Dhamma Talk Given on Nov 11, 2001

By Sayadaw U Silananda

You are going to offer Kathina robes to the Samgha in a moment. As you probably know, this is an annual ceremony, where individuals and groups offer Kathina robes to the Samgha. I hope you remember what’s special about Kathina robes.

First of all, Kathina robes can be offered to the Samgha in a monastery only once in a year. That means you cannot offer Kathina robes to the Samgha at a monastery twice in the same year.

Secondly, the Kathina robes can be offered only during a specified period, which starts from the end of Vassa to the next full moon day. In other words, Kathina robes can offered between the days following the full moon of October (Thadinkyut) to the full moon day of November (Tazaungmon). Even during this one month, you can offer Kathina robes to a monastery only once. So offering Kathina robes to the Samgha is indeed a rare opportunity that only comes once in a year.

Thirdly, Kathina robes are to be offered to the Samgha, and not to an individual. So, you should know the meaning of the word “Samgha”. You all know that Samgha means the community of Bhikkhus or monks. But, you should be aware that Samgha according to Vinaya is different from Samgha according to Sutta and Abhidhamma.

Vinaya means the Buddhist dispensation for monks or the rules laid down by the Buddha for monks to follow. In Vinaya, Samgha means a group of four monks. In Vinaya, if there is only one monk, it is referred to as an individual monk. If there are two or three monks, they are called “Group”, but not “Samgha”. If there are four or more monks, perhaps hundreds or thousands, they are called “Samgha”. So, when you offer the Kathina robes to the Samgha, you are offering not to an individual, or a group, but to the vast collection of monks all over the world. That’s why offering Kathina robes is special.

There are two kinds of Samgha. When we say “Samgham saranam gacchami – I go to Samgha for my refuge or I take Samgha as my refuge”, we mean all disciples of the Buddha that had attained enlightenment. But when we say “I offer this robe to the Samgha”, we mean all the Samgha in the world including both those who gained enlightenment and also those who are not yet enlightened. Today, when you offer the Kathina robes, you will offer them to the Samgha; that means all monks, all disciples of the Buddha – not only the Enlightened Ones but also the yet unenlightened monks.

In Theravada Buddhism, the word “Samgha” means the community of monks only. It is never used for lay people. I want you to understand this. Nowadays the word “Samgha” is used for lay people also. I was not aware of that usage of the word “Samgha” until I came to this country. Here, they call themselves “Samgha, Samgha” and so on. A group of lay people, who practice meditation, are also called “Samgha”. But I think that can create confusion in the future. What does “Samgha” mean? Lay people or monks? In Theravada Buddhism, Samgha is a technical term that means only the community of monks.

Today you will offer the Kathina robes to the Samgha. The Samgha must have some qualities or some fulfillment to be able to accept the Kathina robes. The Samgha must have spent the Vassa or three months of rainy season at one monastery. During that period of three months, the monks must stay in that monastery and they must not go out overnight unless they are invited. Even when they are invited, they cannot stay more than seven days or six mornings outside the monastery. They must come back to the monastery within seven days. At the end of three months rainy season period, the Samgha perform a ceremony called “Invitation Ceremony”. Invitation means inviting the members of the Samgha to point out offenses or wrong doings if there are any, and to promise to correct the wrong doings promptly and dutifully. Only those who stay in a monastery for the whole three months without breaking their stay and who perform the invitation ceremony are entitled to accept the Kathina. What do we mean by “breaking the stay”? If during the three months, there is an invitation and a monk goes out of the monastery and stays outside for more than seven days, his Vassa is said to be broken, and he is not entitled to receive the Kathina.

The Samgha that accept the Kathina robes must have spent the whole three months in the monastery. They must also have performed the invitation ceremony. Remember that today you are offering Kathina robes to the Samgha, and not to the monks individually. At other times, you may offer robes to individual monk if you want to or you may offer to the Samgha. But this time, you have to offer to the Samgha.

Why do you have to offer Kathina robes to the Samgha? Kathina is a formal act of Samgha, which also involves the act of the individual. There are two activities involved in Kathina. One is the act of Samgha – that means a formal act that is to be performed by the Samgha – not by one monk or two monks or three monks. But, there is another activity that an individual monk must do. So there are two activities involved in the act of Kathina. That is why you have to offer the robe to the Samgha, not to a monk individually.

