This word was used by the Buddha in order to explain the nature of human kind. Although this word is simply translated by “suffering”, it does not express the philosophical meaning of the word dukkha. It is the human nature of Unsatisfactoriness. Man keeps desires in front of him and runs after them. He will never get satisfaction. Like the horse who gallops after the carrot fixed three inches ahead of him on the horse cart. (This metaphor is used to explain the nature of human beings by French Existentialists) By understanding that we suffer from a lack of satisfaction in life and that every thing in the world is impermanent and cannot bring lasting happiness the person can come to understand the true nature of the world. It is enlightenment. It is Wisdom.
“The Buddha teaches us that the actions people deliberately intend to do would have consequences for their future life. It is called Karma. There are two types of actions: Skilful Actions or positive Karma and Unskilful actions or Negative Karma. A Buddhist should treat all people and all living things with compassion so that they do not do anything to contribute to negative Karma in themselves.”
The Buddha teaches us that the actions people deliberately intend to do would have consequences for their future life. It is called Karma. There are two types of actions: Skilful Actions or positive Karma and Unskilful actions or Negative Karma. A Buddhist should treat all people and all living things with compassion so that they do not do anything to contribute to negative Karma in themselves. While in meditation one can come to a point where he or she understands that there is no separation between him or her and the rest of the world. He or she thus understands non-duality through which automatically arises compassion.
Buddha chooses words very carefully. He says that the DUKKHA is NOBLE! How on earth can Dukkha become noble? Sans Dukkha the world would be tasteless & dull! It would have been like a stone slab! It is Dukkha that guides us! For this reason Dukkha becomes Noble! Long live Noble Dukkha so that Human kind may comprehend the world & its impermanent nature!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Meditation and Medicine
"In Meditation you become an observer who does not judge! Just be an observer, as if you are standing by the side of the road watching the traffic-no judgment, no evaluation, no condemnation, no appreciation-just pure observation."
In the Western world of today there is a famous expression: “Living in the present moment” They also say: “In the here & in the now!” Most of the people who use these expressions do not know their origin. They come from the Satipatthana Sutta. In Sanskrit there is the word: KSHANA, the shortest possible moment. Life is a sum of KSHANAS. Past is gone & future has not yet come. The only moment that exists is the PRESENT. Therefore we should live in the present moment. Sages like Buddha who live in the present moment are not swayed by past worries & unending future projects. Meditation is living in the present moment.
We have to meditate because we need it. We need silence. Otherwise every one becomes mad. If a surgeon who is cutting open a skull of a patient happens to think of his home while the operation is being done the patient’s life would be in danger. He has to be absorbed in his action. He has to be mindful of what he is doing. That is meditation. This is being in Smruti or Sati.
A Brahmin comes to Buddha & asks about his spiritual practice. In response to his question Buddha says: we eat, we sleep, we walk etc. Then Brahmin replies: we also do the same thing. At the Brahmin’s answer Buddha says: But there is a difference; when we eat we know that we eat, when we sleep we know that we sleep, when we walk we know that we walk. This is meditation.
In Buddhism there are three words which are very important:
* Smruti; Samadhi; Prajna
1. Smruti is Mindful awareness
2. Samadhi is Concentration
3. Prajna is Transcendental wisdom
In meditation we should be mindful of our every action. In our daily life mindful awareness offers us tranquillity & inner peace. For instance, a housewife can chop her vegetables by being aware of chopping vegetables without being mentally vagabond. If she continues this way she practices meditation without thinking that she is in meditation! Some people are of the opinion that one has to be older to sit in meditation. This concept is utterly false & baseless. We have to meditate because we need it. We need silence. Otherwise every one becomes mad. If a surgeon who is cutting open a skull of a patient happens to think of his home while the operation is being done the patient’s life would be in danger. He has to be absorbed in his action. He has to be mindful of what he is doing. That is meditation. This is being in Smruti or Sati. While in meditation one can come to a point where he or she understands that there is no separation between him or her and the rest of the world. He or she thus understands non-duality through which automatically arises compassion. That is why in Buddhism Prajna & Karuna are complementary. (Wisdom & Compassion)It is noteworthy to mention that the word charity is derived from Karuna (Karuna-caritas-charity).
