BUDDHIST SPECTRUM

Thupa for 2600th Sri Sambudda Jayanthi

Priyanka Kurugala

Construction of Thupa dates back to the very beginning of Buddhist civilization. Often it houses relics of the Buddha and therefor are symbolic of Him and His teachings. Our forefathers watched over these Thupas with the highest respect.

Most of the Thupas that that exist today in Sri Lanka has a history running back to Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa periods.

However the culture that brought forth such ancient art of construction and its world renowned engineering methods have been lost in the sands of time.

But this has not dampened Sri Lankan’s zeal for building Buddhist monuments. Using modern technology a huge Buddhist Thupa is being built at Kundasala Mahamevna monastery, under the guidance of Ven. Kiribathgoda Gnananda Thera.

The Thupa is built to commemorate the 2600th Sri Sambudda Jayanthi. It will be the only Thupa built in Sri Lanka to mark this historical event. The Thupa is named ‘Siri Gauthama Maha Seya”. The greatest significance of this construction process is that the organization committee has planed to hold the pinnacle laying ceremony on Wesak Full moon poya day in next year.

All the Mahamevna monasteries of the country have all come together in the implementation of this historic religious venture.

According to the theme of the commemoration of Sri Sambuddha Jayanthi in 2011, every Mahamevna monastery of the country has contributed to the construction of the Thupa.

Ven Nalande Pavara Thera Chief Incumbent, Mahamevna monastery Kundasala, told the Daily News that they have got the original Relics of the Lord Buddha to be enshrined in Siri Gauthama Maha Seya. “This will be a landmark event for all Buddhists.” About five years ago the monastery in Kundasala was built at a serene location donated by the former Agriculture and Mahaveli Development Minister, Mithripala Sirisena and his officers.

At the beginning devotees did not have adequate facilities. Nevertheless at present it has a huge Damma hall which can easily accommodate about 4000 people.

There is a very beautiful chamber of Relics at the Kundasala Mahamevna monastery. One and a half years ago a sapling form the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura was planted at this monastery. So far this sacred site only lacked a Thupa.

Apon construction, the Siri Gauthama Seya will be 104 feet in hight. The diameter of the foundation is 64 feet.

It will contain a cavernous internal structure. There are plans to decorate the inner surface of the Thupa with frescoes of how the gods had come to welcome the Buddha. The main item of the interior would be a painting of the attainment of the Buddha hood.

The building committee of the Siri Gauthama Seya is made up of Ven Kiribathgoda Ganananda Thera, Central Province Govener Tikira Kobbekaduwa and other people who have made donation to the monastery. Under the direction of this committee the Thupa is being built by the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau.

They have estimated the total cost of the construction project at Rs 50.4 million.

The Thupa will be built on a concrete slab. Seventeen granite punkalas will be placed around the compound of the Thupa. A large moonstone is also to be placed at the main entrance.

Any interested individuals can also contribute by donating money or undertaking part of the construction process. The stone wall around the Stupa, plumbing system and the paving with granite have not been undertaken yet.

It has been estimated that one square foot will amount to Rs 3000.

Interested parties can contribute by donating money to the accounts of the “Upastana Kamituwa Chitya Aramudala” Sampath Bank, Kandy Branch 100760665894 and Commercial Bank Kandy Branch 8255003371

For further information please contact 081-2423488

e-mail [email protected]

web-www.mahamevna.org.

Special thanks – Prof. Ajith de Alwis, Department of Physics, University of Moratuwa

Buddhism, answer to environmental problems

Lionel Wijesiri

Today, we are faced with many environmental problems. They include the global warming, the depletion of the ozone layer, deforestation, decrease of biodiversity, desertification, acid rain, and seawater pollution. Today, these problems have become major problems because it means the destruction of the human race in the foreseeable future. Increased international ocean transport of petroleum resulted in increased oil spills that fouled beaches, killed marine life and sea birds.

Rivers and harbours became polluted with industrial waste and municipal sewage. Air over big cities became choked with smog - that was visible as well as felt. Soil erosion increased, further contributing to water pollution. Mountains were strip mined and tailings dumped into valleys and their streams. Forests were clear cut and bald hilltops dot the landscape.

All these things were apprehensible to the senses. And were happening on an unprecedented scale. We live in what geologists call the ‘Anthropocene Age’, an era dating from the Industrial Revolution where human activity steadily erodes ecological niche essential to sustain human life (not to mention thousands of other species).

Answer

Scientists, psychologists and environmentalists are trying to understand the mental forces that create a collective blind spot about how our daily habits drive this destruction.

They need not go too far. Buddhism has the final answer. Buddha taught that life is a series of distressing events and the suffering would end only when one realizes that true happiness, contentment and peace must transcend and can never depend upon external or internal conditions.

