How to be a real and true Buddhist?

Simply and easily by joining the Three Refuges and undertaking
the Five Precepts like this: Newly bathed, shaved, white-clothed,
with clean, bare feet, one kneels at a shrine with a Buddha-statue,
and bows first three times so that feet, hands, elbows, knees and
head touch the floor. Then, with joined palms in front of the heart,
one recites these memorized lines in a loud, calm & steady voice:

As long as this life lasts:
I hereby take refuge in the Buddha.
I hereby take refuge in the Dhamma.
I hereby take refuge in the Sangha.
I seek shelter in the Buddha for the 2nd time.
I seek shelter in the Dhamma for the 2nd time.
I seek shelter in the Sangha for the 2nd time.
I request protection from the Buddha for the 3rd time.
I request protection from the Dhamma for the 3rd time.
I request protection from the Sangha for the 3rd time.

I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Killing.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Stealing.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Sexual Abuse.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Dishonesty.
I hereby accept the training rule of avoiding all Alcohol & Drugs.
As long as this life lasts...

Then one keeps and protects these sacred vows better than one's own
eyes & children, since they protect you & all other beings much better
than any army! They are the highest offer one can give in-&-to this world!
This is the very start on the path towards Nibbāna -the Deathless Element-
This is the Noble Way to Peace, to Freedom, to Bliss, initiated by Morality,
developed further by Dhamma-Study and fulfilled by Meditation training ...
If any wish official recognition by the Bhikkhu-Sangha, they may simply
forward the lines starting with "I.." signed with name, date, town & country
to me. I have then out up a public list of this evolving Saddhamma Sangha.
May your journey hereby be eased, light, swift and sweet. Never give up!!!
One can also join the Saddhamma Sangha by taking the 3 refuges & accept
the 5 training rules right here:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Sangha_Entry.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/sangha/Saddhamma_Sangha.htm




More on this basic first cause of all Good: Morality (Sīla)!
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Sila_1_to_5.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Happy_Habit.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/What_is_Virtue.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Best_Protection.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/The_Five_Basics.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Sila_Contemplation.htm

Behaviour gradually evolves and spread like rings of pure good!

Perfect Praxis!

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

What is this Fundamental Right Awareness?

That Noble Eightfold Way, leading to Nibbāna, is simply this:
Right View, Right Motivation, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood,
Right Effort, Right Awareness and Right Concentration.
But what is Right Awareness?

The 4-fold Definition of Right Awareness:
1: Awareness of the Body merely as a transient and compounded Form..
2: Awareness of Feelings just as conditioned emotional Responses..
3: Awareness of Mind only as habituated and temporary Moods..
4: Awareness of Phenomena only as constructed Mental States..
Right Awareness is of these 4, while being alert, & clearly comprehending,
will put away longing towards and aversion against anything in this world!

The Characterization of Right Awareness:
Awareness of wrong view or right view present now, is Right Awareness!
Awareness of wrong motivation or right motivation, is Right Awareness!
Awareness of wrong speech or right speech now, is Right Awareness!
Awareness of wrong action or right action, is Right Awareness!
Awareness of wrong livelihood or right livelihood, is Right Awareness!
Awareness of wrong effort or right effort, is Right Awareness!
Awareness of wrong awareness or right awareness, is Right Awareness!
Awareness of wrong or right concentration now, is Right Awareness!

