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| Wednesday, 19 January 2005 |
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One does not belong even to oneself by Danister I. Fernando "One does not belong even to oneself - Buddhism among all religions in the world stands unique, in the history of human thought, vehemently denying the existence of a soul or self. According to the philosophy of Shakyamuni the Buddha, the concept of "self" is an illusion which produces harmful thoughts of "I", "me" or "mine", transmitting self desire, craving and all other connected defilements in the mind of man. It is this very same false view of "self" which is the cause for all the troubles of the world, ranging from simple conflicts, to inhuman destructive wars among races, nations and countries. Man according to 'Buddha Dhamma' is really the combination of the two groups, termed "Nama" and "Rupa" (name and form or mind and body, or mentality and corporeality) These two together make the "Man", but each of them cannot exist individually without the help of the other. "Nama" is the collective noun for the four mental groups (Arupino Khandha), namely: feeling (vedana), perception (sanna) mental formations (sankhara) and consciousness (vinnana). The birth of a being means that a combination of "Nama" and "Rupa" has taken place. The 'death' means that the 'Name Group' has left the 'Rupa' to form another re-becoming according to its karmic formations leaving back the 'Rupa' to perish on its own. ' "Rupam jirati maccanam nama-gottam na jirati. "The Buddha describes the dead body as "kalingaram" in the popular - verse from the Dhammapada - gatha' No. 41 "Aciram vat' ayam kayo 'Before long alas! this body, 'Rupa' will lie upon the ground, cast aside, devoid of consciousness (Nama) even as a useless charred log, which cannot be used for any other purpose. It has to be understood clearly and properly that it is not an identical 'soul' or 'self' that re-becomes. The concept of 'soul' is strictly rejected in Buddhist philosophy. The change over from one existence to a new re-becoming is called death, and is only a flow of processes based on the last mental formations before death. The being so re-becomes is neither the same person nor any other - "Na ca so, na ca anno." (Milinda Panha). "Rupa" the physical body of man is made up of the four great primaries (Catthani Mahabhutani) which are as follows: 1. Earth - solidity - the element of expansion (Pathavi) A whole of anything physical constitute these four elements, in different and various proportions with one or more dominating. 'Rupa' or body is therefore, a composition and a configuration of these four. Once/ the man dies, elements begin to disintegrate and finally vanish. This is the real state of 'Man'. Accordingly he has no right to call himself "I" or "me" or "mine" (self). The Buddha has pointed out that the being whom, for all purposes we call a man, woman, or individual, is not something static, but dynamic - a combination of mind and body in constant and continuous state of flux. To illustrate the characteristic of "No-self" an interesting story from "Dhammapadattha Katha" comes to my memory. During the time of the Buddha, there lived a very rich man (Setthi) by the name of Ananda. Although his name was Ananda he was never happy for the simple reason that through his abject miserliness he lived in constant fear of safeguarding his immense wealth which amounted to numerous crores. He had an only son called Mulasiri, to whom he incessantly advised to look after the wealth with utmost care and dexterity. In doing so he even cited the example of a tightly tied bundle of sticks from which, if one stick is removed the whole bundle gets loose and fizzle out. Mulasiri himself was gradually transformed into a die-hard miser even worse than the father. Ananda Setthi died and as a result of his greed he got conceived in the womb of a Candala (low caste) woman. After the ill-fated conception, that entire candala community failed to get their usual morsel by begging. They got together and finally found out that it was that unfortunate woman who was the cause of their predicament and left her alone to manage her own affairs. After the required lapse of time she delivered a baby, an awful one! A deformed terrifying cripple, who could not even sit up! But she, like a dutiful mother, fostered it carefully, undergoing much hardship. When the child grew up, she asked him to go a-begging, their means of living, and find his own morsel. Accordingly the cripple went from house to house crawling, and finally came to his former residence, the Ananda Bhavan. When Mulasiri discerned the ghastly sight of the miserable being, he screamed out, and asked his men to drag him away on to the stinking garbage heap at once. Just then the Buddha within His limitless compassion saw the unfortunate incident through His divine eye and promptly appeared at the scene. He summoned Mulasiri and asked him whether he knew the identity of that miserable creature. Mulasiri was non-plussed! The Buddha then declared, "Mulasiri, this