The House On Fire
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Savatthi in Jeta’s Grove, Anathapindika’s monastery.
Then a certain devata, in the far extreme of the night, her extreme
radiance lighting up the entirety of Jeta’s Grove, went to the Blessed
One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, stood to one side. As
she was standing there, she recited these verses in the Blessed One’s
presence:
When a house is on fire
the vessel salvaged
is the one that will be of use,
not the one left there to burn.
So when the world is on fire
with aging and death,
one should salvage [one’s wealth] by giving:
what’s given is well salvaged.
What’s given bears fruit as pleasure.
What isn’t given does not:
thieves take it away, or kings;
it gets burnt by fire or lost.
Then in the end
one leaves the body
together with one’s possessions.
Knowing this, the intelligent man
enjoys possessions & gives.
Having enjoyed & given
in line with his means,
uncensured he goes
to the heavenly state.
Sense Restraint
“And how does a monk guard the
doors of his senses? On seeing a form with the eye, he does not grasp at any
theme or details by which — if he were to dwell without restraint over the
faculty of the eye — evil, unskillful qualities such as greed or distress might
assail him. On hearing a sound with the ear… On smelling an odor with the
nose… On tasting a flavor with the tongue… On touching a tactile sensation
with the body… On cognizing an idea with the intellect, he does not grasp at
any theme or details by which — if he were to dwell without restraint over the
faculty of the intellect — evil, unskillful qualities such as greed or distress
might assail him. Endowed with this noble restraint over the sense faculties,
he is inwardly sensitive to the pleasure of being blameless. This is how a monk
guards the doors of his senses.The Abhidhamma in Practice
Mind in its passive and active forms
The mind occurs in both passive and active modes. The passive gives
way to the active when a stimulus is received through one of the sense
doors. The passive state of mind is called bhava”nga, cuti, or paa.tisandhi, according to the occasion.
Bhava”nga. The bhava”nga citta, mentioned earlier, is the
primary form of mind. It flows from conception to death except when
interrupted by a stimulus through one of the sense doors. When a
stimulus enters, consciousness becomes active, launching into a thought
process (citta viithi). Thought processes have been analyzed in great detail in the Abhidhamma.
A complete thought process, occurring through the physical sense doors, is made up of seventeen thought moments (citta kha.na). These are:
- A bhava”nga that flows by in a passive state when one of the five physical sense organs comes in contact with its object (atiita bhava”nga).
- A bhava”nga that vibrates for one thought moment (bhava”nga calana).
- A bhava”nga that cuts off the flow (bhava”nga upaccheda).
- A citta that turns towards the object through the sense door that has been stimulated (pañcadvaara-vajjana).
- The appropriate sense consciousness; in the case of the eye, for example, eye consciousness (cakkhu viññaa.na).
- Next a thought moment — the sampa.ticchana citta — which has the function of receiving the object.
- When the object has been received another thought moment, called the santiirana citta, arises, performing the function of investigating the object.
- The act (kamma) itself, especially if it was a weighty one.
- 9 to 15.
- The object having been determined, the most important stage from an ethical standpoint follows. This stage, called javana,
consists of seven consecutive thought moments all having an identical
nature. It is at this stage that good or evil is done, depending on
whether the cittas have wholesome or unwholesome roots. Therefore,
these javana thought moments have roots and also produce new kamma. - 16 and 17.
- Following the seventh javana the registering stage occurs, composed of two thought moments called tadaalambane.
When the second registering citta has perished, the bhava”nga follows,
flowing on until interrupted by another thought process.
These thought moments follow one another in extremely rapid
succession; each depends on the previous one and all share the same
object. There is no self or soul directing this process. The process
occurs so rapidly that mindfulness has to be alert and brisk to
recognize at least the determining thought moment — the vottapana — so that one can govern the javana thought moments by wholesome volition.
When the mind-door receives a mind-object, the sequence of events is
a little different from that occurring through the physical senses. The
mind-door-adverting citta is the same type of citta as the determining
moment — the votthapana — that arises in a sensory process. This
mind-door-adverting thought moment can cognize an object previously
seen, heard, smelt, tasted or touched, thus making memories possible.
Since the mind-object here has already been received and investigated,
these functions need not be performed again and the mind-door-adverting
thought moment gives way immediately to the javanas. These are, again,
of great ethical significance. For example, unpleasant words previously
heard can suddenly come to mind and, unless proper mindfulness (sammaa sati) is practiced, call up javana cittas rooted in hatred, i.e., unwholesome kamma.
