The 3 Whys of Life

The 3 Whys of Life


1) Why do I suffer?

2) Why is there birth?

(Hint : and it's not because a Supreme Creator/Being 'create' us out of his baking factory. The answer is very simple. Very basic.)


3) Why do I die? (or, Why is there death?)


If you can answer the above totally, fully, honestly and truthfully, you'll have all the answers of Life, to Life.

P.S. ... And a bonus question : "How do I stop all 3?"


Happy investigating !

Enjoy !

Maitre-light






"Nibbana is the highest bliss!"

- The Buddha .
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"It's only through, and by letting go can we then gain release.

Full Release." . .
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"With steadfast mind, applying themselves thoroughly in the Dispensation of Gotama,

Exempt from passion, they have attained to that which should be attained.

And plunging into the Deathless, they enjoy the peace obtained without price.

Truly, in the Sangha is this precious jewel,

By this Truth, may there be Happiness!"

- The Buddha, The Ratana Sutta.

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"Why control? Why resist?

Why not let go, surrender, and be at peace."





"......... the meaning of Dhamma, which is the Truth that is within yourself ......... is well within each and every person's capability."

- Venerable Ajahn Mun





"Examine your own heart.

Understand your own mind."




"Do not put off till tomorrow what you can do today,

For tomorrow may not come."





"Increased Mindfulness gives Concentration;

Increased Concentration gives Wisdom;

AND, Increased Wisdom gives Freedom from the cycle of Samsara."





"It's only through suffering can you then end suffering."

- Ajahn Chah






"Amidst the harshness ( of life ), We learn."

Tribute To A Great Man (and Warrior) : Ajahn Maha Boowa

Tribute To A Great Man (and Warrior) : Ajahn Maha Boowa





















* No words / amount of words can express or describe how grateful and thankful I am to Ajahn Maha Boowa, cos like the Dhamma, it's beyond words.

It's something that can only be felt and experienced from, and in, my heart.

Ajahn Maha Boowa is a disciple of the late Venerable Ajahn Mun.

Like his predecessor, he is also a great warrior, someone who truly deserves the title of a 'Maha' (ie. great).

To me, he is possibly the last warrior of the Sakyan clan - meaning : the last of the authentic forest dhutanga kammatthana Bhikkhu/monk of the Great Buddha's lineage.

He is someone who truly knows his stuff and the Dhamma inside-out, and who has an indept knowledge of the path and practices leading to Arahantship (ie. Enlightenment).

He is someone who's not afraid to admit his faults, that he's 'a roguish, straight-arrow' kind of monk etc, and that's what endears me to him.

As he abides in the peace and serenity of Nibbana, I can only say that I'm grateful and thankful to him for all his teachings, and that I'm truly privileged to be able to find his collection of teachings which I've benefited so much from, for they truly are the Precious Gems.

In this respect, I'm devoting this entry to 3 excerpts of his teachings taken from his books,

'Patipada - The Mode of Practice of Venerable Acharn Mun,

'Arahatta magga Arahattaphala - The Path to Arahantship', and

'Venerable Ajahn Khao Analayo - A True Spiritual Warrior'.

Ajahn Boowa, like the Great Buddha, gave all his teachings freely for ALL.

As the late Venerable Ajahn Mun said it so aptly,

"Dhamma belongs to everyone (and to me, anyone) who truly desires it.

The Buddha did not limit the possession of Dhamma to a particular individual.

Everyone (and anyone) who practises in the right way enjoys the same right of ownership."

And as Ajahn Boowa himself said,

"Dhamma has a value beyond all wealth, and should NOT be sold like goods in the market place",

So how can anyone charge/sell it (ie The Dhamma)?

"At present, all that is left of Buddhism are the words of the Buddha. Only his teaching - the scriptures - remain. Please be aware of this. Due to the corruption caused by the defiling nature of the kilesas, true spiritual principles are no longer practiced in present-day Buddhism.

We constantly allow our minds to be agitated and confused, engulfed in mental defilements that assail us from every direction. They so overpower our minds that we never arise above these contaminating influences, no matter how hard we try.

The vast majority of people are not even interested enough to try : They simply close their eyes and allow the onslaught to overwhelm them. They don't even attempt to put up the least amount of resistance.

This is a fault that we as Buddhists must remedy within ourselves by truly putting into practice the Buddha's teaching."