is your own father, Ananda Setthi! re-born like this, because of his excessive greed. He has left a hidden treasure in the premises of your mansion. Ask him for it and get it verified. Mulasiri was utterly surprised to find the information correct. He had to admit it. The Buddha left the place after delivering a sermon involving the following gatha: "Putthamatthi dhanamm'atthi - iti balo vihannati "Sons have I, wealth have I, Here, "One does not belong even to oneself" requires clarification. At a glance does it not look absurd? but, we shall have to go deeper into the assertion to know what it really means. We shall reflect on the present life itself. When an individual is born into this world, it is natural that he calls himself "I" or "me" or his belongings "mine", during the different periods in life - the boy, the youth, the grown up and the dotage. True - that may be the same person, but those periods are more or less different in character, in looks in behaviour and in every other way. All of them call themselves "I", but who is the correct "I"? Isn't it absolutely correct to presume that none of them is the correct "I"? It can be safely concluded that there isn't an "I". The concept, therefore of "no-self" is the absolute reality. "One does not belong even to oneself." If 'one' belongs to oneself then the 'one' should be able to have full control of the life in its every respect. But that never happens. The 'one' grows old, 'one' falls sick, and one finally dies, without any decision or approval from that 'one'. One has no control at all in affairs during life-time. Therefore it amply explains that 'one' does not belong to 'oneself'. If that is so, then can 'one' possess sons or wealth? This does not mean that one should discard one's children or one's wealth altogether. One should certainly take care of sons or wealth. Sons should be given utmost attention and regard. But, what should be completely discarded is over-enthusiasm in their regard and too much of attachment to these which bring adverse results in "Samsara": Tanhaya jayati soko" - craving begets sorrow. ################ Australian Sangha Association Bid to bring the Sangha together
A historic initiative is under way in Australian Sangha Community. With the inspiring leadership of some of Australia's most respected monks and nuns, and enjoying broad-based support across all traditions of Buddhism, the ways and means are soght to foster harmony and understanding among Australia's diverse and growing monastic community. Since the fading away of Buddhism in India, the Sangha traditions have grown apart. Now the Sangha Community is meeting again, talking, and discovering how much we share in common. There is a strong feeling that we need to develop our sense of Sangha community, to understand both the similarities and differences, and to enhance communication and coordination of our efforts. Australian Sanghe Community seek to create a forum that will: * Facilitate dialogue among the Sangha; * Promote the good name of the Sangha among the wider community; * Support education and training for monastics; * Represent the interests of the Sangha. A variety of means have been proposed to further these aims: * Holding an ongoing series of dialogues on a State and National level; * Compilation of a Sangha data base; * Formation of a national representative body. The Australian Sangha Association also (ASA) encourage monks and nuns from all traditions of Buddhism to share in this initiative. The idea for a national representative body for Sangha in Australia has been around for a number of years, but has never got off the ground. Perhaps there was not enough will to create harmony in the midst of diversity; perhaps there was no one willing to commit the time; or perhaps Australia just wasn't ready. On the initiative of several senior Sangha members, including the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue, Than Chao Kuhn Maha Samai, Thich Phuoc Tan, and Ajahn Brahm, the first meeting for the ASA was held in Melbourne on February 22, 2004 as part of the Australian Buddhist General Conference. About fifty monks and nuns were present, representing most of the Buddhist traditions. A broad consensus was reached to start a national representative body. A steering committee was appointed, and several general aims were established. Since then, we have held further meetings in Sydney, Brisbane, and Canberra. These have involved a mixture of monks and nuns, both senior and junior, from the Thai, Vietnamese, Sri Lankan, Tibetan, Laotian, and other traditions. They have been much smaller than the initial meeting, but each has brought together a number of monks and nuns who would have otherwise remained strangers. At each meeting, there has been a strong consensus of feeling that the time is right for a movement of this kind. While bringing the Sangha together, the lay groups have not been neglected. It is important to maintain and improve relationships between the ordained and lay communities, each acknowledging the other's vital role. Mohini Gunasekera, the President