BUDDHISM IN KERALA

Monday, May 21, 2012

Zen Hermits are Fine Forest Friends

http://youtu.be/pv6P-08A_u0

Have a nice & noble day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Feeding the Serenity of Equanimity!

The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, just as this body, is sustained by feeding, exists in dependence on
feeding and cannot survive without food, so are the 7 Links to Awakening
also sustained by feeding, they can also only exist in dependence on feeding
and they cannot remain without feeding... And what, bhikkhus, is the feeding
of the emergence of any yet unarisen equanimity and also feeding of the
completion by condensation of any arisen Equanimity?
There are states that are basis & source for Equanimity! Frequently pointing
careful and rational attention to them, is feeding the emergence of unarisen
equanimity & also feeding of the gradual fulfillment of any arisen Equanimity
Link to Awakening... And what, Bhikkhus, is the starving that obstructs all
emergence of a yet unarisen equanimity, and which also hinders any already
arisen Equanimity Link from reaching complete fulfillment by development?
There are states that are the basis and source for the equanimity!
Not giving frequent, careful and rational attention to them; not considering
them much and often; is the starving that prevents an unarisen equanimity
from arising and also blocks any already arisen equanimity from reaching
any complete fulfillment through training in the form of frequent meditation!

Comments:
The main basis and source of Equanimity is knowing, seeing & understanding:
All beings are born, created, conditioned and shaped by their past kamma...
They are owner, debtor, inheritor of the effects of their prior behaviour.
Whatever they do - good as bad - only they will feel the long-term results!

Comments from the classical commentaries:
Imperturbable onlooking ballance is characteristic of the equanimity.
(Upekkhā-Sambojjhanga). Moderation, seeking a neutral middle, composure
and control is the purpose of the quality of Equanimity (Upekkhā)...
Imperturbability is the manifestation of the equanimity. This stable yet still
plastic patience purifies all the other advantageous mental states, which thus
reach their maximum, when joined with Equanimity...

Further conditions helpful for the emergence of the equanimity are:
1: Impartiality regarding all living and sentient beings...
2: Indifference regarding all inanimate material constructions...
3: Avoiding biased people, who prefer favouritism and one-sided partiality...
4: Friendship with well ballanced people unmoved by both pleasure and pain...
5: Commitment to ballance the mind into even and imperturbable Equanimity!

There is Equanimity towards living beings and regarding material things!
There is Equanimity towards internal states and regarding external states!
There is Equanimity towards all past, present, and future times and events!
There is Equanimity towards all mentality and regarding all materiality!

More on Equanimity (Upekkhā):
Even is Equanimity, The 7 Links to Awakening, Serene Equanimity and Beyond,
Imperturbable Equanimity, Unshakable Equanimity, Equanimity Upekkha,
Feeding Equanimity, Empty Equanimity, High_and_Alert, What_is_Wrong,
Safe_Medicine, Serene_Equanimity, Divorced_Freedom, Tatra-Majjhattat,
Exquisite_Equanimity

Sources (edited extracts):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikāya.
Book [V: 65-6+102-8] 46: Links. 2+51: Group & Nutriments....

Feeding Equanimity!

Have a nice & noble day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

What is the Final Goal and Destination?

The ascetic wanderer Nandiya once asked the Blessed One:
Which things, Master Gotama, when developed and refined, lead to Nibbāna,
have Nibbāna as their end destination, have Nibbāna as their final goal?
These eight things, Nandiya, when developed and refined lead to Nibbāna, have
Nibbāna as their last destination, have Nibbāna as their final goal. Which eight?

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)

These eight things, Nandiya, when developed and refined, lead to Nibbāna,
have Nibbāna as their target, have Nibbāna as their final aim!
When this was thus spoken, the wanderer Nandiya said to the Blessed One:
Magnificent, Master Gotama! Marvelous, Master Gotama! Let the Master
Gotama remember me as one, who has taken refuge in the Buddha for life…

Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikāya.
Book [V:11-2] section 45:10 Nandiya ...
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html

Have a nice & noble day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

What is the ALL actually?

The Empirical ALL is what can be Sensed or Thought of!

At Savatthi the Blessed Buddha pointed out a most Radical Empiricism:
Bhikkhus, I will teach you the ALL. Listen to that... And what, Bhikkhus, is this ALL?

The Eye and the Forms;
The Ear and the Sounds;
The Nose and the Smells;
The Tongue and the Tastes;
The Body and the Touches;
The Mind and the Mental States.

This defines and establish the ALL... If anyone, Bhikkhus, should ever postulate this:
"Having denied this all, I will define & point out another all!", that would be empty babble!
If he was questioned, he would not be able to reply and he would become quite perplexed.
Why? Because, Bhikkhus, that would be far out of his mental range! (since)
This World both Begins and Ends within this 2 fathom frame of bones... SN I 62

Looks initially quite far and remotely 'out there'...

