THIRTY EIGHTMANGALAR

ORBLESSINGS

DR KYAW TINT MB.BS. DHAMMA DANA

THIRTY EIGHT MANGALAR

OR

BLESSINGS

B Y

DR KYAW TINT

MB.BS.YANGON, MYANMAR.

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CONTENTS Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5

FOREWORD 6

INTRODUCTION 9

1. NOT TO ASSOCIATE WITH THE FOOL 102. TO ASSOCIATE WITH THE WISE 15

3. TO HONOUR THOSE WHO ARE WORTHY

OF HONOUR

4. TO RESIDE IN A SUITABLE LOCALITY 23

5. TO HAVE DONE GOOD DEEDS IN THE PAST 26

6. TO SET ONESELF IN THE RIGHT COURSE 33

7. TO HAVE VAST LEARNING 34

8. TO BE POSSESSED OF VAST SKILL 38

9 A WELL TRAINED DISPLINE

10. PLEASANT SPEECH

11 SUPPORTING MOTHER AND FATHER

12. CHERISHING WIFE AND CHILDREN 50

41

44

46

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13. TO BE ENGAGE IN WORK THAT DOES

NOT HURT OR HARM ANYONE 56

14. GIVING ALMS 60

15. TO LIVE THE RIGHTEOUS LIFE

16. HELPING OF ONE’S RELATIVES 70

17. IMMORAL LIVELIHOOD 75

18.

19.

20. TO REFRAIN FROM INTOXICANTS 84

21. TO PRACTICE DHAMMA DELIGENTLY 87

22. PAYING RESPECT AND HONOUR TO

ELDERS AND SUPERIORS 91

23. TO BE HUMBLE 94

24. TO BE CONTENT 100

25. GRATITUDE 103

TO ABSTAIN FROM PHYSICAL EVIL 82

TO ABSTAIN FROM MENTAL EVIL 78

26. TO LISTEN TO DHAMMA AT APPROPOATETIMES 108

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27. TO BE PATIENT 111

28. OBEDIENCE 115

29. TO SEE HOLY PERSONS 119

30 DISCUSSING DHAMMA

APPROPRIATE TIMES 123

31. LEADING A SELF DISCIPLINED LIFE 127

32. LEADING A HOLY LIFE 130

33. THE RELISATION OF THE FOUR NOBLETRUTH 133

34. THE REALIZING OF NIBBANA 137

35. NOT TO BE SHAKEN BY THE UPS ANDDOWNS OF LIFE 142

37. A STATE OF PURITY

38. TO REMAIN FREE FROM INSECURITY 159

EPILOGUE 164

GLOSSARY 165

36 FREE FROM SORROW 147

154

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Without the support of so many others, this book wouldnot have been possible.

First I would like to thank my family for encouragingme to write this book.

Thanks to U Hla Maung, a geologist , and U AungKhin, a senior auditor, for taking care of editing in makingthis book look good.

Thanks to Daw Nyo Nyo Aye, for typing, editing, proof-reading and finally making it into CDs.

Thanks to U Bayda, graphic designer, for his beautifulpictures.

Thanks to Dr Tin Hla Ngwe, Ph D. Los Angeles U.S.A.for writing an Epilogue on Mangala Sutta.

Thanks to my parents, who brought me into this worldand raised me to think for myself and be all that I can be. I amgrateful to my Buddhist teachers, Waybu Sayadaw, MahasiSayadaw,Ye Oo Sayadaw , Maygawaddy Sayadaw,U ThuzataSayadaw for helping me to dream big and achieve.

Finally and most importantly, I am profoundly gratefulto The Buddha for his teachings (38 blessings) which I havelearned and imparted by writing this book.

The author allow everybody to print this book and copythe attached DVD-ROM and distribute to others, provided itis not for financial gain.

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FOREWORD

I am a medical doctor who practices modern medicine.Throughout my medical school days, and in my medical career,I always find the solution to the problems right from the centreof the matter. I got this practice because I learned MangalaSutta and applied it in life.

Mangala Sutta is a very early Sutta that the Buddhapreached to the people and devas (celestial beings). It containslessons regarding what a person should do and should not doto be successful in life.

Mangala Sutta is a one of the most important Suttas tolearn and apply in one’s life. After learning Mingala Sutta aperson will become refined, cultured and a worthy citizen ofthe world, regardless of the religious faith he or she follows.

Thus, it is with my utmost cedana ( good volition)that I compiled the thirty eight stanzas for everyone who wantsto live their lives in harmony. I sincerely hope that this bookwill be of help to those who try to remember these Sutta andapply them to their daily

Note:- The meaning of the underline Italic words areshown in glossary.

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FOREWORDWay of life in Buddhist countries is mainly influenced

by the Buddha’s teaching. In other words, for the Buddhistthe way they act, speak and think are mainly in accordancewith what the Buddha thaught. His teachings are the modelfor them.

Lord Buddha’s teachings are preserved in ‘the ThreeBaskets of Buddhist Text (Ti-pitaka), commonly known as theBuddhist Bible’. Since He taught for forty-five years, His doctrines, in a book form, are voluminous, altogether 48 in theSixth Buddhist Council’s version (They are just primary texts,not included their commentaries and sub-commentaries). The Blessing Discourses (Mangalar) is in the ‘Basketof Discourse ( Suttanta)’, one of the three divisions (Ti-pitaka)of the Buddhist Scriptures. Compared to the ‘Basket of Dis-ciplines (Vinaya)’ and the ‘Basket of Ultimate Things(Abhi-dhamma)’, it holds more volumes and is widely used and moreinfluential among Buddhists.The reason is that: the ‘Basketof Discipline (Vinaya)’ is primarily for the monks and nuns,the Basket of Ultimate Things (Abhi-dhamma) is for scholar,while the Basket of Discourse (Suttanta) is for everybody, andlay-person alike.

The ‘Basket of Discourses (Suttanta)’ consist of tensof thousand of sermons spoken/preached by Lord Buddha dur-ing His forty-five missionary years. Among them, the Bless-ing Discourse (Mangala Sutta) is probably the most well-known and the greatest influence upon the Buddhists. Through-out the ages, many books have written in variouslanguages regarding the ‘Blessing Discourse (Mangala Sutta)’. InBurmese one of the famous books is Mangalattha Dipani meaning,the Manual of the Exposition of Blessing.

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It was written in old Burmese at the time of Burmese kings.Inmodern time, U Thukha, a well-known writter and a film-di-rector, wrote a book on this subject in plain Burmese. It iscalled (Mangala Thote), meaning the Blessing Discourse. The last one of it’s kind, as far as I know, is ‘ThirtyEight Mangalar or Blessings’ by Dr Kyaw Tint. I am veryglad to write a foreword for that book. It is a book of ‘direct tothe point’, so to speak. The pictures in the book are very help-ful to understand the theme of it. They also are painted inpurely Burmese style.

Further more, to understand each blessing properly,these include stories at the end of each blessing’s remark. Thestories that illustrate each blessing are pleasing. They makeyou understood well. They may be meaningful for those whoare familiar with Burmese culture. Thanks to Dr. Kyaw Tint who make such a book pos-sible. May you be well, happy and peaceful.

Much Metta

Dr.NyanawaraSasana-dhaja Dhamma-cariyaSasana-dhaja Siripavara Dhamma-cariyaMajjhima BhanakaMajjhima Nikaya Kovida.

Azusa Kyaung, Los Angeles,California.USA.Full -moon day of Second Waazo,1374.August 2, 2012(Thursday)

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INTRODUCTION

MANGALA SUTTA

(THIRTY EIGHT BLESSINGS)

.

Thus, the devas, celestial beings went to their DevaKing to ask him about what Mangalar is. The Deva King sentone of the devas to Buddha who was residing at Jetavanamonastery , donated to The Buddha by Anathapindika in atown Savatthi in India. The deva went to the monastery atmidnight and asked Buddha to preach Mangala Sutta.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

For twelve years before The Buddha preached thisMangala Sutta, people gathered to think about the blessingsor Mangalar. Some said if you see a good scenery which youlike, it is mangalar. Others said, a good sound that you like ismangalar. Some believed a good touch that you like ismangalar. So there were different opinions on what Mangalarreally is. These were not accepted by the majority of peopleincluding the Guardian Devas,( the celestial beings), who lookafter the people.

DEFINITION

Mangala Sutta is the Dhamma or teachings that showsthe works which lead to blessings and prosperity. In other words aperson who follows the teachings shown in Mangala Sutta, will getthe blessings and prosper in life.

At the request of the deva , Buddha, with kindnesstowards all beings, preached Mangala Sutta which will bringblessings and prosperity to those who follow the workearnestly. The audience at that time was a great gathering ofdevas and brahmas coming from the ten thousand worldsystem.

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Three months after The Buddha passed away (Pari-nibbana), all arahats gathered at a great meeting to compileall the Buddha’s Teachings. At that time, Ashin Maha Kassapaasked Ashin Ananda ,where and why Buddha preachedMangala Sutta. Ashin Ananda answered as follows: “Onemidnight, a deva, a celestial being, came to Jetavana monasteryand asked Buddha to preach Mangala sutta.’’ That is how theMingala Sutta became one of the teachings of Dhamma to allbeings. Mangala Sutta consists of thirty eight blessings.

1. NOT TO ASSOCIATE WITH THE FOOLS(ASEVANA CA BALANAM)

Buddha preached the first and most important blessing,not to associate with the fools. This is to be considerdtogether with all other blessings.

Who are the fools?(1) The fools cannot differentiate good and evil, truth and

untruth, right and wrong.(2) He has no knowledge, love, good will and sympathy

to others.(3) He cannot solve problems when they arise.(4) He is selfish, greedy, proud, and jealous.(5) There is no discipline and always lead his friends to

do wrong.(6) He is miser and never give charity.(7) He is like an animal who know only three things, eating,

sleeping, and sexual enjoyment.Four kinds of fools(1) One who is mentally defective.(2) One who lacks good character.(3) One who has no knowledge.(4) One who has an evil mind.

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THE FOLLOWERS OF WISE LEADER WERESAVED BUT THOSE OF THE FOOL LEADER WERE

DROWN IN THE OCEAN.

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Disadvantages of associating with the fools

(1) People will dislike you.

(2) You can be punished by the law.

(3) Wise people will look down on you.

(4) Your possession and reputation can be lost.

(5) Can meet many difficulties in life.

Story 1 The Two Carpenter LeadersOnce there was King Brahmadat who ruled Benares,in

India. Not far from the capital, there was a big village whereone thousand carpenters were living.They took advancedmoney from the villagers to build houses and furnitures. Theirdebts were growing high so they decided to go to another place.They built a huge boat and kept in a little far place in a river.At midnight they left to the sea with their families and soonreached an island in the centre of the ocean.

The little island was rich with paddy, sugar cane,mango, jack fruit and coconut trees.There was a man who cameto the island after a shipwreck. Because of good diet he lookedfat and without clothes. He got long hair , moustache and beard;he resembled a monster.

When they arrived at the island, they sent out seven toeight strong men with weapons to investigate the condition ofthe new place.

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When the man saw the investigaters, he was muchfrightened and said, “ Well friends! I am not a monster, just aman, please save my life”. The investigaters asked, why hedid not wear clothes?. The man replied,“I have no cloths atall”. As they knew that he was human being, they came nearhim and talked happily. The man told them how he reachedthe island after a ship-wreck, and how he had to survive.

The man on the island, after his breakfast with a sugarcane drink, was singing happily ,“People living in large SouthIsland have to do cultivation, trading, and other professions;but it differs from those living on this little island, which ismuch better than the large South Island’’.When theinvestigaters heard a human voice they tried to find out whatit is. As they saw a figure which looked like a monster, theywere much frightened and aimed at him with weapons

He said “Well friends! You are lucky to be on this is-land ; there are natural plants like paddy, sugar-cane, and fruits;there is no danger; this island is guarded by angels They hatefeces and urine; if you all want to live on this island, please donot leave feces and urine as it is; dig the sand and pass fecesand urine and then cover with sand; apart from that there is noother danger”. Thus he reminded them.

The carpenters decided to stay on the island. Therewere two leaders among them. Five hundred carpenters werecontrolled by a foolish leader who did not know the matterright or wrong and another five hundred carpenters controlledby a wise leader.

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The wise leader thought a lot and said to his friends“Well friends ! The words of the two angels are opposing eachother; one said , there is danger and the other said there is nodanger, please listen to my words, we should not be destroyed;

When the angel disappeared, the foolish leader toldhis followers ,“Well friends! , the words of the angel from thesouth is true, but the angel from the north is not true, do notget frightened, continue to stay happily’’.

The guarding angels were very angry when they cameto the island for a grand meeting. They said their play- groundwas spoilt and their meeting cannot be performed They de-cided to kill all the people by raising the ocean level afterfifteen days.

Among the guarding angels, there was an angel whowas very kind hearted. He came at night to the carpenters andbrightened the sky with his power and stood in the northernsky. He told them, “Oh carpenters! Fifteen days from now, onthe full-moon night , there will be a great flood covering thewhole island; you all should leave the island and go to a safeplace”.Thus he gave the advice and left from the island.

After living on the island for quite a long time, thefoolish leader and his followers made alcohol out of cane-suger. They drank and danced on the island. They passed fe-ces and urine without any self-control. They never coveredwith sand at all. The whole island became dirty with excreta.

Then a cruel angel came and brightened the sky andstood in the southern sky and said, “Oh carpenters! There willbe no flood covering this wonderful island; I do not see anydanger; continue to stay happily on this beautiful island”. Thushe told untrue words to the carpenters.

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2. TO ASSOCIATE WITH THE WISE (PANDITA-NAMCA - SEVANA)

Who are the wise persons

(1) A person who desire to do good deeds for himselfand for others.

stayed quite easily and enjoying. The ocean level rose fromwaist-line to shoulder, from shoulder to head; from head tothe top of the pole. The foolish leader and his five hundredfollowers were drowned in the ocean.

Source;- 550 Nipada, Thumuda-Warni Zat

On the fifteenth day, the ocean level rose gradually.When the water level was about waist-line, the wise leaderand his followers left the island for good.

The foolish leader and his followers did not care and

The wise leader and his followers built a big boat andloaded it with all provisions and stayed on the boat.

The foolish leader did not agree and said “Well friends!You are doing un-necessary work; the first guarding angel gavehis advice because he hates us; the second one gave his advicebecause he loves us; where shall we go; why should we leavethis pleasant island?; we do not need to build a boat”.

we must build a strong big boat; if the words of the angel ofthe south are true, this boat will be for future diasaster; wewill not leave the island; if the words of the first guardingangel are true and there is rising of water, we will leave withthe boat; if the words of the second guarding angel are true,we will keep our boat in a suitable place and we will continuestaying on this island”.

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Advantages of associating with a wise man.(1) No misfortune of meeting with trouble.

(2) He enjoys worldly pleasures which the good peopledeserve.

(3) As a consequence of good deeds, he will gain benefitsin future lives till he reaches Nibbana.

(2) He can judge between right and wrong.

(3) He knows truth and untruth; he knows moral andimmoral.

(4) He thinks wise thoughts, makes wise speeches and doeswise deeds.

(5) He is not selfish, and ready to sacrifice his life for thewelfare of others.

Seven qualities of a wise man.

(1) Good character.

(2) Excellent moral qualities.

(3) Capable of solving difficult problems.

(4) Generosity.

(5) Good mind, speech, action.

(6) Good desire to help others.

(7) Keep others to the same level with himself

.

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Story 2 Satti-Gonba zat

Once , the two parrots lived in a forest near the moun-tains. In the forest, there were five hundred robbers living inone part, and five hundred hermits living in another part.

At one time, a gust of wind blew across the forest andthe two young parrots were carried away by the strong windto different parts of the forest . One parrot fell on a heap ofweapons of the robbers and he was named Satti-Gonba andwas brought up by the robbers. The other parrot fell on theflower bushes and and was named Poppa-ka and was broughtup by the hermits.

One day, the King who ruled Otara-parisara countrycame to the forest, with his followers, for a hunting game.The King ordered his followers, “If an animal escape fromthe place where he is posted for duty, must follow and catchthat animal”.

All the followers including the King were watchingfor the animals. The followers were striking the bushes withloud noices to frighten the animals. One deer ran into the bushwhere the King was hiding. The King tried to catch the deer,but he could not do so. The followers were making a joke,“From where the golden deer escape? ; it escapes from theKing’s place”.

Then the King, with his chariot, drove after the deer.Thedeer was so frightened that it ran over the bushes and downhill and uphill. The King tried very hard, but could not catchthe deer. Then the King’s chariot reached a little village near astream, where the the robbers were residing. The King wasvery tired that he fell asleep.

When the robbers saw the King and charoit driver, they

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At that time, Satti-Gonba parrot saw the King fastasleep. He noticed the King’s valuable dress, ruby earings anda golden sling.

The parrot was shouting to the robber’s cook “Let ustake the King’s dress, his ruby earings and golden sling; killboth of them and cover them with branches”.When the Kingwas awaken by the loud voices of the parrot, he knew that theplace was dangerous. Both of them departed from the place.

Then the parrot shouted ,“Oh robbers! The King hasran away; try to catch them with arrows and spears”. The Kingordered the charoit driver to drive faster. Later they reachedthe monastery where the five hundred hermits were residing.

When Poppa-ka parrot saw the the King, he said, “Ohyour Honourable King! Your visit is a pleasant one; please befree to ask anything; we have various sweet fruits; water fromthe creek is cool and nice; please have water from the waterpot”.

When the King heard the kind words of Poppa-kaparrot, he thought of the cruel Satti-Gonba parrot. The Kingsaid, “This parrot is kind, the other one is cruel; why do theyhave differant manners”?

The parrot said ,“ Oh your Honourable King! The par-rot you have seen is my younger brother; because of the harshgale, we are separated from each other; my young brother wasblown and fell into a place where weapons were stored by therobbers , thus named Satti-Gonba and brought up by the rob-bers; I was thrown into the flower bushes, thus named Poppa-ka and brought up by the hermits; when you wrap the rottenfish with Thaman-grass, the grass will have a rotten smell ;so also Satti-Gonba has cruel and dirty manners as robbers;

hid in the forest. The persons left in the village were the. robber’s cook and the parrot, Satti-Gonba.

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A KIND AND GOOD HEARTED PARROTWAS TALKING TO THE KING

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but when you wrap a leave with Toung- salat flower (Rhodo-dendron), the leaf will have a sweet smell; since I was broughtup by the hermits, I have good qualities of the hermits; thebehavior, the manner, the way of thinking, are reflected withwhom a person is associated”.Thus the parrot gave a Dhammatalk to the King, who was very happy and pleased.

Source:- Witheti-Nippda ,Thati-Gomba Zat.

3. TO HONOUR THOSE WORTHY OF HONOUR (PUJACA -PUJANI-YANAM)

The worthy ones are;-(1) The Buddha(2) The Pacceka (Silent) Buddha.(3) The Dhamma.(4) Sangha(5) Parents, teacher, elderly persons and superiors.

The BuddhaHe preached the pure doctrine which is exellent in the

beginning, in the middle and in the end.The Pacceka Buddha

He gains enlightment, but does not proclaim the truthto the world.The Dhamma

It is a Universal truth and wisdom; it is a natural lawof the Universe preached by the Buddha.

The Buddha preached the first sermon to the fiveascetic monks at the Deer Park, in Isipatana, near Benares.From that day onwards, the Order of Sanghas was establishedby the Buddha,which exist to this day.

The Sangha or Bhikkhus

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(a) By donating robes, food, medicine, flowers,bedding, candles etc to the monks at the monasteries.

(b) By following rules laid down by Dhamma and bymeditating. This is better than the former.Five rewards to a person who pay respect to honour thoseworthy of honour

(1) Long life.(2) Beauty.(3) Happiness.(4) Good health and strength.(5) Intelligence at the present as well as hereafter.

The Story During Pagan Dynasty King Anawrathar paid respectto Shin Arahan and found out the real truth Dhamma , Sangha(monks).

