Buddhist Hour
Script No. 423
Broadcast live on 3MDR 97.1 FM
11.00 pm to 12 midnight.
On Friday 14 April 2006 CE 2549 Buddhist Era
This script is entitled:
"Applying the Buddha's Teachings to Everyday Life"
Welcome to tonight's Buddhist Hour Broadcast. This is a special program as we are presenting the first class of our Buddha Dhamma course called "Applying the Buddha's Teachings to Everyday Life." The course, presented by the Chan Academy Australia, was first given in December 2005 in Upwey, Victoria.
Over the term of the ten week course we presented the fundamental aspects of Buddha Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha covering the Four Noble Truths, Buddhist morality, the Law of Kamma and the Ten Perfections.
We will explain how these knowledges can be applied in everyday life as a path of training to improve our minds, leading to mental clarity, peace, wisdom, and true happiness.
You will be able to follow the course by tuning into the Buddhist Hour on 97.1 FM each Friday Evening at 11pm and by reading the weekly paper on line at www.bdcublessings.net.au.
We wish that you will become inspired to come to our weekly public teaching course at the Dandenong Ranges Community Cultural Centre, at 351 Glenfern Road, Upwey every Tuesday evening at 7:30pm.
Now we will begin with the welcoming address and Dhamma talk that our teacher Anita Carter prepared for the first class of "Applying the Buddha's Teachings to Everyday Life". This will be followed by an adaptation of the first night's teaching which introduced the first Sermon of the Buddha.
The talk began as follows:
"Most Venerable Peo Liv, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tonight's teaching. My name is Anita Carter and I am a Director, Secretary and Abbot of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. I am happy to see you here tonight. I am the widow of John David Hughes who was the Founder of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd in 1978."
"It is my life’s goal to continue John’s work in propagating the Buddhist Teachings and maintaining the Centre he founded."
"We are fortunate that we have a senior Member of the community of Buddhist monks here with us tonight to guide the meditation. Venerable Peo Liv has kindly agreed to help us by giving the traditional Buddhist blessing in the ancient Pali language that the Buddha taught in, 2500 years ago."
"Venerable Peo Liv is the Abbot of Wat Dhammaram Buddhist Temple in Springvale Victoria and has been a monk for 50 years. He is one of the most senior monks in Australia and has been a close friend of our Centre for many years and of our Founder John David Hughes."
Today we are giving an overview of our course called "Applying the Buddha's Teachings to Everyday Life."
Our aim is to give practical advice on how to do this and how to sustain what you learn so your development can continue throughout your life.
The first question to be asked by someone who wishes to study the Buddha's teachings is "what am I looking for?" What do I want to find from studying the Buddha’s teachings?
It is likely everybody here tonight has a different way of explaining what we are looking for. Now, there is no right or wrong answer. We each want something.
Now think about it, "what are you looking for?"
As we went around the room some of the answers people gave were:
"I am looking for peace."
"My life has been full of pain so far and I wish to find a path to happiness." "I want to be able to cope with life."
"I want to learn meditation."
"I want to learn how to be more friendly and kinder to people."
Well, the Buddha’s teachings can definitely teach you how to do all those things, and one of the fundamental facts of Buddha Dhamma, is that you can do it for yourself by following the Buddha’s instructions.
The Buddha and Buddha Dhamma teachers can only show you the way. The Buddha Dhamma says that there is no one who is going to come and save you. There are many persons and beings that can help and guide you, but they cannot save you and get you out of suffering. That is for you and you alone, with your mind, to do. So, Buddha Dhamma gives us great hope and power because it says you can do it, the Buddha says you can do it by your own effort, and this is what to do! I will show you the way!
Anita Carter then related in brief the Buddha’s story; how he was born into a rich family, and on becoming disenchanted by the temporary nature of worldly happiness, he left his palace to lead the life of an ascetic.
During his six year practice as a recluse he found the middle-way and the path that leads to Nibbana and Full Enlightenment.
He was driven by his great compassion towards all beings when he saw that no one was safe from sickness, old age and death and he wanted to find a way that beings did not have to endure this suffering.
So, when the Buddha finally sat under the Bodhi tree in his meditation over two and a half thousand years ago he found out about the real nature of existence, the way things are in ultimate reality from the view of enlightened wisdom.
