Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey)
Ltd.
What is Buddha Dhamma?
John
D. Hughes
Recorded Teachings
Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey)
Ltd.
33 Brooking St
Upwey, Victoria
Australia 3158
A.C.N. 005 701 806
A.B.N. 42 611 496
488
Phone: (03) 9754
3334
Fax: (03) 9754 3334
email: wbu@bdcu.org.au
Disclaimer and Copyright
Buddha Dhamma is a system of living taught
by the Buddha Shakyamuni. Buddha Dhamma is a system that can help one come
out of suffering - when practiced and realised each for himself or
herself, it stops the cycle of birth.
One can become fully
enlightened and thus come no more to birth, avoiding old age, sickness and
death.
The Buddha was born about 2,500 years ago in a place called
Lumbini in ancient India, as Prince to the Shakya clan. He was known as
Siddartha.
His father, the King wished Siddartha to become
King.
Siddartha grew into a fine prince, learning all the skills of
a prince and excelled in all of them.
The King made sure that no
imperfect situation arose that would upset Siddartha and take his mind
away from concentrating on being a King. The King ordered that all sick
persons, all old persons and dying or dead persons were never to come into
the sight of his son.
This perfect unnatural life was soon broken
when Siddartha saw an old person, a sick person and a dead body during his
visits into the city outside the castle walls.
These visions of
other states of human life developed in Siddartha a yearning for the
knowledge of "why is it so?"
After telling his wife, princess
Yoshodhara, Siddartha left his family, his father, his wife, his son and
all his royal wealth in search for the truth.
Siddartha could not
believe that one day he too would be afflicted with sickness, old age and
death and so would his loved ones. That he would be separated through
death from his wife and child who he loved very much.
He wished to
find out why there is suffering in life, why there is old age, sickness
and death? He wished to find a way to help his loved ones and all beings
understand this suffering and find an answer to it.
After 6 years
of practicing as an ascetic (holy man) Siddartha had not discovered what
he was looking for. This practice involved renunciation of all worldly
pleasures, refraining from taking food, water, bathing, cutting hair,
speaking. This was the practice used by the holy men of the day in search
for spiritual truth.
One day a music teacher was teaching his
student how to play a string instrument.
Siddartha heard the
teacher say "if you wind the string too tight it will break and if you
have the string too loose, there will be no music". On hearing these
words, Siddartha came to the realisation of the middle way of life - it
must be neither strict and nor undisciplined.
The Buddha Dhamma is
called The Middle Way.
Siddartha then decided to sit under the
Bodhi tree to find out once and for all about the world.
He sat
under the Bodhi tree for six days. On the full moon day of the fifth lunar
month Siddartha came to enlightenment.
During this time he came to
realise the nature of all things, the nature of existence, how to come
into being and how to stop coming into existence.
From this day on
he was called the Buddha.
The Buddha said that each person can find
out all the things that he had found out for themselves.
He
recommended that persons find out for themselves - that this is the only
way to wake, by seeing for yourself.
He taught the method of what
he had done so others could follow in his footsteps and come to understand
about the nature of the world.
Through practicing Samatha Bhavana
- one pointed concentration, and Vipassana Bhavana - insight meditation,
one can see for himself or herself.
So, Buddha Dhamma is a system
of practice that can lead one to enlightenment - realising the nature of
all things.
Buddha Dhamma is a system that gets one out of
suffering - stops the cycle of birth. One can no more come to birth, thus
avoid old age, sickness and death.
The Buddha found that beings are
forever being born, getting sick, old and dying.
That beings are
always in this cycle of birth and death. That beings take birth in the six
planes of existence - human, heavenly, hell, hungry ghost, azura and
animal.
He found that this cycle was fueled by craving - the desire
for being.
The Buddha taught the law of dependent arising, as a
structural principle, is to be understood in the four noble truths, the
summary of the teaching of the Buddha.
The Dhammacakkappavattana
Sutta, the Buddha's teaching on the four noble truths is considered to be
the first sermon the Buddha gave after his enlightenment.
The four
noble truths are:
The noble truth of sorrow (life is
suffering)
The noble truth of the arising of sorrow
The noble truth
of the cessation of sorrow
The noble truth of the path which leads to
the cessation of sorrow.
Truth (sacca in Pali language) is "that
which is". The Buddha taught that there are four such truths.
The
first truth deals with dukkha (suffering or sorrow). As a feeling dukkha
means, that which is difficult to be endured.
The truth of sorrow
shows us that "birth is sorrow, old age is sorrow, sickness is sorrow,
death is sorrow, grief, lamentation, pain, misery and despair are sorrow;
association with the loathsome is sorrow, separation from the loved is
sorrow, not to get what one wants is sorrow - in short, the five taken-up
aggregates are sorrow".
