Buddhist Spectrum

Colombo YMBA tributes Sir Ernest

YMBA President Suren Abeygoonasekara hands over a framed picture of Sir Ernest de Silva to Prime Minister’s Secretary S Amarasekara.

Colombo YMBA commemorated late Sir Ernest de Silva’s 125th birthday anniversary on November 27 at Srimathipaya, his ancestral residence at Sir Ernest de Silva Mawatha (Flower Road), Colombo 7, where Prime Minister’s office is currently located.

Sir Ernest, YMBA’s second president, was the first chairman of Bank of Ceylon and the first governor of State Mortgage and Investment Bank. He was the most prominent philanthropist who bestowed his enormous wealth to propagate Buddhism. His wealth was also spent on schools all over the island that needed assistance but neglected by colonial governments. The commemoration ceremony commenced with Ven Kotugoda Dhammavasa Nayaka Thera’s sermon.

The large gathering included Sir Ernest’s relatives, YMBA president Suren Abeyagoonasekera, Prime Minister’s Secretary S Amarasekara, former BoC Chairman Dr Gamini Wickramasinghe and the representatives of State Mortgage and Investment Bank. Sanghika dana was offered to maha sangha from Gangarama headed by Ven Galaboda Gnanissara Nayaka Thera and Ven Tirikunamale Ananda Anunayaka Thera from Vajiraramaya.

Suren Heads YMBA

Suren Abeyagoonasekera was re-elected at the 114th Annual General Meeting of the Colombo YMBA (Young Mens Buddhist Association) held recently at the Main Hall, Borella.

Abeyagoonasekera, thanking the General membership, said, “We completed last year enhancing all our activities, by strengthening our Branches, with greater emphasis on our main objectives. We could also introduce new activities; launch new affiliated YMBA's, aiming at regional developments.

The Vice Presidents re-elected were Tilak de Zoysa, Raja Kuruppu, M Ariyaratna, Kusumabandu Samarawickrema and Mahesh Mallawaarachchi. Sumedha Amarasinghe and Prashantha Abeykoon were re-elected as General Secretary and Treasurer.

Five hindrances that disturb the mind

Dr Senarath Tennakoon

In the Madhupindika Sutta the Buddha's discourse analysis is a penetrating exposition of the arising of consciousness in relation to the sense organs in the generation of thoughts. The modus operandi in the generation of unwholesome thoughts in the presence of mental defilements too has been explained in a lucid manner.

Mental consciousness (mano-vinnanaya) has the mind (manas) as its basis and a mental object, ie an idea or a thought (dhamma) as its object. So consciousness is connected with other faculties. Thus like sensation, perception and volition, consciousness also is of six kinds in relation to the six internal faculties and corresponding six external objects (Rahula, 1959). The mind in its natural state is intrinsically luminous (citta-prakrti-prabaswara), free from all attachments and conceptualizing, and thus is empty in nature (sunya). The Mulapariyaya Sutta provides a clear account of how states of consciousness originate (Web, 2001). Feeling (vedana), sense impressions/images or ideas and concepts (sanna), conative activities and their consequences (sankara) and intellectual activity (vinnana) are the four mental factors which are also the components of the mind.

The primary defilements of the mind which weaken intuitive insight (cetaso upakkilese pannaya dubbali-karaye) are passion and various forms of greed, ill-will, sloth and torpor, excitement and perplexity and doubt. It is these and other more subtle defilements are got rid of, that the mind becomes relatively perfect and pure (citta parisudde pariyodata) and acquires its extrasensory powers of perception and activity. It is the culmination of this process which results in the attainment of Nibbana (Jayatillake, 1971).

Cultivating faith

In the Dhammapada under the section ‘The Bhikku’ (Bhikku Vagga) one stanza highlights the importance of doing away with the five hindrances for attaining Nibbana thus: Pancha chinde pancha jahe-pancha vutarri bavaye, pancha sangantiko bhikku-o: gatinnani vuchchati (Cut off five, cast off five away. Cultivate the greater five. The monk then passes the five fetters and crosses the flood). In this stanza the five hindrances and the five of the fetters are mentioned which should be eliminated by cultivating faith mindfulness, effort, wisdom and concentration of the mind. (The greater five).

The flood refers to Samsara. In the stanza no 369 the Buddha quite metaphorically advises the Bhikkus to empty the ship (rid yourself of bad thoughts connected with greed and hatred). To hinder is to obstruct or delay or get in the way of achieving an object. One would say “you are more of a hindrance than a help in my work” when one is annoyed of another's intrusions. In Buddhism the five hindrances hinder the devotee's effort towards the achievement of Nibbana during ones passage through Samsara. The English equivalent terms for the Pali terms may not offer a comprehensive coverage in interpretation.

