Buddhist
Hour
Radio Broadcast on Hillside 88.0 FM
Buddhist Hour Script
322 for Sunday 28 March 2004
This script is entitled:
“Practise and develop merit making”
On the topic of merit Francis Quarles wrote in 1635:
the sufficiency of merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient.
In the Dhammapada is written 'happiness is the outcome of the
accumulation of merit.' (Dhammapada 118)
Today we are going to
talk about how to practise and develop merit making.
On 1
February 2004, during the Buddhist hour, we outlined The Code of
Conduct for our Members and Students of the Chan Academy Australia,
Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. as recommended to us by our
late Founder, Master John D. Hughes.
This Code of Conduct is
comprised of 12 items to be incorporated into our daily Buddha Dhamma
practice, and reviewed regularly.
The 12 items are
to:
Practice and develop morality.
Practise and develop
generosity.
Practise kindness, in the Pali language metta.
Practise and develop refuge in the Triple Gem.
Practise and
develop Buddhist meditation.
Practise and develop merit making.
Develop your scholarship.
Whenever you take food or liquid, do
"Five Reflections on Food".
Support Buddhist
Organisations locally, nationally and internationally.
Practise
and develop our five styles of friendliness, cultural adaptability,
professionalism, scholarship, and practicality.
Plan to become
debtless.
Write a life plan.
Be careful what you wish for,
it will come true.
Our Members and students successfully live
their lives according to Buddha Dhamma by following these
recommendations.
Their lives improve and they become
happier.
This week, we are exploring the sixth item in our
Code of Conduct – practise and develop merit making.
For
over 2500 years, Buddha Dhamma has helped people understand the
causes for personal happiness. Buddha Dhamma is relevant, practical
and timeless.
Our Centre is structured as a charitable
self-help organisation,
We teach in many practical ways how
to lend a helping hand.
Each week we publish in paper and
online our internal newsletter The Brooking Street Bugle. The BSB, as
we call it, is written and presented in a tone and style so that
people who have heard a little of the Buddha's Teachings will be able
to identify and develop affinity with the Centre's policies and
activities and to understand the culture of "the way we do
things around here".
In this function the Brooking
Street Bugles serves as a reliable and current information sheet
detailing many of the meritorious projects and activities our members
and other Buddha Dhamma practitioners engage in. Articles in the BSB
contain good practical advice for the layperson of how to make merit
through action, such fundraising for overseas orphanages, building
and maintaining the Temple, and publishing Buddha Dhamma online.
It
reports on our policies and activities as a World Fellowship of
Buddhists Regional Centre to our target market; it serves as a
bridging mechanism to link others into our network and to events. It
reports on Dhamma insights and merit making activities by ourselves
and others.
The words of Buddha Dhamma are potent. The
practise of Buddha Dhamma is enduring. We are able to make merit in
three distinct ways from writing Buddha Dhamma for Dana. Firstly we
present it as an object of hearing consciousness, e.g. sound on radio
broadcasts and Dhamma talks.
We care for the words that have
been written about in many Buddha Dhamma texts. In Buddha Dhamma,
although some words and phrases take on special meaning, free of
doubt or confusion, Buddha Dhamma is not taught by the method of the
dictionary. Secondly, we provide it in proper written form so that
seeing consciousness can be used. Thirdly, we place it on the
Internet with hypertext to awake the mind.
We aim to continue
to write in our polyglot style but stay non-provocative while making
boundaries clear when they exist and need explanation within our
religion.
During a past Five Day course our late Teacher John
D. Hughes gave a demonstration of the transferring of merit to 'lend
a helping hand', and showed this does not result in annihilation but
in more energy and blessings to the practitioner.
The
expedient means of the Buddha Dharma became apparent along with the
realisation that much of merit goes to hidden agendas in minds, which
have not strong commitment to 'lending a helping hand'.