The Explanation of Acute Awareness and Clear Comprehension:
When inhaling & exhaling long, one notices and is fully aware of just that..
When inhaling & exhaling short, one notices & is fully aware of just that..
One trains: I will breathe in-&-out clearly comprehending the entire body.
One trains: I will breathe in-&-out calming the breath & all bodily activity.
When walking, one notices and clearly comprehends, that one is walking.
When standing, one notices and clearly comprehends, that one is standing.
When sitting, one notices & clearly comprehends, that one is sitting down.
When lying down, one notices & clearly comprehends, that one is lying.
Going forward one notices & clearly comprehends, this going forward.
When returning one notices and clearly comprehends, this returning.
When looking in front or back, one notices, & is clearly aware of that.
When bending or stretching, when lifting or carrying, when eating or
drinking, chewing or tasting, one is aware of and comprehends just that.
When passing excrement or urine one clearly comprehends exactly that.
While falling asleep and waking up, when speaking or keeping silence,
one notices, knows and understands exactly that & clearly comprehends,
that this is, what one is doing just right here and exactly now...
Continuous awareness of purpose, suitability, domain and nature of one's
current behaviour, whether mental, verbal or bodily is Right Awareness
and clear comprehension...

The Function of Right Awareness and its associates:
Knowing right/wrong awareness as right/wrong awareness, is right view.
Exchanging wrong awareness with right awareness is right effort.
Right awareness has the function of observing, noticing, remembering &
knowing the reality that neither any body, nor any form, nor any feeling,
nor any mentality, nor any phenomena, nor any mental state is happiness,
truly attractive, lasting, satisfying or even personal, something keepable...
All phenomena are momentary: They pass away right after the moment of
their arising and occurrence! Nothing is permanent, everything is in a state
of flux: Arising and ceasing, emerging and vanishing, coming and going,
again and again and again and again and ever again...!!! Anicca = Change...

The Blessed Buddha once said:
Friends, this is the only direct way to the mental purification of beings,
to the overcoming & elimination of sorrow, frustration, pain and misery,
to gaining the right method, to the realization of Nibbāna, that is:
This establishing of the 4 Foundations of Awareness...
The 4 frames of reference...

Awareness is therefore a Mountain of Advantage!

Take Home: The 4 Foundations of Right Awareness are:
1: Being aware of the BODY as a mere transient form.
2: Being aware of the FEELING as a mere reactive response.
3: Being aware of the MIND as a mere passing set of moods.
4: Being aware of the PHENOMENON as a mere mental state.

Further study of Buddhist Right Awareness (Sammā-Sati):

Root texts by the Buddha:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/index.html#satipatthana

Complete reference on Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/pdfs/Satipatthana.pdf

Studies, anthologies and commentaries:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/samma-sati.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/bps/misc/wayof.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/bps/wheels/wheel370.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/bps/wheels/wheel019.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/wings/part2.html#part2-a

For further study on the illuminating presence of Awareness:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Sati_Studies.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Causes_of_sati.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Sati_Summary.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Sati_in_Solitude.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Awareness_Sati.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Clear_Comprehension.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Noble_Awareness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/One_and_only_Way.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Feeding_Awareness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Awareness_Analysis.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Sati_a_la_Anuruddha.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/What_is_Right_Awareness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Careful_and_Rational_Attention.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Clear_and_Aware_Comprehension.htm

What is Right Awareness?

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

What is this vital Right Effort?

That Noble Eightfold Way, leading to Nibbāna, is simply this:
Right View, Right Motivation, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood,
Right Effort, Right Awareness and Right Concentration.
But what is Right Effort?

The 4-fold Definition of Right Effort:
1: The effort to overcome already present disadvantageous mental states..
2: The effort to prevent future disadvantageous mental states from arising..
3: The effort to begin developing so far absent advantageous mental states..
4: The effort to maintain and perfect already arisen advantageous mental states..
This is Right Effort!

The Characterization of Right Effort:
Striving for replacing wrong view with right view, is Right Effort!
Striving for replacing wrong motivation with right motivation, is Right Effort!
Striving for replacing wrong speech with right speech, is Right Effort!
Striving for replacing wrong action with right action, is Right Effort!
Striving for replacing wrong livelihood with right livelihood, is Right Effort!
Striving for replacing wrong effort with right effort, is Right Effort!
Striving for replacing wrong awareness with right awareness, is Right Effort!
Striving for replacing wrong concentration w. right concentration, is Right Effort!

