Post on 02-Apr-2018
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BUDDHASASANAdIE HeilsleHRE DES eRWACHTEN
Zeitschrift der Buddhistischen Gemeinschaft der LehrnachfolgeR in Deutschland
Jg. 2 |Vol. 1Sommer 2556 (2013)
SSN 2194-895X
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2 Buddhasasana
INHALT
IMPRESSUM
Buddhasasana
Zeitschrift der Buddhistischen Gemeinschaft der Lehrnachfolger in Deutschland e.V.ISSN: 2194-895X
Herausgeber: Kontakt:
Buddhistische Gemeinschaft E-Mail: buddhasasana@dhamma.deder Lehrnachfolger in Deutschland e.V. Tel.: 081618627310
Major-Braun-Weg 12, D-85354 Freising Fax: 081618627312Web: www.dhamma.de
Erscheinungsweise: Redaktionsleitung:
Vierteljhrlich Thitadhammo Bhikkhu (V.i.S.d.P.)
Mitarbeiter:
Redaktion Chinesisch Englisch: KC Lim Redaktion Deutsch:Oliver Menner
Buddhasasana enthlt Artikel, Beitrge und Leserbriefe ber Buddhistisches Leben und Lernen im Sinne desTheravada und ursprnglichen Buddhismus. Beitrge knnen eingereicht werden in den Sprachen Deutsch,
Englisch, Chinesisch und Thai. Diese werden redaktionell geprft und ggf. bearbeitet. Ein Anspruch auf Verf-fentlichung besteht generell nicht. Kein Verkauf. Die Abgabe erfolgt gratis. Keine gewerbliche Anzeigenaufnah-me. Sie knnen die Arbeit des Buddhistischen Klosters Freising und der Buddhistischen Gemeinschaft mit IhrerSpende untersttzen. Auf Wunsch erwhnen wir Sie gerne in der Rubrik unserer Untersttzer.
2013 BGdL e.V. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Printed in Germany
VORWORT
Sommerhitze und Abkhlung Bhikkhu Thitadhammo S. 3
GEDANKEN
Umgang mit Lob und Tadel Irmgard Feiner S. 5Glauben und Vertrauen Csar Tapia S. 8
GEDICHT
Wunder und Visionen Dennis Emmerich S. 9
GESPRCH
Verheiratet mit einer Buddhistin Kai Hofmann S. 11
ARTIKEL (Englisch & Chinesisch)
Mindfulness is not sati? Lennart Lopin S. 13
Early Buddhist Criticism of Ditthi Bhikkhu Buddharakkhita S. 19
Buddhism in Malaysia K. Don Premaseri S. 26
Righteous heart KC Lim S. 33
BUCHREZENSIONEN
Fhrer durch den Abhidhamma-Pitaka Samaneri Agganyani S. 37
Rahula Walpola: Was der Buddha lehrt Oliver Menner S. 38
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3Sommer 2556 (2013)
VORWORT
Liebe Leser und Leserinnen,
Namo Buddhaya!
Inmitten der Sommerhitze sehnen sich
die Menschen nach Abkhlung, genie-
en unter freiem Himmel die luftigeSommerbrise und den schtzenden
Schatten von Bumen.
Genauso wie unsere Krper bei solchsengender Sonnenglut Zuflucht bei
Seen und Flssen suchen, so findenunsere vor Sorgen und Leid brennen-
den Herzen wohltuendes Erlschen
sowie den Geist strkende Erfrischung
beim Eintauchen in den khlen Weis-heitsozean des Dhammas.
Wie kostbar deswegen die Gelegenheitist, mit dieser zum Heil fhrenden
Weisheitslehre in Kontakt kommen zuknnen, darauf weist uns der Erwachte
mit den Worten hin: Schwer ist es, diewahre Lehre zu hren!1
Die wiederum aus der Begegnung mit
der Lehre resultierende Dankbarkeit,die Zufriedenheit, welche aus ihrer
1kiccha saddhammassavana, Dhammapada, Vers 182.
Anwendung entsteht, der Respekt ge-
genber der Lehre selbst und allen, die
sie umsetzen und vorleben, sowie dieBescheidenheit, hinsichtlich der nochbestehenden eigenen Unvollkommen-
heit zusammen lassen uns des Segens,den die Lehre fr uns darstellt, erst
richtig bewut werden.
Somit ist die Lehre zur rechten Zeithren zu knnen jedes Mal von neu-
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4 Buddhasasana
em ein groes Glck, welches unserLeben bereichert und mit Sinn anfllt.2
Daher freue ich mich nun ganz beson-ders, Ihnen mit dieser Ausgabe von
BUDDHASASANA Die Heilslehre desErwachten wieder einen kleinen Beitrag
zur Vermittlung der Buddhalehre an-bieten zu knnen.
Nach einer etwas lngeren Pause, die
bedingt war durch den Umzug in neueRumlichkeiten, kann sich das Redak-
tionsteam ab sofort wieder mit der
notwendigen Aufmerksamkeit undRuhe der Herausgabe dieser Schriftwidmen, und dies jetzt schon im 2.
Jahrgang. Als ausgesprochen erfreulich
zu vermelden ist, da die RedaktionUntersttzung durch zwei neue
Schreiber und einen gelernten Redak-teur erhlt, welche unser ehrenamtlich
arbeitendes Team ergnzen.3
Gemeinsam haben wir nun auf der
letzten Redaktionsbesprechung be-schlossen, knftig diese Zeitschrift in
vier Ausgaben pro Jahr aufzulegen.Darber hinaus planen wir, in Abstn-
den Themenhefte zu einzelnenSchwerpunkten aus der Buddhalehre
2Gravo ca nivto ca, santuhi ca kataut; Klena
dhammassavana eta magalamuttama, Magala-
sutta, Vers 9
3Fr unser Redaktionsteam suchen wir jedoch auch weiter-hin ehrenamtliche Mitarbeiter/innen sowie Autoren.
und zu aktuellen Anliegen des Le-bens herauszugeben. Bei allen Beitr-
gen liegt es uns am Herzen, stets auf
der Grundlage des eigentlichen Bud-dhawortes (buddhavcana) die Themen
so zu erschlieen, da es dem Leser als
Orientierungs- und Verstndnishilfedienen kann. Der Dhamma soll dabeistets im Mittelpunkt stehen.
Mit Metta grt Sie herzlichst, Ihr
Bhikkhu Philipp Thitadhammo
thitadhammo@dhamma.de
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GEDANKEN
Umgang mit Lob und Tadel
Irmgard Feiner
Freising
Selo yath ekaghano vtena na samrati;
evam nindpasamssu, na samijanti pan-
dit. (Dhammapada, Vers 82)
Wie ein fester Felsen nicht erschttert
wird vom Wind, so wird auch der Weise
nicht bewegt von Lob und Tadel.
Schon von Kind auf habe ich gelernt,
da Eltern oder Erzieher, spter dann
das Arbeitsumfeld durch Lob oder Ta-del mein Verhalten gewertet haben,was gut und richtig ist. Fr die Erzie-
hung mag dies notwendig sein, um
gewnschtes Verhalten zu bekommenund unerwnschtes mglichst abzu-
stellen bzw. gar nicht zu erlernen. Ich
habe mich also gut gefhlt, wenn ichgelobt wurde (und mit Geld belohnt),schlecht gefhlt, wenn irgendetwas anmir kritisiert wurde. Als junge Er-
wachsene fhlte ich mich mit der Fort-
fhrung dieser Kindheitserfahrung derWelt hilflos ausgeliefert und habe oft
gelitten.
Erst im Laufe der Zeit und mit Hilfeder buddhistischen Lehre ist mir klar
geworden, da ich nicht schlecht bin,weil Jemand Anderer mich kritisiert.
Meist steckt eine Absicht des Anderen
dahinter. Seit ich das wei, kann ich in
den meisten Fllen trennen zwischenmir als Person (ich bin nicht als
Mensch schlecht, weil Jemandem eineVerhaltensweise an mir nicht pat)und der gewnschten Vernderung
meines Verhaltens.
Wieso soll ich stndig versuchen, den
wechselnden Ansprchen meinerUmwelt gerecht zu werden und mich
wandeln und wandeln, aber nie aufmein Herz hren und mir selber treubleiben? Wandlung ja, wenn sie aus
der Erkenntnis kommt, aber nicht,
wenn sie gefordert wird.
Gerade im Arbeitsbereich ist die ge-
wnschte nderung vielfach willkr-lich, kaum ist eine Bedingung erfllt,wird die nchste gefordert. Wechselt
der Chef, kommen neue Regeln hinzu
und im Kollegenkreis kostet es auch
enorme Anpassungsfhigkeit, Tag fr
Tag mit den Besonderheiten der Mit-menschen zu leben.
Im Arbeitsleben mu ich mich in dieAblufe einfgen, kann mir aber dank
der Verinnerlichung der obigen Bud-
dhaworte eine innere Unabhngigkeit
bewahren (wobei ich noch lange nichtweise bin).
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6 Buddhasasana
Ich bin auch nicht mehr abhngig vomLob, wobei ehrliches Lob etwas sehr
Schnes ist, wenn es reinen Herzens
und ohne Hintergedanken ausge-
sprochen wird.
Ich bin innerlich viel unabhngigergeworden, falle aber manches Malauch wieder in alte Verhaltensweisen
zurck. Ich mu einfach weiter lernen.