During
that course the appropriate dana conditions available meant it was
possible to assemble wholesome conditions where the practitioner's
merit may be increased.
As the amount of merit accumulated is
increased by the effectiveness of the action, and given the reality
of committed person's time constraints, activities here and elsewhere
should be shifted towards utilising the methodologies of an
information culture.
The difference between involved and
committed Members was stressed. Having found a right habitat in
Upwey, committed Members’ task is to drive the changes needed to
maximise their merit making activities at the Centre.
It pays
to get the user interface right for culture change. For those who
persist, clarification and understanding of what is what in this area
becomes known. If you follow the controverted point that merit
(PUNNA) increases with utility you can understand why the stress of
the Centre's 'helping hand' approach needed to be shifted towards the
utility promise of an information culture paradigm.
New
technology may remove some of the traditional methods of making
merit. For example, if we followed the extreme case of having our
publications available on line only: giving "old fashioned"
paper based copies gratis to visitors may vanish.
Technical
persons may seek to delete making such merit.
The end-in-view
is to drive the technology changes needed to make it easier to make
more merit for Members in what we do. It must be clear to Member's
minds that the controverted point that error is unmoral is
wrong.
Committed persons will take care to train themselves to
know what conditions will result as their management changes
direction, before they 'lend a helping hand'.
Our next Five
Day Course will be run at the Chan Academy Australia from 9 April
2004 (Good Friday) and 13 April 2003.
Five Day Meditation
Course is both a merit consuming and merit making activity. Because
there is a great variety of beneficial Buddhist practices, there are
many ways of transformation or multiplication of merits. Without
merit to use, there would be no cause to apply Buddha's Teachings to
remove hate, greed and ignorance and grow in direct knowledge and
direct experience of Buddha Dhamma.
During the course there
will be two Pujas taught by visiting Master Franciso So, on Friday 9
and Monday 12 April. All five day courses are free of charge. If you
would like to attend the course please telephone our Centre 0n 9754
3334.
As part of our annual fundraising program we will be
selling flowers at our regular site in Swansea Rd Lilydale. We look
forward seeing you there.
Operating the flower stall provides
Members and Friends of the Chan Academy Australia with the
opportunity to make merit through the preparation and running of the
flower stalls.
Through these flower stalls people who
purchase the flowers are also provided with the opportunity to make
merit through the subsequent offering of these flowers to family and
friends.
Our flower stall team works in harmony applying our
five styles of: friendliness, practicality professionalism, cultural
adaptability and scholarship. The merit of these actions assists in
removing hindrances to learning.
Mahasi Sayadaw wrote in the
book One Truth Only:
“There are five causes of
deterrents, called hindrances, to the attainment of concentration and
wisdom. These are: sensual desire, ill will, laziness, restlessness
and doubt. Here, laziness means reluctance to hear or practise the
Dhamma and getting bored or dejected during meditation. Restlessness
is worry or anxiety over one’s mistakes in the past, and doubt
refers to doubt about the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, or about the way
to the attainment of the supreme supramundane path, fruition and
Nibbana.”
If two persons exchanged flowers to each other
with the thought of transformation of merit to caga, it would be
possible for them to meet again in a future life. The potential for
this positive action using the merit of flowers is why we choose to
sell flowers on this day.
Having met with these conditions in
Australia, it is within our constitution to allow Members to develop
their roles and make merit for the benefit of themselves and others
at the local, national and international levels of education.
The
best connectivity network for roles at an international level is to
co-operate with the World Fellowship of Buddhists.
Buddha
Dhamma is timeless but the conditions where we sustain learning are
difficult to sustain. Always in our public relations, we must stress
we create a suitable environs where the trivial gives way to
professional learning backed by a data warehouse having sufficient
scholar’s resources.
Our PR must never sloganise (1st
order). Such expressions have limited use for childish persons like
the imperative ‘Make Merit’. Our public relations must
contain at least 2nd order or preferably 3rd order thinking and hint
that two to three levels of complexity of wisdom can be found by
thinking above 3rd statements within any written public relations
document.
