3. TALKS INVOLVING SAMADHI IN PARTICULAR


THE MIDDLE PATH

The Eightfold Path which the Buddha preached in his first sermon is known as the Middle Path because it is neither optimistic nor pessimistic. Optimism tends to over-estimate the conditions of life, whereas pessimism tends to under-estimate them. To plunge on the one hand into the sensual excesses and pleasures of the ordinary worldly life is mean, degrading and useless. On the other hand. extravagant asceticism is also evil and useless. Self-indulgence tends to retard one's spiritual progress and self-mortification to weaken one's intellect. The Path is a Middle Way between the pairs of opposites. and the doctrine of the 'Way' may only be grasped by an understanding of the correlation and interdependence of the two. Progress is an alternating change of weight or emphasis between the two. Yet, just as a fencer's weight seems ever poised between his feet resting upon either foot only for so long as is needed to swing back the emphasis, so on the path the traveller rests at neither extreme but strives for balance on a line between, from which all opposites are equally in view. All extremes beget their opposites, and both are alike unprofitable.

For all people, the Middle Way of a good life lived in the world is in every way best and safest. The Buddha said:* 'These two extremes are not to be practised by one who has gone forth to the higher life as a Bhikkhu (who renounces the world). What are the two? That conjoined with passion. low. vulgar, common, ignoble. And that conjoined with self-torture, painful, ignoble and useless.' Avoiding the two extremes. the Buddha had gained the knowledge of the Middle Path which gives sight and knowledge and tends to calm, to insight, enlightenment.

Now, what is the Middle Path which gives sight? It is the Eightfold Path, namely: right understanding. right thought, right speech. right action, right livelihood, right effort, right attention and right concentration. Of these the first two form a starting point for the journey of life. Then follow three having to do with outward conditions and then three having to do with inward conditions. The immediate goal is to attain control of the mind; with this control all individual desire can be, and will be rooted out and ended. The ultimate goal is the ending of all dissatisfaction and suffering through the attainment of perfect enlightenment. perfect wisdom.

The first step along the Path toward the goal is Right Understanding. This involves an understanding of the Four Noble Truths, namely the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the ceasing of suffering and the truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering. What now is suffering or pain? Birth is painful, old age is painful, sickness is painful, death is painful, sorrow, lamentation, dejection and despair are painful. To be separated from pleasant things is painful, to be in contact with unpleasant things is painful and not getting what one wishes is painful. Life is full of sorrow unless man knows how to live it. On the physical plane, birth, old age and death cannot be avoided, but there is another sense in which life is often sorrow, but a kind of sorrow that can be entirely avoided. The man who lives the ordinary life of the world often finds himself in trouble of various kinds. It would not be true to say that he is always in sorrow, but he is often in anxiety, and he is always liable at any moment to fall into great sorrow or anxiety. The reason for this is that he is full of worldly desires of various kinds, not at all necessarily wicked, but desires for worldly things and because of these desires he is tied down and confined. He is constantly striving to attain something which he has not, and when he has attained it he is anxious lest he should lose it, this is true not only of money but of position, power and social advancement.

There are other objects of desire~ for example, a man or a woman desires affection from someone who cannot give it to him or to her. From such a desire as that comes often a great deal of sadness, jealousy and much ill-feeling. You will say that such a desire is natural; undoubtedly it is, and affection which is returned is a great source of happiness. Yet if it cannot be returned, a man or a woman should have the strength to accept the situation and not allow sorrow to be caused by the unsatisfied desire. When we say that a thing is natural, we mean that it is what we might expect from the average man. But the student of Buddhism must try to rise above the level of the average man, otherwise how can he help that man? We must rise above that level in order that we may be able to stretch down a helping hand.

