in making efforts to overcome evil speech and to arouse right speech, one practices Right Effort (6th factor); and in overcoming wrong speech with attentive mind, and dwelling with attentive mind in possession of right speech, one practices Right Mindfulness (7th factor). Hence, there are three things that accompany and follow upon Right Speech, namely: Right Understanding, Right Effort, and Right Mindfulness.
4) Right Action
(Sammaa-kammanta)
A. X. 176
What, now, is Right Action?
Abstaining from Killing
1. Herein someone avoids the killing of living beings, and abstains from it. Without stick or sword, conscientious, full of sympathy, he is desirous of the welfare of all living beings.
Abstaining from Stealing
2. He avoids stealing, and abstains from it; what another person possesses of goods and chattels in the village or in the wood, that he does not take away with thievish intent.
Abstaining from Unlawful Sexual Intercourse
3. He avoids unlawful sexual intercourse, and abstains from it. He has no intercourse with such persons as are still under the protection of father, mother, brother, sister or relatives, nor with married women, nor female convicts, nor lastly, with betrothed girls.
This is called Right Action.
Mundane And Super Mundane Action
M. 117
Now, Right Action, I tell you, is of two kinds:
1. Abstaining from killing, from stealing, and from unlawful sexual intercourse: this is called the ‘Mundane Right Action’ (lokiya-sammaa-kammanta) which yields worldly fruits and brings good results.
2. But the avoidance of the practice of this threefold wrong action, the abstaining, desisting, refraining there from-the mind being holy. Being turned away from the world, and conjoined with the path, the holy path being pursued-this is called the ‘Super mundane Right Action’ (lokuttara-sammaa-kammanta), which is not of the world, but is super mundane, and conjoined with the path.
Conjoined With Other Factors
Now in understanding wrong action as wrong, and right action as right, one practices Right Understanding (1st factor): and in making efforts to overcome wrong action, and to arouse right action, one practices Right Effort (6th factor); and in overcoming wrong action with attentive mind, and dwelling with attentive mind in possession of right action, one practices Right Mindfulness (7th factor). Hence, there are three things that accompany and follow upon Right Action, namely: Right Understanding, Right Effort, and Right Mindfulness.
5) Right Livelihood
(Sammaa-aajiva)
What, now, is Right Livelihood?
D. 22
1. When the noble disciple, avoiding a wrong way of living, gets his livelihood by a right way of living, this is called Right Livelihood.
In the Majjhima-Nikaaya, No. 117, it is said: ‘To practice deceit, treachery, soothsaying, trickery, usury: this is wrong livelihood.’
And in the Anguttara-Nikaaya, V. 1 77, it is said: ‘Five trades should be avoided by a disciple: trading in arms, in living beings, in flesh, in intoxicating drinks, and in poison’.
Included are the professions of a soldier, a fisherman, a hunter, etc.
Now, Right Livelihood, I tell you, is of two kinds:
Mundane and Super mundane Right Livelihood
M. 117
1. When the noble disciple, avoiding wrong living, gets his livelihood by a right way of living: this is called ‘Mundane Right Livelihood’ (lokiya-sammaa-aajiva), which yields worldly fruits and brings good results.
2. But the avoidance of wrong livelihood, the abstaining, desisting, refraining there from-the mind being holy, being turned away from the world, and conjoined with the path, the holy path being pursued-this is called the ‘Super mundane Right Livelihood’ (lokuttara-sammaa-aajiva), which is not of the world, but is super mundane, and conjoined with the path.
Conjoined with Other Factors
Now. in understanding wrong livelihood as wrong, and right livelihood as right, one practices Right Understanding (1st factor); and in making efforts to overcome wrong livelihood, to establish right livelihood, one practices Right Effort (6th factor); and in overcoming wrong livelihood with attentive mind, and dwelling with attentive mind in possession of right livelihood, one practices Right Mindfulness (7th factor). Hence, there are three things that accompany and follow upon Right Livelihood, namely: Right Understanding, Right Effort, and Right Mindfulness.
Mental Development
6) Right Effort
(Sammaa-vaayaama)
A. IV. 13, 14
What, now. is Right Effort?
There are Four Great Efforts; the effort to avoid, the effort to overcome, the effort to develop, and the effort to maintain.
I. The Effort to Avoid
(Sa.mvara-ppadhaana)
What, now is the effort to Avoid? Herein the disciple rouses his will to avoid the arising of evil, unwholesome things that have not yet arisen; and he makes efforts, stirs up his energy; exerts his mind and strives.
Thus, when lie perceives a form with the eye, a sound with the ear, and an odor with the nose, a taste with the tongue, an impression with the body, or an object with the mind, he neither adheres to the whole, nor to its parts. And he strives to ward off that through which evil and unwholesome things, greed and sorrow, would arise, if he remained with unguarded senses; and he watches over his senses, restrains his senses.
Possessed of this noble ‘Control over the Senses’ he experiences inwardly a feeling of joy, into which no evil thing can enter.
This is called the effort to avoid
2. The Effort to Overcome
(Pahaana-ppadhaana)
What, now, is the effort to Overcome? There the disciple rouses his will to overcome the evil, unwholesome things that have already arisen; and he makes effort, stirs up his energy, exerts his mind and strives.
He does not retain any thought of sensual lust, ill-will or grief, or any other evil and unwholesome states that may have arisen; he abandons them, dispels them, destroys them. causes them to disappear.
Five Methods of Expelling Evil Thoughts
M. 20
If, whilst regarding a certain object, there arise in the disciple, on account of it, evil and unwholesome thoughts connected with greed, hatred and delusion, then the disciple (1) should, by means of this object, gain another and wholesome object. (2) Or, he should reflect on the misery of these thoughts; ‘Unwholesome, truly, are these thoughts! Blamable are these thoughts! Of painful result are these thoughts!’ (3) Or he should pay no attention to these thoughts. (4) Or, he should consider the compound nature of these thoughts. (5) Or, with teeth clenched and tongue pressed against the gums, he should with his mind restrain, suppress and root out these thoughts; and in doing so these evil and unwholesome thoughts of greed, hatred and delusion will dissolve and disappear; and the mind will inwardly become settled and calm, composed and concentrated.
This is called the effort to overcome.
3. The Effort to Develop
(Bhaavanaa-ppadhaana)
A. IV. 13, 14
What, now, is the effort to Develop? Herein the disciple rouses his will to arouse wholesome things that have not yet arisen; and he makes effort, stirs up his energy, exerts his mind and strives.
Thus he develops the ‘Elements of Enlightenment’ (bojjhanga), based on solitude, on detachment, on extinction, and ending in deliverance, namely: ‘Mindfulness’ (sati), ‘Investigation of the Law’ (dhamma-vicaya), ‘Energy’ (viriya), ‘Rapture’ (piiti), ‘Tranquility’ (passaddhi), ‘Concentration’ (samadhi). and ‘Equanimity’ (upekkhaa).
This is called the effort to develop.
4. The Effort to Maintain
(Anurakkha.na-ppadhaana)
What, now, is the effort to Maintain? Herein the disciple rouses his will to maintain the wholesome things that have already arisen, and not to allow them to disappear, but to bring them to growth, to maturity and to the full perfection of development (bhaavanaa); and he makes effort, stirs up his energy, exerts his mind and strives.
Thus, for example, he keeps firmly in his mind a favorable object of concentration that has arisen, such as the mental image of a skeleton, of a corpse infested by worms, of a corpse blue-black in color, of a festering corpse, of a corpse riddled with holes, of a corpse swollen up.
This is called the effort to maintain.
M. 70
Truly, for a disciple who is possessed of faith and has penetrated the Teaching of the master, it is fit to think: ‘Though skin sinews and bones wither away, though flesh and blood of my body dry up, I shall not give up my efforts till I have attained whatever is attainable by manly perseverance, energy and endeavor.’
This is called Right Effort.
A. IV. 14
The effort of Avoiding, Overcoming,
Of Developing and Maintaining:
These four great efforts have been shown
By him, the scion of the sun.
And he who firmly clings to them,
May put an end to suffering.
7) Right Mindfulness
(Sammaa-sati)
What, now, is Right Mindfulness?
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness
(Satipa.t.thaana)
D. 22
The only way that leads to the attainment of purity, to the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, to the end of pain and grief, to the entering upon the right path and the realization of Nibbana, is by the ‘Four Foundations of Mindfulness’. And which are these four?
Herein the disciple dwells in contemplation of the Body, in contemplation of Feeling, in contemplation of the Mind, in contemplation of the Mind-Objects; ardent, clearly comprehending them and mindful, after putting away worldly greed and grief.
1. Contemplation of the Body
(kaayaanupassanaa)
But how does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the body?
Watching Over In- and Out-Breathing
(aanaapaana-sati)
Herein the disciple retires to the forest, to the foot of a tree, or to a solitary place, seats himself with legs crossed, body erect, and with mindfulness fixed before him, mindfully he breathes in, mindfully he breathes out. When making a long inhalation, he knows: ‘I make a long inhalation’; when making a long exhalation, he knows: ‘I make a long exhalation’. When making a short inhalation, he knows: ‘I make a short inhalation’: when making a short exhalation, he knows: ‘I make a short exhalation’. ‘Clearly perceiving the entire (breath-) body, I shall breathe in’: thus he trains himself; ‘Clearly perceiving the entire (breath-) body, I shall breathe out’: thus he trains himself. ‘Calming this bodily function (kaaya-sankhaara), I shall breathe in’: thus he trains himself; ‘Calming this bodily function. I shall breathe out’: thus he trains himself.