While you continue to be in Smruti (mindfully aware) automatically Samadhi (concentration) comes about. While you are in perfect Samadhi, one day Prajna (transcendental wisdom) arises. This is the realization of truth & then you are not shaken by ups & downs of the life. You are safe from all the vicissitudes of fortune. The face of the Buddha is always wreathed in a slight smile! He is not shaken by outside ups & downs.
Analysis & reasoning are not connected to meditation. In Meditation you become an observer who does not judge! Just be an observer, as if you are standing by the side of the road watching the traffic-no judgment, no evaluation, no condemnation, no appreciation-just pure observation. The meditator surpasses death and he experiences the eternity in the KSHANA.
Please read the following poem of William blake:
* To see a World in a Grain of Sand
* And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
* Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
* And Eternity in an hour
The Austrian scientist Erwin Schrödinger writes thus:
“Eternally & forever, there is only NOW; this one & immutable NOW; the Present is the only thing which has no end.”
In the Garden of the Prophet Khalil Gibran thus says:
“And he answered and said: “Take up now a handful of good earth. Do you find in it a seed, and perhaps a worm? If your hand were spacious and enduring enough, the seed might become a forest, and the worm a flock of angels. And forget not that the years which turn seeds to forests, and worms to angels, belong to this Now, all of the years, this very Now.”
It is interesting to know that Meditation & Medicine are from the same language root. In Sanskrit too Vyadhi & Samadhi are of the same root. Our ancestors had understood the fact that the meditation is a therapy. Today in many hospitals in the USA meditation is practised as a means of treatment.
At present, Neurotheology (a new science discipline) studies the changes that take place in the brain while in meditation. Scientists have found that simple change of thought process would bring about radical changes inside brain. In other words, the effects of meditation are scientifically proved. Enlightenment can be studied and is scientifically proved.
One easy meditation method is Anapanasati. You become aware of your breath. You can meditate on your in-breath & out-breath. While you continue this awareness your mind calms down.
Especially, we are not sufficiently attentive to our breathing. It is this breath that makes us grow, makes our bones solid, but we are not paying due attention to it. We are not grateful to our life-giver. We just let it happen. If you start to breathe mindfully then your mental & physical health ameliorates. Meditation relieves karma.
In many languages the word for the soul & mind is the same as breathing.
* 1. : ANIMA, SPIRITUS (Latin)
2. :PNEUMA, PSYCHE (Greek)
3. :RUAH (Hebrew)
Atman is the German verb for breathing! (Atman is soul in Sanskrit!)
Buddha: In this fathom long body I see the world, its birth & its extinction.
Socrates: Know yourself then you will know gods & the world.
Jesus: The Kingdom of God is in you.
Mohamed: One who knows himself will know the God.
Jalal Uddin Rumy: I looked around me to see the God, but He was not there, then I looked into me & He was there.
Nietzsche: The Kingdom of God is a state which forms itself inside heart.
In the Western world of today there is a famous expression: “Living in the present moment” They also say: “In the here & in the now!” Most of the people who use these expressions do not know their origin. They come from the Satipatthana Sutta. In Sanskrit there is the word: KSHANA, the shortest possible moment. Life is a sum of KSHANAS. Past is gone & future has not yet come. The only moment that exists is the PRESENT. Therefore we should live in the present moment. Sages like Buddha who live in the present moment are not swayed by past worries & unending future projects. Meditation is living in the present moment.
We have to meditate because we need it. We need silence. Otherwise every one becomes mad. If a surgeon who is cutting open a skull of a patient happens to think of his home while the operation is being done the patient’s life would be in danger. He has to be absorbed in his action. He has to be mindful of what he is doing. That is meditation. This is being in Smruti or Sati.
