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NAMO
TASSA
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'THE
BUDDHIST HOUR'
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Hillside
Radio 1620 AM, 87.6 FM & 88.0 FM |
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The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast for Sunday 20 May 2001
Today’s program is entitled: Living without Conflict
The Oxford English dictionary defines conflict as: “1. A fight, a battle, a (prolonged) struggle between opposing forces; fighting, strife; the clashing or variance of opposed principles, beliefs, etc; the opposition of incompatible wishes etc. in a person. 2. Collision (of physical bodies), dashing together”. How can we live without conflict? The answer is to apply a sane method to solve conflicts. In his Convivium Address delivered on 4 February 1996, John D. Hughes gave some examples about conflicts and the skillful Buddha Dhamma means that lead to the solving of conflicts. “Regarding the content of this Convivium Address I have three tasks. As Founder of this organisation, I have told myself that in order to flow with mainstream Australian values, and to be politically correct, I must include a quiz and at least one joke somewhere during the Convivium address. These first two tasks should not be too difficult to perform. The third task is to explain what we are on about. What we are on about is the creation of many ways suitable for those who want to know how to ponder on the three worlds we must experience in human birth. The first thing to do is stop imagining you have somehow missed out on some golden age when life was easy. I was born in 1930, the great depression when 30% or more unemployment was common. When I was a boy growing up in Australia in the 30's, it was politically correct to agree that persons aged, before ageism was preached. In those halcyon days, I was told by those in the know that persons in fact aged, there being three different worlds called the world of being young, the world of being middle-aged and the world of being old. Any legends of the Alchemists and Taoists regarding eternal youth, even if known, were summarily discounted. Lacking designate labeling to pledge eternal youth, liposuction, anti- wrinkle cream or leg waxes the notion of eternal youth lacked a cult following. In like manner, apart from a few deviate nursery rhymes involving the two J's, little Miss M, woolly sheep and an egg head, mandatory for persons about one year of age, equivalent music to that sung by Pavarotti's three T's was known and loved by all age groups. There was not too much conflict in Australia about the politics of culture, even of music. Neither was there much politics about conflict. A few persons who read George Bernard Shaw hinted youth may be wasted on the young, but surely that was just sour grapes? To assist you to unmake your version of the dead past that is so fuzzy to you, let us suppose you thought the past system worked along the following lines: Point 1. No decent town person felt qualified at middle age to blame parents or other persons when they wished to be ‘childish’. Point 2. You were either bad, sad or mad as a result of your own will or by following a dreary lifestyle. Point 3. All persons made allowances for their aged friends, who were expected to do the decent thing, that is, to become deaf or near blind, frail and half potty. Point 4. Exceptions were made for elderly country folk who were doomed to glowing health and only allowed to be slightly potty. Point 5. It was accepted that nature was not in conflict with itself and so no person protested that four seasons brought variations of events such as floods, bush fires and droughts which occurred from time to time. Point 6. These phenomena were not viewed as conflict or disorder in nature. Point 7. Allowances were made for diversity in a non conflict performance. In my own case, because there was no degree of conformity demanded, as an only child I was permitted to be wise beyond my years. Perhaps one reason for this concession was that the State School system where I was supposed to learn ‘what was what’ was shut down for 18 months because of a polio epidemic. So, I spent those 18 months at the South Melbourne Public Library reading and I think being allowed to borrow three books a week on some arcane system. Perhaps or perhaps not, according to your belief system, you can imagine a kind deva of learning helped me to find what I needed from among that institution's resources. To ask key questions is easy. But wise answers may pass unnoted. For example, what or who is the best guide to help the young move away from disordered learning choices? Is it a non conflict model or a conflict model of learning? ARE THERE RULES IN LIFE? Yes, the rules of life are known, lived and taught by the wise, each for himself or herself, and the result is profit for self and others. For example, one wise rule is that you give praise to your kind mentors. Having certainty that this practice as a way of life is useful to keep you teachable for lifetimes. In time, you learn to praise the wise mentors of others. Is it a problem to you that some persons cannot recall their own or others’ mentors names? O.K. Now for the quiz. This quiz has a goal. And the goal is: you wish to praise present and past Teachers who inspired persons to non conflict styles of learning. Agreed. The first quiz question is : Who was Tony Serrano's year two primary school music Teacher? The second quiz question is: Who was our happier Treasurer Pam Adkin's preschool math Teacher? The answer is her Father who is a Licensed Surveyor. The skillful methods in Buddha Dhamma we teach here enable you to praise both the known and the unknown persons who help in a range of subjects. Can we give credit to those persons, seen or unseen, who helped you to come here? With Buddha Dhamma practice, this task is possible. Now the quiz has fallen flat, I am told is the time for the joke! This is my joke: Your recall of who helps you may only be a name of which you do not know how to write or speak. Now that I have disposed of the joke, Think about it! What we teach is that there are learning processes that some of you can learn which gives your mind sets a platform to develop in confidence, awareness, concentration, energy and wisdom on a non conflict paradigm of learning. Nowadays, the vulgar equity, non-politically correct classification of my sphere of childhood ordered learning would I imagine be broken up and prohibited - even if it involved the expense of employing costly trainers to visit my home to make me work at study at home; even if it meant depriving me of the intense pleasure of learning I had at the time. We are not against conflict in learning models; our model is framed on a different paradigm. It requires great effort over several lifetimes to train yourself to manage the various wholesome minds. In our system, the Buddha rule is a person must request three times to be taught. The ethics of the Buddhist teacher code is that no one is taught against their will. Yet our organisation holds that teaching of our five styles is important. We are to remain culturally adaptable on a non conflict model. We strive to be practical on a non conflict model. The same applies to our scholarship, our professionalism, and our friendliness styles. As a Regional Centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, we avoid conflict because we are a peak self-help organisation within Australia. Almost certainly, today, were someone to tell me, on ageism or politically correct grounds, to read less or write less Buddha Dhamma and use the time saved to sleep for longer hours or just laze around, I would tell them that this is not what this organisation is on about here. Our true friends help us and we praise them. For example, we thank our performers here today, who have given their services at no charge. We say that such generosity, a thing freely given for self and others is a blessing. We say human beings can be kind to each other provided they practice to cause their inner conflicts to cease. We say that music and painting, sound in the air, the colour of things, the moon reflected on the water, the image in the mirror has something subtle that cannot be expressed in ordinary words. This subtlety gleams clear like a jewel, and is only attainable with the right effort.”