The Second Noble Truth is the cause of suffering. We have seen that the cause of suffering is always desire to possess and desire to preserve things possessed. The Buddha says that man's sense of possession is his greatest enemy, for the desire for accumulation steals from him his reason and intelligence. To be attached to a thing is to be sad at the loss of it. To despise or hate a thing is to be unhappy at the approach of it. Selfish desire for a worldly material object results in sacrificing spiritual treasure to secure the desired object which is probably of little value. Therefore, selfish desire destroys the sense of value, for selfish desire places worldly possessions above wisdom, and personalities above principles.

Some people express sorrow when they find old age coming upon them, when they find they are not so strong as they used to be. It is wise for them to realize that their bodies have done good work, and if they can no longer do the same amount as before, they should do gently and peacefully what they can, but not worry themselves over the change. Presently they will have new bodies, and the way to ensure a good one is to make such good use as they can of the old one, but in any case to be serene, calm and unruffled. The only way to do that is to let all selfish desire cease, and to turn the thought outward, helping others as far as one's capabilities go.

Now the Third Noble Truth, ceasing of suffering. We have already seen how sorrow ceases and how calm is to be attained: it is by always keeping our thought on the highest things. We may live in this world quite happily if we are not attached to it by foolish desire. We are in it, but we 'must not be of it. at least not to such an extent as to let it cause worry, trouble and sorrow. Undoubtedly our duty is to help others in their sorrows and troubles. but in order to do that effectively we must have none of our own selfish desires. If we take this life with philosophy we shall find that for us sorrow almost entirely ceases. There may be some who think such an attitude unattainable. It is not so. We can reach it, and we ought to do so, because only when we have attained it can we really and effectively help our brother man.

NIBBANA

The cessation of craving or selfish desire means the removal of all the hindrances, for all the others group themselves about this one root-factor; the result is called Nibbana. The Pali term Nibbana is formed of Ni and Vana. Ni is a negative particle and Vana means craving or selfish desire. Nibbana. therefore, literally means absence of craving. It may also be defined as extinction of lust, hatred and ignorance.

Now the predominance of this negative explanation of the Buddhist goal, Nibbana, resulted in the mistaken notion that at is 'Nothingness' or 'Annihilation'. Nevertheless we do find in the Pitakas such positive definitions of Nibbana as 'Highest Refuge' (Parayana), 'Safety' (Tana), 'Unique' (Kevala). 'Absolute Purity' (Visuddhi). 'Supramundane' (Lokuttara), 'Security' (Khema), 'Emancipation' (Mutti), 'Peace' (Santi), and so on.

The Sanskrit root 'Va' means to 'blow' and the prefix 'nir' is used to denote 'off' or 'out', being parallel to the Latin 'ex'. Hence Nibbana, in its Sanskrit form, means the 'blowing out'. What is blown out is understood to be the flame of personal desire. Nibbana is therefore not negative because it is the blowing out of the passive part of man, of his wishing tendencies. It is freedom, but freedom not from circumstances, but from the bonds with which we have bound ourselves to those conditions. The man who is strong enough to say, 'Whatever comes I accept as best' becomes free, because he now lives in the process of the spiritual evolution of himself, not in the pleasure of personality, and he can make use of all things for the purpose of that evolution.

Freedom does not mean that one can do everything that one can imagine, that one can defeat a lion with a slap of the hand. It contains no such aggressive conceptions when properly under stood. Some people may say that freedom of the will would mean that they could do anything they wish, but they forget that those very wishes restrict their freedom. Freedom means that one can not be made a slave to any one or anything. A free man is able to use freely any one or anything as a useful thing. Nothing. however, can use this man as its slave, because he is free from personal desire, and free from resentment, anger, pride, fear, and impatience which arise through selfish desire. Such binding emotions are blown out like so many candles. That man is free on earth. He has reached Nibbana in this world.

The Fourth Noble Truth is the Way leading to the end of suffering. It is the Middle Way, the Eightfold Path. So, the best way which leads to the end of all sorrow is the Middle Path.

