Thursday, December 31, 2020

YEAN: Mangala Sutta (Sayalay Susila)


Preface
In the Theravada tradition, the Maṅgala Sutta is a very popular discourse, one of 11 “protective chants” or parittas frequently chanted during Buddhist ceremonies as a blessing for the audience. It is also one of the first to be taught to newly ordained monastics residing in a monastery, prior to other protective chants they memorize and recite.

One may ask, What is so extraordinary about this sutra? It clarifies any confusion about what is a “true blessing” for devas and human beings who may be wondering.

In Buddhism, a blessing is not what we think ― the result of superstitious deeds like propitiating gods and spirits, burning incense, wearing protective amulets, performing elaborate religious rites and rituals, or following cultural traditions the way many Hindus believe bathing in the river Ganges cleanses them of unwholesome karma or sin.

true blessing is obtained only by abstaining from unwholesome, unskillful deeds ― whether mental, verbal, or physical ― so as to do what is wholesome, that is, refraining from harming ourselves and others. By walking this path, and thereby purifying one’s own mind/heart, one is protected. This is a blessing to oneself and others.

A conversation between the Buddha, who is often referred to as the Blessed One, and a Brahmin makes this clear (Sundarika-Bhāradvāja Sutta, which the Commentary calls the Pūralāsa Sutta, SN. p.79f; SNA.ii.400):

On one occasion the Brahmin Sundarika Bhāradvāja was sitting close to the Blessed One. Then he said: “Does Master Gotama go to the river Bāhukā to bathe?”*

“Brahmin, why go to the river Bāhukā? What can the river Bāhukā do?”

“Master Gotama, the river Bāhukā is held by many to give liberation; it is held by many to give merit; and many wash away their unwholesome actions (evil deeds) in the river Bāhukā.”

Then the Blessed One addressed the Brahmin Sundarika Bhāradvāja in verse:

“A fool may there forever bathe
Yet will not purify dark deeds....

One pure in heart has evermore
The Feast of Spring, the Holy Day;
One fair in act, one pure in heart
Brings his virtue to perfection.

It is here, Brahmin, that one should bathe,
To make oneself a guide for all beings.
And if one speaks no falsehood
Nor works harm toward living beings,
Nor takes what is offered not,
With faith and free from greed,
What need for one to go to Gayā?
For any well will be one’s Gayā.”
Vatthupama Sutta: "The Simile of the Cloth" (MN7) [Note 1].

The Buddha’s explanation knocks us on our head if we seek blessings from outside ourselves, say, for example, through superstitious means.

Although the Maṅgala Sutta, “The Discourse on Blessings,” was expounded to the devas, the shining ones (shining ones, light beings, godlings) it seems to be more suitable for an audience of human beings who seek after true blessings and happiness.

In this discourse, the Buddha teaches us to follow virtue in our daily lives, to uphold our responsibilities towards our families and to do our duty towards society, to cultivate good characteristics. Furthermore, it urges us to surpass simple mundane goals and aim for loftier aspirations to reach ultimate wisdom and liberation.

Back story
There are 38 verses in the Maṅgala Sutta. Although many Buddhists chant this discourse regularly and may even memorize it, that does not mean they necessarily understand the profound meaning of the discourse. Thus, they do not derive the best benefits of this sutra.

The Pāḷi word maṅgala is composed of three syllables: man means “woeful realm,” ga means “to go,” and la means “to block.” Thus, the term means “to block going into woeful realms.”

In ancient India people used to explore different teachings to acquire wisdom by gathering together for intellectual debates. Group discussions could take several months before a conclusion was reached.

Once, while discussing the question, “What is the supreme blessing?” people came up with many different answers. Some proposed that hearing words of blessings, namely, what is “auspicious, happiness, a good omen, delightful, perfect” and so on or something that is “under a lucky star, on the right day, at the right time” and so on ― that could bring a blessing.

Some proposed that seeing a sacred creature, such as a cow, was a blessing, while the sight of an ominous creature, such as a crow, was a curse. Some said the color white was a symbol of blessing, while others insisted it was the color red. No satisfactory answer could be determined after much debate.

Ideas about what is a blessing vary among nations because of cultural differences. In the Chinese culture, which is often thought to be obsessed with luck, the symbols of dragon or phoenix are considered auspicious, as is the color red. Older Chinese believe the color red can expel plagues and evils, so red cloth, crimson gems, and blood red items are exhibited with the hopes of expelling plagues.

The color red is a blessed symbol widely employed in celebrations: red dresses for wedding ceremonies, red lanterns and candles for festival activities, red firecrackers, red paper posted on doors for the lunar New Year, and so on.

