a manual

a manual of peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129103 A Dhammakaya Foundation Paperback First Edition 2005 Published by the Dhammakaya Foundation Department of International Relations 23/2 Moo 7., Khlong Sam, Khlong Luang Patumthani 12120 Thailand Tel. (+66 02) 524 0257-63 Copyright © 2005 by the Dhammakaya Foundation All Rights Reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior and express written consent of the publisher National Library of Thailand Cataloging in Publication Data Dhammakaya Foundation A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living Bangkok: Dhammakaya Foundation, 2005 466p. 1. Buddhism I. Title 294.315 ISBN 974-93135-5-0 Printed in Thailand by : Craftsman Press Co.,Ltd 487/42 Soi Wattanasilp, Rajprarop Road, Makkasan, Rajthevee, Bangkok, Thailand Tel: +66-2-2533009, 2533298 EFTA01129104 May the meritorious fruits accruing from the study of this book be dedicated for the benefit of George, Annie, Alice, Lilian, Richard, Harry, Alfred George, Arthur, Norman, Ivan (née Lee) & Evelyn Ayre, Ellen Mary Stokell, Hannah Can; George & Charles F. Lee, Elizabeth, John & Margaret Curry, Anne Fenwick, Annie Jarman, Dennis George, Dennis Arthur & Malcolm Woods, Emily Mary Casbon, William Jabez & Ethel Dawes, Moses Edmund, Gladys, Hilda, Cecil, Reginald and Marie Heaton wherever they have been reborn. EFTA01129105 EFTA01129106 Contents Preface to the First Edition The Manual of Peace in Action Abbreviations Orientation BLESSING GROUP I.: TURNING YOUR BACK ON UNWHOLESOMENESS 7 10 18 19 25 1. Not Associating with Fools 27 2. Associating with the Wise 37 3. Expressing Respect to those worth of respect 51 BLESSING GROUP II.: TURNING TOWARDS WHOLESOMENESS 65 4. Living in an Amenable Location 67 5. Having done Good Deeds in one's past 77 6. Setting Oneself up properly in life 91 BLESSING GROUP III.: SETTING ONESELF UP IN LIFE 101 7. Artfulness in Knowledge 103 8. Artfulness in Application 113 9. Artfulness in Usage 119 10. Artfulness in Speech 131 BLESSING GROUP IV.: HARMONY IN THE FAMILY LIFE 139 11. Cherishing our parents 141 12. Raising our children 153 13. Cherishing our husband or wife 165 14. Not Leaving one's work undone 177 BLESSING GROUP V.: BECOMING A PILLAR OF SOCIETY 183 15. Generosity 185 16. Dhamma Practice 197 17. Looking after one's extended family 205 18. Blameless Work 213 Contents 5 EFTA01129107 BLESSING GROUP VI.: PREPARATION OF MIND 223 19. Abstaining from Unwholesomeness 225 20. Restraint from Drinking Intoxicants 233 21. Non-recklessness in the Dhamma 243 BLESSING GROUP VII.: INSTILLING ONESELF WITH BASIC VIRTUES 251 22. Respect 253 23. Humility 261 24. Contentment 269 25. Gratitude 281 26. Listening Regularly to Dhamma Teachings 291 BLESSING GROUP VIII.: INSTILLING ONESELF WITH HIGHER VIRTUES 301 27. Patience 303 28. Openness to Criticism 311 29. The Sight of a True Monk 321 30. Regular Discussion of the Dhamma 331 BLESSING GROUP IX.: PRACTICE FOR THE ERADICATION OF DEFILEMENTS 345 31. The Practice of Austerities 347 32. Practising the Brahma-Faring 357 33. Seeing the Four Noble Truths 371 34. The Attainment of Nirvana 385 BLESSING GROUP X.: THE FRUITS OF HAVING PRACTISED UNTIL REACHING AN END OF DEFILEMENTS 393 35. A Mind Invulnerable to Worldly Vicissitudes 395 36. Sorrowlessness 403 37. Freedom from Subtle Defilements 411 38. The Blissful Mind 421 INDICES I. General Index 425 II. Pali Index 449 III. Index of Similes 454 IV. Index of Illustrated Examples 456 6 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129108 Preface to the First Edition how this book should be used Most problems in the world can be traced back to the habits of the people inhabiting the world —the things we do, say and think until having become used to it. These habits can either be good or bad. Supposing you have good habits, the sort of things which you do, say and think again and again will be the things that bring you happiness in life—especially the habit of being responsible for human dignity on a personal level, human dignity of others in society and responsibility for fair economics. All the thirty-eight virtues discussed in this Manual of Peace need to become our habits if they are to be of any use to us — simply to know 'about' the virtues is of no use to us. The aim in studying this Manual for students of all levels should be to incorporate the virtues as their habits following the following four stage plan: 1. in the short term to learn rules and regulations that protect us from behaviours contrary to the virtues of the blessings; 2. in the medium term to educate ourselves according to the information on each blessing in the text to get answers to three questions about the virtue, namely: • 'what' they are (concept and definition); • 'why' the Buddha taught them (why a particular behaviour was either prohibited or advocated) and; • 'how' they can be put into practice in everyday life. 3. Doing that virtue so regularly that it becomes our habit 4. train up the people around you to practise the thirty-eight blessings as their habits. The important conclusion we get from this three- stage process of acquiring the thirty-eight blessings of life is that we need to look deeply at ourselves to see how many of the virtues we have accrued for ourselves first. We should regard ourselves as still in our infancy as far as the spiritual teachings go, and make the appropriate adjustments. Only when we've mastered ourselves can we have something to offer to the world, to reach out to others as a good friend to build up a network of virtue in society. Sources used for this book This book draws primarily on translated transcripts of eighty hours of lectures entitled Monkollivit given by the Most Ven. Phrabhavanaviriyakhun (Luang Phaw Dattajeevo), acting abbot of Dhammakaya Temple in Thailand in the mid-seventies to those of undergraduate age. The beauty of this lecture series was abundant use of examples from the Bud- dhist scriptures and also from his own life experi- ences. A second major source used for this book, which was supposed to summarize materials from the first source into a short book designated for schoolchildren to do revision for their Path of Progress Ethics Quiz Contest was Ven. Maha Dr. Somchai Thanavuddho's Monkol livit: Path of Progress edition (1982). This latter gives no exam- Preface 7 EFTA01129109 pies, but offers a more structured version of the Mangala Sutta materials, simplified in a way Asian people can understand. This text misses nothing of the core content of ei- ther these two sources. However after teaching these materials to a group of western Buddhist newcom- ers in Belgium, there were still many questions in the audience's minds left unresolved. Things like respect and gratitude don't come as second nature to westerners. Not drinking alcohol requires more than a fleeting explanation in a western culture. The long lists of meritorious fruits of various virtues had to be replaced as far as possible by 'why' rationale and where possible examples of the damage which can happen when certain virtues are neglected. The Most Ven. Phrabhavanaviriyakhun's Kamphi Gu Wikrit Chart (2000) helped to illustrate many social ills from the neglect of the Six Directions in this re- spect. Ven. Maha Dr. Somchai Thanavuddho's Nippan ben attn reu anatta (1999) almost completely replaces the explanation of Nirvana originally given in Blessing Thirty-four. Also some of the illustrative examples have been replaced if repeated. Some have been supplemented by western anecdotes. Where sets of Dhamma headings are repeated, they are usu ally described in full at the first appearance and cross- referenced in subsequent appearances. Finally, wher- ever possible, illustrative examples and Dhamma headings have been traced back to their scriptural reference in the PTS Pali Buddhist Scriptures to al- low students to cross-reference to other mainstream and academic Buddhist works. In finding the refer- ences and fuller illustrative examples, heavy use was made of Ven. Paiboon Dhammavipulo's Dachanee TIMM! Outbid; Monkola Soot (1997, 2000, 2002). The resulting version of the Manual of Peace, dubbed the 'Cheatsheet version' in its homepage form has been better received by western audiences, has had a good web readership and is currently being translated into other western languages Who should use this hook This book discusses key practical virtues in a se- quential path of Buddhist practice. As such it of- fers more than just a dry, theoretical approach to Buddhist study, but can actually form the basis of subjective practice by students. The level of diffi- culty of this book is designed for: • students of Buddhist studies in the upper sec- ondary. In the U.K. curriculum this book would be suitable for students studying at Key Stages 4 + 5. In Scotland, for Scottish Levels SG + HS. Al- though study of Buddhism at Key Stage 4 is time- limited, use of the index cart help students to look in depth on selected aspects of the agreed sylla- bus. At Key Stage 5, the text can be used for re- search on project work. • students of Buddhist Studies or Comparative Religion at Bachelors' or Masters' level of university. • This book is useful supplementary reading for the GB102 course of the Dhammakaya Open University. • overseas students of the Path of Progress Ethics Quiz Contest • Buddhists or those interested in Buddhism wishing to supplement or consolidate their knowledge of lifestyle-related Buddhist teachings What does it offer to lecturers teaching these courses? Lecturers will find this book has a good range of illustrative examples and metaphors to support their teachings or assemblies. Scriptural references are given for nearly every example. Student learning features In each chapter: • Definitions • Links to other chapters • References At the end of each chapter: • Metaphors • Illustrative Examples At the end of the book: • general index • Pali index • index of similes • index of illustrative examples 8 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129110 Aclmowledgements The publication of this book was made possible only by the special efforts of many staff and vol- unteers at the Dhammakaya Foundation in Thai- land. This includes most importantly the source works in the Thai language already mentioned by the Most Ven. Phrabhavanaviriyakhun, Phra Maha Dr. Somchai Thanavuddho and Phra Paiboon Dhammavipulo. Thanks also to Phra Nicholas Thanissaro who has translated, compiled and field tested this version of the text in English. Thanks to Phra Jessadah Kittithano for help in tracking down references, to Lalita Prasertnopakhun, Peungpit Poopornanake & Chalom Srijarus (ad- ministrative assistance), Anant Kittitawesin (cover design), the Dhammakaya Foundation's still pho- tography volunteers (colour photography), Tassin- Sipang-Pangbaramee-Pangboon Boontang, Manop-Vararat-Dhitinand Kawmark, Suwachara S.-Thanachaporn Nishiyama & Sukultra-Sabrina Carts (cover shoot). Preface 9 EFTA01129111 The Manual of Peace in Action Education on inner peace in the style laid before us in this Manual of Peace, is a must for humanity today. Modem day education has many shortcomings as illustrated ironically by the fact that the majority of today's disasters, come from supposedly the best educated being on this planet — namely the human being. The trouble with much of the curriculum materials taught in schools nowadays is that they ignore the concept of peace completely. The higher one goes in education, the narrower one's knowledge becomes and the further it becomes estranged from the concepts fundemental to peace. Many of the violent acts committed in the world are perpetrated by highly educated persons and often the victims are those who have received little education. Education for peace needs to start by imparting awareness of the consequences of one's own actions to young people — because every action, whether good or bad, has an effect on the doer's life and others' lives as well. One cannot afford to be complacent or irresponsible about one's actions. This is why any form of education which advocates certain actions by a student has to have considerations of the peacefulness of those actions built into it, in order to prevent the sort of misdeeds done intentionally or unintentionally that upset society. The sort of education that provides awareness of peace issues is known as 'Inner Peace Education' (WE). It is a form of education that helps us know ourselves better and know how to manage life properly. As a result, it is the key success factor behind the world peace that we are striving for. Provision of IPE is not as straightforward as conventional curriculum content. However, as compared with usual spiritual provisions in school, it has the advantage of not being based on belief or faith — but rather experience and evidence. It is based on practical knowledge. It's applied knowledge that offers each person an individual approach to true happiness regardless of race, nationality, religion, culture or occupation. It is knowledge that can form a firm foundation to any other form of academic knowledge to guarantee that the applications of that knowledge are for peace. It is self-education that you can start upon anytime, anywhere (for as long as you are still a human being!) — and can be practised throughout the day alongside our regular daily activities in order to increase our efficiency and effectiveness. It maximises the efficiency of our time management, rather than being a burden on our time — if a certain period of time each day is allocated to it. It needs no formal classroom, and demands no tuition fees either! However, more than conventional education, it demands time, concentration, perseverance, tolerance and goodwill. These are qualities which are too easily eroded away by materialism. It is only students who are determined and motivated who can succeed in their studies of IPE. IPE is not yet 10 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129112 widespread because the value and benefits of it are not yet widely known. Furthermore, because it is evaluated on the basis of inner experience, it is difficult to measure success in empirical terms. Nonetheless, great opportunities exist for pioneering work in IPE. There's already a great deal of expertise in this field, with an emerging group of people who realize their lack of knowledge concerning peace and who are willing to learn. If we can overcome the obstacles that prevent us from realizing the real nature of peace and avoid the influences of segregation and bias which are so easily instilled by race, nationality and religion — through interactive communication we can really start to understand peace from the inside out. Thus although IPE is derived from Buddhist values, it emphasizes key human qualities that transcend cultural differences. It is something that should be a part of every child's education from their earliest years.The idea of IPE is that the attitudes it instils, will not be erased by circumstances. It will remain in a child's character, shaping him to be reasonable rather than emotional when making decisions, instilling a sense of responsibility toward himself, his nearest and dearest, his economy, society and the environment. To be studied, IPE concepts need to be translated into learning activities by teachers or parents. By intensive study of advanced IPE, young people can understand themselves better and have a clearer sense of purpose in life. Youngsters, parents and teachers alike like to participate actively in peace education projects as participants and organizers and also form an active network of peace volunteers throughout Thailand down to the present day, generation by generation through word-of-mouth. It is important that before becoming organizers and teachers of such programs that they first understand peace and means of non- violent conflict resolution themselves —under this proviso, the organizers can even be older children organizing activities for their younger fellows. During the history of the 'Path of Progress' Ethics Quiz Contest, the scale of participation has grown from one person to a small team then a larger and larger one. Over the last thirty years, the lives of total of over twenty million young people in Teachers' round of the 'Path of Progress'. Teachers must become familiar with IPE materials & issues before being able to communicate peace values before being able to communicate them effectively to their students. Thailand have been touched by the IPE curriculum — and this can have made no small contribution to peace in the world community — helping children to open up their hearts to listen to the teacher inside and understand the reality of life and the world — healing differences, celebrating similarities and promoting world peace through inner peace. PATH OF PROGRESS ETHICS QUIZ CONTEST The main learning activity for implementing 1PE amongst young people is the so-called 'Path of Progress' Ethics Quiz Contest which has been held nationwide every year in Thailand since 1982. The aim of the project is to bring children's ethical development to higher levels resulting in positive behavioral changes in a way that is relevant to those The Manual of Peace in Action 11 EFTA01129113 Interreligious participation in the 'Path of Progress'. Christians, Buddhists & Moslems take the teachers' round of the 'Path of Progress' so that they can accurately pass on the IPE concepts to their schoolchildren. of all nationalities, races and religions. The 'Path of Progress' shares the same curriculum of the Thirty- Eight Blessings of Life described in this Manual of Peace. The number of participants started with 382 in 1982 and rose in 2002 to four million from 13,000 educational institutes — ranging from kindergartens, universities, police and military colleges—students and teachers alike from all over Thailand. The winners of the contest receive plaques of distinction from . the King of Thailand and representatives o many international organ- izations. Besides honorary plaques, winners are granted scholarships and certificates for their success in each category. Case Histories of Schools Participating in the Path of Progress IPE Scheme Suteetorn Kindergarten, Nakorn Prathom, Thailand. "We find that the teachings of the 'Path of Progress' programme eminently suitable to the curriculum at our school. The 'Path of Progress' program helps students realize the value of morality. Students can also adapt these morals to practice in their daily lives. The Home of Peace program (see p.16) focuses more on the practices of the learners, so students can really practice what they have learned. This is the reason why both programs are so beneficial for our school. At the beginning, we taught the Manual of Peace to small groups of students. As years went by, more students got interested, so we had to change the workshop format into assemblies. We had such an assembly each day for the students from first to sixth grade. Furthermore, our school has many activities that are involved with morals and ethics. For example, the school will let the students meditate along to an audio cassette of meditation instruction. The students usually attend Buddhist services and practise meditation afterwards. Later the students have their own group discussions to analyze and comment about how they can improve their virtues. Kindergarten infants, do not join the assembly, but they will have a homeroom teacher. Most of the time, the teacher focuses on meditation practice. The teaching for them makes heavier use of illustrations to overcome their reading difficulties. Also, they seem to enjoy looking at the pictures too. We once had a boy named Pruchya. He had received an 'Olympic' gold medal for winning a math contest. In all his interviews, Pruchya said that he always wishes to be a virtuous person rather than being merely a smart one. From listening to his interview, it made us really proud to see that he had lived up to our ideals of a good student In my opinion too, to be a virtuous child is more important than to be an intelligent one because at least virtuous people can co-exist peacefully in the world. If a person is endowed with self-discipline, they have the potential to develop intelligence and have a successful future. When the youth have morality in their hearts, they can differentiate what is right or wrong. They have awareness of the consequences of every action they do. Therefore they perform good deeds for the benefit of themselves, society and the world." Headmistress 12 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129114 School Track Record: • 2,600 students from kindergarten to Grade 6 have joined the 'Path of Progress' Ethics Quiz Contest every year from 1990 to present; • first prize winner in the primary school category for 1998; • first prize in the primary school team category for 2000, 2001 and 2002; • recognized by the Thai Ministry of Education as 'best school for cultivation of virtue in students' Singha Samuita High School, Chonburi, Thailand "The intention of our school in joining the 'Path of Progress' scheme was originally only to evaluate the level of knowledge of our students concerning the Buddha's teachings and also to see where our students stood as compared to other schools. However, when I saw the students' enthusiasm in joining the competition, I too started to read the book, the Manual of Peace. I started to be involved gradually with tutoring the students for competitions. After teaching for a while, I became fascinated by the Buddha's teachings. I felt that I had become a better person morally as well as spiritually. ' I think one of the reasons has to do with the fact that I am teaching Manual of Peace to the students. I mean, can you imagine a person managing to teach Manual of Peace without understanding moral or ethics themselves? I couldn't be like that. So I felt like my attitude towards life has completely changed because of this book. The most rewarding thing I have witnessed is to be able to transfer my knowledge about how to conduct good deeds to my students. I try to put the basic teaching from Manual of Peace into all of my mainstream lessons." One single teacher's effort, inspired senior students to organize a tutorial activity of peace for their juniors. Finally it became the most popular club amongst our students." Sompong Hunsadee: Coordinating Teacher School Track Record: • 3,800 high school students from Grade 7-12 joining the 'Path of Progress' Ethics Quiz Contest every year from 1983 to present; • first prize in the team category for seven years running from 1993-9; • first prize in the individual and team categories for the 19th contest • first prize in the secondary school team category in 2002. Recovery of a former drug-addict "Ever since I was born, the person I remembered seeing the most is my mother. She always taught me to be a good person and to do good things to others as well. Well, you may think I would probably turn out to be just like Qualified teachers instruct their students. Teachers need to be role models of IPE and knowledgable of its concepts to instil virtuous habits in their students. The Manual of Peace in Action 13 EFTA01129115 Student 'Path of Progress' Examinations take place throughout Thailand. Each year more than four million students throughout Thailand participate In the qualifying round of the 'Path of Progress' Ethics Quiz Contest at countless provincial centres supervised by IBS volunteers. other kids but it's not so. It started when I was in high school. I had a big argument with my teacher and therefore, I decided to drop-out. I thought school was not necessary any more. Instead of helping my mothec. I started to go out every night with my friends. I knew my mother worried about me but I thought I could take care of myself. One night when I went to a friend 's house, one night, he showed me a small pill that looked like a painkiller. Curious and ignorant as I was, I decided to have my first contact with drugs. After that, I became addicted to drugs and had to steal money in order to buy them daily. At last, I became the drug dealer myself. At that time, I had no choice. However, I was caught by police and was sent to a juvenile court. My mother then bailed me out from the juvenile prison. The first thing I asked her was, "Why did you help me, Mom?" My mother did not say much. Just the sight of tears in her eyes had already killed me. All she said was, "I love you. I can forgive and will always do so, son." After that day, I decided to stop doing all the bad things and avoided getting back into the vicious circle again. I decided to go back to school in order to avoid probation. Though I knew that I didn't want to hurt my mother's feelings any more, my subconscious still tempted me to sell drugs to my classmates. There was a big fight in my mind between the good and bad sides. I did not know what to do. Fortunately, when I was at the point of relapse, my teacher persuaded me to join ethics quiz contest called 'The Path of Progress'. At first, I saw no point in participating in such a program. Then she gave me a reference book 14 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129116 called A Manual of Peace to prepare myself for a contest. I did not know why I went through it. Surprisingly, I was very touched by the content the book offered. This book was the turning point of my life. I learned to love myself, my parents, my teachers, my friends and others in a more productive way. I was taught to think wisely before acting, to choose eloquent and useful words to express myself in and to do good deeds towards myself and other people. From then on, I avoided people who attempted to poison me with drugs or any other bad things. I stopped coming home late. I tried to help my mother in every way I could. Right now, my mother and I understand each other more. I do well at school and my friends now welcome me to join class activities with them. All I would like to say is a big 'thank you' to the Path of Progress. They have changed my life. They helped me find the way out of the dark. I will try to help spread the project to more people in my community. There are many young people who are still stuck in vicious circles. They do not know how to go out of them. Please show them the light at the end of the tunnel. And please try to reach us before the mistakes we make in our lives are too grave. Mr. Visarut Komkaew Bang Luang Vithaya High School Nakorn Pathom, Thailand This is the true testimony written by one participant of the Path of Progress Ethics Quiz Contest. After receiving this letter in 2000, the IBS interviewed him when he was in Grade 12 and had been elected as president of the student committee. THE INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST SOCIETY The main coordinator of IPE in Thailand is the International Buddhist Society (IBS). IBS was established by a 1960 Alumni of Kasetsart University, Bangkok. After graduation, he took ordination as a Buddhist monk. At present, he is the Most Venerable Phrarajabhavanavisudh (Chaiboon Dhammajayo), President of the Interreligious participation in the 'Path of Progress. Christians, Buddhists & Moslems take the teachers' round of the 'Path of Progress' so that they can accurately pass on the IPE concepts to their schoolchildren. Dhammakaya Foundation — a United Nations- accredited Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) associated with the Department of Public Information (DPI). The founder's compassionate mission in setting up the IBS was to further public awareness of ethical issues, particularly in the youth. In the present day, the IBS is an umbrella organization of university students all over Thailand who sacrifice their time to organize ethical activities primarily for youth. Their success is a result of the dedication, hard work and devotion of an all-volunteer staff, many of whom are former participants in IBS activities. This is a new wave of student activity boasting nearly 5,000 active members in 2003. Most IBS activities are based on the concept of promoting peace through education. The Manual of Peace in Action 15 EFTA01129117 Thai royalty & international organizations award plaques. Winners of 'Path of Progress' championships in the various categories receive plaques and scholarships from M. the King of Thailand and numerous international organizations. IBS has become a major player in Thai youth development an active role in promoting peace through a variety of peace education programs in Thai society. IBS ACTIVITIES IBS activities are divided into two major levels — the elementary and the advanced. On the elementary level, it aims to instill the normal inner peace core values in a child's mind. In order to prepare them for more advanced levels of study when they grow up. Such standards will translate into a child's behaviours and become his own second nature. It's a self- generated rather than an imposed discipline. That's why IPE has long term beneficial effects on its students. On the advanced level, meditation by students consolidates the process of IPE in the long run. Meditation is a good catalyst, because it helps youth see and understand themselves better, know their own needs and serve those needs in a more productive way. The IBS see IPE as lifelong education. The main learning activities at the elementary level, used by the IBS is the 'Path of Progress' Ethics Quiz Contest' and 'the Home of Peace' (HOP). These two projects have about 4 million students participating annually throughout Thailand and receive cooperation from 13,000 schools and educational institutions. The 'Path of Progress' provides students with a peace manual for students to study as an extra- curricular activity and an annual contest to compete in. Winners in each category receive honorific plaques, certificates and scholarships to motivate and stimulate their interest. By reading the Manual of Peace different topics will capture each student's imagination according to their disposition. It will guide them to see the good and bad sides of their own character and motivate them to want to improve themselves become more productive. They transform by means of internally derived discipline, rather than discipline needing to be imposed from outside. They change by their own willingness to become a more responsible person. The 'Path of Progress' is complemented by a second project called the 'Home of Peace' — especially to supplement younger childrens' understanding of peace — to see if they differentiate peace and non-peace in their daily lives. The project provides a 'diary of peace' for the children to write down their own good deeds and good deeds done toward their parents, teachers and extended family. Since any deeds done every day can become habits, the IBS seeks to value to overlook a child's seemingly insignificant good deeds because these might be the root cause of their success in the future. Every child tends to have his or her own hero. If their hero is a worthy role model, it will inspire them to become a virtuous global citizen. On the contrary, with a negative role model, they can become public enemy no.1. In this respect, adults play an important role in presenting a model of peace to the young people around them. By reading, writing and practising peace every day, with the co-operation of parents and school, IPE will eventually become a child's second nature allowing them to respond to every situation by peaceful means. For young people who show their readiness to 16 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129118 learn at the advanced level, there are a hither three projects: • Leadership Training Program: this scheme attracts young people by providing advanced IPE training in personality enhancement, public speaking, meditation and social affirmation — and it is these young people who go on to become 'supervisor' volunteers who organize the 'Path of Progress' throughout Thailand annually. • Dhammadayada Ordination Scheme: During the Ordination Scheme, the IPE used includes Buddhist teachings made relevant to the needs of young men in Thai society. This activity is rooted in the Thai tradition that when a man reaches the age of twenty he should take temporary ordination as a Buddhist monk for a period to learn spiritual values first hand. This course comprises two months of intense study of IPE. Participants study and practice spiritual values incorporated into their daily routine to make sure that improved habits are properly instilled and that those habits will survive the transfer back to daily life when they return to their everyday life. • Ladies' Dhammadayada Training Scheme: the Ladies version of the Dhammadayada training is as intensive in IPE concepts as that of the gentlement, but participants are not required to ordain as nuns. At the advanced level, IPE projects seek to train university students who can act as organizers of IPE project managers themselves. It is because of the trainees of these sort of courses that the IBS has managed to run activities such as the 'Path of Progress' continuously now for more than twenty years. The unifying feature of the advanced projects for IPE is an increased emphasis on meditation. The Manual of Peace in Action 17 EFTA01129119 Abbreviations A. Aliguttara Nilcitya (PTS Edition) AA. Manorathaparahi - Aiiguttara Nikaya Commentary (PTS Edition) Ap. Apadana (PTS Edition) D. Digha Nikaya (PTS Edition) DA. Sumahgala Vilasini - Digha Nikaya Commentary (PTS Edition) Dh. Dhammapada (PTS Edition) DhA. Dhammapada Commentary (PTS Edition) DhSA. Atthasalini - Dhammasarigahi Commentary (PTS Edition) It. Itivuttaka (PTS Edition) J. Jataka (PTS Edition) KhpA. Khuddakapitha Commentary (PTS Edition) M. Majjhima Nikaya (PTS Edition) MA. Papaftca Sfidani - Majjhima Nikaya Commentary (PTS Edition) MT. Mahavaipsaillka Mil. Milindapafiha (PTS Edition) MNidA. Maha Niddesa Commentary (PTS Edition) Maha Niddesa (PTS Edition) bld! Cula Niddesa (PTS Edition) NrPA. Cella Niddesa Commentary (PTS Edition) PsA. Patisambhidarnagga Commentary (PTS Edition) PTS Pali Text Society of London S. Saipyutta Nikiya (PTS Edition) SA. Saratthappakisini - Sazatta Nikaya Commentary (PTS Edition) SadS. Saddhammasarigaha (=. Journal 1890) SN. Sutta Nipata (PTS Edition) SNA. Sutta Nipita Commentary (PTS Edition) ThagA. Theragatha Commentary (PIS Edition) Ud. Udana (PTS Edition) Vbh. Vibhanga (PTS Edition) Vin. Vinaya (PTS Edition) Vism. Visuddhimagga (PTS Edition) Vv. Vimanavatthu (PTS Edition) VvA. Vimanavatthu Commentary (PTS Edition) 18 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129120 Orientation A. 1811 ROOM, 11ON Welcome to the Manual of Peace. This orientation deals with the principles of ethical study and the value of the Thirty-Eight Blessings contained in this manual. The Manual of Peace contains subject mat- ter which is not difficult — indeed it is very popu- lar in Thailand especially amongst school children where over 4,000,000 annually take examinations in it. In schools where vocational subjects rob the curriculum of more and more time previously dedi- cated for spiritual studies, the Thirty-Eight Bless- ings have been forming an extra-curricular recom- pense in spiritual studies for children in Thailand since 1982. A.1 Why study spiritual knowledge ? The first question that comes to mind for many peo- ple studying this book is to ask why academic or material knowledge is not sufficient to get by in the world. If a full stomach and a place to sleep were enough to keep the human happy then we wouldn't have to go to the trouble of studying about ethics or about spirituality. However, for every human being, there is something deeper inside us which is always searching for the answers to questions on a deeper level — something which seeks for purpose and meaning in the life we live and the world around us. If supporting yourself were all there was to life then certainly millionnaires would be the hap- piest people on earth. Unfortunately wealth can only buy physical comfort — money cannot buy the means to nurtur or nourish the mind. For all our qualifications and diplomas we might have, none of them can guarantee us against hunger of the mind. On the contrary, the irresponsible people may use their cunning to do more heinous crimes than they would do if they weren't educated. Thus worldly education cannot guarantee us a happy life or guarantee that we will not end up in jail. This is why we make the distinction between worldly and spiritual knowledge — because spiritual knowl- edge properly studied can guarantee that we will not be put in jail — it is not only something to fill up our brains — it has transformative power to upgrade the way we think, speak and act. In the ideal world, our system of education would give us the answers we need to the questions in- side ourselves, but in practice, the secular educa- tion doesn't manage to fill this gap — and maybe, even if it were to try, it could not — because in some way the personal quest is part of the process of ac- quiring knowledge.Thus we are forced to look for the answers from alternative sources. A.2 Fashion and Universal Values Many things can affect our spiritual progress. Some- times it can be people, objects, attitudes, situations or experiences we come across in the world. How- ever, for most things, the worth or uselessness of an experience is just a matter of opinion. Are there things then that have a universally uplifting effect on people's lives — that are more than just a mat- Orientation 19 EFTA01129121 ter of opinion? Take present day trademarks which are accepted as status symbols by everyone as an example — Mercedes, Adidas — really such companies should pay us to advertise their products, but on the con- trary we pay more for a T-shirt with the trademark for the privilege of associating ourselves with the trademark. Why should this be? We feel that asso- ciating ourselves with such a symbol somehow improves our own worth. Sometimes we feel that the worth of these things is unchanging, but in fact from age to age these values change according to fashion. In times gone by, people thought in the same way, but they didn't call these things 'brand marketing', ortrademarks', they called them 'lucky charms' — but again they liked to associate with them as a way of improving their worth or foster- ing progress in their lives. We still have lucky charms in the present day — things like lucky horse- shoes or four-leaf clovers, but their role is dimin- ished if compared to olden times. In olden times the role of charms was much more significant. Systems of spiritual knowledge are attempts by men to model the values of the world in a way ac- cording to unchanging universal values—ways to recognize the things that improve our worth in ways that are eternal and don't differ from person to person. Many bodies of knowledge exist in the world to help us in this respect. They differ in their degree of comprehensiveness. The ideal body of knowledge for us to learn from would perhaps be one with the following characteristics: • Progressive & Sequential something which leads you step by step from simple to more complex; • Self-Catalysing creating its own motivation and enthusiasm to pursue it as you go along; • Exhaustive being applicable to all aspects of life; • Holistic perhaps dealing with problems not just by symptoms but in their entirety; • Multi-level working on personal, interpersonal, family, social and global levels equally well; • Non-discriminatory being equally applicable to those of all cultures; • Multi-Factorial being able to deal not just with simple problems but with those with many con- tributing factors; • Facilitating Practical Outlook giving a clear place to start with problems —not just theory or philosophy; • Transcending Values allowing us to rise above mundane and petty values; • Highlighting Opposites giving us clear "curses" to avoid as well as positive things to aim for. There are many systems of spiritual values which fall short of these criteria. Some systems lead to spir- itual exclusivity and even wars against those of other beliefs which are values no longer suitable for an age of globalization and tolerance. Some sys- tems lead their practitioner to shut themselves away from the world and to ignore social problems. Some systems confine themselves to their own culture or language. 13. THE MANUAL OF 1 LAU; B.1 Historical Origins of the Manual of Peace The Blessings of Life which make up the Manual of Peace are interesting because they seem to answer to all the characteristics specified above. They grew up in response to just the same type of debate over universal values mentioned in the introduction. In fact, even from ancient times, men had values — but at a certain time in the past 2,500 years ago in India a group of people started to wonder whether there was anything deeper behind the fashions — were there symbols of worth that transcended fash- ion? What sort of charms could possibly allow one to live without obstacles'. Supposing one wanted wealth, honour, praise and happiness, how could one ensure that one received just that? There was such a debate ensuing from this question, over which everybody seemed to have a different point of view. To generalize the debators divided them- selves into three main camps: 1. The first group believed that the thing to make one's life a blessing was to see something that was 'pleasing'. 2. The second group believed that the thing to make one's life a blessing was to hear something that was 'pleasing'. 3. The third group believed that the thing to make one's life a blessing was the mood in the mind 20 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129122 which arose whenever you saw or heard some- thing that was 'pleasing'. Each group disagreed with the others because it was obvious that an image pleasant to one person may not be pleasant to another. A sound pleasant to one person might not be pleasant to another. Something that creates a pleasant mood today might cause an unpleasant mood tomorrow. Thus there is nothing to make anything discussed a 'blessing' without doubt. The debate went on and on without any sign of coming to an end. It is just like people in the present day can still not agree as to what is truly a 'lucky charm'. Eventually the problem was only resolved by taking audience with the Buddha. A representa- tive asked the Buddha the nature of blessings and his reply is what is now know as the Mangala Sutta — thirty-eight blessings divided into ten group- ings. B.2 Definitions: The Word 'Blessings' Some may still wonder about the meaning of the word 'blessing' [mangala]. Some people think a blessing must be an object or an action — but by our technical understanding of the word, we trans- late it as 'a cause of prosperity, progress and happi- ness'. If you want to know the definition, you could say that the progress towards happiness that a 'mangala' will bring is four-fold: 1. progress through acquired wealth (worldly treas- ure, heavenly treasure and the treasure of Nir- vana). 2. progress through wisdom, which is the means by which obstacles in life and evil are abated. 3. progress through virtue through the channels of body, speech and mind, at the basic, intermedi- ate and advanced levels 4. progress through the three benefits: benefit in this lifetime, the next lifetime and in the hereafter. A blessing is a sign that positive development is about to take place (to a person, society or the world). Unlike such principles as that of deserved fate, the logic of blessings is forward looking, sig- nifying that something good is about to happen. B.3 Principles of Ethical Learning A working computer has two important parts: hard- ware and software. The hardware of the computer is the wiring and the circuitry. The software is the programming that we install on the computer. The hardware of a computer is neutral, but what makes the difference between a beneficial and a degrad- ing computer is the type of software installed. If you install working programs, the computer can be useful. However if you install violent games, vi- roses or pornography then the computer becomes a source of degradation. The worth of the compu- ter thus depends on the software. A drinking glass is also neutral. What makes the difference between a beneficial and a degrading glass is the sort of drink you put in it. If you put a nourishing drink in the glass such as milk then the glass will be an uplifting one welcomed by every- PRINEWLEBEHINOTHEMIRMBONT BLESSNGS OF UFE Kowa MKS eft barn luldnotres406:0 Gamow -Hansen • 3carsai• lame.. fleef • iinti Iniftleg Softies ins a: Tee Karp w.0000, m tit "td womb wow**, >,, waterer* pawn imampropane »> beeellei cOMpeler ranike >a> Dinell00 pas dirk OW:, 31111KM clarroCrr; pratran • • • IcgreInG °omits • • 113ta C. GacciLearring En. Unclosir Omponmakr. Fkri 8000411 AIM Amon one. However, if you put alcohol or poison in the glass, then the glass is immediately eyed with sus- picion. The worth of a drinking glass thus depends on its content. In the same way, a human being has two impor- tant parts: body and mind. By body we mean all Orientation 21 EFTA01129123 the blood, bones, muscles and organs associated with the physical body — even the brain, which is a physical organ. By mind, we mean the knowledge and attitudes that constitute our consciousness. The mind is like "the ghost in the machine". The physi- cal components of the human being are also neu- tral. The difference between a human who is up- lifting and one who is degrading depends not on the body, but on the mental component. Unfortu- nately, the software of the human mind is not pre- installed from the factory! When we are born we are born along with an ignorance about all aspects of life. From the time we are children, we spend our life learning in order to fill the gap in our knowl- edge — to provide ourselves with the knowledge we need for life. The path of our subsequent des- tiny depends on the sort of knowledge we fill our- selves with. We can fill ourselves with either: • accurate knowledge: positive knowledge which is creative and uplifting for ourselves and oth- ers, or; • inaccurate knowledge: negative knowledge (com- parable to lies to the soul) which is harmful to ourselves and others. Our knowledge increases as a result of influences in our surroundings. The first and most fundamental influence on our learning is the sort of people that make up our environment. The second most impor- tant influence is the environment in general. Together, these two influences have the potential to instil us with Right View about the world (effectively our core val- ues and assumptions about the world and our atti- tude to it). The first group (see p.25) which concerns the acqui- sition of discretion concerns our understanding of what is wrong and what is right. Even if someone is knowledgable,if their discretion is faulty, their future is unlikely to be bright. On the contrary those with good discretion but who lack education, at least they will not become a burden on society. It is the basis of Right View [samma dipthi]. Simply avoiding associ- ating with fools will bring us wealth, because we have no risk of spoiling our reputation, our wisdom is also not at risk and may be improved — virtue of all sorts will start to flow in our direction. This is the result even of following thefts! blessing — what more will be the benefit of practising all of the blessings in their entirety. The benefits will be not only to ourself, but to society and to the world as well. The second group (see p.65) concerns consolidating upon the goodness of the discretion you already have through the environment which we inhabit, from the habits we have built up for ourselves in the past and by setting a proper aim in life. This style of teaching is characteristic of the Buddha who taught virtue in a way that becomes successively more complex. The third group (p.139) concerns how we can make a contribution to society by our skilfulness, so that we ourself do not become a burden on society and can at the same time be a refuge to ourself in terms of earning our living. The fourth group (p.139) progresses from being able to help ourselves to being able to help other people as well. The first people who we must help are those to whom we are indebted: our parents. If we have new people to whom we owe our efforts towards virtue, such as our children and our spouse. Furthermore, we have to be able to divide our time so that neither our responsibilities in the work and in the home are neglected. The fifth group (p.183) builds on the strength of vir- tue we have built up for ourselves in the home, ex- panding the scope of our virtue wider into societywith generosity, public works. If you have already got your life under control, you will be able to do something for the benefit of society with some sort of efficiency. Those who try to help social works when they have not yet got their own personal affairs under control, may create disasters rather than helping others.Those who want to give advice to others but who are un- able to speak politely, may make enemies instead of improving the quality of society. Higher groups of blessings deal with the more subtle aspects of training the qualities of the mind in purity. B.4 38 Blessings as an ethical system We find that the Manual of Peace lives up to the de- mands of an ethical system as follows: 1 Progressive & Sequential: The thirty-eight bless- ings are arranged according to the degree of di f- 22 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129124 ficulty in practice: the easier ones come before the harder ones. The sequence of blessings be- gins with external practices, i.e., dealing with gross social behaviours but gradually leading up to the more internal and subtle ones. Following these sets of virtues gives one an impression of climbing up a flight of stairs leading to salva- tion. If you don't associate with the society of the fools, then you enhance the process of asso- ciating with the wise. When you are dealing with the first Blessing, you are creating conditions to fulfill the second one. One can say that at the same time you respect those who are worthy of respect. It starts with number one. While you are working to develop number one, it is already doing the groundwork for number two and number three — it's progressive. One blessing conditions the next progressively. By doing the first Blessing, you are committing yourself to many subsequent Blessings thereby. By associ- ating with the wise, it is opening you up to many good things; you learn from the wise, you progress — all good things come from associat- ing with other people. So, by practicing one Blessing, it will eventually lead to practicing all of the Blessings. And by doing one, you prepare for the other; they are inter-related. This logic is very beautiful, it leads you ownwards step-by- step. It allows you to improve, socially and spir- itually, hand in hand with each other. It is like a self-catalysing process in chemistry or a positive feedback process in physics. This makes salva- tion via the thirty-eight blessings a kind of up- ward spiral, where you move upwards to Nir- vana, the highest goal in Buddhist spiritual cul- tivation, starting from the simplest blessings, and gradually perfecting yourself. 2 Self-Catalysing: When one kind of living bless- ing comes into existence or is practiced, it will support other kinds of virtues to manifest them- selves, and the manifestation of any one bless- ing will lead to development of the next higher blessing in the sequence. 3 Exhaustive: Other mechanisms of spiritual val- ues can easily be accommodated within it 4 Holistic: Blessings assume the presence of a deeper unseen network of causes and effects which interact together in cycles of positive feed- back for the ethical development of society. Bless- ings can be used as a non-subjective socio-ethi- cal checklist, that cuts through self-centred ness that might otherwise lead to superficial social changes (an individual's prosperity, for exam- ple, being misunderstood as a sign of social de- velopment) because social development that is unethical is by this philosophy, a contradiction in terms. It also provides a holistic mirror to view one's own personality and development. 5 Multi-level: It covers the full spectrum of human relations from the interpersonal, through the fa- milial, occupational and communal levels to the social. It offers a holistic perspective of a world governed by interrelating conditions. 6 Non-discritninatoty: This philosophy makes no distinction between men and women, lay prac- tice and monastic practice. The set of virtues is not restricted to a particular sort of person or so- ciety, but it can be treated as the common good that is shared in a particular community or even by the whole of mankind. 7 Multi-Factorial: The Thirty-Eight blessings are a means-ends model of ethics. The ethics of the Blessings escapes the rigid linear dimension of 'means' and 'ends' in favour of a multi-factorial causality model. The weakness of consideration in terms of 'means' and ends' is seen when try- ing to establish definitions in a complex multi- factorial situation. With the lighting of a match, for example, can we say that the match is the means to the production of fire? Are not oxygen, friction and a striking surface also means to the production of fire? If the friction is not sufficient to cause ignition, can it still be considered a means? Is a match struck in a vacuum still a means? Is not Oxygen also an end for the proc- ess of photosynthesis too? ... but simultaneously the means for ignition? How would linear eth- ics tackle the problem of 'auto-catalytic' phenom- ena (better known as vicious circles). If defini- tions of means and end are so difficult to pin- down in such a simple scientific situation, it is hardly surprising that ethics based on 'means' Orientation 23 EFTA01129125 and 'ends' are virtually impossible to apply in multi-factorial social scenarios. Unfortunately, the problems found in society are almost always the vicious circles that make application of eth- ics so difficult. To the question of whether bless- ings are 'means' or 'ends', it must be answered that they are both. Putting any one of the thirty- eight blessings into action will contribute to- wards social development. At the same time, the existence (or coming into existence) of any of the thirty-eight blessings is itself an indicator of so- cial progress. Blessings also help to avoid the dilemma of justifying unwholesome means by wholesome ends. 8 Facilitating Practical Outlook The practice of blessings are effective through reversal of posi- tive feedback loops of decay through the setting in motion of positive feedback loops of develop- ment: firstly, to check the downward spiral and, secondly, to turn the spiral upwards. Action for social problem solving can start by the effort to replace any one of the thirty-eight counterparts of the blessings by a blessing. Problem solving can start with the local application of any bless- ing. The blessings encourage personal commit- ment instead of passing the buck. Once the first blessing comes into being, then it will cause an upturn in society, which will ease the accumula- tion of the next blessing in the sequence. The end-point, said to be the biggest blessing of them all, is to bring all thirty-eight blessings into be- ing in society. 9 Transcending Values: The Manual of Peace does not focus merely on the values of action based on moral principles or intention for the actions, but rather on the modes of our relationships in soci- ety, environment, family relations, education, communication and spirituality. Yet, the scope of application of blessings can even expand to cover the whole of the human race, with all lives shar- ing their part in the single commonwealth of morality—the Global Community. 10 Highlighting Opposites: Blessings also reveal the flipside of blessings — the 'Bad Omen' or 'social curse', which are the sign that something bad is about to happen (omens of forthcoming decay). Where there is no development, there must be decay, and to this end the opposites of the thirty- eight blessings are representedby a set of thirty- eight identifiers, like tips-of-the-iceberg, which signal thepresence of a nest of much deeper- rooted but invisible social problems. The nature of such problems is, again, that of negative feed- back loops or 'vicious cycles' which lead toward decay. Unsolved, such curse will spread, into ever broadening circles of repercussions with their own vicious cycles. A comparable example in science might be the thermodynamic model of loss of entropy through the dissipation of heat. These are characteristics of the Manual of Peace. In the chapters that follow, each of the thirty-eight Blessings of Life will be explained in turn. 24 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129126 e --% The First Group of Blessings "Turning your back on unwholesomeness" Goodness doesn't come unpackaged. It comes as part and parcel of the person who does good deeds and and who exemplifies those good deeds. Goodness is transmitted between people by the exam- ple a good person sets for others and by a good person's teaching and criticism of the behaviour of a person whose level of goodness is lesser. Goodness is like the food which we eat. It strongly influ- ences of our view and understanding of life and the world.To begin with we have no idea what goodness is. Some people tell us that such and such a thing is good. Others tell us that something com- pletely different is good. Who should we believe? And when we ask them why they consider such and such a thing to be good, no- one seems to know the answer. Thus if we want to learn how to do good deeds, we have to start making decisions about our lives even from the time we are still unable to tell the difference between good and evil. Although we cannot tell the difference between good and evil, there are certain indicators that allow us to tell the difference between people who habitually do good and people who habitu- ally do evil. The first step on this path is the identification of the people who habitually do evil and we make our first step towards goodness by avoiding such people. Our next step towards good- ness is to associate with people who are habitually good. The third step is to honour those who are habitually good so that we can start to observe the faults in ourselves, by comparison with the higher virtue of those who are worthy of respect. Thus, the first group of blessings is thus almost entirely concerned with being selective about our friends. EFTA01129127 EFTA01129128 Blessing One: Not Associating with Fools A. INTRODIRMON A.1 First Step on Journey the Most Important For the Manual of Peace, although all of the bless- ings are important, all of the latter thirty-seven hinge on the first. Thus you could say that of all the blessings the first is the most important. It is like the first tread of the steps leading into a house. If you cannot climb this first step, you will spend the rest of your life at the foot of the staircase with no way of getting into the house. You can also think of this blessing "Not Associating with Fools" as be- ing like the first step on a long journey, without which the voyage can never begin. 