Samadhi Buddhist Vihara

Katina Ceremony

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:52:41 +0000

Katina Ceremony : One of the main festivals in the Buddhist calendar

By Sumana Saparamadu

The month beginning on the full-moon day of Vap and ending on the full-moon day of Il – i.e. October-November is referred to as the cheevara maasa, literally “the month of robes”, for this is the period in which new robes are offered to the Sangha and this ancient ceremonial offering of robes is called the Katina. In the last few weeks, there has been a Katina ceremony in some temple, somewhere in the island. The Katina is in big letters in the calendar of every urban and village temple, even small rural temples.

The Katina ceremony comes at the end of Vas or the “rain retreat” which began on the full-moon day of Esala. The Buddhas disciples living in the Gangetic plain were forced to observe this retreat, confined to one place, because of the torrential rains, and the practice continues at the same period of the year, in countries to which Buddhism has spread, although it is not a season of rain in those countries, and ends on the full-moon day of Il which fell yesterday.

Katina is one of the main festivals in the Buddhist calendar, says Bhikkhu Walpola Rahula: “The Katina ceremony was the culmination of the Vas season. At the end of three months a special robe known as the Katina was offered to monks of every monastery which observed the Vas.

This offering was considered particularly meritorious. Moggallana III is said to have given the Katina to all the monasteries in the island. (Mahavamsa XIIV). Even today the Katina ceremony is a great occasion in the religious life of Sinhala Buddhists”. (History of Buddhism in Ceylon). The chronicles especially records the Katina offerings of kings Nissanka Malla of Polonnaruwa, Parakrama Bahu II of Dembadeniya and Parakrama Bahu IV of Kotte.

Down the centuries and to this day, the Katina is a great occasion in the life of Buddhists not only in Sri Lanka but also in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia. Annually the Thai embassy makes a Katina offering to a vihara in Galle which has some special connection with Thailand.

I was lucky to be in Yangon, then Rangoon, the capital of Myanmar at the time of a Katina festival. It was 40 years ago, but the memory of those sights and sounds are still vivid. from late afternoon the day before, the precincts of Shwedagon was a mass of devotees and on one side of the “maluwa” a cloth was being woven for the robe.

It was woven, cut up, sewn, dyed and ready for offering by dawn. The town was seething with people going sight-seeing. There were pandals at vantage points and street plays on make shift platforms to entertain the town that didn’t sleep that night. As we too went sight-seeing – Sybil Wettasinghe, Padma Punchihewa and I – I was reminded of our Vesak nights, but what was strange was the cooking that was going on in the open verandahs. Women were busy cooking the daana for the marrow.

In days gone by, the Katina would have been offered on the full-moon days of Vap or Il, but now each temple schedules the ceremony for a Saturday or Sunday in the “cheevara” month for the convenience of the laity. The Katina is offered very early – in the first flash of light. this was the old custom until about 50 years ago, some temples began to have the Katina ceremony in the afternoon, ending with a “bana” preaching at night.

The eve of Katina is a hive of activity at the temple with devotees decking the “Kap Ruka” the wish-conferring tree of mythology with utility gifts for the bhikkhus like sugar, tea, coffee, balms and drugs like Siddhalepa, Samahan and Panadol and brooms, brushes and dusters. Each devotee brings whatever he/she can afford and knows will be of use to the monks.

Each year one dayaka or dayika, a lay supporter of the temple undertakes to make and offer the robe and organise and bear the cost of the whole ceremony. But the Katina is a community affair in which the whole village takes part, binding Buddhist devotees “into a unit that transcends family and local ties”.

The Katina robe was at first sewn by the monks themselves with the cloth offered by the laity. The cloth was cut up to specifications and sewn according to a set pattern and dyed in water with some pieces of jak wood, the jak wood giving the yellow dye.
Later the dayaka who undertook the Katina had the robe sewn by his household with relations and neighbours giving a helping hand. As the offering of a Katina robe was considered especially meritorious, everyone tired to put even a few stitches.
Katina is perhaps the oldest Buddhist rite, Vesak, Esala celebrations came later after the Buddha’s parinirvana. Katina is the one rite, the procedure for which is set down in the vinaya.