After accepting the Kathina robes you offer today, the Samgha will choose an individual monk to perform the Kathina activity. Choosing a monk and giving him the robe to perform Kathina on it must be done at a formal ceremony. That is the formal act of the Samgha. At first the Kathina robes are the property of the Samgha. Then, by the formal act of the Samgha, an individual monk is chosen and given the robes for him to perform the Kathina. Actually, the Kathina is performed by an individual. But in order for that individual monk to perform the Kathina, he must have the Kathina robe. And the Kathina robe must be given to him by the Samgha. That is why you have to offer the robe to the Samgha and not to the individual monk.

Nowadays people offer ready-made robes to the Samgha. So the Samgha do not have to make the robes. But during the time of the Buddha and maybe several centuries after that, people offered not the ready-made robes, but material for robes; that means pieces of cloth. When they offered pieces of cloth as a Kathina robe and after accepting it, then the Samgha must make the robe. It must make the robe and finish making it in one day. So it must not go beyond the dawn of the next day. After accepting the material for robe, all monks in a monastery must help or land a hand in making the robe. You have to cut the robe and then make stitches and then you have to dye the robe. Dyeing is also not so easy. You have to make the dye yourself and there are no stores, where you buy the ready-made dye. The dyes were mostly made from the bark of the trees or the inner core of the trees. And when the robe is dyed, it will not get the necessary color the first time. So it has to be dyed a second time so that it gets the necessary color. When there is sun outside, it may not be a problem. But if it is cloudy or overcast, it is a real problem to get the robe dry. So that it can be dyed again and then made into the robe to perform the Kathina ceremony on it.

Nowadays we are very lucky because people offer ready-made robes. If these were not ready-made robes, then we would have to do something to turn them into robes. All monks must help to make the robes, some stitching, some preparing to dye, and so on. There is a lot of work. That is why, during the days of the Buddha, people offered Kathina robes not at this time of day. They came early so that monks got enough time to make robes. When they brought material for robes, they must also bring food for monks because on that day monks may not be able to go out for alms round. They have to do some work at the monastery, and so they brought food and other things required for the monks. There were lots of activities at the monastery on the Kathina day. But nowadays people just come and offer robes, and the Samgha just accept the robes and they perform the Kathina ceremony. It is very convenient nowadays.

Since Kathina robes can be offered to the Samgha only once in a year, it is a rare opportunity. And since it is rare to get the opportunity to offer Kathina robes to the Samgha, offering of Kathina robes is said to be of great merit. And also it is unique because it is this offering of Kathina robes only that can give the recipient monks five other benefits. If you do some offering – you offer meals to the monks or you offer robes to the individual monk and so on – you get merit. When you offer robes, they get the robes, but nothing else. But this offering of Kathina robes can gives monks five benefits. Monks can obtain these five benefits only through the performance of Kathina. If the monks do not perform the Kathina, they will not get these five benefits. And they can perform Kathina only when they get Kathina robes offered by lay people.

So the offering of the Kathina robes is a rare opportunity for lay people and also it is beneficial to monks in more than one way. So they get these five benefits also; we may call them “Fringe Benefits”. These five benefits Samgha and all the monks will enjoy until the full moon of March.

You may want to know what these five benefits are. Then I must refer you to the Vinaya book. You can read the book, or you can ask a monk later. I will just give you a hint. Monks have to keep 227 rules. And even to take precepts and keep them intact is not easy. So when you have to keep a hundred rules, two hundred rules or 227 rules, it is very difficult. Sometimes we wish that we would be free from some rules. This offering of Kathina, performance of Kathina, can give us this wish. So it can give us freedom from four Vinaya rules temporarily or until full moon of March. Until that time, we are free from four Vinaya rules.

Then there is another benefit and that is to have authority over the robes offered to the Samgha during that time. That means when the robes are offered to the Samgha, the Samgha will keep the robes. When they got enough robes to share, to distribute, then Samgha must distribute to individual monks. When they distribute, they must distribute to all monks present at that time of distributing. Not only those who perform the Kathina ceremony, but there may be guest monks from other monasteries or other countries and if they are here at the time of distributing, they also have the right to share. If we are distributing here, we must give them one share. If we have performed the Kathina, and we have these five benefits, we may keep the robes to ourselves only and we may not distribute to the guest monks. That is one authority over the distribution of the Samgha robes. So altogether we get five benefits: freedom from four Vinaya rules and authority over the distribution of robes offered to the Samgha.