Was sagt der Erwachte zu Lob undTadel? Stellen aus dem Tipitaka zurErluterung
Visuddhimagga, Kapitel 22
Als 'Weltgesetze' (loka-dhamma) gelten
8 Dinge, da diese, solange die Welt be-
steht, nie aufhren werden, nmlich:
Gewinn und Verlust, Achtung undVerachtung, Glck und Unglck, Lobund Tadel.
Anguttara Nikaya, XIII. 5
Gewinn, Verlust,Verehrung und Verachtung,
auch Lob und Tadel,
Freude sowie Leid,gar wandelbar sind diese Weltgesetze,
voll Unbestand,dem Wechsel unterworfen.
Der Weise, der Besonnenedurchschaut sie,
erkennt sie
als dem Wechsel unterworfen.
Erwnschte Dinge
qulen ihn nicht mehrund auch bei unerwnschten
kommt ihm kein Verdru.
In ihm sind Hingeneigtsein
und auch Widerwille zerstrt,
vergangen, nicht mehr da.Die sorgenfreie,
laut're Sttte kennend,ist zu des Daseins anderem Ufer
er gelangt.
Anguttara Nikaya, XIII. 6
Genau wie den unwissenden Weltling,
ihr Mnche, treffen auch den wissen-den, edlen Jnger Gewinn und Verlust,
Ehre und Verachtung, Lob und Tadel,
Freude und Leid. Worin besteht nunhierbei die Verschiedenheit, die Be-sonderheit, worin der Unterschied
zwischen dem wissenden, edlen Jn-
ger und dem unwissenden Weltling?
Da, ihr Mnche, wird dem unwissen-den Weltling Gewinn zuteil. Nicht aber
berlegt er sich dabei und versteht es
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7Sommer 2556 (2013)
nicht der Wirklichkeit gem: 'Ent-standen ist mir zwar dieser Gewinn,
doch er ist vergnglich, elend, dem
Wechsel unterworfen.' Und es wird
ihm Verlust zuteil, Ehre, Verachtung,Lob, Tadel, Freude und Leid. Nicht
aber berlegt er sich dabei und ver-steht es nicht der Wirklichkeit gem:'Entstanden ist mir zwar ... dieses Leid,
doch es ist vergnglich, elend, dem
Wechsel unterworfen.' Und Gewinn
und Verlust, Ehre und Verachtung,
Lob und Tadel, Freude und Leid haltenseinen Geist umsponnen. Am Gewinn,
der ihm zuteilwird, hngt er, und Ver-lust verdriet ihn. An der Ehre, dieihm zuteilwird, hngt er, und Verach-
tung verdriet ihn. Am Lob, das ihm
zuteilwird, hngt er und Tadel ver-
driet ihn. An der Freude, die ihm zu-teilwird, hngt er, und das Leid ver-
driet ihn. So der Zuneigung und Ab-neigung verfallen, wird er nicht erlstvom Geborenwerden, Altern und Ster-
ben, von Sorge, Jammer, Schmerz,
Trbsal und Verzweiflung, wird er
nicht erlst vom Leiden, so sage ich.
Da wird nun aber, ihr Mnche, einem
wissenden, edlen Jnger Gewinn zuteil.Er aber berlegt dabei und versteht es
der Wirklichkeit gem: 'Entstanden
ist mir zwar dieser Gewinn, doch er ist
vergnglich, elend, dem Wechsel un-terworfen.' Und es wird ihm Verlustzuteil, Ehre, Verachtung, Lob, Tadel,
Freude und Leid. Er aber berlegt da-bei und versteht es der Wirklichkeit
gem: 'Entstanden ist mir zwar... die-ses Leid, doch es ist vergnglich, elend,
dem Wechsel unterworfen.' Und Ge-
winn und Verlust, Ehre und Verach-
tung, Lob und Tadel, Freude und Leidhalten seinen Geist nicht umsponnen
Am Gewinn, der ihm zuteilwird, hngter nicht, und Verlust verdriet ihnnicht. An der Ehrung, die ihm zuteil-
wird, hngt er nicht, und Verachtung
verdriet ihn nicht. Am Lob, das ihm
zuteilwird, hngt er nicht, und Tadel
verdriet ihn nicht. An der Freude, dieihm zuteilwird, hngt er nicht, und
Leid verdriet ihn nicht. Sich so vonZuneigung und Abneigung frei ma-chend, wird er erlst vom Geboren-
werden, Altern und Sterben, von Sorge,
Jammer, Schmerz, Trbsal und Ver-
zweiflung, wird er erlst vom Leiden,so sage ich.
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8 Buddhasasana
Glauben und Vertrauen: Wasmich das Klma Sutta lehrt
Csar Tapia
Freising
Glauben bedeutet, Respekt zu zeigen,Respekt fr das Geschehen auf der Er-de oder in der Natur.
Glauben bedeutet auch, Respekt zuhaben vor den Gttern, wie es seit
Jahrtausenden bei den Naturvlkern
der Fall ist.Wichtig ist es heutzutage aber auchganz besonders, Respekt vor der eige-nen Person zu haben, um so zu einerpositiven Entwicklung der eigenenPersnlichkeit finden zu knnen.
Einen gesunden Glauben zu besitzen
bedeutet auch selbststndig und unab-hngig zu sein.
Denn seinen Glauben verlieren kannnur derjenige, der den Glauben mit ei-ner Institution oder Symbolen un-trennbar verbunden hat, nicht aberderjenige, der sich mit den Inhaltendes eigentlichen Gedankengutes derReligion beschftigt hat.
Wie auch aktuelle Diskussionen undSchwierigkeiten zeigen, werden geradediejenigen in ihrem Glauben erscht-tert, die die Vertreter oder Symbole ih-rer Religion mit ihrem eigenen Glau-ben gleichsetzen.
berleben wird der Glaube nur beidemjenigen, der seinen Glauben tat-schlich selbst lebt und praktiziert.
(Vgl. Klma Sutta, AN III. 66)
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GEDICHT
Wunder und Vision
in Anlehnung an
Die Kunst der kleinen Schritte
von Antoine de Saint-Exupry
Dennis Emmerich
Unterschleiheim
Ich bitte nicht um Wunder und Visio-nen, oh Erhabener (Bhagav), sondern
um Kraft fr den Alltag.
Oh Heilgewordener (araha), lehre
mich die Kunst der kleinen Schritte!
Ich bitte den Vollkommen Erwachten(samm-sambuddho) um die Kraft fr
das rechte Ma, da ich nicht durch
das Leben gleite, sondern meinen Ta-gesablauf bewut wahrnehme, auf
Lichtblicke und Hhepunkte achte und
Raum finde fr den Augenblick der
Stille.
La mich erkennen, da Grbeln nichtweiterhilft, weder ber die Vergan-
genheit, noch ber die Zukunft.
Hilf mir, das Nchste so gut wie mg-lich zu tun und die jetzige Stunde als
die wichtigste zu erkennen.
Bewahre mich vor der Erwartung, es
msste im Leben alles glatt gehen.
Zeige mir, als der im Wissen undWandel Bewhrte (vijj-caraa-sampanno), den Weg zur Erkenntnis,
da Schwierigkeiten, Niederlagen,Misserfolge und sogenannte Rck-schlge eine hilfreiche Zugabe zumLeben sind, durch die ich wachse undreife.
Schicke mir, oh Willkommener (sugato)
im rechten Augenblick jemanden, derden Mut hat, mir die Wahrheit in Liebe
zu sagen und la mich Deine Wahrheit
aus meinem Innersten hren.
Ich wei, da sich so manche Situatio-nen auch dadurch lsen lassen, da ich
nichts tue. Zeige mir, oh Kenner derWelt (loka-vid), wo ich warten sollund gib mir die Geduld und das Ver-
trauen dazu.
Du weit, wie sehr wir der Freund-
schaft bedrfen. Gib, da ich dieserschnsten, schwierigsten, riskantesten
und zartesten Aufgabe des Lebens ge-
wachsen bin.
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10 Buddhasasana
Verleihe mir, oh bertrefflicher Weg-fhrer anleitungsbedrftiger Men-schen (anuttaro purisa-damma-srathi),die ntige Wachsamkeit, im rechtenAugenblick ein Pckchen Gte, mit
oder ohne Worte, an der richtigen Stel-le abzugeben.
Mach aus mir einen Menschen, der ei-
nem Schiff mit Tiefgang gleicht, umauch die zu erreichen, die unten sind.
Bewahre mich vor der Angst, ich knn-
te das Leben versumen.
Gib mir nicht was ich mir wnsche,
sondern was ich brauche.
Lehre mich, oh Lehrmeister von Gt-tern und Menschen (satth deva-
manussna), die Kunst der kleinen
Schritte!
La mich, oh Erwachter (buddho), dich
jeden Tag in meinem Herzen spren.
So knnen auch die anderen DeineWeisheit durch mich erfahren und fh-
len.
Das Du, Erhabener (Bhagav), in allem
bist, bei jedem kleinen Schritt.
Nava Guna Gth
Iti pi so Bhagav, araha, samm-sambuddho, vijj-caraa-sampanno, suga-to, loka-vid, anuttaro purisa-damma-srathi, satth deva-manussna, Buddho,Bhagav ti.