The Explanation of the 4 Right Efforts:
The 4 right efforts are 1: Control 2: Overcoming 3: Development 4: Maintenance!
What is the effort of control? When seeing an object with the eye, one neither
grasps after the whole object, nor any of its details, thereby one strives well to
prevent bad, detrimental states, such as longing and misery, to flood in on one!
One guards and controls the sense of sight and do similarly with the other senses.
What is the effort of overcoming? One does not accept any lust, hate or anger,
that has arisen, but leaves it instantly, dispels it, destroys it, and makes it vanish.
What is the effort of development? One develops the enlightenment-factor of
awareness, of investigation, of energy, of joy, of tranquillity, of concentration,
and the enlightenment-factor of equanimity based on solitude, seclusion, and
ceasing, which is leading to maturity and culmination of spiritual self-surrender.
What is the effort of maintenance? One dominated by desire maintains firmly
in his mind a favourable object of concentration, such as a skeleton, or a corpse
that is full of worms, bluish-black, full of holes, and bloated, while one dominated
by anger maintains firmly in his mind a favourable object of concentration, such
as infinite friendliness, universal pity, mutual joy or well balanced equanimity...

Thus knowing right and wrong effort as right and wrong effort, is Right View.
Awareness of presence of right and wrong effort, is Right Awareness.
Right effort has the function of striving, exertion and endurance...
Keep on keeping on! Never give up! Always Come again!

Further study of Buddhist Right Effort (Sammā-Padhāna):
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/samma-vayamo.html
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Avoiding_Effort.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Avoiding_Effort2.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_River_of_Energetic_Effort.htm

What is Right Effort?

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

CG Jung: Death Is Not The End & Then What?

http://youtu.be/6GOeQZZYx34

Rebirth from an Early Buddhist Perspective:

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rebirth.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Rare_Rebirth.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Divine_Rebirth.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Animal_Rebirth.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Samsaric_Dread.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Minor_Hells.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Five_Destinations.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Birth_is_Suffering.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Hell_Destiny.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Endless_is_Rebirth.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_5_Destinations.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Kamma_and_Rebirth.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Rebirth_and_Kamma.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Mad_Demon_Rebirth.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Samsaric_Round.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Human_Being_Rebirth.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Hungry_Ghost_Rebirth.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Past_Cause_Present_Effect.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/What_passes_on_by_Rebirth-Linking.htm

The Truth of Rebirth And Why it Matters for Buddhist Practice by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/truth_of_rebirth.html

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/truth_of_rebirth.pdf

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

What is this critical Right Livelihood?

The Noble Eightfold Way, leading to Nibbāna, is simply this:
Right View, Right Motivation, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood,
Right Effort, Right Awareness and Right Concentration.
But what is Right Livelihood?

The 5-fold Definition of Right Livelihood:
1: Earning a living not involving any trading with Living Beings.
2: Earning a living not involving any selling of Meat, Fish or Flesh.
3: Earning a living not involving any selling of any form of Weapons.
4: Earning a living not involving any dealing with Alcohol or Drugs .
5: Earning a living not involving any selling of any form of Poison.
That is Right Livelihood!

The Characterization of Right Livelihood for lay people:
Any livelihood that neither involves any killing, injuring, harming, nor any
imprisoning of any living being, nor stealing, taking what is not given,
cheating, any bribery or corruption, or lying, or false deceiving, tricks, or
use of false measures and weights, neither sensual, nor any sexual abuse,
neither the use or selling of alcohol, or of intoxicating illegal drugs, that
causes carelessness, neither by oneself, nor by getting other employees
to do so, such is Right Livelihood!

The Explanation of Right Livelihood for Buddhist Monks and Nuns:
Neither living, nor receiving food by astrology, soothsaying, prediction of future
events, nor by palmistry, geomancy, dream-reading, charms and spells, or fake
divination, nor by any rituals, running errands, or messages, flattering, arranging
marriages, funerals or divorces, medical praxis, or by producing art or poetry, or
by professional disputation or debate, this is Right Livelihood!