So, isn’t it good to offer to the Samgha? Yes. When you offer Kathina robes, you virtually offer the five benefits. No other act of Dana can give these five privileges to the receiving Samgha. That is why; it is call a unique act of Dana. A Dana that can also give five benefits or a special privilege to the recipients. So now you know that Kathina robes must be offered to the Samgha so that Samgha can perform the Kathina ceremony.

Now there is another reason. Why you offer robes to the Samgha? Although it is not really connected to the Kathina, it is also noteworthy. That is a teaching that offering to the Samgha brings more abundant results than offering to an individual. In order for your Dana to bring more abundant results, you make Dana to the Samgha.

You may have heard of Buddha’s aunt and stepmother or foster mother called Maha Pajapati Gotami. She wanted to offer robes to the Buddha. It is said in the books that she spun the yarn herself, she wove the cloth herself, and she made the robe herself. After she had finished making, she offered a pair of robes, maybe two robes, to the Buddha. When she offered to the Buddha, saying, “This is, like in these days it may be said, as homemade or hand-made”. She said, “I spun the yarn myself. I wove the cloth myself. I made the robe myself. Please accept these robes”. But Buddha refused. Buddha said, “Offer it to the Samgha. If you offer to the Samgha, I will also be virtually offered”. The second time, Gotami requested to the Buddha to accept and the second time Buddha refused. And the third time again Buddha refused.

Now there is Venerable Ananda. Ananda could not stay silent. So he intervened and then said, “Bhante, please accept the robes offered by Gotami because Gotami is very helpful to you. When your mother died, you are a child seven days old. She adopted you and she gave her own milk to you while she assigned her own son to other wet nurses. She had done a lot for you. So please accept the robes. And also you are beneficial to Gotami because through your Dhamma talks, Gotami had become a Sotapanna”. He pleaded like that with the Buddha. And then Buddha talked about other things. What is not satisfactory about the story is that it ended it then and there. We do not know whether Gotami offered the robes to the Samgha or to the Buddha. We may say that Gotami offered the robes to the Samgha.

Why did Buddha tell Gotami to offer the robes not to Himself but to the Samgha? One answer is that Buddha wanted Gotami to get more merit. If she offers to Buddha, then gets one merit. If she offers to the Samgha including the Buddha, she gets more merit. In order for Gotami to get more merit, Buddha said, “Offer it to the Sangha”. When Buddha said, “Offer the robes to the Samgha. If you offer the robes to the Samgha, I will also be honored”.

This statement left us with one problem. Was the Buddha included in the Samgha? Or was He different or separate? Can we put Buddha in Samgha? Or is Buddha separate? When you took precepts, what did you say? Buddham saranam gacchami. Dhamma saranam gacchami. And Samgham saranam gacchami. If Buddha were included in the Samgha, there would be only two refuges for you. There would be two gems in Buddhism. So Buddha is different or separate from the Samgha. That is okay.

Now there is another question. Why did Buddha tell Gotami to offer to the Samgha? A little later after teaching Ananda about some kinds of Dana, Buddha said, “On no account do I say that offering to an individual brings more abundant results than offering to the Samgha”. If we take that statement seriously, then it may mean offering to the Samgha is better than offering to the Buddha. Because if we offer to the Buddha, it is Buddha as an individual we offer to. But in this case the Commentary says, “Buddha was best of those who are recipients of the Dana. So offering to the Buddha is more beneficial”. But following that statement of the Buddha, I think we can say that offering to the Samgha is also of great benefit.