A Brahmin comes to Buddha & asks about his spiritual practice. In response to his question Buddha says: we eat, we sleep, we walk etc. Then Brahmin replies: we also do the same thing. At the Brahmin’s answer Buddha says: But there is a difference; when we eat we know that we eat, when we sleep we know that we sleep, when we walk we know that we walk. This is meditation.
In Buddhism there are three words which are very important:
* Smruti; Samadhi; Prajna
1. Smruti is Mindful awareness
2. Samadhi is Concentration
3. Prajna is Transcendental wisdom
In meditation we should be mindful of our every action. In our daily life mindful awareness offers us tranquillity & inner peace. For instance, a housewife can chop her vegetables by being aware of chopping vegetables without being mentally vagabond. If she continues this way she practices meditation without thinking that she is in meditation! Some people are of the opinion that one has to be older to sit in meditation. This concept is utterly false & baseless. We have to meditate because we need it. We need silence. Otherwise every one becomes mad. If a surgeon who is cutting open a skull of a patient happens to think of his home while the operation is being done the patient’s life would be in danger. He has to be absorbed in his action. He has to be mindful of what he is doing. That is meditation. This is being in Smruti or Sati. While in meditation one can come to a point where he or she understands that there is no separation between him or her and the rest of the world. He or she thus understands non-duality through which automatically arises compassion. That is why in Buddhism Prajna & Karuna are complementary. (Wisdom & Compassion)It is noteworthy to mention that the word charity is derived from Karuna (Karuna-caritas-charity).
While you continue to be in Smruti (mindfully aware) automatically Samadhi (concentration) comes about. While you are in perfect Samadhi, one day Prajna (transcendental wisdom) arises. This is the realization of truth & then you are not shaken by ups & downs of the life. You are safe from all the vicissitudes of fortune. The face of the Buddha is always wreathed in a slight smile! He is not shaken by outside ups & downs.
Analysis & reasoning are not connected to meditation. In Meditation you become an observer who does not judge! Just be an observer, as if you are standing by the side of the road watching the traffic-no judgment, no evaluation, no condemnation, no appreciation-just pure observation. The meditator surpasses death and he experiences the eternity in the KSHANA.
Please read the following poem of William blake:
* To see a World in a Grain of Sand
* And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
* Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
* And Eternity in an hour
The Austrian scientist Erwin Schrödinger writes thus:
“Eternally & forever, there is only NOW; this one & immutable NOW; the Present is the only thing which has no end.”
In the Garden of the Prophet Khalil Gibran thus says:
“And he answered and said: “Take up now a handful of good earth. Do you find in it a seed, and perhaps a worm? If your hand were spacious and enduring enough, the seed might become a forest, and the worm a flock of angels. And forget not that the years which turn seeds to forests, and worms to angels, belong to this Now, all of the years, this very Now.”
It is interesting to know that Meditation & Medicine are from the same language root. In Sanskrit too Vyadhi & Samadhi are of the same root. Our ancestors had understood the fact that the meditation is a therapy. Today in many hospitals in the USA meditation is practised as a means of treatment.
At present, Neurotheology (a new science discipline) studies the changes that take place in the brain while in meditation. Scientists have found that simple change of thought process would bring about radical changes inside brain. In other words, the effects of meditation are scientifically proved. Enlightenment can be studied and is scientifically proved.
One easy meditation method is Anapanasati. You become aware of your breath. You can meditate on your in-breath & out-breath. While you continue this awareness your mind calms down.
Especially, we are not sufficiently attentive to our breathing. It is this breath that makes us grow, makes our bones solid, but we are not paying due attention to it. We are not grateful to our life-giver. We just let it happen. If you start to breathe mindfully then your mental & physical health ameliorates. Meditation relieves karma.
In many languages the word for the soul & mind is the same as breathing.
* 1. : ANIMA, SPIRITUS (Latin)
2. :PNEUMA, PSYCHE (Greek)
3. :RUAH (Hebrew)
Atman is the German verb for breathing! (Atman is soul in Sanskrit!)
Buddha: In this fathom long body I see the world, its birth & its extinction.
Socrates: Know yourself then you will know gods & the world.
Jesus: The Kingdom of God is in you.