Der Lobpreis der neun Eigenschaften
Dies, wahrlich, ist der Erhabene, er ist
der Heilige, der Vollkommen Erwachte, derim Wissen und Wandel Bewhrte, der
Willkommene, der Kenner der Welt, der
unvergleichliche Wegfhrer anleitungsbe-
drftiger Menschen, der Lehrmeister von
Gttern und Menschen, der Erwachte, der
Erhabene.
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11Sommer 2556 (2013)
GESPRCH
Verheiratet mit einer Buddhistin
Kai HofmannBaldham
Ich habe keine Angst vor Spinnen, aberich mag sie auch nicht besonders.
Wenn ich frher eine im Haus entdeckt
habe, habe ich sie deshalb meistenskurz und schmerzlos mit dem Haus-
schuh erschlagen und dann mit einem
Kleenex entsorgt.
Seit ich mit einer Buddhistin zusam-
men lebe, die sich vor dem krabbeln-den Teil der Schpfung frchtet, ist das
nicht mehr so einfach. Um nicht unn-tig zu tten, habe ich ein altes Marme-
ladenglas und einen Pinsel aus demWasserfarbenkasten meiner Tochterbekommen. Damit muss ich Ungezie-
fer sanft aus Schlupflchern extrahie-
ren und vorsichtig im Garten entsor-gen. Etwas umstndlich, aber letztend-
lich ein erhebendes Gefhl, wenn man
sich als Lebensretter sehen kann, auchwenn ich mich gerade im Winter
manchmal frage, wie lange man alsSpinne bei minus 8 Grad auf der Ter-
rasse berleben kann und will.
Aber fr die groen weltanschaulichenFragen im Leben ist bei uns der
Bhikkhu zustndig, mir geht es mehr
darum, meine Frau glcklich zu ma-
chen, auch wenn ich mich dabei oft inder Rolle eines nur mig berzeugten
aber dafr voll solidarischen Unter-
sttzers wiederfinde.
So habe ich mich daran gewhnt, dassunsere Sonntagsspaziergnge kurz un-terbrochen werden, weil am Weges-
rand tote Tauben, Frsche oder andere
Kleintiere liegen, deren Weg in den Re-
inkarnationskreislauf durch ein Gebetmeiner Frau und einen piettvollen
Gesichtsausdruck von mir begleitetwerden muss.
Neulich habe ich mich sogar dabei er-
tappt, einer Katze, die dem morgendli-chen Berufsverkehr auf der A8 zumOpfer gefallen ist, mit einem inbrns-
tigen Omitofo meine Referenz zu
erweisen, obwohl meine Frau gar nicht
mit im Auto sa.
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12 Buddhasasana
Bei manchen buddhistischen Konzep-ten hat sich mir der praktische Nutzen
dagegen ungleich schneller erschlos-
sen, auch wenn ich die gesamte Trag-
weite nicht wirklich erfasst habe. Sohabe ich das Loslassen als sehr
machtvolles Instrument erkannt, wennman beispielsweise mit dem Abwasch
konfrontiert ist:
Zwar wscht sich das Geschirr auchdurch Loslassen bedauerlicherweise
nicht von alleine, aber ich kann vorhernoch entspannt die Sportschau genie-en oder zumindest meine Entschuldi-
gungsrhetorik etwas geschmeidiger
gestalten.
Aber auch einige tiefere Wahrheiten
des Buddhismus haben mich nicht
ganz unberhrt gelassen. Der Lebens-plan eines Buddha-Schlers kommt
auch mir bekannt vor: Erst fleiig ler-nen, um einen guten Job zu bekom-men. Dann hart arbeiten, um eine Fa-
milie zu grnden und Kinder grozu-
ziehen. Als krnender Abschluss undultimatives Lebensziel schlielich die
Perspektive, nach erfolgreicher Pflicht-erfllung nicht mehr hart arbeiten zu
mssen und sich um sich selbst zukmmern. Die Gegenfrage Budhhas,warum der Schler denn damit nicht
sofort anfange, ist ebenso einfach wahr
wie schwer zu beantworten.
hnlich sehen dies im brigen diemeisten meiner Brokollegen, bei de-
nen ich durch Geschichten wie diese
im Ruf einer Weisheit stehe, der mirzwar schmeichelt, aber meiner tatsch-
lichen spirituellen Reife in keinster
Weise entspricht. Denn auch wenn ich
mich einer pltzlichen Erleuchtungvermutlich nicht entziehen knnte, so
ist mein eigentlicher Herzenswunsch
in diesem Leben doch eher weltlich:
Ich mchte einfach ein guter Ehemannsein. Ich bin sicher, daran htte auch
Buddha selbst wenig auszusetzen, so-
fern er sich denn wirklich im Detail fr
das weltliche Geschehen im Groraum
Mnchen interessiert
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13Sommer 2556 (2013)
Mindfulness is notsati?
Lennart Lopin
Florida, USA
Many people, especially those who in-tensively try to put the Buddhas eight-
fold path into practice, have thoughtabout the meaning of samm-sati or
right mindfulness. In fact, the meaning
of this important aspect of Buddhistpractice had troubled me for a long
time.
The problem occurs when we start tolook closer at the oldest Buddhistscriptures available, the Pali texts, and
investigate the meaning and connota-
tions of this important Buddhist term.Before we begin, however, a very short
introductory remark:
Why is sati so important with regard to
the path to Nibbana?
Because it is at the innermost center of
the entire Buddhist meditation:
Now what is concentration, lady, what is
its topic, what are its requisites, and what
is its development?
Singleness of mind is concentration,
friend Visakha; the four foundations of sati
are its topic; the four right efforts are its
requisites; and any cultivation, develop-
ment and pursuit of these qualities is its
development. (MN 44)
So, what is wrong with translating sati
as mindfulness? Well for one, the word
does mean something different, as al-
most any Pali dictionary4 would prove:
Sati (f.) [Vedic smti: see etym. undersarati2] memory, recognition, con-sciousness, D i.180; ii.292; Miln 77 80; intentness of mind, wakefulness ofmind, mindfulness, alertness, lucidityof mind, self possession, conscience,self consciousness D i.19; iii.31, 49,213, 230, 270 sq.; A i.95; Dhs 14; Nd1 7;Tikp 61; VbhA 91; DhsA 121; Miln 37;etc.
4The Pali Text Societys Pali-English Diction-ary. http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali
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14 Buddhasasana
And under sarati we find:
Sarati [sm, cp. smti=sati; Dhtp 248"cint"; Lat memor, memoria=memory;Gr. me/rimna care, ma/rtu witness,martyr; Goth. marnan=E. mourn tocare, etc.] to remember D ii.234;Vin i.28; ii.79; J ii.29. . Caus. sreti to remind Vin ii.3 sq.,276; iii.221; srayamna, reminding
J i.50; ppr. pass. sriyamna Vin iii.221;w. acc. D ii.234; w. gen. Dh 324;
J vi.496; with foll. fut. II. (in t)Vinii.125, 4; iii.44, 9, etc. Caus.
II. sarpeti Vin iii.44; Miln 37 (withdouble acc.), 79.
Well, what does remembering (sati,
nominalized from the verb sarati, to
remember) or remembrance have to do
with mindfulness?
There are two ways we can solve this
mystery: We can look at the actualmeditation technique the Buddhawanted us to perform and which heused the term sati for. From there we
look at our experience and chose the
best English equivalent which comesto our mind, e.g. Vipassana or not-
ing!The other approach is a linguistic and
historic approach. And although in
terms of practice, the Vipassana exer-cises have always made sense to me
when compared to the hundreds ofsuttas in the Samyutta Nikya (i.e.
Salyatana Samyutta) I always won-dered about the linguistic puzzle: sati
seemed to imply something different
than mindfulness. Either the term
was not translated precise enough or
some background information was
missing.
Nowadays, when we are interested inpracticing mindfulness in a Buddhistcontext we tend to think of Venerable
Mahasi Sayadaw and Ledi Sayadaw
and Goenka retreats who brought the
Vipassana Meditation from the jungleback into mainstream Theravadan
teaching. Whenever you have a chanceto study their explanations on how toput the Satipahna-sutta into practice
they will talk about labeling or not-
ing sense impressions. In their Paliexpositions they use the term sallakheti
as did Ven. Buddhaghosa in hisVisuddhimagga. (2)
But where did the use of the verb sal-
lakkheti (as an explanation for sati)
come from? Where did this term comefrom? While the commentarial litera-ture uses the term sallakheti, meaning
to label, when describing the intrin-sics of Vipassana practice, certainly the
Buddha never himself described it insuch a way! He actually never used aword like sallakkheti but sati instead
hence the skepticism of so many West-erners towards the Burmese Vipassana
movement in the beginning of its ris-
ing to popularity. Now, where is the
connection, what are we missing?It is literacy!
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16 Buddhasasana
and falling. Thus, sati has a very spe-
cific meaning. The Buddha loved clari-ty, like any other good scientist. Sati or
Vipassana meditation can and should
therefore never be done without the
proper preparation.
