(E23)-01-Waste-of-time-not-following-the-right-path

The topic of tonight's talk is contradictions in the Buddhism or the Buddha's teachings. Why I want to talk about this is because there may be some of you who consider the Dharma very important. and may want to practice the Dhamma seriously. Is there a speaker? Can hear? For somebody like me who has renounced, it is very important that I practice the true Dhamma because I am investing my life in the Dhamma. Some of you may not invest your whole life in the Dhamma, but still you may want to invest one or two hours of your life in practicing the Dhamma. So, for those few of you, that you practice the true authentic Dhamma is also very important. For most people, This is not very important whether you are practicing the really authentic Dhamma or not. For those people who come to the Buddhist society or the temple to do some dhāna, offerings, bhauṣi, or you come to do some chanting and then you go back very happy. If you practice very shallow, in that respect, the Dhamma is not very important. In fact, for such a person, doesn't matter also what religion you belong to, because all religions teach you to do good, to avoid evil. And for most people, the aim is to go to heaven. They're not really practicing the Dhamma. The Dhamma of the Buddha is the highest Dhamma. It answers all the questions about the deepest questions you can ask about life. Where did we come from? And where are we going after this? And is life really worthwhile living or is it better to get out of this round of rebirths? It answers all these questions. And so if you want to practice the higher Dhamma then you want to be sure you are investing your time and effort in the true authentic teachings of the Buddha.

(E23)-02-What-we-mean-by-contradictions

So, I would just start off by mentioning some of the simple aspects first. Now the first thing, one of the contradictions in the Dharma. When I say contradictions, I mean firstly that different monks teach contradictory things. Sometimes a monk says something, then you hear another monk teaching something which is quite opposite to what this monk said. and sometimes you may get a third opinion or a fourth opinion. So, sometimes lay people become quite confused. Secondly, when I say contradictory, I also mean contradictory to the original teachings of the Buddha. Now, if we want to find out what actually is the original teachings of the Buddha, how do we go about it? This is answered by the Buddha in the suttas itself, the discourses, where the Buddha said, if in the future a certain monk says that such and such is the Buddha's teachings, then without welcoming his words or scorning his words, you should compare those words with the suttas, the discourses of the Buddha and the Vinaya, monk's disciplinary code. If it conforms to the suttas and the Vinaya, then you can accept it. If it does not conform, then the Buddha says reject it. It is not the Buddha's teachings. So, the Vinaya is mainly for monks and nuns. So, when we talk about the suttas, which suttas we refer to when we want to compare as in such a teaching with the original teachings of the Buddha. Now, nowadays there's a lot of suttas in the Buddhist world, but all schools of Buddhism agree that the earliest discourses of the Buddha are found in the earliest four Nikayas. Collections. Nikāyas means collections. Collections of the Buddha's discourses. And these are the Dīga Nikāya, long discourses of the Buddha. Majjhima Nikāya, middle-length discourses of the Buddha. Saṃyutta Nikāya, you could say topically grouped discourses. Discourses that are grouped according to the topic. Then the fourth one is Anguttara Nikāya. you could say that it's numerically arranged discourses. So, these are the earliest discourses of the Buddha. So, if you compare them with these earliest discourses of the Buddha, then you should be not far from the truth. And these four Nikayas, Everyone is agreed that they are the earliest reliable sources of the Buddha's words. If you study these four Nikayas, you find that they have a consistent teaching. There is not much contradiction in these four Nikayas except for very minor, minor points.

