မေထရ္ျမတ္တုိ႔ ႐ုပ္ပုံလႊာ (ေမွာ္ဘီၿမိဳ႕၊ သာသနာ့၀န္ေဆာင္ဆရာေတာ္)

ME39

on Friday, July 8, 2011

Logical (Reasoning)
ME39  07-04-2011     (2:00 to 4:00)
(Class Notes Only)
--------------------
Information on Buddhist law as laid down in the Vinaya-pitak,on the other hand, can be gathered from random references in the Samantapāsādikā or the Kankhavitarani, a commentary on the Pātimokkha, or even in commentaries on other parts of the Tipitaka, As the vast commentarial literature has not been made easily accessible by adequate indices, the
following examples are by no means the result of a systematic search. Although better and clearer evidence still hidden somewhere in the Atthakatha.

The Samantapāsādikā descibes in some detail how a legal expert has to act with respect to persons who bring a case before him and with respect to the Vinaya-rules he is going to use.
Once a case (vatthu) is brought before the assembly of monks, plaintiff (codaka) and accused (cuditaka) have to be asked, whether they are going to accept the final verdict. In the case of incompetence, legeal experts have to be invited, who are to be agreed by both parties. These have to decide according to dhamma-vinaya-satthusāsana “teaching- discipline- prescription of the teacher”, the Samantapāsādikā according to the “true cause”, to reproof and remonstration and finally a group of monks capable and competent to decide the case has been established, the hearing proper can begin with the plaintiff stating his case which then has to be examined with all necessary care.

The legal expert has to take the following six points into consideration: the facts (vatthu), the Pātimokkha (mātikā), the commentary on the Pātimokkha (padabhājaniya), ‘the three sections’ (tikepariccheda), the ‘intermediate offense’ (antarāpatti) and the conditions, under which there is no offense (anāpatti). For the Buddha has decided many disputes himself and has given hints how legal experts should decide in future, although all this advice may be of some help for a monk who has to decide a case in agreement with the Vinaya, in the Samantapāsādikā (pārājika- Bāhiranidāna) gives at least an impression how this could have been done:

A certain monk in Antarasamuda (inter of ocean) took a well formed coconut, turned it, and made it into a drinking cup polished like mother-of-pearl. Then he left it behind and went to Cetiyagiri in the Anurādapura.
“antarasamudde kira eko bhikkhu susanthānam nālikeram labhitvā bhamam āropetvā sankhathālakasadisam manoramam pānīyathālakam katvā tattheva thapetvā cetiyagirim agamāsi.”

Antara is means inter, samuda is ocean, kira is indeclinable, eko bhikkhu is a certain(one) monk, susanthānam is well form (good shape), nālikeram is coconut fruit, labhitvā is took, bhamam is turned machine, āropetvā is polish, sankha is couch, sankhathālaka is mother-ofpearl, sadisam is similar,and pānīyathālakam is drinking cup.(tattheva = tattha + eva).

“Suvannata sussaratā, Susantāna surῡpatā. Ᾱbhipacca parivārā, Sabbo me ṫena lobbhoti.”
Another monk went to Antarasamudda, stayed in the very monastery, saw the cup, took it away with the intention to steal it, and went to Cetiyagiri,too.

“Athañño bhikkhu antarasamuddam gantvā tasmin vihāre pativasanto tam thālakam disvā theyyacittena gahetvā cetiyagirimeva āgato” Athañāo bhikkhu (atha+añño) is another monk, gantvā is went, tasmin vihāre is in the very monastery, pativasanto is stayed, disvā is saw, theyyacittena is with the intention to steal mind, gahetvā is took it away and meva is means too.

The monk who originally owned the cup saw the other monk drinking rice-gruel and asked: “Where did you get that?”- “I bought it from antarasamudda.” “Tassa tattha yāgum pivantassa tam thālakam disvā thālakasāmiko bhikkhu āha. “ ‘kuto te idam laddhan’ti” . Antarasamuddato me ānītanti.”

Tassa is means there, yāgum is drinking rice-gruel, sāmiko is originally own, āha is, here asked”, kuto is where and ānītanti is bought. He said “This is not your property. It has been stolen,” and dragged him before the assembly of monks.

“So tam ‘netam tava santakam, theyyāya te gahitan’ti. samghamajjham ākaddhi.” Netam (na-etam) is this is not your property, theyyāya is stolen,samghamajjham is assembly of monks, majjha is middle and ākaddhi is dragged.

There they did not get a decision and went the Mahāvihara. There the drums were beaten. An assembly was held and the hearing (vinicchaya) began. The Elders, who were experts in the Vinaya, decided that it was theft. A member of this assembly was the Elder Godha, the Abhidhamma expert, who was at the same time an expert in the Vinaya.

“Tattha ca vinicchayamalabhitvā Mahāvihāram agamimsu. Tattha bherim paharāpetvā mahācetiyasamāpe sannipātam katvā vinicchayam ārabhimsu. vinayadharattherā avahāram sannīpesum. Tasmim ca sannipāte Ᾱbhidhammika Godattatthero vinayakusalo nāma hoti” Ᾱbhidhammiko is the Abhidhamma expert (scholar), bherim is drums, paharāpetvā is were beaten and vinayakusalo is an expert in the Vinaya.

He spoke thus: “Where has he stolen this cup?”-“It was stolen in Antarasamudda.”- “How much is its value there?”-“It is worth nothing, because coconuts are split there, their contents is eaten, and the shell is thrown away, being considered as something like wood.”-“What is the value of the manual labour of the monk there?”-“A penny (māsaka) or even less than a penny.”-
“Indeed the SammāsamBuddha has prescribed somewhere a Pārājika with regard to a penny or even less than a penny.”

“So evamāha “iminā idaṁ thālakaṁ kuhiṁ avahaṭan”ti. Antarasamudde avahaṭanti. Tatridaṁ kiṁ agghatīti. Na kiñci agghati, tatra hi nāḷikeraṁ bhinditvā miñjam khāditvā kapālaṁ chaḍḍenti, dāru-atthaṁ pana pharatīti. Imassa bhikkhuno ettha hatthakammaṁ kiṁ agghatīti.

Māsakaṁ vā ῡnamāsakaṁ vāti. Atthi pana katthaci Sammāsambuddena māsakena vā ῡnamāsakena vā pārājikaṁ paññattanti. Tatridaṁ=tatra(there) + idaṁ(its or this). This being said there was a unanimous approval: “Excellent, well spoken, well decided!”-
“Evaṁ vutte “sādhu sādhu sukathitaṁ suvinicchitan”ti ekasādhukāro ahosi.”
By Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)

ME39

Logical Reasoning
ME39 24-03-2011      (3:00 to 4:00)
(Class Notes Only)
-------------------
Three kinds of Logical reasoning can be distinguished. These are deduction, induction and abduction, according to western Philosopher. Given a precondition, a conclusion and a rule, that the precondition implies the conclusion, they can be explained in the following way; Deduction means determining the conclusion, it is using the rule and its precondition to make a conclusion. Induction means determining the rule, it is leaning the rule after numerous examples of the conclusion for following the precondition. Abduction means determining the precondition, it is using the conclusion and the rule to support that the precondition could explain the conclusion.

According to Buddhism, the Buddha was born in 6th century BC, his systematically developed a pragmatic, empirically based philosophy which he claimed would lead, its followers towards an enlightened existence. Buddhism is commonly called a religion, is based on logical reasoning and observation rather than spiritual faith. At the heart of Buddhist philosophy is the Buddha's enumeration of Four Noble Truths: “suffering, origin of suffering, cessation of suffering and path to cessation of suffering”. That is Theravada analysis. Here, logical analysis is six ways- “Sambandho ca padan ceti, Padatho padaviggaho, Codanā parihāro ca, Chabbidhā suttavannanā,” that is commentaries. Sambando is relationship, context is very important.

Abhidhamma is certainly very useful, the later Abhidhammiters brought the opinion of that the truth which the Buddha discovered is found only in the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, he had preached to Sāriputtra. The Buddha came out with the absolute truth (Paramatta desana). In the Abhidhamma, we can analysis- “Kusala Citta- unwholesome consciousness-12, Ditthigata sampayuttam is mean connected with 'wrong' view. Second logical analysis 6th century B.C.

Padan mean smaller, Surāsuranaroragā (that is, we can see one by one) sura+ asura+ nara+
uraga (we should be able to), Namo Buddhāya - Buddha+ta+ āya, Buddha+ āya. Nomo Po tvo ye (china) Bodhisattva.

Padatta- 'meaning of the word' 'analysis of the word' after the analysis, Codanā- complain (plaint), parihara- answer, chabbidhā- six course, vannanā- exclan mation.

“Monopubbangamā dhammā, manosetthā manomayā, manasā ce pasannena, bhisati vā karoti vā, tato nam dukkhamanveti, cakkamva vahato padam” (Dhammapada). Mind is the forerunner of all states, mind is chief, mind made are they. It one speaks or acts with wicked mind, because of that suffering follows one, even as the wheel follows the hoof of the draught ox.

How many words have this verse? This verse has been 20 words. One by one, here mano is pāda, pubbhangamā is pāda, that is analysis. Manopubbhangamā dammā- all mental phenomena have mind as, their forerunner in the sense that mind is the most dominant and it is the cause of the other three mental phenomena, namely feeling (vedanā), perception (saññā) and consciousness (viññāna) as their forerunner because although they arise simultaneously with mind they cannot arise, it mind dose not arise (The commentary). Manasā here means intention or volition (cetanā), volition leads one to the performance of volitional actions, both good and evil. This volition and the resultant actions constitute kamma, and kamma always follows one to produce results.

Cakkhupāla thera blindness was the consequence of his having acted within an evil intention in a previous existence. In this context, dukkha means suffering or physical or mental pain, misfortune, unsatisfactory mess, evil consequences, etc.

In the consciousness (mana or citta), the concepts of good and evil minds have already been explained namely, Kāmāvacara citta is 54, Rūpāvacara citta is 15, Arūpāvacara citta is 12, and Lokuttara citta is 8 or 40. The Kāmāvacara citta is the cause of the other three factors, they are Akusala is 12, Ahetuka is 18, and Sahetuka citta is 24. In the Akusala citta, Lobha (attachment) is eight, Dosa (heated) is two, and Moha (delusion) is two. Since citta arises together with different mental factor or etasikas. According to the above analysis the so-called being is composed of five groups- Rūpa (matter), Vedanā (feeling), Sañña (perception), Saṅkhāra (mental states) and Viññāna (consciousness).

"cetasika- ceta + s + ika ", that which is associated with the mind or consciousness is Cetasika (Sanscrit- Caitasika or Caitti). In the chapter on Cetasika "Ekuppāda- nirodhācaekālambanavattukā" {Ekuppāda, Ekanirodhā, Ekālambana, Ekavattuka}.

The fifty two states that are associated with consciousness, that arise and perish together with consciousness, that have the same object and basis as consciousness, are known (or learn) as Cetasika. In the Dhātu, that which carries its own characteristic mark is dhātu. They are so called since they are devoid of being or life (nissatta, nijjiva). For the sake of convenience three technical terms are used here. They are pañcaviññadhātu, manodhātu, mano-viññāna- dhātu. In all these meanings the word 'dhamma' is to be met with in the texts, the application of this term guna = quality, virtues, desana = instruction (Nahi dhammo adhammo ca), pariyatti-text; nissatta (devoid of being) and nijjīva (soullessness).