In this perfect wisdom he found out what he had been seeking since he left the royal palace years before. He found out how to stop suffering.
Later, when the Buddha came to teach others what he had understood, he explained it as four truths known now as The Four Noble Truths. These truths set forth a practical path of training and cultivation which others can follow, such as we here tonight can follow if we wish, two and a half thousand years later.
A path towards seeing for ourselves what the Buddha discovered about the true nature of reality and thereby we can become enlightened as the Buddha did. This path of training is referred to as the Noble Eightfold Path.
During the course we will introduce you to some Pali words that are from the ancient Pali language that the Buddha spoke and taught in.
These words are useful because they mean something for which we do not have a suitable equivalent word in English. For example, the word Dhamma or words Buddha Dhamma. Buddha Dhamma means teaching or truth about the way things actually are.
Each religion has its own teachings about the world and we would also call those teachings Dhamma. However when we use the word Dhamma in our course we are referring to the Teachings given by the Buddha, and they are called Buddha Dhamma.
We will now read the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta so you can understand how the Buddha actually explained what he had discovered. The title means the First Turning of the Wheel of Truth, signifying the first time the Buddha taught the Dhamma after his enlightenment.
Thus I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Benares in the Deer Park at Isipatana (the Resort of Seers). There he addressed the bhikkhus of the group of five.
"Bhikkhus, these two extremes ought not to be cultivated by one gone forth from the house-life. What are the two? There is devotion to indulgence of pleasure in the objects of sensual desire, which is inferior, low, vulgar, ignoble, and leads to no good; and there is devotion to self-torment, which is painful, ignoble and leads to no good."
"The middle way discovered by a Perfect One avoids both these extremes; it gives vision, it gives knowledge, and it leads to peace, to direct acquaintance, to discovery, to Nibbana. And what is that middle way? "
"It is simply the noble eightfold path, that is to say, Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood; Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration. That is the middle way discovered by a Perfect One, which gives vision, which gives knowledge, and which leads to peace, to direct acquaintance, to discovery, to Nibbana."
"Suffering, as a noble truth, is this: Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering, sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering; association with the loathed is suffering, dissociation from the loved is suffering, not to get what one wants is suffering — in short, suffering is the five categories of clinging objects."
"The origin of suffering, as a noble truth, is this: It is the craving that produces renewal of being accompanied by enjoyment and lust, and enjoying this and that; in other words, craving for sensual desires, craving for being, craving for non-being."
"Cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, is this: It is remainderless
fading and ceasing, giving up, relinquishing, letting go and rejecting, of that
same craving.
"The way leading to cessation of suffering, as a noble
truth, is this: It is simply the noble eightfold path, that is to say, Right
View, Right Intention; Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood; Right
Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration.
"Suffering, as a noble
truth, is this.' Such was the vision, the knowledge, the understanding, the
finding, the light, that arose in regard to ideas not heard by me before. 'This
suffering, as a noble truth, can be diagnosed.' Such was the vision, the
knowledge, the understanding, the finding, the light that arose in regard to
ideas not heard by me before. 'This suffering, as a noble truth, has been
diagnosed.' Such was the vision, the knowledge, the understanding, the finding,
the light, that arose in regard to ideas not heard by me before."
"The origin of suffering, as a noble truth, is this.' Such was the vision... 'This origin of suffering, as a noble truth, can be abandoned.' Such was the vision... 'This origin of suffering, as a noble truth, has been abandoned.' Such was the vision... in regard to ideas not heard by me before."
"Cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, is this.' Such was the vision... 'This cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, can be verified.' Such was the vision... 'This cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, has been verified.' Such was the vision... in regard to ideas not heard by me before."
"The way leading to cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, is this.' Such was the vision... 'This way leading to cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, can be developed.' Such was the vision... 'This way leading to the cessation of suffering, as a noble truth, has been developed.' Such was the vision... in regard to ideas not heard by me before."