From those days onwards, Theravada Buddhism hasspread throughout Myanmar and people have a good chanceto follow the Dhamma .The Fifth Buddhist World Council. In 1847AD or 2414 years after the Buddha, the FifthBuddhist World Council was held in Mandalay, Myanmar,under the patronage of King Mindon. The Council was pre-sided by Jagara Maha Thera and twenty-four hundred learned

Two ways of giving respect

Parents and othersTheir love is boundless to children and they give best

education for the good of future welfare.

monks participated.After recitation of Tri-pitaka, canonical Pali text in Pali

recordings, were recorded in Myanmar- Pali character on sevenhundred twenty nine marble slabs. For the people of Myanmar,Shin Arahan and Jagara Maha Thera are the persons to behonoured.

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IN 93 B,C,THE FOURTH BUDDHIST WORLD COUN-CIL WAS HELD IN ALUKA CAVE , MATALA, SRI-

LANKA.

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The Story

4 TO RESIDE IN A SUITABLE LOCALITY (PATIRUPADESAVASO CA)

What is a suitable locality?.(1) A place where you can get religious teachings.This

is most important.(2) A place where a good livelihood is possible.(3) A place where there are good friends.(4) A place where you can get good education.(5) Good health care with good doctors and qualified

traditional physician are available.(6) A place with good ruler or good leader.

(1) People will observe the precepts and are contented.(2) People have the habit of giving charity and render-

ing help to one another.(3) People avoid evil deeds .(4) The strong people will not be aggressive and op-

press their weaker neighbours.

What are the results?

(5)People will find safety, harmony, and peace.

In Myanmar, most of the villages have one monasterywhere monks are residing. At the entrance of the village thereis a pagoda (cetiya) built by the villagers.

On sabbath days villagers go to monastery, donatingalms to the monks and keep precepts. Monks preach themBuddha’s teachings and answer questions put forward to themby the people.

If you are not fortunate enough to live in a suitableplace, you can create such a place by living according toMangala Sutta.

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TO LIVE IN A SUITABLE LOCALITY IS MANGALA (A BLESSING.)

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They stay the whole day, counting beads or meditat-ing under the guidance of a master. They come back home inthe evening.

In a foreign land, if you are not fortunate enough tolive in a suitable place, you can create such a place by livingaccording to Mangala Sutta.

Now, in many parts of the world, people have createdsuch suitable places. For example, I would like to mention amonastery in Los Angeles , U.S.A.. The name of the monas-tery is Azusa Monastery.

The area of the monastery is about ten acres and situ-ated near a big mountain. The Buddhist people have built themonastery

People provide alms (foods for monks) daily to themonastery and five Theravada Myanmar monks are residingin it. Up in the middle of the mountain is a Pagoda with a Bo-tree (a kind of banyan tree.) . A Buddha image can be seen inthe meditation hall (Dhammar-yone). There is a separate build-ing for people (Zeyat) where food is served to the monks andlay people. There is a car parking place. Sanitary rest-roomsare well kept.

.

People cerebrate Buddhist ceremonies, such as tem-porary ordination of monks and young novices; and donatingalms to the monks on important Buddhist days such Warso(the begining of Buddhist Lent period) , and Thatin-kyut (theend of Buddhist Lent period).

I am very happy to see such a suitable place. Peopletold me that there are about ten Buddhist monasteries in LosAngeles area.

Comment:- You can create suitable places where ever you like.Source:- Our visit to Los Angeles in 2012.

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5. TO HAVE DONE GOOD DEEDS IN THE PAST.(PUBBE- CA -KATA- PUNNATA)

Buddhists believe in Past, Present and Future existence.Why are some babies born to rich parents and why are somebabies born in poor families?. Why do some people live to anold age and some die young?. Why are some people healthyand some unhealthy? Why are some people beautiful and someugly? Why do some people have a lot of servants and somehave none? Why are some people intelligent and some notintelligent? There are causes and effects. These happened dueto good and bad Kamma (deeds) done in the previous lives.

(1) If a person was cruel and killed others in his or herprevious life, that person will have short life in the presentlife. If a person was kind and had compassion upon others andavoided killing (even animals or insects), that person will havea long life in the presant life.

(2) If a person caused injury to others by beating orwith other means in previous life, he will have to suffer frommany diseases in this life. If a person did not cause injury toothers and tried to help when other people are ill in the pastlife, he will be free from diseases and will be healthy and strongin the present life.

(3) If a person was always angry in the previous life,he or she will be ugly in this life. If a person was always sweetand had donated flowers and candles to the Buddha in previ-ous life, he or she will be handsome in this life.

( 4) If a person was selfish in previous life, such aperson will not have any servant to help him or her in this life.On the contrary if a person was glad and happy for others whowere fortunate, that person will have a lot of servants to helphim or her in this life.

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Once, Mawluni country(in Benares, India) was ruledby King Brahmadat. In that country there lived a rich-manwhose name was Thin-ka. He built six big buildings in vari-ous parts of the country and spent sixty thousands rupees aday to feed the people. One day Thin-ka thought about hiswealth. If it ran out, he might be unable to feed the people anymore. So he decided to make trade to Suwanna-bumi (Thatonin Myanmar) with a big ship to earn money . He loaded theship with goods and told his family to continue the donationas usual until he came back. He went to the Pathana jetty atmid-day, wearing a pair of slippers and holding an umbrella.

(5) If a person helped and donated to others in previ-ous life, he will be rich and prosperous in this life. If he wasstingy and did not donate to others in previous life, he will bepoor poor in this life.

(6) If a person had a lot of pride and conceit in previ-ous life, he will be born in a lower society. On the contrary ifa person is humble and took good care of others in previouslife, he will be born in a higher society.

(7) If a person had given education to others and gavegood advice to others in previous life, he will be a brilliantperson in this life. If he had persuaded others to be dull andstupid in previous life, he will be stupid and become an idiotin this life. In short a good kamma (work) in the past andpresent life is a blessing.

Story 5-Thin-ka

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When Thin-ka saw the Silent Buddha, he donated hisumbrella and a pair of slippers. The Silent Buddha acceptedthe donation and flew to Ganda-mardana mountain. Thin-kawas very pleased with his good deeds and went to the jetty fora long voyage.

On the seventh day of the trip , water ran through theholes in the hull of the ship; the boat-men could not pump outthe water, and ultimately the ship began gradually sinking intothe ocean. The boat-men were much afraid that they prayed todevas ( celestial beings) to help them and cried aloud for mercy. Thin-ka and his servant covered their bodies with oiland ate sweet foods to fill their stomach.They climbed to thetop of the mask, aimed towards Mawlini country, and jumpedfar away to avoid the fearful fishes. The rest of the boat-menwere eaten by the fishes.

Thin-ka and his servant were swimming day and nightin the ocean. As the seventh day was a subbath day, Thin-kawashed his mouth with water and kept the eight precept.

A Silent Buddha, who was residing at Ganda-mardanamountain, foresaw that Thin-ka would meet danger when hisship would sink in the ocean. He thought himself ‘‘If I go nowand meet him, he will donate an umbrella and a pair of slip-pers; and because of the good deeds, he will be saved in theocean’’. The Silent Buddha then went to see Thin-ka at thehotest time of the day without umbrella and slippers.

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At that time the Four Great Lokapala devas (FourCelestiel beings who look after the world) had assigned Mani-makalar Devi to save those persons who earnestly observethe Three Gems, who keep the precepts and who look after theparents, when they meet danger on the seas.

Mani-maykalar Devi was enjoying living in deva plane,and forget her duty to look at the ocean. On the seventh day,when she looked at the ocean Thin-ka was swimming togetherwith his servant. She knew that Thin-ka Brahmina was a pi-ous person who kept the precepts. The ship-wreck had takenplace seven days ago and if he died, she would be blamed forher negligence.

So she went hurriedly to Thin-ka with a golden platefilled with delicious food and said “Oh Brahmina! You havenot eaten food for seven days; please eat this food”.When heheard the Deva’s voice, he looked up and said “Please do notgive your food as I am keeping the eight precepts.

When the servant heard his master’s voice, he thoughthis master was crying as he was afraid of death. So he con-soled his master; Oh Brahmina Thin-ka! You are very bril-liant; you have seen the Silent Buddha and have listen his teach-ings; why are you talking with sorrow; with whom you aretalking apart from me?”. Thin-ka spoke to his servant “ Can’tyou see the Deva; she has a very a beautiful face, lovelyfeatures,with golden dress and emerald neckless. With greatfaith, she offered me food with golden plate’’.

The servant advised his master to ask the Deva whethershe is a Deva or a woman with supreme power.

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MANI-MAYKALAR DEVI CARRIED THIN-KA TOTHE SHIP

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Then the Deva created a ship made of seven jewelleries,ie:- emerald masks, golden robes, silver sails, golden paddlesand poles. She carried Thin-ka and put him on the ship butshe did not carry the servant..

Thin-ka told the Deva that he had sent the merit to allthe people; the servant had happily accepted the merit.Thenonly the Deva carried the servant and put him on the ship.Withher power she send the ship to Mawrini country and providedThin-ka’s home with all the jewelleries. Then she left to herplace.

Thin-ka asked the Deva , “Oh Deva! You are lookingat me with lovely eyes, and offering food, are you a Deva or awoman with supreme power?’’.

Deva told Thin-ka, “Oh Thin-ka Brahmana! I am aDeva with supreme power, a person with a kind heart, andwithout ill-feeling; I come to the middle of the ocean for yourown benefit; I have food, bedding, elephant- carriage, horse-carriage; I will give you what ever you want’’.

Thin-ka wanted to know why the Deva wanted to ful-fil his desire; is it due his donation or his power?. Then heasked Deva “Oh beautiful Deva! I have donated all my prop-erties to people; which is a good deed. I have donated an um-brella and a pair slippers to the Silent Buddha on my way tothe jetty”.

The Deva said, Oh Thin-ka! You have donated an um-brella and a pair of slippers to the Silent Buddha on the veryhot day. Because of that good deed, you will get the goodbenefit.’’

Thin-ka requested the Deva to create a ship and sendhim to Mawrini country.

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6. TO SET ONESELF IN THE RIGHT COURSE(ATTANSAMMA PANIDHI CA)

Nature provides a person with physical and mentalpower. One should use this power in the right direction for thebenefit of oneself and others. It enables human beings to de-velop natural power to the highest state.

For instance, all people can attempt to rise from a stateof poverty to a state of wealth, or from a state of humble posi-tion to a state of high position by keeping their fixed intentionclearly before them and utilising their entire energy and zealin the right direction.

After death the whole family, including the servantswere reborn in celestial plane.

The Buddha said, good deeds in the past, not only re-sult in good life in the present but also good deeds in the presentlife can produce good results in this very life.

Source:- 550 Nipada, Thin-ka Brahmana Zat.

With all the jewelleries, Thin-ka made donations , keptprecepts, and did good deeds till the end of his life.

Both parents, elder brothers and sisters are very im-portant persons in bringing up a young child. The child shouldknow that parents, relatives and teachers are persons who wanthim to be well educated and good. He should also know thathe must bring up himself to be a good person. Also he musttrain himself physically. He should go to school regularly. Heshould sleep well and do good exercise regularly. He shouldhelp others when they are in trouble.

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AN OLD MONK AT THE AGE OF 60 , STARTED TOEDUCATE HIMSELF AND BECAME THE KING’S

ADVISOR

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The Story 6 During Pagan era, there lived a monk who was 60 yearsold. He had never been to school. One day he saw a pile ofwooden tooth brushes he had used before. He realized his pastdays were without education. He decided to learn. He triedvery hard and finally he became a very learned and famousscholar. Eventually he became the king’s advisor. Thus, if aperson changes his life style to become better, he can be agood person; even if he has no good kamma (deed) in his pre-vious life. To start oneself in the right course is one of theblessings.Source:-Myanmar History

7. TO HAVE VAST LEARNING (BAHUSSACCAN CA)

The primary training of children is mainly carried outby wise parents and guardians at home.

The two most important things to be taught are morallesson and general knowledge.They should be associated withchildren of good families. If both parents are working, chil-dren should be sent to day-care. Children are happy and takegood example of their friends.

In the second stage, they are trained in schools. Goodschools are to be selected, where they will get good educa-tion, moral teaching, good discipline and good manners.

After graduation from schools, they should be sent toUniversity or College, where they are prepared for professionalstudies and lead a better life. A wicked man cannot mislead aman who has wise knowledge and good character.

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.

.

his troops.

The Story 7Once, there was King Min-gyi-swar-saw-kee who ruled

Ain-wa country in Myanmar. Seven-two mile away from thecapital was a big lake, called Meik-thilar Lake. Near the lakewas Wun-zin village. There was a young boy, Maung Nyo,who was very much interested in literature. When he becameof age, he married the village head-man’s daughter.

The village head-man told his daughter ,“Oh mydaughter! Your husband is only interested in literature; he willnot work hard for a living; I don’t like him; if you love him,go far away from us and take a pair of bulls and lead a living”.Then the couple went to far away place and lived as farmers.

At that time, the bank of the Meik-thilar lake wasdamaged, so King Min-gyi-saw-kee visited the lake with

The King saw a small building with a female statueinside. The King asked if anybody knew the story of thebuilding, but nobody could answer properly. The King wasnot satisfied with the answers given by the people. The Kingasked the villagers whether there was anyone who could tellabout the statue. The villagers told the King that the villageheadman’s son-in-law was interested in literature. Then theKing told the village head man to bring his son-in-law.Thevillage head-man told his daughter that the King asked MgNyo to come to him. The daughter was much frightened andtold her husband about the matter.

Maung Nyo then took the Tha-pyay leaves (leaves forsuccess) and tied them to the horns of the two bulls. He toldthe two bulls “Well my sons!, you all do not need to serve meany more”; then he released them to go anywhere they liked.

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MAUNG NYO EXPLAINED THAT THE STATUEWAS THE BELOVED LADY OF KING

ANAWRATTHA.

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Maung Nyo told the story of the building, a femalestatue as follows , “Your Honourable King! When your greatgreat grand father, King Anawratha built the bank of the Meik-thilar Lake, one Sawbwar (a regional chief) presented hisbeautiful daughter to King Anawratha. As he loved the ladyvery much, he gave her the position of a Lesser Queen. Duringthat time she died suddenly of a disease. As the King lovedher very much he could not abandon the dead body of thelady. He was looking at the dead body every day. Then theministers arranged to make the replica of the Lesser Queenwith gold and presented to the King. Then only the Kingallowed the body of the lady to be cremated. When the Kingwanted to take the golden replica to the Royal Palace, theministers requested the King not to do so , as it was not suitablewith traditional custom. The King put the golden replica in astone case and buried it on the bank of the Meik-thilar Lakeand built a wooden statue near the replica. As time past on,people regarded the wooden statue as a Devi (a female angel)and donated food to her”.

Maung Nyo then told his wife ,“ Well my beloved lady!You don’t need to worry; I am going to get the value of myeducation”. Then he went to the King with great aspiration.The King asked about the statue on the bank of the Lake.

When King Min-gyi-saw-kee excavated the place, hefound the golden replica.

Because of his accurate answer, the King regardedMaung Nyo as a brilliant and brave youth in presentation, sothe King promoted Maung Nyo as one of his ministers fromthat day onwards. When you analyse this story of how an or-dinary farmer became a minister, it is realized that MaungNyo, as a young boy used to listen to the village elders whenthey told stories and literature.Source:- Mani-Yadana-pone Kyan.

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The value of the arts and sciences is priceless; the skillacquired in these cannot be stolen by thieves and robbers; it isa real friend in this life and it gives happiness in the next life.

The StoryLong long ago, there lived a millionaire in Benares,

India. He had a son whom the parents loved so much that theywished their son to lead a luxurious life. In the first stage,they never gave education and in the second stage they neverled him to earn properties. Since he was a millionaire hethought his son was well provided with a lot of money andcould live his whole life without doing any work. In the sametown there lived another millionaire who had a daughter. Hetreated his daughter the same way without given any educa-tion thinking she could live a wealthy life without doing any-thing.

stage, then what is it that is useful that one can hope to

8. TO BE POSSESSED OF VAST SKILL (SIPPAN CA)After high school education, a person should study pro-

fessional skills, such as agriculture, carpentry, architecture,constructions, engineering, teaching, trading, medicine, com-puter science, tailoring, electronics etc. A person needs pro-fessional skills to become successful in life.There are manywho are distinguished in academic field, but often they find itdifficult to earn their livelihood for want of knowledge of otherarts, science and handicrafts.

If one does not acquire education in the first stage oflife, wealth in the second stage and righteousness in the third

acquire in fourth or last stage of life.

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BUDDHA WAS TELLING ANANDA ABOUT THE SON ANDDAUGHTER OF MILLIONAIRS WERE BEGGARS NOW..

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Eventually the son and the daughter of the two mil-lionaires got married. Years later, when the two millionairespassed away they were left with all the wealth. At that timethe drunkards of Benares thought of making the millionaire’sson to be a drunkard so that they would become properous.

Later, the son made friends with drunkards and hebecame a drunkard himself. They taught him also how to en-joy life with worldly things. Finally the couple lost all theirproperties and became beggars.

One day, Buddha saw them eating the left-over foodof the monks. Buddha told Ashin Ananda that if the coupleshad been educated by their parents, they would have becomevery rich merchants.

If at a young age they became monks or nun , the mancould become an Arahat and the woman could becomeAnagami. Now they were like old birds with broken wingsliving in a lake without water.

Although this couple was born in the capital and nearthe monastery of Buddha, their lives were wasted. They nevergot education because of thoughtless parents. Therefore everyparent should educate their children well.

Source: Dama-pada, Zarawut Mahadanna Vuthu.

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9. A WELL TRAINED DISCIPLINE (VINAYO CASUSIKKHITO)

The least holy code of conduct which lay man shouldfollow is the five precepts. The main holy code of conductsthat should be followed by monks are (227) codes of conducts.Moreover, there are many good manners which a human shouldfollow as good citizens.

Parents should teach discipline to their children athome. In the same way , teachers should impart good disciplinein school.

Duties of ParentsIn five way, the parents show their compassion towards

their children:-(1) they prevent them from evil,(2) they persuade them to do good,(3) they instruct them in the art and science.

Discipline is of great importance in the homes,monasteries, schools, and every society that works for thecommon good and welfare of the people as a whole. There are two broad kinds of displine, eg:- lay displineand monastic displine.

Duties of Children.In five ways a child should minister to the parents:-(1) by supporting them,(2) by performing his or her duties owing to them,(3) by preserving the family system,(4) by being worthy of his or her inheritance,(5) by offering alms in honour of their departed

relatives.

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The Story Once, there lived King Tharidina in Meikthilar province inMyanmar . He ruled the country in accordance with the ten rules ofconduct, which a king should abide by. Moreover, he followed fiveprecepts very firmly. He also taught his country men to follow fiveprecepts very seriously. As a result the country was peacefuland prosperous. There were no thieves, robbers or insurgents.So the country was in peace with good cultivation.A well trained discipline is Mangala.

(4) they arrange them in marriage to a suitable wife orhusband,

(5) at the proper time they hand over to them theirinheritance.

In five way , a pupil should minister to a teacher:-

Source:- Myanmar History.

(3) they teach them suitable art and science,

Duties of Teachers.In five way teachers show their compassion to their pupils:- (1) they train them in the best discipline, (2) they impart instruction which is respected and

admired by them,

(5) they provide for their safety in every respect.

Duties of the pupil

(4) they introduce them to their friends andassociates,

(1) by rising when the teacher approaches,(2) by attending upon him,(3) by obeying him attentively,(4) by personal service.(5) by respectfully receiving instruction.

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THE COUNTRY WAS PEACEFUL WITH GOODCULTIVATION.

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10. PLEASANT SPEECH (SUBHASITACAYA VACA)

Once upon a time, a hunter brought a cart load of meatto sell in the town of Benares , ruled by King Brahmadat.

At that time, four young men from wealthy familieswent out of the town for excursion and saw the hunter. One ofthem told his friends that he would ask the hunter to give himmeat. He asked him ,“Hey hunter! Give me meat’’. Then the,hunter said, “As your words are harsh and look like the tissuecovering the muscles, I will give you simalar tissues”.

The second young man approached the hunter andasked, “Well brother! Give me meat” . The hunter said , “Youcalled me brother, the words look like the body, so I will giveyou the body part’’.

Every pleasant word has its value and power. A pleas-ant word has influence over other people. It is necessary forus to choose the right, fruitful, fine, sincere, polite, clear andsweet words in the right place. One who does this is loved,respected and admired by all where ever he goes.