For those in India, the cow (bovine) is truly sacred and auspicious. According to Vedic and Hindu beliefs, their chief god, Shiva, rides a bull. Bovine were not only symbols of reproduction and fecundity to them but also something that sustains their livelihoods through agriculture. Cows and bulls roaming freely [2] are often seen in in India, especially in the villages, because they are considered sacred and therefore hold an elevated position in Indian society.

In ancient Egypt, a fish was a symbol of the divine. In their spiritual belief system, eating fish might bring good fortune. Salted fish became a symbol of prosperity and abundance to bring about a plentiful harvest in the coming year.

So we can see, each ethnic group has its unique beliefs about what a blessing is. Such beliefs come from culture and tradition but have nothing to do with any universal truth.

Whether a Buddhist or non-Buddhist, everyone desires a blessing. Buddhists invite monastics to ceremonies to chant, sprinkle nectar, or distribute amulets, such as red thread for the wrist or Buddha and arahant talismans. Some even hold that a chanting ceremony performed over a newly purchased car blesses it and ensures its safety.

Can one really be blessed in this way? Or is it merely our wishful thinking ― our lazy reluctance to make real efforts to perform meritorious deeds (wholesome karma) ― that motivates us?

Some good teachers are disinclined to perform rituals and ceremonies for their disciples. They refrain from giving their students red threads and magic amulets, since they know that such practices do not actually bring about blessings or protection.

Instead, they teach their followers the precious Dhamma, the Teachings of the Buddha, to help them establish themselves in right view, for only right view can guide our daily lives to bring us true happiness and supreme blessings.

Therefore, one should clearly know that blessings are not obtained by praying to God, gods, or Buddhas, nor performing mere rites and rituals. Blessings only come as the results and fruits (vipaka and phala) of our own wholesome deeds of body, speech, and mind.

Imagine praying to a Buddha statue, petitioning it for a blessing or pleading with and paying monastics to offer it. Imagine that that could indeed bring peace of mind and protection or a blessing of any kind. Would not the whole world by now be completely free of disasters? Compassionate monastics would not need to be paid off; they would be happy to bless the entire world. However, it doesn’t work that way.

A true disciple of the Buddha must have the right view with regard to the law of the karma (kamma, the deeds we perform motivated and impelled by our intentions). By doing skillful and avoiding unskillful deeds, promoting good and refraining from harm, we protect ourselves and the others and build a harmonious society.

Let’s return to that discussion that asked, “What is the supreme blessing?” Following that heated debate in the human world, the earthbound devas started to debate it, followed by the celestial devas who were also intrigued. In the end, word even reached the Plane of Clear-sighted Devas in the Fine Material Sphere, and the shining one there got to thinking and debating, “What is the supreme blessing?”

So the discussion echoed from earth to the heavens. Devas and humans were trying to define and explain “blessings” based on their own experiences and understanding. This was true for everyone except the Buddha’s noble (enlightened) disciples. However, they could come to no agreement despite their heated debates taking place here and there.

At that time, Sakka, King of the Devas of the Realm of the Thirty-three and the Realm of the Four Great Kings, knew that the Blessed One ― who is the Knower of Worlds (lokavidū) ― was in the human world. He therefore ordered a deva to visit the Blessed One put to him the question.

The deva prepared then appeared in Anathapindika's Monastery in Jeta’s Grove like a flash of lightning. After paying homage to the Buddha, the deva stood respectfully to one side, and posed the question to the Blessed One in verse:

“Blessed One, many devas and human beings have been thinking about blessings, desiring well-being. Tell us, then, what is life's highest blessing?”

On that occasion, the Buddha expounded this discourse in reply:

This is the back story as to how and why the Blessed One came to teach the Maṅgala Sutta, the Discourse on Blessings.

May all be well and happy!

NOTES
[1] Here I use Bhikkhu Bodhi’s version, modified by Dhr. Seven (wisdomquarterly.com), rather than an accesstoinsight.org version. This translation, I think, flows more smoothly.
[2] I am not sure if it is happening as often today as it did in the past, but it is certainly a custom.
*The Bahukā is a river to which sacrifices were offered in ancient tie (M.i.39; J.v.388f.). v.l.

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

How different cultures celebrate New Years


How different cultures celebrate the New Year
(Global News, Dec. 26, 2019) Most people follow the Gregorian calendar, which has 365 days, or 12 months in the year. So January 1st ends up being the most commonly celebrated New Year. But depending on who one speaks with, the New Year reaches far beyond January 1st.

