Enlightened teaching from a former Buddhist monk

By Lee Benson, Deseret News, Oct. 4 2015

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (USA) -- When the Parliament of the World’s Religions convenes Oct. 15-19 at the Salt Palace, bringing some 10,000 attendees from 80 countries and 50 religions together under one roof, among the workshop presenters will be Wijitha Bandara, a former Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka, who is currently a professor of religion at Salt Lake Community College.

Dr. Wijitha Bandara, a former Buddhist monk, now teaches religion at Salt Lake Community College. He will be a presenter at the Parliament of The World's Religions when it convenes in Salt Lake Oct. 15-19.

His topic: A Path Between Inclusivism and Exclusivism.
Layperson’s translation: How to teach religion to college students so they’ll actually pay attention, learn something and enjoy it.

Bhaddekaratta Sutta: An Auspicious Day (MN 131)

Known for its poetry and profundity this beautiful sutta has several translations. The following is by Thich Nhat Hanh.

"Do not pursue the past. Do not lose yourself in the future.
The past no longer is. The future has not yet come.
Looking deeply at life as it is. In the very here and now, the practitioner dwells in stability and freedom.

We must be diligent today. To wait until tomorrow is too late.
Death comes unexpectedly. How can we bargain with it?
The sage calls a person who knows how to dwell in mindfulness night and day 'one who knows the better way to live alone.'"

Is Buddhism pessimistic?

People sometimes complain that the Buddha focuses an awful lot on suffering. That's because he has a cure. If you had a cure for suffering, wouldn't you want to talk about it too?

The people who are afraid to talk about suffering: they're the ones who don't have a cure. They always try to cover things up, pretend it's not really that bad a situation: "This is the ordinary life that everybody lives, this is as good as it gets - so you might as well enjoy it, make the best of it." That's desperation.

The Buddha wasn't desperate. He was coming from a position of total freedom. He said "Look, if you really sit down and with the proper tools and the proper approach try to discern suffering, get to the point where you really comprehend it, and let go, you've solved all your problems in life."

So, who's pessimistic and who's optimistic? We might say that the Buddha's realistic, but realistic in a way that sees through all the problems the mind creates for itself. Once the mind isn't creating anymore problems for itself, you're free to go wherever you like.

From: The Bright Tunnel by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

What is Vinaya?

by Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera
from Ven.'s book 'What Buddhists Believe'

Vinaya is the disciplinary code for self training laid down by the Buddha for monks and nuns to observe. Vinaya plays a pivotal role in their monastic way of life.

The Buddha did not formulate the code of discipline in a single exercise. However, He instituted certain rules as and when the need arose. Vinaya Pitaka and its commentary contain many significant stories about how and why certain rules were laid down by the Buddha. According to the Buddha the best form of Vinaya was to discipline the mind, words and action. The early disciples of the Buddha were highly developed spiritually and they had little need for a set of rules to be imposed upon them. However, as the monastic order (the Sangha) grew in numbers, it attracted many others, some of whom were not so highly developed spiritually. There arose some problems regarding their conduct and way of life such as taking part in lay activities for their livelihood and yielding to temptation for sense pleasure. Owing to this situation, the Buddha had to lay down guidelines for the monks and nuns to follow so that they could distinguish the difference between the life of monks and laymen. The holy order of the monks and the nuns was a well-established religious order when compared with other existing acetic practices at that time.

Candala Sutta AN 5.175

What makes a Buddhist an exemplary Buddhist, praised and held up by the Buddha?
**********************
"Endowed with these five qualities, a lay follower is a jewel of a lay follower, a lotus of a lay follower, a fine flower of a lay follower. Which five?
He/she has conviction (saddha);
He/she is virtuous;
He/she is not eager for protective charms & ceremonies;
He/she trusts kamma, not protective charms & ceremonies;
He/she does not search for recipients of his/her offerings outside [of the Sangha], and gives offerings here first.
Endowed with these five qualities, a lay follower is a jewel of a lay follower, a lotus of a lay follower, a fine flower of a lay follower."

When one lives according to the laws of Dhamma...