What is a pleasant speech.(1) Words should be spoken in truth and justice.(2) Words should be spoken with sincerity and honesty.(3) Words should be uttered clearly and politely to a right per-

son in the right time and at the right place.(4) Words must be beneficial to others.

Story 10 A Person with good speech.

“

The second young man asked the first youngman,“How did you address the hunter?’’. He answered “Heyhunter! Give me meat’’.

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THE PLEASANT RICH-MAN SON WITH GOODSPEECH APPROACHED THE HUNTER.

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UPATTANAM )

The third young-man asked the second young man.“How did you address the hunter”. He replied “I called himmy brother”.

The third young man approached the hunter and said“Well father! Give me meat’’.

The hunter said , “ Your way of calling me father likea son seems to tremble the heart of a father, so I will give youthe heart.’’

The fourth young man asked the third young man “Howdid you address the hunter?”.The third young man said “I calledhim,father.”

The fourth young man requested the hunter to bringthe cart loaded with meat to his home. He told the hunter togive up his profession as a hunter and to bring the whole fam-ily and stay in his estate. From that time onwards, they livedas friends to the end of their lives.

To have a pleasant speech is Mangalar.

11. SUPPORTING MOTHER AND FATHER(MATAPITU

Parents want to have children. During conception, amother has to take good care of the fetus. She has to takenutritious food and exercise well. (ie. walking). The fatherhas to send her regularly to the doctor for prenatal care andadvice.

The fourth young man approached the hunter andasked, “Well friend! Give me meet”.

The hunter was very pleased and said “A village with-out a friend is like a jungle; your words fulfil everything, so Iwill give all the meat.

Source:- Sabamunsalabe Zat.

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After birth, the mother has to breast feed the baby andlater give nutritious food which the child needs. During illness,she has to take care of the child. The father has to take thechild to the doctor for treatment, if he is sick.

During schooling period, they send their child to schoolto get a good education. They train him to be physically fit.They send him to religious teachers to get religious teachingsfor his future life.

Later they advise him to get a good job. Ultimatelythey arrange their off-spring to get married with a suitablehusband or wife and support him or her with what they can.

These are the gifts of the parents and the childrenshould be grateful and respect them. In return the son or thedaughter has to look after the parents when they are in need.The children should give them food, shelter and should livewith the parents. The children must be obedient to their par-ents and follow their advice. The children should keep theparents happy and look after them when they are ill. Theyshould take them to the doctor for treatment. They must givethe parents financial support if they need it. When they growold , the children should take care of them till their death.

Even after death the children should do charity for themso that the parents should receive merits according to their

The benefits attained by taking care of the parents.(1) They will be free from famine, wars and diseases.(2) They will be free from five enemies (a) flood (b) storms(c) fire (d) bad rulers and (e) theft.(3) They will be loved and admired by wise people and devas

( celestial beings).(4) They can fulfill what ever they desire.(5) They will attain Nibbana (end of sufferings)

their religion.

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MARTU-PAWTAKA-PITU-PAWTAKA SOLEMLY SAYING THE TRUTH.

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treated my parents well as devas”

The Story 11Once upon a time, there lived a young man in Benares.

He loved his parents very much. He treated them as devas.That was why, his name was known as Martu-paw-taka-Pitu-paw-taka.

One day he ventured a sailing trip to foreign lands.The boat went to Sri-Lanka. At that time , in Sri-Lanka, a lotof people were still in sorrowful state after a cruel sand-stormhad struck the island and continued blowing without ceasing.All the food crops were destroyed.

The King consulted the wise men how to get relieffrom the natural disaster. All the wise men advised the King,“Well Your Majesty! The natural disaster will disappear ifsome-one say solemnly words of absolute truth’’.

“ These true words must be solemnly spoken by a per-son who treat parents as devas.”

The King announced that “Anybody who treated par-ents as devas will be given riches and honour’’. They wentaround and looked for a man who would be able to help them.

The Martu-paw-taka- Pitu-paw-taka shouted out fromthe boat which was far away. “Well friends! I am the one who

The ministers told the King about the event. The Kingsaid “Bring the man to say solemnly the words of AbsoluteTruth”. The ministers went to the man and told him that theywere in great trouble. To relieve them from the disaster, theyrequested the man to help them.

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Then, Martu-pawtaka-Pitu-pawtaka went to the frontof the boat and solemnly said, “Since I have been of age, Ihave honoured the gratitude of my parents; I love them verymuch; I have looked after them with great care as Householddevas, as Sakka (King of Devas) and as King of Brahmas. Ifthese solemn words are true, may the sand storm stopsuddenly; may all country men, the King, ministers, rich men,poor men, traders, farmers, and all beings find peace andprosperity.”

Soon after, the sand storm stopped, and all beings foundpeace and tranquility.

Then the King, ministers, rich men, farmers and allthe countrymen donated lots of properties to him. The youngman took all the properties on five boats and came back home.When he reached home, he told his parents all about the eventsand donated all the properties to them. All three of themdonated Dana and lived peacefully. When they died theywere reborn in the Realm of Devas.

Supporting mother and father is Mangalar.

Source:- Mangalasura Dipani.

12. CHERISHING WIFE AND CHILDREN(PUTTADARASSA -SANGAHO) There are four ways of looking after wife and children.(1) Giving and supporting things in kind.(2) Talking politely towards them so that they are always

happy.(3) Making them prosperous.

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(4) Looking after their welfare and social dealings as you wouldhave done if it were in your own interest.

Five duties of parents towards children

(1) Advise them not to do evil deeds. Parents are actually firsthand teachers. Parents need to advise children not to be-have badly and not to use harsh words.

(2) Teach them to be polite both in manners and speech.(3) When a child gets old it is the responsibility of parents to

give him or her a good education for his or her livelihoodin future.

(4) Parents must provide money and provisions for the chil-dren to start their life.

(5) Parents need to arrange marriage with suitable persons withequal personal status such as age, education, and financialstatus.

Story 12 Udaya-Badda Zat.

Once upon a time, King Karthi ruled Karthi country.He had no children; and told his Queens to pray for havingchildren.

Bodhisatta after completing his term from brahmarplane, had conception in the womb of Head Queen. After birth,the boy was named Udaya-Badda.

Another brahmar, after completing his term, had con-ception in the womb of another Queen. After birth the girl wasnamed , Udaya-Baddar.

Prince was good hearted and very pious. He was notinterested in sensual pleasures.After completing his education,the father told him to get married and that he would give histhrone. As the Prince was not interested in sensual pleasures,he repeatedly refused his father’s gifts.

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At long last, he told the sculptors to make a beautifulstatue of a princess made of gold. He told his father that hewould accept the throne if he could find a lady as beautiful asthe golden statue.

The King and the Queen arranged wth the ministers tofind a lady as beautiful as the statue. When they could not findsuch a lady, they dressed up his cousin sister Udaya-Baddarwith all the ornaments. When she was compared with the statue,she looked more beautiful than the golden statue.

The parents arranged the Coronation of their son withhis cousin sister as the Queen.

As they were reborn from brahmar plane, they werenot interested in sexual desire. They lived together as brotherand sister They promised each other, who died first, must re-veal his or her place of rebirth.

After seven hundred years of reign, the Kingpassed away and was reborn in Tavatinsa (a celestial realm)as Sakka, King of devas. The Queen took his place and ruledthe country.

King Sakka was enjoying in the celestial realm forseven days.( equavalent to seven hundred years in humanplane; because lifespan of human plan at that time was 10,000years). He then remembered his promise made to the QueenUdaya-Baddar. He thought of persuading the Queen with giftsand giving a Dhamma talk.

The queen was living alone, keeping precepts, on theseventh floor of the palace, well guarded by soldiers. KingSakka entered her room and said “ Oh Princess! You are stay-ing alone; we should stay together.” The Queen was very muchsurprised when she heard the voices.

The Queen was thinking, “This Thura-Nandara cityhas three canals surrounding it and is well guarded by sol-diers; who else could come and ask me to live together”.

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KING SAKKA WAS GIVING DHAMMA TALK TO HIS OLD WIFE.

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King Sakka said “ Oh Princess! I am a deva, if youlove me, please accept my golden pot”.

The Queen answered, “Oh powerful deva! A part fromUdaya-Badda King, I am not interested in other deva. mon-ster, or human beings. Please go away and never come backagain”. King Sakka disappeared.

Next night, King Sakka came back to persuade theQueen, “Oh Princess! Sexual pleasure is the best of all theworldly pleasures; all beings practice this immoral action;please accept my silver pot”.

Now the Queen was thinking, if she talked to him, hewould be coming again. So she kept silent. King Sakka disap-peared.

Next night, King Sakka came again with a brass potfilled with coins and said, “Oh Sister! Will you accept myrequest for sexual pleasure?”.

The Queen said, “Oh man! When a man woos awoman, he should honour her by giving increasing gifts; youare doing just the opposite; you come this time with very littlegift”. King Sakka said , “Oh Princess! The age and appear-ance of human beings are fading every day; you are now get-ting old; that is why I come to you with small gifts; your ap-pearance is fading ; please do good deeds; you will get goodbenefits”.

The Queen asked King Sakka, about the pleasures inthe deva plane. “Oh powerful deva! Do the deva get old; dothe skin of deva wrinkle?”.

King Sakka replied ,“Oh Princess! Deva do not getold; there is no wrinkle in the skin; worldly pleasures are in-creasing”.

The Queen asked, “Oh powerful deva! Which humanbeings are not afraid of next existence; which good

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King Sakka replied, “Oh Princess! You should avoidevil deeds; you should do donation and share merits to others;you should be aware of four Singaha Dhamma,(metta=lovingkindness,karuna=compassion,mudita=joy,uppekha=equanimity);a person who has done these good deeds, will not be afraid ofnext existence”

The Queen asked “Oh honourable deva! You are giv-ing Dhamma talk to me as my parents; I would like to knowwho you are?”.

King Sakka replied, “Oh Princess! I was your belovedhusband, Udaya-Badda in previous life; I come to you as I wantto fulfil my promise; I would like you to be in deva plane in nextexistence”.The Queen was very pleased to hear the whole story.

Kamma(deeds) could attain the deva plane; who and how canattain it?”.

The Queen asked King Sakka to give her a Dhammatalk. King Sakka said, “Oh Princess! Life span of all beings isshort; not permenant; old age and death are imminent; eventhe most powerful king has to give up his throne and wealthultimately; relatives have to separate from each other; pleasedo not forget to do good deeds”.

The Queen said,“Oh Deva! Life span is short, miser-able and has full of sufferings; I promise, I will leave Surunadacountry and the throne; I will become a female monk all aloneand do good deeds”.

In the early morning, she left her throne and all herwealth to the ministers and became a female monk and stayedin the garden. When she died, she was reborn as Queen ofSakka.Comment:- Cherishing wife and children is a blessing.Source:- 550 Nipada, Udaya Badda Zat.

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Four causes of poverty.(1) Excessive enjoyment of pleasures.(2) Excessive drinking.(3) Indulgence in gambling.(4) Companionship with evil people.

13.TO BE ENGAGE IN WORK THAT DOES NOT HURTOR HARM ANYONE (ANAKULA CA KAMMANTA)

Work is of great importance to people. Every personmust work to earn his own living. A man who has work willhave happiness, health and success in life, as his mind will notturn towards bad thoughts and because he will be interested inhis work and is fully occupied with it.

Story 13 Theri-wa Warniza Zat.Once upon a time, in Thari-Wa country, lived an hon-

est coloured hollow glass-ball seller and a greedy colouredhollow glass-ball seller.

One day, both of them crossed Ni-wa river and reachedAritha-Pura country, to sell coloured hollow glass balls.

When they arrived at the entrance gate, they separatedfrom each other to sell in different parts of the place.

The Buddha has given us four formulas to success

The occupations that do not hurt you or others: Forexample: farming, teaching, trading, artistic works, vocationalworks, mechanical, medicine, engineering etc. .(1) Being diligent.(2) Managing with what you have.(3) Spending money with good judgment.(4) Having reliable friends and relations.

What occupations are clean and peaceful?

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At that town, there lived a grand-mother and a grand-daughter. They were descended from a rich family; but theywere poor at the moment and worked as servants. In theirhouse, there was a golden pot, used by their fore-fathers. Thepot was very dirty, as they never used and could not evenrecognised a golden pot.

The greedy coloured hollow glass-ball seller was shout-ing to sell his coloured hollow glass-balls and reached infrontof the old lady’s house. When the grand-daughter saw the sellershe asked her grand-mother to buy a coloured hollow glassball for her.

The grand-mother said “Well my grand-daughter! Howcan we buy as we are poor?”. Then the grand-daughter re-plied, “Well Grandma! We can buy it by giving this pot”.

The old lady called the seller and said “Please takethis pot and give some of your coloured hollow glass-balls toyour sister”. The greedy seller scratched the pot with a needleand knew that the pot was a golden pot. As he wanted to takethe golden pot without giving anything, he said “This pot isnot worth a penny”; so he threw down the pot to the ground.

The honest coloured hollow glass-ball seller came tothe old lady’s house.The grand-daughter asked her grand-mother to buy a coloured hollow glass-ball. The old lady said,“The previous seller had already told us that the pot is notworth a penny and threw down the pot to the ground and wentoff”.Then the grand-daughter said ,“Well Grandma! This sellerseems to be kind and good hearted, he might take the pot”.

The young girl called the seller and gave the pot andasked to give some coloured hollow glass-balls. The honestseller looked at the pot and said ,“This pot is a golden pot and

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THE HONEST COLOURED HOLLOW GLASS BALL SELLERGAVE FIVE HUNDRED RUPEES AND FIVE HUNDRED

WORTH OF PROPERTIES TO THE OLD LADY AND HERGRAND-DAUGHTER.

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The greedy coloured hollow glass-ball seller returnedto the lady and said ,“Bring that pot, I will give a few glass-balls”. The grand-daughter scold the coloured hollow glass-ball seller ,“You have said that the pot which is worth onehundred thousand rupees, is not worth half a penny; the hon-est coloured hollow glass-ball seller has taken it away already”.

and worth one hundred thousand rupees which I don’t have’’.Then the old lady said ,“Well My son! The previous colouredhollow glass-ball seller said, this pot is not worth a penny;although this pot is a golden pot, you deserve it; please takethe golden pot and give some thing for us”. The honest sellergave five hundred rupees and five hundred worth of proper-ties to the old lady and her grand-daughter. He just asked theweighing balance and eight pyas for the boat fair . He went tothe Nilawata river to cross with a boat and return home .

The greedy coloured hollow glass ball seller realizedthat he had lost one hundred thousand rupees worth of goldenpot. He was so worried and confused that he left all his prop-erty infront of the old lady’s house and chased the good sellerto the river bank with a weapon in his hand to kill him.

When he reached the river bank and saw the honestcoloured hollow glass-ball seller, with a boat in the middle ofthe river; he shouted to the boat-man to come back. The hon-est man told the boat-man not to do so and crossed to the otherside of the river.

The greedy man was so angered and regretful that hedied with vomiting of blood on the river bank.

Coment. To lead a clean occupation is Mangalar,.Source:- 550 Nipada, Theriwa-warniza Zat.

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A charitable person is loved and praised by all.

There are three kinds of motive in giving charity(1) Lower kind of motive.

A person gives charity for the sake of popularity andfame. He wants to boast others that he can afford to givecharity.

(2) Middle kind of motive.A person gives charity to be better in next existence.

He wants to be rich or born in the celestial plane. He cannever escape from rebirth, suffering and death even if hebecomes a celestial being.

(3) The highest kind of motive. A person gives charitywith no strings or ties in his mind. He desires to escapefrom the wheel of birth, and suffering and to attainNibbana. This is the best kind of motive that a personshould practice.

14 GIVING ALMS (DANANCA )

The basis of charity is goodwill to the needy. It meansalms-giving. It may be in the form of service or instruction ornecessities (money or kinds). Everyone should practice thistowards The Buddha, Pacceka Buddhas and Sanghas. Thispractice should be followed daily, however small in extent orhowever humble in nature. Charity is measured not by thequantity but by the goodwill and sacrifice offered behind it.

There are two forms of donation.(1) It may be in the form of necessity (money or other kinds)

Examples are donating monasteries, schools, hospitals,clinics, tube wells, building roads, bridges, food, medicine,etc.

(2) It may be in the form of service or instruction.Examples: Donating religious books, teaching, practicingmeditation, living according to Buddha’s teaching,undergoing monkhood.

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Many people have their own motive for giving char-ity. Some want to donate schools, monastery. Some want todonate the requirements of the monks. Some think it is betterto donate hospital, clinic, tube well, bridges, etc.

Whatever you wish to donate, there are three points toconsider.

(1) The donor must have good conduct and must donate to aperson without any craving for materials or services.

(2) The person who receives the charity must have goodconduct, concentration and wisdom. The gift must bedesired by the person at the right time.

(3) The gift must be earned lawfully by the donor and not byunlawful means.

Result of charityThose who give charity to others live happily with love

and goodwill of others. Fear and anxiety, envy and jealousy,bad intention and evil thoughts are not known to such donors.Those who give charity in good faith enter into socialgatherings fearlessly and gracefully. They will attain the highestpurity of mind, the supreme peace known as Nibbana.

The StoryMotivation of Thi-tha.Long ago there lived a poor man named Thi-tha. He

lived in a village with his wife and a daughter. One day thevillagers discussed about the donation to Sangha (monks) inturn. Thi-hta, being poor, could not donate good food. He coulddonate only the fermented bean juice.

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The daughter willingly accepted her father’s adviceand said “Yes, father! That is a good idea” Thi-tha took hisdaughter to the rich man and let her work as a servant. Heinvested her temporarily with five hundred rupees. Then hebought a milking cow and brought it to his house. He told hiswife, “ Well my beloved wife! Please get milk from the cowand donate the milk daily to the monks; I am going to anotherplace to work and make some money to get back our daugh-ter.’’ Then he went to another town to find a job. Luckily hegot a job and could make money. Within six months, he couldsave five hundred rupees. He went back to his village.

The monks did not want the fermented juice. So theythrew it away at the edge of the village. When Thi-tha knewabout it, he was very sad. He told his wife, “Our donated foodis not good, so the monks will not eat.” Then he told his daugh-ter, “Well My daughter! Please go to the rich man’s house andwork as a servant temporarily and get five hundred rupees.With that money we will buy a milking cow, and we will do-nate rice porridge with milk to the monks. That will bringbenefits.”

On his way back, he met a monk who had meditatedday and night. They came back together. They were talkingand the time was almost noon. Thi-tha asked the monk “ WellReverend Sir! Do you have lunch to eat?” The monk replied“There is no lunch for me. ’’ Thi-tha said “Reverend Sir! Pleasewait here for a while I will go and find food to donate to you.’’He met a man who was carrying a lunch box on his back. Thi-tha said “Well friend, please sell your lunch.” The man re-plied “How much are you going to pay for the lunch.” Thi-thasaid “I will give you one rupee for that.” The man said, “Ican’t sell it for this money.”

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The monk looked at Thi-tha with surprise, he wasthinking “What a good man to do such a wonderful and pre-cious donation; I must do a good deed in return for this man.”He then asked the names of Thi-tha, his wife and his daughterand the village. Thi-tha gave the information and asked themonk to come to his place when he had a chance. At the junc-tion of the road they parted their ways, Thi-tha to his villageand the monk to the capital.

Thi-tha bargained the price bit by bit. At long last, heput down five hundred rupees in front of him and begged him“Well friend! I have no more money, please sell your lunch.”In the end, the man sold his lunch box to Thi-tha for five hun-dred rupees.

Thi-tha ran to the monk and offered the lunch. Afterlunch the monk and Thi-tha started the journey together. Onthe way, the monk asked Thi-tha, how he got the lunch. Thi-tha told the monk, how he had to work six months to get backhis daughter, how he had to pay five hundred rupees for thelunch, how he was happy to offer the lunch.

When the monk reached the royal capital, he went tothe monastery of the monk who was the King’s master. Whenthe King’s master saw the monk, he knew that he was a verylearned monk and he gave him the best room in the monas-tery. The monk meditated the whole night and just before dawn,he became Arahat. At dawn he called the King’s master monkand said, “I have passed my life-span; I am going to pass awayas a person of supreme saintliness (Arahatta); if anything hap-pens regarding me, please call Thi-tha, if you ask him to doanything, it will be fulfilled”. He told the village where Thi-tha lived, the names of his wife and daughter. In late dawn, hepassed away, as a person of supreme saintliness,

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THI-THA COULD CARRY HIS MASTER’S COFFINLIKE A DRIED LEAVE.