Thus he dwells in contemplation of the body, either with regard to his own person, or to other persons, or to both, he beholds how the body arises; beholds how it passes away; beholds the arising and passing away of the body. A body is there-
‘A body is there, but no living being, no individual, no woman, no man, no self, and nothing that belongs to a self; neither a person. nor anything belonging to a person. (Comm.)
this clear awareness is present in him, to the extent necessary for knowledge and mindfulness, and he lives independent, unattached to anything in the world. Thus does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the body.
‘Mindfulness of Breathing’ (aanaapaana-sati) is one of the most important meditative exercises. It may be used for the development of Tranquility (samatha-bhaavanaa), i.e. for attaining the four Absorptions (jhana; see “The Four Absorptions” on page 67), for the development of Insight (vipassanaa-bhaavanaa) or for a combination of both practices. Here, in the context of satipa.t.thaana, it is principally intended for tranquillization and concentration preparatory to the practice of Insight, which may be undertaken in the following way.
After a certain degree of calm and concentration, or one of the Absorptions, has been attained through regular practice of mindful breathing, the disciple proceeds to examine the origin of breath. He sees that the inhalations and exhalations are conditioned by the body consisting of the four material elements and the various corporeal phenomena derived from them, e.g. the five sense organs, etc. Conditioned by fivefold sense-impression arises consciousness, and together with it the three other ‘Groups of Existence’, i.e. Feeling, Perception, and mental Formations. Thus the meditator sees clearly: ‘There is no ego-entity or self in this so called personality, but it is only a corporeal and mental process conditioned by various factors’. Thereupon he applies the Three Characteristics to these phenomena, understanding them thoroughly as impermanent subject to suffering, and impersonal.
For further details about Ânaapaana-sati, see M. 118.62: Visuddhi-Magga VIII, 3.
The Four Postures
And further, whilst going, standing, sitting, or lying down, the disciple understands (according to reality) the expressions; ‘I go’; ‘I stand’; ‘I sit’; ‘I lie down’; he understands any position of the body.
‘The disciple understands that there is no living being, no real Ego, that goes, stands, etc., but that it is by a mere figure of speech that one says: “I go”, “I stand” and so forth’. (Comm.)
Mindfulness and Clear Comprehension
(sati-sampaja~n~na)
And further, the disciple acts with clear comprehension in going and coming; he acts with clear comprehension in looking forward and backward; acts with clear comprehension in bending and stretching (any part of his body); acts with clear comprehension in carrying alms bowl and robes; acts with clear comprehension in eating, drinking, chewing and tasting; acts with clear comprehension in discharging excrement and urine; acts with clear comprehension in walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, awakening; acts with clear comprehension in speaking and keeping silent.
In all that the disciple is doing, he has a clear comprehension: 1. of his intention, 2. of his advantage, 3. of his duty, 4. of the reality. (Comm.)
Contemplation of Loathsomeness
(pa.tikuula-sa~n~naa)
And further, the disciple contemplates this body from the sole of the foot upward, and from the top of the hair downward, with a skin stretched over it, and filled with manifold impurities: ‘This body has hairs of the head and of the body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, stomach, bowels, mesentery, and excrement; bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, lymph, tears, skin-grease, saliva, nasal mucus, oil of the joints, and urine.’
Just as if there were a sack, with openings at both ends, filled with various kinds of grain-with paddy, beans, sesamum and husked rice-and a man not blind opened it and examined its contents, thus: ‘That is paddy, these are beans, this is sesamum, this is husked rice’: just so does the disciple investigate this body.
Analysts of Four Elements
(dhaatu)
And further, the disciple contemplates this body, however it may stand or move, with regard to the elements; ‘This body consists of the solid element, the liquid element, the heating element and the vibrating element’. Just as if a skilled butcher or butcher’s apprentice, who had slaughtered a cow and divided it into separate portions, were to sit down at the junction of four highroads: just so does the disciple contemplate this body with regard to the elements.
In Visuddhi Magga XIII, 2 this simile is explained as follows:
When a butcher rears a cow, brings it to the place of slaughter, binds it to a post, makes it stand up, slaughters it and looks at the slaughtered cow, during all that time he has still the notion ‘cow’. But when he has cut up the slaughtered cow, divided it into pieces, and sits down near it to sell the meat, the notion, ‘cow’ ceases in his mind, and the notion ‘meat’ arises. He does not think that he is selling a cow or that people buy a cow, but that it is meat that is sold and bought. Similarly, in an ignorant worldling, whether monk or layman, the concepts ‘being’, ‘man’, ‘personality’, etc., will not cease until he has mentally dissected this body of his, as it stands and moves, and has contemplated it according to its component elements. But when he has done so, the notion ‘personality’, etc., will disappear, and his mind will become firmly established in the Contemplation of the Elements.
Cemetery Meditations
1. And further, just as if the disciple were looking at a corpse thrown on a charnel-ground, one, two, or three days dead, swollen up, blue-black in color, full of corruption-so he regards his own body: ‘This body of mine also has this nature, has this destiny, and cannot escape it.’
2. And further, just as if the disciple were looking at a corpse thrown on a charnel-ground, eaten by crows, hawks or vultures, by dogs or jackals, or devoured by all kinds of worms-so he regards his own body; ‘This body of mine also has this nature, has this destiny, and cannot escape it.’
3. And further, just as if the disciple were looking at a corpse thrown on a charnel-ground, a framework of bones, flesh hanging from it, bespattered with blood, held together by the sinews;
4. A framework of bone, stripped of flesh, bespattered with blood, held together by the sinews;
5. A framework of bone, without flesh and blood, but still held together by the sinews;
6. Bones, disconnected and scattered in all directions, here a bone of the hand, there a bone of the foot, there a shin bone, there a thigh bone, there a pelvis, there the spine, there the skull-so he regards his own body: ‘This body of mine also has this nature, has this destiny, and cannot escape it.’
7. And further, just as if the disciple were looking at bones lying in the charnel-ground, bleached and resembling shells;
8. Bones heaped together, after the lapse of years;
9. Bones weathered and crumbled to dust-so he regards his own body: ‘This body of mine also has this nature, has this destiny, and cannot escape it.’
Thus he dwells in contemplation of the body, either with regard to his own person, or to other persons, or to both. He beholds how the body arises; beholds how it passes away; beholds the arising and passing away of the body. ‘A body is there’: this clear awareness is present in him, to the extent necessary for knowledge and mindfulness; and he lives independent, unattached to anything in the world. Thus does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the body.
Assured Of Ten Blessings
M. 119
Once the contemplation of the body is practiced, developed, often repeated, has become one’s habit, one’s foundation, is firmly established, strengthened and perfected; the disciple may expect ten blessings:
1. Over delight and discontent he has mastery; he does not allow himself to be overcome by discontent; he subdues it, as soon as it arises.
2. He conquers fear and anxiety; he does not allow himself to be overcome by fear and anxiety; he subdues them, as soon as they arise.
3. He endures cold and heat, hunger and thirst; wind and sun, attacks by gadflies, mosquitoes and reptiles; patiently he endures wicked and malicious speech, as well as bodily pains that befall him, though they be piercing, sharp, bitter, unpleasant, disagreeable, and dangerous to life.
4. The four Absorptions’ (jhana), which purify the mind, and bestow happiness even here, these he may enjoy at will, without difficulty, without effort.
Six ‘Psychical Powers’
(Abhi~n~naa)
5. He may enjoy the different ‘Magical Powers (id.dhi-vidhaa).
6. With the ‘Heavenly Ear’ (dibba-sota), the purified, the super-human, he may hear both kinds of sounds, the heavenly and the earthly, the distant and the near.
7. With the mind he may obtain ‘Insight into the Hearts of Other Beings’ (parassa-cetopariya-~naa.na), of other persons.
8. He may obtain ‘Remembrances of many Previous Births’ (pubbe-nivaasaanussati-~naa.na).
9. With the ‘Heavenly Eye’ (dibba-cakkhu), purified and super-human, he may see beings vanish and reappear, the base and the noble, the beautiful and the ugly, the happy and the unfortunate; he may perceive how beings are reborn according to their deeds.
10. He may, through the ‘Cessation of Passions’ (aasavakkhaya), come to know for himself, even in this life, the stainless deliverance of mind, the deliverance through wisdom.
The last six blessings (5-10) are the ‘Psychical Powers’ (abhi~n~naa). The first five of them are mundane (lokiya) conditions, and may therefore be attained even by a ‘worldling’ (puthujjana), whilst the last Abhi~n~naa is super-mundane (lokuttara) and exclusively the characteristic of the Arhat, or Holy One. It is only after the attainment of all the four Absorptions (jhana) that one may fully succeed in acquiring the five worldly ‘Psychical Powers’. There are four iddhipaada, or ‘Bases for obtaining Magical Powers’, namely: concentration of Will, concentration of Energy, concentration of Mind, and concentration of Investigation.
2. Contemplation of the Feelings
(vedanaanupassanaa)
D. 22
But how does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the feelings?