Mohamed: One who knows himself will know the God.
Jalal Uddin Rumy: I looked around me to see the God, but He was not there, then I looked into me & He was there.
Nietzsche: The Kingdom of God is a state which forms itself inside heart.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Death and “RE- INKARMATION”
The word Death is a taboo in the Western world. Usually the Westerner attempts to conveniently forget it, although it haunts around him every time! Why this fear? He does not believe in rebirth. He thinks every thing is finished with the demise of the body. If he understands that there is neither birth nor death his fear vanishes. Instead of death & birth, there are only manifestations in this world of inter-being. There is only impermanence & in this impermanence the manifestations come about. Nothing has its own existence in this Universe of inter-existence. No permanent self exists. There is only a combination of mental & physical energies. They do not remain the same for two consecutive moments.
"As we live in a world of inter-existence for the Buddhist, death is nothing but a simple transformation. At this moment I remember one documentary film made by a French director on Sri Lanka. I was invited for the release of the said film followed by a discussion. In the film there was a scene of a funeral where people were white-clad. The audience asked me why they were wearing white clothes during a sad moment like death. I explained to them that in our culture the death is not an unhappy incident. For a Buddhist, death is like a change of his or her clothing because he or she believes in rebirth."
We know what Heraclites said: “No person can bathe two times in the same river.” But a Buddhist may say no person can bathe even one time in the same river because the person and the river change in every shortest moment possible. It is a series that continues unbroken, but changes every moment. The series is nothing but movement.
The great Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran says: “You would know the secret of death but how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life.” He also says that the death can not be separated from life and the death and life are one like the sea and the river. Therefore, death and birth are inseparable. These two are nothing but one. According to Buddhism nothing can be created and nothing can be destroyed.
As we live in a world of inter-existence for the Buddhist, death is nothing but a simple transformation. At this moment I remember one documentary film made by a French director on Sri Lanka. I was invited for the release of the said film followed by a discussion. In the film there was a scene of a funeral where people were white-clad. The audience asked me why they were wearing white clothes during a sad moment like death. I explained to them that in our culture the death is not an unhappy incident. For a Buddhist, death is like a change of his or her clothing because he or she believes in rebirth. We take only what we have done with us! We reap what we have sown. It is called KARMA. A French philosopher proposes the word: RE-INKARMATION!
The famous French adage comes to my mind: “He who sows wind reaps tempest!” It is a clear definition for KARMA. Until very recent times death was rarely spoken of in public, in these countries. In France a psychologist who worked for accompaniment of dying people wrote a book called Intimate Death. Since then a lot of people seem to have taken an interest in the subject of death which once was a taboo. A commentary written on the Tibetan book of Death, by a Tibetan Lama has been a bestseller in every corner of the world for some time and I think that it has become an eye-opener for most people living in this hemisphere on the tabooed subject of death. Nowadays Westerners are talking in public on death. The creation of palliative care units was an indirect result of this book. Anyway it is a good sign that death is not purposely ignored.
Karma is what we create by thought, body & word. When we do by body, thought & word a negative act we emit a negative energy to the universe & it follows us! It is very simple. For Karma there is no space & time. Therefore it can easily follow the doer.
I throw a stone to a pond. It falls on water with a flash. It runs down to the bottom & touches the ground of the pond. With it a water ring is born & it goes becoming wider & wider towards the bank. Then it touches the bank & then returns to the stone & exerts force on the stone that made the trouble in the water. Karma is exactly the same.
Jean Paul Sartre has said “L’homme est la somme de ses actes.” (The man is the sum of his acts.) Hegel goes on: “The man is nothing but the series of his acts.” Without being aware they talk of KARMA.
Buddhist KARMA is not SIN. The words KUSALA & AKUSALA are skilful action & unskilful action. In Buddhism there are no original sins. The man is able to change & transcend KARMA. Hence it is not fatalism. Fatalism is the antipode of KARMA
Therefore be careful of RE-INKARMATION!
(Bhikkhu Mandawala Pannawansa Thero is well known Buddhist monk born in Sri Lanka, currently lives in France.)