By now you will wonder how the termsati became so established as mindful-
ness. Well, mindfulness will be a re-
sult of ones practice of noting, espe-cially during the noting and during the
seeing. However, the best term trans-lated as mindfulness is in fact a sepa-rate Pali word called sampajaa, lit.
to know together with so to know
while you do something that you do it,
as in this exercise:
Furthermore, when going forward & re-
turning, he makes himself fully alert; whenlooking toward & looking away when
bending & extending his limbs when
carrying his outer cloak, his upper robe &
his bowl when eating, drinking, chew-
ing, & savoring when urinating & defe-
cating when walking, standing, sitting,
falling asleep, waking up, talking, & re-
maining silent, he makes himself fullyalert.
In this way he remains focused internally
on the body in & of itself, or focused exter-
nally unsustained by anything in the
world. This is how a monk remains focused
on the body in & of itself.(MN 10)
Isnt it intriguing how this part getsalways neglected though it seems to be
the central part in the whole practice of
the four modes of satipahna - but
more on this aspect maybe in another
article?
This concept of sampajaa has been
moved to the forefront in many essaysabout Theravadan (sati-) meditation.
Even if sati and sampajaa go together,
the unclear understanding of sati leads
to such strange believes that if you justate your ice-cream with intense scruti-
ny and would mindfully indulge into
your emotions at depths while eatingit, you would actually be carried by
towards the goal of enlightenment.
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While this way of observation definite-ly intensified the sense impressions
due to the simple fact of strong concen-
tration, it nevertheless does little to ac-
tually aid seeing the rising and fallingof those sense impressions. You could
say that this ability or wisdom (3), toeventually see the rising and falling,the appearing and disappearing of
sense impressions is, the demarcationline between proper practice of sati ac-
cording to the suttas and indulgence in
sensual pleasures with heightenedconcentration.
It is this wisdom of seeing the rising
and falling which will make the mind
turn away from samsara, realizing itsframe-like structure forms the movies
compelling story and its grasp on our
mind fades, while dispassion andeventually freedom will result, namelybhavanirodho nibbna. Despite the
Buddha having explained this rather
clearly he also said that there can besomething called wrong sati or mic-
ch-sati (wrong attention) So, quite
contrary to popular belief, mindfulnessper se is not inherently wholesome. Ifit does not go to the root of the experi-
ence, it might easily turn into some
form of shall we say Tantrism? Def-
initely a deeper enjoyment of the sen-sual experience due to strong concen-tration but without the disillusioning
effect of samm-sati a noting whichneeds to be done in the appropriate
fashion, i.e. in an un-identifying and
de-conceptualizing manner.
Unfortunately, while eating that ice-cream and just being with the activity
we are carried away by a stream, awave of sights, tastes, feelings,thoughts, which we do not grasp as
such. We immediately identify with
them in every moment; object and con-
sciousness establishing reality whichwe grasp (become) and this is where
our thirst (lust) is working - its not theice creams fault that we suffer! Sowhen people start thinking of what
they have to give up in order to over-
come their craving right there, right
at that moment, right in that verythought alone lies freedom and bond-
age: Mara binds them to existence,
they suffer when the ice melts away,and death smiles, knowing you willnot escape or you are smiling back at
death, because you know, you already
have escaped.
Notes:
(1) This is how I would reconcile thesetwo positions: The aspect of memoryand remembering which Ven. Thanis-
saro focuses on is the aspect of notingand labeling using a concept likeform, form or feeling, feeling to
stop the proliferating process of the
mind in its tracks. Concentration is
needed to not get overwhelmed byoverpowering sense impressions and
to at least find some temporary footing
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18 Buddhasasana
at a meditation object. However, theuse of names to unlock the mystery of
name-and-form in this Vipassana exer-
cise has as its goal to create an extremeclear vision (nadassana) of what is
happening in each moment of the in-
terplay of the five groups of graspingin every moment of being alive. So yes,it is bare attention, but not in an in-
dulging sense but rather in a very con-
trolled and precisely deep way. A
method, which will after diligent ap-
plication, create a direct experienceand seeing of the rising and falling of
all sense impressions, in other words,the five groups of grasping leading tothe peace of Nibbana as described
above and other places.
(2) Guess where the Burmese re-
discovered this practice from whilethe ZEN Buddhists were fascinated bythe Visuddhimaggas (actually the
Vimuktimargas) concentration / jhan-
ic / dhyanic / chan / zen aspects, theBurmese were even more impressed by
its explanations about how to reach
full enlightenment by means of insightmeditation.
(3) Terms like these show the more ac-tive and knowing & knowledgethrough observation quality of pa
or wisdom as it is usually translat-
ed moving it much closer to the prac-
tice of sati then any form of abstractknowledge: manasikrakusalat pa
wisdom from proper attention, yat-
anakusalat pa wisdom from skill
with regard to the senses, paccup-pannna dhammna vipari-maanupassane pa udayabbaynupassane
a wisdom through an intense
repeated seeing of objects in the pre-sent moment as they change, follow-
ing up-seeing of the appearing and
disappearing.
(4) The two most interesting book onthis topic are In the mirror of Memory
edited by Janet Gyatso (esp. Collette
Cox article), a wonderful compilation
of all kinds of Indian sources on theconnection between sati and memory
and Mindfulness in Early Buddhism
by Tse-fu Kuan. While reading them,just dont forget to practice!
Mindfulness is chosen here not, as inmany cases, to avoid confusion withthe psychological function ofti in the sense of memory, but
precisely for the opposite reason; thatis, to indicate at the outset what this
chapter will illustrate: that the contexts
for the operation of smrti suggested by
the term mindfulness actually encom-pass the psychological functions of
memory as they were understood
within Indian Buddhism.
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Early Buddhist Criticism of Dit-thi according to Brahmajala Suttaand Atthaka Vagga
Bhikkhu Buddharakkhita
Entebbe, Uganda
Introduction
In the sixth century, India had many
religious teachers who presented a richdiversity of philosophical views each
with its own spiritual flavor. The Bud-
dha grouped all those views into sixty-
two categories, according to the Brah-manjala Sutta of the Dgha Nikya. TheBuddha himself repeatedly warned
against clinging to such views in the
Atthaka Vagga of the Suttanipta.
The Awakened One arose at a time inthe history of India, when most reli-
gious people were pre-occupied withcertain speculative and metaphysicalquestions. He considered the majority
of such questions regarding various
views as meaningless and beyond thescope of the theory of knowledge (epis-temology), thus not conducive to at-
taining the final goal of liberation.
Instead, he showed a non-dogmaticapproach to reality by propounding
the philosophy of Dependent co-arising and the practice of the Noble
eightfold path, the middle way,
which arises above the two extremes of
eternalism and annihilationism.
In both discourses, we can understandthe nature of views, the origin of
views, the cessation of views, the path
to the cessation of views, and the social
implication of views.
Nature of views
The Pli term dihi and Sanskrit
drsti are both derived from the root
dis or drs respectively which mean
to see. The Pali Text Society diction-
ary defines the meaning of this term as:
view, belief, dogma, theory, specula-tion.5
The Buddha systematically classified
the 62 views together and branded
them as wrong views since they didnot lead to the final goal of liberation.
He conveniently classified them into
either eternalist or annihilationistviews.
Sassatavda: idealism or eternalism
They believe that body and soul aredifferent, and the latter is metaphysical
while the former is physical. The soulsurvives death and passes on to the
next life. In order to free the soul, aus-
5 Encyclopedia of Buddhism , Vol. 4
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20 Buddhasasana
tere practices are necessary, such as
self-mortification.
The Buddha censured such practices
since they just lead to unnecessary
pain. Such views are motivated bycraving for sensual pleasure and crav-ing for existence, which in turn lead to
suffering. The Buddha taught that all
conditioned things are impermanent,
suffering and non-self. Therefore, thereis no soul, which survives death and
transmigrates on the next life.
Ucchedavda: Materistic or annihila-
tionist
They believe in the existence of soul
and body as being identical. Though
they assigned a different meaning tothe soul, yet they believe that it is
made out of the four primary elements(earth, fire, water and air) and a prod-uct of the body, which again is tem-
poral and impermanent. They prac-
ticed self-indulgence in sensual desire,since they believed in a single life. To
them, death is the ultimate freedom,and before dying one has to maximize
the enjoyment of sensual pleasure andminimize or eliminate the pain that fol-
lows upon pleasure.
However, the Buddha criticized anddevalued the craving for sensual
pleasure as base and low in manyplaces in the discourses. He said that
they are a mass of suffering and lead
away from final liberation. Sensualpleasures bring little gratification and a
lot of suffering in this very life. In fact,
the degree and extend of suffering is
proportional to the amount of attach-
ment for sensual pleasures.
Sensual desires give little happiness
Sensual desires are impermanent. Wecannot make our sensual pleasures lastforever. That tasty apple pie that you
had for your last dinner, where is thattaste now? Though we sometimes try
to sustain sensual pleasures, they al-
ways escape our grasp. In the end, we
feel wholly unfulfilled, unsatisfied,
disappointed and disillusioned.
Unfortunately, sensual desire operateson a false premise that goes against the
laws of nature that the Buddha ex-pounded. The annihilationist seems to
have ignored this fundamental fact.
A craving mind assumes the object of
pleasure to be permanent, satisfactory
and pleasurable as well as substantialand personal. Yet in reality, as we allknow, all conditioned things (like sen-
sual pleasures) are permanently im-
permanent, unsatisfactory and insub-
stantial.
