#Mettavalokanaya_International_Buddhist_Magazine_May_2021

2021 l May l Mettavalokanaya l 1

Meditation

Every spring and autumn, I host

the Seven Day Shurangama

Meditation Retreat. With

the Shurangama Sutra as

the foundation of meditation, I

lead Buddhist students to practice

the three teachings of precepts,

concentration, and wisdom. I am

currently in the process of establishing

the International Meditation Center in

Zhi-Ben of Tai-Dong district in order

to guide more people to experience

Mahayana Meditation.

每年春秋二季推動辦理楞嚴禪七 , 根源於禪宗

臨濟宗法脈 , 依據《楞嚴經》為禪修之基礎 ,

帶領佛弟子修習戒、定、慧三無漏學 , 同時著

手於台東知本建立國際禪修中心 , 接引更多修

行者親近大乘禪法。

Venerable Senior

Bhikkhuni Dr. Jian Hui Shi

Abbess of Yuan Dao Chan Monastery

2 l Mettavalokanaya l May l 2021 2021 l May l Mettavalokanaya l 3

The Purest Mind.…

The purest mind is the most

beautiful one. When we are

awake, we shall make our

minds and awareness (if you’re

enlightened, then it’s enlightened

nature) become one; when we are

asleep, we shall make our minds and

luminous emptiness become one;

when we engage in physical labor, we

shall make our minds and the great

compassion become one. Wherever

or whenever we walk, stay, sit, or

sleep, we shall use clear insight to be

conscious

of all our movements and minds

with loving-kindness and compassion.

There is no hatred in any Bodhisattvas’

minds, and a mind without hatred

is the purest one. Good looks are

passing phenomena while tenderness

and dedication are actually the most

beautiful states of mind. So, beauty

means there is no hatred and selfcenteredness

in mind.

All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas’

mind is like a bright and clear fullmoon,

and our devotional minds are

like calm lake surfaces. Although full

moon is the one and only, it can reflect

in each lake. When our minds stay

calm, we can obtain responses from

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Where is

the real “Grand Shrine Hall”? It’s in our

minds. If we can take control

of desires and afflictions,

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will be with

us. However, if we are full of desires

and aversions, ghost and devils may

affect our bodies and minds. In view

of that, we shall keep our bodies and

minds clean and purified for which

are the “Grand Shrine Hall.”

If we can live an easy and content

life without too many adversities or

grinding poverty, we are the rich and

the noble. If our bodies are healthy

without serious diseases or pains, we

are the blessed. Santideva Bodjisattva

once said that afflictions such as

anger, jealousness,

and clinginess are true enemies

in our lives. These enemies don’t exist

in the outside world but in our minds.

If we want to kill the enemies, we

must exterminate the afflictions of

greediness and aversion in our minds

because all the binary opposition

comes from the Three Poisons.

We are the ones to be

responsible for our own lives and

happiness, not our parents, other

family members, society, our country,

or any other people. Whether the

world has been turning better or

worse, it has been created and will

be created by common consciousness,

thoughts, and actions of all people.

When we understand what cause and

effect is, we shall exert ourselves to

purify our minds and empower our

goodness so that we can improve

our societies and the world. We must

cherish our short life spans because

the most important thing in life is not

longevity but it’s about the quality. To

what extent can we purify ourselves

and perfect our loving-kindness,

compassion, and enlightenment shall

be the focal point of our lives. We

must keep in mind that life profundity

is more important than longevity.

When we read sutras, we shall know

how to do that with Meditative

Concentration and Wisdom. Meditative

Concentration means that we read

sutras with concentrated mind, and

Meditative Wisdom means that after

sutras reading with concentration, we

contemplate the meaning. To absorb

and utilize the teachings of sutras will

be the best way to change oneself

and reform one’s life.

Dharma education is to develop

potential. If someone’s potential

can be fully realized, the one

can be called Buddha. If Dharma

couldn’t help human beings develop

abilities and potential to perfect our

personality and spirit of service and

of dedication, then Dharma would

lose the necessity of its existence.

The purpose of Mahayana Buddhism

is to accomplish the unsurpassed and

absolute enlightenment as Buddha

did and to serve all sentient beings.

If we can do things conscientiously

and safely, then we can bring things

into an auspicious and satisfactory

settlement, and we can feel at ease

whether we are wealthy or poor. But

if we do things without conscience,

we feel terrified or distressed, and

no matter how expensive the house

we own and how high the power we

possess, we don’t have peace of mind

and may make many mistakes.

Buddhist Dharmas are the

absolute truth. To believe cause and

effect is to understand and accept

the truth. Only by truly understanding

the truth of the universe can we

sincerely repent, stop creating evil

but to cultivate goodness, mind our

manner and language, and embrace a

good life. Big effect comes after small

cause. That means if we create a small

wicked activity but don’t confess and

repent immediately, this small cause

will be snowballing into huge effect

in the future. This phenomenon is

called “Scale-up.” Similarly, if we

create a small good activity, this

small cause will also be snowballing

into huge effect in the future. That’s

why we said it’s easy to plant the

seed of blessing inside the field of

Three Treasures: you give one and

get millions back. Now that we have

been born to be human beings, we

shall use our human bodies well and

shall not waste our lives on worldly

entertainment. The purpose of being a

human is to accumulate good karmas

until Buddhahood is accomplished.

We shall utilize our human bodies to

gain holy merit and virtue instead of

creating more and more bad karmas.

Buddhism emphasizes

the education of personality

development. Buddhists must

improve our personalities, state of

mind, manner, and language for

which are our primary life education

during continuous rebirth. Chanting

a Buddha’s name is for the purpose

of becoming a Buddha. We shall do

this not only for our own wish but

for the wish that all sentient beings

will become Buddhas someday. All

sentient beings have the probability

and cause of becoming Buddhas, so

when we chant a Buddha’s name, we

shall think that all sentient beings

are perfect Buddhas and keep our

state of mind harmonious and free of

discrimination. "To study Buddhism is

to study myself, and to study myself is

to surpass myself.

Most Venerable Master Hai Tao

The President of Life TV, Abbot of

Hong Fa Zen and other Monasteries

Mind Always

So Beautiful


Most Venerable Dharma Master

Hsin Tao (Chan Master Hsin Tao)

Founder of Museum of World

religion, Ling Jiou Mountain

Buddhist Society, Museum of

World Religions (MWR), and the

Global Family for Love and

Peace (GFLP)

Dharma with

Our Daily Life….

We must be optimistic

about the future. Simply

because the teachings of

Buddhadharma has been

deeply ingrained in Myanmar people’s

mind and lifestyles. Buddhism is

deeply rooted here, and they are

living a religious life of simplicity

and austerity. They keep their five

precepts (not killing, not stealing, not

lying, no sexual misconducts and no

intoxicants) strictly and diligently —

so this is the very basis of a stable,

peaceful and loving society. As long

as we could prevent this simple

society from the harmful effects of

globalization such as materialism, sex,

“Spiritual

Values &

Harmonious

Power”

gambling etc; we can then integrate

Myanmar’s traditional values with

some positive aspects of western

democratic system, so that a modern

but yet spiritual land of Religious

Purity can be created in a near future.

Mainly because the spiritual

values and harmonious power of the

Five Precepts have been practiced and

actualized in their day-to-day living.

By upholding these Five Precepts,

one can eliminate or even uproot the

negative effects of our five poisonous

emotions e.g. desire, hatred, ignorance,

pride and doubts. The reduction and

purification of these five negative

emotions will then make space for us

to create a more harmonious, kind,

compassionate and loving society.

As we all know, the philosophical

and psychological teachings within

Buddhism share commonalities with

modern scientific and philosophical

thought — especially when you look at

some meaningful dialogues between

Buddhist leaders and modern

scientists regarding

v a r i o u s

aspects of

Quantum Physics. Many western

scientists are turning to the teachings

of the Buddha for answers and

solutions, and this is a very inspiring

trend in today’s modern world.

So, we had no problems in

working and cooperating with

scientific community. But when it

comes to international politics, it is

quite a different scenario. I am a bit

worry that there are some ‘cultural

colonization’ going on in Myanmar,

as some western political

power and religious groups

are trying very hard in

manipulating Myanmar’s

traditional values and

cultures recently. I do

agree that we should

‘open-up’ and learn

something new

and valuable from

western liberalism

and democratic

system; however,

we should also

strive to protect

and preserve some

local traditional

values. The imported

elements from the

Hollywood such as

violence, sex, drugs etc

which are harmful to the

local community should be

controlled and prohibited;

western individualism

and heroism are also not

so helpful to maintain

a harmonious and coexistential

eastern

society such as the one

in Myanmar. We need to

strike a balance between

the east and the west,

and the teaching of

Buddhadharma is the

best tool we could use

for the integration and modernization

of the Myanmar society.

Too much of anything is definitely

damaging. One major weakness of

humankind is to indulge oneself into

all kinds of negative activities. Under

the name of ‘freedom’, out of greed,

attachments, hatred and ignorance,

we human beings are doing all sorts

of harmful behaviors to each other.

Look at our newspapers nowadays,

what kind of crazy and chaotic world

are we living in? Scandals, traumas,

tragedies, collusions, fake news etc.

People even kill themselves just

because they didn’t get what they

want in life. Our actions and behaviors

are becoming more and more like

animals. We are preoccupied and

overwhelmed by personal interests

and selfish motivations, we are lacking

of mindfulness and awareness in

leading a healthy, simple and loving

life. At the end this would become a

lose-lose tragedy instead of a winwin

happy ending!

Our globalized democratic

system has reached to the point

where we should reconsider its

benefits and functionalities. To be a

democratic nation, it doesn’t mean we

have to throw away all our traditional

values and cultures, which will only

cause a negative vicious circle of

moral downfalls and ethical crises.

We need to protect good people

from being harmed and manipulated

by the corrupted leaders and

politicians — that’s the main purpose

of a healthy democracy. The western

world emphasizes a lot on ‘human

rights’, but for an Asian country like

Myanmar, the ‘Path of Humanism’ is

much important and beneficial. If

we do things and treat others with

a humanitarian attitude of kindness

and mutual-respect; and listening

and following our Inner Moral

Compass e.g. our conscience — we

could definitely create a humanistic

pure land on earth. Let’s put oneself

in other’s shoes and do this together.

Nationally and internationally, we can

co-create a wonderful world full of

joy, abundance and harmony.

The ‘Path of Humanism’ (the

Human Way) means we are striving

in creating a win-win society of

peace, love and abundance; we are

co-creating a holistic lifestyle of

“Multidimensional Coexistence and

Integral Interdependence” based

on universal human values and

humanitarian principles. ‘Human

rights’ talks about ‘who’s right’ and

‘who’s wrong’, and this argument

will attract many different kind of

conflicts, disagreements and power

struggles. So let’s focus more on the

path of humanity instead of power

struggles, at least for this point

of time. The main agenda of the

‘Human Path’ is to benefit each other

in a harmonious and co-existential

way. Human right movements can

sometimes become selfish, egoistic,

aggressive and even confrontational.

Back in old days, if you have a

great king/emperor who was kind

and humanistic, the whole country

would be benefitted; but if he/she

was cruel and violent, much damage

would be done. When you look at

our current democratic system, many

presidential elections are controlled

by some interest groups as well, and

populists are using their freedom

of speech to create separations

and misunderstandings. So are we

getting better now? I am not so sure

about this! Zen is actually the full

blossoming of your own beautiful

life. Zen gives you a wonderful

perspective on the panorama of Life.

Zen's essence itself is primordially

perfect and complete.


Happiness

and Pleasure….

Happiness and pleasure are

often confused, although

they have different qualities.

Pleasure is short-lived. It’s

not sustainable; it doesn’t fulfill

us. It’s empty of true substance or

nourishment. Eating good food can

bring you pleasure. If you’re hungry,

this enjoyable experience can seem

to be the same as happiness. But

you can’t keep eating and eating; if

I force-fed you after you were full,

what would you feel? Pleasure is

ephemeral. It comes with a limited

capacity and an inevitable saturation

point. During my mandatory military

service in Singapore, I counseled

addicts. They described the intense,

transient pleasure they got from

drugs. When they came down, they felt

hollow and desperate. It’s the same

with all our appetites, the things that

give us pleasure. When you’re itchy,

you scratch, but the scratching doesn’t

get rid of the itch; it just replaces one

sensation with another. We always

want the quick, easy way out. Pleasure

does not give us complete and total

satisfaction, yet we constantly chase

it. Why?

Perhaps because we have an

underlying sense of fear. These states

are simply other kinds of distractions

from our fundamental existential

discomfort. We feel, unconsciously,

that something is missing. We rarely

feel completely whole, and yet we

crave wholeness. We’re afraid of our

own mortality and insignificance.

Admitting this is terribly hard for us,

“Meet

Mind to

Mind”

so we develop defense mechanisms:

One more potato chip. Another

chocolate bar. Another drink or joint.

We bury and camouflage this part of

ourselves, chasing after things that do

not really satisfy us. Looking at what

is fearful, insecure, and dissatisfied at

our core can be a painful process. We

don’t want to look, but it’s a necessary

step if we want to grow. Instead of

always chasing after pleasure, we

would feel much more satisfied if we

cultivated joy. Pleasure is just physical

stimulation, but joy is something more

mental and fulfilling. Pleasure is all

about me and my selfish sensations;

joy comes from embracing what is—

and from gratitude.