(E23)-03-Was-the-Buddha-son-of-a-King

Now, the first thing I like to talk about which is a glaring example of a contradiction is that most of us have been taught that the Buddha was the son of a king. How many of you have heard and believe that the Buddha was the son of a king? Let's see your hands. Don't be shy to put up. Almost everyone has been taught that the Buddha was the son of a king. And actually, if you study the earlier suttas and the Vinaya, you find that this is not true. The Buddha's father was one of the kathiya, warrior caste. Warrior caste. Just like now in Malaysia, we have a lot of tungkus and rajas, isn't it? Not all Tungkus and Rajas are kings, yes or not? Out of so many Tungkus and Rajas, only one becomes the Sultan. So, in the same way, among the warrior caste, only one is selected to become the king. And we know from the Majjhima Nikaya, one Sutta, I think, Majjhima Nikaya 81, I think, it's a Dhammachetiya Sutta, that the Buddha was a citizen of the country called Kosala. And the king of Kosala was a man called Raja Pasenadi. King Pasenadi was the king of Kosala. And so it was not the Buddha's father. And the Buddha's father sometimes was said to be the chief of the Sakyans. Again this was also, this also not correct. The chief of the Sakyans was a man by the name of Badia. And this man Bhadia later renounced to become a monk with the Buddha. This is mentioned in our Vinaya books. And most people don't have the chance to read the Vinaya books. That's why you don't know. And this Bhadia later became an Arahant. After renouncing and becoming a monk, he became an Arahant. That's why his name was mentioned in the Vinaya books. So you see that the Buddha was not the son of a king. It just happened that his father was one of the rich, well-to-do warrior caste people. That's why it is said that the Buddha said that his father built three mansions for him because in India there were three seasons. The winter season, then the summer season, then the rainy season. And for each of these seasons, four months, the Buddha spent his time in a different mansion. So, and he also mentioned that like during the rainy season, he spent four months in a mansion and he was surrounded by all these slaves, all these female slaves to entertain him. And so he had a luxurious life when he was young. So this is the first thing that you ought to know that the Buddha was not the son of a king.

(E23)-04-How-did-the-Buddha-leave-the-palace

Another common thing that people have been told that when the Buddha renounced to leave the home, he left in the middle of the night. He stole a glance at his wife and his son sleeping, and then he left in the middle of the night. Again, this is not true in the suttas. In the Majjhima Nikaya, the Buddha said that in front of his mother and father, he left the house, and they begged him not to leave. In front of them, he cut off his hair, wore the yellow robe and walked off. So, the Buddha had the courage to leave the home in front of his parents and not steal away like a coward at night.