"As long as my knowing and seeing how things are, was not quite purified in these twelve aspects, in these three phases of each of the four noble truths, I did not claim in the world with its gods, its Maras and high divinities, in this generation with its monks and Brahmans, with its princes and men to have discovered the full Awakening that is supreme. But as soon as my knowing and seeing how things are, was quite purified in these twelve aspects, in these three phases of each of the four noble truths, then I claimed in the world with its gods, its Maras and high divinities, in this generation with its monks and Brahmans, its princes and men to have discovered the full Awakening that is supreme. Knowing and seeing arose in me thus: 'My heart's deliverance is unassailable. This is the last birth. Now there is no renewal of being."
That is what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus of the group of five were glad, and they approved his words.
Now during this utterance, there arose in the venerable Kondañña the spotless, immaculate vision of the True Idea: "Whatever is subject to arising is all subject to cessation."
When the Wheel of Truth had thus been set rolling by the Blessed One the
earth gods raised the cry: "At Benares, in the Deer Park at Isipatana, the
matchless Wheel of truth has been set rolling by the Blessed One, not to be
stopped by monk or divine or god or death-angel or high divinity or anyone in
the world."
On hearing the earth-gods' cry, all the gods in turn in the six paradises of the sensual sphere took up the cry till it reached beyond the Retinue of High Divinity in the sphere of pure form. And so indeed in that hour, at that moment, the cry soared up to the World of High Divinity, and this ten-thousandfold world-element shook and rocked and quaked, and a great measureless radiance surpassing the very nature of the gods was displayed in the world.
Then the Blessed One uttered the exclamation: "Kondañña knows! Kondañña knows!," and that is how that venerable one acquired the name, Añña-Kondañña — Kondañña who knows.
Let us now briefly explain what the Four Noble Truths are including a summary of the path of training called the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Four Noble Truths.
The First Noble Truth is the truth of suffering.
Most of us recognise that there is suffering in living. What the Buddha found out about the truth of sorrow, unsatisfactoriness or dukkha in the Pali language is that it is inherent in the nature of life. In living there is the suffering of birth, old age, sickness, and death, association with the loathsome, separation from the loved and not getting what you want.
We can recognise the difficulties we experience in everyday life, the discomfort, the unhappiness, the tiredness we experience, worry, stress, fear and so on arise from these seven major types of suffering.
The Second Noble Truth is the arising of sorrow.
This refers to the fact that we all experience the first noble truth because we are born, we must experience the seven sorrows as listed in the first noble truth. The reason we come to birth, or to life, is because of our craving. Sorrow or suffering is dependent on craving. Because we have craving for pleasure, delight, passion, craving for being and craving for non-being, because of this wanting, or thirst, in Pali tanha, we make causes to take birth. It is this craving that makes the causes (kamma) to be born again and again.
The Third Noble Truth is cessation of sorrow.
This means that there can be a way to stop the arising of sorrow by ceasing the craving. When craving stops, the sorrow can stop.
The Fourth Noble Truth is the path that leads to the cessation of sorrow.
The Buddha found eight ways that we can apply to our everyday life, eight practices that will lead to the cessation of sorrow. These are referred to as the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Noble Eightfold Path
1. Right Understanding = 1 & 2 Wisdom group
Samma
ditthi panna
2. Right Thought
Samma sankhapa
3. Right Speech = 3, 4 & 5 Virtue group
Samma vacca sila
4. Right Action
Samma kammanta
5. Right Livelyhood
Samma ajiva
6. Right Effort = 6, 7 & 8 Concentration group
Samma vayama samadhi
7 Right Mindfullness
Samma sati
8 Right Concentration
Samma Samadhi
The path of virtue, concentration and wisdom is referred to in the discourses as the threefold training. These three go together supporting each other. Virtue strengthens meditation, meditation in turn promotes wisdom.
At this point in the talk Anita Carter asked those present what they would like to do: either go into a more detailed explanation of the Noble Eightfold Path, or learn about meditation. They wholeheartedly requested to learn about meditation.
Anita responded to their request in the following manner.
Well, meditation is one eighth of the path and you must develop the ability to meditate. Bhavana is the pali word for meditation and it actually means mind development. It is not a way to relax, get ‘blissed out’, or feel good.
The purpose of meditation is to develop your mind. To develop your mind you need to calm it and you need for it to see clearly, to see things with clarity.
