The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast Archives
The Buddhist Hour
Radio Broadcast Script 270
Sunday
30 March 2003
Today’s script is entitled:
‘The gift
of Dhamma excels all other gifts”.
Our Buddha Dhamma
Teacher, John D. Hughes, is steadily recovering in hospital from a
serious illness. John’s wife Anita and his students are
attending to him each day.
We thank all the Doctors, Advisers,
Nurses, Staff, Chief Deva and his retinue at the Maroondah Hospital
for their dedication in caring for our Teacher.
We dedicate
the merits of this script to increasing the health, strength and long
life of John D. Hughes.
We thank the many Venerable Monks,
leaders in the Buddhist community and friends in Australia and
Overseas for the many blessings received for our Teacher.
Ven.
Suddhananda Mahathero wrote:
We in Bangladesh are very much
concerned to know about the condition of John D. Hughes. He is
such a good friend of ours in the path of Dhamma. It is
most reassuring to know that he is recovering steadily. Please
say our regards to Mrs. Anita Hughes.
We offered special
prayers for his recovery and chant prayers for his well being
during our morning and evening prayers. We hope by the grace of
the Triple Gems he shall be among us for many more days to
come.
Please keep us informed on his progress of
recovery.
Metta wishes.
Yours in the Dhamma
Ven.
Suddhananda Mahathero
High Priest, Dharmarajik Buddhist
Monastery
President, Bangladesh Bouddha Kristi Prachar Sangha
Dr.
Nantasarn Seesalab wrote:
Dear Friend in the Dhamma,
Kindly
be informed that we have received your E-mail dated 20 March,
B.E.2546 (2003) relating to the state of health of Dr.John D. Hughes
with our concern for his recovery.
On behalf of the WBU
Rector’s staff, may I invoke the Triple Gem blessing him with
speedy recovery and good health for a course of the World Buddhist
University
Yours in the Dhamma
Dr. Nantasarn
Seesalab
Acting Rector, WBU
Students continue to do daily
Medicine Buddha practice as instructed by Master Ru Sun to increase
the health and long life of John D. Hughes.
To begin the
process Master Ru Sun prepared some blessed water for John D. Hughes
and advised and on how the water could be used to prolong the life of
our Teacher.
His instructions were:
Boil some water and
let it cool. Then add the cool water and the blessed water
together.
Offer the water on the main altar at the Temple.
Offer
fresh flowers, water, round shaped fruit and other suitable puja
offerings on the main altar.
Chant the Medicine Buddha Mantra
forty-nine times, or more if you wish.
Then offer some of the
blessed water to John D. Hughes, some to the Devas and Devatas, and
keep some to use for the next day.
Repeat this process for
forty-nine days.
As the number of mantras chanted increases,
the water becomes more concentrated.
Students are encouraged
to chant the Medicine Buddha mantra daily at their homes and bring
the blessed water to offer to their Teacher at the hospital every day
for 49 days.
Today, Sunday March 30, is the 18th day.
The
result of this practice will be the safe recovery of our Teacher John
D. Hughes.
We will now chant Homage to the Medicine Buddha and
the Medicine Buddha Mantra three times:
NAMO BHAGAVATI.
BHAISAIJYA GURU VAITUREYA PRABHA RAJAYA.
NAMO BHAGAVATI.
BHAISAIJYA GURU VAITUREYA PRABHA RAJAYA.
NAMO BHAGAVATI.
BHAISAIJYA GURU VAITUREYA PRABHA RAJAYA.
NAMO BHAGAVATI.
BHAISAIJYA GURU VAITUREYA PRABHA RAJAYA. TATHAGATAYA ARHATI
SAMYAKSAMBUDDHAYA. TADYATHA. OM. BHAISAIJYI. BHAISAIJYI. BHAISAIJYA.
SAMUDGATI. SVAHA.
