The Rains Residence

Brother Richmond shared this with us.
The Rains Residence
This is a period of three months when bhikkhus must reside in one place and cannot wander, though they may undertake all their usual duties provided that they do not take them away from their monasteries overnight. In special circumstances they may even be absent from the monastery or residence where they have vowed to keep the Rains for as long as seven days. As bhikkhus do not withdraw more than usual at this time from involvement with lay people, unless they are devoting all their time to meditation, it is better to translate vassavasa literally as “rains-residence” rather than “rains-retreat.”

Usually a lay person on the day of entering the Rains makes a vow or vows to practice in a certain way during the three months of the Rains-residence. This vow may be told to a senior bhikkhu or it may be kept private but in any case it is made in front of a Buddhist shrine. This is something which could be done by any one who wanted to tighten up on practice for the duration of the Rains-residence. The content of the vows vary with one’s character, country and circumstances. Below are a number of typical vows made by lay people on Rains-entry day, some of which could be practiced by isolated Buddhists:

During the Rains I shall give almsfood to bhikkhus every day.

I shall give up smoking while the Rains are on.

For the Rains, I shall chant morning and evening service every day.

I shall go to the monastery to hear Dhamma on every holy day (i.e., 4 days a month).

While the Rains are on I shall not take any intoxicants, or see or hear any form of entertainment.

During the Rains I shall undertake the Uposatha precepts on each Full Moon day.

For the whole Rains I shall practice meditation twice a day.

Each holy day during the Rains I shall keep the Eight Precepts and meditate twice, each time for an hour.

The vows must be practicable. It is no good making vows, perhaps quite exalted ones, which are out of one’s range and only another extension of one’s ego. A person who practices the Dhamma for a while gets to know his strength and weaknesses and will know therefore what it possible for him to undertake. At the end of the Rains, having accomplished one’s vows without a break, one feels that something worthwhile has been done. And sometimes these temporary practices have a lasting effect — the smoker does not go back to tobacco, or the meditator finds that his practice goes so much better that he continues to sit twice a day, and so on.
Extracted from (Lay Buddhist Practice by Bhikkhu Khantipalo which can be found on Access To Insight)

The Man Who Spat On The Buddha

Bro Heng Xuan shared this really meaningful story. Really gives us an insight as to how the Buddha perfectly understood non-self and we can use this to help us forgive.

The Buddha was sitting under a tree talking to his disciples when a man came and spit on his face. He wiped it off, and he asked the man, “What next? What do you want to say next?” The man was a little puzzled because he himself never expected that when you spit on somebody’s face, he will ask, “What next?” He had no such experience in his past. He had insulted people and they had become angry and they had reacted. Or if they were cowards and weaklings, they had smiled, trying to bribe the man. But Buddha was like neither, he was not angry nor in any way offended, nor in any way cowardly. But just matter-of-factly he said, “What next?” There was no reaction on his part.

Buddha’s disciples became angry, they reacted. His closest disciple, Ananda, said, “This is too much, and we cannot tolerate it. He has to be punished for it. Otherwise everybody will start doing things like this.”
Buddha said, “You keep silent. He has not offended me, but you are offending me. He is new, a stranger. He must have heard from people something about me, that this man is an atheist, a dangerous man who is throwing people off their track, a revolutionary, a corrupter. And he may have formed some idea, a notion of me. He has not spit on me, he has spit on his notion. He has spit on his idea of me because he does not know me at all, so how can he spit on me?

“If you think on it deeply,” Buddha said, “he has spit on his own mind. I am not part of it, and I can see that this poor man must have something else to say because this is a way of saying something. Spitting is a way of saying something. There are moments when you feel that language is impotent: in deep love, in intense anger, in hate, in prayer. There are intense moments when language is impotent. Then you have to do something. When you are angry, intensely angry, you hit the person, you spit on him, you are saying something. I can understand him. He must have something more to say, that’s why I’m asking, “What next?”

The man was even more puzzled! And Buddha said to his disciples, “I am more offended by you because you know me, and you have lived for years with me, and still you react.”