I’ve always wondered why we

crave pleasure when it’s so obviously

ephemeral. Why do we chase after

ownership and material possessions

when the satisfaction they bring is so

fleeting? Even as a young man I knew

happiness must be elsewhere— this is

what pushed me toward becoming a

monk. It led me to Chan, and it’s why

I kept asking, “What is my original

nature?” “Who am I?” “What is it?” I

kept digging and asking and returning

to these questions over and over. I

wanted something more lasting and

stable than pleasure. I wanted to find

true happiness.

We often confuse reacting with

responding, which creates all kinds

of trouble. In English, the meaning of

the two words is somewhat different,

but they do not stand in opposition

to each other in quite the same way

Most Venerable Master

Zhengyan Guo Jun Thero

Worldwide Popular

Chan Master and

Chief Abbot of

Mahabodhi Temple

Singapore

they do in Chinese. To react is fanying,

which means to fan a fire, to make the

flames jump up. Fan means “opposite,”

and ying, as it’s written in the Chinese

character, means “to resonate.” Fanying

could be thought of as something

like Newton’s first law: for every

action there is an equal and opposite

reaction. You shout in the mountain,

and the sound comes echoing back.

Slap someone in the face, and your

palm stings. Spit up into the sky, and

it comes back in your face.

To respond, on the other hand, is

ganying. Gan means to feel, to be able

to sense, to be in tune. Ganying then is

to empathize, to attune, to come into

alignment with rather than to oppose.

It means to feel and to resonate.

Xiangying, a related word, means to

feel together: to meet mind to mind,

eye to eye, heart to heart. We so often

react rather than respond. All that

does is fan the flames. We run around

frantically putting out fires! We push

back when we feel pushed. Hurt when

we are hurt. Stand in opposition when

we want to be close. Shout when we

want to be heard. Lash out when

we want to be embraced. When you

find yourself reacting, come back

into the present moment. Relax your

discriminating mind, and rest all the

grasping and rejection inside of you

that says, “I am over here, and you are

over there,” “I am right, and you are

wrong.” Let others reach you. Resonate

with them. Breathe with them. Be with

them. Respond. The Buddha heart is

as big as the universe. Limitless.


Distribution...

Dignified Adviser

Most Venerable Bhikkhuni

Dr. Ming Yu

President of the Outstanding

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the Chinese Character Education

Promotion Association, Deputy

President of the World Alliance of

Buddhists (WAB), The Former

President of Chinese Young

Buddhist Association in Taiwan

(CYBA) & Dignified Adviser of

Bhikkhunis International

Buddhist Magazine

Founder / President / Chief Editor

Buddhika Sanjeewa

Creative Director

Wijaya Wagaarachchi

Publisher

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Meditation is the way to

achieve letting go. In

meditation one lets go of

the complex world outside

in order to reach the serene world

inside. In all types of mysticism, in

many traditions, this is known as

the path to the pure and powerful

mind. The experience of this pure

mind, released from the world, is very

wonderful and blissful. Often with

meditation there will be some hard

work at the beginning, but be willing

to bear that hard work knowing that

it will lead you to experience some

very beautiful and meaningful states.

They will be well worth the effort! It

is a law of nature that without effort

one does not make progress. Whether

one is a layperson or a monk, without

effort one gets nowhere, in meditation

or in anything. Effort alone, though,

is not sufficient. The effort needs

to be skillful. This means directing

your energy just at the right places

and sustaining it there until its task

is completed. Skillful effort neither

hinders nor disturbs you, instead it

produces the beautiful peace of deep

meditation. In order to know where

your effort should be directed, you

must have a clear understanding

of the goal of meditation. The goal

of this meditation is the beautiful

silence, stillness and clarity of mind.

If you can understand that goal then

the place to apply your effort and the

means to achieve the goal become

very clear.

The effort is directed to letting

go, to developing a mind that inclines

to abandoning. One of the many

simple but profound statements of

the Lord Buddha is that a meditator

whose mind. inclines to abandoning,

easily achieves Samadhi. Such a

meditator gains these states of inner

bliss almost automatically. What the

Lord Buddha is saying is that the major

cause for attaining deep meditation,

for reaching these powerful states, is

the willingness to abandon, to let go

and to renounce. During meditation,

we should not develop a mind which

accumulates and holds on to things,

but instead we develop a mind which

is willing to let go of things, to let go

of burdens. Outside of meditation we

have to carry the burden of our many

duties, like so many heavy suitcases,

The Goal of

Meditation….

“Beautiful

Silence”

but within the period of meditation

so much baggage is unnecessary. So,

in meditation, see how much baggage

you can unload. Think of these things

as burdens, heavy weights pressing

upon you. Then you have the right

attitude for letting go of these things,

abandoning them freely without

looking back. This effort, this attitude,

this movement of mind that inclines

to giving up, is what will lead you

into deep meditation. Even during the

beginning stages of this meditation,

see if you can generate the energy

of renunciation, the willingness to

give things away, and little by little

the letting go will occur. As you give

things away in your mind you will feel

much lighter, unburdened and free.

In the way of meditation, this

abandoning of things occurs in

stages, step by step. You may go

through the initial stages quickly if

you wish, but be very careful if you

do so. Sometimes, when you pass

through the initial steps too quickly,

you find the preparatory work has

not been completed. It is like trying

to build a town house on a very weak

and rushed foundation. The structure

goes up very quickly, but it comes

down very quickly as well! So you are

wise to spend a lot of time on the

foundations, and on the ‘first storeys’

as well, making the groundwork well

done, strong and firm. Then when you

proceed to the higher storeys, the

bliss states of meditation, they too

are stable and firm. In the way that

I teach meditation, I like to begin

at the very simple stage of giving

up the baggage of past and future.

Sometimes you may think that this

is such an easy thing to do, that it is

too basic. However, if you give it your

full effort, not running ahead to the

higher stages of meditation until you

have properly reached the first goal

of sustained attention on the present

moment, then you will find later on

that you have established a very

strong foundation on which to build

the higher stages.

Abandoning the past means

not even thinking about your work,

your family, your commitments, your

responsibilities, your history, the good

or bad times you had as a child ..”

you abandon all past experiences by

showing no interest in them at

all. You become someone

who has no history

during the time that

you meditate. You do

not even think about

where you are from,

where you were born,

who your parents

were or what your

upbringing was like.

All of that history is

renounced in meditation.

In this way, everyone here

on the retreat becomes equal, just a

meditator. It becomes unimportant

how many years you have been

meditating, whether you are an old

hand or a beginner. If you abandon

all that history then we are all equal

and free. We are freeing ourselves of

some of these concerns, perceptions

and thoughts that limit us and which

stop us from developing the peace

born of letting go. So every ‘part’ of

your history you finally let go of, even

the history of what has happened to

you so far in this retreat, even the

memory of what happened to you

just a moment ago! In this way, you

carry no burden from the past into the

present. Whatever has just happened,

you are no longer interested in it and

you let it go. You do not allow the past

to reverberate in your mind.

Most Venerable Ajahn

Brahmavamso Mahathera

The Abbot of Bodhinyana

Monastery / Spiritual Director of

Buddhist Society of

Western Australia


The

Mindfulness….

Mind and

Evaluating


Sucitto Maha Thera

Cittaviveka (Chithurst Buddhist

Monastery), Chithurst, Petersfield,

Hampshire, United Kingdom.

Mindfulness of in- and outbreathing

is the most

detailed and progressive

meditation instruction

given by the Buddha, affirmed by

him as being a practice that leads

to full Awakening. In the sutta in

which these teachings are recorded

[M.118], the instructions are laid

out in four groups (called ‘tetrads’).

These tetrads comprise groups of

progressive instructions with regard

to mindfulness of breathing as it

affects and moderates the bodily

energies, mental (emotional and

psychological) energies and mental

awareness. The fourth tetrad has a

different approach, as we will see

in Part Three. But to begin…If we’re

going to place attention on the

breathing, we’d better be clear what

‘breathing’ is as an experience. So

how do we know we’re breathing?

Breathing in and out can be sensed

through the movement of the muscles

and other soft tissues of the abdomen,

as well as the widening and lifting

of the chest. Breathing can also be

sensed through the sensations that

the inhalation and exhalation of air

makes with the nostrils and throat.

Then again, whether we’re focused on

it or not, we soon get to know about

breathing through the presence of, or

limitations to, our available energy.

If you focus on the experience of

energy, it’s obvious that the inhalation

is different from the exhalation:

breathing in brightens and arouses

bodily energy; breathing out softens

and diffuses bodily energy. The body

senses the difference.

How the body senses itself is

called the ‘somatic’ sense. What the

somatic sense senses is the presence

of and changes in the ‘inner body’ of

bodily energy. This energy is called

‘bodily activity’ (kāya-sankhāra). It’s

also referred to as ‘bodily formation’

as it’s the subtle, dynamic form of the

inner body. The Buddha referred to

this somatic energy as a key to the

practice of mindfulness of breathing;

its significance lies in the fact that this

energy relates to both the body and

the mind. That is, when we feel tense,

there is an emotional/psychological

feel to that, and a bodily, somatic,

one. Whether we feel happy, or at

ease, depressed or sleepy, that state

has mental and somatic effects. A

meditator can use this relatedness

to their advantage, because having

access to the somatic effect allows

the possibility of witnessing and

steadying the mind through sensing

the somatic effect and steadying it.

This is very much the case with

mindfulness of breathing, because the

energy that accompanies breathing is

the centre and moderator of somatic

energy. Therefore, just as the breathing

may become choked, stale or irregular

with difficult mind-states, a steady

and easeful breath energy will steady

and even release those mind-states.

It is through moderating this somatic

energy that mindfulness of breathing

leads to states of well-being and

composure. It’s also the case that the

mindfulness that registers the somatic

effect does so in a direct rather than

conceptual way. It’s as direct and

natural as knowing whether you are

standing upright or leaning over. So

when one ‘knows’ the breathing in

this way, the activity of thought can

quieten down and cease altogether

– yet still there is the knowing. This

mindful knowing doesn’t operate

in the same way as our customary

thought processes: it’s not agitated,

has no aims, opinions or judgements.

Some people call it the ‘silent witness.’

Still, it gives feedback: we can notice

when it disappears under a wave of

dullness or agitation and reactivity;

and we can sense it in terms of its

somatic effect. That is, as the knowing

gets established, the body’s energies

relax and become clearer. Distracted

or abstract thinking on the other

hand create tension and flurries in

the body. The instructions in the first

tetrad are: that one should be mindful

of breathing in and breathing out;

that one should train to be mindful

of breathing in and breathing out

long; of breathing in and breathing

out short; of being sensitive to the

entire body while breathing in and

breathing out; and one should calm

the bodily activity while breathing in

and breathing out.

In this, the Buddha’s instructions

repeat over and over that one

should discern in-breathing and

out-breathing – which is a rhythmic

process. Yet there is no record that

he ever specified where in the body

one should place one’s attention (or

that one should even focus on the

breath). The instruction is to be aware

of breathing in and breathing out. And

as he regarded this repetitive process

as more significant than a place in

the anatomy, then our focus must be

on the discernible rhythm that the

breathing goes through. So, as we

settle into the practice, the first step is

to develop the ability to stay with the

unforced rhythm and then be calmed

and steadied by that. Then, if we

access and dwell in the consequent

pleasant somatic effect, the mind is

cleared of hindrances and brightens.

Eventually, when through bringing to

mind and evaluating, the mind settles

into the body’s breathing, two bright

states (of rapture and ease) arise

to form a steady, pleasant base for

awareness. With further settling these

will lead to the level of concentration,

called first ‘absorption’ (jhāna). (We’ll

look into that in Part Two.) However,

with even preliminary steps along the

path to Awakening, a meditator can

clear out a lot of stuff in the mind that

causes anxiety, depression, stress, and

limits his or her.


Loving

Kindness with

Vipassana...

Once the meditator is wellestablished

in the basics

of vipassana meditation,

loving-kindness meditation

(Metta bhavana) can be brought

in to support the more demanding

vipassana practice. While this is

switching meditation modes to a

concentration-based practice, its

benefit is that it uplifts and sweetens

the mind and helps the meditator to

cope with negative emotions that

they are not yet able to deal with

in their vipassana practice. Having

cultivated sufficient loving-kindness

to overcome negatives in the mind,

the meditator then can switch back

to vipassana mode. The reverting

back to vipassana mode is done by

investigating the qualities of the

mind-state that has been induced by

loving-kindness, thereby changing to

the vipassana mode of watching the

particular characteristic of the mindstate

that developed from the lovingkindness

meditation.

Loving-kindness is a meditation

practice that specifically retrains

the mind to overcome all forms of

negativity. It brings about positive

attitudinal changes by systematically

developing the quality of ‘lovingacceptance’.