Knowing right and wrong Livelihood as right and wrong Livelihood, is Right View.
Awareness of presence of right and wrong Livelihood, is Right Awareness.
Exchanging wrong Livelihood with right Livelihood, is Right Effort...

Further study of Buddhist Right Livelihood (Samma-Ajiva):
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/samma-ajivo.html

What is Right Livelihood?

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

What is this essential Right Action?

The Noble Eightfold Way, leading to Nibbāna, is simply this:
Right View, Right Motivation, Right Speech, Right Action,
Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Awareness and
Right Concentration. But what is Right Action?

The 3-fold Definition of Right Action:
1: Avoiding all killing and harming of any living being...
2: Abstaining from taking and thus stealing what is not given...
3: Stopping all adultery and all abuse of any sense-pleasure...
That is Right Action!

The Characterization of Right Action. The blessed Buddha said:
Friends, it is caused by behaviour in conflict with the Dhamma,
by reason of immoral behaviour, that some beings here, right at
the breakup of the body, after death, reappear lost in states of
pain, in an unhappy destination, in the downfall, even in the hells...
It is caused by behaviour in harmony with the Dhamma, by reason
of moral behaviour, that some beings here, on the breakup of the
body, right after death, reappear in a happy destination, even in
the divine worlds!!! And which, friends, are the 3 kinds of bodily
moral behaviour in harmony with the Dhamma?
Here someone, stops all killing of living beings, abstains from  injuring
living beings; with rod & weapon laid aside, gentle and kind, such one
dwells sympathetic towards all living beings.
Avoiding the taking of what is not given, one refrains from stealing,
what is not freely given. One does not take by way of theft the wealth
and property of others, neither in the village nor in the forest.
Abandoning abuse of sensual pleasures, such one gives up misuse in
sensual pleasures. One does not have intercourse with partners, who
are protected by their mother, or father, or mother and father, or
brother, or sister, or relatives, who is married, betrothed to another,
who are protected by law, in prison, or who are engaged to other side.
That is how there are three kinds of bodily moral behaviour in harmony
with the Dhamma... Such is Right Action!

Explanation:
Primary of these is the ending of intentional killing or destroying of
other beings either by physical action or by verbal incitement, ranging
from killing eggs of lice and bugs, or causing abortion, to any slaughter
of living creatures, including human beings.
Restraint from taking, what is not given, means abstaining from taking,
with intention to steal, living beings or non-living articles, which have
an owner. Removing or appropriating them, without owner's consent,
either by physical effort or by inciting another to do so.
Restraint from wrong behaviour in sensual pleasures means abstention
from any kind of sex, which will cause pain and suffering to others.
Examples will be adultery, since this causes the disruption of marriage,
rape, intercourse with minors protected by parents, and perversion of
others. Included here also are abstention from use of booze, drugs
and any kinds of intoxicants, which causes carelessness, and gambling
with cards, dice, on horses, teams etc.



Knowing right and wrong action as right and wrong action, is right view.
Awareness of presence of right and wrong action, is right awareness.
Exchanging wrong action with right action, is right effort...
The factors of the Noble 8-fold way thus mutually enhance each other!
Any intentional action - good as bad - determines - whether the future
will be pleasant or painful for the acting individuality...

Further study of Buddhist Right Action (Sammā-Kammanta):
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/samma-kammanto.html
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/Action_Determines.htm

What is Right Action?