For that matter, indulging in sensual
desires creates friction, disharmonyand dissatisfaction in our lives due to
our struggle to cling on to those things
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that are transient. At the outset, whenwe carefully consider the arising of
sensual desires, we notice that it cre-
ates a subtle degree of tension and anx-
iety in our body and mind, which
keeps on building up in our life.
Owing to the arising of desire, we re-
lentlessly struggle to acquire the ob-
jects of our desires. This endless strug-
gle to possess the objects of desire rein-forces the giving birth of even more
desires.In fact, any time we yield to incoming
sensual desires they become strongerthan ever before. However, we have topay a huge price for this endless search
for gratification. While accumulating
objects to quench our desires, we may
suffer from the burden of protectingthem.
We may even develop great fear and
anxiety that we will lose our posses-
sions. So, where is the trade-off for
attachment to sensual desires?
According to the Guhatthaka Sutta in
the Suttanipta,
those who are bound to the joys of becom-
ing occasioned by desire, looking forward
to (the pleasures of) the future or of the
past, hankering after those sensual pleas-
ures of the moment or those (said) before,
are indeed, very hard to liberate (from sam-
sara) and verily are not to be liberated by
others.6
The Buddha revealed that the tendency
to follow these two kinds of views has
three psychological aspects namely:dihi-sava (in-flow), dihi-updna
(clinging) and dihi-anusaya (underly-ing tendencies). Burdened with these
defilements, some religious teachers
asked the Buddha some philosophical
questions that were common during
that period such as: the nature of theworld, the extent of the world, whether
the soul and body is the same or dif-
ferent and the destiny of the Tathagataafter death.
The following ten questions formed a
kind of philosophical questionnaire
already present in the pre-Buddhistera:
Is the world finite?
Is the world infinite?
Is the world eternal?
Is the world not eternal?
Is the life principle the same as the
body?
Is the life principle different from the
body?
Does the Tathagata exist after death?
6 Suttanipta, Jayawickrama, N.A; ( 2001);Colombo, Post Graduate Institute of Pali andBuddhist Studies, p. 304.
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22 Buddhasasana
Does the Tathagata not exist after
death?
Does the Tathagata both exist and not
exist after death?
Does the Tathagata neither exist nor
not exist after death?
Such questions were based according
to the Buddha on logical mistakes.Therefore, the Buddha heavily criti-
cized the putting forth of such wrong
views and did not answer them onthree grounds.
Epistemological grounds:
Some questions exceeded the limits of
theoretical knowledge. To the Buddha,
there is a system of knowing such as:clairvoyance, inferential knowing us-
ing sense or extra sense perception andabhi.
And what happens to the Tathagataafter death? An explanation is given in
the Simile of fire in the Aggivac-
chagotta Sutta (M 72):"And suppose someone were to ask you,
'This fire that has gone out in front of you,
in which direction from here has it gone?
East? West? North? Or south?' Thus
asked, how would you reply?"
Pragmatic grounds:
Some questions were put aside becausethey do not lead to the Dhamma, holy
life, well-being, disenchantment, dis-
passion, higher understanding, peace,enlightenment and are not connecteddirectly or indirectly to the final goal of
liberation. However, some questions
such as whether the world is finite or
infinite and whether the world is eter-nal are not connected to the goal of lib-
eration.Also compare the Simile of the ar-
row: When a man is shot by an arrowand the doctor approaches him to re-move that arrow. Should he begin to
ask about the clan of the archer, the
poison on the arrow and so on, such a
man will surely die before all the ques-tions could possibly ever be answered.
Psychological grounds:
When questions are based on logical
confusion, the questioner has already
got fixed views and is burdened withwrong views, craving and conceit; the
questions are already based on a
wrong foundation. Such questions are
asked by either people from other reli-gions or ordinary Buddhist followers
who have not yet penetrated the truth.
According to the Avyakata Sutta in theSamyutta Nikya, Ven. Moggallana
revealed that such questions operate in
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the mind of those who harbor person-ality or identity views. It is wrong to
take the six senses as: I, mine, and
myself. Likewise the five aggregates
of clinging are not Not I, Not
mine, and Not myself. For instance,
is the self and the body identical? Arethe self and the body not identical?The question implies the assumption
of there being already a self.
Such questions are not asked by Ara-
hants since they have already aban-doned all wrong views.
Origin of ditthi
Speculative views are a part of the phe-
nomenon of dukkha because they represent
a misdirected search for security.7
According to the Brahmajala Sutta inthe Dgha Nikya, the sixty-two viewsare based on contact (phassa) of the six
sense-bases and their objects. Contact con-
ditions craving which in turn leads to
clinging, (to re-becoming, to birth, to ag-
ing and death and all manner of suffer-
ing).8
But the Tathagata has gone beyond
these things, and all the sixty-two
wrong views are trapped in his net.
7 The All-Embracing Net of Views; Bhikkhu
Bodhi (2007); BPS, p. 98 Digha Nikaya, A Translation of the DighaNikaya; Walshe, Maurice (1987, 1995); Bos-ton, Wisdom Publications, p. 55
According to the suttas in the AtthakaVagga, rationalization plays a major
role for speculative views to arise.
Through intellectual reasoning, some
people tend to discover truth usingtheir five senses. The Buddha heavilyobjected to knowledge being obtained
from speculative reasoning and medi-
tative experience both of which are
subjected to misinterpretation.
All the views dealt with in the Brah-
majala Sutta originate from one of twosources: reasoning and meditative experi-
ence.9
Cessation of ditthi
Since the cause of wrong views lies in
sense perception, the understandingand abandoning of the very sense per-ception is crucial in putting an end towrong view. According to the Gu-
hatthaka Sutta,
the sage having comprehended sensory
perception and crossed flood is not sullied
by ( the substrata of) grasping. Faring indiligence with the dart pulled out, he longs
for neither this world nor the next.10
9 Bhikkhu Bodhi, 1978
10
Suttanipata , Jayawickrama, N.A; ( 2001);Colombo, Post Graduate Institute of Pali and
Buddhist Studies, p. 306
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24 Buddhasasana
Furthermore, according to thePotthapada Sutta (DN 9), jhanic medi-
tation can gradually reduce sa (per-
ception) to subtler degrees until it
ceases altogether. In addition, non-clinging to any dogmatic view through
abandoning the three floods namely,conceit, craving and wrong view, leadsto the cessation of all views. An en-
lightened person who has eradicated
all fetters is free from any kind of
views.
The path to the eradication of ditthi
When a monk understands feelings as
they really are, the arising and passing
away of the six sense bases, their attraction
and peril, and the deliverance from them,
he knows that which goes beyond all theseviews.11
The Way to eradicate craving and ig-norance
Since speculative views are intimately
related to suffering, the best way to get ridof them is follow the Noble eightfold path
that leads to vision, peace, knowledge, en-
lightenment, and Nibbna.12
The Buddha taught the philosophy ofDependent co-arising and the practiceof the Noble eightfold path (middle
11 Digha Nikaya, A Translation of the DighaNikaya, Walshe, Maurice (1987, 1995) , Bos-ton, Wisdom Publications.12 Bhikkhu Bodhi.
path) which avoids the two extremesof views such as the view that every-
thing is due to one cause or predeter-
mined by fatalism (Niyativda) and
the view that there is no cause forthings to happen, also known as fortui-
tous origination.
According to the Samyutta Nikya, the
Buddha said,
When this is, that is; when this is not,
that is not; with the arising of this, that
arises, and with the ceasing of this, thatceases.
Through the cessation of the six
sense bases, contact ceases; through the
cessation contact, feeling ceases.Through the cessation of feeling, crav-ing ceases; through the cessation of
craving, clinging ceases; through thecessation of clinging, re-becomingceases; through the cessation of re-
becoming, birth ceases; through the
cessation birth, all manner of suffering(ageing, and death, sorrow and lamen-
tation, pain and grief) ceases. This is
the way to the cessation of ditthi.Basically, the teaching on Dependentorigination undermines the metaphys-ical views because it has these features:
nothing arises accidently; nothing aris-
es with a single cause; results are not
induced by single causes; the plurality
of causes produces the plurality of re-sults.
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Social implication of ditthi
Wrong views have a great impact onan individual harboring them as well
as the society at large. Apart from ob-
structing human spiritual progress onthe path of liberation by prolongingthe round of birth and death, clingingon wrong views can leads to endless
conflicts and disputes in society.
According to the Nidna Sutta and
Madhupindika Sutta, the Buddha
clearly mentioned that wrong viewsare the major cause of conflicts and
fights,
Kings quarrel with kings, nobles quarrel
with nobles, mothers quarrel with daugh-
ters, fathers quarrel with sons, brothers
quarrel with sisters, sisters quarrel with
brothers, and friends quarrel with friends.And here in their quarrels, brawls, and
disputes they attack each other with fists,
clods, sticks, or knives, whereby they incur
death or deadly suffering...13
Also, the Pasra Sutta in the Atthaka
Vagga mentions that peoples attach-
ment to views leads to speaking of ex-cellence of ones views and another
disparate other as individual truth.
Each one clings to a different opinion,thus leading to quarrels with the aim
of receiving praise. Some are engaged
in controversial talks amidst a gather-ing of people. Some are vanquished or
13 Digha Nikaya, I.
defeated, and thus become extremely
depressed.
