(E18)-01-Why-Buddha's-Discourcses

Tonight, I'd like to talk on the importance of the Buddha's discourses. Now, why I'd like to talk about the importance of the Buddha's discourses is firstly, there is one sutra in the Samyutta Nikaya, number 20.7, where the Buddha gave a warning. The Buddha said in the future, people would not want to listen to the discourses of the Buddha, to master the discourses of the Buddha. to understand the discourses of the Buddha which deal with emptiness. Instead, they would want to listen to the discourses of disciples, that means later monks, which are what the Buddha calls alien, like outside the Buddha's teachings, and think that these should be mastered And because people have no interest in the discourses of the Buddha, the suttas, that will slowly cause the disappearance of the suttas. For example, nowadays, people talk about the Tripitaka or Tipitaka, whereas in the Buddha's discourses, you find that the Buddha mentioned that his teachings are called Dhamma Vinaya. And in the Anguttara Nikaya, 4.180, I think, the Buddha said when he mentions Dhamma, he refers to the Suttas. And nowadays, there are a lot of other books where people want to study, not the Suttas themselves. And so, that is not good because slowly that will cause the disappearance of the Suttas, one thing. Secondly, they have a wrong understanding of the Dhamma, because the Buddha calls the Dhamma the Sat-Dhamma. Sat-Dhamma means true Dhamma. And the true Dhamma refers to the earliest original discourses of the Buddha, namely the Four Nikayas, the Digha Nikaya, Majjhima Nikaya, Sangyuta Nikaya, and Anguttara Nikaya. And the reason we believe these to be the original discourses of the Buddha is because they are very consistent. We do not find contradictions in them. Whereas if you study other books and you go through them in detail, if you take the trouble, you'll find there is always some small discrepancy, something that contradicts the four original Nikayas. And because of that, it creates wrong views. So, that is one sutra I have just mentioned. Another one is in the Digha Nikaya, sutra number 16, Mahaparinibbana Sutra, the Buddha was about to pass away and I think Venerable Ananda asked the Buddha, he said, After you have passed away into Nirvana, whom should we take as our teacher? And the Buddha said, take the Dhamma Vinaya as your teacher. That's a very important statement, the Buddha said. Take the Dhamma Vinaya as our teacher. And because a lot of people, a lot of Buddhists, don't, have not probably heard this before, or the significance of it has not sunk into their mind, They go around looking for teachers, go around looking for master. I'm very proud my master is so-and-so, some world-famous teacher, going sometimes halfway around the world or around the world, chasing after teachers and masters. And this creates personality cults, and they like to rely on the goodness of their master. So they think, and sometimes I've seen sometimes people They follow a certain master instead of trying to follow the Dhamma Vinaya. And after many years, one day their master passed away. And after their master had passed away, they are left empty, high and dry. They have not obtained the taste of the Dhamma, obtained the essence of the Dhamma. And so they find after many years they have not made much progress. You must always remember that the Dhamma Vinaya is our teacher. About a hundred years after the Buddha passed into Nirvana, there was some conflict between the monks. And so the Second Sangha Council was called to resolve the conflict. There were ten points disputed. And one of the points was that should we always follow the advice of our teacher. That means what our teacher instructs us. Should we follow that? And it was decided that if the teacher, the monk, teaches you according to the Buddha's teachings, that means the Four Nikayas and the Vinaya, you follow his words. But if he teaches something which is contradictory to the Buddha's teachings in the Suttas and the Vinaya, then you don't listen to him. That means only the Buddha is our teacher. quite definite, quite clear. So, because of that, you have to become familiar with the suttas. If you're not familiar with the suttas, when you listen to whatever monk, any teacher teaches you, you don't know whether it is according to the Buddha's teachings or not, right? That is why you have to make the Dhamma Vinaya as your teacher. In the suttas, the Buddha calls a monk a kalyāṇa-mītā. Kalyāṇa is good, mītā is a friend. So a monk is a good friend who introduces you to the Buddha's teachings. But you have to take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Right? Always take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. But nowadays, people have added a fourth refuge. That is taking refuge in a monk, a teacher. But that was not the Buddha's teachings. It's very clear. In the suttas, there was an arahant and he was very impressive. He was teaching some lay people and the lay person was so impressed by the arahant. He asked to take refuge with the Arahant. And the Arahant said, no, you cannot take refuge with me. You must only take refuge with the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. Then he said, where is the Buddha? I want to go and take refuge with him. And the Arahant said, the Buddha has passed into Nibbana. And yet, even when the Buddha has passed into Nibbana, we still take refuge with the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. Right? That shows that we I always acknowledge the Buddha as our teacher and the Dhamma as the teachings. The Sangha is the Arya Sangha, referred here, but it's very difficult to differentiate between an Arya and a non-Arya. So don't rely on hearsay. People say, oh, this monk is such and such a famous monk. How many fruitions and all that. how many attainments he has got and all that. It's very unreliable. And there is a sutra in the Anguttara Nikaya 5.88 where the Buddha said that it is possible that a very world-renowned monk, a very senior monk, very very well-known monk with a great following of disciples, both lay people and monk and nun disciples. And that monk can be very learned in the scriptures. And yet, such a world-famous monk with a great following and very learned can have wrong view. It is stated. So don't think that such and such a monk is so famous, everybody respects him and even thinks that he's an Arahant or Anagami or something that whatever he teaches must necessarily be correct. The Buddha already gave the warning because he saw that even such monks can have wrong view. So the only thing that you can rely on is the suttas and make that your teacher and other monks as just a good friend.