So the Buddha taught two methods of meditation. One is called Samatha Bhavana and its effect is to calm the mind. When practiced correctly it has the property of bliss and equanimity. Its purpose is to use this state of mind to analyse the ways things are, our internal and external environment. This analysis type of meditation is called vipassana. So these are the two, samatha bhavana, and vipassana bhavana.
Buddha meditation is performed in a Buddha field. To create a Buddha field we praise the Buddha, take precepts, and take refuge in the Triple Gem. Tonight we have with us Venerable Peo Liv who has practiced this meditation for fifty years.
The Venerable really knows how to build a Buddha field wherever he goes. I will now ask him to chant now in the traditional pali language to create a strong Buddha field around us. You see, to start on the path of enlightenment you take a stand, you decide that from now on you will only be good. You will not harm any other being, seen or unseen, because this is what the Buddha instructed. To come to full enlightenment you’ve got to set up this platform of purity to see what the Buddha saw.
Venerable Peo Liv chanted Triple Gem Refuge, Five Precepts, and Recollection of the Qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, as well as the loving-kindness (or kariyanametta) sutta.
The participants were then instructed on the practice of meditation.
We will start by practicing anapanasati, which means breathing meditation, to begin our samatha bhavana practice. This means you bring your mind inside your head and focus on the tip of your nose, and feel the air going in and out your nostrils, and if your mind starts to look at feelings or thoughts and wants to interact with them, quietly and slowly just bring it back to the breath. That is fundamentally the practice. So, sit comfortably, and relax your body. Now, bring your mind inside your body. You see, the mind loves to investigate things it sees, it hears, it smells. It’s very interested in things, it likes to have an opinion about everything. So the first thing we do is bring the mind inside.
Meditation is fulfilled by the conjunction of the three basic factors of the path: effort, mindfulness and concentration.
Venerable Piyadassi Mahathera in The Spectrum of Buddhism noted that "concentration is the intensified steadiness of the mind comparable to the un-flickering flame of a lamp in a windless place".
Gradually through Right Meditation the mind begins to become calm and bright. Just like on the surface of a still pond images such as a full moon can be recognised quite clearly as the mind calms the contents and nature of the mind can be recognised clearly.
A restless wandering mind on the other hand is like the surface of a pond with ripples on it. Any reflection seen there is fractured and largely distorted.
Piyadassi observed "The perfectly concentrated mind is not distracted by sense objects, for it sees things as they really are."
Meditation in Buddhism is divided into two systems, concentration of mind or calm abiding (samadhi or samatha) and insight (vipassana).
He noted that of these, "concentration has the function of calming the mind. Calming the mind implies unification or ‘one-pointedness’ of mind, brought about by focusing the mind on one object to the exclusion of others."
To come to non-craving through the Noble Eightfold Path, you come to nibbana. To do this we need lots of merit and lots of wisdom. Merit is a word meaning the good kamma created by wholesome actions of body, speech and mind, which benefit ourselves and others.
We each of us accumulate merit and wisdom by doing the eight types of training listed in the Noble Eightfold Path. The first seven produce vast merit, develop good qualities and wholesome states of mind - so that when you sit in meditation you can see for yourself and come to realise the first, second and third Noble Truths.
We invite you to come to the weekly Dhamma talk on "Applying the Buddha's Teachings to Everyday Life" at the Dandenong Ranges Community Cultural Centre each Tuesday evening at 7.30pm. Our style of teaching encourages discussion about the topics presented as well as questions about Buddhist Teachings and practice in general.
May your meditation go well.
May you find practical tools for bringing long-term happiness to your life.
May you be well and happy.
May all beings be well and happy.
This script was prepared and edited by Julian Bamford, Anita Carter, Frank Carter, Leila Igracki, Alec Sloman, Donna Taylor, and Pennie White.
References
Carter, Anita. Carter, Frank. Sloman, Alec. 2005. "Applying the Buddha's Teachings to Everyday Life". Tuesday Night Teachings Class #1; Chan Academy Australia. 21 November 2005.
Sayadaw, U Pandita. 1997. The Way to the Happiness of Peace Understanding the Basics of Insight Meditation. Inward Path Publisher, Penang, Malaysia.
Venerable Piyadassi Mahathera. 1991. The Spectrum of Buddhism. Writings of Piyadassi. The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation. Taiwan R.O.C.
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