Monday, May 16, 2011

 

Itivutaka 106 Sabrahmaka Sutta [about parents' virtue]



This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard:



"Living with Brahma are those families where, in the home, mother & father are revered by the children.



Living with the first devas are those families where, in the home, mother & father are revered by the children.



Living with the first teachers are those families where, in the home, mother & father are revered by the children.

Living with those worthy of gifts are those families where, in the home, mother & father are revered by the children.



'Brahma' is a designation for mother & father. 'The first devas' is a designation for mother & father. 'The first teachers' is a designation for mother & father.'Those worthy of gifts' is a designation for mother & father. Why is that?



Mother & father do much for their children. They care for them, nourish them, introduce them to this world."


Mother & father, compassionate to their family, are called Brahma, first teachers, those worthy of gifts from their children. So the wise should pay them homage, honor with food & drink clothing & bedding anointing & bathing & washing their feet.

Performing these services to their parents, the wise are praised right here and after death rejoice in heaven.

 

The Birth of the Buddha-to-be,in Nalaka Sutta

Asita the seer, in his mid-day meditation, saw the devas of the Group of Thirty — exultant, ecstatic — dressed in pure white, honoring Indra, holding up banners, cheering wildly, & on seeing the devas so joyful & happy, having paid his respects, he said: "Why is the deva community so wildly elated? Why are they holding up banners & waving them around? Even after the war with the Asuras — when victory was the devas'. the Asuras defeated — even then there was no excitement like this. Seeing what marvel are the devas so joyful? They shout, they sing, play music, clap their hands, dance. So I ask you, who live on Mount Meru's summit. Please dispel my doubt quickly, dear sirs."





"The Bodhisatta, the foremost jewel, unequaled, has been born for welfare & ease in the human world, in a town in the Sakyan countryside, Lumbini. That's why we're all so wildly elated. He, the highest of all beings, the ultimate person, a bull among men, foremost of all people, will set turning the Wheel [of Dhamma] in the grove named after the seers, like a strong, roaring lion, the conqueror of beasts."


Hearing these words, Asita quickly descended [from heaven] and went to Suddhodana's dwelling. There, taking a seat, he said to the Sakyans: "Where is the prince? I, too, want to see him."


The Sakyans then showed to the seer named Asita their son, the prince, like gold aglow, burnished by a most skillful smith in the mouth of the furnace, blazing with glory, flawless in color. On seeing the prince blazing like flame, pure like the bull of the stars going across the sky — the burning sun, released from the clouds of autumn — he was exultant, filled with abundant rapture.


The devas held in the sky a many-spoked sunshade of a thousand circles. Gold-handled whisks waved up & down, but those holding the whisks & the sunshade couldn't be seen. The matted-haired seer named Dark Splendor, seeing the boy, like an ornament of gold on the red woolen blanket, a white sunshade held over his head, received him, happy & pleased.


And on receiving the bull of the Sakyans, longingly, the master of mantras & signs exclaimed with a confident mind: "This one is unsurpassed, the highest of the biped race."


Then, foreseeing his own imminent departure, he, dejected, shed tears. On seeing him weeping, the Sakyans asked: "But surely there will be no danger for the prince?"


On seeing the Sakyans' concern he replied, "I foresee for the prince no harm. Nor will there be any danger for him. This one isn't lowly: be assured. This prince will touch the ultimate self-awakening. He, seeing the utmost purity, will set rolling the Wheel of Dhamma through sympathy for the welfare of many. His holy life will spread far & wide. But as for me, my life here has no long remainder; my death will take place before then. I won't get to hear the Dhamma of this one with the peerless role. That's why I'm stricken, afflicted, & pained."


He, having brought the Sakyans abundant rapture, the follower of the holy life left the inner chamber and, out of sympathy for his nephew, urged him on toward the Dhamma of the one with the peerless role: "When you hear from another the word, "Awakened One," or "Attaining self-awakening, he lays open the path of the Dhamma," go there & ask him yourself. Follow the holy life under that Blessed One."





Instructed by the one whose mind was set on his benefit, Such, seeing in the future the utmost purity, Nalaka, who had laid up a store of merit, awaited the Victor expectantly, guarding his senses. On hearing word of the Victor's turning of the foremost wheel, he went, he saw the bull among seers. Confident, he asked the foremost sage about the highest sagacity, now that Asita's forecast had come to pass.



[Nalaka:]Now that I know Asita's words to be true, I ask you, Gotama, you who have gone to the beyond of all things. I'm intent on the homeless life; I long for the almsround. Tell me sage, when I ask you, the utmost state of sagacity.