There is a whole section in the Maha Vagga, a text in the Vinaya Pitaka that has details of procedure to be followed when the robe is consecrated when it is offered and when it is accepted by the monk who has been selected to accept it. Even the formula to be repeated is set down.

Fortunately the Katina is still a religious ceremony not a tamasha that Vesak has degenerated into. (@ Sunday Observer)

Vassana, The Rainy Retreat

admin — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 04:06:29 +0000

Ven. Dr. Sobhita Thero,Bodhiraja Buddhist Society

This period of three months is named as “Vassana” or the Rainy Season. It usually falls in between July full moon and October full moon. Higher ordained (Upasampada) monks are suppose to observe a particular precept in this term with concern of the Vinaya (disciplinary cord) prescription.

In the early days of the Buddhist Order no special activities were planned for the monks during the rainy retreat. Therefore, they kept on wandering all over the country to preach the Dhamma to the people as originally instructed by the Teacher.

However, the monks were frowned upon by the people and other religious practitioners (i.e. Sramanas, Jainas, etc) when they appeared with wet, soggy and ragged robes.

People’s complaints and criticism were based on the following facts:

(1) Trudging down the newly grown green grass or saplings of the crops (they believed that even destroying the plants is a violation of religious rules).

(2) Destroying many small creatures emerging from the ground.

According to the people, even the birds would settle down on the trees with properly made nests during that season. Only those disciples of the Buddha are left wandering everywhere, totally disregarding the social and religious norms.

Having considered the voice of the people, Buddha imposed a new rule of Vinaya for the monks thus: “O monks, I prescribe you to stay in one particular place during the rainy season”.

With these words of the Master, there evolved a code of conduct in the disciplinary practice of the monks. It also created such impressive and valuable socio-religious custom which paves the way for a strong relationship between the monks and the lay devotees.

In the Buddhist communities these three months of Vassana are considered a holy period which creates more merits for both monks and laity. Meditation, Dhamma preachings and discussions and various religious activities are organized daily in the temples.

With this custom of creating merits, some lay devotees invite the monks to stay in their homes for this period especially when they built a new house. This also meant that the abode is being dedicated to the Sangha so that the residents may have enormous blessings. They also have a chance to associate with the monks in order to improve their knowledge of the Dhamma on this occasion.

In this manner, we can evaluate one more socially engaged Buddhist custom which still exists from its ancient origin.

The Significance of Poya

admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 23:13:20 +0000

Even before the birth of Buddhism, Asian ascetics in the ancient times when there were no calendars, made it a practice on full moon days to cease worldly pursuits and engage themselves in religious activities.

The Buddha adopted this practice and from this developed the preaching of the Buddhist texts and commentaries (bana) in monasteries and temples on full moon Poya days. And when the Venerable Arahat Mahinda Thero introduced Buddhism to this country in 247 BC he also introduced the Poya tradition. Following is a brief description of the 12 Poyas in the Buddhist calendar and their significance.

Vesak (full moon Poya day in May)

The Buddhist calendar begins with the month of Vesak. On Vesak Day, Buddhists world over commemorate the triple anniversary of Sakyamuni Siddhartha Gautama The Buddha. Triple anniversary because The Buddha was born, attained Supreme Enlightenment at the age of thirty five, and after a successful ministry of forty five years attained Parinirvana or passed away on a Vesak (May) full moon Poya Day. It was also on a Vesak full moon Poya Day, in the eighth year of his enlightenment, that The Buddha made his third and final visit to Sri Lanka. On this full moon Poya begins the 2541 year of the Buddha.