If you do not make more merit than you consume, your
troubles will never come to an end (2nd order).
In Buddhism,
the distinction between what is good and what is bad is very simple:
all actions that have their roots in greed, hatred, and delusion that
spring from selfishness foster the harmful delusion of selfhood.
These action are demeritorious or unskillful or bad. They are called
Akusala Kamma. All those actions which are rooted in the virtues of
generosity, love and wisdom, are meritorious--- Kusala Kamma. The
criteria of good and bad apply whether the actions are of thought,
word or deed.
As the education levels of Australians rise,
persons will not incline to read simple 1st order statements about
religion. They are “too old-fashioned” to be believed.
Old-fashioned persons may have simple needs but they do not generate
much merit.
Because some of the Centre's Members have
undertaken one or more Bodhisattva Vows it is necessary to create
good causes to enable much merit to be accumulated to make their Vows
stay.
The Buddha taught that the real source of
dissatisfaction is within our own minds: that through ignorance we
are not able to understand what is beneficial or what is harmful. We
need to understand that our normal reactive responses of attraction
to the things we want and aversion to the things we don't want
scatter the mind and create loss of focus. In this distracted state
the mind is completely deluded and is egocentric. There is a sense of
uninvolvement with people and a lack of interest in others.
This
is why love and compassion are important. There needs to also be the
practice of Meditation in order to develop wisdom. The two methods of
cultivation needed are:
(1) Accumulation of merit. This is
related to the practice of love
and compassion and is active.
(2)
Accumulation of wisdom. The practice of Meditation is to gain insight
and is passive.
In order that we can become more tolerant,
kinder and more understanding, we must practise the four
immeasurables: Love, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity.
In the
cultivation of these four, wisdom is needed to avoid various
distortions which can arise.
Morality is a virtue. Future
retribution for immoral actions can be avoided by accumulation of
merit (Pali punna). Lay people can make merit by producing and
distributing facsimiles of proper Buddhist information to persons who
can put that information into their psycho-physical stream.
To
generate causes to enable Members to meditate with 'vision' directed
towards gaining insights into learning what is needed for Buddhist
education, our Members need to generate merit for that purpose. Our
five day courses are structured so that merit making opportunities
are created during the morning, afternoon and evening sessions. These
'windows of opportunity' are welcomed by our Members.
The
effect of the teachings and making of merit on the Members makes
their minds 'brighter' and helps them realise the social, economic
and cultural conditions of the present in order to overcome the
conditioning of the past.
When making merit, emphasis is
placed on the non-coercive nature of the Dana required to create
Buddhist Education. Within the 'big picture', Members see the
interconnectedness of nature so just as nature is impermanent, human
beings are not separate from this impermanent nature but are part of
it.
Conze, states " "Merit" (Punya) is the
motive force which propels us towards enlightenment, and in order to
strive fruitfully we are bound to wish to amass it ... It is,
however, at once obvious that in so extravagantly praising the merit
to be derived from Perfect Wisdom, the authors were, by appealing to
the acquisitive instincts of mankind, in danger of sinning against
the very spirit of the Prajnaparamita. To hoard "merit" is
surely better than to hoard money, titles and honours, but it is
still hoarding." ... The Prajnaparamita offers two measures
designed to eliminate the danger of treating spiritual gains as if
they were worldly possessions: Firstly, a consideration of the
ontological character of the merit shows that it cannot possibly grow
or increase, and that, since it is like everything else empty, only a
fool would want to grasp at it or to appropriate it. Secondly, a
positive counter measure is recommended, the Dedication of all
personal merit to the great task of leading all beings to the supreme
enlightenment."
Buddhist practice emphasises the
importance of dedicating the merits made by us to some particular
purpose or direction. Our late Teacher, John D. Hughes, explained the
difficulty that arises if we do not dedicate the merits of our
practice.