Yet IT IS actually rather close up, as inherently sensed 'in here'...

OUT = IN Wholeness:
Inseparable are the internal and the external...
Inseparable are the mental and the physical...
Inseparable are the experience and experienced...
Inseparable are the subject and the object...
Inseparable are the naming and the forming...
Inseparable are the mirror and the representation…
The ‘Real’ World is a perceived Representation…
Of what we will never know, since IT IS just that...
A never-ending FILM in dire need of Scissors!

See also the ALL as the Sensed Source:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Out_in.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Source_of_All.htm

Insisting on Direct Experience never fails!

Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings by the Buddha. Samyutta Nikāya. Book IV 15
The Salayatana section 35. Thread on the ALL: Sabba Sutta (23)
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=948507
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html

Have a nice & noble day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Monday, May 14, 2012

Return of the Buddha

Financial Express, Sun, 6 May 2012
Diana Ningthoujam
Posted: Sunday, May 06, 2012 at 0206 hrs IST
India’s first-ever festival on Buddhism, The Inner Path, which screened around 12 feature films and ten documentaries, gave viewers a glimpse into the rich Buddhist heritage from across the world
The green mountains stand unmoving as the clouds keep rolling by. While they live in secrecy of the wood, in retirement beyond the world silently enjoying isolation of the Zhongnan Mountains, the world beyond remains enraptured in dusty snares. Home to China’s Buddhist hermit monks, these mountains have for long hidden the lives of the forgotten Zen Buddhist hermit tradition. Until the film Amongst White Clouds, few have been privy to the lives of these elusive practitioners. The 86-minute long documentary by Edward A Burger allows us to experience the hermits’ thoughtful conversations sprinkled with scenes of daily life in the mountains.
Burger’s quest into this lost tradition began in India, when he picked up Bill Porter’s Road To Heaven: Encounters With Chinese Hermits, while studying Buddhism in Bodh Gaya. One could say that it was only befitting that he brought his film here. Featured in India’s first-ever festival on Buddhism, Amongst White Clouds was one of the many films screened during the five-day long celebration of Buddha’s teachings titled The Inner Path.
The brainchild of Aruna Vasudev of NETPAC (The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) and Suresh Jindal of the Devki Foundation, The Inner Path screened around 12 feature films and ten documentaries, which gave viewers a glimpse into the rich Buddhist heritage from across the world From the story of the Tsoknyi Nangchen nuns of Tibet as narrated by Richard Gere to a moving account of the life of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, one of Tibet’s most revered 20th-century Buddhist teachers, the films sought to throw light on those parts of the religion hidden from mainstream consciousness. Different films such as one on understanding Christianity through the eyes of Buddhism and another about a young American Buddhist monk’s efforts to come to terms with his destiny thrust upon him by the people of Kalmykia, a remote Buddhist republic in southern Russia, made an attempt to create a better understanding of the Buddhist way of life to Indians who may or may not have been familiar with its edicts. Says Suresh Jindal, “In India, there has been a lot of curiosity about Buddhism. The teachings are such that those who wish to question life through logic and reasoning are attracted by the doctrines of Buddhism. In fact it is a shame that the land of the Buddha had no such platform to highlight Buddha’s teachings.”
The World premiere of Sri Lankan filmmaker Hector Kumarasiri’s film, Reincarnation—Challenges and complexities of a Buddhist monk: Abinikmana, was one of the major highlights of the festival. The movie touches a pertinent social issue: care of the elderly. The protagonist, a Buddhist monk, essays a poignant role of someone torn between his responsibilities as an ascetic and his familial duties towards his dying parents. “This is a universal theme. Through Abhikmana, I tried to explore a growing trend in South Asian countries where children abandon their parents at old-age homes. It analyses the challenges that a monk who leaves his robes has to go through in the quest to achieve ultimate spiritual contentment,” says Hector Kumarasiri.
Noted filmmaker, art-historian and photographer, Benoy K Behl who has been relentlessly working to bring forth the vast Buddhist heritage to the world, showcased his 12-part documentary series titled The Story of Buddhism. The series provides a comprehensive perspective of the monuments and art heritage of Buddhism in India from the earliest times. “The films trace the story from the time of the birth of Buddha to the development of various Buddhist schools and the spread of Buddhism,” says Behl. His other two other films Ladakh—A Cradle of Buddhism and The Second Buddha were also screened.
Behl’s exhibition of 100 photographs of Buddhist heritage in Myanmar, Thailand, India, China, Japan, Mongolia, Afghanistan and 12 other countries was also part of the festival. The collection will be travelling to London, Washington DC and Tokyo to showcase the birth and development of different schools of Buddhism in India and their spread to other Asian nations.
Buddhism’s journey began 2,600 years ago when Siddhartha Gautama found enlightenment under the Bodhi tree and laid the foundation of a path that went way beyond religion, maybe transcending it. While the doctrines of Buddhism were spreading all across Asia, it experienced a slow demise in its place of inception. Even now, many Buddhist countries feel that in India nothing is being done to promote Buddhism. Perhaps, a festival on Buddhism in India was long overdue.
Says Aruna Vasudev, “In India, the idea of making films on Buddhism has not really caught on. Maybe I could say that we are in a transient phase. Hopefully, this festival will give filmmakers an incentive to explore this subject.”

