Today, I went for the class on the Noble 8 Fold Path by Bro Piya and came back really happy. All my life i have been a Buddhist, and have studied and heard of the 8 Fold Path many times. But today, Bro Piya taught from the sutta directly, the Cattaridaka Sitta(Discourse on the Great Forty).
It is very interesting, a new way of learning and using that brings a new dimension. It is a sutra that the Buddha started talking without being asked a qustion. It is VERY systematic so I'll try to summarise its structure here. But if you want to know the defination, please look up the sutta.
First, the Buddha told the monks that He'll teach them Noble Right Concentration and its supports and requisites today...
And how does one get Right Noble Concentration?
Through the cultivation of the 7 Noble Right Paths which are the supports and requisites that He was talking abt just now.
So, He started by telling them and defining first what is Right View, then Right Intention, then Right Speech, then Right Action and finally Right Livelihood.
And in each of this 5 paths path, He would explain two ways of practicing the path.
1. The Right _____ with mental influxes, partaking of merit and ripening in acquisistions(of aggregates).
2. The Right _____ which is Noble without mental influxes, supramundane , a path factor.
The first is the mudane, normal day, normal guy method of the path. The next is the high level, high class method of the path.
Next, at the end of every path, he would say,
"One who makes an effort to give up _______(give up this particular wrong path) to cultivate the __________(cultivate the particular right path), this is one's right effort"
and
"One who is mindful gives up _______(give up this particular wrong path) to dwell cultivating __________(cultivate the particular right path), this is one's right mindfulness"
then He would basically say that:
Right View with Right Effort with Right Mindfulness is the way to cultivate this particular Right Path.
So this way of speaking is repeated 5 times for Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood.
Finally, after cultivating all these 7 Right Paths, one gets Right Concentration.
And, next, get Right Concentration to do what?
To cultivate Right Knowledge and Right Liberation then gain Arahanthood.
There, the 10 Rightness is completed. *Bow*_(|)_
It is really Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu!! Excellent!!! Everything is explained systematically and clearly.
But do you get what I mean? If you don't ask me next time or google the sutta yourself.
The other interesting thing is that in the Right Livelihood, I usually only learn of only Right occupation/job. Which is not to engage in jobs which violates the 5 precepts or cause them to be violated eg.dealing in arms, in beings, in meat, in intoxicants and poisons. However, in the sutra there is more, not to engage in
1. Deceitful pretensions(to attainments),
2. Flattery(for gain),
3. Subtle insinuation or hinting (for gain),
4. Pressuring (for offerings), and
5. Pursuing gain for gain.
However, this applies more to the monastics. But it is really interesting, because I do 2,3,4 and 5 all the time while scheming of ways to obtain things. So it is really an eye opener today. Really interesting. Thanks Bro. Piya!! Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Ritual 2
Well, after writing about the post about rituals the night before, while I was offering the incense this morning, I fell into a common error. I call it using your brain to offer. You see, I was thinking too much abt the offering, thinking too much abt the perfect offering according to what i wrote. Using thinking to generate the offering mind. In fact, it should not be this way.
While doing my evening chanting just now, I observed again and found that there is a method that I use. The feeling of offering is generated just before the offering and it is not the thought or idea of offering. It is a feeling which arises not from the head but from the heart. If you have any experience of meditation on feelings, you will get what i mean. So you generate a feeling, have a feeling, let it flow and flood through you, and then do the offering or chanting or dedication of merits. That is how it could be done. However, once you are familiar with the process, the generation of feeling part can be completed in a shorter period of time. Some also use the first few lines or moments in the chant to generate the feeling. The important thing here is the feeling of offering, of giving. The chant or ritual/action may be meaningless to you intellectually, but because of the feelings invested, it is meaningful. That is how it should be. At least as far as i know or my level of practice is concerned. So a ritual is actually a very personal thing and very feeling based thing and not an intellectual, mind thing. So the best is not to try to understand it from that way. Try to feel the ritual, not understand it intellectually. That is why rituals is an integral part of esoteric Buddhism. My master explains that esoteric means inside, deep, feelings, not surface and intellectual. Esoteric touches the heart of things, and comes from the heart.
Sorry if it is confusing. I know that in the first post, I keep talking about the mind. But this is the problem with a chinese translation into english. The word 心 in chinese is used which is usually translates into mind. However, it actually encompasses heart and mind. So when I speak of mind, it is not intellectual mind. It is heart mind, body mind but not intellectual thinking mind. Intellectual mind is not useful most of the time when pursuing religion.
