Buddhist Spectrum

The Buddhist metaphor of faith

Professor Sunanda Mahendra

The great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore was undoubtedly influenced by the Buddhist literary sources and doctrine. One fine example comes to my mind from his collection of stories, poems and parables titled as 'The Golden Boat' translated from the original anthology by Bhabani Bhattacharya.

As a child, I remember how with affection I read those little creative pieces and recall to my mind from time to time one remarkable piece which kindled my insights to such aspects as faith and piety. Let me recall the work.

The season was hard for the planters, owing to the severe drought and blazing sun. The name of the park-keeper is Sudas, who happened to see a lonely lotus springing up from a dried but partly marshy area. He went on thinking how this lotus had bloomed in this ungifted period of the year. Sudas was a pious person who wanted to offer the only lotus at the feet of the Buddha.

So what did he do?

He looked around to see that nobody is around. He paced into the dry lake, and plucked the lotus, and held carefully in his hand.

"Oh what a beautiful lotus this is?" He thought.

"But at a particular given moment, this lotus will wither and fade off. It is only the image of the lotus that would remain in this mind. So Sudas held the lots in his hand and walked out of the dry lake. On his way he met a rich merchant who so desired to buy the lotus. A dialogue ensued between them. Sudas did not want to sell it even for two hundred rupees. Gradually amount was raised from hundreds. In the end, the amount came to be ten thousand rupees. But Sudas was reluctant to sell the lotus. The Buddha was walking in a meditative mood in the monastery, when Sudas entered the scene. The Buddha stood still. Sudas offered the lotus at the feet of the Buddha, and looked up in veneration. "Sudas you have found a lotus in this drought-ridden season?" asked the Buddha. "Yes, great sir. On my way, a rich merchant wanted to buy it. But I refused to sell it." The Buddha thought for a moment and asked a question.

"What did you wish on offering the lotus?" "Nothing, but a speck of dust from your feet." Then the Buddha gauged the intensity of faith that lie hidden in Sudas' mind. This became a subject of discussion on faith. The faith in oneself is called 'Bhakthi' in keeping with the teachings of the Buddha. The greatest faith on earth is the faith in oneself, declared the Buddha. He said in Dhammapada, 'Attahi Attano Natho' (you are your god). The term 'natha' comes from the meaning adduced to 'belief'. One has to believe in one's own deeds. When one develops a sense of faith in oneself he or she is said to be protected.

When the Buddha once addressed the Venerable Ananda to go and see his ageing teacher, he declared that it should be a dedicated faith and a mindful act. The Buddha declared that one should learn a lesson from his own life, when punishing the other or liking others. He said, 'Attanam Upaman Katva' (take yourself as an example)

In Danda vagga of Dhammapada, quite a number of stanzas and embedded stories reveal this factor faith in oneself when engaging in harmful measures towards others. If you have fault in the lives of others and compare the situations with yoru feelings. You are sure to give up torturing others. The concept of 'faith healing' is a well known phenomena in medical care, even in the present context. Bringing peace and harmony to the mind may in turn bring about a healing condition to the body.

The Buddhist concept of faith goes beyond the barriers of mere physical treatment, when the sick monk Pilotic was bedridden with ulcers and wounds infested on his body, the Buddha approached him to bring care dispensing the monk with not only the application of medicines, but also the utterance of soothing words.

Angulimara Pirita, which is chanted to ward off the fear of pregnancy paisn is regarded as a 'faith healing' par excellence and over the time the process has proved the inculcation of courage during the childbirth. From birth to death the concept of faith in tis varying forms are practised by Buddhists in keeping with the teachings of the Buddha.

"May all living beings be happy and content (Sabbe Satta Bhavantu Sukthitatta) is a wish all Buddhists adhere too. The underlying deep sense of faith in existence I heightened. The best wish one can transfer is the faith one should possess to be happy. Teachers transfer a sense of well being to bring about a balance harmony in life. It is also denoted by the terms such as 'sila' and 'samadhi'.

Nibbana: beyond ‘mundane’ depths

K K S Perera

Learned senior monk, Pothila, who lived during Buddha's time was highly proficient in all aspects of tripitaka. He was 'Guru' to large number of monks, but never practiced and did not listen to Buddha's advise to do so. Finally the Lord commenced addressing him, "Tuchcha" Pothila (Empty Pothila); The trick worked. It must be emphasized that a mere theoretical or academic knowledge of the Dhamma, however deep or profound is no substitute for practice.

Nibbana is a positive 'state', which has to be realized by the mind, and can be attained in this very life. It is not mere cessation of craving or 'emptiness' result from blowing out. It is not 'nothingness' or a 'Zero-state' The real meaning or sense of Nibbana cannot be comprehended until and unless we have attained it. It is not a thing that wordings can express in their conventional language or by using any similes.

It is not a place or a situation comparable to a plane of existence such as a 'heaven'. It is not a mere extinction of ignorance and craving. It is only the path leading to it.

"This, O monks truly is the peace, end of all formations, the forsaking of rebirth, fading away of craving detachment, extinction; Nibbana"

Questioned about the nature of Nibbana, the Buddha maintained silence, knowing that they will lead to more confusion. When asked where the world's end is; Buddha answered ," It is in this one fathomed body with consciousness, that I declare the existence of the world', its cessation, the path leading to cessation". Thus Nibbana does not exist apart from ourselves. The crux of Buddha's teaching is the necessity of understanding the truth not merely at the intellectual level, but by direct experience.

