Buddhism As Education

The Association of Pureland Amitabha Buddhist, Ipoh will be holding an annual Fortune Prayer of Prosperity God Mahakala from 25 December to 26 December 2010 (Saturday and Sunday) from 9.30 am to 5.00 pm. The event would be carried out at the association's premises situated at Taman Saikat, Ipoh, Perak and the two days prayer would also be personally hosted by Venerable Master Fa Xuan. Event Programme: 9.00 am : Arrival of Participants 9.30 am to 4.00 pm : 1) Commencement of Assembly 2) Incantation, Purification Ceremony 3) Lamp Lighting Ceremony 4) Dharma Talk (in Cantonese) 4.00 pm to 4.30 pm : Fortune Prayer 4.30 pm : Lucky Draw (only on 26 Dec) 5.00 pm : End For more information, and those who are interested to participate, please do not hesitate to contact the association's office telephone: 053113213, fax: 05-3113214.

Sharing of benefits of your good deeds to others is known as patti dana (patti - what you had gained and dana - sharing your merit). A donor with no doubt enjoy the benefits of his dana. The desire to share with others the merits gained is indeed magnanimous. We all, ater doing a good deed, should proclaim, "all those who can hear me, come and share my merits. May you all gain as much benefits as I do," and share the benevolence gained. This is patti dana, which in itself is a separate good deed. Caution : Some donors just verbally say, "come and share my merits" but have no sincere wish to do so. Such perfunctory sharing does not qualify as patti dana. Once upon a time, a donor invited many people to his son's novitiation and gave lavish feast. The contributions (from invitees) did not cover the expenses of the feast, so he was left in debt. After the ceremony came the time to share merits. At that time, he was mentally calculating how much he would owe. Somebo...

One must not assume that what is said covers all the benefits of dana. To enumerate all benefits of dana would indeed require a separate treatise in itself. If a person discard dana according to the belief of some malicious quarters, sociable relations would cease and metta (loving kindness) will disappear. The rich will no more be charitable to the destitute. They will cultivate and attitude of disregard and say "oh let them die" or "who cares?" Humanity without dana will in fact be very much uncivilized. And of course, uncivility of mind eventually leads to savagery in physical action. The Bodhisatta attained Self-Enlightenment and became Tathagata after renouncing wealth, power and glory of the crown only with the help and support of numerous donors offering him alms food, etc. He was then able to preach his noble Dhamma and establish the holy Holy Order of Sangha to propagate his Sasana with the support of wealthy devotees like Anathapidika, Visakha, King Bimbis...

Some have the wrong belied that dana prolongs samsara (cycle of rebirths). In the story of the two friends, we have seen that the one who gave charity was not late in attaining nibbana. Therefore, it is illogical to assert that dana prolongs samsara. In fact, the impurity of the mind of the donor responsible for the round of rebirths. One's lustful greed to enjoy the luxuries of humans and devas for the dana given causes one to linger in the cycle of samsara. Some erroneously say that Buddha himself has to struggle loger in samsara because he cherishes dana in every existence. This is absolutely untrue. Due to dana parami (perfection of charity) an infinite number of Buddhas have attained supreme enlightenment while we all are still swimming along the stream of death and rebirths. Can we attribute this to our danas which far exceed those of the Buddhas? The Bodhisatta Vessantara who gave charity in an unprecedented magnitude attained Buddhahood after only two existence. Therefore i...

The benefits of Dana need no elaboration. The good deed of feeding a small animal just once brings about long life, beauty, prosperity, strength and wisdom for the next one hundred existences. When reborn in human or deva world, due to his dana in this life, he outshines other beings. In the time of Kassapa Buddha, there were two monks who were good friends. One of them was a generous donor while the other was not. Since both observed sila (precepts), they were reborn as human and deva up to the time of Gotama Buddha. In each and every existence, the generous always excelled the other in status. In their final existence, they were both reborn as humans in the court of King Kosala. The generous donor became a prince while the other became a son of a minister. While the prince slept in a golden cradle under the regal white umbrella, the other slept in a wooden cradle. Although both attained Nibbana ultimately, the benefits they enjoyed in each existence were quite different.

During the time of Gotama Buddha, devotees were privileged to offer alms to the Buddha in person. But today, the Buddha is no more with us in person. So we have to learn from the text how to offer alms in devotion to the Buddha. First you must prepare alms food enough for one bhikkhu and place it in front of a statue of the Buddha. If there happens to be no statue nearby, you can through reverence create a mental image of the Buddha and offer alms to that image. Then you must dedicate your cetana to the Buddha in person. After such offering, the alms food may be given to a devotee who does voluntary service in keeping the pagoda precinct clean and tidy, whether he is lay or a bhikkhu. A voluntary worker who keeps uposatha sila (eight precepts) can eat the alms food before doing any service if the noon time is drawing near. At the time of great ceremonious charity if one wishes to offer alms food to the Sangha led by the Buddha, the same procedure should be adopted to make offering of a...