13. DISta, I ()\: 111 . DIPOR I INCE & FORMA DON B.1 The importance of calibrating discretion No-one wants to make a mess of their lives. Every- one wants to feel that they are profiting from the years that pass them by — to give them a sense of success and achievement in their lives. HoweveK, the way each person defines "success", "profit" or achievement in their life will dictate what they chan- nel their efforts into. A businessman defines profit in life in monetary terms so he devotes his time and effort into earning as much as he can. A criminal might define achievement in life by "cracking the most impenetrable safe in the world" or "cutting the most corners possible" to maximise the amount of stolen goods he can a mass - so he spends all his waking hours planning his next robbery. A criminal doesn't particularly want to live his life dishonestly, but he thinks that being a criminal is good enough. Although everyone seeks success (in their various ways), in the long run they may be left with regrets in their mind. If you ask why a difference of definition of success in life can make such a difference to one's destiny, it is because this "common sense" about the world dictates the de- cisions we make about the world — and these de- cisions drive all that we say and do. In the Manual of Peace we call such common sense "discretion" — it is the basic understanding by which we judge each experience and situation in the world to know whether it is likely to be beneficial for us or harm- ful. B.2 Discretion doesn't come unpackayed Discretion is a personal quality we acquire, test and calibrate as a result of the experiences we meet in life. It is not a quality we can get by reading about it, buying it, downloading it or memorizing it. It can only come as the result of our transactions with real people. It is a quality often unspoken, but eas- ily learned by example. Thus discretion doesn't come loose, but is part and parcel of the exemplary people who possess it. B.3 Two Formative Influences on our discretion There are two major influences on the formation of discretion in a person. The first major influence is Blessing One: Not Associating with Fools 27 EFTA01129129 the example of those people we are closest to, such as our family and friends. The second major influ- ence on our formation of discretion is ourselves. Sometimes we call it the ability to be a good teacher to ourselves [yonisonzanasikara]. Even if you have been listening to advice for good or bad friends, you always have to consider advice and justify it to yourself before getting down to following the ad- vice. If you have accurate discretion when you con- sider things, even given faulty data, you will have the common sense to see through the discrepan- cies and come out with the right decision required by the situation — unlike the man with unreliable discretion, who even when given reliable data, will come to the wrong conclusion. Usually we have to learn discretion from the ex- ample of other people by transactions with them first, before we can calibrate our "auto-didactic" discretion and come to accurate conclusions inde- pendently — because in the beginning we have no idea what constitutes a sensible decision and what constitutes neglect. Thus when we are learning dis- cretion, at first we are very vulnerable to the exam- ple set by others. The example they set us may cali- brate the way we think for the rest of our life. Thus a correct example has the power to correctly cali- brate our thinking for the rest of our lives — but conversely, a faulty example may damage the way we think for the rest of our life. C. PROCESS OF ACQUIRING DISCR1;11ON C.1 Benefitting from others without catching their bad habits Every time we have a transaction with a person it is like a negotiation or tug-of-war between us to see whose discretion will brush off who. In a situation where people are unable to recognize good or bad examples of discretion, then the ex- change of "discretion" will be like osmosis — flowing from a point of high concentration to a point of low concentration. If Person A has a lot of good discretion and Person B less, then Person A's good discretion will tend to brush off on Per- son B. If Person C has a lot of bad discretion and Person D less, then Person C's bad discretion will tend to brush off on Person D. In practice though, as adults with a degree of life experience, we don't passively let others' habits brush off on us. If we are able to recognize good habits and good dis- cretion then we will open ourselves up especially to absorb them. However, if we recognize bad habits and bad discretion, then we will try to pro- tect ourselves from picking those habits up. Thus, normally we are selective— and try (to the best of our ability and discretion) to pick up good hab- its while avoiding the bad ones. In this way, we can have transactions with others without losing our own virtues under their influence. You can compare it to visiting someone in hospital who has a fever. You can visit them, talk to them and console them — you can do all these things with- out catching their fever, but you would try to avoid having them sneeze over you. There are some sorts of patients and some sorts of illness, however, that are so dangerous that we cannot afford to have any transaction with that person. Such diseases like the plague are so contagious, that it is not safe for healthy people to transact (specifically come into physical con- tact) with them. Such patients, by the nature of their disease need to be nursed in an isolation ward with no visitors. If they were animals, they would be put in quarantine. When considering the transmission of discretion, there are some cases of those so contagiously infected with faulty discretion that despite our immunity or our efforts to be selective, we will nonetheless be infected by their faulty discretion. Even if we started with healthy discretion, it would be un- dermined by the strength of negative discretion of those people — what more the danger if we are still inexperienced and impressionable (per- haps still children or lacking world experience) and don't even know what it means to be selec- tive? These quarantine victims of faulty discre- tion, whether intentionally so or not, are the first and most fundemental obstacle we will meet as we try to acquire blessings — in the Manual of Peace we call such people by the technical name of "fools". 28 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129130 D.1 Definition of a Fool A fool is someone wicked, or weak, or feeble. They are made feeble by the fact they habitually think, say and do things that are unwholesome. The root of the lack in common sense by which they can justify such unwholesome behaviour is the fact that they don't have their mind centred or under their con- trol. To call such a dangerous person a "fool" might seem like an understatement — because some fools might look like a proverbial giant punching sand- bags, a frightening prospect for a rhinocerii, let alone a fragile human being. Thus, how come we use the term "feeble" for a fool? A fool is made weak like a person made weak by a serious disease — we do not fear him on the basis of his strength or knowledge or ability to think — but because his disease is dangerous. 13.2 Four Human Strengths Human beings have four different sources of power: 1. Physical Strength: different people are endowed with different degrees of physical strength. Any- one with plenty of muscles and no disabilities is endowed with the first storehouse of power. 2. Strength of Knowledge: derived from one's back- ground of education and the experience of pass- ing years. Having the ability to apply educated reasoning in useful subjects is the second store- house of power. 3. Strength of Thought: Some people go through the same number of classes together. They have an equal amount of knowledge, but their ability to think through things using their knowledge may not be equal. Some people know so much, but it is of no use to them when they come to think things through. Someone may know how to mend an engine but sits idle all day long. Why don't they offer their services as a mechanic? Or earn their living in the engine business? Sitting around all day long, waiting for someone to come along and find work for them...? We can blame this on their having knowledge but not using the knowledge as part of their thinking. Thus, if any- one uses both their strength of knowledge and their strength of thought, they are at great ad- vantage because they are endowed with the third storehouse of power. 4. Strength of virtue: When one has both the strength of thought and mindfulness of what one is doing, when one is using one's knowledge and thought to perform good service to oneself and others, one is endowed with the fourth store- house of power: strength of virtue. The human being has the potential to be endowed with all four storehouses of power: physical strength, strength of knowledge, strength of thought and strength of virtue. Even if someone is endowed with (some of) these storehouses of powet, if their judgment is faulty, they will not be able to put their power to full use. If, for example, a foolish guy is physically strop , and may be qualified as a professor with a with plenty of knowledge, but without the ability to think properly, he will be want to apply his mas- tery of chemistry for dishonest purposes (e.g. dis- tilling heroine). Thus even if you are endowed with only some of the four powers, you can still be clas- sified with the fools — and those powers are not used to their full potential. At the most a fool can use only three of the storehouses of power. They can use only three of the four. Like a four-cylinder car in which only three of the spark plugs fire — it is of no use to anybody. If you have a four-cylin- der car, all four need to work in order to get ben- efit from any one of the four. Thus, if you know your 'cylinders' are damaged, you don't need to wait until none of them are left firing before you go for mending! In conclusion, when we define the meaning of a fool as someone weak or feeble, we can see more clearly now that it means that they are weak or feeble in doing good deeds. Now that we know about the risk they present to our discretion and know a little about the reason for a fool's weak- ness, the next challenge that faces us is how to pro- tect ourselves from them. As we shall see, we first need to be able to recognize fools - if we can rec- ognize them, we can more easily protect ourselves from their influence. Blessing One: Not Associating with Fools 29 EFTA01129131 E. RECOGNIZING FOOLS 3. .E.1 You cannot tell a fool by external appearances When identifying whether someone is a fool or not, we cannot base our judgement on external appear- ances — we must base our judgement on internal features. The things we should avoid basing our judgement on include gender, age, lineage, nation- ality, connections, knowledge, job or wealth. Al- though fools are characterized by their habitually evil actions of their body, speech and mind, because all of these three come from within they might not be obvious to us, especially if we are still at a stage in our spiritual maturation when our discretion is 4. still inaccurate. Appearances, gender, age, lineage, nationality, connections, knowledge, job and wealth are only indirectly connected with the quality of the mind. When we want to identify a fool, we need to look for behaviours that betray their underlying quality of mind. The sort of behaviours that are most clearly identifiable are those that come out in the context of our interaction and friendship with them. £2 How to Tell a Fool We are not mind readers who can observe how oth- ers think. All we can observe are the things which others express openly — that is others' words and actions. Even fools have chinks in their armour which will be revealed as we interact with them — in fact there are five in all: 1. They like to persuade others to do evil things: Not only does a fool persuade others to do evil. He will also exemplify those evil deeds for oth- ers to follow. He might skip work on the slight- est trivial pretext and persuade his colleagues to do the same. 2. They like to interfere with things that are none of their business: A cleaner has the duty simply to keep the office clean, but if instead of doing her duty, she leaves her work undone and spends her time rummaging in the wastepaper baskets for trade secrets, already you should be suspi- cious that she is a fool. A student has the duty to study, but if instead of studying their subject they waste their time on protests against the govern- ment — then again they might be a fool mas- querading as intelligentia. 5. They like anything that is improper: Fools have a dislike for anything that is right and proper. They like playing with fire. They like taking drugs. They like gambling. They like fighting fish. They like the opportunity to put a spanner in the works. You can be sure that anything they like has someone on the receiving end of their suffering. Even if they take the chance to ordain as a monk, they will end up being the one to cause a schism in the order. Their predicament is the same as the one illustrated in the ancient tale of the angel and the worm. (See §G.1 below) They get angry even when spoken to decently: Suppose a mother warns her daughter to dress modestly before leaving the house in case the neighbours gossip. The daughter might reply an- grily that this is how modem people dress. Her mother gave her a perfectly reasonable piece of advice but her own daughter answers back with the verbal equivalent of a slap in the face. Sup- pose a father advises his son that he should be revising instead of going on outings so close to his examinations. "How can you say that?" might shouts the boy. "Didn't you go for out- ings when you were younger?" Often the other person knows that they are in the wrong, but when they are found out and their fault is dis- covered, they lose their temper — the mark of a fool. A fool is like a person covered in open wounds. If he bumps into something even only lightly, it hurts. For a fool, his mind is covered in wounds, and when confronted with the truth, it hurts. Sometimes even just a glance is enough to provoke him to aggression. They refine to comply with rules and regula- tions: Fools heeds neither the laws of the coun- try nor the local customs. If you meet someone who refuses to comply with the regulations, you can be 99% sure that you are dealing with a fool. If it wasn't for the law, there would be a lot more opportunity for fools to express themselves through the performing of evil deeds. The law forces fools to have to express themselves less freely or in secret. The law will thus obscure from the public eye the real nature of a fool's mind. It is for this reason that we have to notice the marks 30 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129132 of a fool from the first four sorts of behaviour mentioned above. If you come across any of these five features, then it should already be ringing warning bells in your head. .E.3 The sixteen ways a fool might treat you Some people who may appear on the surface to be friendly, might be fools masqueradingas friends. The Lord Buddha called such people false friends [mittapatirapakal and categorized them into four types each with four characteristics — giving a to- tal of sixteen forms of behavioural characteristics to look for. With friends like these, who needs en- emies? 1. The Mercenary laiiitadatthuharal 2. The Man of Empty Promises luaciparama] 3. The Flatterer [anupplyabhatzi] 4. The One who Leads you down the Road to Ruin rapayasahoyaj 1. a mercenary is one who: 1. tries to appropriate your possessions; 2. sacrifices little in the hope of gaining much; 3. helps others only when threatened by the same danger; 4. only makes friends to serve his own inter- est; 2. a man of empty promises who: 1. tells you how sad he is not to have been able to share with you something that has already run out; 2. promises to share with you things they don't yet have; 3. tries to win your favour with empty prom- ises; 4. has excuses every time called upon to help; 3. a flatterer who: 1. toadies to your evil-doing, 2. toadies to your doing of good; 3. sings praises to your face; 4. gossips about you behind your back. 4. leads you down the road to ruin by: 1. being your loyal drinking companion; 2. being at your side when you roam the streets at unseemly hours; 3. frequenting games and shows with you; 4. joining you at the gambling table. Such behaviours illustrate sixteen ways in which a fool will unwittingly reveal his lack of responsibil- ity. Besides leading us to ruin, such people lead so- ciety unfalteringly in the direction of deterioration in a way which is hard to remedy. If you come across any of these sixteen features, then it should already be ringing warning bells in your head. R AVOIDING THE INFLUENCE OF FOOLS E1 Putting fools in quarantine In the words of the old Thai proverb: "Always keep a safe distance — give a hound an armslength, give a monkey six feet but for a fool a hundred thousand miles may not be enough." Just as mentioned earlier, when a person has such a dangerously contagious disease as faulty discre- tion, we have no alternative but to isolate them. However, as we shall see it is not physical distance which we use to isolate a fool — it is more on the level of interaction. We have to be careful getting to familiar with them — that is effectively how we keep "psychological distance". E2 Association Defined When we talk of associating with others, what are the limits of our definition? In fact there are seven different ways in which it is possible to associate with others: 1. Meeting up with fools. This can be called associ- ating with fools but it is only association in its most rudimentary form. Of course such associa- tion might not lead to anything. After all it is just our visiting them and their visiting us. We may not even particularly enjoy each others company. 2. Getting closer. This is once you start getting more familiar with the fools you meet up with, start lending things to one another, talking on sub- jects of common interest, and following common pastimes. 3. Feeling a liking for one another. This is once you Blessing One: Not Associating with Fools 31 EFTA01129133 start to get more familiar, you start to believe that you have common tastes. You start to believe that you yourself like anything that they like. 4. Respecting them. After a while, you start to find that you respect that fool for his particular skills: (e.g. his skill in gambling) and you start to think what good luck it is to have this fool as your ac- quaintance and an example to follow. 5. Moral Support. After having admired the fool for a long time from a distance, you start to be- lieve anything they think. 6. Joining in. After sharing the same opinions for a long time, you start to join in with their activi- ties and follow the same way of life. 7. Influencing and instilling behaviour to one an- other. In the final stages of association, it is im- possible to tell the difference between the fool and his associates. It has also come to the stage when it is impossible to reverse the effects of the fool on his associate. Thus for any reader who realizes that they are un- der the influence of a fool they should realize too the danger of even casual contact with the person- ality of someone who is a fool. There will be an unavoidable escalation of intimacy even without realizing it. £3 Practising non-association in everyday life If you want to avoid associating with fools in your everyday life, apart from avoiding social contact with fools as already mentioned, it will be neces- sary to give special attention to the following is- sues: 2. 3. 4. 1. Prohibit yourself from every sort of evil and from all of the roads to ruin: Don't go thinking that 5. the odd game of poker amongst close friends, or just to keep your hand in, can surely be of no harm to anybody. Prohibit yourself right from the start. This way you will save yourself from tears in the long run. Even if you are someone with weak tendencies in the direction of being a fool, such as liking to get up late and ignoring the alarm clock you have set for yourself, you should get tough with yourself right from the start. Prohibit yourself from doing even the most minor unwholesome deeds. Make the break from any evils you may have committed in the past It doesn't matter what sort of bad habits you might have had in the past — don't give yourself even the smallest chance to relapse. Don't even speak of those things any more. Make Your performance of good deeds continu- ous. There is no need to think over your past fail- ures or entangle ourselves in the guilt of your past bad deeds. Starting from today, you must practise generosity, keep the Precepts, meditate and do the daily chanting — continuously. In this way the scars left by our old way of life will gradually heal leaving only good behavior in its place. In the case you have to associate with a fool be especially careful. Sometimes we are put in the situation where we have to associate with fools, even though we don't want to. Sometimes, for example, we find out that even our own boss is involved in corruption. If we refuse to have any part in his dealings, we might get sacked. What should we do in such a situation? If we do eve- rything he orders, in the end we will pick up his bad habits. Our ancestors had a simile for warn- ing us in such a situation. They said you should be as careful 'as if you were warming yourself before the fire. If you stay too close to the fire for too long, you will get burned. If you keep too much distance, then you will be left shivering in the cold'. Thus, just as with the fire, you need to keep the appropriate distance from the fool — not too near and not too far. You can associate with a fool only in the case that you are sure you have the capability and steadfastness to help them. Jumping into the water to save a drowning person is only sensi- ble if you are able to swim — otherwise you get two drowning people! Whether you can really help a fool or not depends whether your own virtue is sufficiently steadfast to allow you to help them unscathed. If you are not yet suffi- ciently steadfast then keep your distance— even 32 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129134 if they are your own relatives! If you come across a friend who takes no heed of your warnings, however many times you might tell him, you have to resign yourself to helping him out in- stead when the suffering from their own mis- takes starts to sink in— when the circumstances make him a little more ready to listen. However, if he is not such a bad guy, and you are able to make some impression on him, then try to help him — try to keep him from going under. It's not that you should be hard hearted, but you have to know our own limits and if helping a fool is beyond your capability, you have to with- draw our help and keep our distance in order to survive. F.4 Interaction without Transaction Some texts summarize the functions of association as two fold. Others summarize association as a path- way as follows: joining, receiving, and giving. • Joining means eating, sleeping and investing to- gether. • Receiving means taking someone on as one's spouse, one's child, one's employee or as one's extended family. The point where we start to associate with them is the point when we take them on. • Giving means that after joining them and taking them on, we give something to them. Such giv- ing includes giving them consideration, praise, encouragement, lodging, food or payment. All of these are included in the definition of associa- tion. If you are associating with fools on any of these three levels you should be warned to withdraw yourself before sustaining any further damage. F.5 The Varieties of Fools Some people think that they already have enough discretion to choose their friends and thus overlook the importance ofthe first blessing. In fact, even though we may be experienced and adult there is a fool with whom we have to associate cautiously throughout our life — that is our "inner fool". In conclusion, there are two different types of fool in the world — the fool in the outside world and the inner fool. The inner fool is the little"devil" that seems all too ready to justify your doing the things for which you should know better. They are the er- roneous discretion that creep into our heads, and it is our task to put an end to the arising of such fools in the mind. Further to the temptation to be complacent about our ability to recognize fools, it should be added that parents have a special responsibility to their exemplar-sensitive children to be cautious about the sort of friends they associate with — and even to choose a school and teacher for their children to help them to avoid associating with fools. This sub- ject is dealt with in more detail in Blessing Thirteen — nevertheless a little extra attention on this front right from the beginning of our study of the bless- ings can help to ensure a bright future for them — preventing tears when it's too late to reverse the problems (like drug-addiction). G.ILLUSIKA I WE EXAMPLES G.1 The Angel and the Worm (traditional) Once upon a time there were two young men who were friends. How they came to be friends no-one knew, because one was found of doing meritorious deeds, while the other did only evil deeds all his life — like cockfighting, fish fighting, taking drugs and alcohol. When he was working as a merchant, he would sell only fake goods and stolen goods. When he was a teacher, he wouldn't teach normal subjects to his pupils — he would teach all the shortcuts and loop- holes in the law. Even with such different tastes, the two friends managed to maintain both their identity and their friendship until they both passed away. When the good guy died, he was reborn as an angel in heaven. The bad guy was reborn as a worm in a lavatory. One day the angel was wondering what had be- come of his friend. The angel checked every level of heaven but could not find his friend. He checked the human realm, but again his friend was no where to be found.The angel made a further check and was surprised to see that his friend had been born as a worm in a lavatory. The angel wondered what Blessing One: Not Associating with Fools 33 EFTA01129135 he could do to help his friend, and tolerated the revolting smell of the lavatory out of compassion in order to stand at the edge of the toilet bowl and make himself known to his friend. Standing at the rim of the toilet bowl, he changed himself into his old human form. "Old friend do you remember me?"asked the angel. "Of course," said the worm."We used to be friends a long time ago." "O! Worm! Now I am an angel. Today I have come to do you the biggest favour of your life. I have come to invite you to join the heavenly host. However, there is one condition. If you want to be an angel you have to keep all the precepts without breaking any of them from this day onwards. You must think only meritorious thoughts and do meritorious deeds and before long we'll be able to abide in the same heavenly host" "What's so great about being an angel?" asked the worm. "You can get whatever you wish instantly sim- ply by thinking of it. As soon as you think of an- gelic sustenance, ambrosia manifests itself. If you think of clothing then instantly you are clothed in angelic apparel. If you think of a heavenly man- sion, then a heavenly mansion arises instantane- ously. All you have to do is have the intention and hundreds of good things will come your wsL "In that case I don't want to be an angel.. bet- ter off as a worm thank you." "What do you mean?" asked the angel. "If you are an angel you have to make the wish before you get what you want. As a worm I don't even have to make the effort to think. Excrement in the toilet just keeps on flowing into my mouth. Just leave me alone because ■ better off as a worm." In such a case it is obvious that he is so used to his foolish ways that in the end he is beyond help. G.2 Metaphor. Leaves wrapping a stinking fish Another parable used by the Lord Buddha is that of the leaves wrapping a putrid fish taking on the same putrescant smell of the fish itself. 6.3 Metaphor: Burning hovel next to a palace Our ancestors had a parable. They said that to as- sociate with a fool, no matter how good we might originally be, is like building a palace next door to a hovel. Whenever the hovel catches fire, no matter how safe the palace is from fire, as soon as the hovel goes up in flames the palace bums down as well, just like the virtuous person destroyed by associa- tion with fools. G.4 Maheiltassapa's Kuti Burned Down by Foolish Student (Kutidussaka Atoka J.iii.71) In the time of the Lord Buddha, there was an elder monk of unblemished virtue named Kassapa. He was respected by all of the enlightened monks and other members of the monastic community. Even the Lord Buddha's closest disciple Ananda, had great respect for Ven. Kassapa. It was the norm for the elder monks of the com- munity to accept newly-ordained monks as their disciples, in order that those new monks could re- ceive training. Some of the elders accepted more than others in keeping with their ability as teach- ers. Ven. Kassapa accepted three or four disciples but it turned out that among their number was a stubborn monk, Ulualcasaddaka who would lis- ten tono-one's advice. On winter evenings it was the duty of the disciples to boil water for the elder monks for them to take a bath in comfort. The stub- born disciple would never boil water for Ven. Kassapa in accordance with his duty. He would al- ways leave the chore of boiling the water to his fel- lows while going himself to invite Ven. Kassapa to wash as if he had boiled the water himself. Everything else the stubborn disciple did was in the same vain. Instead of going on alms round, if he fancied something special to eat the stubborn monk would claim to temple supporters that Ven. Kassapa wanted such-and-such to eat and when they brought such-and-such a food to offer, he would eat it himself. Ven. Kassapa knew what was going on and warned the stubborn monk,"to be so lacking in re- spect is not in keeping with having ordained as a monk. You must train yourself better than this in 34 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129136 future."Kassapa warned the stubborn monk con- tinuously, but the only effect of the criticism was to make him feel as if his master was singling him out unfairly for criticism.The more advice he received from his master, the more victimized he felt. Instead of feeling grateful for all the special attention his master had given him, he planned on getting his revenge. He planned the following day instead of going out on almsround with the rest of the disci- ples for the master's breakfast, stay behind, let the master go for almsround mself and burn down the master's kuti while he was gone. In this case it is clear to see the behaviour of a fool who repays a master's advice given with the best of in- tentions, by burning down his master's house. Ven. Kassapa came back from his almsround to find only ashes where his kuti had stood. The disciple had run away. The Lord Buddha heard the story and disclosed to Ven. Kassapa that the stubborn disciple had been a fool causing damage not only in this lifetime, but in previous lifetimes as well: In that previous lifetime, Kassapa had been born as an oriole while the stubborn monk had been born as a monkey. The two inhabited the same tree. The oriole wanted to waste no time in building a nest to protect itself from sun, rain and dust — but at the same time the oriole warned the monkey, he ought to build himself a nest against wind and rain, sun and dust, because he had perfect gripping hands like a man, and could build a nest even more easily than the bird with her beak. The oriole told the monkey to build its own nest again and again. but the monkey never took any notice. When it came to the monsoon, the oriole ducked into the shelter of its nest whenever it rained, while the monkey sat out in the rain sobbing. The oriole felt sorry for the monkey and thought the time had come to tell the monkey to build a nest. Perhaps now that* had a good soaking see the value of the advice. Thus the oriole po s head out of its nest and told the monkey ,"you ought to build yourself a nest against wind and rain, sun and dust, because you have perfect gripping hands like a man, you can build a nest even more easily than I can with my beak. As soon as the rain stops build yourself a nest !" The monkey replied,"If I wanted to build a nest I could build one easily—but even though my body is like that of a man, my intelligence is the lesser." "You're a strange case," said the oriole. "Some days you go around destroying the nests of oth- ers but when it comes to the monsoon, you're the only one without a roof over your head. This is the destiny of one ungrateful for the generosity of others. You had better start improving your- self!" The monkey was stirred to anger by the criti- cism. Soaked to the skin by rain and only insulted further by a bird from inside the comfort of a dry nest, the monkey climbed up the tree to the ori- ole's nest and pulled the nest to pieces. As a monkey he had pulled the oriole's nest to pieces. As a human, he put his own master's kuti to the flame, even though his master had spoken only kind words.These are the identifying features of a fool and are the reason why we have to be- ware of this type of person. Blessing One: Not Associating with Fools 35 EFTA01129137 36 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129138 Blessing Two: Associating with the Wise A. INTRODUCTION The second Blessing of the Thirty-Eight, concerns how in our self-cultivation we can successfully close the door on unwholesomeness in our lives, to pre- vent ourselves from slipping any further back on the slippery slope of spiritual entropy. At this point, when our discretion and sense of conscience is still not very accurate, we are not yet sufficiently versed in spiritual ways to become a Wise One ourselves. However, what we can start by doing is to learn how to recognize others who are, and to associate with them so that some of their discretion may brush off on us. A.1 Difference between knowledge and wisdom A wise one is distinguished by his or her wisdom. Before starting this blessing it is important to define this wisdom dearly because being 'wise' is not the same as being 'educated'. 'Wisdom' as intended in this blessing is the discretion as to what is real 'profit' in our lives as outlined by omission in our description of fools in Blessing One. In fact, being educated is also a blessing, but its details can be found in Blessing Seven. The word "wise one" of this Blessing comes from the Pali word "parglita" better known in our language as "pundit". Some people believe that you can become a "pundit" sim- ply by getting yourself a graduation certificate from a reputable university. In fact if you get yourself a good degree and set yourself up in business and make a success of it, you will earn praise and re- spect from many other people. However, there are no small number of the more unscrupulous amongst these who find themselves behind prison bars inspite of all their academic knowledge. Thus in spite of all their good intentions it is reasonable to assume that such graduates are not truly wise but are only wise in the ways of the world. The sort of wisdom we are interested in, in this section, is the sort of wisdom that will, at the very least, keep you out of jail and ensure wholesome profit for the owner both this lifetime and in the here after. This sort of wisdom is called spiritual wisdom. The best example of the wise man in the present day must have both wisdom of the ways of the world and spiritual wisdom to a true example of a wise man. B. 'I HE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FOOL & A WISE ONE We are all people alike, equipped with a body and a mind, so what can be blamed for the different amounts of success people meet with as they go through their lives? Why is it advantageous to as- sociate with one sort of person and not another? If you look at people just on the surface, the reason is not obvious. You have to look deeper. B.1 People distinguished by quality of mind In these days of human rights, we do all we can to make people equal, but it is not always so easy. Blessing Two: Associating with the Wise 37 EFTA01129139 When it comes to differences of wealth or access to education, it makes sense to give people the maxi- mum of opportunities to help themselves. But where the system of rights breaks down is when people no longer want to help themselves any more — or when people don't even want to live their lives by the rules of decency that bind society together. Of course there are some people who claim that even criminals should be given full human rights and who spend their time feeling sorry for sen- tenced murderers. However, for the most part we accept that when a person's behaviour deviates into violence or vengefulness or cruelty so far as that of a wrong-doer, no matter whether the police catch him or not, that they are no longer dealing with a person like you or me any more. There is a "screw loose" somewhere in the thinking of such people. Even though they might have two arms, two legs and a head just like you or me, but there is a differ- ence of mind so great that it makes that person dan- gerous. Whats more the deviation of thinking of such people is (as discussed in Blessing One) so con- tagious that it brushes off on the people who asso- date with them. B.2 Effect of differences in the quality of mind It is differences of mind' that distinguish such peo- ple from the rest of the world whose lives are gov- erned by disaetion.To pinpoint why a fool suffers from faulty discretion, is hard to explain to a person who has never tried meditation. The difference be- tween the mind of a fool and the mind of a wise one is a difference of quality. The mind of a fool is one where the thoughts are confused — a mind which is unyielding and blind. Such a mind is dull and can- not think constructively about any subject. Such a mind is blind to reality. If you were to compare such a mind to glass, you could compare it to opaque or frosted glass. Whatever you look at through glass of this type will appear distorted, dark and formless. By contrast, the mind of a wise man is like crystal clear glass. Everything viewed through the glass is crystal clear. Like a dear mirror, you can even see yourself as you really are. 1. The terms 'mind' or 'mental' are used in the Asian sense meaning the abstract phenomena of'spirit' or'awareness' rather than the western concept of 'brain' or 'nervous system'. 38 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living You might doubt that the mind, as an abstract phe- nomenon, could have such a powerful influence on our destiny — but the mind is in fact of utmost im- portance because every dealing we have with the world must pass through the channel of our mind. Consider looking at the world in the minor. What ever is situated in front of the minor will show its reflection instantly. Furthermore, a mirror only the size of the palm of your hand is large enough to show the reflection of an entire mountain! All it needs is for the mirror to be really dear, that's all, in order to be able to show instantly the reflection of any object, indiscrirninable from the real object itself. In the same way, all it takes is for the mind to be really clear and it too can instantly hold, examine and understand anything and everything as it really is. All of this is by contrast with the man who has a clouded mind (who we have compared to a dull or frosted mirror) which can do nothing to facilitate clear understand- ing, who cannot comprehend dearly because his own mind is clouded. Because the mind of a fool is dis- torted, he sees the world in a distorted way. When everything he sees is distorted, how does he interact with the world? The answer to this question is, "in the way he thinks is appropriate" —namely, accord- ing to thought, speech and action which are distorted from the norm. On the contrary, because a wise man has a mind that is crystal dear like a diamond he sees the world dearly — as it really is. Thus, he can deal with the world in a way that is appropriate on a more cosmic level than the fool who is locked up in his own selfish view of the world. Meditation is the main means by which we can upgrade the quality of our mind. Once we realize the peril of having a mind which is dull, clouded and of generally low quality, we can start to appreci- ate why meditation is so important in the preven- tion and cure of problems in our lives. B.3 The Ups and Downs of the Mind from Day-to-Day Very few people are out and out murderers and plunderers. At the same time very few people are completely pure in mind. The ones who are already "arahants" have no need to waste time reading a book like this. EFTA01129140 An example of ups and downs in the quality of mind of someone like you or me, who lies between the extremes, is the man who gets up in the morn- ing with the best of intentions and enthusiastically prepares almsfood to offer to the monks. At the time he is preparing the food his mind is as clear as that of a wise man. However, even before the monks have arrived on almsround, he has lost his temper, shouting at his children and his state of mind has been reduced to that of a fool. When the monks ar- rive, his mind is back to a state of clarity as he gives the alms and pours water from the vessel to trans- fer the merit — he has recovered for himself the clear mind of a wise man. But as he is leaving for work he spoils his state of mind again, shouting at his kids for being late for school. As soon as he leaves the house, he gets his temper back. In the best of moods he makes the intention to do the very best he can at work that day — to make every penny of the wage he receives from his employer worth- while. The black clouds in his mind go over the horizon and he's back in the frame of mind fitting for a wise man. But alas, another car cuts in in front of him, someone overtakes him on the inside and thoughts of revenge stir up a storm of road rage in his mind spoiling his quality of his mind and the rest of his day. Don't worry this man is not some- thing special. When talking about such imperfec- tion of mind it is not the same as mental illness — merely inefficiency in our quality of mind. Most of us have the same ups and downs in the course of making our way through life in the real world. B.4 Varieties ofpeople If we were to divide people according to the qual- ity of their minds, being very simplistic we can di- vide people into a minimum of three different types: 1. Those whose mind is usually clouded — the fools; 2. Those whose mind is usually clear — the wise; 3. Those half way in between whose mind is not entirely dear, but at the same time their mind is not completely obscured by clouds. This third category represents the majority of good intentioned people in the world. We're not yet free of mental defilements and for this reason we earn the special name of kalyarjabala. "Kalyaga" means beautiful or good. "Bala" means the fool. Together the two words mean the good-intentioned fool. Sometimes a fool, sometimes a wise man—but not a 100% accomplished example of either of the two. Another term often used in Buddhism for this sort of person is aputhujance. The root meaning of "puthu" is 'thick'. The root of "jana" means per- son. Such a thick person doesn't mean that he lacks intelligence, but conveys instead that he has a thick rind or peel — and the thing that makes it thick is the defilements in the mind. In the case of those whose layer of defilements is not so thick that they can still listen to reason, they can be referred to as kalyagaputhujanct, because they still have some hope of scrubbing through those defilements to reach the innate wisdom that lies within. The first step for a kalyagaputhujanct in working his way towards his own inner wisdom is to be able to rec- ognize the wise men amongst his acquaintances so that he can pick up on the good character possessed by a wise man as his standard in elevating the qual- ity of his own mind. L. Mali\ MO I 11L 11 ISE ONE We can define the Wise One in any one of four ways. In effect, the definitions overlap — they differ only in emphasis: C.1 Defined in terms of discretion A Wise One is one who has the discretion to dis- criminate what behaviour is wholesome and what behaviour is unwholesome, specifically: • knowing what constitutes good and what con- stitutes evil; • knowing what constitutes right and what con- stitutes wrong; • knowing what constitutes merit [purifia] and what constitutes demerit [papa] C.2 Defined in terms of behaviour A Wise One is someone who habitually thinks, speaks and acts in a good way. All of the features of Blessing Two: Associating with the IVise 39 EFTA01129141 a wise man discussed so far have all been his exter- nal characteristics — but on closer inspection it turns out that the wise man has several spiritual features that distinguish him from the ordinary fool: 1. The wise one is wont to think habitually in a good way: His habitual way of thinking comprises at minimum: non-greed, non-hatred and right view. Going beyond this, his thoughts are downright wholesome and include loving kindness (in place of non-hatred), generosity (in place of non-greed) and right view (in place of wrong view). 2. The wise one is wont to speak habitually in a good way: The wise man is apt to be well spo- ken in diametric opposition to the fool who has only a babble of insults to decorate his intelli- gence. There are four ways in which the wise speak good words: 1. He avoids telling lies. The wise one will al- ways speak the truth. He is always a man of his word. 2. He avoids divisive speech. The wise man by contrast will always be the one to mend the differences between others by his words. He will be the one to forge harmony within a group. 3. He avoids the use of swear words and harsh words. No matter how angry the wise man is, he will not even consider insulting others. The wise man gives careful thought to the every word that escape his lips. 4. He avoids idle chatter. If the wise man knows what he has to say is without use, he will keep it to himself — he will maintain 'noble si- lence'. 3. The Wise One is wont to do only good deeds: The wise one likes to perform physical good deeds with an emphasis on being compassion- ate [meta /karuna], getting down to earning an honest living 'summit ajiva) and marital fidel- ity. The fool by contrast is continually killing, stealing and committing adultery. C.3 Defined in terms of virtues A Wise One is wont to demonstrate the following four virtues: 1. Gratitude IkataiiiiEJ: He recognizes the debt of gratitude he may have to others 2. Self-Purifying lattasuddhit He purifies himself of all evil 3. Purity Iparisuddhij: He purifies others of all evil 4. Endearing Isafigaha]: makes himself useful to society CA Defined in terms of the profit sought from life In Blessing One we have already seen that the dis- cretion concerning the nature of profit in life for a fool is different from that of a Wise One. In Bud- dhism we have two definitions of profit in life: profit in the short-term and profit in the hereafter. CA.1 Material profit defined (A.iv.281) The Lord Buddha taught four ways in which the wise one accrues benefits in the present lifetime (in Pali the ditthadhammikatthapayojana). In Thai culture they are colloquially referred to as the 'four chambers of the millionaire's heart' or more sim- ply, the way to set yourself up in life. As we have said, sitting idle will do nothing to ensure your com- fort in life. Comfort doesn't come unearned.Thus comfort in one's old age must come from hard work in one's youth, when one is still physically strong enough to be productive in one's work. The wise will, while they are young, store up the means to live comfortably in their old age when they are no longer able to earn. There are four virtues for ac- cruing benefit in the present life. These are: 1. Diligent Acquisition [uftanasampada] i.e. not being too lazy to go out and earn a living. Wise is the man who applies himself to the task in hand (not sitting around all day and waiting for money to appear magically) 2. Stewardship Iarakkhasampadal means both saving and protecting what you have earned 3. Associating with Good Friends Ralyatta- mutual means the same as associating with the wise — that is the title of this Blessing — and to avoid associating with the evil — especially the sort that are always trying to persuade you to go and gamble or go down to the pub. 40 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129142 4. Appropriate Spending: isamajivitta]. This means 2. being thrifty in spending your earnings. Anyone who has already expended so much effort in earning a day's wage should get full benefit from their own earnings without being extravagant and also without being so stingy they don't al- low themselves to use their money for any ma- terial comfort. C.4.2 Spiritual profit defined (A.iv.284) The wise man recognizes that he cannot live by bread alone and that for all the material wealth he might earn, it cannot buy him spiritual fulfilment. Thus a second important form of profit in life is spiritual profit— better known as profit in life for the hereaf- ter. This again consists of four virtues to be cultivated during one's lifetime [sampayikattha-payojarus]. 1. Faith or Confidence means faith that doing good deeds will lead to good outcomes (for the doer) and that doing evil will lead to bad retribution and giving rise to the commitment to perform the maximum of good deeds throughout one's life. Faith is the first step upon the road to striv- ing to do so many good deeds. Sometimes the clarity of peoples' minds is insufficient for their mind to be faithful continuously. They may be faithful when they wake up but later on in the morning the inspiration fades away. The Lord Buddha referred to such faith as 'turtle-head faith' because sometimes the faith shows itself like the head of a turtle, but just as often it will disappear out of sight inside its shell! This is not the nature of the faith of a wise man whose faith is steadfast and commitment continuous. 'Tur- tle-head faith' is not so hard to find — like the man who takes the Precept in the morning not to kill any living being but as soon as the tiniest of mosquitos tries to bite him he is slapping it as if his good intentions are all forgotten — but the mosquito disposed of he thinks, "Oh! Staking the Precepts today, all you mosquitos better get out of my way before I change my mind!" Such 'turtle-head faith' is no use to a wise man. With a mind that is crystal clear, a promise even to oneself, is a promise to be kept. The Precepts. You must keep the minimum of Five Precepts as the baseline of one's virtue be- cause the Precepts measure the degree to which you are a person as opposed to being a savage. Any time you want to find out to what extent you are human, you can use the Five Precepts as your benchmark. If all five of the Precepts have been perfectly kept, you can conclude that you are 100% human that day. If only four of your Precepts remain intact, you can conclude that you are only 80% human. If only three remain you are only 60% human, your fangs are begin- ning to show. If only two remain you are only 40% human, your fangs are longer and traces of a tail are visible. If only one remains you are only 20% human and the remainder of you is 80% savage. If none of your Precepts remain intact, nothing human remains about you. 'fry swap- ping yourself for a dog in anyone's house but no-one will accept the trade in. The dog is worth more than you are. You can fairly say that keep- ing the Five Precepts is the thing that closes the doors of hell. Because Five Precepts are the only thing that underpin our status in the human realm. Thus for the wise man, there is no doubt as to maintaining the Five Precepts and his hu- manness for the whole time, throughout his life. 3. Generosity: That we are still alive and well to- day on the long path since our birth is only be- cause we have relied upon the generosity of oth- ers all along the way. If on the day we were born, our mother had refused us her milk, our first day of our life would have been our last. If all throughout our childhood, our mother, father and relatives had refused us their care and at- tention, where would we be today? The fact that we have managed to learn to read and write and master knowledge of the world is only because our teachers have given their time and energy to educate us all through our schooldays Ividhayadana). Whenever we have made mis- takes, in our childhood and maybe only been punished for it and then forgiven (rather than being put to death for our errors) is because oth- ers have been prepared to forgive us our tres- Blessing Two: Associating with the Wise 41 EFTA01129143 passes [abhayadana]. When you grow up and marry, again you can only get by as a result of the time and energy your spouse gives to sup- port you, sharing mutual earnings. Without such giving the marriage would certainly be on the rocks within the space of seven days. Ultimately, even the pavilion where you go to listen to ser- mons and the chairs you sit on to listen to it, all originate from the charity of others and that there is a monk with the time and energy to give you the sermon is another sort of giving [dhammadana]. Thus, in addition to faith and keeping the precepts, it is necessary to be gener- ous too if you are to number amongst the wise. 4. Wisdom [pan fia]: To be specific, anyone who is diligent in studying the teachings of the Lord Buddha will attain wisdom— the mark of a wise man. Anyone who lies around in bed all day has no chance of accruing wisdom. For the wise man, simply developing the four chambers of the mil- lionaires' heart is not enough. He must seek out wisdom too. When it comes to a holiday instead of lying around in front of the TV or going to the cinema, he is already on his way to the temple in the early morning to study what the Buddha taught. This is what we call seeking out wisdom. The fool is one whose understanding of profit in life conforms neither to material nor spiritual profit in life. Thus we can say that the wise man is one who understands and works towards profit both in this lifetime and the here after — i.e. both mate- rial and spiritual profit in life. C.5 Defined in terms of quality of mind The wise man is one whose mind is habitually pure. A person could be completely unqualified. He could even be completely illiterate — but if his mind is habitually pure, he is a wise man. The reason for this is that just the fact that the mind is pure has a snowball effect because it sets his standards of judgement and discretion and this alone will en- sure that wisdom is invested in everything he does — whether it may be thought, speech or action. b. RECOGNIZING A WISE ONE D.1 Tell-tale Behaviours (5) Many of the characteristics of a Wise One men- tioned above may not be immediately apparent to us because they are not external features. Thus we may have to look at the following five characteris- tics which will betray the wholesome inward quali- ties of someone who is wise: I. The wise like to shepherd others to live their lives in a proper way. Asked where one can go on a Sunday, he will reply, "to the temple of course — don't waste your time going to the cinema." Or passing him in the street, "it looks like rain, you ought to get the harvest in before it spoils." If you were to meet a fool in the same circum- stances, give you altogether different ad- vice — "it oolcs like rain, if you're feeling aches & pains be better off down at the bar with a stiff w es y down your throat!" Both the fool and the wise man are persuaders but their per- suasion leads to different results indeed. 2. The wise take fidl responsibility for the things that are their own business. Apart from being responsible, they will influence those around them to be responsible in the same way. What the wise won't do is interfere with other peo- ples' business. They know where to draw the line in order to avoid nosing into others' affairs. The fool by contrast is often more interested in inter- fering in other peoples' business than he is about taking responsibility for what he's meant to be doing. 3. The wise favour the honest and the decent. Its no use trying to persuade him to be dishonest or unscrupulous, because he is above those sort of things. The fool by contrast is proud of the fact that he can get away with anything. Nothing is too low for him. 4. The wise man is not easily angered. He is grate- ful for criticism from others. The fool, by con- trast, even if criticized in the politest of ways will lose his temper. Even if someone offers him criti- cism with the best of possible intentions, he'll turn round with a scowl and answer back, "you've been constantly picking on my faults". 42 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129144 If you smile at him, he'll interpret your smile as teasing and turn his back on you. Even just speaking to a fool can make him lose his temper. Sometimes you don't even need to say anything. Just seeing you look at him can upset him — "What are you looking at me like that for?" The fool is constantly on the lookout for a fight. The wise man by contrast is hard to stir to anger. Thus if you recognize yourself as hot-tempered, you ought to associate with the wise and this will gradually cool down your fiery temper. How- ever, you shouldn't confuse the cool-tempered wise man with the inert and irresponsive char- acter of the sort of guy who sleeps all day and seems to do everything in slow-motion. These dopey sorts are irresponsive to nearly everything around them, but don't think they're free of all defilements. They are another breed of person altogether from the wise men we aim to associ- ate with. 5. The wise favour self discipline and orderliness. When we live together in society with a huge number of other people, if we don't comply with the laws laid down in society, we end up as mis- anthropes. The regulations say that when you are at the temple, at the appropriate time you must come to sit in the main pavilion and sit in neat lines, without encroaching on the people sitting next to you, that way there is enough space for everyone and everyone has an equal area to sit in. The fool, however, doesn't respect the rules. He doesn't like obeying anyone or any- thing. He'll be the only one to sit out of line, stick- ing out like a sore thumb. He's like a spanner in the works. For temples in general, people go to the temple with the best of intention to accrue as much merit as possible but when it comes to mealtimes, they end up fighting to get to the front of the queue like vultures. In the morning they are like angels walking on the Earth, but when lunchtime comes, they are like hungry ghosts! In conclusion, the good thing about associating with the wise is that it will develop our discretion to be that of the wise with whom we associate — or to come to the real point — it will allow our mind to become bright and clear like that of the wise man. 112 Qualities of a IVise One's Friendship Alternatively, the Wise One can also be noticed by his characteristics of being a true friend who exhib- its all three sorts of responsibility: • responsibility for his own personal dignity • responsibility for the human dignity of oth- ers • responsibility for a fair economic system In our association with such Wise Ones, we will be able to recognize their level of responsibility from the quality of their friendship. If we are a good friend to them, then we should see the following characteristics in the friendship which is returned. However, even amongst True Friends, the respon- sibility can be manifested in different ways. The Buddha subdivided True Friends into four groups. He identified each group by four examples of be- haviours — giving a total of sixteen characteristics to look for in a good friend. 1. The Helpful Friend lupakarakal 2. The Constant Friend isamanasukhadukkha] 3. The Friend of Wise Counsel Iatthokkhayil 4. The Sympathetic Friend Ianukampaka] 1. a helpful friend is one who: 1. protects you even when you are off your guard; 2. helps protect your property even when you neglect it; 3. is your refuge in times of danger; 4. always provides you with twice as much as you asked for; 2. a constant friend is constant in bad times and good: 1. they confide in you; 2. they don't go spreading your secrets around; 3. they don't abandon you when you fall on hard times; 4. they would even die in your place; 3. they give you good counsel: 1. they warn you against unwholesome behaviour 2. encourage you towards wholesome behaviour; 3. save up new things to tell you; Blessing Two: Associating with the IVise 43 EFTA01129145 4. point you in the direction of heaven. 4. they empathize with you: 1. they don't laugh at your misfortunes; 2. they congratulate you on your good fortune, 3. they speak out against anyone who maligns you, 4. they stand up for those who speak well of you As you can see, all sixteen characteristics of the True Friend are characteristics that lead to the creation of positivity. E. ASSOCIATION £1 How to associate with the wise (7) The Lord Buddha taught seven features of behav- iour which counts as association with the wise. If your association misses out on any of these seven factors, it cannot be counted as fruitful association. The seven features are as follows: 1. Frequently meeting up with them. If you know that someone has the characteristics of a wise man, you ought to seek him out and visit him regularly. If you hear that such and such a tem- ple has wise people going to it, then that should be the temple you are visiting regularly. This is the first step to true association. Without it no association can come about. 