Sri Lankan Buddhist Brotherhood Society

84 subscribers

Sigalovada
Sutta teaching by Dr. Damenda Porage, Visisting Professor of Buddhist
and Pali University and Bhiksu University Sri Lanka.

Part 1 - Introduction to Sigalovada Sutta

Thus have I heard:

On one occasion the Buddha was dwelling in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrels’ Sanctuary, near Rajagaha.

Now
at that time, young Sigala, a householder’s son, rising early in the
morning, departing from Rajagaha, with wet clothes and wet hair,
worshipped with joined hands the various quarters — the East, the South,
the West, the North, the Nadir, and the Zenith.

Then
the Buddha, having robed himself in the morning took bowl and robe, and
entered Rajagaha for alms. Now he saw young Sigala worshipping like
that and spoke to him as follows:

“Where
are you going, rising early in the morning, departing from Rajagaha,
with wet clothes and wet hair, worship, with joined palms, these various
quarters — the East, the South, the West, the North, the Nadir, and the
Zenith?”

“My father,
Your Holiness, while dying, said to me: The six quarters, dear son, you
should worship. And I respecting, revering, reverencing and honoring my
father’s word, rise early in the morning, and leaving Rajagaha, with wet
clothes and wet hair, worship with joined palms, these six quarters.”

“It is not like this, young lay man, the six quarters should be worshipped in the discipline of the noble.”

“How
then, Your Holiness, should the six quarters be worshipped in the
discipline of the noble? It is well, Lord, if the Buddha would teach the
doctrine to me showing how the six quarters should be worshipped in the
discipline of the noble.”

“Well, young householder, listen and keep it well in mind; I will speak.” — “Very good, Your Holiness,” responded young Sigala.

And the Exalted One spoke as follows:

“If the noble disciple

radicates the four vices in conduct,

commits no evil action in four ways,

pursues not the six channels for dissipating wealth,

he
thus, avoiding these fourteen evil things, covers the six quarters, and
enters the path leading to victory in both worlds: he is favored in
this world and in the world beyond. Upon the dissolution of the body,
after death, he is born in a happy heavenly realm.

(1)

What are the four vices in conduct that a noble disciple has eradicated?

Destroying one’s life is a vice and so are stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying.

These are the four vices that he has eradicated.”

Stay away from

Killing, Stealing, Lying and Adultery,

These four evils the wise never praise.

(2)

“In which four ways one can stop committing evil action?”

For that, we must understand how one leads to commit evil action.

Led by desire one commits evil.

Led by anger one commits evil.

Led by ignorance one commits evil.

Led by fear one commits evil.

“When one is not led by desire, anger, ignorance, and fear he commits no evil.”

Whoever through desire, hate or fear,

Or ignorance violates the Dhamma,

His glory fades away

Like the moon decreasing its shine after the full moon.

Whoever through desire, hate or fear,

Or ignorance never violates the Dhamma,

His glory increases

Like the moon during the waxing half of the moon

DN1: Brahmajala Sutta - The Prime Net (Part 1) | Ajahn Brahmali | 9 February 2020

Buddhist Society of Western Australia

145K subscribers

Ajahn
Brahmali discusses the first sutta from the Digha Nikaya: Brahmajala
Sutta, ‘The Prime Net’. In part 1 Ajahn looks at the introductory parts
of DN1 and explains ethics and the importance of keeping a cool head
when being praised or blamed. Read DN1 on Sutta Central here: https://suttacentral.net/dn1/en/

“While
others may praise or criticize the Buddha, they tend to focus on
trivial details. The Buddha presents an analysis of 62 kinds of wrong
view, seeing through which one becomes detached from meaningless
speculations,” Sutta Central.

Please support the BSWA in making teachings available for free online via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BuddhistSocie…

Recorded at Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre, Perth, Western Australia.