Even if you offer alms to one, two or more bhikkhus, if you select them in personal terms, the dana becomes puggalika dana (charity meant for individuals). And if you do so, eventhough you offer alms to a thousand bhikkhus, you are only doing puggalika dana. Except dana specially offered to Buddha and Paccekabuddhas, Sanghika Dana excels all other forms of dana. When we talk of Sanghika Dana, the Arahats are also included. In the case of puggalika dana, Arahats may or may not be included. So, we can safely deduce that Sanghika Dana amounts to offering alms to the holiest bhikkhus whereas puggalika dana needs careful selection of the recipient bhikkhu. It is quite logical to conclude that Sanghika Dana is much more powerful and much more beneficial than puggalika dana.

The rain retreat of the monks (Vassa Kala) ends on the full moon day of October. During the Vassa retreat that lasted for three months, the monks serve the community of followers in various ways such as teaching the Dhamma and meditation, counselling and serving in many other ways. The monks end the retreat by performing a Monastic Disciplinary Act (Vinaya Kamma) called the Pavarana. After this, the monks are free to leave the place where the retreat was held. Before they leave, it is the customs of the devotees to hold a farewell ceremony for the monks. This is called the Kathina ceremony. During this ceremony, many gifts are offered to the monks as well as gifts for the upkeep of the monastery (Vihara). A very essential part of this ceremony is the offering of a special robe called the Kathina Civara, which is made in a special way through the contribution and collective effort of many devotees. This is also offered in a special way by carrying the Kathina Robe in a parade (Perahera)...

The virtuous devotee, endowed with great faith in the Buddha, wishing to promote long endurance of his teaching and emergence of succession of good, dutiful Sangha who would maintain the prosperity and purity of the Sasana, should support the Sangha organization by offering regular alms-food to its members. But when alms-food has been prepared ready for offering, the devotee must remove any attachment as "this is my Sayadaw", "this is the monk that I had helped ordained", "this is my favourite monk" and so on. Instead, he must incline his mind to the whole Sangha while making the offering uttering at the same time "I offer this to the Sangha, Samgassa demi ". When the dana performance is made daily in such a manner, the offering becomes a true Sanghika Dana. The invited meal can become a Sanghika Dana Going to a nearby monastery, the invitation must be offered to the responsible head monk. "Reverend Sir, I wish to make an offering of alms-fo...

The Pali word of Sanghika Dana means offering alms and other requisites to the Order of the Sangha. Supposed you donate one dollar to an association, all members rich or poor are entitled to that one dollar. Similarly, if a bowl of alms food or a set of robes is offered to the Sangha, then all members of the order are entitled to those offertories. You need not go around the world to give alms to the Sangha Order. An offer to any member of the Sangha in general will automatically amount to Sanghika Dana. All members are entitled to such offertories. They can share it between them. How to project one's goodwill? In offering Sanghika Dana, a donor's mind must be directed to the Order of the Sangha in general. Even though you utter Samghassa demi , I offer it to the Order of Sangha, if you have in mind a particular monk or a particular monastery, your charity cannot be Sanghika Dana. Offering alms food to any monk on daily alms-round or to a certain monk designated by the Order of...

The Medicine Buddha Heong Sun See Temple, Penang will be organizing a Vegetarian Food Fair in conjunction with the Nine Emperor Gods' Birthday. The food fair organized in aid of the temple's building fund shall commence from 30th day of the 8th Lunar Month (7/10/2010) to the 9th day of the 9th Lunar Month (16/10/2010) from 7.30 pm to 8.30 pm at the temple premises. Vegetarian food available are: economy rice, noodles (both fried and soup), western food i.e. vegetarian burgers, hot-dogs and chicken chops. Local specialties such as nasi lemak, chicken rice, nyonya kuih, deserts, beverages, etc. The lighting of Medicines Buddha's Lotus Lamp for good fortune and elimination of obstacles will be incorporated in the Medicine Buddha Repentance Puja on the 3rd and 8th days of the 9th Lunar Month (10/10/2010 & 15 /10/2010) from 8.00 am to 12.00 pm. RM10.00 for individual and RM20.00 for family. Coupons for the food fair can be obtained from the temple. Contribution in case or in...

