Sunday, March 31, 2013

Prison Dhamma: Bad situation converted into Good opportunity!

KERALAMAHABODHI MISSION CONDUCTED DHAMMA YAATHRA






കേരളമാഹബോധി മിഷന്റെ ആഭിമുക്യത്തിൽ ധമ്മ വിശ്വാസികൾ കർണ്ണാടകത്തിലെ വിവിധ ബുദ്ധ ക്ഷേത്രങ്ങളും വിഹാരങ്ങളും സന്ദർസ്സിചു.ലോകത്തിന്റെ വിവിധ ഭാഗങ്ങളിൽ നിന്നെത്തിയ ബുദ്ധ ഭിക്ഷുക്കളുടെ പ്രഭാക്ഷണം ആശയവിനിമയം  എന്നിവയും ഉണ്ടായി . മൈസൂരിലെ മഹാബോധി വിഹാരം , ബയലകുപ്പയിലെ വിവിധ വിഹാരങ്ങൾ എന്നിവ സന്ദർശിച്ഛവയിൽപെടുന്നു .


Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Alert

What to Train when Mind is High and Alert?

The Blessed Buddha once explained:
On any occasion, Bhikkhus, when mind is excited and high, then it is time
for training the Tranquillity Link to Awakening, the Concentration Link
to Awakening
, and the Equanimity Link to Awakening. Why is it so?
Because when the mind is excited and high, Bhikkhus, then it is easy to
calm it down with exactly those mental states...
Imagine, Bhikkhus, a man wants to extinguish a great fire. If he throws
wet grass, wet cow-dung, wet timber into it, sprays it with water, and
scatters soil over it, would he be able to extinguish that great bonfire?
Yes, Venerable Sir.
Even so here, Bhikkhus, on any occasion, when the mind is excited and high,
then it is convenient to train & develop the Tranquillity Link to Awakening,
the Concentration Link to Awakening, & the Equanimity Link to Awakening.
Why is it so? Because when the mind is excited and high, Bhikkhus, then it
is easy to calm it down & still it with the qualities of exactly those states!
Awareness, however, Bhikkhus, I tell you, is always useful & good to train!



Sources (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikāya.
Book [V: 114-5] 46: Links. 53: Fire....


Agitation and Irritation can be converted into Advantageous Alertness!

Alert or Agitated?
Have a nice & noble day!
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Friendship is the Greatest! Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Buddhist Art in ancient Srilanka Architecture