While doing my evening chanting just now, I observed again and found that there is a method that I use. The feeling of offering is generated just before the offering and it is not the thought or idea of offering. It is a feeling which arises not from the head but from the heart. If you have any experience of meditation on feelings, you will get what i mean. So you generate a feeling, have a feeling, let it flow and flood through you, and then do the offering or chanting or dedication of merits. That is how it could be done. However, once you are familiar with the process, the generation of feeling part can be completed in a shorter period of time. Some also use the first few lines or moments in the chant to generate the feeling. The important thing here is the feeling of offering, of giving. The chant or ritual/action may be meaningless to you intellectually, but because of the feelings invested, it is meaningful. That is how it should be. At least as far as i know or my level of practice is concerned. So a ritual is actually a very personal thing and very feeling based thing and not an intellectual, mind thing. So the best is not to try to understand it from that way. Try to feel the ritual, not understand it intellectually. That is why rituals is an integral part of esoteric Buddhism. My master explains that esoteric means inside, deep, feelings, not surface and intellectual. Esoteric touches the heart of things, and comes from the heart.
Sorry if it is confusing. I know that in the first post, I keep talking about the mind. But this is the problem with a chinese translation into english. The word 心 in chinese is used which is usually translates into mind. However, it actually encompasses heart and mind. So when I speak of mind, it is not intellectual mind. It is heart mind, body mind but not intellectual thinking mind. Intellectual mind is not useful most of the time when pursuing religion.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Rituals
The 100th post will be on rituals. I just came back from a Homa service. It is basically an intense fire ritual said to be able to purify our minds bring us good fortune.
I have been thinking why I like rituals so much...Well....I think it all started from the day when at NTU's Dharma camp, when we wanted to present a gift to the Venerable at Palelai Temple, the Venerable said that this gift should not be a gift to me because I have preached the Dharma(not the exact words but the meaning is the same). The Dharma is priceless. And it should not be a gift to me. When you present it, present it to the whole sangha community. Think of it in such a way. Also, when the person is presenting it to me, do not think that HE is presenting it to me. Partake in this offering and view it as we are also presenting it to him together with the representative.
This forms the backbone of rituals. It is a bit of mudita, sympathetic joy, but more than that even. In rituals, if there is someone performing the ritual, study and know its significance yourself and you should view that you and the person performing the ritual are not separate from him or her, when the person is moving, you are moving(while not literally moving),watch the person closely, when the person is chanting, you are in concentration, perfectly in union with the person performing the ritual. Whatever the person does, you partake in it. YOU ARE IT! Mind, body and heart. That is how a participant should be in a ritual. Being one, your merit is limitless.
If you are the one doing the ritual, there must be full concentration on the action. In a wave of the hand, there is only a wave, the whole body and mind is waving. In the forming of a mudra, there is the mind body and heart all in it, not separate. The concept of union and separate does not even exist at that time of doing. Nothing at all, just that. Intention, movement and all in unison. With the chanting of the mantra, the mind has nothing, just the mantra. One way of chanting is to hear the pure words. The other is to summon out the pure intention. It is so with rituals too....
In rituals, the mind is in complete movement/stillness.. The hands move but it never actually did. There is just it...or for some, the projection, with all your mind and heart and action and speech. There is just that, the demonstration.
That is how rituals are done and should be partaken in from what I know. It is only through true participation in a ritual that one can gain the benefits of it. It is indeed sad that many of the Buddhists these days do not see or think much of ritual and undermine its use.
If it is still unclear, I shall describe the example of the offering of incense. In offering the incense, we take the incense in our hand, with one stroke right to the end, light it with the flame, looking at the flame. Then look at the red burning part, with another swift stroke right to the end, flick the fire off. Form the incense offering mudra and with the pure heart of offering, raise the mudra to the point between your eyebrows and place the incense in the burner. The ritual is complete. Nothing more, nothing less. The form may vary but the heart and mind and the cleanness of the stroke are the essentials.
The movements reflect the mind.
So movement is none other than mind.
And the mind is the ritual.
That is all. After the ritual is done, it is done.
I have been thinking why I like rituals so much...Well....I think it all started from the day when at NTU's Dharma camp, when we wanted to present a gift to the Venerable at Palelai Temple, the Venerable said that this gift should not be a gift to me because I have preached the Dharma(not the exact words but the meaning is the same). The Dharma is priceless. And it should not be a gift to me. When you present it, present it to the whole sangha community. Think of it in such a way. Also, when the person is presenting it to me, do not think that HE is presenting it to me. Partake in this offering and view it as we are also presenting it to him together with the representative.
This forms the backbone of rituals. It is a bit of mudita, sympathetic joy, but more than that even. In rituals, if there is someone performing the ritual, study and know its significance yourself and you should view that you and the person performing the ritual are not separate from him or her, when the person is moving, you are moving(while not literally moving),watch the person closely, when the person is chanting, you are in concentration, perfectly in union with the person performing the ritual. Whatever the person does, you partake in it. YOU ARE IT! Mind, body and heart. That is how a participant should be in a ritual. Being one, your merit is limitless.