'Dhamman vā bhikkve decitaṁ'
Sodanā means question and parihāra means answer. Kusala is wholesome in the sense of being free from physical (body), and mental sickness though passions. Killing, stealing and sexual misconduct are bodily actions. Lying, slandering, harsh speech and vain talking verbal actions, and ill will, covetousness and false belief are mental actions. Citta and cetacika arises
together with, not different, but citta (mind) is the leader of thought, mind is the porāna.

     - Pubbanga is means going first.
     - manosetthā is means intention or volition (cetanā).
     - pasannena is means mental devotion (manopasāda).
     - karoti- physical.
     - bhāsati- versati.
by Ashin Indaka (kyone Pyaw)

ME39

Logical Reasoning
ME39  17-03-2011      (2:00 to 3:00)
(Class Note Only)
-----------------
* You see this paper-

* Source Studies; Pāli language.
  i. Pāli alphabet and its divisions and sub-divisions.
     E. g - vowels, consonants, groups etc.
  ii. .…..
 iii. ……
-
* Logical Thinking: --
i. Five member argument
   pratijñā
-
-
ii. Analysis of dreams----
-
* Pāli literature;
 i. Pāli canon and its commentaries.
    e.g ….
        Dighanikāya - Sumangalavilāsini
        Majjhimanikāya - Papañcasūdanī
        Samyutanikāya - Sāratthappakasini
        Anguttaranikāya - Manorathapūrani
ii. -----
     Bhesajjamañjusā (Medicine) {hand-out}
--------------------------------
Now, we will study supinam King Milinda said, Bhante Nãgasena, this mean "Venerable Nãgasena", and Imasmim loke naranāriyo mean men and women in this world. supinam passanti, here supinam is called a dream. You want to question. it by Pali text, Kiñcetam supinam nāma? (What does that mean?). We can define, Kiñ is Ko, what is defination cetam? that defination is ca + etam, so we can difine Kim ca etam supinamnāma?.

Definition is very important, For example, ‘Sañña’ The understanding should be explained.
What are the common characteristics of “the Defunded Origination?”
Saññā - Sense perception = “Byañmajāla sutta” has 62 views, there_
(Buddhism is very careful and mind fully.)

What does this dream mean? Dream is an object of mind.
Sūpinam + dream that definition is object of mind.
Do you remember ‘Ko cetam passati?’ = question? And then...
Who person see dreams? There are six kinds of parson see dreams. They are...
   1. Vātiko = the person suffers from wind.
   2. Pittiko = the bilious person.
   3. Semhiko = the phlegmatic person.
   4. Devatūpasamhārato = the person possessed of a deva.
   5. Samudācinnato = the person influenced by his own habits.
   6. Pubbanimittato = the person sees a dream as a portent.
Summing up Vāta is air, Pitta is bile, and Semha is phlem.
"Tatra maharaja etc," mean among these, sire, only the last kind is true (saccam), the rest are false (micchā) Añño vā āgantvā, that is mean "or does anyone else came and tell him of
it", and 'nāpī añño koci āgatvā tassa ārocetiti' is "not does anyone else come and tall him of it". But from wherever the reflection comes it appear in the mirror" the definition is for” atha kho yato kutoci chāyā āgantvā ādāsassa apātamupagacchati".

Evam- eva that is means conscious of mind.
Lokadhamma is important, that one should maintain one's integrity and remain calm and composed in the face of the ups and downs of life, known as lokadammas, which are eight in number.
   1. Lābhāya - acquiring wealth.
   2. Alābhāya - not acquiring wealth.
   3. Yasāya - repute.
   4. Ayasāya - disrepute.
   5. Nindāya - dispraise.
   6. Pasaṁsaya - praise.
   7. Sukkāya - happiness.
   8. Dukkāya - suffering.
These are four good and four bad circumstances in life. And then-
Next paragraph is important question, there ‘middha’ mean torpor or drowsy, and ‘bhavange’ is called unconscious state. When a man is drowsy his mind is entering the unconscious state:

So "we should be discussion ‘bhavanga. etc’. 
What does the bhavang?”,
and to much explain, those are logical thinking.
by Ashin Indaka (kyone Pyaw)

ME39

Logical Reasoning
ME39 10-03-2011      (4:00 to 5:00)
(Class Notes Only)
-------------------
The Milindapañña unfolds as a dialogue between the Bactrian Greek ruler King Milinda and the Buddhist sage, the elder Nāgasena. Milinda first appears in the work as royal philosopher who has been demolishing with refutations, the tenets of the different schools in Indian religious thought that he encounter in his domain. In the dialogues Milinda poses the questions and Nāgasena replies.

Rather, the questions asked almost randomly- their binding principle being only the need to resolve conundrums in points of Buddhist teaching, and the answers flowing are direction, from the monk to the king, backed by the unimpeachable authority of the Buddha word, Milinda may be confidently identified with the Greek king Menander, who was descended from Greeks of Bactria. The preamble of the Milindapañha states that the work is divided into six parts: They are-
     1. Post History,
     2. Milinda’s questions,
     3. Question on Talk of smiles.
     4. The Delimmas, (Dilemmas)
     5. A question solved by inference, and
     6. Questions on distinguishing Marks.
Dreams
What is this thing that people call a dream and who dreams it?
King Milinda said “Venerable Nāgasena, men and women in this world see dreams pleasant and evil, things they have seen before and things they have not seen before, things they have done or have not done before, dreams peaceful and terrible, dream of matters near to them and distant from them, full of many shapes and innumerable colors. What is this that men call a dream, and who is it who dreams it?

That is called a sūpinam (dream), sire, is a suggestion that comes into the focus of the mind- There are six kinds of people who see dreams, the person who suffer from wind, the bilious and phlegmatic person possessed of a Deva, the person influenced by his own habit, and the person who sees a dream as a portent, Among these, only the last kind is true, the rest are false.”

“Bhante Nāgasena, in regard to him who sees a dream as a portent, does his mind, going along of its own accord, seek for that portent or does that portent come into the focus of the mind, does anyone else come and tell him of it?”

“It is not, that his mind going along of its own accord, seeks for that portent nor does someone else come and tell him of it, but that comes into the focus of his mind. It is like a mirror that does not go anywhere to seek for a reflection, nor does someone else bringing a reflection put it on the mirror, but the reflection comes from wherever it appears in the mirror.”

“Venerable Nāgasena, does the mind that sees a dream also know, so will be peaceful or frightening?”
“No, that is not so. He speaks to others about it and they then speak to him of its meaning when the portent has arisen.”

“Venerable Nāgasena, give me a smile to explain this, please.”
“It is as the moles, boils or itches that arise on a people’s body are to their gain or loss, their repute or disrepute praise or blame, happiness or sorrow- but as these boils arise, do they know we will bring about such and such an event.?”
“No, Venerable, according to the place where these boils occur, so do the fortune-tellers, seeing them there, explain such indeed will be the result.”

“Even so, sire, the mind that sees the dream does not know, ‘Thus will be the result, Peaceful or frightening.’ But he speaks to other about it and they then speak to him of its meaning when the portent has arisen.”

Here, Evam eva kho māharāja means “Even = so, sire” and tato te attham kathentīti means “they then speak to him of its meaning.”
     We! How to define?
     Object of mind, object of ears and object of eyes.
     You have given full note about that from many books.
by Ashin Indaka (kyone Pyaw)

ME35

Theravada Tradition: A Historical and Doctrinal Study
ME35  31-03-2011     (4:00 to 5:00)
(Class Notes Only)
-------------------
The Buddha's teaching is a "doctrine of analysis" (vibhajjavāda). His analysis examines the given world of sense experience, and in so doing sees that entities which appear solid and lasting break up into a series of shifting experiences. The word Vibhajjavāda may be parsed into vibhajja, loosely meaning "dividing", "analyzing" and vāda holding the semantic field: "doctrine", "teachings". The analysis of phenomena (dharmas) was the doctrinal emphasis and preoccupation of the Vibhajjavādins.
1.Vibhajjavādi mandalam otāretvā, 
2.Cattāro mahāpadesa olokentena (ekamsañyā karana,vibhajja karana, 
   patipucca karana and thapaniya karana), 
3.Ᾱcariya anabbhā eikkhantena (Sri Lanka), 
4.Dhammam dīpantena (clearing the Dharma), 
5.Attham sangahan tena,

There are, Maṅgala Sutta is so very popular because of the wide range of its teaching within a few easily remembered verses. Which is characteristic of the ‘Dharma’ as a whole. The Maṅgala Sutta is text for the wholesome shaping of complex human civilization. In this work an attempt is made to offer some studies of this important discourse of the Buddha, for the material and spiritual well-being of individuals in a democratic society. The discourse provides lessons of direct practical application.

Once while the Blessed One was staying in the vicinity of Sāvatthī, in the Jetavana, in Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery, a certain god, whose surpassing brilliance and beauty illumined the entire Jetavana, late one night came to the presence of the Blessed One; having come to him and offered profound salutations he stood on one side and spoke to him reverently the verse. Here, we want to explain some verse: they are-
“Asevanā ca bālānaṃ, paṇḍitānan ca sevanā, pūjā ca pūjanīyānaṃ,” With fools no company keeping, with the wise ever consorting, To the worthy homage paying. “Mātā-pitu upaṭṭhānaṃ, puttadārassa saṅgaho, anākulā ca kammantā,” Mother and father well supporting, children and wife duty cherishing, types of work un-conflicting. “ñātakānan ca saṅgaho,” Relatives and kin supporting. “Tapo ca brahmacariyan ca, ariyasaccāna dassanaṃ, nibbānasacchikiriyā ca, etam maṅgalam-uttamaṃ.” Self-restraint and holy life, All the Noble Truths inseeing, Realisation of Nibbāna: This, the Highest Blessing.

6. Tamevattam punarāvattetva, Opachip pariyayehi niddisau tena, 
7. Vinayam anulomen tena, 
8. Stuttam appatibahentena.

Buddhaghosa, the great fifth century commentator, casts light on this question in a playful linguistic analysis found early in the Paññabhūminiddesa of his Visuddhimagga. The Visuddhimagga is investigation, mindfulness, and wisdom. This further shows the supremacy of completing an analysis and attaining wisdom in the Buddha’s religion and a rejection of blind faith.

The Vibhajjavādins are not recorded uniformly by early Buddhist traditions as being a distinct sect. The Theravādin Kathāvatthu does not contain any reference to a Vibhajjavāda school, but the Sammatīyas and the Mahāsāṃghika do mention the Vibhajjavādins. According to the Sammatīya sect, the Vibhajjavādins developed from the Sarvāstivāda school. The Sarvāstivādin Abhidharma Mahāvibhāṣa Śāstra describes the Vibhajjavādins. The Theravādins of Sri Lanka may have been Sthavira-Vibhajjavādins.

The First Buddhist council was convened in the three months after the Buddha's Parinibbāna, which is 543–542 BC, according to Theravada tradition, sponsored by King Ajātasatthu outside the Sattaparnaguha in Rājagaha. Detailed accounts of the council can be found in the Khandhaka sections of the canonical Vinayas, under the leadership of Mahakassapa to call this meeting was his hearing a disparaging remark about the strict rule of life for monks.

The passing of the Buddha, Subhaddā spoke up to show happiness and relief that Buddha was gone. With the Elder Mahākassapa presiding, the five hundred Arahant monks met in council during the rainy season. This historic first council came to be known as the Pancasatika. It took the monks seven months to recite the whole of Vinaya and Dhamma. The Second Buddhist council took place approximately one hundred years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa. It occurred in Vaiśālī, and was held over ten points which amounted to minor infringements of the Bukkhu and Bukkhuni Vinaya, such as handling money and eating after midday. 
This Council made the unanimous decision not to relax any of the rules, and censured the behavior of the monks who were accused of violating the ten points. The first schism which divided the early Buddhist Sanghā into two primitive schools the Theravada school ‘11’and the Mahāsanghika school ‘7’. Some sub-divisions of Sthavira school which termed as the followers of Vibhajjavāda. Those not included in the Vibhajjavāda group were the Mahāsāṃghikas. Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa, Samantapasadika are from Southern Vibhajjavada lineage.

