(E16)-01Anguttara-Nikaya-Sutta-8

These eight worldly conditions, there's not very much to talk about. But there's a sutra, I'd like to quote from the Anguttara Nikaya 8.6. Anguttara Nikaya 8.6. The discourse of the Buddha goes like this. The Buddha said, monks, these eight worldly states obsess the world. The world revolves around these eight worldly states. What aid? Gain and loss, honour and dishonour, praise and blame, happiness and misery. Monks, these eight worldly states obsess the world. The world revolves round these eight worldly states. Monks, to the unlearned ordinary person come gain and loss, honour and dishonour, praise and blame, happiness and misery. To the learned Aryan disciple also come gain and loss, honor and dishonor, praise and blame, happiness and misery. What then, monks, is the distinction, the peculiarity, the difference between the ordinary person and the Aryan disciple? And they said, Lord, our doctrines have their foundation in the Exalted One. They are guided by the Blessed One. Well indeed, were it for us, if the Exalted One would expound the meaning of His speech to us, when the monks have heard the Exalted One, they would treasure His words in their hearts. And the Buddha said, Then listen, monks, give heed, I will speak. Yes, Lord, they replied. And the Exalted One said, Monks, to the unlearned ordinary person gain comes. He does not reflect thus. This gain which has come is impermanent, subject to change, can give rise to pain. He knows it not as it really is. Similarly, to the unlearned ordinary person, loss comes. Honor, dishonor, praise, blame, happiness, misery comes. He does not reflect that they are impermanent, subject to change, can give rise to pain, nor does he know these states as they really are. gain and loss, honour and dishonour, etc. takes possession of his mind and controls him. He welcomes the gain which has arisen. He rejects the loss when it occurs. Similarly, he welcomes the honour, rejects the dishonour, etc. Thus, welcoming and rejecting these worldly states, he is not freed from being born, ageing, dying, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair. He is not free from suffering, I say. And then conversely for the Aryan disciple, the Buddha said, monks, to the learned Aryan disciple, gain comes. He reflects thus, this gain which has come is impermanent, subject to change, can give rise to pain. He knows it as it really is. Similarly, To the learned Aran disciple, loss comes, honor, dishonor, praise, blame, happiness, misery comes. He reflects that they are impermanent, subject to change, can give rise to pain. He knows these states as they really are. Gain and loss, honor and dishonor, etc., does not take possession of his mind and control him. He does not welcome the gain which has arisen. nor does he reject the loss when it occurs. Similarly, he does not welcome the honour or reject the dishonour, etc. Thus, not welcoming and rejecting these worldly states, he is freed from being born, ageing, dying, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair. He is freed from suffering, I say.

(E16)-02-Conclusion-of-the-8-Worldly-Conditions

So you see this sutra, the Buddha says that to the ornery person, worldly states affect his mind. He is swayed by all these, moved by all these states. That's why in Chinese they call these 8 states, 8 winds, the 8 winds that move a person. So the first prayer is gain and loss. Gain and loss I think most of you know. When you succeed in something or you don't succeed in trying to get what you want, then there is gain and loss. And there are many types of gain and loss. There's a type, for example, for businessmen, it's making money and making a loss. And then perhaps for people at your age, maybe gaining a boyfriend or a girlfriend, and not making a loss. Then honour and dishonour. Honour and dishonour are small for people with the ego, the fat ego. Then they are very concerned with honour and dishonour. They want to be a Datuk, a Tan Sri, what in England they say a Sir or a Knight or something. And then praise and blame. Praise and blame Also, most people are affected by it. And it starts even from young. Even from young, sometimes our parents praise us. We are very happy. And when they blame us, we try to argue, right? And then happiness and misery. This happiness and misery as we grow older, and then it affects us more. As we grow older, we see our uncles and aunties getting old, and we see them becoming miserable, our grandparents. And then when they pass away, then you see a lot of people crying. Like for a person like me, being a monk, sometimes I get called to attend funerals because people pass away. And then Either they expect a monk to come and do some chanting or come and give a talk. Of course, we prefer to give a talk. We are not so good in chanting, but there are some monks who specialize in chanting. And then you notice, you know, like for Chinese, When somebody passes away, they keep the corpse in the house for three days, or five days, or seven days. And then at the end of that period, when they take out the coffin either to the graveyard or to the crematorium, then you find these people, especially when they start moving the coffin out, these people crying and such a state that is really very moving. We cry so much as if the end of the world, worse than the end of the world. And that's the greatest sorrow we suffer when we see somebody we love very much leave us for good. And in a way, we cry also not only because of that person, also because of ourselves, because we realize that one day we will also grow old, we will also die, we will also have to leave our loved ones. So that is the greatest sorrow. And when you see these people crying so unbearably, sometimes we are also moved to tears. So That is happiness and misery. So these states, gain and loss, honour and dishonour, praise and blame, happiness and misery, they all come about because we have a notion of a self, an ego, an I and mine. If there was no self involved, then we won't cry so much. For example, it was somebody else's relative that passed away. We will just sort of look at it dispassionately. But it's because it is my mother, my father, my son, my daughter. I will cry so painfully. So this one, the Buddha is actually like differentiating between the ordinary person in the world and an Aryan. An Aryan is a holy person. There are eight types of Aryans, eight types. The one who has attained the first path, path is the Magha. And after that he attains the first fruition, Bala. And then you have a second path attainer, second fruition attainer, third path attainer, third fruition attainer, fourth path attainer, and fourth fruition attainer. The fourth fruition attainer is also called an Arahant. It's also called an arahant. Now what's the difference between an arahant and a buddha? Anybody know? All buddhas are arahants, but not all arahants are buddhas. It's just like all doctors are human beings, right? But not all human beings are doctors. Arahant means someone who is liberated from the realm of existence. Comes from the word arahata. ara and hatha, two words. One word means the spokes of the wheel of existence. The other word means to have destroyed the spokes of the wheel of existence. So an arahant is one who is liberated from the realm of existence. He does not have a notion of a self anymore. So he is not moved. But that also does not mean that he is not compassionate. In fact, the arahant is the most compassionate person in the world, not the bodhisattva. The bodhisattva still has a self. As long as you have a self, you still have that selfishness in you. And because of that selfishness in you, you are not perfect. You cannot give like an arahant. An arahant has totally no self. That's one way of saying it. Another way of saying it is an arahant sees all beings as his self. It is impossible for an Arahant to harm any other living being. He sees everyone as part of himself. In fact, the Buddha said, if you wanted to kill an Arahant and he took a dagger, came in front of the Arahant to stab him, he wouldn't cry for help. He would never cry for help. Because he understands kamma. If he understands that he is to be killed because of his kamma, he will accept it. So, the greatest hero is the Arahant. And it's the greatest thing in life to do, to put down your ego. Because that's the hardest thing to do in life. The ego is the one. Nature has made it such that we have this ego to protect ourselves. And every living being has this notion of an ego. You see the mosquito, when the mosquito comes to you, he just wants a little drop of blood from you, a little donation, dharma. But you see him, you get alarmed. This guy, I want to slap him. So, when you try to do that, the mosquito will fly away. Why? Because it fears for its life. So nature has made it such that every living being values its life the most. There is nothing more valuable to a living being than the self. For example, if somebody owed you a million dollars, or even owed you all the wealth in the world, when you are about to pass away, you know that you cannot even take one cent with you, right? Not even one cent. You cannot even take your old stinking shirt with you. So, because of that, you can forgive him if he took all the wealth from you. But if he took your life, you probably want to take revenge. Make a vow to kill him in the next life. So, life is the most important thing for every living being. That's why in the five precepts, the first one is not to kill. So, this ego is inbuilt in every one of us. And it is very difficult. It is totally against our nature to sacrifice the self. Right? You are only able to do it sometimes when you feel, for example, your son has fallen into the river. and you are willing to risk your life to save your son, because it is my son, right? So, that may be a different body, but it's still associated with that I, because it's that mind. But to totally give up that I, that ego, is the most difficult thing to do. Every living being in the world, because it survives, it survives at the expense of others. They're all trying to survive. Every living creature in the world is trying to survive. And very often it survives at the expense of other creatures. For example, you look at animals. They eat each other, right? Alive. Why? Because everyone is trying to survive. Actually, human beings also do it, but in more subtle ways. We compete with each other in business, etc. And then if you succeed, another person loses out. So in a way you are also harming him, maybe not to the extent of taking his life or even maybe to the extent of taking his life but in a more subtle way. Sometimes people lose out in business, they become bankrupt and they commit suicide. So when they commit suicide it's actually somebody else taking their life, right? That is why the Arahant is the greatest person in the world, to be able to give up that ego so that he is no more a being that is a source of threat or a source of harm to other beings. So these eight worldly states, as long as we have not given up that ego itself, we are very much affected by these states and other states. It's only when we are able to lessen our ego that we are less affected by these states. And then when we totally give up the ego, then these states don't affect us at all. I think there's nothing much else I can say about these eight worldly states. Do you have any questions concerning this or any other thing?