In experiencing feelings, the disciple knows: ‘I have an agreeable feeling’; or: ‘I have a disagreeable feeling’, or: ‘I have an indifferent feeling’; or: ‘I have a worldly agreeable feeling’, or: ‘I have an unworldly agreeable feeling’, or: ‘I have a worldly disagreeable feeling’, or: ‘I have an unworldly disagreeable feeling’, or: ‘I have a worldly indifferent feeling’, or: ‘I have an unworldly indifferent feeling’.
Thus he dwells in contemplation of the feelings, either with regard to his own person, or to other persons, or to both. He beholds how the feelings arise; beholds how they pass away; beholds the arising and passing away of the feelings. ‘Feelings are there’: this clear awareness is present in him, to the extent necessary for knowledge and mindfulness; and he lives independent, unattached to anything in the world. Thus does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the feelings.
The disciple understands that the expression ‘I feel’ has no validity except as a conventional expression (vohaaravacana); he understands that, in the absolute sense (paramattha), there are only feelings, and that there is no Ego, no experiencer of the feelings.
3. Contemplation of the Mind
(cittaanupassanaa)
But how does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the mind?
Herein the disciple knows the greedy mind as greedy, and the not greedy mind as not greedy; knows the hating mind as hating, and the not hating mind as not hating: knows the deluded mind as deluded and the undeluded mind as undeluded. He knows the cramped mind as cramped, and the scattered mind as scattered; knows the developed mind as developed, and the undeveloped mind as undeveloped; knows the surpass able mind as surpass able and the unsurpassable mind as unsurpassable; knows the concentrated mind as concentrated, and the unconcentrated mind as unconcentrated; knows the freed mind as freed, and the un-freed mind as un-freed.
Citta (mind) is here used as a collective term for the Cittas, or moments of consciousness. Citta being identical with vi~n~naa.na, or consciousness, should not be translated by ‘thought’. ‘Thought’ and ‘thinking’ correspond rather to the ‘verbal operations of the mind’: vitakka (thought-conception) and vicaara (discursive thinking), which belong to the Sankhaara-kkhandha.
Thus he dwells in contemplation of the mind, either with regard to his own person, or to other persons, or to both. He beholds how consciousness arises; beholds how it passes away; beholds the arising and passing away of consciousness. ‘Mind is there’; this clear awareness is present in him, to the extent necessary for knowledge and mindfulness; and he lives independent, unattached to anything in the world. Thus does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the mind.
4. Contemplation of the Mind-Objects
(dhammaanupassanaa)
But how does the disciple dwell in contemplation of mind-objects?
Herein the disciple dwells in contemplation of the mind-objects, namely of the ‘Five Hindrances.’
The Five Hindrances
(niivara.na)
1. He knows when there is ‘Lust’ (kaamacchanda) in him: ‘In me is lust’; knows when there is ‘Anger’ (vyaapaada) in him: ‘In me is anger’; knows when there is ‘Torpor and Sloth’ (thiina-middha) in him: ‘In me is torpor and sloth’; knows when there is ‘Restlessness and Mental Worry’ (uddhacca-kukkucca) in him: ‘In me is restlessness and mental worry’; knows when there are ‘Doubts’ (vicikicchaa) in him: ‘In me are doubts’. He knows when these hindrances are not in him: ‘In me these hindrances are not’. He knows how they come to arise; knows how, once arisen, they are overcome; and he knows how they do not rise again in the future.
For example, ‘Lust’ arises through unwise thinking on the agreeable and delightful. It may be suppressed by the following six methods: fixing the mind upon an idea that arouses disgust; contemplation of the loathsomeness of the body; controlling one’s six senses; moderation in eating; friendship with wise and good men; right instruction. Lust and anger are for ever extinguished upon attainment of Anaagaamiiship; ‘Restlessness’ is extinguished by reaching Arhatship; ‘Mental Worry’, by reaching Sotapanship.
The Five Groups of Existence
(khandha)
And further: the disciple dwells in contemplation of the mind-objects, namely of the five ‘Groups of Existence’. He knows what ‘Corporeality’ (ruupa) is, how it arises, how it passes away; knows what ‘Feeling’ (vedanaa) is, how it arises, how it passes away; knows what ‘Perception’ (sa~n~naa) is, how it arises, how it passes away; knows what the ‘Mental Formations’ (Sankhara) are, how they arise, how they pass away; knows what ‘Consciousness’ (vi~n~naa.na) is, how it arises, how it passes away.
The Sense-Bases
(aayatana)
And further: the disciple dwells in contemplation of the mind-objects, namely of the six ‘Subjective-Objective Sense-Bases’. He knows the eye and visual objects, ear and sounds, nose and odors, tongue and tastes, body and bodily impressions, mind and mind-objects; and the fetter that arises in dependence on them, he also knows. He knows how the fetter comes to arise, knows how the fetter is overcome, and how the abandoned fetter does not rise again in future.
The Seven Elements of Enlightenment
(bojjhanga)
And further: the disciple dwells in contemplation of the mind-objects, namely of the seven ‘Elements of Enlightenment’, He knows when there is in him ‘Mindfulness’ (sati), ‘Investigation of the Law’ (dhammavicaya), ‘Energy’ (viriya), ‘Enthusiasm’ (piiti), ‘Tranquility’ (passaddhi), ‘Concentration’ (samadhi), and ‘Equanimity’ (upekkhaa). He knows when it is not in him, knows how it comes to arise, and how it is fully developed.
The Four Noble Truths
(ariya-sacca)
And further: the disciple dwells in contemplation of the mind-objects, namely of the ‘Four Noble Truths’. He knows according to reality, what Suffering is; knows according to reality, what the Origin of suffering is; knows according to reality what the Extinction of suffering is; knows according to reality, what the Path is that leads to the extinction of suffering.
Thus he dwells in contemplation of the mind-objects either with regard to his own person, or to other persons or to both. He beholds how the mind-objects arise, beholds how they pass away, beholds the arising and passing away of the mind-objects. ‘Mind-objects are there’: this clear awareness is present in him, to the extent necessary for knowledge and mindfulness; and he lives independent, unattached to anything in the world. Thus does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the mind-objects.
The only way that leads to the attainment of purity, to the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, to the end of pain and grief, to the entering upon the right path, and the realization of Nibbana, is by these four foundations of mindfulness.
These four contemplations of Satipa.t.thaana relate to all the five Groups of Existence, namely: 1. The contemplation of corporeality relates to ruupakkhandha; 2. the contemplation of feeling, to vedanaakkhandha; 3. the contemplation of mind, to vi~n~naanakkhandha; 4. the contemplation of mind-objects, to sa~n~naa- and sankhaara-kkhandha.
For further details about Satipa.t.thaana see the Commentary to the discourse of that name, translated in The Way of Mindfulness, by Bhikkhu Soma (Kandy 1967, Buddhist Publication Society).
Nibbaana Through Aanaapaana-Sati
M. 118
Watching over In - and Out-breathing (aanaapaana-sati), practiced and developed, brings the Four ‘Foundations of Mindfulness’ to perfection; the four foundations of mindfulness, practiced and developed, bring the seven ‘Elements of Enlightenment’ to perfection; the seven elements of enlightenment, practiced and developed, bring ‘Wisdom and Deliverance’ to perfection.
But how does watching over In- and Out-breathing, practiced and developed, bring the four ‘Foundations of Mindfulness’ (satipa.t.thaana) to perfection?
I. Whenever the disciple (1) mindfully makes a long inhalation or exhalation, or (2) makes a short inhalation or exhalation, or (3) trains himself to inhale or exhale whilst experiencing the whole (breath-) body, or (4) whilst calming down this bodily function (i.e. the breath)-at such a time the disciple dwells in ‘contemplation of the body’, full of energy, comprehending it, mindful, after subduing worldly greed and grief. For, inhalation and exhalation I call one amongst the corporeal phenomena.
II. Whenever the disciple trains himself to inhale or exhale (1) whilst feeling rapture (piiti), or (2) joy (sukha), or (3) the mental functions (cittasankhaara), or (4) whilst calming down the mental functions-at such a time he dwells in ‘contemplation of the feelings’, full of energy, clearly comprehending them, mindful, after subduing worldly greed and grief. For, the full awareness of In- and Out-breathing I call one amongst the feelings.
III. Whenever the disciple trains himself to inhale or exhale (1) whilst experiencing the mind, or (2) whilst gladdening the mind, or (3) whilst concentrating the mind, or (4) whilst setting the mind free–at such a time he dwells in ‘contemplation of the mind’, full of energy, clearly comprehending it, mindful, after subduing worldly greed and grief. For, without mindfulness and clear comprehension, I say, there is no Watching over In- and Out-breathing.
IV. Whenever the disciple trains himself to inhale or exhale whilst contemplating (1) impermanence, or (2) the fading away of passion, or (3) extinction, or (4) detachment-at such a time he dwells in ‘contemplation of the mind-objects’, full of energy, clearly comprehending them, mindful, after subduing worldly greed and grief. Having seen, through understanding, what is the abandoning of greed and grief, he looks on with complete equanimity.
Watching over In- and Out-breathing, thus practiced, and developed, brings the four Foundations of Mindfulness to perfection.
But how do the four Foundations of Mindfulness, practiced and developed, bring the seven ‘Elements of Enlightenment’ (bojjhanga) to full perfection?
1. Whenever the disciple dwells in contemplation of body, feelings, mind and mind-objects, strenuous, clearly comprehending them, mindful, after subduing worldly greed and grief-at such a time his mindfulness is undisturbed; and whenever his mindfulness is present and undisturbed, at such a time he has gained and develops the Element of Enlightenment ‘Mindfulness’ (sati-sambojjhanga); and thus this element of enlightenment reaches fullest perfection.
