Anapāna Sati

The Buddha taught Meditation to the human beings to come out from suffering i.e. to attain Nibbāna.  At first, he practiced ancient Indian meditation, then after he re-discovered the ‘vipassanā’ meditation technique by himself.

After his enlightenment he preached ĀnāPāna sati to attain higher concentration level, which is useful to practice ‘vipassanā’ bhāvana to purify the mind.  This technique is a boon to spiritual seekers. The Buddha said that for the purification of binges, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for reaching to noble path, for realization of Nibbāna the technique of ĀnāPāna sati is quite useful.  Through this method one can also attain highest level of concentration (4^th Rupavacara Jhāna). 

            Mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānassati) is a very important practice. It is a practice that was constantly used by noble men such as the Buddhas, the Paccekabuddhas, and the disciples of the Buddhas. All the Buddhas and the Arahats practiced ānāpānassati to reach enlightenment. Once enlightened, the Buddhas and the Arahats continued to practice this to gain jhāna bliss.

            This practice is suitable to many meditators for the quick development of concentration. If ānāpānassati is developed and cultivated repeatedly, it fulfills the Four Foundation of Mindfulness (satipaṭṭhana), which in turn will lead to the fulfillment of the Seven Enlightenment Factors (bojjhaṅga), which will ultimately lead to the fulfillment of true knowledge (vijjā) and deliverance (vimutti) (M.III.118).

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My Republic day greetings to all Indians....

DEVOTION IN THERAVADA BUDDHIM

        The Pāli word vandanā means literally “bowing down”.  It is a word used in Theravada Buddhism to signify the heart’s response to the highest objects of veneration; hence it may be rendered as “devotion” or “homage”.  The idea of vandanā covers both aspects of the devotional responses – on one side the feelings of faith, reverence, and love, on the other the act of homage, bodily and verbal, which express them.  In the ideal practice of vandanā these two aspects fuse together into a unity, the feeling spilling forth into the act and the act of giving concrete form to the feeling.

          The devotional element is often omitted from accounts of Theravada Buddhism, which usually depict this ancient Buddhist school as dry intellectual system without much room for religious emotion.  Seen firsthand, however, the Theravāda tradition reveals at its core a vibrant current of devotional feeling which permeates the Theravāda lives of it followers.  Its tone may be quiet and restrained but it is unmistakably present.  The devotional strain has firm roots in the Theravāda doctrinal perspective.  Theravada teaching does not encourage emotional oppressive, as this often leads astray, but it does proclaim an electric message of deliverance capable of sparking off the higher emotions.

          The teachings of the Buddha (Theravāda scriptures) speaks directly about the most vital issues of human concern.

NOTE: Collected from Buddhist literature.

My Dear comrades may the Buddha bless you all. 

I wish you be happy and prosperous in the new year.

I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year 2018

MINDfULNESS

v I have no home. I make mindfulness as my home.

Ø When I first read these lines, I felt so happy. I felt this is true, so true.

Ø If you are not mindful, what happens to your mind? Your mind just wanders around; it has no place to rest.

Ø You may have a big house physically, but mentally you may be homeless.

Ø When you practice mindfulness, if you keep practicing for long time diligently, you will come to the point that you know that you know. You know that you are seeing, you know that you are hearing, you know that you are talking.

Ø And then thinking stops and the mind is quiet, and though it is quiet, there is still this knowing.

Ø It is called awareness of awareness, and at that point you feel a kind of energy and power.

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         By Practicing Ana-Pana Sati Meditation one can improve one’s mindfulness.   To practice mindfulness there are many Buddhist meditation centers around the world, one can utilize these centers.  If you can find a suitable one then you are lucky.

                       SOURCES: From Sayadaw U Jotika’s Dharma lectures

The Environment and Buddhists

The human being is a part of nature or Prakruti.  So we are living in nature, we should protect it, which is gift for beings. Protecting the environment is the duty of every one.  Present day many nation’s manufacturing nuclear weapons is nothing but destroying Mother Nature. As a ‘Dhamma soldier’ while working for social, political and economic suffering and injustice, we also work to protect our environment. Everybody should think to live like a 'Kalyanamitra'.

Modern man in his search for pleasure and affluence has exploited nature without any moral restraint to such an extent that nature has been rendered almost incapable of sustaining healthy life. Invaluable gifts of nature, such as air and water, have been polluted with severely disastrous consequences. Man is now searching for ways and means of overcoming the pollution problem as his health too is alarmingly threatened.

           

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

 He also feels that it is irresponsible and morally wrong on his part to commit the future generations to a polluted planet. If man is to act with a sense of responsibility to the natural world, to his fellow human beings and to unborn future generations, he has to find an appropriate environmental ethic today to prevent further aggravation of the present pollution problem.

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