(E16)-03-How-does-the-world-exist-in-the-mind

This morning somebody asked me a question about how the world exists in the mind. So, I'd like to tell you a bit of what I told those two persons. Sometimes you can see, as you grow older, you see more people pass away. And then slowly you learn that some people, when they are about to pass away, the consciousness of another world arises in their minds. And when they are taken up by that state, they forget about the present world. And it's due to karma, because they are going to be reborn into another world. So they see the world arising. For example, it is common knowledge among the Chinese that the people who work as butchers, those who slaughter the pigs, Especially in the old days, they slaughtered the pigs quite dreadfully. They would take the knife and stab the pig, take something sharp and stab the pig, cut, slit the throat. So, people who do this kind of work, when they are about to pass away, it is common knowledge that they would behave like a pig before they die. They go on all fours and they squeal like a pig, you know. And you may laugh now, but it's quite dreadful when you see your neighbor acting like that, about to pass away for maybe a week before he passes away. It's quite pitiful and quite dreadful to hear a man acting like a pig. just before he passes away. I don't know, maybe most of you, some of you may know about one or two years ago there was a case in Selangor where somebody was about to pass away and then he acted like a pig and then it seems the assistant Mokti of Selangor or something he made that statement that he saw this person going to be reborn as a pig And a lot of people disbelieved him. But he had the tape recording and all that. So people who work in hospitals or so, they talk about this. When a person about to pass away, they start to see visions. And some of them, they cry. Because it's frightening visions they see. For example, I had a couple, a man and a wife from Singapore and my supporters. They told me they had a friend who died of cancer. And this lady, a few years ago before she died, she used to see people coming towards her with chains to chain her. And then she would cry, she would ask, why, why are they chaining me? So probably she's going to be born in a woeful plane of existence where she'll get chained, maybe in hell or something. And a few years ago in Penang, another one of my supporters told me the father, father was in the 70s and about to pass away. So about one week before he died, he started to act very strange. He went outside, took in a lot of rubbish, put into his room, took off all his clothes, refused to wear his clothes and crawled on post. And then he told them he's going home. Then they asked him, where are you going? He said he's going to the dog house. So he's imagining himself as a dog. So these things happen. Another case was about two years ago, one of my old supporters, 80 over a year old, but he's been a good Buddhist, so he started to see visions, but he had good visions. So he saw people coming in and out of his room, little girl, So he asked his children, who is that? The children said, who? He said, who's that little girl that came in and out of my room? Who's the monk who walked in my room and went out? They said, no, no such person. So he got very annoyed and he thought they were all conspiring against him. Nobody saw, only he saw. And later he saw other things. He saw clouds. He saw flowers, very beautiful, and he told his children. The children said, no, no such thing. So they phoned me up, so I went to stay in his house for a few days. Then while I was there, he also saw, he saw a street with a lot of people, a big bridge over the street. I asked him to describe for me. He told me, to him it was very real, road signs and all that. I asked him to look carefully, what did the road sign say? He said, look, look, I couldn't see clearly. I asked him what's around that area. He said further in the distance there are hills and all that. So you see when that person is about to pass away, it's like he's tuning into another frequency. Another world is emerging in his consciousness. Slowly this world will recede. And this old man, he saw two banners, two banners with names as though people donated, you know, certain sums of money and then their names were written on the banners. So he told his son, he said, don't you see, it's so clear, it's fluttering in the wind. The son said, no, I don't see. Then he said, you bring my walking stick. He asked the son to move the walking stick. He was quite sure the son would touch the banner, but the son moved it a bit distant away. So he got a bit annoyed. So I took the walking stick and I moved it slowly in front of him. Then he realized that it was not there. Then his eyes started to turn red. He knew that he was going to pass away. So he asked his children and his grandchildren to come back. And after about half an hour, he'll forget. And then, because that person is about to pass away, the mind is weak, getting weak. And he'll talk about other things again. But his mind was still fairly alright, you know, he was not like, what's the word? Sinhala. So, just to indicate to you that when we pass away another world arises.