2. Make yourself known to them. What this means is that when you have gone out of your way to seek out a wise man, you should make yourself known to them, not sit just out of their line of vision round the corner. Whenever they go to the boxing or the fashion show they are right at the ringside or up against the catwalk, but when they go to the temple and see one of the monks coming, they will disappear to the back row of the pavilion. In such a case, even though they have come as far as the temple where the wise are to be found, they cannot be said to have as- sociated with the wise. 3. Sincerety towards them. If there is any affection in your association, you must be sincere to one another—with nothing behind your back. There is no secret which your other half can't ask about and get a straight answer. Loyalty means that 4. 5. 6. 7. there is no hidden agenda concerning your as- sociation. But even this is not enough. Loyalty towards them. Where in sincerety, your association is bound through affection, in loy- alty the association is bound through respect. Thus to make for the best of possible associations you should do nothing to diminish either the love or respect that bonds the relationship. Also you should do nothing to interrupt the train of thought of the wise man with whom you have chosen to associate whether it be through care- less speech or otherwise. This is what we call loyalty. Help them in times of need. Whenever we notice that our associate (the wise one) is busy with something we could help with, we should offer our help without reluctance. However, if we know that our associate has something that we could help with and we keep our silence instead of offering our assistance, we can hardly call our association a friendship. Just imagine if a group of so-called friends all come together at meal time but cannot be found when it comes to time for work. Such a group could hardly be called friends. When free j . ' g up to talk and eat together. When the wise have free time they come together to discuss the Dhamma and to clear up their doubts (not to gossip about the neighbours). Reflection on Dhamma and Getting Down to Earnest Practice. This is one of the most impor- tant headings. Even if you have diligently fol- lowed the previous six steps but omit this sev- enth step, you cannot call it true association. Also, if you do none of the first six but do the seventh one, it is as good as true association, because Dhamma always has the same flavour — it al- ways gives rise to self discipline [sik]: it always gives rise to concentration [samadhi]: and it al- ways gives rise to wisdom Ipafifio]. Thus even if you have never met your wise associate be- fore, even on your first meeting you will feel as if you have been friends for a thousand years, or for many lifetimes — because both of you have Dhamma in your hearts — it is Dhamma that binds your association. 44 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129146 The behaviour that we refer to as association means that that whatever happens you will do things in togetherness. If there is work you will work to- gether. Accept each others' help, accept the same identity, accept the same place of abode, accept work in the same place. If you possess anything, you will be willing to lend it to them or give it to them, giving them possessions or respect. In con- clusion the operant parts of the process of associa- tion with the wise are sharing, accepting and giv- ing. If you expand upon these three then you ar- rive at the seven steps described at the beginning of this section. £2 Principles of Association Like all the groups of people closest to us in the world, the best way we can get the virtues of the wise to brush off on us is associate with them as 'good friends'. The Buddhist teaching most relevant to the cultivation of a fruitful friendship is the 'northern quarter' of the Singalovida Sutta which gives us the following practical advice about how good friends should treat each other: The Buddha laid down five examples of duties we ought to practice in order to express our respon- sibility towards our friends: 1. generosity: anyone possessed of Right View [sanunn clitthi] is bound to moved to compas- sion when seeing others experiencing hardship or suffering—and generosity is the way in which he can ameliorate the lot of friends caught in such a situation, while at the same time strengthen- ing his bond of friendship to that person; 2. kind words: if a person is able to relinquish the Four Defilements of Action, and has the altru- ism of a Good Friend [k,alyariamitta] he will be of the habit of speaking only words that are po- lite and true; 3. helping and acting for their welfare: endowed with the characteristics of a True Friend, one will have the altruism to want to do things for the benefit of one's friends; 4. being consistent: however well one has treated one's friends in the past, one will not suddenly change to treat them better or worse because of force of circumstances. Just because one gets a promotion in rank which is better than that of one's old friend, one will not subsequently look down on him; 5. never telling them lies: as good friend what one says will never deviate from the truth. It is only possible to fulfil the demands of these five duties if one has already had the qualifies of a true friend instilled by effective upbringing at the hands of one's parents, teachers and employers. In turn those wise friends should practice the fol- lowing five duties towards us in order to express their sense of responsibility towards us: 1. protect us when we are off our guard: learning that we are in the midst of problems as a result of our own recklessness, if it happens that such recklessness is not in our nature, if a friend is true, they will intervene and help — if they leave us to our recklessness you can know that they are an enemy in a friend's guise; 2. help protect our property even when we neglect it: such is the behaviour of a true friend; 3. be our refuge in times of danger: willingness to let us rely on them is the sign of a true friend; 4. not abandoning us in times of trouble: this is the sign of a Good Friend Elealyagamittal; 5. show due respect to other members of our fam- ily: friends who not only show us respect, but also respect those to whom we have debts of gratitude, our children and grandchildren as if they were part of their own family — are indeed true friends. All five duties of a friend are identifying features of a truly Good Friend — if we ever have the luck to come across such a genuine friend, we must take care to associate closely with them, treating them with respect, in keeping with the Buddha's advice: "associate with them respectfully, like a mother to her sons" It is pertinent to observe that such a genuine friend could only arise in the world as the result of an amenable environment (see forthcoming Blessing Four), especially those in whose company they grew up, in order for the good habits of those people to Blessing Two: Associating with the IVise 45 EFTA01129147 have brushed off on him and been preserved in his own personality. It is such people that society and nation alike are crying out for — because such a person has tremendous power of virtue stored up inside them — sufficient power to channel the tide of society and economics around him down the same virtuous path. .E.3 What are the consequences when there are no Wise Ones to be found? If there are no genuinely wise ones to be found in society or if those posing as 'wise' fail to cherish others according to the advice of the Buddha, many sorts of harm arise on individual, interpersonal and social levels. Many of the potential problems can be extrapolated to the relationship between gov- ernment and the citizens it is supposed to be a ref- uge too. If the government fails to be a Wise Friend toils citizens, it the false friendship brings serious problems on a national level. In conclusion, the harm that arises when there is lack of association with the wise manifests itself on three levels: 1. Losing a sense of responsibility for their own human dignity: If friends lack self-discipline and don't fulfil their duties towards one another as prescribed by the Lord Buddha, the first level of disaster which will happen to them is that they will lose their sense of responsibility for their own human dignity — this loss giving rise (at the minimum) to the following three undesirable symptoms: 1. Breaking the Five Precepts: Because there is an atmosphere of mutual suspicion, former friends will deceive and lie to each other. The pledges of allegiance they formerly kept to one another will be nullified in the way often seen in political circles; 2. Chronic False View: Lacking discretion as to right and wrong, virtue and misdeed, appro- priate and inappropriate and the Law of Karma, there is nothing they will not do as a means to procure power, money and personal profit; 3. Mistreats Friends: They might resort to back stabbing of former friends in order to procure personal ends; 2. Losing a sense of responsibility for the human dignity of others: If friends lack self-discipline and don't fulfil the duties towards one another prescribed by the Lord Buddha, the second level of disaster which will happen to them is that they will lose their sense of responsibility for the hu- man dignity of others — this loss giving rise (at the minimum) to the following three undesirable symptoms: 1. Harbours bias: They will lose their sense of fair- ness and will be continually biased in favour of their own cronies — not with altruistic thoughts for even their own people, but in order to pave the way to personal profit; 2. Disloyalty to homeland: Out of selfishness and False View, they will become narrow-minded and unrefined in their thinking. All they will think about is how to maximize the profits they can procure for themselves and their cro- nies — to the point they will no longer have any sense of loyalty to their own country, re- ligion or nationality — they wouldn't feel any scruples about making a profit, even if they have to destroy the national heritage to do so; 3. Misuse of rank or position: When they lack any accurate sense of justice, they will attempt to make illegal dealings look legal or outlaw le- gal things, if it suits them to do so. 3. Losing a sense of responsibility for economic fairness in society at large: If friends lack self- discipline and don't fulfil the duties towards one another prescribed by the Lord Buddha, the third level of disaster which will happen to them is that they will lose their sense of responsibility for economic fairness in society at large — this loss giving rise (at the minimum) to the follow- ing three undesirable symptoms: 1. Corruption: When false view and selfishness get the better of their thinking, they will wor- ship money alone—because they understand that the more money they have, the more power they can gain. Money will be the means that they can secure the any position of au- thority they hold (through bribery). 46 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129148 2. Implicated in dealings with the Six Roads to Ruin: When money becomes important above all else, they will have no scruples about taking shortcuts to find it. Of course the most profit- able forms of trading are dealing in drugs, for- geries, arms smuggling or casinos — the fad that they are illegal or exploit the poorest sec- tors of society — considerations which mean nothing to those so far alienated from thoughts of fairness in economics; 3. Betrays homeland: if such people find them- selves in positions of legislation, because of selfishness and False View, if they can make a 'quick buck' from foreign investors, they will not think twice about waiving laws which for- merly protected their country from foreign exploitation. The problems of lack of association with the Wise can be summarized down to two main points: 1. Obvious social problems: In countries such as Thailand, social problems which are out of hand are high-level corruption, partiality of the legal system, degeneration into vice and widespread prostitution; 2. Covert social problems: The covert social prob- lems exist in the form of False Friends in posi- tions of influence — whether it be positions in politics, the civil service, government utilities— who have less than scrupulous behaviour. Un- fortunately what the people see of such public figures — an image of respectability and chiv- alry — often belies illicit dealings behind the scenes. Such false friendship has its origins in undisciplined parental upbringing, undisci- plined schooling and eventually, having become a fool, seeking the company of other fools is the final nail in the coffin of true friendship. Possible solutions to these problems are: 1. In the short term are to avoid voting those with the character traits of 'false friends' into positions of authority; 2. In the long term are to use the nets of 'sixteen characteristics of true friends' and 'sixteen char- acteristics of false friends' to identify and replac- ing the weaknesses in yourself with virtues start- ing with yourself— associating with the wise so that their good virtues can brush off on you too. VARIEI WISE; ONES El Inner teacher, outer teacher Broadly speaking, there are two categories of the wise—the outer wise ones and the inner wise ones. The outer wise ones can be subdivided into the wise who are truly wise and those who are not truly wise. The truly wise are start with the Lord Buddha, the arahants and those who have attained the various levels of Buddhist sainthood. The wise who are not truly wise are those who are as wise as or wiser than us. Examples of these are monks who truly train themselves in meditation. Even though such monks may not be arahants, they come up to the standard of a wise man. You should seek him out for association and familiarize yourself with his vir- tues. You can only gain from such association. As for your own parents, given that we are their chil- dren, we ought to do our best to associate with them. Sometimes we encounter difficulties how- ever. Sometimes our parents have the character of fools. If this should be the case then we have the duty to live in the same household, but with the utmost care not to let those foolish habits rub off on ourselves. If your parents drink alcohol, don't go prohibiting them from such behaviour. It is not your place to do so. However, at the same time you shouldn't go joining them in their drinking. If your mother loves playing poker, it's no good telling her to give up. Let her carry on with her gambling — but don't go joining in with her. Even though we know these are the habits of a fool, they are our own mother and father. We can't just ditch them. We must carry on living in the same household while taking care not to be infected by their foolish habits. The wise also extend to our friends and relatives who are a good example to us by their behaviour. Even if they might not be right all the time, or they may not be as wise as an arahant, to associate with them is still to our benefit. In the case of associating with the wise who are not yet perfect, the Buddha taught that we should Blessing Two: Associating with the Wise 47 EFTA01129149 concentrate on observing only their good points and mimic only these good behaviours. If that person has his faults, don't waste your time criticising them for these, because for as long as one hasn't come to an end of all defilements, faults and weaknesses will always remain. Don't go looking for peoples' faults. Look for their strengths and make the effort to instil these strengths in ourself. In the end we will be like an ocean full of all types of virtue. Don't go letting someone's minor fault blind you to all their virtues. If you are only interested in peoples' faults, by the time you have picked out everyone's weaknesses, there will be only one good person left in the world — yourself. Thus the wise in the outside world are of two types: the permanently wise who have rid them- selves of all defilements and the sporadically wise who still have defilements remaining. Both types of wise ones are beneficial to associate with. You may have noticed that sometimes when we think of doing something evil there will be a little voice inside that warns us not to do it. Have you wondered where that little voice inside comes from? Usually we cannot see whose voice it is, but if we meditate until our mind is much dearer, we will be able to see the wise one inside who is the owner of the voice. Information, whether it be in the form of knowledge as a voice or the content of a dream or sixth sense, is transferred down the line from deep inside ourselves, like a baton between the runners of a relay race. G. THE PRACTICALITY OF CIII,ERA I 'NG ASSOCIATION WITH THE WISE It is for this reason that we must do two things— try to find the wise in the outside world and find the best ways to associate with them. If we know that anyone is a good example then we should make sure we get to know that person. That way the good character that makes that person a wise one will begin to brush of on us as well. Secondly, once we have seen the nature of those who are a good ex- ample to follow, we should start to cultivate an in- ner self which has the same good qualifies so that the self which is wise will manifest itself inside ourselves. If we already have an inner self that is wise, even if we don't meet any more wise people ever again, it will not matter to us, because we have our inner source of wisdom from which we can draw the knowledge of our inner teacher. H. ILEUM RAI in, MAMMALS H.1 Metaphor: Leaves wrapping a perfumed fish A parable used by the Lord Buddha is that of the leaves wrapping a perfumed fish taking on the same perfume as the fish itself. H.2 Red-Bearded Executioner saved by Association with the Wise (Dlutii.203) Tambadithika who was a former thief had served the king as the public executioner for fifty-five years; and had just retired from that post. One day, he went to the river for a bath, intending to take some specially prepared food on his return home. As he was about to take the food, Venerable Sariputta, who had just arisen from sustained ab- sorption in concentration [}hang sanzapatti], stood at his door for almsfood. Seeing the monk, Tambadithika thought to himself, "Throughout my life, I have been executing thieves; now I should offer this food to the monk." So, he invited Sariputta to come in and respectfully offered the food. After the meal, Sirriputta taught him the Dhamma, but TambarlitIhika could not pay atten- tion, because he was extremely disturbed as he rec- ollected his past career as an executioner. This men- tal disturbance did not allow him to concentrate properly. Sariputta knew this, and in order to put him in a proper frame of mind, he asked Tambadithika tactfully whether he killed the thieves because he wished to kill them out of anger or hate, or simply because he was ordered to do so. Tambadithika answered that he was ordered to kill them by the king and that he had no ill will or wish to kill. 'If that is the case,' Sariputta asked, 'What wrong did you do?' Thus re-assured, his mind became calmer and he requested Sirriputta to continue his sermon. As he listened to the 48 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129150 Dhamma attentively, his mind became tranquil and he developed the virtues of patience and un- derstanding. After the discourse, Tambadfithika accompanied Sariputta for some distance and then returned home. On his way home he died due to an accident. When the Buddha came to the congregation of the bhikkhus in the evening, they informed him about the death of Tambadfithika. When asked where Tambadathika was reborn, the Buddha told them that although Tambadfithika had com- mitted evil deeds throughout his life, because he comprehended the Dhamma, he was reborn in the Tusita deva world. The bhikkhus wondered how such an evil-doer could have such great benefit after listening to the Dhamma just once. To them the Buddha said that the length of a discourse is of no consequence, for one single sentence of the Dhamma, correctly understood can produce much benefit. Blessing Two: Associating with the Wise 49 EFTA01129151 50 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129152 Blessing Three: Expressing Respect to Those Worthy of Respect A. INTRODUCTION A.1 People Differentiated by their discretion As seen in the previous blessings, the brightness of a person's future relies on his ability to judge the difference between good and evil. If his judgement is faulty, there is no way he can make a success out of his life. Even though people may look superfi- cially similar, their standards of judgement can be so different. As human beings we are born equal — we all have a pair of hands and ten fingers — but some people use their hands to perform works that are useful to society while others think that their hands will become more famous as fists and go around punching up the neighbours for a living. In this Blessing we look at the third of three major in- fluences on our development of sound discretion — having the right sort of "role model" in our hearts. This blessing doesn't imply that we model ourselves on anyone or anything at all — but if we want to develop sound discretion we need to model ourselves (recognize and pay respect to) only those worthy of our respect. A.2 Effect of one's "hero" on one's discretion Hearing such terms as "paying respect", "express- ing respect" or "people worthy of respect", the casual reader might come to the premature conclu- sion that this blessing is irrelevant to our day and age. However, if we rephrase what we mean in modern terms, asking "Who is the hero of your heart — which celebrity do you model yourself on or dream of emulating?", the pertinence of this blessing will become much more immediate. When we are children and the horizons of our experience do not extend beyond the walls of our house, maybe our own parents represent all that we want to achieve in our lives. We try to play at being "grown-up" like our parents, imitating them in our play. If we are exposed to a good parental example, our idea of what we perceive as normal or ethical will develop quite accurately from an early age. However, if, for example, parents lie to their children often or beat them out of anger, then that comes to be what the child perceives to be the standard of "justice" in life. During one's teen years, when one's horizons extend beyond the home, the influence of construc- tive or destructive role models becomes stronger and stronger. These role models are over and above the influence of good or bad friends as studied in the previous two blessings. Look at some of the role models celebrities set for the youth of today and you can imagine some of the problems facing our impressionable youth of today. Supposing you plan to model yourself on Vincent Van Gogh, Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Monroe, Janis Joplin, Dylan Thomas, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison, Keith Moon, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway or Brian Jones all of whom killed themselves at an early age, you might come to the conclusion that truly creative people are "too beautiful for this world". You might come Blessing Three: Expressing Respect to Those Worthy of Respect 51 EFTA01129153 to the conclusion that creative writers drank be- cause they had to — or it was the "pressure of fame". Or that killing yourself is how to earn fame or emotionally blackmail others. We can overlook the insecure, grotesquely boring reality of these peoples' lives. We can rationalize away the brutal and banal nature of their addictions. We can for- give our heroes and we come to be able to forgive ourselves as well. It gives us an instant excuse to be irresponsible and indecent. We can say we're too beautiful for this world too. We can act like drugged children, crash our lives and drop out. The truth about someone like Vincent Van Gogh is that when he painted he was beautiful, but in other matters he was not. He was always encour- aging his emotions to work their dark magic. It's true that he ought to be admired while he had his paintbrush in his hand, but to be admired for his whole sorrowful life and to make a legend out of it is to confuse oneself. The problem for us as begin- ners on the initial steps of the Manual of Peace, as debutants only just beginning to pick up an ink- ling of what is good for our spiritual development and what is not, we don't yet have the ability to distinguish between the creative and destructive as- pects of someone's behaviour — therefore, when you are starting out on your sojourn of spiritual dis- covery, it's better to choose a role model who you can rely upon as an exemplar in all aspects of life. If you can choose a reliable role model for your- self: • you will accelerate your acquisition of Right View and Wisdom. • you will become less vulnerable to the influ- ence of fools • you will more easily be able to avoid associat- ing with fools • you will facilitate the spread of virtue in soci- ety and the world. • it will prevent you from becoming self-cen- tred or arrogant about your own virtues. • it will facilitate the development of mindfulness that is the precursor of wisdom. • it will add to your enthusiasm for self-devel- opment B. EXPRESSING RESPECT AND ITS PI RPOSE If you ask yourself what you automatically do, when you have a "hero" in your heart, on analysis, you find that you devote all your waking thoughts to them. We put their picture on the wall. When we speak about them, we only speak praise of them. we take every opportunity to learn their opinions and share them. Given the opportunity we try to meet with them and imitate what they do in their lives. Some people even go to the lengths of dress like them. All these are random components of an attitude we call "respect". Many of the behaviours are ways of "paying respect" or "expressing re- spect". B.1 What do we mean by "respect"? Respect means the attitude of looking for the posi- tive aspects of a person or an object and the effort to instill oneself with those same virtues. Such respect, in context of the Manual of Peace is for the aim of furthering one's spiritual development — it must not have any ulterior motive. It mustn't be like a judo player who raises someone up (in his own self esteem by flattering them) only to drop him onto the floor more easily. Some bosses blindly believe their subordinates' flattery is respect to the extent that they overlook the real state of affairs and end up getting fired. This latter case of expressing re- spect does not come from a mind of pure innocence which expects or demands nothing material in re- turn. True respect arises in response to someone's vir- tues. Something else which may look like respect but which is in fact an imposter is the intention to help someone in the expectation of gaining some- thing material in return. First comes the flattery, then comes the unrefusable request for this or that favour. Boyfriend praises girlfriend, saying how pretty she is, because he wants her to love him. He has an ulterior motive to get something in return. He's not interested per se in either her goodness or her prettiness. B.2 What do we mean by "expressing respect"? Expressing Respect means any polite and inten- 52 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129154 tional action towards someone or something, both in their presence or behind their back, that is the device that demonstrates that one is really recollecting the virtues of that person or thing. £3 Purpose of Respect The reason behind paying homage to those worthy of homage is an extension of the reason for associ- ating with the wise. We have already said that we associate with the wise in the hope that they will help us to develop accurate discretion in things con- cerning virtue. It is to help us overcome the weak- ness in our make-up, that we tend too easily to for- get all the good and valuable things taught to us by our teachers and masters and parents or the mo- nastic community, the Lord Buddha, or from books we read. When you are taught how to meditate for half-an-hour per day (or to do any other good deeds), however, your memory doesn't seem to be so reliable. The first day, you sit for meditation for exactly half-an-hour — no more, no less. On the second day, you sit for only fifteen minutes — well, that's better than nothing. On the third day, you think that while you are chanting is actually a sort of meditation, so five minutes of true meditation is enough. On the fourth day it is especially humid, so you think that chanting is enough, no medita- tion today — after all, thousands of other people don't meditate, and they seem no worse off for it. By the fifth day you have entirely forgotten how to meditate for half an hour. It is for the reason that doing good deeds is so easy to forget that is the real reason for the need to pay homage. On the contrary, when it comes to being devious, or doing mischievous things, we remember the from the first time we're taught and never need to be taught again for the rest of our lives! We never forget how to play poker. We never forget how to shuffle a deck of cards. The real reasons behind paying homage areas fol- lows: 1. To give us a firm connection with the virtues of that person. Connecting up our thoughts with a person of virtue will elevate our own minds to the higher level of virtue of that person. 2. To practice expressing virtues so that in the fix- ture we might have the chance to gain a real ap- preciation of the virtues of that person. Whether we are an adult or a child, if our appreciation of the real depth of virtue of a does not really do justice to the depth of their virtue, expressing homage can help us to appreciate it. When we were only five or six years old and our parents took us to the temple they would make sure that we paid respect to the Buddha images. For the child, he cannot see beyond the clay or the brass of the image and might wonder what all the fuss is about. A child that is so young can have no appreciation of the real depth of the virtues of the Lord Buddha. Taken to the home of their old uncle, they are told to pay respect to their uncle. The child cannot distinguish the goodness of their uncle's character, but pays respect because he has been told to. At school, the child is told to pay respect to their teachers. The child might not be able to tell the real virtue of the teacher, be- cause the child's ability to comprehend is only limited. However, sometime in the future when we become so used to expressing our respect that we become used to it, the thought will eventu- ally occur to us to look for the reason. BA Three Types of Bowing Sometimes people confuse respect with expressing respect. However, if you express respect when your attitude is wrong you will not succeed in further- ing your spiritual progress. Consider the following examples: 1. Bowing out of obsequiousness: Some people bow just because everyone else does. Usually they bow reluctantly. They have no attitude of respect in their mind. Therefore, all they get for their ef- forts is a stiff feeling in their muscles. 2. Bowing out of peer-pressure: Some people only show respect in order to please the person they pay respect to, so that they can ask favours from that person, often for things which are not en- tirely honest or noble. 3. Bowing in search of wisdom: This refers to those who have an attitude of respect and who also Blessing Three: Expressing Respect to Those Worthy of Respect 53 EFTA01129155 express their respect with the determination to practice themselves all the virtues exemplified by the object of their respect. An example of the sort of attitude in mind of someone who ben- efits from expressing respect is—supposing we bow three times to express respect towards the Buddha: 1. Mien we bow the first time: to reflect on the supreme wisdom of the Buddha which allowed him to see the existence of suffering, know the origin and the cessation of suffering and find a Path to the Cessation of Suffering — wis- dom arising from the Buddha's extended meditation mind until his mind had become sufficiently dear and bright to eradicate all de- filements of the mind. Following his exam- ple, we should also determinedly meditate until we can achieve the same wisdom as that of the Buddha. 2. When we bow the second time: to reflect on the supreme compassion of the Lord Buddha that instead of just keeping his wisdom to himself, he spent all his life teaching Dhamma to others so that they could become enlight- ened in his footsteps. Following his example, we should also find ways of being generous as a way of expressing our compassion to oth- ers. 3. When we bow the third time: to reflect on the supreme purity of the body, speech and mind of the Lord Buddha cultivated through his ex- tended practice of self-discipline. Following his example, we should also find ways of find- ing better ways to extend our own self-disci- pline so that we too can attain full purity of mind. B.5 Two sorts of Respect However, all four of these can be summarized un- der just two headings, that is: 1. Homage through gifts: remisapujil: this refers to all material forms of paying homage — whether it be putting your palms together in a gesture of respect or even speaking words of praise about a person. 2. Homage through practice: [patipatipuja] this means paying homage by doing as one is taught — for example, we pay respect to the Lord Bud- dha by doing as he taught. Thus, in practice, expressing respect has two major components. £5.1 Relative importance When we pay respect to the Lord Buddha, we should emphasise homage through practice, while homage through gifts should play only a support- ing role. As for paying respect to teachers who are still concerned with worldly matters (ie. king, par- ents, teachers, elders and boss, we have to empha- sise homage through gifts) while homage though practice plays only a supporting role. To give an example, if we are to meet up with our teacher and when we meet up with them all we have for them is the words,"I have put into prac- tice everything you have taught me". This would hardly impress the teacher. It would have been ap- propriate to have some sort of gift to give the teacher as well. Others go abroad and on the way back thinkof their teacher. They don't know what to get as a present for the teacher and so they get a bottle of liquor. In the end the result is that the teacher and the pupil sit down and drink liquor together. The more they drink, the more irritated they feel and end up fighting one another. When it gets to this point, that gift can hardly be counted as a token of respect any more. It is an unwelcome gift resulting from false view. C. PERSONAGES a OR 1 HY OF RESPECt The person worthy of respect, in its simplest terms is the wise one (as defined in the previous Blessing). The wise one in this context is someone whose sta- tus or position or level of existence is so high that it would be completely inappropriate for us to asso- ciate with them on equal terms or as peers. Exam- ples of such people include: C.1 Buddha The Lord Buddha (who is truly wise), 54 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129156 C.1.1 Three worthy qualities of the Buddha For example, why we consider the Lord Buddha to be worthy of respect, and we find that it is because: I. His wisdom is so great that he could single- handedly attain enlightenment 2. His Compassion is so great that He sacrificed the rest of his life to teach the way for others to reach enlightenment as he had done. 3. His body, speech and mind were so pure (be- cause of the immaculateness with which he had kept the Precepts) that no one else in the world can compare — and for that reason we hold him in the highest of respect. To begin with we might not be able to appreciate the degree of his virtue, but after paying respect more and more, it makes our own mind more re- fined, gives us the ability to consider things in a constructive way and in the end, opening to us the innate wisdom that will allow us to appreciate that virtue. In any place, there are many things that are worthy of respect and many more things that are not worthy of respect. Thus, when deciding about the type of people who are worthy of respect, the subject of this Blessing, it is important to be able to distinguish one thing from the other. C.2 The monastic community and other clergy The monastic community 1Satigha] (who can be divided into those who are devoid of all defile- ment [ariyasanghaJ such as the arahants, the non-returners lanagamil, the once-returners Isakatagami] and the stream-enterers [sotapanct]; and the general monastic commu- nity who are striving to train themselves to- wards an end of all defilements Isammuti- safighab Although the latter may not yet have purged themselves of all defilements, they are abundant in virtue to a degree that it is innappropriate to associate with them as if they were our equals. If we associate with them, we should treat them as our superiors — i.e. with respect — at all times. Monks or clergy worthy of respect are those who exemplify, teach and discern virtue for us by fulfilling the following six duties: 1. restrain their congregation from evil; 2. encourage them to establish themselves in vir- tue: these two responsibilities are also the do- main of parents and teachers; 3. minister to them in kindness: this means spread- ing loving-kindness towards the congregation without exception for their happiness. They might also visit their supporters, together with their monastic fellows, in order to give those con- gregation members the chance to hear Dhamma teachings and have the opportunity to practice to practice generosity; 4. teach them new or beneficial things: One of the most important functions of the clergy is to en- courage study of the spiritual teachings amongst their congregation. Monks should have a large repertoire of teachings to give to the congrega- tion, teaching without repeating themselves, so that the congregation can have a broad knowl- edge of Dhamma knowledge, reinforcing their Right View and ability to be a teacher to them- selves [yonisomanasikara] in relation to find- ing the highest happiness in their lives; 5. clarify things they already know: if monks give Dhamma teachings they have already give to a particular group from the congregation, they should enlarge the subject in more detail than before, giving additional meaning to materials or explaining in further detail how the Dhamma can be applied for problem solving in everyday life; 6. show them the way to heaven: this monastic duty is particularly special in the system of the 'Six Directions' because no-one in any of the other social groups can do it in the monks' place. Those who are able to enter heaven must be those who live their lives in accordance with the noble code of Self-Discipline. This group consists of all forms of clergy who have an exclusively spiritual (rather than material) aim in life — namely monks in Buddhism, or priests, pastors or ministers for other religions. We hold them in respect, because they maintain their status through their high level of virtue. In conclusion, the responsibility of the clergy consists of training the Blessing Three: Expressing Respect to Those Worthy of Respect 55 EFTA01129157 lay congregation to become Wise Ones or virtuous people —a noble duty indeed! Monks who are able to practice all six of these duties to their comple- tion are of inestimable value to society and the world — they are worthy of respect both by men and angels alike. C.3 Virtuous monarchs Monarchs worthy of respect are those established in the Tenfold Virtues of a Monarch; C.4 Our Parents Our Parents and upstanding members of society. Our parents are wise ones. We should treat them with respect. Anything less would be inappropri- ate. C.5 Our Teachers Teachers and masters established in right view. In this context we should mention the two identify- ing features of a teacher's duties, both of which he needs to fulfil in order to qualify for the respect of his students. These two duties are: 1. The duty to explain (i.e. teach a subject in theory) 2. The duty to exemplify (especially the moral us- age of the subject he teaches) If he fails to perform either of these duties his teach- ing is no more than daylight robbery of his pupils. If he gives good explanations but his personal be- haviour is no example for his students to follow (for example he teaches 'do as I say not what I do' and tells the class that liquor is evil while spend- ing all his spare time inebriated at the bar, he is noth- ing more than a mercenery teacher. If he both explains the theory well and is a good example to his students, he is a person worthy of respect. C.6 Virtuous employer Virtuous employers are also worthy of respect. It is hard to find bosses with virtue, so when we find one, we should not hesitate to pay them respect. We may still be unable to be as virtuous as them, so we ought to pay them respect, in order that their virtues might never be far from our minds — in- stead of being tempted to do something devious, we will be less tempted because we feel ashamed after the seeing the good example set by our boss. Also we will be more ashamed that anything we do wrong might reflect badly on our boss's good reputation. This is the value of having a virtuous boss. It keeps us on the straight and narrow until such time that we have reliable discretion for our- selves. I). Oa WORTHY OF RESPECT There are certain classes of objects identified by the Lord Buddha as worthy of respect, and these are objects associated with people worthy of respect i.e. the Lord Buddha, the Sangha, monarchs, parents, teachers and bosses. There are two categories of such objects, pagodas (and their contents) and teachings: 13.1 Pagodas D.1.1 Four Types of Pagoda The Buddha enumerated four types of pagoda worthy of respect: 1. A relic pagoda: this is a pagoda containing the relics of a Buddha, a paccekabuddha, an arahant or a universal monarch. After the cremation of a truly virtuous person there are pearl-like relics left behind in the ashes. In keeping with the teaching of the Buddha, these are collected by the faithful and are paid homage to, by Bud- dhists, not only with candles and incense, but by enshrining them in small pagodas. 2. Paribhoga Cetiya: These include the Four Holy Sites connected with the life of the Lord Bud- dha: the place where He was born, enlightened, where He gave His first sermon and where He passed away into Parinirvana. The Lord Buddha called these four places His Paribhoga Cetiya and taught that all Buddhists of following genera- tions should visit these holy sites if they had the chance because it would awaken them to the urgent need to get down to practice. Many peo- ple who have been to visit the Holy Sites have discovered that their inspiration to practice has 56 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129158 is strengthened from the feeling of going back to a time when they were in the presence of the Lord Buddha himself. This is the reason why these four sites are worthy of worship. 3. Dhamma Cetiya: This is a Cetiya that contains Dhamma teachings such as books of the Tipitaka or other Scriptures. 4. Uddesika Cetiya: This is a Cetiya that contains Buddha Images or images of His Noble Disci- ples. Objects worthy of respect in this category also include the requisites belonging to monks — whether it be robes or bowl, all of the monks' requisites are worthy of respect. 13.2 Dhamma Teachings A fifth sort of object worthy of respect are spiritual teachings and their sources. These may include the Teachings of the Lord Buddha, of members of the monastic community, of kings, of our parents and elders, of our teachers and masters, of our boss and the teachings of the wise with whom we associate. The teachings of all six categories of the wise men- tioned above are the manifestation of the virtue of those people and should never be taken in vain. Making a mockery of such teachings will under- mine our earnestness in putting those teachings into practice. If we lack earnestness in putting the teach- ings into practice, we reduce our chance of ever un- derstanding those teachings. In the absence of un- derstanding, there remains only ignorance and false view. Thus any of the objects mentioned above should not be used for mockery or for fun. To treat these things without reverence robs them of their sanc- tity and when we come to study them we will over- look their depth or subtlety. An example of this might be the man who goes to receive Five Precepts from the monk at the temple and keeps the Pre- cepts so well for the first few days. Later he joins in with one of his friends makes fun of the Precepts and says,"Oh the Precepts? Aren't they for keep- ing one for each day of the week and weekends off?" Even if he still keeps his Precepts, the effect of these words is to gradually undermine the man's inspiration to keep them. The same principle goes for photographs or pictures of the Buddha, of monks, of the king, of our parents or teachers. Such photographs should not be left ly- ing about or used without reverence. Chanting books shouldn't be left lying about either or folded up and shoved in the back pocket of one's trousers. They shouldn't be put down on a dusty surface and other things should not be placed on top of them. In conclusion, those worthy of respect are the wise who are established in virtue, or those who by their social standing are too high up for us to be able to associate with personally or as peers. Apart from these six categories of person, objects which should be treated with respect include the requisites they use as a way of recollecting the virtues of that per Even though that person may already have passed away, treating their belongings with respect will help us to maintain high-mindedness and Right View concerning that person. 113 Educational Objects Also we shouldn't forget that all books which con- tain Dhamma should be treated with respect. The ancients would be very particular even about the notebooks in which we have taken note of Dhamma sermons. They forbade us from throwing such note- books, stepping over them, putting them in low down places or tearing out pages — because all of these things would constitute disrespect to the teachings themselves. If we were to lack respect towards the Dhamma, then when we come to con- sider Dhamma Teachings for which the meaning is very subtle, we will be unable to fathom the mean- ing and our understanding of the Dhamma will be destroyed and we will be left with nothing more than our own ignorance. 114 Objects not worthy of respect Correspondingly, we must be careful not to pay re- spect to things not worthy of respect. In brief, there are four categories of things we should avoid idol- ising or paying respect to: 1. People not worthy of Respect: This means not idolizing fools, and not supporting them or prais- ing them — no matter how high in rank they might be. Blessing Three: Expressing Respect to Those Worthy of Respect 57 EFTA01129159 2. Objects not worthy of respect: This means not idolizing pictures, sculptures, works, possessions or tools of fools. 3. Objects which lead to foolishness: This means not idolizing things like pictures of models, sing- ers or sportsmen who lack virtue or advertising for "roads to ruin" such as alcohol. We shouldn't use these sort of things to decorate our homes. 4. Objects which lead to gullability: This means not idolizing things which promote superstition such as "holy trees", "holy mountains", "spirit houses" etc. E. RE PRAIA 'tam or PAYING RESPECT £1 Erpressing respect with body, speech and mind Respect can be paid through the channels of body, speech or mind. 1. Physical Respect: Physically paying respect means the various polite manners that we dem- onstrate towards someone in their presence, such as standing up when they come into the room, or sitting politely when in front of them. Even if you are not in their presence, you should still show physical respect towards those worthy of virtue even if you are not in their presence but are in the presence of their photograph, their sculpted image — such as a Buddha Image or a photograph of your teaching master. We should show our respect by not pointing our feet to- wards such an image, and even if we are lying down to sleep — pointing our head towards the image instead of our feet; 2. Verbal Respect Homage through the channel of speech includes the speaking, chanting or sing- ing of praises of one worthy of homage, rather than gossipping maliciously about them; 3. Mental Respect Homage through the channel of the mind means recollecting the teachings of one worthy of homage to the degree that they inspire us. We might recollect what that person has taught us in the way of good deeds. We might also consider the good character and virtues ex- emplified (but not taught) by that person. Both of these are homage through the channel of the mind; E.2 How to Express Respect Many people misunderstand paying respect as bun- dling together a lotus, candles and incense, laying it before the object of respect and bowing down three times. Paying respect in this way is not incor- rect, but it is not the whole story. Paying respect that is complete in all respects must exhibit four factors: 1. Physical token of respect isakkaraj: This refers to a gift which is an expression of respect. It is something we must prepare in advance and which is presented during the act of paying re- spect. Such a token of respect differs for differ- ent situations and different categories of persons worthy of respect — for example, flowers, in- cense and candles are worthy tokens of respect for paying respect to the Buddha, monks or teachers. Clothes or bedclothes might be more worthy tokens of respect for your parents. Nei- ther of these tokens of respect are suitable as the sort of gift you might take with you when visit- ing distinguished persons of social standing. Nor would they be suitable as the sort of gift you bring back with you for your friends when you have been away on holiday. Even money can be a token of respect. If your teacher has been putting in extra hours out of the kindness of his heart, giving up his time to give you tutorials at home, giving him money as a gift would not be out of place, and in this respect would be con- sidered a token of respect, not a payment. An- other consideration for tokens of respect is that they should be prepared in advance. To leave a bucket of cut flowers, no matter how big the bucket is, in the middle of the main temple pavillion would hardly be considered an act of respect. Any token of respect should be prepared with care and precision and be both clean and well organized. 2. Gesture of respect Ivandana]. this refers to ges- tures which express respect such as bowing or prostration or praise or chanting praise. Morn- ing and evening chanting can be counted as vandana. Even recollection of what one has been taught by the wise or one's teacher can be 58 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129160 counted as uandana. 3. Attitude of respect [mananaj: This refers to an attitude of respect. Respect consists of the stems 're' which means again and 'spect' which means to re-examine a person (for their good points). Given that all people except the Buddha are made up of a mixture of both good and bad then we have to look for the good points in people. Taking these good points, apart from noticing these good points, part of respect is to praise them for these good points and use them as a good example to model ourselves upon. 4. Content for the object of respect[garuketra]: this refers to an attitude of concern about the well- being of the person who is worthy of respect and recollection of the good deeds and virtues of that person. All of these four components comprise the way of paying respect. £3 Consequences of Not Paying Respect to those worthy of homage If those held in high respect do not behave in a fit- ting way, many sorts of harm are brought on the individual, interpersonal and social levels. To take the clergy as an example, if members of the monas- tic community are undisciplined and do not cher- ish their congregation according to the advice of the Buddha, the harm that will come to the congre- gation can be concluded on three levels: 1. Losing a sense of responsibility for their own human dignity: If clergy lack self-discipline and don't fulfil their duties towards their congrega- tion as prescribed by the Lord Buddha, the first level of disaster which will happen to them is that the congregation will lose their sense of re- sponsibility for their own human dignity — this loss giving rise (at the minimum) to the follow- ing three undesirable symptoms: 1. Breakdown of self-discipline: Society will degen- erate to the point where the majority of peo- ple do not keep the Five Precepts and do not even understand what keeping the Precepts means. This will increase the incidence of so- ciety of people taking advantage of each other. When taking advantage of each other becomes the the norm, especially for those in positions of authority, the effects will have repurcussions on a national scale — therefore, citizens must unite in preventing those who don't respect the Five Precepts from being put in positions of power; 2. Those seeking ordination are of low quality: Low- quality ordinands burden their preceptors with problems — it is hard to train them at all. If clergy are unable to develop purity of body, speech and mind, they will undermine the existing faith of the congregation — ulti- mately destroying the religion; 3. Transcendental attainment becomes becomes in- creasingly inaccessible: The highest aim of those who ordain is to attain Nirvana. Howeveti if those who ordain are of low quality and are difficult to train, there will be a continuous deterioration in the capability of the monas- tic community to the point where they will no longer be able to reach any sort of tran- scendental attainment. When there are no re- ligious exemplars to look up to, the congre- gation will become more and more firmly entrenched in False View — more and more ignorant of Dhamma teachings, self-discipline — with some of the most serious repurcussions for social chaos; 2. Losing a sense of responsibility for the human dignity of others: If clergy lack self-discipline and don't fulfil the duties towards their congrega- tion as prescribed by the Lord Buddha, the sec- ond level of disaster which will happen to them is that the congregation will lose their sense of responsibility for the human dignity of others — this loss giving rise (at the minimum) to the following three undesirable symptoms: 1. Verbal abuse of clergy and monks: Once the con- gregation no longer realize the value to soci- ety of clergy and monks, misunderstanding the duty and lifestyle of the clergy, the public will abuse the clergy shamelessly (as is hap- pening currently in Thailand); Blessing Three: &pressing Respect to Those Worthy of Respect 59 EFTA01129161 2. Lack of financial support for clergy and monks: Swayed by the often unjustified abuse of clergy in the media, the faith of the public de- teriorates, and with it the support with which they should provide the clergy — religions such as Buddhism can only survive through the voluntary support of the congregation, and without it, there will soon be no clergy left, and consequently no-one to perpetuate the religion; 3. Congregation is left without any true refuge: Hav- ing dismantled their religion by their own ne- glect, when the public find themselves in dire straits, they will be without a refuge, lacking the ability to be a teacher to themselves, they will resort to superstition or animism. 3. Losing a sense of responsibility for economic fairness in society at large: If clergy lack self- discipline and don't fulfil the duties towards their congregation as prescribed by the Lord Buddha, the third level of disaster which will happen to them is that the congregation will lose their sense of responsibility for economic fair- ness in society at large — this loss giving rise (at the minimum) to the following three undesirable symptoms: 1. Total enfatuation with the Six Roads to Ruin: In a society of deteriorating morals, it will become more and more common for people either to eke out their living via, or be enslaved by the consequences (such as debt and disease) of Roads to Ruin such as drugs, gambling, pros- titution, entertainment and underground lot- teries. 2. Desecration of religious property and establish- ments: The Roads to Ruin are part of the vi- cious circle of poverty. Some people try to al- leviate their poverty by theft —and religious property is an easy target of plunder. Some encroach on temple grounds in pursuit of their livelihood. In Thailand this practice is becom- ing more and more widespread, especially because it has been legally condoned by bi- ased legislators; 3. Embezzlement of religious donations: Some peo- ple like to extract some sort of 'commission' from the funds they manage to raise for the temple (in accordance with the phrase "half for the temple, half for the temple commit- tee'!) In the present day, howevec. some legis- lators try to go further than this by giving the government the right to control temple funds directly! Problems concerning not paying respect to those worthy of respect can be summarized down to two main points: 1. Obvious social problems: Easily seen is public deterioration in morality as a result of ignorance of virtue. Such people like to say they have lost interest in virtue because they see so many ex- amples of hypocrisy. For the same reasons they withhold financial support for spiritual causes and some go further, overtly making legislative changes necessary for the dismantling of the re- ligious establishment; 2. Covert social problems: The covert social prob- lems mostly originate from the hypocrisy amongst those who should be behaving as ex- emplars of virtue. Considered with wise reflec- tion, the problems might be analyzed as such: 1. Good exemplars are sometimes unable to pass on their knowledge to others because 1. the public are not interested to learn from the clergy— all they want are the material trappings of spirituality and virtue such as holy water and amulets; 2. the public undervalue the teachings on vir- tue they receive because they think they are already highly qualified in academic sub- jects — so thinking, they consider their abil- ity in vocational subjects makes earning money more important than knowing spir- itual teachings. 1. 