Buddhist Art in ancient Sri Lanka Architecture

Buddhachannel Eng.
Tuesday 5 March 2013
Caves for the residence of Bhikkhus who visited Sri Lanka as well as for Bhikkhus who entered the Buddha Sasana were found on the mountains of Mihintale, east of Anuradhapura. These were built on the advice of Elder Mahinda.
It was on his advice that parks like Mahameghavana and mountain abodes like Cetiyapabbata were donated to the community of Sangha. These simple abodes meant to suit the life of a Bhikkhu. The advice of Mahinda Mahathera was very useful. The caves found near the Kantaka Cetiya at Mihintale are considered to be the earliest examples of Buddhist architecture of Sri Lanka.
In finding abodes for the Bhikkhus, the Architects were also concerned about the environment. They took special care to protect the landscape, the trees, the rocks and the water springs in the vicinity. The first lesson that we learn from Elder Mahinda was to lead a life in harmony with the environment. The caves and abodes found at Mihintale in a rocky forest are good examples in this respect.
Besides caves, comfortable dwellings were among the kind of dwellings avowed by the Buddha for the use of the Bhikkhus. The Prasada, the abode built by the Commander Dighasanda for the use of Elder Mahinda at Anuradhapura, was such an abode. A Prasada, according to Mahavamsa was a building raised high on the ground with a stone railing and well-built walls. The word Prasada is also applicable to the abodes of royalty as well as of the nobility.
This is a refectory of the Parivena, the cells or Kutis. The monastic residences therefore seem to have been quite similar to the architectural designs of the higher classes of the laity. The Ratnaprasada at Anuradhapura is an example. The earlier Bhikkhus who were residing at Mihintale preferred to live in cave abodes rather than in Prasadas. The caves thus prepared for living are architecturally interesting.
The idea of utilising stone for building and making rock abodes for Bhikkhus was similarly introduced from India as part of the Mauryan culture of King Asoka. The artifical improvements made to the caves were mainly a drip- line cut along the brow. This was to prevent rainwater flowing into the cave. Some caves were provided with an outer wall in front and covered by a lean roof in order to protect it from rain and sun. A window and a door were also fixed to the cave in order to create a simple abode.
When religious activities at Mihintale began to develop, the necessity to provide the Aramas, the monasteries, Sannipatasalas the Assembly Halls, Uposathagharas, the chapter houses, Vedahal, the hospitals, Jantagharas, the bath houses and ponds also became imperative. Such buildings, suitable for a religious life, were abundantly found at Mihintale.
The buildings associated with monastic life are found at the foot of the mountain near the flight of steps and facing the Lion Bath near Kantaka Cetiya. The Assembly Hall at the middle plateau is a simple but charming artistic creation: the seat at the middle of this building is meant for the chief monk of the monastery. The Alms Hall, too, is an important building. It is also architecturally impressive.
The courtyard of this building was used for such activities as cooking, serving food and providing water. Important utensils still seen there are the boat for providing gruel and another for providing rice. The hospital and the Alms Hall had a middle courtyard while the Assembly Hall had no such courtyard but a square building. The main feature of all these buildings was the presence of stone columns to support the roof.
There are several important features of this quadrangular hospital consisting of two sections. It has a central courtyard. This was used for a shrine room and around it were arranged rows of cells on all four sides. This site which faced south was laid out most symmetrically as an oblong, measuring laterally 118 feet 6 inches from west to east by 97 feet 6 inches in depth north and south.
This permitted the quadrated sides on east, west and north being divided up by cross brick walls into a range of seven cells on either hand – the two end rooms double the length of any of the mediate five – and nine cells in the rear. To the front the entrance passage occupied the central position limiting the number of rooms to four on each side of it. The rooms all faced inwards towards the central shrine. Each chamber was ten feet square; the narrow verandah ran all round their inner face.
Many of the basic features of an Ayurvedic Hospital are found in this hospital. The features of this hospital also disclose that treatment was necessary for a patient not only for the body but also for the mind. Thus, mental health care was also a feature of local treatment. This is suggested by the importance given to the shrine room in the Central Courtyard.
Among the ponds, the Naga Pokuna and the Kaludiya Pokuna are worthy of description. The Naga Pokuna is a natural rock basin in an elevated plateau at the foot of a hillock. The Kaludiya Pokuna is designed to look like a natural pond but it is in fact an artificial pool. The Naga Pokuna has followed the shape of the natural rock. It has a beautiful piece of sculpture of the Five-headed Cobra in the low relief on the rock face. The Lion Bath below it was supplied water from the Naga Pokuna.
Health care was one of the main considerations of the architects who designed the Monastic Complex at Mihintale. This is well illustrated by the presence of an irrigational network, hospitals, lavatories and the protection of the natural environment. Archaeological exacavations have brought to light the extent to which ancient Sri Lankans were concerned about hygienic conditions.
Even urine was to be purified through the use of pots before it was allowed to be absorbed into the soil. Sand and charcoal were used for this purpose. This was done also to protect the life of the creatures under the earth, which the disciplinary rules of a monk demanded. So strict was the disciplinary life of a Bhikkhu that even the lavatory stones were decoratated in the hope that this will help the meditating monk to be detached from wordly life.
A very clear and precise example of an Ancient Monastic Complex is found at Kaludiya Pokuna at Mihintale. The buildings erected at different levels by the side of the pool, allowing the natural environment to remain undisturbed, made a perfect abode for the meditating Bhikkhu. This architectural feature should illustrate amply the condition of aramic planning in ancient Sri Lanka.

STRIGHT VIEW

What is the Starting Point of all Advantageous States?
Venerable Bahiya once approached the Blessed Buddha and asked:Sir, Please teach me the Dhamma in brief, so that I can withdraw into
retreat and dwell secluded, keen, ardent, alert and determined.
Well, Bahiya, purify the very starting point of all advantageous states.
And what is the starting point of all advantageous states?