(E16)-04-What-is-the-difference-between-Mindfulness-and-Concentration

While I was coming here yesterday also our brother Kenny was asking me what's the difference between mindfulness and concentration. These people who meditate might be interested. Actually this word mindfulness is a translation they use nowadays for the Pali word which is sati. And sati doesn't really mean mindfulness. Sati is defined in nine sutras, nine discourses in the same way. And the Buddha said sati means to remember what was said and done a long time ago. So it is the quality of remembering. Sati is recollection. It's not mindfulness. Sampajanya is mindfulness. There is another Pali word, Sampajanya, which can be translated as mindfulness or awareness. It means to be aware of your body actions, to be aware of your mental movements. It means your body movements and your mental movements, your feelings, your thoughts, etc. And that is Sampajanaya, mindfulness or awareness. So, the purpose of practicing these two, Sati Sampajanaya, that is two things you practice in meditation. The first one, sati, is recollection. That means remembering, remembering to put your attention in the right place. Like in the Satipatthana Sutta, it says that you have to contemplate four things. First one is body, the nature of the body. Second one is feelings, how feelings arise and pass away, arise and pass away. If you are very angry one moment, then some moments later, you are no more angry. You are very happy, but the happiness cannot endure for very long. It depends on the reason for which you are happy. If it's, for example, passing your exams with straight A's, then you might be happy for many, many days. But still that happiness will subside. So, the second thing you have to contemplate is feelings. The third one is mind. How the mind is changing. The state of the mind, whether it's concentrated, it is scattered, whether it's very sloth and topper, etc. So the state of the mind is the third thing you have to contemplate. The fourth one is Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha, to contemplate, to reflect on the teachings of the Buddha. So these four things are also basically three things. This one is body, the nature of the body, how the body is dependent on so many conditions. For example, if it's too cold, you can't stand it. Some people die when it's too cold in the winter, right? And when it's too hot also, some people die like in India or Burma when it gets too hot. And then you are affected by the food you take, if you don't have enough water to drink, etc. Your body is also affected. Your body is affected by the food if you don't have enough nutriment, you also may be either very weak or you may pass away. And so the aim of this contemplation is to see that the body is so fragile. It's not something that's very strong, something that's very lasting. It was born due to certain conditions, it persists due to certain conditions and it passes away or becomes sick or passes away due to certain other conditions. So that's the aim of this contemplation, to see how impermanent this body is. So the other thing is the mind. The mind incorporates a few things. Feelings, perception, volition, consciousness. These are the main ingredients of the movement of the mind. Feelings, perception, volition, consciousness. So these two things, body and the mind, these are also the five khandhas, the five aggregates of attachment, five things that we associate with the self. And the third thing is dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha. So we have to remember to contemplate these three things, the body, the mind and the Buddha's teachings. So that is the practice of sati, to remember, to contemplate these three things because it helps you to see the nature of the self. And sampajñānya is observing or being mindful of your body movements, your mental movements, to see how it changes due to certain factors. Mental movements generally are due to contact. For example, a sound comes. If you think it's a pleasant sound, you're happy, happy feelings arise. And you have a perception that it is something pleasant. And then volition, maybe you want to continue to hear. But if an unpleasant sound comes, you are conscious of an unpleasant sound, somebody says something nasty to you, then your feeling of anger arises. You have this perception that this person is a repulsive person. Then you may decide to slap that person or to walk away or to argue, etc. So you can see that your mental movements are due to contact generally. And this contact can come from an object external to you. External objects that can contact you are sights or forms for you to see, sounds for you to hear, smells for you to smell, taste, touch. contact. So these are the five external objects that contact you and your mind starts to move. And then the sixth one is the internal contact. A thought arises. Maybe something from the past or something that happened yesterday or today. You think about it. Then in the same way, one thought causes a proliferation of other thoughts. This is the term called Papancha in Pali, proliferation of thoughts. Sometimes we think about what somebody said to us and then we get annoyed. Then we think more about it and then we get so angry that we can't think of anything else. We keep thinking of this person and this angry feeling and we are boiling the whole day. Some people they get so angry they can't sleep. Some people get so angry they have a headache. So this anger is a poison in us. So we see that we are mindful that these contacts causes various conditions to arise, feelings, perceptions, etc. So we come to realize that everything in the world is conditioned, dependent origination, Atikasamupada. Another very important aspect of the Buddha's teaching is that everything in the world arises due to conditions. Every single thing in the world. For example, this cup. You see this cup. It wasn't like this before, right? It's made of clay. And that clay wasn't clay before, the clay also came from something else. So everything continues to change in this world, energy is always changing. Probably in 10 years time this cup will be no more, it will be broken up and scattered all over. So the human body is also like that. Basically we are made out of the four elements, earth, water, fire, wind. And everything in the world basically also made out of these four elements, earth, water, fire, wind. So when you look at your body, you're not very much different from a tree. A tree also has these four elements, earth, water, fire, wind. If somebody cuts your hand, blood flows out. If you go and chop a tree, the sap flows out. Right? The difference is we have the mind. We are able to think. But actually all beings also have a mind, isn't it? Animals and all that, they can also think. And even the tree, it's got a certain intelligence, right? When the sun is in that direction, it will go towards the sun, right? So, the difference is that man, our thinking facility is more developed, more developed than animals and all that. That's why we are called MAN. from the word Manutia. And all these words, or in Pali, Manuta, can all come from Mano. Mano, M-A-N-O. It's a thinking faculty. So because our thinking faculty is most developed, that we are number one in the world, right? We may be five or six feet, but we can control an elephant much bigger than us. We can catch the whale so much bigger than us. Even the tiger is a bit scared of us when we have a gun in our hand. So that is Sati Sampajanya. Sati is to remember, to contemplate these three things, body, mind and the Dhamma. And Sampajanya is to be aware or mindful. Now concentration is a bit different. Concentration, there are basically three levels of concentration. The lowest level, you can call it momentary concentration. It's for example when you read a book or you watch TV. So when you are reading a book, somebody walks by, you are quite absorbed in your book, you may not be aware of that person walking by. Or that person says something to you, you are not aware because you are absorbed in your book. This is momentary concentration. And then medium concentration is when your mind is fairly focused when you are meditating with your eyes closed. You are meditating, for example, on your breath. And because you have a certain degree of concentration, your mind is one-pointed on one object. some brightness comes forth from within, some brightness wells up from within. That is medium level concentration. And perfect concentration, samma samadhi, in the sutras is always, as the Buddha gave two ways to, two definitions. One is four jhanas. four jhanas is perfect concentration and another definition is one-pointedness of mind or singleness of mind, unity of mind. So this perfect concentration your mind is kind of absorbed on one object so absorbed that slowly the world fades away from you. And this absorption also has various levels. You have the first jhāna, second jhāna, third jhāna, fourth jhāna. Then after that the immaterial jhāna. Immaterial jhāna are when the mind starts to expand. First one is the base of boundless space and the mind is aware of boundless space. And then the second level is the base of soundless consciousness, where you're aware that your consciousness is soundless. And the third one is the base of nothingness, where you begin to realize that the empty nature of the world is though everything were a dream. And then the fourth one is the base of neither perception nor non-perception. Where the consciousness is about to fade away. It's like a candle, the light is almost about to go off. So sometimes it is perceptive, sometimes it is not perceptive. That is the base of neither perception nor non-perception. And the highest level is saturation of perception and feeling, where perception and feeling ceases, which means the normal Six Consciousness ceases. And here the exact state, different monks have different interpretation. Some monks say that There is totally no consciousness. Some monks say that you are aware. You are conscious. But it is a totally different type of consciousness. A type of consciousness without a self. With no self. Going back to your original home. Going back to your creator. So this is the state of perfect concentration. Now this lowest level, momentary concentration, if you use it on listening to the Buddha's teachings, because the Buddha's teachings are the teachings from somebody who is enlightened. So when you listen, you concentrate on it, We contemplate the Buddha's words. It is possible to attain the first stage, the Sāpanna, the first level of Sainthood, the first level of Ārya, the first path. And a person who attains the first path will attain the first fruition before he passes away. Now to attain the second path, Tathagatagamin, you need medium concentration, medium concentration. When you attain medium concentration, the mind becomes quite tranquil. So because the mind becomes quite tranquil, two things you notice reduce as a change in that person who attains medium level concentration. First one is sensual desire reduces. The other thing is ill will or anger reduces. If a person has at a bit of a temper previously. After attaining this medium level concentration, the anger reduces very very much. So that is medium level concentration that will bring you to Tathagatagamin, second stage, second path or second fruition. But to attain third path, third fruition, then you must attain perfect concentration. A person who has perfect concentration, the passions are all reduced to a very, very low level. You can say abandoned. So because of that, the five hindrances are abandoned in him. down to such a low level that is no more a hindrance. So when that kind of person listens to the Buddha's discourses, he can become an Arahant. Like what happened to one thousand jatilas, the matted hair ascetics, the Buddha taught them one discourse and one thousand of them became Arahants. So now this concentration doesn't mean putting your attention on one object, and another object, and another object, and another object. Unfortunately, nowadays, the Dhamma, the Buddha's teachings is very much polluted. And a lot of monks, they study a lot of other books. Sometimes, very often, they teach from other books other than the Buddha's original discourses. For example, nowadays, a lot of Burmese monks teach from the Commentary, teach from the Suddhimagga, teach from Abhidhamma. And because of that their interpretation is different. So nowadays there is a lot of stress on the fastana meditation. And they are claiming that it is possible to become an arahant without jhāna. Without jhāna. But according to the Buddha's discourses this is impossible. For a very simple reason. What is an arahant? An arahant is one who has destroyed the asavas. Asavas are mental outflows, the mind flowing continually. An arahant has totally destroyed the asavas, the mind does not flow, it does not have stray thoughts. So when a person attains jhāna, jhāna can be, formerly jhāna used to be translated as meditative absorption. but I prefer to translate it as the state of mental incandescence because the word jhāna literally means the fire or incandescence, brightness. So when a person attains jhāna, the mind becomes bright. That's why a person who is always absorbed in jhāna is reborn in the Brahma world with a very bright body. So when a person attains jhāna, while that person is in jhāna, the mind is intensely concentrated and that person is very aware, very very aware. Nowadays some people they don't understand the state of jhāna, they think it's a trance state, as though you don't know what is happening, as though you have no mindfulness This is what some meditation teachers say. Correctly, the state of jhāna, you have an intense state of mindfulness, intense state of recollection. So when a person is in that state of jhāna, as long as that person is in that, in jhāna, the āsavas stop flowing. So when a person enters jhāna, temporarily the akavas are stopped. So that is why jhanas are halfway stations to Nibbana. When a person enters Nibbana, or a person becomes an arahant, the mind does not flow anymore. No more akavas. So jhanas are halfway stations to Nibbana. That is why it is impossible to become an arahant without jhanas. If you cannot even stop the mind from flowing temporarily, how can you stop it permanently, right? So that's why nowadays there's a lot of wrong teachings. So unless you are familiar with the Four Nithayas, the earliest discourses of the Buddha, some monk teaches you something that is contrary to the Dhamma, you won't know. The Buddha said in the Sutta, be a refuge unto yourself, be a lamp unto yourself, be a refuge unto yourself with no other refuge. Take the Dhamma as your lamp, take the Dhamma as your refuge with no other refuge. So you have to rely on yourself and rely on the Buddha's words in the Sutta. Don't rely on anybody else.