If you are the one doing the ritual, there must be full concentration on the action. In a wave of the hand, there is only a wave, the whole body and mind is waving. In the forming of a mudra, there is the mind body and heart all in it, not separate. The concept of union and separate does not even exist at that time of doing. Nothing at all, just that. Intention, movement and all in unison. With the chanting of the mantra, the mind has nothing, just the mantra. One way of chanting is to hear the pure words. The other is to summon out the pure intention. It is so with rituals too....
In rituals, the mind is in complete movement/stillness.. The hands move but it never actually did. There is just it...or for some, the projection, with all your mind and heart and action and speech. There is just that, the demonstration.
That is how rituals are done and should be partaken in from what I know. It is only through true participation in a ritual that one can gain the benefits of it. It is indeed sad that many of the Buddhists these days do not see or think much of ritual and undermine its use.
If it is still unclear, I shall describe the example of the offering of incense. In offering the incense, we take the incense in our hand, with one stroke right to the end, light it with the flame, looking at the flame. Then look at the red burning part, with another swift stroke right to the end, flick the fire off. Form the incense offering mudra and with the pure heart of offering, raise the mudra to the point between your eyebrows and place the incense in the burner. The ritual is complete. Nothing more, nothing less. The form may vary but the heart and mind and the cleanness of the stroke are the essentials.
The movements reflect the mind.
So movement is none other than mind.
And the mind is the ritual.
That is all. After the ritual is done, it is done.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
My dear Buddhism
Oh my god! I love buddhism sooooo much. Spent the last few days watching Buddhist videos, downloading buddhist videos, buying buddhist books etc.
Got one book by Shibayama Roshi on the Mumonkan, one tranlation of Dogen by Tanahashi, one commentary by Ven Tich Nhat Hanh(Nothing to do, nowhere to go) on the Record of the Zen Teachings of master Rinzai(Linji), one book on Rituals and lithurgy called Bringing the Sacred to Life By John Daido Loori, and another book which is the english translation of Soko Moringa's autobiography. I just LOOOOVE biographies, they detail the steps a master took to become a master.
Recently I just finished Ajahn Lee's Autobiography. Finally!
And I am also reading this book by Chong An Sunim: The Flowers and the Bee. I like this book a lot, it is very down to earth Dharma. Very simple and clear. I just like the style of Chong An Sunim. Got a few videos of him.
Haha, as you can see, I have been chasing after externals of Buddhism for the last few weeks. When will I make other ppls' words my own?
Oh yea, I also got some videos of Shodo Harada Roshi. Very interesting. Never really noticed him until now. A disciple of the Master Yamada Mumon. Din know such a master existed until now.
Oh....my english has been rather terrible lately, can't even express something in proper english. Got to do something about it. Hmmm....change...
Watch..
Got one book by Shibayama Roshi on the Mumonkan, one tranlation of Dogen by Tanahashi, one commentary by Ven Tich Nhat Hanh(Nothing to do, nowhere to go) on the Record of the Zen Teachings of master Rinzai(Linji), one book on Rituals and lithurgy called Bringing the Sacred to Life By John Daido Loori, and another book which is the english translation of Soko Moringa's autobiography. I just LOOOOVE biographies, they detail the steps a master took to become a master.
Recently I just finished Ajahn Lee's Autobiography. Finally!
And I am also reading this book by Chong An Sunim: The Flowers and the Bee. I like this book a lot, it is very down to earth Dharma. Very simple and clear. I just like the style of Chong An Sunim. Got a few videos of him.
Haha, as you can see, I have been chasing after externals of Buddhism for the last few weeks. When will I make other ppls' words my own?
Oh yea, I also got some videos of Shodo Harada Roshi. Very interesting. Never really noticed him until now. A disciple of the Master Yamada Mumon. Din know such a master existed until now.
Oh....my english has been rather terrible lately, can't even express something in proper english. Got to do something about it. Hmmm....change...
Watch..
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Meditation Class in NUS!!
In order to concentrate on one style of meditation, I typically don't go for classes of other meditation styles. However, hearing how good Ajahn Keng was, I decided to go down to check him out.
Indeed, after the meditation session by him, I realise that there is not much difference in meditation at the beginning level. He taught us to concentrate on our breath and keep our attention there, how we can analyse our thoughts and actions in our daily life and so on. All the basic stuff, but the long term practice, long time to master stuff. It was really a great experience, sitting there, hearing a monk talk, laugh, meditate, contemplate.. Some of the stuff he said about situations and how we should face them as a Buddhist is all very useful. The part about our training being in our everyday lives, our actions, when he said it, though i have heard before, with my present experience, I feel it more strongly.