The mind at the time of death
When a person is about to die the bhava”nga is interrupted, vibrates
for one moment and passes away. The interruption is caused by an object
which presents itself to the mind-door. As a result of this a
mind-door-adverting citta arises. This is followed by five javana
thought moments which are weak, lack reproductive power, and serve only
to determine the nature of rebirth consciousness. The javanas may or
may not be followed by two registering thought moments (tadaalambana).
After this comes the death consciousness (cuti citta), which is
identical in constitution and object to the bhava”nga citta. The cuti
citta merely serves the function of signaling the end of life. It is
important to appreciate the difference between the cuti citta and the
javanas that precede it. The cuti citta is the end of the bhava”nga
flow of an existence and does not determine the nature of rebirth. The
javanas that occur just before the cuti citta arises form a kammic
process and determine the nature of the rebirth consciousness.
The object that presents itself to the mind-door just before death is determined by kamma on a priority basis as follows:
- Some weighty action performed earlier by the dying person. This may
be meritorious such as a jhaanic ecstasy, or it may be demeritorious,
some heinous crime. Either of these would be so powerful as to eclipse
all other kammas in determining rebirth. This is called garuka kamma. - If there is no such weighty action, what has been done habitually — either good or bad — will ripen. This is called aaci.n.na kamma.
- If habitual kamma does not ripen what is called death-proximate
kamma fructifies. In this case the thought that was experienced at the
time of a good or bad action in the recent past recurs at the time of
death. This is referred to as aasanna kamma. - If the first three are lacking, some stored up kamma from the past will ripen. This is called ka.tatta kamma.
Dependent on one of the above mentioned four types of kamma, the
object that presents itself to the mind-door could be one of three
kinds:
- The act (kamma) itself, especially if it was a weighty one.
- Some sign of the act (kammanimitta); for example, a butcher
may see a knife, a hunter may see a gun or the slain animal, a pious
devotee may see flowers at a shrine or the giving of alms to a monk. - A sign of the place where the dying person will be reborn (gati nimitta), a vision of heaven, hell, etc.
This brief account of what will happen to us at death should impress
on us the urgency of avoiding all evil acts by deed, word or thought
and of performing wholesome meritorious acts. If we do not do so now,
we cannot do so at the moment of death, which may come quite
unexpectedly. As the Dhammapada states in verses 288 and 289:
There are no sons for one's protection,Neither father nor even kinsmen;For one who is overcome by deathNo protection is to be found among kinsmen. Realizing this fact,Let the virtuous and wise personSwiftly clear the wayThat to nibbaana leads.
— Dhp 288
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today said the UPA government can’t
escape from its responsibilities on terrorist attacks in Mumbai, by
resignation of Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil only …
Polling for Rajasthan assembly
Jaipur, Dec 4 (IANS) Polling to elect a 200-seat
Rajasthan assembly began Thursday morning amid tight vigil by policemen
following heightened security concerns in the wake of the Mumbai terror
attacks.
“The voting began at 8 a.m. at 42,212 polling
stations spread across the state. We have made elaborate security
arrangements for peaceful polls,” an election official here told IANS.
Over 8,400 polling stations have been declared sensitive and security has been beefed up in these areas.
Over 36 million people, including 17.2 million women, are eligible
to vote. There are 2,193 candidates, including 154 women, in the fray.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is fighting 199 seats.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s BSP has made a
dent. The party had won only two of the 124 assembly seats it contested
in 2003. However, it increased its vote percentage from 2.17 percent in
1998, when it fought for the first time in the state, to 3.98 percent
in 2003. As per Three Baskets Study circle BSP will win more than 100 seats.
Young MPs respond to the Mumbai Tragedy-Ashok Kumar Rawat, MP
Ashok Kumar Rawat, MP
Misrikh, Uttar Pradesh
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
This is serious political crisis. We should stand above our petty party considerations.
The
kind of coverage the media was providing was against the security
operation and safety of the people. Indeed, the media is right to
highlight the irresponsible remarks of one or two politicians, but at
the same time the media should also try to report the cooperation of
other people and the steps taken by the government, like the
resignations of ministers.
It is democracy which gives people
the choice to select and vote for the right leaders. It is easy to
blame the system, but there is a very low percentage of voting in our
country – only 50-60 percent. Politicians are not from outside society; they come from the same backgrounds as the ordinary people.
The need of the hour is to develop a broad consensus on political,
civil society and media level. There must be mandatory induction of all
citizens in certain military training.
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