2. And whenever, whilst dwelling with mindfulness, he wisely investigates, examines and thinks over the ‘Law’ (dhamma)-at such a time he has gained and develops the Element of Enlightenment ‘Investigation of the Law’ (dhammavicaya-sambojjhanga); and thus this element of enlightenment reaches fullest perfection.
3. And whenever, whilst wisely investigating, examining and thinking over the law, his energy is firm and unshaken-at such a time he has gained and develops the Element of Enlightenment ‘Energy’ (viriya-sambojjhanga); and thus this element of enlightenment reaches fullest perfection.
4. And whenever in him, whilst firm in energy, arises super-sensuous rapture-at such a time he has gained and develops the Element of Enlightenment ‘Rapture’ (piiti-sambojjhanga); and thus this element of enlightenment reaches fullest perfection.
5. And whenever, whilst enraptured in mind, his spiritual frame and his mind become tranquil-at such a time he has gained and develops the Element of Enlightenment ‘Tranquility’ (passaddhi-sambojjhanga); and thus this element of enlightenment reaches fullest perfection.
6. And whenever, whilst being tranquillized in his spiritual frame and happy, his mind becomes concentrated-at such a time he has gained and develops the Element of Enlightenment ‘Concentration’ (samaadhi-sambojjhanga); and thus this element of enlightenment reaches fullest perfection.
7. And whenever he looks with complete indifference on his mind thus concentrated-at such a time he has gained and develops the Element of Enlightenment ‘Equanimity’ (upekkhaa-sambojjhanga); and thus this element of enlightenment reaches fullest perfection.
The four Foundations of Mindfulness, thus practiced and developed, bring the seven elements of enlightenment to full perfection.
And how do the seven elements of enlightenment, practiced and developed, bring Wisdom and Deliverance (vijjaa-vimutti) to full perfection?
Herein the disciple develops the elements of enlightenment: Mindfulness, Investigation of the Law, Energy, Rapture, Tranquility, Concentration and Equanimity, based on detachment, on absence of desire, on extinction and renunciation.
The seven elements of enlightenment thus practiced and developed, bring wisdom and deliverance, to full perfection.
M. 125
Just as the elephant hunter drives a huge stake into the ground and chains the wild elephant to it by the neck, in order to drive out of him his wonted forest ways and wishes, his forest unruliness, obstinacy and violence, and to accustom him to the environment of the village, and to teach him such good behavior as is required amongst men: in like manner also should the noble disciple fix his mind firmly to these four Foundations of Mindfulness, so that he may drive out of himself his wonted worldly ways and wishes, his wonted worldly unruliness, obstinacy and violence, and win to the True, and realize Nibbana.
8) Right Concentration
(Sammaa-samaadhi)
M. 44
What, now, is Right Concentration?
Its Definition
Having the mind fixed to a single object (cittekeggataa, lit. ‘One-pointed ness of mind’): this is concentration.
‘Right Concentration’ (sammaa-samaadhi), in its widest sense, is the kind of mental concentration, which is present in every wholesome state of consciousness (kusala-citta), and hence is accompanied by at least Right Thought (2nd factor), Right Effort (6th factor) and Right Mindfulness (7th factor). ‘Wrong Concentration’ is present in unwholesome states of consciousness, and hence is only possible in the sensuous, not in a higher sphere. Samadhi, used alone, always stands in the Sutta, for sammaa-samaadhi, or Right Concentration.
Its Objects
The four ‘Foundations of Mindfulness’ (7th factor): these are the objects of concentration.
Its Requisites
The four ‘Great Efforts’ (6th factor): these are the requisites for concentration.
Its Development
The practicing, developing, and cultivating of these things: this is the development (bhaavanaa) of concentration.
Right Concentration (sammaa-samaadhi) has two degrees of development; 1. ‘Neighborhood Concentration’ (upacaarasamaadhi). which approaches the first absorption without, however, attaining it; 2. ‘Attainment Concentration’ (appanaasamaadhi), which is the concentration present in the four Absorptions (jhana). These Absorptions are mental states beyond the reach of the fivefold sense-activity, attainable only in solitude and by unremitting perseverance in the practice of concentration. In these states all activity of the five senses is suspended. No visual or audible impressions arise at such a time, no bodily feeling is felt. But, although all outer sense-impressions have ceased, yet the mind remains active, perfectly alert, fully awake.
The attainment of these Absorptions, however, is not a requisite for the realization of the four Super mundane Paths of Holiness; and neither Neighborhood-Concentration nor Attainment-Concentration, as such, possesses the power of conferring entry to the four Super mundane Paths: hence they really have no power to free one permanently from evil things. The realization of the Four Supermundane Paths is possible only at the moment of deep ‘Insight’ (vipassanaa) into the Impermanency (aniccataa), Miserable Nature (dukkhataa) and Impersonality (anattataa) of this whole phenomenal process of existence. This Insight, again, is attainable only during Neighborhood-Concentration, not during Attainment Concentration.
He who has realized one or other of the Four Super mundane Paths without ever having attained the Absorptions, is called Sukkha-vipassaka, or Suddhavipassanaa-yaanika, i.e. ‘one who has taken merely Insight (vipassana) as his vehicle’. He, however, who, after cultivating the Absorptions, has reached one of the Super mundane Paths is called Saniathayaanika, or ‘one who has taken Tranquility (samatha) as his vehicle (yaana)’.
For samatha and vipassana see Fund IV. and B. Diet.
Filed under: General
Posted by: @ 9:49 am The Four Absorptions
(jhaana)
D.22
Detached from sensual objects, detached from evil things, the disciple enters into the first Absorption, which is accompanied by Thought Conception and Discursive Thinking, is born of detachment, and filled with Rapture and Happiness.
This is the first of the Absorptions belonging to the Fine-Material Sphere (rupaavacarajjhaana). It is attained when, through the strength of concentration, the fivefold sense activity is temporarily suspended, and the five Hindrances are likewise eliminated.
See B. Dict.: kasina, nimitta, samadhi.
M. 43
This first Absorption is free from five things, and five things are present. When the disciple enters the first Absorption, there have vanished (the five Hindrances): Lust, Ill-Will, Torpor and Sloth, Restlessness and Mental Worry, Doubts; and there are present: Thought Conception (vitakka), Discursive Thinking (vicaara), Rapture (piiti), Happiness (sukha), Concentration (citt’ekaggataa = samadhi).
These five mental factors present in the first Absorption, are called Factors (or Constituents) of Absorption (jhaananga). Vitakka (initial formation of an abstract thought) and vicaara (discursive thinking, rumination) are called ‘verbal functions’ (vaci-sankhaara) of the mind; hence they are something secondary compared with consciousness.
In Visuddhi-Magga, vitakka is compared with the taking hold of a pot, and vicaara with the wiping of it. In the first Absorption both are present, but are exclusively focused on the subject of meditation, vicaara being here not discursive, but of an ‘exploring’ nature. Both are entirely absent in the following Absorptions.
And further: after the subsiding of Thought-Conception and Discursive Thinking, and by the gaining of inner tranquility and oneness of mind, he enters into a state free from Thought-Conception and Discursive Thinking, the second Absorption, which is born of concentration (samadhi), and filled with Rapture (piti) and Happiness (sukha).
In the second Absorption, there are three Factors of Absorption: Rapture, Happiness, and Concentration.
And further: after the fading away of Rapture, he dwells in equanimity, mindful, with clear awareness: and he experiences in his own person that feeling of which the Noble Ones say: ‘Happy lives he who is equanimous and mindful’-thus he enters the third Absorption.
In the third Absorption there are two Factors of Absorption: equanimous Happiness (upekkhaa-sukha) and Concentration (citt’ekaggataa).
And further: after the giving up of pleasure and pain, and through the disappearance of previous joy and grief, he enters into a state beyond pleasure and pain, into the fourth Absorption, which is purified by equanimity and mindfulness.
In the fourth Absorption there are two Factors of Absorption: Concentration and Equanimity (upekkhaa).
In Visuddhi-magga forty subjects of meditation (kamma.t.thaana) are enumerated and treated in detail. By their successful practice the following Absorptions may be attained:
All four Absorptions. through Mindfulness of Breathing (see Vis. M. VIII. 3), the ten Kasina-exercises (Vis. M. IV, V. and B. Dict.); the contemplation of Equanimity (upekkhaa), being the practice of the fourth Brahma-vihaara (Vis. M. IX. 4).
The first three Absorptions: through the development of Loving-Kindness (mettaa), Compassion (karunaa) and Sympathetic Joy (muditaa), being the practice of the first three Brahma-vihaaras (Vis. M. IX. 1-3,).
The first Absorption: through the ten Contemplations of Impurity (asubha-bhaavanaa; i.e. the Cemetery Contemplations, which are ten according to the enumeration in Vis. M. VI); the contemplation of the Body (i.e. the 32 parts of the body; Vis. M. VIII, 2); ‘Neighborhood-Concentration’ (upacaara-samaadhi): through the Recollections on Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, on Morality, Liberality, Heavenly Beings, Peace (=Nibbana) and death (Vis. M. VI. VII); the Contemplation on the Loathsomeness of Food (Vis. M. XI. I); the Analysis of the Four Elements (Vis. M. IX. 2).
