Most Venerable Bhante Walpola Piyananda's 80th Birthday Celebrating - Collected Essays

seek no refuge outside.”
“Hold fast to the lamp of truth, take refuge in truth
alone, seek no external refuge.”
“Impermanent are all conditioned things. Be diligent
and work out your salvation.”
With these words the great Teacher entered attained Nibbana.
The essence of the teachings of the Buddha is given in that well
known stanza of the Dhammapada: Sabbapapassa akaranam…… To
avoid all evil, to cultivate all good, to purify one’s mind—this is the
teaching of the Buddhas.
So, this is not only the teaching of Gautama Buddha, but of all
the Buddhas, the Enlightened Teachers.
The essence of what is known as the three-fold training is sila
or morality, samadhi or meditation, and panna or wisdom. They in
turn represent the Noble Eightfold Path.
Morality is the foundation of the life of righteousness. Without
the cultivation of moral behavior there cannot be meditation or mental
cultivation. In the same way, without mental cultivation there cannot
be wisdom. With the attainment of purity of character, the higher levels
of consciousness can be reached in meditation. When the highest stage
of consciousness has been reached, the light of wisdom or intuition will
dawn upon a person. Then one can see the true nature of things as they
are and not as we think they are. With the attainment of enlightenment
there will be an end to all suffering and one will experience the bliss of
Nibbana.
The sublime message of the Buddha has as much relevance
today as it had more than 26 centuries ago. Today when we are paying
homage to the Enlightened One, we should contemplate the significance
of his message and try to walk the path shown by him for our own good
and for the good of others.
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The Buddha’s Service to Humankind
According to most religions, a great teacher appears
periodically on earth. The Jewish religion and Christianity teach
the advent of prophets and a messiah. Islam teaches the advent of
prophets and Imams. Hinduism teaches the main and secondary
incarnations of Vishnu or Shiva. Zoroastrianism, too, teaches about
such events. Jainism teaches the appearance of Jinas. In theistic
religions, the prophet, messiah or incarnation had some connection
with their particular creator god that inspired them, but Buddhism is
entirely different from the others. Buddhism teaches that after a very
long cyclic interval, a great world teacher appears whom they call the
“Buddha.”
The historical Buddha, Gotama Sakyamuni, was born in what
is now Nepal in 624 B.C.E. According to Buddhism, the Buddha was
neither a god nor an incarnation or son or a prophet of a god. He
was born a human being, an extraordinary human being, a prodigy.
He was a son of a king, and was heir-apparent to his father’s throne.
After seeing the miseries and suffering in the world, he left behind all
his treasures and went in search of Enlightenment. After six years of
tireless and incessant search, he discovered the way—entirely different
from the ways of all other religions – by his own efforts. Following the
“Middle Path” he attained Perfect Enlightenment.
His efforts culminating while he was sitting and contemplating
the nature of existence, at the foot of the Bodhi (pipal) tree in what is
now known as Buddha-Gaya in Bihar. He spent seven weeks near the
tree experiencing the bliss of emancipation. He had attained the goal
for which he had searched so many years. With his clairvoyant vision,
he looked for those who were spiritually developed enough to attain
realization of what he had discovered. He saw his former companions,
the five ascetics, living at Isipatana in Benares.
The Buddha left for Benares and reached them on the full moon
day of July. That evening, beneath the bright full moon, he expounded
his discovery for the first time. He pointed out the practicality and utility
of the “Middle Path,” which avoids the two extremes of sensuality and
self-mortification. His Middle Path consists of eight factors: Right
View, Right Thought, Right Action, Right Speech, Right Livelihood,
Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
He became the Buddha at the age of 35, and travelled on
foot throughout India for the next 45 years expounding, teaching and
guiding people of every class. When he turned 80, after giving final
instructions to his disciples, he passed away on the full moon day of
May at Kusinara.
The birth, attainment to Buddhahood, and passing away: all
occurred on the full moon day of May in different years. Hence, this
Vesak full moon day is highly esteemed by Buddhist all over the world
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