He taught that the four divine virtues of loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity were innate but were clouded by the inevitable suffering caused by three basic conditions:

(1) Our endless pursuit of physical and mental pleasure,

(2) Our tendency to react with anger and aversion to physical pain and frustration of desires and

(3) Ignorance of our interconnectedness with all physical and mental phenomena, resulting in an illusory sense of having an independent, autonomous, and separate self or ego that can control its own destiny.

From a Buddhist perspective, then, failure to care for environment, to be compassionate of nature including animal, plant and mineral kingdoms, results when we separate ourselves from these domains of life. When we exploit them in the pursuit of satisfying our selfish needs and desires, and when we deny our connectedness to and interdependence upon them.

Toxicologists today try to track how the 80,000 or so industrial chemicals in use today end up in our bodies, and the damage they cause. A blood sample of anyone on the planet will reveal which of several hundred toxic chemicals have accumulated in their tissue over the course of life - from things we drink or eat, the particles we breathe, the creams and shampoos we use. It is believed that this chemical stew stimulates chronic inflammation and other metabolic stresses that set the stage for major disease from cancer, heart disease and diabetes to a host of neurologic disorders.

Greed

Buddhist practice makes one feel one’s existence is no more important than anyone else’s. If one treats nature as a friend and teacher, one can be in harmony with other creatures and appreciate the interconnectedness of all.

Buddha taught people to live simply and appreciate the natural cycle of life. Craving and greed only brings unhappiness, since demands for material possessions can never be satisfied and people will always demand more, consequently threatening the environment.

This is why the real solution to the environmental crisis begins with the individual. According to Buddhism, the way you earn your livelihood - not killing, not stealing, not taking more than you need - all these are part of the Buddhist way of life. A livelihood that avoids harming others such as trading weapons, meat, alcohol or poisons - is in harmony with nature.

The Buddha taught that the only way to eliminate suffering is to eliminate desire, or greed. It is no doubt one of the foremost causes of environmental destruction: especially greed for consumer goods or objects of social prestige, but also greed for sexual pleasure. Consequently there can be no doubt that the elimination and even diminution of greed is ecologically beneficial.

This holds good for other Buddhist virtues as well: for example being content with little, being moderate in food, and making full use of things, as antidotes against luxury, overconsumption and wastefulness, mindfulness (sati) and vigilance (appamada) as antidotes against thoughtless and careless behaviour.

It is even more important to establish the true meaning of the Ten Paramitas as an intuitive part of Buddhist practice.

Those are Generosity (dana), Moral conduct (sila), Renunciation (nekkhamma), Wisdom (panna), Energy (viriya), Patience (kshanti), Truthfulness (sacca), Determination (adhitthana), Loving-kindness (metta) and Equanimity (upekkha).

In the Ten Perfections you will see elements of the Five Precepts and The Noble Eightfold Middle Path. Alongside these important Dhamma teachings are listed the ever important ‘energy’ and ‘determination’. Renunciation, does not necessarily mean giving up your possessions and becoming a monk or nun.

It simply means being content with what you have and maintaining a simple lifestyle. It can mean ‘counting your blessings’ or doing something simple to put your mind at ease, to allow you to pursue spiritual quests.

Ten paramitas are not something separate from protecting and conserving the environment. In other words, a person who practices the Ten Paramitas is someone who is acting in accordance with natural laws protecting the environment and reducing environmental problems.

Another interesting context to be taken into account is the Buddhist ideal of kingship. The ideal king is expected to protect both social groups of people and ‘quadrupeds and birds’ (miga-pakkhi), which in this context might well refer to the animal population as a collective unit.

A study of ethics:

Kusala, Akusala and Punna Karma

The literal meaning of karma is action. The base of action is cetana cetasika, meaning volition and volition can be either kusala or akusala. This means that all behaviours enacted can be either good or bad depending whether they have arisen from the wholesome base of kusala or the unwholesome base of akusala. If we do good deeds we can have good results and bad deeds will bring bad results. This is the theory of karma. The theory of karma we can see very clearly in the first two stanzas of the Dhammapada.

1. Generosity 			Dana 
2. Morality 			Sila 
3. Meditation 			Bhavana 
4. Reverence 			Apacayana 
5. Service 			Veyyavacca 
6. Transference of merit	Pattidana 
7. Rejoicing in others 
good action 			Anumodana 
8. Hearing the doctrine 	Dhammasavana 
9. Expounding the doctrine 	Dhammadesana 
10. Straightening ones 		Ditthijukamma 
own views 

‘If one speaks or acts with a wicked mind, pain follows one as the wheel follows the hoof of the oxen.

If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows one as the shadow that never departs.’

The Buddha declared to the monks, “I declare O Bhikkhus that volition (cetana) is kamma, having willed one acts by body, speech or thought.”

It is the will or volition that causes the performing of kusala or akusala physically, verbally or mentally.