Now let us proceed to the discussion of the other steps of the path. The second step is Right Thought. We should think about right things and not about wrong things. We can have at the back our minds always high and beautiful thoughts. Right thought must never have the slightest touch of evil in it; there are some people who would not deliberately think of anything impure or horrible, and yet they will cherish thoughts which are on the brink of that not definitely evil, but certainly a little doubtful. Wherever there is anything which seems in the least suspicious or unkind, it must be shut out. We must be quite sure that our thoughts are only kind and good.

There is another meaning of right thought, and that is correct thought. So often we think untruly or wrongly of persons just because of prejudice or ignorance. We get an idea that a certain person is a bad person. and therefore that all he does must be evil. We attribute motives to him which are often absolutely without foundation, and in doing so we are thinking untruly of him, and therefore our thought is not right thought. We are looking at one side of the person and we ignore the other side.

By fixing our attention on the evil in the man instead of the good, we strengthen and encourage that evil, whereas by right thought we might give just the same encouragement to the good side of that man's nature.

The third step is Right Speech. and here again we should speak always of good things. It is not our business to speak of the evil deeds of others. In most cases the stories about other people which reach us are not true, and so if we repeat them our words will also be untrue. Even if the story is true, it is still wrong to repeat it. In a family if a husband or a wife or a son or a brother did something wrong. we should certainly feel that it would be wrong to advertise the misdeed of one whom we loved to many people who would not otherwise hear of it. We should speak with regard to others as we should wish them to speak with regard to us. Some people allow themselves to fall into exaggeration and inaccuracy, and they make little things into enormous stories; surely that is not right speech. They also have the idea that when one meets a friend one must keep talking all the time, or the friend will be hurt. With the idea of seeming smart, they keep up a stream of constant half- joking or sneering talk. They must always be showing everything in a ridiculous or amusing aspect. Certainly all that comes under the heading of idle words. if we must talk, at least we might say something useful and helpful. Speech must be kindly, direct and forceful, and not silly.

The fourth step is Right Action. We see at once how these three steps necessarily follow one from another. If We think always of good things. we shall certainly not speak of evil things; if our thought and speech are good, then the action which follows will also be good. Action must be prompt and yet well-considered, and it must be unselfish. We should do what we can to help others. We do not live by ourselves. We live amongst others, so that whatever we think or say or do will necessarily affect a great many people. We should remember that our thought, our speech and our action are not merely qualities, but powers we possess to use. All are meant to be used for service, and to use them otherwise is to fail in our duty.

The fifth step is Right Livelihood, and that is a matter which may touch quite a large number of us. The right livelihood is that which causes no harm to any living thing. That affects such trades as those of a butcher or fisherman; but it reaches much further than that. We should not obtain our livelihood by harming any being, and therefore we can see that the selling of alcohol is not a right means of livelihood, because the seller is living on the harm he does to other people. The idea goes yet further. Take the case of a merchant who in the course of his trade is dishonest. That is not a right means of livelihood, because his trading is not fair and he is cheating the people. When you trust a doctor or a lawyer you expect to be treated fairly. In the same way the customer comes to the trader, and therefore the latter should be as honest with his customer as the lawyer or the doctor is with his client or his patient. You have a right to make a reasonable profit in the course of your bargain, but you must also look to your duty.

The sixth step is Right Endeavour, and it is a very important one. We must not be content to be negatively good. What is desired of us is not mere abstinence from evil, but the positive doing of good. When the Buddha made a short statement in a single verse, he began by saying 'Cease to do evil', but the next line runs: team to do good'. Every person has a certain amount of strength, not only physical, but mental, and can do a certain amount of work. Every person has also a certain amount of influence among his friends and relations. That influence means power, and we are responsible for making good use of that power. All about us are children, relations, employees, and over all of these we have a certain amount of influence, at least by example. We must be careful of what we do and what we say, because others will copy us.

The seventh step is Right Attention. Vigilant attention leads us to see correctly and to attain a point of view from which we see beyond the pairs of opposites. He who does not practise attention is the plaything of the multiple influences with which he comes into contact; he is like a drifting cork which is at the mercy of the waves. He unconsciously submits to the action of his physical and psychologic environment.