Poson (full moon Poya day in June)

It commemorates the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka by Arahat Maha Mahinda (son of King Asoka of India) at Mihintale in the third century B.C. Ven Mahinda established the Dispensation of The Buddha (Buddhasasana) in Sri Lanka

Esala (full moon Poya day in July)

Commemorates the deliverance of the first sermon to the five ascetics and setting in motion the Wheel of the Dhamma (Dhammachakka) at Sarnath Benares, India. The essence of this sermon is the explanation of the Four Noble Truths: The Noble Truth of Suffering or dissatisfaction or conflicts (Dukkha), the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering and the path leading to the cessation of suffering. And The Noble Eight-fold Path:

Nikini (full moon Poya day in August)

During the month of August the conducting of the first Dhamma Sangayana (Convocation) is commemorated. This was held three months after the passing away of The Buddha. Five hundred Arahat Theros participated in the convocation which was held over seven months in the cave at the foot of the Rajagahanuvara Vebhara Rock

Binara (full moon Poya day in September)

Commemorates The Buddha’s visit to heaven to preach to his mother and celestial multitude. Also the commencing of the Bhikkhuni (nun’s) Order. Pajapati Gotami approached The Buddha and implored him to establish the Bhikkhuni Order.

Vap (full moon Poya day in October)

The significant events commemorated during this month are: the conclusion of The Buddha’s preaching of the Abhidhamma for three months to his mother in the Heavenly realm (devaloka), King Devanampiyatissa of Sri Lanka sending envoys to King Asoka requesting him to send his daughter Arahat Sanghamitta Theri to Sri Lanka to establish the Bhikkhuni Sasana (Order of Nuns).

Ill (full moon Poya day in November)

Celebrates the obtaining of Vivarana (the assurance of becoming a Buddha) by the Bodhisatta Maitriya and the commissioning of 60 disciples by The Buddha to disperse his teachings. Also the conclusion of the three month retreat (vassana).

Unduvap (full moon Poya day in December)

Arrival of the Bo-tree sapling. This was brought to Sri Lanka from India by Buddhist Theri Sanghamitta, and it is this very tree that is venerated by Buddhists in Anuradhapura. It is also the oldest documented tree in the world. Sanghamitta Theri established the Bhikkhuni Sasana (the Order of Nuns).

Duruthu (full moon Poya day in January)

In honour of Lord Buddha’s first visit to Sri Lanka. This visit too took place in the first year of The Buddha’s Supreme Enlightenment.

Navam (full moon Poya day in February)

Celebrates the following events in Buddhist history: Entrance into the order of two leading disciples of The Buddha (Sariputta and Maha Moggalana), The Buddha proclaims for the first time a code of fundamental ethical precepts for the monks. The Buddha announces that within three months His Parinibbana (death) will take place

Medin (full moon Poya day in March)

Commemorates the visit of The Buddha to his home to preach to his father King Suddhodana and other relatives and show them the path to enlightenment and final deliverance.

Bak (full moon Poya day in April)

It commemorates the second visit of The Buddha to Sri Lanka which took place in the fifth year of his Supreme Enlightenment

[Source - http://www.mysrilanka.com]

The Place of “Feeling” in Buddhist Psychology

admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:18:18 +0000

It should be first made clear that, in Buddhist psychology, “feeling” (Pali: vedana) is the bare sensation noted as pleasant, unpleasant (painful) and neutral (indifferent). Hence, it should not be confused with emotion which, though arising from the basic feeling, adds to it likes or dislikes of varying intensity, as well as other thought processes.

Feeling, in that sense, is one of the five Aggregates or Groups of Existence (khandha), constituting what is conventionally called “a person.” The specific factors operative in emotion belong to the Aggregate of Mental Formations (sankhara-kkhandha). Feeling is one of the four mental Aggregates which arise, inseparably, in all states of consciousness; the other three are perception, mental formations, and consciousness.

Feeling arises whenever there is the meeting of three factors, i.e., sense-organ, object and consciousness. It is called the meeting of these three that, in Buddhist psychology, is called sense-impression (contact, impact; phassa), which is a mental, and not a physical process. It is sixfold, as being conditioned either by of the five physical senses or by mind. it is this sixfold sense-impression by which the corresponding six feelings are conditioned. In the formula of the Dependent Origination (paticca-samuppada), this is expressed by the link: “Sense-impression conditions Feeling” (phassa-paccaya vedana). When emotions follow, they do so in accordance with the next link of Dependent Origination: “Feeling conditions Craving” (vedana-paccaya tanha).