The Third Buddhist Council, was crowned in the two hundred and eighteenth year after the Buddha's death an event dated by modern scholars to 246 BC, under the leadership of Moggaliputta Tissa emphasized this analytical approach, in order to refute a number of heresies and ensure the Dhamma was kept pure, compiled a book during the council called the Kathavatthu. 
This book is the fifth of the seven books of the Abhidhamma Pitaka. According to Sinhalese tradition, Buddhism under the name of Vibhajjavāda, was brought from India to Sri Lanka by Venerable Mahinda, who is believed to be the King Asoka, he changed, when he met the pious novice Nigrodha who preached him the Appamada-vagga. There-after he ceased supporting other religious groups and his interest in and devotion to the Dhamma deepened. His son Mahinda and his daughter Sanghamitta were ordained and admitted to the Sangha.
by Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)

ME35

Theravada Tradition: A Historical and Doctrinal Study
ME35 24-03-2011     (4:00 to 5:00)
(Class Notes Only)
--------------------
Evolution of Abhidhamma, at the time of the first and the second councils, Abhidhamma was not developed as a separate section of the Pāli canon. The term Abhidhamma occurs in the Suttapiṭaka but not in the sense of a separate piṭaka. Tradition says that Abhidhamma Piṭaka was preached to the deities after enlightenment by the Buddha himself. Tradition also says that Kathāvatthu-pakaraṇa, the last text of the Abhidhammapiṭaka was arranged on the basic
doctrines of the Buddha by ven. Moggaliputtatissa thera at the time of the third Buddhist councils in the 3rd century B.C.

Four main processes have been carried out at the councils in order to preserve the Buddha’s teachings: Collection of the teachings, classification of the teaching, abstraction of the doctrinal parts from the teachings and definition and analysis of the doctrines. Through the above processes the Abhidhamma canon came into being.

Abhidharma (Sanskrit) or Abhidhamma (Pāli) are ancient Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic reworking of doctrinal material appearing in the Mahāyāna Sutras (Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra). The Sūtra is set in Laṅkā, the island fortress capital of Rāvaṇa, the king of rākṣasas. The Abhidhamma works do not contain systematic philosophical treatises, but summaries or abstract and systematic lists. There is a similarity between the traditions of the Adhidhamma and that of the Mahayana, which also claimed to be too difficult for the people living in the Buddha's time. They were not accepted as canonical by the Mahāsanghika school.

Numerous apparently independent and unrelated Abhidharma traditions arose in India, roughly during the period from the 2nd or 3rd Century B.C., to the 5th Century, in the Linguistic history of India. The Buddha taught in Magadha, but the four most important places in his life are all outside of it. It is likely that he taught in several closely related dialects of Middle Indo- Aryan, which had a very high degree of mutual intelligibility. There is no attested dialect of Middle Indo-Aryan with all the features of Pāli. Three kinds of Indo-Aryan; they are - Old Indo-Aryan: The earliest evidence of the group is from Vedic Sanskrit, the language used in the ancient preserved texts of the Indian subcontinent, the foundational canon of Hinduism known as the Vedas. In about the 4th century BC, the Sanskrit language was codified and standardized by the grammarian Panini, called "Classical Sanskrit" by convention.

Middle Indo-Aryan: Outside the learned sphere of Sanskrit, vernacular dialects continued to evolve. The oldest attested prakrits (i.e., middle Indic languages) are the Buddhist and Jain canonical languages Pāli and Ardha Māgadhi, respectively. The prakrits had diversified into various Middle Indic dialects. "Apabhramsa" is the conventional cover term for transitional dialects connecting late Middle Indic with early Modern Indic, spanning roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. And New Indo-Aryan: The Indic languages of Northern India and Pakistan form a dialect continuum. The Indo-Aryan prakrits also gave rise to languages like Gujarati, Bengali, Oriya, Nepali, Marathi, and Punjabi, which are not considered to be Hindi despite being part of the same dialect continuum.

Which is in danger of losing its labial and velar articulations through spirantization in many positions: Hindi, Punjabi, Dogri, Sindhi, Gujarati, Bihari, Maithili, Sinhalese, Oriya, Standard Bengali, dialects of Rajasthani. There are no known historical documents about the early phases of the Romani language could not have left India significantly earlier than 1000 A.D.

The Arana-vibhanga Sutta of the Mijjimanikaya discourse is an exhortation on the practice of the Middle Path; ‘You should not cling to a regional language; you should not reject common usage.’ So it is said. In what connection is this said? How, bhikkhus, is there clinging to a regional language and rejection of common usage? Here, bhikkhus, in different regions, they call a ‘bowl’ pāti, ‘pāli’, patta, vittha, serāva, dhāropa, poṇa or pisīla. The word Pāli itself signifies "line" or "(canonical) text", in the sense of the line of original text quoted. This name for the language seems to have its origins in commentarial traditions.

“ye keci buddham saranam gatase na te gamissanti apaya-bhumim pahaya manusam deham deva- kayam paripuressantiti” "Those who have gone to the Buddha as refuge will not go to the realms of deprivation. On abandoning the human body, they will fill the ranks of the gods." “Idha Buddhe jate, Lumbini game ubbalike kate, Idha Buddho jato, Lumbini gamo ubbaliko kato” it is Pāli. This name for the language seems to have its origins in commentarial traditions, Pāli is a literary language of the Prakrit language family. When the canonical texts were written down in Sri Lanka, in the 1st century BC.

The parinibbāna of the Buddha is described in the Mahāparinibbāna sutta, Digha Nikāya. Because of its attention to detail, the Mahaparinibbāna Sutta (of the Theravada tradition), though first committed to writing hundreds of years after his death, has been resorted to as the principal source of reference in most standard studies of the Buddha's life. Accounts of the purported events surrounding the Buddha's own parinirvāṇa are found in a wide range of Buddhist canonical literature. In addition to the Pāli Mahāparinibbāna sutta and its Sanskrit parallels In the Dighanikāya, Subha Sutta is almost word for word the same as the Sàmañña-phala Sutta. The chief difference is that the states of mind enumerated in the Sàmañña-phala as fruits of the life of a recluse are here divided under the three heads of sīla, samàdhi, and paññà (conduct, concentration, and intelligence). 

Samàdhi has not yet been found in any Indian book older than the Piñakas. Samàdhi on the other hand is a constant habit of mind, the oldest Sanskrit text. In this sutta, it is the first importance the evolution of philosophical and religious thought in India. . The Buddhist canon was originally, as is well known, altogether oral.
by Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)

ME35

on Saturday, July 2, 2011

Theravada Tradition: A Historical and Doctrinal Study
ME35  17-03-2011     (4:00 to 5:00)
(Class Notes Only)
------------------
“Necessity of Aṭṭhakathās for the interpretation of Tipiṭaka.” 
E .g – (i) Theragāthā and Therigāthā - The dialogues have been identified separately only in the commentary, (ii)Jātakapāli - Short incidents recorded here are expanded as full stories only in the commentary, (iii) Niddesapāli is a commentary on Suttanipata, and (iv) Kathāvatthuppakaraṇa- The points of controversy have been identified separately only in the commentary.

As we know, out of 84,000 texts in the Theravada Tripiṭaka, two thousand texts are presented as the Buddha’s teachings by his disciples we have to examine again and again which parts belong to the Buddha’s own teachings and which parts belong to the commentaries---. Buy the way, the first reference to this term Pāli is found in the Pāli commentaries which are translated from Sihala Aṭṭhakathā. So the earliest time of using the term Pāli can go back to the third century B.C., even Abhidhamma was regarded as Pāli during time of Buddhaghosa, fifth century A.D., The Pāli commentaries were translated by Buddhaghosa by the fifth century A.D. If you compare Pāli Sutta-piṭaka with the Pāli commentaries.

Explore the ancient language of the Tipiṭaka and Theravada in commentaries, can anyone help explaining way these words are found at the beginning of some suttas and note others? that those suttas were remembered by Ven- Ᾱnandā at the first Buddhist Council. It was sort of ‘thing’. Evam me sutam (Thus, have I heard). These words are invariably followed by Ekam samayam = at one time or on one occasion. Ven- Ᾱnanda’s thing for remembering the
teachings, keeping the tradition oral until the Tipiṭaka was written down. I found this partied:

Some pertinent parts: almost all suttas in the Pāli Canon open with the words Evam.
Evam the 8th condition may imply,
     1. Evam = Upamā
     2. = Upadesa
     3. = Sampahamsaṇa (happiness)
     4. = Garahana (blane someone)
     5. = Vacanasanpatigga (yes, expect)
     6. = Ᾱkara (actually)
     7. = Vidassana (example)
     8. = Avadhārana
These eight meanings are different contact. Evam is similes, like that …..
     1. Evam jātena waccena kattabbam kūsalam bahum.
     2. Evam te abhikamitabbam. Evam patikkamitabbam.
     3. Evam etam sūgata (thus, this, the happy one)
     4. Evam paññayam vasali
     5. Evam bhante (Yes, Venerable Sir,)
     6. Evam bhante
     7. Evam bhante
     8. Evam etam darayāmi,
These words mean -
-“I have understood this way” Ᾱnanda said
- It is except, That is, Buddha taught (It is certainly not impossible)
-“Evam me sutam” means thus have I heard
- Sure, expertly, I have heard
- That is teaching
- I have in mind
- I thought so
In fact these words “Thus have I heard” are so well known as an introduction to Pāli suttas. (This was said by the Exalted One, said by the Arahant so have I heard, this formula is followed by the direct words of the Buddha with no mention of “on one occasion”.) The words are there to indicate that the sutta was recited initially at the first council by Ᾱnanda. If it doesn’t say Evam me sutam it wasn’t credited to Ᾱnanda rather someone else, who may be un-named, or named as in the case of Venerable Upāli who uses “ ‘Tena samyena’, it is certainly not impossible.”

So, the word is 8th condition to become the Buddha’s attendant, by which he has heard all the suttas uttered by the Buddha for the remaining time of his life. If you give a brief outline of which texts have “Evam me sutam” at the start, that may give you a clue. The issue of how Ᾱnanda heard these is also there:
1. Ᾱnanda recites at the convocation, saying “thus it a way heard by me”, and meaning that he heard it when the Buddha said that teaching.
2. Ᾱnanda recites at the convocation, saying “thus it a way heard by me”, and meaning that somebody told him that the Buddh gave such a teaching.

As it’s said by Ven- Ᾱnanda the first Buddhist council, in Sanskrit ‘Evam Me Sutam = Evam Maya Shratum’ - you can see it in some Mahāyāna sutras begins like that. Therefore, according to the Commentarial Theravada Tradition, the Brahmajāla sutta, “Evam me sutam” means ‘thus have I heard’. This particular sutra was also preached at the first Buddhist council.
by Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)

ME35

Theravada Tradition: A Historical and Doctrinal Study
ME35  10-03-2011     (4:00 to 5:00)
(Class Notes Only)
------------------
The Theravāda Tradition accepted teachings at the first Buddhist Council. Pāli commentaries are very important sources for stud of Early Buddhism and for study of the brief history of Pāli commentaries. The Pāli commentaries are the commentaries on the Pāli Tripitaka, it contains many aspects of the Buddha's teachings. Theravāda Buddhism has a long history covering almost 2,500 years from the time of the Buddha up to now. Therefore, you must specify which Buddhism you are dealing with, if you are studying Theravāda Buddhism; Buddhism in Tripiṭaka or in the Pāli commentaries, in Tikā or Anu-Tikā. As we know out of 84,000 texts in the Tripiṭaka.