We should be conscious of our movements and acts, both physical and mental. Nothing of what goes on in us should escape unnoticed. We should be conscious of the feelings which arise in us and recognize them. When the power of attention is enhanced, and one has reached the point where one misses none of the phenomena which arise in oneself, one proceeds to investigate them and to search for their causes. He will be aware of his anger when he is angry, and find the cause of it, and foresee the result of it. In this way he will check all his feelings, envy, sensuality, anxiety, etc. If he performs a charitable deed, he also should question himself as to the motives which he obeyed. The result of this kind of question will often be a powerful influence to minimize selfish moral values.

The practice of perfect attention is a means of learning to know oneself. to know the world in which one lives, consequently to acquire right understanding. Another practice under this heading is the exercise of memory: for example, at the end of each day one recalls the actions which one has performed, the feelings which one has experienced, the thoughts which one has entertained. The examination is conducted backwards, that is to say, beginning with the last thought one has and working back until the first moments after waking. The aim of this exercise is simply to teach us to allow none of the things which our senses have perceived, or the ideas which have passed through our minds, to become obliterated. This practice of memory, when fully developed, will result in attaining the knowledge of remembering former births.

The eighth step is Right Concentration. It is the right concentration of thought upon a single object. Meditation is to be practised only after concentration in concentration we start with simple objects, and in meditation we carry the clear conception of that simple object to the higher mental and intellectual levels. To make it clear, imagine someone pouring water from above into a jar. if there are many holes round the bottom and sides of the jar, the water will run out, but if the holes are all filled in, the water will rise. Most of us are like the jar full of holes, ready to leak, so that we cannot concentrate our thoughts. Meditation is like the pouring of water, concentration is like the filling of the holes. Concentration makes our consciousness steady without leakage and meditation fills it with clear vision and wisdom. By meditation on a chosen object, you will observe that object clearly and understand the function of it in conjunction with other things. By meditation, therefore, we enlarge our knowledge and wisdom.

When your meditation is fully developed it opens up ways of intuition and many supernormal powers which some people call occult powers. These powers may be obtained even before one reaches the state of Nibbana. In a way it is true that they are occult powers because they are hidden from those who have not developed their minds in this way. On the other hand these powers are not occult because they are not hidden from those who have sincerely and strenuously practised right meditation, they just form an extension of the powers used in ordinary life. By the powers developed you can see things which you cannot see otherwise, because your consciousness, thoughts, are so pure, like a polished mirror which reflects everything that appears in front of it. If the surface of a mirror is not clear you can see nothing in it. In the same way, without meditation your consciousness and thoughts may be mixed up with selfish desire, hatred and delusion, but when they are purified and developed by means of meditation. you will see things as they truly are and your wisdom will shine forth.


BUDDHIST METTA

Metta is the world's supreme need today, greater, indeed, than ever before. As you know, in the world now there is sufficient material and money and, as you see, we have very advanced intellects, very clever and brilliant authors, philosophers, psychologists, scientists and also religious people, ministers of law, morality, religion and so on. In spite of all these brilliant people, there is no real peace and happiness in the world. it shows that there is something lacking.

That is Metta. a Pali word which has been translated into English as 'Love'. When you use the word 'love' you have different ideas in the interpretation of this word and you may mean many other things, because it is a word that has been loosely used and in some cases misused or abused. Therefore when you talk about love, people may have a different concept. So we use the Pali word 'Metta' to mean Loving-kindness - not the ordinary, sensual, emotional, sentimental kind of love. As you know, the word 'Love' has been defined in many ways in the English language, according to the ideas in the minds of different people professing different religions.

For instance, a recently published booklet entitled 'Love' has been given to me for my perusal and I would like to comment on it. I am not going to discuss any particular point in this book. I just want to show you how different from Metta a definition of 'Love' can be. The author of this book is a highly respected teacher of a certain theist faith. According to his definition of Metta, and he uses our Pali word. 'Love is God. Love emanates itself in any of the creations of God. Man is foremost'.