NAMO BHAGAVATI. BHAISAIJYA GURU VAITUREYA
PRABHA RAJAYA. TATHAGATAYA ARHATI SAMYAKSAMBUDDHAYA. TADYATHA. OM.
BHAISAIJYI. BHAISAIJYI. BHAISAIJYA. SAMUDGATI. SVAHA.
NAMO
BHAGAVATI. BHAISAIJYA GURU VAITUREYA PRABHA RAJAYA. TATHAGATAYA
ARHATI SAMYAKSAMBUDDHAYA. TADYATHA. OM. BHAISAIJYI. BHAISAIJYI.
BHAISAIJYA. SAMUDGATI. SVAHA.
As John Hughes recovers, he
continues to teach the Dhamma.
Several days ago, he indicated
to his wife Anita from his hospital bed that she should read the
Metta Sutta, or Sutra on Loving-kindness, to two patients nearby in
the hospital ward where he is now being cared for.
Anita
initially declined, saying that she would stay by his side in order
to devote all of her energy to his recovery, but she was persuaded by
some words he wrote down:
“The gift of one piece of
Dhamma is more wealth than all the jewels in all the worlds.”
Anita
then informed the nearby patients that her husband would like her to
read a Buddhist prayer for them. They were delighted, and so she read
to them the Metta Sutta.
We would like to read the Metta Sutta
for you now.
Karaniya Metta Sutta
The Discourse on
Loving-kindness
Translated from the Pali by Piyadassi
Thera.
While the Buddha was staying at Savatthi, a band of
monks, having received subjects of meditation from the master,
proceeded to a forest to spend the rainy season (vassana). The tree
deities inhabiting this forest were worried by their arrival, as they
had to descend from tree abodes and dwell on the ground. They hoped,
however, the monks would leave soon; but finding that the monks would
stay the vassana period of three months, harassed them in diverse
ways, during the night with the intention of scaring them away.
Living under such conditions being impossible, the monks went
to the Master and informed him of their difficulties. Thereon the
Buddha instructed them in the Metta sutta and advised their return
equipped with this sutta for their protection.
The monks went
back to the forest, and practicing the instruction conveyed,
permeated the whole atmosphere with their radiant thoughts of metta
or loving-kindness. The deities so affected by this power of love,
henceforth allowed them to meditate in peace.
The discourse
gets divided into two parts. The first detailing the standard of
moral conduct required by one who wishes to attain Purity and Peace,
and the second the method of practice of metta.
1. "He
who is skilled in (working out his own) well being, and who wishes to
attain that state of Calm (Nibbana) should act thus: he should be
dexterous, upright, exceedingly upright, obedient, gentle, and
humble.
2. "Contented, easily supportable, with but few
responsibilities, of simple livelihood, controlled in the senses,
prudent, courteous, and not hanker after association with families.
3. "Let him not perform the slightest wrong for which
wise men may rebuke him. (Let him think:) 'May all beings be happy
and safe. May they have happy minds.'
4.& 5. "Whatever
living beings there may be -- feeble or strong (or the seekers and
the attained) long, stout, or of medium size, short, small, large,
those seen or those unseen, those dwelling far or near, those who are
born as well as those yet to be born -- may all beings have happy
minds.
6. "Let him not deceive another nor despise
anyone anywhere. In anger or ill will let him not wish another ill.
7. "Just as a mother would protect her only child with
her life even so let one cultivate a boundless love towards all
beings.
8. "Let him radiate boundless love towards the
entire world -- above, below, and across -- unhindered, without ill
will, without enmity.
9. "Standing, walking, sitting or
reclining, as long as he is awake, let him develop this mindfulness.
This, they say, is 'Noble Living' here.
10. "Not falling
into wrong views -- being virtuous, endowed with insight, lust in the
senses discarded -- verily never again will he return to conceive in
a womb."
One of the blessings resulting from the
practice of metta or loving kindness is that a person never dies with
a confused mind.