The feeling that arises from contact with visual forms, sounds, odors, and tastes is always a neutral feeling. Pleasant or unpleasant feelings do not always follow in relation to these four sense perceptions; but when they follow, they are then an additional stage of the perceptual process, subsequent to the neutral feeling which is the first response.

But bodily impressions (touch, pressure, etc.) can cause either pleasant or unpleasant feelings.

Mental impressions can cause gladness, sadness or neutral (indifferent) feeling.

Feeling is one of those mental factors (cetasika) which are common to all types of consciousness. In other words, every conscious experience has a feeling tone, even if only that of a neutral or indifferent feeling, which also has a distinct quality of its own.

Feeling by itself (if one could so separate it) is, as it was already said, the bare sensation noted as pleasant, painful or neutral. The subsequent emotional, practical, moral or spiritual values attached to that basic feeling are determined by other mental factors that subsequently arise in relation to that feeling, but, by way of classification, belong to the Aggregate of Mental Formations (sankhara-kkhandha). It is the quality of those other mental functions that makes the co-nascent feeling, too, to be either good or bad, noble or low, kammic or non-kammic, mundane or supramundane.

Feeling may stop at the stage of bare sensation in all weak states of consciousness, but also when there is mindful control of feelings. In such cases, there is no evaluation of these feelings, emotionally or intellectually.

Nyanaponika Thera

source: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nyanaponika/wheel303.html#place

Our Mind Is Our Best Friend

admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:14:58 +0000

In our lives we often distinguish people as enemies and friends. We consider as enemies those people who are bent on harming us, on doing some damage to us or to our loved ones. And we consider as friends those people who wish to benefit us, to provide for our welfare and the well-being of those close to us. Now let us consider what kind of harm an enemy can do to us.

An enemy might slander us by spreading false rumors about us; but if we know that we are not guilty of the fault he ascribes to us we have no need to worry. An enemy might even harm us physically; in the worst scenario, he might kill us. But even if the enemy kills us, we need not be overly despondent. For if we have a good mind, a strong mind, a well-developed and virtuous mind, then although the body dies, the mind will go on to some fortunate state of existence in the future. But if our mind strays from the path of Dhamma, if we surrender to the impulses of selfishness, greed, and hatred, then we will suffer far more in life after life than we would when the enemy takes our life. So long as the enemy is not able to harm our mind, we can still consider ourselves secure.

We consider as friends or benefactors the people who benefit us. Of all the people in our lives who benefit us, the most important, from the worldly point of view, are our parents. Yet, even if our parents look after all our material and social needs, they wouldn’t be benefiting us as much as they would if they give us moral instruction, give us guidance in the right way of life. When they give us wise instruction in the proper conduct of life, whether we accept it or not depends upon ourselves, and that means that it depends upon our own minds. This is why the Buddha makes the mind the focal point of his entire teaching. The mind is the central force in our lives, and the whole quality of our lives is just a reflection of the quality of our own minds.

The Buddha teaches the way to develop the mind, to elevate the mind. His teaching isn’t intended for those who are already enlightened sages, but for ordinary people living very ordinary lives. What he teaches is how to transform the defiled mind, the mind troubled by afflictions, desires, sorrow, pain and suffering, into the enlightened mind, the liberated mind, the mind that is radiant with wisdom, loving-kindness, and compassion, into a mind that is peaceful and content under any circumstances. This is illustrated by the famous simile of the lotus flower. The lotus begins growing at the bottom of a muddy pond, but it rises up through the muddy water until it emerges from the pond, unfolds its petals, and reveals its sublime beauty.

In practicing the Dhamma, we begin with our ordinary mind, which is like the lotus seed in the mud, the mind soiled by desires and delusions. By following the Buddha’s instructions step by step we elevate the mind above the mud of the world, we unfold its petals of virtuous qualities, until it opens fully and displays its radiant beauty.

Excerpt from a talk by Bhikkhu Bodhi (August 2, 2002)

source: http://www.bodhimonastery.net/bm/about-buddhism/articles/75-our-mind-is-our-best-friend-.html

Buddhism and Modern Science

admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:04:19 +0000

“Buddha is the greatest scientist in the history of mankind.”
I have often heard this at bana sermons. This is completely wrong. Scientists are people who are constrained to work solely within and accept only, the knowledge generated by the scientific method. They generally reject knowledge generated by the other method. The Buddha did not use the scientific method and therefore he is not a scientist.