It is the qualities of

acceptance and receptivity that

create the spaciousness and clarity

of mind that allows for deepening

attentiveness. That is why combining

loving-kindness with vipassana is

very supportive of the meditator’s

ongoing practice. Loving-kindness

can be developed, either to give the

benefit of supporting and/or clearing

the way for vipassana meditation,

or it can be further developed, in a

more systematic way, to achieve a

level of meditative absorption or one

pointedness. When loving-kindness

meditation is developed systematically

to the level of meditative absorption

or one-pointedness, the five

absorption factors of concentration

are developed. The first two are

causal factors applied thought and

sustained thought, followed by three

effects rapture, ease-of-mind and onepointedness

or unification of mind. It is

not really necessary to develop lovingkindness

to the absorption level, but

it can be useful for the meditator to

be familiar with the absorption factors,

as some of them will arise during

vipassana meditation as well. And

being familiar with the concentration

effects, the pure vipassana meditator

is less likely to get attached to them

when they arise.

The advantages of having

gained the five absorption factors is

that they counteract the five mental

hindrances or the obstacles for the

meditator; but the pure vipassana

meditator should be aware, that

threshold concentration is sufficient

to inhibit the hindrances as well. The

five absorption factors and how they

neutralize the five mental hindrances:

— Applied thought, by arousing energy

and effort, overcomes the hindrance

of sloth and torpor or mental inertia;

— Sustained thought, by steadying

Deep

Concentration

the mind, overcomes skep-tical

doubt, which has the characteristic

of wavering; — Rapture, with its

uplifting effervescence, prevails over

feelings of ill-will; — Ease-of-mind,

by relieving accumulated stress,

counteracts restlessness or agitation

of mind; — One-pointedness holds

the mind’s wanderings in the sensefields

to inhibit sensuality. Because

of its auto-suggestive nature, the

positive attitude of loving-kindness,

combined with deep concentration,

will imprint the new positive

conditioning to override old negative

patterns.

For example, the overly critical

mind, which finds fault with anything

and everything, is reprogrammed

to be more accepting and allowing.

So on the psychological level, the

therapeutic benefits for the individual

are considerable as old negative

habits are broken and are replaced

with new positive ways of thinking.

Loving-kindness is practiced as

the first of a series of meditations

that produce four qualities of love:

Friendliness (metta), Compassion

(karuna), Appreciative Joy (mudita) and

Equanimity (upekkha). The quality of

‘friendliness’ is expressed as warmth

that reaches out and embraces others.

Most Venerable

Pannyavaro Maha Thera

Resident Teacher, Founder

and Abbot of Bodhi Tree

Forest Monastery and

Community Retreat Centre in

Northern New South Wales,

Australia.

When loving-kindness matures it

naturally overflows into compassion,

because it empathizes with people’s

difficulties; while on the other hand

one needs to be wary of pity, as its

the near enemy, merely mimicking the

quality of concern without empathy.

The positive expression of empathy is

an appreciation of other people’s good

qualities or good fortune rather than

feelings of jealousy towards them,

which is the enemy of appreciative joy.

This series of meditations comes

to maturity in the state of on-looking

equanimity. This equanimity has to

be cultivated within the context of

this series of meditations or else it

tends to manifest as its near enemy,

indifference or aloofness. It remains

caring and on looking with an equal

spread of feeling and acceptance

toward all people, relationships and

situations without dis-crimination.

The structure of the practice is fairly

simple. The meditator must start

with generating loving-feelings and

acceptance towards himself or herself.

This is very important, as one needs

to have loving feeling towards oneself

before it can be projected towards

others. Then one induces positive

emotional feelings of loving-kindness

towards four types of people, after

which, one directionally pervades

the loving-feeling to all points of

the compass. The final stage is nonspecific

pervasion, which more or

less arises spontaneously as the

concentration intensifies and there is

little or no self-referencing.

As loving-kindness is a

concentration-based meditation one

must not allow the mind to wander—

when it does, gently bring it back. The

time you need to spend doing this

practice would depend on the time

it takes to arouse the loving feelings.

At least a half-hour session would be

needed for the practice to develop

sufficiently. The practice must always

start with developing loving acceptance

of oneself. However, if resistance

is experienced, then it indicates that

feelings of unworthiness are present.

Don’t worry, as this indicates there is

simply work to be done. Essentially you

are working with a quality of mind, and

as the practice is auto-suggestive, any

quality of mind, positive or negative

can be changed. In good time, and

with persistent practice, feelings of

self-doubt and negativity can be

overcome. Then you can move on to

develop loving-kindness to others.


Integrate Dharma

into Everyday Life...

自

傳

- 末學師承上惟下覺大和尚 ,

為禪宗臨濟法脈。深入經藏二十

餘年 , 以佛學為體 , 世學為用 ,

融合管理學、教育學、心理學、

人類學、哲學與科學等範疇 , 以多元化角度闡

釋佛法 , 為弘揚佛法續佛慧命 , 弘法行履遍及

海內外各地 ; 因應現代人自主學習的特質 , 善

巧運用當代科技 , 開創雲端共學體系 , 及廣開

多元且多面向弘法方式 , 致力推廣華嚴經、楞

嚴經等大乘經典 , 祈使大眾深入經藏 , 智慧如

海。一、教育

- 重視佛法教育對於學習者的

助益 , 使佛法更為契合學法者的特質及滿足其

需求 , 為使自身出世法及世間法二者的圓融完

備 , 於修習大乘經藏之際 , 亦取得成人教育博

士學位及策略管理暨組織分析碩士學位 , 將所

學應用於弘法 , 期使成為有效幫助現代人學習

的佛法教育者。

僧眾教育

- 長年於佛學院擔任教授師

及教務長 , 後建立「圓道僧團」, 著重僧格養

成及培育全方位弘法人才 , 祈使僧種不斷 ,

傳佛心燈。- 雲端共學 - 著眼於學法者之需

求與特性 , 尤其是當代人自主學習的特質 , 運

用現代科技 , 建立雲端共學體系 , 由法師領學

伴學 , 帶領現代人養成每日親近學習佛法的習

慣。同時 , 善用網路便利特性 , 建構每日上線

參與網路共修華嚴經的雲端共修模式 , 每日帶

領全球各地超過五百人參與線上華嚴法會共

修。並且建立學習網站 , 系統整合學習教材 ,

建立學習回饋機制 , 讓忙碌的學習者於緊湊的

日程中養成聽法的自主學習習慣。多媒體教材

- 弘法過程中細察民眾學法需求及特性後 , 發

展出短視頻弘法模式 , 監製楞嚴經、華嚴經、

六祖壇經、教觀綱宗、大智度論等大乘經典之

短視頻 , 做為學法民眾每日用功親近佛法的教

材。於教材中適時引入不同主題音頻或視頻為

教材 , 以佛法闡釋世間法 , 融入社會大眾熟悉

旳媒體素材及生活元素為媒介 , 幫助學習者觸

類旁通 , 提升類化學習效果。

推廣華嚴經 - 從排版、印刷、流通、供

養 , 乃至推動受、持、讀、誦 , 發展出多元行

門 , 讓發心者可依其根性有不同形式參與。至

今於全球已供養 25 萬 2 千套華嚴經 , 並且推動

世界各地民眾讀誦甚至背誦華嚴經 , 年齡層下

至四歲幼兒上至耄耋長者。推廣金剛塔 - 長年

於世界各地推動「金剛般若寫禪」, 教導民眾

抄寫金剛經後建立金剛塔 , 講解金剛經要義 ,

使學法民眾契入空性 , 並且發展出由民眾自發

推廣抄寫金剛塔的習法風氣。多元活動 - 講

座 - 針對國際企業家、高階管理人、教師、青

年學子及社會大眾等不同對象 , 於世界各地開

設佛法講座 , 教導其將佛法融入生活與職場。

紀錄片 - 將供養華嚴經及推動受持讀誦

之過程監製成為紀錄片【跟著華嚴經去旅行】

的興趣 , 近而加入助印經典及受持讀誦之列。

此紀錄片於世界各影展已獲得 13 項大獎 , 包括

美國、以色列、義大利、日本、委內瑞拉、新

加坡、印度、不丹等國家的獎項殊榮 , 更藉由

參展 , 讓該國影展評審團及民眾藉此因緣與華

嚴經結緣 , 以種善根。影片 - 監製錄製華嚴

經梵唄唱誦影片 , 此為目前唯一具備完整儀軌

之法會形式 , 且由四眾弟子共同參與於專業錄

音室內錄製完成 , 成為世界各地民眾上網跟著

影片進行每日自修或共修的完整教材。另為滿

足學法者聽聞經典的需求 , 錄製華嚴經與金剛

經的念誦影片 , 使民眾可跟著念誦經文 , 以推

廣大乘經典。

辦理「十城十會活動 - 疫情期間為持續

推廣華嚴經 , 並為疫情祈福 , 依據華嚴經七處

九會形式結合新書發表、電影、音樂、畫作、

論壇等形式 , 於台灣的十個城市辦理「十城十

會」活動 , 二個半月之中辦理十場活動 , 每場

皆有數百計甚至千人參與 , 總計超過六千人參

加。論壇 - 建立華嚴論壇 , 邀請社會賢達誦讀

華嚴經 , 將自身專業與生命經驗與華嚴經相結

合 , 於論壇中分享 , 帶動領導者學習大乘經典

及聽經聞法 , 更藉由各行各業領導者與社會賢

達之影響力 , 形成「風行草偃 , 上行下效」的

效果 , 以影響社會大眾學習華嚴經之風氣。音

樂表演 - 廣邀表演者以鋼琴、電子琴、古箏、

洞簫、簫、笛、巴烏、薩克司風等不同樂器演

奏華嚴字母 , 並帶領民眾唱和 , 以初窺華嚴字

母之堂奧。畫作 - 邀請素人畫家繪畫善財童子

五十三參 , 配搭圖文解說 , 帶領民眾以繪圖認

識五十三參。

二、著作 - 弘法二十餘年以來 , 深感大

乘佛法的殊勝 , 為使當代學佛民眾可以瞭解佛

法奧義 , 出版《秒懂佛經系列 : 華嚴三部曲》

, 於 2020 年 9 月出版《華嚴首部曲 : 亙

古一念 , 華嚴心鑰》, 此法集為末學於雲端共

修後的開示內容文字化。主要內容始從八十華

嚴卷一〈世主妙嚴品〉至卷五十二〈如來出

現品〉, 描述菩薩十信、十

住、十行、十迴

向、十地、等覺、妙覺之修證歷程 , 以提綱契

領、簡單易懂的方式來詮釋華嚴經 , 帶領忙碌

的現代人學習如何從「心」面對生命 , 找到重

新出發的力量。三、公益 - 為長養兒童的慈悲

心 , 自 2013 年起推動贊助「國立科學工藝

博物館」學童科學教育的素食餐盒 , 提供給國

小及國中學童至博物館接受科學教育時享用 ,

迄今已贊助 36,859 個素食餐盒。而且 ,

考量贊助的素食餐盒乃是許多參與兒童第一次

茹素的經驗 , 為提高兒童對素食的接受程度 ,

精心挑選合適的餐食內容 , 以建立兒童對素食

的良好印象。同時 , 為推廣素食的正知正見 ,

於 2020 年疫情期間帶領 102 位居士受菩

薩戒 , 以戒為師 , 慈心不殺長養善根。

I was trained under the

Venerable Monk Weijue following

the Linchi Ch’an school. I’ve studied

for more than 20 years to further

my knowledge and deepen my

understanding of Buddhist sutras. With

Buddha’s teachings as the foundation,

I have been interpreting Buddhism

from a diversified perspective by

integrating managerial, pedagogical,

psychological, anthropological,

philosophical, and scientific

approaches with the ultimate goal to

awaken general public’s appreciation

of Buddha’s wisdom. In response

to modern preference for selflearning,

I established a cloud-based

group-learning platform designed

to promote Mahayana sutras such

as Huayan Sutra (Sanskrit: The

Avatamsaka Sutra) and Shurangama

Sutra, with the hopes of helping

everyone deeply connect with the

source of the teachings and develop

wisdom as profound as the ocean.

Education – In order to strengthen

my abilities to integrate both the

mundane and transcendental

Dharma, I obtained a master’s

degree of Strategic Management and

Organizational Analysis, as well as a

doctorate degree in Adult Education.

Applying such knowledge to my daily

duties, I am committed to become an

effective Buddhist educator in order

to help others and address their

specific needs. Sangha Education –

For years I served as a professor and

dean of a Buddhist college. With the

goal of continuing sangha education

and of spreading Buddha’s teachings,

I established the “Yuan Dao Sangha

Group,[DC2] ” which focuses on

cultivating a full range of talents for

Dharma dissemination.

Cloud-based Group-learning –

Considering modern preference for

self-learning, I created a cloud-based

group-learning system to address

such needs. With monastery masters

leading the sessions, this system

enables people to easily study Dharma

every day, and in turn helps them

create a habit over time. This cloudbased

group practice model utilizes

the convenience of the Internet. Our

goal is to one day have a vast number

of people around the world participate

in the Dharma service of Huayan Sutra

every day. I also established a Dharma

learning website with systematically

integrated learning materials and

resources, plus a feedback feature

to help people with tight schedules

build a routine of studying Dharma at

their own pace. Multimedia teaching

materials – To accommodate today’s

fast-paced lifestyle, I adopted a

short video approach in regard

to Dharma teachings, supervised

the production of short videos on

several Mahayana sutras, including

The Shurangama Sutra, The Huayan

Sutra, The Altar Sutra of the Sixth

Patriarch, The Essence of Teaching

and Meditation, and The Treatise

on the Great Perfection of Wisdom.

