ONLINE GOOD NEWS LETTER

COURSE PROGRAM

LESSON 257

Brahmavihara Sutta: The Sublime Attitudes

“Monks,
I don’t speak of the wiping out of intentional acts that have been done &
accumulated without [their results] having been experienced, either in the here
& now or in a further state hereafter. Nor do I speak of the act of putting
an end to suffering and stress without having experienced [the results of]
intentional acts that have been done & accumulated.[1]

“That
disciple of the noble ones — thus devoid of covetousness, devoid of ill will,
unbewildered, alert, mindful — keeps pervading the first direction[2]
with an awareness imbued with good will, likewise the second, likewise the
third, likewise the fourth. Thus above, below, & all around, everywhere, in
its entirety, he keeps pervading the all-encompassing cosmos with an awareness
imbued with good will — abundant, expansive, immeasurable, without hostility,
without ill will. He discerns, ‘Before, this mind of mine was limited &
undeveloped. But now this mind of mine is immeasurable & well developed.
And whatever action that was done in a measurable way does not remain there,
does not linger there.’

“What
do you think, monks: If that youth, from childhood, were to develop the
awareness-release through good will, would he do any evil action?”

“No,
lord.”

“Not
doing any evil action, would he touch suffering?”

“No,
lord, for when one does no evil action, from where would he touch
suffering?”

“This
awareness-release through good will should be developed whether one is a woman
or a man. Neither a woman nor a man can go taking this body along. Death,
monks, is but a gap of a thought away. One [who practices this
awareness-release] discerns, ‘Whatever evil action has been done by this body
born of action, that will all be experienced here [in this life]. It will not
come to be hereafter.’ Thus developed, the awareness-release through good will
leads to non-returning for the monk who has gained gnosis here and has
penetrated to no higher release.

“That
disciple of the noble ones — thus devoid of covetousness, devoid of ill will,
unbewildered, alert, mindful — keeps pervading the first direction with an awareness
imbued with compassion…

“That
disciple of the noble ones — thus devoid of covetousness, devoid of ill will,
unbewildered, alert, mindful — keeps pervading the first direction with an
awareness imbued with appreciation…

“That
disciple of the noble ones — thus devoid of covetousness, devoid of ill will,
unbewildered, alert, mindful — keeps pervading the first direction with an
awareness imbued with equanimity, likewise the second, likewise the third,
likewise the fourth. Thus above, below, & all around, everywhere, in its
entirety, he keeps pervading the all-encompassing cosmos with an awareness
imbued with equanimity — abundant, expansive, immeasurable, without hostility,
without ill will. He discerns, ‘Before, this mind of mine was limited &
undeveloped. But now this mind of mine is immeasurable & well developed.
And whatever action that was done in a measurable way does not remain there,
does not linger there.’

“What
do you think, monks: If that youth, from childhood, were to develop the
awareness-release through equanimity, would he do any evil action?”

“No,
lord.”

“Not
doing any evil action, would he touch suffering?”

“No,
lord, for when one does no evil action, from where would he touch
suffering?”

“This
awareness-release through equanimity should be developed whether one is a woman
or a man. Neither a woman nor a man can go taking this body along. Death,
monks, is but a gap of a thought away. One [who practices this
awareness-release] discerns, ‘Whatever evil action has been done by this body born
of action, that will all be experienced here [in this life]. It will not come
to be hereafter.’ Thus developed, the awareness-release through equanimity
leads to non-returning for the monk who has gained gnosis here and has
penetrated to no higher release.”

POLITICS is SACRED with GOOD GOVERNANCE

No change in list of candidates: Mayawati

THE BUDDHIST

Four years in office:Chief Minister Mayawati inspects foundation stones
that she “dedicated” to the people of UP on Friday for new projects
worth Rs.2,000 crores on completion of her four years in office in
Lucknow.– PHOTO: Subir Roy

With the Tamil Nadu and West Bengal election results
raising the spectre of the “anti-incumbency” factor, Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Mayawati assured her Bahujan Samaj Party workers on Friday
that there would be no change in the list of candidates announced for
the UP Assembly elections due next year. “Those who have been denied
ticket and others would be accommodated as MLCs, Rajya Sabha members and
elected MPs,” she said at a function here to mark the completion of her
four years in office.

Ms. Mayawati cautioned the
workers against “machinations” of the Opposition parties which were
“creating confusion over the distribution of tickets by the BSP”. She
spoke of “step-motherly treatment and hostility” of the Congress-led UPA
government to the BSP regime and the Opposition-sponsored “political
conspiracy” to drive home her point that they must ensure that the BSP
returns to power in 2012.

Highlighting her
government’s achievements, she said the State “turned over a new leaf on
the law and order and development fronts and on the welfare of the poor
and deprived sections… The BSP government’s record in four years was
better than the combined 40-year record of the other party governments
in the State.” To propagate the government’s achievements, a film on the
government’s performance would be aired by TV channels from Saturday.

In
the past four years, Ms. Mayawati said, the State’s share in the
Centre’s allocation of funds had not been given on time. She pointed to
schemes for which the Centre’s allocation or approval had been withheld
or delayed.

Dubbing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s
announcement of schemes for Bundelkhand at a rally in Banda on April 30 a
“political drama”, she said it was an open secret that Bundelkhand’s
backwardness was not a recent phenomenon; it had remained backward since
independence. She condemned the Centre’s silence over the
Rs.80,000-crore special incentive package her government had sought for
the development of Bundelkhand and Purvanchal.

Ms.
Mayawati blamed Uttar Pradesh’s backwardness on the “political
conspiracy” hatched by the Opposition parties for “political gains”.

Rubbishing
social activist Anna Hazare’s campaign against corruption, Ms. Mayawati
alleged that some civil society members were being backed by certain
political parties with a distinct anti-Dalit slant. The BSP would stage a
dharna nationwide to expose them.

Referring to the
Bharatiya Janata Party’s booklet on the alleged 100 scams of the BSP
government, she said it was a fake and malicious publication containing
just lies. “But then, the BJP excels in spreading lies and canards.”

Referring
to the objectionable language BJP president Nitin Gadkari allegedly
used against her at a rally in Varanasi recently, Ms. Mayawati said it
did not behove her to react to it, as she and BSP workers came from a
cultured background.

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