US Dhamma

Secret prayer for happiness starts with oneself

2010-10-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

It is known that whatever the time period, all people want to be praised by others. If possible, people also want not to be hated. The Buddha stated that, "everyone loves happiness, but hates sadness and miseries."
Whatever makes us happy, whether it is wealth, power or praise, we tend to want it. But we tend to refuse to accept the opposite. We then rummage to find the things that will lead us to wealth, power, praise and happiness by hook or by crook.
There was a story about a man who felt unfortunate because he was born without wealth, power or praise. He decided to go on a journey in search of protective talismans. These charms were said to be supernatural and were used to make you loved by others and make you rich. He rummaged for these talismans everywhere. When he received one, he tested it to see whether or not it would work.
Many years passed, and his life was still the same with no improvement in any way. One day he heard news from a neighbor that there was going to be a monk on pilgrimage setting up camp in the forest near the village. The man thought that the monk must have some protective talismans. He decided that tomorrow he would offer food to the monk and ask for one.
Early the next morning, the man prepared the food and offered it to the monk. When the monk finished eating, the man did not waste any time and asked for a protective talisman. The monk gave him a short prayer consisting of four words: Da Pi At Sa. But before the monk started to talk, the man quickly said farewell to the monk and returned home. He felt very happy that he had received the prayer of affectionate and that he no longer had to suffer. Day after day he diligently chanted the prayer, but he did not get any richer or more charming.
If that man was not in such a hurry and had listened to the monk's explanation, he would have known that wealth, power, praise and happiness are the things that we need to create for ourselves. No one can create them for us. If there is a prayer that can create those things for us, then that means it is not as permanent as what we create for ourselves.
Most of us are similar to this man, wanting to be successful fast without having to do anything. If the man had waited for the monk to speak, he would know that the prayer that the Lord Buddha offers says:
Da: generosity
Pi: using sweet-sounding words
At: rendering services
Sa: even and equal treatment
This short prayer has many hidden meanings. These meanings we need to fully understand and use in our everyday life to see the result in action. If one just chants the prayer it will create a great deal of concentration, but chanting and understanding will create wisdom. But by chanting, understanding and using the prayer in your life, you will face success in your career and life.
Let's decipher the hidden meaning behind this prayer, so we can use it to bring us its full capabilities:
"Da" is an abbreviation of the word "Dana" (generosity) meaning the giving and sharing with others. It's similar to the English saying, "The more you give, the more you get." Even though most people believe that the more you give, the more you loose, but that is only looking at the surface. If we look further we will find out that being given is what keeps the society going. The giver will receive happiness, comfort, respect and love from the receiver. "Pi" is from the word "piyavaca" meaning using sweet-sounding, meaningful, and useful words. The words resemble the water that soothes the mind and makes friends. The Thai poet Soontornpu stated, "when you use sweet-sounding words people love you, but foul words will destroy friendship." Judging whether you are good or bad depends on the words you use. Therefore, being in a society you need to be careful of the words you use. "Think before you speak." When you are alone be careful of your thoughts. When you are with friends, be careful of your words. "At" is an abbreviation for the word "Atthacariya" (rendering services) meaning doing what is helpful to the community or making yourself useful to the community that you live in. This is similar to the Thai saying, "when you stay in one's home do not stay idle, help take care of the owner's children." Wherever you are, make yourself loved by others by making yourself useful to others. "Sa" is from the word "Samanattata" meaning fair and equal treatment or participation and behaving properly in all circumstances. Man has the ability to act accordingly toward all people when he or she is aware of who they are and what their duty is.
These four secret principles will make people love you and improve our society. It starts from yourself first and then to the people who live with you and later on moves throughout the community.

The lesson of the butterfly can transform each one of us

2010-10-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

The lesson of the butterfly can transform each one of us
August 07, 2010

"Teachers are not only in the school, they are everywhere" said the outstanding scholar.
I agree that everything in the world can be our teacher and can teach us something. It simply depends on whether or not we can see it.
Think about the story of Newton when he saw the apple fall down from the apple tree. He learned the lesson. When the Buddha saw the old man, the sick man, the dead man and the monk, he also learned a lesson, which is the lesson of life.