In the end, with a joy that seems to bubble up from my heart to my whole being, I left the session happily. Thinking how nice it would be if he can come every week. Learning Dharma in the campus, this is really learning Dharma in the campus. It is during such a time, I truely love and appreciate my being able to stay on campus and hear such good Dharma. It is indeed food for the heart. A great blessing as it is said in the Mangala Sutta. Hopefully, more ppl can come to listen to this Dharma talk. Hopefully those that com will not leave unsatisfied. Hopefully my friends who do not stay on campus will continue to come for the meditation course and may they not face any conflict or resistance in trying to come to hear this good Dharma.
But then again, haha, I read in Ajahn Chah's 'A Still Forest Pool' that he once told his disciple who wanted to hear him more often that if he came often, they would also find him boring! Haha!
Indeed, after the meditation session by him, I realise that there is not much difference in meditation at the beginning level. He taught us to concentrate on our breath and keep our attention there, how we can analyse our thoughts and actions in our daily life and so on. All the basic stuff, but the long term practice, long time to master stuff. It was really a great experience, sitting there, hearing a monk talk, laugh, meditate, contemplate.. Some of the stuff he said about situations and how we should face them as a Buddhist is all very useful. The part about our training being in our everyday lives, our actions, when he said it, though i have heard before, with my present experience, I feel it more strongly.
In the end, with a joy that seems to bubble up from my heart to my whole being, I left the session happily. Thinking how nice it would be if he can come every week. Learning Dharma in the campus, this is really learning Dharma in the campus. It is during such a time, I truely love and appreciate my being able to stay on campus and hear such good Dharma. It is indeed food for the heart. A great blessing as it is said in the Mangala Sutta. Hopefully, more ppl can come to listen to this Dharma talk. Hopefully those that com will not leave unsatisfied. Hopefully my friends who do not stay on campus will continue to come for the meditation course and may they not face any conflict or resistance in trying to come to hear this good Dharma.
But then again, haha, I read in Ajahn Chah's 'A Still Forest Pool' that he once told his disciple who wanted to hear him more often that if he came often, they would also find him boring! Haha!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Friction
It is interesting how we respond so readily to another party's bad attitude with bad attitude and how relationships get so easily affected by words. Maybe because the relationship is weak, maybe the people are sensitive, maybe the parties are bad with words.
Whatever the case, as a Buddhist practitioner and more importantly a Zen student, it is very impt that I should not get attached to words and should not be trapped in mental situations that other ppl present to me. How could I make such a mistake?? It is indeed a terrible mistake. Now I see the severity of it, the situations that happen before my eyes, how blind am I to them. I have really got to pracctice harder.
Should have known, my master had warned me to be careful of my words during this period of time as this is a time of much friction between me and others. It is indeed unfolding as what my master had warned of. _(|)_ But it is indeed great Buddhist training. Hopefully while I am working on my flaws, no one is sacrificed. This i hope with all sincereity.
To all those whom I have offended whether in speech, action or thought, I sincerely apologise and ask for your forgiveness. I promise that I will work hard to eliminate my flaws. But if I make any mistakes along the way, please point it out to me and have patience with me. Thank you.
Whatever the case, as a Buddhist practitioner and more importantly a Zen student, it is very impt that I should not get attached to words and should not be trapped in mental situations that other ppl present to me. How could I make such a mistake?? It is indeed a terrible mistake. Now I see the severity of it, the situations that happen before my eyes, how blind am I to them. I have really got to pracctice harder.
Should have known, my master had warned me to be careful of my words during this period of time as this is a time of much friction between me and others. It is indeed unfolding as what my master had warned of. _(|)_ But it is indeed great Buddhist training. Hopefully while I am working on my flaws, no one is sacrificed. This i hope with all sincereity.
To all those whom I have offended whether in speech, action or thought, I sincerely apologise and ask for your forgiveness. I promise that I will work hard to eliminate my flaws. But if I make any mistakes along the way, please point it out to me and have patience with me. Thank you.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Summoning the earth touching mudra
Damn, the schedule is tight! Got to work damn hard!!! Sorry everyone but I need to work hard this sem and especially this week and put in some focus effort like TS.
To know what you nid to do and do what you nid to.
Have to master the essence of the earth touching mudra.
Hiayhh!!!!!!! With my eat milk strength, JUST DO IT!!
Ok man, going back to study mode emanrohe.
To know what you nid to do and do what you nid to.
Have to master the essence of the earth touching mudra.
Hiayhh!!!!!!! With my eat milk strength, JUST DO IT!!
Ok man, going back to study mode emanrohe.
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