In many other places, in many cases Buddha talked that the offering made to the Samgha brings much results. Whenever we can, we are to make offering to the Samgha. Because when we make offering to an individual, we have to attend to some other thing. When you plant a tree, you will plant a tree in the soil that is rich-good soil so that the tree can grow and big and so on. So the soil should be free from blemishes, the soil should be free from trash and it must be rich so that it can give abandon fruits. When you plant a fruit tree, you will choose the soil where you will plant the tree. In the same way, when you do a Dana, you need to choose the recipient of the Dana. The more virtuous recipient is, the more abundant results you get as a result of that Dana. An individual is never sure. You may be very pleased with one individual; you have much faith to that individual. As we say, you cannot go into his person, and see what he really is. So there is possibility that he might not be really pure or something like that. But as the Samgha, because Samgha means the whole community, there can be non-virtuous Samgha. Because we cannot say the whole Samgha is not virtuous. There are many members of the Samgha: some are virtuous, other non-virtuous. But as a whole, there is no such thing as non-virtuous Samgha. That is why; the offering made to the Samgha brings more abundant results than to an individual.

Today also you will get to offer the Kathina robes to the Samgha. So you can be mindful that too when you offer the robes. Now you offer to the Samgha, and as a Samgha it is pure. Samgha means the community of monks beginning with Venerable Sariputta and Moggallana and so on until today. There can be no un-virtuous Samgha, no impure Samgha. And so the offering made to that pure Samgha would bring abundant results. That is why also, you offer to the Samgha. But the main thing is that Kathina robes are offered to the Samgha, and the Samgha give it to an individual so that Kathina ceremony can be performed. Along with it, you should understand that offering to the Samgha brings more abundant results than offering to an individual. So, you will offer to the Samgha with this understanding in your mind, so that the Samgha will be able to give the robe to an individual, the individual monk can perform the Kathina ceremony, and the monks can get the five benefits. Also, your offering or your Dana will bring more abundant results.

I believe that you are not convinced that offering made to the Samgha is better than offering made to an individual. Suppose you want to make an offering to the Samgha. And, suppose there is only one monk at the monastery. How would you do it? You want to make offering to the Samgha, but there is only one monk, so it seems that there is no Samgha at the monastery. But you can still make offering to the Samgha to that one person. Have in mind the whole Samgha, not that particular individual. You may be offering to that individual, you may be handing the offerings to that individual, but in your mind, have the whole Samgha. Imagine that you are offering to the whole community of monks and this person is just a representative of the whole community. In that way, even if you make offering to one monk, you make offering to the whole Samgha. Your Dana is to the Samgha although it is to just one individual you offer. After that, that monk because he is alone and it is offered to the Samgha, he is entitled to use of that because he is a member of the Samgha. And so he is entitled to use the offering. That is his concern, and not your concern. Your concern is you have offered your offering to the Samgha. So your offering or your Dana will bring abundant results. Even though there is only one monk or two, three monks, you can still make offering to the Samgha. It is always good to have the Samgha in mind when you offer something to the Samgha or to the monks. Suppose you offer meals to the monks, then you may say, “I offer the meal to the Samgha” or something like that. So today with this understanding, you will offer Kathina robes to the Samgha.

May this offering, may this act of merit be a strong support for you to gain enlightenment.

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

Practical Vipassana Meditation Exercises (Part two)

An article by Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw Agga Maha Pandita Sobhana

When you are seated, note the movements involved in arranging your legs and arms. When there are no such movements, but just a stillness (static rest) of body, note the rising and falling of the abdomen. While noting thus and if stiffness of your limbs and sensation of heat in any part of your body arise, go on to note them. Then back to “rising, falling”. While noting thus and if a desire to lie down arises, note it and the movement of your legs and arms as you lie down. The raising of the arm, the moving of it, the resting of the elbow on the floor, the swaying of the body, the stretching of legs, the listing of the body as one slowly prepares to lie down, all these movements should be noted.

To note as you lie down thus is important. In the course of this movement (that is, lying down), you can gain a distinctive knowledge (that is, magga-nana and phala-nana = the knowledge of the path and its fruition). When samadhi (concentration) and nana (insight) are strong, the distinctive knowledge can come at any moment. It can come in a single “bend” of the arm or in a single “stretch” of the arm. Thus it was that the Ven. Ananda became an Arahat.

The Ven. Ananda was trying strenuously to attain Arahatship overnight on the eve of the first Buddhist Council. He was practicing the whole night the form of vipassana meditation known as kayagatasati, noting his steps, right and left, raising, pushing forward and dropping of the feet; noting, happening by happening, the mental desire to walk and the physical movement involved in walking. Although this went on till it was nearly dawn, he had not yet succeeded in attaining Arahatship. Realizing that he had practiced the walking meditation to excess and that, in order to balance samadhi (concentration) and viriya (effort), he should practice meditation in the lying posture for a while, he entered his chamber. He sat on the couch and then lay himself down. While doing so and noting “lying, lying”, he attained Arahatship in an instant.