The Dhammapada, Verse 354, says:
“The
gift of Dhamma excels all other gifts, The flavour of Dhamma excels
all other flavours; The pleasure of Dhamma excels all other
pleasures, One who has eradicated craving overcomes all sorrow.”
The
opening verse of the Dhammapada reads: "All that we are is the
result of our thoughts; it is founded on our thoughts and made up of
our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. If a man speaks or
acts with a harmful thought, trouble follows him as the wheel does
the ox that draws the cart."
Selecting someone worthy of
praise means finding someone who is well versed in the Buddha's
Texts, well practiced in living a meaningful life and someone who has
had right livelihood for many years.
So a person who had been
a fisherman or a slaughterman or a pest exterminator would not be
suitable to use as someone worthy of praise because they do not hold
the precept of no killing.
A person who had been a drug dealer
would not be worthy of praise because they do not hold the precept of
no intoxicants.
There is another aspect that requires a lot
of education and that is how to look for and find a true guru
(Teacher) and having found a satisfactory guru how to help the guru
in practical ways without naivete or unreasonable expectations of the
guru's functions.
The guru has one main function - to be a
shower of the way to the student and to guide with the appropriate
instructions the various minds of the student towards awakening. In a
Buddhist case, this means the ability to guide somebody to Nibbana as
a Stream Enterer.
Another aspect of the Guru which is not
obvious in the Western translation as Teacher, is that the Teacher
gives knowledge, but a Guru gives himself or herself. The real
Teachings of the Guru are his or her words.
Good Gurus have
many good Teachers- for example Atisha had fifty Teachers because he
was skilled in many types of practice. Atisha was successful because
Atisha knew how to look after his Teachers whenever he was with them
in former lives.
Some years ago, a Member of our Centre came
to the Teacher to ask permission to learn from another Teacher. He
said that he thought that he should have three Teachers in his
current lifetime. When this Member was asked which Teacher had
advised him to do this, he replied none, that it was his own
idea.
Whose instructions was he following that he wishes to
quit?
When our Teacher explained the danger of the wish for
three Teachers amounts to creating a schism within the Teachings as
it supposes three different Buddha Dhamma doctrines are to be learnt,
not one.
Unfortunately no division of such a split mind is
sufficiently strong enough to understand or practice anything taught
in Buddha Dhamma because it lacks right view (samma ditthi in
Pali).
For most lay persons the safety rule given is one life,
one Teacher, unless your Teacher advises otherwise.
For
others, it is given as one Temple, one life.
In order to
learn, persons must understand the pure reason they have a Teacher.
The Teacher is the major shower of the Middle Way.
The
true Teacher has a knowledge of what is path and what is not path and
knows the time and place to deliver the given teaching to a given
person.
If a person cannot learn from one true Dhamma Teacher
it is unlikely that he or she can learn from another true Dhamma
Teacher.
In Australia it is difficult to get ideal learning
conditions because there is not yet widespread Buddhist culture. For
most Teachers, the Student ought to work on the Middle Path for ten
or more years under one Teacher before being directed to another
Teacher. Otherwise, the needed protection is not possible.
The
Buddha Dhamma Teacher ought to expound clear and truthful teachings
to the student. The student should put the instructions into practice
without too much notion of an “I, my, me” and concentrate
on the present happenings in every moment.
Why?
Because
the real problem lies not with the Dhamma Teacher, but with the
Student.
Many persons shop to seek the permissive Teacher,
they seek the easy path, the most comfortable option, or the
so-called ‘feel good’ alternative. This an error.
This
search is not Buddha Dhamma practice so it can not be praised and
blessed.
It is a great blessing to have a Teacher who will
reveal the path that is correct, regardless of how it may make you
feel in the short term.
Students ought practice for the next
20 years till they mature their insight. Keeping precepts is vital to
success.
Rare is a chance to meet great Teachers of Buddha
Dhamma in Victoria. When a window of opportunity opens, we ought plan
to be there.