An aspirant must wisely investigate, examine and scrutinize objects with Bare attention, mindfully applying 'Sathi', devoid of application of conceptual habits. Understand your nature without any distortions, without any bias, without any reactions to what you discover you are, is the beginning of austerity. The watching, the awareness , of every thought, every feeling not to restrain it, not to control it, but to watch it, like watching a bird in flight, without any of your own prejudices and distortions.

Origins of Nibbana lies beyond existence and non-existence, as both are conditional and relative to each other. Nibbana can only be realized by those who have attained it, passing beyond limitations. Just as the fire is not stored up in a place but rises when necessary conditions are present. To entertain different propositions was as meaningless as to speculate about the direction in which a fire had gone once it is extinguished. Just as a blind man does not understand what light is, the mind clouded by greed, anger and delusion will not be able to perceive the reality of Nibbana. It cannot be compared to anything which comes within the reach of our senses. Preaching and educating on 'Nibbana' has a parable in 'Amphibian turtle's futile attempt to explain the experiences on land to a fish' ! The turtle returned to the water after a trip around the land, to be inquired by the fish why he was missing for a while. Turtle replied that it had been on dry land. The fish who was clueless about 'dry land', exclaimed: "What do you mean by dry land? There is nothing called dry land". Turtle replied, "How can I make you understand, but I just returned from there." The fish was utterly confused; demanded to know what exactly dry land means, "can I swim in it? Is it cool and wet ? does it flow ?, does it rise up and down in waves?" to each the turtle replied, "No" . A jubilant fish declared, "There is no such thing as dry land" . Turtle said, "There is dry land unfortunately you never experienced it. You know only water so you reject it, because the characteristics of water is not there; or it is not like water". Similarly, Nibbana cannot be explained even by an 'Arahant' to a mundane, because the latter can only comprehend things in terms of mundane terms! One cannot use logic to explain Nibbana, because it is beyond any vocabulary, cannot be explained in words.

Like 'Space', which can be perceived only as the absence of objects, Nibbana cannot be measured or defined. Nibbana is a hard concept to understand, the best way get an unambiguous grasp of it would be to realize it with ones own insightful understanding.

If you are listening now with all your being , with your mind, with your brain with your nerves, with your total energy; listening, not comparing, not accepting, not contradicting, but actually with complete attention: is there any entity who is listening, who is observing? If you are listening to the howling of dogs at night, listen with your mind, with your heart, with your whole body, don't say I like the sound or I hate it, just listen attentively, then there is no observer or observed. See a picture without the interference of thought. No observer!, it is the observer who creates fear, observer is the center of thought, it is the 'Me', the 'I', the 'Self', the Ego; the observer is the sensor. When there is no thought there is no observer.

The way is open for us, and when we have become as gentle, as pure, as wise, as compassionate, and as perfectly self-controlled as an Arhant, then shall we know, then shall we understand 'Nibbana'.

Real tribute for the parental assistance

Ven Nawalapitiye Ariyawansa Thera

No one can assess the value of assistance and the guidance that has been receiving and received from parents. All living beings saw the light of this world with the assistance of the parents. When we came to this world, we were completely ignorant of this world. Unless for the assistance of our parents all of us would have been unfortunate and helpless. We were born to this world helplessly and were fortunate enough to benefit ourselves with the assistance of our parents.

It is a noble quality to show our gratitude by those who get assistance from parents. So, it is a boundant duty of those who received assistance from parents to look after and feed them. The Buddha has showed us that we can't compare our gratitude with the assistance we received from our parents. The Blessed One also has showed us although a certain child looks after his or her parents keeping on shoulders for hundred years, that cannot be compensated for assistance he received from the parents.

The Blessed one has showed us a way for a child to show one's gratitude to the parents. If he could make his parents virtuous, it is the greatest gratitude that can be bestowed upon the parents. If knowledge on Dhamma can be imparted to parents, it also would be a good samaritan. If parents are motivated to offer alms, it also is a great assistance to parents. In this way, the Blessed One shows that a child has an ample opportunity to help parents if he could make the parents abide by virtues and impart the value of the Noble Triple Gem.

We all must be clever enough to help our parents who helped us greatly and unlimitedly. Everybody should really help parents kindly, respectfully and affectionately. What is that real help? We must act to make our parents respect towards the Noble Triple Gems and help them to lead a pious life. At the same time, parents should be motivated and urged to offer alms so as to mitigate the craving.

If parents are guided to make their lives fortunate, we will be the children who have done the proper and real help. If we help our parents this way, we are accumulating a lot of merits to our lives. By persuading our parents on pious deeds, we also can make our lives prosperous in all aspects. Then we will be really lucky people who have added merits to our lives by making our parents really virtuous. We will be able to lead a fortunate life only after receiving the blessings of the Noble Triple Gems leading a pious life.

May all receive the blessings of the Noble Triple Gems. May all lead a pious life and have the chance to assist parents who have helped us immensely.

(Translated by M.A Samarsinghe)