"As we live in a world of inter-existence for the Buddhist, death is nothing but a simple transformation. At this moment I remember one documentary film made by a French director on Sri Lanka. I was invited for the release of the said film followed by a discussion. In the film there was a scene of a funeral where people were white-clad. The audience asked me why they were wearing white clothes during a sad moment like death. I explained to them that in our culture the death is not an unhappy incident. For a Buddhist, death is like a change of his or her clothing because he or she believes in rebirth."
We know what Heraclites said: “No person can bathe two times in the same river.” But a Buddhist may say no person can bathe even one time in the same river because the person and the river change in every shortest moment possible. It is a series that continues unbroken, but changes every moment. The series is nothing but movement.
The great Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran says: “You would know the secret of death but how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life.” He also says that the death can not be separated from life and the death and life are one like the sea and the river. Therefore, death and birth are inseparable. These two are nothing but one. According to Buddhism nothing can be created and nothing can be destroyed.
As we live in a world of inter-existence for the Buddhist, death is nothing but a simple transformation. At this moment I remember one documentary film made by a French director on Sri Lanka. I was invited for the release of the said film followed by a discussion. In the film there was a scene of a funeral where people were white-clad. The audience asked me why they were wearing white clothes during a sad moment like death. I explained to them that in our culture the death is not an unhappy incident. For a Buddhist, death is like a change of his or her clothing because he or she believes in rebirth. We take only what we have done with us! We reap what we have sown. It is called KARMA. A French philosopher proposes the word: RE-INKARMATION!
The famous French adage comes to my mind: “He who sows wind reaps tempest!” It is a clear definition for KARMA. Until very recent times death was rarely spoken of in public, in these countries. In France a psychologist who worked for accompaniment of dying people wrote a book called Intimate Death. Since then a lot of people seem to have taken an interest in the subject of death which once was a taboo. A commentary written on the Tibetan book of Death, by a Tibetan Lama has been a bestseller in every corner of the world for some time and I think that it has become an eye-opener for most people living in this hemisphere on the tabooed subject of death. Nowadays Westerners are talking in public on death. The creation of palliative care units was an indirect result of this book. Anyway it is a good sign that death is not purposely ignored.
Karma is what we create by thought, body & word. When we do by body, thought & word a negative act we emit a negative energy to the universe & it follows us! It is very simple. For Karma there is no space & time. Therefore it can easily follow the doer.
I throw a stone to a pond. It falls on water with a flash. It runs down to the bottom & touches the ground of the pond. With it a water ring is born & it goes becoming wider & wider towards the bank. Then it touches the bank & then returns to the stone & exerts force on the stone that made the trouble in the water. Karma is exactly the same.
Jean Paul Sartre has said “L’homme est la somme de ses actes.” (The man is the sum of his acts.) Hegel goes on: “The man is nothing but the series of his acts.” Without being aware they talk of KARMA.
Buddhist KARMA is not SIN. The words KUSALA & AKUSALA are skilful action & unskilful action. In Buddhism there are no original sins. The man is able to change & transcend KARMA. Hence it is not fatalism. Fatalism is the antipode of KARMA
Therefore be careful of RE-INKARMATION!
(Bhikkhu Mandawala Pannawansa Thero is well known Buddhist monk born in Sri Lanka, currently lives in France.)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Muni and Thinker
Muni is an oriental word which can approximately be translated as Sage. But the word Sage does not give to my mind the exact meaning of the word Muni.
Muni is a silent person. He does not think & instead is absorbed in silent meditation. Mainly in the oriental hemisphere there were Munis & in the Occident there were Thinkers. Socrates is usually presented as a Thinker, but for me he was a Muni who had attained a higher level of spiritual development.(in the morning of the day of his execution one of his disciples came to his prison cell & he found his Master was in a deep & smooth sleep! Several hours ahead of his execution he was sleeping, indeed he was in deep meditation)
"Mind keeps us away from our true nature. If we are lost in intellect & mind our true nature disappears & we become 'artificial'. As we know French surrealists were inspired by the African primitive art which was not guided by intellect. These African artists were "uneducated" "unintellectual". Therefore this primitive art was not corrupt by "intellectualism". It expressed itself without being reined by intellect. Through Silence one can go into his true nature."
