Finally, talking about Noble Eightfold Path. Try your best to do on the 8 paths that i'm going to elaborate.
1)Right Understanding
To understand and accept the Four Noble Truths.
2)Right Thought
To cultivate thoughts of generosity, loving-kindness and compassion.
3)Right Speech
To refrain from lying, slander, harsh words and gossip. To cultivate truthful, peaceful, kin and meaningful speech.
4)Right Actions
To abstain from killing, stealing and sexual misconduct. To cultivate harmlessness, honesty and faithfulness.
5)Right Livelihood
To avoid occupations involving killing (of both humans and animals), the sale of animal flesh, the trading of humans, weapons, poisons and intoxicants.
6)Right Effort
To apply mental discipline to prevent unwholesome thoughts from arising and to dispel unwholesome thoughts that have arisen. To develop wholesome thoughts and to maintain those wholesome thoughts that have arisen.
7)Right Mindfulness
To be aware of the body, bodily postures and sensations. To be aware of the mind and its thoughts emotions and feelings.
8)Right Concentration
To practice Samatha or concentration meditation to train the mind to be focused and disciplined.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
The Four Noble Truth
Today i'm going to talk about The Four Noble Truth. Its upon gaining enlightenment, the Buddha realised this truth. Its very important! Always remember this.
1)All beings are subject to Dukkha.
Dukkha is usually translated as suffering but it actually encompasses a wide range of negative feelings including stress, dissatisfaction and physically suffering. Dukkha exists as all beings are subject to illness, separation from loved ones, not getting their desires, aging and death.
2)Dukkha arises from desire and craving.
All beings crave pleasant sensations and also desire to avoid unpleasant sensations. These sensations can be physical or psychological, and dukkha arises when these desires and cravings are not met.
3)Dukkha can be overcome by the elimination of desire and craving.
Nirvana is the state of peace where all greed, hatred and delusion are removed and thereby dukkha have been eradicated.
4)There is a way out of dukkha, which is the Noble Eightfold Path.
Dukkha can be reduced, weakened and finally eradicated and Nirvana thereby attained by the following this path as taught by the Buddha.
I will talk about Noble Eightfold Path on my next post. In short, the first Noble Truth is telling us that we are all subjected to sufferings.
Second Noble Truth is telling us that suffering are caused by our own desire and craving. Imagine if you wanted to earn a million dollars but you can't do it, its because of your own desire and craving that you have to feel the stress and unhappiness.
What if you had a million dollars and it was stolen away from you? You will feel sad and angry! That is not true happiness. True happiness should come from your heart. Remember.. Everything in the world is inpermenant!
Third Noble Truth is telling us that all these sufferings can be ended by elimination of desire and craving. But i think that alot of us aren't able to do it. If we are monks, probably it can be done. So for us layman, i think the best way out is to reduce the desire and craving. Remember...
The true antidote to greed is contentment. Be contented and it doesn't matter whether how much money you earned. If you cannot be contented, after your first million you will want your first 10million and after that you will want your first billion. This will never end!
The Fourth Noble Truth is telling us that there is a way out of all these suffering. Its by practising Noble Eightfold Path. By practising it, the desire and craving can be reduced, weakened and finally eradicated.
1)All beings are subject to Dukkha.
Dukkha is usually translated as suffering but it actually encompasses a wide range of negative feelings including stress, dissatisfaction and physically suffering. Dukkha exists as all beings are subject to illness, separation from loved ones, not getting their desires, aging and death.
2)Dukkha arises from desire and craving.
All beings crave pleasant sensations and also desire to avoid unpleasant sensations. These sensations can be physical or psychological, and dukkha arises when these desires and cravings are not met.
3)Dukkha can be overcome by the elimination of desire and craving.
Nirvana is the state of peace where all greed, hatred and delusion are removed and thereby dukkha have been eradicated.
4)There is a way out of dukkha, which is the Noble Eightfold Path.
Dukkha can be reduced, weakened and finally eradicated and Nirvana thereby attained by the following this path as taught by the Buddha.
I will talk about Noble Eightfold Path on my next post. In short, the first Noble Truth is telling us that we are all subjected to sufferings.
Second Noble Truth is telling us that suffering are caused by our own desire and craving. Imagine if you wanted to earn a million dollars but you can't do it, its because of your own desire and craving that you have to feel the stress and unhappiness.
What if you had a million dollars and it was stolen away from you? You will feel sad and angry! That is not true happiness. True happiness should come from your heart. Remember.. Everything in the world is inpermenant!
Third Noble Truth is telling us that all these sufferings can be ended by elimination of desire and craving. But i think that alot of us aren't able to do it. If we are monks, probably it can be done. So for us layman, i think the best way out is to reduce the desire and craving. Remember...
The true antidote to greed is contentment. Be contented and it doesn't matter whether how much money you earned. If you cannot be contented, after your first million you will want your first 10million and after that you will want your first billion. This will never end!
The Fourth Noble Truth is telling us that there is a way out of all these suffering. Its by practising Noble Eightfold Path. By practising it, the desire and craving can be reduced, weakened and finally eradicated.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Can gays and lesbians become Buddhists?
Sexual orientation is of no great importance in Buddhism. The Buddha would ask, who is better? A morally upright gay or a crooked and dishonest heterosexual?
To the Buddha, what counts is the morality and virtue of a person and whether or not that person is on the path towards enlightenment.
Therefore, gays and lesbians who lead virtuous lives can most certainly beocme Buddhists!