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

Pakistan’s Buddhist art comes to Sri Lanka

Buddhist sculptures from the ancient Gandhara Kingdom, located in present-day Pakistan, are shown in this June 23rd, 2005 File photo. Pakistan has begun sharing its vast collection of Buddhist artefacts with museums in Sri Lanka. [Athar Hussain/Reuters]

Although Pakistan is a Muslim country, it shares a cultural and historical heritage with predominantly Buddhist Sri Lanka. By Pradeep Seneviratne for Khabar South Asia in Colombo
July 12, 2012
For years, Colombo-native Ariyawathi knew of Pakistan only as a Muslim state of little significance to Buddhists.
But that was before she visited the new international Buddhist museum at Sri Dalada Maligawa, a sacred temple in Kandy. The collection at the year-old museum features artefacts from 16 different countries– including Pakistan.
What she saw made a profound impression on her.
“During my school days, I learnt about Buddha’s birthplace in Lumbini, Nepal and other areas associated with milestones of his life in India,” Ariyawathi, 60, told Khabar South Asia. “Yet I hardly knew Pakistan also has a proud history of Buddhists. I was happy to know it. We have to teach this to our children.”
The Pakistani and Sri Lankan governments have been increasingly interested in fostering a relationship based on the two countries’ shared cultural heritage. Last year, as Sri Lanka commemorated the 2,600th anniversary of the Buddha’s enlightenment, the Pakistani government sent a set of sacred relics. They were exhibited in June 2011 before being taken back to Pakistan.
Now, the High Commission of Pakistan in Colombo is taking steps to send replicas of key artefacts that can be kept permanently at the museum in Kandy.
“Pakistan has gifted these invaluable cultural assets to Sri Lanka,” Pradeep Nilanga Dela, custodian of the Sri Dalada Maligawa museum, told Khabar. “The museum where these items are kept is an important one. It presents to people how Buddhism was founded and spread across the countries.”
Dela said the High Commission announced arrangements are being made to donate a few more artefacts from Pakistan to the museum, which looks forward to receiving them. The donated cultural assets are mostly from the Gandhara region, situated near modern-day Peshawar. The area was once home to a thriving culture, which mixed Buddhism with Greco-Roman influences.
T.B. Ekanayake, minister of Cultural Affairs of Sri Lanka, said the long-standing cultural, religious, political and economic relationship between the two countries is meaningfully symbolised through such donations of cultural assets.
“There is an invaluable archaeological value. We really appreciate the importance attached by the Pakistani government to its rich legacy of Buddhist heritage,” he said.
Yalwela Pannasekara Thera, a Buddhist monk working as a teacher at a leading school in Colombo, said it is important for children to learn about cultural ties with the countries in the region.
“Now, the world is becoming globalised,” Thera said. “People should be interconnected with each other. It is better for them to know the common heritage.”
M. Fawaz, a Muslim trader in Colombo, also said the development of cultural ties between the two countries on their common heritage would be a positive step.
“In the ordinary people’s mind, Pakistan is associated with cricket. There is something more than a game of cricket. Culture can bring us close to each other,” he said.
SOURSE:BUDDHIST ART NEWS

Karunã: The Great Good Helper!

Karunā  is feeling the pain of other beings, either partially or completely;

Possible translations:
1: Pity not from above: “I am better”, but as if in the other being’s shoes…
2: Compassion is OK, but that is difficult to reach up to for many beings…
3: Fellow feeling, sympathy, empathy, understanding are all OK, but somewhat
missing these essential points:

A: It is an inability to see and accept other being’s suffering and distress!
B: It is a deep desire to make others feel free, glad, happy and peaceful!
C: It is extended to and pervaded over many beings simultaneously…

The proximate cause of Karunā = pity is noticing other being’s helplessness.
The immediate effect of Karunā = pity is evaporation of all evil cruelty!

Pity (Karunā ) is one of the four divine and infinite dwellings (Brahmavihāra) :
Karuna_is_Pity, Endless Pity, Space_Compassion, What_is_Wrong,
Safe_Medicine, Great_Compassion, Compassionate_Pity,
How_to_Cure_Cruelty_and_Revengefulness

The Great Helper!

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