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The King’s master monk told the King that the Arahathad passed away. The King came to the monastery with all hisministers and rich people. They made a bench like a lotusflower and tried to put the body of the Arahat on the bench.They neither could lift the body nor carry it, because it lookedlike a solid stone pillar stucked under. Then the King’s mastermonk recalled the words spoken by the Arahat before he passedaway. “If you call Thi-tha, everything will be fulfilled”. TheKing sent a messenger to summon Thi-tha. When Thi-tha ar-rived the King told him to look and see if the the monk washis master. When Thitha saw his master he cried and said,“This is my master.”

The King gave one thousand rupees to Thi-tha to carrythe body onto the bench. He could not carry it. At last whenThi-tha was given ten thousand rupees, the body moved up aslight as a dry leaf.

The King told Thi-tha to bring his wife and daughter.He gave them good food and clothing and also to take care ofthe corpse. He asked his ministers and rich people to make acoffin and pavilion. They had to give money to Thi-tha to makethe funeral procession step by step.

At the end of the funeral, Thi-tha got thirty-six millionrupees.Thi-tha became a rich man in no time.

The King built a Zetiya .(Shrine with the Monk’s relicsinside for worship.)Source:- Mangalarsura Dipani

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Five precepts are the minimum precepts that a personshould follow throughout his life:-They are:- 1. Abstinence from taking life.

2. Abstinence from taking other’s properties without knowledge or consent.

15. TO LIVE THE RIGHTEOUS LIFE ( DHAMMACARIYACA) If a person lives in a righteous way, he or she will en-joy long live, happy, and free from diseases .

How to live the righteous way?.At a tender age, children may not be able to follow the

higher teachings of The Buddha, but they should be trained atleast to show good will towards all beings, so that they mayhave no ill-feelings towards anyone.They should not encour-age quarrels among themselves but should act as peace-mak-ers. They should love all creatures, particular small and weakones and try to save them from all kinds of danger.

They should be trained to speak politely and pleas-antly to everyone.Thus they may grow up to be admired andloved by all.

3. Abstinence from unlawful sexual activities.4. Abstinence from being untruthful or telling lies.5. Abstinence from using intoxicants. (Abstinence means keeping away from)

There are ten good deeds you should follow:-1. Donating to others.2. Following the precepts.3. Meditating to calm your mind.4. Being respectful to Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha (monks),parents, teachers, elders and honorable people.

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One day, the son of the professor passed away and sentthe body to cemetery for burial. The Professor and students criedexcept Dhamma-Pala. When they came back from the cemeteryeverybody was saying “The professor’ son died although he wasyoung and had a good character.” Dhamma-Pala could notunderstand the fact so he asked his friends as follows:- “Wellfriends! Why did the young boy die , he did not deserve to dieyoung.” His friends said, “ Dhamma-Pala, don’t you knowthat every being has to die.” Then Dhamma-Pala replied,

5. Looking after the above mentioned persons.6. Giving or sharing the merits of what you have done like charity to others.7. Being happy when other people have done charitable deeds.8. Listening to Dhamma talks, and study religious literature.9. Giving lectures on Dhamma without expecting honour, fame or gifts.10. Following the Dhamma which has been laid down by the Buddha.

The Story Once King Brahmadat ruled Benares, in India. At that

time , in Kathi Province, there was a village called Dhamma-Pala. The villagers were very pious; even the servants keptprecepts, and did meditation.

In that village, there was an old Brahmin by the nameof Maha-Dhamma-Pala. He had a son, whose name wasDhamma-Pala. When the boy got older, the father sent him toa University for better education. The old man told his son,“Dear son!, you better go to the great professor and donateone thousand rupees to him and get the education.” When theboy, Dhamma-Pala arrived at the University, he donated tenthousand rupees to the professor and studied very hard so thathe become the master of five hundred students.

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“Yes, friends, I know, but in my village and in my ancestry,people don’t die young; they die only when they get very old.”

When the professor heard the conversation, he calledDhamma-Pala and said, “Is that true that young people don’tdie, they die only when they are very old in your ancestry andin your village?” Dhamma-Pala replied, “Yes sir, I am tellingthe truth.” The professor was astonished by Dhamma-Palawords so he decided to go to Dhamma-Pala’s father to inquireabout the matter. If that was true he would ask the advice fromthe father on how to live long. The professor told Dhamma-Pala,“I will go to your father for enquiry. In my absence, youbetter teach the students on behalf of me.” Then he left forDhamma-Pala’s village with an assistant. The professor putthe bones of a goat into his bag and took it to the village.

At the village, Maha Dhamma-Pala welcomed himand and gave him good food and let him stay in his house.After a brief talk, the professor told the old man “Your sonDhamma-pala is very brilliant; he has mastered eighteensubjects with honours; but he died recently with severe disease.Please accept my condolence as things are not permanent”.Theold man laughed aloud, clapping his hands.Then he said “ Myson Dhamma-Pala cannot die, somesomeone one else musthave died.” The professor took out the bones from the bagand said, “Please believe me, these bones are from your son’sbody.” The old man solemnly said,“These bones are not myson’s bone; they must be from a goat or a dog; Dhamma-Palais not dead; in our seven generations, not a single person diedat young age, you must be lying.” The people nearby alsolaughed aloud with clapping hands.

Then the professor confessed that Dhamma-Paladid not die. He just came to inquire and to know thecause of longevity. The old man said to the professor,

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MAHA DHARMA-PALA AND NEIGHBOURS WERELAUGHING AT THE PROFESSOR WHEN HE SHOW

THE BONES.

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The professor was very pleased ; paid respect to theold Brahmin and went back to his University town.

Comment:- To live the righteous life is a blessing.

Source:- 550 Nipada, Dhammapala Zat.

“We live according to the Dhamma; we donate and keep pre-cepts; we do not lie and avoid evil deeds. That is why no bodydies at young age in our family; as we do not want to opposeany one,we listen to all the people; and we only accept lec-tures given by the wise, and we comply with them; we enjoyevery moment of our donation, before, during and after ourdonation; we never regret about the donations; we treat wellthe monks, old people, travellers, poor people, even the home-less and beggars. We firmly keep our five precepts. All ourfamily as well as our servants are afraid of going to hell innext existence; we follows Dhamma diligently. Therefore wedo not die at young age. We only die at old age”.

16. HELPING OF ONE’S RELATIVES (NATAKANACA -SANGAHO)

All people are obliged to love and care for theirrelatives, providing them with clothes, food and money. Charitybegins at home, but some rich people show their poor relativesill feeling and avoid them when they visit their home. Theyhave no desire to support them in their needs. So ill feelingmay arise between them. In this way, they begin to cease tofeel and act as relatives. This is the order of the day and whatis happening in this world.

It is better to help relatives especially when they arepoor or when they are in trouble or in ill health.

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There are four ways of helping relatives.1. By giving charity to them.2. By talking kindly.3. By helping in their work or business.4. By considering them as one of your kins and treating them like one.

Story 16 Mahakapi Zat.

Once there was King Brahmadat who ruled Benares.In the Himalaya, near the Gangi river, lived a group of mon-keys ruled by King monkey who was very big and strong.Near the tip of the Gangi river, was a very tall and huge mangotree full of fruit The mango fruit were very big and tasty.

Once, a mango wrapped with leaves made by insects,fell into the river and was caught in a net where the King wasenjoying a bath in the river. After his bath, the fishermen tookout the net and found the big mango.The fishermen served themango to the King.

As the King could not distinguish the fruit, He askedthe hunters to taste it and He himself ate it. He liked the tasteof the fruit very much that, He asked the hunters what kind offruit and from where it came. The hunters replied that the fruitwas a mango and came from the Himalaya near the tip of theGangi river.

A rich man cannot stay aloof. He should take care ofhis relatives whether they are rich or poor. If he does not takecare of his relatives, he will be shunned by the relatives andwill not get help from them when he is in trouble. He shouldtake care of the relatives and live in harmony with them.

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The monkeys were very frightened when they saw thehunters with bows and arrows. They reported to their Kingmonkey about the situation. The King monkey told them thathe would give his life to save them.

He climbed the tree to the top and jumped to the otherside of the river. He fell on a bush and took a creeper, tied oneend to a tree and the other end to his waist. He jump to themango tree on the other side of the Gangi river. Unluckily hecould catch only a branch of the mango tree with both hands.He told the monkeys to run over his body and with the help ofthe creeper to the other side of the river.

The King with it’s troops travelled up to the tip of theGangi river. The hunters led the way to the mango tree; restedunder it and enjoyed the taste of the mangoes. At night theylighted burners and guarded the mango tree.

When the guards were sleeping, monkeys climbed themango tree and ate the mangoes. When the King woke up, hesaw the monkeys on the tree. He ordered the hunters to guardthe tree and not to let the monkeys from the tree.

The monkeys paid respect to their King monkey andescaped to the other side of the river. But the future Devadamonkey thought that he got the chance to destroy the Kingmonkey. He climbed to a higher branch and jumbed on thechest of the King monkey and escaped. The King monkeyhad a severe chest injury and left alone.

King Brahmadat was watching how the King mon-key was trying to save his followers at the risk of his life.In the morning, with great regards, King Brahmadat toldhis ministers to make a raft and brought the King monkeyon it. He treated the King monkey with hot fermentation tothe chest; gave a cup of cold water and rubbed the chestwith medicine. He made the King monkey lie down on thewool skin.The King sit in a lower place and said,

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THE KING MONKEY WAS HELPING HIS RELATIVES TOCROSS THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER

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They presented the King monkey’s skull to the King.The King built a Zeteyat ( a pagoda ) with the skull enshrinedin it and honoured with flowers and scents. Throughout hislife, he ruled his country according to the Dhamma given bythe King monkey. When the King died, he was reborn in acelestial plane.

“Oh King monkey! You made yourself like a bridge and letthe monkeys cross over you; how are you related to the mon-keys, and how the monkeys are related to you?”

The King monkey replied ,“Oh honourable King! I amthe King of all the monkeys; to save them, I jumped to theother side of the river, tied one end of the creeper to a tree andanother end to my waist and jumped back to this side. Unfor-tunately I could not reach the mango tree properly; so I had tohold the branches; thus all the monkeys escaped to a safe placeby stepping on my body; after all, I saved my kins; I am notsorry to meet death”.

“Oh Honourable King! I have told you this example;please treat your people for their prosperity and happiness; aKing must be wise and kind”. Thus he gave a lecture to theKing and passed away”.

The King ordered the ministers to celebrate the funeralservice of the King monkey as one of the King’s funeral. Theministers arranged a funeral service by cremating in a cem-etery.

Comment:- Helping of one’s relatives is Mangalar.

Source:- Maha-kapi Zat.

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17. IMMORAL LIVELIHOOD (ANA VAJJANI KAMMANI)Any kind of work or profession, however humble in

its nature, which is neither criminally nor morally offensive iscalled a blameless work. Even in such works , as commercialtrading, cultivating farms, service in civil departments of theState, working in business firms and factories and in one’sown profession, one should be sincere, true and honest anddo blameless action.

The Story 17Once there lived a young man in Masala village,

Maghada Province in Yarsajoo country. His name wasMagha. He was pious; observed five precepts and fondof Dana. (Donations to others.) He did good deeds andmeritorious works for the villagers.

Also there were thirty three young men living inMasala village. They were good hearted as Magha. Theyworked together for the benefit of the villagers. Theyconstructed and repaired roads for the bullock carts. They builtbridges, wells, ponds, and rest houses.

For example:(1) Building roads, bridges, ponds, tube wells, schools,

hospitals, health centers, playgrounds, shelters, waterdrinking spots.

(2) Building gardens for people to relax.(3) Doing social works for the benefit of the people and

voluntary work in time of peace or during naturaldisasters.

Because they observed precepts and were doingdonations, villagers also lived peacefully and tried to observeprecepts. The village became peaceful and prosperous. Before,Masala village was not peaceful. Villagers used to drinkalcohol and did evil deeds. Crimes and bribery were common.Now there were no crimes and became peaceful because ofgood deeds done.

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Village revenue collector under the royal grant of theKing had lost bribes because there was no crime in the village.So that man was thinking about how to eliminate Magha andhis friends. He then approached the King and told him, “Wellyour honour! Magha and his thirty three friends are destroyingthe welfare of the village.”

Without inquiring, the cruel King ordered Magha andhis thirty three friends to be killed by an elephant stamping onthem. Just before they were about to be killed by the elephant,Magha told his friends not to be frightened, or angry, and toldthem to send Metta ( loving-kindness) to the King, the elephantand the guards.

He told his friends to think about their Sila and Dana,and say solemn truth about their meritorious deed. All thefriends did what Magha advised them to do.

The King’s guards tried again and again to step onthem with the elephant but after the elephant approached them,it ran away making a loud noise. When the King heard aboutthe matter he thought the elephant might be afraid when hesaw human beings. He told his guards to cover them with matsand tried to step on by the elephant. Even then the elephantran away as before. When the King heard the news, he thought there mustbe something extraordinary. He told the ministers to bring themto his palace and asked them ,“Well country-men!, are yougoing to form as insurgents and loot the people?” They re-plied ,“Your honourable King! As we want to become celes-tial beings in next rebirth, we are repairing roads, buildingbridges; the revenue collector got angry with us when werefused his advise to do bad deeds” The King said ,“The elephant knows the gratitude ofyour people; I, as a human being, do not know it; please for-give me”.

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THE ELEPHANT REFUSED TO STEP ON MARGAAND HIS FRIENDS.

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A person with evil thoughts is like a person who keepsa viper in his pocket. As the viper can bite him anytime, hewill meet the suffering. If you want to be happy, you need toget rid of your evil thoughts as you have to remove the viperbefore being bitten.

no one will respect and help him.

18. TO ABSTAIN FROM MENTAL EVIL (ARATI PAPA)

To abstain from evil thoughts is one of the goodqualities for those who want to be prosperous in life. Peoplewho commit evil deeds physically or verbally meet povertyand suffering. It is mind which controls physical and verbalevil deeds. Only those who can guide their mind and mentalprocesses with good sense and wisdom will not meetsufferings.

The main cause of the sufferings of all beings is notfrom outside but the mental processes which take place in yourbrain. A person who has evil thoughts will not talk politely;his physical appearance is not well cultured. Nobody will lovethat kind of person,

When the King knew the truth, he removed the revenuecollector from his post and punished him for his crimes. Heappointed Magha in his place as village revenue collector. Hegave Magha the elephant as a prize. He asked Marga and hisfriends to continue their good work as before. When theypassed away Magha was reborn as Sakka (Deva King) inTavatimisa Deva plane. His friends were reborn as Deva nearSakka.

Source:- Magha Vutthu

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The advice of the Buddha, is accepted as the essence of HisTeaching:-

“Cease from evil Do good Develop your mind”

(a) The three evil deeds of the body are:-

(1) Killing(2) Stealing(3) Sexual transgression(b) The four evil deeds of speech are:-

(1) Lying

(2) Slandering: - Words which are spoken in order to create enmity between two friends or associates.

(3) Harsh speech: - crude words that no body likes to hear.

(4) Frivolous talk: - speaking untruth or idle chatter. (c) The three evils of mind are:-

(2) Planning to destroy others and their properties (3) False view

The Story Once there lived a mother who lived with her two sons

after her husband’s death. Both of the sons took care of theirmother very kindly. One day the mother got sick. They con-sulted a traditional practitioner. The physician said, “Wellboys! Your mother will get cured if she can eat rabbit meat; soall you need to do is to find rabbit meat”.

Ten Evil Deeds

(1) Planning to get other people’s properties

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THE YOUNG BROTHER RELEASED THE RABBIT.

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So the elder son told the younger brother to catch arabbit and bring its meat. The younger brother went to thenearby forest. He saw a rabbit eating leaves. When the rabbitsaw him it became afraid and ran away. The rabbit was caughtin a bush so he could not run away anymore. The youngerbrother caught the rabbit easily. The rabbit was so afraid thatits body was trembling with fear.

The young brother looked at the little rabbit with hisselfless mind and exclaimed, “All living beings are afraid ofdeath; my mother is also afraid of death; I am also afraid ofdeath; the rabbit is also in fear of death. It is not fair to kill theyoung rabbit and feed my mother to save her life.”

Ultimately he decided not to kill the young rabbit. Hereleased the young rabbit and it ran away happily.

When he came back home, the elder brother asked hisbrother, “Do you bring the rabbit?” The young brother toldthe whole event but the elder brother was not satisfied andscolded him, “You do not think about your mother’s benefit.”Then the mother said “The young son has done the right thing;there is no fault at all; killing others is not good.” The motherwas so happy and she blessed him. Then the younger brotherstated, Since I become mature, I never kill others; if thesewords are correct , my mother’s illness will get cured just assurely as a water drop cannot stick on a lotus leaf.” With thosewords, his mother’s illness got cured. Therefore abstainingfrom evil mental thoughts is a blessing.

Source:- Atthasalini Atthakahta Sakkanaupassaka Vitthu.

Comment:- To abstain from mental evil is a blessing.

“

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One day, he called all his students and said, “Wellstudents! My daughter has come of age to marry. Please bringjewelleries and clothing for her to wear without the knowledgeof your parents or relatives; I will not accept the jewellies thatyou show to your parents and relatives”.

The students went back to their homes and broughtthe best jewelleries and clothing without their parents’orrelative’s knowledge. They gave the properties to the profes-sor and he kept them systematically. Only one student did notbring anything from his home, and he could not give anythingto the professor.

Once there was King Brahmadat who ruled Benares.During that time there lived a professor who was very learnedand pious. There were five hundred students learning underthe guidance of the professor. He had a beautiful and cultureddaughter. One day he thought to himself, “I would like to findout a student who is good in morality and will give him herhand in marriage.”

The Story

19. TO ABSTAIN FROM PHYSICAL EVIL (VIRATI PAPA)To avoid evil deeds with speech and action is one of

the good qualities of those who want to have happiness andwealth.

Result of evil deedsEvil doers have no control over their senses, they com-

mit evil acts that increase the tendency to do further evil. Theylive a life of misery and pain in this life. And will go to thelower abodes when they die. Those who have control overtheir sense find themselves able to refrain from doing evil atall time. They gain happiness and peace in this life and theyhave a happy rebirth in this world after death.

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THE PROFESSOR TAUGHT THE STUDENTS NOTTO DO EVIL DEEDS.

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20. TO REFRAIN FROM INTOXICANTS. (MAJJAPANA CASANYAMO)

Intoxicants (alcoholic drinks and drugs) includealcohol, opium, morphia, cocaine, ganga, toddy juice frompalm tree, etc. These intoxicants make human’s mind confusedand unable to differentiate what is right or wrong. A drunkardcan cause accidents while driving a car. He might commitcrimes and lose his business. He may be looked down by others.His health will deteriorate gradually. He and his family willnever get along, and have a ruined life.

The professor asked the young student why he did notbring any property, he replied,“ Your Honourable Professor! Idon’t want to bring any thing without the knowledge of anyone;there is no place for bad deeds; that is why I do not bringanything”.

The professor liked the student very much. Theprofessor said ,“I just wanted to find out whether my studentsknow the bad deeds and if they know, they can or cannot avoidit; you are the one who know there is no place for doing baddeeds and can avoid it; you deserve my daughter for marriage.”He praised him and arranged the marriage ceremony.

To the rest of the students he preached not to do evildeeds. He gave back their properties respectively and told themto send back to their homes.Source : 550 Nipada Silavimansana Zat.

Comment:- To abstain from physical evils is a blessing.

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The habit of taking intoxicants is the most dangerousin the world. Quarrelling, fighting and disputing may result.Under the influence of an intoxicant, he forgets to do goodthings and is induced to do wrong to his parents, teachers,elders. holy persons, etc.

To refrain from intoxicants is one of the blessings.

The Story

Long long ago, King Brahmadat ruled Benares inIndia.There was a multi-millionaire. He did good deeds andwhen he died , he was reborn as Sakka, King of Devas.