Asleep? Wake up with Alan Watts (video)


British "spiritual entertainer" Alan Watts (alanwatts.org) intrigues us with a discussion of being asleep without knowing it and setting an intention to wake up.

Clinging to things is the way to suffering

Ajahn Chah (ajahnchah.org) via Ven. Sujato, Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly
Clinging never works. Even the Buddha taught that millennia ago (amylansky.com).
.
The cause of suffering [pain, disappointment, unfulfillment] is clinging to things. So we should get rid of the cause, cut it off at the root, and not allow it to cause suffering again.

Therefore, people have only one problem – the problem of clinging. Just because of this one thing [which is rooted in ignorance and associated with aversion], people will kill each other.

All problems, be they individual, family, or social, arise from this one root. Nobody wins. They kill each other, but in the end no one gets anything. It's all pointless.

I don’t know why people keep on killing each other. Possessions, power, praise, status, happiness, and suffering, these are the worldly dhammas ["things"].

These worldly dhammas engulf worldly beings. Worldly beings are led around by [eight] worldly dhammas:
  • gain and loss,
  • acclaim and slander,
  • status and loss of status,
  • happiness and suffering.
These dhammas are troublemakers if we don’t reflect on their true nature.

The Amazon's amazing MAYA (video)


Lost World of the Maya (full episode)
Mayan Calendar, Maya-Aztec plaque, Mexico
(National Geographic, Dec. 30, 2020) The Maya -- their soaring American pyramids, monumental ancient cities, and mythical mastery of astronomy and mathematics -- have captured the world's imagination and spurred generations of explorers into the jungles of Central America on a quest to understand them. Lost World of the Maya surveys their dramatic rise to prominence in the "pre-classic era" of the Maya as well as new evidence of the collapse of their civilization in the 800-900's AD.

New Year's Eve song: Auld Lang Syne explained


That New Year's Eve song explained
New Year's Buddha quotes (newyearwiki)
(Vox, Dec. 31, 2018) The U.S. associates "Auld Lang Syne" with New Year's Eve, but not everyone else in the world does.

After the ball drops in New York's Times Square on New Year's Eve, the crowd cheers, couples kiss, confetti flies, and the song heard is "Auld Lang Syne.

For Americans this song is associated with another year passing, but it means something else entirely in other cultures.

Since the Scottish poet Robert Burns first published the words to the song in the 18th century, the melody has been adapted as a soccer ballad in the Netherlands, a graduation song in Japan, and more.

This video explains how an obscure Scottish folk tune took on new life around the world and how Guy Lombardo solidified it as the sound the U.S. hears at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve.

Vox.com is a news website that helps cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out vox.com.

Khan: Buddhism in world history (video)


An introduction to Buddhism and Siddhartha Gautama who became the Buddha
First human representation of the Buddha
(Wisdom Quarterly) Who was the Buddha or "Enlightened One"? He was a Scythian (Sakyian) prince from the northwestern frontier of what later became "India" (under Emperor Asoka). At the time it was a bunch of separate kingdoms and clan territories. This prince from Gandhara (now Afghanistan and Pakistan, following the Partition of 1947) renounced everything, traveled to Magadha, learned meditation and wandering asceticism, then struck off on his own to fulfill his quest, finding the answer to the question that dogged him all along, "Why do we suffer?" Realizing the three causes of suffering (greed, aversion, and delusion), he awakened and made an end of all suffering, becoming enlightened and glimpsing nirvana.

(Khan Academy, March 16, 2017) World History on Khan Academy: From the earliest civilizations to the modern world, geography, religion, trade, and politics have bound peoples and nations together — and torn them apart. Take a journey through time and space and discover the fascinating history behind the complex world we inhabit today.

ABOUT: Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. It tackles math, science, computer programming, history, art history, economics, Buddhism, and more. Its math missions guide learners from kindergarten to calculus using state-of-the-art, adaptive technology that identifies strengths and learning gaps. They've also partnered with institutions like NASA, the Museum of Modern Art, the California Academy of Sciences, and MIT to offer specialized content. For free. For everyone. Forever. #YouCanLearnAnything

King Tut's Treasures: Lost in Egypt (video)


Tutankhamun's Treasures: Lost Treasures of Egypt
(National Geographic, Dec. 23, 2020) New technology reveals why the boy Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s tomb remained hidden in the Valley of the Kings. Then King Tut’s treasures take a once-in-a-lifetime journey, and archeologists open a 4,000-year-old tomb.