(E16)-05-What-is-the-difference-between-transferring-and-sharing-of-merit

What's the difference between transference of merit and sharing of merit? Basically it's the same thing. This sharing of merit or transference of merit is not very much spoken of in the sutra. But, I don't know whether I mentioned yesterday, one brahmin came to see the Buddha and he said that they brahmins have a custom, if their relative passes away, They think that perhaps their relatives need some help, need some food and all that. So what they do is they offer a lot of food and then they burn, burn the food and they hope that their relatives get it. Chinese also do the same, right? On Qingming, Qingming. But we go to the graveyard, we offer the food. After praying, we take it home and we wallop it ourselves. Now you have a feast in the house. But with the Brahmins they burn everything. So he asked the Buddha, do our relatives actually get the food that we burn up for them? So the Buddha said it depends on where they are reborn. If they are reborn in heaven, they won't get it. And they won't need it also. If they are reborn as human beings, they won't get it. If they are reborn as animals, they won't get it. If they are reborn in hell, they won't get it. Only if you are reborn as ghost will they get it. And then this man asked, what if my relative is not born in the ghost plane? Then the Buddha said, you probably have other relatives who are in the ghost plane, maybe from previous lives, huh? In the ghost plane, they will get it. But anyway, the Buddha said, even if you don't have any relative at all in the ghost plane, you yourself will get the merit, because you have done done something good with a good intention so you will get there. Now the Buddha did not explain why only ghosts can get it. But I think it's because ghosts come back and they are in need of help. They go here, they go there. They don't get enough food to eat. What in Christianity they call it a limbo. They don't get enough food to eat, they don't get enough clothes to wear. Some people have seen ghosts and they say ghosts also wear clothes like human beings. Some people they say the difference is that you don't see the feet of the ghost. It's like floating. You don't see the bottom. Actually, some people who have seen, they have told me. they go here and there, nobody helps them. So they'll think, who can help me? Perhaps my son, my daughter will still think of me. So they come back. That's why some people, sometimes they see ghosts, sometimes they dream of ghosts. That's why we transfer merit, or we share the merit with them. So, because they get to know that We are doing something good for them, so they are happy, they rejoice, so they receive the merit.

(E16)-06-How-feeling-perception-volition-and-conciousness-are-inter-connected

How do the feeling, perception, mental formation and consciousness interconnected? This mental formation is a translation some monks like to use but I prefer volition because from the sutras it's more volition. Feeling, perception, volition and consciousness. These four things are connected in the way and the first one to operate is consciousness. When there is contact, either from an external object, a sound or a form or a smell or a taste or a touch, that is you are conscious of seeing, you are conscious of hearing, smelling, taste and touch, or you are conscious of a thought. So that's the first thing, contact first, and it gives rise to consciousness. And because of consciousness, a feeling arises. A feeling arises whether this is a pleasant or unpleasant consciousness. Just this basic feeling. It's not emotion, just basic feeling. Then after that, perception will arise. This person said such and such a thing to me. Then you have a perception of this person as a repulsive person. or a very nice person. So, after this perception, then you may think. You may think. And then after you think, then again you may have feeling and perception. So you may think a lot. If this thought multiplies, you have a proliferation of thoughts. And then You may, after that, decide to do something. That is volition. Decide to do something. If you keep thinking about it, then different emotions will arise in you. Sometimes we think, then we have mixed emotions sometimes. Because we think so much and different types of feelings arise. So that's how they are connected.