The Ven. Ananda was only a Sotapanna (that is, a stream-winner or one who has attained the first stage on the path to Nibbana) before he thus lay himself down. From Sotapannahood, he continued to meditate and reached Sakadagamihood (that is, the condition of the once-returner or one who has attained the second stage on the path), Anagamihood (that is, the state of the non-returner or one who has attained the third stage on the path) and Arahatship (that is, the condition of the noble one who has attained the last stage on the path). Reaching these three successive stages of the higher path took only a little while. Just think of this example of the Ven. Ananda’s attainment of Arahatship. Such attainment can come at any moment and need not take long.

That is why the yogi should note with diligence all the time. He should not relax in his noting, thinking “this little lapse should not matter much”. All movements involved in lying down and arranging the arms and legs should be carefully and unremittingly noted. If there is no movement, but only stillness (of the body), go back to noting the rising and falling of the abdomen. Even when it is getting late and time for sleep, the yogi should not go to sleep yet, dropping his noting. A really serious and energetic yogi should practice mindfulness as if he were forgoing his sleep altogether. He should go on meditating till he falls asleep. If the meditation is good and has the upper hand, he will not fall asleep. If, on the other hand, drowsiness has the upper hand, he will fall asleep. When he feels sleepy, he should note as “sleepy, sleepy”, if his eyelids droop, “drooping”, if they become heavy or leaden, “heavy” if the eye become smarting, “smarting”. Noting thus, the drowsiness may pass and the eyes become “clear” again.

The yogi should then note as “clear, clear” and go on to note the rising and falling of the abdomen. However perseveringly the yogi may go on meditating, if real drowsiness intervenes, he does fall asleep. It is not difficult to fall asleep, in fact, it is easy. If you meditate in the lying posture, you gradually become drowsy and eventually fall asleep. That is why the beginner in meditation should not meditate too much in the lying posture. He should meditate much more in the sitting and walking postures of the body. But as it grows late and it’s time for sleep, he should meditate in the lying position, noting the rising and falling movements of the abdomen. He will then naturally (automatically) fall asleep.

The time he is asleep is the resting time for the yogi. But for the really serious yogi, he should limit his sleeping time to about four hours. This is the “midnight time” permitted by the Buddha. Four hours of sleep is quite enough. If the beginner in meditation thinks that four hours of sleep is not enough for health, he may extend it to five or six hours. Six hours of sleep is clearly enough for health.

When the yogi awakens, he should at once resume noting. The yogi, who is really bent on attaining magga and phala nana, should rest from meditational effort only when he is asleep. At other times, in his walking moments, he should be noting continually and without rest. That is why, as soon as he awakens, he should note the awakening state of his mind as “awakening, awakening”. If he cannot yet make himself aware of this, he should begin noting the rising and falling of the abdomen.

If he intends to get up from bed, he should note as “intending to get up, intending to get up”. He should then go on to note the changing movements he makes as he arranges his arms and legs. When he raises his head and rises, note as “rising, rising”. When he is seated, note as “sitting, sitting”. If he makes any changing movements as he arranges his arms and legs, all of these movements should also be noted. If there are no such changes, but only a sitting quietly, he should revert to noting the rising and falling movements of the abdomen.

One should also note when one washes one’s face and when one takes a bath. As the movements involved in these acts are rather quick, as many of them should be noted as possible. There are then acts of dressing, of tidying the bed, of opening and closing the door, all these should also be noted as closely as possible.

When the yogi has his meal and looks at meal table, he should note as “looking, seeing, looking, seeing”. When he extends his arm towards the food, touches it, collects and arranges it, handles it and brings it to the mouth, bends his head and puts the morsel of food into his mouth, drops his arm and raises his head again, all these movements should be duly noted.

(This way of noting is in accordance with the Burmese way of taking a meal. Those who use fork and spoon or chopsticks should note the movements in an appropriate manner).