(E23)-05-Did-the-Bodhisatta-make-vows-and-cultivate-Paramis

Another thing that is commonly taught that for a Buddha to become a Buddha, he must practice the bodhisattva path, make vows to become a Buddha, forego the ability to become an arahant, and then cultivate the paramis, perfections of character over a long, long period of time. They like to say four Asankhaya Kappas and one hundred Maha Kappas. One Kappa is a world cycle and a world cycle is extremely, extremely long. Now they have found that this earth is a few billion years old and still the world has not ended. So, the Buddha said one world cycle, one kapha is quite hard to imagine. It's so long, it's quite hard to imagine how long it is. And one asankhaya kapha means an uncountable number of kaphas. So, it's very strange. If one asankhaya kapha is uncountable, why they say four asankhaya kaphas? One is uncountable whether it's ten or a hundred or a million is still uncountable. So, in the legend about the Buddha it is said that long time ago the Buddha was a ascetic called Sumedha and he met the Dipankara Buddha and because of being awed by the by the Dipankara Buddha that he made a vow to become a Buddha. And according to the legend, he met 24 successive Buddhas who predicted that he would become a Buddha one day. All this is just a story that grew up later. In the later books, they even say that the Buddha's mother was a virgin, just like Jesus Christ. They say the Buddha's mother was a Virgin Mary. All this is because of the adoration of the Buddha. They put him so high that he becomes like a super human being. Now, as far as The suttas are concerned, there is no evidence for this at all. In fact, the word parami is not even mentioned by the Buddha. Appears like the Buddha also never heard this word parami. So, in fact, these stories about the Jataka stories, about how the Buddha cultivated the paramis over a long period of time, In the Mahayana tradition, they talk about six paramis. In the Mahayana, sorry, in the Mahayana tradition, they talk about six paramis. In the Theravada, they talk about ten paramis. And if you actually study these Jataka stories, you find that they are too childish to believe that they could be real, like animals talking. animals behaving like human beings. Even the rabbit that can sacrifice its life to the hunter by jumping into the pot. All this is too childish to believe. Even the story about the Buddha in the previous life. when cultivating the parami of giving, giving his body to the tiger to eat, that also doesn't make sense. Why doesn't it make sense? Because it contradicts the Buddha's words in the Sutta. The Buddha said if you make an offering and it harms yourself or it harms another being, then that's not a good person's offering, not a wise person's offering. So if you sacrifice your body to the tiger, That doesn't make sense, right? So imagine if that person sacrificed the body to the tiger, how the parents would suffer because the son died. And also after the tiger has eaten the human being, tomorrow he'll look for another human being to eat. Yes or no? So it doesn't make sense. Even that Vesantarajataka, where the Buddha was supposed to have given away his wife and his children to a heartless beggar who beat them, that also doesn't make sense at all. Yes or not? How can a person give away the wife to somebody to torture and the children to somebody to torture? Doesn't make sense at all. So, all these were created later. Actually, you find in the suttas that the Buddha, after he became a Buddha, one night, he contemplated the past, and he contemplated for a long time, probably the whole night. He said he looked into 91 world cycles, 91 kapas, and he saw six Buddhas in the past. He mentioned the names of six Buddhas. That's all you hear in the suttas about the past Buddhas. Only six Buddhas. There's no such thing as 24 or 28 Buddhas. And out of these six Buddhas, the Buddha only met one Buddha. That was the previous Buddha called Kasapa Buddha. And according to that sutta, Gatikara Sutta in the Majjhima Nikaya, at that time the Buddha was a Brahmin by the name of Jotipala. And he had a good friend who was a strong supporter of the Buddha. And his good friend asked him to see the Buddha. Many times he refused. He had no respect for the Buddha. I said, why go and see your shaveling teacher? So, his friend had to pull him, literally pull him, then only he went to see the Buddha. And when he went to see Kassapa Buddha, he had, he didn't want to pay respect to Kassapa Buddha. He just said, hello, hello, and then he sat down. And then his friend, out of compassion, told the Kassapa Buddha, said, Bhagavata, Saicin, World Honored One, he said, this is my good friend, Jyotipala, he's a Brahmin. He said he's a Brahmin to make the Buddha understand why he won't pay respect. So, he asked the Buddha to teach his friend some dharma. So, the Kasapa Buddha taught him some dharma. And immediately he changed. After that he renounced and he became a monk under the Kasapa Buddha. And then he practiced and attained jhāna. Because he had attained jhāna in that life, after that he passed away, he went to Tushita Heaven. When he came back from Tushita Heaven as a young boy, he could attain jhāna under the jambu tree. Jhāna is this meditative absorption, chanting. So, It shows from here that actually the Buddha very probably was Sakadagamin, a second fruit, second fruition ariya, Sakadagamin, once-returner. Because once-returners like the Buddha, they are like the durian that is ripe. When the durian is ripe, it must fall, yes or no? Whether there's a wind or there's no wind, it will still fall. So, Sakadagamin, the second fruit, Arya, when he comes back the last time as a human being, he must attain enlightenment because he's like a ripe fruit. So, such persons like the Buddha, because of being an Arya, that's why even he had a very good life as a As a warrior caste prince, he renounced his parents, renounced his home, renounced his wife and son to go and cultivate himself. And he practiced so hard, which an ordinary person would not go to that stage of torturing himself. He tortured himself until he attained enlightenment. So that is how actually Buddhas become Buddhas. That is they usually, to me, they become a Sakadagamin first. After they become a second food, Arya, then they come back. They strive to attain enlightenment.

(E23)-06-Is-Arahant-selfish

Another thing they like to say, sometimes I say the arahant path is selfish. The arahant has not completed his work. The arahant path is not selfish. Arahant path, he is walking the path to cut off the self. And an arahant, one who is liberated, has no more self. So an arahant, he sees all beings as part of himself, all in his mind. He sees the world like a dream. And he has great pity for all beings because he realizes that they are all struggling in samsara, not able to get out of samsara. That's why you find all the sutras that were handed, the Buddha's teachings that were handed down to us was all the work of the arahants. They memorized all the Buddha's teachings in order to pass it down from generation to generation until it comes down to us. So in fact, the arahant is the completely unselfish person. Completely unselfish because he has no more self. In fact, the bodhisattva is not unselfish. The bodhisattva is still selfish because he still has the self. That's why you find, for example, in this Vesantara Jataka, where he gave away his wife and gave away his children. That actually is a very selfish act, isn't it? For somebody who wants to become a Buddha, giving away his wife and giving away his children to suffer, just because he wants to attain enlightenment. That's very selfish, isn't it? So the most unselfish person is the Arahant. The most compassionate person is the Arahant.