The last point, regarding the value of using the Pāli commentaries as the research material for the study of Theravāda Buddhism, the Pāli commentaries are not well organized in the Theravāda countries, these were translated by Buddhagosa in fifth century A.D. Before Mahinda Thera came to Sri lankā, the commentaries had been preserved in India. So the beginning of commentarial tradition in Sri Lanka can go back to the time of Mahinda in the third century B.C.

The Sutta nipāta of the Mahāvagga, that has twenty two gāthās while the commentary says that it contains only twenty gāthās. So most probably those two gāthās were added later, that is Philological studies. Philology is the study of text; in this case, the study of the Pāli text; how it is developed. This philological approach to the Buddhist text is to examine the Pāli texts in a critical method. If you compare the Pāli Sutta- piṭaka with the Pāli commentaries have very long compounds which are not found in the Sutta piṭaka. The Pāli canon it-self we find some facts which seen sometimes contradictory with the details given above. The Jātakapāli, one of the fifteen texts of the khuddhakanikāya, explains the former livers or births (Introductions of the Buddha Biography) of the Buddha, and the Niddesa is, one of the Kuddhakanikāya.

According to Sri Lanka tradition, when we consider the Kuddhakanikāya, it contains fifteen books. Khuddhakapātha Atthakathā and Suttanipāta Atthakathā have a common name, is called Paramathajotikā, and their authorship is traditionally attributed to Buddhaghosa. Visuddhimagga cannot be commentary, it is an independent work of buddhaghosa. Samantapāsādika is a regarding text of the Vinaya Atthakathā, we don't know which of them was written first, and Sumangalavilāsinī is one of the Dighanikāya Atthakathā. The Buddhaghosa wrote seven Abhidhamma commentaries such as Atthasālinī (Dhammasaṅganī Atthakathā), Sammohavinodani (Vibhaṅga Atthakathā), and Pañcappakaranatthakathā, but other Atthakathā of the remaining five texts. So Abhidhamma is Theravāda production in methology.

Necessity of Aṭṭhakathās for the interpretation of Tipiṭaka. e.g. Theragāthā and Therīgāthā- the dialogues have been identified separately only in the commentary. Jatakapalishort incidents recorded here are expanded as full stories only in the commentary. Niddesapali is a commentary on Suttanipata…. And, Necessity of Abhidhamma for the interpretation of Suttas. Suttas (discourse) in the Suttapiṭka have been delivered by the Buddha for various people on different occasions on various conditions. So……, After the introduction of the systematic philosophy of Abhidhamma the suttas were interpreted following the method of Abhidhamma.{ from the hand-out}
e.g. Mano pubbaṅgamā dhammā
       Mano - citta
       dhammā – cetasika
Theravāda Buddhism has long history covering almost 2,500 years from the time of the Buddha up to now. According to the Thearvāda Tradition, the Theravāda tradition as accepted teaching at the First Buddhist Council, the ten points presented by Vajjians were main reason for the Second Council. So the beginning of commentarial tradition in Sri Lanka can go back to the time of Mahinda that is the third century B.C. We need more people to be involved in the study of the Pāli commentaries.

The collection of Buddha teaching was done at the Buddhist council. Therefore, the Theras considered that if the Buddha's teachings are available in common people language. They were preserved as Dhamma-sutras, because those discourses were included only the Dhamma.

Now, we should be study Mangala sutta, the Mangala sutta is found in the suttanipāta. The suttanipāta contains the three most poular Paritta Sutta; Metta, Mangala and Ratana Sutta. The commentary explains that, at that time in India. The Buddha replied with a graduated discourse in verse, enumerating thirty eight practical blessing. These seven stages of purity must be followed;
     1. Four defiled action.
     2. Four avenues to wrong path.
     3. Six causes for the decline of wealth.
     4. Four good friends.
     5. Four bad friends.
     6. Method of earning and expend it.
     7. Doing duties.
The Mangala Sutta teaches us how we can ascend to the highest good in gradual Buddhism. Mettā is only meditation. Metta meditation is regularly recommended to the Buddha's followers, in the 2,500 years old Pāli camon. The mettā always will the beings not to fall to hell and apāya bhūmis, but to forward the human, divine or brahma worlds and heartily wish them able to reach the Nibbāna, the sooner the better at the end. Do keep observance of moral precepts (sīla), do practice good deeds bodily, verbally and mentally as possible as it can go like mettā brahmavihāra (samādhi), do forge a dhamma career in search of insight wisdom and knowledge of truths, realities as well as worldliness (pañña). These are meaningful words of wisdom.

To avoid all evils (to drill sīla), to cultivate good (to practice samādhi), and to cleanse one's mind (to forge Paññā), this is the teaching of the Buddhas. It is the frame of reference by all Buddhas to recommend the holy living of brahmavihara (metta, karunā and muditā) with mettā meditation.
by Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)

ME26

on Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Buddhist Psychotherapy
ME26  08-04-2011 (4:00 to 5:00)
(Class Notes Only)
-----------------
Literature on the 'Four Nutrients (Nutriments) ', 'food', is used in the concrete sense as material food and as such it belongs to derived corporeality.In the figurative sense, as 'foundation' or condition, it is one of the twenty four conditions (paccaya) and is used to denote four kinds of nutrient, which are material and mental:
     1. Kabalinkārāhāra (material food),
     2. Phassāhāra (‘sensorial and mental’ impression),
     3. Mano-sañcetanāhāra (mental volition),
     4. Viññānāhāra (consciousness).
Material food feeds the eightfold corporeality having nutrient essence as its eight factor (i.e. the solid, liquid, heat, motion, colour, odour, the taste and nutrient essence; rūpakalāpa). Sensorial and mental impression is a condition for the three kinds of feeling (agreeable, disagreeable and indifferent).Mental volition (karma) feeds rebirth; paticcasamuppāda.

Consciousness feeds mind and corporeality (nāma - rūpa) at the moment of conception". Rupa matter- form, material body (physical phenomenon), shape, corporeality. The basic meaning of this word is "appearance" or "form." It is used, however, in a number of different contexts, taking on different shades of meaning in each. In lists of the objects of the senses, it is given as the object of the sense of sight. As one of the khandhā, it refers to physical phenomena or sensations. This is also the meaning it carries when opposed to nāma, or mental phenomena.

Material; Apart from citta and cetasika which are realities, there is another reality. Rupa are always influenced by one or more of four causes namely kamma, citta, utu, and ahara. Rupa are always changing as citta and cetasika, they are relatively slower than nama dhamma. Rupa can never know anything. But rupa serve various functions in connection with nama dhamma citta and cetasika. In terms of their intrinsic character, there are twenty eight separate paramattha rupa.

We are guilty of all four of the Nutrients stated. These are explained as being necessary for existence but all are traps of cravings and desire. The Kabalinkārāhāra is translated as ordinary material food, if we will be wanting the one which we feel tastes. The Phassāhāra is contact with the outside world. This is inescapable and influential at the same time, “Every bit of our stream of consciousness is taken over by society and the reaction they have to we, which is easily recognized as selfish and greedy behaviour. 
Viññānāhāra is simple consciousness of what is around us. From my understanding, what is around us, is temptation, evil. Manosañcetanāhāra, the mental violation, the thoughts that creep into our mind about anything and everything. These are the thoughts, that are never our understanding of the Second Noble Truth has greatly increased, and I feel that this is an experience all go through. The entire concept of desire is inescapable in our day and time, and that is something that we as spiritual beings have to deal with.

According to the ‘Dhammapada’; while residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse, with reference to King Pasenadi of Kosala. One day the King went to the monastery to pay homage to the Buddha soon after having a heavy meal. The King was in the habit of taking one-quarter basketful cooked rice and meat curry. While he was in the presence of the Buddha, the King felt so drowsy that he kept on nodding and could hardly keep himself awake. Then he said to the Buddha, “Venerable sir! I have been in great discomfort since I have taken my meal.” To him the Buddha replied “Yes, O king! Gluttons do suffer in this manner.”

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
     "Middhī ỵadā hoti mahagghaso ca, niddāyitā samparivattasāyī.
      mahāvarāhova nivāpapuṭṭho, punappunaṁ gabbhamupeti mando."(325)
“The stupid one, who is lazy, gluttonous , and drowsy, who just wallows like a well-fed pig, is subject to repeated rebirths.”
It is more tasty, more clear and drives the point home very strongly. The middha means very drowsy; middhī yadā hoti mahāggaso ca - one feels very sleepy, having eaten a great deal of food; niddāyitā samparivattasāyī - sleeping, tossing in bed, turning in the bed, back and forth; mahā varāho va nivāpa puṭṭho - like a very big pig in the mud, punappunaṃ gabbha mupeti mando - a fool will go back and forth in life and gabbhaṃ upeti mean comes to life, comes to birth, again and again. So, one who eats a lot until his belly is full, of course, after that feels very sleepy, and keeps sleeping, tossing, turning back and forth in the bed, twisting because his belly is so full, and falls asleep, and loves to sleep. And that is another mental bewilderment called wilderness in the mind.

"After hearing the discourse the King, having understood the message, gradually the amount of food he took. As a result, he become much more active and alert and therefore also happy.

In the paccavekkhanā Buddha said, “Patisankhā yonīso piñdapātaṁ patisevāmī- Considering it thoughtfully, I use alms food; Neva davāya na madāya na mandanāya na vibhῡsanāya- Not playfully, nor for intoxication, nor for putting on bulk, nor for beautification;

Yāva deva imassa kāyassa thītīyā yāpanāya vihiṁsuparatiyā brahmacariyānuggahāya - but simply for the survival and continuance of this body, for ending its afflictions, for the support of the holy life; Itī purañca vedanam patihankhāmi navañca vedanam na uppadessāmi- thus I will destroy old feelings of hunger and not create new feelings from overeating- Yatrā ca me bhavissati anavajjatā ca phāsu-viharo cāti- I will maintain myself, be blameless and live in comfort.”
by Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)

ME26

Buddhist Psychotherapy
ME26  01-04-2011       (4:00 to 5:00)
(Class Notes Only)
----------------
The Buddhism accepts the necessity of the wealth and the man cannot live without any wealth. The primary thing of living being is food. All living beings depend on food (Sabbhe sattā ahara thitikā). The poverty is considered as a suffering that we avoided (Daliddiyaṁ bhikkhave dukkhaṁ).

The Buddha taught a practical method to help mankind escape from the bonds of suffering (The Eightfold Noble Path). He's theme was the same: sīla (morality), samādhi control of the mind (samatha), and pañña (purification of the mind by wisdom). The Silas build concentration (Samadhi) easily, then insight knowledge arises seeing Rūpa (corporeality or nature of bodies) and Nāma (mind or mentality) as they really are. It should be known that the meditator can discern Rūpa.“In the Theravada Abhidhamma, rūpa is analyzed into 28 states as far as the Abhidhammatthasaṅgaha is concerned.”

Buddhism always points out the way to remove suffering. Man with poverty gives raise more difficulties to live long. According to Buddhism, if a man afflicted with poverty, he is led to do unrighteous things such as killing(pāṇatipāta), stealing(adinnādāna), struggling, and fighting and so on. The unwholesome (akusala) actions are mentioned in the sutta as follows:

Physical (body) is Killing living beings , stealing others things and unlawful engagement in sensual pleasures, Verbal is Lying, slandering, using rough words and gossiping. These are related to the physical, verbal and mental behavior of people.