ABOUT: Lost Treasures of Egypt is an immersive, action-packed, discovery-led series following international teams of Egyptologists as they unearth the world's richest seam of ancient archaeology -- Egypt's Valley of the Kings. For a full season of excavations with unprecedented access to the teams on the front line of archeology, Nat Geo follows these modern-day explorers as they battle searing heat and inhospitable terrain to make the discoveries of a lifetime. Using innovative technology and age-old intuition in their quest to uncover the secrets of these ancient sites, can the team's discoveries rewrite ancient history?

National Geographic is the world's premium destination for science, exploration, and adventure. Through world-class scientists, photographers, journalists, and filmmakers, Nat Geo gets closer to the stories that matter and past the edge of what's possible.

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Ring in the New Year w/ friends of Tibet House

Sharon Salzberg (menlaonline.orgmailchi.mp); Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Amber Larson, Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Envisioning 2021 is an online New Year event open to one and all (menlaonline.org).

Ring in the New Year w/ friends of Tibet House
Sharon Salzberg (sharonsalzberg.com)
Following the 13-year old tradition of celebrating the Roman New Year in the magic garden secret Valley of the Deep Blue Medicine Buddha, Menla Retreat and Spa Resort invites one and all to practice, party, and pray with Dharma, yoga, mantra, and kirtan!

There will be Buddhist teachings, practices, and musical performances with a stellar lineup:
  • Yoga teacher Michelle Loew (Vajra Studies)
    Dr. Nida
  • Yungchen Lhamo
  • Simrit
  • Jai Dev Singh
  • Sharon Salzberg
  • Krishna Das
  • Bob Thurman
  • Nena Thurman
  • Andrew Holecek
  • Michele Loew
  • Nina Rao
  • Alexander Mallon.
Prof. Robert Thurman, Uma's dad (Tibet House)
Join all seekers of reality, lovers of Mother Earth, and all her precious sensitive sentient beings!

Every morning yogas of various traditions, every day Dharma (Buddhist Teaching) lessons of various levels, every evening mantra chanting, and bhakti kirtan (devotional singing).

Dip in when and where you like, and keep the package for constant renewal throughout the year. (Via Team Sharon Salzberg)

Earth's anomalies with Mary A. Joyce (audio)


Researcher and author Mary A. Joyce is the editor of the website Sky Ships Over Cashiers, which features unusual and cutting edge topics.

She directs audiences to Google Earth so ordinary people can "become detectives" to find and examine anomalies like she does -- such as underwater structures off the California coast near Malibu.

According to her analysis, one undersea form is "about 2 1/2 miles across" and has "pillars that are 600 feet tall." She has found three other gigantic underwater structures near California, which she suspects are remnants of "ancient civilizations like Lemuria" (Mu).

Hold on, Honey. This'll blow your mind.
She has also studied details of the surface of Mars using Google and found what she says are numerous "giant entrances" that lead to subterranean cities. She notes that even NASA has noticed these anomalies and called them "prime targets for spacecraft and future human explorers."

Looking at our very own Antarctica, she has also discovered what she thinks may be entrances to underground spaces, caverns, and possible military facilities built by Germany.

She reveals that, mysteriously, often within a day of posting these artificial features, she finds that they are blurred by Google Earth or other workers who have "messed it up so people can't see it."

Closer to her home state of North Carolina, Mary A. Joyce has researched what she refers to as the "Cherokee Little People," a race of very real diminutive Native Americans who left ample evidence of their presence.

For example, she cites apparent tunnel complexes that are "square cut with a round top," which were uncovered by University of North Carolina construction workers in the years after WW II.

She also mentions research into Sasquatch or Bigfoot, which she has found "are not just monsters." She regards these natural creatures as "distant cousins of [modern] humans." AUDIO
BOOKS:

Saturday, December 26, 2020

The Inside and Outside World (Alan Watts)


Alan Watts (alanwatts.org) explains the world as it seems from the subjective experience of "self," which is ultimately unreal. This is all an illusion, and it is as if a dream is transpiring, and all are asleep. But what can that mean if everything is impersonal? Caught in the illusion, there is no making sense of it until the mind is purified and sees things just as they are. Then there is an awakening, a bodhi, or enlightenment to the way things really are. This is the purpose of Buddhism, which may be translated as "Awakenism."

Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism (video)

Khan Academy (khanacademy.org); Amber Larson, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism
World History with Khan Academy (3/16/17). This is an introduction to the major schools of Buddhist thought, ancient orthodox Theravada ("Teaching of the Elder Enlightened Monastics") Buddhism and reformed Mahayana ("Great Vehicle") Buddhism.
World History on Khan Academy: From the earliest civilizations to the modern world, geography, religion, trade, and politics have bound peoples and nations together — and torn them apart. Take a journey through time and space and discover the fascinating history behind the complex world we inhabit today.