(E16)-07-What-is-the-difference-between-Ignorance-and-Delusion

What is the difference between ignorance and delusion? Ignorance is used in the normal sense of not knowing something. Delusion in Buddhism, moha, is more deep-rooted. You see, for example, a normal person in our daily life, We are mindful of what we do, right? We're generally mindful of what we do. Now, when you're dreaming, eh? When you're dreaming, you're also mindful of your dream, right? You're very much aware of your dream. And you see yourself in that dream, eh? And you're happy or you're sad or you're moved, etc. in that dream. So you are not ignorant, you are quite aware, quite mindful of what is happening. But the problem is that you are deluded. You think that you are that person in that dream. You are actually in the here and now, but the here and now is a deluded here and now. You are in the dream state. When you are deluded, it is the nature of delusion that when you are deluded, you don't know it. When a person is deluded, he doesn't know it. So for example, an insane person, a mad person. A mad person is heavily deluded, right? His mind is out of focus. You see, one screw loose, out of focus. But he doesn't think that he's mad. Does he think that he's mad? No. He's very happy, smiling. When he wasn't mad, he was suffering. Suffering so much that something gave way. And then after that, he's happy. Tension removed. No more stress. But he's deluded and he doesn't know it. Now the Buddha said that only the Arahant is sane in the world. The only person in the world who is sane is the Arahant. So we are all insane. We are all insane. We are dreaming that we are this body. Deluded. That we are this body in this world. That we were born 20 years ago or whatever. That we are now studying in the university. waiting to graduate. So this is the greatest delusion that you are this body and this mind. The Buddha is the awakened one, one who has awakened from the dream. We have not awakened yet. We are all bodhisattvas, all walking the path. One day we will wake up. So there's ignorance and delusion.

(E16)-08-What-is-the-meaning-of-life

The meaning of life. That's what everybody wants to know. That's something everybody wants to know. You have to make the effort. You have to make the effort to find out. In the Bible it says, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you. I think in the Koran it also says that if you have to go to China to find out, you should go to China. So this, what it means is that we have to go on this spiritual journey. Unless you take the trouble to find out what is the meaning of life, you will go through life just like an ordinary person, or just like an animal, just accept what comes. It's only those people who ask what is the meaning of life, what is the purpose of life, Where did I come from? Where am I going? And you make the effort to search, that you will find. Last time I was like you, after I graduated, I was working with the government and they transferred me here and there. I was working in Johor for nearly three years, then I was transferred back to KL for two years, then I was transferred to Kuantan for five years. And when I was in Kuantan, I was living in this army camp with the army officers because we were looking after the maintenance of the electrical and mechanical installations. So I used to go out with these army officers, supposed to have a happy life, but at night I used to have unhappy dreams. I'd dream of ghosts and all that. So I was wondering why, why am I dreaming of ghosts? DK said probably I'm not happy inside. But I should be happy, I thought, being a young bachelor. Then I thought, then I realized when I was young, I was very interested in the Catholic religion. When I was in school, I used to go to the chapel every day to pray. I was the type of person who was religiously inclined. But because of certain doubts, I separated myself from the religion. For many years, I didn't have any religion. So after I got transferred from place to place, then I began to realize I had this hollow inside me, a vacuum inside me. So I decided to go on a spiritual search. Went back to study the Bible. I studied the Koran, studied the Hindu books, yoga, Taoism, Sikhism, Baha'i. almost everything until I came to Buddhism. Then slowly I began to see that the Buddha's words were very true. When I was in Kuantan, I saw one by one some of the office people passing away. One man died of cancer slowly, he had cancer, he went for x-ray and all that, radiation, radiation and chemotherapy and all that, and slowly he died. Another man was with us working. He was looking, they were maintaining this engine that is in the septic tank. So they were working there. I saw this man go to one corner and crouch, holding his chest like that. So I knew that he wasn't well. So I let him just take a rest for half an hour. He was still crouched there. Forty-five minutes later, I went to him and asked him what's wrong. Then he told me, sakit tuan, sakit. He was clutching his heart, cold sweat. I asked him whether he could walk. He said yes. I asked him to go into the room and lie down. So he phoned for a doctor to come. The doctor examined him and said it was a heart attack. So he suggested that we get an ambulance. So about half an hour later, the ambulance came. So he had been lying for some time. So our police of work was about 10 miles from Kwan Shan. So the ambulance brought him to Kwan Shan Hospital. And he thought he felt better. So he sat up, he talked with the man who carried the stretcher. And after he passed away, the wife and the family had to vacate the government quarters. and she had to construct a little hut to house herself and her children and sell kuih to earn her livelihood. It was quite pitiful. Then another office worker, he saved up some money, he bought a motorcycle, second hand from another office mate. First morning he used the motorcycle, he went to the masjid about 7 o'clock to pray. After praying, he was on his way back to his house to change his clothes to come to work. A van hit him from behind and dragged him under, so all his flesh peeled off. So when I came to the office about 8 o'clock, they said this colleague, this office mate had died. The corpse was in the hospital. So we all went to the hospital, and they had to ask a relative to identify the body. So the grandmother went to identify the body. When they opened up the body for the grandmother to see, she cried out, Choo-choo, choo-choo, oh, choo-choo. You know, normally Malays, they're not supposed to cry when they see the corpse. But this old lady couldn't bear it. She shouted and cried. So it was very heartbreaking to see this old lady crying. But that was another one. Then another day we were working at the airfield, you know, the airfield, because we had to change the bulbs around the runway. So I was watching the men changing the bulbs. And then this Air Force, it was the Air Force airfield. So the Type 1 jets, they were training for a big day that was coming up. So Easter Bonn jets came down like that one by one, you know. And then this was like where the Grandstand, where all the VIPs were supposed to be seated. So the jet would come down like that and then tilt, tilt the wings, you know. From here, tilt the wings like that as a sign of respect. And then it would go up vertically. So one by one the jets came down. Then one came down and then when it flipped the wings, it hit the ground. and somersaulted and burst into flames. And when I watched it, I was surprised. I thought this is like a TV show. And then one of the men shouted, you better lie on the ground, you might explode. So we all lay on the ground. Then the fire brigade came and put out the fire. Later we learned when the airplane somersaulted, one of the pilots was beheaded. Another one was burned to death. So all this was Dhamma in front of me. Another occasion, I was driving back to Kuala Lumpur from Kuantan to attend an office meeting. So, you know, the East Coast roads are very lonely, very few cars. So I was near Maran, road was winding, winding, winding, a lot of hills. So I was following a 10-wheeler lorry, a big trailer, 10 wheels. So because the road was winding, I couldn't overtake the lorry, so I was following him. Suddenly I saw from the other side a motorcycle come. And then in the middle of the road was a rock. So the motorcycle hit the rock. I went over to the other side of the road. And this lorry hit him. He fell down. So I stopped the car, I jumped out, thought I want to help this man. By the time I came to this man, I saw the... because of the concussion, his helmet flew off. And then the top part of his skull just opened up. They hit him so hard that the skull just opened up. They could see the white brain. And the white brain suddenly turned red. All the blood flowed out. And this guy was shaking like a dying rat. So I just, for him, chanted. I stopped the lorry and came down and we saw this man, he got shocked, told me on the number, until 5 months and then I reported the matter. They asked me to make a statement, so I made a statement, then I went on my way and they never called me back. This was Dhamma, at that time I was just learning the Dhamma. And all this came to me, that it's so impermanent. So from there, the most meaningful thing to do in life is to become a monk and to practice. You have to find out the meaning of yourself, what do you want to do with your life in this world, different people and they come into