The millionaire had only one son who inherited all theproperties. He was foolish and could not manage well and hewasted all the money. He built a big pavilion and wasted allthe money with his friends by drinks, food, dancers and women.Within a few years, he became very poor and penniless.

His father, King Sakka visualized about his son andfound out everything. He came down to earth to see his sonwho was now very poor. He gave him a wishing pot andsaid,“Well son! This is a wishing pot; you can wish anything;take care of this wishing pot and do not break it. I cannot giveyou anymore.” Then he returned to the celestial plane.

The son was very happy because whatever he wishedfor, appeared inside the wishing pot. He used the things thatappeared in the pot. Soon after, he wished for alcohol anddrank as before. He did not care about what his father warnedhim about the wishing pot. He threw the wishing pot up andcaught again. At one time he could not catch the pot and it fellonto the ground and broke.

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THE SON WISHED FOR ALCOHOL AND GOTDRUNK.

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From that time on, the rich man’s son became verypoor again and his father could not help him anymore. Hebecame a beggar and died homelessComment:-To refraim from intoxicants is a blessing.Source:- 550 Nipada, Sura-ga-te Zat.

21. TO PRACTICE DHAMMA DELIGENTLY(APPAMADU CA DHAMMESU)

For example, a man is not a smoker initially. But whenhe develops a habit to smoke after lunch and dinner, he wantsto smoke at these times. Likewise habits can be formed forgood and meritorious deeds.

A habitual smoker will get diseases like chronicbronchitis, lung cancer, heart disease, etc. But the person whois habitually meritorious will get peace and insight to beprosperous. If you have insight and effort but lack in action,you will not be successful. Therefore to have good action, youneed to do charity, have morality and meditation (mentaltraining). To fulfill all these three things, you need mindfulness.Mindfulness is very important after all.

If you have mindfulness in doing all the meritoriousdeeds you will reach a state of peace and prosperity ultimately.

To be mindful in good deeds is one of the good qualitiesof a person. He will be always peaceful and prosperous.

Snakes and insects are always happy in dust andbushes. Like-wise, human mind is also happy in confusedsensations. It is difficult to have thoughts in good andmeritorious deeds.

To have meritorious deeds, you have to form a habitof doing good deeds everyday. If you have the will to do this,you will form a habit. When you have a habit, you will cometo do the work at that time regularly.

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Story 21:- Eku-dana Monk

Eku-dana Maha-thera (Senior Monk) was living allalone in a forest. He used to speak the following verse.

There will be no ill will, hatred, anger to an Arahatwho is not joyous experiencing fame, praise or well being,nor disheartened in the face of death, disfavour or suffering. He is always mindful and free from the following men-tal states.

On sabbath day he used to encourage all living beingsto listen to Dhamma talk and spoke the above verse as usual.The Devas who are living in the forest exclaimed Sadhu!Sadhu! Sadhu!( “Well done!”, “Well done!”, “Well done!”).The voices were so loud that they could be heard throughoutthe whole forest.

One sabbath day, two most learned monks, each withfive hundred followers visited Eku-dana. The two leaders hadlearned Ti-Pitaka(Teachings of The Buddha) by heart.

Ekudana was very happy and said, “Welcome yourVenerable Sayardaws,!, we would like to listen your Dhammateachings.”

The visiting monks asked “ Is there any body who

(1) lobha(2) dorsa(3) moha(4) mana conceit(5) dithi wrong belief(6) vicikisa(7) thina lethergy(8) udica(9) ahirika(10)anotapa

greedhatreddelution

doubt

distractionshameless in doing evilhaving no fear of moral constraint

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BUDDHA HONOURED THE MONK WHO KNEWTHE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS PRACTICALLY

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would like to listen the Dhamma talk?”. Eku-dana replied,“There are Devas who listen to Dhamma talk and they willhappily exclaim Sadhu! with loud voices”. One of the learned monks gave a Dhamma talk. Not asingle Deva said Sadhu. Then the monks argued, “ You told usthat the Devas would exclaim Sadhu after the Dhamma talk;but we cannot hear any voice; why is that?”.

Eku-dana replied, “On other sabbath days Devas usedto exclaim Sadhu, but I could not understand why they do notexclaim on this day?”.

The monks told Eku-dana to give a Dhamma talk. Eku-dana gave a Dhamma teachings and spoke out the usual verse.Devas exclaimed “Sadhu!, Sadhu!, Sadhu!.”

Then the followers of the learned monks said, “Devaswere not fair and they did not say Sadhu. The learned monkhas given a long course of Dhamma. Not a single Deva hasappreciated and honoured it; they exclaimed Sadhu to a shortverse given by an old monk who became a monk at old age”.

When the monks arrived at the monastery, they putforward the matter to The Buddha, who gave the followingcomment.

“Well my sons! Even though a person has learned thewhole Dhamma and give lectures on it, you cannot regardhim as a missionary”.

“ A person who just learnt a short verse and appliedand practiced deligently to know the Four Noble Truth and isalways mindful, is regarded as a missionary”. At the end of exposition of The Buddha, many beingsattained Sotapanna (stream-winners).Comment:- Mindfulness is most important.Source:- Dhamma-Pada , Ekudana Mahathera Vitthu.

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1. By listening to their teaching and advice.

2. By giving your seats to older persons when travellingin trains, cars, boats, etc.

3 Presenting food and other requirements to older persons

1. You will get love, advice and religious teachings.

2. You will be honoured and respected by your superiors.

22. PAYING RESPECT AND HONOUR TO ELDERS ANDSUPERIORS. (GARAVO CA)

There are many ways of respect that should be shownto a person who is worthy of it. It is a great value to a man inhis social life. So everyone should show respect to othersdeserving of respect.

(1) At home: - parents, guardians, teachers, uncles, aunts,older brothers and sisters are respectable persons.

(2) In office: - those who are higher in position than you.

(3) In religious life: - Buddha, Dhamma, and Sanghas(monks) for a Buddhist; clergyman and religiousteachers for other religions.

Who are the one to be respected?.

How to show your respects:-

What you can expect by paying respect to such person?

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3. You will be promoted to a better position in your job.

Once there lived in Himalaya, a partridge, a monkeyand an elephant near a big banyan tree. As they had differentnature , they did not know how to respect each other.

One day they discussed among themselves. “We shouldnot live as we are doing now. We do not respect one another.We should pay respect and take advice from the older person.”At last they all agreed to find out who was the oldest amongthem.

The story

The partridge and the monkey asked the elephant.“Well friend! When did you notice this banyan tree?” Theelephant answered, “Well friends! When I was young, I usedto walk over this banyan tree. The top of the tree is as tall asmy umbilicus.

Then the elephant and partridge asked the monkey.“Well friend! When did you notice the banyan tree?” Themonkey answered. “Well friends!, When I was young, I usedto sit and eat the buds of the tree.”

Then they asked the partridge. The partridge answered,“Well friends! There was no banyan tree in this place. I atebanyan fruits from other place and passed motion in this area.From the contents of motion , this banyan tree grews up.”

Then the elephant and the monkey told the partridge,“You are older than us and have more experience; thereforeyou have more knowledge; we should give respect to you.From today onwards, we will obey you, and treat you well;please give advice and we will follow.”

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AT LAST THEY ALL AGREED TO FIND OUT WHOWAS THE OLDEST AMONG THEM.

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The partridge accepted their words. He gave advice tothem and also asked to do good deeds every day He himselfstood as a respectable person to his friends. Thus there washarmony in their living. They stayed in peace and lived to oldage happily.

Paying respect to a respectable person is a blessing.

Source :- 550 Nipada Tilhara Zat.

23. TO BE HUMBLE (NIVATO CA)

Men are generally creatures of pride which is theopposite of being humble. It seems natural for men not to wantto be of humble position.

Many people when they become highly educated orwhen they become very rich in worldly properties, they becomevery proud.

What are the causes of pride?

(1) They take pride when their relatives are ofhigher class.

(2) They take pride when they are successful inmaterial things.

(3) They take pride because of beauty.

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Instead of being pride you should be humble to manypeople. We should be humble in many places, in school, athome, in office etc. People love humble people and give helpto him. That is why Buddha said humbleness is a blessing andshould be practiced by all persons.

(4) The take pride when they have many followersor servants.

(5) They take pride when they attain highereducation.

(6) They take pride when they possess higherpositions.

(7) They take pride when they can do manymeritorious deeds.

The Story 23

Once in Baw-ga Country, there lived King Nana-Yarzawho was very brilliant. There were many wise men andministers in his court. That is why the country became veryprominent among others.

The King had two sons, the elder known as Bala andthe younger one known as Thaw-ma. The elder son Bala wasvery proud and he treated the ministers and countrymen withpride. Therefore the ministers and the countrymen didn’t likehim. The younger son Thawma was different. He had a goodheart and was not proud like his brother. He was humble tothe ministers and countrymen, so they all loved him.

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One day Bala went to the royal ceremony on horsebackwearing good clothes. While he was riding, he saw an old manwalking in front of him. The old man was carrying a bag andwas travelling to a distant place.

The old man replied, “Well son! with all the goodclothes that you are wearing, and going to the royal ceremony,you won’t look nice walking instead of riding a horse.” Thawmasaid, “Don’t worry about me; I can travel on foot. Please takemy horse as you have pain in your legs”

Then Thawma mounted the old man onto the horse’sback. The old man took out a book of doctrines from his bagand gave it to him. Then he said, “Well son! you are very kind;I will give this book of doctrines as a gift for your kindness;no one has ever possessed such a book; it contains excellentlessons; please read from beginning to end; you will find allthe information you need in this book.”

Since he didn’t notice Bala riding behind him, he didnot move out of his way. Bala was so angry that he struck himdown with his horse. The old man fell down on the side of theroad. Thawma was riding at the back of Bala and saw theincident. Thawma jumped down from the horse and carriedthe old man onto the side of the road. He asked the old man.“Well old man!, are you hurt anywhere?” The old man replied,“Well son!, there is slight pain in the legs.” Thawma said, “Inthat case please ride on my horse; I will give you my horse.”

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THAWMA JUMP DOWN FROM THE HORSE AND OFFERED HIS HORSE TO THE OLD MAN

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Thawma received the book of doctrine happily. Theold man went off on the horse. Thawma humbly went to theroyal ceremony walking. All the princes and ministers cameto the royal ceremony riding horses or in royal carriages. Theministers were surprised to see Thawma come walking to theroyal ceremony.

After six months, a royal mission from a neighbouringcountry paid visit to the King and said, “Well Your honour!,we heard that you are very wise and you also have many wiseministers; our King, consulted by his ministers wants to askthree questions to test your county’s learning”.

They offered three questions written on a gold plate tothe King.

The King and his ministers tried to find the answers butthey could not find them immediately. So they told the royalmission that they would give the answers within three days.The King and the ministers were in difficulty. They were afraidthat the neighbouring country would look down upon them ifthey could not give the answers in time.

The elder son, Bala said he would capture the royal missionand killed them because they came to ask difficult questions. TheKing didn’t agree with his idea but Bala didn’t give up. So inthe end the King had to deport him from the country

They were:

(1)What is the bird whose wings and tail are made of

(2) What is the bird whose wings and tail are made offlesh?

(3) What is the bird whose wings and tail are madeof feathers?

bones?

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When he gave those answers the Royal mission said,“Those are the correct answers.” They praised Thawma andgave him many gifts. The King, ministers and countrymenwere proud of Thawma and appointed him as the Crown Prince.

Source:- Mingalarsara Dipani

Then the young son Thawma approached his father andsaid that he could answer the three questions. Thawma said,“Well Father!, don’t worry; after I have studied the book ofdoctrines given by the poor old man, I can answer the threequestions very well.” He told his father the story of how hemet the old man and got the doctrines from him. The King andthe ministers were very pleased with what he said.

Then the day came for the answers. They prepared toperform a ceremony. The King, Queen, Royal family, ministersand Royal mission attended the ceremony. The younger son,Thawma, sat bravely in front of the audience and answeredthe three questions.

(1) The bird whose wings and tail are made of bones is abeetle.

(2) The bird whose wings and tail are made of flesh is aflying squirrel.

(3)The bird whose wings and tail are made of feathers is apeacock.

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24. TO BE CONTENT (SAMTUTTI CA)

Contentment means satisfaction with what one has, orto be without craving. He does not crave for that which cannotbe obtained with ease. There is little difference between richesand poverty to a man contented with life.

A person who is contented is the one who is satisfiedwith what he or she has for food, clothing and place to livewithout wishing for anything else.

He lives on simple food, simple clothes, and in a simpleplace. He does not crave for luxurious things and he is satisfiedwith what he earned. That is why Buddha said, “Those whoare not satisfied with what they have, become the servants ofcraving.

Some think that contentment is the same as selfishnessand laziness. In fact contentment is the satisfaction of a personwho earns his living rightfully with intelligence and eagerness.

A selfish person is the one who is stingy to himself aswell as to others. A lazy person is the one who does not workdiligently but wastes his time by visiting friends and otherplaces.

After all, contentment is one of the blessings theBuddha taught. Therefore if you want to be stable and not todeteriorate in your personal life, you should be contented withwhat you have. There is no short cut to be rich by greediness.Try to live within the law and be contented with your life.

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The Story

On the way, they had to cross a barren land. In thecenter of the barren land they found a banyan tree where theymade a camp to take a rest. The banyan tree looked veryhealthy with green branches. They dug the well as they wantedwater. Unexpectedly they found copper. As they continueddigging deeper and deeper they found silver, gold, pearls andrubies.

Although they got all these jewelleries, they were notsatisfied. With greed they continued digging and diggingexpecting to get more jewels. Some-time later the leader said,“Well friends! please be satisfied; don’t go on digging.”

The traders were not satisfied and they didn’t obey theleader and continued digging. The old well was not an ordinarywell. It was the place where the King dragon lived. The tradersdug the well so deep that they destroyed the dragon’s cave.The King dragon was so angry that he blew poisonous gasfrom his nose.

Once upon a time, in Benares, traders used to carrytheir goods from one place to another in bullock carts. Theleader of the bullock carts trail was a wise and contented man.One day the leader and the traders loaded five hundred bullockcarts with goods and left Benares to go to another place.

All the traders except the leader were killed. Later theKing dragon transformed into a human being and came out ofthe well. He didn’t harm the leader. He put all the jewelleriesonto a cart and accompanied the leader and brought all theproperties to his home. Then the King dragon went back to hisdragon country.

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THE KING DRAGON WAS SO ANGRY THAT HEBLEW POISONOUS GAS FROM HIS NOSE.

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Children in return should take good care of their parentswhen they are sick and getting old. Buddha and Sangha(Disciples of Buddha) are persons to be grateful to. They teachDhamma (Teachings of Buddha). In schools, teachers are theone who give us learning. Because of them we become goodcitizens.

25 GRATITUDE (KATINNUTA)Gratitute means the awareness of one’s duty to another

person who has previously done some act of kindness towardsone. In this world, people who are always ready to help arerarely found; but rarer still are those who remember and aregrateful to those who have help them.

Source:- 550 Nipada Jarrudapana Zat.

The leader donated all the jewelleries to the people. Hewas contented and kept the precepts. When he died he was rebornin celestial plane.

Parents are the first persons who care for their childrenin many ways. They treat their children by giving birth,clothing, food and taking care of them when they are sick.They give advice to their children on how to live in childhoodand later life.

You must be grateful to others who have donesomething for your benefit. Gratitude means appreciation offavors from people who have acted for your benefit with whatthey have, such as giving properties, teaching or looking afteryou when you are in trouble.

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That is why Buddha taught that to know one’s gratitude isone of the blessings.

The StoryOnce in Benares, there lived a King who was kind

hearted. He ruled the country with good intention, kept preceptsand gave donation to the monks and people. One dayinsurrection arose in the far frontier. The King and the armywent out to the place to fight and bring peace. Unfortunaly heand his army were defeated

The King was separated from others and arrived in asmall village. The villagers saw a tired man on a horse. Theydid not remember him as their King. They were frightenedand ran away and stayed quiet in their homes. But there was aman who was brave and good hearted. He welcomed the Kingand said, “Well friend! we heard that our King came to fightthe insurgents; are you one of the King’s servants?”.

We should never forget the help of many other whogive us shelter, food and advice. If a person is not grateful tothe above persons,we have to repay in suffering in many ways.

The King replied, “Yes, I am one of the King’s ser-vants; I lost my way; can I stay 4-5 days for a rest?”.The manaccepted the request and brought the King to his home. Heasked his wife to wash the King’s feet and to look after himvery nicely.

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He gave the King good food and a bed to sleep. Hesaid, “Please stay here and take a rest; I will take care of youin all respects.” The King slept and the man washed the King’shorse, rubbed with oil and fed him with grass. Thus, he treatedthe King as an ordinary King’s servant. After 3-4 days, theKing prepared to leave the village. Before the King left, heinvited the man to visit the royal city. “Well friend!, I am knownas the superior horse rider; my home is in the middle of thetown; please tell the guard of the southern city gate to bringyou to the house of the superior horse rider; he will send youto that place; please go back now”.

After he left the village, he rejoined his troops. TheKing and his troop returned to the royal city with victory. Whenthey arrived at the royal city, the King told the guard of citygate, “A villager will come; he will ask you to take him to thesuperior horse rider’s house. Then you should bring him tome. I will give you one thousand rupees.”

After that the King waited for the villager but he didnot show up. Then the King had an idea. He ordered to collecttax on the village where the villager lived. Even then thevillager did not show up. Then the King ordered to submit thetax to the villagers two to three times. At that time all thevillagers made a meeting and approached the villager sayingthat, “Well friend! we have to pay more taxes after your friend,superior horse rider came to our village; now we are gettingpoor because of the taxes, please be kind enough to go to thesuperior horse rider and tell him to arrange for a free tax.

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Since the good villager could not refuse their request,he went to the royal city. He brought some clothing and foodas present for his friend and family. When he reached the citygate he told the guard to take him to the superior horse rider’shouse . The guard took him happily to the King. Only then, heknew that his friend, the superior horse rider was not anordinary man, but the King himself.

The King was very pleased to receive the villager. TheKing requested the villager to sit on a royal bench and orderedthe Queen to wash the villager’s feet. The King himself pouredwater with a golden pot to the villager’s feet and then rubbedthem with scented oil.

The King asked the villager whether he brought anyfood as a present for him.The villager presented a cake to theKing. To honour his guest he received the cake with the goldenplate and feed the Queen and his ministers. The King alsoenjoyed the cake. The villager then presented beautiful dressesto the King’s family.The King and the Queen put on the dressesbrought by the villager.

Then the King ordered one of the ministers to dressthe villager as a King. The minister did what the King orderedhim. The King announced the country that, from the time on-wards there would be two Kings to rule the country. The Kingbrought the villger’s family to the town and built a house. Thetwo familes became closer and the two Kings ruled the coun-try. He ordered to make the village tax-free.

The ministers were not pleased with what the Kinghad done.The ministers requested the crown-prince to ask theKing why He gave the villager half of the country.

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A BRAVE AND GOOD VILLAGER WELCOMED THEKING AND TOOK HIM TO HIS HOUSE.

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What benefits you will gain by hearing Buddha’steachings.

(1) The Dhamma will protect the people from externaland internal dangers.

(2) It may remove certain doubts that may possibly arisein man’s mind.

(3) It enlightens the mind with spiritual wisdom andinsight.

(4) It will give peace and happiness developing pure faithin the power of Dhamma.

(5) You will come to know the truth.

.

The crown-prince told the King what the ministers hadtold him and not to do what He had done. Then the King nar-rated the whole story. “When I was defeated in the war, thisvillager took care of me. Because of him I won the battle again;why should I not give my properties to the one who has donegood deeds for me”.

“Well my son!, it is dangerous and lost friendship ifyou don’t give your properties to a person who deserved itand if you give your properties to a person who does not de-served it”.

The Prince and the ministers could not say anythingwhen they heard what the King had said.

Source:- 550 Nipada, Maha Asaraha Zat.

26. TO LISTEN TO DHAMMA AT APPROPRIATE TIMES(KALENA DHMMASAVANAM)

The Dhamma is the teachings of Buddha. The teachingsof Buddha are based on reasons and analysis. It is not a beliefbut a teaching which should be accepted and lived by.