Of the two methods of acquiring knowledge available to the human being the Buddha used the right brain centered intuition method, where as the western approach to acquiring knowledge used the left brain method. The Buddha trained his mind to an extreme high state of enlightenment (Buddhahood) from where he could understand the true reality of nature in its totality. It is based on such knowledge that he propounded a philosophy which is most conducive to balanced and happy living which leads to living in harmony with others, living in harmony with nature, meaningful living devoid of stress, anxiety, jealousy and empty pride, ultimately ending up in a meaningful state full of bliss. That was over 2500 years ago. Science began much later.

Science is often explained as systematic formulated knowledge. It is knowledge needed to understand the phenomena that we observe and those that influence our lives. For the early man science represented a cumulative process of increasing knowledge and ability to understand what is around him. It also meant a sequence of victories over ignorance and superstition. During the time of the Buddha, science was still speculative explanation of common sense observations by intellectuals who devoted much of their time for thinking and understanding natural phenomena. Science helped to develop technology essential for producing things needed to make life more comfortable.

During the seventeenth century the French Mathematician Rene Des Cartes restricted the scope of science to only what is material by bifurcating the universe as matter (res extensa) and mind (res cogitans) and limiting science to the study of the former. The science that evolved on the basis of Cartesian bifurcation was confined to material objects within the limits of perception of human sensory organs which are unable to perceive anything that extended beyond three spatial dimensions.

The above constraints on science stood on the way of achieving its desired objective of understanding the true reality of nature, because nature and natural phenomena are neither confined to matter nor to three spatial dimensions. Many of the important phenomena of nature therefore happened to be outside the scope of science. Science, nevertheless, has provided enormous material benefits to mankind. Therefore people all over the world have very high confidence in science and accept anything explained to them in terms of science. The ultimate aim of science is understanding the true reality of nature, minimizing human suffering and making human beings happy by way of providing material comforts.

The Buddha’s way of acquiring knowledge by intuition was not subject to the limitations that stifled science and therefore unlike science the knowledge that the Buddha acquired is complete and represents the true reality of nature. This is confirmed by over 2500 years of experience. For this reason the Buddha did not have any grey areas that need to be hidden under a cloud of imaginary superhuman force.

Just as in science Buddhism does not require its followers to have dogmatic belief in anything that the Buddha taught. The Buddha advised people not to blindly accept what he taught, but research on them for themselves before accepting. For this reason his teachings have remained unaltered and valid for all times and under all circumstances.

While the knowledge the Buddha acquired represents the true reality of nature, what scientists aspire to understand as the ultimate destination of the scientific method, is also the same true reality of nature. While the goal of the teachings of the Buddha is elimination of human suffering and making human beings happy and contented by way of training their minds and creating self discipline in them, the goal of science is providing mankind with material comforts.

In 1905 Albert Einstein broke through the three dimensional barrier in science and took the scope of science beyond three spatial dimensions and Des Cartes restrictions. This enabled man to aspire for a more realistic view of nature and natural phenomena through the scientific method. Modern twentieth century science that developed after transcending the dimensional barrier by twentieth century scientists such as Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrodinger, Louis de Broglie, Paul Dirac, Werner Heisenberg, Richard Feynman, Murray Gellman, Sir Arthur Eddington and Stephen Hawkin is based on the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics and uncertainty principle. These have annihilated the artificial Cartesian bifurcation and extreme materialism in science. By the mid twentieth century the process of gathering scientific knowledge constituted of well organized laboratory and field experimentation, observation, development of theory, prediction, verification of the predictions and general acceptance.

Transcending the three dimensional barrier and taking science beyond the capabilities of human sensory organs eliminated the need to present perceptible mechanisms of observed phenomena as an acceptance criterion. The advent of computers has greatly enhanced the capability of the human brain to tackle complex phenomena that are too formidable to be tackled by the unaided and unenlightened human brain. Computer can never aspire to acquire the capabilities of the human brain because the human brain is driven by consciousness which operates at a speed much faster than the speed of light.