1U41.S1RA11N E EXAMPLES In order to illustrate the results of paying respect to those worthy of respect here are five examples, the second of which is an example of homage through gifts: 60 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129162 El Metaphor: Small sapling with supporting stake When a new-grown tree is still a flimsy sapling, it needs a supporting stake to protect it against strong winds — otherwise it will be blown down or torn up by its roots. Similarly, one who hopes for spir- itual progress in one's life needs to express respect to those worthy of respect — to keep a place for those people in one's heart — so that those people can be a guiding light and an example, and a pro- tection against False View and unwholesomeness which might otherwise reappear in one's life. F.2 Er. Sumana the Garland-Maker In the time of the Lord Buddha, within the walls of the palace the workers divided themselves up into different sections and one of the sections was spe- cifically for flower arranging. The section head was called Sumana and his duty was to arrange flow- ers to decorate the palace, to decorate the throne and even decorate the royal bed chamber of the king, to give all of these places a delightful fra- grance. Sumana fulfilled his duty to the satisfac- tion of all in the palace every day, year in year out without ever slipping up. One day, in the season where flowers were the hardest to find, Sumana travelled to every part of the city and wherever there were flowers to be bought, he would buy them all. No-one else in the city had any flowers left to use for themselves. Every last flower in the city had to be used for the decoration of the palace. Even though Sumana had exclusive rights to all the flowers in the city, because the dry season had caused a drought, he could hardly find any flower — even food was scarce let alone flowers. One day the flowers were so scarce that in the whole of the city all Sumana could find were eight (coconut shell) measures of jasmine flowers. Really, this wasn't enough to decorate the palace, but it was better than nothing. That day, as Sumana was bringing the eight meas- ures of jasmine flowers to the palace, he met with the Lord Buddha along the way. The Lord Buddha was on almsround. Sumana regularly attended the Buddha's sermons but he had never really had the chance to make a decent offering to the Buddha, partly because of his poverty and partly because his faith was not very profound. That day, as Sumana saw the Lord Buddha he felt that the Buddha looked particularly resplendent and worthy of faith. The deportment of the Bud- dha seemed so perfect in every respect that he felt that it was only fitting to bow down before Him. Sumana's next thought was that all he had was eight measures of flowers. If he used them to honour the king, all the king could give him was income, food and clothing to see him through the present life- time. However, that day he was going to pay re- spect to the Lord Buddha to create for himself the positive karma that would bring him benefits not just in this lifetime but in many lifetimes to come. Even if the king were to execute him, it wouldn't affect the good results of these deeds. Sumana raised the flowers to his forehead and when he had made his resolution, sprinkled the jas- mine flowers on the path ahead of the Lord Bud- dha with the intention that the Buddha would walk upon his fragrant offering. The Lord Buddha saw the strength of Sumana's faith — to the degree that he was prepared to lay down his life in order to make this offering. Thus the Lord Buddha created a miracle in order to bring Sumana real joy, to allow him to gain the full merit of his generous deed and lead him to attain enlight- enment in the future. Thus as soon as the flowers were released from Sumana's hand, the flowers floated up as a net of flowers above where the Lord Buddha stood and this net would follow the Lord Buddha wherever He went. At both sides of the path all of the house- holders came out of their houses to see the miracu- lous sight and were inspired by the sight of the flow- ers which seemed to have a life of their own in hon- our of the Lord Buddha. Through Sumana's faith together with the power of the perfections of the Lord Buddha, the jasmine flowers sent their scent throughout the whole of the city. The scent followed the Lord Buddha whet- ever he went and this attracted everyone out of their houses to see the sight of the Lord Buddha. Blessing Three: Expressing Respect to Those Worthy of Respect 61 EFTA01129163 Many of the householders had seen the Lord Bud- dha before, but they had never been inspired by Him. But that day the sight of the Lord Buddha was so impressive that many of the householders were inspired to faith. Those who were only slightly faith- ful put their hands together in a gesture of prayer. Those who were more inspired raised their hands in a gesture of prayer and offered words in praise of the Lord Buddha. Those whose faith was even greater prepared food to offer into the Buddha's bowl and followed him around to see what would happen to the flowers. The Buddha's almsround took him all over the city and eventually brought Him to the front of the palace. The king heard the news and came to give alms himself. Then the king invited the Buddha to take his breakfast in the palace. As the Buddha was taking his meal, the ceiling of flowers remained above Him — while the Bud- dha gave His blessing and until he returned to Jetavana Temple. As He entered the temple the flowers fell down in a pile at the temple gate. This only added to the faith of the followers and even Sumana thought,"If the king is to execute me for failing in my duty, it has certainly been worth it!" By contrast, Sumana's wife thought the opposite. She wondered how her husband could have been so incredibly stupid. If he had given the flowers to the king at least he would have got money in re- turn. By giving the flowers to the Buddha, he got no money in return. All he got was faith and how was that going to feed his hungry children? And if the king were disatisfied about not getting his flow- ers and decides to execute Sumana and decide to execute his wife and children too, all suffer because of his stupidity. And if Ping seized Sumana's belongings, he would just take Sumana's possessions — he would take the possessions of everybody in the household. She didn't want that to happen. The wife went straight to the king and disowned all responsibility for her husband's ac- tions. She demanded divorce from her husband there and then, and swore before the king that if her husband was to suffer for his actions let him suffer alone. The king asked her if she was sure of what she was doing. The wife asserted that she was quite sure of her actions. Instead of being angry with Sumana, the king felt intrigued and inspired by the flower-man's exam- ple and decided to give Sumana a prize for his vir- tues. In the end Sumana received the prize alone because his former wife had already disowned him. When the story reached the ears of the Lord Bud- dha, the Venerable Ananda asked the Lord Bud- dha about the fruits of Sumana's faith on that occa- sion. The Lord Buddha taught that with a strength of faith that someone is prepared to lay down his life, such as that of Sumana, faith is very deeply rooted in someone's mind, making the mind of Sumana very radiant and that for at least a hun- dred-thousand aeons [kappa]. However many rebirths Sumana took, he would be born in only the human and the heaven realms. He would never be born in the neither realms of hell, animals, hun- gry-ghosts or asiwas. After the appropriate length of time, Sumana would become enlightened as a paccekabuddlia. Thus from the power of faith in the Buddha,the resulting brightness and clarity of mind will stay with one throughout the course of many lifetimes. One's discretion will be impeccable and because one's judgement is sound, one will be a wise one in every lifetime. This is the fruit of paying respect to those worthy of respect— radiance of mind, which ultimately will lead to Right View in every lifetime. DhA.ii.40ff. F.3 Ex. Sudhaplinlaya helps build pagoda Another illustratory tale is that of Ven.Sudipirmliya Thera. When he became enlightened as an arahant he recollected his previous lives to see how he had come to attain arahantship and meditating to rec- ollect his previous lives he discovered that he had made an offering of only a handful of lime. Suclapirgliya Thera was born in the era of one of the previous Buddhas, at the time when that Bud- dha had already entered Parinirvana. The people of the country were building a cetiya in which to inter the relics of that Buddha. SudapirAliya Thera was a man of faith despite his poverty, he thought, 62 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129164 "I have relied on the Teachings and virtue of the Lord Buddha all along. Now that the people are all building a cetiya as a memorial to the generations of the future to take the same opportunity as the Lord Buddha to do good deeds all their life. It is only fitting that I should make some contribution to the building of the cetiya on this occasion." With this thought in mind, SudapiccliyaThera felt strong faith in the Buddha and wanted to take a part in paying homage to the Lord Buddha along with the other people. As a pauper, he had no pos- sessions to give as an offering. He went and bought a handful of lime and took this lime as his contri- bution to the building of the cetiya. But on this oc- casion, although the contribution was small, but his faith profound. The fruit of Sudapirmliya Thera's faith made his mind so radiant that from that lifetime onwards to his final rebirth, he was born only in the human and the heaven realms. He never descended into hell throughout 94 aeons and attained arahantship in his final lifetime. In the opposite respect if we cultivate anger or vengefulness for 94 aeons this will lead us to do no end of hateful ads and the resulting extra interest of bad karma will ensure that you never get born in the human realm again. Ap.i.133 F.4 Ex. Kosataki pays homage at pagoda Another example is that of Kosataki. Her name means 'loofah'. There are many species of loofah. Some can be eaten. Some are inedible and have to be thrown away. At the time when the Lord Bud- dha had already passed away and his disciples were organizing a grand cremation, King Ajatasattu en- shrined the relics of the Lord Buddha in a cetiya and when the ceremony was over, there was a festival. At that time there was a woman who was pitifully poor who had had faith in the Lord Buddha since the time when he was alive. When the people of the country were holding their festival to celebrate the completion of the new cetiya, this woman wanted to join in the celebration by honouring the cetiya with flowers.The woman wasn't discerning enough to buy beautiful flowers like the rest of the people. She went and collected four loofahs from the edge of the forest — golden yellow in colour. These loofahs were priceless — because no-one would pay good money for something inedible. She took the four such fruits and set off in the direction of the cetiya with the full intention to offer them in homage to the Lord Buddha. She was in such a rush that she didn't look where she was going, so fixed was her mind on making her offering at the cetiya. In her path were a cow and calf. The cow saw the determination of the woman and misunderstood that she wanted to harm her calf and responded by goring the woman to death, before she could reach the cetiya. Even so, even though the woman never reached the cetiya, her mind had such a determination to accomplish her good deed that with the collected potential of a mind with shame and fear of evil, virtue and the wisdom to appreciate the good deeds of the Lord Buddha, meant that as she was gored to death she was reborn immediately as an angel — her clothes became immediately refined as angelic raiment of the same golden colour as the loofah and the an- gelic mansion that arose as the result of her merit was also the colour of the loofah. Indra, the king of heaven saw the new arrival in heaven and asked what merit she had performed to cause the arising of a golden coloured mansion. The angel smiled shyly and replied that she had done only something very insignificant —just tak- ing four loofahs to pay respect to the cetiya contain- ing the relics of the Lord Buddha but she had been gored to death by a cow on the way and regretted not having reached her goal or else the golden col- our of her raiment and the mansion would surely have been even more striking than this! On hearing this, Indra exclaimed,"Paying respect to the Lord Buddha with a mind of faith, even though He has already entered parinibbana in no way lessens the fruits of good karma. Whether the Lord Buddha is alive or passed away gives fruits of merits equally." For this reason, even though we have been born in a time after the Lord Buddha has already passed Blessing Three: &pressing Respect to Those Worthy of Respect 63 EFTA01129165 away, it should in no way lessen our diligence in paying respect to the Lord Buddha. Eitavimanavatthu, Vv.iv.9, VvA.200ff. F.5 Ex. Paiicapapci pays homage with resentment There is one more illustratory example — that of Paficapapa. This name means 'five types of evil' and is the name give to this particular woman by her fa- ther. The reason for such an inauspicious name was that the child was born defective with knarled hands, lame feet, a squint mouth, squint eyes and a crooked nose. None of her bodily organs were in symettry. Her hands went one way and her feet went another. Although the child was repulsively ugly, she had one attractive point — her skin was soft like that of an angel. Because of her one good point, Parkapipfi was to become the queen of the country late life. When she was in the royal palace as one of the royal consorts, her skin was so soft that the king forgot all the other women the palace. The other consorts were so jealous that they framed her so that the king had to float her away on a raft downstream. But as soon as she reached the next kingdom, all it took was one touch for the king there to take her as his queen. Eve- rybody was so astonished that a woman so physi- cally deformed could come to be the queen of two kingdoms that someone asked the Lord Buddha how this could come to be. The Lord Buddha looked back at her previous life- times and discovered that the woman had made an offering to a paccekabuddha but the offering was made out of anger. On that day, the woman was shoring up the wall of her house with mud. A paccekabuddha also needed mud to build his kuti and seeing that the woman had more than enough mud came bowl in hand to ask for some of the mud. The woman was reluctant to give away any of her mud, but gave the paccekabuddha some anyway. Out of anger, she threw a clod of mud into the paccekabuddles bowl. At the time she was scowl- ing, with her eyebrows knitted togethet, her feet stamping the ground and shaking a fist at the paccrkabuddha. The result of her reluctant gooddeed in future rebirths was that her stamping feet were lame, the hand which threw the mud was knarled and her scowling face was deformed beyond rec- ognition. The good part of her deed, the generos- ity, still gave its fruit— because the mud which built the kuti which helped shelter the paccekabuddha from the rain gave her angelic complexion. But this could not diminish the bad part of the deed that was not being polite to those worthy of respect. J.v.440ff., Kuala attaka (J536) Thus in conclusion, not paying respect to those wor- thy of respect, or not having faith in those who ought to inspire faith clouds the mind and the extension of this ultimately to become a fool. 64 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129166 The Second Group of Blessings "Turning towards wholesomeness" It is rare to find a system of spiritual wisdom that has environmen- tal considerations built into its metaphysics. The possible exception is the Chinese Feng Shui" system which probably has its roots in Buddhism anyway. In science by contrast, there is always a great debate in developmental biology about the relative influence of the genetic component and the formative experience — the so- called 'nature v. nurture' debate. For science, of course it is mostly considerations of the development of physical features like a col- our, or a size which might have an influence in the 'survival of the fittest', but for spiritual wisdom, we are more interested in the de- velopment of spiritual maturity. However, no less than with sci- ence the Blessings of Life recognize that there is influence both by our internal dispositions (nature) and our environmental influences (nurture). The fourth blessing on "amenable location" is the first blessing of the second grouping of blessings which deals with "turn- ing towards wholesome discretion". If we have practised the first three blessings successfully, we will already have" turned our back on negative discretion". In this set of three blessings, the first (Bless- ing Four) deals with "nurture" influences of the environment on the development of our discretion. The second (Blessing Five) deals with the "nature" influences on the development of our discretion and the sixth deals with having a clear aim or purpose in one's life. All three together are necessary if we want to set ourselves on the path of development of spiritual maturity. Thus, in Buddhism, it is acknowledged that the environment must be good if people are to become good. If the environment lacks virtue, it will hinder peo- ples' spiritual growth. EFTA01129167 TABLE 4.1 AMENABLE LOCATION ON DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DESCRIPTION AMENABLE LOCATION National Level Local Level Neighbourhood Level Household Level A m enable Location Unextreme Cli- mate, not too rug- ged, accessible from other coun- tries Ease of earning an honestliving,good social infrastruc- true, no infectious diseases. Good water & electricity sup- plies, good roads, no traffic jams, good communica- tions, no natural disasters Well planned house, sufficient spaces, good ventilation, trees forshade, parks nearby, no distur- bance from noise 1 inenable Loud Self-sufficient in food Supply of good all year round Proximity of mar- ket A cottage garden, a good cook in the house Amenable \ eighbours Righteous mon- arch or govern- ment, population honest, no terror- ists or anarchists who threaten soli- darity Lack of criminals, outlaws and mafia Access to doctors, patrons/benefac- tors, wise men, no dens of vice nearby Heads of the house- hold must be virtu- ous and not engage in roads to ruin 1 inenable i)liamina leach- ings Just law and cus- toms Good educational system in worldly and spiritual mat- ters Monks pass on almsround, tern- ples and schools in area Atmosphere of learning and teach- ing Dhamma in the home, having at least one communal meal daily 66 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129168 Blessing Four: Living in an Amenable Location A. IN IHOLRICI1ON A.1 Amenability of Location in general Generally speaking, an appropriate or amenable location is one which facilitates success in what we set out to do. If we are a fisherman then it might be a place on the coast closest to the fish breeding grounds. If we are in business then it might be a place with all the hustle and bustle of the crowds where our business will prosper. And what if we are monks? Monks need a place with special char- acteristics — a place that is both peaceful and quiet but not too far from the homesteads of the village. For soldiers, an amenable location is a strategic one. In conclusion, each and every profession and ac- tivity has its own appropriate location for facilitat- ing success. The word 'location' can equally well be applied to the microcosm the setting of a par- ticular activity as it can to the macrocosm. Even if you are sitting at a dining table, sitting at one side of the table might be more or less amenable than sitting at the other. The location that most concerns a person or his activities is his immediate environ- ment or neighbourhood- but the more distant en- vironments of his locality or country also have a part to play. A.2 Amenability in Dhamma practice The sort of location to be examined in this Blessing is the location amenable to refining the mind or put another way, the location that facilitates the depth by which we can understand the Teachings of the Lord Buddha. In such an amenable location, even though a person may initially lack wisdom, he can make a success of his life. On the contrary, in an unamenable location, even though he may have a high IQ and be capable, given no support, there is i no way for him to achieve his full otenfial. Even though someone might get a , if he is ma- rooned on a desert island, all his owledge goes to waste. You might be the world's greatest tacti- cian, but if you are forced to live in the forest with primitive tribal people, all you knowledge will go to waste. The factors that mark an amenable location also apply to appropriate areas to live. The Lord Bud- dha highlighted four factors which make a location amenable — these are: 1. Amenable location 2. Amenable food 3. Amenable neighbours 4. Amenable Dhamma teachings A.3 Amenable is not the same as materially prosperous In many materially prosperous countries, life can be physically convenient. Often the infrastructure is well developed. Employment is easy to find and it is easy for residents to save up their wealth. On the surface, such a country might look attractive to live in, but one is wont to forget that although ma- Blessing Four: Living in an Amenable Location 67 EFTA01129169 terial poverty might be hard to find, spiritual pov- erty might be rife (see §.8.4 below). In such a coun- try, the opportunity and the means to develop spir- itual maturity might be very hard to find. The chance to accrue merit might be almost non- existant. Residents in such countries think only of work from the time they get up in the morning to the time they go to sleep at night. Thoughts of gen- erosity, self-discipline or meditation might be the last thing on their minds. Even for those who have some spiritual calling, often they can find no-one to give them useful advice. To live in such a coun- try might be life wasted from the point of view of spiritual development. It would be better to make some sacrifices of material convenience in choos- ing the place you want to live, in order to live in an environment of spiritual richness — which is truly an amenable environment for one's spiritual progress. B. Components The components of amenable location cannot be defined globally because they mean different things at different levels of explanation (see diagram p.66): £1 Amenable Location B.1.1 National Level At the geographical level, it may mean an amena- ble climate that is not too hot and not too cold. It might mean that the landscape is not too rugged or liable to flooding — but at the same time with con- venient communications towards the rest of the world. B.1.2 Local Level At a more local level, an amenable climate means ease for the populace in earning a decent living, good communications, proper social infrastructure and a plentiful supply of clean drinking water. B.1.3 Neighbourhood Level On the level of the neighbourhood, the things that make the environment amenable are a proper wa- ter and electricity supply, a good road system to avoid traffic jams, good communications and no flooding in the wet season. B.1.4 Household Level On the level of the household, the things that count for making the environment amenable are a prop- erly planned house with sufficient space, good ven- tilation, enough trees round and about to give shade, nearby open areas or parks and no distur- bance from noise. Applying the same principles to a temple, amenable temple grounds is sufficiently spacious for the number of templegoers, with enough shade to allow the congregation to medi- tate in comfort and without disturbance from the hustle and bustle of urban life. B.2 Amenable Food B.2.1 National Level On a national level, amenable food means being self-sufficient in one's food supply, not having to rely on neighbouring countries for one's food sup- ply, or drinking water. B.2.2 Local Level On local level, amenable food might mean the prox- imity of a market for foodstuffs. It might also mean being able to grow home-produce. In any case, any- one who lives in an area liable to flooding should try to be self sufficient with their own cottage gar- den. It doesn't matter how you go about growing the vegetables. For some villages, when the floods come, if the government doesn't send in supplies by helicopter for two or three days, the whole vil- lage will starve. These are always the villages which are too lazy to grow their own vegetables. If they had grown their own vegetables, even though the floods come, it doesn't particularly bother them. By contrast, those places that plant only cash crops like maize, lose everything they have as soon as the floods arrive. Just having a few vegetables like on- ions in the garden allows one to survive for over a month even when the floods come. B.2.3 Neighbourhood Level Amenability of food at the neighboulnood level might mean the proximity of the market. B.2.4 Household Level An amenable food supply at the household level 68 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129170 can be summarized with just a few brief hints: I. You should have a supply of vegetables used around the kitchen in reserve in your cottage garden in case of times of need. 2. Your house should be located close to the mar- ket. If it is too far from the market, this will be- come an obstacle to obtaining food. 3. Your house ought to have a good cook. A good cook is the heart of a successful kitchen. There was once an army general who commented in front of his wife (whether he meant to praise her or criticize her is uncertain) saying, "the only reason that I've been able to put up with her all these years, is her only single good point — apart from this point there is nothing good about her. She neglects the children. She is use- less at receiving guests. She takes little care of the household finances - I have to do the ac- counts myself. The only reason that I've been able to put up with her all these years, is that she makes a tasty meal. If it wasn't for her being a good cook, we would have gone our separate ways years ago." Anybody who thinks they can rely on instant foods, convenience foods and take-aways should think again. Everybody should attempt to learn how to cook. If ever you have to take care of someone who is ill or lonely or anxious, who have lost their appetite, and you can't get out to the market — that will be the time when your ability to make a proper meal will really make a difference. For as long as we still have defilements in the mind, we still have an appetite and we still have our fa- vourite foods. Were not all like crocodiles which can survive on gravel. For as long as we're still hu- man, we are still choosy about the food we eat. Too sweet or sour, salty or oily and the food loses its attraction. Thus if the food we eat is to be amena- ble there is no harm in food being tasty. £3 Amenable Neighbours £3.1 Definitions The various characteristics of a location or a neigh- bourhood, whether good or bad, are only general characteristics. Even if the general characteristics of a location are abysmal, but the place is inhabited by virtuous people, then the drawbacks of the lo- cation can be overcome. On the other hand, in a good location with good housing and employment prospects, if the inhabitants are dishonest, however beautiful the buildings, it can be no better than a den of thieves. If the inhabitants are peaceful and well mannered, like monks, then the buildings are a refuge as good as a temple. B.3.2 National Level At the national level, amenable personnel means a population who eke out their existence by honest means. It means a population that lacks criminals, terrorists or anarchists who threaten the solidarity of the country. B.3.3 Local Level At the local level, if the populace are interested in nothing more than earning their living, society will not be a happy one. B.3.4 Neighbourhood Level At the neighbourhood level, in addition to a hardworking populace there must be those who make a direct contribution to the well-being of the society. 1. Doctors are necessary in any society. Without them, every illness will entail death. Even if a location is the most profitable of marketplaces, without doctors in the background, it can never become an amenable society. 2. Patrons and benefactors. Patrons and benefac- tors arise in a society where there is trading. Those who live in a mercantile society reap the benefits of having capital and such a society breeds rich benefactors and millionaires. Com- pare a society of people where there are only paupers and beggars and you will see how hard it is for such a society to become amenable to the study of Dhamma. In the time of the Lord Bud- dha, if a king decided to establish a new city, even if he had sufficient labour, craftsmen, without being granted a benefactor or patron from a neighbouring city, to be the patron of the new city, the king wouldn't dare to build a new town. Blessing Four: Living in an Amenable Location 69 EFTA01129171 (see §.D.2 below) The reason that having a patron was so important, apart from being a capitalist who would stimulate trade and growth, he would act as the economist who would help the king with his financial policy-making so that the new city would be able to keep its financial head above water. 3. Wise men. Many of the reasons for the impor- tance of the wise have already been covered in Blessing Two. In brief, the wise have a special discretion which allows them to distinguish be- tween what is right and what is wrong, what's appropriate and what's inappropriate, what is meritorious and what is downright evil. Even if you're illiterate, but you can tell the difference between right and wrong, you can still be con- sidered a wise one. Thus if you are choosing a place to live, avoid choosing a place where no wise ones live, because in such a place society is not amenable to the study of Dhamma. 4. Righteous Monarch who is established in the Ten Virtues of a Monarch. Without going into detail, it can be said that a qualifying monarch must be just and moral. Of course the country's leader doesn't have to be a king to make it an amenable place to live. The same virtues in a president will make his country as amenable as a country gov- erned by a virtuous king. B.3.5 Household Level Amenable personnel at the level of the household means the leader of the household must be virtu- ous. The husband should abstain from drinking al- cohol, the wife from gambling. Both should be ear- nest in earning an honest living. Their children should be earnest in their studies and should be obedient to their parents' command. In this way the household will be united as the smallest unit of an amenable society. B.4 Amenable Dhamma B.4.1 Definitions Dhamma is the culture or principles which governs the lifestyle of a society that lives in an amenable location. At the most basic level amenable Dhamma in a society means the governing principles of law and order that the society abides by. Amenable Dhamma is lacking from countries where outlaws run amok. At a deeper level, amenable Dhamma equates with culture and tradition that is one of vir- tue. The law protects society only from acts of vio- lation through the channels of body and speech, but has no effect on the quality of peoples' minds.The minds of a nation can be shaped for the better only by culture or traditions that raise the quality of mind. Examples of this might be the attitude of re- spect that a child should have towards his parents or a student towards his master. For as long as such traditions are still perpetuated and passed down from one generation to the next in a particular soci- ety, that society is still an amenable place to live. By contrast, you should avoid going to live in a barbaric society where man has no respect for his fellow man. An example of this would be the primi- tive society which idolize the man who is able to kill his own father — seeing him as the epitomy of hard-heartedness and fit to be the leader of the tribe. At a yet deeper level, amenable Dhamma in a so- ciety means a good educational system which al- lows the citizens to make a thorough study of both worldly and spiritual matters— where both schools and temples form the educational infrastructure of society — and all citizens are equipped with suffi- cient rationale not to be credulous. Deeper still, Buddhism should be well rooted in that country. The Lord Buddha taught that some people are born empty-handed and die empty handed —because they cannot distinguish between good and bad deeds. They just do whatever they feel like doing. When they are young, their parents bring them up. When they are full-grown, they get married and have a family — and their children get married and have their own children and the family name is perpetuated for another generation. In the end they pass away and they have no merit or demerit to take with them when they go. It is this sort of person that Buddhism recognizes as being born empty-handed and dying empty- handed. Put another way, life has been fruitless for them. 70 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129172 Even though some people are born on the door- step of Buddhism, they still leave the world empty- handed — so what chance do people who have never even come across Buddhism stand? The Lord Buddha thus laid down guidelines for life, teach- ing that having taken human birth, you must seek benefit both for this lifetime and the next. Benefit can only accrue if you use your body and mind for positive good deeds that will give worthwhile re- turns on our having been born human. The Lord Buddha taught that at the very least, you ought to be able to set yourself up in life. If you are in debt or still have to rely on others for the roof over your head, you have not yet suceeded in even the most rudimentary of human duties. If you are a man (and not a mouse) you must be able to stand on your own two feet. This is what we call benefit for the present lifetime. From our description so far of the features of an amenable location, whether the inhabitants know Buddhism or not, they will manage to succeed in fulfilling benefit for the present lifetime. Where those who don't know Buddhism miss out, is through not knowing how to fulfil benefits for the next lifetime. Without a knowledge of Buddhism, you can do no better than use up the merits accrued from previous lifetimes. No additional merits are accrued this lifetime and at the end of this life, your after-life destination will be one of suffering. Those who accrue benefit for future lifetimes, when they die will not go to hell or be born as animals. Whatever the proportion of good and bad deeds they may have done, at the very least they will take human birth again — even though they may be handicapped in one way or another. B.4.2 National Level Amenable Dhamma Wachings at National Level means having just laws and customs as the national identity. B.4.3 Local Level Dhamma for the children means having a good school. If our children have the chance to study at a decent school, it will give them a head start in life because there is such a great variety of quality in the teaching given at different schools. Dhamma for the adults means having a good temple near at hand. At the very least, if there is a temple near to our house there will be monks who pass near to our house on their almsround and we will have the opportunity to make merit every morning. If we want to listen to a sermon, we won't have to go far. If a site is close to both the school and the temple it will earn plenty of points for amenable Dhamma. B.4.4 Neighbourhood Level Amenable Dhamma Teachings at the Neighbour hood Level means that monks pass on almsround and having temples and schools in the vicinity. B.4.5 Household Level This means an atmosphere of enthusiasm for Dhamma learning and teaching in the home. £4.6 Profit in for next life (A.iv.284) The special characteristic of Dhamma teaching that prevents a person from "leaving the world empty- handed" are the sort of teachings that lead to "profit in the hereafter". The Lord Buddha taught that the minimum of virtue required is the four virtues for benefit in the hereafter as follows Isampayikaftha- payojana] (see detail from B1.2 §C4.2). 1. Faith Isaddhal: means confidence in thingsyou ought to have faith in—being a person of discretion especially in the operation of the laws of karma—that doing good deeds will lead to good outcomes and that doing evil will lead to bad retribution. Without such well-founded faith you have little chance of well-being in your future. 2. The Precepts kik]: You must keep the minimum of Five Precepts as the baseline of one's virtue because the Precepts measure the degree to which you are a person as opposed to being a savage. 3. Self-sacrificeicaga]: Self-sacrifice has many lev- els of meaning from the superficial to the deep. At its simplest, it means avoiding being so stingy that you cannot bear to see anyone else sharing your possessions or getting any benefit from them. It means the habit of liking to share with Blessing Four: Living in an Amenable Location 71 EFTA01129173 others. At its deepest level it means giving up even the destructive feelings we might feel to- wards other people or more generally, letting go of anything that encroaches on our quality of mind — i.e. all thoughts of evil and unseemly habits until none remain. 4. Wisdom Ipaiifial. To be specific, diligence in studying both worldly and spiritual knowledge — so that we can earn a decent living efficiently and at the same time know the difference be- tween good and evil — in order to win the path to heaven. Once people are able to identify what is merit and what is demerit, they will gain the inspiration to do only good deeds. Thus knowl- edge paves the pathway to heaven. C. PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS C./ Choosing the location of a new home Having studied the four main principles of a loca- tion which is amenable to the spreading of the Dhamma, we have at the same time discovered a recipe for success in choosing the location of a new house. In the olden days, no-one would dare to build a new house without first seeking the advice of a teaching monk or at the very least of a fortune teller. They would always advise the oracle in ques- tion to look at the lie of the land. In fact, the most successful oracles were not interested in the lie of the land at all, but were interested in how many of the four principles of amenable location were present at the proposed site of the new house. If you want to tell as much about the potential site of a new house as the oracles of old did, start by draw- ing up a grid with five rows as follows: Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 1. Location 2. Food 3. Neighbours 4.Dhamma Once you have drawn up the grid, supposing you wanted to build a house and you have a choice of four or five locations, but cannot decide which to choose, then award points to each of the different locations according to the four principles of an amenable location: location, food, neigbours and Dhamma. Give each principle points out of twenty- five. When we add up the total points for each dif- ferent location, we will be able to choose the most amenable location by choosing the site with the highest point rating. Use the following guidelines for giving points: 1. Amenable location: We should look at the neigh- bourhood and give points if the place has good facilities including access, running water, elec- tricity and a telephone line. If there is already a house on the site, the more spacious the better. The quality of the construction work will also guide you as to your awarding of points. Look at the subdivision of moms to see whether it is habitable or not. Give the location points accord- ingly. 2. Amenable food supply: Consider that if you should choose a particular site for your home, you will be living there for a long time and there- fore should give adequate thought to the avail- ability of food. Make sure that the location isn't too far from the market or from a shop selling food and various other 'perishables'. If any of these sources of food are close at hand, you can award that site plenty of points for the food sup- ply. 3. Amenable neighbours: Inspect the location to see whether it is near to or part of a slum. Do people gamble there or nearby? Is it close to a liquor factory? Is it a den of thieves? If it is any of these things, then keep your distance. Choose some- where else. If on the contrary, all the neighbours are respectable, socially distinguished and of Right View (such as doctors or teachers) of good social standing and of good conduct, then this should attract us to live nearby. At the very least, those good neighbours will give us peaceful sur- roundings and in times of need they will be able to help us. Give the neighbours the appropriate point rating. 4. Amenable Dhamma: In order to give points for this particular factor, it is necessary to divide the 72 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129174 factor into two contributing parts: Dhamma for the children and Dhamma for the adults. When you add up the total points for each site, you should choose the location with the maximum points as the site for your new house. Next time you move house there is no need to call in the for- tune teller— or a monk either, because armed with an understanding of the factors that make a site amenable for habitation, you can choose the site for new house without anyone else's help. This is cer- tainly a good example of Dhamma that is immedi- ately applicable to everyday life. C.2 Making your present home amenable For those who do not ordain and leave the home life, usually, the home and family form the hub of life. In this connection, what should be done to the home to make it amenable to the prospering of the Dhamma? According to Thai tradition, even though we might have three meals a day, there should be at least one of those meals when the whole of the family is together (See Blessing12, §B.3.1 heading 3.2). Some people claim that they are overburdened with work. However if you consider that the only reason that you spend so much time at work is to be a breadwinner for your family to send your child to a private school — then think again. If you are left with no time to bring up your children prop- erly and your child gets addicted to heroin because of your negligence, a million dollars would be in- sufficient to rectify the problem. If on the contrary, you can get by while still finding sufficient time to give full attention to your child's upbringing, then you will be rewarded when your child grows up into a virtuous example of a human being. Many parents have been reduced to tears by dis- appointment. They're upset that their child cannot go to university because of becoming a junkie. They cry about their awful child — but it would be more fitting to cry about having been such an awful par- ent who didn't take the trouble to bring up their own child properly! Therefore, remember that bringing up a child means more than just seeing that there is food on their plate. You need to instil your child with vir- tue and to this end, both children and parents should see each others' faces across the dining ta- ble at least once a day, and discuss Dhamma, in- struct one another and comment on the habits which each should be improving upon. If you can't manage to meet at mealtimes, you should make sure that the family come together before bedtime, perhaps for Evening Chanting —but even bedtime cannot beat mealtimes. A child will never miss a meal, and a good telling off before dinner will stay in his mind for a long time. Thus if you are to give a good example of Dhamma which is amenable to the household, then a family being together at mealtimes will certainly fit the bill. C.3 Relative importance of the Four Amenable Location Factors In conclusion, an amenable location has four char- acteristics: an amenable location, amenable food supply, amenable personnel and amenable Dhamma. If you put these four characteristics in order of importance, you will find the following: Amenable Dhamma is the most important, fol- lowed by amenable personnel, followed by ame- nable food supply and an amenable location is the least important of the four. Even though the location may not be ideal, but the food is plentiful or neither the location or the food supply are ideal, but the inhabitants are ame- nable, they can soon improve the quality of the lo- cation and the food. However, the thing that makes the inhabitants amenable is having Amenable Dhamma it that location. This is the reason why Amenable Dhamma is the most important attribute of the four. C.4 Amenable Location outside, Amenable Location inside There are two different types of amenable location: 1. Amenable Surroundings: the quality of location which is determined by the four factors already discussed. 2. Amenable Location within: This is the most im- portant influence on the quality of our well be- ing — i.e. a healthy body and mind — a body Blessing Four: Living in an Amenable Location 73 EFTA01129175 and mind that are in no way disabled or infected by disease. Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouths. They are brought up properly by their par- ents, but when they grow up, instead of feeling grateful for all the efforts made by their parents, they inflict illness upon themselves by turning alcaholic. There are a myriad diseases that come as a result of drinking alcohol. Even lying can be the source of disease (see Blessing Nine, §C.1.4) causing your memory to become blurred and eventually leading to senile dementure as the result of the bad karma you have accumulated throughout the course of your life. Thus as we have seen from the examples of break- ing the Precepts of lying or drinking alcahol, all of the Precepts, if broken, will be the source of illness. Thus you need to protect your internal environ- ment. If you pollute the quality of your internal en- vironment, success will elude you for the rest of your life and your future lifetimes will be even worse. Take care of your Precepts and they will take care of you. Now that you know the four factors of an ame- nable location if you are still a child you should look for a location that is going to be amenable to your own education. If you are an adult then you should try to make your location into an amenable location, wherever you go. As an adult, it isn't good enough simply to go looking for amenable locations, you should be working actively to improve the quality of the environment. D. !mks' 1 iVIIVE EXAMPLItS D.1 Metaphor: Bonsai Bodhi Tree It is said that if you plant a tree in fertile soil, it will grow until it is many metres in diameter. If you take the same tree and plant it in a flower pot or a bar- rel, it will end up as a root-bound bonsai tree in- stead. Even if it is watered and carefully tended for several generations it will never grow higher than a few inches. Asked why a thousand-year old tree reaches only a few inches in height, we come back to the conclusion that it has been planted in an unamenable location. Even though it doesn't grow tall, it doesn't die. D.2 Ex. Establishing Saketu (DhA.i.386) When King Pasenadi built the new city of Saketu in the time of the Lord Buddha, he sent a letter to King Bimbisara to ask for permission to move one of the patrons from that kingdom to live in the new city. King Bimbasara sent Visalchit's father as pa- tron to the new city. Before long, the patron got all the finances of the city properly organized and Saketu became one of the most prosperous city- states in India at that time. This goes to show that an amenable city doesn't just consist of buildings but it needs the presence of amenable neighbours such as benefactors and patrons. D.3 Ex. Ariya the ftsherntan (Dluliii.3116JT) Even though some people in the time of the Lord Buddha had no worldly knowledge — they were completely illiterate and were of the lowest trades — but they had the good fortune to be born in an amenable location (i.e. in the same time and place as the Buddha) and because of this fact alone, were able to attain enlightenment to level of a stream enterer Isotapana]. There was a fisherman called"Ariya" (lit. "noble one") who lived during the time of the Buddha. As a fisherman, he caught and killed fish every day. One day in meditation, the Buddha saw Ariya's potential to attain the fruit of stream-entry Isotapattiphala] and went, with a number of other monks to where Ariya was fishing. Seeing the Bud- dha approaching, Ariya became ashamed of his ac- tion and hid his fishing line. When the Buddha ar- rived, while standing in front of the man, he asked Sariputta his name. "Sariputta", replied Sariputta. The Buddha then proceeded to ask the name of each of the monks and overhearing, the man wondered whether after asking all the monks' names, the Buddha would ask his. The Buddha knew what he was thinking and asked the man his name. "Ariya" replied the man. In fact, the Bud- dha didn't need to be told the man's name. The Bud- dha gave Ariya a teaching that anyone who still harmed other living beings could not be called 'no- ble' on account of his actions. He said that one's nobility comes from not harming other living be- 74 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129176 ings. Hearing the Buddha's teaching, Ariya attained stream-entry and from that day onwards never killed a living being again, having transcended the very intention to kill — in spite of the fad that he was illiterate. He lived in the depths of poverty, but he had one auspicious advantage in his life, and that was to live in a time and place where there was the opportunity to come face-to-face with the Lord Buddha — and this alone allowed him to become enlightened to the level of a stream-enterer. D.4 Ex. Ghosaka's lifetime as a dog (DhA.i.169, PsA.504ff.) Another example of a similar phenomenon hap- pened in a time before the Lord Buddha. At that time, the only Buddhas in existence were paccekabuddhas who although enlightened, were unable to teach for the benefit of the manyfolk. These paccekabuddhas came on almsround in the city. Having collected alms, they would return to the forest to take their meal. This would be his normal daily routine. Seeing that the paccekabuddha had to walk such a long way each day, one of the more faithful supporters invited the paccekabuddha to dwell nearby his own house and would bring food for the paccekabuddha every for every morning and midday meal. Any day when the householder was not free to make the offering himself, he would send his well- trained dog to carry a tiffin set of food to offer to the paccekabuddha at his place. As the dog grew more familiar with the paccekabuddha it took a liking to Him because the deportment and manner of the paccekabuddha was so gentle. If the dog was at home and failed to mind firewood for its master it would be beaten. However, in the dwelling of the paccekabuddha it was a different story. When the dog came close he could listen to the chanting of the paccekabuddha. There was no risk of being beaten and the paccekabuddha would even divide part of the food to give to the dog as well. The dog became more and more familiar with the gentle manner of the paccekabuddha. At the end of the rainy season, the paccekabuddha bid the householder farewell and returned to the forest. The paccekabuddha made his journey by float- ing through the air. The dog watched the paccekabuddha go with regret and howled as loudly as it could because there was nothing else for it to do. It was a sad farewell for the dog who still had the paccekabuddha on its mind. The dog was so sad that as it came to the end of its howling, it dropped dead. However, as the result of the faith of this dog in the paccekabuddha and from howling at the de- parture of the paccekabuddha, the dog was reborn immediately as an angel called Ghosaka — whose duty was to be a spokesman for the rest of the an- gels. In the time of the Lord Buddha, Ghosaka was re- born in the human realm as Ghosaka the Millionnaire and was one of the greatest patrons of Buddhism. The result of living in an amenable lo- cation and taking the chance to be an attendant to a paccekabuddha led him to become an angel on dying from rebirth as a dog and from his rebirth as an angel to be reborn as an important patron of Bud- dhism. D.5 Er. Monk and Fire-Hundred Bats (Vagguli Vattlat SadS. 81ff.) Another example comes from the time of a previ- ous Buddha. There was a monk who had retired to a cave in order to train himself. The monk would rise early each morning and chant the Abhi- dhamma.The monk shared the cave with five-hun- dred bats. During the day the bats would return to the cave but at night they would fly outside to feed. Thus the bats would hear the chanting of the Abhidhamma every day. Even though the bats had no way of knowing the meaning of the chanting, they became familiar with the sound of the monk's chanting and became inspired with faith. When it came to time for the bats to pass away, they died with faith in their hearts and were all re- born as angels. Passing away from their existence as angels, they were reborn as men in the time of the present Buddha. All five hundred men became ordained as monks and hearing the chanting of the Abhidhamma only once, unlike normal people who might remain indifferent to the chanting, could re- Blessing Four: Living in an Amenable Location 75 EFTA01129177 member the words of the Abhidhamma which were still impressed in their minds from that previous lifetime, and recollecting the words of the Abhidhamma were soon able to become enlight- ened as arahants. Thus, it is easy to see that simply living in an ame- nable location is not just advantageous for people —even lowly animals can experience the benefits! 76 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129178 Blessing Five: Having done good deeds in one's past A. IN fRODULHON With Blessing Five we are still exploring the vir- tues which comprise "turning towards wholesome- ness" as exemplified by the second grouping. Last blessing we have already mentioned the "nature- nurture" dichotomy of scientifically understood de- velopment. Last blessing already covered the "nurture"aspect of the environment — and so this Blessing we come to the factor of "nature" — the aspects of our character and personality which we bring with us into the world. In this Blessing we attempt to explain the variety of material and spir- itual success between different people in the world — differences which are not accountable in terms of the Blessings we have already studied up to this point. How for example can we explain the differ- ences in disposition and life success of identical twins (with the same genetic components), brought up by the same parents in the same environment? How about newborn children, who far from be- ing a clean slate have different personalities, differ- ent potentials and different speeds of learning. Sci- ence would attribute these things to genetic differ- ences between their grandparents. This might work out for some things such as how people look or their physical strength, but I think you would agree that there are many other things that genetics cannot explain. No scientist has ever found a gene for in- telligence for example. All that are found are the abberations that make people handicapped — and these are in spite of the fact that neither their par- ents or their grandparents were handicapped in such away. Thus it must be something about the child himself brings with him into the world. This Blessing attempts to account for the dispar- ity in terms of the residue of life experience picked up by individuals in their past — particularly the positive life experiences. In order to understand the rather lengthy matter of having done good deeds in one's past, it is nec- essary to study the subject of merit in general and to touch also upon the subjects of retribution and mind quality. Some people study the Manual of Peace from Blessing One (Not Associating with Fools) through Blessing Two (Associating with the Wise), Blessing Three (Paying Respect to those worthy of Respect). They are able to accept all the reasoning of these first three Blessings, and are able to follow them in their everyday life. They even find that Blessing Four (Living in an Amenable Location), makes sense in their everyday lives — because in any case they have to choose the location for their home and the place where they go to school, col- lege and university. However, they may have diffi- culty with the claim that the sort of deeds we have done in the past can affect our quality of life and even the quality of society. It is obvious that with with this Blessing we are starting to deal with more subtle phenomena than before. Al. Success and Failure in Life Success and failure might appear on many differ- ent levels — on the level of society, the level of life- style, the level of personality or the level of the mind itself — but basically it comes down to quality of mind on four levels A person blessed with success on the level of the mind will have a quality mind — that is a mind that Blessing Five: Having Done Good Deeds in One's Past 77 EFTA01129179 is stable and unwavering, hard to distract, pure and radiant, spacious and light, adaptable to any sort of task and implicitly happy and peaceful. Those who are less lucky might have a mind that is dull, inert and easily distracted. A person blessed with success on the level of the personality might may find that people believe every word of what they say. Those who are less lucky might find that even if they tell the truth solidly for a month, no-one will believe them. A person blessed with success on the level of the lifestyle might seem to be born smart. Their discre- tion is reliable. Those who are less lucky might have such bad judgement that they become too afraid to make any decisions, always hesitating or provaricating instead — and they miss life's oppor- tunities as a result. Even though they might do their best at work and take painstaking care never to make any error — they may be disliked and dis- criminated against by their boss. A society blessed with success can muster all its human and natural resources to become a world leader. Less lucky countries, even those with edu- cated citizens and abundant natural resources can be reduced to deserts by corruption and civil strife. It. Mg. MARAS BI. "Merit": Definitions and Characteristics This residue of positivity or strength of mind which we have built up for ourselves in their past, is called by the technical team, 'merit'. The Pali word 1/30ifia' from which we derive the word 'merit', can be translated in different ways according to context just like the word 'well' can mean 'healthy or 'prop- erly' depending on the context. Thus, the word puitit Et' has many meanings — it can mean good- ness, purification, cleansing, happiness or full. This spectrum of definitions, tell us not only the charac- teristics of merit, but also something of the func- tion of merit too. The word 'merit' in English Ipufifia] can sometimes be confusing because it makes us think of being honoured or praised or approved of by another person. However, all that is intended in this case is that it is 'deserved'. It oc- curs spontaneously without needing a third party to award it to us. A general definition of merit is: 'the result of doing a good deed'. It has the follow- ing characteristics: 1. It is distilled in the mind as soon as we perform a good deed; 2. Is the agent by which the quality of the mind is improved; 3. It can be accumulated; 4. Merit belongs to the one who performed its origi- nating deed; 5. As we use it, normally it will become exhausted; 6. The amount of merit depends on strength of in- tention, amount of effort and amount of grati- tude and ingratitude of the producing action. 7. Gives effects attracting favourable circumstances at four levels: mind, personality, lifestyle and society. If you are an advanced meditator you can use your meditation to see what merit is like. However, the most that a normal meditator can see of the merit is like its shadow. We see its effects and so deduce that it must be present. We can compare merit to electricity (i.e. something which we cannot see or feel because it is nothing more than a source of power which cannot be observed with the naked eye). Normally, we cannot see electricity, only the effects it causes such as the heat from an iron when electricity is connected, or the electric shock which ensues if one grasps a live wire; it enters a light bulb and gives us the light by which we can read in the evening; it goes into a radiator and brings us warmth; it enters a refrigerator and stops our food from decaying and it enters a motor and makes it to spin. In the same way that we can use electricity without really ever having seen it, most of us have to be able to content with accruing merit without seeing it for ourselves. Merit cannot be observed with the naked eye, nevertheless we have the feel- ing that when we perform a meritorious deed, that the mind is refreshed and loses any sense of irrita- tion or crampedness leaving the mind spacious, light and content. Most people in the world have never seen the real nature of merit itself, and thus have their doubts as to whether doing good deeds 78 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129180 really creates merit or not. However, those with more experience of meditation, who have seen the real nature of the merit for themselves, will see the merit as clearly as others see the rain falling from the heavens. B.2 "In the past": Defined At this point we have to examine the meaning of the merits that we have performed in the past — and this may apply to anything in your past whether it means yesterday or many years ago. In fact our past can be divided into two periods: 1. Our Recent Past: which means the time from which we were born from our mother's womb, and opened our eyes for the first time to look at the world right up to yesterday. 