- (Arahattamagga Arahattaphala - The Path to Arahantship, page 1)


"So please practise it by yourselves until you realise it for yourselves. You will then become convinced and feel a satisfaction that you have accomplished something, far more than you ever will by reading and listening to others.

Because the understanding which comes from what others say, or from textbooks is all within the field of discursive commentary.

Before it is accepted and the heart can agree to believe it, there must be an intense internal struggle and a testing criticism of what has been heard or read.

Sometimes one can even lose out to oneself, believing that oneself has the upper hand, because deciding or weighing up what one has heard or read is one's own opinion.

For, generally speaking, we who follow the way (Sasana) tend to send our thoughts out externally rather than going inwardly and the results which we get, tend to be in the direction of loss to oneself all the time."

- ('Patipada or The Mode of Practice of Venerable Ajahn Mun', page 473)



"The truth of the Buddha's teaching will be revealed to those who truly practise his teaching with diligence and an unwavering determination to discover the Truth.

In order to fully realise the truth about their own nature and about the nature of Dhamma, seekers of the way must strive to become spiritual warriors on the path to liberation.

Their hearts need to have a firm resolve that can boldly stand up their internal enemies, finding the strength of will to fight with all their might without becoming weak or disheartened, and without retreating when the struggle becomes difficult.

When this kind of fighting spirit is exhibited in the pursuit of Dhamma, then time and place are not relevant to their quest for the truth.

Regardless of whether it is the Buddha's age or our present age, Nibbana can always be attained by those who earnestly follow the way with diligence, because the true Dhamma always exists in the present moment - the timeless present, here and now."

- (Venerable Ajaan Khao Analayo - A True Spiritual Warrior, page 212)





"Unresentful like the earth,

Firm like a gate post,

Equipoised and strong in vows,

Mind without impurities like a pool :

For such a one

The round of births exist no."

- The Buddha (on Venerable Sariputta, His first Chief Disciple)

Freedom

Freedom


During the last American Idol Results Show on 08/05/08, I watched as Jason Castro performed for the last time.

He was so happy!

When Carly Smithson was voted out earlier, she was also happy.

But, her happiness was of a different kind -

That she was glad that she had made it that far, and she was content with it.

For Jason, it felt like he seem so light, so free.

His performance over the past weeks were pretty lacklustre, and not as great as some of the other contestants,

But America kept voting for him.

In Simon's words, "He's charming." (Read 'How To Be Ugly' 09/03/09)

But his performance on Wednesday (07/05/08) night was really bad.

So bad that Simon even told him to 'pack his bags'.



When I reflected on it that night, I thought could it be that that was his game plan : to perform badly so as to be voted out?

I do not know.

But what I do know is this :

What's Nibbana?

That, is Nibbana.

Free ......... Released ......... from all bondage, ties, entanglements, attachments, shackles and chains.

Ah ......... Nibbana.......

What bliss !








"Freedom is the highest happiness."







"Why be God (Idol) when you can be Buddha (Free) ?"








"O Bhikkhus, gains, offerings, glory, praise are all harsh and fierce.

They are a danger preventing the achievement of the highest bliss of liberation (Nibbana)."

- The Buddha (Samyutta Nikaya - Labha Sakkara Samyutta)








"Fame, fortune, power, recognition and glory are the real evils of the world -

They are truly the evils that will destroy us."









"Power and influence destroy men of inferior wisdom."

- The Buddha

"Everybody wants to be a 'somebody' ,

BUT nobody wants to be a nobody."

The 2 Bags

The 2 Bags





Once, on the way home in the MRT, I told a student of mine that everyone of us have 2 bags : One in front, and another at the back.



The one in front contains all of our good qualities, and other people's weaknesses.



The one at the back contains all of other people's strengths, and all of our bad qualities.



We should switch the bags around.



So that we can see all of our own weaknesses, and others' good qualities more clearly.

















"Easily seen are others' faults,



Hard to see are our own."



- The Buddha

















"One should not pry into the faults of others, into things done and left undone by others.



One should rather consider what by oneself is done and left undone."



- The Buddha, Dhammapada verse 50

















"He who sees others' faults, and is ever irritable,



The corruptions of such a one grow.



He is far from the destruction of corruptions."



- The Buddha, Dhammapada verse 253

Perfection

Perfection


In 'Forgiveness' - http://maitre-light.blogspot.com/2009/03/forgiveness.html , I asked,

"Don't we make mistakes sometimes?

Don't we have weaknesses, too?

Or do we think we're so 'perfect' ?"

Be careful if you think you're 'perfect'.