(E23)-07-Is-meditation-the-most-important-practice

Another thing nowadays is that there's a lot of stress on meditation. In fact, sometimes over stress on meditation. So much so that sometimes some meditation teachers tell their students not to study the suttas, not to study any books, only meditate. This is not according to the Buddha's teachings. Firstly, why do we want to meditate? Because we want to get out of saṃsāra, isn't it? So, if we want to get out of saṃsāra, the Buddha said that we have to practice the Noble Eightfold Path. Okay? The Noble Eightfold Path can be said to be consist, to consist of three sections. Sila, Samādhi, Paññā. In Mandarin, they say, Chye, Ting, Hui. Kai, Ting, Chi, Wai. Yes or no? So, In the suttas, the Buddha says that these three things are three trainings. The first one is a training in the Adi-sila, the higher moral conduct, training in the higher moral conduct. The second one is a training in the Adi-citta. Adi-citta is the higher mind, and the higher mind Developing the mind so that it becomes an elevated mind, a developed mind. That's why sometimes meditation is also called Bhavana. Bhavana means development, that means developing your mind so that it goes above an ordinary mind. The third training is called the training in the Adhipanya, the higher wisdom. Now, the Adi Sila, the higher morality or higher moral conduct has two parts. One is the negative part, one is the positive part. The negative part of doing good and the positive part of doing good. The negative part of doing good means not to harm others. And that means keeping your precepts. When we keep our precepts, we restrain ourselves from harming others. In fact, the five basic precepts are to restrain us from harming others. Not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to lie. The last one, not to drink or take intoxicants, which basically harm ourselves. The positive part of the adi-sila, of doing good, is dāna, charity, charity or generosity, or making offerings. So, this is the most basic practice, especially for lay people. Why? Because the Buddha said, if a person does not practice sila and dāna, precepts and charity, that person won't be able to be reborn as a human being or in heaven. A person who does not practice precepts and charity will be reborn in the woeful planes. That's why the very basic practice is precepts and charity. If you, the Buddha said, if you keep a low degree of sila, precepts and charity, then you'll be reborn with a human body, but you won't have much luck. You'll be born in a poor family, you find it hard to make a living and all that. If you have a medium degree of precepts, of keeping the precepts and charity, then you'll be reborn as a human being, but with much luck. with much blessings. You'll be born to a rich family, good family, easily can make a good living, etc. And then if you keep a high degree of precepts and charity, The Buddha said you'll be reborn as a heavenly being. You will enjoy life for a long time. So this is the Adi-sila, training in the higher moral conduct. And then the second part, the training in the Adi-citta, the higher mind, is actually in the sutras mentioned to be the four jhanas, the four states of meditative absorption. Why the four jhanas? Because according to the suttas, when we attain jhana, meditative absorption, the mind becomes so still, so much under control, that the five hindrances drop away. The five hindrances are what block us from seeing clearly. The five hindrances are what block us from having wisdom. These five hindrances are sensual desire, ill will or anger, sloth and topper. In Chinese they say feng chen, feng chen. And then the fourth one is restlessness and worry. And then the fifth one is doubt. So these five things block us from seeing clearly just like dark, dark glasses. You wear dark glasses, you try to see a certain color. You may think, you may swear that it's a certain color, but when you take away your specs, And our classes, you see, that is different. So, that is the adhi-citta. Then the adhipanya is the higher wisdom. And the two factors of the Noble Eightfold Path to do with the wisdom is right view and right thoughts. Right view and right thoughts. That means you must have right view and right thoughts. In fact, in the Suttas, Majjhima Nikaya, Sutta 117, it is mentioned that to practice the Noble Eightfold Path, you must first get Right View. If you haven't gotten Right View, you have not entered the Noble Eightfold Path. So, the first factor to get is Right View. And we read from the sutras that actually if a person