Buddhist Spectrum

Message of Rain Retreat

Rupa Banduwardena

Now being the Vassana Kala, the retreat period of three months, it is of utmost religious significance in Buddha Sasana coming down from the days of Sakyamuni Gautama. Thathagatha, the perfect one. This is a short unique period of spiritual eventful religious activities of utmost faith for the Buddhist clergy as well as the laity.

Anujanami Bhikkave

vassane

Vassan upaganthun

Anujanami Bhikkave

vassan

Uttanan Bhikkunanan kathanana aththakartitun

The above, stated in Mahavaggapali, Vinaya Pitaka, reveals the observing of vas and its culmination. Every Buddhist monk blessed with the higher ordination (upasampada) should observe the Rains Retreat during the three months commencing from Esala and they are entitled to receipt of the Katina Cheevara (robe) from the laity.

Back to its origin

After obtaining enlightenment at Bodhgaya the great Master proceeded to Saranath and it was here that he preached his first sermon to the five ascetics in the Deer Park and set the Dhamma in motion. According to ancient chronicles the first Vassana was observed by the Buddha and his five disciples at Isipathana, Migadhaya in Benares. He advised the numerous disciples to spread the doctrine to all mankind.

During the early years, they did not live in a fixed residence. He walked on dusty roads in Northwest India both for spreading the Dhamma as well as for Pindapatha, daily alms. Later when monasteries like veluvana and Jethavana Aramayas were constructed and offered by the royalty, their life became little more residential. However it was not possible for them to engage in the sasanic tour. The Buddha advised the disciples to stay indoors during the Vassana period from July to October.

The noble meritorious deed

It is a well known fact that the Great Master enacted a code of conduct (vinaya rules) at the same time based on doctrine and discipline which implies moral excellence. One of the noble ideals which motivated the Perfect One was the prevention of harmony among numerous creatures while engaged in going out for pindapatha.

Vassana or the Rain Retreat, supposed to be a highly esteemed meritorious act is of great value to both parties. This is considered the most sacred wholesome act out of ata maha kusal while at the same time it is said to suppress the ill effects of bad kamma. This also has the power to lead a person to final emancipation - that of achieving Nibbana.

According to the Buddha, those who have become Bhikkhus, having given up worldly pleasures, should be free to devote their full time, energy and effort to concentrate on Dhamma and meditate during Vas time as the achievement of perfection in Sila is what is expected of them.

There was also the belief that merit could be acquired by the laity by making offerings to the Sangha who act as the moral guide to the laity. They instructed the laymen of Dhamma and moral principles. Vassana season is the time that the practice of the three-fold activities: dana, seela and bhavana, for the benefit of either party.

The moving story of Madhika Matha is an outstanding example of love and compassion on her contribution towards Sangha during Rain Retreat in the Buddha’s time. A group of 60 monks were going in search of a suitable place to observe Vassana. This kind hearted lady Mathika Matha, having found out their urgent need and having arranged a temporary place of residence in her village of Elagama, invited them and offered to look after them during their vasana period.

Fully accomplished

Then learning their method of meditation she became an Anagami long before they could reach any such state.

After careful examination of the situation, her conclusion that the delay was due to the lack of a proper nourishing diet and that too was well provided to the monks and that enabled them to become fully accomplished ‘Maha Arahaths’ in no time. Finally they kept the Buddha informed of the loving kindness of Mathika Matha.

With the development of permanent places or residence for monks during vassana, vinaya rules permit them to leave such places only for a limited period to meet certain urgent demands connected to religious life.

However they observe vassana in their own temples upon invitation from other monks or devotees - (the kepakaru dayaka). Inviting the Sangha to observe vassana was so high, which even the Buddha held in high esteem and veneration.

Role of the laity in the vassana season

In the annals of history from Buddha’s time the Rain Retreat gives a unique opportunity to thousands who wait eagerly to gain merit by partaking in giving along and attending to daily needs of the Sangha.

It is with great anxiety that the Buddhists await the dawn of the Vassana season to provide the Sangha with the four essentials in the life of a monk (Sivpasa): cheevara, pindapatha, senasana and gilanopasthana (robes, alms, shelter and medical care) in gratitude for the great service rendered by way of Dhamma sermons, pujas and religious rituals.

The early Buddhist monk was a mendicant and consequently he depended on the generosity of the laymen for his existence and this is well provided with overwhelming shraddah, love and compassion by the anxious Buddhists.

They invite the Maha Sangha to observe Vas with Vas Aradhana Pinkama. Since that time the laity look after them to the best of their ability.

Hence the Vas season creates a special religious awakening among the devotees.

This brings about a total disciplined way of life compelling them to utilize the day meaningfully. As mentioned earlier, this is also the period during which the Bhikkhus would be blessed with higher levels of Dhamma, through intense study and meditation.

They in turn shower the laity with Dhamma; the gift of Dhamma excel all other gifts.

Sabba Danam, DHAMMA danam jinathi.