These videos serve as the daily

Dharma study materials for people

around the world. I also introduced

a variety of audio and video clips with

differing topics into these teaching

materials in order to explain worldly

phenomena from Buddha’s point of

view. My goal is to foster an easy and

effective learning environment by

utilizing popular media resources and

real-life elements. Promoting Huayan

Sutra – With activities ranging from

typesetting, printing, circulation,

distribution, to the promoting of sutra

recitation, a diverse range of Huayanpracticing

opportunities were formed,

such that the participants can join

in various ways according to their

own background and preferences. I

encourage people all over the world,

ranging from four-year-old children

to the elders, to recite and even

memorize Huayan Sutras. As of today,

we have successfully distributed

252,000 sets of Huayan Sutras

globally.

Promoting the Diamond Pagoda

– For years I have promoted “Vajra

Prajna Writing Meditation” worldwide.

I was fortunate enough to be able

to teach people how to build the

Diamond Pagoda by transcribing the

Diamond Sutra. The purpose of this

activity is to explain the essence of

the Diamond Sutra to help people

understand the concept of emptiness

and to nurture an environment

where people voluntarily support the

building of Diamond Pagodas on their

own.Multi-faceted Activities - Lectures

– I have conducted Dharma lectures

all over the world for international

entrepreneurs, senior managers,

teachers, young students and the

general public in an effort to show

them ways to integrate Dharma into

everyday life and work. Documentary

– I supervised the production of

the documentary [Following the

Avatamsaka Sutra on A Journey], based

on the actual journey during the

promotion of the Huayan Sutra. The

documentary used real stories shared

by the participants and inspired the

public’s interest in the Huayan Sutra.

As a result, many have recently joined

the effort of sutra printing and sutra

reciting. This documentary has won

13 awards at various film festivals

internationally, including awards from

the United States, Israel, Italy, Japan,

Venezuela, Singapore, India, Bhutan

and other countries. By participating

in these awards, the Huayan Sutra

was able to create good connections

and planted wholesome seeds within

the National Film Festival Jury and

the audience. Videos – I supervised

and recorded a Huayan Sutra chant

video. This is currently the only

recording with complete rituals of

the Dharma service. It was recorded

in a professional studio with the

participation of the four Buddhist

disciple groups. It has become an

all-inclusive learning material for

people worldwide to follow for their

daily self-study or group practice.

Additionally, in order to promote the

Mahayana sutras and meet people’s

specific learning needs, I recorded

chants of the Huayan Sutra and the

Diamond Sutra so that people can

follow these videos in their own time.

Conducting Activity of Ten Cities

and Ten Assemblies – During the

pandemic period of 2020, in order to

continue promoting the Huayan Sutra

and praying for all people impacted

by the pandemic, I organized and

conducted the “Ten Cities and Ten

Assemblies” events in ten different

cities in Taiwan following the

tradition of Seven Locations and

Nine Assemblies in the Huayan Sutra.

Combined with a new book signing,

movies, music, paintings, and forums,

these ten events were celebrated

within two and a half months,

each of which was enthusiastically

participated by hundreds, sometimes

over a thousand people, totaling

more than 6,000 attendees. Forum

– I established the Huayan Forum

and invited many recognized

individuals, such as, but not limited to,

entrepreneurs, scientists and doctors,

to recite the Huayan Sutra and share

their experience on how to combine

their professional and family lives

with the Huayan Sutra. With the

influence of society leaders and social

elites from all walks of life, I wanted

to form a positive atmosphere for the

general public to learn and adopt the

Huayan Sutra into their lives. Musical

Concert – I invited performers to play

the rhythm of Huayan alphabets with

different instruments such as piano,

electronic organ, guzheng, dongxiao,

xiao, flute, bawu, and saxophone, and

led the audience public to sing along

with the performance for everyone

to experience the profundity of

Huayan alphabets. Drawing – I also

invited an amateur artist to draw

images of The Fifty-Three Visits of

the Youth Good Wealth. The graphic

explanations served as a guide for

the public to learn about the famous

story of the Fifty-Three Visits. Books

– Deeply captivated by the greatness

of Mahayana Buddhism after over

20 years of disseminating Dharma, I

published “Understanding Buddhist

Scriptures in a Second Series: Huayan

Trilogy”, to help today’s Buddhists

understand the profound meanings

behind Buddha’s teachings. I also

published “Huayan Part One: An

Eternal Thought, The Essence of

Huayan” in September 2020. This is a

collection of my Dharma talks during

the cloud-based group practice

sessions. The main content starts from

Chapter 1 of the Eighty Huayan, “The

Wondrous Adornments of the Rulers

of the Worlds,” to Chapter 52 “The

Tathagata’s Appearance.” It describes

the practice, paths, and achievements

of ten beliefs, ten dwellings, ten

conducts, ten transferences, ten

grounds, equal enlightenment, and

wondrous enlightenment. This was my

attempt to interpret the Huayan Sutra

in a simple and easy-to-understand

way to help today’s busy individuals

face life audaciously and find courage

to start anew.

, 藉由自然演員真實分享 , 帶動民眾對華嚴經

Venerable Senior

18 l Mettavalokanaya l May l 2021 Bhikkhuni Dr. Jian Hui Shi


Nature of

Happiness….

Human beings can experience

two kinds of happiness:

that which is dependent

upon an external stimulus

and that which is not. The first kind

of happiness is experienced at its

most basic level in sensual pleasure:

seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting

and touching agreeable things. It

also includes the positive emotions

we experience through personal

relationships, worldly accomplishment

and social status. The second kind of

happiness is known through spiritual

development. It is first enjoyed

through the cultivation of generosity

and moral discipline, but reaches

its most profound levels through

meditation. Seasoned meditators

recognize the zest and bliss that arise

in a focused mind as unquestionably

superior to pleasures dependent upon

the grosser senses.

But refined meditative states do

not constitute the highest happiness.

It is in the gradual abandonment of

toxic mental states—the root cause

of suffering—that the practitioner

discovers a stable and sublime sense

of well-being. This is considered as

a higher kind of happiness which is

experienced as a natural expression

of the cultivated mind, rather than

as a transient experience subject

to gain and loss. Lay Buddhists are

encouraged to pursue, in moderation,

worldly happiness compatible with

access to inner happiness; and to

relinquish indulgence in worldly

pleasures that turn the mind away

from spiritual cultivation.

Why do so few people seem

truly happy? - The Buddha taught

that all living beings are born with an

instinctive wish to avoid suffering and

to experience happiness. The problem

is that lacking wisdom, we both

continually act in ways that create

the conditions for suffering, and also

neglect acting in ways that create

the conditions for happiness. We seek

happiness in things that inevitably

disappoint us; we avoid things that

would lead to our long-term welfare.

In short, we are our own worst enemy.

Few people have seriously considered

the nature of happiness. Of those who

have, even fewer commit themselves

to systematically eradicating its

inner obstacles and cultivating

its supporting conditions. It is not

surprising that so few people are truly

happy. One of the basic premises of

Buddhism is that the more clearly we

see the nature of things, the less we

suffer, and the happier we become.

Indeed, the Buddha referred to

Nibbāna, the goal of Buddhist practice,

as ‘the supreme happiness’. Worldly

happiness is fleeting and unreliable.

The happiness of a cultivated mind is

a lasting refuge.

But isn’t Buddhism all about

suffering? - The Buddha said that

all of his teachings, traditionally

numbered as 84,000, could be

reduced to just two: dukkha and

the end of dukkha. Suffering, in its

sense of physical or mental distress,

is only the coarsest expression of

dukkha. The relationship between

the English word “suffering” and the

Pāli concept of dukkha is comparable

to that between bright red and color.

Dukkha could also be translated as

a chronic sense of lack, or a flaw or

incompleteness of experience. In this

sense, dukkha is experience seen as

“not-Nibbāna”. For this reason, the

most subtle and sublime mental

states are still considered to lie

within the realm of dukkha, because

as they are conditioned phenomena,

attachment to them cannot provide

lasting peace. Put most simply,

dukkha might be expressed as “a

lack of true happiness”. The Buddha

taught the path towards the cessation

of suffering, but emphasized that

freedom from suffering was only

possible by facing up to it and fully

comprehending its nature. In the First

Noble Truth, the Buddha says that the

life of the ordinary unenlightened

being is characterized by dukkha

due to the cravings that accompany

ignorance of the way things are.

Is it correct that Buddhism

teaches us to give up all desires? -

Buddhism distinguishes two kinds

of desire: the first (tanhā) to be

abandoned and the second (chanda) to

be cultivated. Tanhā is the desire that

arises from a basic misunderstanding

of the way things are: perceiving

permanence, happiness and selfhood

where they do not exist. Desire for the

pleasures to be had through getting,

getting rid of and becoming is tanhā.

Tanhā leads to personal suffering and

is the basis of almost all social ills.

Chanda is the desire that arises

from a correct understanding of the

way things are. At its heart lies the

aspiration for truth and goodness.

Desire to do well, desire to act well,

desire to act kindly, desire to act

wisely—all desires based on an

aspiration for the true and good lead

to personal fulfillment and healthy

communities. The distinction between

chanda and tanhā is not philosophical

but psychological. By looking closely

at the raw experience of life the

distinction between desires that lead

to genuine happiness and those that

do not becomes increasingly clear.

What does it mean to “let go”? -

The Buddha taught us to observe how

we constantly create suffering for

ourselves by grasping onto the body

and its senses, feelings, perceptions,

thoughts, emotions as being “me” or

“mine”. Learning how to abandon that

habit is learning how to “let go”. It is

not possible through an act of will.

Letting go occurs naturally when

the trained mind is keen enough to

perceive that there is nothing to be

found in our direct experience which


Jayasaro Maha Thera

Janamāra Hermitage,

Foot of Khao Yai Mountain

National Park, Nakhon

Ratchasima,

Thailand.

“Cultivated

Mind”

corresponds to the concept of “me”

and “mine”.

“Me” and “mine” are not, however,

mere illusions; they are extremely

useful social conventions, and the

Buddha taught that they should be

respected as such. Although the body,

for example, is strictly speaking “not

mine”, that does not mean that it

should be neglected. Letting go of

the body does not mean giving up on

exercise, bathing and a healthy diet.

It means not allowing one’s life to be

defined in terms of the body. It means

freeing oneself from all the anxiety,

insecurity and vanity, and all the fear

of aging, sickness and death that

accompanies an unwise relationship to

the body. “Letting go” is also an idiom

used for intelligent effort. Knowing

that no effort we make exists in a

vacuum, that it will always be affected

to some degree by conditions over

which we have no control, we let go

of our demands and expectations for

the future. We create the best possible

conditions for reaching our goals, and

then let go of the results.


Importance

of Buddhism

Today….

Real Peace &

Happiness

At Tibetan Buddhists have a

lot to thank India for. Firstly,

it is because we received the

Buddha’s teachings from the

great Indian Masters. that Buddhism

was established in Tibet and became

the central part of our culture. And

secondly., we need to thank India for

opening her arms to us when we lost

our homeland.

And so, it was a great occasion

for me to meet with Buddhists from

the land of the Buddha and of the

great masters who brought us His

teachings. It was also a unique

opportunity to meet with Buddhists of

all traditions, and to be able to share

our understanding of the Dhamma.

While our world is becoming more

and more integrated, and its problems

more and more complex, the need

for peaceful cooperation is becoming

urgent.

Everyone, whoever they are, and

wherever they are, believer or nonbeliever,

everyone longs for peace

and happiness. It is towards the goal

of happiness that every individual,

every organization, every society,

every government, every country,

the whole world, is working. For the

sake of happiness, we have made so

much progress in the fields of science

and technology and in fact we halve,

through this, brought a lot of benefit

to mankind: many diseases that were

incurable are not a threat any more:

we can easily travel to all parts of the

globe. But then, at the same time, it is

quite clear that just material progress

alone does not allow us to achieve

real peace and happiness.

We can only achieve real peace

and happiness by transforming our

own mind stream, and this is difficult.

We have a body and a mind. Our

body is easy to perceive, and quite

easy to tame. Our mind. however. is

abstract. and therefore, very difficult

to tame. It is powerful, and it is our

mind that determines everything that

we do, good or bad. And so, it is very

important that we transform our mind

in order to transform our world.

And how can we change our

mind? Since beginless time, our mind

has been associated with our negative

emotions, such as ignorance, desire,

anger, and so forth. It is very easy for

these emotions to arise, and it is so

difficult for positive qualities such as

loving kindness and compassion to

arise. But if we understand the cause

of suffering. the fact that it comes

from our mind, and that it is caused

by our own negative emotions, we

have the possibility to change. If the

negative emotions are the real source

of the suffering of every individual, of

every, society. of every, country. in fact,

of the world, we need to eliminate

them.

We can do this through spiritual

practice, and the world has many

different religions that, each in their

own way, have the responsibility and

the tools to help mankind. But for

us Buddhists. the teachings that the

Buddha gave are still very relevant

today, especially as we are facing so

many. difficulties, so many disasters,

so many conflicts. We must study and

analyze the Buddha’s teachings, and

discover where the fault is, the real

cause of our suffering. And then we

must meditate on what we have learnt,

because through meditation. we can

eliminate these negative emotions. It

is the only way can we really find the

real peace and happiness that we are

longing for so much.

