November 21

METTA HERMITAGE MEDITATION SOCIETY

December,2007. 03/07

Only for members of Metta Hermitage Meditation Society

Dear friends in Dharma,

I welcome you once again to our meditation session at our forest hermitage.

I am very moved by the account of Lord Buddha and the way the Teachings of the Lord Buddha has spread throughout the world for the last 2600 years by the Governor General of the State of Bihar; India, the very state where the Lord Buddha was born, lived, renounced, searched for the Truth, carried out His austerities, and finally meditated with determination not to rise from His seat until He found the answer to this cycle of birth and death. Even though He was a prince and lived in luxury, pomp and power yet He was troubled by the sorrows of life, painful birth, painful struggle for existence, miseries of old age, disease and death.(how many of us have enough merit to question what we see around us.)

When he finally obtained Nirvana and release from the cycle of birth and death, at the age of 35 he did not go back to a life of comfort, ease, luxury and power. That is the greatest point many so called practitioners , followers and disciples have forgotten. There is no determination and perseverance and many settle down to a life of ease and comfort. Many new comers who are not well versed in Dharma think that that it is the way to practice the Buddha’s Teaching.

Once we have seen and known that all cravings for wealth, power, position, supremacy, pleasure lead eventually to pain how can we go back to it or encourage others to do it or ask others to support us while living a worldly life. It is the duty of the people who claim to know the Dharma to persuade the less well informed of the dangers of such a life of craving. Desire and craving are the root causes of suffering. Life is filled with fear, worry, anxiety, frustration , tension, dissatisfaction, mental agony, misery, loss of fortune, depression etc. but still we refuse to know the truth of suffering and take steps to study and reduce our desire and craving.

Reading and talking alone is not enough. Hearing the Dharma is not enough. Attending a Sunday school is not enough. I am sad to note that some of those who attended the Sunday school when they were kids avoid the Buddha Dharma when they grow up as they have not understood the value of dharma in real life situations. This is why the eight fold Noble Path starts by saying ,

Right Understanding

What a pity. So near to Dharma and yet so far from using Dharma to solve life’s problems. Having come so near to Dharma in this life we keep away. It is time we look into it. There is more to Dharma than mere reading. To realize the Power of Dharma we have to go beyond reading and managing welfare homes and attending social functions, - no doubt they have their uses.

When Prince Siddhartha left his palace and a life of luxury and worldly power he wanted to get out of suffering once and for all. Even after getting His liberation from the wheel of Birth and Death He did not go back to set up a Palatial Temple and live a life of pomp and power.

Inspiring are the forests

In which worldlings find no pleasure

There the passionless will rejoice,

For they seek no sensual pleasures

Dhammapada verse 99

Incidentally when Buddha’s father expressed his displeasure to his ‘son’ leading a life of a mendicant the Lord Buddha answered that all the Buddha’s had also lived a life of a mendicant.. He continued to be a mendicant and urged others to take up to the path of renunciation. If it is not possible to quit the society we can do so gradually.

"Tiny drops of water make the mighty ocean", or as the Chinese philosopher said,

"The longest journey starts with a single step."

Let us start disciplining and purifying ourselves a little at a time and guide our children to do the same and see the power of self restrain and self control.

So we must start controlling our cravings, desires, fears, anger, etc. etc…………Only then we are on the Path of self conquest.

As I have said in my book –Meditation and Life - we are busy deluding our own selves. We are too attached to the world of senses and sensual pleasures; how can we ever get out of the cycle of birth and death. Dreaded old age, disease, death and rebirth in an unknown form is awaiting all,-- irrespective of nationality, race , class, caste, age, status etc.

We are heirs to our own deeds.

We are very fortunate to come into contact with the Teachings of Lord Buddha. I came into contact in 1970 and ever since I have made Dharma the most important thing in my life. I admit it was difficult in the beginning as I did not understand what the practice is all about. It took me a long time to understand what the practice is all about for want of good teachers to guide me in the inner practice.

I never left a stone unturned. As they say in India when we show our sincerity the Lord Himself will guide us and become our invisible Teacher. This I can vouch for from personal practice and experience. True personal Practice is the most important thing in life. It has changed my life and I am sure it can change others too.

I came to grips with Dharma. It takes time and effort to get to understand Dharma and bring Dharma into our daily practice. It is the greatest spiritual journey of my life. Every moment is a joy of self discovery. I shall never exchange it for anything else on this earth. True practice holds the key to quality of inner life as I have seen a cross-section of life in this country and overseas.

We just need a little Faith in the Teachings of Lord Buddha and start our practice. The harder we practice the greater our reward, - inner reward, peace, joy and true spiritual inner strength. We have to be sincere in our practice to get out of this glamorous world filled with all sorts of misery, pain, sorrow, diseases, failures, old age, floods, earth quakes, wars, incurable diseases etc ,etc,…

Let us lay the foundation.

One great example that the Governor quotes is that the Great Conqueror Emperor Asoka who having defeated many in many battles changed His life style and gave up conquering when he met the Teachings of Lord Buddha. He realized the pain and miseries of war and deeply repented all his activities. He did not stop there. He made it a point to study the Teachings and did not keep it to himself but sent out missionaries to all over the country to spread the Teachings of the Lord Buddha to help people remove spiritrual ignorance and walk the path of self conquest.. He wanted everyone to benefit from the teachings and put an end to suffering and stop giving pain and sorrow to others.

Do unto others what you would like others to do unto you.

Emperor Asoka started a great spiritual movement in India

“ This he did to counteract the evil effects of hatred, war and mutual antagonism and secondly, to establish a true sense of goodwill and brotherhood among the people.”

The climax of this noble Endeavour was reached when he sent able and wise missionaries abroad to various foreign countries to preach the Dharma, for ‘the good and welfare of the many’.

These countries are named below:

1 Gandhara and Khasmir including modern Afghanistan Central Asian countries.

2 Yonaka including the Greco-Bactrian States i.e. Syria , Egypt

3 China including the Himalayan countries of Nepal , Tibet Bhot etc

4 Suvana Bumi , Burma , Thailand , Cambodia , Laos .

5 ( Ceylon ) Sri Lanka

6 Mahinsakaamandala, Mysore and North Kanara, including the Deccan States of Hyderabad

7 Maharattha, Maharasthra, Bombay States

8 Vanavasi, the southern part of India including the various Tamil, Telugu and Malabar states.

9 Aparantaka, Western India including Sindh, Baluchistan and Surashtra

10 The Asokan inscriptions substantiate this account. The Inscription No.13 mentions –

“This conquest by Dharma , Devanapriya i.e. Asoka considers the highest……(higher than all his worldly conquests)…

Let us ask ourselves a simple question- are we still not convinced by the Teachings of the Lord Buddha and His advice about how we should conduct our lives,

Know before hand what is awaiting for us and be prepared.

‘To be fore warned is to be fore armed.’

Let us think wisely and face our future.

Metta Forest Hermitage is always open to all our members, supporters and well wishers for private retreats. Just call before coming. 019 23 79 244

Guru,