has right view, that means he is an ariya already. He's already an ariya. So, that is the, that means even the lower stage of ariya-hood, namely the first path, the first path attainer also has right view. So, It is very important to get right view. So how do you get right view? Now in the Suttas, Majjhima Nikaya, I think 43, it is said that there are two conditions for getting right view. And what are these two conditions? The first one is listening to the Dhamma, listening to the original Dhamma, the discourses of the Buddha, the teachings of the Buddha. And the second factor is having Yoniso Manasikara. So this word Yoniso Manasikara is very important. What is Yoniso Manasikara? Yoni means the womb. The womb where something is born. The source of something. And Manasikara means work of mind. Kara means work. Mana is the mind. So work of mind that means consideration or contemplation or attention. So yoniso manasikara means thorough consideration. That means contemplation or consideration that goes back to the source of the problem. That means if you have yoniso manasikara, that means you have a very clear mind. A mind that doesn't have much hindrances. That means a person with not much hindrances is a person who is quite intelligent, who has a high IQ and all that. and he's not blocked by heavy karma, obstructive karma. So such a person, when he hears the Dhamma, he's able to see clearly the Dhamma. That's why you find in the suttas and the Vinaya that many people who came to listen to the Buddha give a graduated discourse. The Buddha usually gave a graduated discourse to newcomers. And this graduated discourse is said to consist of nine things. The first one is dāna, giving or charity. The second point is sila, moral conduct. The third one is a result of these two things going to heaven. The fourth one is the folly, the vanity of sensual pleasures. How sensual pleasures are useless in the sense that they never satisfied, make us more hungry for it. And then the fifth one, renunciation. When we understand that there's nothing in the world that can really satisfy us, make us content, then we renounce. And then the After that, followed by the Four Noble Truths. And normally, after the Buddha has given this graduated discourse on these nine things, that person is said to have attained the Dhamma vision, Dhammacaku, or vision of the Dhamma. That means that person has attained the first path. And before that person dies, he will automatically get the first fruition. So, So that is how a person gets right view by having Yoniso Manasikara and listening to the true Dharma of the Buddha. So from here you see that actually the most important thing for us if we want to practice the Noble Eightfold Path is to listen to the original teachings of the Buddha. That is why the Buddha called his disciples Savakas. Savakas are listeners or hearers. I think in Chinese they translate it as Shengwen, isn't it? So the Buddha's disciples are called listeners or hearers because they listen to his word. If we don't listen to the word of the Buddha, the original teachings of the Buddha, however much effort we put into the spiritual path, it is not much use. During the Buddha's time or even outside the Buddha's time, there were ascetics who practiced very hard. and some of them even attained spiritual powers, psychic powers, and yet they could not become enlightened. They could not even get the first path, the lowest path, Aryan path also they could not get because they had not listened to the right teachings of the Buddha. So we are very fortunate. We live in a, you can say, the Buddha era. We are still in the era of the Buddha because we are able to listen to the original teachings of the Buddha. Unfortunately, the original teachings are mixed with a lot of other teachings. And so most people find it very difficult to separate the true Dhamma from the false Dhamma. In the Anguttara Nikaya, the Buddha said, if a person says, what is A Dhamma, A Dhamma is what is contrary to the Dhamma. If a person says what is A Dhamma is Dhamma, then he creates much demerit for himself. And then he harms a lot of humans and devas. and he causes the disappearance of the true Dhamma. But if a person says what is Adhamma, is Adhamma, that means he dares to criticize what is not Dhamma as not Dhamma, then he creates much merit for himself. And then he benefits a lot of humans and devas. And he preserves the true Dhamma. So because of that, it is The duty of monks who know to speak out what is not dharma, to criticize that as not dharma, and to establish the true dharma.