(E16)-09-Was-The-Buddha's-renunciation-disrespectful-to-his-parents

The question is, the Buddha, the way of his kingdom, considered respectful to his people. Nowadays, a lot of people leave their house, leave their house when they are young. Stick to their parents. See, the Buddha, the Buddha, the royal family, but his father was not the king. Things you learn, you'll find you have Buddha's father was never a king. A lot of books say that the Buddha's father person from the royal family or Tunku. In fact, his father was not even the chief of the Sakyans. The chief of the Sakyans was a man by the name of Badia, who later followed the Buddha and became a monk and an Arahant. The king of the country where the Buddha lived was Pasenadi Kosala. King Pasenadi and the country So Buddha, our Buddha, he went away, the truth, he went alive. And in my opinion, the Gati Karasus and I was either a first or a Sakadagamin, second fruition person. Because in a previous life, the Buddha met the Buddha Kasapa. In the sutras, the Buddha only met one Buddha in the previous life. But later books said that the Buddha met 24 or sometimes 28 Buddhas. That is all something that was written much later. But according to the sutras, the Buddha met the Buddha Kasapa in the previous life. And at that time, he was a Brahmin. And he had a very good friend, a pot maker by the name of Gatikara. and Gatikara tried to persuade him to go and see the Buddha Kassapa. Many times he refused until one day he went because his friend pulled him. So when he went to see the Buddha, he was not very respectful of the Buddha Kassapa because he was a Brahmin. But after the Buddha taught him the Dhamma, he changed completely and he decided to become a monk. So from there, I believe that for a person to change drastically like that and to become a monk, that he understood the Dhamma. He attained the Dhamma-I, that means he became a Sotapanna or a Sakadagamin. And after that he was reborn in the Tusita heaven. And from the Tusita heaven he came down and attained enlightenment. So for the Buddha, because the Buddha, our Bodhisatta, in this last life as a human being, was born into a good family. A rich family. His father built three mansions for him for the three seasons. And he had a beautiful wife. But something inside him told him that life was impermanent. Ultimately, we would suffer as he grew older. So he wanted to seek a way out of this suffering. So for him to run away from his parents and undergo six years of suffering, to me it was possible because he was already an Arya. Because in the sutra, the Buddha said, Sotapanna has the maximum seven more lifetimes in the rebirth. And Sakadagamin will have only one more lifetime as a human being. You imagine if a person is already a Sakadagamin and he comes back as a human being, if there is no Buddha in the world to enlighten him, he will strive himself and attain enlightenment. So I believe the Buddha was like that, that he was already an Aryan, that's why he went off. If someone kills an animal, it is the karma of the animal to be killed. Why should someone do the killing action? to fulfill the animal karma. You see, it is true, it is the karma of the animal to be killed, and because of that, it will be killed in some way or other. But we don't encourage people to kill. So we always tell people not to kill. But there will always be somebody who wants to kill. So it is their karma, if they want to do it. And Arahant always does good. Doesn't he have good karma? What happens to this karma since he is not going to be reborn? And Arahant does not create any more karma. We create karma because firstly, there must be the intention to do an action. Secondly, there must be an ego, a person behind that, who does the karma. And then only is karma created. But for the Buddha and for the Arahants, they do as though they are not doing. They know like the nature of this world is all in consciousness. So when they decide to do something, it doesn't matter to them. They are not moved by the eight worldly conditions. It doesn't matter to them whether they succeed or they don't succeed. But because they know that if something is to be done, and because of their virtue and all that, whatever they want to do normally will succeed. But an arahant does not create karma. Some karma is believed to ripen because it's to happen. Now karma, all karma will ripen. If all karma is out of samsara, The bandit who killed some people of Garland. So the Lord after that converted him. Because King slowly came from behind, but however fast he ran near the Buddha, the Buddha turned around and told him to himself, how is this stop? I have stopped from living stopped from heart, so he realized, so he threw away his web tied it to become a monk, so monk he heart after Sarahan, such a person too good, he's got a gangster who killed before, killed two persons before, added to one situation, when he started to meditate, their mind because of the bad, so this Angulimala must have put in a lot of effort to become an Arahant, But after becoming an Arahant, all the woeful planes, the doors of all the woeful planes all closed. So that heavy karma that he had to pay in hell for several hundred thousands of years, all that stopped. But still, there is still some karma. Because when he used to go on alms round, beg for his food, some people would take a rock and throw him a claw at him or a stick or something and sometimes he comes back to the monastery with blood coming down his head and he came to see the Buddha and the Buddha would console him. So not all karma will ripen and because not all karma will ripen, the Buddha said if we wanted to, the Chinese term is xiao ye, if we wanted to How do you say? Reduce our obstructive karma. The Buddha said now we have to do a lot of good karma. If we do a lot of good karma, then it helps to reduce our obstructive karma. This karma ripening is all, when we think about it, if it comes to our mind, we are conscious of it, it ripens faster. So if you think good thoughts more than evil thoughts, then your happy state will prevent some of the karma from ripening if it's not too strong. Yes. But you mustn't think in this way. You mustn't think that the villagers are doing it to repay his karma. It's just that his karma is such that he will get some retribution. And when the villagers do it, it's just a natural law that prompts some of them to do something like this. So those who dare to do it, then they will get the bad karma. Because every one of us has this will, whether you want to do or you don't want to do. Because we have this thinking mind. That's why as a human being, we create a lot of karma compared to animals and ghosts and heavenly beings. We create a lot of karma because we use our thinking faculty every day. Every time we use our thinking faculty and do something, we create karma. So because they want to do it, it is there. It is there. What now? It is there, karma. It's just like if you eat meat, you never ask the person to go and slaughter the animal, right? He is not slaughtering the animal for your sake, you know. He is slaughtering the animal for his own sake, to earn a livelihood, right? If he had to slaughter the animal to throw it away, also he'll do it, just to earn a livelihood. It so happens that you want to buy the meat and go and eat it, right?

(E16)-10-Is-The-Dhamma-important-to-lay-people

It depends on the person. If a person understands the value of the Dhamma then you know that the Dhamma is very important because ultimately this Dhamma knowledge is very important because it benefits us this life and it benefits us many lifetimes to come. If you didn't know the Dhamma and you didn't know, for example, the law of karma, then you would do a lot of evil, not knowing the consequences. But when you understand the Dhamma, then you refrain from doing evil and that would help you not to be reborn in the woeful planes. And if in addition, you learn the discourses of the Buddha and meditate, etc. Then if, for example, you study enough of the discourses and you become a Sotapanna, then you will never be reborn into the woeful planes again. That's a very, very great thing, you know, to be an Arya. You'll never be reborn in the woeful planes again. The Buddha said, a Sotapanna, once you become a Sotapanna, the suffering that is left for you is negligible. compared to the suffering you would get if you were still an ordinary person, a bhutujana. If you're still an ordinary person, a bhutujana, then the round of rebirths, we suffer a lot. So, just, you know, the Buddha's disciples, the Buddha called them savakas, listeners, hearers, meaning to say that listening to the suttas are very important. A lot of things we don't understand, and we don't have the wisdom to have the insights. But by listening to the Buddha's words, then we are taking the shortcut. A lot of things that we wouldn't have to grope for, for this knowledge. The Buddha is telling us very directly, saving us many lifetimes of investigation and all that. So that's why the Dhamma is so important.