The four Immaterial Absorptions (aruupa-jjhaana or aaruppa), which are based on the fourth Absorption, are produced by meditating on their respective objects from which they derive their names; Sphere of Unbounded Space, of Unbounded Consciousness, of Nothingness, and of Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception.
The entire object of concentration and meditation is treated in Vis M. III-XIII; see also Fund. IV.
8. XXII. 5
Develop your concentration: for he who has concentration, understands things according to their reality. And what are these things? The arising and passing away of corporeality, of feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness.
M. 149
Thus, these five Groups of Existence must be wisely penetrated; Ignorance and Craving must be wisely abandoned; Tranquility (samatha) and Insight (vipassana) must be wisely developed.
S. LVI. II
This is the Middle Path which the Perfect One has discovered, which makes one both to see and to know, and which leads to peace, to discernment, to enlightenment, to Nibbana.
Dhp. 275
“And following upon this path, you will put an end to suffering.
Jhanas
1)Stream-enterer
The Sotapanna or ‘Stream-Enterer’
And by thus considering, three fetters vanish, namely; Self-illusion, Scepticism, and Attachment to mere Rule and Ritual.
M. 22
But those disciples, in whom these three fetters have vanished, they all have ‘entered the Stream‘ (sotaapanna).
Dhp. 178
More than any earthly power,
More than all the joys of heaven,
More than rule o’er all the world,
Is the Entrance to the Stream.
2)Once-returner
- Once-returner: After you become a stream-enterer, your practice includes reminding yourself of your new realization of “no-self,” as well as paying attention to the ways that you’re still attached and your resistance to life as it unfolds. After a period of time (generally years of devoted practice) in which your concentration gets even stronger and your mind becomes even more tranquil, you have another direct insight into no-self. (Remember, knowing this truth as a concept or memory is one thing, but experiencing it directly, beyond the conceptual mind, is something else entirely.)
This insight (essentially the same as the first but even stronger and clearer) brings a significant reduction in attachment and aversion and the suffering that accompanies these states of mind. For example, occasional irritation and preference replace hatred and greed, which no longer have any hold over the once-returner. Someone who reaches this stage has only one more rebirth before becoming completely enlightened — hence the name once-returner.
3) Non-returner
Bhikkhu Pesala
Where Have You Come From?
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The Buddha’s daily routine was extraordinary, he slept for only a few hours in the early hours of the morning. We divide the night into three watches: from 6pm to 10pm, from 10pm to 2am, and from 2am to 6am. In the first watch, after bathing, the Buddha taught the community of monks. At the end of the first watch, the monks would return to their quarters. Then celestial beings approached the Buddha to ask questions. The Buddha spent the middle watch answering their questions.
During the first part of the last watch the Buddha practised walking meditation to relieve the stiffness caused by sitting since the morning. In the second part, the Buddha lay down mindfully and slept. In the third part, he enjoyed the bliss of nibbāna. After abiding in the absorption of great compassion in the fourth part, at dawn he considered who was ready to be taught the Dhamma.
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The Weaver’s Daughter
One morning he perceived in his divine eye the daughter of a poor weaver whose wife had just died. Realising that the young girl needed to hear his teaching, the Buddha went on foot to the village where she was staying. Seeing the Buddha arrive, the villagers invited him for the meal, and the Buddha gave a discourse after the meal to all the villagers, including the young girl. The essence of his teaching was as follows: “Death is certain, life is uncertain. Contemplate death constantly to overcome the fear of death. As one who enters the jungle armed with a stick is not afraid on seeing a snake, one who contemplates death constantly is not afraid if death comes suddenly.” The villagers all appreciated the Buddha’s discourse, and for several days meditated seriously on death. However, after a week or so every one of them had forgotten the Buddha’s advice, and was carrying on just as heedlessly as before — except, that is, for the young girl. Because her mother had recently died, she could not forget the Buddha’s words. She meditated constantly on death, for months and years afterwards.
Three years later the Buddha reconsidered the situation of the weaver’s daughter and, seeing that she now had mature insight, he went to her village to teach her again. She was now sixteen, and had to work hard to help her father, who had no other children. On the day that the Buddha arrived, the weaver had been working all night to finish an urgent job, and his daughter was busy spinning more thread for her father. Hearing that the Buddha had arrived she considered what she should do. She decided to go to see the Buddha as soon as she had finished her spinning, then she would take the newly spun thread to her father.
The villagers offered the meal to the Buddha, but as the girl was not present, the Buddha sat in silence after the meal waiting for her to arrive. The villagers were obliged to wait in silence too, out of respect for the Buddha. Finally, the young girl arrived, and the Buddha asked her the following four questions:
“Young girl, where have you come from?”
“I do not know, Lord” she replied.
“Young girl, where are you going to?”
“I do not know, Lord” she replied.
“Do you not know?”
“I know, Lord” she replied.
“Do you know?”
“I do not know, Lord” she replied.
The villagers were baffled by her answers. Some thought she was being cheeky, and started scolding her, “Why don’t you tell the Buddha that you came from the spinning-shed, and are going to your father’s house?”
The Buddha silenced them and asked the girl to explain her answers. The girl replied:
“When you asked, ‘Where have you come from?’ you didn’t want to know that I came from the spinning-shed; you meant to ask from which existence I came to this one. So I replied that I do not know.”
“When you asked, ‘Where are you going to?’ you meant to ask to which existence I am going after this one, so I again replied that I do not know.”
“When you asked, ‘Do you not know?’ you meant to ask, ‘Do you not know that you will die?’ so I replied that I know I will die.”
“When you asked, ‘Do you know?’ you meant to ask, ‘Do you know when you will die?’ so I replied that I do not know when I will die.”
The Buddha praised the girl for her intelligent answers, and the villagers were amazed. The Buddha then spoke the following verse:
“Blind is this world, only a few can see clearly.
Like birds that escape from a net, only a few go to a blissful state.”
The girl realised nibbāna and became a Stream-winner on hearing this verse.
The young girl then went to her father’s house and put the newly spun skein of thread down by the loom. After working the whole night, her father had fallen asleep at the loom. When his daughter came in, he woke up with a start, and accidentally swung a heavy beam on the loom. The beam struck the girl hard, and she died on the spot. The father was totally distraught, and hurried to the Buddha to seek consolation. The Buddha explained the truth of suffering to him, and the weaver asked for ordination, later attaining Arahantship.
The Buddha’s love and compassion was unlimited. For the benefit of one poor girl and her father, he twice went on a long journey to teach the Dhamma, and he did not forget about the girl after the first visit, but returned as soon as he knew that she needed his help. Though he had many thousands of disciples including kings and ministers, and also taught celestial beings, the Buddha always had time for anyone who would benefit from his teaching, even including beggars and slaves.
This story is very interesting for the Buddhist because it shows that although we do believe in rebirth we do not need to remember our previous lives to gain nibbāna, the goal of Buddhism. The weaver’s daughter could not tell the Buddha from which existence she had come to be reborn as a weaver’s daughter, but the Buddha was pleased with her answers. She had understood about the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death after three years of meditation. That understanding enabled her to attain nibbāna while listening to the verse.
One who has attained nibbāna no longer has any doubts such as “Am I?” “Am I not?” “What am I?” “How am I?” since the egocentric way of thinking has been removed by insight. It is not unlike the case of someone who has grown up and lost interest in football. He is no longer disappointed when his football team loses, or elated when they win. Even if he hears that his former football team has been relegated to the second division, it no longer matters since he doesn’t follow the team avidly any more.
Self-view is hard to remove entirely. We identify with our family, our school, our neighbourhood, our local football team, our country, or our racial group. If we hear any good or bad news about anything that we regard as ours then we feel elated or depressed. If we hear someone say something critical about us personally, then we may feel terrible. However, we should not take it too much to heart. There is a saying in the Dhammapada:
“They blame those who speak too much,
They blame those who speak too little,
They blame those who remain silent.
No one escapes blame in this world.”
Similarly, if someone praises us we should not become conceited because of that. If we work hard we will get a good result, that is only natural, but there is always someone who can do better than us, at least in other ways. It is hard to remove pride and conceit, but we must do it if we want to gain the highest happiness. The Buddha described how his pride and intoxication vanished, when he was still an unenlightened bodhisatta. “On seeing an old man, all pride and intoxication in youth vanished. On seeing a sick man, all pride and intoxication in health vanished. On seeing a dead man, all pride and intoxication in life vanished.”
How can we remove self-view, pride, and conceit? We must develop mindfulness or awareness. Whatever thoughts or feelings arise within us should be observed as they occur from moment to moment. We should not allow ourselves to be heedless even for an instant. Heedlessness allows defilements like self-view, pride, and conceit to enter the mind and dominate it. Perhaps you have enjoyed watching a cartoon like Tom and Jerry. How did the ideas “Tom” and “Jerry” arise? When one watches a cartoon, one become absorbed in the story and soon begins to believe and feel what one imagines Tom and Jerry are feeling. Actually, Tom and Jerry exist only in our imaginations. A cartoon is only drawings that are displayed on the screen in rapid succession. However, the mind arises and passes away much more rapidly than the cartoon pictures, so it can put together the dialogue, sound effects, and pictures to create the illusion that Tom really is bashing Jerry over the head with a frying-pan, so we are emotionally affected by what we see.