(E18)-02-Sutta-Pitaka

The details of the Sutta in the Sutta Pitaka, nowadays we have five Nikayas. Five Nikayas. Nikaya means a collection. The first four are the original Nikayas. The first one is Digha Nikaya, consisting of three books. These are the long discourses of the Buddha in three books. The second one is Majjhima Nikaya, the collection of medium-length discourses, also three books. The third one is the Sanghuta Nikaya, short discourses, 2,000 short discourses, about 2,000, and there are five books. And the fourth one is Anguttara Nikaya, also five books, also short discourses, about 2,000. And the fifth Nikaya is called the Kudaka Nikaya, Kudaka means minor, so it's a minor collection, a small collection. Unfortunately, they have been adding books to that collection over the years so that it has grown and become 15 books. There are 15 books according to Thailand and Sri Lanka. However, in 1956, when Burma held the Sixth Sangha Council, according to them, And they added another three books into the Kudaka Nikaya, which they knew and other people knew are not the Buddha's teachings. And they added these three other books. One is Melinda Panha, another is Petakopadesa, I think. Another one I forgot. But anyway, from there you can see why the Kudaka Nikaya has grown so much. From a minor collection, it has become the major collection. Out of the 15 books, about 5 are reliable. About 5 do not contradict the early 4 Nikayas. Books like the Dhammapada, Suttanipata, Iti Uttaka, Udana, Then Theragata, Therigata, I think. So, other than that, other books are questionable. So, we should be, as Buddhists, we should be familiar with the sutras, and if you can afford it, you should get a copy of the books, because you seldom see a Muslim without a Koran, right? seldom see a Christian without a Bible, right? But you see many Buddhists without any kayas. A bit malu, a bit shameful. Call ourselves Buddhists.

(E18)-03-Saddhamma-vs-Adhamma

In the Samyutta Nikaya, Sutta number 16.13, the Buddha gave a warning. The Buddha said that the true Dharma will remain unadulterated for 500 years after his passing away. But after that, the Dharma will become adulterated. And then, when the Dharma becomes adulterated, the Buddha said it will be very difficult to distinguish the true teachings from the false teachings. Why? Because if you study some of these books, you'll find there's a lot of Dhamma in there. Unfortunately, they add some Adhamma. Adhamma means what is contrary to Dhamma. They add a little bit here and there. And unless you're very sharp, unless you know the original Four Nikayas, the original teachings very well, you find it very difficult to distinguish the later books from the earlier books. That is why the Buddha said, at the moment, the Buddha said, people still want to buy gold because only pure gold is sold in the market. But one day, the Buddha said, people will make counterfeit gold, false gold. And when that happens, and people sell counterfeit gold in the market, people will become scared because it will be very difficult to distinguish the real gold from the false gold because they make it so well that people find it so difficult to distinguish. When that happens, people will not want to buy gold. Why? Because you are afraid that you might buy counterfeit gold. So in the same way, the Buddha said, in the future, the Dharma will become polluted. And when that happens, it will be very difficult to distinguish between the true Dharma from the false Dharma. And so because of that, we have to take the trouble to find out which is the true Dharma. If you believe in me, from my experience, I would say that the earliest four Nikayas are the original teachings of the Buddha, because they are very consistent, they do not have contradictions.