In Peta Vatthu Pali Text it is mentioned that recipients of dana are like fields where the seeds are sown. Farmlands in general are of three grades; the very fertile, the mediocre and the poor. Likewise, dana recipients are also of different grades. Just as farms free weeds and grass are highly productive, so also if dana recipients are void of greed, hatred and ignorance, the donors enjoy benefits all the more. Just as farms will yield a plentiful harvest hen they are rich in manure and fertilizers, so also good results will be accrued by donors when the recipients are persons of virtue and wisdom.

Recipients are the fields, Donors are the farmers, Offertories are the seeds sown, Benefits are the fruits. In the Peta Vatthu Pali Text, it said "The recipient of the charity is like the hand; the donor i.e. the farmer, the offertories are the seeds sown. The benefits accrued later through out samsara are the fruits that are borne from the plants". Let us elaborate: In agriculture, the type of soil whether good or bad determines the yield. Similarly, the integrity and nobility of the recipient determine the nature of beneficial results. Just as the vitality of the seeds sown determines the growth and productivity of the plants; purity of offerings, gifts, whether they are procured through rightful livelihood or not and the quantity, determine the nature of beneficial results. Just as farmers will reap harvest in conformity with their skill in farming and efforts, so also donors will enjoy the results depending on their level of intelligence, appreciative joy and their sincer...

Today's Vassa Dana at Nandaka Vihara in Cherok To'kun, Bukit Mertajam was very grand. About more than a hundred devotees attended the meritorious event. Many devotees took the advantage of the Raya holidays to come to the vihara to perform dana and make some offerings to the Sangha. Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu!

Some donors offer almsfood, buildings, clothes, ritually or perfunctorily. If so even though dana may be lavish and grand, their cetana is no match to it; they do not feel appreciative joy because the good deed was done with little volition. Therefore, quantity or quality alone cannot determine the generosity of a donor. When King Dutthagamani Abaya was on his death bed, he did not feel much joy in his merit of building the great Maha Cedi Pagoda, instead he felt great joy in recalling his small merit of offering one meal to a monk in the forest. Due to this great cetana he was reborn in the celestial abode of Tusita devas. Therefore keep in mond that cetana only will determine your destiny not the quantity or value of gifts you have offered. Cetana is more inportant than the lavishness of your charity.

Although offertories such as alms-food and recipients of offertories cannot follow the donor to the next life and bring benevolence, they certainly help to promote a keen cetana in the donors. For example, offering specially prepared alms-food to the Sangha incites a vigorous cetana whilst offering alms-food incites somewhat feeable cetana. Again, charity given to worthy recipients incite strong cetana whereas charity given to nominal recipients incite a frail cetana. In this way, offertories donated and the persons receiving the charity help promote a keen cetana in the mind of the donors. The quality of offertories The respective efforts exerted to offer different amount of offertories may differ accordingly. For the zealous efforts in procuring a large quantity of offertories there will arise a strong cetana. Procuring only a small quantity of offertories will naturally call for less efforts and the corresponding cetana will be relatively less. In preparing for a large amount of off...

Dana means giving charity. There are two types of dana, namely (i) cetana dana and (ii) vatthu dana. Offerings of goods, robes, monasteries, etc are classified as vatthu (material) dana, while the goodwill in these charitable acts is called cetana (volition). It is this cetana that produces beneficial results here and in the next existences, not the material things that are offered. This mental attitude which is projected onto offertories determines the good results in future existences. If the offertories are good and noble, so also in the cetana. If during an offering of alms-food to the Sangha, a donor has his object of awareness the food he offers and the Sangha he is offering to; then a continuous stream of cetana (volition) occurs incessantly in his mind-continuum. That cetana arises and disappears in very rapid succession but does not disappear totally. The forces created by the cetanas just lie dormant to produce corresponding results later. taking into consideration that more ...

In the commentary to the Kathinakkhandaka (Section on Kathina) of the Vinaya Pitaka, kathina is defined as a concept of conglomeration which means bringing things together. It is a concept that arises because of certain things that come together. For example: A Bhikkhu/s (Buddhist monk/s) who has/have spent the first vassa; A Sangha (Community of Bhikkhus) comprising at least five bhikkhus; Robe season (the Kathina month) - first month after the end of the first vassa i.e. final month of the rainy season; A rightfully acquired robe - the robe to be donated must not be requested by a member of the Sangha, nor must any hint be given for the robe to be offered, rather the robe must be offered spontaneously by the donor. These are some criterias that come together for the concept of kathina to arise. In fact, two meanings of kathina are given in the Vinaya Commentaries: A frame used during the Buddha's time for sewing double layered robes together. The edges of one robe were fixed to...