Financial perspectives in Buddhism

Venerable Ajahn Punnadammo Arrow River Forest Hermitage, Canada

Now after several centuries of elaboration, we are into a fantastic realm of abstractions of abstractions. Fractional reserve banking creates money which is based on nothing at all, not even bits of paper. Understanding the levels of abstraction involved in derivatives is a special science. The ‘value’ of the derivatives out there is said to be 10 or 15 times the combined GDP of the whole planet.

The imaginary nature of the financial world is very clearly illustrated when you hear, after a market downturn, that so many billion or trillion dollars of wealth have disappeared.

That ‘wealth’ was never there in the first place. What has disappeared is the agreed upon mass delusion that such wealth existed.

What will happen next?

It will be interesting to see what happens next. So far the world leaders seem to be reacting out of panic and fear. The first response was to pump astronomical sums of borrowed (imaginary) money into the bubble in a mad attempt to keep it inflated. The Stadtholder is buying all the tulip bulbs with money borrowed from Venice.

The state, really the community as a whole, has now become the greatest fool, the fool of last resort. The question is, what effect will all this movement of imaginary numbers have on the real world of work, clothes, food and housing? Real goods will probably become scarcer for most people either through higher taxes to repay the stupendous debt load or through hyper-inflation of the currency to eliminate the debt that way. There will be pain, material existence will become bleaker and harder and all because of the shifting fantasies of purely imaginary conventions.

General realization

In the various schemes to restart the big ponzi scheme, you keep hearing the phrase, ‘restore investor confidence’. That gives the game away; the goal right now is to get people believing once again in the magic money tree. Eventually, we will have to face the need to get the real economy of goods and services working. It may have to wait until the bubble economy collapses back to it’s natural state. Then there may be a general realization that you can’t get something for nothing, no matter how inflated the imaginary numbers are.

The case of Bernie Madoff’s busted ponzi scheme is an example of the whole picture in miniature. He rode high for a long time, playing on the greed of investors by paying dividends culled from new investors.

This is the greater fool principle par excellence. Of course, and inevitably, he ran out of fools and the whole house of cards came crashing down. But was what he did so very different, in principle, from what the most respected banking establishments have been doing for three hundred years? Fractional reserve banking allows banks to loan out several times more money than they actually have and only works so long as everyone doesn’t withdraw their deposits at once. It is hard to see this as anything more than an elaborate ponzi scheme. The whole financial world is structured on these principles.

Complete disaster

If the collapse is as complete as it looks like being at the moment, there will inevitably be a restructuring of the world economy. What shape will it take? What shape should it take? I don’t have the slightest idea. I’ve long ago stopped believing in political utopias; this is samsara, after all, it’s supposed to be broken.

It might be worthwhile, though, to consider some basic values. Capitalism, at least before it switched from managing production to flim-flam schemes, worked pretty good in some respects.

It did keep a very complex economy moving on a global scale, and that is no mean feat.

However, it was not so good at other things, very important things. It has no built-in mechanism to conserve the natural environment, and that is starting to become critical.

It was never very good at distributing goods to those who needed them most, and in recent decades the gap between the richest and the poorest has been growing. And it requires continual growth to function properly, and in the long term that is unsustainable in a closed system like the planet earth.

Encouragement of charity

Dana Sutta: Giving:

Thanissaro Bhikkhu Translated from the Pali

******

Before giving, glad;

while giving, the mind is bright and clear;

having given, one is gratified:

This is the consummation of the sacrifice.

Free of passion, free of aversion,

free of delusion, without fermentation:

the consummation of the field of the sacrifice,

one restrained, leading the holy life.

Having rinsed oneself,

having given with one’s own hands,

then - because of oneself,

because of the other -

that is a sacrifice yielding great fruit.

Having given thus

- intelligent -

a person of conviction,

with awareness released,

reappears

- wise -

in a world of bliss

unalloyed.

Anguttara Nikaya 6.37

*******

On one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Savatthi in Jeta’s Grove, Anathapindika’s monastery. And on that occasion the lay woman Velukandaki, Nanda’s mother, had established a donation endowed with six factors for the community of monks headed by Sariputta and Moggallana. The Blessed One saw with his divine eye, surpassing the human, that the laywoman Velukandaki, Nanda’s mother, had established a donation endowed with six factors for the community of monks headed by Sariputta and Moggallana. On seeing this, he addressed the monks: “Monks, the lay woman Velukandaki, Nanda’s mother, has established a donation endowed with six factors for the community of monks headed by Sariputta and Moggallana.

“And how is a donation endowed with six factors? There is the case where there are the three factors of the donor, the three factors of the recipients.

“And which are the three factors of the donor? There is the case where the donor, before giving, is glad; while giving, his/her mind is bright and clear; and after giving is gratified. These are the three factors of the donor.

“And which are the three factors of the recipients? There is the case where the recipients are free of passion or are practicing for the subduing of passion; free of aversion or practicing for the subduing of aversion; and free of delusion or practicing for the subduing of delusion. These are the three factors of the recipients.

“Such are the three factors of the donor, the three factors of the recipients. And this is how a donation is endowed with six factors.