[The Buddha:]I'll explain to you a sagacity hard to do, hard to endure. Come now, I'll tell you. Be steadfast. Be firm. Practice even-mindedness, for in a village there's praise & abuse. Ward off any flaw in the heart. Go about calmed & not haughty. High & low things will come up like fire-flames in a forest. Women seduce a sage. May they not seduce you.Abstaining from sexual intercourse, abandoning various sensual pleasures, be unopposed, unattached, to beings moving & still. 'As I am, so are these. As are these, so am I.' Drawing the parallel to yourself, neither kill nor get others to kill. Abandoning the wants & greed where people run-of-the-mill are stuck, practice with vision, cross over this hell. Stomach not full, moderate in food, having few wants, not being greedy, always not hankering after desire: one without hankering, is one who's unbound. Having gone on his almsround, the sage should then go to the forest, standing or taking a seat at the foot of a tree. The enlightened one, intent on jhana, should find delight in the forest, should practice jhana at the foot of a tree, attaining his own satisfaction. Then, at the end of the night, he should go to the village, not delighting in an invitation or gift from the village. Having gone to the village, the sage should not carelessly go among families. Cutting off chatter, he shouldn't utter a scheming word. 'I got something, that's fine. I got nothing, that's good.' Being such with regard to both, he returns to the very same tree. Wandering with his bowl in hand — not dumb, but seemingly dumb — he shouldn't despise a piddling gift nor disparage the giver. High & low are the practices proclaimed by the contemplative. They don't go twice to the further shore. This [Unbinding] isn't sensed only once.In one who has no attachment — the monk who has cut the stream, abandoning what is & isn't a duty — no fever is found. I'll explain to you sagacity: be like a razor's edge. Pressing tongue against palate, restrain your stomach. Neither be lazy in mind, nor have many thoughts. Be committed to taintlessness, independent, having the holy life as your aim. Train in solitude & the contemplative's task, Solitude is called sagacity. Alone, you truly delight & shine in the ten directions. On hearing the fame of the enlightened — those who practice jhana, relinquishing sensual pleasures — my disciple should foster all the more conviction & conscience. Know from the rivers in clefts & in crevices: those in small channels flow noisily, the great flow silent. Whatever's not full makes noise. Whatever is full is quiet. The fool is like a half-empty pot; one who is wise, a full lake. A contemplative who speaks a great deal endowed with meaning: knowing, he teaches the Dhamma, knowing, he speaks a great deal. But he who, knowing, is restrained, knowing, doesn't speak a great deal: he is a sage worthy of sagehood; he is a sage, his sagehood attained.

 

Wesak 2555 BE countdown







Wednesday, May 11, 2011

 

Wesak 2555 B.E. countdown : 7 more days to Wesak

11 May 2011 : 2554 BE -> 7 more days to Wesak 2555





The best of men is the Awakened One.

        ~ Dhammapada v.273

 

Wesak 2555 B.E countdown

10 May 2011 : 2554 BE -> 8 more days to Wesak 2555



[modified from Nalanda Institute's Wesak 2554 B.E's countdown message]

Rare is the appearance of the Buddha.

        ~ Dhammapada v.182

Saturday, May 07, 2011

 

May My Homage Be



I put my hands
in reverent clasp,
A deep bow I offer
To my Guru great,
The Muni of the Sakyas is He.

The Nameless Truth did He taught,
Truth as Plain Truth,
without attaching any hint of divinity.

Harmlessness to ALL
Is the Supreme Good,
says the Muni,
without much thought
of who's a believer or not.

Pure mercy did He advocate,
To ALL it should be shown,
Even upon the tormentor
should no ill will show!

How many are there
whose love most pure like Him?
Too few if any,
Hence my homage be
upon the rare gem of humanity great!

Praising none of the lameness of vengence,
Allowing not even for protection sake,
He taught Man to break the chain of karmic debt,
Going against man's witless animal instinct,
Thus to the Muni do I bow low,
To the Supremacy of His Purity great.

A sure refuge against the tide of lusts,
1001 forms,
1001 pleasures,
1001 desires,
An Ariyan should have none of these
Thus taught the Muni.

A fool He is many think,
Yet those who abstained calmness attained,
Freedom from craving do they attain
All thanks to the Guru who went against these tides
To Him do I salute.

His wisdom few can equal,
for there's no one harsh smack for those who believeth not,
Hope's not gone for the daily man
Who to sensual desires still subscribe,
To them He taught a road most straight,
Happy now and a better 'morrow's day
Walking blameless along the way.

To them who's bent on leaving the worldly ways,
A holy path He opened,
Where caste and gender lay meaningless,
A path where Samsara's carriage stops.

In the light of His wisdom
Do I light my life.



~sampuna 30 Nov 2010, kantor

Labels:


 

Real Peace


View our dailies,
filled to the brim
with news of grim,
raw gore of war,
where the dead lie uncountable
... caused by the few whose hearts untamed,
allowing jungle law to take its course.

Nay!
Sage Gotama alloweth not
even for the sake of protecting the Sasana
a finger lift upon the aggressor
For He reasoned
For the sake of Dhamma all-holy
Returning aggression surely ain't worth
And aggression'd take one miles away from holiness!

Spake the Lord,
"Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world
By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased.
This is a law eternal."
And the Jatakas illustrate,
The Lord when He was an ascetic,
With limbs sawn-off,
Could still wish His aggressor well!

A wonder beyond wonder!
'tis principle of the truly Sage of Sages!

No sane man could ever do this sayeth many,
And many opt the easy way out
To go all out blinding the world
With an eye for an eye!

Some scriptures too fall short,
Dimmed in the Glory of the Truly Merciful Gotama,
When others were to smear His name
or the Sasana
those works claiming to be sagely did allow the hands to speak!

Yet to Him,
No harm should befall these opponents
Eternal words of the Lord echoes :
"... you should not be angry, resentful or upset on that account...
that would only be a hindrance to you....
Say: ‘That is incorrect, that is false, that is not our way, that is not found among us.’ ... "

Even in praise,
He alloweth not being pleased, happy or elated,
A hindrance it'd be
For those intent on the Holy Path

Pushing man to his limits,
Not recognizing any good for revenge
Nor any good in violent self-defense
Eternal Peace is truly found
In a path no other
Than the one thread on by the Holy Ones
Truly, a Prince of Peace
Who expounded The Religion of Peace

~ sampuna 24 Nov 2010 , kantor kolej

Labels:


This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?