Today is rather an enriching day especially this evening, the Buddha's teaching through Ven. Sanghasena.
Why do I attend this dhamma talk ? The reason is Ven. is from Ladakh ~ a city that I have visited and familiar with its rich Buddhism culture way back 2000 years ago. The sight of monastery and stupas that are all over the snow caped mountain almost 3/4 of the year.
There are practically dhamma talks every day at various temples and it will be no end to it if I cling on to the thoughts that my divine achievement is through listening to as many dhamma talk as possible. However, each and every dhamma talk that I have attended has definitely made me a person with better wisdom.
So, Ven Sanghasena's message or his mission is to share "Compassion in action". It is a very easy to understand dhamma, almost to the most basic of our life, it comes from our heart. A lot of us have forgotten how should we "dress" our heart, but we have emphasize a lot of our physical appearance. Ultimately, the compassion, the universal and unconditional love should come from our heart.
What does he mean by how to dress up our heart ? It is the heart that have feelings of compassion and loving kindness. It does make sense to me, every morning we rush out from the house to work, put on the nice shirt or dress and apply the necessary make up to look presentable, but deep within our heart, we should also dress it as a lovingkindness heart, willingness to share and care for others.
I always find dhamma talk helps me to remember what I practise and learn from Buddha. Everyday, we make our prayers, we chant but if our hearts is not accepting the ideas what Buddha is teaching, we will not get the maximum benefit of what we chanted. That goes for the 5 precepts, which is fundamental practice for Buddhist, and this teaching is over 2500 years and yet we are still practising.
No Killing or Harming of living creatures
We do not kill or harm any being in the universe. Every being on this earth are given the equal chance to live, and we have no rights to take away their life. Instead, it is through compassion that we protect and care for all beings.
No stealing
We do not take things that doesn't belong to us, but we share in fact as the joy of giving is far greater than receiving. Giving in the form of dana is what Buddhist practises Dana comes in many forms.
A good example of giving is, human is just like a boat, when a boat is heavily loaded, it is harder to sail and as the good are off loaded, the journey will be easier. Similarly, as a human, we take it load of suffering, stress and unhappiness. When we share or we let go, it makes our life less loaded with samsara (suffering) that leaves us more inner peace within. And eventually when we die, we give out our body, thus we should die by letting it go too.
No sexual misconduct
It is a way to practice celibacy especially in a marriage, and the harmonious of a family is the foundation of a happy family that leads to the development of children. The couple in the family thus should practice full loyalty and trust in the relationship.
False Speech
We do not utter words that would cause any uneasiness for another person, lying carries an after effect of guilt. The guilty feeling is a form of mental stress. It is good to practise mindful speech and have a peaceful life.
No taking drugs or intoxicated
When we are intoxicated, we loose our mental health, physical health and eventually we could even be abusive as our mind control is out of control. Words that we uttered could be hurtful, action that we take may cause injury to others.
Why do I attend this dhamma talk ? The reason is Ven. is from Ladakh ~ a city that I have visited and familiar with its rich Buddhism culture way back 2000 years ago. The sight of monastery and stupas that are all over the snow caped mountain almost 3/4 of the year.
So, Ven Sanghasena's message or his mission is to share "Compassion in action". It is a very easy to understand dhamma, almost to the most basic of our life, it comes from our heart. A lot of us have forgotten how should we "dress" our heart, but we have emphasize a lot of our physical appearance. Ultimately, the compassion, the universal and unconditional love should come from our heart.
What does he mean by how to dress up our heart ? It is the heart that have feelings of compassion and loving kindness. It does make sense to me, every morning we rush out from the house to work, put on the nice shirt or dress and apply the necessary make up to look presentable, but deep within our heart, we should also dress it as a lovingkindness heart, willingness to share and care for others.
I always find dhamma talk helps me to remember what I practise and learn from Buddha. Everyday, we make our prayers, we chant but if our hearts is not accepting the ideas what Buddha is teaching, we will not get the maximum benefit of what we chanted. That goes for the 5 precepts, which is fundamental practice for Buddhist, and this teaching is over 2500 years and yet we are still practising.
No Killing or Harming of living creatures
We do not kill or harm any being in the universe. Every being on this earth are given the equal chance to live, and we have no rights to take away their life. Instead, it is through compassion that we protect and care for all beings.
No stealing
We do not take things that doesn't belong to us, but we share in fact as the joy of giving is far greater than receiving. Giving in the form of dana is what Buddhist practises Dana comes in many forms.
A good example of giving is, human is just like a boat, when a boat is heavily loaded, it is harder to sail and as the good are off loaded, the journey will be easier. Similarly, as a human, we take it load of suffering, stress and unhappiness. When we share or we let go, it makes our life less loaded with samsara (suffering) that leaves us more inner peace within. And eventually when we die, we give out our body, thus we should die by letting it go too.
No sexual misconduct
It is a way to practice celibacy especially in a marriage, and the harmonious of a family is the foundation of a happy family that leads to the development of children. The couple in the family thus should practice full loyalty and trust in the relationship.
False Speech
We do not utter words that would cause any uneasiness for another person, lying carries an after effect of guilt. The guilty feeling is a form of mental stress. It is good to practise mindful speech and have a peaceful life.
No taking drugs or intoxicated
When we are intoxicated, we loose our mental health, physical health and eventually we could even be abusive as our mind control is out of control. Words that we uttered could be hurtful, action that we take may cause injury to others.
He shared with us about Mara (similar to demons or evil) who was trying to stop a young monk from achieving Samadhi. Mara has changed himself into a very pretty young lady, and Mara brought with her a lamb and a bottle of wine. Mara approached the monk seeking help. The monk was very surprised to see such a pretty young lady, as he was never confronted before. Mara said, I need help from you to take one thing from me, you have to kill the lamb, or drink the wine or marry me, otherwise I would die. The monk with full compassion heart was very confused, he can't kill, he can't marry nor he can drink alcohol. How is he going to help the young lady. Mara went on to convince him and finally the monk accepted the wine, having tasted for the very first time, he drank till he finished the entire bottle. As he is totally intoxicated, he has sex with Mara, he killed the lamb and his entire life as a monk seeking truth is tarnished and ruined.
Ven is quite funny in his sharing...some light moments like when he described a couple going for their Honeymoon or Hornymoon...hahaha !
His final sharing on the Compassion in Action is :
Everyone of us has the great potential of sharing compassion..the infinite and unconditional love. Never underestimate ourselves...
Here is the link to the calendar of his dhamma sharing :
It has been a great evening for me and I feel blessed...Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu !
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