2. Our Distant Past: which means all of our exist- ences and experiences up to the time when we entered the womb in the most recent lifetime. To describe both of these periods of our past in a simpler way we can say that the merit in our recent past is all the good deeds we have done this lifetime since our childhood on- wards. Examples of such good deeds might include helping our parents wash the dishes when we were young. We might have helped with the family business as we became older. Eventually, when we completed our education, and got down to a steady career, we have di- vided our time between earning a living and accruing good deeds for ourselves. All these good deeds right from the time when we were born can be referred to as merit in our recent past. As for the merit in our distant past, this re- fers to the merits that we have accrued in our previous lives, whether it may be last lifetime or a hundred lifetimes ago. B3. Quality of Merit Apart from categorizing merit according towhen it was accrued merit can be categorized according to its quality: mundane merit [lokiyapuft fie] and tran- scendental merit Vokuttarapuiiii al. 1. Mundane merit is the merit that people are gen- erally familiar with — that is to say for people for whose mind is not completely pure at the time they do the good deed. Such merit can run out. When the merit is used up, it will no longer give its benefits —just like a tank full of petrol which has a limited range. 2. Transcendental Merit is the merit that arises in the pure mind. Such merit is steadfast and will never diminish or be exhausted. Thus the purity of the mind also has an important role to play in dictating the quality of the merit we are able to accrue for ourselves. C. ACCRUING MERIT Cl. Three Major ways to Accrue Merit There are Ten Major Ways to Accrue Merit. As mentioned in the preceding sections, merit arises as the result of doing good deeds. Unfortunately, simply knowing that "good" is "meritorious" doesn't explain how to go about doing good deeds. "Goodness" or "merit" can become meaningless and cliched if they are not defined in the context of practice, and for this reason that Buddhism sum- marizes the different ways of practice of good deeds into a collection of ten types of practice in three categories through which merit canbe ac- crued. For the benefit of such people, the three categories of ways to accrue merit [pufiiitikiriyavatthts] are — generosity, keeping the precepts and meditation. 1. Generosity includes merit generated through generosity, merit generated through service, merit generated through the transfer of merit to others and merit generated through rejoicing in the merit of others. 2. Keeping the Precepts includes merit generated through keeping the Precepts. 3. Meditation includes merit generated through meditation, merit generated through humility towards those of high virtue, merit generated through listening to Dhamma sermons, merit generated through giving a discourse on the Dhamma and merit generated through correct- ing our assumptions about the world. Blessing Five: Having Done Good Deeds in One's Past 79 EFTA01129181 C2. Ten Major Ways to accrue merit If you expand these three categories into their ten types of practice we get the following: 1. Generosity: this means merit generated through generosity Ichinarnaya]. Some may wonder why merit can be accrued as the result of giving. Merit arises in the mind as explained above. The mind in its natural state takes the form of a clear sphere of diamond brightness, however, when polluted by defilements, these reduce the sparkling mind to dullness and weakness, lowering the poten- tial of the mind. If a person does something gen- erous, giving away some part of that wealth which is the source of their anxiety, the mind becomes more at ease. Merit arises and this merit lights up the mind for a while. The radiance gradually accrues in the mind. The brightness, or the merit accumulates in the mind as gener- ous deeds are performed regularly. The merit that arises from generosity is generated by two actions of the mind: firstly, the removal of the defilement of greed from the mind — something which immediately upgrades the quality of the mind and of our character too; secondly, as a re- sult of the benefit obtained from the gift by the recipient — the more benefit is obtained by the recipient, especially from a gift that is hard-wear- ing, the more merit will be accrued by the giver.There are many different forms of gener- osity 1. Giving useful material objects to others, whether it is food, clothing, shelter or medi- cine, will generate merit for the giver. The most basic act of generosity is the gift of some- thing that is beneficial to the recipient ruatthudancti. 2. Giving worldly knowledge [vidhayadonci] Merit is also generated if you give the gift of knowledge that is beneficial to the recipient. of benefit to any recipient. Knowledge may be vocational skills — such as how to set one- self up as a tailor. 3. Giving spiritual knowledge [dhammadana] of benefit to the recipient is knowledge of the Dhamma such as the advice contained in this book. 4. Forgiving: There is also a way of giving where you don't have to make any physical effort at all — when you are angry with Mr. A, Mr. B and Mr. C. All of them have at some time or other contributed trouble to your life. Suppose that one day, you decide to put an end to all the anger and forgive them for all the upsets they have caused you in the past — and start afresh. In such a case, as soon as the thought crosses you mind to forgive them, merit will arise in your mind. Even though you haven't expended even the slightest physical effort, you have managed to earn yourself merit though giving 'forgiveness' labhayadarta]. Even giving others a smile instead of a scowl will bring you merit according to the same principle of forgiveness! 2. Humility: This means merit generated through Humility towards those of High Virtue [apacayanamaya]. You may be surprised that even without expending any physical effort, sim- ply possessing the attitude of humility can cause one to accrue merit. The person who, instead of finding fault with others is both humble and re- spectful, has a virtue that will allow him to find the good in each and every person he meets. He will put others' faults to one side. Such humility will lead the owner to accrue merit, because at the very least, they will always see the world in a positive light, allowing them to remain in a pleasant mood the whole day long. If they are perceptive they will have the wisdom to see the virtues in the hearts of others and instil them- selves with those virtues which they see in oth- ers — accruing even greater merit for them- selves. 3. Service: This means merit generated through Service [veyylvaccatnaya]. This is the domain of those who immediately rush to assist others who they see doing good deeds. For example, if they find out that their neighbour is preparing a meal to offer the monks, they will prepare all the seasoning needed for the meal and and give that to the neighbour making the meal. 4. Transfer of Merit: Merit generated through the transfer of merit to others Ipatticlonamaya]. 80 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129182 Whenever someone does a good deed and his mind is full of merit as the result of his good- ness, and he transfers some part of his merit to another person, or to his deceased relatives, these are all counted as ways of generating merit through the transfer of merit. 5. Rejoicing in the Merit of others: Merit generated through rejoicing in the merit of others Ipattanumodanamaya]. This sort of merit is ac- crued by those who, whenever they see that someone else has done a good deed, is pleased for them and rejoices with them in the merit that they have made. Even if they are unable to con- tribute anything more to that person's merit making, by rejoicing with them or congratulat- ing them on doing their good deed, they will earn a part of the merit for themselves too. It is in this connection that you often hear the word 'Sadhu!' in Buddhist circles. 6. Keeping the Precepts: Merit generated through keeping the Precepts [sita]. Keeping the Precepts ensures that we never take advantage of others through our physical or verbal actions — and at the same time we bring no harm to ourselves. You might wonder how keeping the Precepts can possibly give rise to merit. When we abandon all thoughts of taking advantage of others, in their place arises the radiance of merit that has accrued in the mind. This will have the effect of quenching heart-felt troubles. 7. Meditation: This means merit generated through meditation I bhauanamayalMeditation is a way of training the mind to become wiser. There are many different subdivisions to what can be con- sidered as mind training and these include read- ing books on Dhamma, chanting and meditation itself. Meditation has the effect on the mind of causing the arising of radiance and distancing the mind from disturbance by anxiety, limiting its habitual wandering, bringing peace. When- ever the covering of defilements is banished from the mind, especially the defilement of ignorance which usually imprisons the mind in darkness and undermines its true potential, wisdom will arise in the mind as the brightness of merit. 8. Listening to Dhamma Sermons: This means merit generated through listening to Dhamma sermons [dhammassavanamaya]. Listening to Dhamma lectures or sermons on the Dhamma will enhance our wisdom. Before, we might have had only a rudimentary understanding of the real nature of the world, but now as a result of hearing Dhamma Teachings, we know how to tell the difference between good and evil. Such an improvement in the level of our wisdom will result in our accruing merit for ourselves. 9. Giving a discourse on the Dhamma: This means merit generated through giving a Discourse on the Dhamma [dhammadesanamaya] Teaching the Dhamma by giving a sermon will bring merit to the preacher in the following ways: 1. Preaching will rid the mind of reluctance to teach others. Some people are reluctant to share their wealth with others. Others are reluctant to share their knowledge with others. Giving a sermon, instructing others about to lead their lives virtuously, will help to uproot the trait of keeping valuable knowledge to oneself. 2. Preaching helps you to revise the different groups of dhannnas. As you preach, you are able to revise the different groups of dhammas, in- creasing your mastery of them. As you recol- lect those dhammas, you will be inspired by them and this will bring radiance to the mind. Mastery also comes through the necessity to revise from the Dhamma texts, sometimes two to three weeks in advance of actually giving the sermon, in order to obtain a profound understanding of the Dhamma topic in hand before having to teach it to others. 10. Straightening One's Views: This means merit generated through Straightening out one's views: Iditthujukammamayal As the result of listening to a good sermon, the listener will have the discretion to tell good from evil, right from wrong. They will no longer doubt that doing good deeds gives good results or that doing evil will bring bad results. Before long the mind is steadfast in the pursuit of good deeds and in the avoidance of evil. This process is what we mean Blessing Five: Having Done Good Deeds in One's Past 81 EFTA01129183 by correcting our understanding of the world. Once our understanding is proper, then the deeds of mind, speech and body will be good and proper too. The determination will arise in the mind that you will pursue good deeds for evermore—no longer being sidetracked into evil or unproductive ways. Thus if you it hard to remember all ten categories of meritorious deeds, you can summarize them down to three major categories: generosity, keep- ing the Precepts and meditation. D. NUM-LIONS OF MERIT Dl. Level of mind The first benefits that merit will bring when it arises are benefits at the level of the mind. This is one of the most important benefits because there is no need for one to wait for the after-life in order to see the results. Whenever we perform a good or meritori- ous deed, merit will arise immediately. If you do a good deed at night, merit will arise at night. If you do a good deed by day, merit will arise by day. If you do a good deed on an aircraft in mid-air, then the merit will arise in our mind there in mid-air. Wherever you are, if you perform a meritorious deed, the effect will arise in the mind instantane- ously — it doesn't need much expenditure of en- ergy for such merit to arise — even just thinking to do a meritorious deed will cause merit to arise and will put the mind at ease. There is no need to wait a long time in order to see the results at the level of the mind of your meritorious deeds. You don't even need to wait for someone to admire you for doing such a good deed. The results of merit will arise automatically in the mind without you having to do anything more than good deeds — and the ben- efits that arise are as follows: 1. Merit cleanses the mind: When the mind is clean it is ready to pursue even greater degrees of good deeds. In the days before we started accruing merit, we considered that our mind was already pure. However, as soon as we start doing meri- torious deeds, we realize that our mind has be- come purer than we ever expected. Before our mind was as bright as the morning star — but 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. now our mind is even brighter, with the radi- ance of the full moon. No matter how clouded and dull the mind might be beforehand, when merit arises in the mind will clarify the mind just like soap or detergent cleans the dirt out of a cloth leaving it pristine and white. Merit raises the quality of the mind: Merit that arises in the mind helps to filter out defilements which might otherwise operate in the mind. Merit will neutralize such negativity in the mind, not allowing them to affect the spaciousness and lightness or to slow down the operation of the mind —and having filtered the mind in this way, the mind is left ready to serve us in all types of task. The meritorious deeds we do therefore upgrade the quality of our minds. Merit brings us happiness: When the mind is purified and filtered by the arising of merit, it gives rise to radiance and refreshedness of mind which is the precursor of happiness. Such hap- piness is not fleeting, superficial happiness. It is an overflowing of happiness like on the days we make an offering or a donation at the temple and we feel refreshed by the goodness of our action, as if our heart was so big that it filled the whole of our being. Merit will make the mind more stable: Merit will make our mind more stable in the face of the worldly vicissitudes such as being praised or insulted. Merit will make the mind more flexible: The mind will have increased potential for success with the task in hand, whether the task be large or small, gross or refined — whatever the na- ture of the task, the mind made flexible will be ready for all eventualities. Merit will make the mind more radiant: It will increase the potential of the mind to gain insight to overcome all manner of obstacles that arise in the course of performing any task. Merit will increase the potential of the mind: You will begin to notice the difference whenever you apply your mind to any task. You might over- come the tendency to lose your temper easily. The mind that is free from anxiety and 82 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129184 cloudedness, that is spacious and pure and stead- fast will be the mind of the highest potential. 8. Merit will allow better decisions to be taken: Decisions can be made quickly and accurately without hesitation. 9. Merit will allow a more insightful analysis of any situation:Thoughts will be 'on the ball' and a correct analysis of the situation every time.The mind dwells only on subjects that are skilful. You find yourself unable to think over anything po- tentially damaging to your high state of mind. 10.Merit will make your thinking thorough and comprehensive: You will not allow your thought to be dragged down into shoddiness. 11. Merit will help to make your thought both no- ble and deep: Merit will incline your mind to- wards the higher things of life and away from the baser side of life. All of these features illustrate the general benefi- cial effects of merit at the level of the mind. They are effects that take place equally no matter which of the ten ways you use to generate merit. How- ever, the benefits of merit go further than this. They are more than just a feeling in the heart — leading to rebirth in more fortunate realms live to come. D2. Level of Personality This level of the effects of merit is easier to observe than the effects on the mind. As we accrue more and more merit, the general benefits, no matter which way in which we accumulate merit, will spread to the level of our personality and will gradu- ally change it for the better. The changes in our char- acter originate from the changes mentioned above in the quality of the mind. 1. Merit will bring you physical grace: from your complexion to your voice and even your physi- cal proportions — all are attractive and appro- priate to the task of pursuing perfection. 2. Merit will bring knowledge, wisdom and mas- tery: because the illumination whch merit brings will awaken us to the nature of the world as it really is. Anyone who has set their heart on be- ing smart should start by cultivating merit. 3. Merit will help to upgrade our tastes and values: As the mind dwells on matters that are only vir- tuous and leaves aside evil thought, thinking things through thoroughly and in depth, our tastes and values will change in favour of virtue and morality. 4. Merit will develop our character and personality: These changes of attitude and and discretion will express themselves in changes of character and personality. 5. Merit causes our speech to become skilful: skil- ful thought becomes habitual and this causes our speech to be skilful too. 6. Merit causes our behaviour to improve: Good speech has its effect on our physical actions and we find that our behaviour gradually changes for the better. The way that we express ourselves, our deportment when in company, no matter where we mix socially, will be impeccable instead of being vulnerable to all forms of temptation. 7. Merit strengthens our patience: We no longer drool over others' possessions. In the olden days, others might have been suspicious even at the sight of us, worrying about when we were go- ing to rob them of their beloved possessions — but now that there is no more drooling, they can enjoy their wealth in peace. 8. Merit causes us to have more control over our temper: You certainly wouldn't let yourself be drawn into a conflict any more. This is another way in which one's personality changes as the result of upgrading the quality and potential of the mind. 9. Merit improves our personal appearance: Per- sonality includes your personal appearance. Merit accrued will cause our complexion to be soft and radiant—so much more refreshing than before when you weren't interested in merit. 10.Merit will reduce our anxieties: All your mis- givings and bones you had to pick with others, which before used to keep you awake at night, will now be forgiven. D3. Level of Lifestyle Merit will take its effect on our mind and our per immediately whenever we perform a meri- torious deed. At the third level, that of the lifestyle, Blessing Five: Having Done Good Deeds in One's Past 83 EFTA01129185 however, we cannot be sure how quickly the ben- efits will be manifested because our quality of life- time arises as the result of both present and past deeds. The effects of good and bad deeds are mixed together inseparably. When there are so many con- tributing factors, it becomes very complex to deter- mine the exact source of the merit that has given particular benefit in a particular lifetime. It is just the same as looking at a particular cell in our body and not knowing which item of food we ate has nourished that cell. This is part of the reason why we are often hesitant to believe that doing good deeds brings good results or that doing bad deeds brings bad results. Some of the general results of our merit are as follows: 1. Merit will attract success:We will be successful whatever we turn our hand to. 2. Merit will bring us praise: You will be praised (at least by the wise); 3. Merit is like a protective armour: which protects us from dangers and misfortunes like a guard- ian angel. 4. Merit can lead us to attainment allow you to make continuous progress in your meditation. 5. Merit brings us the things that we wish for: Merit acts like a wish-fulfilling gem. Another thing which makes the results of merit dif- ficult to understand at the level of the personality is that apart from the general benefits, there are also differences in the way the outcome of merit mani- fests itself, rather like different 'flavours' associated with the ways by which merit has been perforrned. D.3.1 Examples of Merit Outcomes D.3.1.1 Generosity and Kalyanamittata The benefits that merit brings to different people differs according to the differences the merits they have performed. To take a good example — that of generosity, the likely results of the merits they have done are as follows: 1. Those who make lonely donations without en- couraging their friends will be born rich in fu- ture lives, but won't have many friends. They will have to look hard to find anyone to give them their friendship or even understand them; 2. Those who make donations themselves and encourage others to join them in making merit too will be born rich in future lifetimes and will have plenty of friends; 3. Those who don't make donations, but they encourage their friends to make donations will have plenty of rich friends, but they will be poor themselves. If any of your friends are in need, you will be able to tell them how to solve their problems instantly — but if you are in need you can do nothing to help your- self; 4. Those who don't make donations and don't encourage others to make donations either have a begging bowl waiting for them in their next life. They will have no friends either. D.3.1.2 Long life: Long life versus short life Some people are long-lived because in previous lives they avoided killing or harming animals. Long life is useful because it allows one plenty of time to perform good deeds. D.3.1.3 Illness: Freedom from illness versus sickliness Some people are always in good health. They seem invulnerable to disease and hardly even know their doctor. Again good health is the re- sult of having not been cruel to animals in previ- ous lifetimes. D.3.1.4 Complexion: Radiant versus dull complexion Some people never seem to lose their temper. They seem to be happy the whole of the time. Such people have a radiant complexion. By con- trast, those who are moody and whose faces are always in a frown will have a dull and rough com- plexion like that of a frog, however many lifetimes they are born. Thus if you know yourself to be moody by nature, then try to improve your char- acter as soon as you can — try doing the chant- ing and meditation before you go to bed each day. If you are angry with anybody in particulac, try to find a way to forgive them and spread loving- 84 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129186 kindness towards them. If you are angry with anybody, don't let the anger last overnight. It's bad enough to be angry all day — don't let it last to the next morning. D.3.1.5 Powers Powerful versus powerless Some people are born to rule. Wherever they go others treat them with the utmost respect because in the past they have always been quick to ex- press their congratulations [mudita] whenever they have seen anyone else achieving success andgiven them their support. As for those who are born powerless and cowering, the real reason for this is because of their jealous habits in previ- ous lifetimes. Even if they are born king, they will be king of a mere vassal state or if they are born queen, they will be no more than a secondary consort. If you have the luck to receive a gift it will be second hand! D.3.1.6 Riches: Rich versus poor Some are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Some are born into a wealthy family. Others fami- lies are poor but start to prosper as soon as they are conceived so that by the time they are born, their family is already rich. Others' families are poor but they start to prosper as soon as the baby is born. Such occurrences can only happen to someone who has been generous in his previous lifetimes. Whatever one chooses to do, it will make one rich. By contrast, if one has lived by robbery in previous lifetimes then this lifetime, they will have a begging bowl waiting for them. D.3.1.7 Social Standing: High a low social standing Some people are born with high social standing — such as being born king or a member of the royal family or as member of a house of high standing. By contrast, some are born a beggar's son. They are on the lowest rung of the social lad- der. The Lord Buddha taught that those who are humble and respectful of the virtuous will be born in a family of high social standing. If in this life- time you pay respect of high virtue and listen to their teachings, you will be born in a family of high social standing next lifetime and others will have the chance to pay respect to you. The rea- son why some people are born with low social standing is that they have lacked humility and reverence in their dealings with the virtuous in their previous lifetimes and have been stubborn and unyielding instead. D.3.1.8 Intelligence: Intelligent v.s ignorant Some people are born clever. As soon as they have the chance to study, all it takes is a single lesson and they are able to stand up and teach in the teacher's place. For others, the teacher teaches them the same thing two or three times and still they can make no sense of it. They have to rely on their friends to explain it to them outside les- son time. Even after so much trouble, they have only a superficial grasp of what they have learned. They will have to read through the lesson another ten times if they are to understand it as well as their peers. D.4 Level of Society This is the next level at which merit takes its effect. The result of having done only good deeds all our life together with the good deeds or merit accumu- lated over course of a long time will certainly bring peace, happiness, harmony, justice, progress and prosperity to themselves and the people around them. This happens especially as the result of the collective merit accrued by the majority of people in society. Merit takes its effect instantly at the level of the mind (if we are observant enough to notice it), however the time the effects take to filter suc- cessively though to the levels of personality, life- style and society take proportionally longer. CONSIDERATIONS El. Speed of Merit Taking Effect All we have talked about are basically the princi- pal forces. In fact, as with the dynamics of the karma which we studied in the previous lesson, all are to some extent modified by supplementary factors or concomitants, especially with reference to the speed with which they give their fruits. The degree to which meritorious deeds will give their benefits in our lifestyle depends on four factors which wecall the Four Accomplishments or Catalysts Isama- pattii. Blessing Five: Having Done Good Deeds in One's Past 85 EFTA01129187 The Accomplishments are the factors favourable to the ripening of good karma just like catalysts which facilitate a chemical reaction— there are four of these in all: 1. Catalytic Circumstances Igatisampatti] and means that you are born in favourable circum- stances or amenable surroundings in terms of a place to live, a birthplace or a neighbourhood which will affect us for the better. To give an ex- ample suppose you are born as someone who is not particularly clever, but fortunately for you, you are born amidst catalytic circumstances — born in a prospering community with a good standard of education available to everyone. Thus with the application of a little effort in your studies, you can make up for your lack of innate cleverness with cleverness learned from your surroundings — the clear result of the catalytic circumstances.Those in possession of such circumstancses make it easier for themselves to further their good deeds during their life — and this is one way by which merit is self-catalytic. 2. Catalytic Gift of Wellbeing [upadhisampattil These refer to the characteristics of one's physi- cal and personal makeup that facilitate the aris- ing of good karma. Examples of such "gifts" might be a golden voice which makes everybody want to listen to what you have to say (no mat- ter whether it be good or bad!), a good singing voice (that sounds good even if you cry!), a beau- tiful or handsome physique (which can make you Miss Universe without having to do any- thing more than be born and grow up!) Some- one who is gifted in this way, but who instead of sitting on his laurels, continues to do good deeds all his life will find that good deeds give their results instantly, before their very eyes. 3. Catalytic Timing [kalasampatti] To be at the right place at the right time in the same way that we talked about the era of a world cycle when people are born. In an era where people value virtue manifest themselves right from the time you are born. You will associate with the wise right from your childhood. You need never come under the influence of fools. Throughout your life, no matter whether you are generous, keep the Precepts, meditate or do chanting, you will hear only words of encouragement from the peo- ple around you, making it easy for us to excel at any of these practices. Thus the results of one's meritorious action will be much quicker to see. 4. Catalytic Discretion [payoyasampatti]. To be born with good discretion and more importantly, the moral fibre to keep to one's principles and apply one's discretion to one's lifestyle will fa- cilitate the ripening of good karma. This cata- lyst is centred on the ability to teach yourself to improve in all aspects will make you a born leader never having to wait for others to per- suade you or force you to do beneficial things. Besides being able to discriminate between right and wrong, good and bad you will be able to put your ethics into practice. Such a personal endowment will quicken the speed with which you see the fruits of your meritorious actions at the level of the lifestyle. In conclusion, performing merits will give the frui- tion of good deeds instantly at the level of the mind and the personality. There is no need to waitfor the afterlife for these things. However, at the level of the lifestyle, you may have to wait much longer if you have accrued only a small amount of merit in your past. However, for those who have a lot of merit in their past lives, they will see the fruition of merits very quickly in the present lifetime. Thus those who are still skeptical about whether doing good deeds will really bring benefits to us at the level of our lifestyle, should study the mechanism of catalysts and inhibitors to the fruition of good karma as outlined in this section. .E2. Why is care needed in the study of merit? Merit is difficult to understand because the effects of merit thatwe can see are the result of com- pounded causes. Some of the good luck or good coincidences that we see come from the merit we have stored up for ourselves from long ago. Some of the good luck will come from the acts of merit which we have done recently and which remain in mind. Thus we need to have an understanding of 86 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129188 merit otherwise, looking at the outcomes we might come to the misunderstood conclusion that good deeds don't give rise to merit and might give up too easily. The other aspect is to understand cor- rectly how to do the sort of good deeds that accrue merit otherwise, again, we might come to the con- clusion that our efforts to do good deeds have noth- ing but a disastrous effect on our future. Some people have such a strong conviction in merit that they think that merit and demerit is the only valuable way of evaluating actions in the world. However, such a narrow view can lead to some shortcomings of understanding. To take merit seriously, can inspire you to do good deeds, avoid evil and purify the mind. However, as one of the main characteristics of merit is that it accrues ex- clusively to the doer of a good deed, it tends to make Buddhists disinterested in what the people around them are doing. They may become interested only in their own personal destiny without thinking to try and upgrade the state of society or show con- cern for the destinies of those around them. Thus, the benefit of understanding merit is to make the best of our present to ensure a brightfiture. E3. Overcoming shyness to accrue Merit It is obvious from the examination of our present circumstances that we are living in a time when the circumstances of society are not very catalytic anymore. Because of the difficulty in discerning the fruits of meritorious action, the majority of people in the world today: 1. don't know the importance of merit; 2. know the importance of merit but don't know how to go about accruing it; 3. know how to accrue merit, but because they have not made merit making an implicit part of their lives, they are not particularly motivated to ac- cumulate merit. Some people want to do meritorious deeds, but are too shy. Some people know that it is good to bow down in respect to one's parents, but because they didn't make bowing to their parents part of their everyday life since they were children, by the time they are old enough to realize they are too shy to start something new. The important thing to overcome the shyness we might feel in accruing the merit in our lives is to make it a part of our daily routine so that we don't lose touch with merit or become unfamiliar. In this respect there are three important pieces of advice for the practitioner coined as mottos for those at- tending Wat Phra Dhammakaya: 1. Any morning wizen you have not given alms, you shouldn't allow yourself to take breakfast: You should get up in time to give alms to the monks on their almsround at dawn every day. If there is no monk on almsround you can always col- lect up small donations on a daily basis in a piggy-bank and offer them at the temple the next time you go. If you can manage to achieve this, you will avoid poverty in the long-term. Even if you are not particulary well off in the present lifetime, you can be assured that if you give alms every day, eventually you will put an end to the hardship of financial insecurity. 2. Any day when you don't intend to keep the Pre- cepts you shouldn't dare to leave the house: Once you have taken the precepts, you should revise the intention to keep them every day for the Five Precepts. At the very least you will always be within the protection of the Five Precepts — like an armour of morality. This merit is the second major investment we have to make in our life to ensure our enduring wellbeing. 3. Any evening when you haven't done your chant- ing and meditation, don't dare to go to bed: If you can manage to do your chanting and medi- tation every day, no matter how tired you are, you will be like the warrior who is ever ready for battle, with his sword already sharpened by his side. If you start today and train yourself in all three of these ways, you will be like a soldier ready for bat- tle with strength, a supply of provisions, a suit of armour and a weapon already sharp and ready for battle. However many times you go to war, you will be victorious every time. If you start living a life- style by which you accrue merit today, you will start Blessing Five: Having Done Good Deeds in One's Past 87 EFTA01129189 to get the benefits today. There's no need to wait for next lifetime before starting your good deeds be- cause whether you will have the chance to do good deeds or not in your next life is dictated by the amount of good deeds you do in this lifetime. Thus start doing good deeds today, this very hour, at this very second. In addition to the merit you cultivate as a matter of course in your everyday life, you should look for opportunities to increase your store of merit on special occasions such as offering sanghadana (of- fering a meal to the monastic community), go for a longer meditation retreat, ordain temporarily for the course of the rainy season. Don't go thinking that you already have plenty of merit stored up from your past. You may be wrong. If you really had a lot of merit in your past, you would be able to sit comfortably for the whole of the hour long medita- tion session. If you still feel uncomfortable when you meditate or feel that you have to change pos- ture, that is the sign that you still have room for improvement in the merit you have stored up for yourself. You need to use the precious life of yours to rectify your faults and weaknesses — and the best way to do this is to do as many good deeds as you can. Otherwise the hunger of the mind will go on unabated F. ILLUSTRA1 EX1N1I'LLS Fl. Metaphor: Merit in the Past - Pedigree The nature of the differences is not the same as the pot-bound bonsai of the previous Blessing. It is not caused by the environment— the difference lies within the person himself —it is a personal attribute which differs in strength from one person to an- other. Compare a wild strawberry with a domestic breed of strawberry. You can water and fertilize a wild strawberry all you like, but in the end it will only produce a lot of leaves and a few tiny bitter fruits. By contrast, a domestic strain, even if ne- glected will produce numerous and succulent fruits. The difference is factor which belongs to the plant itself. With plants it is the pedigree, but with peo- ple it is the residue of the behaviours they have built up for themselves in the past — not a reputation because that needs a third party to remember it — it is something they build up inside them whether they have witnesses for their behaviour or not. F2. Metaphor: Merit - Food for the Mind All dynamic things in the world have fuel on which they feed. Fire burns on brushwood. A tree needs food, but the food that nourishes it is sucked up through the roots. The body bums on physical food. To get the food we need for our body we must find ourselves a job or a career. A light bulb bums on electric current. Sometimes the energy is stored up in the object itself at a previous time (like the bulb of a daffodil or a car battery), sometimes the en- ergy is used as it is obtained. All of these things must be provided with the fuel they need or else one day if the energy they have stored is exhausted, they will become useless or even die. All of these objects have their own food or fuel to nourish them, but as meditators, the object we are most interested in is the mind. The mind too, must have a food which can fuel its efficient activity, but what could possibly function as a sort of energy which the mind could store or use? Indeed, the personal residue we are talking about has the special quality of being like food which nourishes the mind—so that the mind can, to itsfull potential attract good opportunities and things on all four levels of success mentioned above. If mind is well fed it has repurcussions for all the other lev- els too — sooner or later. F3. Er. Ski Jataka(J.284) The bodhisattva was once an ascetic and had an elephant trainer as a patron. A stick-gatherer, sleeping at night in the hermitage, heard two roosting cocks abusing each other. In the course of the quarrel, one cock boasted that whoever ate his flesh would be king, his skin commander in chief or chief queen and his bones, royal treas- urer or king's chaplain. The man killed the cock and his wife cooked it, then taking it with them, they went to the river to bathe. They left the meat and rice on the bank, but as they bathed, the pot holding the food was blown into the river. It 88 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129190 floated downstream where it was picked up by the elephant-trainer. The bodhisattva saw every- thing with his divine-eye and visited the trainer at meal-time. There he was offered the meat and divided it, giving the flesh to the trainer, the skin to his wife and keeping the bones to himself. Three days later, the city was beseiged by en- emies. The king asked the trainer to don royal robes and mount the elephant, while he himself fought in the ranks. There the king was killed by an arrow and the trainer, having won the battle, was made king, his wife being queen and the as- cetic his chaplain. The story was told in reference to a brahmin who tried to steal Anithapioclika's good fortune [sing. He perceived that the good fortune was embodied in a white cock for which he begged. Anithapirmlilca gave it to him, but the good fortune left the cock and settled in a jewel. He asked for that also, but the good for- tune went into a club. The club was also asked for, and Anathapioilika giving it, asked the brahmin to take it and be gone. However, the good fortune now settled on Anathapirmlika's wife. The brahmin thereby admitted defeat and confessed his intentions to Anithapirmlika who told the story to the Buddha. Blessing Five: Having Done Good Deeds in One's Past 89 EFTA01129191 90 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129192 Blessing Six: Setting oneself'up properly in life A. INTRODMA ION A1. Place of Blessing Six in the order of things This sixth blessing is the last of the second group- ing of blessings concerned with "turning towards virtue". It builds upon what has gone before with the "nurture" of Blessing Four and the "nature" of Blessing Five —bringing spiritual development to a point where the third grouping "making oneself useful" can start to become meaningful. AZ Objectives of the Sixth Blessing Studying this Blessing can be considered to have fulfilled its true purpose if after reading it, the reader feels: 1. inspired to stand on their own two feet: that is, to promise themselves that this lifetime they will never again lower themselves to relying on any- one else as their refuge — no longer using oth- ers as crutches for their own weaknesses. The people of old used to say 'Even a bird builds its own nest — even a mouse digs its own hole — so who is a man not to stand on his own two feet? It is not fitting always to be leaning on oth- ers, borrowing from them or living in someone else's house. Otherwise one is no better than a sparrow living in the rafters of someone else's house. If you are the sort of person who is not ashamed of being dependent but who is on the other hand proud that there are always others who wants to help them, it will probably be a long time before you realize the reality of the world. It's no problem if you happen to live in your big sister's house, but what happens if one day her husband has a disagreement with you and wants you out of the house? You will find it hard to speak up in your own defense. Even if you have a disagreement with their children or grandchildren or friends, you would never dare to say anything to contradict them because you depend on their parents or grandparents for the roof over our head. You end up being someone who will not even dare to stand up for yourself — therefore, if at all possible, try to avoid de- pending on others — try to be self-sufficient. No matter whether you are male or female, you have to try to be independent. If you are put in the position where you are abused as a dependent, you have no choice but to put up with it. When you have put up with it until such abuse becomes engrained in your mind, you can no longer think of anything meritorious any more. All you can think of is getting your revenge. Better then, to build up your own standard of living by becom- ing self-sufficient in your earnings. 2. inspired never to provaricate about accruing merit henceforth. If after studying this Blessing the reader gains any- thing more in addition to these two advantages, it can be considered as a profit. For anyone to under- stand about the importance of being your own ref- Blessing Six: Setting Oneself up Properly in Life 91 EFTA01129193 uge and to see the value of accruing merit, you need a foundation of experience, and that foundation is specifically one's aim in life. A3. Definition: Setting oneself up properly in life Setting yourself up in the proper way refers to set- ting up both of the inseparable parts of our being — setting up our body and setting up our mind. As the mind governs the setting up of the body, to set ourselves up in life means setting up our mind cor- rectly. Setting up yourself means setting up your mind. If your mind can be properly set up, then the body will follow suit. For example if your mind is overcome with laziness, the body will be overcome by laziness too, lying around in a post-prandial sleaze. If the mind has a clear idea about what it is aiming for in spiritual development, then the body will comply with the mind's ambitions. Thus to set yourself up properly in life, you must set up your mind properly, and that means specifically making up your mind to pursue a pathway of self-perfec- tion. A4. Aim in life helps us set priorities, overcome obstacles Did you ever feel that you would like to achieve more from life but you never seem to have to the time — or you never seem to get round to doing them? Sometimes you have so many great plans in mind, but when you come round to doing them, there is always something else to help others with. There is always something else more urgent or seemingly more important? Do you find yourself exhausted at the end of the day with no strength left to do your meditation? All of us know that meditation makes a significant difference to the quality of our minds, but even though we know it, it is sometimes difficult to find the time to meditate each day. Part of the reason for this is that our priorities and aims in life are not clear. Sometimes there are urgent things in life which are urgent but not im- portant, like a ringing telephone or interruptions and they can upset the whole pace of our lives. They can be the things that make us unable to organize our time as we would like to. Sometimes these in- terruptions are really unavoidable, but usually, it is because we give them too much importance and put them too high on our list of priorities that they rob us of our time — the reason in turn, why we are unable to set our priorities as we mean to, is because we lack a clear perspective of our own pri- orities. With meditation, we are dealing with a prac- tice and a tradition, which has lifelong conse- quences for us. Therefore, for the practice of medi- tation and for the setting of complimentary priori- ties in life, we cannot afford to overlook a clear per- spective of our own lives. We call such an overview our 'aim in life'. If as meditators, we have a dear aim in life, as intelligent human beings, we will be able to use our wisdom to lead our own lives ac- cording to our principles. If we have no principles and no direction, more often than not, instead of leading our lives, our lives tend to lead us! A.5. Everyone has an aim in life Life seems to vary in its perceived value fromperson to person. Some people have had the ambition since primary school to become a millionaire. Some have always wanted to become primeminister. Some want to be a soccer champion. Aim in life seems to be different for different people, however, if you look at the deeper nature of all people, ultimately all people aim improve themselves. Some people want to improve themselves to the utmost by puri- fying their mind within the space of their lifetime to a point where they can enter upon Nirvana. Oth- ers might not be in so much of a hurry — but it doesn't mean that their spiritual path will not pass the same way some day. A6. Virtues for creating purpose in everyday life Anyone who wishes to create and maintain focus and purpose in their life needs to train themselves in the following five virtues called 'core virtues' Isaradhamma] by the Lord Buddha: 2. Faith or Confidence IsaddhaI: This means be- lieving in the appropriate things. It means train- ing yourself to be reasonable — not to be gulli- ble. The difference between being faithful and being gullible is that the latter has no reason for their confidence. Thus wisdom is always an im- 92 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129194 portant component of faith. From the Buddhist point of view, the basis of faith is: 1. the existence of the Buddha 2. the working of the Law of Karma — that do- ing good deeds really gives rise to good re- sults (with the proviso of doing those good deeds properly, sufficiently and not in excess) 3. that the result of one's good or bad karma will follow one until it gives its retribution. 2. The Precepts [silo]: You must keep the minimum of Five Precepts (for more explanation see Blessing Nine). 3. Having heard much IbahusutaJ: be specific, this means being diligent in the acquisition of knowl- edge both spiritual and worldly by listening to many teachings. 4. Being a person of self-sacrifice icago]: This means being able to sacrifice and let go both of material possessions (given to others) and also to let go of our grudges and bad temper by for- giving others 5. Training Oneself in Meditation IsamadhiJ: We need to train ourselves in meditation if we are to have any chance of attaining wisdom. Wisdom is the most essential element in having a well- planned aim in life and being able to keep our- selves to it. If the mind is trained in meditation it will have the determination to remain un- scathed in the face of temptations to "lower our sights" and settle for less ambitious aims in life. B. I HMI; LEVELS OF AIM IN LIFE 1. Exclusively Materialistic Aim In Life: Every- body comes into the world with nothing, but everyone has the same basic needs for survival whether it be the food on their plates, the clothes on their backs, the roof over their head or the medicine they need to keep them healthy in times of illness. If any one of these things are lacking from people's lives, they cannot survive. Man can only go for a single day without water. He can only go for seven days without food. Thus it is only natural that the very least that people should aim for in their lives is to fulfill these ba- sic physical needs. If their aim in life is any lower that this they cannot survive. Of course some people want more that this. Some people are not satisfied with the basics of survival. They want to be millionaires, they want luxury, they want the freedom in life to choose what they buy. In fact however much you want, whether it is just to fulfill their physical needs or to satisfy their physical wants, their aim in life is only quite short term. It is based on immediate rewards. They think of no further requirement of life beyond death. In their youth they seek experience, in their middle age they amass wealth. Towards the end of their lives they try to find an heir for their wealth. Thus we call such aims in life "earthly" because they extend no further than this world and this existence. Those who entertain only such an aim in life will usually (but not always — some people cut corners) want to earn their liv- ing in an honest way, by earning, saving, using their earnings in a responsible way and entrust- ing honest people to look after common wealth. 2. Spiritual/Material Aim In Life: At the same time in the world, there are those who recognize that they must fulfill the physical needs of the body, but their aim in life runs deeper than that. They recognize that they need to earn their living, but earning that living is only a means to an end. They recognize that there exists not only a physi- cal hunger, but the hunger of the spirit or the mind too. They realize that if the mind is left hungry it will tempt them to do things they don't want them to do. They need to find time in their lives to reach for a higher spiritual dimension. 3. Exclusively Spiritual Aim In Life: Last of all in the world there are those who realize the hun- ger of the body and the mind — the body for physical needs and the mind in its hunger for a higher spiritual dimension to life. For such a group of people the sensitivity towards the hun- ger in the mind is so great that they find that they have the vocation to deal with source of the hunger at its root. So great is the intensity of their calling that they will see the need to devote them- selves full time to the pursuit of spirituality. To purify themselves completely so that hunger may be completely extinguished. They have the Blessing Six: Setting Oneself up Properly in Life 93 EFTA01129195 time to devote to spiritual study without having to compromise their time in order to earn a liv- ing. They will spend their time learning the spir- itual way and teaching it to the best of their abil- ity so intensively that the life of the householder and the family no longer holds any attraction for them. We call such an aim in life ultimate be- cause is seeks to come to an end of all further suffering and to help others to do the same. Bl. Exclusively Materialistic Setting yourself up in a proper way for those with an exdu- sively materialistic aim in life consists of two components: 1. avoiding evil 2. standing on your own two feet The Buddha's short teaching of the way to set your- self up in the proper way is probably too short for the reader to know how to practice it so we have to expand a little further on the subject matter B1.1 Avoiding Evil Avoiding evil means specifically to avoid the six 'roads to ruin' rapayamuklictj. We must avoid them in or- der to avoid falling into any of the unfortunate realms in future existences. 'Ruin' Iapayal here means 'low- down', 'dirty', 'decaying' and 'lacking prosperity. The word 'road' [mukha] means 'path', 'front' or 'face'. There are six different types of 'roads to ruin': 1. Drinking alcohol or taking intoxicating drugs: like opium or heroin; 2. Nightlife: such as frequenting brothels; 3. Frequenting shows: that have content that is romantic or frivolous; 4. Gambling: and lotteries 5. Associating with evil companions 6. Being too lazy to work We will not go into further detail of these'roads to ruin' here. In some places only four 'roads to ruin' are referred to instead of six as mentioned already in Blessing One (§E.3) as the sort of thing that fools like to persuade you to do. B1.2 Standing on you own two feet In the time of the Buddha, there was someone who asked the way to set himself up in life. The four practices he taught are sometimes called the four chambers of the millionaire's heart. They are the prerequisite virtues for accruing benefit in the present life (in Pali the ditthadhammikattha- payojana). For revision take a look back at Bless- ing Two (§C4.1). In conclusion, anyone who is dili- gent in acquisition of wealth, in stewardship of their earnings, who associates only with good friends and who uses their earnings to support themselves in a modest way will before long achieve riches. All of this hard work will only be of benefit to us in the present lifetime however. If you also want ben- efits in future lifetime, you need to know how to accrue merit too. B2. Material/Spirituablim Setting yourself up in a proper way for those with a spiritual/material aim in life consists of three com- ponents: 1. avoiding evil 2. standing on your own two feet 3. cultivating virtuous speech and action Avoiding evil and standing on your own two feet are the same as for those with the exclusively ma- terialistic aim in life. However, on this level we have the addition of virtuous speech and action. This means immersing our mind fully in meritorious speech and action. The way this is achieved is to practice the Ten or the Three Major Ways to Accrue Merit Ipufifialariyavatthu] already discussed in Blessing Five (§C2). The guiding principles for ac- cruing merit are the prerequisite virtues to accru- ing benefit in future lives Isampayikattha- payojanct]. For revision take a look back at Bless- ing Two (§C4.2) and Blessing Four (§B4.6). B2.1 Warnings about prevarication On the subject of setting oneself up in life, there are several common misconceptions which you ought to avoid: 1. Don't wait until you are old before getting spir- itual: You should devote yourself to spiritual practice starting from the time when you are still young and healthy. In fact even to start temple- going from the time you are twenty is still too late. If you start temple-going from the age of 94 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129196 five or six, like RAhula in the time of the Bud- dha, it is your advantage. You should start study- ing the spiritual side of yourself early in life so that you don't make grave moral errors. How many of us spend many years drinking alcohol and damaging our minds before we realize what we are doing to ourselves? You can bypass the problem completely if you attend the temple from your youth. 2. Don't prevaricate about setting yourself up in life: You should work hard to make yourself self- sufficient in life at the earliest possible opportu- nity — anyone who is still a parasite living in someone else's house should be quick to make yourself independent. 3. Don't prevaricate about paying off your debts: Don't let your debts be something you carry with you to your next life! The interest on loans that span into the afterlife are too high to be worth risking slow repayment. Thus pay off your debts and make sure that you don't put yourself in debt any more. You should build up your own finan- cial reserves before making an investment, not rely on borrowing from others or from the bank. If you die before you have paid back your loan, next lifetime you will have that debt hanging round your neck like a dead albatross. Suppose you borrow a dollar but die before you can pay it back — supposing you are an angel for a thou- sand years — just think what the compound in- terest will add up to during that time! You might never manage to pay it back. 4. Don't prevaricate about improving on your bad habits: If you know anything about yourself is a bad habit, give up doing it immediately. Check your own behaviour as a regular part of your practice and improve on yourself instead of wast- ing time finding fault with others. 5. Be careful of bad deeds in the guise of good ones: When you have done a good deed, don't go wish- ing for things that are irresponsible. B3. Exclusively spiritual Even the Bodhisattva himself needed an aim in life when pursuing perfections in preparation for Bud- dhahood. Thus it comes as no surprise that on the exclusively spiritual level of aim in life, it is still important to have an aim in life, in order to waste no time in pursuing the goal of purifying the mind to a point where it can enter upon Nirvana. On this level, even material convenience is sacrificed in or- der fully to cultivate spiritual development. B3.1 Human Realm as the crossroads of existence The clearer one's aim in life, the more clearly one will understand the preciousness of human life — and that we cannot afford to waste a moment. Even if you look around your house, of which you pride yourself as being the owner, if you count the number of fleas, mosquitos, ants and mice, you will realize that you are in the minority — even though it's your house! This is intended to give you an ink- ling of how rare it is to be born human and what a precious opportunity our human lifespan is in forg- ing our destiny. In our human company there are basically four sorts of pathway of human destiny forged during a lifespan (AXLES): 1. Out of the darkness into the darkness: Born with all the disadvantages of nature and nurture, they did what came naturally and made a worse mess out of their lives; 2. Out of the darkness into the light: In spite of ample disadvantages of nature and nurture, they struggled against hardship until being able to make some sort of success out of their lives; 3. Out of the light into the darkness: In spite of all the advantages of nature and nurture, they be- came complacent and made a mess out of their lives. 