The Silence invites us to embark upon an interior journey: a holistic peregrination. Silence is the true nature of man. The opposite of Silence is something which comes from outside.
Every great spiritual master has advocated Silence. Buddha spent 6 years in total silence. Mahavira of Jainism was a silent master. Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, in total silence. Prophet Mohamed observed silence as well.
Dostoevsky writes about Silence:
"For a normal person the temporary solitude is more important than eating & drinking."
Nietzsche also has appreciated silence & solitude:
"He who knows ultimate solitude knows ultimate things."
When Descartes writes: "I think therefore I am" Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh writes: "I do not think, therefore I am." Yes, when we are away from our thoughts our true nature comes out. We can then truly be connected to nature & nature begins to express itself freely in us.
Mind keeps us away from our true nature. If we are lost in intellect & mind our true nature disappears & we become 'artificial'. As we know French surrealists were inspired by the African primitive art which was not guided by intellect. These African artists were "uneducated" "unintellectual". Therefore this primitive art was not corrupt by "intellectualism". It expressed itself without being reined by intellect. Through Silence one can go into his true nature.
Rishis or Munis in the past have discovered Ayurveda etc. through this innermost journey via silence.
One catholic sister named Hildegard Von Bingen in Germany who practised silence in the 13 th century was able to read properties of plants. Her music compositions are incomparable. These talents were exposed because of her silence. Those Munis who composed Ragas were in solitude. One Western musician says: "the silence which is manifest between two notes is more important than the composition!"
When you are in solitude, you become one with everything. To be in solitude does not mean that you are isolated; instead you are directly connected to others, to the Universe.
Every real artist, musician have created their great works while in solitude; in meditation. Einstein was said to be playing the violin when he discovered his famous formula of e=mc². He was in solitude & meditation.
Hence, spare some minutes from the day to be able to be in solitude. You can be in solitude even while travelling by bus or train!
Muni is a silent person. He does not think & instead is absorbed in silent meditation. Mainly in the oriental hemisphere there were Munis & in the Occident there were Thinkers. Socrates is usually presented as a Thinker, but for me he was a Muni who had attained a higher level of spiritual development.(in the morning of the day of his execution one of his disciples came to his prison cell & he found his Master was in a deep & smooth sleep! Several hours ahead of his execution he was sleeping, indeed he was in deep meditation)
"Mind keeps us away from our true nature. If we are lost in intellect & mind our true nature disappears & we become 'artificial'. As we know French surrealists were inspired by the African primitive art which was not guided by intellect. These African artists were "uneducated" "unintellectual". Therefore this primitive art was not corrupt by "intellectualism". It expressed itself without being reined by intellect. Through Silence one can go into his true nature."
The Silence invites us to embark upon an interior journey: a holistic peregrination. Silence is the true nature of man. The opposite of Silence is something which comes from outside.
Every great spiritual master has advocated Silence. Buddha spent 6 years in total silence. Mahavira of Jainism was a silent master. Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, in total silence. Prophet Mohamed observed silence as well.
Dostoevsky writes about Silence:
"For a normal person the temporary solitude is more important than eating & drinking."
Nietzsche also has appreciated silence & solitude:
"He who knows ultimate solitude knows ultimate things."
When Descartes writes: "I think therefore I am" Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh writes: "I do not think, therefore I am." Yes, when we are away from our thoughts our true nature comes out. We can then truly be connected to nature & nature begins to express itself freely in us.
Mind keeps us away from our true nature. If we are lost in intellect & mind our true nature disappears & we become 'artificial'. As we know French surrealists were inspired by the African primitive art which was not guided by intellect. These African artists were "uneducated" "unintellectual". Therefore this primitive art was not corrupt by "intellectualism". It expressed itself without being reined by intellect. Through Silence one can go into his true nature.
Rishis or Munis in the past have discovered Ayurveda etc. through this innermost journey via silence.