Venerable Ajahn Sumedho encourages us to
"understand dukkha: to really look at, stand under and accept your
suffering. Try to understand it when you are feeling physical pain or
despair and anguish or hatred or aversion - whatever form it takes,
whatever quality it has, whether it is extreme or slight. This teaching
does not mean that to get enlightened you have to be utterly and totally
miserable. You do not have to have everything taken away from you or be
tortured on the rack; it means being able to look at suffering, even if it
is just a mild feeling of discontent, and understand it."
Ajahn
Sumedho explains that there are three aspects to understanding that there
is suffering. The first insight is to see that there is suffering, not to
just say that I am suffering or 'I meditate and go on retreats to get out
of suffering, but I'm still suffering and don’t want to suffer'. When we
say "there is suffering' we are looking from a reflective position rather
than owning the suffering and saying that it is mine. The insight is
simply the acknowledgment that there is this suffering without making it
personal.
The second insight of the first noble truth is 'suffering
should be understood'. The second aspect is that suffering or (dukkha in
Pali language) is something to understand. One should understand
suffering, not just try to get rid of it.
The third aspect of
suffering is 'suffering has been understood'. When you have actually
practiced with suffering, looking at it, accepting it, knowing it and
letting it be the way it is, then there is the third aspect, 'suffering
has been understood'.
Narada Thera answers What is this Noble Truth
of Suffering?:
"Birth is suffering, old age is suffering, disease
is suffering. Death is suffering, to be united with the unpleasant is
suffering, not to receive what one craves for is suffering, in brief the
five Aggregates are suffering".
The cause of human suffering can be
found in the thirsts of the physical body and in the illusions of worldly
passion.
If these thirsts and illusions are traced to their
source, they are found to be rooted in the intense desires of physical
instincts.
Desire, having a strong will to live, as its basis,
seeks that which it feels desirable, even if it is sometimes death. This
is called the Truth of the Cause of Suffering.
Ajahn Sumedho
explains the second noble truth is also examined from three aspects;
'there is the origin of suffering, which is the attachment to desire.
Desire should be let go of. Desire has been let go of'.
The second
noble truth states that there is an origin of suffering and that the
origin and that the origin of suffering is attachment to the three kinds
of desire: desire for sense pleasure, (kamma tanha in Pali language),
desire to become (bhava tanha in Pali language) and desire to get rid of
(vibhava tanha).
Desire for sense pleasure is wanting sense
pleasures through the body or the other senses and always wanting things
to excite or please your senses. For example, when you are eating, if you
are hungry and the food tastes delicious, you can be aware of wanting to
take another bite.
Desire for wanting to become something can be seen
in the realm of ambition and attainment - the desire to become. We get
caught in striving to become happy, seeking to become wealthy or wanting
to become something other than what you are right now.
When we get
disillusioned with trying to become something, then there is the desire to
'get rid of things'. 'I want to get rid of my suffering, I want to get rid
of my anger. We are not taking a stand against the desire to get rid of
things nor are we encouraging that desire. Instead, we are reflecting,
'It's like this; it feels like this to want to get rid of
something'.
The second insight into the second noble truth is
'Desire should be let go of'. This insight is about recognising desire
without identifying with it in any way.
The third insight is
'desire has been let go'. When you have let go of desire, you no longer
judge or try to get rid of, you recognise that it's just the way it is.
Through the practice of letting go we realise that there is the origin of
suffering, which is the attachment to desire, and we realise that we
should let go of these three kinds of desire. Then we realise that we have
let go of these desires; there is no longer any attachment to
them.
If desire, which lies at the root of all human passion, can
be removed, then passion will die out and all human suffering will be
ended. This is called the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering.
In
order to enter into a state where there is no desire and no suffering, one
must follow a certain Path.
The cause of this suffering is craving
or attachment (tanha) which is the Second Noble Truth.
The truth of
the arising of sorrow is "the craving which leads to renewal of being,
accompanied by delight and passion, finding delight in various things;
that is to say, craving for pleasure, craving for being and craving for
non-being".
The truth of the cessation of sorrow "is the
remainderless dispassion cessation, giving-up, relinquishment,
abandonment, and release from that same craving".
Ajahn Sumedho
explains that the whole aim of the Buddhist teaching is to develop the
reflective mind in order to let go of delusions. The four noble truths is
a teaching about letting go by investigating or contemplating 'why is it
like this?' without forming an opinion about whether these are good, bad,
useful or useless'.
We reflect as we see suffering; as we see the
nature of desire; as we recognise that attachment to desire is suffering.
Then we have the insight of allowing desire to go and the realisation of
non-suffering, the cessation of suffering. These insights can only come
through reflection; they cannot come through belief.
Cessation is
the natural ending of any condition that has arisen. It is not something
that we create in the mind but it is the end of that which began.