Once the kusala or akusala karma has been performed, it becomes the cause (paccaya) for the appropriate results to arise. Every volitional action of an unenlightened person is called karma.

In the workings of karma the most important feature is the mind as all our words and deeds are coloured by the mind or consciousness that we are experiencing at that moment.

In the Anguttaranikaya Chakkanipata Nidana Sutta, the Buddha preached about akusala and kusala mula.

“Behold Bhikkhu, what are the three causes of akusala-mula? They are lobha, dosa and moha. These are the three causes of akusala. Behold Bhikkhu, akusala are attachment, hatred and delusion.”

“Behold Bhikkhu, these are the three causes of kusala-mula. What are they? Alobha, adosa and amoha. Behold Bhikkhu, these are the three causes of kusala. Kusala are non-attachment non-hatred and non-delusion.”

The Buddha’s teaching and in fact the teaching of all the Buddha’s through the ages can be summarized as:

“To avoid all evils; to cultivate good; to purify one’s mind. This is the teaching of all of the Buddha’s”

Sabbapapassa akaranam - Kusalassa upasampada

Sacitta pariyo dapanam - Etam Buddhana sasanam

In order to attain Nibbana, one must eliminate akusala by cultivating kusala.

According to Buddhism, evil that has its root in the mind can manifest through actions of body, speech and mind.

The evil manifested through bodily behaviours are:

1. Killing - various forms of violent behaviour involving causing physical harm to living beings

2. Stealing - the violation of the property right of another to satisfy ones own greed and selfish instincts

3. Sexual misconduct - the wrong indulgence in sensuous pleasures in ones sexual life

The evil manifested through verbal behaviour are:

1. False speech

2. Harsh or unpleasant speech expressions of anger or ill-will

3. Slanderous speech intended to create dissension and conflict between people

4. Gossip or frivolous talk which serves no meaningful or useful purpose

The evil manifested through mental activities are:

1. Thoughts of intense greed

2. Thoughts of ill-will

3. Wrong beliefs that degrade ones morality

The practices prescribed by Buddhism are a method to get rid of the above negative behaviours and replace them with compassionate action. The transforming of ones inner environment and outward behaviour in this way creates merit (punna) that will bring blessings to ones life either now or in the future. The practice of generating punna should not be disregarded as a means to emancipation. Punna brings rebirth in a good environment that is conductive to further practice and repetition of compassionate behaviours can be helpful to cultivate the mind and overcome selfishness, which is the main obstacle on the way to Nibbana. In short, karma is the law of cause and effect in the ethical realm.

Results of Karma

Nowadays many people that there are no consequences to be returned to the doer of good or bad behaviour. Some people believe that karma doesn’t exist or that there is no life after death where we will be accountable for our behaviour.

The Buddha has assured us that everyone will have to reap the consequences of their actions. This is because the citta is where the karma and kilesa are accumulated and the citta has a stream of continuous existence that flows into the next birth. The karma remains part of the citta until it has the opportunity to ripen. For example, we might think we can get away with stealing something if no-one finds out, but the citta is the reality that transfers karma and kilesa and the karma, once performed, must bring results.

The study of karma would make us certain that such a phenomena does exist. Those who do bad deeds usually do not believe in karma bringing results so long as they are not experiencing the results of their actions. Since the kusala karma that was generated in the past is still being experienced, they become over confident that there are no consequences for themselves with their bad behaviour.

But karma transcends space and time. On the other hand those who have performed good deeds pray that they will see positive consequences for themselves quickly.

When the good results have not yet arisen, they feel discouraged and hopeless and doubt whether there is any truth in the theory of karma.

In the Dhammapadatthalatha, the commentary of Khuddakanikaya says “When kamma brings results, the foolish would correctly see.”

When the Buddha taught the millionaire and the Deva about the effects (vipaaka) from good and bad karma, he said.

“Behold householder, those who perform bad deeds in this world would think them good as long as the bad deeds have not brought results.But when their bad deeds bear fruit, they would see that bad deeds are truly evil.

Contrarily, those who perform good deeds would think that they are bad so long as the good karma has not yet brought results. But when their good deeds bear fruit, they would see that good deeds are truly good.”

The Buddhist scriptures contain many examples of the Buddha elucidating the workings of karma.

A man named Subha came to the Buddha and asked, “O Lord, what is the reason and cause that we find amongst mankind the short and long, the diseased and healthy, the ugly and beautiful, the powerless and the powerful, the poor and rich, the foolish and wise?” The Buddha answered,

“All beings have their own karma that differentiates beings into low and high states. If a person is in the habit of harming others, as a result of his harming when born among mankind he will suffer from various diseases. If a person is not in the habit of harming others, as a result of his harmlessness when he is born amongst mankind he will enjoy good health.”

Bikkhuni Halapandeniye Supeshala,