(E18)-04-How-to-acquire-Right-View

Now we know that the path taught by the Buddha for us to get out of samsara is the Aryan Eightfold Path, right? And in the Majjhima Nikaya, Sutta number 117, it is stated that the Aryan Eightfold Path must always start with Right View. If you do not have Right View, you have not entered upon the path. And when you have right view, then you have stepped into the path. And right view, according to the sutra, will lead you to have right thoughts, the second factor. And right thoughts will lead you to have right speech. And right speech will lead you to have right action. Right action will lead you to have right livelihood. And right livelihood will lead you to right effort. And that will lead you to right mindfulness. And that will lead you to right concentration. So one by one, these factors of the Aryan Eightfold Path are cultivated. And in the Anguttara Nikaya 4.20.196 it is stated that a person with right view understands the Four Aryan Truths. Now this understanding of the Four Aryan Truths, if a person fully understands the Four Aryan Truths, he becomes an arahant or a buddha, samasambuddha or pacekabuddha. Now, even with a shallow understanding of the Four Aryan Truths, one becomes an Arya. That is why Right View, which brings on an understanding of the Four Aryan Truths, shows that Right View itself is already the first stage, the Sotapanna stage. So right view is very important. The first thing you must acquire if you want to practice the Aryan Eightfold Path is to have right view. Now, how do you attain right view? That's a very good question. In the Majjhima Nikaya number 43, it is stated that only two conditions to attain right view. The first one is to listen to Dhamma. That means to listen to the discourses of the Buddha. The second condition is having proper attention. Yoniso Manasikara. or thorough attention or thorough consideration.

(E18)-05-The-importance-of-studying-the-Suttas

The Buddha's disciples were called Savakas by the Buddha. Savaka means a listener, a hearer. So you find why the Buddha stressed on this word Savaka. That means he stressed on the disciples listening to the discourses. So we find in the Suttas and in the Vinaya books that people became Sotapanna by listening to the Buddha's discourses. And we have the Buddha's discourses exactly as he spoke the discourses now in our books. So we are very fortunate. When we study the discourses in the books, in the Four Nikayas, it is like sitting next to the Buddha and listening to the Buddha. So that's why we must avail ourselves of this opportunity to study the Nikayas. I think I've mentioned before, the Buddha said that he looked into the past 91 world cycles, 91 kappa, and he found only six Buddhas appeared. Meaning to say that it takes more than 10 world cycles for a Buddha to appear. So rare is the Samasambuddha. And now we are living in the age of the Dharma. In fact, It is as good as living during the time of the Buddha. In fact, if you live during the time of the Buddha, you still won't be able to hear as many suttas as you are able to now. Why? Because the books are available and there are about 5,000 suttas available to us. Whereas if you live during the time of the Buddha, you find that the Buddha stayed in one place for a short while and then he goes away again. And he always goes, usually he goes by himself, sometimes with his monk disciples. So you can't stay with the Buddha very long. The longest the Buddha stayed in one place is during the rainy season, and he stayed in one place for four months at the longest, and then he start traveling again. So in four months, how many suttas do you expect to hear? Definitely not as many as are available nowadays. in the four Nikayas that we have. So, now the other thing I'd like to mention is there is one sutra, Sanyuta Nikaya 46.4.8, where the Buddha said, when one listens to Dhamma attentively, at that time, the five hindrances exist not, and the seven bhojanga, the seven factors of enlightenment are complete. Meaning to say that these are the conditions for becoming an Arya. The five hindrances are not there and the seven factors of enlightenment, the seven Bhojangas are complete in you. So it shows that when one listens to Dharma with attention, you can become an Arya.