Therefore, cessation is not a self- it does not come about from a sense of
'I have to get rid of things,' but when we allow that which has arisen to
cease. To do that, one has to abandon craving- let it go. Then, when it
has ceased, you experience cessation, emptiness,
non-attachment.
The truth of the path leading to the cessation of
sorrow "is the noble eightfold path, that is to say, right view, right
thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right
mindfulness and right concentration".
To start to live by the noble
eight fold path a one ought to develop the ten bases for meritorious
actions.
The Ten Bases for Meritorious Actions (in Pali language:
Dasa Punna Kiriyavatthu) are the key practices enunciated by the Buddha
for us to practice as a group, they are:
1. Dana - Giving
In
Pali language, Dana-maya-punna-kiriya vatthu
2. Sila - Morality
In Pali language, Sila-maya-punna-kiriya vatthu
3. Bhavana -
meditation to arise the skillful states of the mind conducive to
liberation.
In Pali language, Bhavana-maya-punna-kiriya vatthu
4. Apacayana - Reverence to the Triple Gem, one’s parents,
teachers, elders, and so on.
In Pali language,
Apaciti-sahagata-punna-kiriya vatthu
5. Veyyavacca - Service to
the Triple Gem, one’s parents, teachers, elders, and so on.
In Pali
language, Veyyavacca-sahagata-punna-kiriya vatthu
6. Pattidana -
Sharing of merits
In Pali language, Pattanuppadana-punna-kiriya vatthu
7. Pattanumodana - Sharing in others’ merits
In Pali language,
Abbhanumodana-punna-kiriya vatthu
8. Dhammasavana - Listening to
Dhamma
In Pali language, Savana-maya-punna-kiriya vatthu
9.
Dhammadesana - Teaching the Dhamma
Desana-maya-punna-kiriya vatthu
10. Ditthijukamma - Rectification of one’s views. Correcting one's
own wrong views.
In Pali language, Ditthijukama-punna-kiriya vatthu
When you understand what Buddha Dhamma is, and you wish to know
more about it and how to practice Buddha Dhamma, you must generate merit
through wholesome actions (good deeds) to fuel your continued learning and
realisation.
It is by realisation of the four noble truths that you
can follow the path taught by the Buddha to become awakened.
The
method followed by our Founder, John David Hughes is to do just this. To
generate opportunities for persons to make merit in order to realize the
four Noble Truths. Our Centre operates on these ten bases for meritorious
actions. You are most welcome to come and participate in our merit making
activities.
We would like to quote here from the book by Annatta
"As it is" where the author quotes from the poem by Sir Edwin Arnold about
the Life and Teachings of the Buddha :
The first truth is of
Sorrow. Be not mocked!
Life which ye prize is long drawn agony:
Only
its pains abide; its pleasures are
As birds which light and
fly.
Ache of the birth, ache of the helpless days,
Ache of the
chill grey years and choking death,
These fill your piteous
time.
Sweet is fond love, but funeral-flames must kiss
The
breast which pillow and the lips which cling;
Gallant is warlike might,
but vultures pick
The joints of chief and king.
Beauteous is
earth, but all its forest-broods
Plot mutual slaughter, hungering to
live;
Of sapphire are the skies, but when men cry
Famished, no drops
they give.
Ask of the sick, the mourners, ask of him
Who
tottereth on his staff, lone and forlorn:
"Liketh thee life?" - these
say the babe is wise
That weepeth being born.
As the author,
Annatta comments at the end of this poem
"this appears to be a very
gloomy picture, but that is not all there is to it; it is merely a
diagnosis of the condition of life as lived by most of us."
The
first step is to know, understand and realise the four noble truths. See
life as it really is. When one understands this, the wish to find a way to
be happy whether in living or in dying is generated.
May you
understand the first noble truth: there is suffering.
May you know
the causes of suffering.
May you realise there is a way out of
suffering.
May you follow the eightfold path that is the way out of
suffering.
May you practice the ten bases for meritorious
action.
This script was written and edited by the Buddhist Hour
Radio team: Evelin Halls, Anita Hughes, Lisa Nelson, Julie O'Donnell and
Pennie White.
May you be well and
happy.
References
Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey)
Ltd., The Buddhist Hour radio broadcast 313, "What is Buddha Dhamma?", 25
January 2004, URL http://www.bdcublessings.net.au/radio313.html
Ten Bases for Meritorious Actions - Dasa Punna Kiriyavatthu. Five
Day Bhavana Course - 4 to 8 September 1999, taught by John D. Hughes at
the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd., printed in the Buddha Dhyana
Dana Review Volume 9 No. 3.
Sumedho, Venerable Ajarn, 1998, The
Four Noble Truths, The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational
Foundation, Taiwan, p 20.
Thera, Narada, 1996, Buddhism in a
Nutshell, Sukhi Hotu, Malaysis, p 23.
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