Puzzled, confused, the man returned home. He could not sleep the whole night. When you see a Buddha, it is difficult, impossible to sleep again the way you used to sleep before. Again and again he was haunted by the experience. He could not explain it to himself, what had happened. He was trembling all over and perspiring. He had never come across such a man; he shattered his whole mind and his whole pattern, his whole past.

The next morning he was back there. He threw himself at Buddha’s feet. Buddha asked him again, “What next? This, too, is a way of saying something that cannot be said in language. When you come and touch my feet, you are saying something that cannot be said ordinarily, for which all words are a little narrow; it cannot be contained in them.” Buddha said, “Look, Ananda, this man is again here, he is saying something. This man is a man of deep emotions.”
The man looked at Buddha and said, “Forgive me for what I did yesterday.”
Buddha said, “Forgive? But I am not the same man to whom you did it. The Ganges goes on flowing, it is never the same Ganges again. Every man is a river. The man you spit upon is no longer here. I look just like him, but I am not the same, much has happened in these twenty-four hours! The river has flowed so much. So I cannot forgive you because I have no grudge against you.”
“And you also are new. I can see you are not the same man who came yesterday because that man was angry and he spit, whereas you are bowing at my feet, touching my feet. How can you be the same man? You are not the same man, so let us forget about it. Those two people, the man who spit and the man on whom he spit, both are no more. Come closer. Let us talk of something else.”

Saturday Youth Service Talk – The Grateful Beasts

The talk by Venerable Pandit was on the fairy tale of the same title.

Before he went into the story, he gave us an insight into Buddhist psychology and the power of stories.

People go through these 2 phases:

Id Phase (from Freudian psychology)

- Actions based on getting pleasure and getting rid of pain – liking and disliking (e.g. a baby cries when hungry)

- Irrational

Delayed gratification

- Willing to go through some discomfort/ dissatisfaction in order to get something better e.g. have a smoother life

- Rational. Linked to ego (good) – wisdom that should be developed

Storytelling was one of the ways that was used to record wisdom before people started writing. Stories are powerful because they are easy to remember and can contain metaphors for ideas. Stories are used in the suttas as well. The books are about storytelling for business if anyone’s interested: “My Life in Advertising” by Claude Hopkins, “Made to Stick” by the Heath Brothers and “Tell to Win” by Peter Guber.

“The Grateful Beasts” is available at the following linkhttp://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/146/the-yellow-fairy-book/4780/the-grateful-beasts/. These are the metaphors in the story as Venerable explained:

- The young weak one (Fergo in this case) is always the one who ends up succeeding in fairy tales
o When you try something, you’ll do it wrong the first time

- Setting out from home into the unknown
o Withdrawing from the comforts of home and mundane life to embark on a spiritual journey (especially for monastics)

- Fergo’s eyes were taken out and his legs broken
o In meditation, people cross their legs and close their eyes. Closing eyes represents letting go of one’s previous knowledge. Losing one’s legs symbolises how one ventures into darkness in meditation and previous abilities can’t be of help there

- Fergo persisted in fasting
o We need patience to go through the difficulty of the practice to reach the spiritual goal

- Fergo’s blindness and the raven asking what’s remarkable in the land
o Being in the dark represents how a meditator is willing to feel emptiness in meditation which clarifies his/ her vison, while a normal person will question what’s remarkable about that

- Healing lake
o Meditation starts to heal one after he/she has been through difficulty

- Fergo gives the healing water to other beings
o When one becomes a beautiful person internally to some degree, they can help and influence others positively

- Wolf
o Desire. When desire is on one’s side as in this case of spiritual desire, it’s to their advantage. If it’s not then it’s to their disadvantage

- Mouse
o Mice live in fields which represent cultivation and control of environment. A more civilised form of desire than the wolf. A hard worker and helper who does duty without much thought or wisdom

- Mouse at Fergo’s feet
o Work

- Queen bee
o Worker. Bees have a honey and a sting. Likewise, when one has a spiritual aspiration and lives up to it one experiences joy. When one does not then one gets stung