Without the dedication, our merit will not be linked
to any particular purpose. That unlinked merit will arise at some
time, but not necessarily in association with the process of Buddhist
practice or realisation. For example, merits made may produce a
heaven birth at some future time. However, without dedication of
those merits, that birth may not be a Buddhist Teaching heaven. The
birth may remove from us contact with Buddha Dhamma and create many
more aeons wandering in samsara with no particular direction. That
merit has only served to keep us in the world with no path or
purpose.
Buddhism is a path of wisdom not blind faith, not
superstition.
Wisdom is not knowledge, and also it is not
intellect. It is an appreciation of the way things are. Wisdom is to
realize the true nature of things and to cut off ignorance which is
the root of all evil.
Every moment of our existence we create
a life.
Therefore it is very important to make a contribution
to this life in a constructive way. The way we live, our volitional
actions of body, speech and mind help to shape our life and this
world.
We have to train our mind in three ways, it is called
threefold training:
When you do a good action as offering dana
it will be meritorious action. You acquire a great merit. It is
called good karma. It also has a result. The result you gain by doing
good karma can be happiness, peace, health, strength, knowledge in
this life time or next. Though you offer a material thing as a meal
you also offer a life for a Monk to live. That's why you will gain
long life as a result in return.
If you have matured in these
qualities in your mind you will be born with mind of non-attachment,
non-aversion and non-delusion. These are the qualities of a mind that
can gain the enlightenment.
When Bhante Kassapa visited our
Centre some years ago he explained to our students the importance of
offering dana on behalf of the Buddha and also how the dana should be
offered to the Sangha to maximise the merit.
The first part of
the food you have prepared this morning or before midday you can
offer to the Buddha. You can serve a little from each different bowl
and place it into a small bowl on a tray with a cup of water and with
a very devoted mind you can offer this food on behalf of the Buddha
to an Image of the Buddha. You can gain tremendous positive energy
and great merit from this action and you will be able to experience
happiness and peace as a result. When you offer the dana you have to
think:
The Blessed One, The Worthy, The Enlightened One:
This
food I worshipfully offer.
I offer this food to:
The Buddhas of
the past
The Buddhas that are yet to come
The Buddhas of the
present age
Lowly, I, each day offer.
Offering of food to
the Sangha is common everywhere in the Buddhist World.
When
you offer something to Monks, you should always bear in your mind
that you are offering this food to the whole Community of the Sangha.
Use broad view mind when offering dana to the Sangha and then you
will know that you are offering dana to the whole Community of the
Sangha in the past, present and future.
In the book What
Buddhists Believe, Venerable Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda wrote:
A
fortunate or unfortunate life depends on individual merits and
demerits.
The performance of good actions gives rise to merit
(punna), a quality which purifies and cleanses the mind. If the mind
is unchecked, it has the tendency to be ruled by evil tendencies,
leading one to perform bad deeds and getting into trouble. Merit
purifies the mind of the evil tendencies of greed, hatred and
delusion. The greedy mind encourages a person to desire, accumulate
and hoard; the hating mind drags him to dislike and anger; and the
deluded mind makes one become entangled in greed and hatred, thinking
that these evil roots are right and worthy. Demeritorious deeds give
rise to more suffering and reduce the opportunities for a person to
know and practise the Dhamma.
Merit is important to help us
along our journey through life. It is connected with what are good
and beneficial to oneself and others, and can improve the quality of
the mind. While the material wealth a person gathers can be lost by
theft, flood, fire, confiscation, etc., the benefit of merits follows
him from life to life and cannot be lost, although it can be
exhausted if no attempts are made to perform more merits. A person
will experience happiness here and now ass well as hereafter through
the performance of merit.