Sexual orientation is of no great importance in Buddhism. The Buddha would ask, who is better? A morally upright gay or a crooked and dishonest heterosexual?
To the Buddha, what counts is the morality and virtue of a person and whether or not that person is on the path towards enlightenment.
Therefore, gays and lesbians who lead virtuous lives can most certainly beocme Buddhists!
Friday, October 26, 2007
Next life
If we won't know anything about our next life, then why worry about it?
That would be a slightly selfish attitude to take. It would be similar to irresponsible parents who are going to spend everything they have without leaving anything for their children.
They won't know for sure what is going to happen to their children either. Responsible parents will do everything they can to ensure the best for their offspring whether they will be around to see the results or not. We should take a similar approach for the being in our next life.
There is a meaningful saying in Buddhism which bears some thinking about:
"If you want to know what kind of life you led in your past life, look at your present life.
If you want to know what kind of life you will have in your next life, look at your present life."
That would be a slightly selfish attitude to take. It would be similar to irresponsible parents who are going to spend everything they have without leaving anything for their children.
They won't know for sure what is going to happen to their children either. Responsible parents will do everything they can to ensure the best for their offspring whether they will be around to see the results or not. We should take a similar approach for the being in our next life.
There is a meaningful saying in Buddhism which bears some thinking about:
"If you want to know what kind of life you led in your past life, look at your present life.
If you want to know what kind of life you will have in your next life, look at your present life."
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Past lives memories
If there is rebirth, why don't people remember their past lives?
Memories of past lives lie deep in the subconscious mind. We are usually unable to access these memories because our minds are not clear or disciplined enough.
For example, very few of us can recall what we did on the same day or even just a month ago! However, research has shown that some young children whose minds remain reasonably clear may be able to spontaneously recall their past lives.
There is a true story about a child who can recall his past life and told his parents to bring him to that village. In the village, he can recognize the villagers and call them by their names! If you search on the internet, there will be tonnes of such stories.
Western psychoanalysts are now using methods of hypnotic regression to help patients with psychological problems and some of these patients seems to be able to recall their past lives under such therapy.
Monks with highly disciplined minds are able to enter into deep meditative states are also said to be able to recall their past lives. So if you want to know about your past lives, probably you can try to learn meditation. There is lots of benefits other than recalling your past lives. Calming you rmind and attaining wisdom are some of the benefits.
Memories of past lives lie deep in the subconscious mind. We are usually unable to access these memories because our minds are not clear or disciplined enough.
For example, very few of us can recall what we did on the same day or even just a month ago! However, research has shown that some young children whose minds remain reasonably clear may be able to spontaneously recall their past lives.
There is a true story about a child who can recall his past life and told his parents to bring him to that village. In the village, he can recognize the villagers and call them by their names! If you search on the internet, there will be tonnes of such stories.
Western psychoanalysts are now using methods of hypnotic regression to help patients with psychological problems and some of these patients seems to be able to recall their past lives under such therapy.
Monks with highly disciplined minds are able to enter into deep meditative states are also said to be able to recall their past lives. So if you want to know about your past lives, probably you can try to learn meditation. There is lots of benefits other than recalling your past lives. Calming you rmind and attaining wisdom are some of the benefits.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Is it fair?
Alot of people asked me,"If we can't remember anything from our previous lives, is it then fair to suffer in this life for something done wrong in a previous life?"
Keep in mind that karma is not a system of rewards or punishments. It is simply a natural principle that any intentional act will have its corresponding result, when the conditions are right.
Take for example a person who gets drunk, trips and falls into a drain. He breaks his leg and that person may not have any memory of falling and getting hurt. But he is still subject to the painful result of his actions.
As mentioned earlier, karma can also be viewed like the planting of seeds. If you plant an apple seed, an apple tree will grow. If you plant an oak seed, an oak tree will grow. Its just the principle of Cause and Effect.
Thus, fairness and memory are not factors in karma and this applies equally to all beings in existence.
Keep in mind that karma is not a system of rewards or punishments. It is simply a natural principle that any intentional act will have its corresponding result, when the conditions are right.
Take for example a person who gets drunk, trips and falls into a drain. He breaks his leg and that person may not have any memory of falling and getting hurt. But he is still subject to the painful result of his actions.
As mentioned earlier, karma can also be viewed like the planting of seeds. If you plant an apple seed, an apple tree will grow. If you plant an oak seed, an oak tree will grow. Its just the principle of Cause and Effect.
Thus, fairness and memory are not factors in karma and this applies equally to all beings in existence.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Erasing of negative karma
Many of us will ask," So how do we erase the negative karma that oneself have accumulated?"
According to the principle of Cause and Effect, negative karma cannot be simply be erased off by positive karma. Any act intentionally done will have its consequences in either the near of far future.
The Buddha used the analogy of salt in a river to advise us on how to diminish the effects of negative karma. He said that while a tablespoon of salt will make a cup of water very salty, this same tablespoon of salt will have practically no effect on the taste of a river.
Simply put, dilute any negative karma that you may have by accumulating more positive karma.
According to the principle of Cause and Effect, negative karma cannot be simply be erased off by positive karma. Any act intentionally done will have its consequences in either the near of far future.
The Buddha used the analogy of salt in a river to advise us on how to diminish the effects of negative karma. He said that while a tablespoon of salt will make a cup of water very salty, this same tablespoon of salt will have practically no effect on the taste of a river.
Simply put, dilute any negative karma that you may have by accumulating more positive karma.
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