Nandaka Vihara in Cherok Tokun, Bukit Mertajam will be having its Kathina Day (Annual Offering of Robes) on 31 October 2010 (Sunday) from 8.00 am to 12.30 pm. The Kathina programme for that day are as follows:- 8.00 am - Pindapata (Almsround) - Rice only 8.30 am - Food Stalls Open for Devotees 10.30 am - Sanghikadana (Food Offerings to the Sangha) 12.00 pm - Kathina Robes Offering; Dhamma Talk, Paritta Chanting; Sharing of Merits 12.30 pm - Adjournment All are devotees and friends are welcome. May the Sasana remain forever. Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu!

How the kathina ceremony came about is recorded in the Mahavagga, the third book of the Vinaya Pitaka (Vin III. 351 ff). The following is a summary of the account. At one time monks of Pava were on the way to see the Lord who was staying at Savatthi in Jetavana, Anathapindika's monastery. They were all forest dwellers, all alms men, all wearers of rag robes, all wearers of the three robes. As vassa was approaching, they were unable to reach Savatthi in time, so they entered vassa on the way at Saketa. They spent the vassa in a state of longing, thinking: "the Lord is staying close to us, six yojanas (about 60 kilometers) from here, but we are not getting the chance to see the Lord". Ten after the vassa, the monks continued on their journey to Jetavana, Savatthi where the Lord was staying. It was raining and the waters were gathering, while swamps were forming. By the time the monks arrived at their destination, their robes were drenched and they were all exhausted. Having...

The full moon day of Asahla (Vassa) is an auspicious day for Buddhist devotees. On this day, meritorious deeds are done specially due to the following reasons:- 1) It was on this day that the Bodhisatta was conceived in Queen Maya's womb; 2) It was on this day that the Bodhisatta renounced the world to seek Enlightenment; 3) It was on this day that the Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta or the Discourse on the Turning Wheel of the Dhamma. Thus, the Bodhisatta came into the human world, renounced his worldly pleasures and left the mundane world and delivered the first sermon. Because of these three great events, this day has a special significance for all Buddhist. When the Bodhisatta was about to pass away from the Tusita deva realm after enjoying the luxuries of a deva and Brahmas entreated, "it is time to be a Buddha in the human world". Thus, the Bodhisatta was conceived in the royal mother Queen Maha Maya's womb on the Full Moon Da...

Ven. Dhammasubho, the Abbot of Nandaka Vihara at his seat The guest sanghas taking their seat in preparation for the Dana The chanting of suttas commenced The newly constructed sangha quarters (also known as Kuti in Pali) Another two Kutis nearby The vihara's garden Construction in progress, expected to be ready in a month's time Nandaka Vihara is situated in Cherok To' Kun, Bukit Mertajam in Seberang Perai Tengah. To go to Nandaka, you may drive into the road leading towards the To' Kun Hill and you will see a signboard on the right side before reaching the To' Kun hillside. After turning to your right, you will past a Chinese temple and proceed straight via single lane road which will lead you right to the vihara. The vihara is a very nice and environmentally friendly in nature and man made. Its landscape was made and designed to ensure its foundation remain as strong as possible.

15 August 2010, 7 pm - His Eminence Thritsab Gyabra Rinpoche accompanied by Supha Rinpoche and the other lamas last night conducted another chanting session and a final fire puja ceremony in order to ease the sufferings of the wondering spirits, the departed ones and other ghosts. Prior to this Thritsab Gyabra Rinpoche also officiated the release of lotus candle lights into the river in order to lead the wondering spirits, departed ones and the ghost out of the suffering realms. On completion of these event, Thritsab Gyabra Rinpoche and Supha Rinpoche blessed all the devotees who were present.

His Eminence Thritsab Gyabra Rinpoche accompanied by Supha Rinpoche and the other lamas today conduct another session of Dharma discourse at Palme Gon Buddhist Society in Jalan Bagan Lallang, Butterworth. In today's Dharma discourse Gyabra Rinpoche explained the significance of Om Mane Padme Hung and its meaning to the devotees and informed us on the importance and effectiveness on reciting Om Mane Padme Hung regularly. After the explanation, Gyabra Rinpoche led his group to chant various mantras and sutras based on the Concise Sandhana of Chenrezig.

14 August 2010, 7 pm - After the liberation completed, Venerable Sek Chin Seng continued with another session of prayers and chanting for the memorial service held in conjunction of the 7th Lunar month where merits were passed to the departed ones as well as the wondering spirits and ghosts in order to ease their sufferings and lead them to a better realm.

Venerable Sek Chin Seng blessing all the fish, birds and tortoise during the prayers for liberation of these animals into the riverside. Devotees who are present also participated in the meritorious event which lasted for about an hour plus. Ven Sek Chin Seng blessing all the fish prior to the liberation Devotees participating in the liberation by releasing the fish and tortoise Devotees participating in the liberation by releasing the fish and tortoise "Yahoo! I'm free. I'm free" "Me too, we are all free"