Conclusion:
Having explored the nature, origin,end, the path to the end of views, it be-
comes abundantly clear that holding
on wrong views does not only lead to
ones suffering but has social implica-tions such as quarrels and wars. Byunderstanding the doctrine of depend-
ent origination, we can understand thenature of views and their causes such
as craving and ignorance. When we
abandon the causes of wrong views,
we reach the cessation of wrong views
and experience Nibbna here and now.
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Buddhism in Malaysia
K. Don Premaseri
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The origin of Buddhism in Malaysiacan be attributed to the Spice traderoutes that existed before the CommonEra, which passed through the straitsbetween Malaysia and Sumatra. Tradewas between Eastern points inAsia/Africa and China in the East. Theland route through central Asia fromChina to India is known as the Silkroute. Both the Silk and Spice routesare complementary and have seenemergence of trade gateways at vari-ous land and maritime points for ex-change of goods.
The earliest Buddhist influence in Ma-laysia has long been attributed to Indi-an influence and also the Malay king-dom of Sri Vijaya which was based inIndonesia. The Sri Vijaya Kingdomwas responsible for the building of themammoth Borobodur complex in Java,Indonesia.
Lembah Bujang, Kedah in northernMalaysia bears testimony to this influ-ence with archaeological findings ofBuddhist sculptures and images up tothe 5th Century AD and also Buddhistinscriptions. However the announce-ment in 2011 by the Malaysian gov-ernment of archaeological findings on
what looks like the base of a pagodadating back to the 1st Century AD isunprecedented, as this finding pre-dates all archaeological sites in South
East Asia to date. Only 10 % percent ofthe 90 identified archaeological sites inLembah Bujanghas been excavated sofar, fuelling fresh debate to the actualsite of the great Indian Buddhist Em-
peror Asokas Dhamma missionary toSuvarnabhumi (the Land of Gold).
Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Sumatra,Malaysia and Cambodia are possiblySuvarnabhumi, one of the 9 destina-tions to where emissaries were sent bythe court of the great Indian EmperorAsoka in the 3rd Century BC carrying
the message of the Buddha. The emis-saries to Suvarnabhumi were the Ven-erables Sona and Uttara, and interest-ingly some suggested coupling boththe names to get SonaUttara andsuggested similarities to the name ofthe Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Thambapani (now known as Sri
Lanka) has an unbroken link to Em-peror Asoka and thus the Buddha, bytheir well recorded historical trails of
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27Sommer 2556 (2013)
one such emissary, i.e. Emperor Aso-kas son, Arahant Mahinda. Thailand,Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia espe-cially have often claimed to be Su-varnabhumi, to attain a direct histori-
cal link and thus legitimacy to an un-broken lineage to the Buddha.
Malaysia or Lembah Bujang and Su-matra has not laid any such claims be-ing currently Islamic but this recentarchaeological discovery truly putsLembah Bujang well ahead of evenThailand, Myanmar or Cambodia as
the possible Suvarnabhumi. LembahBujang being the first land mass afterdays of sea voyage of traders from In-dia towards China is the natural portof embarkation, rest, supplies, replen-ishment, before the Indian traders con-tinued the voyage to China. It is alsothe possible gateway (hub) of goodsexchange for the Indians with the Chi-nese traders. Indian villages have beenset up in Lembah Bujang and naturallywith it, Indian culture and religions asthe archaeological findings haveshown up.
These beginning Buddhist influence innorthern Malaysia eventually evolvedinto a mixed form of Buddhism andHinduism and finally to Islam whichwas wholly embraced by the rulersand the people.
The second wave
The next wave of Buddhism came to
Malaysia possibly through the Chinesewho settled in the kingdom of Melakain central Malaysia. Trade and rela-tionship between China and Melaka
were close. There were even legends ofa Chinese princess marrying the rulerof the kingdom of Melaka and convert-ing to Islam. Chinese and Indian set-tlements were built in the kingdom for
the traders, each led by a certain leaderof their ethnic group. These Indian andChinese communities still exist in Ma-laysia today having a distinctive local-ly evolved culture known as Chitti(Indian) and Peranakan (Chinese).
There is however no trace of a Bud-dhist temple built in Malaysia in the
period of the kingdom of Melaka from1400 to 1511, when it eventually fell tothe Portugese conquest. It is also notknown if there were Buddhist templesbut these temples were destroyed bythe Portugese who were known fortheir disdain of other religions, as his-torically recorded of their wanton de-struction of Buddhist temples in SriLanka (then known as Ceylon) and theforced conversion of the local popu-lace. The oldest Buddhist temple inMalaysia is traced to be the ChengHoon Teng temple in Melaka, dedicat-ed to the Goddess of Mercy, built in1645, about 134 years after the fall ofthe kingdom of Melaka, during the
Dutch occupation of Malaysia. ThisCheng Hoon Teng temple was alsoused to settle disputes within the Chi-nese community and has also dedicat-ed shrines within the temple to otherdeities. It has become a major touristsite today. The Dutch colonists werenot as overzealous in religious conver-sion as their Portugese counterparts,and in Sri Lankas case were even wel-comed as liberators.
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Third wave
The opening up of Malaysia geograph-ically by the British colonists on theeconomic frontiers in the 19th centuryin areas of tin mining and rubberplanting did not appeal to the localMalay population who were keen infishing and farming. The struggle forlabor force resulted in active promo-tion of economic migrants and alsotraders into Malaysia from China, In-dia and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Most of theChinese engaged in commerce and tin
mining while the Indians and Ceylo-nese were absorbed into the civil ser-vice and rubber estates.
A famous Chinese temple set up in thisperiod in 1893 was the Kek Lok Si inPenang, reputedly the largest ChineseBuddhist temple in South East Asiaadorning a hill with a huge pagoda,
mammoth image of Kwan Yin and dot-ted with shrines dedicated to variousguardian deities. The Chinese contin-ued to build more temples throughoutMalaysia. Many were a mixture of Tao-ist temples rather than Buddhist tem-ples but they were all regarded as Chi-nese temples. Another huge temple setup was the Kwan Inn Teng in Penangin the 1800s. Even the Malaysian Bud-dhist Association which is an umbrellabody of all these Chinese temples con-sists of Buddhist and Taoist temples. Inthe 1990s however, there was increas-ing awareness of the distinction be-tween Taoism and Buddhism. The na-tional census and national identity
cards registered religious affiliation. AFederation of Taoist Associations Ma-laysia has also been established in the
1990s to create a clear identity for Tao-ism as a religion in Malaysia.
Mahayana Buddhism
The activities of the Mahayana grouphas been limited to rites and rituals on-ly but took great strides forward in thearea of Dhammaduta, socio-welfareand meditation with the arrival of mo-nastics from China/Taiwan who havebeen a dynamic force such as Venera-bles Keng An, Chuk Mor , Seet Kim
Beng, etc.
The emergence of energetic and re-sourceful local monks such as Venera-bles Chi Chern, Boon Kheng, Wei Wu,etc. too has been a great catalyst for thegrowth of Mahayana Buddhism in Ma-laysia especially among the youths.Strong associations committed to
Dhammaduta work were formed.Among them were the MalaysianBuddhist Association with branchesthroughout the country, Penang Bud-dhist Association, the Triple WisdomHall, Than Siang Temple, the TaipingBuddhist Society, Kuan Imm Teng inSelangor, Hoeh Beng temple, Wisma
Buddhist, Tham Wah Wan, etc.Today the Mahayana group forms thelargest group of Buddhists, Buddhistyouths and monastics in Malaysia,largely inspired by dynamic mastersfrom institutions in Taiwan such asFoguang Shan, Tzu Chi, Dharma DrumMountain, Hai Tao Foundation, Ami-
tofo Care Center, etc. The medium ofcommunication and instruction inmost Mahayana temples is predomi-nantly Mandarin. The Young Buddhist
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29Sommer 2556 (2013)
Association of Malaysia which wasformed in 1971 is an umbrella Bud-dhist youth organization with over 250Buddhist youth societies of which over80% are Mahayana, which gives a
good indication on the percentagebreakdown of Buddhism into Maha-yana and Theravada associations, tem-ples and adherents in Malaysia.
Most Buddhists who follow the Maha-yana tradition have undergone prima-ry schooling in Mandarin as mediumof instruction while Theravada tradi-
tion has mainly those schooled in Eng-lish or Malay as medium of instruc-tion. The Malaysian Buddhist Associa-tion operates a monastic training cen-ter in Penang called the MalaysianBuddhist institute while the FoguangShan operates one center in Selangorcalled the Dong Zhen. Ven. Wei Wualso operates a Buddhist university inSouthern Thailand and an institute inPenang. There is also a Buddhist FreeSchool, i.e. Phor Tay operated by theMahayana group. These institutes il-lustrate the extant of strength, com-mitment and sustainability of the Ma-hayana tradition in Malaysia. There areabout 700 Buddhist monastics in Ma-
laysia, mainly from the Mahayana tra-dition. Tzu Chi Foundation is theforemost Buddhist welfare group inMalaysia and the world, having 10 mil-lion members and chapters worldwide.