(E23)-08-Which-is-the-type-of-meditation-practice-by-the-Buddha

Now coming to meditation, nowadays sometimes you hear some teachers say that the Buddha's method of meditation is vipassana, and they go to the extent of putting down samatha meditation. But if you study the suttas carefully, you'll find in the Samyutta Nikaya, In the fifth book, the last book of the Samyutta Nikaya, the Buddha said to all his monks, if monks, people ask what kind of meditation the Buddha practices, then the Buddha said, tell them that the Buddha practices Anapanasati, mindfulness of the breath or recollection of the breath. That is the Buddha's method of meditation. And the Buddha said that he practiced Anapanasati, a collection of the breath, before he was enlightened. And even after he was enlightened, he also practiced Anapanasati. So you find that actually the Buddha's method is Anapanasati. But unfortunately, nowadays, some people belittle Anapanasati also. It's very unfortunate. Actually in meditation we can practice both Samatha and Vipassana. Samatha meditation leads to Samadhi. So it is the tranquility meditation or tranquilization meditation which makes your mind calm. And then Vipassana is contemplation. Contemplation. Using the mind to contemplate. And you can get wisdom provided there are certain other factors, the other factors of the Noble Four come together, you can get wisdom. But by itself, the pasana doesn't lead you very far. That's why in one sutra, in the Anguttara Nikaya, Parable Ananda, in his own age, after the Buddha had passed into Nibbana. So, because they had great respect for Venerable Ananda, whenever the monks and nuns, some of them attained arahant hoodna, they would come and report to the Venerable Ananda that they had attained arahant hoodna. So Venerable Ananda said all of them who attain Arahanthood said that they attain Arahanthood by one of four ways. The first one is practicing Samatha followed by Vipassana. The second one is Vipassana followed by Samatha. Third one is Samatha and Vipassana together. And the fourth one is meditating on the internal, on the putting the mind, setting the mind internally. That means on the self, until the mind becomes one-pointed, then that person would know the path to liberation. So all these four methods involve both Samatha and Vipassana. And the Chinese translation for Samatha and Vipassana is Chö Quan. Chö is stilling the mind. Quan is contemplation. And that is the right translation. And it's not insight. Because if vipassana is inside, then you don't need samatha. But because you can see in the second method, even after you practice vipassana, you still need to practice samatha. That's why vipassana is not inside. It's just contemplation. In fact, in the Buddha's teachings, the samatha meditation is more important. Because in one sutta, The Venerable Ananda was asked, what type of meditation is praised by the Buddha? What type of meditation is not praised by the Buddha? And he answered, the type of meditation that is praised by the Buddha is the first jhāna, the second jhāna, the third jhāna, the fourth jhāna. The type of meditation which is not praised by the Buddha is the type of meditation where you do not get rid of the five hindrances. If you do not get rid of the five hindrances, then it's not praised by the Buddha. But when you get rid of the five hindrances, you attain jhāna. That means the only type of meditation where the Buddha praises actually is jhāna. So, I mention this because nowadays there is too much stress on Vipassana and some monks even go to the extent of belittling Samatha meditation and saying that jhāna is no benefit because when you enter jhāna you have no mindfulness. This is not true. In the suttas it is stated when you enter jhāna the mind is very mindful. Especially in the third and the fourth jhāna the mind is extremely mindful and collected. And also in another sutra, Venerable Ananda was asked, what is the one thing the Buddha taught to attain liberation? That means the one most important thing to attain liberation. And Venerable Ananda replied the first jhāna. Then the man asked, what is another thing that the Buddha taught is necessary to attain liberation." And he said, the second jhāna. Then the man asked him again, what is another thing? Then he said, the third jhāna, the fourth jhāna. So you find from the suttas that the jhānas are very, very important. In fact, in another sutta, the Buddha said, truthfully I say unto you that The way to liberation is to attain the first jhāna, second, third, fourth jhāna. So, I think I'll stop here for a moment and invite questions.