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KALA WAS SO ABSORBED IN THE BUDDHA’STEACHING THAT HE BECAME SOTAPANA

(STREAM-WINNER)

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During Buddha’s life time, many persons includinghuman and celestial beings attained Nibbana. He has left 5000years of Sasana (Buddha’s teachings) during which time manybeings can attain Nibbana.

That is why we should listen to Buddha’s teachingsand take the opportunity of learning his doctrine. At the sametime we should go to meditation centers or to a quiet placeand practice meditation under the guidance of a good teacher.Hearing Buddha’s teachings is one of the blessings.

The StoryDuring Buddha’s life time, there lived a rich man by

the name of Anathapindika who was the donor of the greatmonastery to the Buddha. He had a son named Kala. Kalanever gave respect to Buddha and never listened to his teach-ings. The rich man was not happy with his son.

One day, the rich man told his son “Well son! if youkeep eight precepts and listen to Buddha’s Dhamma, I willgive you one hundred rupees.” As he wanted the money, hewent to the monastery and kept the eight precepts but did notlisten to Dhamma.

He went to one corner and slept there and came backin the morning. He did not eat his breakfast unless he got hismoney. Next time the father said to his son, “Well son! youbetter stay in front of Buddha and try to memorize oneparagraph of Dhamma; I will give you one thousand rupeesthis time.” Then he went to the monastery thinking he wouldrun away after he got one paragraph of Dhamma. As he listenedto Dhamma, he was so absorbed in the Buddha’s teachingsthat he became Sotapanna (Stream winner.)

That is why hearing Buddha’s teachings is one of the blessings

.

Source:- Buddhavin.

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Everybody will face some kind of difficulties in busi-ness, married life, human relationship and even in religiousaffairs. During these times we should keep our mind calm andstable to solve these problems. Then only we will reach ourgoal at long last.

Therefore patience is one of the blessings.

Patience is another virtue taught by Buddha. In his lifetime, he had shown his patience to many oppositions. In thisway he had won many difficulties. For a layman, even at theearly stage of life, we have to be patient during our studies.There are many difficulties during our school days. We finallygain our professional degrees or diplomas by showing ourpatience. Also in our jobs, we used to face with difficult prob-lems and also meet many odd personals. With patience, wegain our jobs and get success.

During meditation we can find a lot of sufferings butwith great patience we gain ultimate goal. There is a saying inMyanmar “Only with patience we gain Nibbana.” (Ultimateend of suffering.)

.

27 TO BE PATIENT (KANTICA)

Story 27Long ago, King Kalabu ruled Benares. At that time,

there was a multi-milionaire, who had a son, named Kondala.He earned a lot of properties. When the parents died , he lookedat the properties and said ,“My relatives have not taken theproperties; I will donate all the properties and take my gooddeeds”. After his donation he went to Himalayas and lived asa hermit.

One day, the hermit went to Benares and stayed for awhile in the King’s garden. On the next day, he went to thetown for collecting alms and stood in front of the General’s

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“Oh Honourable King!, I have the concept of patience”The King asked the hermit ,“What is patience?”.The hermitreplied ,“Oh Honourable King!, a person with patience willnot get angry when he is abused or hurt physically by anotherperson”. As the King wanted to know whether the hermit hadthe patience or not, he ordered the professional killer to tiedown the hermit and beat him two thousand strokes with acane that contained spikes. The professional killer did as theKing ordered him. The skin of the hermit got torn and bledfrom the wounds.

The King asked the hermit again ,“Oh hermit!, whatconcept you have?”.The hermit replied, “Oh HonourableKing!, you think my patience lay in my skin; you cannot seemy patience; because it lies in my mind”..

house. When the General saw the hermit, he was very muchimpressed by the hermit’s personality that he invited the her-mit to enter his house and fed him with food which was pre-pared for him.Then he requested the hermit to stay in the King’sgarden.

At that time, King Kalabu went to the royal gardenwith all the dancers. He laid down in the bosom of his belovedlady and enjoyed the dancing. He felt asleep within a shorttime. While the King was sleeping, all the dancers went insidethe garden to see the sceen. They met the hermit under thesala tree and asked for the Dhamma talk. The hermit gave aDhamma teaching to them.

At that time, the lady woke the King. The King askedfor the dancers and noticed that they went to the hermit andwere listening the Dhamma talk. The King became very wildand went to the hermit with a big dagger in his hand trying tokill him. The rest of the women consoled him not to get angry.

When the King saw the hermit, he asked the hermitwhat kind of concept the hermit practiced. The hermit replied,

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KING KALABU WAS TRYING TO KILL THE HER-MIT

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Then the King ordered the professional killer to cutboth the hermit’s hands and legs; bleeding came out from thecut ends. The King asked the hermit again, “What conceptyou have?”. The hermit replied ,“Oh Honourable King!, I havethe concept of patience”. Then the King ordered the profes-sional killer to cut the hermit’s ears and nose; bleeding cameout from all the wounds. Then the King asked the hermit again,“What kind of concept you have?”. The hermit replied ,“OhHonourable King!, I have the concept of patience”. Then theKing told the hermit “ You better think of the concept of pa-tience”. The King kicked the chest of the hermit with greatforce and left.

When the King was away, the General cleaned all thewounds and kept all the limbs and the nose in a bag. He proppedup the hermit in a sitting position. The General requested thehermit ,“Oh Vernerable Sir! , please get angry to the King; butplease save the country”. The hermit replied “Oh My Gen-eral!, the King has already cut my limbs and nose; I prayedthe King live for many years; a wise-man like me does not getangry”.

When the King arrived at the gate of the Royal gar-den, the great earth opened up and the fire from Apaya (Hell)wrapped the King and took him to Hell.

The hermit expired in the garden. All the countrymencremated the hermit with scents and flowers

Thus The Buddha said “To be patient is a blessing”.

Source:- Nipada- Khati Wardi Zat.

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Obedience means to accept good advice given by oth-ers with love and good faith. We need good advice to improveour way of life. We should not hesitate to take good advicegiven in good faith and with good intention by parents, teach-ers and friends who are superior in age, intellect or character.Some people are very stubborn. They do not want to listen tothe advice given by teachers during our school days.

Therefore they suffer needlessly in life. In many cases,we need to take other people’s good opinion from the earlylife. We must know how to behave in community.

One should not hesitate to follow resonable instruc-tions which are given in good faith and with good intention,by those who are superior in age, intellect and character.

28 OBEDIENCE(SOVACASSATA)

The storyOnce upon a time, King Bramadat ruled Benares. His

country was big, properous and strong in military might.Kosala country was ruled by King Digitti. Kosala country wassmall; the army was not strong and not properous. KingBramadat invaded Kosala. As his army was not strong enoughto fight back, King Digitti ran away with his Queen. At theoutskirts of the country they disguised as ordinary people andlived in a potter’s house.

Since King Digitti and the Queen ran away,KingBramadat took over the country including the army and wealthof the Kosala country.

sssISoon the Queen got pregnant and gave birth to a sonwho was named Prince Digarvu. King Digitti was ponderingas such “King Bramadat might find us living here althoughdisguised. If he kills us, our son will also be killed. So he senthis son to a safer place for better education.” To his expectation,King Bramadat found them although they were disguised.Immediatelythey were caught and sent to a place where peoplewere executed.

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When the King heard his music he was so pleased thathe brought the Prince to his side to play the harp. PrinceDigarwu did all his work efficiently. The King was so pleasedthat he appointed him as his personal assistance.

One day the King asked Prince Digarvu to drive hisroyal carriage and went to his deer garden. Then the Princepersuaded the King and took him to a place where there wereno King’s guards.

The King said, “I am tired and want to sleep.” Hestepped down from the carriage and went to sleep under atree; He put his head on the Prince’ lap and went to sleep.

After finishing his education, Prince Digarvu cameback to the village to see his parents. On the way he found hisparents being brought for execution. All the people werelooking at the King and Queen, Prince Digarvu could not doanything but look at them as they passed by.

When the King Digitti saw his son among the people,he spoke out an advice . “Retaliation to enmity will not bringpeace; only without retaliation can there be peace.” At thattime people said, “The King has gone mad; He is just rattlingout of confusion.” The King replied, “Well folks, I am notmad and rattling with confusion; only the wise person willunderstand it”.

When they arrived at the place of execution, both theKing and the Queen were killed. Prince Digarvu gave alcoholto the guards until they were totally drunk. Then he crematedboth parents. He was so sad that he cried to the utmost. Thenhe wiped his tears and went to work as an assistant to KingBramadat elephant’s trainer. Every morning he sang a songwhile playing his harp.

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THE PRINCE TOOK OUT THE DAGGER TO KILLTHE KING.

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When the King was fast asleep, the Prince thought,“Now I have got a chance to kill the person who took over mycountry, my wealth and executed my parents.” He took out along dagger from the case. Then he remembered the wordsspoken by his father on the way to the execution place. So heput back the dagger into the case without killing the King. Hetried to kill the King three times but he could not do it. Heremembered his father’s words, so he put back dagger into thecase.

When the King woke up, the King was muchfrightened. The Prince asked the King what made himfrightened.The King answered that, “I dreamed that KingDigitti’s son Digarvu had killed me with a sword , that is whyI was so frightened” Then the Prince pulled the King’s hairwith his left hand and held the dagger with his right hand andsaid, “ I am King Digitti’s son, Prince Digarvu; you havetaken our country and our wealth and have killed my parents;now it is the time for my revenge; can you escape from myhand?”. The King replied “There is no chance of escape fromyour hand”. The Prince said, “Well King!, I have listened tothe advice of my father; retaliation will not bring peace toenimity, without retaliation can only bring peace, I will nottake revenge; if you want to retaliate, you can kill me.” Hegave the dagger to the King.

The King replied, “Well Prince!, I am not going toretaliate any more.” So he brought the Prince to the palace.The King gave his daughter’s hand in marriage to the Prince.He returned Kosala country and palace to the Prince. Fromthat time onwards, there was peace between the two kingdoms.

Source:- 550 Nipada, Digitti Kosala Zat.

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Holy persons are the ones who are meditating to getrid of greed, hatred, ignorance, pride and wrong beliefs. Bud-dha had said that if a person goes and see those holy personsor monks, he will gain many benefits.

As soon as you see the pious monk, your pride will goaway. Monks have given up defilements to a certain stage, sotheir mind is clear and calm. Their faces show stability andpeace. If you see them your mind also becomes calm and peace-ful. They can give you good advice and teaching especiallywhen you are sad and depressed. That is why you should goand see the holy persons.

29 TO SEE HOLY PERSONS( SAMANANACA ANAM)

How to see them?

There are two types of monks. Some live in villagesand towns; they learn the holy scriptures and teach and preachto the young monks and lay people.

Some monks live apart from the people in certain deepforests; they lead a life of simplicity, purity, and holiness.

(1) By visiting the monks in their dwellings or monasteries.(2) By inviting the monks to your home, giving alms and

offering good food. At the same time the monk will giveback good advice.

What benefits you will gain?.

The Story (Meritorious deeds of a clever dog)Once there was an outbreak of infectious disease in

Alamkarpa Province. The disease spread from one person toanother, one house to another, one village to another and thenfrom one town to another. Many people died of the disease. Atthat time a man vacated with his wife and son to anotherprovince. They crossed a barren land. They met a lot ofdifficulties on the way. Ultimately they crossed the barren land.In the evening they reached a little hut owned by a cowhand.

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porridge. The wife ate only sufficient amount although shewas very hungry. The man ate quite a big amount without anyconsideration. He died on that night because of indigestion.Before his death, he was so attached to the little hut. Becauseof this attachment, he was reborn as a male dog. The cowhandloved the little dog so much that he fed him nicely and tookalong with him wherever he went.

One day a Silent Buddha came to the front door forcollecting salms. The cowhand offered alms to the SilentBuddha. He became so pious that he requested the SilentBuddha to stay in a nearby place during the three months ofBuddhist Lent time. He promised him that he would take theresponsibility of offering alms for three months. The SilentBuddha accepted his offer and stayed in a nearby forest.

Whenever the cowhand went to the Silent Buddha, heused to take his little dog with him. While travelling, he usedto strike the trees and bushes so that the wild animals wouldrun away. The little dog tried to remember what his masterdid.

On that day people in the little hut were cooking ricewith pure milk. So they offered food to the three persons. Asthe three were very hungry, they fed them a pot-full of rice

One day the cowhand requested the Silent Buddha,“Reverend Sir! supposing I am not free, I will send my littledog to you. When the little dog arrives at your door, please bekind enough to come to my house to receive my alms.” Whenhe was not free on the day, he told the clever little dog, “Wellson! please go to the Silent Buddha and bring him here foralms.” The clever little dog then went to the Silent Buddhaand laid down his head near the feet of the Silent Buddha.

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THE COWHAND TOOK AWAY THE DOGWHEREVER HE WENT.

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When the Silent Buddha saw the clever little dog, heknew that he came to fetch him; he went to the little hut toreceive alms. Just to test the intelligence of the little dog, theSilent Buddha went the wrong way. At that time, the littledog blocked the way of the Silent Buddha; only when He chosethe right path, the little dog removed his blockage. When thelittle dog reached a place where his master used to strike thetrees and bushes, he started barking with a loud noise. Becauseof the loud noise of the dog the wild animals ran away.

After the three month of lent, the cowhand offered ayellow robe to SilentBuddha and said, “Reverend Sir!, if youwant to stay in this place, we are willing to offer alms as before;but if you would like to go to another place, that is your wish.”The Silent Buddha said that he would like to go to anotherplace. The cowhand accompanied the Silemt Buddha half ofthe way and returned to his little hut. But the clever little dogknew that the Silent Buddha was gone for good; he was so sadthat he died with great sorrow. Because he took care of theSilent Buddha and did meritorious deeds he was reborn in aceletial plane as a deva.

The deva has a clear and influential voice because ofall the meritorious deeds which included taking care of theSilent Buddha by barking loudly to frighten away the wildanimals. When he talked with other devas his voice coveredthe whole celestial plane. Therefore he was called GawsakaDeva. To see holy people is one of the blessings.

Source:- Gosaka Sethi (Maha Buddhavin)

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30. DISCUSSING DHAMMA AT APPROPRAIT TIMES(KALENA DHAMMA SAKACCHA)

Discussing good matters is one of the highest blessings.The people sometimes put forward certain problems beforelearned members.With the result that some solutions are foundand dificulties are usually solved.

The story of different religion is of great importanceto the progress of human race as a whole. By discussing thempeople may find the truth about cause and effect of anythingthat occurs in the world. Why some are born rich and someare poor. Some are ugly and some are pretty. Some are fortunateand brilliant and some are dull and stupid. We should discussanything which we don’t understand with learned people andreligious people. There should not be any doubt in our mind.We should discuss Nibbana, the real peace of mind and howto attain it. We should discuss about meditation methods andits benefits.

Today the world is in trouble. Why are these conflictsoccurring in different parts of the world? We should find outthe cause and ways of ending all these small wars. What arethe solutions? Will these end if one nation or groups of peoplefight each other? Retaliation will not solve the problem. Weshould bring ways and means on these matters and cometogether at the world peace table. Buddha has said, only byloving kindness would the world be in peace and people behappy.

Therefore discussing Dhamma at appropriate time isone of the blessings

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The Story (The two wise men)

Once, minister Poyarzar and minister Sihapati met ina place called Thikanyin and had a discussion. Poyarzar wasthe chief minister of King Mingaung of Inn-Wa and Sihapatiwas the chief minister of King Yarzardarit of Hanthawaddy.

People went to listen to the discussion of the twoministers. As Sihapati is younger than Poyarzar, he gavePoyayzar a higher place and he sat in a lower place. ThenPoyarzar humbly said, “This discussion is like the discussionbetween Ka-Wo Brahmana and Mahawthathar which tookplace long long ago. Since Mahawthathar was younger, hesat in a lower place. Poyarzar thought of Sihapati as Buddha-hood Mahawthathar and he was like Ka-Wo Brahmana.

Poyarza said, “A wise man will accept willingly, if itis right; if it is wrong he will accept willingly that it is wrong.But ministers are different. If it is according to his liking, hewill be happy but if it is not according to his liking, he willfight vigorously.

At that time, Sihapati respects Poyarzar very much.Poyarzar said, “Well Minister Sihapati !when we discuss abouthome affairs, shall we discuss as wise men or as ministers?”.Sihapati replied, “Well Poyarzar, ! please clarify more.”

Sihapati said, “We will discuss as wise men. Thus thetwo wise men conversed in good atmosphere. Then Sihapatitook a short length of sugar cane, put it in a lovely golden potand offered it to Poyarzar. He consumed slowly from top tothe bottom of the cane as a natural rule.

Then Sihapati said, “Well Poyarzar!, being a verylearned wise man, why did you start consuming the cane fromthe top?”

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THE TWO WISE MEN CONVERSED IN GOODATMOSPHERE.

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Then Sihapati was so overwhelmed with joy and said,“Oh! I have met the most learned wise man.” Then he offeredhis golden pot to Poyarzar.

Source:- Mani-radana-pon

Sihapati said, “Oh Poyarzar!, most wise men say, theyare always right; they never admit that they are wrong; butyou are very wise and living according to Dhamma; I haverarely seen a man like you.”

Thus the two wise men discussed with great wisdom.The people who were listening to their talk also felt very happywith joy.

Poyarzar replied, “Well, Sihapati! , I just consume thecane according to a natural rule to get increasing taste.”

Then Sihapati said, “Your Honorable Poyarzar!,Dhamma said death can take place in a very short time, just asbefore the flexed hand extend or the extended hand flex; whydid you consume the upper portion of the cane; supposingyou die before you consume the lower part of the cane wheregood taste is, don’t you think you will miss the good taste?”

Then Poyarzar praised Sihapati and said, “I am justfollowing the natural rules, but you are going according toBuddha Dhamma; your words are more appropriate thanmine.”

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31. LEADING A SELF DISCIPLINED LIFE (TAPO CA)

Buddha taught that a self-disciplined life is one of theblessings. Self-discipline is similar to contentment. We shouldnot spend all the money we earned.

If we do not use our money for necessary things, it isjust stinginess. We need to eat a balanced diet and we need towear decent clothes. People used to admire and want to copyothers who are rich. We should not do that. We will be in troubleif we go out of the way illegally. We must check our budget.We must keep our savings for the rest of our lives, especiallywhen we get old.

We should save some of it. We must save some for allthe necessary things that we need later in life. We have tocollect our savings for future health and for our old age.

Story:-31 Brahma-Datta

Once there was a King named Oatara-Pinsala whoruled the Kapila country. In this country there; was a youngponnar (brahmin) who he after graduated from a Universitybecame a hermit. He lived a very simple life in Himalaya.

One day he arrived at the King’s garden. He wentaround for alms and reached the palace gate.

When the King saw the hermit, he was very pleased;he invited the hermit to his palace and donated alms. The Kingrequested the hermit to stay in his garden and promised tooffer alms every day.

After the raining season, the hermit intended to go backto Himalaya. He thought of asking the King to donate him anumbrella made of leaves and a pair of slippers. But he did notwant to ask in front of others. So he said , “ Well My NobleKing!, I will like to see you personally”.

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THE KING WAS DONATING AN UMBRELLA ANDA PAIR OF SLIPPERS TO THE HERMIT.

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The King told his ministers to leave. Even then, thehermit could not ask what he wanted and told the King that hewould tell later.

The next day, the same thing happened again. It tooktwelve years before he could not say his desire.

The King thought the hermit was getting bored of hislife; he might want to be a King. With that idea in his mind, hewent to the hermit and said, “Your Venerable Sir!, please befree and tell me what you want; I can give you everything,even my throne”.

The hermit said, “ Well My Noble King!, are you surethat you are going to give me what I want?”. The King replied“Yes Your Vernerable Sir!”.

The hermit said ,“I want an umbrella made of leavesand a pair of slippers for my journey”.

The King was very much surprised and replied, “YourVenerable Sir!,“Why can’t you ask for such a small thing with-out waiting for twelve years?”. The hermit replied ,“Well My Noble King!, wise-manthink, asking a thing to another is unpleasant; and refusingyour request by others feels the same; therefore I make a re-quest to see you in a private place. “Oh Noble King!, I do not want worldly things, giveme an unbrella and a pair of slippers for my journey”.TheKing donated what the hermit needed.