The Virginia Living Museum in Newport News is a wonderful place to spend time with family and friends and learn about the world around us. There is a lot to learn from such a visit, such as the life of the butterfly.
Everyone in the world prefers the butterfly because they are so beautiful and amazing. Let's take a look at the butterfly's life cycle, which begins with an egg and progresses to caterpillar, chrysalis, adult, and then finally ends with the natural transformation of the butterfly.
If we look closely at the process of transformation from one state to another state, we see it is not an easy process. It takes time. It is very hard for every egg to go through the state of the caterpillar. After that, the caterpillar may die before even becoming a chrysalis or before changing into the beautiful butterfly. But when it transforms into the butterfly, it is attractive and beautiful for everyone to see.
In Buddhism, if we compare life to the life cycle of a butterfly, a great transformation also can exist within us. When human beings transcend from ordinary people (in Pali: Putuchana, the person who is full of greed, hatred and delusion) to a good person (Kallayanachana, the person who is good, and knows what is right and wrong) then transforming into the noble one (Ariyachana, he who gets rid of greed, hatred, and delusion) we can see all these steps as similar to the process a butterfly must undergo. We have a firm belief that every human being has the capacity to become a better person or the noble one, but they have to train themselves.
To transform oneself from an ordinary person to a good person and finally to a noble human being is not easy. To me, an ordinary person (putuchana) is like the caterpillar, because caterpillars do not look pretty — right? When we see them, some of us fear them; some do not want to touch them and try to escape from them. On the other hand, an ordinary person (putuchana) does a lot of good and bad things, such as following their own desires and cravings.
In the Buddha's time, Anathapindika is the business man who offered the temple to the Buddha. He was a very good lay disciple; however he had a son who was so bad that he feared that he would go to hell in the afterlife. He gave a lot of money to his son to return to the temple. His son went and slept somewhere in the temple and in the evening came back to get the money from his father. Everyday his son went to the temple but one day, his son got bored with sleeping and didn't have anything to do. So he went to the chanting hall and listened to the Buddha teach, and then realized the truth. His transformation is one from an ordinary person to the noble one. Soon after he began his own spiritual transformation.
To transcend to a good person and the noble person is like the butterfly's transformation. The Buddha shows each one of us the technique to transform our own mind from an ordinary state to the noble mind. One important thing we should remember is that every human being has the capacity to become a noble person since each one of us has the Buddha within us. But we all need training. In order to transcend from an ordinary person to good person and finally to a noble person, we need three techniques to transform ourselves.
The first technique is self-discipline, we have to control our anger to not harm and kill any beings, control our greed to not get anything that is not belong to us, control our lust or desire to not have sexual misconduct, to control our mouth to not speak what is not true, to control our desire to not drink or have something that we damage our consciousness.
The second technique is concentration, whatever work or thing we do, put our full energy to and try to concentrate and enjoy with that.
The third technique is being mindful or know when we stand, walk, sit, sleep, eat, drink, work, speak, think and so on. This is the way to transcend ourselves. We can become more beautiful like the butterfly.

You Are A Must-read Book

2010-10-26T11:54:00.000-07:00

You Are A Must-read Book
November 01, 2009By Phramaha Piya Uttamapanno (Jundadal)
We all agree that we want happiness and hate suffering. We live in a world of high technology where people seem to have everything needed to make them happy. And yet modern men and women, despite their many conveniences and medical aids, are still unhappy. Why?
I believe that the answer to this lies within ourselves. We simply do not spend time getting to know ourselves. Ajaan Chah, a famous meditation master, said in a speech to graduate students, "You have been reading many books and watching many movies; Now, I would like you to stop doing that and begin reading and watching yourself."
How much time do you spend watching yourself everyday? The first step in following the Buddhist way is to know yourself. We know so much about the world but so little about ourselves.
Knowing yourself is the first step toward happiness. As the Lord Buddha stated, "In this one-fathom-long body (about six feet), along with perceptions and thoughts, I proclaim the world, the origin of the world, the end of the world and the path leading to the end of the world."
When people ask me how they should begin studying Buddhism, I reply that one must begin by learning about oneself. In Pali, the ancient language which the Lord Buddha used to preach, there is a very important word, "sikkha." Sikkha means study or understanding yourself and is derived from two other words: "sa," meaning yourself, and "ikkha," meaning to see or understand. Going a little deeper, sikkha also has the flavor of trying to understand ourselves by reading the often complex book of ourselves, our mind and body together. Knowing how to read your special book will bring you happiness.
Learning how to read and know yourself takes dedication and practice. It takes effort, but it is worth the effort because you will find happiness and peace. Let me finish with the words of Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, who said, "He who knows other is wise, he who knows himself is enlightened."

อาสาสมัคร บทฝึกฝนตน Volunteer

2010-02-20T20:15:00.000-08:00

นักศึกษามหาวิทยาลัยคริสโตเฟอร์ นิวพ็อต นิวส์ รวมตัวกันมาเป็นอาสาสมัครช่วยงานทำความสะอาดวัด

สามเณร เหล่ากอของสมณะ

2010-02-19T19:44:00.000-08:00

เดือนสิงหาคมช่วงปิดเทอมของเด็กๆ ที่นี้ บางท่านได้นำลูกหลานมาบวช เพื่อศึกษาเล่าเรียนวิถีชีวิตของสามเณร

2010-02-19T19:32:00.001-08:00

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2010-02-19T19:12:00.000-08:00

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บุ๊คคลับ - book club

2010-02-19T18:52:00.000-08:00

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2010-02-19T18:40:00.000-08:00

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2010-02-19T18:25:00.000-08:00

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2010-02-19T18:05:00.000-08:00

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บรรยายที่บ้านพักคนชรา Lake Prince Woods

2010-02-19T17:50:00.000-08:00

ผู้บริหารของศูนย์นิมนต์พระธรรมทูตไปบรรยายเกี่ยวกับพระพุทธศาสนาและตอบคำถามที่เขาสนใจ

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2010-02-11T19:23:00.001-08:00

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