- Bee’s wing torn by a cruel bird
o Like when one follows the wrong teaching, it only brings one down. The true teaching is delicate

- Bee rests on shoulder
o Dhamma enters through the ear

- Fergo could rest while the beasts did the work for him
o The spiritual qualities we develop will fix things for us in difficult times

- Princess (with prince)
o Wholeness of self. When either party is lacking there is a lack of wholeness. When the princess was locked in a tower, it is like how as we purify our minds the impurities surface making enlightenment seem further and further away until we practise till we overcome all defilements. When one is enlightened everything comes together as a whole

- Palace of flowers
o Developing our character and ego into something beautiful

- Fergo got on the wolf’s back leading all the wolves
o He is in control of desire and the pack makes him unstoppable in killing the egotistical, unkind and unfair king, like killing those parts in ourselves and destroying greed, hatred and delusion

- Wolves went peacefully back to their own home
o When desire doesn’t control you, it disappears when you no longer need to do something

Excerpt on Compassion

Again, Bro Heng Xuan very generously shared another excerpt with us, this time on compassion.

“…when we step on a thorn, our hand reaches down, pulls it out, and bandages the foot. The hands doesn’t say, “Foot, you’re so stupid! I told you to watch where you’re going, but you didn’t. Now I have to fix you up. Don’t forget that you owe me a favor!” Why doesn’t the hand “think” like this? Because the hand and the foot are part of the same organism, and they help each other naturally and without thinking. Similarly, if we consider ourselves part of the same organism of all sentient life, we will reach out to others as if they were us. That is the type of compassion we try to develop through practice.”
Thubten Chodron

Have a great day ahead, people :)

How the Dhamma Protects

Hi everyone, Brother Heng Xuan shared this insightful story with us. Indeed, the Dhamma protects us from mental and not physical suffering, so we can better deal with whatever happens to us.

The great fire in Surin resulted in lot of suffering: a huge destruction of property and a great sense of loss.

Some folks even went out of their minds.
People came in a stream to see LuangPhu Dune and to bemoan the good they had done in the past, saying,

“We’ve been making merit at the temple and practicing the Dhamma since the time of our grandparents.

Why didn’t that merit help us?

Why didn’t the Dhamma protect us?

The fire totally destroyed our homes.”

Many of these people stopped coming to the monastery to make merit because the Dhamma didn’t help protect their homes from burning down.

Luang Phu said,”The Dhamma doesn’t help people in that way at all.

The fire simply acted in line with its function.

What this means is that destruction, loss, disintegration, separation have always been with us in this world.

As for those who practise the Dhamma, who have the Dhamma in their hearts, when they meet with these things they understand how to place the mind in such a way that it doesn’t suffer.

That’s how the Dhamma helps.

It’s not the case that it helps by preventing aging or death or hunger or fire.

That’s not the case at all.”

Buddhist Society of Victoria (BSV) Talk – Devadatta

Hi again! From now on, I will also be posting summaries of the points discussed during the talks at the Buddhist Society of Victoria, as Brother Heng Hao, one of our youths who is studying in Melbourne very generously shares with us every week.

Yesterday’s talk was on Devadatta. He was the cousin of the Buddha and usually created problems. In one case he convinced a group of monks to leave the Buddha but in the end they returned to Buddha.

The Buddha said that those disciples who follow his disciples were all wise and had qualities, with one exception. Devadatta had a lot of ego and anger.

The Buddha still gave Devadatta chances to improve, no matter how many times he caused trouble, even when he could just cut him out. He would not pigeon hole him but try to find ways to help him with patience and compassion. He had the power to kick him out at any moment. But the Buddha was able to have restraint, like a larger being able to withstand the pokes of a smaller being. Likewise, we must try to find the redeeming qualities in people and know that one day we must accept that they may change for the better. If we think well of people, we reflect the good that we see in ourselves.

What the Buddha saw in the 4 signs, it was not what he saw in other people, but the reality in himself which shocked him. The ascetic that he saw changed his view and gave him an option to get out of old age, sickness and death. Devadatta’s qualities were that he was bright and had a strong mind, but praise and ego let to his downfall. The same thing can happen to anyone.