When Buddha Dhamma statements are studied, they
are found to be a practical guide of how to live in the world if a
person chooses to stay within the becoming of birth and death
processes.
If you want to develop your mind, investigate how
it actually functions. The mind can be compared to a horse, with you
as its master. If you wish to tame a horse you must know its habitual
behaviour. If the horse is trained well, it will do what you request.
However, the horse will usually act according to a pattern of
habitual behaviour. If you want to change this pattern, the horse may
refuse, because it is stubborn and wants to do what it always has
done.
If we leave the horse untrained, it cannot be relied
upon and causes all sorts of trouble.
The horse might run too
fast, or jump and throw you off; it may not move at all. What use is
a horse like that?
When tamed, the horse is obedient because
it has a good heart. We say that the heart we are born with is the
result of our many actions from the past (our kamma). We may have a
very good heart, but if we don't train it, its good capacities are
wasted.
Some persons are born bright, but die dull.
The
heart can be method and means, a tool that we can alter. In Buddha
Dhamma, much attention is given to cultivating the wholesome heart.
If we let the unwholesome heart take over, we will have many problems
and our suffering will never come to an end.
You can replace
the simile of the horse with any animal.
For example, in
Japan it is the ox. Master Andre Sollier teaches Sumi-e at our
Centre. In the year 2000, he taught the ‘Searching for the Ox: A
Series of Ox herding Paintings’. It is a sequence of 10 pictures
showing how the mind is tamed.
We have uploaded these
paintings, including text adapted from poetry written by Japanese Zen
Master Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki onto our websites at
www.buyresolved.com.au.
The ox represents the heart. The first
picture is entitled "Undisciplined" (meaning untamed).
The wild beast snorts, horns projected fiercely;
The
crazy black ox; energy undirected.
Frantically runs to and fro to
nowhere.
Over the valley moves a dark thunderous cloud.
The
destructive hooves, trampling the delicate flora.
Next, the
ox, restrained by the nose with a straw rope,
Attempts to flee,
whipped, whipped, severely beaten.
The powerful creature
naturally wild and resistant to training,
The trainer unrelenting
with his firm grip and striking whip.
Next, slowly becoming
comfortable led by the nose,
From the mountain top, down the
valley and by the stream, that ox contentedly follows.
The leader
holds the straw rope tight,
One foot in front of the other, aware
all day long, except of his own fatigue.
Next, the benefits of
training begin to show as the ox is faced round,
The fierce and
dominant beast has now melted into a gentle creature.
Although
now broken, the trainer does not give the ox his full trust.
The
ox is tied to a tree with the straw rope the master still
keeps.
Next, under the breezy willow and by the shimmering
stream,
The ox is free to pursue what he desires with his free
time,
Come dusk, a haze falls over the pasture,
The boy
stands and heads home, animal not hesitating to follow calmly.
Next,
on the peaceful pastures the beast whiles away the time,
Confidence
consolidated, restraint free forever, the whip is no longer required.
The boy can now relax under the pine tree,
His happiness
expressed by his playing of peaceful music.
What is your good
heart doing now?
In the last picture, entitled "Both
Vanished", the aim is achieved (the heart is tamed):
Empty,
both gone, steps without trace,
Full moon upon the lake, no
impression, nothing to carry,
What comes of its meaning,
Nothing
to own, offer the flowers.
If we leave our heart untamed for
too long, it will be too late to change, just as an old or sick horse
cannot be trained any more, or an old ox cannot work any more.
The
Buddha Dhamma Teacher who knows the student's heart can show the
student what he or she needs to do when the proper request for taming
is made with sincerity and the will to do is available.
The
Lord Buddha has given many teachings about training the good
heart.
A heart without concentration is like a pile of wooden
posts left lying on the ground for persons and animals to step all
over. But if we stand the posts up and plant them in the soil, we can
get good use out of them. Even if they're not tall--only a meter or
so - but we put them close together in a line, we can fence in our
yard and prevent intruders and animals from coming into our property.