One conflict that arises in the minds of persons wanting to practice is the question, Can I practice without attending a temple? The answer to this question lies in an understanding of cause and effect. If you are unable to get to a temple this life how will it be possible to get to a temple in future lives? Why then is it so important to get to a temple this life? There are several reasons why. Firstly, it is at the good temples where the full Buddha Dhamma texts, like the Pali Canon with English translations, can be found. If you have any doubts about a teaching, you can look up the texts at these temples to find out if what is being taught is the true Teaching of the Buddha. Secondly, temples cost money to run, they need persons to support the temple. Temples are run by volunteers. This year is UNESCO’s International Year of the Volunteers and reminds us of the first of the Ten Perfections of the Buddha, that is, dana or generosity. It is about giving up some of our time to apply our skills or our possessions for the welfare of others. The Buddha mentions six qualities in giving, three on the giver’s part and three on the receiver’s part, if the effect of giving is to be as immeasurable as the water in the ocean. Before giving, the giver should feel glad at the thought of giving experience, gladness at the time of giving and feels glad even after having given. And upon receiving, the receiver should have a feeling untainted by greed, hatred or delusion. Whilst it is a blessing to have the means to give, we should also give with wisdom. In the Buddhist tradition, a person would give correctly if he or she gives clean things
Volunteerism or the act of giving creates social capital without which no community can thrive or prosper. At our Centre, one form of dana we practice is Dhamma dana. We get requests from all over the world to help people. Recently, we received a letter from the Vice President of the Cultural and Welfare Society in India requesting us to send them our flagship journal Buddha Dhyana Dana Review, to be placed in the newly built library of Matho Sakya Monastery. Their main aim is to promote literacy and improve educational standards in the Ladakh region. Our journal Buddha Dhyana Dana Review can be found on the Internet at the website www.bdcu.org.au. We also have six other websites. This is what we call the globalisation of dana, we are making it possible for people all over the world to access the Dhamma. Through our actions of giving out Dhamma dana, we receive Dhamma. Every week, our Centre receives journals, newsletters and reviews from many friends in overseas Buddhist organisations. In a recent edition of the German magazine, Lotusblatter, published by the German Buddhist Union, a photograph of our Teacher John D. Hughes and other Members of the World Buddhist University, appeared in an article written by World Fellowship of Buddhists Vice President, Friedrich Reg. Commencing on Versak, 7 May 2001, some Buddhist Regional Centres of the World Fellowship of Buddhists will have a target to observe the year 7 May 2001 to 26 May 2002 as the International Buddhist Year of Metta (Loving Kindness). After the end of all our meetings/seminars and/or religious performances, the diffusion of Metta (Loving Kindness) will be observed by reciting the following Pali and English versions: Diffusion of Metta or Loving Kindness: Sabbe
Satta; Avera
Hontu; Abyapajjha
hontu; Anigha
hontu; Sukhi
attanam pariharantu; At our Centre this will occur every Monday, Tuesday and Friday nights after meditation, Morning Chanting and other special occasions and functions. Another reason why it is important to attend a temple is to make merit. Without merit you can not learn. It is only after spending time at a temple that this reason becomes clear. If you can’t get to a temple this life with the thousands of Buddhist temples in the world teaching in different languages, it is unlikely you’ll come to any temple in a future life. We do not charge for teaching Dhamma but we must pay our expenses. It it through Member’s dana that this possible. We do not look for government grants. What we are looking for is persons who can lend us a helping hand to make a suitable location to teach the Dhamma. We want to maintain our low density, small, peaceful environment, that is, we want to create the ideal conditions for learning. Will you come and help us a little or a lot? Whether it be a little or a lot, the merit you can make is vast. We need more helpers with indexing our library books. To view those titles we have indexed, look at our website www.bdcu.org.au. These thousands of books that have already being indexed required the help of many persons over many years. They make merit every time someone looks at the website. Or you can help us to maintain our heavenly Ch’an Garden. Telephone us on 9754 3334 if you think you wish to help us this year. If Buddha Dhamma doesn’t appeal to you, support some other religion a little or a lot. Or if religion doesn’t appeal to you, help an international organisation like Rotary or Lions. The point is go out and meet like-minded people who want to help some segment of the community, put back into the community the help you have received over the years. May you help others this life so that you may help yourself. May all beings be well and happy.
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This Radio Script is for Free Distribution. It
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