Cakkavattisisihanada Sutta says, “When the wealth is not produced, the poverty may be developed; when the poverty developed, the stealing may be developed; when stealing developed, the production of weapon may be developed; when the producing of weapon developed, the fighting and killing may be developed”. The Buddhism always advised not to engage in bad activities. Therefore the richness of the wealth is necessary to prevent those activities.

We might have an expanded self-representation, but we certainly do not through such experiences wholly abandon the process of identification with self-representation; nor do we lose a metaphysical self, which from the Buddhist perspective we do not have to begin with.

Furthermore, ego functions that constitute the empirical or psychologically functioning self are not lost. Let’s for the moment accept that pride (māna), the sense, “the eye(cakkhu), the ear(sota), the nose(ghāṇa), the tongue(jivhā) and the body(kāya),” that I am higher, lower, or simply, “am” is a mental function that is sometimes present and sometimes absent from our consciousness(viññnāṇa).

The states may be instances when the mental function of māna is not operative; it is temporarily dispelled (tadanga-pahāna). We continue to struggle in the west to move beyond earlier models that pathologized non-ordinary states. Our inquiry would be more productive if we focused on discriminating clearly how spiritual states may retain ordinary functions yet complement these functions with other qualities.

The next form has to do with the meditative absorptions, that is, states of concentration during which the sense of self (māna) is absent, technically indentified as abandoned through suppression (vikkhambana-pahāna){pahana is discussion ‘pa + hana’}, The last form is insight realization. There actually are a variety states here: states in the higher stages of insight, states related to path and fruition consciousness, and those following full realization.

In particular, during and succeeding full enlightenment, identification with a particular sense of self (māna) would be given up through eradication (samuccheda-pahāna) leaving the practitioner free of such identification. Once meditators have embarked on practice and become familiar with the orientation of Buddhist inquiry, they may from time to time have variety meditative experiences in and out of meditation that will reflect ever-deepening realization, cognitive and affective, and culminate in dis-identification with the core sense of self. However, opens a valuable window when he points out that even in traditional psychotherapy, there are unintended and unnoticed moments of freedom from selfrepresentation.

This dissolution makes it possible for distorted images of oneself to change when they emerge in consciousness. The practitioner can be effectively harnessed to a task that Buddhism shares with other spiritual traditions, that of reducing identification with and attachment to our self-representations.

Particularly if she or he is in dialogue, or engaged in verbal self-reflection in the company of someone who can mirror, hold, or indentify spiritual states such as spaciousness, clarity or presence.
by Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)

ME26

Buddhist Psychotherapy
ME26  24-03-2011    (4:00 to 5:00)
(Class Notes Only)
-----------------
What is Psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy is an interactive process between a person and a qualified mental health professional (psychiatrist, psychologist, etc,). Seeking help for mental, emotional, spiritual or relationship issues can be difficult, you want to be sure you have the right "mental health professional" to oversee you care, so you can take control of any dilemmas in your life.

Buddhist psychotherapy has to be a science of mind which also studies the specific Buddhist approaches to mind. Therefore it has to hold good against all the criteria of science, such as methodological reliability of procedures, consistency of theoretical statements, etc. The Buddhist psychology became very fashionable towards the end of the twentieth century.

Buddhist psychology in an inclusive way us to view the various specifically Buddhist practices of preaching, teaching and counseling from a psychotherapeutic standpoint. Buddhist psychological knowledge under the following headings:
1. Adhisīlasikkhā - control of performance serves as a starting point for all procedures;
2. Adhicittasikkhā - purification of mind by means of meditation removes the defilements
    of greed and hate, which otherwise distort consciousness and invalidate knowledge.
3. Adhipaññasikkhā- transcendence through wisdom aims at an individually experienced
    realization of happiness and peace.
Buddha's Dhamma includes ethics; it cannot be regarded as some philosophical system. We continuous practice of the Dhamma. The practice of the Buddha's Dhamma is most comprehensively defined through the paradigm of the Four Noble Truths, (this Noble Eightfold Path.) The Buddha’s first sermon on setting the Wheel of the Dhamma (the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta), is on the ground of avoidance of two extremes of Sassatavada and Ucchedavada. The Buddha explained the Dhamma in the following words;
     1. Dukkha-ariyasaccā -This is suffering,
     2. Samudaya-ariyasaccā- This is the origin of suffering, is attachment,
     3. Nirodha-ariyasaccā - This is the cessation of suffering, is attainable,
     4. Magga-ariyasaccā -This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.
The Buddha showed the newly discovered path to emancipation, "Ariya atthangikamagga" the Noble Eightfold Path or "Majjhima patipadā" the Middle Path. This avoids the two extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification. Middle Path is defined in the same sermon as "without entering into either extreme" (Ubho ante anupagamma.) These Eightfold Path as follows;
     1. Right Understanding (Sammā dithi)
     2. Right Thought (Sammā sankappa)
     3. Right Speech (Sammā vācā)
     4. Right Action (Sammā kammanta)
     5. Right Livelihood (Sammā ājīva)
     6. Right Effort (Sammā vāyama)
     7. Right Mindfulness (Sammā sati)
     8. Right Corcentration (Sammā samādhi)
The early Buddhist discourses referred to the mutual opposition between the two Sassatavāda (eternalism) and Ucchedavāda (annihilationism) views. Sassatvāda emphasizes the duality between the soul and the body. Deliverance of the soul, its perpetuation in a state of eternal bliss, thus requires the mortification of the flesh, represented in the Buddhist texts as Attakilamathānuyoga (self-mortification) which led to variety of ascetic practices during the time of the Buddha.

Ucchedavāda (Materialism) believes that 'man is a pure product of the earth awaiting annihilation at death. His aim in this temporary life thus cannot be the rejection of sense - pleasures in the pursuit of a higher spiritual ideal which is described in the Buddhist tents as Kāmasukhalikānuyoga (sensual gratification). Thus, these two represent the practical aspects of the two theories of Sassatavāda and Ucchedavāda.

According to the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta, Right understanding (sammā dithi) of the First Noble Truth (effect) leads to the eradication (pahātabba) of craving. The Second Noble Truth (cause) thus deals with the mental attitude of the ordinary man towards the external objects of sense. The Third Noble Truth (effect) is that there may be a complete cessation of suffering possible, which is Nibbāna, the ultimate good of Buddhists.

This Nibbāna is to be comprehended (Sacchikātabba) by the mental eye by renouncing all attachment to the external world. This First Truth of suffering which depends on this so called being and various aspects of life, is to be carefully perceived, analyzed and examined (pariññeyya). This Third Noble Truth has to be realized by developing (bhāvetabba) the Noble Eight fold Path (ariya atthangika magga). This unique path is the only straight way to Nibbāna.
by Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)

ME26

Buddhist Psychotherapy
ME26  19-03-2011      (4:00 to 5:00)
(Class Notes Only)
-----------------
The Vipassanā(Pañña) meditation research into the application of Vipassana in daily life. The Enlightened One wandered from place to place, teaching the Dhamma in villages and towns out of infinite love and compassion. The Buddha taught a practical method to help mankind escape from the bonds of suffering: the Eightfold Noble Path (Ekāyano ayaṃmaggo).

He's theme was the same: sīla (morality), samādhi control of the mind (samatha), and pañña (purification of the mind by wisdom). He declared: Dhamma is universal. Dhamma is the law of nature. He taught that every person must discover for himself what is conducive to his own good and welfare, and the good and welfare of others. He gave to humanity its first charter of freedom, gave the possibility of a way out. The door to freedom opened. To practice insight meditation in accordance with the four foundations of mindfulness is the only way to purify the mind of practitioners. It leads them to the cessation of suffering and the attainment of Nibbana. Practitioners must first purify their Silas. The Silas build concentration (Samadhi) easily, then insight knowledge arises seeing Rūpa (corporeality or nature of bodies) and Nāma (mind or mentality) as they really are. It should be known that the meditator can discern Rūpa and has entered Rupapariccheda- ñana.

In the early teaching of the Buddha, the empirical word is analyzed, as clearly stated in the Khandhavagga Samyutta, is based on the truths of :
          rūpa (physical phenomenon),
          vedanā (feeling),
          saññā (perception),
          saṅkhāra (mental fashionings)
          viññāna (consciousness).
These five groups of existence, life’s basic factors. While rūpa refers to the physical reality and the other four groups refer to the mental reality. While the meditator is being mindful of his hand, his foot stretching or bending, his body dropping to sit down or supporting his body to stand up, these features of movement arise from many small combined movements. Buddhist morality distinguishes healthy, right and moral actions from those that are unhealthy, wrong and immoral action. In the Pali canon, we find many moral concepts which play an important role in the moral life of a Buddhist even today.

The terms Kusala (wholesome) and puñña (merit) are the most important of these. These Kusala actions lead to nirvāṇa, Akusala (unwholesome) actions make one deviate from the path of liberation. The Buddha once said that one becomes endowed with right vision (sammā diṭṭhi) through the knowledge of both wholesome and unwholesome actions and their roots. He recommends the wiping out of akusala through kusala ones, since such eradication brings happiness.

Buddhism recommendes the five precepts (pañca sila) for lay Buddhists and other morally higher precepts for monks, all these moral virtues, in one way or another. The five precepts, for example are common to many religious traditions.Since Buddhism recognizes the worth of all living beings, Buddhist precepts include all livings beings withing their scope.

When one practices the meditation on living kindness (mettā), one has to develop loving kindness to all beings (sabbē sattā bhavantu sukhitattā). In the Metta Sutta of the Suttanipāta this universal loving kindness is highlighted as follows: may all beings be happy and secure; may their minds be contented etc,. Let one’s thoughts of boundless love pervade trained in sīla, one is in a good position to train one’s mind (citta).

The second stage is samādhi (concentration) which includes three components: right effort (sammā vāyāma). Right mindfulness (sammāsati) and right concentration (sammā samādhi).These three elements train one’s mind to a state of samādhi. The third stage of the gradual path is wisdom (pañña) which includes right view (sammā diṭtṭhi) and right thoughts (sammā saṃkappa). Wisdom enables one to see reality as it is (yathābhūta). Wisdom arises only in a concentrated mind (samādhi citta). Thus, through a gradual process of training (anupubbasikkhā), working out (anupubbakiriyā), and practice (anupubbapaṭipadā), the spiritual seeker reaches moral perfection. On one occasion, the Buddha explains how morality leads one to nirvāṇa.

In this case the the spiritual path in this world and the ultimate goal are interconnected and interrelated within the process of leading the spiritual seeker to moral perfection. It is important to examine the way Buddhism explains the relatioship between moral actions and the nature of the internal mental process. Early Buddhism offers a causal and psychologycal analysis both of the external behavior of the individual and of his or her internal dispositions.

Buddhism views immoral actions such as stealing (adinnādāna), killing (pāṇātipāta), lying (musāvāda),etc., the unwholesome (akusala) actions are mentioned in the sutta as follows: Physical (body) is Killing living beings , stealing others things and unlawful engagement in sensual pleasures, Verbal is Lying, slandering, using rough words and gossiping, and Mental is Greediness, malevolence and holding wrong views. These are related to the physical, verbal and mental behavior of people.