(E23)-09-How-does-a-Pacceka-Buddha-come-about

So the question is, how does a Pachekabuddha become a Pachekabuddha? Firstly, what is the difference between an arahant and a Buddha? This was asked by the Buddha and answered by the Buddha in one sutta. The Buddha asked his disciples, What is the difference between an arahant samasambuddha and his disciple enlightened by wisdom? Actually during the Buddha's time, the arahant was the Buddha because the Buddha had ten names, you know. One of the names of the Buddha was arahant. And his disciples were called arahant later. He used to call them disciples liberated by wisdom. So how did the Buddha answer? What is the difference between Sammasambuddha and his Arahant disciple? The Buddha said the Buddha is the first to walk the Noble Eightfold Path. He has found the Noble Eightfold Path. and he walks the Noble Eightfold Path, and he's very proficient in the Noble Eightfold Path, and he teaches the Noble Eightfold Path to others, expounds on the Noble Eightfold Path. And his Arahant disciples follow the same path. So in other words, our Buddha is the first Arahant. Our Buddha is the first Arahant. His disciples follow the same path after him. So if they follow the same path, they arrive at the same place, isn't it? That is why the highest attainment you can get is the arahant. Because the Buddha himself is an arahant. An arahant comes from the word arahata. Ara and hata. Ara is the spokes of the wheel. Which wheel? The wheel of existence, sansara. Hatta means it's broken, destroyed. So an arahatta or arahan is one who has destroyed the wheel of rebirth. That means he won't be reborn. But there's one difference between Buddha and arahan. Namely, an arahan is one who is enlightened after listening to the Buddha's dharma. But a Buddha is a self-enlightened one. He is enlightened by his own effort. So usually, a Buddha is a Sakadagamin, a second stage Arya who comes back the last time as a human being. So he will strive very hard until he becomes enlightened. Now, what's the difference between a Pacheka Buddha and a Samasambuddha? A Samasambuddha is one who wants to teach the Dhamma to the world. But a Pacekabuddha is one who is not willing to teach the Dhamma to the world. Other than that, there is no difference between the Pacekabuddha and the Samasambuddha. In fact, our Sakyamuni Buddha, after he was enlightened, He contemplated the world in our Vinaya books, it is mentioned. And then he realized that human beings, we are all lazy. We like to follow our feelings and flow with our feelings, just like going down the stream. If you swim down river, it's very easy, isn't it? The water will push you downstream. If you want to swim upstream, very susah, isn't it? put a lot of effort and then you find you can hardly move upstream. Yes or not? So because of that, the Buddha decided that he did not want to teach to the world. And then the Brahma, one of the Phan Tin Wong, I think Brahma Sahampatti, he realized what the Buddha was thinking, so he came down. And then he beseeched the Buddha, he pleaded to the Buddha to teach the Dhamma to the world. He said, there are some beings, a small percentage of beings, with little dust in their eyes. If you don't teach them, then they will not progress, they will regress. If you teach them, then they will make progress. Then he pleaded with the Buddha three times. Then because of his pleading with the Buddha, the Buddha again contemplated the world and he realized that there actually are some beings who can be helped by the true Dhamma. So because of that, he came to teach the world. So you find most Buddhas are like our Buddha. They don't want to teach. That's why in one Sutta, Isigili Sutta, the Buddha mentioned a hill outside of Rajagaha called Isigili. And the Buddha said at one time there were 500 Pacheka Buddhas living on that hill. So you see at one time sometimes you can find so many Pacheka Buddhas. But very hard to find one who is willing to teach to the world. That's why the Buddha mentioned in 91 world cycles, 91 kappas that he saw, only 6 Buddhas, only 6 Buddhas appeared. That means more than, on the average, more than 10 world cycles before you can meet a Samasambuddha. So we are extremely fortunate that we are able to meet the true Dharma.

(E23)-10-The-seventh-Chinese-lunar-month

This question about Chat-It-Sap-Seh. It is not mentioned in our original teachings of the Buddha. And it is probably more of a Chinese belief, Taoist belief. And what is mentioned in the Mahayana teachings is this Yilanjie, Yilanjie, Ulambana Festival. where it is said that Mahamoggalana went to hell to help his mother and he found that he could not help his mother. So, he had to ask all the Buddhas to come to help his mother. Then only they could help his mother. And because of that, so the Mahayanis, they pray to get all the Buddhas to come and help the beings in hell. But then in our Theravada Sutra, it is said that once a being is reborn in the other planes of existence, you cannot help them except when they are reborn in the ghost realm. Because the Buddha didn't say why, but I imagine it is because when a person, for example, your mother or your father has died and is reborn as a ghost, he's able to come back. That's why our Chinese believe after seven days, the mother or the father will come back. And quite often it is true. When they come back, they let you know. They make some sound and all that. They let you know. So if you feel that they come back, It is because they have come back as a ghost. So, only as a ghost you can help them because when you pray for them, for example, you do charity or something for them, then they get to know because you are talking to them mentally. As a ghost, they can read your mind. But if they are in heaven, they are too far away. They don't come back. So, they don't know what you are doing. Isn't it? Before you can receive something from another person, you must know that that person is giving it to you, then you are willing to accept, then only you can get. So, heavenly beings won't get and they don't need also what merit you want to give. And then, if they are born as a human being also, they cannot get. You are doing some offering for them. They might be somebody's baby there crying away. So how would they know what you are doing so they won't get? If they are born as an animal also they won't get. Here you are doing some praying, some prayers and offerings for them. They are born as a dog fighting there. How to get? And then they are born in hell also. They are too far away, locked up and suffering. Don't know anything about what they are doing. They are born as a ghost. They will come back. Actually in the suttas, the Buddha said, if you make an offering for your relative in the ghost realm, and if they are not there, then you probably have some other relatives either from your past life or somewhere still in the ghost realm. And when you make offering to the ghost, because they know you from the past, they happily come and receive. So it's better to do it. Yeah. And then the Buddha said, even if you don't have any relative in the ghost realm, you make the offering, you get.