Candana Bhikkhu

280 subscribers

In
these series of Sutta recitations, this time, presenting the vastly
rich Middle-Length Discourses/Sayings (MN - Majjhima Nikaya) of the
Buddha, I used several sources in my attempt to present a more complete
version of each of the suttas. Therefore, I worked to include vast
sections of suttas that were omitted from several of the extant editions
of the MN, due to their repetitive and “drill-like” formulation,
originally found in the earliest versions of the Majjhima Nikaya. This
almost algorithmic style of repeating statements found in many of these
and other suttas within the other Nikayas, help the meditator to
penetrate into the deeper layers of understanding of the world, as one
becomes able to ‘see things as they truly come to be’ (yathā bhutaṃ
pajānāti), which is a necessary step in the experiencing of Nibbāna, as
explained by Lord Buddha. This in itself has been a crucial part of the
decision to make these suttas available to both the novice and the
advanced student of Buddhist meditative practice, according to the
earliest known Teachings available of the Buddha.

Please
Note: It is my wish that after the countless hours of preparing and
making these recordings freely available, you the listener will become
encouraged to obtain the actual hardcopy editions of this and the other
Nikayas, as made available by the following authors, from their
respective publishers. It is to my teachers and these translators of the
Buddha’s Words that I am utterly indebted, for their enormous efforts
in making them available in the first place and presenting them to us.

These are:

I. B. Horner. (1993). The Middle Length Sayings. Pali Text Society

Ñāṇamoli,
B. & Bodhi, B. (2001). The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A
new translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Oxford, United Kingdom: Pali
Text Society in Association with Wisdom Publications.

Ñāṇananda, K. B. (1971). Concept & Reality. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Theravada Tipitaka Press.

Ñāṇananda, K. B. (2010). Nibbāna: the mind stilled. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Theravada Tipitaka Press.

Punnaji,
M. (2011). Ariyamagga Bhavana I & II: the Sublime Eightfold Way -
Tranquility of Mind. Kuala Lampur, Malaysia: Sasana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana
Society.

Vimalaramsi, B. (2014). The Dhamma Leaf Series. Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center. Annapolis: MO.

About this project:

Over
the past 30+ years, in my quest for understanding the Dhamma, i.e. the
Teachings of Lord Buddha, I have dedicated countless hours studying the
suttas found in the Pali Canon of the Theravada Tradition (Words of the
Elders) as I sat at the feet of many a great teacher, trying to learn
and grasp the meaning behind the words.

In
these difficult times, however, where time itself has become truly
constricted in its abundance, the curious and struggling minds of
individuals do not necessarily have the same luxuries of sitting down
and reading the Nikayas, let alone exploring their meaning, something
that was enjoyed only a generation or two earlier.

Instead,
one becomes hesitant to even pick up one of the Nikayas given their
massive volume, therefore, the danger of their inaccessibility (by
shying away from reading the Pali Nikayas) looms in the horizon; this,
while considering that many newcomers to the Dhamma are often petrified
to tackle the wonderful exploration that would otherwise be awaiting
them in those voluminous pages.

Thus,
as one of my own students expressed of her apprehension despite her
love for the Dhamma, to pick up one these precious texts, I saw it
necessary for posterity to go ahead and transfer these words onto audio.
I realize the amount of work, time and energy this would take, but the
necessity for making the Dhamma available in an age of scarcity of time
where most of our time is spent driving, sitting long hours in commute,
etc., becomes all the more relevant, if not imperative.

Being
a Dhamma Teacher means nothing if there is no Dhamma available, which
means that is available whether through being read, studied, and in this
case, heard and listened to.

To
this end, I am dedicating my time and energy to do my small part and
record the precious words of Lord Buddha onto these audio files for
posterity, hoping that listeners would become able to taste them and
realize their fruits (through daily practice), by listening to and
understanding the wonderful gems within the words of Lord Buddha that
have survived the test of time during the last 2600 years.

Mettacittena,

“Candana” (Garbis J. Bartanian, Doctor of Buddhist Ministry (DBMin), LMFT).