ABOUT: Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. We tackle math, science, computer programming, history, art history, economics, and more. Our math missions guide learners from kindergarten to calculus using state-of-the-art, adaptive technology that identifies strengths and learning gaps. Partnering with institutions like NASA, the Museum of Modern Art, the California Academy of Sciences, and MIT, Khan Academy offers specialized content. For free. For everyone. Forever. #YouCanLearnAnything

System: It's time to "Kill Rock 'n Roll" (video)

System of a Down, "Kill R'nR"; MTV News/Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Friday, December 25, 2020

Subverting Christmas with Nazis (cartoon)


"Santa Claus is Comin' to Town"
(SuperMegaChristmas, 45th anniversary full film, 12/22/16) Fun Fact: Did you know that the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" became the biggest hit of Xmas 1934? Radio audiences went wild for the song, and requests for the sheet music went off the charts. What followed from Cantor’s radio show would eventually make a millionaire of Haven Gillespie. How to make this originally Pagan holy day (Saturnalia) converted into a boisterous Christian feast much more Jewish with evil Nazis? Introduce a Mother Goddess named Mrs. Claus? Mock the living heck out of its pseudo-Christian themes?

Xmas Meditation: Recollection of Peace (video)

Ven. Suddhaso (Buddhist Insights); Amber Larson, CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Remember to join us at Buddhist Insights on New Year's Day for a great start to 2021.

In a number of sutras the Buddha mentions a meditation practice called the "Recollection of Peace" (upasamānussati). On this holiday occasion Bhante Suddhāso explains various ways of applying this meditative method and the benefits it brings.
What is the "recollection of the peace of nirvana"?
Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary, edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly
Nirvana is the highest peace and greatest bliss.
The Buddha answered that this recollection is the ultimate of the ten recollections or anussati: "O meditators, whatever there are of things, the highest of them is considered detachment (virāga), which is to say, the crushing of conceit, the stilling of thirst, the uprooting of clinging, the breaking free from the interminable Round of Rebirths, the cessation of craving, letting go, extinguishing, nirvana" (A.IV.34).

Santa Claus: The Mushroom Shaman (video)


(Chris Rice, 11/1/18) From the upcoming film "Sacred Mushroom: A Lost History," this clip explores the increasingly widespread understanding that the Santa Claus myth has its origins in Scandinavian/Siberian shamanism and rituals involving a magic mushroom called Amanita muscaria.

The Psychedelic History of Christmas (doc)


(Short documentary, 12/11/18) Let's take a look at one of the most interesting "Christmas" stories that to help explain some of the customs and symbolism practiced in modern Western celebrations. Is Santa Claus (or Satan's Claws, as Dhr. Seven refers to the man in red) a psychedelic adventurer or a Scandinavian shaman who likes to drink lots of Coca-Cola?

Narration by Everyoneandnoone (aka Matthew Thomas). Song: "Joy to the World" performed by Michel Rondeau, composed by Lowell Mason. License: Song permitted for commercial use under public domain, non-copyrighted.

A very mushroom Christmas (audio)


Psilocybin "magic mushrooms" growing in a lab
Ethnomycology is the study of the historical uses and sociological impact of mushrooms (the fruiting bodies of fungi), a subfield of ethnobotany and ethnobiology.

Xmas is all about the lore and sociology of entheogenic mushroom use by Scandinavian shamans who were the medicine men and women of the Sami (the Laplanders or Native Scandinavians) and other Nordic peoples who gave us most of our Christmas legends and traditions.

Although in theory the term includes fungi used for such purposes as medicine (medicinal mushrooms), food (including yeast), and tinder, it is often used in the context of the study of psychoactive mushrooms such as psilocybin mushrooms, the Amanita muscaria or entheogenic fly agaric mushroom, and the ergot fungus. More

AOC, Bernie, US economy in the can (comedy)

Jimmy Dore (jimmydorecomedy.com, Xmas '20); Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly

Lecture on Happiness by English monk (video)

Ajahn Jayasaro via Keith, Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

British Ajahn Jayasaro, Thailand
(Georgetown University Qatar, 4/10/13) Ajahn Jayasaro, who was born in England, studied under Ajahn Chah in Thailand. He became a novice Theravada Buddhist monk in 1979 and a fully ordained monastic in 1980. He served for five years as abbot of Wat Pa Nanachat, Ajahn Chah's International Forest Monastery in Northeast Thailand that provides traditional Thai forest tradition training in English to people from around the world. He has lived in a hermitage at the foot of the Kow Yai mountain range for the past decade. He is the author of many books on Buddhist theory and practice, a meditation teacher to lay Buddhists, and advisor to a growing movement to integrate Buddhism more effectively into the Thai education system. He gave this lecture at Georgetown University in Qatar on the topic of happiness.