Morality that is well purified, and a view that is made straight #...
Then, Bahiya, when your Morality is well purified and your view is straight,
based upon Morality, established upon Morality, you should develop these
Four Foundations of Awareness. What four? Here, Bahiya, live reflecting on:
1: The Body merely as a transient and compounded Form..
2: Feelings just as vanishing Reactions to sense-contact..
3: Mind only as a group of habitual and conditioned Moods..
4: All Phenomena simply as discrete momentary Mental States..
Thereby removing any desire, jealousy, envy & discontent rooted in this world..
When, Bahiya, based upon Morality, established upon Morality, you develop
these Four Foundations of Awareness in such a way, then both night and day,
you will grow in all advantageous states, and not decline into any degradation!
Then the Venerable Bahiya, delighted, enjoying and rejoicing in what the
Blessed Buddha had explained, rose from his seat, and, after kneeling for
the Blessed One, keeping him on his right, he left. Then dwelling all alone,
withdrawn, diligent, ardent, and resolute, the Venerable Bahiya, realizing it
by direct experience, in this very life entered that incomparable goal of the
Noble life for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from this household
life into homelessness. He directly knew: Destroyed is rebirth, the Noble life is
completed, done is what had to be done, there is no more coming into any state
of being. Venerable Bahiya had become another one of the awakened Arahats!

The 4 great frames of Reference!
Comment #: Efficacy of Kamma!
The Straight View is understanding that everyone is responsible for their own
actions & that all beings experience the delayed resulting effects - good as bad -
not only in this life, but in many future lives!

Source of reference (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikāya.
Book [V: 165-6] 47 The Foundations of Awareness: 47 Bahiya..
Straight View ...
Have a nice & noble day!
signature.picBowing_Bhikkhu 
Friendship is the Greatest! Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

What is Nibbãna?

The Absolute and Ultimate Release Beyond!


A wandering friend once asked the Great Disciple:

Friend Sariputta, Nibbāna, Nibbāna  is it said! What is this Nibbāna?
The destruction of Greed, the destruction of Hate, and the destruction of
Ignorance! This, friend, is called Nibbāna
But, friend, is there a method, is there a way to reach this Nibbāna?
There is indeed a method, friend, there is indeed a way to reach Nibbāna!
What, friend, is then this method, what is then that way to reach Nibbāna?
It is, friend, simply the completion of this Noble 8-fold Way, namely:
Right View  (sammā-ditthi)
Right Motivation  (sammā-sankappa)
Right Speech  (sammā-vācā)
Right Action  (sammā-kammanta)
Right Livelihood  (sammā-ājīva)
Right Effort  (sammā-vāyāma)
Right Awareness  (sammā-sati)
Right Concentration  (sammā-samādhi)
This is undeniably the very method, friend, the only way to reach Nibbāna!
Oh excellent is this unique method, exquisite is this way to reach Nibbāna!
This –in itself- is enough for me, friend Sariputta, to begin the endeavour!


Source (edited extract):

The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikāya. Book IV [251]
section 38:1 Questions on Nibbāna ...
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html

Have a nice & noble day!
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Friendship is the Greatest! Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Monday, March 11, 2013

BUDDHIST QUOTES IN MALAYALAM


Winning Calm & Serene Bliss by Breathing..!




The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, this sweet concentration by Awareness by Breathing, when it is
developed and cultivated, is peaceful and sublime, an ambrosial pleasant
dwelling in itself, and it disperses and quells right on the very spot all evil
detrimental mental states, whenever and wherever they arise...!
Exactly as in a hot summer month, when a cloud of dust and dirt has been
swirled up, then a sudden great & heavy rainfall makes it vanish by quelling
it on the spot, so too does this concentration by Awareness by Breathing,
when developed and cultivated often, and which is peaceful and sublime,
an ambrosial pleasant dwelling in itself, disperse, scatter, evaporate and
quell right on the spot all evil & disadvantageous mental states whenever &
wherever they arise.  And how is this so? Bhikkhus, when one has gone to
the forest, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut, there & then one
sits down cross-legged, having straightened one's body and back, & set
up awareness around the nostrils, then just plainly aware of only that
breathing itself one breathes in, and just solely aware of only that very
breathing itself one breathes out... Feeling only the touch of air passing!
Breathing in long, one knows, notes and understands: I inhale long!
Breathing out long, one knows, notes and understands: I exhale long!
... ... ... (steps 2-15) ... ... ...
One trains thus: Contemplating relinquishment, I will breathe in!
One trains thus: Contemplating relinquishment, I will breathe out!
It is in exactly this way, Friends & Bhikkhus, that this fine concentration
by Awareness by Breathing is developed & cultivated so that it indeed is
peaceful and sublime, an ambrosial pleasant dwelling in itself! And it is in
this way that it disperses and quells on the spot all evil detrimental states
whenever and wherever they arise!

Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikāya. [V:321-22]
section 54: Ānāpānasamyutta. Thread 9: At Vesali!
On the Spot!
Have a nice & noble day!
signature.picBowing_Bhikkhu 
Friendship is the Greatest! Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net