Theravada Buddhism
On the Theravada side, the first Bur-mese Buddhist temple in Malaysia wasbuilt in 1803, i.e. the DhammikaramaBuddhist temple in Penang which was
set up by a Burmese philanthropist la-dy on land purchased by her. Thetemple is today a major tourist site inPenang, and has a meditation centerand Sunday School too. Monastic
teachers from Myanmar have inspiredlocals into meditation mainly in theVipassanadhura using the Mahasimethod or the Pa-Auk method. Themost popular method remains the Ma-hasi method, which was popularizedby a Thai monk, Ven. Phra KhruDhammabanchanvud at the MalaysianBuddhist Meditation Center, Penang.Several meditation centers havesprung up inspired by this traditionwith resident Burmese monks and sev-eral English speaking Theravada cen-ters too have Burmese resident monks.Several locals have taken to the robes,inspired by the Mahasi tradition. TheGoenka method of meditation too is
popular in Malaysia with regular re-treats held with huge participationfrom locals and foreigners. Of late sev-eral new Burmese Buddhist centershave been set up mainly catering to theneeds of immigrant Burmese work-force in Malaysia. There are about 20monastics from Myanmar currently inMalaysia. Among the foremost con-
tributors of Burmese monks is Ven.Pannavamsa from Penang.
The first Thai Buddhist temple in Ma-laysia was built in 1845 on land donat-ed by the British Government to theThai people in the interest of com-merce. This Buddhist temple, the WatChaiyamangalaram in Penang housesthe worlds third largest recliningBuddha image and is a major touristsite. There are about 90 larger Thai
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30 Buddhasasana
temples and an unknown number ofsmaller Thai shrines in Malaysia cater-ing mainly to the Malaysian Thaicommunity who number about 80,000people and locals seeking blessings.
The larger Thai temples are locatedmainly in Kedah (48 temples), Kelan-tan (24 temples) and Perak (8 temples),the northern states bordering Thailand.This is due to the influence of Siamwhen the states of Perlis, Kedah, Ke-lantan, Trengganu were ruled by theKingdom of Siam. The worlds largestreclining Buddha image is sited at aThai temple in Tumpat, at the northernstate of Kelantan bordering Thailand.
There are about 150 local Thai and for-eign Thai monks in Malaysia and theyhave an umbrella body to coordinatematters such as Kathina with theheadquarters being the Wat Chetawanin Petaling Jaya in central Malaysia.The Chief Buddhist monk of Kelantanis known as Sangharaja and continuesto be appointed by the ruler (Sultan) ofKelantan, a tradition they inheritedwhen the state was a protectorate ofthe Kingdom of Siam (Thailand). Thereis keen interest in the Ajahn Chahbooks with thousands of copies pub-
lished of various titles published inEnglish and the annual Ajahn ChahRemembrance week is also commemo-rated in Malaysia on a large scale inthe last few years. Among the biggestcontributors of Thai monastics are VenChao Khun Silananda, Ven Phra KhruDhammabanchanvud and VenChamriang.
The Sri Lankans built their first temple,i.e. Taiping BodiLangkaram in 1885 inPerak followed by the Brickfields Bud-
dhist Temple (1894) - now known asBuddhist Maha Vihara Brickfields, SriLanka Buddhist Temple Sentul (1917)and the Mahindarama Buddhist Tem-ple Penang (1918). Currently only the
Buddhist Maha Vihara and the SriLanka Buddhist Temple is run byCommittees made up of Sinhala Bud-dhists while the other two templeshave Sri Lankan resident monks butthe Committee is made up of ChineseBuddhists. SeveraI other centers toohave resident Sri Lankan monks, whoin total number about 30 monks in Ma-laysia.
In comparison to the Thai and Bur-mese monastics, the Sri Lankan monas-tics have played a bigger role in thefield of Dhammaduta and socio-welfare among Malaysian Buddhists.Among the dynamic Sri Lankan monksof the past and present are Ven. K.Gunaratana, Ven. K Sri Dhammanan-da, Ven. Ananda Mangala, Ven. H.Gunaratana, Ven. P. Pemaratana, VenK Sri Pemaloka, Ven. K SriDhammaratana, Ven. B. Sri Sarananka-ra and Ven. I. Indraratana. They couldbe credited for the resurgence of Bud-dhism among the English educated
Chinese Buddhists and youths in Ma-laysia through Dhamma talks, discus-sions, free publications, SundaySchools, Adult Dhamma classes, socio-welfare work, etc. Tiratana Welfare So-ciety and Maha Karuna Foundation aretwo prominent welfare societies in-spired by Sri Lankan monks.
The local Chinese, Thai and SinhaleseTheravada monastics are limited innumber; however they have indeed setlandmarks and milestones in the an-
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31Sommer 2556 (2013)
nals of Malaysian Buddhism in theirown right. There are about 18 forestBuddhist monasteries in Malaysia.Among the famous local Chinesemonks who have set up forest medita-
tion centers and highly venerated areVen. Aggacitta (Sasanarakkha), Ven.Dhammavuddho (Vihara BuddhaGotami), Ven. Sakaro (Balik PulauMeditation Center), Ven. Suvanno(Lunas Meditation Center), Ven. M.Mahinda (Alokaramaya), Ven. Sujivo(Santhisukkharama), etc. Ven. Javanashines among the local Thai monasticsand is a well-known travelling medita-tion teacher, and not having a perma-nent abode. Ven. Sumana Siri shinesamong the local Sinhala monasticshaving excelled scholastically and alsoin the field of inter-faith harmonythough he is currently residing in Eu-rope.
Japanese Buddhism
The Japanese Buddhism influence inMalaysia is largely through theNichiren Soshu with two centers andSoko Gokai Malaysia who have beenset up in many towns throughout Ma-
laysia. They have strong fellowshipamong their followers but do not havecontact with other Buddhist groupswithin Malaysia. They are alwaysprominent in the media through theirlarge scale rhythmic gymnastic activi-ties including performances for Na-tional Day Celebrations or the SouthEast Asian biannual Games whichcould hold the audience in awe by therhythmic beats and effortless synchro-
nization of hundreds of participants tothe beat of music.
Vajrayana Buddhism
The Vajrayana group could be said thefastest growing group among the Ma-laysian Buddhists. It has gained greatimpetus with the visit of the VenerableGwalya Karmapa in 1980, H.H. DalaiLama in 1981, Lama Zopa Rinpoche in1996, etc. They have set up centers invarious places of the country and
formed a Federation called the Vajra-yana Buddhist Council of Malaysiaconsisting of 20 founding societies ofthe 4 Tibetan traditions. Their ability toorganize large scale prayer sessionsattracting thousands of people far ex-ceeding Mahayana and Theravadagroups despite being new is a newphenomenon in the Malaysian Bud-dhism landscape. Kechara Soup Kitch-en is the most prominent socio-welfaregroup among the Vajrayana tradition,feeding the homeless selflessly.
Moving Forward
While the national census show Bud-dhists to form 19% of the population ofMalaysias 28 million people, they aremerely Buddhists in name, many ofwhom do not regularly go to a Bud-dhist temple or center to learn theDhamma, except perhaps going once ayear to the temple for Wesak or when alifecycle event dictates it, such as birth,
death, marriage, sickness, blessings forprosperity, etc. Even these free flowdevotees walking through the gates ofa temple are not tapped through effec-
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32 Buddhasasana
tive outreach, let alone having goodDhamma books or CDs as food for theinquisitive or non-committed mind.
Current efforts to educate Buddhistsare simply an iota compared to Chris-tian and Islamic missionary efforts andthere is continuous drop of the Bud-dhist population due to conversions.
A Buddhist holiday in Malaysia
Wesak is a national holiday. ThoughMalaysia gained independence in 1957and Wesak was a holiday in somestates of Malaysia prior to independ-ence, it was declared a holiday only in1962. The struggle to get it declared aholiday has indeed been historical witha massive public signature campaignand lobbying by the Buddhist leaders,the Chinese community and the Bud-dhist temples. Buddhists need to riseup to the occasion to be foresighted
and focus on the field of Dhammadutataking leave from their forefathersstruggle to make Wesak a national hol-iday, and to have a strong rebirth ofBuddhism in Malaysia.
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33Sommer 2556 (2013)
KC Lim
14
15
16
14179MN
78 Samanamandika Sutta.15
1
860
63
MN81 Ghatikara Sutta67
MN83Makhadeva Sutta16102MN19
Dvedhavitakka Sutta172
214
MN 88 Bahitika Sutta
17
18
19
17133
MN 56 Upali Sutta
1875
MN 106 Anenjasappaya Sutta1979
MN 127 Anuruddha Sutta
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34 Buddhasasana
20
21
2033
21
Righteous Heart (English translation)
KC Lim
Singapur
When I was a little boy, my familys
favorite pastime was to watch HongKong TV dramas series, usually set in
an earlier period such as the Tang or
Qing Dynasty. In those dramas, the
scenes depicting the judicial court usu-
ally had the magistrate sitting in thecenter of the courtroom, with a signage
hung over his seat: . Trans-
lated character by character, it is
Righteous, Big, Bright, and Clear.
Presumably, these words represented
the emperors expectations that his of-
ficials should handle any court cases ina fair, righteous, and transparent man-
ner.
At that time, I didnt find much mean-
ing in those words. But as I grow older,and after learning more, I realize that
they embedded much more meanings
than I original thought.
The four characters, (righteous)
(big) (bright) (clear). Each has
a unique meaning. Each is a descrip-
tion of our heart.