Real life is like this too. We see and hear things so rapidly that our mind constructs a mental picture, which we regard as real. If someone abuses us, we may feel like they are bashing us over the head, they are making bad kamma, but we suffer. Why is this? It is due to the mental formations that we create. We cannot easily stop this natural process because it is the result of previous kamma. Having abused others in the past, we have to suffer abuse in the present. However, we can sharpen our awareness of the process to the point where we can separate the mental impressions from the experience of hearing. Eventually, we will realise that all these impressions do not happen to anyone, they just happen. Then we will realise that the idea of a self, a person, a ‘me’, or a ‘you’, is just an illusion.
Self-view is deeply rooted and cannot be removed by the unmindful person. The average, unmindful person dwells with self-view dominating his or her mind for the entire life. The mindful meditator can disrupt it temporarily while engaged in meditation, but after stopping meditation it will gradually reassert itself unless the meditator has gained deep insight. If a meditator gains deep insight and attains the first path of a Stream-winner, self-view is completely destroyed, and will never arise again. Such a person may be heedless to some extent, but can never be careless enough to break any of the five precepts. He or she is absolutely free from rebirth in the four lower realms of hell, hungry ghosts, demons, and animals, and will attain final nibbāna (Arahantship) within seven lives at the most. Having seen nibbāna personally, he or she has unshakeable confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, and is truly worthy of offerings and homage. The weaver’s daughter was a Stream-winner.
After attaining nibbāna, the Dhamma becomes central to the life of a Stream-winner. They are not yet free from sensual desire and anger, so they can lead a fairly normal family life. Whenever they wish to enjoy the peace of nibbāna they can meditate again, developing concentration, and attaining the fruition of the first path. If their concentration is strong, they may remain in the attainment of fruition for quite long periods, say, an hour or two. If they wish to attain the higher path, they should go into retreat for meditation and resolve not to attain the fruition of the first path during that period, and strive to attain the higher path. If they are successful and attain the second path of a Once-returner, they will be reborn on this earth only once more at the most before attaining the final liberation of Arahantship.
The second path destroys strong forms of lust and anger, but some of these deep-rooted defilements remain, so they still have some sensual attachment and ill-will. If the Once-returner strives again in meditation and attains the third path of a Non-returner, all traces of lust and anger are uprooted. Since they have no sensual attachment at all they will not be born in the womb again, and will take rebirth only in the Suddhāvāsa Brahmā realms. These realms are the Theravāda ‘Pure Land’ because only Non-returners are reborn there. The bodhisattas are not reborn there either, because they are still worldlings who have not yet gained even the first path of a Stream-winner.
Non-returners seem to be extremely rare these days. Saya Thetgyi, a Burmese lay meditation teacher, who taught U Ba Khin (Goenkaji’s teacher), was reputed to be a Non-returner. The Venerable Ledi Sayādaw praised him and asked him to teach meditation to his own monk disciples. A Non-returner will be naturally inclined to lead a monastic life, having no sexual desire at all, but may be obliged to remain as a lay person to support relatives. The potter honoured by Buddha Kassapa in the Ghatīkāra Sutta (Majjhimanikāya, Sutta 81) was a Non-returner. Though he was a humble potter, he was the chief supporter of Buddha Kassapa, and looked after his own blind and aged parents. He did not use money, but let people take his pots, leaving whatever goods they wished to in exchange. Knowing that he was a good supporter of the Buddha, they donated generously so he didn’t need any other source of income. Refusing to dig the earth himself, he gathered clay from river banks or that had been dug up by animals. Thus, though a layman, he lived on ten precepts like one gone forth.
The Non-returner has to strive again in meditation to attain the final goal of Arahantship. Only then is all rebirth and suffering finally destroyed. Not even the subtlest defilements remain, so the Arahant is worthy of the highest honour. The word ‘Araham’ means ‘worthy’. There have been a few monks in Burma and Thailand in recent years who are reputed to have attained the final path. Venerable Ledi Sayādaw was thought to be one, but it is hard to be sure, since Arahants are extremely modest about their attainments.
A certain monk was living in dependence on an elder who was an Arahant. Living in dependence meant in those days that the pupil shared a cell with his teacher, looked after his robes, studied at his feet, and accompanied him on the daily almsround. Teacher and pupil lived liked a good father and devoted son. One day, while walking for alms, the pupil asked his teacher, “Venerable Sir, how can one know an Arahant?” The elder, who was an Arahant, replied, “It is not easy friend, to know an Arahant. Even if one were to live in dependence on an Arahant, doing all the duties for him, and accompany him on his daily almsround, one might not know that he was an Arahant.” Yet even when given such a broad hint by his teacher, the pupil did not realise that the elder was an Arahant.
Due to excessive devotion, pious people are inclined to elevate their revered teacher to the status of an Arahant, though he may still be a worldling or Stream-winner at best. To eradicate all lust, anger, conceit, and attachment to life is no easy task. First one should aim to attain the stage of Stream-winning in this very life. If one succeeds in doing that, one may perhaps then be able to distinguish between a worldly person and a saint, since one will be free from doubt and superstition.
It is my belief that most intelligent people could attain Stream-winning in this very life if they really tried hard. However, very few really strive hard in meditation. Since confidence and effort are lacking, the goal cannot be attained. Though she was only thirteen years old, the weaver’s daughter practised meditation relentlessly for three years to attain the path. These days, people think that a ten-day intensive vipassanā course is really a bit over the top, but striving in meditation throughout the whole day and late into the night is not self-mortification. It is the minimum amount of effort required to attain deep insight or nibbāna. If we want to sleep at least six or seven hours, the goal is still far away.
To motivate oneself, one should meditate seriously on death. There is no guarantee that one will not die today. Perhaps one can avoid paying taxes if one lives like a monk, but no one can avoid death. Each breath brings death nearer. Please think seriously about this — do not imagine for one minute that it will never happen to you. If you postpone meditation until you are old — assuming that you live to old age — your attachment will have grown stronger, and your health and vitality will have grown weaker. It is best to meditate in the prime of youth, before the clutter of household life traps you in its vice-like grip. In Burmese, the expression for getting married means, literally, “to fall into house prison.” The Burmese have the right attitude. Married life is a comfortable prison from which it is hard to escape. Even if one partner freely permits the other to go to meditate for a few weeks, or to ordain permanently, most will not want to go.
When the bodhisatta heard that his son had been born he murmured “A fetter has arisen” so his father Suddhodana named his new grandson ‘Rāhula’ meaning fetter, hoping that the baby would prove an impediment to the bodhisatta’s renunciation of household life. Fortunately for us, the bodhisatta’s mind was already made up, and the news of Rahula’s birth was the final spur to make him decide, “It must be done at once, before I get attached.” So he left the palace on the same night without even setting eyes on his newborn son.
Attachment is very sticky stuff. Many monks who fall back to household life do so because of sexual desire. To get free from sensual attachment, one must meditate either on death or on the repulsive aspects of the body. One should consider what all human bodies contain. If we opened one up and took a look inside, it would be hard to become lustful. It is just a foul smelling carcase of meat, blood, and bones that we have to carry around the whole day and night. If there was no skin or clothes to cover it up, what a horrible sight it would be. One would need to carry a stick to drive off the dogs and crows that would come sniffing around looking for something to eat. Yet people think very highly of their own bodies, and those of others. What folly it is to lust after another person’s body, but delusion fools us completely when we are heedless.
At one time a certain nun fell in love with the Venerable Ānanda and, pretending to be ill, she arranged for him to visit her in her quarters. Venerable Ānanda was then still only a Stream-winner, so he was not yet free from lust, but he was wise enough not to allow desire to arise. He did not get angry with her either, but admonished her, “Sister, sexual intercourse is the cause of birth. From birth, old age, disease, and death arise.” Realising that Venerable Ānanda knew about her ulterior motives, she confessed her offence to him, and regained her sense of shame.
To gain liberation from suffering, there has to be renunciation at some point. Desire and attachment will not just disappear of their own accord. We have to pluck them out as we remove a splinter or thorn stuck under the skin. It is painful, but when it is done we can dwell at ease again. The most effective way to remove desire is to practise mindfulness meditation relentlessly throughout the whole day without a break until insight knowledge arises. On seeing things as they really are, desire and attachment will vanish.
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4)Arahant
Arhat: At this stage, the path bears ultimate fruit in nibbana — any residual trace of a separate self falls away for good. The experience, frequently accompanied by unimaginable bliss, has been compared to falling into the depths of a cloud and disappearing. At this point, the circumstances of life no longer have the slightest hold over you; positive or negative experiences no longer stir even the slightest craving or dissatisfaction. As Buddha said, all that needed to be done has been done. There’s nothing further to realize. The path is complete, and no further rebirths are necessary.
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Majjhima Nikaya 72
Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta
To Vacchagotta on Fire
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.
Introduction: Does an arahant reborn or does he reappear some where after his death. Why are we paying reverence to him, since he has passed away? Buddha refused to answer to this question stating that it is beyond our layman knowledge to perceive what happened to Arahat after his death. The simile given here is a fire and after you extinguished the fire, no body knows where that fire has gone. It is for the wise to comprehend what happened after the arahant passed away.
Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying in Savatthi, at Jeta’s Grove, Anathapindika’s monastery. Then the wanderer Vacchagotta went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly greetings and courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there he asked the Blessed One: “How is it, Master Gotama, does Master Gotama hold the view:
‘The cosmos is eternal: only this is true, anything otherwise is worthless’?”