The Lord Buddha when he

became enlightened, encapsulated

what He had realized in His Four

Noble Truths. These are the Truth of

Suffering, the Truth of the Cause of

Suffering, the Truth of the Cessation

of Suffering, and the Truth of the Way

Leading to the Cessation of Suffering,

which He set down in His Eight-fold

Noble Path. The Eight-fold Noble

Path is the path to Enlightenment,

and prescribes certain measures

that lead to liberation from Samsara,

based on the cultivation of wisdom,

ethical conduct and a still mind: Right

View, Right Intention, Right Speech,

Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right

Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right

Meditation. There are different

schools of Buddhism, but they all

share the Eight¬fold Noble Path as

their foundation. There are two main

branches of Buddhism, Theravada

and Mahayana. Theravada, the

oldest school, is practiced mainly

in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka,

while Mahayana is found in Eastern

Asia. ‘There are several traditions

within Mahayana, and one of them is

Vajrayana, which is the one practiced

in Tibet. As I belong to the Vajrayana

school of Buddhism, I would like to

give a short description of it.

Vajrayana, also known as

Mantrayana, or Tantrayana, is the

branch of Buddhism practiced in

Tibet. It is based on Bodhicitta. the

desire to reach Enlightenment in

order to help all sentient beings. And

in order to gain Enlightenment, it is

necessary to cultivate Wisdom and

Compassion. Wisdom here refers to

the realization of the true nature of

phenomena. We say that the nature

of phenomena is emptiness. But

by emptiness, we don’t mean that

nothing exists — this is a nihilistic

view; what we mean is that nothing

exists from its own side — to say that

something exists independently is to

adopt an absolutistic view.

Most Venerable Lama

Kunga Rinchen

The Head of

Sakya Centre,

India


Ms. Mingma Hyolmo Lama, the

Secretary of Dooars Yolmo

Association and Executive

President of Human Right

Council of India appointed as the

Coordinator of the Buddhavacana

Translation Committee in Nepal. The

official appointment letter handed

over by Mr. Ang Dandi Sherpa (Tika

Lama) on April 01, 2021 at the

Buddhavacana Translation Committee

office premises in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The Buddhavacana Translation

Committee, Nepal (BTCN) which aims

at translating the words of Buddha

(Buddhavacana) in Sanskrit and

Tibetan Tripitaka, their commentaries

and other Buddhist teachings

into simple to understand Nepali

language. To begin with, the BTCN has

unanimously decided to translate the

Nepal - Buddhavacana

Translation Committee

entire 16 volumes of Perfection of

Wisdom (Prajnaparamita Sutra) from

Tibetan to Nepali language.

Ms. Mingma Hyolmo Lama,

is a key to the work efficiency and

success of this translation project.

First, the BTCN has translated the

Perfection of Wisdom in Eight

thousand verses (Gya tong pa or

Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra)

will be benefited Millions of Nepalese

directly or indirectly by this pure

dharma work. It is estimated to take

5 years to complete all the other

Prajnaparamita Sutra translation. It

is certain that a multitude of Nepali

populace will tremendously benefit

from this translation. Ms. Mingma

Hyolmo Lama, will be promote and

propagate Buddha’s precious teachings

Prajnaparamita as much as can in the

days to come through her new post of

the Coordinator of the Buddhavacana

Translation Committee in Nepal. After

held this credential, newly Coordinator

of the Buddhavacana Translation

Committee in Nepal, Ms. Mingma

Hyolmo Lama said “Thank you so much

Buddhavacana Translation Committee

Nepal for giving me a such a precious

opportunity to join with meritorious

translation project. I personally feel

very fortunate to be connected with

BTC Nepal to serve Buddha Dharma

and to promote precious teaching of

Shakyamuni Buddha. I will give my

full support and will promote this very

important and tremendous translation

project of YUM (16 volumes of

Prajnaparamita) in my society.

Buddhika Sanjeewa

After visit to Kathmandu, Nepal


社團法人中華國際觀

光協會第八屆第三次

會員大會 -

社

團法人中華國際觀光協會第八

屆第三次會員大會 - 社團法人

中華國際觀光協會 ,110 年 3 月

18 日星期四下午 5 點整 , 假台

北市忠孝西路一段 43 號天成飯店二樓國際廳

舉行第八屆第三次會員大會 , 你會紅影視傳

播公司 , 受聘現場雙機同步拍錄並多媒體製作

播出 . 會議開始前理事長安排協會所有参與者

與貴賓人員先取景合照 , 各自相互交流 ,

互遞名片 , 非常熱絡 , 活動在林振量秘書

長宣布會議正式開始後 , 報告出席人數 ,

理監事出席人數 35 名 , 各界長官會員共約

120 名 , 達法定人數 , 大會於 5:30 正式開

始 , 首先由司儀恭請理事長詹秀蓉上台致

詞後 , 接下來介紹今天的重量級貴賓榮譽

理事長吳伯雄向大家致意 ,


Thought

Management

Techniques….

Removal of Distracting Thoughts

– There are five “Thought

Management Techniques”

(TMT) for overcoming

unintended, unwholesome thoughts.

01 - Replacement Method - First,

we can make an effort to replace

unwholesome states of mind with

wholesome states of mind. For

instance, we can replace thoughts of

greed with thoughts of non-greed

(generosity); thoughts of hatred

or anger with thoughts of nonhatred

(lovingkindness); thoughts

of cruelty with thoughts of noncruelty

(compassion); and thoughts

of delusion with thoughts of wisdom

and understanding. By exchanging

these harmful thoughts with their

opposites, we can go a long way

towards banishing them from our

minds. However, if unskillful

thoughts still arise, then try

the next technique.

02 - Reflection

Method - We can reflect

on the fact that unwholesome states

of mind lead to unhappiness while

skillful states of mind lead to joy.

We can envision the negative results

of our greed and anger and couple

those with the positive effects of

our generosity and compassion.

03 - Redirection Method - We can

temporarily abandon the present

meditation object and direct our

mind to a wholesome object of

attention. Whenever disturbing

thoughts arise, redirecting our mind

to wholesome thoughts can help to

dispel them. Simply focusing on our

breath can help to chase away anger

and frustration. Once anger or other

disturbing emotions subside, we can

return attention to a wholesome

thought. 04 - Retracing Method - In

this approach we trace back to the

causes and conditions that led to the

arising of the disturbing thoughts. For

instance, when fear arises, try to trace

it to its origin – aversion to the present

danger. We might ask ourselves where

lust comes from and trace it back to

an attachment to a particular person,

thing or situation. If we feel anger

towards someone, we may retrace the

reason for this anger back to a desire,

attachment, or need to have things

go “right,” or differently than they are

now. By retracing a particular thought

from its origin, we can unearth its

cause and weaken or eradicate its

result. 05 - Resolution Method - Here,

we make a strong determination to

get rid of distracting thoughts. We

should use every ounce of our effort to

overcome them, refusing to let them

control us. John Forsyth recommends

that we avoid buying into our

thoughts without examination and

The Awaked One advised us to “use

the mind to crash the mind.” This can

be accomplished by directly applying

awareness and mindfulness to that

specific negative mind state. Mentally

noting difficult mind states can be

very useful in confronting the issue

at hand and eventually banishing the

negative thought for good. When our

mind is free from distracting thoughts,

we can experience greater happiness

as we continue to tread the path to

final freedom.

It is powerfully transformative

to clear negative thoughts while

also making the effort to develop

wholesome states of mind. When

thoughts of generosity, lovingkindness,

and compassion arise we

can try to develop them so that our

expressions of these mental qualities

become more spontaneous and

refined. As each positive thought

comes into being, we nurture it until

reaching its full potential. Similarly,

we must exert effort to prolong these

wholesome states of mind. This is the

effort to maintain. When wholesome

states of mind have already arisen,

we try our best to make sure that

fleeting glimpses become sustained

thoughts for longer periods of time.

So, whenever thoughts of loving

kindness or compassion arise, we

try to maintain them, not allowing

opposite mental states such as anger

or hatred to take their place. Spend 5

minutes per day to be mindful of your

distracting thoughts. Use one of the

five thought management techniques

to overcome them. Are you managing

your thoughts better?

During meditation, we cannot

stop unskillful thoughts from

appearing in our thought process.

When this happens, we shouldn’t beat

up ourselves. Instead, be ever more

aware of unwholesome states which

inevitably dissolve in this awareness,

restoring our inherent state of mind

and its peaceful nature. The effort

to overcome unskillful thoughts,

vigilantly introspecting in this way

serves to remove unwholesome

states of mind that we discover inside

ourselves. We endeavor to remove

these negative feelings by cultivating

fi rm but gentle consistent attention

through mindfulness practice.

The pattern of destructive or

useless thoughts arising day in and

day out is certainly familiar to most of

us. Sometimes we feel energetically

drained and our minds seem driven

crazy with endless unproductive

thoughts. In Psychiatry, repetitive,

intrusive, anxiety-producing thinking

is called Obsessive Compulsive

Disorder. Luckily, there are tools to

help us handle our thoughts to avoid

compulsive thinking. We must think

positively and selectively instead

of letting a cascade of unhealthy

thoughts overwhelm us.

Benefits of this status - 01 -

Mindfulness of thoughts increases

the ability to perceive and understand

our thought process. 02 - Decreases

or eliminates the possibility of being

derailed by distracting thoughts.

03 - Helps to develop continuity of

mindfulness 04 - Helps to develop

concentration. 05 - Leads to peace,

happiness, and freedom.

“Build

Moral

Values”

Most Venerable Bhante

Kaboggoza Buddharakkhita

The First African Buddhist Monk,

Chief Abbot of Uganda Buddhist

Centre, Uganda,

East Africa


Exploring Hua

Yan Sutra….

Venerable Senior

Bhikkhuni Dr. Jian Hui Shi

Abbess of Yuan Dao Chan Monastery

Since 2012, Yuan Dao Temple

has been reciting the Huayan

Sutra every year as a regular

class. I feel that the Dajing

is superficial and profound. Since

2014, it has advocated “reciting one

volume of sutras in a day, forming a

sutra in season, and accumulating

hundreds of steps of Hua in 25 years.

“Strict” is the goal of aspiration to

promote the “Hua Yan Sutra” read by

millions of people throughout their

lives. This inadvertent niche activity,

with the circulation of the “Hua Yan

Sutra”, has now spread to dozens of

countries including five continents.

This journey along the Bodhisattva

Path was filmed and recorded,

and the documentary “Follow the

Huayan Sutra” documentary premiere

was held at the Kaohsiung Social

Education Center a few days ago. At

the beginning of the premiere, the

Fayin Choir composed of volunteers

in Yuan Dao Temple gave a wonderful

performance to the public. Then came

the screening time of the film that

attracted the attention of the public.

The public was attentively admiring

this masterpiece. With no gorgeous

scenes and cool special effects,

they can also savor this painstaking

work. Afterwards, it was a time for a

discussion between the master and

the director, interacting with the

public in a way of one question and

one answer, to resolve the curiosity

and imagination in everyone’s mind.


Children and

Buddhist Temples….

Children are the “life blood”

of our Buddhist temples –

both in our home countries

and in the West. Without the

children’s continued participation

in temple life, temples will simply

cease to be. It is imperative, therefore,

that we keep them involved, keep

them interested, keep making the

Buddha Dhamma relevant, and as

Sangha members and lay ministers,

keep adapting our teaching styles to

the younger generations’ mindsets,

challenges, and daily lives. When the

first wave of Theravada Buddhists

immigrated to the U.S. in the mid-

1960’s to the mid-1990’s, they helped

found and fund the Buddhist temples

that offered their particular ethnic

brand of Buddhism from their home

countries. These temples were staffed

by newly-arriving monks from Sri

Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia,

Laos, and Myanmar. Chinese, Japanese

and South Korean monks had planted

their roots earlier.

The children of these first

immigrants were brought to their

temples on a regular basis, and were

schooled in the Buddha Dhamma by

the monks. They were also exposed to

the rituals, services, celebrations, and

ceremonies brought from the home

country. Some of these children were

born overseas, and some were born

in North America during this threedecade

timeframe. They have since

grown up, completed their educations,

and many of them have started their

own families. They also have moved

to all parts of the continent, opening

new Buddhist temples. This second

generation of Buddhists in the New

World became very familiar with their

temples’ monks, and they often formed

long-lasting bonds with them. For the

most part these young people learned

the native language of the home

country from their families, and they

were more than willing to participate

in their temples’ religious services

and seasonal activities. They were the

first generation of North American

Buddhist Sunday School graduates in

our temple.

The third generation of young

Buddhists, those born in the 1990’s up

to the present time, are, for the most

Most Venerable Aggamaha

Pandita Dr. Walpola Piyananda Thero

Chief Sangha Nayake Thero

of America and President of USA &

Canada Sanga Council, Chief Abbot &

President of Dharma Vijaya Buddhist

Vihara, Los Angeles, California, USA.

part American or Canadian children.

Almost all of them were born in

North America, and many, if not most

of them cannot speak their families’

native tongues. Their mindsets are

Western, and they have very little

frameworks of reference for the

“old country” of their ancestors. The

same is true for third, fourth, fifth, or

subsequent generations of American

children of European, African, or Asian

descent. Many third generation Asian

young people have never visited their

grandparents’ home countries, and

they have adapted themselves to

an educational system that teaches

Western civilization, including its

literature, arts, values, philosophies,

and histories (including religious

history). It is not surprising, then, that

these children identify as “completely”

American, and have very little

relationship with their grandparents’

home country cultures; it’s simply

not important when they make such

an effort to assimilate and “blend in.”

