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මහාමේඝ 2562 පොසොන් (2018 ජුනි) මස කලාපය

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16<br />

Y%S nqoaO j¾I <strong>2562</strong> - fmdfidka l,dmh ^<strong>2018</strong> cqks - cQ,s&<br />

16<br />

Do you want to live<br />

a blessed life ?<br />

hat are blessings? ‘Blessings’ are<br />

generally understood as words or<br />

acts of well-wishers and it is more<br />

commonly associated with gods, spiritually<br />

developed people, parents, elders or<br />

friends. Another definition of ‘blessings’<br />

is a beneficial thing for which one is<br />

grateful, such as a good family, wealth,<br />

health, beauty etc. When we look at<br />

both these general definitions, we see<br />

something in common. What is that?<br />

We see that both depend on outside<br />

sources. This means ‘‘blessings’<br />

are good things that happen to you<br />

not because of you, but because<br />

of other people and other things’.<br />

Does that mean to be blessed we<br />

need these outside sources, and our<br />

effort has no effect? That does not<br />

sound fair, does it? So, there must be<br />

something wrong about this general<br />

definition. What if we can make our<br />

own blessings by doing things? What<br />

if we do not have to depend on others<br />

and other things to be blessed? What<br />

if we can make showers of blessings<br />

upon ourselves regardless of time<br />

or day? Wouldn’t that be grand? Is<br />

it possible? Yes. In Maha Maṅgala<br />

Sutta, the supremely enlightened<br />

Buddha explicated 38 blessings<br />

that can be generated in our life, by<br />

ourselves, by our own actions.<br />

During the time of the Lord<br />

Buddha, many gods had the problem<br />

of defining what blessings were. One<br />

day, a god came to Lord Buddha and<br />

asked Him to expound what blessings are<br />

to the world. At that moment the most<br />

compassionate teacher of humans and gods,<br />

Lord Buddha, expounded 38 blessings. It is called<br />

the Maha-Maṅgala Sutta. I am sure many of you<br />

are familiar with the Maha-Maṅgala Sutta since<br />

we recite that at home or we hear it on the radio<br />

in the mornings and nights.<br />

The first stanza is said by the god, who<br />

asked the Lord Buddha to expound the ‘highest<br />

blessings’ as gods and humans have pondered on<br />

it for a long time in vain. From the second stanza<br />

on wards, Lord Buddha explains what ‘blessings’<br />

are. Let us learn them one by one.<br />

1. Asevanā ca bālānaṁ - Not to associate with the<br />

foolish<br />

2. Paṅḍitānañ ca sevanā - but to associate with the<br />

wise<br />

These are first two blessings said by the<br />

Lord Buddha. Who is a foolish person–bāla, and<br />

who is a wise person-paṅḍita, is explained in<br />

many suttas. Bāla is also called Asappurisa. He/<br />

she is a person who does not recognize what is<br />

wholesome and what is unwholesome, who does<br />

not know what is good and what is bad. This<br />

person engages in unwholesome actions and<br />

encourages you to do the same. The easiest way to<br />

recognize such a person is this: when you are with<br />

someone if your shame to do wrong vanishes, if<br />

your fear for the results of bad deeds vanishes,<br />

then you are with a foolish person, a bāla.<br />

A wise person, a paṅḍitā is also called a<br />

Sappurisa, a noble-friend, a Kalyāna mitta. They<br />

never encourage you to do wrong things. In fact,<br />

they show you your short-comings and help you<br />

get on the right track. Once, venerable Ananda<br />

thero said that half of the Gautama Buddha’s<br />

dispensation depends on noble friends. At that<br />

moment, the Lord Buddha said, “No Ananda,<br />

you must not say that the whole dispensation<br />

depends on noble friends.” By associating<br />

with noble friends we learn what is right and<br />

what is wrong, we learn Dhamma and with the<br />

encouragement from the noble friend we start<br />

cultivating Dhamma in our lives. By disassociating<br />

from foolish people, we refrain from doing wrong<br />

things. Giving up wrong and embracing right is<br />

what happens when we choose to disassociate<br />

from foolish people and associate with the wise.<br />

And blessings start from that.<br />

3. Pūjā ca pūjanīyānaṁ - honor those worthy of honor<br />

Who are worthy of honor? Maha Sangha is<br />

worthy of honor: bhikkhu sangha and bhikkhuni<br />

sangha. Bhikkhuni sangha are no more in the<br />

world, but there are venerable nuns- Anagarika<br />

meniyo, who have left the lay life and gone forth<br />

as bhikkhuni sangha in the order of the Lord<br />

Buddha. How to honor them? We need to go see<br />

the venerable theros and nuns and pay respect.<br />

When we go to see them, they talk to us, they<br />

teach us the noble Dhamma and encourage us<br />

in the noble path. If we see them, talk to them<br />

and pay respect to them often, then we gain<br />

encouragement to practice the noble<br />

Dhamma. That is how honoring the<br />

noble ones become a blessing to<br />

our life.<br />

4. Patirūpadesavāso ca – to<br />

reside in a suitable locality<br />

What is a suitable locality?<br />

A place where noble Dhamma<br />

is accessible. A place where<br />

the Lord Buddha’s sacred<br />

relics are enshrined. A place<br />

where Bodhi trees are to be<br />

seen.<br />

5. Pubbe ca katapuññatā<br />

- to have performed meritorious<br />

actions in the past<br />

Having done meritorious<br />

actions in the past is a<br />

blessing and is essential<br />

to progress in the noble<br />

path. How to know if we<br />

have done meritorious<br />

actions in the path? If you<br />

are reading this article,<br />

that means you have met<br />

wise people, you live<br />

somewhere where noble<br />

Dhamma is taught and<br />

you are making an effort<br />

to learn more. That is<br />

a result of meritorious<br />

actions performed in<br />

the past. Most of us<br />

have an unfavorable<br />

habit of thinking ‘we<br />

have not done enough<br />

meritorious actions in<br />

the past.’ If you also think<br />

like that, well, ‘do it now’, because<br />

‘now’ becomes the ‘past’ in the next moment. So<br />

observe and protect precepts now, meditate now,<br />

learn Dhamma now, be kind now and tomorrow<br />

you are a person with a meritorious past.<br />

6. Attasammāpaṇīdhi ca - set oneself in the<br />

right direction<br />

What is the right direction? It is the direction<br />

lead by noble Dhamma. Establishing in the noble<br />

Dhamma is a blessing that we can make possible<br />

to ourselves.<br />

7. Bāhusaccañca – well educated in noble Dhamma<br />

This means knowing noble Dhamma<br />

thoroughly. In Nagarupama sutta the Lord Buddha<br />

explains, just as many weapons are stored in a<br />

royal frontier fortress to fight back when enemies<br />

attack, we should have a stock of Dhamma to<br />

fight defilements when they arise. When we learn<br />

many suttas and remember a vast amount of<br />

noble Dhamma we can apply it in our daily life.<br />

For example, when we get angry, if we know how<br />

to get rid of it, according to Dhamma, we can do<br />

it. If we did not know how to tackle this deceiving<br />

To page 17....

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