What is righteous? The Buddha said
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35Sommer 2556 (2013)
upright-quality ascetics22. Righteousmeans to be upright and straight. The
reverse is being crooked and bent. It is
similar to planting a tree, we can plant
it upright, or we can plant it crooked.If the heart faces the right direction, it
is called righteous. If the heart facesthe wrong direction, it is called crook-ed. The right direction is to benefit
oneself, to benefit others, to benefit
all23; not to hurt oneself, not to hurt
others, not to hurt all24.
A righteous heart is inseparable fromstraightness. Being straight means the
heart is not bent or deformed, and
where stating one means one, stating
two means two. When what onespeaks is a true reflection of what one
thinks in his mind, this is also called
honesty. A tree could be plantedstraight and upright initially, but if thetrunk gradually grows to become bent,
then it will not be able to grow at the
right direction. A man with bent heartspeaks differently from what his mind
really thinks, and to such people, the
Buddha does not preach nor teachthem Dharma. This is because theirheart is not righteous, and therefore
they cannot accept the Dharma. This is
why when the Buddha speaks to some
ascetics of a different tradition, some-
22
Madhyama Agama (MA)#179equivalent to
Majjhima Nikaya (MN)#7823
MA#63equiv. MN#81MA#67equiv. MN#83
24 MA#102, equiv. MN#19MA#214equiv.
MN#88
times he will ask them whether theycan speak in a way that if something
is true, answer it as true, and if it is un-
true, answer it as untrue25. This is to
first set their heart in an upright andhonest state so that Dharma can be ac-
cepted. We should also constantly ob-serve and teach our mind to face the
world in an upright and honest stance.
What is big? A heart can be big orsmall. It is just like a box of kids toys,
some toys are big, some are small, andeach possesses a different shape. Asmall heart can fall into the thoughts of
greed, anger, and ignorance easily. A
big heart will not fall as easily into
greed, anger, and ignorance. This isbecause when the heart is big, the con-
tainers of greed, anger, and ignorance
cannot absorb this heart, and so theheart does not generate such evilthoughts. How big can a big heart
be26? The Buddha said big heart, lim-
itless heart27. A big heart can embracea tree, two trees, a forest, two forests, a
country, two countries, and more. A
limitless heart means that what theheart embraces cannot be measured.The types of heart that can embrace
limitless beings are known as Compas-
sion, Sympathy, Joy, and Equanimity
(alternatively translated as Protective).
25MA#133: (Translated and quote) The Buddha said:
Layperson, I wish to discuss this with you. If you
stay in the truth, answer the truth. equiv. MN#56
26 MA#75, equiv. MN#106 27
MA#79, equiv. MN#127
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36 Buddhasasana
What is bright? A heart can be brightand shiny, or it can be dark and dim.
When a heart is covered by greed, an-
ger, sleep, restlessness, and doubt, it is
not a bright heart. So when is a heartconsidered to be bright? When unkind
classes of factors such as greed and an-
ger do not affect the heart.
Therefore, when a man is performing
lustrous deeds, his heart is dark anddim. Because it is dark and dim, it
naturally trends towards stupidity andignorance, and naturally is unable toview the Dharma as Dharma. The
Buddha said repeatedly that we must
be devoid of lust, devoid of evil and
unkind thoughts and acts, just so thatour heart can get rid of darkness and
ignorance.
This is also why the Buddha teaches
the Bhikkhus that when they sleep,they should bind their mind to bright
perceptions28.
What is clear? A heart can be clear, or
it can be turbid. If it is transparent as a
diamond, this is considered clear. Thereverse is turbid. When the heart isaffected by filth or dirt, or unkind fac-
tors, it becomes turbid. Filth refers to
anger, dirt refers to lusts, unkind fac-tors refer to various types of taints that
are agonizing. Therefore, when theheart is commanded by anger, lust, or
arrogance, it is naturally in a state ofhigh turbidity, and it naturally be-28
MA#33
comes murky, and it naturally will notbe able to understand the true Dharma.
A murky heart is equivalent to igno-
rance.
How do we clear this heart? To makethe heart clear, we should first let it bestill. When the heart is still, it natural-
ly becomes clear, just like after the
muddy particles in a pond settled
down, the water becomes clear. This iswhy in Abhidhamma Citta, it was said:
The first step, we should start fromthe bodys six internal receptors, and
bind the heart there, so that it settles
down.29
Therefore, we should constantly prac-
tice the righteous, big, bright, and clear
heart. Before we do something, before
we say something, we should reflect: iswhat we are about to do righteous-
hearted, big-hearted, bright-hearted,and clear-hearted? If it is, we can do it.
If it is not, we refrain from doing it.
When we cultivate and hold a right-
eous, big, bright, and clear heart, we
will naturally be born in a kind world.And when the right reasons and in-stances occur, we will naturally be able
to perceive the Dharma.
29Dharmarestin, Abhidharmahrdaya[sastra], A Pi Tan
Xin Lun, Book II Part IV. Translated by Samghadevaand Hui Yuan
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37Sommer 2556 (2013)
BUCHREZENSIONEN
Samaneri Agganyani
Bruckmhl
Fhrer durch den Abhidhamma-
Pitaka von Nyanatiloka
Eine bersicht ber die philosophi-schen Sammlungen des buddhisti-
schen PaIi-Kanon nebst einem Essayzum Paticca-Samuppada
Michael Zeh Verlag 2013,
http://www.zeh-verlag.deHardcover, 178 Seiten, 39,90
ISBN 978-3-937972-21-3
(Theravada-) Buddhisten bekennensich und sprechen vom Tipitaka, dem
Dreikorb oder den drei Sammlungen
des Palikanons. Aber, Hand aufs Herz,
wer kennt schon den Abhidhamma-Pitaka? Zu Unrecht als Scholastik ab-
gewertet, stellt er systematisch, abs-trakt und vollstndig das Erfahrungs-und Einsichtswissen des Buddha dar,
das auch ein ernsthaft Meditierender
nachvollziehen und genauso praktizie-
ren, sehen und erleben kann. Aber das
Mammutwerk der sieben Abhidham-ma-Pitaka Bcher, etwa 6000 Seiten im
Original, liest sich und erschliet sicheinem schwer - erfreulich also einknapper Fhrer fr einen guten ber-
blick ber die Quintessenz der einzel-
nen Werke, der vielleicht auch den ein
oder anderen zur weiteren Beschfti-gung und Praxis inspiriert.
Beim vorliegenden Werk handelt es
sich um eine Rckbersetzung von
Nyanatilokas weltweit bekanntem"Guide through the Abhidhamma-
Pitaka" (Erstauflage 1938) ins Deutsche
von Dr. Julian Braun, der versucht hat,mglichst nahe an der englischen Vor-lage zu bleiben und die auch sonst von
Nyanatiloka gebrauchten deutschen
Begriffe zu verwenden. So glaubt man
denn beim Lesen fast schon, den lngstverstorben Ehrwrdigen Nyanatilokavor sich zu sehen, den ersten deut-
schen Mnch und einem groartigenAbhidhamma-Kenner.
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38 Buddhasasana
Oliver Menner
Zolling
Klassische und packende Einfhrung
Ein echter Klassiker! Walpola Rahulas
Buch wird auch heute noch von vielenals eine der besten Einfhrungen inden (Pali-)Buddhismus angesehen.Walpola Rahula (1907-1997), Mnch,
Gelehrter und Schriftsteller aus SriLanka gilt als einer der Top-
Intellektuellen nicht nur des Buddhis-
mus, sondern des 20. Jahrhunderts
berhaupt (er war z.B. der erste stli-che Mnch mit Professur im Westen,lehrte u. a. Geschichte und Religions-
wissenschaft). Fr eine verstndliche
und umfassende Erst-Einfhrung (dieman aber auch nach Jahren des Studi-
ums immer wieder gewinnbringend
zur Hand nehmen kann), ist das Bucherste Wahl. Natrlich merkt man man-
chen Passagen in Stil und einigen Aus-fhrungen die Entstehung in den sp-
ten 50er Jahren mittlerweile an (z.B. beigelegentlichen Ausflgen in weltpoliti-
sche Bezge), aber an der Aktualitt
des Dhamma einerseits sowie an der
geistigen Frische des Bhante und derLeichtigkeit, mit der er selbst komple-xe Zusammenhnge der Lehre (Anatta,
Patticca-Sammupada) vermittelt, hat
sich nichts gendert.
Plus / Minus: Sehr Kenntnisreich undfundiert. Umfangreicher Anhang mit
wichtigen Original-Texten (Dham-macakkappavattana Sutta, Satipatthana
Sutta, Auszge aus dem Dhammapada
u. a. mehr). Leichtveralteter Literatur-
Index, eher knappes Glossar von Pali-
Begriffen
Fazit: Walpolas Belesenheit, seine
ernsthafte und entspannte Geisteshal-
tung halten einen das ganze Buch hin-durch an der "kurzen Leine". Ein ech-ter "Spellbinder".
Rahula Walpola: Was der Buddha
lehrt - What the Buddha taughtz.B., Origo Verlag, Bern, 1997 - in
Deutschland leider vergriffen aber dieenglische Ausgabe von Grove Press
N.Y., 1974, gibt es noch recht gnstig
z.B. via www.amazon.de neu, als e-Book/Kindle-edition oder dort auch
2nd Hand. Und
natrlich auch in der Bibliothekdes Buddhistischen Klosters BodhiVihara, Fischergasse 11 in Freising.
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39Sommer 2556 (2013)
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