of the Buddhist Council of NSW, attended the Sydney meeting, and has been in regular contact with the Buddhist Council of Victoria and the Buddhist Society of WA as well. The easiest way for such a scattered community to communicate is through e-mail at http://au.groups.yahoo.com / group/ozsangha. There you will find the vision statement, minutes of the meetings, constitution, meeting dates, etc. To join, just send a blank e-mail to: [email protected]. This service is free and simple. It will allow each member to get in touch with all the others easily, and will make the task of administrating a national body much more manageable. The Buddhist Council of Victoria, under the initiative of Brian Ashen, has approached the ASA to help carry out a census for monks and nuns in Victoria, so anybody can find out who the Sangha are and their whereabouts. We will treat this as a trial run, and will follow up with an Australia-wide survey. The information from the census will be used to develop strategies for supporting the Sangha. Venerable Pannyavaro, the webmaster of Buddhanet, is in the process of setting up a world Buddhism database. he has agreed to integrate the ASA data into his system. This will happen this year and will mean that anyone can search and sort information on Sangha in Australia through the Buddhanet database. Ajahn Brahm has contributed substantially to our progress by putting together a draft constitution. This envisages setting the ASA on a formal and legally established basis. He stresses that he intends this purely as a discussion paper for feedback and clarification. A number of changes to Ajahn Brahm's initial draft have already been suggested. Obviously, arriving at a detailed consensus for a matter so important and complex will require careful consideration. You can view the draft constitution at the ozsangha site. The first National Sangha Day will be held on March 23, 2005 in Australia. ################ Emergency supplies to tsunami-affected families from the New York Buddhist Vihara Temple The NY Buddhist Vihara Temple in Queens Village shipped more emergency supplies to Sri Lanka for tsunami-affected families last Friday with unexpected help from the Taiwanese government. Volunteers wearing Help To Lanka vests loaded 650 boxes of supplies given to the temple onto a truck donated by the Taiwanese government during a press conference last Friday. Congressman Gary Ackerman of Bayside, was joined by senior monks and officials of the temple, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and Taiwanese Ambassador Andrew Hsia. Prior to Friday, the temple officials questioned whether they'd be able to send all of the emergency supplies to Sri Lanka, according to the temple's treasurer, Buddhi Abeyasekera. Although thousands of people have been supporting its tsunami relief efforts by donating money and emergency supplies, they were still short of one thing-a means of getting all of the supplies there. Costs of containers and transport expenses can run over $20,000. That's when the Taiwanese government stepped in and offered to pay for containers and shipping costs for the supplies. "In 1999, when Taiwan was hit with a very bad earthquake the world came to us, and the world helped us, so now it's our time to give back and reciprocate," Hsia said. The Taiwanese government has played a large role in the tsumani relief effort. In addition to helping the Buddhist temple, they have also pledged more than $50 million and dispatched hundreds of rescue and medical teams to the affected countries. At the conference, the borough president said she was delighted that Queens, one of the most diverse counties in the world, is responding the way it is. Goya Foods Incorporated also contributed to Friday's shipment, which will not reach Sri Lanka for 45 days. The company contributed 3,000 cases of dry food products such as soups and beans, primarily things that could be eaten by just adding hot water and stirring. "This is our way of helping," said Rafael Toro, spokesperson for Goya. While there was a large quantity of emergency items donated to the temple, there were also cash donations. Within a week and a half, the NY Buddhist Vihara Temple had collected about $110,000 in cash donations, according to the temple's treasurer. The temple is working on a larger effort, building an orphanage that will house at least 100 children in Sri Lanka who are newly orphaned "The orphanage will take some time to start up because we are waiting on word from the Sri Lankan government on land space," said Bhanthe Dhaammajothi, a senior monk. "It will include housing and educational facilities." For more information on how to make a contribution, go to www.helptolanka.org. "This is very moving," said Congressman Ackerman, as he spoke of his involvement in the boroughwide effort. "I have three children and will be a grandfather in a couple of months and I can't imagine the pain and anguish for the parents who lost their children and for the children who lost their parents," he said. |
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