The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast Archives
Buddhist Hour
Radio Broadcast on
Hillside 88.0 FM
Broadcast 313 for Sunday 25 January 2004
This
script is titled: What is Buddha Dhamma?
Buddha Dhamma is a
system of living taught by the Buddha Shakyamuni. Buddha Dhamma is a
system that can help one come out of suffering -when practiced and
realised each for himself or herself, it stops the cycle of birth.
One can become fully enlightened and thus come no more to
birth avoiding old age, sickness and death.
The Buddha was
born about 2,500 years ago in a place called Lumbini in ancient
India, as Prince to the Shakya clan. He was known as Siddartha.
His
father, the King wished Siddartha to become King.
Siddartha
grew into a fine prince, learning all the skills of a prince and
excelled in all of them.
The King made sure that no imperfect
situation arose that would upset Siddartha and take his mind away
from concentrating on being a King. The King ordered that all sick
persons, all old persons and dying or dead persons were never to come
into the sight of his son.
This perfect unnatural life was
soon broken when Siddartha saw an old person, a sick person and a
dead body during his visits into the city outside the castle
walls.
These visions of other states of human life developed
in Siddartha a yearning for the knowledge of "why is it
so?"
After telling his wife, princess Yoshodhara,
Siddartha left his family, his father, his wife, his son and all his
royal wealth in search for the truth.
Siddartha could not
believe that one day he too would be afflicted with sickness, old age
and death and so would his loved ones. That he would be separated
through death from his wife and child who he loved very much.
He
wished to find out why there is suffering in life, why there is old
age, sickness and death? He wished to find a way to help his loved
ones and all beings understand this suffering and find an answer to
it.
After 6 years of practicing as an ascetic (holy man)
Siddartha had not discovered what he was looking for. This practice
involved renunciation of all worldly pleasures, refraining from
taking food, water, bathing, cutting hair, speaking. This was the
practice used by the holy men of the day in search for spiritual
truth.
One day a music teacher was teaching his student how to
play a string instrument.
Siddartha heard the teacher say "if
you wind the string too tight it will break and if you have the
string too loose, there will be no music". On hearing these
words, Siddartha came to the realisation of the middle way of life -
it must be neither strict and nor undisciplined.
The Buddha
Dhamma is called The Middle Way.
Siddartha then decided to sit
under the Bodhi tree to find out once and for all about the
world.
He sat under the Bodhi tree for six days. On the full
moon day of the fifth lunar month Siddartha came to
enlightenment.
During this time he came to realise the nature
of all things, the nature of existence, how to come into being and
how to stop coming into existence.
From this day on he was
called the Buddha.
The Buddha said that each person can find
out all the things that he had found out for themselves.
He
recommended that persons find out for themselves - that this is the
only way to wake, by seeing for yourself.
He taught the
method of what he had done so others could follow in his footsteps
and come to understand about the nature of the world.
Through
practicing Samantha Bhavana - one pointed concentration, and
Vipassana Bhavana - insight meditation, one can see for himself or
herself.
So, Buddha Dhamma is a system of practice that can
lead one to enlightenment - realising the nature of all
things.
Buddha Dhamma is a system that gets one out of
suffering - stops the cycle of birth. One can no more come to birth,
thus avoid old age, sickness and death.
The Buddha found that
beings are forever being born, getting sick, old and dying.
That
beings are always in this cycle of birth and death. That beings take
birth in the six planes of existence - human, heavenly, hell, hungry
ghost, azura and animal.
He found that this cycle was fueled
by craving - the desire for being.
The Buddha taught the law
of dependent arising, as a structural principle, is to be understood
in the four noble truths, the summary of the teaching of the
Buddha.
The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the Buddha's teaching
on the four noble truths is considered to be the first sermon the
Buddha gave after his enlightenment.
The four noble truths
are:
The noble truth of sorrow (life is suffering)
The
noble truth of the arising of sorrow
The noble truth of the
cessation of sorrow
The noble truth of the path which leads to the
cessation of sorrow.
Truth (sacca in Pali language) is "that
which is". The Buddha taught that there are four such
truths.
The first truth deals with dukkha (suffering or
sorrow). As a feeling dukkha means, that which is difficult to be
endured.
The truth of sorrow shows us that "birth is
sorrow, old age is sorrow, sickness is sorrow, death is sorrow,
grief, lamentation, pain, misery and despair are sorrow; association
with the loathsome is sorrow, separation from the loved is sorrow,
not to get what one wants is sorrow - in short, the five taken-up
aggregates are sorrow".