Ethnic and national identities begin to

fade with time in the “melting pot” of

America and Canada.

The children’s parents are busy

working to support the family, and

they have little time for themselves

on Sundays to rest and do errands,

much less spare a few hours to take

their children to Sunday School at

the temple. Since the children are

the temples’ “life blood,” then what

can we do to make sure we reach and

keep them interested and stay active

in the temple? This is our biggest

challenge as Sangha members and

Buddhist lay ministers. Over the

years, I have, more than anything else,

devoted my energies to the children

– always making them the temple’s

first priority. As a result, I am quite

confident that the second generation

of immigrant children, even though

they are scattered all over the country

now, have remained predominantly

Buddhist. The third generation is

a work in progress, most of our Sri

Lankan and Thai temples are doing

all we can to teach, train, and inspire

them so that they will keep coming

to the temples. A few Chinese and

Vietnamese temples also make the

children a priority. Our goal, of course,

is that one day they will bring their

own children to the temple, and the

fourth generation of Buddhists in

America will have its own healthy

lifespan. Keeping the temples

alive and relevant to succeeding

generations is our long-term goal.

Since the Buddha’s lineage has lasted

2,600 years, we see no reason why it

should stop with us just because we

now live on a different continent.

Our goal for Buddhist Sunday

School is to have the Dhamma

presented in a way that is relevant to

the children’s daily lives. We have to

“keep it real,” to use the young people’s

expression. Demonstrating that the

Dhamma is Universal – that it’s for

all times, for all places, for all ages,

and for all beings – is a crucial point

to landing their interest. It is vitally

important to make them understand

that it’s not some “antique” or Asian

belief system that has no meaning

for their daily lives. We teach them

that the Dhamma in no way conflicts

with the teachings of Christianity,

Judaism, or Islam; in the final analysis,

all of them are compatible at their

core. Our children learn that they

don’t have to engage in any sort of

“religious war” with their friends who

practice other faiths, and they find

out that being able to cast a net of

compassion over all of their comrades

has many practical advantages. Our

teachers (monks included) keep up

with current events, and make sure

they are open to answering all types

of questions; questions that perhaps

their parents don’t even know they

are asking; questions that might be

uncomfortable for them to raise at

home. The challenges faced by

today’s youth have very little in

common with the challenges

faced by their parents’ and those

of previous

generations.

It seems

that in

t h e

blink

of an

eye the

world has changed so dramatically,

that it is almost unrecognizable.

It is most certainly unfathomable

to parents and grandparents that

immigrated here from a far away land

where things were so completely and

utterly different from the way they are

here.

This rapid planetary change

has made inter-generational dialog

difficult, and my aim is to narrow the

communications gap with our Sunday

School children. We must keep abreast

of what they are facing in their schools

and communities; be aware of the

pressures they are under; and the

temptations to conform so that they

will fit in. We must be compassionate

and understand the obstacles they are

facing. They are trying to be good, and

to make their parents proud of them..


Buddhism in

Myanmar….

Purifying

Buddhism

02 - The Second Arrival of Buddha

Sāsana - It was in the Maha Sakarit

year 111, in the 8th Vasa of Buddha,

Arahat Maha Thera Shin Gavonpati

requested humbly the Buddha to

visit Thaton (Suvannabhumi) in the

kingdom of Ramannadesa. (Present

in Mon State, Southeast of Myanmar)

So people of that place became

Buddhists after hearing the Dhamma.

03 - The Third Arrival of Buddha

Sāsana - In the Maha Sakarit year

123 in the 20th Vasa of Buddha

again, Maha Punna requested to visit

Sunaparanta Vaniccagama, therefore,

Buddha came to that place with 500

disciples; and monastery was built by

sandal wood was offered to Buddha

came to Suvannabhumi (Thaton) in

Ramannadesa (Mon State) to carry

out missionary works.

05 - The Fifth Arrival of Buddha

Sāsana - The fifth arrival of Buddha

Sāsana was in the Buddhist era 930

or 386 AD, during the reign of King

Mahā Nama of Sri Lanka, Mahā Thera

Buddhaghosa brought the Tipitaka

written in Sri Lanka language brought

to King Dhammapala of Thaton in

Ramannadesa his translated work.

This is the arrival of the Buddha

Sāsana in Myanmar in the form of

written Tipitaka.

Arrival of written Tipitaka in

Tampadipa (Bagan) - Buddha Sāsanā

flourished in the Pyu City Kingdoms

Dr. Saw Htut Sandar

Assistant Director, Associate

Prof. Department of Buddhist

Studies, Swami Vivekanand

Subharti University,

Meerut, India.

Myanmar is mostly practice

by the Theravada tradition

or Southern School or Pali

Tradition. There are nearly

87.9%, its according to the Census of

2014 of Myanmar population practice

Theravada Buddhism and over 500

thousand are monks in population

known as Sangha.

The Sāsanavamsa mentions

that, several visits of the Buddha to

Myanmar and one other important

event is the arrival of the hair relics

in Ukkala (Yangon) after the Buddha’s

enlightenment by the two merchants.

Theravāda Buddhism flourishes

in Myanmar with many references

as stone inscriptions, palm leaf

inscriptions and court chronicles tell

us that Buddhism arrived to Myanmar

not once but many times. According to

these records, Buddhism was arriving

to Myanmar total five times. Following

are the brief explanation of arrival of

Buddhism to Myanmar.

01 - The First Arrival of Buddha

Sāsana - The First Arrival of Buddha

Sāsana was associated the legend of

the Shwedagon Pagoda, in accordance

with that legend, Buddhism

arrived Myanmar in the lifetime of

Buddha, very soon after Buddha’s

Enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree

at Bodhgaya.

to reside. There, Namanta Naga and

his friend hermit came to pay homage

and requested to leave some kinds of

representative for worshiping, thus,

the Buddha left two foot prints; one at

the foot of the Minbu hill and another

on the top.

04 - The Fourth Arrival of Buddha

Sāsana - The fourth arrival was in

the year of 235, BC, Emperor King

Asoka patronized the Third Buddhist

Council at Pātaliputra, foreseeing

that the Sāsana would spread too

far off places. Buddhist missionaries

were dispatched to nine countries

nine places, Mahā Thera Sona &

Uttara accompanied by three Arahats

(2nd Cent. BC to 11th Cent. AD) by

virtue of the artifacts excavated

from archaeological sites such as Sri

Kestra, Beikthano, and Hanlin show

that at that time Mahayana Buddhism

co-existed with Theravada Buddhism

in ancient Myanmar.

Other places where Buddha

Sāsana flourished were Rakhine

(Rakhine State) and Ramannadesa

(Mon State). When Anawrahta became

a king in AD 1044, he was intent

upon purifying Buddhism which was

prevalent in Bagan. After that he

met with Shin Arahan and achieved

Tipitaka from Thaton Theravada

Buddhism flourished in Myanmar.


First of all, I would like to thank

Nagarjuna Training Institute for

hosting the new book launch,

and Hsuan Chuang University,

Taiwan. Advisor to Nagarjuna Institute

for CO organizing. I would also

like to thank the Dharma friends

who participated in the new book

publishing meeting today, as well as

the online guests “lokamitra, Professor

Huang Yunxi, master Zhaohui, master

Mingyu, Master Fazhu Mr.Suwade

Dr.Santosh I. Raut, PIA and Chen

Jian’an have devoted their precious

time to the grand event together.

Thank you to all Bodhisattvas online.

You are the protector who will never

be absent. Thank you again for your

concern about the Indian Buddhist

Revival Movement. I remember

meeting lokamitra 12 years ago, in

2009, after the introduction of AMI.

Only then did I know that he was

the successor of the Indian Buddhist

Revival Movement. I am ashamed that

although I am engaged in publishing

Buddhist books, my knowledge of

the Buddhist Revival Movement

in India is quite limited. It was not

until 2008, when he was invited by

the Dalai Lama to travel to India’s

Buddhist holy land for the first time

and came to putikaya, that he learned

that the Zhengjue pagoda was jointly

managed by Hinduism and Buddhism.

Later, through the introduction of AMI

and lokamitra, it was further known

that dharmap ā La Dharma protector,

the father of Sri Lanka, was a Dharma

protector of the revival of Buddhism in

India, and Darchen publisher had the

affinity to publish how I saved Indian

Buddhism: a history of the revival

of Buddhism in India - Biography of

Dharma protector.

I can still remember that when

he came to putikaya, he saw the

Buddha’s Vajra seat, which was used

by externalist religions and Hindus to

kill livestock as a sacrificial platform,

which touched his determination

to revive Indian Buddhism. When I

read this passage, an inexplicable

call sounded in my heart, and tears

fell unconsciously. Now I decided to

publish this masterpiece to awaken

Buddhist warriors. After reading

the Dharma protector’s history of

the revival of Buddhism in India,

I learned that Dr. Bhimrao Ramji

Ambedkar, a more important warrior

of the revival of Buddhism in India. At

the beginning, I learned something

about Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

and the Indian Buddhist Revival

Dr. Ambedkar &

Buddhism….

Movement from the mouth of AMI

and lokamitra. I didn’t have a deep

understanding of the whole process

of the movement and the key events

affecting the development. It was only

after reading the first translation of

AMI that I realized Dr. Bhimrao Ramji

Ambedkar’s great contribution to the

Indian Buddhist Revival Movement.

India has become a country

without Buddhism from the birthplace

of Buddhism, after the destruction

of Buddhism, until 800 years later, it

found the resurrection and hope of

Buddhism from a non Buddhist. In

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s time,

there was almost no Buddhism in

India. Although there were efforts

made by Dharma protectors before, it

was only to restore the Buddhist holy

land and protect some cultural relics

in form, and the Buddhist doctrine

was not really promoted. Therefore,

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was

able to find Buddhism and convert to

it. It was entirely from his personal

rational research that he found that

Buddhism was incomparably precious.

Among them, the most important is to

find that Buddhism is closely related

to “untouchable” and “broken human”.

Dr. bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar found

the origin of Buddhism from here.

You can learn more about it from this

book. In addition, Dr. bhimrao Ramji

Ambedkar was able to make 500000

people from all over the world come

together to convert to Buddhism in

the era of poor communication and

inconvenient transportation. What a

great event it was. It was the greatest

feat of Buddhism in the 800 years of

silence. It was a grand ceremony of

discipline, which awakened the lost

lambs. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s

spirit of turning the tide and making

Buddhism to the road of rejuvenation

finally enabled the untouchable to

regain their awareness and light.

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

Liang Chung Ming

World’s Popular Dharma Lecture &

Buddhist Books Publisher

has won four doctorates from the

United Kingdom, the United States

and India in just ten years. In the

eyes of huge followers, Dr. Bhimrao

Ramji Ambedkar is their leader and

hero. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

led them to convert to Buddhism, get

rid of the pain of caste hell, and let

their lives be reborn, just like their

reborn parents. Therefore, they have

the honorific title of “Mr. dad”, even

the “Buddha” in their heart. Before

I read this book, I had great respect

for Mahatma Gandhi. However, when

I learned that Gandhi opposed Dr.

bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s proposal

that the oppressed class be classified

as independent voters, I realized that

Gandhi did not stand in the position

of vulnerable groups. Here we can see

the differences between Sheng Xiong

Gan and Dr. bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar.

This book describes in detail Gandhi’s

challenge to Dr. bhimrao Ramji

Ambedkar, the conflict between

Gandhi and Dr. bhimrao Ramji

Ambedkar at the second round table

meeting, and their tit for tat later. But

in the end, the Indian government

passed Dr. bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s

proposal. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

returned to India in 1923. His most

important contribution was the

establishment of the society for the

welfare and relief of the oppressed.

The purpose of the society included

promoting the education and cultural

level of the oppressed, improving

their economy, and upholding

justice for them. Nevertheless, the

humiliation of the untouchable is

extremely serious. The untouchable

are forbidden to enter Hindu temples,

to draw water from public pools or

wells, to be deprived of their entrance

qualifications, and to be unable to

move freely in public places. In view

of this, Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

led his followers to launch a series

of non violent movements from 1927

to 1932, striving for the right of the

inaccessible to worship in Hindu

temples and draw water from public

pools and wells. This movement

resulted in the ritual of burning the

menu code. This ancient Indian legal

book is the culprit of the untouchable

who suffered from the evil hands of

Indian castes. Even to this day, the

untouchable can not be separated

from all kinds of cruel treatment

and humiliation of personality. The

purpose of the untouchable to throw

this supreme code into the sea of fire

is to hope that those orthodox Indian

castes can return their human dignity

in the future. As this book records

many soul stirring processes of the

Buddhist Revival Movement in India,

there are many valuable contents that

I can’t share with you one by one here,

Dr. bhimrao Ramji When Ambedkar

faced the attack of the Indian species,

that is, the profiteer, that kind of

situation is not what ordinary people

can bear, just like the Lengyan Sutra

saying: “the dragon and elephant can

not be trampled by the donkey.” this is

what the eldest man did. It is worth

us to learn from his indomitable

spirit with respect. This is a key book

worthy of your collection. I hope you

can share the news and cheer for the

revival of Buddhism in India.