(E18)-06-How-to-attain-Sotapanna

Now the word Sotapanna consists of two words, Sota and Apanna. Sota can mean extreme and it can also mean ear. E-A-R, ear. And Apanna means entered. So normally people translate the word Sotapanna as extreme enterer. But it can also mean an ear enterer. That means the ear has been penetrated by dharma. And if you look into the sutras, that is probably the more correct translation. Because the Buddha's disciples are called Savakas, listeners. And they have understood the Dhamma. Now, there is one sutra that says, the factors for attaining Sotapanna, is also called Sotapatti Yangani. There are four factors for you to attain Sotapanna. First one, you have to associate with true men. True men means the people who understand the true dharma. So the first one, association with true men. The second one, hearing the true dharma. Hearing the true dharma. The third one, having proper attention, yoniso manasikara, or thorough consideration. The fourth one, practice of dharma in accordance with dharma. That means living your life according to dharma. That means keeping the precepts and all that. So you see, the factors for attaining Sotapanna, association with true men, hearing the true Dhamma, this is an important point. Third one, having proper attention, this is also another important point. And then, living according to Dhamma. So from here again, you find it is more probable Sotapanna is attained by listening to the Dhamma. In the Anguttara Nikaya 4.180, the Buddha said, if any monk says that such and such is the teaching of the Buddha, then without scorning his words and without welcoming his words, you should compare what he says to be the true teachings of the Buddha with the suttas and the Vinaya books. Vinaya books don't concern lay people, so you're only concerned with the suttas. So whenever anybody says such and such is the teachings of the Buddha, you should always compare it with the suttas. That is why you need a good understanding of the suttas. Then you can differentiate between a teacher who teaches the true Dharma and a teacher who has wrong view. Now there's one sutra, Anguttara Nikaya, 3.85 and another one, 9.12, also Anguttara Nikaya, where the Buddha said, Sotapanna and Sakadagamin have perfect sila. Sotapanna and Sakadagamin are the first and the second fruition of the ariyas, with the first and second fruition. They have perfect sila, perfect moral conduct. Anagamin, the third stage, they have perfect sila and perfect samadhi. And arahants have perfect sila, perfect samadhi and perfect panya. That means perfect moral conduct, concentration and wisdom. So you find from these two sutras that the anagamin, the third stage, and the arahants, the fourth stage, they must have perfect concentration. to attain that. That is why you know that anagamins are reborn in the fourth jhāna plane. Right? All anagamins. Most of the anagamins. Some can also be reborn in the arūpa jhāna realm. But most of them are reborn in the fourth jhāna plane, which shows that anagamins generally have four jhānas. and arahants also. But the interesting part here is that the sotapanna and the sakadagamin, they don't have perfect samadhi. That means they don't need jhana. They don't need jhana to become a sotapanna and sakadagamin. Now the difference between the sotapanna and sakadagamin is that the sakadagamin have reduced the greed, hatred and delusion. Now to reduce the greed, hatred and delusion, you need a certain amount of samadhi. Because greed, hatred and delusion are connected with the five hindrances. The first hindrance is sensual desire. It's a kind of greed. And the second hindrance is ill will or anger. And that is related to hatred. So greed, hatred and delusion If they are reduced, that means that person has a certain amount of samadhi. Not perfect, but a certain amount of samadhi. So the Sotapanna has not reduced his greed, hatred and delusion. Unlike the Sakadagami. So that is why it further corroborates the the view or the belief that the Sotapanna only listens to the Dhamma and attains Sotapanna. Now, in Samyutta Nikaya 55.1.2 it is mentioned that the characteristics of a Sotapanna are four. First one, he has unshakable faith in the Buddha. Second, he has unshakable faith in the Dhamma. Third, he has unshakable faith in the Sangha. And the fourth one, he has perfect virtue. Perfect virtue. So these are the characteristics of a Sotapanna. No mention of meditation. Now, in Anguttanikaya 3.9.85, it is said that all ariyas can still have minor transgressions of the precepts, even though it is stated They have perfect virtue. It does not preclude minor transgressions of the precepts. For example, in the