Sunday, May 13, 2012

ഭക്ഷണത്തിനുള്ള ധനസഹായം നല്‍കി

കേരള മഹാബോധി മിഷന്റെ ആഭിമുഖ്യത്തില്‍ പാലക്കാട് ജില്ല ആയുര്‍ വേദ ഹോസ്പിറ്റലിലെ നിര്‍ധനരായ പത്തു രോഗികള്‍ക്ക് ഒരു മാസം ഭക്ഷണം നല്‍കുന്നതിനുള്ള ധനസഹായം മിഷന്‍ ചെയര്‍മാന്‍ എന്‍ .ഹരിദാസ്‌ ബോധ് ,മെഡിക്കല്‍ ഓഫീസര്‍ ഡോക്ടര്‍ ഓമനയെ ഏല്പിക്കുന്നു .എന്‍ ഗോവിന്ദന്‍ , മെഡിക്കല്‍ ഓഫീസര്‍ എന്നിവര്‍ സമീപം.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Any Cause produce an Effect:

Therefore:
Never do any Evil!
Neither openly nor in Secret...
If having done bad or is doing wrong now, pain surely returns,
even though one flee by flying away up into space... The effect
of any action, good as bad, follows the doer like a shadow that never leaves...
Consequence is always Certain... Why so ?
Because one cannot hide anything for one's own mind!
It knows, remembers and re-creates reactions accordingly!
Mind is therefore the forerunner of all phenomena...

The Blessed Buddha on non-violence:
Solitude is happiness for one who is content,
who has heard the Dhamma and clearly sees.
Non-violence is happiness in this world:
Harmlessness towards all living beings.
Udana 10

I am a friend of the footless,
I am a friend of the bipeds;
I am a friend of those with four feet,
I am a friend of the many-footed.
May not the footless harm me,
may not the bipeds harm me,
may not those with four feet harm me,
and may not those with many feet harm me.
AN. II, 72

Among tigers, lions, leopards & bears I lived in the wood.
No one was frightened of me, nor did I fear anyone.
Uplifted by such universal friendliness I enjoyed the forest.
Finding great solace in sweet silent solitude.
Suvanna-sama Jataka 540

On Harmlessness:
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Harmlessness_and_Tolerance.htm

Invariable Law: Do no Harm!

Have a nice & noble day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Entering and Dwelling in All-Embracing Goodwill!

The Blessed Buddha once said:
How does the monk whose mind is filled with all-embracing kindness
pervade one direction? Just as, at the sight of a dear and agreeable
childhood friend, one may feel kindness, exactly so does he pervade
all living beings with his kind friendliness... Vibh Xlll,643

May all beings live in happiness and peace. filled with joy and delight!
Sn 145

I found no one whom I loved better than myself. Exactly so to do all
other beings also love their self most dearly. Thus, wishing well to all,
one should do No Harm to anyone! N 3.8

Mental release by all-embracing friendliness is practiced in five ways
with unspecified extension: May all beings be free from anger, anxiety
and frustration, and may they pass their life in happiness! May all living
beings ... all creatures ... all individuals ... all those included in existence
be free from anger, anxiety and frustration and may they be all happy!
Pts 11/130

More on these 4 Infinite and Divine States (Appamaññā Brahma-Vihāra):
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/brahma_vihaara.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Buddha_on_Noble_Frienship.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Selfless_Friendship_is_Sweetest.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/All_Embracing_Kindness.htm
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/iti/iti.1.024-027.irel.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/wheel007.html
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rejoicing_Bliss_is_Mudita.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_Friendliness.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/United_in_Harmony.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/The_Good_Friend.htm

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

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Blazing_&_Bright.htm

http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Friendliness_Frees.htm
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Kalyanamitta.htm
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=404214

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

All-Embracing Infinite Friendliness!

Have a nice & noble day!

Friendship is the Greatest!
Bhikkhu Samāhita _/\_ ]
http://What-Buddha-Said.net

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Mahabodhi mission conducted Anapanasati meditation for youngsters

Mahabodhi mission conducted Anapanasati meditation and moral classes for youngsters on 10th May at Palakkad

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

BUDDHA POORNIMA CELEBERATION AT KERALA

Lightning the lamp

Kerala mahabodhi Mission organised Buddha Poornima Celebration at Palakkad town and Kakkayur Buddha tembple on 6th May. Dhamma followers and others participated . N.Haridas Bodh took classes on Buddha and his dhamma