Candana Bhikkhu

280 subscribers

In
these series of Sutta recitations in English, this time, presenting the
vastly rich Long Discourses/Sayings (DN - Digha Nikāya) of the Buddha, I
used several sources in my attempt to present a more complete version
of each of the suttas. Therefore, I worked to include sections of suttas
that were omitted from several of the available editions of the DN, due
to their repetitive and “drill-like” formulation that although may seem
tiresome at times, nevertheless they do present as a crucial method of
teaching, which the Buddha applied in his dissemination of the Dhamma.
By including this key element back into the body of many of the
pertinent suttas has been my goal, as I tried my best to adhere to the
earliest versions of the Digha Nikāya. This almost algorithmic style of
repeating statements found in many of these and other suttas within the
Pāli Nikāyas, help the meditator to penetrate into the deeper layers of
understanding of the world, as one becomes able to ‘see things as they
truly come to be’ (yathā bhutaṃ pajānāti), which is a necessary step in
the experiencing of Nibbāna, as explained by Lord Buddha. This in itself
has been a crucial part of the decision to make these suttas available
to both the novice and the advanced student of Buddhist meditative
practice, as these help remove the mental contaminants and defilements
from the mind, according to the earliest known Teachings available of
the Buddha.

Please
Note: It is my wish that after the countless hours of preparing and
making these recordings freely available, you the listener will become
encouraged to obtain the actual hardcopy editions of this and the other
Nikāyas, as made available by the following authors, from their
respective publishers. It is to my teachers and these translators of the
Buddha’s Words, whose works I have consulted throughout this massive
project that I am utterly indebted, given their enormous efforts in
making the Words of The Elders available in the first place.

These are:

Rhys Davids, T.W. & C.A.F. (1899; 1903; 1966), Dialogues of The Buddha. London: Pāli Text Society

Bodhi,
B. (1978). The Discourse on the All-Embracing Net of Views: The
Brahmajāla Sutta and its Commentaries, Kandy: Buddhist Publication
Society

Bodhi, B.
(1984). The Great Discourse On Causation: The Mahānidāna Sutta and Its
Commentaries. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society

Bodhi, B. (1989). The Fruits of Recluseship: The Sāmaññaphala Sutta and its Commentaries, Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society

Ñāṇananda, K. B. (2010). Nibbāna: the mind stilled. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Theravada Tipitaka Press

Walshe, M. (1995). The long discourses of the Buddha: A translation of the Digha Nikāya. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications.

About this project:

Over
the past 30+ years, in my quest for understanding the Dhamma, i.e. the
Teachings of Lord Buddha, I have dedicated countless hours studying the
suttas found in the Pāli Canon of the Theravada Tradition (Words of the
Elders) as I sat at the feet of many a great teacher, trying to learn
and grasp the meaning behind the words.

In
these difficult times, however, where time itself has become truly
constricted in its abundance, the curious and struggling minds of
individuals do not necessarily have the same luxuries of sitting down
and reading the Nikāyas, let alone exploring their meaning, something
that was enjoyed only a generation or two earlier.

Instead,
one becomes hesitant to even pick up one of the Nikāyas given their
massive volume, therefore, the danger of their inaccessibility (by
shying away from reading the Pāli Nikāyas) looms in the horizon; this,
while considering that many newcomers to the Dhamma are often petrified
to tackle the wonderful exploration that would otherwise be awaiting
them in those voluminous pages.

Thus,
as one of my own students expressed of her apprehension despite her
love for the Dhamma, to pick up one these precious texts, I saw it
necessary for posterity to go ahead and transfer these words onto audio.
I realize the amount of work, time and energy this would take, but the
necessity for making the Dhamma available in an age of scarcity of time
where most of our time is spent driving, sitting long hours in commute,
etc., becomes all the more relevant, if not imperative.

Being
a Dhamma Teacher means nothing if there is no Dhamma available, which
means that is available whether through being read, studied, and in this
case, heard and listened to.

To
this end, I am dedicating my time and energy to do my small part and
record the precious words of Lord Buddha onto these audio files for
posterity, hoping that listeners would become able to taste them and
realize their fruits (through daily practice), by listening to and
understanding the wonderful gems within the words of Lord Buddha that
have survived the test of time during the last 2600 years.

Mettacittena,

“Candana” (Garbis J. Bartanian, Doctor of Buddhist Ministry (DBMin), LMFT).