4. Out of the light into the light: Avoiding the trap of complacency, they built on the advantages of nature and nurture they brought into the world, storing up a yet brighter future for themselves. The human realm is like a crossroads where des- tiny can be transformed for the better or for the worse. For sure, transforming one's destiny for the better means going against the tide. Spiritual culti- vation is often hard in the beginning, but pays off in the long-term — something that may not be im- mediately obvious to someone who sees everything Blessing Six: Setting Oneself up Properly in Lift 95 EFTA01129197 in the short-term. Therefore a proper aim in life is vital for anyone navigating the human crossroads who wants to make a success in forging a brighter destiny. B3.2 Prerequisites for fulfilling the Highest Aim in Life In a Buddhist context, fulfilment of Highest Aim in Life, the fruition of all levels of cultivation is to purify the mind completely or to enter upon Nir- vana. In order to fulfil this goal six conditions must be fulfilled— without these six prerequisites, all our effort in setting an aim in life will be in vain. These six prerequisites are: 1. You have to have been born in an amenable loca- tion i.e. Blessing Four 2. You must have done good deeds until used to them i.e. Blessing Five 4 - 6. The Four Accomplishments already met as catalysts determining the speed with which merit can take its effect as described in Blessing Five These six factors go together as a set of conditions known as the Six Catalysts or Accomplishments: 1. Catalytic Circumstances Igatisanzapati] 2. Catalytic Timing Ikalasampattil 3. Catalytic Location Ipadesasampattil 4. Catalytic Family [kulasampatti] 5. Catalytic State of Well-being [upaclhisampatti] 6. Catalytic View [ditthisampata] If you find that you are hampered in setting your- self up in life in the way you would wish, perhaps you have to consolidate Blessing Four and Bless- ing Five to contribute sufficient Accomplishments to your spiritual quest to give you the 'escape ve- locity' you need to forge your destiny to the full! C. ILLUS1 HA LIVE EXAMPLES C.1 Metaphor: Boat must have a rudder If the ship that must struggle to make way in the ocean waves is to reach the far shore, its cap- tain must have a clear destination in mind and keep the ship firmly on course, not allowing the ship to drift — no less important is an aim in life to those wishing to achieve success and profit in their lives. C.2 Metaphor: The one-eyed sea turtle (S. v.455) The Lord Buddha taught that the birth of some- one as a human is as rare as the chance of a blind turtle in the ocean which surfaces for air once a century popping its head through the middle of the only flower garland which happens to be floating in the sea. The chance of a being which is a denizen of hell, an animal, a ghost or a de- mon attaining human birth is even slighter still.Therefore having obtained yourself a hu- man birth make sure you make the best of your life. C.3 Metaphor: Saving for the Future Just as a wise merchant must keep aside someof his money for investment in the future, the wise man must keep aside some of his time for the practices that will allow him to renew his merit for future lifetimes. Just as the wise farmer keeps aside some of his rice crop for next year's sow- ing, the wise man will take the opportunity while his old merit is still giving its fruit, to ac- crue new merit for use in future existences. C.4 Ex.: The Retribution of Kapila Bhikkhu DhA.iv.37ff. In the time of the Lord Buddha named Kassapa, there was a gang of five hundred thieves who were bringing misery to the whole of the king- dom. The householders, together with the po- lice and the army thus hunted down the gang and when the thieves saw that they could no longer defend themselves, they escaped into the forest. The vengeful householders did not give up chase and so the thieves went deeper and deeper into the forest until they came to a clear- ing in the heart of the forest. There they met a monk, and seeing the monk, they started to see the error of their ways. They were receptive to what the monk had to say, and the monk taught them that they must keep the Precepts even if it cost them their lives. In any case, if they were to be caught, no-one would spare their lives be- 96 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129198 cause they had already murdered so many peo- ple. The thieves took the Five Precepts and didn't try to escape any more. They concentrated all their attention on keeping the Precepts pure. They would not hurt even a mosquito or a leech. Even if the soldiers were to catch up with them and attack them with swords and knives, they swore not to put up a fight. Before long, the soldiers discovered the thieves and attacked. The thieves kept their word and put up no resistance — they were so devoted to keeping their Precepts pure. All five hundred thieves were executed, but through the power of keeping the Precepts to the degree they would sacrifice their lives, their bad deeds didn't have the chance to catch up with them. They were born instantly as angels. The evil of their past did not disappear, however, but was waiting for the opportunity to give its retribution. When they were reborn from the celestial world into the human realm, the influence of the killing they had done in the past still affected them. All five hundred were born as fishermen in the same village. However, even though their livelihood was to kill fish, through the power of their good deeds in the past, they all still had faith in Buddhism. Even so, the fishermen con- tinued to collect demerit as a result of their ha- bitual killing. One day a group of fishermen caught a giant, golden-coloured fish — as big as a boat. No-one had ever seen such a fish in their lives. They cap- tured the fish and took it to offer to King Pasenadi of Kosala — who in turn took the fish to the Buddha. As soon as the fish opened its mouth, a foul smell spread all around the Jetavana monastery. The king then asked the Buddha why such a beautiful fish should have such a foul smell. The Enlightened One then revealed that in one of his past existences, the fish had been a learned bhikkhu named Kapila during the time of Kassapa Buddha. Because of his deep knowl- edge of the Dhamma, he had gained much fame and honour. He also became very conceited and looked down upon the other bhikkhus. When the other bhikkhus pointed out to him what was proper or not proper, he invariably retorted, 'How much do you know?' implying that he knew much more than those bhikkhus. In the course of time, most of the bhikkhus avoided him. On one occasion,the bhikkhus did not join him when he was reciting the Fundamental Precepts for the bhikkhus (i.e., the Patimokkha). Observ- ing that the bhikkhus remained silent, Kapila said, 'There is no such thing as Sutta, Abhidhamma or Vinaya. It makes no difference whether you listen to the Pitimokkha or not' and left the congregation. He had taught the Dhamma to others in a way that was biased in the monk's self interest — in a way that made his teaching deviate from the truth. His misrep- resentation of the Dhamma was thus perpetu- ated amongst his followers. There were many others including his teacher and arahants who had warned that monk of the danger of his misrepresentation of the Dhamma — however he would not listen. He insulted them in return for their advice. As a result he developed False View and when he passed away, these False Views dragged him down into the Unfortunate Realms for a long time. Only then could he be born as a fish. The Precepts of a monk gave their fruit as the beautiful golden appearance of the fish but the retribution from insulting arahants and his teacher gave him his stinking mouth. Hearing the previous karma of the fish, the five-hundred fishermen considered all the evil deeds they had done as a result of their livelihood since their youth. They realized that their time in hell would certainly be no less than the fate of the fish they had caught — so they decided collectively all to become monks and to devote themselves to Dhamma practice. From the power of having sacrificed their lives for their Precepts in a previous existence — i.e. having set themselves up properly in life — be- fore long they could all become arahants and were no longer subject to the retribution of the evil karma of their past. Blessing Six: Setting Oneself up Properly in Life 97 EFTA01129199 C.5 Ex. Akkosaka Bharadvaja Vatthu DhA.iv.16111. In the time of the Buddha there was a Brahmin couple. The husband called Bharadavitja was very strict in his Brahmin observances. He had never shown any interest in Buddhism. By con- trast, his wife was a person with no further doubt in Buddhism because she had heard one of the teaching of the Buddha and had become enlightened as a stream-enterer as the result. One day the husband wanted to hold a feast for all the most high standing Brahmins — wor- shipped as 'arahants' in their religion. Thus the husband and wife started their elaborate prepa- rations for the feast, but when it came close to the 'big day', because it was the habit of the wife always to exclaim 'Buddhor whenever some- thing surprised her, her husband appealed to her on the day of the feast not to mention anything about Buddhism or to say anything in praise of the Triple Gem. The wife said, "My mind is uni- fied with the Dhamma, therefore whatever I say will also be Dhamma — there is nothing you can do to stop my mind from being that way!" "And what about if I take a sword and cut you into small pieces — will that help you to edu- cate your mind?" "Even if you were to make mincemeat of me," said the wife, "I could not help myself from hav- ing the Dhamma as my refuge!" The husband didn't know what more to say — so they got on with the work of providing the feast. Everything went well until the wife slipped over on a pile of spilled rice. She ex- claimed, "Namo tassabhagavato arahato samma sambuddh-assa!" Everyone present heard the wife's exclama- tion. The assembled Brahmins were angered by what they heard. When they had received the invitation, they understood that the wife had re- spect for them. Now they had found out that she respected not them but the Buddha. They were specially angry because they were opposed to everything the Buddha did. Those who had fin- ished their meal immediately stood up and shouted insults at the couple. Those who had not finished eating overturned every plate of food on the table. They stamped their feet and walked out on the couple. The husband was so angry he didn't know what to say. He couldn't do anything to punish his wife — so he thought to take out his anger on his wife's teacher — the Buddha himself. He buckled on his sword and turned in the direc- tion of Jetavana monastery with the intention to put an end to the Buddha and his teachings. The husband walked straight up to the Buddha with- out paying respect and in his anger shouted the rhetorical question at the Buddha, "Do you know what a man has to kill in order to get a good night's sleep...?" The Brahmin thought that putting an end to the Buddha was the only way he could save face and sleep soundly that night. Without waiting for an answer, the Brahmin continued, "... and what a man has to kill to cure his sorrow? ...". And still without waiting for an answer, the Brahmin asked the Buddha, ". . . and so what form of killing would you support?" The Buddha knew what was on the mind of the Brahmin and coolly answered the first ques- tion with the words, "A man must kill his anger in order to get a good night's sleep. If you don't kill your anger, you will do things that you re- gret later, being put in prison or punished — but if you kill your anger, you don't need to undergo the sorrowful consequences of your angry deeds. The Noble Ones praise the killing of an- ger — whose root is poison and whose crown is sweet." When the Buddha said that the root of anger is poisonous, he meant that anger has suffering as its result. When he said that the crown is sweet, he meant that we get a strange, twisted satisfaction out of expressing our anger to oth- ers or losing our temper. After hearing only these few words, Bhirradavitja was impressed. He was impressed that the Buddha was not angry in response to his anger. He had prepared his sword to chop the Buddha to pieces at the first unwelcome 98 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129200 word, but instead of hearing anything to irritate him further, the Brahmin had been impressed by every one of the Buddha's reasoning. He threw away his sword and invited the Buddha to teach him further. In the end, he was moti- vated to practise the Dhamma further and ended up ordaining as a monk. Killing your anger is one way of setting your- self up in life. To ordain as the result of a teach- ing is to set yourself up in faith, in the Precepts, in Wisdom or in Meditation. It was in this in- tense way that Bhirradavaja set himself up in life, and before long could practice until attain- ing arahantship Blessing Six: Setting Oneself up Properly in Life 99 EFTA01129201 100 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129202 The Third Group of Blessings "Setting Oneself up in Life" The third group of the blessings of life is often referred to as "mak- ing yourself useful". This doesn't just refer to making oneself a citi- zen who can contribute something positive to society, it means be- ing able to be of independent means — to earn one's own living without having to rely on outsiders for help. The principle of "be- ing a refuge to yourself" is one very important to Buddhism — not just a virtue to oneself in spiritual ways but in worldly ways as well. Not burdening oneself on society is seen not only as the basis of self-confidence, but also as a positive virtue to be encouraged. Earning one's living requires both knowledge and skills (found in Blessings Seven and Eight respectively) but as usual to earn one's living in an unscrupulous way to the detriment of others is not ac- ceptable. Sociable application of our knowledge and skills is taught in action and word respectively in Blessings Nine and Ten respec- tively to make sure that we don't make ourselves self-sufficient at society's expense. This foundation of lack of worry concerning one's daily bread will serve as a foundation for a harmonious family life and public works to be found in subsequent Groups of the Bless- ings. All of the previous six Blessings we have studied, have con- cerned the adjustment of our quality of mind. The first few Bless- ings have concerned protecting our mind from damage and find- ing the most basic virtue of discretion with which to instil the mind. In the sixth blessing we already set our sights on the aim in life we require — now in the third grouping we start to walk toward that goal. EFTA01129203 TABLE 7.1 COMPARISON OF QUALITIES FOR THE LEARNED & THE WISE The Learned The Wise much knowledge maybe not much knowledge maybe not much virtue much virtue maybe do not apply knowledge to do good deeds use what knowledge they have to do good deeds must have good memory not necessary to have good memory must be educated irrespective of literacy or education no guarantee that they will not will not make a mess of his life make a mess out of their life 102 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129204 Blessing Seven: Artfulness in Knowledge A. INTRODUCTION In fact the subject matter of the seventh Blessing also concerns our mind but it deals with the way we can find knowledge to instil in the mind. Knowledge has many implications both for our own life and for the quality of life in society. With- out worldly knowledge we could not set ourselves up in life by earning our own living. Without spir- itual knowledge, we would leave the thirst of the unanswered spiritual questions in life unquen- ched. For society, knowledgeable people contribute to the quality and standard of living in general. If students are demotivated or inefficient in their ef- forts to study, the repurcussions can bring dam- age to the whole educational sector and the youth in particular. Incidence of gang-fighting between schools, student drug-addiction and 'hanging out' on the street in search of trouble are all signs of social problems originating in an incapacity to study properly. Even the depreciation of the credability of the teaching profession has some- thing to do with an inability to inspire children to enjoy learning. The problem is not entirely to be blamed on schools however— as we have seen in preceding blessings, a negative parental role model or a bad home environment can damage a child's character so severely, even before starting school — to an extent that the best of teachers can do nothing to rectify the situation. A.1 Problems & risks facing students in general The ideal student is someone who never tires of learning new things either about worldly or spir- itual matters. It is not enough just to be curious — to learn in depth, a student needs to have a real respect for the knowledge they are learning. The reality of student life is that there are many things to interfere with the students' enthusiasm to learn. The student's disillusionment can be sum- marized into three different groups: loss of sense of responsibility towards their own sense of hu- man dignity; loss of sense of responsibility towards the sense human dignity of others, and; loss of sense of responsibility towards a fair economy: 1. Loss of responsibility towards own sense of hu- man dignity may lead to: I. Early Signs of False View: Not bothering to keep the Five Precepts, ignorance of the Five Precepts or even going so far as to protest against the keeping of the Five Precepts — as a result of the example or persuasion of teachers; 2. Expression of the Defilements of Action: Taking the lives or being cruel to people or animals, stealing, committing adultery or sexual in- tercourse outside marriage and telling lies. 3. Loss of 'aim in life': leading to a general lack of motivation to study or develop oneself and consequent lack of preparation to learn new skills, fit into society or work for a living. Blessing Seven: Artfulness in Knowledge 103 EFTA01129205 2. Loss of responsibility towards the sense of hu- man dignity of others: if teachers or lecturers fail to inspire the students by their example of ethi- cal living, students will have no feeling of respon- sibility towards the human dignity of others or of society in general. Consequently they may: 1. Profit from natural resources at the expense of the environment: if the students are only interested in the short-term gains of a particular item of knowledge, but fail to consider or be taught about the long-term consequences (e.g They may pull up trees to facilitate access by prof- itable farm machinery, but in so doing cause erosion of the top soil) 2. Always put the blame on others: This is a very basic form of bias often arising as a result of never having been praised by their teacher or lecturer. Never having seen their teacher praise the good points of others, they assume that picking on others' faults is normal and they are the only infallible person in the world. 3. Persuades friends to be delinquent: For the con- venience of keeping company with those of similar habits as themselves, disillusioned stu- dents persuade their friends to participate in various forms of delinquent behaviour such as truancy or "doing drugs". 3. Loss of responsibility towards the sense of eco- nomicfairness: If teachers fail to instil self-disci- pline in their students, the students will have no sense of responsibility towards a fair economy, specifically by: 1. Unwholesome Livelihood: like selling drugs, petty theft, telephone prostitution or gam- bling; 2. Addiction to the Six 'Roads to Ruin'; 3. Worshipping Money: When money becomes the most important thing, it is unlikely that a per- son will have any concern for the state of their family, of the nation or the religion. It is like the aphorism often heard on the lips of mod- em youth that "ideals don't keep the wolf from the door". A.2 Definition: Artfulness in Knowledge The word lbaliftsuta' in the Pali means literally 'one who has heard much'. It refers to being learned by having heard much both in spiritual and worldly ways. A lbahEsEtat is someone who is: "artful in knowledge" — choosing to study only the things appropriate for study — being a person learned in those subjects and observant — personal qualities that lie at the trailhead of the path to wisdom. Such knowledge allows one to be independent in earning one's living and will be the key which unlocks the door to worldly success. 13. Me Nature of Knowledge B.1 The Three Levels of Knowledge If we want to identify the features of learning that will give rise to wisdom we have to distinguish wisdom from other sorts of knowledge. All sorts of knowledge help to illuminate the mind. When we don't understand something it is as if we are left in the dark about that thing. When we understand something it is as if light has been thrown on that matter. Knowledge in its most basic form, like the ability to do arithmetic or knowing where to catch the bus sometimes will feel as if it creates some il- lumination in the mind but it is just a feeling — because such an ability is restricted to the higher sort of knowledge we call "wisdom". In all we can differentiate three levels of knowledge: 1. Theoretical knowledge Isutamaya-pailfia] The most basic sort of knowledge arises via the five senses, that is through the things we see with our eyes, hear with our ears, smell with our nose, taste with our tongue or feel by our sense of touch. You could call this sort of knowledge raw data. Touching fire tells us that it is hot. A child might want to know what fire is like. Their mother tells them not to touch it because it is hot and will burn them. The child will not believe their mother so easily. The mother might tell them not to touch it twice, but on the third time she will have to give in to the child's curiosity and let him touch the flame so that the child will know for next time that heat goes together with 104 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129206 brightness. This sort of knowledge also includes the knowledge we receive by listening to infor- mation and what you can remember from what you have heard in lectures and read from text- books. If you have never had the chance to ap- ply the knowledge that you have learned then it may still be of limited use; 2. Hands-on Knowledge icintanzayapaihia]: The second sort of knowledge which is slightly more advanced is hands-on knowledge, the knowl- edge that has been reflected on, tested and ap- plied. However, even if you are the world's best professor, your knowledge will not exceed this level. With this sort of knowledge you are like someone stands on the water's edge and sees ripples on the surface of the water. From knowl- edge or experience they would be able to assume that the ripples are caused by fish under the sur- face of the water. Whether the fish are large or small or whether there are shrimps or crabs or shellfish moving under the water, you could probably notice from the size of the ripples. But because you cannot see the fish directly you are able only to make an educated guess; 3. Insight lbhavanamayapafifia]: A third and higher sort of knowledge is insight into deeper truths or more challenging truths. However if we study meditation further we will discover that even finding the solutions to simple prob- lems in this way is actually causing there to be illumination arising in the mind. The character- istics of wisdom when it arises in the mind: 1. It will give rise to brightness in the mind. Wis- dom is the light which will chase away the darkness of ignorance. This is not just a meta- phor for the knowledge but when we train ourselves further in meditation, we will see that brightness really is the operant feature of wisdom. The illumination of the more ad- vanced sorts of knowledge is so bright that is is like compressing the brightness of a hun- dred suns into a single spot. It is by virtue of such brightness that we can identify and up- root the defilements usually hidden in the mind. For those who are new to meditation, the brightness is not yet continuous and is dim like a glowworm. Such brightness is not yet sufficient to identify defilements, but it is a good start; 2. It allows us to transcend defilements: When wisdom arises, it allows us to transcend de- filements previously active in the mind. Prob- lems which used to exist will be overcome once and for all. Evil in the mind is uprooted. It allows us to probe deeper into problems and cut off problems at their roots. It allows us to overcome our own faults and weaknesses. It allows us to change our bad habits. Such knowledge is able to overcome suffering and to change our own habits. It allows us to get to the root of problems. Such knowledge can actually kill negativity in the mind once and for all. Such knowledge no longer comes via the five senses but will come instead directly via the mind that is still. It is not knowledge that comes from thinking. It is knowledge that arises in the still mind together with bright- ness. It is a sort of knowledge we sometimes call wisdom or insight. If we go back to the scenario with the man standing on the edge of the water, where through conventional knowledge the man could do no better than make an educated guess, if we were to use insight to assess the same situation, it would be as if the water was clear and the man could see the fish, the crabs, the shrimps or the shell- fish without having to think about it. The ability to harness the knowledge that arises from the still mind is an ability for which you have to train in meditation. B.2 Contrast between the Learned and the Wise There are several important differences between the learned who know only the theory of how to do good deeds (but may not practice it) and the wise who may not know much but use everything they know to boost their opportunity to do good deeds. Unfortunately, knowledge in the hands of a fool (or even a learned person) can be a dangerous thing. If your only knowledge is academic knowledge, no matter how clever you might be, there is always a Blessing Seven: Artfulness in Knowledge 105 EFTA01129207 risk of making a mess of your life. For example, if you have a knowledge of nuclear physics, you can use it for peaceful applications as an energy source — on the other hand you can use your knowledge to produce atomic bombs and the resulting holo- caust towards human life. Thus ethical considera- tions need to go hand in hand with our academic knowledge, like a guiding light to give us clarity as to whether the application of our knowledge is good or bad, appropriate or inappropriate. Those who are intented only in academic learn- ing, no matter how clever, rich or powerful they may be, can never manage to make themselves en- dearing or worthy of the respect of others and in the end they cannot make a success out of their lives. C. THE NATURE OF THE SI UDENT C. I Sense of Responsibility for own Human Dignity In order for a student to protect their own sense of human dignity, they must refrain from the Four De- filements of Action: 1. taking the lives or being cruel to people or ani- mals; 2. stealing; 3. committing adultery or have sexual inter- course outside marriage; 4. telling lies. Also concerning a person's responsibility to their own sense of human dignity, a person should: • avoid sentimentality about learning: those who are not strong-minded in their pursuit of learn- ing will not manage to succeed in becoming learned; • avoid obsession with appearances: if you want to try to be a learned person in the future — you should model yourself on the stereotype of aca- demics or monastics who emphasise only two things about their dress — modesty and cleanli- ness. • avoid childishness: those who play around, never take responsibility for anything and never taking anything seriously, will never succeed in becoming learned. C.2 Sense of Responsibility for others' Human Dignity Bias gives us negative attitudes which may educe our chances of success in study. If we are able to overcome these items of unfairness in the mind from the outset then the mind will be a much more fertile receptacle for knowledge: 1. Learning based on Desire [chandagati]: Desire doesn't need to be so strong that you are a Casa- nova. Such a person would have no chance of being a good student anyway. However, to a lesser degree even someone who is excessively fussy about what they do and what they wear would be unlikely to succeed in their studies. Those who study simply because they would like to become famous will find it hard to succeed in study. If you see possessions as an end in them- selves then we will have no incentive to study. 2. Learning based on Hatred [closegati]: If you want to study successfully then you mustn't be some- one who loses their temper easily. You must be able to accept criticism without being scared of appearing foolish. Some people are angry only for an instant and then they recover quickly. Oth- ers are angry and it takes them a long time to get over it. They find it hard to forgive. Even later on, although they can't remember why they were angry with someone, they still feel angry with that person. They forget their respect for others. They think that they are superior to everyone else. Thus they can never learn anything from anyone else. By meditating, such people can train themselves to be less impatient. If they also keep a baseline of morality such as avoiding killing animals and insulting then they will find it much easier to acquire wisdom. 3. Learning based on Ignorance Imohegatij: If you are still acting on your own ignorance instead of giving things careful consideration before you do them, then you will find it hard acquire new knowledge. If your old ways of looking at the world are faulty then you need to let go of them before you can expect to acquire new ones. 4. Learning based on Fear [bhayagrati]: Some peo- ple lack confidence in themselves and their own 106 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129208 knowledge. They are always afraid of the criti- cism of others. If you are afraid of taking deci- sions yourself, then you will be destined to al- ways be led by other people instead of standing on your own feet. You will have no creative or original thinking of your own. If even you don't trust your own knowledge then how can you expect to make anyone else confident. C3 Sense ofResponsibility for Economic Fairness In order for a student to protect society's sense of human dignity, they must refrain from the Six Roads to Ruin: 1. Drinking alcohol; 2. Roaming the streets at unseemly hours; 3. Frequenting shows; 4. Gambling; 5. Association with bad company; 6. Laziness to work for a living. Furthermore a person who is obsessed with per- sonal financial gain will find it hard to make progress in their studies. A person should not "wor- ship money". Those who see that material rewards are more valuable than wisdom will never go very far in acquiring wisdom. We don't overlook the importance of wealth — but on the way that it is best to apply one's wealth — that will be the sub- ject of Blessing Fifteen. . 1HE LEARNING PROCESS Di Coming into contact with someone knowledgeable One of the hardest things is to find a teacher who will give the necessary encouragement to bring one's studies to fruition. The Buddha taught in the Singalovada Sutta that successful studies are es- tablished on the base of reciprocal duties that a student practices towards his teacher and that a teacher practises towards their student (duties col- lectively referred to as duties to the Southern Quar- ter). If a student finds a teacher that they think they can learn something from, they should start to learn from them. The teacher should practice the following five duties towards their pupil, by making sure: 1. the student is well trained; 2. that the student is taught in such a way that he understands and remembers well what he has learned; 3. that the student is thoroughly instructed in the lore of every art without holding knowledge back; 4. to give praise to the student which raises his es- teem amongst his peers; 5. that the student's security and safety in every quarter (i.e. towards parents, wife, children, employees, friends and spiritual mentors) is en- sured, while pointing out the loopholes and weaknesses present in any body of knowledge. Meanwhile the student should minister to his teacher by: 1. rising to receive them; 2. by serving them (in things which facilitate the teacher's convenience) 3. by obedience to the teachings or an eagerness to learn; 4. by personal service 5. by attentively and respectfully learning the arts and sciences If a student fails to fulfil their duties but the teacher does their part, the student is unwor- thy of the teacher — and it will be no surprise if the student can never become "skilled in knowledge" — catastrophe will await the stu- dent. If the teacher fails to fulfil their duties but the pupil does their part, then the teacher is un- worthy of the student — and perhaps the stu- dent should look elsewhere for a better teacher — and catastrophe awaits the teacher. If neither the student nor the teacher fulfil their duties, catastrophe will await both stu- dent and teacher and their failing will have negative consequences for society at large. However, if both student and teacher fulfil their duties to one another, both parties will have a bright future and their behaviour will have positive consequences for society at large. Blessing Seven: Artfulness in Knowledge 107 EFTA01129209 D.2 Finding the opportunity to hear what they teach If you are still the sort of person who skips lectures and copies the notes later, you are unlikely ever to make a success of your career as a student. This applies both to the contact with your teacher and reading from the textbooks. It means questioning in order to further your knowledge.Whatever knowledge you learn, try to divide it up into these four aspects and study all four. Only then can you say that you have mastered that knowledge. Such an assessment of your own knowledge will prevent you from slipping into the premature overestima- tion of the amount you know and give you the en- couragement to keep listening to people of knowl- edge. 1. Knowledge in Depth: You need to make sure that you understand deeply what you have learned. You need to know the roots and origins of everything you study (its past). If you are a doctor and you see a patient ill with certain symptoms by looking at their face you can tell immediately about the prognosis of their illness right from ten or twenty years ago. Don't go be- lieving things simply because they are traditional or customary without understanding the reasons for such belief. 2. Knowledge in Breadth: You need to have a broad knowledge (the present) not only of your own narrow specialism but also about all the things that concern your everyday life. Even if you study the arts, you still need to know the elements of electricity because you use electric- ity in your everyday life from the time you get up in the morning to the time you go to bed. If you have studied science, you still need to know about the arts otherwise you will not understand how to communicate emotions, feelings and ideas from one person to another in different forms whether it may be written or visual. If you don't study then you can be the best engineer in the world but if you have no gift for communi- cating with people you will just be digging holes for the rest of your life. 3. Thorough Knowledge: Not only will you know your own narrow subject but you will know the connections which it has with other issues as if you know the influences of that knowledge all the way from the mainstream up to the edges. 4. Long-sighted Knowledge: You need to have a long-sighted knowledge. You need to know how things will turn out in the future. You need to know how one thing leads to another. D.3 Listening attentively You need to listen to remember — not just sit in the lecture picking your fingernails and chatting to your friends, with no idea what the lecture was about at the end; D.4 Memorizing knowledge learned [tioisaparicittal If you make no effort to memorize what you have learned, you will never become a person 'who has heard much' (A.v.26). Memorization is an implicit part of the duty of a monk and it is expectedof monks by the lay congregation. If the knowledge stays in the books, it is like having money, but hav- ing lent it all to someone else. If you want it back instantly, even though it is yours you cannot get it back instantly. Even though you know which text- book you can find a certain piece of knowledge in, you will go reaching for the book one day and find that worms have eaten just the page you needed. D.5 Reflecting on knowledge memorized [mamas& napekkhital You have to digest new knowledge in your mind and look for causes and effects Meditating is the mostefficient way of 'digesting' new knowledge. D.6 Applying knowledge for one's own benefit (see Blessing Eight) D.7 Applying knowledge for the benefit of oneself and others (See Blessing Eight) t. PRAIA 1CAL TIPS }OR BECOMING LEARNED Here are some practical suggestions for budding scholars: 1. Choose only appropriate subjects to study which will not have negative implications for the hu- 108 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129210 man dignity of yourself, others or society at large; 2. Dedicate yourself — studying your chosen sub- ject to the utmost of your ability; 3. Always be enthusiastic to learn new things; 4. Study spiritual knowledge hand-in-hand with worldly knowledge; 5. Remember what you have learned so that it is always at your immediate disposal ILLUS1 RAI !VI; EXAMPLES El Metaphor: Lamp lighting the path fora long journey ahead Just as illumination is necessary to light the path ahead on a long journey, artfulness in knowledge is the pioneering virtue leading to prosperity in life. F.2 Ex. Buddha advises a brahmin to pay respect to Ananda (J.296) There was once a brahmin who sought the advice of the Buddha. He said that it was obvious how one could pay respect to the Buddha and the Sangha, because they were already a sort of per- sonality. However, the Brahmin didn't know how to pay respect to the Dhamma which seemed more abstract.The Buddha replied that if you want to pay respect to the Dhamma, you should pay respect to those who are teamed in the Dhamma. The Brah- min asked around to find which of the monks was the most teamed and everyone agreed that Ananda was the most learned because more than any other monk, he had heard the teachings of the Lord Bud- dha. Thus the Brahmin went to pay respect to Ananda above the other monks, many of whom had more advanced spiritual attainments. F.3 Ex. Mahasutasoma jataka (J.537) There was a certain Buddha who while pursuing Perfections as the bodhisattva, was born as a king called Mahasutasoma. The king was so keen to learn new teachings of the Dhamma that he would invite anyone who had knowledge of the Dhamma to come and teach him in the palace. On one occa- sion, MahAsutasoma was captured by an ogre. The ogre was going to put him to death. On just the day the ogre was going to collect him, it was also the day when he had made an appointment with a knowledgable Brahmin Nanda to teach some teach- ings left over from the Kassapa Buddha. In that day and age, there were no living teachings to be fol- lowed any more. There were no monks left any more. Later even if the king offered the prize of a heap of gold as tall as the person to give the teach- ing, there would still be no-one who had any teach- ing to give the king. Even if the king offered the prize of a heap of diamonds as tall as an elephant, still nobody could be found to give a teaching to the teacher. However, in the time of king MahAsutasoma, the decay of Buddhism was not so much that there were no teachings left any more. The day when the king was to be captured, some- one had accepted an invitation to come and give a teaching in the palace. On that day, out of respect for the Dhamma, the king had first gone to freshen up and change into a new set of clothes in prepara- tion for hearing the Dhamma. It was as he was washing that he was captured. The king made a deal with the ogre that it could do with him as it liked, but it should first let him listen to the teach- ing of the Dhamma, because he had already made an appointment with the teacher who was coming. The king promised the ogre that after hearing the teaching he would allow it to take him away for sacrifice. Even though the people of that time didn't know about the Precepts, they still knew about the importance of truthfulness. The king was allowed to return to the palace where the Brahmin was wait- ing. The Brahmin didn't even know how to explain the Dhamma, all he could do was to read out a piece of the scriptures. The Brahmin also had to wash himself before giving the teaching. He rinsed his hands with perfume before picking up the scrip- tures. He bowed three times to the scriptures and only then did he open up the scriptures in the most careful possible way. The subject matter of the scrip- tures were the words of a previous Buddha. The Brahmin could read the words and translate them, but he didn't know the meaning: Associating with the noble ones just once, One can be protected by that contact for the rest of one's life. Blessing Seven: Artfulness in Knowledge 109 EFTA01129211 However, associating with fools even many times, Will fail to protect you for the rest of your life. If you associate with the noble ones, You should associate with them closely, Because anyone who can learn the virtues of a noble one, Will know only prosperity and never know decay. Even a royal chariot that is beautifully decorated, Must eventually deteriorate and decay, In the same way the body that we possess Must eventually decay and die. However, the Virtue of the Noble Ones Never goes out of date and never decays. It is only the Noble Ones together Who can know each others' minds. The earth and sky are far apart. The two sides of the ocean are far apart. But they are not so far apart, As the behaviour of the nobles and that of fools. Before putting the scriptures away, the brahmin bowed to them again. Hearing just these teachings, the king was so moved that he cried tears of joy. The king asked the brahmin, "Usually when you read this scripture to other kings, how much do they give you?" The brahmin replied, "They give me a hundred for each verse." "These verses are not a 'hundred a verse' but are a 'thousand a verse' said the king, and presented the brahmin with five thousand. The king remembered the appointment he had made with the ogre and thought to himself, "If I were to break my promise, it would only make my mind dull and guilty and I would certainly have an unfortunate afterlife destination — better that I go to my death with that ogre while my mind is still radiant from having heard the Dhamma." The king gave himself up to the ogre. The ogre was sur- prised that the king didn't show any sign of fear- ing death. It asked the king why he had no fear of death. When the king told them the Dhamma he had learned, the ogre was so impressed that it asked to take refuge in the king as its teacher and had no more thought about sacrificing him. P.4 Ex. Tuccha•Pofhila (The Blank Scripture Monk)(DhA.iii.41741) In the time of the Buddha there was an elder monk who was so learned in the Dhamma teachings that he had many disciples of his own. Many of his dis- ciples had become arahants as the result of what he had taught —but he, himself, had not achieved any- thing. He had heard a lot of teachings but he had never showed any interest in practising for himself all the theory thathe had taught. All he had was knowledge — he had no attainments. Out of compassion,the Buddha wanted the elder monk to realize that he must practice for himself, so he always called the elder by the name 'Blank Scripture'. If the elder came to see the Buddha, the only thing the Buddha would say to him was "'Blank Scripture'— so you're here again?" For other disciples the Buddha would ask questions or give encouragement, but instead of giving encour- agement to this elder for having so many students he just said 'Blank scripture'. Apart from this he would ignore the elder completely until everyone else was taking their leave. Again, the only thing the Buddha would say to him was "'Blank Scrip- ture' — so it's time for you to go?" One day, the elder saw through his feeling of be- ing slighted bythe Buddha and thought to himself, "What the Buddha says is really true — I really am a blank scripture' — because I know all the scrip- tures by heart, but I have never used any of it in practice for my own benefit." He thought to himself,"I have spent all my life teaching others, but I have never taught anything to the stubbomest person in the world — myself." (Sometimes, even though you know what is good and what is bad, you still don't make any effort to change your behaviour. When the alarm dock rings in the morning, instead of getting up, you switch it 110 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129212 off and go back to sleep. This is the reason why it is necessary to teach yourself regularly). Thus the blank scripture elder went to the most senior arahant he knew and asked for his help in teaching the practice of Buddhism. The arahant, knew what was in the mind the elder and knew if he made life too easy for him, he would never give up the arrogance he needed to shed in order to learn anything. Thus the arahant did not agree to teach him, but sent him to a more junior arahant saying, "That monk is still young and healthy — he will have the strength to teach you what you want to know." The 'blank scripture' elder went to the younger arahant, but the younger arahant knew the charac- ter of the elder again. He knew with his seniority, the elder would not pay much attention to anything taught to him by someone half his age. Thus the young arahant sent the elder to study with a nov- ice who was an arahant. The elder was tempted to give up his search for knowledge because of the humiliation of having to be taught by a young nov- ice! However, the warning of the Buddha still rang in his ear and he gritted his teeth and went to see the novice. The novice knew the arrogant character of the elder so he told him that to get a good result from the teaching, the elder must be up to his neck in river water to get any benefit. The elder thought, "1 am really at my last resort — if I don't do as this novice tells me, I will maybe never have the chance to learn any more."When the elder was up to his waist in water, he had completely given up his dig- nity and hence his arrogance. The novice said, "Up to your waist is enough!" The novice taught, "There is a termite mound with six entrances. A water monitor is inside the termite mound. The way to catch the water moni- tor is to block five entrances and to put your hand through the sixth and you will be able to catch the water monitor as you with." The novice didn't need to say any more. Because the elder was an experi- enced teacher he immediately knew that the water monitor in the teaching is the mind itself which is constantly thinking of things that are of no benefit, losing its energy via the six sense doors. If we want to train the mind we have to control the five outer senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body) and pu- rify the sixth sense which is the object of the mind. As soon as the elder understood, he immediately trained himself in sensual restraint and purification of the mind. By the end of the novice's teaching, the elder was an arahant, even standing there up to his waist in water. Because the elder had been artful in knowl- edge for so long, to become artful in practice was no difficulty. All he needed was to have a little re- minder to make him think a little. Thus we can see that to be artful in knowledge is essential for one's personal development. Blessing Seven: Artfulness in Knowledge 111 EFTA01129213 112 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129214 Blessing Eight: Artfulness in Application A. INTRODUCTION Since Blessing Seven, we have already discovered the value of being artful in knowledge — but it is not good enough — it is also necessary to be artful in the application of what we know — the subject of this Blessing. A.1 People confuse knowledge with ability Many people confuse knowledge with ability. Art- fulness in the application of knowledge means that if you have learned an occupational subject, if you have learned all the necessary theory, you have to transform that theory into practice allowing you to earn your living. If you have learned Dhamma theory, you have to transform that knowledge into Dhamma practice. It is like someone who reads a manual of swim- ming who can memorize every page of the manual. He knows how many types of swimming styles ex- ist and what all the differences are. When he has read the book, he puts it at the side of the swim- ming pool and jumps in —sinking without a trace! A.2 Why no-one wants fresh graduates This is one reason why many graduates are unem- ployed — they have only knowledge from exami- nations or from copying their friends. They have no practical knowledge. They expect to get a pres- tigious job in keeping with their prestigious degree and look down on almost every type of work. When they have only academic knowledge, no practical knowledge and they expect to choose where they want to work, who can they expect to want to take them on? If you don't want to be an unemployed graduate, you should take on any work you can find, to get the practical experience ever since you have not yet graduated. If you can transform your academic knowledge into practical skills even be- fore you graduate, you will make an very attrac- tive prospect for employers. There will be employ- ers asking after you even before you graduate. Some people get themselves a prestigious degree in accounting. They take a job as a lecturer in uni- versity and because they can teach accounting in a way that allows their students to become success- ful accountants, they think that they are also a ca- pable accountant. The lecturer sees that his students are richer than he is, so he gives up his job to start a business himself. Before long, his business is bank- rupt and he has to go back to teaching! Only then would such a person find out the reality that knowl- edge and application of knowledge are completely different attributes. li. INI I IONS B.1 Definition: Artfulness in Application The Pali word isippaspc meaning 'one endowed with artistry' means someone who is skilled in ap- plication of their knowledge. The tbahasatat of Blessing Seven is one who is skilled in knowledge, Blessing Eight: Artfulness in Application 113 EFTA01129215 but the person who has mastered this Eighth Bless- ing is one who can apply that knowledge fruitfully too. £2 Sir Components of Artfill Application Not all performances or displays of application of knowledge qualify as 'artfulness in application'. You can learn skills, but it doesn't guarantee that using the skill will bring you merit — therefore, before committing yourself to a skill you want to learn, you have to consider the merits of it first, for the harmony of society: If you are a sculptor, then why not use your skill to sculpt Buddha images that can bring inspiration to others? If you can draw then why not draw the sort of pictures that will inspire others to do good deeds? Even little skills like be- ing able to make toys for one's children can help to stop wastage of family income on imported dolls and cartoon characters — as a guideline, bear in mind the following six qualities of applied work that demonstrates artistry: 1. Must be refined 2. Adds to the value of the raw materials 3. Product of the work leads to creative thinking, not aggressive or destructive thinking: A motor engineer should use his skill to build engines to help people in their everyday lives rather than to build weapons to wage war. 4. Product of the work doesn't lead to sensual ob- session: Don't go studying the sort of arts that will stir up the passion of others — like cabaret dancing or strip-tease. 5. Product of the work doesn't lead to illwill or vengefulness 6. Product of the work doesn't lead to aggression: Don't engage in arts that will cause people to seek vengeance such as inventing war slogans. B.3 Three Categories of Artful Application Don't think that only artistic applications you can 'see and touch' qualify for fulfilment of the Eighth Blessing. Such skilfulness can be applied to body, speech and mind: 1. Artistic Application in Body: This applies to various sorts of specialism or applied expertise, whether it be plumbing, mechanics, painting, design, sculpture, photography, printing or other vocational skills such as gardener, fanner, author or nurse — and further than that, having the manners to walk, stand, sit and lie down politely, dressing appropriately, being hospitable, ex- pressing respect and behaving in a 'cultivated' way; 2. Artistic Application in Speech: This applies to communication skills, knowing what to say and how to say it in a way to inspire the hearer to- wards virtue (more in Blessing Ten) 3. Artistic Application in Mind: This applies to skillfulness in thinking, having one's wits about one and creative thinking. In a nutshell, Artfulness in Application is artfulness in body, speech and mind. C. CULIIVAIING ARTF11L APPLICATION C.1 Transforming Knowledge into Skills If you want to transform your academic knowledge into applied ability, you have to possess the follow- ing qualities (Patthana Sutta A.iii.154): 1. Believe in what you do Isaddha]: You have to believe that you what you are doing is really ben- eficial and virtuous. You should be enthusiastic about doing it and have the confidence that you can make a success out of it. Some doctors gradu- ate in medical science, but have no confidence in their ability to heal people. Some are more con- fident in their own ability to construct buildings. In the end, they become building contractors! They can achieve more success that way than they ever could by being a doctor! You need to have to believe in what you are doing if you are to be able to dedicate yourself to it. 2. Safeguard your health: Don't be the sort of per- son who bursts into coughs and sneezes when exposed to the merest cold draught. If you let your efforts destroy your health, it will be hard for you to succeed in learning a trade. A practi- cal way to safeguard your health from all the pos- sible risks is very simple — keep the Five Pre- cepts strictly. If you neglect your health and go looking for things to destroy yourself by doing 114 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129216 unhealthy things, you will find it hard ever to achieve success in learning a trade. 3. You must avoid arrogance and boastfulness: Those who spend all day speaking about what they will do, but never getting round to doing it, will never manage to master a trade. No-one wants to accept someone who is boastful as an apprentice. The only skill which boastful people manage to develop is the ability to find fault with other people in order to let other people know how wonderful they are themselves. By push- ing others down they are able to hoist themselves up in the estimation of others. The habit of a boastful person is to take a very minor virtue or ability and magnify it beyond all proportion. 4. You must avoid laziness: If you have only knowl- edge but you are too lazy to do anything with it, then you will be no more than knowledgeable for the rest of your life. 5. Cultivate wisdom: Wisdom is cultivated by be- ing observant and reflecting on new skills and techniques. C.2lnstilling yourself with "Artfulness in Application" You cannot acquire wisdom just by eating and sleeping. You have to be active in your search for wisdom according to the following steps: 1. Be observant of yourself and the things around you: It is all very well to say 'be observant' but in fact, it is important to know what to observe! In a nutshell, our powers of observation should always attempt to seek out the good and useful characteristics of the things we observe.You have to start by observing yourself first — because to observe yourself is theoretically the simplest. You should start by noticing aspects of your lifestyle, (for example our habits of eating or sleeping) to try to define what is appropriate or inappropri- ate and where the point of equilibrium lies for various factors. If you eat too much it will make you sleepy. If you eat too little, your stomach will rumble at night. You have to notice what hap- pens to us if we go to bed late. You have to no- tice what happens to you if you get up late. What is better for you — to go to bed at ten at night and wake up at dawn, or to go to bed at mid- night and to wake up at seven in the morning? Once you know how to be observant of your- self, you can gradually extend your observation to the things around you. We notice our clothes. How our clothes get dirty at the collar or around the cuffs. Notice what sort of clothes are suitable for what sort of situation. We gradually extend our mindfulness to the things more distant from us — noticing how to speak to people in an ap- propriate way, how to speak to people to inspire them instead of making them lazy. Notice the characteristics of the things around you. If you train yourself to be observant even of yourself, the skill will soon be developed and wisdom will follow. 2. Train yourself to do everything better than best: Never look down on any work that comes your way. Never think any task you do is unimpor- tant. Even simple things like your handwriting should be done with care. From the time when a child is young, they should be trained to write neatly whatever they do so that 'being careful' about whatever work they are to do in the fu- ture will be ingrained from the earliest age. Some people write with such messy handwriting that others can only barely decipher what has been written. Someone who writes like that since their youth until adulthood will soon get themselves in the habit of doing everything in a shoddy way — never achieving anything better than 'pass- able' quality. If you do everything to the best of your ability, skills and abilities will soon come your way without you even having to spend time looking for them. Even if you don't study the specific qualities of a particular art, if you are always observant of quality, and do things cleanly and in a detailed way, even though you cannot produce artwork for yourself, you will be able to tell quality in the work of others. Once you have trained your mind to be refined and to notice details, even the way you speak will start to be of higher quality — more based on reason and more confident (because your train of thought will be more systematic). Blessing Eight: Artfulness in Application 115 EFTA01129217 3. Be refined in all you do: Some might accuse you of 'nit-picking' but if you insist on high quality in your work, even in the details, before long, you will start to pick up artfulness in applica- tion. 4. Always look for better ways to do the same thing: Sometimes you can already do a task, but if you always look for quickec, more efficient, more cost-effective ways of doing the same thing, it will force you always to improve on your skills, never sitting on your laurels. 5. Apprentice yourself to a craftsman: Seek out craftsmen in the field which you want to master and become apprentice to them. Be respectful and helpful to him so that he will have the com- passion to push you further in the direction of craftsmanship. 