Cos' your strength can become your weakness.


I remember a student in one of the clubs where I used to teach.

She's very flexible.

One night, after my class, we met in the Ladies' room, and the thought came to guide her.

I told her, "You're very flexible, and that is your strength. But be careful, don't let your strength become your weakness."

What do I mean by that?

She's very supple.

Good to a certain extend cos' she can do certain poses, but bad in the sense that she can injure herself, break/fracture her joints/hips etc easily, without her knowing it. (Strength become weakness).

If she's not careful, she may end up becoming like a rubber band that's lost its elasticity.

Too much of a good thing can be bad.

Moderation is the key.


Some people eat 'big fish big meat' and all the luxurious food all the time.

As they grow older, a lot of illnesses and diseases also come their way all the time.


Coming back to the student :

She was a very nice and humble lady who accepted my advice and concern.

In the course of my work, I've met with many others who think they're flawless and infallible.

The reason I suppose it's because as one monastic once said, "No one can (and will) think they are wrong."

If you hold a similar view about your 'perfection', knowledge and abilities,

My suggestion is,

Please be careful.

Cos such attitude and mindset can lead to complacency, ingratitude, pride/ego, and in the end, to your own downfall and destruction.




"The person who continues in his stubbornness only promotes more evil."

- Venerable Ajahn Mun.

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"A mountain, no matter how tall,

Is always beneath the feet of the person who climbs it."

- Venerable Ajahn Maha Boowa .

"What should have been done is left undone,

What should NOT have been done, is done.

For those who are conceited and heedless,

The corruptions increase."

- The Buddha, Dhammapada verse 292 .

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"Avoid walking with your nose so high up that you do not know where you're going,

Or what you're stepping on (dung), or into (quick sand)."





“ 聪明反被聪明误” .

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"Those who pride themselves smart are the real stupid foolish ignorant ones."

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"Pride comes before a fall."

- An English proverb

Wisdom

Wisdom


On 17/4/08, I was watching the American Idol Results Show.

There are 7 participants left and Ryan Seacrest had earlier divided 6 of them into 2 groups of 3 each.

The last contestant to be called out was David Archuleta.


Ryan told the young David that he was 'safe', and asked him to walk and join the side that he thinks it's safe.

At that, to the amusement and amazement of everyone, the young David sat down cross-legged on the stage and refused to budge, even though Ryan tempt and hint to him to go to the left.

Young David simply refuse to move.

In the end, Ryan had to ask David Cook, Jason Castro and Carly Smithson to join him instead.

That was most wise of the 17 year old.

Not only did he not discriminate between his fellow contestants,

He also stop.

Kept still.

In the process, he frees himself.

And that, to me,

is Wisdom.








"Happiness follows sorrow, just as sorrow follows happiness;

When one no longer discriminates between happiness and sorrow, one realises Freedom."






"The Bhikkhu who, while still young, devotes himself to the Buddha's Teaching, illumines this world,

Like the moon freed from a cloud."

- The Buddha, Dhammapada verse 382







"He who is perfect in virtue and insight,

Is established in the Dhamma,

Has realised the Truths,

And fulfills his own duties,

Is loved by all men."

- The Buddha









"Though young he may be,

But if he's high in moral attainments,

He is very strong and powerful."

- The Buddha









"Behold Ananda, if the practice of Dhamma is still being done in a way that is appropriate to Dhamma, the world will not be void of Arahants."

- The Buddha

The CIO

The CIO


The Buddha has a disciple who's full of ideas.

And the more he meditates, the more ideas he would have.

He's always very excited and enthusiastic about his ideas and would often share them with The Buddha.

"Unfortunately, due to lack of funds and money, my ideas could not materialise and benefit people", he would lament.

One day, as before, he had some new ideas and was sharing them enthusiastically with The Buddha.

After he had finished, The Buddha looked at him kindly in the eye, and smiling gently, said, "That's all very good and nice ......... but I'm just wondering, does it help you to be enlighten?"







"Learn what you should learn;

Practise what you should practise;

Discard what you should discard;

And know what is important -

Enlightenment."

"Impermanence is permanent.

Uncertainty is certain.

The only thing that will bring about everlasting peace and happiness is

Freedom ... ie Enlightenment.

Know, Understand, Realise, and be Awaken."

"Subjected to change are all conditioned things,

Impermanence is the nature of all things.

So hasten your practice, and strive forth diligently and without delay;

For the one who sees the Dhamma, will be awaken and will be Free."