Was Santa Claus a Shaman? (video)


Who or what is the real reason for the season? It is not the god or savior of the Christians, after all, but a shaman clad in red and white. He lives in the axis mundi next to the magic world of elves and oddities visible still to those who consume Amanita muscaria the fly agaric entheogenic mushroom of Scandinavia and Siberia.

Evil Xmas: Krampus kicks yer @$$ (video)


Krampus: Exploring the Legend of the Christmas Demon
St. Nick with Krampus
(Mythology & Fiction Explained, 12/5/19) Today let's go back to explore a familiar European face, Krampus the Demon of Christmas. Take a look at his origins and the pagan beliefs from which he may have originated.
  • DISCLAIMER: This video contains information that children may find interesting but features a discussion that is in no way intended for children. So, kids, go away! Get out of here! You want Krampus to get your sorry butts in trouble? Get lost!

Monsters: Cryptids of North America (video)


Mythical Creatures of North America (documentary)
(Fire of Learning, 9/25/20) This video discusses tales behind many of the most famous cryptids of North America considering how many of them are real.
Music performed by Kevin Macleod available under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Download available at incompetech.com.

Pagans: A History of Christmas (video)


(Lindsay Holiday, 12/17/19) Bring in the figgy pudding! From Odin to Queen Victoria, Christian usurpers to American capitalists, here's how Xmas has changed over the centuries.
The traditional Christmas means family and friends gather around a fire, exchanging gifts, getting buzzed on mead, upturning the established social order, threatening violence to any and all party poopers, and children waiting in terror for their yuletide whipping!

Wait, that's not quite what most of us were taught! The history of the midwinter holiday now called "Christ mass" is much longer and spookier than most of us would ever think.

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Mundika the Wandering Ascetic (sutra)

Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson (eds.), the Samana-Mundika Sutra (MN 78) based on Ven. Thanissaro (Mr. Geoffrey DeGraff) Access to Insight translation, Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha teaching in stone
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One [the Buddha] was staying near Savatthi at Jeta's Grove in Anathapindika's monastery.

On that occasion Uggahamana, a follower of Mundika the wandering ascetic [1] together with a large following of wanderers, had taken up residence in the debating hall near the tinduka tree in the pavilion park donated by Queen Mallika.

Then Pañcakanga the carpenter left Savatthi in the middle of the day to see the Blessed One. But the thought occurred to him, "Now is the wrong time to see the Blessed One, for he is in [meditative] seclusion. Nor is it the right time to see the mind-developing monastics [who are followers of the Buddha], for they too are in seclusion.

"Why don't I go to the debating hall near the tinduka tree in the pavilion park donated by Queen Mallika to see Uggahamana, a follower of Mundika the wandering ascetic?" So he headed there.

Uggahamana was sitting with his large following of wanderers, all making a great noise and racket, discussing many lowly topics of useless conversation about:
  • kings
  • robbers
  • ministers of state
  • armies
  • alarms
  • battles
  • food and drink
  • clothing
  • furnishings
  • garlands and scents
  • relatives
  • vehicles
  • villages
  • towns
  • cities
  • the countryside
  • women and heroes
  • the gossip of the street and well
  • tales of the dead
  • tales of diversity
  • the creation of the world and the sea
  • talk of whether things exist or not.

Then Uggahamana saw Pañcakanga the carpenter coming from afar, and seeing him hushed everyone: "Be quiet, good sirs! Make no noise. Here comes Pañcakanga the carpenter, a disciple of Gautama the wandering ascetic [the Buddha]. He is a disciple of his, clad in white [as a mark of his dedication to the Buddha's Dharma and Discipline], who lives in Savatthi. These people are fond of silence, trained in quiet, who speak in praise of quiet. Maybe, if he perceives our group as quiet, he will consider it worth his while to come our way." His followers fell silent.

Then Pañcakanga went to Uggahamana and greeted him courteously. After an exchange of friendly greetings and courtesies, he sat respectfully to one side. Sitting there, Uggahamana said to him, "I describe an individual endowed with four qualities as being consummate in what is skillful, foremost in what is skillful, an invincible wandering ascetic attained to the highest attainments. What four qualities?
  • "In one case, one does no harmful action [bad karma] with body,
  • speaks no harmful speech,
  • resolves on no harmful resolve, and
  • maintains oneself with no harmful means of livelihood.
"An individual endowed with these four qualities I describe as being consummate in what is skillful, foremost in what is skillful, an invincible contemplative attained to the highest attainments."