Samyutta Nikaya 55.3.4, there is a mention of a Sakyin by the name of Sarakani. And this man, Sarakani, passed away. And when Sarakani passed away, people came to ask the Buddha, where has Sarakani taken rebirth? and the Buddha said something to the effect that don't worry about Sarakani. Sarakani has already become a Swatapanna. And when the word went around that the Buddha said that Sarakani was a Swatapanna, it seems that some people got very annoyed. Why? Because they said that Sarakani failed in the training and took to drink. Failed in the training, according to the commentaries, means that he failed in the training of a monk. That means Sarakani used to be a monk. And then he disrobed. And then the second point was that he took to drink. The fact that the people got angry with the Buddha because Sarakani took to drink and the Buddha called him a Sotapanna meant that Sarakani probably did not take a little drink. He probably took quite a lot of drink. So because He drank quite a lot and people saw that he drank quite a lot. So people found it hard to believe that he was a Suttapanna. So that shows that the state of a Suttapanna is not as high as some people think. Now in another Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya number 14, a cousin of the Buddha by the name of Mahanama came to see the Buddha and he said, He said something to the Buddha to the effect of Bhagavata. He said, for a long time I've studied the Dharma and I know that greed, hatred and delusion are defilements of the mind. And even though I know that greed, hatred and delusion are defilements of the mind, sometimes I can't help it. Greed, hatred and delusion control my mind and I'm led astray by greed, hatred and delusion. And then he asked the Buddha, is there some quality I have not cultivated yet which makes me be led astray by greed, hatred and delusion? Mahanama asked the Buddha whether there was some quality he had not cultivated that made him still be led astray by greed, hatred and delusion. And the Buddha said, yes, the Buddha said that even if an Aryan disciple has seen with wisdom that greed, hatred and delusion, that sensual desire is It's wrong. Yet, unless he has attained piti and sukha, delight and happiness, he will still be led astray by sensual desire. Now, this piti and sukha, delight and happiness, are two factors of the state of jhana, the state of concentration. Jhana can be translated as a state of mental incandescence and the mind becomes bright because it is so concentrated and one-pointed. And so unless we attain one-pointedness of mind and experience a bliss which is higher than sensual desire, we can't help but be led astray, become a slave of sensual desire. So, now according to the commentaries, Mahanama, this cousin of the Buddha, was already a Sakadagamin at that time when he said this. But I have some doubts because he said that he's led astray by greed, hatred, and delusion, probably means that his greed, hatred, and delusion are not reduced. Now in the Sakadagamin, the greed, hatred and delusion are reduced. But since he's still led astray by greed, hatred and delusion, probably he's only a Sotapanna. So that again shows that the state of a Sotapanna is not as high as some people think. It's just listening to the teachings of the Buddha and having a shallow understanding of the Four Aryan Truths. This teaching about the Four Aryan Truths is a very powerful teaching. If you know that life is suffering and there is a way out of suffering, the fact that we can see that our life is very limited as a human being, you know that on the average you live up to 70 years of age. So you can see the number of years you have left is very limited, and you can really see impermanence. That is why human beings, they tend to be able to cultivate their spiritual path because of that fact that we see impermanence. Whereas if you are a deva, you have so much blessings, but you don't see impermanence because your lifespan is in terms of millions of years. And if you are in the woeful planes, You see impermanence, but you don't have the blessing to cultivate, right? When you're hungry all the time, you don't think of cultivation, you must think of how to find something to satisfy your hunger, isn't it? So, it's only the humans that have this capacity to cultivate the holy life. So, the point here is that Sotapanna is not so high as some people think. We need to learn the suttas and understand that there is a way out of samsara. And once you know that there is a way out of samsara, you will naturally turn your direction towards that path. slowly you will enter upon that path and finally escape from the samsara, the realm of rebirth.