I would like to read a little about 'Love' towards animals from this book.

'Man requires vigour, strength or procreation to serve God ...to protect him and others and to control the world successfully. In order to be strong and powerful man must eat nutritious food and for this reason God has instructed Man to kill and to eat ...bullocks, camels. He is not permitted to kill wild animals . . otherwise he would himself become wild in course of time. By reason of the flesh of domestic animals being eaten by man, the goodness of these animals mingles with men's souls and thus (sic) indirectly obtain Heaven. This amounts to a good turn done to them by men - an act of compassion shown by men to them. This is not cruelty in life'.

With due respect to the author I have read this passage out to you just for comparison. He equates Metta with 'Love', with his, to us, rather peculiar logic and way of looking at things.

What is the Buddhist idea of Metta? Metta has been translated by modern translators into English as 'generous mindedness, loving-kindness, sending out thoughts of love towards others', but in the words of the Buddha, Metta has a far wider significance - a much more extensive implication than this. It means a great deal more than loving-kindness, harmlessness (Ahimsa), sympathy. I would like to mention a point here. According to the Christian Bible 'Goodwill' is supposed to be very good. You remember the message of goodwill given by the angels when the child Christ was born. The angels, they say, gave a message of goodwill to the world, 'Peace on earth to men of goodwill, etc.'. When you examine this message you realize that the angels gave peace on earth only to men of goodwill and not to all the people. That is the message. In Buddhism, Metta has been emphasized. It is much deeper than goodwill. Also harmlessness is a very, very good, grand principle but it is a negative aspect. This loving-kindness, according to the Buddha's Teaching, has two aspects. One is negative, that is adosa (amity) as explained in the Abhidhamma: it is an explanation of Metta but it is negative, meaning 'absence of hatred and hostility'. Though absence of hatred is a grand thing, it is not good enough unless its active aspect is emphasized - that is loving-kindness. Not to do evil is very good but it is only a negative aspect - to do good is the positive aspect. So also Metta has its positive aspect.

What is love? Love is also defined in the Oxford Dictionary. According to it, love means 'warm affection, attachment, affectionate devotion etc.'. These are the synonymous terms for love. They all refer to sentimental, worldly love. Therefore, Metta has no full English equivalent because this Metta is much more than ordinary affection - warm affection. The Pali word Metta means literally - 'friendliness', also love without a desire to possess but with a desire to help, to sacrifice self-interest for the welfare and well-being of humanity. This love is without any selection or exclusion. If you select a few good friends and exclude unpleasant persons, then you have not got a good grasp of this Metta. Love is not merely brotherly feeling but a principle for us to practise. It is not merely benevolent thought but performing charitable deeds, active ministry for the good of one and all. A subject - not to be talked about but to be - to put it in your being - to suffuse it within ourselves. It is, then, a dynamic suffusing of every living being, excluding none whatsoever, with dynamic. creative thoughts of loving-kindness. If the thoughts are intense enough, right actions follow automatically.

People talk about ideas to counteract other ideologies. We Buddhists do not need any new ideologies, we have enough in the teachings of the Buddha. Out of the four Brahma Vihara - this Metta - which is one of them, is good enough to create anything noble, anything grand to make peace and happiness at home, in society and in the world.

Metta - pure loving-kindness - embraces all beings everywhere, either on earth or in the skies or Heaven. It also embraces all beings high or low, without measure because the poor people, lowly people, evil people, ignorant people are most in need of it. Because in them it has died out for lack of warmth or friendliness - this Metta becomes with them like a weak stream running in a desert. This Metta includes loving. unloving good and bad people.

You may ask. 'Should we love foolish people - fools?' It is a common question asked in foreign countries, Should we love snakes?' European ladies also asked 'Should we love mice?' European ladies do not like mice. But we should not hate a person just as a doctor does not hate a patient but his duty is to quell to get rid of the disease the patient is suffering from, to take out anything that is wrong in that person, or we may say the disease that is afflicting the person. Therefore, it should include all beings without measure.