(E16)-11-What-should-we-do-with-doubt-in-practising-the-Dhamma

If we have doubt with practicing Dhamma, what can we do? If we have doubt, then we study the discourses. I always stress on the Four Nikayas, the earliest discourses of the Buddha. You study the Four Discourses of the Buddha and many things will become clear to you. Before I came to the Dhamma, I had a thousand and one questions to ask. After I studied the Buddha's words, I found that no more questions, all answered.

(E16)-12-How-do-the-8-Worldly-Conditions-work-and-how-to-face-them

How do the eight worldly conditions work, and how can we face it, especially lay people? How do the eight worldly conditions work? I think, if you think about it, you will know yourself, gain and loss. If you are striving for gain, and you get it, so you are happy. But if you are striving for something, for example, to make a lot of money, But you don't, then you suffer a loss, then you are unhappy. Same with honor and dishonor. Honor, you want a name. Dishonor, when you are sort of, you don't get the honor or you are ashamed in front of people. Praise and blame. This I think everybody should know, whether you get praise or blame. Happiness and misery. How can we face it, especially lay people? By reducing your ego. If you reduce your ego, then a lot of things you can bear. When you find that some things you cannot bear, you ask yourself, why is it I cannot bear it? You find it's always because of the ego in you. If not for the ego in you, if somebody said something nasty to you, why can't you take it? If you have no ego, then it doesn't matter what they say, right? It's only because of the ego. The Satan is inside here. Satan out there is not so important. The Satan inside here is more important. So we have to take care of that ego in us. Reduce our ego. When you reduce your ego, then there's less suffering.

(E16)-13-What-is-Buddhist-perspective-of-Hungry-Ghost-Festival

What is the Buddhist perspective of the Ghost Festival? There is no Buddhist perspective to the Ghost Festival because it's not part of Buddhism. But then we don't have to wait until the Ghost Festival. Every day there are a lot of ghosts walking around looking for food and all that. Some people are able to see that. So whenever we do any good deed, we just transfer the merit or share the merit with all beings around. And those beings in need of merit, they will appreciate it, that we think of them, that we are metta for them, loving kindness towards them. And those around us, it's not only ghosts. Sometimes, for example, the Buddha said, the buildings that we inhabit, like your house, The Buddha said there is some spirits that like to live in houses. There are spirits that live in the trees, in the clouds, in the rivers, in the forest, etc. So in our houses also we have this spirit family living. So if we transfer the merit to them frequently, whenever we do something good, meritorious, and they will appreciate it, and they will guard your house and protect your house. I'll tell you a bit, some ghost story, some of you like to hear. When I was, when I came back from Thailand in 1987, the beginning of 1987, I went to Ipoh looking for caves to meditate, looked around a lot of caves, and I found a dark cave behind Simphangpo line. And I went to stay in a dark cave. I used to walk out to the Simphang Pulai village market for my food. But the people there had never seen a monk coming out on alms round. So at first they didn't know how to give me. But slowly, slowly they began to give me. So I was staying in a cave which was at the bottom of a hill. And surrounding the hill there were three farmers planting vegetables. So two of them used to come and see me. And one of them, he saw me drinking the water that would drop from the top of the cave, you know. Water drop, drop, drop, and I used to collect the water to drink. So he told me I shouldn't drink that water because it contains some dissolved solids. If I drank more of it, I'd get stone in the bladder or something. So he used to bring me water every day. So he started to chat with me. So he asked me, he said, aren't you afraid of staying in this dark cave? So I asked him, afraid of what? He said, afraid of ghosts. So I asked him, why, do you have any experience with ghosts? He said, last time he never believed in ghosts. But as a farmer, he used to have to go to the caves to look for this guano, which is bat droppings, yeah, as fertilizer. So he said one day he went to a dark cave with his wife, and they were digging this guano. Then he heard a voice call him, Oi. Then he looked around, he thought he must be imagining. Second time the voice called him. Then he thought it was imagination. Third time the voice called him. So he asked the wife, why did you call me? So the wife said, I didn't call you. And all his hair stood up. Quickly rushed out of the cave. Got sick for one week. So that was his first encounter with the ghost. Then he said, you know in this new village, they say Timpang Pulai, they have this row of houses. So he had a neighbor who had one son, a 16-year-old son. And this son used to go to the mining pond. You know around Ipoh, there's a lot of mining ponds. So some of these mining ponds are very deep, 100 feet or so. So this boy used to go and fish and swim So one day he drowned, died. A few days later, about 11 o'clock at night, or 11.30, the ghost would come back to the house. That's what he said. So the ghost would come back and crying along the way, feeling, you know, crying, and all the neighbors heard it. Then he said the dogs also, when they hear it, they would howl, like, out of their eyes. So this ghost would come to the parent's house, and he stopped at the gate. Maybe something prevented him from entering the house. So he stopped at the gate and he cried at the gate. So for a few nights, the parents were very disturbed. They realized their son had died and now this ghost. So later they got a Taoist to catch the ghost, put it into a container, throw it into the big sea. So that's not a very compassionate way of dealing with the ghost, but that's what they did. So this is the story about this ghost.

(E16)-14-Are-we-considered-Buddhist-if-we-pray-to-Buddha

Are we considered Buddhist if we pray to Buddha? Not really. You can pray to Buddha, you can pray to Kuan Yin, you can pray to anyone at the same time. According to the Buddha, to be a lay Buddhist, you must take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Taking refuge means It means that you understand that the Buddha is enlightened, that the Dhamma he teaches is for ending suffering, that his disciples walk the good way, the Sangha. So because of that, you take refuge means you depend on the Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha to guide you, to guide your life. That is becoming a lay Buddhist. And the basic practice of a lay Buddhist is to take the five precepts. If you consider yourself a Buddhist, you should endeavor to uphold these five precepts. Not to kill any living being unnecessarily, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to lie, not to take intoxicants. Not to take intoxicants means, for a lay person, not to take it to the stage that you become intoxicated. But if you think it is for medicinal use, then it's alright.