The purpose of this book,

Darchen publisher, is nothing more

than to throw a brick to attract jade.

It is hoped that more people will

know the process of the revival of

Buddhism in modern India, and arouse

people’s attention and attention to

this issue, so as to arouse millions

of warriors to devote themselves

to Buddhism, spread the seeds of

Buddhism in countless people’s

hearts again, and rekindle the eternal

heart lamp of the revival of Buddhism

in India. Although Dr. Bhimrao Ramji

Ambedkar has left us, fortunately, his

efforts have not been in vain. Finally,

he felt a greater warrior, lokamitra. He

inherited the great ambition of the

Indian Buddhist Revival Movement

with his extraordinary wish. At

present, the burden of 100 million

pounds is falling on him. However,

we firmly believe in the compassion

and wisdom of the Buddhists. Only

with the collective strength can the

wisdom of the Buddha be sustained.

Please stand up bravely and sow the

seeds of Bodhi for the rejuvenation of

Indian Buddhism. Finally, I would like

to thank Professor Huang Yunxi for

his care and support. When Darchen

publisher encountered an epidemic

and was in trouble, Professor Huang

was very moved to stand up. In

addition, I would like to thank Master

Wuxing and master Wuji for their

help. I would also like to thank AMI

for her support in hosting this unpaid

new book publishing conference. In

addition, Darchen publisher owes

her translation fees, and she is very

tolerant and convenient. I hope

that she can make up the money as

soon as possible before she comes

to Taiwan next time. Thank you for

your dedication to this conference.

I hope you can go with me and let

the Dharma shine where you need it.

It has been a privilege and honor to

have been of service to your good self.


New Golden Age of Earth

The World’s Famous Buddha

Painting Master, Earth

Zen Person, International

Meditation Teacher, Founder

of Enlightening Earth Association,

Daksina Mani Buddha Cultural &

Bodhisattva Association in Taiwan,

Master Chi Sung Hung addressed the

United Nations Virtual NGO CSW 65

Parallel Event in Mulan Forum, Taipei,

Taiwan. Dear Sisters and Brothers, I am

very honored to be here, the United

Nations Virtual NGO CSW 65 Parallel

Event, Taiwan Mulan Forum to speak

about Open more possibilities. I wish

all of you an awakening day. Today, in

my mind, is a great and wonderful day

for all beings. First, I am going to talk

about Awakening of female power. We

will see the female power enlighten

all humans and create a perfect female

time, guiding us to a new golden age

of Earth. Through my mother’s eyes, I

saw the wonderful world in the womb.

I follow my mother’s body to breathe,

to grow, and to live. So I use the pen

name 陳女生 to honor my mother. This

name is a pun. 女生 means female. My

mother’s last name is Chen. This name

also means I was born to Chen. If we

take a look at the 21st century, we

will see that it’s not only the females

that are rising, but the most important

thing is that the world needs female

energy because the male power

can not guide the Earth to a better

way. The Earth needs female energy,

wisdom, benevolence, and peace. So,

even though I am a man, I would like

to be a person who follows the female

awakening to seek people’s happiness.

Second. The movement of Female

Earth, who am I? Who are we? When I

was five, my family’s factory exploded.

I saw people die in front of me. My

father died when I was seven years

old. I started to seek if there is a way

beyond death.

When I was nine years old, my

mind was full of how the universe was

formed. And when was the beginning

of the universe. Or if there is an ending

of the universe, a beginning, ending of

lives. Is this an endless reincarnation.

Will this stop at any point. Are the

existence of our lives and the universe

real or fiction? Are all these a dream? I

have thought about Buddha’s thinking,

other religions, and philosophies such

as Confucius, Kant. So, I started to

practice meditation when I was 10.

When I observed the universe, I found

that all things depend on emptiness.

Therefore, I understood that the inside

energy is always beyond the outside

power. When we open our minds, we

know that if we want sustainable

development on Earth, we need to

use the deep mentality to learn from

nature. In the standard Lambda-

CDM model of cosmology, the total

mass–energy of the universe contains

4.9% atoms, 26.8% dark matter and

68.3% dark energy. Thus, we see the

inner energy is much bigger than the

outer power. In the Chinese classic

The I Ching (The Book of Changes),

the 11th Hexagram is Tai ( 泰卦 ). This

hexagram has Kun ( 坤 ) on the top of

Chien( 乾 ). Kun ( 坤 ) means the earth or

female. Chien ( 乾 ) means the heaven

or male. Heaven is at the bottom, and

its energy goes up. And the Earth is

on the top. Its energy goes down.

Therefore, this Hexagram means

auspicious. The world is prosperous.

Good comes, bad leaves. On the other

hand, the 12th Hexagram is Pi ( 否卦 ).

This Hexagram is the opposite of Tai.

It has Chien ( 乾 ) on the top of Kun (

坤 ). Heaven is on top and it’s energy

goes up. It doesn’t go down. And the

Earth is at the bottom. It’s energy goes

down. It doesn’t go up. So, heaven and

the Earth do not unite. This is the

world we have now. Men are on top

of women. We need the female energy

to lead the world to an auspicious

and prosperous state. So, we need to

do the movement of female Earth and

to brighten the world. Third. Beyond

Gender.

All lives are equal. It is the

most important thought in the world.

When we see through the truth of the

universe, we find it. In my mind, it’s not

only a belief. It is a truth. Every day,

every moment, when I wake up in the

morning, when I go to bed at night, I

see all human beings are equal. When

I see the truth, it leads my mind to

be so calm, clear and happy. It leads

me to sleep in brightness. Even in my

dreams, I meet my dear heart friend,

equality. I see life, gender, race, caste,

faith, economics, class, opportunity,

rich and poor, sexual orientation, and

social status…, all are equal. This

is from our natural enlightenment.

Nāgārjuna was the most important

master of Buddha’s middle way.

“Brighten the

World”

His Madhyamika (The Middle Way)

showed me the whole vision and

use eight negation of middle way

to reach this wonderful truth. To me,

The Middle Way taught me to respect

all beings. He said, “All dharmas that

arise from causes and effects, I called

them empty. They are also provisional

names, and also the middle Way.”

So, when I read the thirty articles

of Universal Declaration of Human

Rights, I say it is not just a belief, we

should practice this and put it into

action. For so many years, women have

not been equal to men in the world.

Simone de Beauvoir wrote The Second

Sex and declared, “One is not born but

becomes a woman”. I agree with her.

In my mind all are equal. According to

the equality, I will say that the female

is the first nature. Recently I noticed

a great lady, Emma Watson. She said,

“ If you believe in equality, you are a

feminist.” I said, “Yes!” According to

this definition, me too, I am a feminist,

too. Even though I understand The

Middle Way is equality, but when the

world is not equal for the female, I

will be a feminist. For me it is the real

teaching of Buddha’s and Nāgārjuna’s

The Middle Way. So I do agree with

her HeForShe campaign. I hope it will

succeed quickly. I hope one day we

will change the HeForShe campaign

to SheForHe. Tai ( 泰卦 ) shows the

powerful first gender. Female will

help all human to be equal.


Founder and Co-Creator of Spiral

Seeds Consulting, Seeds, Skills,

Tools, Experience & Wisdom

for a sustainably healthy

development on Earth & Projects

– Sustainable & Holistic Wellbeing

of People & Planet, Regenerative

Living Design & Development for

Enterprises, Communities, Regions

and Cultures, Co-Creator of Samara

Regenerative Hotels- and Resorts,

Author, Speaker, Retreat-Leader

When I started to ask this

question, the answer started to

reveal itself to me over time and I

experienced the power of asking and

living different questions from what

we have been told to ask, or not to ask,

or simply never ask ourselves because

of the culture and societies we were

brought up in. For me, this doesn’t

matter if East or West, if educated or

not, if enlightened or not, as humans

we are all directed by our beliefs,

cultivated and inherited. And by the

two fundamental forces of love and

fear.

We can go to great length to

do whatever it takes to feel more

love and less fear. And when we feel

more love, we can share more love.

When we feel less fear, we spread

less fear. Of course, it works the other

way round too. But how often do

we truly stop and examine our own

beliefs? How often do we bring more

awareness to these fundamental

forces ‘behind the scenes’ as we move

through daily life? And if we do, how

to? And what do we do with them? I

am a very visceral person. It means, I

can feel a lot in my body and the way

I experienced life from an early age

here on Earth was, that I did not know

what these feelings meant and how

to deal with them. There was no-one

around to teach me, it is not what you

generally learn in school and since

it often felt very uncomfortable, I

unconsciously made the decision as a

child to switch these feelings off. To

Why on Earth

Are we Here ?….

“Our Beliefs,

Cultivated &

Inherited”

stop feeling and stop listening to my

body, to suppress my emotions and

to become really rational, as it was

what the world expected me to be

– rational, intelligent, hard working,

successful – or at least so I believed.

I am glad that my soul had

decided to create a few really difficult

life-situations for me in order to give

myself the chance to wake up, to

become more aware of what ‘operates

me’ and from there to be able to

change my ‘operating system’ to one

that is aligned with my soul, with the

light, the love, the power of God in

and through me. So why on Earth am I

here? I am here to serve Mother Earth

and all Her Beings. To shine, nurture,

grow and share the light wherever I

am. Not by ignoring the darkness and

my own shadows, no. But by shining

the light onto them, bringing my

whole being to light. Here I stand,

with all of me, my light and my dark,

my divinity and my humanity, the

way God created me, in my whole

vulnerability and raw nature, being

the One Light of many, the point of

light of God that ‘I am’ here in this

human form on Earth, serving life

and my dear sisters and brothers in

all forms and dimensions: humans,

animals, plants, elements….

Gabriele

(Gabi) Seewald

Founder and Co-Creator of Spiral

Seeds Consulting, Seeds, Skills,

Tools, Experience & Wisdom for a

sustainably healthy development

on Earth & Projects – Sustainable

& Holistic Wellbeing of People &

Planet, Regenerative Living Design

& Development for Enterprises,

Communities, Regions and

Cultures, Co-Creator of Samara

Regenerative Hotels- and

Resorts, Author, Speaker,

Retreat-Leader


Ruby-Cell Australia

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Popular Indian Buddhist

Ayurveda, Naturopathy,

Yoga & Meditation Centre,

“Shakuntalam Traditional

Spinal Care” held special Buddhist

health program at the root branch of

Shakuntlam Traditional Spinal Care in

Kaland, Sardhana, Meerut, UP, India on

March 14, 2021. The program had been

organized under the guidance and

patronage of the Senior Dr Rajkumar

Tyagi, who is the Founder and Owner

Buddhists Health….

of Shakuntalam Traditional Spinal

Care. This special Buddhist health

program series explore worldwide as

the concept of Dr Rajkumar Tyagi and

Dr. Vandana Tyagi, Through the same

medium used by Raj Vaidya Jeevak

who was the Vaidya for Lord Buddha

himself i.e. Vedic and Yogic Science,

Acupuncture, Acupressure. Many needy

people took part in the camp & got

real instructions as well as stepped

towards a better healthy life. Dr.

Rochita, Dr. Kiran Bist, Shakuntalam’s

Beauty Expert Mrs. Rashmi Tyagi, Dr.

Kevin, Dr. Sunil Bhalla, Mr. Devendra

Kundu, Mr. Sandeep, Mr. Nagendra

ji, Mrs. Soni Tyagi, Mr. Lukman Tyagi,

Prithvi Tyagi, Vedansh Tyagi, Karthik

and Lucky gave their precious time for

making this program a success.

Buddhika Sanjeewa

After visit to Uttara Pradesh,

India



The name of Danzanravjaa

has a profound connection

with many branches of

Mongolian culture. He was an

extraordinary polymath, a poet and

Buddhist lama, he was a philosopher

and the creator of nomadic theater,

he was a choreographer, lyricist

and composer, a Buddhist scholar,

an environmentalist and a traveler.

Danzanravjaa was born in 1803 into

the poor family in what is today

Shuvuun Shand, near to Dulaanhar

Hill in Dorngovi aimag. In his brief

biography, his father, Dulduit, wrote

that when the child was born his

body emitted light. Danzanravjaa’s

mother died when he was a child,

and as he wandered around with

his father, his genius began to show

itself. When he was five years old, as

his father was performing a ritual to

bring good fortune to a local family,

a severe rainstorm suddenly arose.

Droplets leaked through the thin

summer covering of the ger, but when

they didn’t leak onto the child and his

father where they sat next to the door

beneath this hole-strewn roof, the

people laughed at them, and the boy

recited in a lively voice, “When clouds

come and rain falls, what difference is

there between the place of honor and

the door? When actions are fulfilled

and death comes, what difference is

there between old and young?”.

Great

Brilliant Poet

Danzanravjaa...

“There are many stars in the sky,

but only one or two have a special

gleam. There are many beings in

the world, but only one or two have

special wisdom. (from “Hormust”).