This Metta is entirely different from sensual lust which has passed as 'love' in the world today, which has also been admired and talked about as emotional love. This Metta is much higher - in fact it is the highest form of love. It is much higher than sentimental, sensual love.

In its outward appearance sentimental love seems to be very sweet but it is like fire - indeed far worse than fire. Once it is born it grows rapidly, flowers at one moment and then it scorches and burns the possessor in another moment leaving ugly wounds and scars. That is why in Burmese we say 'Achitkyi, amyetkyi'. The more sentimental love you have, the more hate you have and the more suffering you have; because it is like fire which burns very easily. But Metta has a cooling effect like the soft touch of a gentle hand - soft but firm - without changing its sympathy. So it only creates a calm, pleasant atmosphere.

Sorrow for loved ones is not a sign of this love - Metta. Love is strength, because it is pure and gives strength. It is not weakness.

I would like to recite, not Pali but a translation of a passage from the Metta Sutta - a very valuable Sutta. You hear Sayadaws( Sayadaw: Burmese for Mahatheras. A Thera is a fully ordained Bhikkhu of 10 years' standing. A Mahathera is a fully ordained Bhikkhu of 20 years' standing ) recite this Sutta in Pali on almost every occasion.

This passage gives an example of what love is. This is not a perfect example, but for want of a better example the Buddha has chosen the love of a mother. He says in the Metta Sutta:'Just as a mother, even at the risk of her life loves and protects her child - the only child - so let a man cultivate this Universal Love - towards the whole universe; below, above, around, unstinted, unmixed with any feeling of opposing interest. Let him remain steadfastly in this state of mind, all the while from the time he awakes, whether he be standing, walking. sitting or lying down. This state of heart is the best in the world'.

This is the model held up by the Buddha to the world. This is the ideal of what man should be to man. This is the appeal to every heart. It is a service for all in the form of a mother's love. Does a mother merely radiate her love in the bringing up of her child? Can any one express this deathless love of a mother for her child that she has within her heart? If you consider a mother's love for her child you will find that it is boundless. Therefore it is called 'Appamana' in Pali. It has no limit.

The love of a mother who has only one child is the example chosen by the Buddha. Imagine a mother's love; when a child is hungry she is watching carefully to feed it before it asks her for it. When the child is in danger, she will risk her own life. Thus in every way she helps her child. Therefore the Buddha asks us to love all beings as a mother loves her only child. If we can do it even up to a certain extent, I think the world will be a different place - happier and more peaceful.

Though we talk much about love and repeat the formula 'Sabbe satta avera hontu. avyapajjha hontu etc.' (May all sentient beings be free from danger; may they be free from oppression. etc.) without this love how can it be effective? This passage is not merely to be recited. The Buddha does not ask us to learn any of his teachings for recitation only. They are in the nature of prescriptions. The doctor may diagnose, find the cause of your disease and will give you a prescription according to his findings. Will the disease be cured by merely reciting the formula backwards and forwards? You may have a recipe how to cook food, how to cook curry. You may recite it backwards and forwards but you will not have the result. So recitation is nothing practical. Theory is good but is not good enough, because it is not the end of a thing, it is only the beginning of it. So recitation of the Metta Sutta is good but the Buddha did not mean it to be merely recited. He exhorted us to follow his instructions in it so that we might realize Metta, the best state of heart in the world. Therefore my advice is, do not be satisfied with the mere recitation of the Sutta but strive to know its meaning with a view to practising it and 'to become it' - to make it suffuse your being. That is the point. Meditation does not mean merely to think about it, but to practise it in our daily life.

I would like you to do a very short meditation on Love. So as to make you familiar with meditation, I would like to show you a practical method which you can practise wherever you go.

Now, coming to the message of Love. We are asked to be loving towards all beings as a mother loves her only child. Therefore, Metta must go hand in hand with helpfulness, with willingness and a spirit of sacrifice for the welfare of other beings.