“And it is not easy to take the measure of the merit of a donation thus endowed with six factors as ‘just this much a bonanza of merit, a bonanza of what is skillful - a nutriment of bliss, heavenly, resulting in bliss, leading to heaven - that leads to what is desirable, pleasing, charming, beneficial, pleasant.’ It is simply reckoned as a great mass of merit, incalculable, immeasurable.

“Just as it is not easy to take the measure of the great ocean as ‘just this many buckets of water, just this many hundreds of buckets of water, just this many thousands of buckets of water, or just this many hundreds of thousands of buckets of water.’ It is simply reckoned as a great mass of water, incalculable, immeasurable. In the same way, it is not easy to take the measure of the merit of a donation thus endowed with six factors as ‘just this much a bonanza of merit, a bonanza of what is skillful - a nutriment of bliss, heavenly, resulting in bliss, leading to heaven - that leads to what is desirable, pleasing, charming, beneficial, pleasant.’ It is simply reckoned as a great mass of merit, incalculable, immeasurable.”

Small comfort

Lotus Heart

One day while walking through the wilderness a man stumbled upon a vicious tiger. He ran but soon came to the edge of a high cliff. Desperate to save himself, he climbed down a vine and dangled over the fatal precipice. As he hung there, two mice appeared from a hole in the cliff and began gnawing on the vine. Suddenly, he noticed a plump wild strawberry on the vine. He plucked it and popped it in his mouth. It was incredibly delicious, he thought

An amazing story. I admire the man who could hang on to the moment, and who, despite all troubles, realized the moment’s sweetness. This is wisdom.

One reader claimed that the original ending of this story was quite different. D. T. Suzuki changed the ending because he thought the original would not appeal to the Westerners. The story was then picked up by others, such as Paul Reps. In the original version, the strawberry is lethal.

I remember someone saying: “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!”. Whoever said it, we should take this with a pinch of salt. We mostly mix up the Buddhist philosophy with non-Buddhist entities.

Life is not only eating, drinking and being merry. If we limit ourselves to these joys, then we would have a perilous death tomorrow. Keep in mind, you reap what you sow.

This thought-provoking story has deep insights. We have all worries and woos, but despite all that, we should live our life to the fullest - every moment to the bone. Worrying and wooing do not draw a curtain to your troubles.

The tiger is the past. The two mice are day and time which slowly kill us. And the cliff is the future. The strawberry is the present.

Forget the past, not worry the future, and concentrate in the present moment. Only by that way can we live happily.

The man knew he was about to die, and that there was nothing he could do about it. The strawberry was his last chance to enjoy life so instead of wasting his last moments in fear and frustration he took what little pleasure he could and made the best of it.

Some Zen masters believe enlightenment could be found in distraction from distraction. The Universe is now! Strawberries, so to say, should be delicious. Aren’t we all hanging from a fragile vine awaiting an inevitable plunge to doom while mice gnaw at our temporary safety? What else should we do but eat a strawberry?

This story puts me in mind of the band playing as the Titanic sank. There is something cloyingly ‘live in the present moment’ about it, but, on the other hand, why didn’t the man throw the strawberry at the mice? Because if the man had given strawberry to the mice then they would not gnaw on the vine and he would live, but instead he was self absorbed and so he was destined to fall.

The vine represents the reality that we live in every day. The tigers are the fear, stress and lack of focus in our lives that interfere with our desire to achieve peace and that is represented by the field.

We are forced by our fear out of the peace of our field into grasping to the vine that is reality. The mice are the thoughts of good and evil and the deeper nature of man that we try to ignore but constantly gnaw at our consciousness and effect our grip on reality. The strawberry is the true nature of the smaller things in life.

Sacred opportunity to the laity

Final preparations prior to the final Puja:

The Buddhist looks forward to the event with immense piety considering it a unique achievement and an immortal gain. Then he prepares for the final event, which is said to bless his abode, the family and his life, in this world and the next. The home is cleaned and with a new look a special place is prepared for the placement of the katina Cheewaraya with great reverence until it is taken in procession to the Temple.

The procession commencing from the house, makes its way through the city parading the streets in the vicinity of the Temple. Illuminated vehicles, devotees in white attire, Kandyan dancers, trumpeteers etc. comprise the procession. In rural areas the devotees await the arrival of the Katina perahera on either side of the road to touch and feel the Katina Cheevara. Finally it reaches the Temple at dawn.

A remarkable event on the Katina day is the Kap ruka - a beautifully eye catching creation in the Dhamma Sala, to place the various offerings of the devotees, catering to the needs of the Temple. They enjoy making contributions in whatever way they could afford, to acquire merit for a better life.

The Chief Sangha Nayaka Thera then addresses the devotees, emphasising the significance of the Katina Puja. Even babies are offered to the Sasana at this moment, the most precious gift that one could assign.

The Vassana season comes to a close with the Katinanusasana sermon delivered in the evening as the final event on the day of the Katina Puja. It should be mentioned that this is the day when the craving of the Buddhist mind disappears even for a day. The Katina Puja held in our abode, a few years ago is truly an unforgettable experience.

RB