(E23)-11-What-is-Dependent-Origination-all-about

This dependent origination, Paticcasamuppada, basically is telling us that everything in the world is created from conditions. Every single thing in the world is created due to conditions. For example, you see this plastic bottle here. It is because of many ingredients that came into making this plastic bottle that you get it. And then, this won't remain as it is. After some time, like now, I've made, I've drunk the contents, probably throw it away. And then, the different parts will go into making some other thing. Maybe somebody may even recycle it. So if we understand dependent origination that everything in this world is created from conditions and anything that is created from conditions will cease, will die, will break up. Then you will realize that there's nothing in this world that is stable. Nothing in this world at all that is secure. Nothing that you can hold on to and be happy. Whatever happiness you experience is also due to conditions. And then conditions must change. Then you will realize that there is nothing worth holding on to in this world. Only then you let go and you will understand the Dhamma. Because in the description of how a person attains the first path, the Buddha said he gives this graduated discourse to people, to these people, and then they understand that everything in this world comes about, arises through conditions, and ceases through conditions. Then they realize that there is nothing they can hold on to, and then they slowly yin zhe, yin, tired of this world. Then they slowly let go of this world. And then they have that understanding, they will become an ariya.

(E23)-12-Does-all-insights-arise-from-meditation

Last time you asked about seeing this thing in meditation. Nowadays, a lot of meditation teachers, they say a lot of these things you have to see in your meditation. Actually, in our meditation, you know, the three main things that we want to see is anicca, impermanence. And then because of impermanence, there is dukkha, suffering. and then anatta, there's no self. Actually, the first two, impermanence and suffering, you don't have to see in meditation. As we grow older, we see it all around us. Most people around us are aging. We ourselves are also aging. So, it is not during meditation. Whatever you see in meditation of impermanence and dukkha, it's such a short time in your meditation. How can you really see Whereas in everyday life, you rarely see. For example, when somebody dies and you go and attend the funeral, when they bring out the coffin, you see how sorrowfully the family weeps. Yes or no? Somebody that you love for so many years, now is leaving you. And leaving you for good, you know? It's not like going for a holiday and coming back. And then, you also realize that not only that person is leaving you, you will be suffering the same fate very soon. So because you see that, and great sorrow comes up. Like for us as a monk, we attend quite often funerals, and we see people really cry during a funeral, especially when they take out the coffin from the house. So that you don't have to see in meditation. What you have to see in meditation is anatta, not self. And that is not only in meditation, you have to study the dhamma. Because the Buddha has explained all this so well, better than you can see yourself. That's anatta. So actually, if you really want to attain the dhamma, actually two things very important. One is to study the suttas, the original discourses of the Buddha. The second thing is to practice Samatha meditation, to get rid of the five hindrances. When you get rid of the five hindrances, or at least lower, reduce your five hindrances. If your mind becomes more tranquil, then your hindrances are reduced. And when your hindrances are reduced, you can understand the Sutta much better. That's why you find actually in the suttas and the Vinaya, the first few arahants that were converted by the Buddha, they never meditated, never meditated. quite a number of them. For example, there was one man by the name of Yasa. He was from a very rich family and as a young man he already had many wives because at that time you can have as many wives as you can afford. So he had many wives and then the Buddha made him come to the Buddha in the middle of the night, you know. And then he, he walked out of the city gates. Now when he came to the city gates, the city gates opened by themselves. Then he went into the forest and came to where the Buddha was. And then the Buddha taught him the Dhamma. And just by listening once to the Dhamma, he became a first path attainer, already an Arya. Next morning, the father was looking for him, because the father being such a rich man, was afraid that the son maybe got kidnapped or something, and went all around looking for him. Also came to the forest, came to where the Buddha was. And the Buddha used his psychic power The son, Yasa, was sitting beside the Buddha, but the father couldn't see him. The father couldn't see the son. So the father asked the Buddha whether he had seen Yasa. He was looking for his son. So the Buddha said, why don't you sit down here? Maybe in a short while you'll see Yasa. So he heard the Buddha say maybe he could see Yasa. Very happily he sat down. Then the Buddha taught him the Dhamma. Same nine points. And the father became Arya, first path attained. The son, listening to the same discourse second time, became Arahant. So you see, actually, The power of a Buddha. The Buddha, because of his great psychic power, he can see who are those people who already practiced and attained jhāna in the previous life. And he specially seek out these people, you know. Either he go to them or he make them come to him. And then he teach them the Dhamma and they become Arahant.