Pañcakanga neither delighted in Uggahamana's words nor did he scorn them. Expressing neither delight nor scorn, he got up from his seat and left, thinking, "I will learn the meaning of this statement in the presence of the Blessed One."

He went to the Blessed One, bowed, and sat respectfully to one side. Sitting there, he recounted the entire conversation he had had with Uggahamana.

The Blessed One then said to Pañcakanga: "In this case, carpenter, then according to Uggahamana's words a foolish baby, lying on its back, is consummate in what is skillful, foremost in what is skillful, an invincible wandering ascetic attained to the highest attainments.

"For even the thought 'body' does not occur to a foolish baby lying on its back, so from where would it do any [intentionally] harmful action with its body, aside from a little kicking?

"Even the thought 'speech' does not occur to it, so from where would it speak any [intentionally] harmful speech, aside from a little crying?

"Even the thought 'resolve' does not occur to it, so from where would it resolve on any [intentionally] harmful volition, aside from a little bad temper?

"Even the thought 'livelihood' does not occur to it, so from where would it maintain itself with any [intentionally] harmful means of livelihood, aside from its mother's milk? So according to Uggahamana's words, a foolish baby lying on its back is consummate in what is skillful, foremost in what is skillful, an invincible ascetic attained to the highest attainments.

"If an individual is endowed with these four qualities, I do not describe such a person as consummate in what is skillful, foremost in what is skillful, an invincible ascetic attained to the highest attainments.

"Rather, such a person stands on the same level as a foolish baby lying on its back. What four [qualities do distinguish one as foremost in skillfulness]?

"In the case of one who does no harmful action with body, speaks no harmful speech, resolves on no harmful resolve, and maintains oneself with no harmful means of livelihood, such an individual endowed with these four qualities I do not describe as consummate in what is skillful, foremost in what is skillful, an invincible ascetic attained to the highest attainments. Rather, that person stands on the same level as a foolish baby lying on its back.

Ten qualities
The consummate Buddha
"But an individual endowed with these ten qualities I describe as being consummate in what is skillful, foremost in what is skillful, an invincible ascetic attained to the highest attainments.

"With regard to that point, one should know, 'These are unskillful habits,' I say. With regard to that point, one should know, 'That is the cause of unskillful habits...' 'Here unskillful habits cease without  a trace...' 'This sort of practice is the practice that leads to the cessation of unskillful habits,' I say.

"With regard to that point, one should know, 'These are skillful habits...' 'This is the cause of skillful habits...' 'Here skillful habits cease without a trace...' 'This sort of practice is the practice that leads to the cessation of skillful habits,' I say.

"With regard to that point, one should know, 'These are unskillful resolves [resolutions, intentions, motivations, volitions]...' 'That is the cause of unskillful resolves...' 'Here unskillful resolves cease without a trace...' 'This sort of practice is the practice that leads to the cessation of unskillful resolves,' I say.

"With regard to that point, one should know, 'These are skillful resolves...' 'That is the cause of skillful resolves...' 'Here skillful resolves cease without a trace...' 'This sort of practice is the practice that leads to the cessation of skillful resolves,' I say.

"Now what are unskillful habits?
  • Unskillful bodily actions,
  • unskillful verbal actions,
  • harmful means of livelihood.
"These are called unskillful habits. What is the cause of unskillful habits? Their cause is stated, and they are said to be mind-caused. What mind? For mind has many modes and permutations. Any mind [beset] with passion, aversion, or delusion [greed, hatred/fear, ignorance] is the cause of unskillful habits.

"Now where do unskillful habits cease without a trace? Their cessation has been stated: There is the case where a meditator abandons wrong [harmful] bodily conduct and develops right bodily conduct, abandons wrong verbal conduct and develops right verbal conduct, abandons wrong livelihood and maintains life with right livelihood. This is where unskillful habits cease without a trace.

"And what sort of practice is the practice that leads to the cessation of unskillful habits? There is the case where a meditator generates zeal, endeavors, arouses persistence, upholds and exerts intent:
  1. for the sake of the non-arising of harmful, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen...
  2. for the sake of the abandoning of harmful, unskillful qualities that have arisen...
  3. for the sake of the arising of skillful qualities that have not yet arisen... [and]
  4. for the maintenance, non-dilution, increase, surplus, development, and culmination of skillful qualities that have [already] arisen.
"This sort of practice is the practice leading to the cessation of unskillful habits.