Well, I’m done with the talk, and it reminded me of a story that really inspired me. I was reading the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens and the author, Sean Covey, told a story of how he turned a nasty person around. Covey had to work with a guy called Randy in his new job. Randy really disliked Covey; said rude and insulting things, constantly talked behind his back and got others to side against him. It really angered Covey but he was somehow able to ignore Randy’s attacks and instead made it a personal challenge to treat him well in return. In a year, Covey had earned Randy’s respect for not playing his game, and they became friends.

This story really emulates the quote below. Shall end my post here and leave this as food for thought.

- Pei Si

Saturday Youth Service Talk – Swimming Against the Tide

Last Saturday’s talk was by Sister Jolene. The points were taken down by Sister Soo Lan. In this talk, “Tide” refers to greed, hatred and delusion.

1. GREED (in Pali is called Lohba)

Definition of Lobha

Attraction to an object and unable to let go of it due to attachments or clinging to the idea that it will bring us gratification.

Analogy

The Monkey Trap There was once a hunter who decided to catch a monkey. He hollowed a coconut such that the hole can only fit the arm of a regular size monkey and put some pleasant food into the coconut hole. Then he tied this coconut onto a coconut tree. Attracted by the fragrance of the food, a monkey came and put his arm into the hole. He grabbed a fistful of food; however he could not get his fist out because the trap was designed such that the hole is only big enough for a arm but not a fist. So the monkey is trapped by its greed by refusing to uncurl its fingers and let go of the food. However if it lets go of the food (represents greed), he will be freed of the trap (represents attachment) which brings him suffering. “Truly dangerous are gains, honours and fame. Concerning this, I have known a man, reading his mind, who even for the sake of a golden bowl filled with silver nuggets would not deliberately tell a lie. That same man have I seen at another time telling lies because his heart was obsessed by gains, honours and fame. Truly dangerous are gains, honours and fame.” - Samyutta Nikaya

2. HATRED (in Pali is called Dosa)

Definition of Dosa	Hatred, anger, ill will, animosity, aversion, annoyance, irritation, resentment.
Analogy	Every one of us experience dosa in big and small ways for example, it could be simple things like having irritation when the lift or MRT does not arrive immediately as we hoped or even things like aversion towards bitter gourd.

3. Delusion (in Pali is called Moha)

Definition of Moha	Delusion or ignorance. It has the characteristics of mental blindness or non-knowing as Moha conceals the true nature of an object.
Analogy	“’Delusion’ (moha) has the characteristic of blindness or opposition to knowledge; the essence of non-penetration or the function of covering the intrinsic nature of the object; the manifestation of being opposed to right conduct or causing blindness; the proximate cause of unwise attention; and it should be regarded as the root of all akusala”- The ‘Atthasālinī’ ( Book II, Part IX, Ch.1, 249)

So now that we have understood what is the “Tide”, we can learn how to swim against it in order to achieve non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion.

1. NON-GREED (in Pali is called Alohba)

Definition of Alobha	Lack of desire or non-adherence or non-attachments to worldly things or worldly existence.
How to practise	This can be done through practising generosity and renunciation. This kind of charity is characterised by giving freely good things that give rise to wholesome results with reverence, thoughtfulness and good will.

2. NON-HATRED (in Pali is called adosa)

Definition of Adosa	Characterised by kindness, friendliness, sympathy and the absence of ill-will.
How to practise	This can be done through practising loving kindness and forgiveness. True loving kindness is unconditionally and sincerely wishing our self and others to be happy.