Everyone was amazed, and from

that time, the child’s extraordinary

talent and ability began to reveal

itself. Atthe age of six, he took the

vows of a monk, and at nine he was

recognised as a the fifth incarnation

of the Noyon Hutagt. Between eleven

and fifteen, he studied Buddhist

philosophy and tantric practise at

Badgarcholin Monastery, in what

is today Inner Mongolia, and great

teachers such as Janjaa Hutagt, Ajaa

Gegeen and Düinhor Pandit gave him

the instructions and empowerments

for secret mantra practises, and so

his magical and spiritual genius

became gradually more and more

open. Although great scholars of

religion study the Dharma for about

ten years and so reach a high level,

Danzanravjaa was amazing in that he

took a short cut and penetrated the

secrets of the Dharma after about five

years. At sixteen he returned to the

place of his birth and, as he perfected

the practise of secret mantra, he began

to build what is now Övörbayasgalant

Hamriin Hiid. Two years later his

father Dulduit died. After this time,

he gave himself to building temples

and monasteries and to magical

practises such as bringing rain and

spreading the Dharma, he wrote

poetry and composed music and

songs, and he choreographed dances,

and so he spread magic and brought

enlightenment to his homeland of

the Govi. Hamriin Hiid at that time

became the center of Buddhist culture

in the Govi. Alongside the many

monastic schools - such as Lamrim,

Demchig, Sutra and Tantra - which

were established there, there was also

a program of education set up for the

general public. The “Children’s School”

taught reading and writing, nature, art

and dance, and boasted an extensive

library. The “Singing School” was the

center for song and drama, while

the “White Temple” was a museum

with rare and extensive holdings.

By establishing all these facilities,

he brought wisdom to the simple

nomadic people of the Govi through

art and culture and knowledge, rather

than by means of insufficient religious

devotion. At that time, the Manchu

government wanted to keep Mongolia

in darkness, and this was a way by

which a struggle of the intellect could

continue to oppose the thinking of

the Chinese rulers.

Although Danzanravjaa

established many monasteries and

temples in his homeland of the Govi,

he spent little time within range

of his own monastery, and traveled

across Mongolia staging musical

dramas such as The Moon Cuckoo,

writing and performing his own

songs, both secular and religious,

bringing rain to drought-ridden

areas, offering medicine and spiritual

comfort to the exhausted and the sick,

researching the landscape - the water,

hills, rocks, grasses and vegetation -

all the while engaged in the writing

of poetry. Danzanravjaa’s nomadic

lifestyle, accompanied by a train of

dozens of camels and attended by

many of his students, was intended

to lead towards enlightenment. His

anti-establishment ideas meant that

he was criticised by many when he

entered their territory, they were

concerned, among other things, that

“he brought with him many young men

and women, he drank alcohol and was

thoroughly disreputable.” In around

1840, when he arrived at Ih Hüree,

which today is the city of Ulaanbaatar,

he wrote in his autobiography about

how he had been turned away on the

banks of the Tuul River.

Danzanravjaa taught in his

school children gifted in the arts, and

in addition to turning out craftspeople

and actors, some of his students

continued their education, and studied

in the religious school. One of these

groups, made up of female artisans,

was headed by Dadishura. They

staged plays, sang songs, and created

the masks for the religious dances

and for the plays, but they also read

stories aloud to people and taught

them to read and write, and so built

upon Danzanravjaa’s work. Dadishura

was the most famous of these

female artisans. She was a highly

talented woman who worked with

Danzanravjaa in his work on secret

mantra and who wrote music and

directed plays, and she was constantly

by his side. There were many who

misunderstood their relationship, and

thought Dadishura his wife, or else his

secret lover. Danzanravjaa dedicated

many songs to Dadishura, honoring

her as his closest student and his

artistic muse, and in a mundane sense

this could be called love. Dadishura

was intimately connected to his

Dr. G. Mend Ooyo

Poet, Writer and President,

Mongolian Academy of Culture

and Poetry, Founder and Editor

in chief of GUNU Magazine,

Mongolia

life and his art, and it is she who is

the subject of Danzanravjaa’s song

“Perfect Qualities.”

As a man and as a poet, then,

did Danzanravjaa hold a particularly

deep affection for women? Certainly,

he did, and when he couldn’t enter

Ih Hüree, he taught the Dharma to

many of the faithful in the meadow

at Soilgo on the banks of the Tuul. He

organised a festival and performed

songs and music there, and the story

goes that he let slip the reins of love

for a woman from Hangai named

Baljdumaa. Danzanravjaa dedicated

many beautiful songs to Baljdumaa,

and there exist many stories about

the bond of love between them.

Danzanravjaa changed the disdainful

attitude regarding women, which was

widespread during the Manchu period,

and his three objects of devotion were

the goddess Tara, who is particularly

belovèd of women, the swan, and the

symbol of secret mantra, the scorpion.

Dhamma in

Mantra


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The Inversion...

To invert is to put something

upside down. Are human

beings prone to inversion?

What is the inversion that

human beings are prone to have?

“Marvelous, venerable sir! Marvelous,

venerable sir! As if, venerable sir, a

person was to turn face upward what

is upside down, or to uncover what

was concealed, or to point the way

to one who is lost or to carry a lamp

in the darkness, thinking, ‘Those who

have eyes will see visible objects,’ so

has the Dhamma been set forth in

many ways by the Blessed One. We,

venerable sir, go to the Blessed One

for refuge, to the Dhamma for refuge,

and to the Community of Bhikkus for

refuge. Venerable sir, may the Blessed

One regard us as lay followers who

have gone for refuge for life, from

today.” (Kalama Sutta)

What is inverted? Those that

are inverted are the six faculties of

eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind.

Once the faculties get inverted, they

become agencies (Aayathana). The

Aayathana shrouded by delusion with

make things that are of attachment

or lust or of hate. So we create our

world of the six touch-agencies. In

the Hemawatha Sutta Buddha told

Sathagiri and Hemawatha,

Of six is world formed, with six

it associates, having grasped with the

six, will lament with the six. When

devout people listen to the Dhamma

expounded by Buddha, they begin to

find the realization of the truth. In

such people, development of the five

faculties of Saddha or faith, Viriya

or striving, Sathi or mindfulness,

Samadhi or concentration and Panna

or wisdom begins to develop. Then the

five Indriya of eye, ear, nose, tongue

and body begin to turn upwards, and

no longer they are now agencies

(Aayathana) shrouded by lust and

hate. Now they are steeped in virtue

and will not break any of the factors

of virtue even if one is on the verge of

losing one’s life.

From now onwards they will be

following the path shown by Buddha,

“Sabba papassa akaranan, Kusalassa

Upasampada. Sachiththa pariyo

dapanan, ethan Buddhanusasanan”

Steeped in virtue, develop mindfulness

and concentration with Meditation.

Understanding the nature of mind

with Vipassana and tame it. This is the

teaching of all Buddha.

Meditation - How does a

meditative yogi realize this change

from agency to faculty? In breathing

meditation (Anapana Sathi) yogi will

initially discern the breath as long

or as short as the case may be. This

discernment is still in the agency

situation. Then the yogi will move

on to next stage of feeling the whole

body. What is the whole body in

meditation?

Often it is explained as

beginning, middle and end of each

in and out breath. But in Sabba

Sutta Buddha told Bhikkus about

all, and of body it is the body and

tactile sensations in the body which

together leads body consciousness

to contact and to feelings. The yogi

in this body will have happy feelings,

unhappy feelings or neutral feelings

at the same time which the yogi will

observe scanning the body from top

to bottom and bottom to top.

This is seeing as it is and not as

per the conventions, the beginning

of Vipassana. It is here the agencies

of the yogi will turn up and the

development of faculties of Saddha,

Viriya, Sathi, Samadhi and Panna

begin. Offering flowers, lighting oil

lamps, burning incense sticks and

many other offering are good as

those will be a starting point for the

children and youth to develop faith in

Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. But just

doing ceremonial things only and not

getting on to the path that Buddha

showed us to take will not enable us

to realize the truth of Nirvana in this

life.

In the Pabhassara Sutta

(Anguththara Nikaya), Buddha said

“Luminous, monks, is the mind. It is

defiled by incoming defilements. The

person who has not heard Dhamma

and thus is uninstructed doesn’t

discern that as it actually is present,

which is why I tell you that for the

uninstructed person there is no

development of the mind.” “Luminous,

monks, is the mind. And it is freed

from incoming defilements. The wellinstructed

disciple who had heard

Dhamma of the noble ones discerns

that as it actually is present, which is

why I tell you that for the instructed

disciple of the noble ones there is

development of the mind.”

“Develop

Mindfulness &

Meditation”

Sugath Rajapakse

Formerly Senior Commercial

Manager at Sri Lankan Airlines and

presently Consultant to Air India GSA

in Sri Lanka.


Everywhere from all sides…


Damini is the wife of the late

professor Arthur Basnayake,

one of the first members of

the Ceylon Overseas Service.

He served for 42 years in this position

until he was appointed as Professor of

International Affairs at Nagoya Gakuin

University in Japan. They started a new

life in the Diplomatic Service. Damini

says the wife plays a very important

role in the life of an Ambassador.

She has very nostalgic memories of

Myanmar, where her younger son was

ordained as a Samanera monk and

spent two months in a monastery

there. He is now a Consultant

Nephrologist in England. She took

part in many religious activities there

including the planting of Bo saplings,

and helped building of stupas. Her

Grand

Efforts in

Buddhism...

meditation teachers were the Ven

Mahasi Sayadaw and U Janaka. She

also played an important role in the

printing of the English translations of

the Dhammapada, the Digha Nikaya,

and the Guide to Digha Nikaya, by

Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, a Buddhist

promoting Foundation in Japan.

30,000 sets of these publications were

distributed worldwide. The Buddha

said, “SABBA DHANAM, DHAMMA

DHANAM, JINATI“, and Damini is a firm

believer that these actions would help

all Buddhists to join together and

disseminate the sublime teachings of

the Buddha, throughout this universe.

We live in a world torn by Strife and

Dissention and we need the message

of the Buddha to guide us and prevent

human beings from destroying

themselves. Those of us who have

visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki will

indeed be aware of the holocaust of

war and Nuclear weapons.

Amongst the distinguished

people they have met during their

travels abroad are Queen Elizabeth

and Prince Philip, Emperor Akihihito

and Empress Mitchiko , Prince and

Princess Mikasa, Madam Indira Gandhi,

Mr Atul Bihari Vajpayee ,Mr.Narasimha

Rao, Madam Chun Dhoo Wan, Daw

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Hon U Nu,

Prime Minister of Burma, President

Gorbachov, and Bill Gates, amongst

others .They had many connections

with Buddhist temples in Japan,

including Ven Nichidatsu Fujii of

Nipponzan Myohoji, Archbishop Zenryu

Hasuo of Zentsuji temple in Shikoku,

Rev. Shinzui Tanaka of Shigisan temple

in Nara, Kuonji temple in Minobusan ,

Enryakuji Temple on Mount Hiezan,

and Kodosan Temple in Yokohama to

name a few. They also enshrined true

bone pieces of the Buddha in various

temples, including the Buddhist Stupa

in Battersea Park, England , where

the chief guest was the Archbishop

of Canterbury . While in Japan, they

founded “ONLY ONE WORLD “ , which

enables needy children to continue

their studies without dropping out

from school due to lack of funds , and

helps hospitals and homes for elders

.Its patrons include Daw Aung San Suu

Kyi, and Madam Yasuko Hata, wife of

the former prime Minister of Japan.

About Daw Suu, Damini says that

she is a remarkable lady with extraordinary

courage and determination.

She has achieved her goal by peaceful

means. We Buddhists should be proud

of her. Damini has a passion for Social

work, perhaps due to the fact that

Philanthropy is a family tradition.

Her Maternal Great Uncle Alfred

Goonetilleke rose to the high position

of being the first Attorney General

of Siam, and his daughter,Khun

Lekha Apaiwongse became a famous

womens leader. The Hon. U Nu,

presented her with the highest honour

given by the Burma Pitaka association

for her, “DISTINGUISHED SERVICE FOR

THE PROPOGATION OF BUDDHISM

THROUGHOUT THE WORLD” and in

his speech of welcome he referred to

her as a lady who adds lustre to the

Theravada land of Sri Lanka and said

that he wished that she be able to

carry the torch of the Dhamma to the

four corners of the earth.


Following the

Avatamsaka Sutra

on A Journey -

It is about how the

Avatamsaka Sutra

changed people’s

minds, as well as

people’s lives.

Introducing

…

Welcome to all over the world who are

sincerely interested in Buddhism. I am

pleased to inform you I launched the

new official Buddhist Channel; “Shifu

International”. Now you can logon

www.youtube.com and search “Shifu

International”. I visited many Buddhist

Temples and most valuable historical

Buddhist places all around the world.

Based on my experience in global

travelling, I decided to share with you

the importance of these sacred

historical Buddhist places.

Most Venerable Bhikkhuni Buddhika Sanjeewa

58 l Mettavalokanaya l May l 2021 Dr. Ming Yu Founder, President


Dignified Adviser Chief Editor

Buddhika Sanjeewa, as the Founder, President & Chief Editor of Mettavalokana Buddhist Publications Centre, I Printed and Published this “Mettavalokanaya” Buddhist Magazine as

a Publication of Mettavalokana Buddhist Publications Centre on May 01, 2021 at M.D. Gunasena & Co. Printers (Pvt.) Ltd, No.20, San Sebastian Hill, Colombo 12, Sri Lanka.

Registered at Department of National Archives in Sri Lanka 424551/05/01/2016

#Mettavalokanaya_International_Buddhist_Magazine_May_2021

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