"And what are skillful habits? They are skillful bodily actions, skillful verbal actions, and purity of livelihood. These are called skillful habits.

"What is the cause of skillful habits? Their cause, too, has been stated, and they are said to be mind-caused. What mind? For mind has many modes and permutations. Any mind free of passion, free of aversion, free of delusion, this is the cause of skillful habits.

"Now where do skillful habits cease without a trace? Their cessation, too, has been stated: There is the case where a meditator is virtuous but not fashioned of virtue [2]. One discerns, as it actually is, the release [freeing] of mind by awareness and discernment where skillful habits cease without a trace.

"And what sort of practice is the practice that leads to the cessation of skillful habits? There is the case where a meditator generates zeal...
  1. for the sake of the non-arising of harmful, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen...
  2. for the sake of the abandoning of harmful, unskillful qualities that have already arisen...
  3. for the sake of the arising of skillful qualities that have not yet arisen... [and]
  4. for the... development and culmination of skillful qualities that have already arisen.
"This sort of practice is the practice that leads to the cessation of skillful habits.

"And what are unskillful resolves? Resolving on sensuality, on ill will, on harmfulness, these are called unskillful resolves.

"What is the cause of unskillful resolves? Their cause, too, has been stated, and they are said to be perception-caused. What perception? For perception has many modes and permutations. Any sensual-perception, ill will-perception, or harmful-perception is the cause of unskillful resolves.

The meditative absorptions
"Now where do unskillful resolves cease without a trace? Their cessation, too, has been stated: There is the case where a meditator, quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful mental states, enters and remains in the first absorption (jhana) accompanied by rapture and bliss (piti, supersensual pleasure) born of withdrawal, accompanied by applied and sustained attention. This is where unskillful resolves cease without a trace.

"And what sort of practice is the practice that leads to the cessation of unskillful resolves? There is the case where a meditator generates zeal...
  1. for the sake of the non-arising of harmful, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen...
  2. for the sake of the abandoning of harmful, unskillful qualities that have already arisen...
  3. for the sake of the arising of skillful qualities that have not yet arisen... [and]
  4. for the... development and culmination of skillful qualities that have already arisen.
"This sort of practice is the practice that leads to the cessation of unskillful resolves.

"And what are skillful resolves? Being resolved on renunciation [letting go internally, freedom from sensuality], on non-ill will, on harmlessness, these are called skillful resolves.

"What is the cause of skillful resolves? Their cause, too, has been stated, and they are said to be perception-caused. What perception? For perception has many modes and permutations. Any renunciation-perception, non-ill will-perception, or harmlessness-perception is the cause of skillful resolves.

"Now where do skillful resolves cease without a trace? Their cessation, too, has been stated: There is the case where a meditator, with the stilling of applied and sustained attention, enters and abides in the second absorption with rapture and bliss born of mental composure, unification of mind free from applied and sustained attention with internal assurance. This is where skillful resolves cease without a trace.

"And what sort of practice is the practice that leads to the cessation of skillful resolves? There is the case where a meditator generates zeal...
  1. for the sake of the non-arising of harmful, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen...
  2. for the sake of the abandoning of harmful, unskillful qualities that have  already arisen...
  3. for the sake of the arising of skillful qualities that have not yet arisen... [and]
  4. for the... development and culmination of skillful qualities that have already arisen.
"This sort of practice is the practice that leads to the cessation of skillful resolves.

"Now, an individual endowed with which ten qualities do I describe as being consummate in what is skillful, foremost in what is skillful, an invincible ascetic attained to the highest attainments?

"I say it is one endowed with:
  1. the right view of one [gone] beyond training,
  2. the right resolve of one beyond training,
  3. the right speech...
  4. the right action...
  5. the right livelihood...
  6. the right effort...
  7. the right mindfulness...
  8. the right concentration...
  9. the right knowledge...
  10. the right liberation (release, freedom) of one [gone] beyond training
"is one whom I describe as being consummate in what is skillful, foremost in what is skillful, an invincible ascetic attained to the highest attainments."

That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, Pañcakanga the carpenter delighted in the Blessed One's words.

NOTES
  1. This can also mean "the shaven-headed ascetic," in which case Uggahamana might have belonged to one of the Jain sects.
  2. The Pali here is no ca sila-mayo. According to the Commentary, this means that one does not regard virtue (sila)  as the consummation of the path. It may also mean that one does not define oneself by one's virtue. This term is apparently related to the state called atammayata, or "non-fashioning." On this topic see my book The Wings to Awakening, particularly the introduction to section II/B and passage §179.