Anusayas which can be eliminated through wisdom, exist until one attains enlightement, Through wisdom. At the time of enlightenment one achieves internal purification and intergration of one’s internal dispositions with physical actions. The relationship between morality and wisdom is another important aspect of Budhism. The Buddha points out that morality and wisdom are interrelated and mutually activate each other.
 by Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)

ME26

Buddhist Psychotherapy
ME26  11-03-2011       (4:00 to 5:00)
(Class Notes Only)
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Specific Characteristics of Buddhist Psychotherapy- (i) Wide concept of humanity- seven abodes of consciousness, (ii) Clear and direct ethical path leading to a specific aim (nibbāna), (iii) Mundane benefits such as health, happiness and Social harmony are also taken into consideration along the path leading to nibbāna, (iv) Predominance of consciousness in human personality, (v) Instead of controlling external factors for mental health developing the mentality of people to face with challenges, and (vi) Ultimate mental health cannot be achieved without eradicating greed, hatred and delusion. So the real mental health means the attainment of nibbāna. Then, Fundamentals of Buddhist Psychotherapy- (i) Greed, hatred, delusion, (ii) Five groups of grasping, (iii) Morality, concentration, wisdom, (iv) Four Noble Truths, (v) Tadańga, Vikkhambhana, Samuucheda pahāna, (vi) Four kinds of food, (vii) Kamma, and (viii) Sabbāsavasutta. (hand-out)

In the Mahānidāna sutta, it gives an extended treatment of the teachings of dependent coarising (Paṭiccasamuppāda) and not-self (anaṭṭa) in an outlined context of how these teachings function in practice. The first part of the discourse takes the factors of dependent co-arising in sequence from effect to cause, tracing them down to the mutual dependency of name-and-form on the one hand, and consciousness on the other. In connection with this point, it is worth noting that the word "great" in the title of the discourse may have a double meaning: modifying the word "discourse".

The second part of the discourse, taking up the teaching of not-self, shows how dependent co-arising gives focus to this Buddha's teaching in practice. The following section is Seven Stations of Consciousness “Satta viññāṇaṭṭhiti”, there are these seven stations of consciousness and two spheres “Satta viññāṇaṭṭhitiyo, dve āyatanāni”. "There are beings with diversity of body and diversity of perception, such as human beings, some Devas, and some beings in the lower realms. This is the first station of consciousness.

"There are beings with diversity of body and singularity of perception, such as the devas of the Brahma hosts generated by the first (jhāna) and some beings in the four realms of deprivation. This is the second station of consciousness. "There are beings with singularity of body and diversity of perception, such as the Radiant Devas. This is the third station of consciousness. "There are beings with singularity of body and singularity of perception, such as the Beautifully Lustrous Devas. This is the fourth station of consciousness. "There are beings who, with the complete transcending of perceptions of (physical) form, with the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, and not heeding perceptions of diversity, (perceiving), 'Infinite space,' arrive at the dimension of the infinitude of space. This is the fifth station of consciousness.

"There are beings that, with the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of space, (perceiving), 'Infinite consciousness,' arrive at the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness. This is the sixth station of consciousness. "There are beings that, with the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, (perceiving), 'There is nothing,' arrive at the dimension of nothingness. This is the seventh station of consciousness.

"The dimension of non-percipient beings and, second the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception” “Asaññasattāyatanaṃ nevasaññānāsaññāyatanameva dutiyaṃ.” These are the two spheres. The best way to overcome the problems is to develop morality, concentration and wisdom. With the aid of Sīla, Samādhi and Pañña, mental problems can be eliminated. In fact, such rejects are called temporary rejection ‘Tadańga’, timely rejection ‘Vikkhambhana’ and completely rejection ‘Samuccheda pahāna’. By explaining the nature of the world through Four Noble Truths, one can remove mental disease to some extent. What’s more, to attain a happy and healthy way of living, Ahara is considered as an important factor. There are four kinds of Food according to Buddhism. Mental food is more important than material foods. This is a kind of mental support. It is evident that just as material food is important, so also, mental food is essential on the way to happiness. 
This is why they are considered as vital factors of the fundamentals. Then, cause and effect theory of Kamma is also considered as a basic aspect in Buddhist psychotherapy. If one were suffered from the bad kammic action, one would not be cured. To cure that problem is to develop one’s good kamma by doing what is good. And kamma can be used as a tool to console one when in bad condition. Because of Kamma, people are different from one another not only in social status but also in education standards and so on. In the commentary on Sabbāsavasutta, it is said that Dassana and Bhāvanā are very important factors.

Through understanding and meditation, we can overcome all kinds of problems. On taking care of a patient, it is also necessary to apply behavioral therapy. It can be seen in the story of Padācārī. Then, Sila, Smadhi and Panna together with other things mentioned above, can be used as a tool of Buddhist psychotherapy. They must be used according to suitable situation. In fact, these three cannot be separated from one another. They are interrelated. In conclusion, by practicing and developing all of them methodically, one can escape from mental problems, and finally these fundamentals will lead one to the attainment of real happiness, Nibbāna.
by Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)

ME26

Buddhist Psychotherapy
ME26  04-03-2011      (4:00 to 5:00)
(Class Notes Only)
-----------------
Buddha has spoken of the pure and true mind as being fundamental; it is the Buddhanature, that is, the seed of Buddha-hood. In like manner, if the light of Buddha’s Wisdom is concentrated upon the human mind, its true nature, which is Buddha-hood. He holds the lens of Wisdom before all human minds and their faith may be quickened.

Often people disregard the affinity of their true minds for Buddha’s enlightened wisdom. “Once upon a time a man (puthujjanā) looked into the reverse side of a mirror and, seeing his face and head, he became ‘Insane’ (ummattakā). How unnecessary it is for a man to become insane merely because he carelessly looks into the reverse side of a mirror!” It is just as foolish and the unnecessary a person to go on suffering, because he does not attain Enlightenment where he expects to find it.

Thus, Buddha said: “Sabbī puthujjanā ummattakā”- ‘All Man is Insane’. But, strange enough, when people attain Enlightenment, they will realize that without false beliefs, there could be no Enlightenment. Buddhism examines its basic philosophical teachings and historical development, setting forth complex and significant ideas or intelligent in a straightforward and simple style that is easily accessible.

The Upaniṣadic theory of an eternal and immortal ‘self’ (atta) seems, therefore, to have been intended to satisfy this deep-seated craving of man for permanent happiness. But for the Buddha, who realized that everything in this world is impermanent, such a solution was not in the least satisfactory. While realizing that there is no permanent or immutable entity called the ‘self’, he also found that belief in such an entity led to further suffering. Inculcation of the virtue (sūsarīta) of selflessness on the basis of a belief in ‘self’ (ātman) was, according to the Buddha, neither satisfactory nor correct. This lead to the statement of the third characteristic, namely ‘non-substantiality’ or ‘no-self’ (anatta).

According to the Buddha “and centuries later, according to Freud (Psychoanalyst) also”, man’s behavior as well as his out-look on life are determined by several instincts such as ‘desire to live’ “Jīvitukāma”, “desire to avoid death’ “Amaritukāma”, ‘hankering for happiness’ “Sukhakāma”, and ‘aversion to pain’ “Dukkhapatikkūla”.

The Buddha theory that simply accords with one’s own inclinations (diṭṭhinijjhānakkhanti) or one that is merely consistent or plausible (bhabbarūpa) is not true in itself. These are not the criteria of truth. Truth for him was what accords with facts (yathabhuta), not that which caters to one’s likes. The Buddha was not prepared to posit an agent or a mental substance behind the psychological process represented by such things as feeling (vedanā), perception (sañña), dispositions (saṅkhārā), and consciousness (viññāṇa). ‘I think, therefore I am’ is a conclusion to be repudiated. The heretical view put forward by a monk called “Sāti” and the Buddha’s analysis and repudiation of this heresy throw much light on the question. It is said in the Mahātaṇhāsaṅkhaya sutta that a monk named Sāti held the view that according to the Buddha’s doctrine ‘it is this consciousness which transmigrates and not an-other’.

Apart from such physical causes of Karma, there are certain motives that determine the behavior of man. Conscious motives are those such as greed or attachment (rāga or lobha), hate or aversion (dosa), and confusion (moha). A synonym of lobha (mūla) and tanhā is Abhijjhā 'covetousness', it is the eight link of the unwholesome courses of action (kamma-patha). 
A synonym of dosa (mūla) is Vyāpāda ‘ill-will,’ it is one of the five hindrances (nīvarana) and one of the ten fetters (samyojana). Generally it is evil behavior that is produced by these motives, while morally good behavior is motivated by the absence of greed (alobha), the absence of hate (adosa) and the absence of confusion (amoha). In these cases, of course the responsibility of the individual is undeniable. This is the reason why the Buddha emphasized the psychological aspect of behavior and equated Karma with volition (cetanā).

Unconscious motives are also influence behavior. Among the unconscious motives are the desire to perpetuate life “jīvitukāma” and the desire to avoid death “amaritukāma”, both of which relate to what “Freud” called the “life instinct”; and the desire for pleasure “sukhakāma” and aversion to pain “dukkhapaṭikkūla”, both of which compare with the Freudian “pleasure principle”. These motives, though unconscious, result from mistaken understanding of the nature of human existence. Hence an individual may be held responsible for behavior determined by them. The living organism is called nāmarūpa or the psychophysical personality. It becomes only when influenced by a surviving consciousness (vinnññāṇa). The psychophysical personality (nāmarūpa) would not be constituted therein.

This being the case, from birth still death, and still we did not know it, we would study to correctly know it is only the citta, cetasika and rupa which are not us, and study in further detail, since the pañña of this level cannot eradicate kilesa or rāga. The dhamma that the Buddha had manifested from his enlightenment shows his supreme pañña (wisdom), karūna (compassion) and pārisudhi (pure). Pañña would only know the names, that there are two realities. But the actual realities that are performing their functions namely the reality that is nāma-dhamma that is seeing, hearing, thinking, feeling happy or unhappy, like or unlike etc.

'There, after the bhikkhu would attain peacefulness within…' this is the satī-patthāna arising. This is a person progressing by respective levels, from the sotapanna to being the sakadāgāmī to attain level of anāgāmī, '…and the realization of the dhamma with supreme pañña. Then he should be steadfast in those very wholesome sermon (kūsala dhamma), and persevere ever more towards the eradication of the āsava.' which is to attain arahantship.
by Ashin Indaka(Kyone Pyaw)

ME23

BUDDHHIST ART AND ARCHITECTURE
ME23  07-04-2011      (3:00 to 4:00)
Write comprehensive notes on any (two) of the following?
------------------------------
Jetavana
After the restoration of Mireseveti stupa to its full conjectured height, the thinking changed to conservation rather than full restoration, with the aim of preserving the as found nature of the monument with minimum intervention. Hence in the repairs done at present to Jetavana, the largest stupa in Sri Lanka, rules of archaeological conservation are used. In order to identify weak zones of the stupa, finite element stress analyses were done and they showed that the stupa Dome has no tension under self weight, but the square chamber and the cylinders have some hoop tension. Hence, in the dome which was covered with vegetation, provisions to take tension is not necessary, and the surface of the dome is cleaned and a new layer of specially made bricks is added on top of old bricks. The square chamber, which has tensile regions and had undergone serious damage, requires major reconstructions with new brickwork, and reinforced concrete ring
beams and slabs are provided to take up tension.

Polonnaruva era
Beginning with the Polonnaruva era,especially during the reign of Parakramabahu I, when the sangha was reunified after its demise by south Indian Cola invaders who had demolished Anuradhapura in the late tenth century, Theravada became the exclusive form of doctrinal orthodoxy patronized by the kingship in Sri Lanka. What was not reconstituted at Polonnaruva, however, was the bhikkhunisangha, a sorority that had thrived during the Anuradhapura centuries.