When he chews the food, he should note as “chewing, chewing”. When he comes to know the taste of the food, he should note as “knowing, knowing”. As he relished the food and swallows it, as the food goes down his throat, he should note all these happenings. This is how the yogi should note as he takes one morsel after another of his food. As he takes his soup, all the movements involved such as extending of the arm, handling of spoon and scooping with it and so on, all these should be noted. To note thus at mealtime is rather difficult as there are so many things to observe and note. The beginner yogi is likely to miss several things, which he should note, but he should resolve to note all. He cannot of course help it if he overlooks and misses some, but as his samadhi (concentration) becomes strong, he will be able to note closely all these happenings.

Well, I have mentioned so many things for the yogi to note. But to summaries, there are only few things to note. When walking fast, note as “right step, left step”, and “rising, dropping” when walking slowly. When sitting quietly, just note the rising and falling of the abdomen. Note the same when you are lying, if there is nothing particular to note. While noting thus and if the mind wanders, note the acts of consciousness that arise. Then back to the rising and falling of the abdomen.

Note also the sensations of stiffness, pain and ache, and itchiness as they arise. Then back to the rising and falling of the abdomen. Note also, as they arise, the bending and stretching and moving of the limbs, bending and rising of the head, swaying and straightening of the body. Then back to the rising and falling of the abdomen.

As the yogi goes on noting thus, he will be able to note more and more of these happenings in the beginning, as his mind wanders here and there, the yogi may miss noting many things. But he should not be disheartened. Every beginner in meditation encounters the same difficulty, but as he becomes more practiced, he becomes aware of every act of mind wandering till eventually the mind does not wander any more. The mind is then reverted on the object of its attention, the act of mindfulness becoming almost simultaneous with the object of its attention such as the rising and falling of the abdomen. In other words the rising of the abdomen becomes concurrent with the act of noting it, and similarly with the falling of the abdomen.

The physical object of attention and the mental act of noting are occurring as a pair. There is in this occurrence no person or individual involved, only this physical object of attention and the mental act of noting occurring as a pair. The yogi will in time actually and personally experience these occurrences. While noting the rising and falling of the abdomen he will come to distinguish the rising of the abdomen as physical phenomenon and the mental act of noting of it as psychical phenomenon; similarly with the falling of the abdomen. Thus the yogi will distinctly come to realize the simultaneous occurrence in pair of these psychophysical phenomena.

Thus, with every act of noting, the yogi will come to know for himself clearly that there are only this material quality, which is the object of awareness or attention, and the mental quality that makes a note of it. This discriminating knowledge is called nama-rupa pariccheda nana, the beginning of the vipassana nana. It is important to gain this knowledge correctly. This will be succeeded, as the yogi goes on, by the knowledge that distinguishes between the cause and its effect, which knowledge is called paccaya-pariggaha nana.

As the yogi goes on noting, he will see for himself that what passes away after a short while. Ordinary people assume that both the material and mental phenomena go on lasting throughout life, that is, from youth to adulthood. In fact, that is not so. There is no phenomenon that lasts forever.

Phenomena arise and pass away so rapidly that they do not last even for the twinkling of an eye. The yogi will come to know this for himself as he goes on noting. He will then become convinced of the impermanence of all such phenomena. Such conviction is called aniccanupassana nana.

This knowledge will be succeeded by dukkhanupassana nana, which realizes that all this impermanence is suffering. The yogi is also likely to encounter all kinds of hardship in his body, which is just an aggregate of sufferings. This is also dukkhanupassana nana. Next, the yogi will become convinced that all these psycho-physical phenomena are occurring of their own accord, following nobody’s will and subject to nobody’s control. They constitute no individual or ego entity. This realization is anattanupssana nana.

When, as he goes on meditating, the yogi comes to realize firmly that all these phenomena are anicca, dukkha and anatta, he will attain Nibbana. All the former Buddhas, Arahats and Aryas realized Nibbana following this very path. All meditating yogis should recognize that they themselves are now on this satipatthana path, in fulfillment of their wish for attainment of magga nana (knowledge of the path), phala nana (knowledge of the fruition of the path) and Nibbana-dhamma and following the ripening of their parami (perfection of virtue). They should feel glad at this and at the prospect of experiencing the noble kind of samadhi (tranquility of mind brought about by concentration) and nana (supeamundane knowledge or wisdom) experienced by the Buddhas, Arahats and Aryas and which they themselves have never experienced before.