Venerable Ajahn Sumedho
encourages us to "understand dukka: to really look at, stand
under and accept your suffering. Try to understand it when you are
feeling physical pain or despair and anguish or hatred or aversion -
whatever form it takes, whatever quality it has, whether it is
extreme or slight. This teaching does not mean that to get
enlightened you have to be utterly and totally miserable. You do not
have to have everything taken away from you or be tortured on the
rack; it means being able to look at suffering, even if it is just a
mild feeling of discontent, and understand it."
Ajahn
Sumedho explains that there are three aspects to understanding that
there is suffering. The first insight is to see that there is
suffering, not to just say that I am suffering or 'I meditate and go
on retreats to get out of suffering, but I'm still suffering and
don’t want to suffer'. When we say "there is suffering' we
are looking from a reflective position rather than owning the
suffering and saying that it is mine. The insight is simply the
acknowledgment that there is this suffering without making it
personal.
The second insight of the first noble truth is
'suffering should be understood'. The second aspect is that suffering
or (dukkha in Pali language) is something to understand. One should
understand suffering, not just try to get rid of it.
The
third aspect of suffering is 'suffering has been understood'. When
you have actually practiced with suffering, looking at it, accepting
it, knowing it and letting it be the way it is, then there is the
third aspect, 'suffering has been understood'.
Narada Thera
answers What is this Noble Truth of Suffering?:
"Birth is
suffering, old age is suffering, disease is suffering. Death is
suffering, to be united with the unpleasant is suffering, not to
receive what one craves for is suffering, in brief the five
Aggregates are suffering".
The cause of human suffering
can be found in the thirsts of the physical body and in the illusions
of worldly passion.
If these thirsts and illusions are traced
to their source, they are found to be rooted in the intense desires
of physical instincts.
Desire, having a strong will to live,
as its basis, seeks that which it feels desirable, even if it is
sometimes death. This is called the Truth of the Cause of
Suffering.
Ajahn Sumedho explains the second noble truth is
also examined from three aspects; 'there is the origin of suffering,
which is the attachment to desire. Desire should be let go of. Desire
has been let go of'.
The second noble truth states that there
is an origin of suffering and that the origin and that the origin of
suffering is attachment to the three kinds of desire: desire for
sense pleasure, (kama tanha in Pali language), desire to become
(bhava tanha in Pali language) and desire to get rid of (vibhava
tanha).
Desire for sense pleasure is wanting sense pleasures
through the body or the other senses and always wanting things to
excite or please your senses. For example, when you are eating, if
you are hungry and the food tastes delicious, you can be aware of
wanting to take another bite.
Desire for wanting to become
something can be seen in the realm of ambition and attainment - the
desire to become. We get caught in striving to become happy, seeking
to become wealthy or wanting to become something other than what you
are right now.
When we get disillusioned with trying to become
something, then there is the desire to 'get rid of things'. 'I want
to get rid of my suffering, I want to get rid of my anger. We are not
taking a stand against the desire to get rid of things nor are we
encouraging that desire. Instead, we are reflecting, 'It's like this;
it feels like this to want to get rid of something'.
The
second insight into the second noble truth is 'Desire should be let
go of'. This insight is about recognising desire without identifying
with it in any way.
The third insight is 'desire has been let
go'. When you have let go of desire, you no longer judge or try to
get rid of, you recognise that it's just the way it is. Through the
practice of letting go we realise that there is the origin of
suffering, which is the attachment to desire, and we realise that we
should let go of these three kinds of desire. Then we realise that we
have let go of these desires; there is no longer any attachment to
them.
If desire, which lies at the root of all human passion,
can be removed, then passion will die out and all human suffering
will be ended. This is called the Truth of the Cessation of
Suffering.
In order to enter into a state where there is no
desire and no suffering, one must follow a certain Path.
The
cause of this suffering is craving or attachment (tanha) which is the
Second Noble Truth.
The truth of the arising of sorrow is "the
craving which leads to renewal of being, accompanied by delight and
passion, finding delight in various things; that is to say, craving
for pleasure, craving for being and craving for non-being".
The
truth of the cessation of sorrow "is the remainderless
dispassion cessation, giving-up, relinquishment, abandonment, and
release from that same craving".
Ajahn Sumedho explains
that the whole aim of the Buddhist teaching is to develop the
reflective mind in order to let go of delusions. The four noble
truths is a teaching about letting go by investigating or
contemplating 'why is it like this?' without forming an opinion about
whether these are good, bad, useful or useless'.
We reflect as
we see suffering; as we see the nature of desire; as we recognise
that attachment to desire is suffering. Then we have the insight of
allowing desire to go and the realisation of non-suffering, the
cessation of suffering. These insights can only come through
reflection; they cannot come through belief.
Cessation is the
natural ending of any condition that has arisen. It is not something
that we create in the mind but it is the end of that which began.