6. Meditate regularly: The art of training our capa- bilities of action and speech is rooted in our ca- pability to train the mind. Systematic thinking and observation can only be developed when the mind is well-trained. Training the mind through meditation will make the acquisition of other ca- pabilities easy, because to be able to meditate is the ultimate skill — because it deals with refine- ment at its root. C.3 Applying knowledge for your own benefit and the benefit of others In continuation of the "Learning Process already described in Blessing Seven", Blessing Eight con- cerns the last two steps of the knowledge acquisi- tion process which involve the application of that knowledge for the good of ourselves and others. Some people use their knowledge and skills only for their own selfish benefits. Sometimes they are afraid that if they teach all they know to anyone else then they will be giving away their trade se- crets or that that other person may overtake them and make more progress than they have done. The attitude which is the most healthy for round- ing off a body of knowledge that you have learned is to use your knowledge both for your own benefit and the benefit of others too. Like the example of the College of Surgery with the policy "See One - Do One - Teach One" where capable students were not only those who could witness and perform sur- gery — they were also able to teach surgery to oth- ers too! In that way, all your mastery of the knowl- edge will not be limited to overcoming your own shortcomings — the application of knowledge can also be used to overcome the shortcomings of oth- ers. C.4 How aid to instil yourself with "Artfulness in Application" If you want to learn artfulness in application quickly, you have to make sure that you are not the sort of person who can do nothing better than find fault with the work of others — unless you are train- ing yourself to be a professional critic! If you have done nothing but criticise others, when it comes to your turn to show off your craftsmanship, you will not have the confidence to let others see what you have made or done — for fear they will criticize you in the same way as you have done them. In such a case, you will end up as someone who never achieves anything. b. HLUSIRA AVE EXAMPLES D.1 Proverb: He who knows but a single skill.. . He who knows but a single skill can eke out his livelihood with ease. D.2 Metaphor: Just as twigs... If you plant a mango tree, the benefit you get from it depends entirely on the amount of fruit. Even though the tree might grow a trunk, branches and leaves — these are no more than precursors for any benefit which may come later. In the same way, even though a person may be learned, this knowledge is no more than a precursor for the benefit that can accrue if the knowledge is applied. D.3 .Ex. Swimology (traditional) Once a young professor was making a sea voyage. He was a highly educated man with a long tail of letters after his name, but he had little experience of life. In the crew of the ship on which he was traveling was an illiterate old sailor. Every evening the sailor would visit the cabin of the young pro- 116 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129218 lessor to listen to him hold forth on many different subjects. He was very impressed with the learning of the young man. One evening as the sailor was about to leave the cabin after several hours of conversation, the pro- fessor asked,"Old man, have you studied geology?" "What is that,sir?" "The science of the earth." "No sir, I have never been to any school or col- lege. I have never studied anything." "Old man, you have wasted a quarter of your life." With a long face the old sailor went away. "If such a learned person says so, certainly it must be true," he thought. "I have wasted a quarter of my life." Next evening again, as the sailor was about to leave the cabin, the professor asked him, "Old man, have you studied oceanography?" "What is that, sir?" "The science of the sea." "No, sir, I have never studied anything." "Old man, you have wasted half your life." With a still longer face the sailor went away: "I have wasted half my life; this learned man says so." Next evening again as the sailor was about to leave the cabin, "Old man, have you studied mete- orology?" "What is that, sir? I have never heard of it." "The science of the wind, the rain, the weather." "No sir. As I told you, I have never been to any school. I have never studied anything." "You have not studied the science of the earth on which you live; you have not studied the science of the sea on which you earn your livelihood; you have not studied the science of the weather which you encounter every day? Old man, you have wasted three-quarters of your life." The old sailor was very unhappy: "This learned man says that I have wasted three-quarters of my life! Certainly I must have wasted three-quarters of my life. The next day it was the turn of the old sailor. He came running to the cabin of the young man and cried, "Professor! Have you studied swimology?" "Swimology? What do you mean?" "Can you swim, sir?" "No, I don't know how to swim." "Professor! You have wasted the whole of your life! The ship has struck a rock and is sinking. Those who can swim may reach the nearby shore, but those who cannot swim will drown. I am sorry, pro- fessor sic, you have surely lost your life." You may study all the "-ologies" of the world, but if you don't learn swimology, all your studies are useless. You may read and write books on swim- ming, you may debate on its subtle theoretical as- pects, but how will that help if you refuse to enter the water yourself? You must learn how to swim. 114 EX. Selittakci Jataka(J.107) In ancient times, there was a child with polio. His legs were so weak that he couldn't walk anywhere unaided. He had to stay wherever his friends put him. He couldn't even get up. Although his body was deformed, his intelligence was bright. He didn't look down on any subject. The child would practice flicking sand until he could flick sand a long distance very precisely. The boy used his skills to earn favours from others. The boy could flick sand so accurately that he could shoot holes in the leaves of trees above. Not only holes—but he could shoot holes in the shapes of anything he wanted — whether they be the shape of rabbits or tigers or deer. The boy would shoot holes in leaves to the order of the other children in return for sweets. The boy with polio had never studied in school, but through his skill, he had more sweets to eat than the other children every day. One day the boy was flicking sand on the sand heap for the other children when the king passed by. All the other children ran away, and the boy with polio was left alone. The king came to rest in the shade of the tree by the sandheap and when he looked up, he was surprised to see that almost every leaf of the tree had been perforated in the shape of different animals. The king asked how the tree had come to be that way, and found out that it was due to the skills of the boy with polio. The king thought, "the skills of such a boy should not be wasted at the sandpit." The king happened to have a some- thing on his mind — every time he had a meeting Blessing Eight: Artfulness in Application 117 EFTA01129219 of his counsellors, there was a particular counsel- lor who would interrupt and dominate the discus- sion regularly wasting the time of everyone in the meeting. The king asked the boy, "if someone were to open their mouth, would you be able to shoot goat dung into their mouth in the same way you shoot sand through leaves?" The boy said, "It would be a piece of cake." The king had the boy taken into the palace. Those with all health and strength never got the chance to go to the palace, but this poor crippled boy did. Every time there was a meeting, the boy was put behind a curtain in the room. Every time the counsellor in question opened his mouth to speak, the boy flicked goat dung into his mouth. The boy was so fast, that the counsellor didn't even know where the taste in his mouth had come from. The counsellor would want to speak but change his mind as a result every time, because he would have to swallow what was in his mouth. One day, the counsellor had opened his mouth so many times that the boy had used up a whole litre of goat dung. The king felt sorry for the counsellor and was afraid he would get dysen- tery. He ordered the counsellor to go and wash his mouth out immediately and told him to reduce the amount he said or else in future he would get two litres of goat dung in his mouth! On future occa- sions, the counsellor had to consider carefully be- fore saying anything in case he fell prey to flying goat dung. As the result of having more effective meetings, the economics of the kingdom improved considerably. The king rewarded the crippled boy by allocated all the money earned in taxes from a certain province to him as pin-money. The cripple became a rich man as the result of a single skill — because he put his mind to perfecting his skill. 118 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129220 Blessing Nine: Artfulness in Usage A. INTRODUCTION A.1 Place of Blessing Nine in the order of things The Seventh Blessing concerned artfulness in knowledge. We should be enthusiastic about find- ing any new knowledge either in spiritual or worldly ways as long as it doesn't have any nega- tive implications for the human dignity of our- selves, others or society in general. Once you can avail yourself of such knowledge, then it is a blessing in itself. The Eighth Blessing concerned artfulness in the application of knowledge or "artfulness in learn- ing skills". We should be enthusiastic about learn- ing any new skills either in spiritual or worldly ways as long as they don't have any negative im- plications for the human dignity of ourselves, others or society in general. Once you can avail yourself of such skills, then it is also a blessing in itself. Already mooted in the previous two Blessings has been the difficulty of knowing whether the knowledge or skill we are learning has any nega- tive implications for the human dignity of our- selves, others or society in general. The purpose of the Ninth Blessing is to give us the guidelines we need — to allow us to judge our own behav- iour in action and word, so that the way we use our intellectual resources and craftsmanship bring no detriment to society around us or to our spiritual furtherment. A.2 Objectives of studying 'Artfulness in Usage' In our consideration of the value of artfulness in usage towards human dignity, we must always con- sider three levels of description: our own personal human dignity, the human dignity of others and the dignity of the whole economic system in soci- ety. Being disciplined or being "artful in usage" has benefits on three levels: 1. Personal Level: Being disciplined protects and furthers one's own human dignity by protect- ing our health from self-induced illness, reduc- ing possible obstacles in our spiritual vocation (especially those arising from unintentional blun- ders with the "defilements of action" [kamma- kilesa] and allowing us to develop our level of virtue from mere "discipline" [vinaya] to "self- discipline" [silo] which is the foundation for the subsequent development of meditation [samadhi] and wisdom It is said that being disciplined is the one major difference be- tween humans and savages — thus by preserv- ing our level of discipline we protect ourselves from decline into savagery; 2. Interpersonal Level: Being disciplined protects and furthers others' human dignity by stopping people taking advantage of each other. 3. Social Level: Being disciplined protects and fur- thers the humanity of the fair economics in our society by promoting compliance with the law and general harmony for society. Blessing Nine: Artfulness in Usage 119 EFTA01129221 Of course it is an advantage for the reader to know about artfulness in usage (or more briefly "disci- pline") and how to acquire it — but it is not until you become a disciplined person that you will re- ally start to gain benefit from this Blessing. A.3 Knowing where to draw the line From person to person the intellectual resources and the level of craftsmanship may not be the same — however, the more the knowledge and skills a per- son has, the more potential damage they can do to themselves, others and society if they have no ethi- cal discretion about how to use that knowledge and skill. Thus it is vitally important that everyone has "virtue" to go hand-in-hand with their knowledge — specifically the virtue to know the negative im- plications of any deeds they may do or words they may say. In society in general, we tend tothink that if what we do or say is not illegal then it is accept- able to our human dignity — however, the Law is really only a very loose guideline for what should or should not be done in society. To give a firm ex- ample, if a person can perpetrate a murder, but has no witnesses, he cannot be prosecuted in a court of law. Furthermore, the Law from country to coun- try is different — does this mean that the ethics can also be localized? In some countries, the Law might even be undemocratic —so the Law alone doesn't give us sufficient guidelines for the preservation of human dignity at any of the levels of description. More detailed guidelines were provided by the Buddha in the form of a checklist of four items to be considered in order from the first to the last: 1. The Five Precepts: Does the action or speech con- tradict break the Five Precepts 1. killing; 2. steal- ing; 3. adultery; 4. telling lies, and; 5. drinking alcohol (see below)— i.e. the baseline of humane behaviour? This form of discipline is spiritual discipline, concerning our quality of mind and the quality of mind of those who share society with us. We find that these Five Precepts are at the heart of codes of discipline of many differ- ent religions, whether it be the Christian Ten Commandments, Islamic law, the 16 rules of Hindu conduct. 2. The Five Virtues: Does the action or speech con- tradict the Five Virtues [palicadliamma] of 1. com- passion; 2. right-livelihood; 3. sexual-restraint; 4. truthfulness, and; 5. awareness? — see Bless- ing Sixteen. This form of discipline is spiritual discipline, concerning our quality of mind and the quality of mind of those who share society with us. 3. Local Law: Does the action or speech contradict the local law? This form of discipline is worldly or material discipline, concerning our quality of life and the quality of life of those who share so- ciety with us. 4. Local Custom: Does the action or speech contra- dict the local custom? This form of discipline is worldly or material discipline and concerns so- cial harmony and solidarity. Thus if an action goes against the Five Precepts, even if it doesn't break the Law, it should not be done. Also, even if it doesn't break the law notto do something, but omitting to do something goes against the local custom, perhaps this is a good rea- son to comply, at least for harmony on the local level (but of course, it should not break the Five Precepts). Dh,hINIIIONS B.1 Definition: Artfulness in Usage The root of the Pali word for 'artfulness in usage' or 'discipline' is ' vinaya' comes from two stems 'vi and 'trey'. 'Ney' means something that leads you. 'Vi can mean any of three things: 'good', 'revealed' or 'different'. Thus in compound the definition of the word ' vinaya' means 'leads you to good' or 'leads you to brightness' or 'leads you to something different'. Leading one to goodness, means that it takes you away from evil. Leading one to revela- tion means that it allows us to see a person as they really are. Leading one to be different means that it raises one above people in general. The actual meaning of the word is 'rulesor regu- lations to restrain ourselves in body and word to avoid causing suffering to ourselves or others'. No- tice that ' vinaya' doesn't restrain the mind directly, but in effect, it has a positive effect on the mind too because bodily action and speech originate in the 120 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129222 mind. When we can avoid causing suffering to our- selves or others, we set ourselves on the path to goodness, revelation and difference from others in general. 'Vinayd will be the virtue that tells us what is appropriate and inappropriate to do or say or look at or eat. B.2 Definition: Self-Discipline When people think of Precepts, they often mistak- enly think that Precepts are nothing more than pro- hibitions. In fact the meaning of the Pali word for 'Precepts' i.e. 'slice means 'the norm' or 'cooling'. Precepts mean the level of virtue that is normal for human beings to have. It is a norm that distin- guishes men from savages or from animals. It is for this reason that we differentiate ' :Pinny? from 'silo' by calling the latter "self-discipline". As we shall see "self-discipline" is the result of training your- self in "discipline". It is a state of mind rather than a set of rules to follow. B.3 The Difference between Discipline & Discipline is the means by which we restrain (the manifesting of) unwholesome actions and speech. When one is new to discipline, the mind is usually still reluctant. Many thoughts will go through the mind to protest at the inconvenience of behaving in a disciplined way. Such thoughts do not constitutes breach of discipline because they are not manifest. Apart from protecting the practitioner from degradation of behaviour into any of the Four Defilements of Action Ikammakilesa], discipline will gradually channel the mind into the develop- ment of "self-discipline". Self-discipline is the at- tainment of restraint of unwholesome thought as well as unwholesome action and speech. At this point there is no further reluctance in the mind any more. One has managed to be "a teacher to one- self" sufficiently well to be able to police one's body, speech and mind without the need for any further rules or regulations to force such behaviours. R4 Different Types of Discipline There are different sets of codes of conduct which can be used for training in discipline. Some are suit- able for laypeople. Others are suitable for monks. They work on the principle of the "principle of limi- tation" because as Kierkegaard wrote in Either/Or: A Fragment of Life: Part One (1843): "The more a person limits themselves,the more resourceful he becomes" (p.289-91) In Buddhism, it is not by arbitrary rules that we limit ourselves — we choose rules that also ensure protection of the human dignity of ourselves, oth- ers and society — but it is true that the more inten- sive the level of practice, the more rules of training we tend to keep. BA.1 Discipline for Householders B.4.1.1 Five Precepts The Five Precepts Ipancu-silai are the basic set of discipline advocated for every Buddhist. The Five Precepts are much older than Buddhism, but were adopted by Buddhism amongst many other reli- gions as the core practice for moral conduct. Ele- ments of the same principles are found in the Ten Commandments, Islamic Law and even Hindu practices. This is because the Five Precepts protect against a person taking advantage of the weak- nesses of himself and others. There is nothing that people love more than their own life, their posses- sions, their spouse and trust. There is nothing that disables people more than the loss of their own clear conscience. These five weaknesses in human rela- tionships are guarded by the Five Precepts. Such weaknesses are not exclusive to Buddhists, but ap- ply for all people in the world, therefore the Five Precepts are the fundemental bedrock of all moral- ity. The Precepts themselves consist of five rules of training: 1. Not to kill living beings 2. Not to steal 3. Not to commit adultery 4. Not to tell lies 5. Not knowingly to drink alcohol or consume in- toxicants. By keeping the Five Precepts people can ensure harmony for society and also prevent many of the roots of suffering. The Precepts bring coolness to the mind and body — there is no burning caused by suffering in body and mind as the result. Blessing Nine: Artfulness in Usage 121 EFTA01129223 The Five Precepts share the same Pali word' pafica- sila" as the five principles upon which Sukarno founded the Indonesian Constitution — but don't go thinking that Indonesian Law is founded on Buddhist Principles because on closer examination, the five basic principles of the Indonesian Consti- tution turn out to be something else completely. The Five Precepts are intended to be kept by Bud- dhist householders on a daily basis. B.4.1.2 Eight Precepts The Eight Precepts are a set of rules of training which expand on the Five Precepts with adjustment of the third and fifth precepts and addition of the sixth, seventh and eighth. The Precepts themselves consist of eight rules of training: 1. Not to kill living beings 2. Not to steal 3. Not to be uncelibate 4. Not to tell lies 5. Not to drink alcohol or consume intoxicants 6. Not to take meals between midday and dawn 7. Not to indulge in romantic entertainment or im- modesty 8. Not to be indulgent in one's sleeping habits They are intended to be kept by Buddhist house- holders during times of intensified training, espe- cially on meditation retreats or for self-purification on a periodic basis, such as one or twice a week Eight precepts is sometimes called ' uposatha-sike where the Eight Precepts are kept for three days before, during and after one of the quarter moon days. The only real difference is the length of time one expects to keep them. The content is the same but for uposatha-sila, usually, one will only keep them on the full moon days with the possibility of one day before for preparation and one day after for debriefing. For Eight Precepts the length of time the precepts are kept has no special duration. B.4.2 Discipline for Monastics B.4.2.1 Ten Precepts The Ten Precepts are a set of rules of training which expand on the Eight Precepts with adjustment of the seventh precept and addition of the tenth. The Precepts themselves consist of ten rules of training: 1. Not to kill living beings 2. Not to steal 3. Not to be uncelibate 4. Not to tell lies 5. Not to drink alcohol or consume intoxicants 6. Not to take meals between midday and dawn 7. Not to indulge in romantic entertainment 8. Not to indulge in immodesty 9. Not to be indulgent in one's sleeping habits 10. Not to handle gold or silver They are intended to be kept by Buddhist novices on a daily basis B.4.2.2 Two-Hundred & 'Evenly-Seven Precepts As Buddhists train themselves as laypeopleand as monks, Buddhist spiritual discipline can be divided into two parts accordingly: discipline for the home- less IanagariyavinayaJ and discipline for the householder Iagariyavinaya]. The monks have spe- cial discipline in keeping with their aim to reach an end of defilements within the shortest possible time. For the monastic community, eradication of defile- ments in the mind is intensive, so the self-discipline of monastics is intensive accordingly. The 227 Pre- cepts are a set of rules of training which expand on the Ten Precepts. They are intended to be kept by fully-ordained Buddhist monks on a daily basis. C. DISCIPLINE: PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS C.1 Components of Five Precepts In the keeping of Five Precepts, householders of- ten feel guilty when they mistakenly do unwhole- some things — they don't know whether it means they have broken their Precepts. Some people acci- dentally run over a stray dog while they are driv- ing because they happen to be in a hurry and won- der whether it breaks the Precepts. Some women know that they have never taken the possession of others without asking (i.e. they have never stolen) but they wonder if taking money from their hus- band without asking is breaking the Precepts. The Components of Five Precepts explained below are an attempt to answer this genre of questions.Below you will find descriptions of the factors involved 122 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129224 in breaking each of the Precepts. All factors must be present in order for the Precept to be broken.: C.1.1 First Precept: Not Killing In order to break the Precept of not killing, your action has to consist of five components: 1. The victim must really be alive: Suppose there is a certain dog we have hated for a long time. Every time we see it it has barked us, chased us and bitten us. We think that the dog is alive, but in fact it has already died. Someone else had just shot the dog dead that very morning. It is lying dead in the road, but we were not to know that. Seeing it lying in the road we think to ourselves, "This time we can get our own back on the dog," and we reverse the car over the dog. In this case we have not managed to break the Precepts be- cause it had already died long ago of other causes. 2. We are aware that the victim is alive: Sometimes we misunderstand that an animal is already dead, so you think that a cremation is in order. You throw the body of the animal into the flames — but it is not really dead. However we were not to know that. This time the animal does re- ally die! Again, such an action does not break the Precepts. 3. We have the intention to kill the victim: Supposing you run over an animal killing it accidentally, because there is no intention to kill (you could not avoid it), again the Precepts are not broken. 4. We put in the effort to kill the victim: You have to put in the effort to kill, if you are to break the Precepts. You have to really aim the gun and pull the trigger if you are to create the necessary con- ditions to break the Precepts. 5. The victim dies in the way intended: As the result of our efforts, the animal must really die if the Pre- cepts are to be broken. If you shoot to kill, but the result is only to break an arm or leg, the Pre- cepts are not yet broken. C.1.2 Second Precept: Not Stealing In order to break the Precept of not stealing, your action has to consist of five components: 1. There is an owner who is possessive about that ob- ject: If you are in the forest where there are ob- jects of which no-one is the dear owner it is all right to take them. 2. The perpetrator knows the object has someone pos- sessive of it: People can even be possessive of a favourite rag. If for some reason you cannot find the rag you usually use, often you feel irritated or angry. In the past there was an agreement be- tween market gardeners as follows — whatever they plant, whether it may be bananas or sugar cane or aubergines or chillis, if anyone walks through the field and feels they want to eat some of the crop, they are allowed to help themselves to as much as they can eat, but it is prohibited to take any in your pockets or in a bag to eat in the home. It is said that there is only one eater of stolen food who steals food and takes it home to eat and that is a stray dog. 3. The perpetrator has the intention to steal: Even the intention to steal starts to cloud the mind. 4. The perpetrator makes the effort to steal the object: This means trying to find devious strategies and actually putting those strategies into practice. 5. The perpetrator obtains the object in keeping with his intention. C.1.3 Third Precept: Not Committing Adultery In order to break the Precept of not committing adultery, your action has to consist of four compo- nents: 1. The object of the affection must be a man or woman who is prohibited: So what do we mean by a part- ner who is prohibited? There are four sorts of women who are prohibited to men • married women; • women who are still in the care of their par- ents; • women who lifestyle prohibits sexual inter- course, such as nuns or female prisoners. • women related to us such as our mother or our sister or our daughter and three types of men prohibited to women: • any man who is not your own husband; • men whose lifestyle prohibits sexual inter- course such as monks. Blessing Nine: Artfulness in Usage 123 EFTA01129225 • men who are related to us 2. The perpetrator has the intention to have sexual in- tercourse with that person; 3. The perpetrator makes the effort to have sexual inter- course (e.g. removes his clothes) 4. There is a joining of the sexual organs. In fact there is no man or women born in the world who has no connections except for the one who is already married to you. No-one else is the legiti- mate subject for sexual intercourse —not in the bar nor the night club — even prostitutes are prohib- ited (consider respect for human dignity and fair economics and you will understand why) — there are no such things as 'wayside flowers' free to be picked by anyone. C.1.4 Fourth Precept: Not Telling Lies In order to break the Precept of not telling lies, your speech has to consist of four components: 1. Saying something that is not true 2. Having the intention to misrepresent the truth 3. Making the effort to misrepresent the truth. 4. The listener understands what you have said. The damage of lying comes from the chain reac- tion it causes: inorder to lie to someone once, you have to lie to yourself first three times. The first time you lie to yourself is in order to prepare your- self to tell a lie. You have to make up the story and convince yourself first. The second time you have to lie to yourself is when you meet the person who you are going to lie to. Thirdly, you have to re- member what lies you have told to who, because next time you meet them you have to tell them things consistent with that first lie, or else your dishonesty will be discovered. If the lie is an im- portant one, sometimes you will have to remem- ber it for years. The result of being a liar is that eventually you will lose your self-confidence be- cause you have lied to yourself until you have become used to it. At the end of your life, your memory becomes so blurred to the truth that you end up suffering from senile dementure as the re- sult of the mental hypocrisy you have accumulated throughout the course of your life. C.1.5 Fifth Precept: Not Drinking Alcohol In order to break the Precept of not drinkingalcohol, your action has to consist of five components: 1. The liquid drunk must be alcohol 2. The person must know that it is alcohol. 3. The person must have the intention to drink it 4. The person must make the effort to drink it 5. The alcohol must be swallowed. For the purposes of the fifth Precept, not only al- cohol and heedlessness-inducing intoxicants are prohibited, but also such drugs such as heroine, opium, maruana etc.. If you consider tobacco from the point of view of this Precept in an objective way, you will find that smoking tobacco must be avoided too. Those who become addicted to anything like tobacco will find themselves in difficulty when they come to practice meditation on a retreat where there is no opportunityto smoke. Some people say that they smoke without being addicted — and they have been smoking without addiction continuously for the last ten years! C.1.6 Seriousness of Breaking Precepts In addition, breaking a Precept may be more or less serious dependent on an additional three factors: 1. the amount of effort invested in breaking the Precept: the more the effort invested in a deed, the more serious is the breaking of that Precept. To kill a large animal is more serious than to kill a small animal because it takes more effort. 2. the gratitude or ingratitude in breaking the Pre- cept: the more an action expresses ingratitude, the greater will be the seriousness of breaking the Precept. Wringing the neck of the cock which crowed to wake you up every morning at dawn to go to school until you got yourself a univer- sity degree is worse than wringing the neck of another cock you have never known before. Thus one should be very careful not to disregard the debt of gratitude owed to others. If that person or animal is one that is useful — especially if it has been helpful to us personally in the past. 3. The strength of the intention behind breaking the Precept: if you kill an ant by pulling each leg out 124 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129226 one by one and then killing it, it is worse than killing the ant outright in one fell swoop. To kill a mosquito by slapping it is not as bad as putting a candle flame to the wings of the mosquito and leaving it in pain to wriggle to death for the next three days. If a person kills with vengeance and cruelty, it is more serious than for killing out of vengeance in cold blood. If someone kills some- one with a single shot, it is not so bad as some- one who tortures someone to death. Thus even in the past, they would try to find quick ways of execution so that they could reduce the evil ac- crued by the executioner. (Best of all is not to have to kill the prisoner at all). C.2 Components of Eight Precepts C.2.1 Differences between Five and Eight Precepts The following differences are found between the components of Precepts shared between the Five and Eight Precepts: The Third Precept: Undurstity : The first difference between the Five Precepts and the Eight Precepts concerns the Third Precept. Immoral sexual re- lations Ikanwsu micchachara] are replaced by abstention from any sexual relations (brahmacariya — lit. Brahma-faring). For the Third Precept of the Eight Precepts there are only two components: 1. You have the intention of having sexual rela- tions. 2. There is a joining of the sexual organs. In this case it makes no difference whether your partner is your husband or wife. It will cause your Precepts to be broken. If either or both hus- band and wife are training themselves in the Eight Precepts it is usual for them to sleep apart. This form of training is important because for most people in the world who lack control over their own minds, for most of the time, their thoughts and action are dictated by the defile- ments of sensual indulgence. The five precepts already teaches you to be contented with your spouse. The Eight Precepts goes further with this training by offering sixth, seventh and eighth Precepts to help play a supporting role in the reduction of attachment to sensual stimuli. The Fifth Precept: Not Drinking Alcohol : Another dif- ference between Five Precepts and Eight Precepts concerns the fifth Precept. For Five Precepts the fifth Precept has five components, but for the Eight Precepts, there are only four components as follows: 1. The liquid drunk must be alcohol 2. The person must have the intention to drink it 3. The person must make the effort to drink it 4. The alcohol must be swallowed. You will see that for the Eight Precepts it is no longer necessary to know that the drink is alco- hol in order to cause the fifth Precept to be bro- ken. C.2.2 Sixth Precept: Refraining from Untimely Eating It is commonly asked by housewives who keep the Eight Precepts whether they are allowed to taste the food they are preparing for their husbands in the evening. Sometimes to taste and to eat food are not the same (except for the person who tastes half a plate of food and still doesn't know the flavour!) 1. It must be midday of one day to the dawn of the fiat: The dawn signals the changing of the day for Buddhists — technically the earliest time that if you go out into the open, and stretch out your arm, you can see the lines on your hand dearly without having to use a torch or the time at dawn when you can first distinguish the leaves of trees as being of different shades of green. 2. The substance eaten is solid food (chewable): This second component has some exceptions i.e. chewable food that is allowed. Exceptions in- clude refined sugar, sugar cane juice, tamarinds, embolic myrobalan, nutgall or pickled ginger. For those who might have dietary problems if their stomach is completely empty, cheese or butter is allowed (but not cheese sandwiches!) 3. The effort is made to eat the food 4. The food is swallowed. If all four of these components are present then the Blessing Nine: Artfulness in Usage 125 EFTA01129227 sixth Precept will be broken.The point of keeping the sixth precept is to remove another possible risk of sleepiness as a hindrance to one's meditation practice by avoiding a heavy evening meal. If we eat too much, it will give us more energy than we can use and this contributes to ease of sexual arousal. If you were to miss a meal once a week by forgoing an evening meal, you will find that the excess food will be burned up. C.2.3 Seventh Precept: Not indulging in entertainment or immodesty Indulging in entertainment means specifically: sing- ing, dancing or playing musical instruments your- self, watching others doing the same (excepting the national anthem or music in honour of the mon- arch). Immodesty means wearing perfume, jewelry, flowers or makeup (except talcum powder for me- dicinal purposes). Some people ask if they can watch the television when keeping the eight pre- cepts — the answer is that you have to be selective about what you watch. You can watch news but don't go watching a cabaret or certain sorts of ad- vertising. You have to avoid contact with cosmet- ics that are meant for beautification instead of for health. You shouldn't wear perfume, make-up, flowers, hair dye. Wearing talcum powder should just be to prevent athlete's foot or abrasion — not for beautification. The components of this seventh precept are any of the following: 1. Playing musical instruments, dancing or singing romantic songs yourself 2. Watching entertainment consisting of singing, danc- ing or romantic music. or all of the following: 1. There are cosmetics or perfume 2. The reason is not because of poor health 3. You wear the cosmetics or perfume C.2.4 Eighth Precept: Not engaging in Indolent Sleeping Habits The following are the components of the eighth precept: 1. The sleeping place is large or high 2. You know that the sleeping place is large or high 3. Sitting or lying down on that place You will notice that not only lying on a soft mat- tress is forbidden but also sitting on such a mat- tress, because they contribute to making the mind wanderThe softer the mattress on which you sleep, the less you feel like getting up in the morning. As you sleep without mindfulness, it will start to un- dermine the purity of your third precept. However, nowadays houses commonly have sofas which are soft. If you were to be strict, sitting on a sofa would be forbidden, but for the sake of manners, it is bet- ter to accept others hospitality than to take all the cushions off the sofa and throw them away. At the same time we should take good care of our pres- ence of mind. We have to think of both our Pre- cepts and the appropriateness in any situation. Sometimes hotels have nowhere but beds upon which to sleep. In other places it may be too cold to sleep on the floor without anything under you in the way of insulation. Thus consider appropriate- ness in each situation. C3 Monastic Discipline C.3.1 The Objectives behind Monastic Discipline (Vin.iii.20, A.v.70) The Buddha created the monastic discipline for ten reasons: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. To maintain peace in the monastic community; To restrain stubborn and shameless disciples; To maintain the happiness of the monastic com- munity; To maintain the happiness of monks who love discipline; To give protection from defilements that might increase in the present time (for example if monks are allowed to speak one-to-one with females, there may be many new problems re- suiting); To give protection from defilements that might increase in the future (for example if monks are allowed to speak one-to-one with females, later it may lead the monk to spend all their time thinking of that female.); 126 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129228 7. To instil faith in the public who are not yet faith- ful; 8. To increase the faith of the public who are al- ready faithful; 9. To maintain the Teaching of the Buddha stead- fast; 10. To maintain discipline itself; C.3.2 Components of Monastic Discipline Although it would be possible to give the compo- nents for each of the 227 monastic Precepts (same principles apply as for those of the Five and Eight Precepts) there is insufficient space to do so. How- ever, to demonstrate that monastic discipline is more than just the code of conduct, the four com- ponents of monastic practice are described below: C.3.21 Restraint according to monastic code of conduct [patinzokkhasaravara]: The ipcitinzokkhe is the set of rules of training which the Buddha gave to monks for the restraint of their bodily actions and speech. As soon a monk ordains, whether he knew the rules or not previ- ously, it is immediately his duty to make sure he knows and abides by the 227 rules of conduct. The 227 Rules therein can be divided into three degrees of seriousness: 1. Rules entailing defeat Iparajika]: There are four rules in this category: killing people, stealing, sexual intercourse and claims of mental attainments. Any monk who infringes the rules of this category immediately in no longer a monk any more. Whether he is dis- robed or not, he is no longer a monk any more. It is the heaviest infringement of monastic conduct possible. 2. Rules entailing an initial and subsequent meeting of the order [sanghadisesaj: This cat- egory of rules of training is less serious than the previous, but can still be considered evil and coarse. When a monk breaks one of these rules, they must confess their transgression to the rest of the monastic community. If a monk who has infringed such a rule still has not ad- mitted his fault to the rest of the monastic com- munity, then he is still not returned to purity. The reason for this is to show that you are aware of your fault and will not do it again. Only then can the monk be re-admitted to the monastic community. 3. Rules entailing confession: These include "Rules entailing confession" [pacittiya], "Rules entailing forfeiture and confession " [nissaggiya-pacittiya]; "Rules entailing ac- knowledgment" Ipatidesaniyab "Minor Transgressions" Iclukkatal, and;" Wrong Speech" [dubbluisita]. For these infringe- ments of the monastic conduct there is no need for monks to confess in front of the monastic assembly. By confessing to another monk the offending monk can be returned to purity again. In fact, confession doesn't wash away the evil caused by infringement of the disci- pline, but it helps to give the monk the mindfulness not to infringe the same rule of conduct again. Confession is like the healing of an open wound — but the scar still remains. Best of all is never to break the rules of mo- nastic conduct. C.3.2.2 Restraint of the senses [indriyasaravaral This means specifically the restraint of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin contact and mind. Monks should not look at inappropriate things: if a monk sees a couple petting at the side of the road, he shouldn't stay and watch them but should quickly go some- where else. Monks should not listen to inappropri- ate things — there is no need to go listening to gos- sip that doesn't concern him. Monks should not smell things that are inappropriate or taste things that are inappropriate: mostly this concerns food and not just eating things for the taste. Monks should not touch or have skin contact with things that are inappropriate: not using rubbing creams just for the smoothness of the skin or to take pleas- ure in touching soft and comfortable things. Monks should not use their mind to think of inappropri- ate things. In other words monks should not find pleasure or displeasure from the use of the senses. C.3.2.3 Purity of livelihood [afivaparisuddhi] Monks have to make their living, but not by culti- vating fields or earning a wage. The proper way of making a living for a monk is to go on almsround. Blessing Nine: Artfulness in Usage 127 EFTA01129229 All monks know this but some think that almsround is inconvenient because sometimes alms are do- nated, sometimes not. To set oneself up as a for- tune teller or a seller of lottery tickets somehow seems more convenient! — but it is not pure liveli- hood for monks. Lotteries are a form of gambling and gambling is one of the roads to ruin. Thus if monks encourage and make their living out of lot- teries or lottery numbers, don't go supporting them — they are in breach of monastic discipline. For- tune telling by monks is no better than lottery tips. Fortune telling is a pseudo-science of statistics and is not grounded on truth. Thus fortune telling is a sort of guesswork which is not much better than lying. C.3.2.4 Reflection on the Requisites [paccaya- paccavekkhatia]: This is the practice by monks of recollection or re- flection on the four different sorts of requisites be- fore use. The requisites of clothing, food, shelter and medicine are the basic needs of life. Monks must reflect that the requisites are nothing more than needs to keep the body going, in the same way as fuel keeps a car mobile. Most people use the requi- sites of life without distinguishing between need and want—but for monks the proper practice is to use the requisites to train oneself in the considera- tion of moderation. 1). ATTAIN NIENT Oh SIMI...DIE( II LINE D.1 Levels of Avoidance Properly practised, discipline will give rise to self- discipline. Where discipline is the avoidance of un- wholesomeness by external means, self-discipline is the avoidance of unwholesomeness by internal means. To distinguish between the two, we iden- tify three different ways in which unwholesome- ness can be avoided [virati]: 1. Avoidance on the spur of the moment [sampattaviratiJ: this is a form of discipline whereby one refrains from unwholesome action or speech spontaneously without having re- quested any Precepts in advance. If you see a fish washed up on the beach and you decide on the spur of the moment to throw it back into the water out of compassion, rather than killing — this is the sort of avoidance which we call 'avoid- ance on the spur of the moment'. Perhaps you would turn in a lost wallet with all of the money instead of keeping it for yourself, for fear of be- ing accused of stealing. Such avoidance of evil occurs as the result of fear and shame of evil or the consequences of evil [hiri-ottappa]; 2. Avoidance having requested the Precepts Isanzaclanavirati]: this is a form of discipline whereby one refrains from unwholesome action or speech for fear of breaking Precepts one has previously requested from a monk. Some peo- ple simply make a vow to keep the Precepts each day in front of the shrine. Even if someone were to give you a bottle of beer, because you have taken the five precepts that day, you will turn down the offer for fear of breaking your vow; 3. Avoidance through transcending framucceda- virati]: this is a form of self-discipline whereby one no longer has any temptation to do evil, be- cause the mind has reached a stage of purity and transcendental attainment whereby no unwhole- some intention can arise in the mind any more to drive unwholesome speech or action. This is absolute avoidance of evil of the type achieved by those who have attained the stages of Bud- dhist sainthood. D.2 Refraining from the Tenfold Path of Unwholesomeness The result of practising discipline until attainingself- discipline is to remove oneself from the influence of the Tenfold Path of Unwholesomeness [akusala- dhammapatha], the first four of which can be rec- ognized as the Four Defilements of Action Rammakilesaj: 1. Killing: e.g. killing people, fishing, hunting and cruelty to animals 2. Stealing: e.g Thieving, mugging, shoplifting, corruption and deceit 3. Committing adultery: unfaithfulness to one's spouse, rape, pre-marital sex 4. Lying: eg. telling lies, exaggeration, forgery 5. Malicious or divisive gossip: e.g. gossip in a 128 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129230 way to turn one person against another mud- slinging 6. Harsh or insulting speech: e.g. name calling, swearing 7. Idle chatter: e.g. purposeless babble, raving, boasting 8. Covetousness: e.g. considering to get some- thing one wants in a dishonest way, coveting others' possessions 9. Vengeful Thought: e.g. wanting to get revenge or get your own back 10. False View: e.g. thinking good and evil to benon- existent, thinking you have no debt of gratitude to your parents, thinking death to be the end of the story, not believing in the law of Karma and to establish oneself in the Tenfold Path of Wholesomeness Ilausaladhannapatha]: 1. absolutely not killing. 2. absolutely not stealing 3. absolutely not committing adultery 4. absolutely not lying 5. absolutely not gossiping 6. absolutely not speaking harshly. 7. absolutely not idle chatter 8. absolutely not thinking to take the possession of others 9. absolutely remove yourself from vengefulness. 10. absolutely possession of Right View E. ILLUS1 RA 1 l% LAA.M1 LES E.1 Metaphor: Vinaya to knowledge is as a scabbard to a sword Even if you have theoretical knowledge and expe- rience, you need to have an extra virtue to protect you from using that knowledge in the wrong way — that virtue is self-discipline. Without self-disci- pline, you will apply your knowledge to do im- moral things. The people of old had sayings that: "If a sharp sword lacks a scabbard, it can harm even the owner. If a hand-grenade lacks a fir- ing pin it can kill even the owner. A person of knowledge and experience can come to an un- fortunate end, if he lacks self-discipline" £2 Metaphor. Value of clay is in the value of the mold The people of old remarked that a humble lump of clay in the middle of a field is a strange thing. Unshaped, in the middle of that field it is with- out worth. However, if you put it into moulds of various sorts, it acquires worth depending on the nature of the mould. If you put the clay in the mould for a plate or a cup, when it comes out of the mould, it has acquired some value — it is something you can use on the table. If you put it into the mould for a doll, then the result- ing doll is of value and can be used to decorate the house. If you put the clay into the mould for a Buddha image, the clay is suddenly trans- formed into something superior to household use, but something to be the object of respect for all who see it. Thus you can see that the bet- ter the mould you subject the clay to, the more value it acquires. When we come to talk about people instead of clay, we find that in the same way, the thing that gives people their value is the self-discipline they abide by. The greater the degree of self-discipline, the ewmore they are worth. Blessing Nine: Artfulness in Usage 129 EFTA01129231 130 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129232 Blessing Ten: Artfulness in Speech LINTRODUCTION Some might think the words coming from our mouths are relatively unimportant when compared to the artfulness in "knowledge", "application" and "usage" discussed in the previous blessings of this grouping. However, when it comes to "making oneself useful to society"one cannot avoid commu- nicative skills for team-building and for passing one's knowledge on to others. A.1 Buddhism founded on the tenet of correct speech Furthermore, it is only due to the care taken in "communicative skills" that the Buddha's Teach- ing can have been passed down across the space of 2,500 years to the present day and still inspire peo- ple. Words can be true but they may not be pleas- ant to listen to. If words are both true and polite, the ancients said that they were both worth listen- ing to and also worth hearing. If words, apart from being both true and polite were also useful, the an- cients said that such words apart from being worth believing and worth hearing are also worthy of re- spect — it is hard to find any religion which analy- ses speech to such depth. A.2 Verbal karma easier to produce than Physical karma If you compare the possibilities for doing and say- ing good things, you find that the possibilities for good speech are almost unlimited, more than what we can do with the body. You can really do many more good deeds with your speech than your ac- tions or if you make the mistake of doing evil, you can do much more evil with your speech than with your body. This is the reason why the Buddha had to give the art of speaking its own separate bless- ing, because of all there is to be studied. A.3 Why one mouth is ample Without understanding the principles of artful speech, we are wont to say too much. The people of old would teach small children the way to look at yourself in the mirror. They would say, don't go looking at how beautiful or handsome you are — because before long old age will rob you of all these things. Take a good look at your own face. You will notice that even though your eyes have only one function, to look, nature has given you two. You will notice that even though your ears have only one function, to hear, nature has also given you two. You will notice that even though your nostrils have only one function, to breathe, nature has given you two. However, your mouth has two functions, to eat and to talk, but nature has given you only one mouth. It is as if nature is telling us to use our mouth in moderation — not to eat too much and not to say too much! b. UNWHOLESOME SPEECH From our study of self-discipline in Blessing Nine, we already know to avoid the different sorts of un- wholesome speech described in the Tenfold Path of Unwholesomeness Icausaladhammapathal — Blessing Ten: Artfulness in Speech 131 EFTA01129233 these go beyond lying to enumerate no less than four different sorts of unwholesome speech which should be avoided: 1. Telling lies 2. Divisive Speech 3. Harsh Speech 4. Idle Chatter £1 Telling Lies Telling lies means saying or writing words that are untrue in order to take advantage of someone else. As this subject has already been dealt with in Bless- ing Nine, no further detail will be repeated here. B.2 Divisive Speech Divisive speech or malicious gossip is speaking di- visively to set one person against another. There are four components to malicious gossip: 1. There is someone to set against one another; 2. You have the intention to set one side against the other. 3. You make the effort to speak divisively; 4. You manage to make yourself understood; The amount of evil involved in speaking divisively depends on severalfactors: 1. The Debt of Gratitude between the Perpetrator and the Victim: If you speak in such a way as to cause your own parents' marriage to break up or to set up one of your teachers against another or to set one monk against another, the evil will be very heavy.The degree to which the victims are di- vided: If the victims are completely unable ever to get back together again, the evil will be very heavy. 2. The Strength of the Intention behind wanting to cause a division: The stronger the divisive intention, the heavier will be the evil. 3. The amount of effirt put in to making a division. The more the effort the heavier the evil B.3 Idle Chatter Idle chatter is speaking purposelessly just to pass the time. There are two components to idle chatter: 2. To have the intention to talk about something mean- ingless: Meaningless words are the sort of words that don't lead a conversation anywhere. 2. Speaking those meaningless words The seriousness of retribution of idle chatter de- pends on the importance of the meaningfulness that you impede be speaking. Even those who al- ways speak in a joking way that lacks seriousness don't have to wait for next life to see the results of their misdeeds — no-one will take them seriously. The amount of evil involved in idle chatter de- pends on several factors: 1. Amount of chatter: The heaviness of the retribu- tion depends on whether you chatter a lot or a little. 2. How much the speaker is believed: The more oth- ers are taken in by what we say, the worse will be the retribution. 3. The strength of the intention: The stronger the in- tention the worse the retribution. B.4 Harsh Speech Harsh speech includes swearing or insultingothers to the degree that it upsets them. Harsh speech even includes sarcasm and sarcastic comparisons.There are three components to harsh speech: 2. There is someone to insult 2. The speaker has the angry intention to insult that person 3. The speaker gets down to insulting that person The amount of evil involved in speaking harshly depends on severalfactors: 1. The Debt of Gratitude between the Perpetrator and the Victim: If you speak in such a way as to in- sult your own parents or teachers, the evil will be very heavy.The evil is also heavy if the vic- tim is of high mental attainment. 2. Whether the insult is to their face or behind their back. An insult to someone's face is worse in its retribution than an insult behind their back. 3. The strength of bad intention behind the insult. The stronger the bad intention, the worse will be the retribution. 4. The amount of effort behind the insult 132 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129234 B.5 Retribution of insulting those of virtue There are eleven forms of disasters befalling monks who (unfoundedly) verbally abuse others who have already attained the stages of sainthood: 1. failing to attain the due mental attainments; 2. falling away from the previous mental attain- ments; 3. their Sadhamma will become clouded; 4. will delude themselves into thinking they have already attained Sadhamma; 5. will become discontented with pursuing the Brahma-faring; 6. will commit monastic transgressions; 7. will give up the training and fall back into the low (household) life: 8. will be struck down by grave illness; 9. will be struck down by madness or mental dis- traction; 10. will commit mortal blunders, and; 11. has the hell realms as an afterlife destination. AN.XI.6 Thus if at all possible, whether concerning a monk or not, never be someone to find fault in others. Always try to look for the good in others. You may notice the weaknesses of others. Observe them, re- member them but don't use them as the subject of conversation. If you are always immersed in the good deeds of others then even if you try to think of evil things you will be unable to. You won't be tempted to find fault with that person or that per- son to the degree that you end up finding fault with people who have no fault. B.6 Disadvantage of saying too much Most people in the world believe that they are men of principle. However, when it comes to speaking, many find that they just say what they feel like. If people do have a governing principle about the things they say, then usually they just try to say the things that are pleasing for the other person to hear. The trouble with such a principle is that people will always say what is easiest to say instead of saying the things that need to be said. Such a principle, when you come to speech at the level of politicians or those in power will impede the progress of the country because politicians are always saying what is easiest to say instead of speaking out about the things in society which ought to be changed. If one has no clear principles then the more you speak, the more damage you do. The people of old had the saying that, "The more you say the more trouble you create." The reason is that when we have already said all that is beneficial and neces- sary to say and we keep on speaking then the next things to come out of our mouth are worthless or harmful speech such as gossip, slander, abuse, chat- ter and lies. Thus the people of old said, "keep what you have to say to mimimum and you will mimimize your problems. However if you refuse to speak at all then no-one understands you!" Thus we all have to say something, but for our own ben- efit we should clearly understand the nature of speech and the principles of artful speech that is beneficial so say so that we can be confident in se- lecting the things we say or keep to ourselves. C. ARTFUL SPEECH C.1 Definition By artful speech we mean speech that has been care- fully filtered and distilled by the mind as good, before it is allowed to pass our lips. It is not only speech that is better than nothing. It is speech that has been carefully selected by many criteria. It must be good from every viewpoint — so good that it cannot have any fault found in it. The reason why we must be careful with our speech is that how- ever good our intentions if we say something in the wrong way we can still upset the people around us because they cannot see what we are thinking. All they can pick up is the words by which we ex- press those intentions. C.2 Components of speech From the meaning communicated by the things people say we can identify three major compo- nents: 1. The Intention behind the Words: You can see whether the intention behind the things some- one is saying is based on greed (e.g. they would like to get something from someone), hatred (e.g. in order to try to harm someone) or delusion (e.g. out of the envy of someone). These are all dam- Blessing Ten: Artfulness in Speech 133 EFTA01129235 aging forms of speech. If speech is used in a good way then the intention must be good. Good speech may be said out of compassion. 2. The Sort of Words Chosen: The more true they are the less false they are. The more polite speech is the less rude it is and vice versa. If the useful- ness of words is reduced then they become more superfluous. Thus you can classify the speech of anyone in the world in terms of these three vari- ables no matter what language it is spoken in: 1. True or Untrue 2. Polite or Rude 3. Useful or SuperfluousWords are either true or false. 3. The Occasion Chosen to say therm Sometimes this means whether what is said is appropriate to the time available and the place where it is said. C.3 Qualities of artful speech Applying the general components of speak toartful speech, we find that there are five components. If speech is truly good it must be good to five levels. It is not like a one-star hotel which is better than a hotel with no stars. If we are truly principled in the things we say, then every word we say must be 'five star'. If it is any less, we will not let it pass our lips.: 1. Speech must always be based on the intention of compassion: If the intention behind our speech is not compassion for the hearer then those words are better not said. Think for example of the sort of things you say when you are angry with some- one and you will see that if you are angry its better to keep your mouth closed. 