Vesak Day 2022- Remembering Buddha's Teaching

Today is Vesak day, the day that Buddhists commemorates the birth, enlightenment and parinirvana of Gautama Buddha who left a life of comfort in the palace, searching for the truth. I'll spend the day meditating and watching Venerable Master Sheng Yen, Ajahn Keng and Venerable Guan Cheng dharma talks. 

After attaining enlightening, Buddha had compassionately taught sentient being the Four Noble Truths. He reminded us to think and investigate his or others' teaching before accepting it.

On the night of enlightenment, Buddha attained the ability to recollect his past lives at dusk. In late night, Buddha attained the second knowledge which is the passing away and rebirth of beings according to their actions and closer to dawn, Buddha attained the knowledge of the destruction of mental defilements and came to be the fully self-awaked Buddha. Buddha had compassionately spent the next 49 years teaching sentients being the path to end suffering with the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold path. More than 2500 years later, with the advance of technology and past lives regression, it verified what Buddha had taught about rebirths and karma- cause and effect.  If you want to read about rebirths, you can read Dr Brian Weiss's book like Many Lives, Many Masters which touched on individual and collective karma and rebirths. 

The Four Noble Truths are

1) The truth of suffering. Like it or not, both rich and poor go through suffering. The suffering of old age, not getting what you want, separation, sickness.

2) The truth of the  cause of suffering (craving, anger and delusion)

3) The truth of the end of suffering. (There is a way to end suffering) 

4) The truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering is the Noble Eightfold paths.

The Noble Eightfold paths which helps to develop Sila (ethical conduct), samadhi (mental discipline or meditation) and panna (wisdom) are as follows

1) Right thought

2) Right understanding

3) Right speech (Refrain from lying, gossip, idle, harsh speech. If one has nothing helpful to say, be silent)

4) Right action (moral, honorable and peaceful conduct)

5) Right livelihood (Honest living, Refrain from making a living that harm others like selling weapons, intoxicating drinks and toxins)

6) Right effort (prevent unwholesome state of mind)

7) Right mindfulness (be aware and mindful of one's thoughts and feelings

8) Right concentration (meditation)

Watch your cause. Watch your thought. Every thing comes because of causation. This I and ego is because of causation. Every cause is because of a thought. Every thought when you habituated all the time becomes your character, your personality. Your destiny is determined by your character.

Om Mani Padme Hum by Ven. Guan Cheng; Nine Stages of Training the Mind (1)

In this lecture, Venerable Guan Cheng shared on how Om Mani Padme Hum can train the mind.

Thought originate from your mind. Your mind can be like fire. It can be useful depending on how you use it. It can be destructive if it is subjected to anger. That is the mental affliction of anger. Observe your mind. Be mindful. 

True Mind and False Mind

In this Heart Sutra, Venerable Guan Cheng talks about the True mind and False mind. What is true mind and what is false mind? I think true mind is the mind that never changes, that is bright and pure. In my opinion, false mind is based on the type of body we resides in, be it male or female or race. When we were born, we have been conditioned based on the family and country we were born. 

This false mind always think that the more we have, the happier we become. If we think further, do we own the things or do the things own us? Some things like diamond last a long long time but human only last at most 120 years old and not many reach 120 years old. This identity, this body is not permanent. It is subjected to aging and death. Due to this false mind, we created bad karma due to greed, anger and delusion.  The more you acquire, the less freedom you have.

Due to this false mind, it causes us to go through rebirths.