3. NON-Delusion (in Pali is called Amoha)

Definition of Amoha

Non-delusion

How to practise

Amoha can be achieved through gaining penetrating wisdom of perceiving things as they are. Thus wisdom can arise via these 3 ways:- One’s reflection. - Listening or studying the dhamma. - Mental development through meditation. Meditation helps in calming the mind, improving clarity and hence concentration. Discomfort during meditation also helps us to understand the nature of impermanence. “Though we are born into this world we fail to see the world. We are entranced by it. We become addicted to the world, that is to say, addicted to forms, sounds, smells, flavors and tactile sensations. But these things of the world don’t last. Arising and ceasing, they undergo change and transformation over time. For this reason the Buddha cautioned his disciples: Look at this world, beautiful and enticing, like a royal chariot.  Hose without wisdom are bound by the world. But those who  now are not bound.” - Ajahn Anan “To whatever extent humans seek for happiness outside themselves, the farther they are away from the happiness within. But those who make the effort to seek the happiness of the heart can find a happiness that doesn’t fade. It’s for his reason that all of you should seek the Dhamma.” - Ajahn Anan  “Though we are born into this world, we fail to see the world.To whatever extent humans seek happiness outside themselves, the further away they are from happiness inside themselves” - Ajahn Anan

Saturday Youth Service Talk – Taking Refuge

Hi guys! It’s been so long since the last post. I’m a new blogger, Pei Si, who will be helping Wei Xing with this blog. From now onwards, I will be posting the points discussed during the talks that take place during each week’s Buddhist Fellowship Youth (BFY) service, in addition to the movie posts! Details regarding our services are at the end of the post.

Last Saturday’s service’s talk was “Taking Refuge” by Sister Yi Rong.

Taking refuge refers to seeking protection from harm and danger. As Buddhists, we take refuge in the Triple Gem, namely the 
Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. This is to protect us from the dangers pertaining to the present life, future lives and the general course of existence.

Dangers pertaining to the present life

Objective aspect:

-          We are subject to illness, injuries, aging and death

-          Common feature: uncertainty as we cannot tell when these will strike us

Subjective aspect:

-          Fearful of change & uncertainty

-          Course of events clashes with our will à pain and dissatisfaction

-          Protection: equanimity

-          Equanimity: like having a bird’s eye view of things while we remain unaffected. We need guidance in order to achieve it, therefore our refuge in the Triple Gem

-           Safeguards us not from the situation but our negative reaction

Dangers pertaining to the future lives

Objective aspect:

-          The danger of being reborn in an unhappy realm prior to death (hell/ animal/ hungry ghost/ demigod)

-          Being born into an unhappy realm will result in intrinsic suffering and this makes it very difficult to accumulate enough merits to pass on to the happy realms (human/ heavenly)

Subjective aspect:

-          We can protect ourselves by doing more wholesome and fewer unwholesome actions

-          We need to take refuge as:

o   It is difficult to evaluate if some actions are wholesome or unwholesome when things are not clear cut

o   We may pursue what we know is unwholesome due to impulse

-          We need guidance to master our minds through wisdom and discipline

Dangers pertaining to the general course of existence

Objective aspect:

-          Due to the intrinsic satisfactoriness of Samsara, we crave to be reborn when we die

-          The Buddha said that the tears and blood we shed, as well as the flesh and bone of the bodies from all our past lives are enough to fill an ocean

Subjective aspect:

-          Root cause: ignorance

-          Antidote: wisdom

-          Refuge should be beyond danger and distress, and accessible to us, which are qualities the Triple Gem has

A contemplation exercise we can do, especially before meditating:

-          The reason and meaning behind taking refuge

-          The dangers we face

-          How taking refuge protects us from them

-          The qualities of the Triple Gem

If you’re interested, you can check out the book “Going for Refuge, Taking the Precepts” by Bhikkhu Bodhi.

This is the link for the sutta that was discussed prior to the talk:http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an08/an08.025.kuma.html

Buddhist Fellowship is located at Yeo’s Building at Telok Blangah. You can visit the website at http://www.buddhistfellowship.org . Feel free to drop by our youth service on any Saturday from 3 to 6 pm. The schedule is as follows:

3.00-3.30: Guided meditation

3.30-3.45: Short puja (chanting)

3.45-5.00: Dhamma talk and Q & A (speaker is either a lay person or a monastic)

5.00-6.00: Sutta discussion (related to the topic of the talk and conducted by youth leaders)

6.00-6.15: Closing Puja

Ok that’s it! Will post for next week’s talk and will try to post about a movie soon!

-Pei Si