(E18)-07-Five-ways-to-Ariya-hood

Now, there is a very interesting sutra in the Anguttara Nikaya 5.3.26 where it is mentioned that there are five ways a person attains Aryahood. Five ways. This is very interesting. The first one is listening to Dharma. When you are listening to Dharma, then the joy arises. If you have that Affinity for Dharma, when you listen to Dharma, the joy naturally arises in you. And when the joy rises, then your mind becomes peaceful. And then it becomes tranquil. And that tranquil mind easily becomes concentrated. And the concentrated mind, with that concentrated mind, insight easily arises. So the first one, listening to Dharma. When we listen to Dharma, that's the first way we can become an Arya. The second one is teaching Dharma. When we teach Dharma also, we have to understand the Dharma, reflect on the Dharma as we teach, and from there also joy arises. And in the same way, the mind becomes tranquil and concentrated, and insight arises so that a person attains the stage of Aryahood. The third one is repeating Dhamma. Nowadays, not many people repeat Dhamma, but during the time of the Buddha, this was quite common because they did not have books, you know. So they would pass the Dhamma from generation to generation, and it was a duty of monks to repeat the Dhamma. If they are going to hand it over to the next generation, they have to be very familiar, so they spent a lot of time repeating the Dhamma. So, when you repeat the Dhamma, the more times you repeat the Dhamma, just like studying a Sutta, you know, as you study a Sutta, the first time you read the Sutta, you catch certain points, but not all the points. The second time you read the same Sutta, or hear it, there are more points you'll understand. And the third time, the fourth time, the same way, the more times you come across it, either study it, or listen to it, or repeat it, the more familiar you become with it as you trust it. more so that is repeating dhamma the third way to attain arahat now the fourth way is reflecting on dhamma that means you you sort of try to think on the Dhamma that you have heard, to ponder over it, to reflect on it, whether it's true or not, whether you can see it in your everyday life and the different aspects of it. So by reflecting on the Dhamma, the insight arises. So that is the fourth way a person becomes an Arya. The fifth way is during meditation itself. According to the Sutta, it says, reflecting on the Samadhi Nimitta. Samadhi nimitta is the object of concentration, whatever your object may be, whether you are reflecting on the lonesomeness of the body, or you are reflecting on the, the object could be your mind, or one of the four objects of Satipatthana, and then insight arises. So you see out of these five ways, only one is during meditation. And the other four are out of meditation. The first one, listening to dharma, teaching dharma, repeating dharma, reflecting on dharma. And the last one, during meditation, reflecting on the object of concentration. It's very important to remember this.

(E18)-08-Five-conditions-for-Enlightenment

Now in the Majjhima Nikaya, number 43, it is stated, after you have right view, if there are five conditions that support right view, that will lead you to final liberation. That means arahanthood can be attained by a person with right view if there are five other important factors. The first one is sila, moral conduct. Second one is Dhammasavanam, listening to Dhamma. Third one is Dhammasakacca, discussion of Dhamma. Fourth one is Samatha, tranquilization of the mind. Fifth one is Vipassana, contemplation. So these are the five conditions. So you see, Samatha and Vipassana are the two things that you can do during meditation. So besides meditation, there are another three factors. You have to keep your Sila, moral conduct. Then you have to listen to dhamma, dhammasavana. Then another is dhammasakacca, discussion of dhamma. So it doesn't mean just by meditation you can become an arahant. On top of meditation, you have to study or listen to the suttas and also discuss the suttas with others so that you have a more deeper understanding of it. So this is quite clear here that listening to dharma and dharma discussion and sila support meditation.

(E18)-09-Gradual-spiritual-path

Now the final sutra I'd like to quote to you is on Uttanikaya 22.101 and that's the parable of the carpenter's axe handle. You know the axe is an instrument for planing wood. When I was young, the axe that they use used to have two handles for use to hold one jutting out on each side. You hold the two handles and you move the edge like this to plane the wood. And during the Buddha's days, I believe, it wasn't like that. He used one hand only. He used one hand and they planed the wood. Because it is mentioned in the sutra that after the carpenter has used his edge for some time, his finger marks were imprinted, indented on the wood. You see, he could see his thumb mark, his finger marks on the wood of the edge handle. And the Buddha said, this carpenter doesn't know how much of the wood he wore away by holding it yesterday. He doesn't know how much of the wood he wears away today or how much of the wood he wears away at any other time. But he knows definitely the wood has worn away by his fingers because of the impressions on the wood. So in the same way, the Buddha said, when we cultivate the spiritual path, We cannot tell how much of the asavas. Asavas can be translated as uncontrolled mental outflows. It also means the defilements. How much of the defilements we wore away yesterday or today or at any other time. But over the years, as we practice the spiritual path, as we see ourselves progressing, less defilements, and then we begin to lessen our greed, and lessen our attachments, and our ego becomes smaller as we become more humble, and all the good qualities grow, and all the bad qualities reduce, then we know that we are progressing on the spiritual path. The most important quality is the quality of humility. Some people who are new to the Dharma, you find they are very enthusiastic about meditation and they think after meditating for a short while that they have attained some stage, you know. And instead of becoming more humble, their ego increases. When their friend tells them that their friend don't believe that they are already Sotapanna, they get angry with their friend and they don't want to talk to their friend. They feel insulted. So you can see such a person doesn't understand the Dhamma. This attainment in the spiritual path is not a sudden thing. It comes slowly, very progressively. The Buddha said the spiritual path is like the ocean. it doesn't deepen suddenly. As you walk towards the ocean, it becomes deeper and deeper gradually. So in the same way, when we make progress in the spiritual path, it's a very gradual process. And over the years, as you practice, you see yourself changing for the better. Then you know, just like the carpenter knows that the axe handle is being worn away. So in the same way, we know our asavas are being worn away. as we progress and it is that kind of progress when people see you they become impressed you know and without telling them much they are impressed and they they will also change towards you and they will be very happy with you practicing the spiritual path there are some people sometimes you know they they feel inspired, they want to teach somebody in their house. But if their temple is still so big, still so fierce, the people in the house are not inspired. So whatever you say, they will not want to come and listen to the Dharma. They show no interest because they find you are not making any progress. But when you yourself make progress, then they become so impressed that they will come and follow you.