Therefore, cessation is not a self- it does not come about from a
sense of 'I have to get rid of things,' but when we allow that which
has arisen to cease. To do that, one has to abandon craving- let it
go. Then, when it has ceased, you experience cessation, emptiness,
non-attachment.
The truth of the path leading to the cessation
of sorrow "is the noble eightfold path, that is to say, right
view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood,
right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration".
To
start to live by the noble eight fold path a one ought to develop the
ten bases for meritorious actions.
The Ten Bases for
Meritorious Actions (in Pali language: Dasa Punna Kiriyavatthu) are
the key practices enunciated by the Buddha for us to practice as a
group, they are:
1.Dana - Giving
In Pali language,
Dana-maya-punna-kiriya vatthu
2.Sila - Morality
In Pali
language, Sila-maya-punna-kiriya vatthu
3.Bhavana - meditation
to arise the skilful states of the mind conducive to liberation.
In
Pali language, Bhavana-maya-punna-kiriya vatthu
4.Apacayana -
Reverence to the Triple Gem, one’s parents, teachers, elders,
and so on.
In Pali language, Apaciti-sahagata-punna-kiriya vatthu
5.Veyyavacca - Service to the Triple Gem, one’s parents,
teachers, elders, and so on.
In Pali language,
Veyyavacca-sahagata-punna-kiriya vatthu
6.Pattidana - Sharing
of merits
In Pali language, Pattanuppadana-punna-kiriya vatthu
7.Pattanumodana - Sharing in others’ merits
In Pali
language, Abbhanumodana-punna-kiriya vatthu
8.Dhammasavana -
Listening to Dhamma
In Pali language, Savana-maya-punna-kiriya
vatthu
9.Dhammadesana - Teaching the Dhamma
Desana-maya-punna-kiriya vatthu
10.Ditthijukamma -
Rectification of one’s views. Correcting one's own wrong views.
In Pali language, Ditthijukama-punna-kiriya vatthu
When
you understand what Buddha Dhamma is, and you wish to know more about
it and how to practice Buddha Dhamma, you must generate merit through
wholesome actions (good deeds) to fuel your continued learning and
realisation.
It is by realisation of the four noble truths
that you can follow the path taught by the Buddha to become
awakened.
The method followed by our Founder, John David
Hughes is to do just this. To generate opportunities for persons to
make merit in order to realize the four Noble Truths. Our Centre
operates on these ten bases for meritorious actions. You are most
welcome to come and participate in our merit making activities.
We
would like to quote here from the book by Annatta "As it is"
where the author quotes from the poem by Sir Edwin Arnold about the
Life and Teachings of the Buddha :
The first truth is of
Sorrow. Be not mocked!
Life which ye prize is long drawn
agony:
Only its pains abide; its pleasures are
As birds which
light and fly.
Ache of the birth, ache of the helpless
days,
Ache of the chill grey years and choking death,
These
fill your piteous time.
Sweet is fond love, but funeral-flames
must kiss
The breast which pillow and the lips which
cling;
Gallant is warlike might, but vultures pick
The joints
of chief and king.
Beauteous is earth, but all its
forest-broods
Plot mutual slaughter, hungering to live;
Of
sapphire are the skies, but when men cry
Famished, no drops they
give.
Ask of the sick, the mourners, ask of him
Who
tottereth on his staff, lone and forlorn:
"Liketh thee life?"
- these say the babe is wise
That weepeth being born.
As
the author, Annatta comments at the end of this poem
"this
appears to be a very gloomy picture, but that is not all there is to
it; it is merely a diagnosis of the condition of life as lived by
most of us."
The first step is to know, understand and
realise the four noble truths. See life as it really is. When one
understands this, the wish to find a way to be happy whether in
living or in dying is generated.
Next week we will continue
with more on the four noble truths.
May you understand the
first noble truth: there is suffering.
May you know the causes
of suffering.
May you realise there is a way out of
suffering.
May you follow the eightfold path that is the way
out of suffering.
May you practice the ten bases for
meritorious action.
This script was written and edited by the
Buddhist Hour Radio team: Evelin Halls, Anita Hughes, Lisa Nelson,
Julie O'Donnell and Pennie White.
May you be well and
happy.
References
Ten Bases for Meritorious Actions
- Dasa Punna Kiriyavatthu. Five Day Bhavana Course - 4 to 8 September
1999, taught by John D. Hughes at the Buddhist Discussion Centre
(Upwey) Ltd., printed in the Buddha Dhyana Dana Review Volume 9 No.
3.
Sumedho, Venerable Ajarn, 1998, The Four Noble Truths, The
Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, Taiwan, p
20.
Thera, Narada, 1996, Buddhism in a Nutshell, Sukhi Hotu,
Malaysis, p 23.
Counts
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Paragraphs: 161
Sentences: 155
Averages
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Words per Sentence: 17.8
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Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score: 8.5
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