Yet Polonnaruva became a marvelous city for a span of about 150 years before it was sacked by another south Indian invasion. Although its beautiful stupas could not rival the size of the Abhayagiri, Jetavana, and Ruvanvalisaya topes in Anuradhapura, the architecture, literature, and educational institutions of Polonnaruva were unparalleled anywhere in South or Southeast Asia at that time. It was also at Polonnaruva and in the courts of kings who soon followed, such as Parakramabahu II . At Polonnaruva, the Hindu temples built by the Cola invaders had not been destroyed by the reconquering Sinhalas in the eleventh century because the queens of the Sinhala kings, who were brought from: south India, were nominally Hindu, as were 3 their relations and retinues.

In this context, Gurulugomi, a Buddhist upasaka (layman), composed the first Sinhala works of prose, including the Amavatura (The Flood of Nectar), a reworking of the life of the Buddha aimed at demonstrating his powers to convert others to the truth of dharma. Since the Amavatura seems to have been written in a conscious effort to avoid using Sanskrit words, some have suggested that his writings reflect an antipathy for an ever-growing Hindu influence on Sinhala Buddhist culture in general. The late Polonnaruva era also marks the creation of many other important Sinhalese Theravada Buddhist classics.

Thuparama
Thuparama built by King Devanampiya Tissa after Buddhism was introduced by Arahant Mahinda Himi in the then capital city of Anuradhapura, is considered the oldeststupa in Sri Lanka, even though there are legends relating to two other stupas built during the life of Buddha. With the passage of time more stupas have been built by the kings and some, Thuparama Stupa when it was originally built was of very modest size. Thupavamsa at the very beginning, it took the shape of a heap of paddy. Today its stands, King Vasamha constructed the stupaghara.There has been four rows of stone 176 pillars around the Thuparama stupa, at one time carried the weight of a dome shaped roof over the stupa, in 1896, 31 complete pillars with capitals has been standing. This vatadagê has been built in the 1st centaury AC.

In the seventh century BC the stupa was covered with a gold and silver casing and the vatadagê with golden bricks and golden doors. Then Pandyans (south Indian Tamil) plundered the stupa of its all gold, jewels and treasures. Again Mahinda IV are installed the golden casings and the golden doors but again in the late 10th centaury Colas (south Indian Tamil) completely plundered the complex of its valuables. On the left to the stupa you can see the conserved remains of an Image house belonging to this stupa complex .The renovation of the present stupa was completed in 1862 which as completely changed the ancient features of this most ancient stupa.

Mahāthupa [ Ruvanveliseya Dagoba]
Mahāthupa(Greatthupa)stupa built by the popular King Dutugamunu during the second century BC.Today known as the Ruvanveliseya Dagaba,this is the center piece of the Mahavihara,it’s long history of guarding the traditions of Theravada Buddhism, was the most important monastery of the Anuradhapura city. It became very famous than all the other stupas. The foundation of this stupa was very firm. The King Dutugamunu is supposed to help inquired its architect concerning the shape of the stupa. Then, he built the aid of the golden bowl filled with water presented to the king, the shape of the Mahāthupa.

The Dome of this stupa was a bubble (Bubbulakara)shape and it was the most prevalent type of the stupa in the island ancient days and even up to this state. This stupa has three circular terraces built of bricks at the base. The upper terrace is smaller in the diameter than one below it. King Saddhatissa built the square structure about the Dome and also Chatra. King Amandagamili-abhaya sent to have placed the second Chatra above the one which had already existed in his style. King Sanddhatissa is sent to have provided a ring of Crystal on the top of the Mahāthupa and fixed with four gems at the four sides of the square structure. The pave platform of this stupa was surrounded by a broad procession path on all four sides. This is called the sand terrace and it is very extensive.

On top of this beautiful 'bubble' shaped Mahathupa was a ruby as big as a man's fist, and today the Burmese people have donated a rock crystal, which is 2 feet high (60cm) to replace it.
Copier-Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)

ME23

BUDDHHIST ART AND ARCHITECTURE
ME23  05-04-2011         (3:00 to 4:00)
The Origin of Stupa
-------------------------
The stupa, there are various names in different country, have its own names: Tap in Korea, That in Laos, Ta in China and Pagoda in Japan ,etc,. 
Stupa is considered as the prominent architectural structure, in Sri Lanka. There are various views about the origin. The most accepted view is the stupa originated from Funeral mound. The stupa supposed to be the architectural device within a triangle that triangle is considered to be the primary plan of the stupa.Therefoer, stupa originated from this type of mounds which are raised man of soil.

The Hindu religion grow used this pole as a symbol of sacrificial important. They made sacrifices under this YUPA pole. The YUPA, pole is to be a prominent symbol.There is also a symbol of celestial trees. According to Buddhist, this is a tree which was divine and a belief had been recording the capability of a Buddha attaining the Buddha-hood under this tree. Furgoson says, India was two types of S’mashana; one was square shape, the other was circular shape. Had made stupa with the enshrine of dead body after the cremation, in India. 
According to ‘Mahāparinibbāna Sutta,’ the Buddha mentioned the four people who are the worthy of construction of a stupa. They are;
          1. Buddha
          2. Pacceka-Buddha
          3. Arahant and
          4. Cakkavatti
During the life time of the Buddha, Stupa was constructed with the arahant of Ven.Sāriputta and Moggalāna. After the Buddha passed away, instructed him to construct as stupa in the middle of four crossed roads after cremating his body.

The famous of stupas in Sri Lanka
Srilanka is many famous of stupas.They are Thuparama, Mahathupa and Mirisavetiya etc,.There are, Thuparama is the first stupa constructed in Sri Lanka. King Devānampiyatissa erected this stupa in the 250-210 B.C after Buddhism was introduced by Arehath Mahinda Himi. According to Thupavamsa at the very beginning, it took the shape of a heap of paddy. King Vasamha constructed the stupaghara. Mahāthupa was built by King Dutugamunu during the second century BC. It became very famous than all the other stupas. The foundation of this stupa was very firm and took the shape of a bubble. This stupa has three circular terraces built of bricks at the base. King Saddhatissa built the square structure about the Dome and also Chatra.

Mirisavetiya has been built by King Dutugamunu and this belong to the Mahavihara complex. But the body of the stupa still remained. This stupa is important with regard to Srilanka architectures.

Six types of patterns of Stupa
The architecture of ancient Sri Lanka displays a rich variety of architectural forms and styles from the Anurādhapūra to Kandy. There are various patterns of architecture of stupa in Sri Lanka.The following six types of patterns of Stupa,they are- Bubbulākāra (Bubble shape), Dharyākāra( Heap of paddy shape), Padmākāra(Lotus shape), Ghathākāra (Bell shape), Ghatākāra (pot shape),and Āmalākāra( Myrobalan). Therefore, the Stupas of Sri Lanka started from the very beginning take various shapes this can be considered as a beauty of architectural patterns.

The eight great deeds
There are two reasons stupas were built after the historical Buddha Sakkyamuni die; To commemorate eight great deeds accomplished,. The eight great deeds are Birth, Enlightenment, Turning of the Wheel, Miracles, Decent from Tushita, Reconciliation, Complete Victory and Parinibbāna. Therefore, the Buddhist followers were built the structure of the stupas. The structure of the stupa indicates religious important and symbol of Dhamma.

Ten steps of stupa
There are ten steps to build the structure of the stupa, they are Sand terrace, Stone terrace, Base Moulding, Three terraces, Dome, Square enclosure, Section of the deities, Spire, Pinnacle and Crest Jewel.
There are three important facts in architecture. They are-
     Esthetic value
     Rituals
     Utility
Architectures of Sri lanka is different from India. Although we got arts and crafts from India, our architects will skillful.
Copier - Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)

ME23

BUDDHIST ART AND ARCHITECTURE
BUDDHISM IN SRI LANKA JOHN CLIFFORD HOLT
(Source: Encyclopedia of Buddhism)
ME23  02-04-2011      (3:00 to 4:00)
-----------------------
Sri Lanka is home to the world’s oldest continuing Buddhist civilization. Brahmi inscriptions etched in stone on drip ledges above natural caves in the country’s North-Central province indicate that hermitages have been dedicated by Buddhist Laity for the meditation needs of monks since the third century B.C.E. Moreover, the fourth- and fifth-century C.E. monastic chronicles, the Dipavamsa (Chronicle of the Island) and the Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle), contain a series of myths in which the Lankan king Devanampiya Tissa (third century B.C.E.), a contemporary of the Indian emperor Asoka, is said to have been converted to the Buddha’s teachings by Asoka’s own missionary son, Mahinda. Thus, from inscriptions and monastic literary traditions, it is known that by the third century B.C.E. lineages of forest monks supported by Buddhist laity were established on the island in the region that became Lanka’s political center for thirteen subsequent centuries.

Since Asoka is also thought to have provided support for Devanampiya Tissa’s abhiseka (coronation), it would seem that Buddhism became formally associated with Lanka’s Kingship by this time as well. For more than two millennia, until the British dethroned the last Lankan king in 1815, a symbiotic relationship entailing mutual support and legitimation between the Lankan kings and the Buddhist Sangha (community) was sustained, either as an ideal or in actual practice. Over the course of this long history, other forms of Buddhism joined the predominant Theravada bhikkhu (monk) and bhikkhuni (nun) sanghas, which the Mahavamsa asserts were established by Asoka’s children, Mahinda and his sister Sanghamitta, respectively,
and whose lineages were preserved by the Theravada Mahavihara nikaya. These included the cults of Mahayana Bodhisattvas such as Avalokitesvara, and the teachings of several Mahayana schools and of tantric Buddhist masters associated with Mahavihara’s rival in Anuradhapura, the Abhayagiri nikaya, which were established and thrived, particularly during the seventh through the tenth centuries C.E.
The Anuradhapura period Faxian (ca. 337-ca. 418 C.E.), the itinerant Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, has provided a valuable description of fifth-century Anuradhapura, reporting that approximately eight thousand Buddhist monks then resided in the capital city. Faxian also reports that a public ritual procession of the Dalada (tooth-relic of the Buddha) was celebrated annually, that the cult of Sri Mahabodhi (a graft of the original bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya in India) was regularly venerated and lavishly supported by the laity and the king, and that Lankan kings had built massive stupas to commemorate the Buddha and his relics.

Well before Faxian’s time and long thereafter, the city of Anuradhapura had become a politically powerful and cosmopolitan center whose successful economy had been made possible through the development of sophisticated hydraulic engineering and through the establishment of trade with partners as far flung as China in the east and Rome in the west. Furthermore, the city had become the administrative pivot of the three great monastic nikayas (chapters) of the Lankan Buddhist sangha: the Theravada Mahavihara; and the more doctrinally eclectic Abhayagiri and Jetavana chapters, each of which systematically established a vast array of
affiliated village monasteries and forest hermitages throughout the domesticated ricegrowing countryside. During the first millennium C.E., the three nikayas in Anuradhapura and their affiliated monasteries dominated every facet of social, economic, educational, and cultural life.

Some have argued that just as Lankan polity was expected to be the chief patron supporting the sangha, so the sangha functioned as a “Department of State” for the kingship. Perhaps somewhat exaggerated, that assertion does point to the extent to which Buddhist institutions became the basic social infrastructure in Lanka for many centuries.

2 Given the congenial relationship between polity and religion, the Anuradhapura period witnessed the fluorescence of an economically advanced and artistically sophisticated culture. Although the only surviving examples of painting are the frescos of heavenly maidens (perhaps apsaras) found at Sigiriya, thousands of freestanding stone sculptures of the Buddha, scores of stone-carved bas-reliefs, and hundreds of bronzes are still extant, including the famous colossal images at Avukana and the meditative Buddhas that remain within the  ruins of the Abhayagiri monastic complex at Anuradhapura. Early anthropomorphic images of the Buddha in Lanka bear a stylistic, and sometimes material, affinity with Buddha images created at Amaravati in south India, while images from the later Anuradhapura period, such as the eighth-century Avukana image, reflect the development of a distinctive Lankan style that emphasized the significance of the Buddha as a mahapurusa (cosmic person).