(E18)-10-Why-do-Theravadin-monks-eat-meat

The question is, why do Theravadan monks eat meat? Now, there's a lot of views about meat-eating. And so, to know what is the Buddha's view about meat-eating, we have to look into the suttas and the Vinaya. Now, when we look into the Vinaya books, it is quite obvious that the Buddha and his disciples ate meat. Why? Because in the Vinaya, you find that the Buddha told his monks not to take 10 kinds of meat, only 10 kinds of meat. The first one is human meat. It's specifically mentioned because there was a lady actually who offered her meat. She cut off her flesh to offer in the Vinaya because she promised to get some meat, soup for the monk. The monk was sick. It so happened there are certain days in India where nobody sells meat. So she already made that promise to that sick monk. And when she found that there was no meat available, you know, disciples of the Buddha, they are not allowed to slaughter an animal. So because she has so much faith in the Buddha and his disciples, she cut off her own flesh and asked the servant to cook the soup and give it to the monk. So later when the Buddha came to know about it, then the Buddha made this rule that human flesh is not allowed. Then the other meat that are not allowed is elephant flesh and horse flesh. These two particularly because they belong to the king. Sometimes people steal the king's elephant and horse for the meat. And the Buddha was afraid that if his disciples ate that, they would be implicated in the crime. So he stopped them from doing that. And then the others are wild animals. Tiger, leopard, bear, snake, dog, and such animals. The reason is the Buddha's disciples used to go from village to village and beg for their food. And people gave them this meat and being Meat is generally allowed by the Buddha, if it's cooked and given by people. So after the Buddha's disciples ate this meat, and they went into the forest, for example, if they took leopard meat, when they go into the forest, their sweat, when they start to sweat, it gives off that smell, and then they were attacked by leopard. If they ate dog meat, as a result, when they walk on the streets, the dogs will bark and chase them. So because of that, the Buddha disallowed his monks from eating those 10 kinds of meat. But other than those 10 kinds of meat, that means, are allowed. That means, chicken, ducks, pigs, goat, beef, those normal meat were allowed. Now, another instance in the Vinaya, In one of the precepts, the Buddha said, if a monk is not sick, he is not allowed for special food like milk, he is not allowed to ask a layperson specifically for special food, unless of course the layperson asks him. Otherwise, he is not allowed to ask for special food like milk, honey, meat, fish, etc. But if he is sick, he is allowed. So this again shows that the Buddha allowed his monks to eat meat. And there were other instances in the Vinaya which showed that the Buddha himself and his disciples, there are several incidents, there's no need to go into detail, but another Vinaya precept which shows the Buddha allowed is that There are certain allowances that a monk is not to eat from noon up to the next dawn, right? But there are certain allowances. For example, oils. Oil of fish, like cod liver oil is allowed. Oil of pigs, pork oil. A monk is allowed to keep the pork oil to act as a supplement and I think alligator oil, bear oil is allowed and then also if a monk is sick in the evening he can drink clear meat soup soup because in the afternoon a monk is not allowed solid food that's why he's not allowed to eat the meat but the soup is allowed to drink So these instances show in the Vinaya that the Buddha and his disciples did eat meat. In the suttas, it's also very clear because in the Majjhima Nikaya, there's one sutta called the Jivaka Sutta, where this doctor, Jivaka Komarabhaccha, the personal physician of the king, he came to ask the Buddha, he said, I hear, is it true that you eat meat purposely slaughtered for you?" He was not happy. He heard that the Buddha ate meat that was purposely slaughtered for him. And the Buddha said, no, we don't eat meat that is purposely slaughtered for us. The Buddha said, only there are three conditions are meat allowed to the monk, to the Buddha and his disciples. The three conditions are, you don't see, hear or suspect, that is, you don't see that the animal was purposely or specifically killed for you. And you don't hear that the animal was purposely or specifically killed for you. And you don't suspect that the animal was purposely or specifically killed for you. With these three