The hermit preached the King, to be mindful; to do-nate to others and to keep precepts. He then left to Himalayaand practiced higher psychic power and when died, he wasreborn in Brahmar plane.

Comment:- To lead a disciplined life is Mangalar.

Source:- 550 Nipada, Brahma-Datta Zat.

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32. LEADING A HOLY LIFE (BRAHMACARIYANCA)

The Story

Lay people should try to observe at least four excellentpractices

(1) They should send forth their affection or lovingthoughts to all beings and their sincere wishes for thegood of others.

Once upon a time, there was Maha-thiti village, in theNorth-East of Yarsajo town, Margadha Province. It was a bigvillage on the bank of Gangi river. Most of the people wereBrahmana tribes and they cultivated beans, paddy etc.It was agood place for trading with land and sea.

Brahmin Kapila was a very rich man in Maha-thitivillage. He had a thousand acres of land and did cultivationwith many servants and animals. The Brahmin couple got ason called Vippali. He was very handsome and the parentsloved him very much.

At the age of twenty, the parents wished their son toget married. The son did not want to get married and wishedonly to look after his parents. His only desire was to become amonk when the parents passed away.

(2) They should have compassion for those who aresuffering.

(3) They should rejoice in the happiness of others.

(4) They should regard all living beings with equanimity(of mind). They should keep a neutral state of mind toregard the happy beings and miserable beings alikewith the same detachment of mind.

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The parents did not like what their son told them.They just wanted their son to get married. Vippali thoughtof preventing further advice from the parents. So herequested a goldsmith to made a beautiful statue with puregold and dressed up with pretty dress. He showed the statueto the parents and said “Well Mother and Father! I will marryif I can get a lady similar to this beautiful statue”.

The parents sent eight ponnars to search for a beauti-ful lady similar to the statue.They put the statue on a wagonand with all the gifts, went from town to town, in search of thebeautiful lady. When they reached Targala town they found alady as beautiful as the statue. She was the daughter of a Braminfrom Kawliya Clan. Her name was Bahda-Karpiliarni.

The ponnars presented the statue and all the gifts tothe lady’s parents; told about their visit and asked for theirdaughter to marry Vippali. Bahda- Karpilarni’s parents agreedhappily. When Vippali heard the news, he sent a message on agolden plate, relating that he did not want to get married; hehad determined to become a monk soon.

So also Bahda-Karpilarni sent a message to Vippalirelating that she did not want to get married. The two messen-gers met on the way and agreed to open the letters.They re-wrote the letters saying that they would accept as lovers andsent the letters to Vippali and Bahda-Karpilarni Thus the twopersons got married without their consents. Even though theygot married, they stayed as brothers and sisters .

Thus they lived together and when the parents passedaway they got huge amount of properties.They consulted eachother and agreed to donate all their wealth to the people.

Then after, they cut their hairs ; wore yellow robesand departed from the village. At the junction of the road, theydecided to take separate paths.

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THE EIGHT PONNARS WENT AROUND THETARGALA TOWN TO FIND A LADY AS BEAUTIFUL

AS THE GOLDEN STATUE.

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Vippali arrived at the Buddha and became a monk. Hemeditated vigourously and on the eight day, he attained Arahatand well known as Ashin Maha Kassapa.

Bahda-Kappilini , at last, became a Bikkuni (a femalemonk). She meditated with great effort and later became afemale Arahat. She was well known as Bahda Kippilini Theri.

Source :- Ingutthro Athakatha.

33. THE REALIZATION OF THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTH(ARIYASACCANA --c DASSANAM)

Buddha preached the Four Noble Truth. They are:

(1) Dukka Sacca ( The truth of suffering)

Inception of the rebirth process , aging anddeath are suffering. Grief, lamentation, pain,distress and despair are suffering. Not to getwhat we desire is painful, it is painful to beseparated from loved ones; and it is also painfulto live together with those whom we do notlove at all.

The second is the cause of suffering. It is desirethat leads to rebirth; it is the desire forpleasures; it is the desire for existence; it is thedesire for non-existence.

(2)Samudaya Sacca (the truth of origin of sufferings)

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(3) Nirodha Sacca (the truth of extinction ofsufferings)The third is that of the end of sufferings whichis Nibbana, the ultimate goal of the Buddhist.It is achieved by a total eradication of all formsof craving. This Nibbana is to be understoodby the mind by renouncing all internalattachments to the external world.

extinction of sufferings)This is the path that leads to cessation of pain andsorrow. They are right view, right intension, rightspeech, right action, right livelihood, right effort,right mindfulness and right concentration.

(4) Magga Sacca ( the truth of the path leading to

The Story (Kisa-gotami)Once, there lived a rich man’s daughter in Savithi town

in India. Her name was Kisa-gotami. When she became ayoung adult, her father became very poor.

However, she got married to a rich man’s son and wentto live in the rich man’s house. After living for a few years, ason was born. Unfortunately the son died at the age of walking.She had not seen a dead person; she thought there must be amedicine which could cure her child.

Kisa-gotami became very sad that she almost went outof her mind. She carried her dead son in her bosom and askedeverybody to treat her son to become alive again. A very kindwise man said, “Well My daughter!, I don’t know the medicineto treat your son to become alive; but please go to GautamaBuddha, he knows the medicine.”

Kisa-gotami went straight to Buddha. She asked formedicine to get her son alive. Buddha said, “Please bring ahandful of mustard seeds from a house where they have neverexperienced death, to make medicine for your son.”

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KISA-GOTAMI CARRIED HER DEAD SON IN HERBOSOM AND ASKED EVERY BODY TO TREAT HER

DEAD SON TO BECOME ALIVE

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Then she realised that nobody could avoid death. Sheburied her son in the forest and went back to Buddha.

Buddha asked Kisa-gotami “Did you bring the mus-tard seeds”. She replied ,“Oh Buddha!, I could not get it”.

She could not find a house wherer there had been no death.

Buddha said, “My dear Kisa-gotami! , do you thinkthat death occurs only to your son , it is common to all beings.As a big wave sweeps away the sleeping villagers, the king ofdeath takes away those who are forgetting Dhamma andalways thirsty with cravings’’

At the end of Dhamma, Kisa-gotami got peace of mindand became Sotapanna,( stream winner) and entered intoBhikkhuni (Female monk).

One day, Kisa-gotami, while looking at the flame,realized that everything was impermanent. The Buddha whilesitting in His room sent the radiant rays to Kisa-gotami andpreached the Dhamma. At the end of the teaching, Kisa-gotamibecame Arahat.

She did not wear good yellow robes. She used to wearyellow robe made from cloth which wrapped the dead bodies.That is why Buddha praised her as the best female monk whowore the rarest yellow robe not owned by any person. Shewas honoured as Lunka-Siwara-Darana outstanding candidate.

Thus The Buddha taught that relization of the Four NobleTruthis a blessing,

Source:- Dhamma Pada.

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Padarsari did not want to get married to the man withwhom her parents had made arrangement. Just before hermarriage, she disguised herself as a poor woman and went tothe gate of Savatthi town where her lover was waiting.Theyran away and they lived in a small village. Her husband workedas a farmer and she did the house work. Soon Padarsari gotpregnant.

The Story (Padarsari)

Padar-sari was a daughter of a rich man in Sarvithitown in India. Padarsari was well known for her beauty. WhenPadarsari reached the age of sixteen, parents had arrangedher to live in a high rise apartment with guards around herapartment.. In spite of that she fell in love with a servant ofthe house. Her parents had already arranged her marriage witha man of equal status and of the same caste.

When her pregnancy entered to a full term, she askedher husband if she could go back to her parent’s home fordelivery of her baby. The husband knew that he could be mis-treated when they went back to her parents. Padar-sari re-quested again and again to go to her parent.

34 THE REALISATION OF NIBBANA(NIBBANASACCHIKIRIYACA)

The truth of Nibbana is very difficult to realise. It isvery difficult for a man to explain the real nature of Nibbana.Itis the greatest peace beyond earthly pleasures; It is the high-est state of purity of the mind. One who attains this stage canfeel the Nibbanic nature.

Nibbana is hard to explain in words. But can be realisedby meditation.

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When she could not get his permission, she left thehouse when her husband went for firewood. When he learntabout Padasari from his neighbours, he followed herimmediately. They met on the way and he asked her to comeback. She refused to return; so they continued their journey toher parents. Before reaching her parent’s home, she delivereda son in the forest. Padar-Sarye returned to their home withoutgoing to her parent’s place.

After some time, she got pregnant again. She thenprepared to go back to her parents for the delivery. The husbandrequested her not to go back. She moved out from the houseas on previous occasion. When the husband knew, he ran afterher and met in the forest. They could not proceed on the journeyas the baby was due to be born. There was heavy rain withgust of wind blowing. The husband cut down the bushes toget shelter from the rain. As he was trying to clear a bush, acobra struck him and he fell down dead.

While waiting for her husband with her elder son, shedelivered another son. Both the children were crying as theywere afraid of the stormy weather. Padasari held both thechildren in her arms the whole night.

In the morning, she and her children went out to lookfor her husband. Soon she found her husband dead in the forest.She felt very sad and cried. As she could not do anything, shecarried her newborn son and, taking elder son by his hand,travelled on.

Later they reached the bank of the Asiya-Waddy River.The depth of the river was breast high because of the rain. Thewater was flowing very fast. Since she could not cross theriver with both of her sons, she left the elder son on the bank.

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A GIANT HAWK CAME DOWN FROM THE SKYAND SNATCHED THE BABY THINKING THAT IT

WAS A PIECE OF MEAT.

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She carried the newborn baby and crossed the river.When she got to the other bank she rocked the baby to sleepand left him on the leaves. Then she again crossed the river tobring her elder son.

When she was in the middle of the river, a giant hawkcame down from the sky and snatched the baby thinking thatit was a piece of meat.

Padasari tried to frighten the hawk waving her hands.The hawk did not notice her and took away the baby. Theelder son thought that his mother was calling him. So he wentinto the river and got drowned. Padasari became so sorrowfulthat her mind became confused with madness. She came toSavatthi town shouting on the way, how she lost her husbandand two children. On her way, she met a man and asked howher parent’s were doing.

The man replied “Well my young sister!, both yourparents and your younger brother died when their housecollapsed due to last night’s thunder storm; you can see thesmoke coming out of their cremation.”

As Padasari could not control her mind, she ran aboutwithout any clothes on her. Some threw stones at her sayingthat she was mad. Because of the power sent by The Buddhashe could control her mind. At long last she reached theJetavana monastery where Buddha was giving a sermon topeople. People drove her out. Buddha stopped them and said,“Well my daughter Parda-sari! be careful” Then Padasaribecame aware of herself, she sat down quietly because shewas scared and ashamed of herself not having any clothes onher.

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“My daughter Padar-sari !, the amount of your tearsin the previous lives is much more than the amount of water inthe four oceans; why should you forget those events?; there isno relative who can prevent your sorrow in lives; there is noplace for your relatives to hide from death; therefore wisepeople keep precepts and make way to Nibbana”.

Thus The Buddha preached to her to relieve all hermiseries. At the end of Dhamma, she was relieved from all thesorrows and became Sotapana (stream winner). Afterbecoming a stream winner, she was ordained as a female monkand became a Bhikkhuni( Female monk) in the monastery.

One person threw a cloak to Padasari. She put the cloakto cover her body and worshipped Buddha and said, “OhBuddha!, my young son was carried away by a hawk, the elderson drowned in the river, I lost my husband in the forest; myparents and younger brother died when the house collapsedby the storm; please save me.”

One day, while she was washing her feet by pouringwater from a pot, she noticed that water streamed down a littledistance and stopped. The second time, water streamed downa little farther than the first time and stopped. On the thirdtime water streamed down down a little farther than the sec-ond time and stopped. She took the first example and realizedthat living beings died in the first part of life. As water in thesecond time, living beings died in the second part of life. Aswater in the third time , living beings died in the third part oflife.

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Padasari became the best Female Arahrat who obeyedthe Canon relating to the monastic rules and regulations. Shewas honoured as the outstanding candidate who obeyedmonastic rules and regulations.

Realizing Nibbana is a Blessing.

Source:- Dhamma Pada.

While she was realizing the truth of life, The Buddhasent the six coloured rays in front of her and preached as fol-lows:- “Oh Padar-Sari!, it is better to live one moment or onemorning or one day, realizing the rising and vanishing of thefive Khandas than to live one hundred year without realizingthem”. At the end of the preaching she became a FemaleArahat.

35. NOT TO BE SHAKEN BY THE UPS AND DOWNS OFLIFE. (PHUTTHASSA- LOKADHAMMEHI- CITTAM YASSA-NA KAMPATI)

But when they meet bad ones – loss, defeat, blameand pain – they are very much shaken by their misfortunes. Sothey should console themselves with intelligence. Sometimes,these both good and bad, ups and downs of life may evencause loss of life.

What are the four pairs of ups and downs of life?

They are gain and loss; success and defeat; praise andblame; pleasure and pain. Everybody has to experience theseups and downs of life at one time or another in life. When theymeet good ones - gain, success, praise and pleasure -,they arevery happy with themselves.

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Another good thing is the practice of meditation.Meditation can improve mental power and learn tolerancewhen they face with anicca (imperminance), dukkha(suffering) and anatta (egoless). This is also a kind of mentaltraining to combat the worldly conditions and find peace inlife.

Parents should not spoon-feed their children in earlylife. Children should be trained to depend on themselves. An-other good thing is sports. Children should be encouraged insports and can be trained in many ways. They find hardship,tolerance, friendship, endurance when they play any kind ofsports. Boxing and fighting games are dangerous, because itdamages their brain.

Whether poor or rich, small or big, uneducated oreducated, foolish or wise, ups and downs of life will come toall living creatures without exception. People are bound tomeet with them at some time, because nobody can avoid them.You must train your mind to stand up against the impact ofthese conditions whether they are good or bad. Only the trainedmind can stand up to the difficulties of life.

Nowadays there are quite a lot of people who give uptheir lives and commit suicide. Many people become depressedwhen they come face to face with difficult conditions.

Some go to psychiatrics for mental diseases especiallyin the western world. It is better to prevent mental illness fromearly life.

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Under the proper guidance of a good teacher, a personcan enter the first stage of the path. He is called a stream-winner (Sotappana). He sees the Nibbanic peace actuallywithin his grasp. He removes self attachment and doubt aboutthe Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha (monks). This is the be-ginning of the path leading to the state of Nibbana.

He may be reborn seven times in this world and neverbelow the state of man. This is the utmost limit of rebirth forhim. He can stand better than ordinary person to all difficutiesof life.

Sotappana

He enters the second stage of the path and he is calledonce returner (Sakadagami). In this second stage he overcomesthe same impurities already reduced by himself as a stream-winner, at the first stage of the path, but more thoroughly. Heis reborn once only in this world and no more.

Sakadagami

Anagami

He enters the third stage of the path and he is callednon-returner (Anagami) . In this third stage he removes angertotally. He will never be reborn in this world. After death, hewill be reborn in Brahma plane (Suddhavasa), an environmentreserved for Angami.

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He enters the path at its final stage. He is called“Arahatta”. In this final stage he destroys absolutely alldefilements and all fetters. His duty is fulfilled. There is norebirth for him; this is the end of births; he gains release fromthe ties of Sansara (cycles of rebirth); he is worthy ofworshipping. These worldly conditions of life will come toall, with no exceptions to Arahat. But their minds remainunmoved. For they are above the reach of sorrow. They canwithstand the impact of these worldly conditions. Their mindis most powerful of all, like a solid rock that remain unshakenwhen blown by the storm.

Long long ago, there was a King who ruled BenaresHe had a son named Brahmadat. He had many followers sothe King became suspicious. He thought his son would takehis throne. Therefore he deported his son from the country.

Arahatta

The Story (A Wonderful Princess)

The Prince thought of going to Himalaya forest to live.His wife was Princess Athitarbu. The Princess was not onlybeautiful but also a good hearted lady. She did not care for upsand downs of life, such as gain or loss, having servants or not,praise or blame, happiness or suffering. Therefore she did notfeel sorry to move out of the country. She left with her belovedhusband and with great faith.

They built a small hut in the Himalaya forest. Therelived a hermit nearby, who was meditating vigorously. Thecouple lived in the forest .

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“I DON’T WANT YOU ANY MORE” THEN SHEELELVATED HER BODY INTO THE SKY AND

WENT OFF.

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(1) L

One day, the Prince met a fairy in the forest. He wasattracted by the fairy so he left the Princess and followed her.As the Princess knew all about worldly conditions, she didnot feel sorry even when her husband left her. She went to thehermit and started meditation. In a short time, she gained JhanaAbhinna (Higher spiritual powers such as levitation attainedthrough the manifestation of mental absorption.)

Prince Brahmadat could not catch hold of the fairy.He lost sight of her in the forest so he returned to the Princess.When the Princess saw the Prince, she just elevated her bodyinto the sky with her Jhana Abhinna - Higher spiritual powers.“Well Prince!, because of you, I now possess these Higherspiritual powers; I don’t want you any more; I have no moreattachment to you and cut my love as a saw cut the elephanttask”. Then she elevated her body into the sky and went off.The Prince was left alone in sorrow and said “I have lostPrincess Asitabu, it is all because of my greed and pride”. Helived all alone in the forest and when his father died, he becameking.

Thus the Buddha taught:- Not to be shaken by ups andowns of life is a blessing.

Source:- 550 Nipada Asitabu Zat.

36. FREE FROM SORROW (ASO KAM)

Sorrow means pain , grief, and distress. Sorrow occursin many forms; its outside causes are also many; it exists everywhere in the world; but may sometimes be unseen.

Any ordinary people feels sorry owing to one thing oranother from birth to death. Because of sorrow, there is nopeace of mind.

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Everybody has relatives such as father, mother, uncle,aunt, grandfather, grandmother, son, daughter, niece, nephewetc. Anybody can die at any moment. In that case we feel veysad and become depressed.

What are the causes of sorrow?

There are five in number. (Five Byasana)

(1) Loss of relatives (Nati Byasana)

(2) Loss of wealth (Bhoga Byasana)

(3) Deterioration of health due to illness ( Roga Byasana)

(4) Dissolution of morality ( Sila Byasana)

(5) Dissolution of Right View ( Ditthi Byasana)

(2) Loss of Wealth

A person can lose some of his wealth. These can belost because of natural disasters or theft. If we meet with suchmisfortunes, we become sad and feel depressed.

We are prone to disease and accidents. In that case wesuffer physically and mentally.

(3) Deterioration of Health

(1) Loss of relatives

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(4) Deterioration of MoralityA person’s morality can be deteriorated by friends or

by himself. He may enjoy drinking, gambling or other immoralpleasures. For that he will lose his good friends as they stayaway from him. He cannot get into the community as he feelsashamed to associate with people.5) Deterioration of Right View

Most Buddhists are interested in donation (Dana),morality (Sila) and meditation (Bhavana). But some do notbelieve in Dana, Sila and Bhavana. So they will never beinterested to follow the Right view to be liberated from Samsara(cycle of rebirth)

This is the result of not studying the religious lessonsduring their younger days. Atfer death they will go to “Apaya”(plane of miserable existence). So it is very important thatparents should teach their children religious lessons while theyare young. Therefore, we must try to learn Dhamma to get ridof sorrow.

The Story

Once there was King Bramadat who ruled Benares.Just on the outskirts of Benares town, there was a Brahmanafamily. They were farmers, the parents, the son, daughter, thedaughter-in-law and a servant lived together. The whole familyworked in the fields.

The father, the head of the family, was very pious anddid a lot of meritorious deeds. That is why he used to say tohis family members. “Do charity, observe precepts (abstainingfrom evil actions both physical and mental); don’t forget thatdeath can overtake you anytime; nothing is permanent; allliving beings are impermanent; be aware of this always.” Thewhole family followed as he advised them.

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One day the old man went out with his son to the fieldfor farming. The son gathered all the dried plants and set fire.The smoke got into the eyes of a snake sleeping in a bush. Thesnake got angry and struck the son who fell down and died.The old man ran to his son but it was too late. He carried hisson carefully and laid it down under a tree. He did not cry andcontinued farming.

Soon, he saw a neighbour passing by. He requestedthe man “Well friend!, Please go to my house and tell my wifeto send food not for two, but just for one. Please tell also thatthe family should all come wearing good clothes, bringingflowers and incense.