The five hindrances (nivarana) are: lustful desires/sensual desires/passions/ (kamacchanda), ill-will/hatred/anger (vyapada), torp and languor/sloth and torpor (thinna/midda), restlessness and worry/excitement and perplexity (uddaccha-kukkucca) and skeptical doubt/neurotic doubt/doubt (vicikicha) respectively. These five are considered as hindrances to any kind of clear understanding, as a matter of fact to any kind of progress. When one is overpowered by them and when one does not know how to get rid of them, then one cannot understand right and wrong or good and bad (Rahula, 1959).

Kamacchanda refers to lustful desires or lust.... Kama is love or desire particularly of a sexual nature. While it is the quality that characterizes the lowest of the three, known as the Desire Relam (kamadhatu), it is a great obstacle on the path to enlightenment (bodhi). It is the first among the hindrances (nivarana) and the outflows (asravas). Outflows are the group of three impurities or defilements which are the cause of repeated rebirth. The three are sense-desires (kamasava), the desire for continued existence (bhvasava) and wrong views (dittasava). Chanda refers to desire, intention, motivation. It is a psychological faculty that motivates action.

Sensual pleasures

For example lust arises through unwise thinking on the agreeable and the delightful. Great lust tarnishes the mind as it gets immersed in enjoying sexual pleasure thus becoming involved in evil practices motivated by sensual desires. The mind breeds low and impure thoughts and the subject is unable observe reality with a pure and open mind. It may be suppressed by following six methods: fixing the mind upon an idea that arouses disgust; contemplation on the loathsomeness of the body; controlling one's six senses; moderation in eating; friendship with wise and good people; right instruction. Lust and anger are permanently extinguished upon attainment of anagamiship; restlessness is extinguished by reaching arahantship; mental worry by reaching stream-entry (Nyanitiloka, 1981).

2. Vyapada (ill-will/hatred). Hatred is strong dislike for someone or some object. A person in a state of anger towards another often devises ways and means of taking revenge from the enemy. Enemity between two communities may lead to civil wars and criminal activities. The proverb says that wounds may heal, but not those made by ill-words. Even though kamachcanda, hatred situations may occur.

The antidote for ill-will is to fill the mind with wholesome thoughts like compassion (avyapada – chetana) renunciation (nekkamma) and non-violence (ahimsa). Considering the grave consequences; developing skillful counterparts; allowing the unskillful mental states to just pass by giving no attention to it and refusing or suppressing the unskillful mental states are some methods of managing ill-will or hatred (Wijetunge, 2001). Forgiveness is the noblest revenge.

Thinnamiddha (torpor and languor). An idle mind is the devil's workshop. A lazy mind and a lazy body act as great impediments to ones progress and development. Languor can be body weakness produced by hard physical work or it can be low spirits produced by sorrow or an unhappy love affair, lack of life or movement; stillness or heaviness like the languor of a summer day (Hornby, 1974). In the Dhammapada the second chapter on Vigilance (appamada vagga) presents a rich discourse on vigilance.

Right effort

Verse number 24 states that whosoever is energetic, mindful, pure in conduct, discriminating, self restrained, right living, and vigilant, his fame readily increases (Rahula, 1959). The last stanza in this section observes that the monk who is delighting in vigilance and seeing fear in negligence will not decline as he is in Nibbana's vicinity. In the Noble Eightfold Path, there is emphasis on Right Effort (samma vayama) which includes the effort to avoid arising of demeritorious states of mind; the effort to overcome demeritorious states of mind or evil; the effort to develop good and beneficial mental states conducive to enlightenment and the effort to maintain these good and beneficial mental states by perseverance, energy and endeavour.

Uddhacca-kukkucca (restlessness and worry). A restless mind is unable to remain still or quiet and is impatient. One who committed a sin is in a state of repentance and is worried about it. He is in a disturbed mind. Sometimes the mind would wavier between right and wrong. The antidote for restlessness is mindfulness which is essential in meditation practices of any kind. Right Mindfulness (sammasati) is the seventh factor in the Noble Eightfold Path.

Vicikiccha (skeptical doubt) – A Buddhist should not breed doubts about the three gems (the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha), the Five Precepts, the Effects of Kamma, the wholesome and unwholesome actions (kusala-akusala kamma), the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, Rebirth and Nibbana etc. Vicikiccha is the last of the five hindrances and is also the second of the ten fetters where it impedes the attainment of the stage of the stream – winner (sotapanna), the first of the stages of the Noble Path (ariya-marga). The Mara Sutta of the Samyutta Nikaya states that the Bodhisatta had to defeat the ten gangs of Mara (Dasa Mara Sena) which are nothing but passions and unwholesome thoughts.

The Buddha seventh in the gang has been vicikiccha (Pemaloka, 2002). The has always preached not to believe anything on mere hearsay, tradition or dogma. Thus. He has given full freedom to His followers to reason, analyse, and realize by direct insight, the Dhamma that He propounded (Wijetunge, 2001).

A Kathina festival was recently held at Mayuragiri Rajamaha Vihara, Moneragala. The devotees had to take a difficult journey to the temple located atop a mountain. The picture shows the devotees climbing the mountain  with alms. Pictures by Bandula Alahakone