The main achievement of the success of the twentieth century scientists in transcending the three dimensional barrier is acquiring a more realistic understanding of nature and natural phenomena. Twentieth century transcended science enables us to scientifically confirm that such concepts as impermanence, rebirth, telepathy and selflessness taught by the Buddha are true phenomena of nature which are beyond three spatial dimentions and therefore beyond classical science.

Derek Parfit of Oxford University (probably the world’s most important living philosopher) accepts the Buddhist view of life and selflessness. He believes that his acceptance of selflessness which was inspired by split brain research, has liberated him from the prison of self. He says,

“When I believed that my existence was such a further fact, I seemed imprisoned in myself. My life seemed like a glass tunnel, through which I was moving faster every year, and at the end of which there was darkness. When I changed my view, the walls of my glass tunnel disappeared. I now live in the open air.”

Derek Parfit, Fritj of Capra (the well known Nuclear Physicist) and Gary Zukav accept the Buddhist view of matter and believes in the need to liberate ourselves from the prison of material particles.

The process of human reproduction is explained in Buddha’s teachings as parental union when mother is fertile and the arrival of consciousness. The former supplies the full complement of chromosomes needed to create a Zygote which by normal cell division creates the physical body. The arrival of consciousness into the physical body makes it an individual. Stating with the creation of test tube babies in 1968 by Dr. Robert Edwards’s team of scientists at Cambridge University, incredible advances, culminating in cloning in 1996, have taken place in reproductive biology. Yet all these advances have only shifted the site and altered the mechanism of creation of the zygote. The maturing of the zygote to a foetus, making it an individual by the arrival of consciousness and birth remains as per Buddha’s teachings.

It is now increasingly becoming clear to those who reach the front lines of modern science that what science has been discovering a new had been known to the Buddha over 2500 years ago. This is confirmed by the following statements made by topmost scientists of the twentieth century.

Albert Einstein regarded as the father of the theory of relativity says,

“Individual existence impresses him as a sort of prison and he wants to experience the universe as a single cosmic whole. The beginnings of cosmic religious feeling already appear at an early stage of development, as an example in the Psalms of David and in some of the Prophets. Buddhism, as we have learned especially from the wonderful writings of Schopenhaur, contains a much stronger element of this.”

Niels Bohr who developed the presently accepted model of the atom together with Earnest Rutherford says,

“For a parallel to the lesson of atomic theory….. (we must turn) to those kind of epistemological problems with which already thinkers like the Buddha and Lao Tzu have been confronted, when trying to harmonize our position as spectators and actors in the drama of existence.”

The most eminent Nuclear Physicist, Robert Oppenheimer, who produced the first atom bomb says,

“The general notions about human understanding … which are illustrated by discoveries in atomic physics are not in the nature of things wholly unfamiliar, wholly unheard of, or new. Even in our own culture they have a history, and in Buddhist and Hindu thought a more considerable and central place. What we shall find is an exemplification, an encouragement and a refinement of old wisdom.” – Robert Oppenheimer.

The main teaching of the Buddha is the Noble Eight Fold Path. D. T. Suzuki writes about the first item of this Path, right seeing as,

“The seeing plays the most important role in Buddhist epistemology, for seeing is at the basis of knowing. Knowing is impossible without seeing; all knowledge has its origin in seeing are thus found generally united in Buddha’s teachings. Buddhist philosophy therefore ultimately points to seeing reality as it is. Seeing is experiencing enlightment”.

The teachings of the Buddha, founded on the basis of the true reality of nature, have been recognized to be valid at all times and under all conditions. Buddhism is the only Doctrine based on the true reality of nature in its totality available to mankind. It is now becoming increasingly clear that solutions to most human problems that arise as a result of over indulgence, excessive competition and exploding greed leading to acquiring and amassing unlimited wealth, increasing violence, terrorism, drug addiction and self destruction lie in the teachings of the Buddha. It is clear that Buddhism is getting accepted, the world over, as the way of life of intelligent people in the third millenium.

Dr. Granville Dharmawardena, University of Colombo

source: http://www.purifymind.com/BS.htm