conditions, then that meat is allowed. That means if a lay person buys the meat from the market that is already slaughtered, the animal, it is allowed. And there's another sutra, the Anguttara Nikaya, where General Sihar, a very famous general, he was a disciple of some external ascetics. And then he came to visit the Buddha, and then he got converted by the Buddha's teachings and became a disciple of the Buddha. Then he invited the Buddha to his house for a meal, and he served meat to the Buddha. And then the external ascetics were jealous, and they ran around spreading the word that the Buddha ate meat which was purposely slaughtered for him. So this general got very annoyed. The general said, we don't eat meat that is purposely, we don't serve meat that is purposely slaughtered for the Buddha, for the Buddha and his disciples. Only allowed meat. So from here, again you see that the Buddha and his disciples, there are several, there's another sutra called the Amagandha Sutra in the Sutta Nibbhata, where the Buddha recall the previous Buddha, which was Buddha Kassapa. It seems that one external ascetic came and reviled, scolded the Buddha Kassapa for eating all kinds of rubbish, all kinds of flesh. And the Buddha Kassapa replied, saying that the defilement is not in the meat we eat. The defilement is in our mind. So these Vinaya and Suttas show that the Buddha and his disciples ate meat. Now what is the reason? The reason is that we cannot run away from being a party to killing of animals indirectly. Because by eating the allowed meat that the Buddha put with the three conditions, you are not directly involved with the killing of animals, right? Perhaps indirectly. But indirectly is not to do with karma. Because karma, you must have the intention to do evil. Right? And then you do evil. If you don't have the intention, then there is no evil done. Just as you drive a car and you kill a small boy who runs across the road. If there is no intention, there is no karma. Right? But there is cause and effect. Because after killing the boy, you might get sued. Right? There is worldly cause and effect. Not Buddhist cause and effect. So in the same way, by living every day, we are causing the killing of animals indirectly. How? All of us want to stay in houses, right? Because we want to stay in houses, people have to clear the forest to build housing estates. In the process of clearing the forest, a lot of animals are killed, right? You want to use electricity, right? Everybody wants to use electricity. Because of that, the government builds a dam, dams up the river, and the river becomes flooded. In the process, a lot of animals die. That also will contribute to the killing of animals indirectly. You want to use household items, right? Plastics, clothes, and all that. They have to make factories. To make factories, they have to clear vast areas of forest. and in the process a lot of animals are killed. Again, you contribute to the killing of animals, right? And even you want to eat vegetables and these fruits, you contribute to the killing of animals. How? You have to clear forests again to plant these fruits and vegetables. And after that, when the farmer, he sees any caterpillar on the plant, he'll spray and kill the caterpillar, right? And then if he finds any snails around, he will kill the snails. All because he wants to eat vegetables and he wants to eat fruits. So indirectly, you can't help it at all. You know every day the government employs people to go and look for dogs without a license. And they shoot these dogs. Why? Because of you and me. Since living itself, we are causing the death of dogs. Even if you are vegetarians, right? Now, you can't use that argument that because you eat meat, you create a demand. And because of your demand for meat, they have to kill animals to provide the supply of meat. That argument is not valid because it is a worldly cause and effect. If that argument is valid, then you cannot drive a car, you cannot even sit in a bus, you cannot sit in a car. Why? Because every day, cars, vehicles on the road are killing 2,000 human beings a day on the road every day. So by driving a car, you are encouraging the car industry to make more cars. And you are indirectly killing human beings, which is worse than killing animals. And countless animals are killed every day by cars on the road. Countless. And by buying a car, you're encouraging the killing of countless animals. So that kind of argument is not valid. So what is important is that we follow the Buddha's teachings. And if you want to eat meat, you must have these three conditions. Then our conscience is clear.