It will not be long before they will experience for themselves the magga nana, phala nana and Nibbana-dhamma experienced by the Buddhas, Arahats and Aryas. As a matter of fact, these may be experienced in the space of a month or of twenty or fifteen days of meditation practice. Those whose parami is exceptional may experience these dhammas even within seven days.

The yogi should therefore rest content in the faith that he will attain these dhammas in the time specified above, that he will be freed of sakkaya-ditthi (ego-belief) and vicikiccha (doubt or uncertainty) and saved from the danger of rebirth in the nether worlds. He should go on with his meditation practice in this faith.

May you all be able to practice meditation well and quickly attain that Nibbana which the Buddhas, Arahats and Aryas have experienced!

Sadhu (well done)! Sadhu! Sadhu!

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Four Kinds of Right Living to Reach Good Realms

An article by Sayadaw U Kundala

Those who are born as human beings have done merits in their previous lives and to be born as human beings is the result of past good deeds. They wish to live good lives in the human world. Only if they have the right living will they reborn in good planes and will also reach the noblest Nibbana.

 Would-be “Ashin Kaccayana Thera”, Kaladevila Hermit, had spoken of four kinds of right living in the human world.

1. Right living by acquiring wealth without being lazy.
2. Right living by dividing and distributing the wealth acquired.
3. To be modest and not to be boastful when a lot of wealth has been acquired.
4. To live calmly when property is lost or degenerated. Not to be discouraged and depressed.

These four ways of good living has been told in connection with his younger brother hermit.

1. One who is lazy and does not try and acquire wealth has to live unhappily for want of food, clothing and shelter. Parents, children, relatives and workers who are staying together are also unhappy for want of food, clothing and shelter. That is why, one who doesn’t acquire wealth due to laziness has a bad way of living in this human life.One who tries to acquire wealth without being lazy will be happy because he has enough food, clothing and shelter for himself. Those living together with him, his parents, children, relatives and workers will also be happy because there is sufficient food, clothing and shelter. That is why to acquire wealth without being lazy is a good way of living in the human life.
2. One who does not divide and distribute the wealth that one has acquired among those who should get, parents, children, relatives, and who does not donate to the Sangha and those who have come for donation, is attached to his wealth. Though he may be rich there is no benefit in this or in the future lives. Therefore, it is a bad life led in this human world.After dividing the wealth acquired into four portions, one portion must be divided among children, parents, relatives, Sangha and those who have come for donations, two portions must be put into the investment and one portion must be kept for emergency. This person who divides and makes use of his property lives a good life in the human world.
3. Those who become rich and wealthy tend to ignore old friends and become boastful, proud and conceited because of their wealth. These kinds of people will degenerate in this life and in future births, which is the cause of unhappiness. They are said to live bad lives in the human world. Those who become rich and wealthy, and do not become boastful and conceited, and associate lovingly and respectfully with old friends, are having a good way of living in this life and will be the cause of happiness in the future existences.
4. Because of floods, fire and robbers, that is due to one cause or another, when one’s property is lost or deteriorated, and if one cannot sleep or eat and is grief stricken, one will lose benefit in the present life and future samsara. This is bad way of living in human existence.When property is lost due to certain circumstances such as floods, fire, robbers, staying calmly without being emotionally disturbed and keeps on doing things as before that are beneficial in this life and in the samsara, means having a good way of living in the human abode.

Only if one can live according to the four kinds of good living, it is a good way of living in this life. One will also be reborn in the good noble realms. One will also reach the noblest Nibbana.

Human life is so full of problems such as the problem of food, clothing, shelter, social affairs, political affairs and so on. Compared to the lives of devas and Brahmas, the human life span is too short. A hundred years in the human world is just one and a half hours in the world of paranimmitta-vasavatti celestial devas. However, though human life is too short and full of problems, it offers the best opportunities to cultivate or accumulate merits and paramis which will lead to the cessation of sufferings and Nibbana. All Buddhas, Pacceka Buddhas, Arahants who had attained Nibbana accumulated merit and paramis in this human world.

Firstly a person is born in the lower strata of life, with an ugly appearance, poor health, bodily defects such as blindness, deafness, inarticulateness, deformation, etc., and has no food to eat, no clothes to wear, no house to dwell in and no medicine for health.