(E16)-15-Are-they-real-monks-if-they-own-land-and-propseties

We heard from the newspaper there are monks in Thailand who own land, property, etc. Are they really monks? Where did you see this? What newspaper? Who saw this in the newspaper? Thailand not so. Thailand generally they don't own land, property, etc. But then, strictly speaking, according to the Vinaya, this disciplinary code for monks, monks are not allowed to own land for himself, individually, personally. He may have the grant of the land in his name, provided his intention is to keep it for the Sangha, for other monks, then it's alright. It's the intention behind it that is important. So, in some Buddhist countries, monastery land is undisputed, it is considered Sangha property, that means property of monks. But like in this country, because this is not a Buddhist country, we do have some problems. So sometimes monks, they get some trustees. Trustees. So the grant of the land is in the name of a few trustees. For us recently, we have set up a Sangha foundation. Sangha foundation. So this Sangha foundation consists of monks, nuns, it will consist of monks, nuns and lay people. And the monks and nuns are eligible to sit on the board of trustees. But lay people will look after the funds, but they will not be elected to the board of trustees. Because according to Vinaya, sangha property is to be communally owned by the monks and nuns. It is owned by the whole community of monks and nuns. But one thing about Buddhism, the Buddha, he did not encourage like other religions, you know, you have a big organization like looking, overlooking all the other organizations. The Buddha encouraged monks to live separately, to form small communities. So every community of monks in a monastery is considered a Sangha. So every monastery is a separate Sangha. The Buddha foresaw that if you have too much disorganization, then monks will not practice. If you organize too well, The organization becomes very rich, and when people become very rich, they become corrupted by the wealth. So the Buddha encouraged monasteries to not to integrate, but to separate. There are four, you know, in the monks' precepts, our Theravada monks' precepts, we have 227. It is different categories. The most serious are four offences called the Parajikas. If a monk breaks any one of these four heavy offences, he is no more considered a monk. Owning property is not one of them. First one is engaging in sexual intercourse. It's a vow of chastity. If a monk breaks that precept, he is no more a monk even though he wears the robe. The second one is stealing something valuable. Stealing something valuable, something say like above 50 or 100 ringgit, then he is no more a monk. which includes trying to evade taxes and all that. Third one is if he kills a human being or he encourages another person to kill a human being, for example, by having an abortion. So that is the third one. The fourth one, if he is not a holy man and he makes claims to be a holy man, that he has psychic power and all that, then he is no more a monk. So these are the four heavy offenses for a monk.

(E16)-16-Did-the-Buddha-protray-Maitreiya-Buddha-as-the-cute-laughing-Buddha

Did the Buddha portray Maitreya Buddha like what we see from the cute laughing Buddha statue nowadays? No, no. This one is the... You see, if you look at Buddha statues, those made by Chinese will have a Chinese face. Those made by Burmese will have a Burmese face. Those made by Japanese will have a Japanese face. All that is not important. Buddhas are supposed to have struggled very hard to attain enlightenment, so they should be quite lean. Just now I didn't finish telling you the difference between an arahant and a Buddha. An arahant is one who is liberated, right? The Buddha is one who is also liberated, but the difference is that a Buddha is one who is self-liberated. He doesn't have a teacher to guide him to become liberated. So because he has to struggle by himself and struggle very hard, that is why Buddha is considered on a higher status than an arahant. But their enlightenment is the same. Their wisdom can also be the same. It depends on the individual. And their psychic power also depends on the individual. And then the Buddha, there are two types of Buddha. One is the Sammasambuddha, another one is the Pacceka Buddha. Most Buddhas after they become enlightened, then when they contemplate living beings, they find it's very difficult to teach living beings because the spiritual path goes against the grain, goes against our nature, right? To go down the river, to flow with the river is very easy. To go up the river is very difficult, right? So the spiritual path is like going up the river. But the life of a normal person is like flowing down the river, right? We follow our greed, our hatred, our delusion. We chase after all the worldly things in the world. That is what ordinary people do. So it's very easy for you to follow that. But to struggle against your nature, to cut your greed, hatred and delusion, that is very difficult. So because of that, most Buddhas, after they become enlightened, they refuse to teach the Dhamma. They become Pacheka Buddhas. It was the same with our Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha. When he contemplated living beings, he said, enough, I don't want to teach. Why should I teach this to living beings? Then Brahma Sahampati came down and asked him to teach three times, appeal to him. He said, it's true, most living beings won't listen to you. But there is a small percentage of people with little dust in their eyes. They will understand. If you don't teach them, they will not progress. So it is for the sake of the few that the Buddha decided to teach. So one who teaches the Dhamma to the world is called a Samma Sambuddha.

(E16)-17-Why-can't-2-Buddha-exist-at-the-same-time

Why can't two Buddhas exist together? Firstly, the appearance of a Buddha is very rare. And secondly, as I mentioned just now, most Buddhas don't want to teach. So if there's another Buddha that's already doing the job, why should he want to teach again? So not likely for him to teach.

(E16)-18-Does-it-constitute-killing-when-the-Bodhisatta-offered-himself-to-the-tiger

In one of the Buddha's past lives, he actually sacrificed himself in order to save the hungry tigers and its cubs. He threw himself to death so that the tigers and its cubs can eat him. How come we do not classify that as an act of killing oneself? Yes, I classify that as an act of killing oneself. That is only in the stories, in the Jataka stories. To me, it's not Not true, it's not a true story. That's why I told you, a lot of things you learn, you have to unlearn. All this grew up much later. As long as it's not in the four suttas, in the four nikayas, then you can question it. Why I dare to question it? Because it goes contrary to the Buddha's words. The Buddha said, a good man's charity, a good man's act of charity, does not harm himself, does not harm others. If you harm yourself or you harm others, then that is not the way of wisdom. Right? So how can he go and sacrifice his body to a tiger? A man, a human body is more important than a tiger's body. In fact, in our Vinaya books, sometimes the monks, when they go to the forest, they will find, for example, a deer that's half eaten by a tiger. But they know that the tiger is still around that area because the tiger is only able to eat half. Maybe one or two days later he'll want to come and eat the rest. But they took this meat because they wanted to eat it. So they took this meat back to the monastery and asked some people to cook it, some lay people to cook it. So somebody asked the Buddha, is this an act of stealing? Because you're stealing the tiger's kill, you know, right? Then the Buddha said, never mind. It's all right. So in other words, a human life is more important than an animal's life. If you were to offer your body to a tiger, after eating the human, your body, you'll look for some other humans to eat, right? So you're causing other people to be killed. No logic. So I don't accept this type of story.

(E16)-19-Tell-us-more-about-the-Suttas

Can you tell us more about suttas? Quote some common suttas. There are many, many suttas. The original suttas are, as I said, in the four Nikayas, they number about 5,000 suttas. If you read some of them, you'll find that they are actually the words of an enlightened person. There's no doubt when you listen to some of the suttas that only a person who is As that great wisdom can talk like that.

(E16)-20-Why-does-lay-person-who-attains-Arahanthood-have-to-be-ordained-immediately

If a layperson who attains arahantship has to be ordained as soon as possible, if not he will die. How come? Actually in the sutra, the Buddha said that a layperson cannot become an arahant. A monk can become an arahant, but a layperson can become an anagamin, a third fruition person. Up to third fruition a layperson can become, but not a fourth fruition. Because an arahant totally gives up the world, totally gives up himself. So before you can give up yourself, if you have a responsibility towards a family, so you still have a responsibility, you cannot give up that responsibility, right? It's a burden. So you have to give up that family first before you can give up yourself. Giving up yourself is the ultimate. But the Buddha didn't say if a lay person becomes an arahant, he's not ordained, he'll die. The Buddha said an arahant has to be a freelancer, one who has given up the home.