Merit is a great facilitator: It
opens the doors of opportunity everywhere. A meritorious person will
succeed in whatever venture he puts his effort into. If he wishes to
do business, he will meet with the right contacts and friends. If he
wishes to be a scholar, he will be awarded with scholarships and
supported by academic mentors. If he wishes to progress in
meditation, he will meet with a skillful meditation teacher who
guides him through his spiritual development. His dreams will be
realized through the grace of his treasury of merit. It is merit that
enables a person to be reborn in the heavens, and provides him with
the right conditions and support for his attainment of Nibbana.
The
Buddha taught ten meritorious deeds for us to perform in order to
gain a happy and peaceful life as well as to develop knowledge and
understanding. The ten meritorious deeds are:
1. Charity
2.
Morality
3. Mental culture
4. Reverence or respect 5.
Service in helping others
6. Sharing merits with others
7.
Rejoicing in the merits of others
8. Preaching and teaching the
Dhamma
9. Listening to the Dhamma
10. Straightening one's
views
The performance of these ten meritorious deeds will not
only benefit oneself, but others as well, besides giving benefits to
the recipients. Moral conduct benefits all beings with whom one comes
into contact. Mental culture brings peace to others and inspires them
to practise the Dhamma. Reverence gives rise to harmony in society,
while service improves the lives of others. Sharing merits with
others shows that one is concerned about others' welfare, while
rejoicing in others' merits encourages others to perform more merits.
Teaching and listening to the Dhamma are important factors
for happiness for both the teacher and listener, while encouraging
both to live in line with Dhamma. Straightening one's views enables a
person to show to others the beauty of Dhamma.
In the
Dhammapada, the Buddha taught:
'Should a person perform good,
He should do it again and again; He should find pleasure therein; For
blissful is the accumulation of good.' - 118
'Think not
lightly of good, saying, 'It will not come near to me' - Even by the
falling of drops a water-jar is filled. Likewise the wise man,
gathering little by little, Fills himself with good.' - 122
May
the merit made of this script be a cause for our Chan Academy
Australia last for 500 years as a place for persons to study,
practise and realise Buddha Dhamma.
May the Triple Gem bless
you in your practice.
May your come to understand how merit
brings you happiness.
May your merit multiply for the benefit
of all living beings.
May you be well and happy.
We
thank the Devas and Devatas of Learning for their help in and
guidance with the writing of this script.
This script was
written and edited the Buddhist Hour Radio Team, Julian Bamford,
Leanne Eames, Pennie White.
References:
Chan
Academy Australia brochure. Published and printed February 2003. Our
ref: LAN2 I:\brofeb03.rtf
Mencken H.L. (Editor) A New
Dictionary of Quotations. New York Alfred A. Knopf 1991
Chan
Academy Australia, LAN 1 digital data warehouse using ISYS Text
Retrieval System Search on merit, Melbourne.
Conze, Edward.
The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers
Pvt.Ltd., Delhi India 1990
Tipitaka Network, available at URL
http://www.tipitaka.net/ebooks/pageload.php?book=0004&page=08
accessed on 25 March 2004
Disclaimer
As we, the
Chan Academy Australia, Chan Academy being a registered business name
of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd., do not control the
actions of our service providers from time to time, make no warranty
as to the continuous operation of our website(s). Also, we make no
assertion as to the veracity of any of the information included in
any of the links with our websites, or another source accessed
through our website(s).
Accordingly, we accept no liability
to any user or subsequent third party, either expressed or implied,
whether or not caused by error or omission on either our part, or a
member, employee or other person associated with the Chan Academy
Australia (Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.)
This Radio
Script is for Free Distribution. It contains Buddha Dhamma material
and is provided for the purpose of research and study.
Permission
is given to make printouts of this publication for FREE DISTRIBUTION
ONLY. Please keep it in a clean place.
"The gift of
Dhamma excels all other gifts".
For more information,
contact the Centre or better still, come
and visit us.
Disclaimer
© 2002. Copyright. The Buddhist Discussion Centre
(Upwey) Ltd.