“…no…”
“Then does Master Gotama hold the view: ‘The cosmos is not eternal: only this is true, anything otherwise is worthless’?”
“…no…”
“Then does Master Gotama hold the view: ‘The cosmos is finite: only this is true, anything otherwise is worthless’?”
“…no…”
“Then does Master Gotama hold the view: ‘The cosmos is infinite: only this is true, anything otherwise is worthless’?”
“…no…”
“Then does Master Gotama hold the view: ‘The soul and the body are the same: only this is true, anything otherwise is worthless’?”
“…no…”
“Then does Master Gotama hold the view: ‘The soul is one thing and the body another: only this is true, anything otherwise is worthless’?”
“…no…”
“Then does Master Gotama hold the view: ‘After death a Tathagata exists: only this is true, anything otherwise is worthless’?”
“…no…”
“Then does Master Gotama hold the view: ‘After death a Tathagata does not exist: only this is true, anything otherwise is worthless’?”
“…no…”
“Then does Master Gotama hold the view: ‘After death a Tathagata both exists and does not exist: only this is true, anything otherwise is worthless’?”
“…no…”
“Then does Master Gotama hold the view: ‘After death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist: only this is true, anything otherwise is worthless’?”
“…no…”
“How is it, Master Gotama, when Master Gotama is asked if he holds the view ‘the cosmos is eternal…’… ‘after death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist: only this is true, anything otherwise is worthless,’ he says ‘…no…’ in each case. Seeing what drawback, then, is Master Gotama thus entirely dissociated from each of these ten positions?”
“Vaccha, the position that ‘the cosmos is eternal’ is a thicket of views, a wilderness of views, a contortion of views, a writhing of views, a fetter of views. It is accompanied by suffering, distress, despair, and fever, and it does not lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation; to calm, direct knowledge, full Awakening, Unbinding.
“The position that ‘the cosmos is not eternal’…
“…’the cosmos is finite’…
“…’the cosmos is infinite’…
“…’the soul and the body are the same’…
“…’the soul is one thing and the body another’…
“…’after death a Tathagata exists’…
“…’after death a Tathagata does not exist’…
“…’after death a Tathagata both exists and does not exist’…
“…’after death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist’… does not lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation; to calm, direct knowledge, full Awakening, Unbinding.”
“Does Master Gotama have any position at all?”
“A ‘position,’ Vaccha, is something that a Tathagata has done away with. What a Tathagata sees is this: ‘Such is form, such its origin, such its disappearance; such is feeling, such its origin, such its disappearance; such is perception… such are mental fabrications… such is consciousness, such its origin, such its disappearance.’ Because of this, I say, a Tathagata — with the ending, fading out, cessation, renunciation, and relinquishment of all construings, all excogitations, all I-making and mine-making and obsession with conceit — is, through lack of clinging/sustenance, released.”
“But, Master Gotama, the monk whose mind is thus released: Where does he reappear?”
“‘Reappear,’ Vaccha, doesn’t apply.”
“In that case, Master Gotama, he does not reappear.”
“‘Does not reappear,’ Vaccha, doesn’t apply.”
“…both does and does not reappear.”
“…doesn’t apply.”
“…neither does nor does not reappear.”
“…doesn’t apply.”
“How is it, Master Gotama, when Master Gotama is asked if the monk reappears… does not reappear… both does and does not reappear… neither does nor does not reappear, he says, ‘…doesn’t apply’ in each case. At this point, Master Gotama, I am befuddled; at this point, confused. The modicum of clarity coming to me from your earlier conversation is now obscured.”
“Of course you’re befuddled, Vaccha. Of course you’re confused. Deep, Vaccha, is this phenomenon, hard to see, hard to realize, tranquil, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise. For those with other views, other practices, other satisfactions, other aims, other teachers, it is difficult to know. That being the case, I will now put some questions to you. Answer as you see fit. How do you construe this, Vaccha: If a fire were burning in front of you, would you know that, ‘This fire is burning in front of me’?”
“…yes…”
“And suppose someone were to ask you, Vaccha, ‘This fire burning in front of you, dependent on what is it burning?’ Thus asked, how would you reply?”
“…I would reply, ‘This fire burning in front of me is burning dependent on grass and timber as its sustenance.’”
“If the fire burning in front of you were to go out, would you know that, ‘This fire burning in front of me has gone out’?”
“…yes…”
“And suppose someone were to ask you, ‘This fire that has gone out in front of you, in which direction from here has it gone? East? West? North? Or south?’ Thus asked, how would you reply?”
“That doesn’t apply, Master Gotama. Any fire burning dependent on a sustenance of grass and timber, being unnourished — from having consumed that sustenance and not being offered any other — is classified simply as ‘out’ (unbound).”
“Even so, Vaccha, any physical form by which one describing the Tathagata would describe him: That the Tathagata has abandoned, its root destroyed, like an uprooted palm tree, deprived of the conditions of existence, not destined for future arising. Freed from the classification of form, Vaccha, the Tathagata is deep, boundless, hard to fathom, like the sea. ‘Reappears’ doesn’t apply. ‘Does not reappear’ doesn’t apply. ‘Both does and does not reappear’ doesn’t apply. ‘Neither reappears nor does not reappear’ doesn’t apply.
“Any feeling… Any perception… Any mental fabrication…
“Any consciousness by which one describing the Tathagata would describe him: That the Tathagata has abandoned, its root destroyed, like an uprooted palm tree, deprived of the conditions of existence, not destined for future arising. Freed from the classification of consciousness, Vaccha, the Tathagata is deep, boundless, hard to fathom, like the sea. ‘Reappears’ doesn’t apply. ‘Does not reappear’ doesn’t apply. ‘Both does and does not reappear’ doesn’t apply. ‘Neither reappears nor does not reappear’ doesn’t apply.”
When this was said, the wanderer Vacchagotta said to the Blessed One: “Master Gotama, it is as if there were a great sala tree not far from a village or town: From inconstancy, its branches and leaves would wear away, its bark would wear away, its sapwood would wear away, so that on a later occasion — divested of branches, leaves, bark, and sapwood — it would stand as pure heartwood. In the same way, Master Gotama’s words are divested of branches, leaves, bark, and sapwood and stand as pure heartwood.
“Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or were to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has Master Gotama has — through many lines of reasoning — made the Dhamma clear. I go to Master Gotama for refuge, to the Dhamma, and to the Sangha of monks. May Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone to him for refuge, from this day forward, for life.”
The Ten Fetters
The ten fetters referred to in Buddhist scriptures are what bind beings to the cycle of birth and death. The first five are referred to as the ‘lower fetters’ and the second five as the ‘higher fetters’.
1. Personality-Belief
This refers to the mistaken belief - from a Buddhist perspective - that the self is a permanent, unchanging essence or soul. Buddhism teaches that what we call the self or personality is made up of five factors - corporeality, feeling, perception, mental formations (including volition or will) and consciousness. To cling to the idea of a permanent self, therefore, is erroneous. (See teaching on Not-Self or Anatta)
2. Skeptical Doubt
This is to have doubts about the three jewels, namely the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha; about what is morally wholesome and what is not; about the nature of religious training outlined by the Buddha and about the conditionality of all things.
3. Clinging to Rites and Rituals
Although rites and rituals form a part of Buddhist practices in various schools, the Buddha taught that there was no point in clinging to them for their own sake. Rites and rituals are a means of giving form to the expression of heart and mind, otherwise they are empty vessels.
4. Sensuous Craving
On one level this refers to lust but it has a broader meaning in terms of craving for pleasant sensations, those that our senses bring to us: sounds, sights, smells, tastes and touch.
5. Ill-will
This encapsulates feelings of enmity, even hatred, towards others. It is the opposite of loving-kindness (metta).
6. Craving for Fine-Material Existence
In the development of meditation, refined, rapturous states known as jhanas can be experienced. But even attachment to these is ultimately unwholesome to progress. This relates to the first four of eight jhanas.
7. Craving for Immaterial Existence
This fetter calls for the abandonment of subtle attractions to those states of mind experienced in the final four jhanas .
8. Conceit
This is sometimes interpreted as pride but it is likely something more subtle is intended, namely, attachment to the idea of self on an experiential level, even if the belief in an enduring self has been abandoned intellectually.
9. Restlessness
Restlessness or agitation suggests that true peace and contentment have still not been achieved in full.The mind is still unsettled.
10. Ignorance
At the core of the Buddha’s teaching is the idea that we live in a state of unknowing, of sleep, of ignorance. The whole Buddhist approach is aimed at dispelling our ignorance which is synonymous with waking up to truth. It is not surprising then that this is the final fetter.
The removal of the first three fetters makes one a ’stream-enterer’, one whose final awakening is assured within seven further rebirths. The removal of the first three fetters and the dilution of the next two makes one ‘a once-returner’; in other words, there will only one more rebirth as a human being before enlightenment. The compete abandonment of the first five fetters makes one a ‘non-returner’ and therefore leads to rebirth in one of the Buddhist ‘Pure Abodes’ where final awakening will be assured. An arahat or ’saint’ is one in whom all ten fetters have been destroyed.