The Mahavamsa asserts that the Buddhist Canon (Tripitaka; Pali, Tipitaka) was first committed to writing during the reign of King Vattagamini Abhaya in the first century B.C.E. at Aluvihara just north of Matale, inaugurating, perhaps, the tradition of inscribing Buddhist texts on to ola leaves, a tradition of committing the dharma to handwriting that continued into the nineteenth century. In rare instances, texts were also inscribed on gold or copper plates, such as the gold leaves bearing an eighth-century fragment of a Sanskrit Prajnaparamita-sutra (Perfection of Wisdom Sutra), found within the massive Stupa at Jetavana in Anuradhapura in the early 1980s. In addition to the Pali Tipitaka and the Pali monastic chronicles Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa, the fifth and sixth centuries were the backdrop for the commentaries produced by Buddhaghosa.

His Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification), an elaborate and precise exegesis of sila (sila; English, morality), samadhi (meditation), and panna or prajna (wisdom) the three elemental principles of practice that Buddhaghosa regarded as the bases of the Buddha’s “noble eightfold path”-eventually became an enduring centerpiece of normative orthodoxy for Theravada in Sri Lanka and later in Southeast Asia. The Visuddhimagga stressed the interrelated and dependent nature of sila, samadhi, and panna, and the fundamental reality of paticcasamupada or Pratityasamutpada (Dependent Orignination).

The Polonnaruva era Beginning with the Polonnaruva era (eleventh through thirteenth century C.E.), and especially during the reign of Parakramabahu I (1153-1186 C.E.), when the sangha was reunified after its demise by south Indian Cola invaders who had demolished Anuradhapura in the late tenth century, Theravada became the exclusive form of doctrinal orthodoxy patronized by the kingship in Sri Lanka. It was specifically this reconstituted Theravada that was exported to Burma (Myanmar) in the eleventh century and subsequently into northern Thailand, spreading from those regions to become the dominant religion of mainland Southeast Asia. What was not reconstituted at Polonnaruva, however, was the bhikkhunisangha, a sorority that had thrived during the Anuradhapura centuries and had spread its lineage as far as China.

Yet Polonnaruva became a marvelous city for a span of about 150 years before it was sacked by another south Indian invasion. Although its beautiful stupas could not rival the size of the Abhayagiri, Jetavana, and Ruvanvalisaya topes in Anuradhapura, and although its sculpture, lacked the plastic fluidity of times past, the architecture, literature, and educational institutions of Polonnaruva were unparalleled anywhere in South or Southeast Asia at that time. The massive Alahena,: monastic university, a bastion of Theravada orthodoxy, at one time housed as many as ten thousand: monks. It was also at Polonnaruva and in the courts of kings who soon followed, such as Parakramabahu II a: thirteenth-century Dambadeniya, that new literary innovations were cultivated, in part due to the stimulus, and presence of Hinduism and Sanskrit literature, and in part due to the maturation of the Sinhala language itself.

At Polonnaruva, the Hindu temples built by the Cola invaders had not been destroyed by the reconquering Sinhalas in the eleventh century because the queens of the Sinhala kings, who were brought from: south India, were nominally Hindu, as were 3 their relations and retinues. Thus, the royal court headed by a Sinhala Buddhist king was heavily influenced by a classical Sanskritic or Hindu presence seen not only in the substance and style reflected in contemporary sections of the Culavamsa (Minor Chronicles, the sequel to the Mahavamsa), but also in the cultic life and sculptural creations of Polonnaruva, which included the veneration and depiction of Hindu deities such as Visnu and Suva.

In this context, Gurulugomi, a Buddhist upasaka (layman), composed the first Sinhala works of prose, including the Amavatura (The Flood of Nectar), a reworking of the life of the Buddha aimed at demonstrating his powers to convert others to the truth of dharma. Since the Amavatura seems to have been written in a conscious effort to avoid using Sanskrit words, some have suggested that his writings reflect an antipathy for an ever-growing Hindu influence on Sinhala Buddhist culture in general. The late Polonnaruva era also marks the creation of many other important Sinhalese Theravada Buddhist classics, including the Butsarana (Refuge of the Buddha), the Pujavaliya (The Garland of Offerings), and the Saddharma Ratnavaliya (The Garland of Jewels of the Good Doctrine), all didactic and devotional works.

Hinduization of Buddhist culture in Sri Lanka While the destruction of institutional Buddhism at Anuradhapura and the reconstruction of the sangha at Polonnaruva may have led in general to the eclipse of Mahayana and tantric cults in Lanka, invasions from south India beginning in the tenth century and the increasing numbers of military mercenaries who followed during the politically volatile thirteenth and fourteenth centuries only increased the presence and influence of Hindu cults in the Sinhala Buddhist religious culture of the era. During the fourteenth century, when a retreating Buddhist kingship established its capital in the Kandyan highlands at Gampola, Hindu deities such as Visnu, Skanda, the goddess Pattini, and Ganesha, as well as a host of other local deities associated with specific regions and natural phenomena, were incorporated into an evolving pantheon of Sinhala deities.

They were recast as gods whose warrants for acting in the world on behalf of Buddhist devotees were subject to the sanctioning of the Buddha’s dharma. The highest of these deities, worshipped within the same halls where the Buddha was worshipped or in adjacent shrines (devalayas), came to be styled as Bodhisattvas, or “buddhas in-the-making,” and a vast literature of ballads, poems, and sagas in Sinhala, some inspired by the Sanskrit puranas (mythic stories), was created to edify devotees over the ensuing several centuries. By the fifteenth century, the island had been again reunified politically by Parakramabahu VI, whose capital at Kotte on the southwest coast became the hub of an eclectic renaissance of religious culture epitomized by the gamavasi (village-oriented monk) Sri Rahula, whose linguistic dexterity (he was known as “master of six languages”) and concomitant affinities for popular religious and magical practices, refracted the syncretic character of religion at the time. Sri Rahula is perhaps ) best remembered for writing two classical Sinhala sandesaya poems styled after the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa’s Meghadhuta (Cloud Messenger) that, while glorifying the Buddha as the “god beyond the gods,” appealed directly to the gods for divine assistance in sustaining the wellbeing of the Buddhist Kingship and its administration. Vidagama Maitreya, a Wilderness monk (aranavasi) and one of Parakramabahu’s childhood mentors, wrote the Budugunalamkaraya (In Praise of the Buddha’s Qualities) as a scathing critique of the increasing Hinduization of Buddhist culture.

These two great monks, both of whom were deeply involved in competing trajectories of court and monastic cultures, represent an ancient and continuing tension regarding the nature of the monastic vocation: as a matter of caring for the “welfare of the many” (the village monk) or engaging in the “rhinoceros-like solitary life” of a forest meditator.

Colonial and postcolonial eras By the sixteenth century, the Portuguese had begun to interfere with the court at Kotte and 4 eventually converted King Dharmapala to Christianity, exacerbating an increasingly fractious political context that led in the 1590s to the establishment of a new line of Sinhala Buddhist kings in highland Kandy, a new capital city replete with a supportive cast: a bhikkhusangha whose lineage was imported from Burma, a new Dalada Maligava (Palace of the Tooth-Relic), and devalayas for the gods who had emerged as the four protective guardian deities of the island.

The Kandyans colluded with the Dutch in the mid-seventeenth century to oust the Portuguese. Despite one war in the 1760s during the reign of Kirti Sri Rajasimha, the Kandyans and the Dutch managed to coexist for a century and a half producing, in effect, distinctive highland and lowland Sinhala cultures. The former styled itself as more purely Sinhala Buddhist, despite the fact that by this time the Kandyan kings were ethnically Tamil, owing to the continuing practice of securing queens from Madurai. But it is remarkable how “Buddhacized” this last line of Lankan kings became.

Kirti Sri and his brother Rajadi who succeeded him, were responsible for the last great renaissance of Theravada: first, by reconstituting what had become a decadent sangha by introducing a fresh lineage from Thailand that became known as the dominant Siyam Nikaya; second, by appointing a monastic head (sangharaja) in the person of the learned monk Saranamkara, who reemphasized the importance of monastic literary education and moral virtue; third, by providing the means to hold a calendar of Buddhist public rites, including the still annually held asala perahara procession of the Dalada and the insignia of the guardian deities in Kandy; and fourth, by refurbishing virtually every Buddhist monastery in the kingdom, a commitment that resulted in the artistic birth of the Kandyan school of Buddhist monastery painting.

After the British established their colonial hegemony in the early nineteenth century, Buddhist culture atrophied for several decades. Its revival toward the end of the century was catalyzed in part by the establishment of two new low-country monastic nikayas, the Amarapura and the Ramanna. Both, in contrast to the Siyam Nikaya, established new lineages from Burma, claimed to be more doctrinally orthodox, emphasized the practice of meditation, and recruited novices without regard to caste. A series of public religious debates between Buddhist monks and Anglican clergy in the low country also fueled the revitalization. Moreover, the revival gained momentum with the arrival of Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907), an American theosophist who organized and established many Buddhist schools modeled on the successful missionary schools administered by the Anglicans. Olcott wrote a widely disseminated “Buddhist Catechism,” designed and distributed a Buddhist flag, and helped to organize a liturgical year celebrating full moon days as Buddhist holidays. One of Olcott’s early and enthusiastic followers, the Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933), transformed the religious revival into a religio-nationalist cause by founding in 1891 the Mahabodhi Society, which sought to regain Buddhist control of Buddhist holy sites in India.

In addition, Dharmapala published his influential Return to Righteousness (a detailed excursus on lay Buddhist conduct and spiritual realization aimed at purifying Buddhism of its colonial and popular “contaminations”), and he inspired the laity to emulate their colonial masters’ work ethic. Some have argued that Olcott and Dharmapala successively set into motion a new lay Buddhist religious ethic comparable to the lay-oriented religious culture of Protestant Christianity, a “Protestant Buddhism,” so called because of its emphasis on unmediated individual lay religious practice and the importance attached to integrating the significance of
spiritual teachings into everyday life.

Aside from “Protestant Buddhism,” at least three other features marked the character of Buddhism in twentieth-century Sri Lanka. The first is the reemphasis given to meditation for both monks and laypersons, especially methods of insight (Vipassana) practice made popular by Burmese masters. The second is the establishment of Buddhist-inspired welfare institutions, such as Sarvodaya, founded in the 1950s by A. T. Ariyaratne (1931-) to reawaken village culture and to stimulate rural economies and social services. The third is the increasing politicization of Buddhism in the postcolonial era, most notably the patterns that can be traced to the pivotal national elections of 1956 when S. W. R. D.

Bandaranaike (1899-1959) and his newly formed Sri Lanka Freedom Party won a landslide election on promises of “Sinhala only” as the national language and Buddhism as the state religion. This posture on language and religion (the basic constituents of 5 ethnic identity in South Asia), as well as other subsequent “Sinhala Buddhist” based education and economic policies, were enacted to redress perceived inequalities resulting from earlier British colonial policies that had favored Tamil interests and disenfranchised the Sinhalese. In turn, these changes became reasons for Tamil alienation, feeding an enduring ethnic conflict dividing Sinhalas and Tamils during the final decades of the twentieth century. In this context, some influential Buddhist monks have colluded with Sinhala politicians to resurrect the ancient rhetoric of the Mahavamsa and proclaim Lanka as the exclusive and predestined domain of the Buddhadharma. Others have marched for peace and coexistence.
Copier- Ashin Indaka (Kyone Pyaw)