2. Speech must be true: (sort of words spoken) Sup- posing we would like someone to do a good deed (i.e. we have compassion for them) but to get them to do so we tell a white lie then it is no longer artful speech. Some people would like to cheer up a child so they say "Oh! Here comes the most precious boy in the world!" This could not yet be counted as artful speech — it is no more than words to fool children. The same thing even goes for telling "white lies" to fool people into doing beneficial things or the meaningless words exchanged between people in love. 3. Speech must be polite (sort of words spoken): If it is not polite it can never be artful speech. It is speech which ought to stay in the market place. 4. Speech must be useful (sort of words spoken): It should not something be said just to float on the breeze. Does it create benefit by making the mind of the speaker and the listener brighter? Does it create benefit both in this lifetime and the next? This doesn't mean that we tell lies for our own benefit but by doing so we take advantage of oth- ers. Both speaker and listener must benefit as the result of the words spoken. Why bother telling someone that Mr. So-and-so is involved in cor- ruption when everyone throughout the town al- ready knows it to be a fact. 5. Speech must be at the appropriate time and oc- casion (the occasion chosen to say them): Even if you say the right thing but it is at the wrong time then you cannot consider it to be artful speech. You might want to give your husband or wife or friend a useful piece of criticism but if you do it in front of their boss it turns advice into a disgrace for that person. If you want to give your boss a warning you have to choose the appropriate time or else it might be seen as in- sult. C.4 Special Considerations when giving criticism The subject of appropriate occasion is something that is very hard to judge. In societies where there must be quality control and there does need to be evaluation and criticism of sloppy practices, then often one cannot wait for the right opportunity to come along by accident. In such a case you have to do your best to create the opportunity. Apart from keeping to all the five principles already mentioned, there are two extra considerations which you should bear in mind which can help to create fa- vourable circumstances for giving criticism: 1. Praise them before you criticise them: A piece of criticism may take three pieces of praise to bal- ance up the good feeling lost. The praise should always come first. Don't forget that others have feelings too and even if someone has made a lot of faults you shouldn't criticise them for any 134 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129236 more than two faults per day or else you may have a resignation on your hands. 2. Smile when you give the criticism: Don't criti- cise out of anger. If you ever say something to someone and you are surprised that it makes them angry, try checking the words that you said using the 'five-star' meas- ure of artful speech mentioned above. If you do not filter your use of words carefully, then your wordsmay cause harm to others. On other occa- sions, like a cup and a saucer must be of a match- ing quality, sometimes situations require words of a matching quality too. Sometimes it is good to speak in a way that is polite, but sometimes a situ- ation doesn't require it because in some exceptional circumstances, five star language is not appreciated. C.5 Those who don't appreciate artful speech It is not as if you should speak in the most polite possible way to every person you meet. Some peo- ple cannot stand to hear polite language and may even criticize you because of it. They hear some- one speaking dearly and accuse that person of be- ing 'affected'. In such cases you might need to lower the grade of politeness of the language you use to make your language more direct, to shock the per- son into awareness. However, the rest of the four components of good speech must remain intact. The following sort of people might need to hear direct speech: 1. Those who have a superiority complex or like to pretend that everyone is equal: Those who think they are God's gift to the world. Such people will not profit from flowery speech. Sometimes they need to be shocked by the words they hear in order to change themselves for the better. 2. Those whose mind is blinded to the virtues of the speaker by their lack of faith for that per- son: This is especially true if someone's mind is still attached to practices that are diametrically opposed to the ones you are advocating. Thus you can speak flowery words until you are red in the face and they will still not be inspired by your words. Even so you must not give up try- ing to help such people! 3. Those who are in the midst of depression: For such people, flowery words are of no more use than flute music to a buffalo. C.6 Praiseworthy Talk In Buddhism, the most useful sort of talk istalk of virtue by one who exemplifies the virtue they are talking about. The Buddha taught that ten types of conversation which are praiseworthy are: 1. one who wants little and talks on wanting little [appiccha]; 2. one who is contented and talks on contentment [santuttlii]; 3. one who is loves seclusion and talks on seclu- sion [paviveka]; 4. one who loves solitude and talks on solitude [osarpsagga); 5. one who strives energetically and talks on en- ergetic striving [viriyal; 6. one who is self-disciplined and talks on self- discipline [silo]; 7. one who has attained concentration and talks on concentration Isamadhi]; 8. one who has attained wisdom and talks on wis- dom [pail/bib 9. one who is has attained liberation and talks on liberation ruimutti), and; 10.one who is has attained seeing and knowing of liberation and talks on seeing and knowing of liberation Ivimuttifinuadassanaj. C.7 Characteristics of a peace envoy One of the most useful applications of artful speech is to make the world a more peaceful place. When- ever there is conflict in society the reasons for peo- ple to do evil things are multiplied manyfold. If we ever have the opportunity to encourage people to live together in peace and harmony it is something very meritorious for us to do. Anyone who is fit- ting to be an envoy of this sort should have eight characteristics which we should learn and train ourselves in so that we may be ready if ever we have the opportunity to take on this duty. In the future, no matter how many lifetimes we are born for we will always have friends and relatives who are peaceful and harmonious: Blessing Ten: Artfulness in Speech 135 EFTA01129237 1. You must be able to listen to others opinions and not refuse their point of view: Some people like to hear only the sound of their own voice. They don't let others get a word in edgeways. Of course they can never find anyone to listen to them. Before becoming a good speaker you must train yourself to listen to other people first. Whether what another person is saying is right or wrong, at least give them the chance to say what they have to say and in that way you will be able to pick up the jist of what they have to say. 2. When you do speak, you must be able to capture your listener's attention and hold it• That doesn't mean just spending all your time listening to what others have to say but when it comes to your turn to speak then you should see to it that what you are saying is listened to. Don"t go speaking in a way that is irritating so that no one can listen to you for long. 3. Know how to set the boundaries for what you have to say to the minimum: If you are not able to limit the scope of what you have to say then it is like driving a cart along to chase a rabbit. This is what it is always like if the objective of what you have to say is not dear. There will be no end to what you have to say. Political negotiations will go on for seven days and seven nights and still reach no conclusion. 4. You must be able to remember what you have to say: Never use a forgetful person as your emis- sary. 5. Understand the detail of everything you have to say: It is not enough simply to be able to memo- rize the details. 6. Having the ability to make others understand what you have to say: This really takes a lot of ability. You must be artful in the use of meta- phor and artful speech. 7. You must be skilled in selecting to say only use ful things and cutting out the rest. 8. By habit you must be someone who is not fond of starting arguments: Never send anyone with a short temper as your ambassador unless you are planning to start a war. Finally, in the words of the Buddha "An ambassador is one who even in the com- pany of the harsh-spoken, can remain un- scathed and unruffled, makes no mistake in his use of words, doesn't conceal information, has the ability to alleviate the doubts of others and who is not angered by questioning." (Vin. Culavagga 7/201) as Buddhist Principles of Public Speaking There are many different recipes for success for pub- lic speaking in the world — including those of the Toastmasters or Carnegie, but in general, they do not have principles which deviate far from the prin- cipals already outlined above — except for aspects of the delivery. Buddhist principlesof public speak- ing emphasize the following components: 1. Sound body: This includes all aspects of non-ver- bal communication 2. Sound speech: This means speech that is pleas- ant to the ears, eyes and mind of the listener: 1. Being pleasant to the ear means possessing "Five Star" speech and includes the use of words, use of intonation and the rhythm of what is said. 2. Being pleasant to the eye means the speaker hav- ing a pleasant personality and use of expres- sion. 3. Being pleasant to the mind includes appropri- ate choice of subject, being prepared, having one's thoughts organized and structuring the speech into three parts: an introduction, main body and conclusion. 3. Sound mind: Exemplifying the virtues which you talk about. Buddhist public speaking is not just talking to be understood or believed, but for the enjoyment and the inspiration of the listener to do good deeds. U. 1LLLJSflATIVE EXAMPLES D.1 Metaphor. A fish lives & dies because of its mouth A fish can have long life dependant on its mouth which it uses to feed. However, because the self- same mouth and its greed for bait, it swallows the hook which brings its life to an end. In the same 136 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129238 way, if we use our mouth for artful speech, it can bring us success and prosperity in life, but some- times even a word of unwholesome speech from the same mouth can cost us our lives. D.2 Metaphor. It is not just knowing the right thing to say A smart person is not a person who knows when to say the right thing — they must also know when to keep their silence. A knowledge of the things not to be said is more important for an artful speaker, even more than a knowledge of the things to be said. D.3 .Ex.: Condemned man who said too much The less you say, the less risk you run of saying something foolish, even dangerous. In 1825 a new czar, Nicholas I, ascended the throne of Russia. A rebellion immediately broke out, led by liberals demanding that the country modernize — that its industries and civil structures catch up with the rest of Europe. Brutally crushing the rebellion (the Decembrist Uprising), Nicholas I sentenced one of its leaders, Kondraty Ryleyev, to death. On the day of the execution. Ryleyev stood on the gallows, the noose round his neck. The trap-door opened — but as Ryleyev dangled, the rope broke, dashing him to the ground. At the time, events like this were con- sidered signs of providence or heavenly will, and a man saved from execution this way was usually pardoned. As Ryleyev got to his feet, bruised and dirtied but believing his neck had been saved, he called out to the crowd, "You see, in Russia they don't know how to do anything properly, not even how to make a rope!" A messenger immediately went to the Winter Palace with news of the failed hanging. Vexed by this disappointing turnabout, Nicholas I nevertheless began to sign the pardon. But then: "Did Ryleyev say anything after this miracle?"the czar asked the messenger. "Sire," the messenger replied,"he said that in Russia they don't even know how to make a rope!" "In that case,"said the Czar, "let us prove the contrary," and he tore up the pardon. The next day Ryleyev was hanged again. This time the rope did not break. Morale: Once the words are out, you cannot take them back. Keep them under control. Be particularly careful with sarcasm: The momentary satisfaction you gain with biting words will be outweighed by the price you pay. D.4 Er. Nandivisala Jataka (J.28) A tale which has become most famous as one of iEsops' Tales, in fact originates from the Jataka Tale of Nantivisala, the ox which pulled 100 carts for a wager. This young ox was miraculously strong ever since it was born and so the owner had the ox pull 100 carts. When he found that the ox could pull the carts, the owner made the ox's ability subject to a wager to a millionnaire who didn't believe it. How- ever, when it came to the time to prove the bet, the master said, 'Go ahead and pull the carts, ox!'. Be- cause the ox didn't like the direct language it re- fused to move. Even oxen have feelings. Thus the owner lost the bet. Later the owner made a second bet, spoke politely to the ox and won the wager making a profit. D.5 Er. Mamsa Jataka (J.315) There were once four sons of a millionnaire who wanted to compare their skills of persuasion and competed with each other in asking for meat from the cart of a butcher. When the four brothers saw the butcher's cart they thought to themself that they would like to eat some meat and they decided to see who could persuade the butcher to give them some meat. The first son shouted out to the butcher,"Hey butcher! Bring me some meat!" The butcher was a kindly man and he said "Of course but because your words are not sweet to my ears" he threw the boy some trotters. Everybody asked him why he gave the boy trotters and he replied that trotters are tough and have no taste just like the words of the one who had requested them. The second son said, "My brother! Please give me some of your meat to eat." Because the second son had had the respect to call him his brother then he cut off some choice meat to give to him. The third son said, "Oh my father! Please give me some of your meat to eat." Because the third son had had the respect to call him his father he cut the heart out of an ox to give to him. The fourth son said, "My friend! Please give me Blessing Ten: Artfulness in Speech 137 EFTA01129239 some of your meat to eat." The butcher heard his words and felt pleased. He said that when our ages are so similar like this, it is closest to the truth to say that we are friends. To call me 'fa- ther' is too much. To call me 'friend' is the most appropriate. So with those words he gave the whole of his cart to the fourth son. The fourth son was true to his word and took the butcher to his house. He said if you have this much gener- osity to me then I will be generous to you too — come and live here if you like — I have a reason- able amount of wealth to my name therefore if any of your friends are in distress just tell me and I will help. Well, it turned out that the butcher had a few unpaid debts so he was able to pay all those off. The fourth son was a friend to the butcher for the rest of his life. This is the benefit accrued to the fourth son who didn't speak harshly, or patronizingly but appro- priately to the truth of the situation. 138 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129240 The Fourth Group of Blessings "Harmony in the Family Life" The fourth group of blessings contains Blessings Eleven to Four- teen. Nearly all of these concern how we take care of our dose fam- ily and therefore the grouping is sometimes referred to as "Har- mony in the Family Life". Nested between Group III concerning "Setting Oneself up in life" and Group V concerning "Becoming a pillar of sodety", it is obvious that harmony at home is something we have to get right if we are truly to be of use to sodety at large. It is many an important businessman who has not managed to go as far as he ought in his career because of being upset or unfulfilled in his family life. This does not mean that it is necessary to have a husband or wife and children to make a success in one's life — but if one does have one's own family, than one has to fulfil one's duty to them properly. In any case one must fulfil one's duty to one's parents. 2 EFTA01129241 140 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129242 Blessing Eleven: Cherishing our parents A. IN i ROMA-DON A.1 Introduction to Blessing Eleven As we shall see for this blessing on cherishing our parents, much more than for cherishing husband, wife or children, the factor of "gratitude" is very important. According to Buddhist definition, "grati- tude" is an active virtue and to be fulfilled, should be practised in all of the following stages: 1. Appreciating our Debt of Gratitude to Our Par- ents Rata Milt] 2. Repayment of our Debt of Gratitude to Our Par- ents Ikatavedi] by: 1. repaying our debt of gratitude to our parents: physically and spiritually both before they pass away and after death too 2. Announcing the Goodness of Our Parents Only when we have done all of these components of gratitude can we be said to have fulfilled this eleventh Blessing — and the remainder of the dis- cussion in this blessing describes the practicality of putting all three components in practice. In some Buddhist literature, practising such duties is known as 'filial piety'. B. WHY SHOULD L HAN 10 CHLRISli OUR PARENTS? B.1 Rationale When we start out in our career of self-develop- ment, it is not obvious what goodness is. In the ini- tial blessings, we have had to orientate ourselves to virtue without really knowing what virtue is — let alone being able to identify virtue in ourselves. In the beginning, even to be able to associate with good people is a blessing, because some of their vir- tues might brush off on us too. In the beginning we might not be aware of the virtues in ourselves — it being much easier to perceive the virtues of others. The Buddha intended us to take a hard look at our own parents who have done so much for us — be- cause everyone has parents and everyone has received benefit at their hands. Thus, for our parents more than for others, virtue will be easy for us to iden- tify. If we are able to recognize, repay and announce the goodness of our parents, our familiarity with such virtue will become all the stronger. Later when we are able to see the good in our parents, we will be able to see the good in others. When we are able to see the good in others we will be able to see the good in ourselves and develop it further — accord- ing to the techniques found in the higher blessings. Unless we are sensative to a greater or lesser extent to the goodness other people express to us, we have little chance of increasing the sensitivity to the good- ness that lies within ourselves. There is no-one in the world who has done as much for one as one's parents, so if one is unable to respond to the good they have done one, then it is unlikely that one will be able to perceive good in anything else at all. If our debt of gratitude to our parents is as large as this and we are unable to see it, that shows that we must be severely blinded to the good of others. Blessing Eleven: Cherishing our Parents 141 EFTA01129243 £2 Taking care of our parents is the most fundamental of virtues Repaying the debt of gratitude to our parents is such a fundemental virtue, that the people of old used it as a benchmark for judging strangers. Sometimes one has to know someone for a long, long time be- fore one can really say we know such a person in depth. However, if you meet someone for the first time and you find out that they neglect their par- ents, you can be sure that they are unlikely to have any interest in helping anyone less closely related. B.3 We will be cared for by our children If you recognize and repay the debt of gratitude you have to your parents, apart from gaining per- sonal virtue, you will also set a good example for your own children — and they in turn will want to take care of you when you become feeble in your old age. B.4 Richness ofheart helps meditation progress Many people meditate for many years without be- ing able to make any progress — sometimes their mind has a continuous feeling of "dryness". How- ever, if upon learning about the debt of gratitude they have to their parents, they take steps to repay it, it often creates a "richness" of mind which al- lows them to progress again in their meditation. C. APPRECIATING OUR IWB 01 hitt 1111 Dh C.1 Why must we have gratitude in our lives? We didn't get where we are today entirely by our own efforts. We are the result of considerable in- vestment of food, care, protection, training and teaching by others. All these resources have come to us through the pure intentions of others in soci- ety— intentions without which our civilization would soon collapse. It is not that people have helped us because they want something from us in return, but if we, who have been on the receiving end of such altruism, are able to appreciate, return or praise the favours they have done us, it will help to create an atmosphere of "give and take" in soci- ety instead of deterioration into "every man to himself".The appreciation of good deeds is very important to Buddhist culture and cherishing our parents is our first and most fundamental oppor- tunity to express gratitude. C.2 Theories of non.gratitude to parents Where sons and daughters neglect their parents, of- ten it is not intentional, but because of having received influence from some of the theories rife in our society, none of which are entirely true: 1. Selfish Genes: Some people think that the only rea- son that parents are kind to their children is that they want to see their character and genes passed down to the next generation. This theory has even led to a genetic theory called 'The Selfish Gene' (Dawkins)by which it is proposed that man is noth- ing more than a mechanism by which genes repli- cate themselves! In such a case, parents don't show kindness to their children out of compassion but out of the selfish desire to propagate their own genes. If such a theory were really true, if you were walking down the street with four brothers who were all identical twins with at least half of the same genes as you have then you would rather that your- self were eaten by a monster in order to protect the greater part of your genes depending on the safety of your three brothers. Such theories have their limi- tations because they cannot explain why such traits as homosexuality which hamper the replication of genes might grow and spread in the population. The practical outcome of this theory is that instead of thinking to repay their parents for all the good things they have received, they think that they are bringing their parents fulfilment by bringing up grandchildren for their parents! This is logic equiva- lent to borrowing money from a bank to open a new business and paying back the loan to your customers! Instead of thinking how best to look after their poor parents, most children spend their time thinking how best to get themselves a boy- friend or girlfriend to look after for the rest of their lives instead. 2. Hereditary Sin: Some philosophies of life such as those advocated by the Unification Church (Moonism) go further to suggest that all the bad things in our life are passed down to us by our parents and therefore only be abandoning your parents and marrying into their religion can you escape from sin. Such thinking has led to many broken families and accusations of kidnapping and brainwashing. 142 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129244 3. Patricide Cults: Some philosophies of life such as those found in some African tribes are even more destructive for the family. Only a boy who is brave enough to kill his own father is eligable to become the chief of the tribe because it is taken that only such a person is cruel and brave enough to lead a tribe. Although our thoughts about our parents might not be so serious as some of the theories described above sometimes we find it hard to really com- prehend how much our parents have done for us. Superficially we think that the good our parents have done for us is easy to describe but in fact we don't usually don't look very deep. Many people are confused as to how the debt of grati- tude to our parents could possibly be as large. Just thinking of how they have brought us up and how they have fed and schooled us surely could not add up to such a large debt. However we should try our best to look for that goodness, be- cause if you can't see the good in other people who have done so much for you, don't expect to be able to see any of the good or positive things that arise in yourself as a result of your medita- tion. C.3 How a Child is indebted to his parents Of all the people in the world there is no-one closer to us than our own mother and father. Why should we choose our parents as subject to our own good deeds before thinking of others? Our parents are those to whom wehave one of the largest debts of gratitude. We can choose whether or not we have a spouse or children, but all of us have parents of whom we must take care. All through our childhood we have been in debt to them and even when adult that debt is no less than it was when we were young. But how many children go to school thinking to study their hard- est, do their best to pick up skills so that they can get a job to pay their parents back for their kind- ness as soon as they complete their education? As soon as they get their first job how many think of using thier first wage to buy a present as a to- ken of gratitude for thier parents and how many buy lipstick instead? C.3.1 Before conception If we look at the root meaning of the word 'parent' it means 'one who brings forth their offspring'. Thus our parents are responsible for having given us the gift of life. Some parents are a mother or a father to their children. Even if they wait until their child is born and then abandon it — i.e they give rise to children but don't bring them up — they have still given the child the most valuable thing it has — its own life. Parents serve as physical mold. A mold increases a material's value (see Blessing Nine §E.2). In a similar sense, the birth of all animals in the world depends on the parents as their physical mold. We are overwhelmingly indebted to our parents for their genes that give us our healthy physical shape. If our parents were those who didn't take good care of their own health then we might have been born handicapped physically. But as many of us are in good health, today, with strong physical bodies, if we were to have no gratitude to our par- ents for the things they have given us, it would show that we are blind to the good things that peo- ple do for us. Even if our parents had abandoned us at birth and did nothing else to bring us up, we should already be overwhelmed with the gift of life that they have given us. Thus don't go thinking that to be born human is an automatic entitlement. Even in your own house, the number of people living in the house is still small compared to the number of worms, mosqui- tos, ants, geckos, birds etc. There are maybe a hun- dred or a thousand more non-human living beings even in our own house than there are humans for whom the house was actually built. This tells us that to be born human is a difficult thing but to be born as an animal is easy. And if you were to be born as an animal — what use do you think you would be to the world? C.3.2 From conception to birth For the period we spent in the womb, we must mostly thank our mother but also our father who may have taken extra care of mother during preg- nancy. Throughout the forty weeks of pregnancy, the mother needed to take regular medical check- Blessing Eleven: Cherishing our Parents 143 EFTA01129245 ups. Even though she may not have liked to eat certain sorts of nutritious diet suitable for her ba- by's health, she had to eat those things, nonethe- less. Even though she might have wanted to eat certain sorts of food but knowing that these things may have been damaging to her baby, she had to go without them (e.g. avoiding the temptation of spicy (etc.) foods, drink and cigarettes) during the pregnancy, wearing loose clothes and having to leave strenuous work to others. Not only physically must the mother protect the child in her womb, but even the serenity of state of mind of the child in the womb must be protected by avoiding quarrels, conflict and anxiety. C.3.3 From Birth to adulthood A second word used for parents is 'father' or 'mother' which means 'the one who brings up their offspring'. Thus there are three types of parents — the ones we have already mentioned who bring forth children but don't bring them up, those who are step-parents who bring up the children of oth- ers and lastly, those who both give rise to children and bring them up too. Most of us find it is easier to comprehend their debt of gratitude to their par- ents for the care they have received from the time they are born to the time they are old enough to take care of themselves. What do you think is the time of your life when you are the most vulnerable and you can do nothing to help yourself? It is not when you have no money as a student. It is not during a war or when you are ill. None of these can compare to the risk which you underwent on the day you were born. Normally in the face of danger we would use the powers we have (physical strength, connections, wealth or wisdom) to over- come the danger — you are able to help yourself. However, on the day you were born, if your par- ents didn't decide to take you as their child to bring them up do you think you could survive? Could you put up a struggle when you don't even have the strength to open your eyes? Would you have had connections enough to get you out of trouble when even your own parents hadn't wanted you? Would you have had any wealth to buy yourself out of the situation at a time when you didn't even have a scrap of cloth to wear? Would you have had the wisdom to work out solutions to your prob- lems? The reality of the situation is that we could only survive because our parents were kind enough to accept us. Normally if someone is to adopt a child they would have to take a long, long time to make that decision. If you were going to lend some money to someone, you have to have your conditions and your contracts — but for us there was only uncon- ditional acceptance. Thus even that moment of ac- ceptance at the most vulnerable time of our life is more than we can easily reimburse. Even when the child is in the womb, even though they don't know how the child would turn out, they would lay down their life to protect the child in their womb. C.3.4 Physical Care If you compare man with the animals, there is no comparable animal which takes so long or expends so much effort in the care of its young. Usually the larger the animal, the longer it must stay in the womb (gestation period) and the longer it must rely on the care of its parents after its birth. Even an el- ephant with its huge size and a gestation period of three years will only look after a baby elephant for two years. Man although much smaller in size than any elephant often looks after his children for twenty years. They have done the job of protecting us like a guardian angel ever since we were born. Even after that we expect our parents to organize our marriages and pass their legacy on to us. Parents provide food, shelter, clothing, education and medical care for their children, supporting us in every way. Parents often have to put themselves at risk or in debt in order to look after their chil- dren. If you find a woman catching fish or shoplift- ing, 99 times out of 100 she is doing it only to feed her child — if it was for herself she would never take such a risk C.3.5 Spiritual Care Keeping us healthy and educated was not the only responsibility which our parents had to shoulder. Even our own basis of moral understanding had to come from our parents. If our parents had relied 144 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129246 always on the saying "do what I say not what I do", by now we would surely have grown up into hypo- crites. Our parents were an example for us to fol- low as well as scolding and punishing us for doing unacceptable things, keeping an eye on our friends and choosing only the best books for us to read. Who taught us to speak and walk? Who taught us all the basic virtues of life and had the patience to remind us when we were lazy or forgetful? Parents are a child's first teacher because they are the first to teach a child his manners and how to behave. Even when we are grown up and supposedly re- sponsible and independent, the generosity and care of our parents doesn't come to an end but we find that they are always there to help when we have important questions like that of marriage and the last thing our parents do for us before they die is to pass on their accumulated wealth for us. These are just a very brief summary of some of the ways in which we have been helped by our parents. Even the most tough and insensitive man or woman, when they become parents manages to find in the deepest part of their hearts the most ten- der and unlimited love for their own children and because of the purity of parental intention which fathers and mothers manage to find, ther people of old used to say you don't need to go any further than your own house in order to find an object of worship. CA Practical recollections to appreciate your debt of gratitude According to the Singalovada Sutta .180), the practicality of realizing one's debt ollatitude to one's parents can be effected by habitually reflect- ing: 1. "I have been supported by my parents — I will support them in turn" (such a recollection helps the cultivation of Right View) 2. "I will do their work for them" (such a recollec- tion helps the cultivation of patience, responsi- bility, knowledge and ability) 3. "I will keep up the honour and traditions of the family" 4. "I will make myself worthy of the family legacy" (such a recollection helps one to extricate one- self from the Six Roads to Ruin) 5. "I will make offerings, dedicating merit to them after their death" (such a recollection helps the cultivation of Right View and responsibility) Such recollections will not come naturally to any child who has not been raised with self-discipline, responsibility and Right View. Thus the gratitude a child has is part of a reciprocal relationship a par- ent has with their children — a subject explored in more depth in Blessing Twelve (§B.3). b. REPA1 !NG TIM DEBT OF GRAILI-twit) OUR PARENTS D.1 Expectations of Parents Poor parents would rather put themselves in debt than to see their own children suffer. Considering seemingly little things like carefully and rationally will allow us to see through to the magnitude of the debt of gratitude we own our parents. Realiz- ing how good one's parents are is a simple but nec- essary precursor to the repayment of gratitude to our parents — because it is not immediately obvi- ous or easy to understand for every person. There was once a man who, together with his brothers and sisters, had been looking after their mother throughout a constant period of two years nursing her and paying for her kidney transfusions at a cost of 20,000 per month. Such a cost was cer- tainly quite difficult for all the brothers and sisters to bear, but if they could not pay then surely their mother would die. Because the mother was also suffering from mental-disease, as soon as she was stronger after the transfusion, she would complain continuously disturbing the sons and daughters looking after her in the middle of the night. Look- ing after the mother was an ordeal for everyone concerned and at the end of two years, the thought occurred to all the brothers and sisters that two years was enough. They thought that all their ef- forts were surely enough to repay their debt of grati- tude to their mother. In actual fact, if their mother had thought the same thing of her sick sons and daughters early on in life then surely none of them would have survived to the present day. Their mother would have used the last of her earnings to Blessing Eleven: Cherishing our Parents 145 EFTA01129247 see her children well again and even have gone into debt rather than seeing her children suffer. All parents have only five expectations of their children (in keeping with the five recollections of the Singalovada Sutta mentioned in the previous paragraph) — all of which point to ways in which children can handle the debt of gratitude they owe to their parents: 1. that their children will look after them in their old age; 2. that their children will perpetuate the good work for society they have already started; 3. that their children will carry on the good name of the family; 4. that their children will use the family wealth in a responsible way 5. when they pass away their children will perform funeral rites and continue to dedicate the positivity of good deeds for their parents . The extent to which a child manages to do all five of these things varies from person to person — but in general you can categorize children into three types: 1. The child whose virtue exceeds that of his par- ents and who brings more prosperity to the fam- ily as during the time of his parents rabhi- jataputta] 2. The child whose virtue equals that of his par- ents and who brings the same degree of pros- perity to the family as was brought during the time of his parents lanujataputta] 3. The child whose virtue is less than that of his parents and who brings less prosperity to the family than during the time of his parent lava- jataputta] 112 Service Repaying to our parents' goodness through serv- ice is divided into two parts: 1. Service when they are still alive: When they are still alive help them in their daily chores. look after them when they are old, make sure that they are well fed, and care for them when they are not well. If they still have debts when they are in their old age then try to pay these debts off be- fore they die. Serve them by making life more convenient (e.g. building an extra toilet for aged parent) 2. Service after their death: When they pass away host their funeral and habitually offer the positivity you generate as the result of your meditation for their benefit: (even if we transfer merit to them and they are unable to accept it we have still done our duty to the best of our ability like giving a car to someone who cannot use it or cannot use it immediately) D.Z1 While parents alive D.2.1.1 Honour In order to show your respect for the pure inten- tion which our parents have always shown us it is fitting to offer clothing, housing or medicine. Some- times we might give a gift to our parents, not out of necessity, but in order to honour our parents. Some- times out of their goodwill for us aged parents or old people will seem to be very fussy or critical be- cause they have a lot of life experience (more than us). Sometimes they are really too fussy, but you need to be able to tolerate what they are saying and think that they still have that goodwill for you. If we are patient, we can learn a lot from their experi- ences. Also there may be some things we should keep to ourselves instead of burdening old parents. Old people are weak and cannot do much for them- selves. Only their mouth is in good working order — so be patient when old people talk a lot. D.2.1.2 Protection Protect your parents from things that you know annoy them or tire them. If you can alleviate stress- ful duties which might fall upon your parents, you can help them to enjoy the last years of their life more and preserve their dignity. D.2.1.3 Spiritual Ways of Repayment All the above we are not enough to repay our debt of gratitude in all the ways above then does that mean that we have no way of repaying our grati- tude? In fact the way which it is possible to repay our debt is though 'internal support' by giving them heaven as their afterlife destination. 146 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129248 1. inspiring them to faith in the Triple Gem and nur- hire them fierther to; 2. be generous and keep a baseline of morality 3. persuade them to listen to spiritual teachings: Some old parents are unable to go to a place where they can hear spiritual teachings for themselves but you can help the situation by reading them spir- itual books to them or record a cassette of teach- ing for them to hear 4. teach them how to meditate 5. ordaining to pay debt of gratitude: In Thai culture especially, there is a tradition for sons to ordain temporarily at the age of twenty in order that the parents may gain merit from organizing their ordination. It is said that the sponsor of an ordi- nation ceremony will gain half of the merit of the ordinand himself, therefore, as a dutiful son, finding the opportunity to ordain in order to re- pay one's debt of gratitude to one's parents, is an important part of cultivating the eleventh blessing. 112.2 When parents have already passed away Even if your parents have already passed away, your duty as a grateful son or daughter is not fin- ished. Apart from taking responsibility for organ- izing a fitting funeral, Buddhist sons and daugh- ters will do meritorious deeds regularly and trans- fer the merit from the deeds for the benefit of their deceased parents. ANNOUNCING THE GOODNESS 01. OCR PARENTS Some people mistakenly think that a large family is interchangeable with a family of good repute. Thus they have many, many children thinking that in this way they will bring happiness to their own parents. However, whether one has an heir or not is not something that will make your parents or any- one else in the world laugh or cry. What is better — to have a hundred sons and daughters who do noth- ing to better the family reputation, or to work your- self bringing fame and fortune to the family your- self by the good and beneficial things you do for the rest of society — a person who is so good that their love is not limited to just a few sons and daughters but to the whole of the world (a parent to the whole of the world). Whether you have an heir or will not make the earth will not laugh or cry. Thus if you want to announce to the world the goodness of your parents, you don't need to shout about it. The goodness of your parents will shine through your own behaviouc. manners, the way you speak without you even having to mention your parents. We represent our parents and the way they have brought us up. We are their flesh and blood. Our mannerisms also come from our upbringing. That is why our behaviour is the most vivid way of announcing their goodness. It is not in their biog- raphy that we hand out at their funeral, but rather by our own behaviour which matters. Everyone loves their parents. Having this love one should an- nounce their goodness through our good behav- iour starting while they are still alive. In doing so, we will make them very happy. This is more im- portant than writing their goodness in their biog- raphy which is of minute importance. It doesn't matter whether we intentionally want to announce our parents, goodness through our behaviour or not. Our actions speakfor themselves. It is up to us to create a good name for them through our behav- iour. In doing so we make ourselves worthy to re- ceive our parents' legacy. R IPIAXAL ALLATI0NSIIIP BMW PAREVr & CHILD From the SirigalovAda Sutta we learn that a child has duties towards his parents and parents have duties towards their children (see detail Blessing Twelve §B.3). In the ideal world, both the parents and the children will fulfil their side of the bargain and in doing so, no danger will grow up in the re- lationship or for society at large — there will be hap- piness and prosperity both for parent, child and so- ciety at large. If the child fulfils their duty according to Bless- ing Eleven but the parent doesn't fulfil their duty according to Blessing Twelve, harm will come to the parents and eventually to the child and society as well. There are some exceptional cases where a child has been so mistreated at the hands of his own parents that he or she finds it near impossible to imagine anything good about their parents. In such a case, we must remind ourselves that even if our parents abandon us at birth, we still have a huge Blessing Eleven: Cherishing our Parents 147 EFTA01129249 debt of gratitude to them for giving us our physi- cal form as a human. In a case where one has been beaten or abused by one's parents, it is important to make a separation between the good things they have done to you and the bad. We must repay our debt of gratitude for the good things and do our best to forgive the bad things, without mixing them up or thinking that one cancels out the other. Some- times a dutiful son or daughter knows that giving their parents money will only fuel them into doing irresponsible things (like gambling) — in such cases, they should still be supported, but the support should be in the form of food or clothing that they cannot change into money. Such parents should be treated like a patient who is ill and sometimes can not be given what they crave for — but our parents should never be insulted by us because of their weaknesses. If the parents fulfil their duty according to Bless- ing Twelve, but the child does not fulfil their duty according to Blessing Eleven, harm will come to the child and eventually to the parents and society as well. If the child doesn't do their duty according to Blessing Eleven and the parents don't fulfil their duty according to Blessing Twelve, immediate harm will come to both and to society too. G. ILLAJS 1 12AT1 VL 1:.2CA31PLIal G.1 Metaphor: Parents as God [Brahma( Our parents have been compared to our "God" or "Brahma" because they exhibit towards us all the underlying virtues exhibited by a God, i.e. the four Divine Abidings [brahmavihara]: 1. loving-kindness [meta]: parents have the limit- less wish that their children should remove them- selves from suffering in every respect. 2. compassion Ilearunat the parents make every effort to diminish the suffering of their children, never neglecting their child 3. sympathetic joy [ntudita]: whenever the child experiences success or happiness, the parents are sincerely happy on their child's part 4. equanimity [upekkha]: when the child has their own family and is able to look after its own af- fairs, the parents no longer interfere. If the chil- dren make mistakes, the parents refrain from saying "I told you so", but give their opinion when asked for it. G.2 Metaphor: Parents as one's first Guardian Angel The parents are the first people known to the child to offer their protection to the child in every way G.3 Metaphor: Parents as First Teacher The parents are the first people known to the child to teach and train the child, whether it be how to walk or talk or how to cultivate good manners. G.4 Metaphor: Parents as Arahant The parents are as the child's arahant because they have four qualifies: 1. They bring the child great benefit: The parents ful- fil the challenging duty of caring for the child in every way — something it would be hard to find anyone else to do in their place. 2. They command respect but are endearing: protect- ing the child from all dangers, they also manage to bring gentle warmth to the child's life. 3. They are the child's field of merit: They have com- pletely pure intentions towards their children, making them a worthy object for the child's merit-making 4. They are worthy of being bowed to: a child should express his respect for his parents by bowing or saluting them. G.5 Metaphor: Gold plate v.s Solid Gold Just as you can tell the difference between a gold- plated object and one that is solid gold by passing it through a flame, you can tell whether someone is truly virtuous by whether or not he cherishes his parents. G.6 Proverb: Carrying one's parents on one's shoulders for 100 years The Buddha taught that even if we were to carry our parents, one on each shoulder, for one hundred years, spoon-feeding them and allowing them to urinate and defecate on us, it would still be insuffi- cient fully to repay our debt of gratitude to our par- ents. 148 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129250 G.7 Proverb: A skyful of parental praise If we were to use Mount Sumeru as our pen and all the water of the ocean as our ink, even if we were to write the virtues of our parents in the sky until there were no place left to write, the mountain were worn down and the seawater dry, we would still not have reached an end of our parents virtues. 6.8 Er. The monk who went on almsround for his parents(Matuposaka Sulta 8.1.181) Normally when a monk has gathered food on his almsround, he must take his meal from that food first before passing the remainder on to any lay supporters. In the time of the Buddha there was a monk whose parents were so poor they had noth- ing to eat. The monk went on almsround and gave the parents first choice of the food he managed to gather. Later, he was criticized by other monks who reported his behaviour to the Buddha. The Bud- dha said that what the monk had done was correct and that in the case a monk's parents needed food from his almsround, they may be served first and the monk himself take the remainder — an excep- tion to the rule in keeping with the debt of grati- tude even a monk should repay to his parents. G.0 Ex. Kaccani ataka (J.417) After his father's death, a young man devoted him- self entirely to his mother, until the latter, much against his will, brought him a wife. The wife plot- ted to estrange mother and son, and the old woman eventually had to leave the house. Having given birth to a son, the wife, went about saying that if the mother-in-law had been with her, such a bless- ing would have been impossible. When the old woman heard of this, she felt that such words showed that Dhamma must be dead. The woman went to a ceremony and started to perform a rite in the memory of the dead 'Dhamma'. Sakka's throne became heated and hearing her story used his pow- ers to reconcile the old woman with her son and daughter-in-law. The story was related to a young man of Savatthi who looked after his aged mother until his wife came. The wife helped to look after her mother-in- law at first, but later grew jealous of her husband's love for his mother and contrived to make the son angry with his mother. Finally she asked the man to choose between herself and his mother. The young man, without hesitation stood up for his mother and the wife, realizing her folly, mended her ways. J.iii.422ff. G.10 Er. The Begging Bowl (traditional) Once upon a time, there was a family where the mother and father were already old. The only son loved his father and mother and took good care of them running errands and helping in the house throughout his childhood. Then the son came of age got married and had his own children. Unfortu- nately, as soon as he got married he found that his wife's love for his old parents was far less than his own. His wife chided him,"Don't you love your own children? Looking after your parents wastes time that could be better spent earning a good wage — let your parents look after themselves."At first he took no notice of his wife, but since his wife would complain and insist on this matter every day, eventually he forgot his debt of gratitude to his parents. He purchased a pair of clay bowls for his parents and instructed them, "Mother and father, from now on you must beg for a living," and went about earning his own living as best he could. The son's own children grew up to the age of five or six. One day their father came home from work to find his children decorating a coconut shell with the finest of ornaments. He asked, "What do you think you're doing with that coconut shell?" The children said said, "We're getting a begging bowl ready for you — to help you when you get too old to work!" Seeing his own children with the coco- nut shell, the father realized his own ingratitude and from that day forth invited his old parents to stay in his own home and looked after them in the best of comfort until the end of their days. This il- lustrates how powerful the parent's influence on his child and shows that the child's standard of good deeds comes directly from his parent's exam- ple. The Lord Buddha taught that the debt of grati- tude we owe to our parents is so great that it would Blessing Eleven: Cherishing our Parents 149 EFTA01129251 be hard to repay that debt of gratitude within a sin- gle life-time. Thus it is one of the duties outlined inthe Singalovida Sutta and the Maftgala Sutta to cherish our own parents especially in old age. By doing this we not only repay our endebtedness to our parents for giving us life — but we strengthen the structure of society to make it free from aliena- tion especially for the senior citizens in society some of whom receive more comfort from their pet cats and dogs these days, than they do from their own sons and daughters. GM Er. Even Buddha must care for his parents Even the Buddha himself devoted considerable time and effort to repaying the debt of gratitude he had to his parents. The Buddha spent the whole of one rainy-season retreat in Tavatiftisa Heaven, through the might of his mental powers, in order to teach his late mother the whole of the Abhidhamma. His mother Queen Maya had passed away only seven days after the birth of Prince Siddhartha. G.12 Ex. The Abandoned Brahmin Once, there lived in Sivatthi an old brahmin who was extremely rich. He had four sons and when each of the sons got married, he gave him a share of his wealth. Then, he gave away half of his re- maining property to them. Later, his wife died. His sons came to him and looked after him very well and they were very loving and affectionate to him. During the course of time, somehow they influenced him to give them the other half of the remaining property. Thus, he was left penniless. First he went to stay with his eldest son. After a few days, the daughter-in-law said to him, 'Did you give any extra wealth to your eldest son? Don't you know the way to the house of your other sons?' Hearing this, the old brahmin got very angry and left the eldest son's house for the house of his second son. The same remarks were made by the wife of his second son and the old man went to the house of his third son and fi- nally to the house of the fourth and youngest. Thus, the old man was left destitute and taking a staff and a bowl he went to the Buddha for pro- tection and advice. At the monastery, the brahmin told the Buddha how his sons had mistreated him. The Enlightened One taught him some verses and advised him to recite them wherever there was a large gathering of people. The gist of the verses was as follows: 'My four foolish sons are like ogres. They call me 'father, father' but the words come only out of their mouths and not from their hearts. They are deceitful and scheming. Taking the advice of their wives they have driven me out of their houses. So, now I have been reduced to begging. Those sons are of less service to me than this staff of mine.' When the appointed day came for the brahmins of Savatthi to hold their meeting and knowing that his sons would be there, the old brahmin also attended the meeting. Now at that time, the pre- vailing law dictated that "whoever ill-treats his mother or father and does not support or look after them shall be punished". Many people in the crowd, on hearing the verses recited by the old brahmin, went wild with rage at the ungrate- ful sons and threatened them for neglecting their father. Then the sons realised their mistakes and knelt down at the feet of their father and asked for pardon. They also promised that from that day forth, they would look after him properly and would respect, love and honour him. They also warned their wives to look after their father well. Each of the sons gave him proper food and cloth- ing. Thus the brahmin became healthier. So, he went to the Buddha and humbly requested him to accept two food-trays out of the four he was receiving every day from his sons. One day, the eldest son invited the Buddha to his house for almsfood. After the meal, the Buddha gave a dis- course on the benefits to be gained by looking after one's parents. The Buddha related to themthe story of the el- ephant called Dhanapala, who looked after his parents. Dhanapala when captured pined for the parents who were left in the forest. Dhammapadanhakatha, XXIII: 3 150 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps towards Enlightened Living EFTA01129252 G.13 Orphan with a Debt to Pay (traditional) There was once a woman of the streets who was with child. By profession she knew that if the child was born a boy, she would be unable to keep him. Her anxiety only increased day-by-day until at the end of nine months, her fears were realized. The new- born babe was a boy. Many times she took the baby to the river's edge with the full intention to drown him and finish the whole business, but with tears in her eyes from having borne him in her womb for so long, she could not bring herself todo it. At the same time, she could not keep the child or else she would destroy her livelihood. She left him in a bundle by the roadside with the thought that there might be some chance of a compassionate passer-by seeing the child and adopting him. The first passer-by that morning was the abbot from the local temple on his almsround. He spotted the baby and afraid that he starve, took him back to the temple. The abbot guessed how the baby had come to be there but in the absence of anyone coming to claim him back, provided all the food, shelter, clothing and education the child needed to grow-up to teenage. The boy could run and play with the other children and do everything expected of him but he had a chip on his shoulder and would run and hide if any of the others teased him for not having a mother and father. The boy would blame his unseen parents for the predicament in which he found himself. One day the abbot heard the boy complaining out loud about the parents who had abandoned him. The abbot thought, "the time has come to talk to this boy about his life." "If someone were to give you a dollar, would you curse him?" the abbot asked the boy. "Of course not," replied the boy, "I should bow to that person, or at least thank him and I would not forget my gratitude to him!" "And if someone were to come along and offer you a dollar for your life would you take it?" "Of course I wouldn't," replied the boy indignantly."Do you think that's all my life is worth?" "Ten dollars then?" "You must be joking!" The abbot raised the sum to a hundred, a thousand, ten-thousand, a hundred-thousand and a million dollars, but the boy would not part with his life. Asked why, the boy replied, "even a million dollars is useless if you have no life left to spend it." "Well, what about if someone were to come along and offer you a dollar to cut off your right ann? Would you take it?" "Of course I wouldn't," replied the boy indignantly."Do you think that's all the integrity of my body is worth?" —Ten dollars then?" "Daylight robbery!" The abbot raised the sum to a hundred, a thousand, ten-thousand, a hundred-thousand and a million dollars, but the boy would not part with his right arm. "Don't you want to be a millionaire?" asked the abbot. The boy said,"even a million dollars is no substitute for the loss of one's physical integrity." "And if someone were to come along and offer you a dollar to cut off your little finger? Would you take it?" "Of course I wouldn't," replied the boy indig- nantly." Do you think you can put a price on part of the human body?" "Ten dollars then?" "Forget it!" The abbot raised the sum to a hundred, a thousand, ten-thousand, a hundred-thousand and a million dollars, but the boy would not part with his little finger. Asked why, the boy said that even a million dollars could not replace the thing most precious to him — a healthy, human body. "Just now you said that if someone gave you a dollar, you would thank him, bow to him and never forget your gratitude to him—yet your parents have given you your healthy, human body free, even the little finger of which you would not part with for a million dollars — how come you sit here cursing them for not having given you more?" Blessing Eleven: Cherish [truncated]