In the Digha Nikaya, it is said by the Buddha that almost every virtue such as unselfishness, loving sympathy and loving-kindness is included in this Metta. If you have real Metta you can be almost everything; you can radiate a noble, grand peace. It is this Metta that attempts to break away all barriers which separate beings one from the other.

Some people may doubt as to whether Love can be a basis of policy for settlement. Many people look upon this Love - Metta - as a feminine virtue. They say it is a soft feminine virtue. But true Love is a masculine dynamic power which breaks all the barriers and builds. Who has built the most lasting empires? Is it Alexander, Caesar or the Buddha? We often talk about the Roman Empire, French Empire, Russian Empire. Where are those empires now? Those empires lasted temporarily because they were based on hatred, pride and conceit. They were not based on love. Any policy used, which is not based on love, cannot last very long.

In this connection. I would like to use a simile. Life is like a big wheel in perpetual motion. This great wheel has numberless small wheels in it each of which has its own pattern. The great wheel and the smaller wheels - the great Universe and the individuals are so linked together that we depend one on another for service, for happiness, for development. Therefore, our duty is to bring out the goodness in each one of us - which is in harmony with the pattern of the world. For all the wheels to revolve in harmony. the highest good in each one of us should be produced. For instance, in a car, to make it in running order - to use it - every part should be in order. If we are going to create a happy family. happy house, everybody in the house, at least the majority, must be in good order. If we are to create a good harmony in ourselves, the majority must be in good order so that it will be in harmony with happiness and peace. It can be done here and now by the performance of daily, hourly duties with love, courtesy and honesty.

The ideal placed by the Buddha before us is mutual service - men being in need of each other - to help each other, bear each other's burdens. We have three types of work as mentioned in the Nikaya - three modes of conduct for the Buddhist, In Pali we call it 'Buddhattha Cariya, Natattha Cariya, Lokattha Cariya' (striving for Buddhahood, working for the benefit of one's relatives and friends, and working for the benefit of the whole world). Similarly, each one of us has three modes of conduct - 'Atta-Cariya' is striving for self-development so that one may attain happiness, self-culture and self-realization. The second mode of conduct - 'Natattha Cariya' is working for the benefit of one's relatives and friends. The third mode for us to follow is 'Lokattha Cariya' to work for the benefit of the whole world without making any distinction as regards caste, colour or creed. The Buddha has asked us to practise these three types of conduct. Buddhism being a method of development - self-development, is an education of the heart. Therefore our task is to practise these principles laid down by the Buddha, to refine our own nature, to elevate ourselves on the scale of beings.

Modem education, as you know, is mainly education in the means to make money, how to arrange things and control them. Buddhism is an education of the heart. Therefore, if religion is taken only as an intellectual faith in the mind, it has no force. If religion is not followed by practice, we cannot produce any' result. In the Dhammapada the Buddha said: 'A beautiful word or thought which is not accompanied by corresponding acts is like a bright flower which bears no fruit. It would not produce any effect'.( Dhammapada - Pupphavaggo. verse 51) Therefore, it is action, and not speculation; it is practice, not theory that matters. According to the Dhammapada, 'Will' if it is not followed by corresponding action, does not count. Therefore, practice of the noble principles is the essence of Buddhism.