It's the same with our heart. If we take a firm stance in
concentration as the heart's foundation, keeping our mindfulness and
presence of mind close together in line, we can keep defilements from
slipping into the heart and making it soiled.
Wise
consideration is the heart of spiritual life and the foundation on
which the mansion of deliverance is built. If not for wise thinking,
life would be run amok due to the weight of defilements (asavas).
To
consider wisely is to weigh a thing well in one's mind; to deliberate
on the reasons for and against; to reflect and reason out action as
opposed to being impulsive; and to determine intentionally the right
course, having analysed and separated the right from the wrong views,
the good from the bad actions.
This wholesome mental activity
of weighing it all up is what determines the course of a person's
life - whether life is to be progressive or retrogressive, whether
one's conduct is to be purposeful and beneficial or the contrary,
whether one is to get more and more involved in kamma and be fettered
helplessly to recurring existence, or one is to wrench oneself from
the grip of kamma and access the Supramundane dimension of spiritual
deliberation - Nibbana. But there is to be no sitting on the fence;
because there is nothing in between good and evil; there is nothing
in between wise and unwise consideration.
The good heart gets
clarity of the situation in all cases when it lets go of negative
ideas.
In earlier days life was a lot simpler, so cluttering
the heart with rubbish was less likely.
The regular and
gradual “emptying” of the good heart is the only guarantee
of mental health.
May our listeners come to reflect on the
simple practice that results in non-clinging to the Teacher or the
method, and when this is known may they know, each for himself or
herself, this practice is correct.
We thank the many Venerable
Monks, leaders in the Buddhist community and friends in Australia and
Overseas for the many blessings received for our Teacher.
May
the students intensify their Buddha Dhamma practice for the long life
of their Teacher.
May the merit of these good actions bless
the Chief Deva of Maroondah Hospital, his attendants and
advisers.
May all the Doctors, Advisers, Nurses and Staff of
the Maroondah Hospital be well and happy.
May they make the
correct decisions to prolong the long life of John D. Hughes.
May
they be guided by the Buddha in their decision making.
May the
merit of these good actions increase the health, strength and long
life of Anita M. Hughes.
May the merit of these good actions
increase the health, strength and long life of John D. Hughes.
May
all beings be well and happy.
May you be well and
happy.
Today's radio script includes a compendium of
weekly broadcasts from 11 June 2000 and 12 August 2001 to 26 August
2002. You can find this radio script and previous scripts online at:
www.bdcublessings.net.au.
This script was written and
edited by Julian Bamford BA(AppRec), Leanne Eames (MA, BA) and Pennie
White BA,
DipEd.
References
1.http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp1-08a.html
2.http://www.bdcublessings.net.au/radio89.html,
http://www.bdcublessings.net.au/radio184.html
http://www.bdcublessings.net.au/radio186.html
http://www.bdcublessings.net.au/radio187.html
Readability
Statistics
Counts
Words: 3183
Characters: 15108
Paragraphs:
139
Sentences: 193
Averages
Sentences per paragraph:
1.6
Words per Sentence: 15.4
Characters per word:
4.6
Readability Statistics
Passive Sentences: 10 %
Flesch
Reading Ease score: 64.8
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score:
7.8
Readability Statistics
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checking spelling and grammar, it can display information about the
reading level of the document, including the following readability
scores. Each readability score bases its rating on the average number
of syllables per word and words per sentence.
Flesch Reading
Ease score
Rates text on a 100-point scale; the higher the score,
the easier it is to understand the document. For most standard
documents, aim for a score of approximately 60 to 70.
Flesch-Kincaid
Grade Level score
Rates text on a U.S. grade-school level. For
example, a score of 8.0 means that an eighth grader can understand
the document. For most standard documents, aim for a score of
approximately 7.0 to 8.0.
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"The gift of
Dhamma excels all other gifts".
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