One catholic sister named Hildegard Von Bingen in Germany who practised silence in the 13 th century was able to read properties of plants. Her music compositions are incomparable. These talents were exposed because of her silence. Those Munis who composed Ragas were in solitude. One Western musician says: "the silence which is manifest between two notes is more important than the composition!"
When you are in solitude, you become one with everything. To be in solitude does not mean that you are isolated; instead you are directly connected to others, to the Universe.
Every real artist, musician have created their great works while in solitude; in meditation. Einstein was said to be playing the violin when he discovered his famous formula of e=mc². He was in solitude & meditation.
Hence, spare some minutes from the day to be able to be in solitude. You can be in solitude even while travelling by bus or train!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Meeting Ajahn Brahm in a relaxed mood
About an hour’s drive from Perth in Australia brings us to Serpentine, a quiet hilly suburb where renowned meditation master Ajahn Brahmavamso has his monastery. It’s around ten in the morning and the Thai devotees who had brought the alms spread them out on a table in the alms hall and move out with plates of rice in their hands. They form a queue to serve the monks as they come in. We also join them.
Sharp at 10.30, Ajahn Brahm appears with around 15 monks following him carrying alms bowls. Ever-smiling, he greets us with ‘ayubowan’ as he approaches and accepts a spoonful of rice. The monks walk into the alms hall to serve themselves and we walk upstairs and await their arrival to bless us before they eat. We move out as they start taking the ‘dana’.
“Have your meals and come up for a chat,” Ajahn Brahm tells me. We join the other lay visitors and share the food. The Bodhinyana Buddhist Monastery is in a quiet natural forest - 100 acres in extent. The ‘kuti’ – 21 in all – are spread out amidst the trees. A ‘kuti’ is occupied by a single monk. The monks spend their time meditating.
As much as he preaches the need to lead a simple life, Ajahn Brahm practises what he preaches. A junior monk took us to Ajahn Brahm’s ‘kuti’, built in the style of a rocky cavern just sufficient for him to move about. He uses a thin cushion to sit and meditate. He sleeps by spreading four cushions on the floor. The sound-proof room gets ventilation through small pipes laid in the walls. “Aren’t there facilities for laymen to spend time at the monastery,” I ask Ajahn Brahm. “Not right now,” he says. “Very soon we will provide residential facilities for up to 60 guests in a nearby retreat centre we are building.” A 140-acre block of land has been purchased for this purpose.
Ten individual cottages are being built at the Jhana Grove Retreat Centre containing six bedrooms in each. They are being designed in a way that will allow a great degree of privacy thus maximising the benefit of meditation practice. Connected to the cottages by a central walkway will be a large air-conditioned meditation hall with three adjoining halls to practise walking meditation. A well equipped kitchen along with other facilities for laundry and storage are being provided.
Ajahn Brahm is keen to see that the elderly and the infirm are drawn to the Retreat Centre. “I have observed that those suffering from illnesses, cancer patients in particular, benefit through meditation. At the Retreat Centre we will provide facilities for such persons to learn meditation techniques and strategies in a peaceful environment that is also physically comfortable,” he explains. Serving as patron of the Retreat Centre is the former Premier of Western Australia, Dr. Geoff Gallop who used meditation to help recover from a recent illness.
“Stress has become a major factor throughout the world. It affects the lives of so many individuals. It leads to the break up of families. Meditation relieves stress and tension. It enhances one’s health,” Ajahn Brahm says. “I am hopeful that within 15 months we will have the Centre ready. Thereafter we will offer residential meditation retreats free of charge,” Ajahn Brahm assures.
The project is estimated to cost over Aus$ three million. Funds have been steadily flowing in. The project is undertaken by the Buddhist Society of West Australia. As we get up to leave the monastery, Ajahn Brahm invites us to “Ajahn Brahm’s new year’s eve party” on 31st night at the society’s headquarters. “There won’t be any alcohol but we can contemplate on the effects of alcohol. We will chant ‘pirith’ and bless everyone for the new year,” he assures us.
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