In this connection I also want to say that this Metta - Universal Love - is generally taken to exist in connection with other people, but in reality love for self comes first. It is not a selfish love, but love for self- pure love - comes first. When we meditate on love, we meditate on love of self first. (Aham avero homi . . . etc.) (May I be free from harm). By having pure love, Metta, as we defined it, for self; selfish tendencies, hatred, anger will be diminished. Therefore, unless we ourselves possess Metta within, we cannot share, we cannot radiate, we cannot send this Metta to others. Supposing you have no money how can you send even a few small coins? So meditation on love is to be started within ourselves. You may say that we love ourselves, If you can say that you love yourselves, can you harm yourselves by having angry thoughts within yourselves? If you love a person will you do harm to him? No. To love the self means to be free from selfishness, hatred anger, etc. Therefore, to clear ourselves from these undesirable feelings we must love ourselves. According to Buddhism self-love comes first. Buddhism always is a method of dealing with ourselves. Therefore, it is self-help. By helping ourselves we can help others effectively. We talk about externals, meaning by this the duty to help others; but as pointed out by the Buddha, if a person cannot help himself well, he cannot help others well. ('One should first establish oneself an what is proper; then only he should advise another; such a wise man will not be reproached'. - Dhammapada. Verse158.) Also in the Dhammapada, (Dhammapada 42) it is said no enemy can harm one so much as one's own thoughts of craving - thoughts of hatred, thoughts of jealousy and so on. If one cannot find happiness in himself, he cannot find happiness anywhere else. It is also said that people who cannot control themselves cannot find happiness. In social service, the so-called social workers are not happy in the performance of their duties unless they are calm themselves. If they are not calm in themselves, they cannot produce calm in others. We must, therefore be properly trained not only' in outside organization but in our inner culture. In the case of many so-called social workers, the real thing they are doing is telling others what to do like dictators. And they say that, 'We do our best but others are not willing to accept our help'. Everybody is in need of help if the help is properly given in the way they like to be assisted but not in the ways others want to help them. So a true social worker should be a person who has true love for himself first filled with a love which is nothing but pure, unselfish love. Then he can confer a double blessing; that is, he, having pure, true love, enjoys himself while helping others, at the same time making others happy.

You remember the Jataka stories where the Bodhisatta, the Buddha-to-be, is always trying to strengthen himself by helping others - so that other people will be happy, so that he will be stronger to give greater help.

Again, if a person cannot be right with himself, he cannot be right with others. He should be like an engineer who first perfects himself in his trade and then only produces perfect work because he has perfected his training first. A doctor without the required qualifications may try to help patients but he may do harm instead. Therefore, a leader of any kind, social, political, religious, if he has no mental culture. may be leading his followers in a wrong direction.

We are so used to seeing external raining that we forget inner training, the training of ourselves. We like to train other people and forget to train ourselves. We tend to take it for granted that we are always right and others are in the wrong. It seems to be a characteristic of people that they blame others; even when they are late, they blame others - because of wife, because of friends or somebody else, etc. I do not mean to say that we should blame only ourselves. There is a saying of Confucius - a very wise, useful saying: 'An uncultured person blames others, a semi-cultured person blames himself, and a fully cultured person blames neither'. The problem is, 'What is wrong and not who is wrong'. According to the Buddhist method, training oneself comes first. Individual perfection must be first, so that the organic whole may be perfect. The state of the outer world is a reflection of our inner selves.

To conclude I would like to ask you to meditate a few minutes on love, so that our thoughts, actions and words may be filled with love. From trained minds, come right thoughts, right actions and right words.

In true meditation, first you fill yourself with love mentally, 'May I be well and happy'. After a while you extend it to all others, saying mentally, 'May all beings of the Universe be well and happy'. Mean it and feel it. Also try to see that the world is filled with your love, with a great desire that they may be happy, a desire such as a mother has for her only child.

If you send out these thoughts of Metta before you go to sleep. I am positive that you will have extraordinarily peaceful sleep. If you can maintain these thoughts of Metta, you will have a serene, peaceful, successful life and you will be loved because you are loving. The world is like a great mirror and if you look at the mirror with a smiling face you will see your own smiling beautiful face. If you look at it with a long face, as the English say, you will invariably see your own ugly face. There is also an expression in the form of greeting. 'Well friend, how does the world treat you?' The usual answer is, 'Well. I am all right'. Your answer should be. 'Well, the world treats me as I treat the world'.

If you treat the world properly, kindly, the world will treat you kindly. We should not expect other persons to treat us kindly first, but we should start by ourselves treating them kindly.