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Buddhist Publication Society
Newsletter |
2nd Mailing 1995 No. 30
Towards a Threshold of Understanding - I
Pope John Paul II’s recent book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope is a collection of reflections primarily on issues of Christian faith; but the book also features the Pope’s assessment of other religions, including a short chapter on Buddhism. The Pontiff s words in this chapter are far from appreciative. The release of the book in Sri Lanka on the eve of the Pope’s visit to this country this past January stirred up waves of indignation in the Buddhist community that spread as far as the Vatican. The Buddhist prelates announced that they would not attend an inter-religious meeting requested by the Pope unless he formally retracted his unfavourable remarks about Buddhism. Although on arrival the Pope tried to appease the feelings of Buddhist leaders by declaring his esteem for their religion, even quoting the Dhammapada, he fell short of proffering a full apology, and this did not satisfy the Sangha elders.
The following essay is intended as a short corrective to the Pope’s demeaning characterization of Buddhism. It addresses the issues solely at the level of ideas, without delving into the question whether ulterior motives lay behind the Pope’s pronouncements. The essay is based on an article written for a Polish publisher, Source (Katowice), which is presently compiling a book on the Buddhist response to the Pope’s book.
The Pope states that “the Buddhist tradition and the methods deriving from it have an almost exclusively negative soteriology (doctrine of salvation).” Such a view of the Buddhist teachings was widespread among Christian missionaries in Asia during the 19th century, serving to justify their evangelical incursions into the heartlands of Buddhism. Serious scholars of comparative religion have long recognized this view to be a misrepresentation, rooted, in the case of the early missionaries, partly in misunderstanding, partly in deliberate distortion. It is therefore puzzling that the present head of the Catholic Church, otherwise so well informed, should repeat these worn-out lines, particularly at a time when greater mutual understanding is expected from the leaders of different religions.
The Pope does not explain exactly why he regards Buddhist soteriology as negative. Most likely, he takes this view because the Buddhist path of deliverance does not recognize a personal God as the agent and end of salvation. Like beauty, however, what is negative and what is positive lies in the eye of the beholder, and what is negative for one may turn out to be another’s supreme ideal. If one seeks an everlasting union between one’s eternal soul and a creator God, then a doctrine that denies the existence of an eternal soul and a Divine Creator will inevitably appear negative. If one regards everything conditioned as impermanent and devoid of self, and seeks deliverance in Nibbana, the Deathless Element, then a doctrine of everlasting union between God and the soul will seem-not negative perhaps—but founded upon wishful thinking and unacceptable articles of faith. For the ordinary reader, however, the word “negative,” when applied to Buddhism, will suggest something far different from a philosophically acute way of approaching the Ultimate, conjuring up pictures of a bleak doctrine of escapism aimed at personal annihilation. Behind the Pope’s words we can detect echoes of the ancient texts: “There are, monks, some recluses and brahmins who charge me with being an annihilationist, saying that the recluse Gotama teaches the annihilation of an existent being. That is false misrepresentation. What I teach, in the past as also now, is suffering and the cessation of suffering” (MN 22).
Even more worrisome than the Pope’s characterization of the Buddhist doctrine of salvation as negative is his contention that “the Buddhist doctrine of salvation constitutes the central point, or rather the only point, of this system.” The conclusion implied by this pronouncement, left hanging silently behind the lines, is that Buddhism is incapable of offering meaningful guidance to people immersed in the problems of everyday life; it is an otherworldly religion of escape suited only for those of an ascetic bent.
While Western scholars in the past have focused upon the Buddhist doctrine of salvation as their main point of interest, the living traditions of Buddhism as practised by its adherents reveal that this attitude, being one-sided to begin with, must yield one-sided results. The Buddhist texts themselves show that Buddhism addresses as wide a range of concerns as any other of humanity’s great religions. Nibbana remains the ultimate goal of Buddhism, and is certainly “the central point” of the Dhamma, but it is by no means “the only point” for which the Buddha proclaimed his Teaching.
According to the Buddhist texts, the Dhamma is intended to promote three types of good, each by way of different but overlapping sets of principles. These three goals, though integrated into the framework of a single internally consistent teaching, enable the Dhamma to address individuals at different stages of spiritual development, with varying capacities for comprehension. The three goods are:
(i) the good pertaining to the present life (ditthadhammattha), i.e. the achievement of happiness and well-being here and now, through ethical living and harmonious relationships based on kindness and compassion;
(ii) the good pertaining to the future life (samparayikattha), i.e. a favourable rebirth within the round of existence, by practising generosity, observing the precepts, and cultivating the mind in meditation; and
(iii) the ultimate good (paransattha), i.e. the attainment of Nibbana, by following the complete training defined by the Noble Eightfold Path.
For most Buddhists in their day-to-day lives, the pursuit of Nibbana is a distant rather than an immediate goal, to be approached gradually during the long course of rebirths. Until they are ready for a direct assault on the final good, they expect to walk the path for many lives within samsara, pursuing their mundane welfare while aspiring for the Ultimate. To assist them in this endeavour, the Buddha has taught numerous guidelines that pertain to ethically upright living within the confines of the world. In the Sigalovada Sutta, for example, he enumerates the reciprocal duties of parents and children, husband and wife, friends and friends, employers and employees, teachers and students, religious and laity. He made right livelihood an integral part of the Noble Eightfold Path, and explained what it implies in the life of a busy lay person. During his long ministry he gave advice to merchants on the prudent conduct of business, to young wives on how to behave towards their husbands, to rulers on how to administer their state. All such guidance, issuing from the Buddha’s great compassion, is designed to promote the welfare and happiness of the world while at the same time steering his followers towards a pleasant rebirth and gradual progress towards final liberation.
Yet, while the Buddha offers a graduated teaching adjusted to the varying life situations of his disciples, he does not allow any illusion to linger about the ultimate aim of his Doctrine. That aim is Nibbana, which is not a consoling reconciliation with the world but irreversible deliverance from the world. Such deliverance cannot be gained merely by piety and good works performed in a spirit of social sympathy. It can be won only by renunciation, by “the relinquishment of all acquisitions” (sabb’upadhipatinissagga), including among such “acquisitions” the bodily and mental processes that we identify as our self. The achievement of this end is necessarily individual. It must be arrived at through personal purification and personal insight, as the fruit of sustained effort in fulfilling the entire course of training. Hence the Buddha did not set out to found a church capable of embracing all humanity within the fold of a single creed. He lays down a path—a path perfect in its ideal formulation—to be trodden by imperfect human beings under the imperfect conditions that life within the world affords. While the quest for the highest goal culminates in deliverance from the world, this same ideal “bends back” towards the world and spells out standards of conduct and a scale of values to guide the unenlightened manyfolk in their daily struggles against the streams of greed, hatred, and delusion. Nibbana remains the “chief point” and the omega point of the Dhamma. But as this goal is to be experienced as the extinction of greed, hatred, and delusion, it defines the condition for its realization as a life devoted to overcoming greed through generosity, to overcoming hatred through patience and loving kindness, and to overcoming delusion through wisdom and understanding.
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Part II of this essay will appear in the next BPS newsletter.
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** New teaching and mediation series with Lama Rabten Tshering **
“The Six Paramitas” begins Sunday, January 6 @ Maitrivana
4610 Earles Street in Vancouver
Everyone welcome - by donation
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Nalandabodhi Vancouver is pleased to announce a new series of
teachings and mediation sessions with our resident lama,
Lama Rabten Tshering.
The series begins on Sunday morning, January 6, and will run every
second Sunday thereafter (please see our on-line calendar to confirm
dates). The format for Sunday sessions is:
9:30 am -10:30 am: Meditation
10:30 am -12:00 pm: Teaching on the Paramitas
** The Paramitas **
The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche has asked the Nalandabodhi sangha to
continuously practice the six Paramitas, the transcendent actions
or virtues that are the basis of Mahayana practice.
The Paramitas are:
Generosity, Morality (Discipline), Patience, Diligence, Mediation,
and Wisdom (Prajna).
Rinpoche suggests that we study, practice, and meditate on one
Paramita per month, repeating the cycle in the second half of the year.
In January, Lama’s teachings will focus on Generosity; in February on
Morality, and so forth.
The purpose of Paramita practice and contemplation is to develop a
strong sense of compassion and loving kindness, as well as mental
discipline.
The Paramita teachings originate in the Sutras, the original teachings
of Buddha Sakyamuni.
All are welcome to the Sunday morning sessions. Lama Rabten’s
approach will be beneficial to both beginners and more seasoned
practitioners.
We especially welcome newcomers to the dharma - Lama’s teachings will
be a wonderful opportunity to meditate and learn with others. The
sessions are by donation, and you are welcome to attend all or some
of them.
** Check Out Nalandabodhi’s On-Line Calendar **
Please visit our calendar at:
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=J1mcq&m=1fX9oQuIZEWy09&b=uG5wvFdGNRd5wXTSx3cikA
You’ll find information about Lama Rabten’s future teaching dates,
plus other programs and special events at Maitrivana, Nalandabodhi’s
Garden of Loving Kindness.
To view pictures of past events, go to our slideshow at:
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=J1mcq&m=1fX9oQuIZEWy09&b=xcRHnRKnhMwEI5RRO3Cftw.
Hope to see you on Sunday morning! And feel free to pass this
message on.
Sincerely,
Sanghatoday.org team
800 Kelly Road Victoria, BC V9B 6J9, Canada
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1 comments:
Good point: It’s a like choosing between Coke and Pepsi — what if you don’t like either?