Because of their Dhamma Power, King Sakka, the Kingof Devas of Celestial Realm could not stay in Tavatimsa pal-ace; he had to come down to human world to scrutinize theevent. King Sakka said,“Well friends! what are youdoing?.They replied, “We are cremating a human body”. ThenKing Sakka said “You all are not cremating a human body, doyou kill a deer and burning it”.They replied “No! we are cre-mating a human body”. “Is he your enemy?” the King Sakkaasked. “It is our own son”, they replied. “Don’t you all love

The neighbour went to his house and told his wifeeverything that he was asked to do. The lady asked theneighbour, “Dear young man!, who tell these words?” Theyoung man replied ,“ Oh mother!, the old man tell to do so”.Themother took for granted that her son was dead and took all thefamily to the field. When they arrived there they saw their sonwas dead. Since everybody knew the Dhamma so nobody cried.

The father put the body of his son under a tree and atehis meal After that they searched for wood for cremation. Theygathered the wood and made a stack. They put the corpse onthe stack and cremated with it flowers and incenses. Nobodyshed tears as they kept aware of death and suffering.

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“WHAT BENEFIT WILL WE GET AS HE COMESAND GOES ACCORDING TO HIS KAMMA.

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“Well! A person who cries for a dead person is like achild asking the moon to give him something: that is why Idon’t cry.”

King Sakka asked the servant “Well Sister!, the sonwho died recently must have beaten you; that is why you don’tcry.” The servant replied, “Well! you should not say suchwords; the man who died was full of Khanti (tolerance), Metta(loving kindness); Karuna (compassion); I did respect himvery much; there will be no benefit for crying; just as theearthen pot that is broken cannot be repaired; if we cry, hewill not come to life again.”

The mother replied ,“Well, our son comes to us withoutinvitation, he goes from us without our permission; whatbenefit will we get as he comes and goes automatically. Hewill not know even if we cry, so we dont worry and we don’tcry”.

Then King Sakka asked the old lady, “Well mother!,the father doesn’t cry because he’s a man and can control hismind. Your mind is soft and yet why do you not cry?”

Then King Sakka asked his sister. “Well sister, don’tyou love your brother, why don’t you cry?”

King Sakka asked the widow. “Your husband has diedand you are now a widow; you have no one to depend on; whydon’t you cry for that?”

The sister replied,” Well! our brother has died and beencremated already; he will not know if we cry; he has gone foranother rebirth. That is why we do not cry.”

The old man replied,“We loved our son alot”. “Why don’t you cry if you love your son?”.The old manreplied “My son has left his body as a snake has left its skin;he cannot know our sorrow; he has left to next existence;therefore we don’t worry for him; so we don’t cry at all.”

son?”you

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King Sakka very much appreciated the words spokenby all those five persons and said, “Please continue to be awareof death; from this day onwards do not work with great effort;I will take care of all of you to have all kinds of sevenjewelleries in your home; be peaceful and do donation; ob-serve precepts” Then he left for his celestial realm.

Buddha taught to be free from sorrow is a blessing.

Source:- 550 Nipada, Uraka Zat.

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The Story (Greedy Man)

Once in Benares there lived King Brahmadat. He hadtwo sons and he promoted his elder son as crown prince, andyounger son as chief of the army. When the King died, theelder son was promoted to be the King by all the ministers.But he said he didn’t want to be King and told the ministers topromote his younger brother to be the King.. So he gave thethrone to his younger brother and left for the frontier.

37. A STATE OF PURITY(VIRAJAM)

To be stainless means to be absolutely pure in mindand body. A man with an impure mind spoils himself; it darkenshim; it stains his morality.

Dirt and dust spoil food and clothing and produceunhealthy state. So also the impurities of mind produce mentaldisturbances.

We cannot see these mental impurities with amicroscope. We can only appreciate them by meditation. EvenSotapanna, Sakadagami, Anagami cannot entirely remove allthese mental impurities. Only when they reach Arahatta stage,can they destroy all these impurities and find peace; then theyare unshaken by the contact of the ups and downs of life justlike a lotus leaf in a lake which never get wet. So the Blessedone expounded this thirty seventh noble blessing.

There are three main kinds of mental impurities. Theyare greed, anger and ignorance. Ordinary people cannot resistworldly things. He wants good food, good clothing and goodplace to live in, etc. But there must be a limit. If he wantsmore than what he can afford, there will be more trouble andsuffering.

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He worked in a rich man’s house for his living. Therich man didn’t know that he was a prince. Later they foundout that he was the prince. The rich man said, “Please do notwork; we will take care of you, stay as you wish; but pleaserequest your younger brother not to levy tax.”

The elder son did what the rich man told him. Theyounger brother who was the King exempted the rich manfrom taxation. When the villagers heard the news, they ap-proached the elder brother and requested, “Well Prince!, pleasedo something for us to be exempted from taxation. They gavethe tax to the elder brother. He took the tax given by the vil-lagers and arranged tax exemption from his younger brother.

The elder brother became more and more greedy. Hethen asked for Crown-Prince position. At long last he wantedthe King’s throne. He then organized an army and marchedtowards the capital. He sent a letter to his younger brother,“Will you give the throne or will you fight against my army?.”

The younger brother thought “This foolish man hasleft the throne and now he becomes greedy and wants the throneback; if I fight, a lot of innocent people will die; if I win,people will say ill of me.” So he gave back his throne to hisbrother and stayed as the crown prince.

The King did what the elder brother requested. Laterthe elder brother became greedy and he took taxes from neigh-boring villages arranging for their tax exemptions. The youngerbrother did what his older brother told him to do.

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Although the elder brother got the throne back, he wasnot satisfied . He wanted to possess at least two or three coun-tries. The Sakka, the Deva King knew about it. He transformedhimself into a young man and said , “I must give a lesson tothis foolish man.” He went to the elder brother and said pri-vately, “I have seen three properous and well guarded coun-tries; I can occupy these countries and offer you in a shorttime; please wait.” Then he went back to his deva plane.

The foolish King believed the words and he did notask any particular thing to the young man; he was waiting forthe event. When the young man went off , he told his ministersthat a young man had offered him three countries; he orderedhis ministers to search for that young man.

The ministers asked the King, “Your HonourableKing!, who is that young man; where does he live; with whatwe have to offer him?”.The King said “I have not inquire anything; just search for him”. The ministers search the wholeBenares with the King’s order. When the ministers could notfind the young man, they told the King that they failed to doso. When he heard the minister’s words he felt very sorry andsaid ,“ Oh! I have lost all the properties of the three countries;I have not enquire any thing; I have not offer any thing tohim”.

He became very depressed and worried; his whole bodywas burning; whatever he eat was vomited out; he sufferedfrom a disease with bowel bleeding. The disease became sosevere that the traditional doctors of the whole country couldnot treat him at all; the whole country knew about it.

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THE ELDER BROTHER ORGANIZED AN ARMYAND MARCHED TOWARDS THE CAPITAL.

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Source:- 550 Nipada Karmanila Zat.

“Even if you possess four countries, you cannot lie onfour beds at the same time; you cannot wear four trousers atthe same time; there will be no benefit; if you are greedy, youhave to go to Apaya ( the four miserable states of existences)”Thus he gave a Dhamma lecture to the King. The King thenrealized the truth and recovered from his illness.

.

The physician said ,“Oh Your Honarable King!, canyou possess the three countries with your sorrow?; youdefinately cannot get them.”

The Buddha state that :- To stay in a state of purity is ablessing.

The King gave a lot of money to the physician but herefused to take them. He just said, “Well King!, please don’tforget Dhamma and live with it.” then the physician left thepalace.

At that time a brilliant man came back to his familyafter graduating from a University. After he heard the newsabout the King, he went to see the King to treat him. He said,“Oh Honourable King!, please do not be afraid of the disease,just tell me the cause of your illness”.The the King said,”Youbetter treat my illness; there will be no benefit of telling thecause of my illness”.Then the young man said, “For aphysician, he can treat the disease only when the cause isknown”. The King revealed the whole story and the cause ofhis illnss.

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38. TO REMAIN FREE FROM INSECURITY (KHEMAM)

The world is full of danger. They exist in every place.Danger exist on land, air , and water; there is no escape fromdanger even in the sky. Life itself is a source of danger. Andhence life is always insecure and unsafe.

This is the last of thirty eight blessings. No dangermeans security. If a person is free from danger, he will besecure and peaceful.

He is loved and admired by many people and no onewill be jealous of him. He will be honoured and praised by hisfriends. Devas will look after and take care of him. He willhave a peaceful life and free from insecurity.

To obtain such a life, he has to abstain from evil deeds,he has to be humble, contented and tolerant, and do good deedsaccording to Buddha’s teachings. Whatever a person wants,he has to work for it. For example, if a student wants to passthe examination with excellent grades, he has to try very hard.

A person has to invest more, if he wants to live in abetter position in life; great energy and zeal are required toovercome all the difficulties. The most important thing is tokeep your mind straight and strong just like a pillar which isunshaken by the worldly storms.

When we are young, our parents protect us from danger.When we become adults we have to stand for ourselves. Thesethirty-eight blessings are the Buddha’s Teachings which willprotect us in life for all beings, both for humans and devas.Thus, we need to learn all these blessings from early age. Therewill be no mental depression even when we meet ups anddowns in life.

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Mental diseases are hard to cure. Prevention is betterthan cure. If you start learning the Dhamma, especially theNoble Blessings, you will be strong enough to withstand thesemental diseases. You can tolerate these worldly problems withthis Dhamma.

Ordinary beings are unable to find remedies that cancure these mental diseases. The remedies are in Dhamma; theseare spiritual remedies. These are the best medicine of all, andthe best remedies. Those who drink these spiritual remediescan remove or control desire , passion, anger and ignorance.By this means they can heal their wounded mind and thenmay be secure and safe from all dangers that may possiblybefall them.

The Story (Okka-Htayna)

Long ago, in Yarzajoo town, there lived a man namedOkka-Htayna, son of a rich man. One day a dance-group withfive hundred dancers came to the town to perform a concert toentertain King Bein-Matharya. Among the group, there was abeautiful dancer with whom Okka-Htayna fell in love.

The dancer was the daughter of an acrobat master, whocould perform acrobatic dances on top of a bamboo pole, sixtyfeet high. Okka-Htayna was so deeply in love with the dancerthat he could not sleep or eat and always lying down on acouch. Parents tried to console him as they knew about thematter. He didn’t listen to them. At last, his parents sent a manwith one thousand rupees to the acrobat master to give hisdaughter’s hand in marriage with Okka-Htayna.

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BUDDHA SENT DHAMMA TEACHING FROMQUITE FAR AWAY

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Soon the dancer gave birth to a son. To tease Okka-Htayna, the mother used to please her son by saying, “Oh!you son of the bullock cart caretaker, you son of carriers ofgoods, you son of a good-for-nothing man.” He was ashamedof his condition so he learnt acrobatic art from his father-in-law, the acrobatic master. He tried so hard that within a year,he became an expert in acrobatics.

Okka-Htayna became very sad because nobody wasinterested in his performance. The Buddha knew Okka-Htayna’s mind. So The Buddha sent his disciple AshinMogallana to encourage Okka-Htayna to show his acrobaticdance.

On that day, all the town people gathered to watch hisperformance. To show his skill, Okka-Htayna climbed thebamboo pole and stood on top of it. At that time, the Buddhawith his monks came out to the town to accept the offerings.The crowd turned their head to the Buddha instead of watchingOkka-Htayna.

Okka-Htayna performed his acrobatic dancessuccessfully in many different places. Finally, he arrived atYarzajoo town. They announced that Okka-Htayna wouldperform his acrobatic art on the seventh day.

The acrobat master said, “I cannot send my daughterto the rich man’s house; if Okka-Htayna comes along withour troupe, I will give her hand in marriage.

.But the parents didn’t agree to his proposal. Okka-

Htayna disregarded his parent’s wish and married the girl,following the dance troupe. Since he had no knowledge ofacrobatic acts, he could only do things like look after thebullock carts, feed the bullocks, and carry the money bagswhich the troupe earned.

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Okka-Htayna was very encouraged and he performeda variety of acrobatic dances. After performing fourteen times,the Buddha sent Dhamma teaching from quite far away. SinceOkka-Htayna was a man with perfect virtue, he realized theDhamma even though he was on top of the bamboo pole. Heobtained peace of mind and became Arahatta.

He descended from the bamboo pole and worshippedthe Buddha. He requested to receive ordination as a priest ofThe Buddha. When The Buddha said, “Come monk,” Okka-Htayna transformed from ordinary man to monk wearingyellow robes. He looked very honourable. He left everythingand followed the Buddha with a peaceful mind.

His wife also became a Bikkhuni (a female monk) andafter meditation, she also became a female Arahat.

Source:- Dhammapada Tahnavega,Uggasena Vitthu.

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EPILOGUEMangala Sutta in a Nutshell The defining words of Mangala Sutta are as follows. Those who blessed (1) do not associate with the fools;but (2) with the wise; and they (3) honour those worthy ofhonour. It is Auspicious (4) to live in a suitable locality; and(5) have done good deeds in the past (accrued merits) and (6)state one-self in the right course. In order to have Mangala (7)he must have vast learning and (8) possess vast skill and (9)and train in discipline; and (10) he must have pleasant goodspeech. He must also (11) support mother and father and (12)cherishing wife and children; and (13) be peaceful in one’saction. In order to have good fortune he must (14) donate gen-erously and (15) live the righteous life and (16) help one’srelatives and (17) abstains from immoral livelihood. An Aus-picious person (18) abstains from evil (mental) and (19) (physi-cal) and (20) refrains from intoxicants and (21) practiseDhamma deligently. A man with good heart (22) pays honourto respectable person; and (23) is humble and (24) contentwith his lot and (25) is grateful towards his benefactor; and(26) listens to Dhamma at appropriate time. He (27) is toler-ant and (28) obedient and (29) see holy people and (30) dis-cuss Dhamma at appropriate time. He should lead (31) a selfdisciplined life and (32) holy life. He must always (33) try torealize the Noble Truth and (34) Nibbana. His mind (35) mustnot be shaken by ups and down of life and (36) should remainfree from sorrow; and (37) impurities and(38) insecurity.Thosewho practised these 38 Mangala will remain happy and willalways be successful.

by Dr Tin Hla Ngwe , Ph. D. Los Angeles , U.S.A..

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Abidhamma absolute theorization; Book of Higher doctrines(beings one of the three repositories of Buddhist scriptures.)Anata

Non-self. Something beyond one’s control. Allphenomena that arise in all three spheres of existenceare not-self, not “I”, but are mere strangers, empty,void, unsatisfactory and beyond one’s control. Hencethey are non-self, anatta.

Anicca: Impermanence. Subject to change.Anagami The Non Returner( so called because he has reached

the third out of the four stages of puritynever be reborn in the realms of sensual

and willpleasure.

Arziwattanmoka sila: The eight precepts, incorporating rightlivelihood and consisting of the following factors.(1) abstaining from killing any living being.(2) abstaining from taking what is not given.(3) abstaining from unlawful sexual misconduct.(4) abstaining from telling lies.(5) abstaining from frivolous or worthless speech.(6) abstaining from harsh and unbeneficial speech.(7) abstaining from speech that will cause discord or

disagreement or hatred between two persons orgroups of people.

(8) abstaining from leading of livelihood by unfair orharmful means, which includes: -

GLOSSARY

Arahat, Arahanta, Arahatta The pure one,who has destroyed the defilements

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(a) selling arms and fish nets. (b) trading in slaves or prostitution or human

trafficking by persuasion. (c) selling animals to butchers or selling meat

and fish, fresh or dried. (d) selling wine, liquor and narcotics, opium. (e) selling harmful drugs and poisons.

Bo tree tree under which a Buddha attains enlightenment. Brahma Higher celestial being.

Brahmana The priest class. Bodhisatta Before His Enlightenment He was called Bodhisatta

Dhukka: Suffering, misery, unsatisfaction, woefulness.Dhukka sacca: The Truth of Suffering ; the truth that the five

aggregated of existence are suffering.

Jhana Absorption; absorptive concentration

which means one who is aspiring to attain BuddhahoodDana Charity; giving; alms giving

Deva Celestial being; god; deity

Dhamma

Dosa: Anger, the most destructive of agents.

the liberating law discoverd and proclaimed by theBuddha, is summed up in the 4 Noble Truths.

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Kamma Action; deed

KhandhaAggregates; mass; heapThe five aggregates consist of corporeality (rupa),sensation(vedana), perception(sanna),volationalaction(cetana) and consiousness(vinnana).

Khanti Forbearance; patience

Kilesa Defilement; impurity

Lobha GreedMagga PathMagga sacca

Truth of Ariya Path

Metta Loving kindness, goodwill, benevolence.Mind Consciousness. All beings are led by the mind.

All living beings subject to the mind. Becauseof the volational activities, consciousness mindand matter arise.

Moha Bewilderment, delusion, ignorance or incapabilityof distinguishing right from wrong. Bewildermenthas the characteristic of concealing the true pathto liberation.

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Nibbana Liberation from craving; total cessation of craving iscalled Nibbana

Panca sila: The five precepts prescribed for every Buddhistconsists of :

(1) abstaining from killing(2) abstaining from taking what is not given(3) abstaining from sexual misconduct(4) abstaining from telling lies(5) abstaining from taking or using intoxicants

(intoxicating wine, liquor and drugs whichcause headlessness)

Pacceka BuddhaSilent Buddha

Ratana Gem; Jewels; something held as precious

Sakadagami Once Returner: an ariya of the second stage ofenlightenment.

Sakka King of Deva

Samadhi: Concerntration, fixation of mind, one pointednessof mind on a single object, ekagatta.

Samatha Tranquility, calm, concentration. Meditation fortranquility. Tranquility or calm arises due to thedestruction of defilements and hindrances. Fortymeditation objects for the development oftranquility have been prescribed by Buddha.

Sangha Community of Buddhist monks

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Sila Observance of the precepts (of which there are setsfive, eight, nine, ten etc.) Moral conduct; restraint inphysical and verbal actions. Morality denotes beingvirtuous and abstaining from evil actions both physi-cal and verbal. It also prescribes virtuous conduct(caritta sila)

Sotapanna “Stream-enterer”, One who enters the stream ofAriya Path, or Nobel Path. He is enriched with thefollowing five qualities -

(1) He has unshakeable faith in the ThreeGems, that is, the Buddha, the Dhamma (theBuddha’s teachings ), and the Sangha(Buddhist community of monks ).

(2) He observes the Five Precepts even at fierisk of his life.

(3) He is absolutely freed from the Personality-belief (sakkaya ditthi), which is themistaken idea of the existence of a “self ‘,or a personal entity.

(4) He is absolutely freed from sceptical doubt(vicikiccha) regarding the correctness of theBuddha’s path to liberation.

(5) He is absolutely freed from attachment tomere rule and ritual (silabbata-paramasa).

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Sutta Discourse; Division of the discourse of theBuddha

Tavatimsa The second lowest celetial realm where the 33volunteers in the previous human existence ledby Marga were reborn. Marga became Sakka,King of the devas.

Theravada Way of the Elders

The teaching of the Buddha that has beenpreserved intact by generations of bhikkhus(monks.) The texts of the Buddha’s Teachingsapproved at the Councils by Ven Maha-kassapa andlater generations. The views of the Buddha,according to which Bhikkhus observe and practiseas has been agreed upon the councils and handeddown without any changes by the Theras led bythe Ven Maha-kassapa is called Theravada.

Vipassana Insight.

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REFERENCES

1. BASIC MANGALA SUTTA by Ashin ZanakaBiwuntha (in Burmese)

2. THE THIRTY EIGHT BLESSINGS FOR WORLDPEACE by Ven U Nanadicca (In English)

3 550 Nipada Sagapye Volume 1,2,3,4,5.

4 Modern Dhamma Pada Vithu Volume 1,2,3,4,5.

5 A DICTIONARY OF BUDDHIST TERMS IN PALI-MYANMAR –ENGLISH by Ministry of ReligiousAffairs, Yangon, Myanmar

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THIS BOOK WITH ATTACHED DVD IS DONATED BY

DR KYAW TINT, DAW KHIN HPYU HPYU,

U HTUT HTEIK, AND GEORGE KYAW SWAR.

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