"When one lives according to the laws of Dhamma then benefits will arise. One who hears Dhamma but does not practice it is like a sick person who instead of taking the medicine prescribed by a doctor after an examination, keeps on repeating what is written on the prescription – 2 tablets in the morning, 2 at noon and 2 in the evening. Will this heal the ailment? Certainly not! The medicine has to be taken; only then will it cure the disease. Dhamma too has to be imbibed, it has to be lived, then alone will it give its benefits." ~ S N Goenka

The War on Error - Bhikkhu Pesala

All of us start from a point of not knowing, not understanding, and imperfect views. That is the nature of the human condition. If we were not deluded, we would not have taken rebirth in this world. The basic assumption for a Buddhist is that the Buddha knew something that we do not. To be a Buddhist, therefore, means that one must follow “The Way of Analysis,” or “The Way of Inquiry (Vibhajjavāda).” The Buddha’s teaching is not a religion, or a belief system, but a way of life and a practical method to develop the mind so that we can remove our ignorance, clarify our understanding, and gain right view. The Pāḷi term for right view — sammā diṭṭhi — has a broader meaning than simply “right” as opposed to “wrong.” A Sammāsambuddha is a “Fully Awakened Buddha” so “sammā diṭṭhi” means a view that is perfectly correct, fully in accordance with reality. While we are in the process of studying and practising the Buddha’s teaching, our view is gradually straightened out and refined to remove any imperfections until, on attaining the Noble Path and realising nibbāna, it becomes the perfectly correct view that is fully in accordance with the way things are.

The Dalai Lama Says Buddhist Culture Most Important to Him

by Ashwini Bhatia, Associated Press, Oct 10, 2015

DHARMSALA, India --  The Dalai Lama said Saturday he considered it most important to preserve the Buddhist culture that has helped the Tibetan people live together even in exile.

"Our values have helped us Tibetans live together as a people," the 80-year-old spiritual leader said at his first public event after returning last week from a medical check-up in the U.S. "So after coming into exile, I have considered it most important to preserve this rich and profound culture that we have."

Many Tibetans fear that their culture may not endure for long and may weaken after the Dalai Lama is gone.

Carrying white silk scarves, dozens of school children in traditional Tibetan costumes welcomed the Dalai Lama to the event, the 10th anniversary of the opening of a Tibetan school in Dharmsala, the Tibetan government-in-exile's headquarters in northern India.

He also said he regretted that some people were using religion to harm others and said he advocated education of secular values.

Last week, the Dalai Lama said he had had a thorough medical checkup at the renowned Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, U.S.A., and was in "excellent condition." Though advised rest by doctors, the Dalai Lama got out of his car and walked nearly 100 meters (yards) to the school.

His followers lined the path with incense sticks and flowers. The Dalai Lama sat on a chair on a raised platform while others settled on cushions on the floor in a show of respect to him.

The Dalai Lama fled across the Himalayas into India after a failed uprising in Tibet in 1959. Beijing accuses him of seeking to separate Tibet from China. But the Dalai Lama says he simply wants a high degree of autonomy under Chinese rule.

How to actually stop Worry and Fear. ~ S N Goenka

"Whenever you feel anxious and fearful just observe it – ‘Oh fear has arisen, now let me watch what sensations it brings’. At that time the sensations that arise will be linked to and filled with fear. Observe that. A part of the mind will be rolling in that fear, yet another part will be aware of sensations. Maybe just 5% of the mind will be aware, the remaining 95% will be rolling in fear, yet that 5% is powerful enough to cut the roots of the fear.

"If the mind rolls fully 100% in fear then indeed the fear will multiply. At least this much we must learn from Vipassana; that we must strengthen a portion of our mind sufficiently for it to witness fear. ... We watch this worry and we watch the sensations being generated. Sensations and worry, we observe this again and again.

"We also know that these sensations are always changing, they are impermanent. So also the worry is ephemeral, it will not stay forever. If we continue to watch with this understanding, then the worry starts weakening until it all dissolves. The whole world says that we should not worry, but if we only understand this intellectually and do not witness it as Vipassana teaches us to, then there is little difference between us and the world."