whether a Buddhist ought to volunteer for military service. From a Buddhist point of view the answer is. 'No'. On no account, and for no reason whatsoever should a Buddhist volunteer to go and kill.
You may say that Buddhists should never become escapists from reality, but what is this reality you speak of? Presumably you mean by it the world in which you live, the life about you in which you and all of us take a greater or lesser part; but of what does it consist, what is this samsara in which we have our being? If you examine it closely you will find that it is a gigantic compound result, arisen from causes inextricably intermingled. It is subject to constant change, even as the causes underlying it are changing incessantly; indeed, you yourself, all of us, are changing continuously from year to year, from day to day. from moment to moment. You are not the man you were last week, nor even the man you were a few minutes ago. Such is samsara, an ever-changing compound. Can this rightly be called reality?
Now the counterpart of samsara is Nibbana, which, when literally translated, means 'no craving', that indescribable state where craving, hatred and delusion are not, and where change - the result of craving, hatred and delusion - has come to an end, whence there is no more suffering. The Buddha was able to describe Nibbana, and we find his description in Udana VIlI.
A study of that passage will show that Nibbana is the real, in contradistinction to the unreal world of everyday life which man has created for himself. A Buddhist, that is, a follower of the Buddha, aims to seek Nibbana, the real. In doing so he will follow that path pointed out by his Master who realized Nibbana so long before him. The Buddhist layman will follow, therefore, at least the five precepts laid down by the Buddha, the first of which enjoins him not to kill any living creature. If this precept is carried into practice logically and consistently it is clear what the Buddhist's conduct should be in the event of war, even if the war is 'forced upon his country by an aggressor nation.
In the Majjhima Nikaya (Vol. I) we find the following passage. 'Yea, disciples, even if highway robbers with a two-handed saw should take and dismember you limb by limb, whoso grew darkened in mind thereby would not be fulfilling my injunctions. Even then, disciples, thus must ye school yourselves, 'unsullied shall our minds remain, neither shall evil word escape our lips. Kind and compassionate ever, we will abide loving of heart nor harbour secret hate. And those robbers will we permeate with a stream of loving thought unfailing; and forth from them proceeding, enfold and permeate the whole wide world with constant thoughts of loving-kindness, ample, expanding. measureless, free from enmity, free from ill-will'. Thus, my disciples, thus must ye school yourselves'.
Not to escape from reality, therefore, but in order to find the real, will the Buddhist layman obey the first precept, and he will do so even if it should bring him into conflict with mass opinion. Escapists from reality are those who, rather than think for themselves, allow themselves to be swept along by mass hysteria and slogans, who dare not be different from their fellows.
We begin our Buddhist meetings by reciting the formula of the three refuges (tisarana):
Buddham saranam gacchami: I go to the Buddha for refuge
Dhammam saranam gacchami: I go to the Dhamma for refuge
Sangham saranam gacchami: I go to the Sangha for refuge
These three are also called the triple gem, or the threefold jewels (tiratana). Ratana means that which gives delight, pleasure, that which pleases. There are seven kinds of jewels, i.e., gold, silver and the other five of precious stones. These are called jewels, ratanas, because they give us delight, pleasure, but of a worldly, material nature, and therefore we take them as ornaments and not as refuges; whereas the other threefold jewels, the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, give us real spiritual pleasure and happiness, and therefore we take them not as ornaments but as our guides and refuges against the evil power of ignorance, greed, hatred and illwill.
We go to the Buddha for refuge because he had boundless compassion for man's weakness, sorrow, disappointment and suffering, and because he found for us the path of deliverance by his own ceaseless effort through countless lives. He has given us great encouragement and inspiration to fight against evil until we overcome it. He is our supreme teacher.
We go to the Dhamma for refuge because it enables one who follows it to attain the end of all dissatisfaction and suffering through the attainment of enlightenment, perfect wisdom and perfect equanimity. The best way to follow the Buddha and pay homage to him is to follow the Dhamma in our lives. In following the Dhamma there are three stages: study, practice and realization. First we should study the pure Dhamma preached by the Buddha, followed by the arahats and theras. and which is now known in the West as Theravada, the author of which is the Buddha himself. Dhamma means truth; thus the teaching of the Buddha is called Dhamma since it enables one to see the truth. Because it consists of three divisions it is also called Tipitaka. The divisions are entitled Vinaya. Sutta and Abhidhamma. and they are so called because of their differences in treatment and analysis. Until recently there has never been any doubt. dispute or argument about the divisions, but one has heard some people say now that Abhidhamma is not the teaching of the Buddha himself, but a later development. Well, the answer to that is not far to seek, and one of the simplest answers is that if the Abhidhamma is not the Buddha's teaching, and therefore not the third division, what then would be the third division in its place? If there is no third division why do we have the original old, well recognized word Tipitaka. which means threefold division?
We should study not only the Pali canon but also the commentaries, especially by Buddhaghosa who re-wrote the old vast commentaries which existed before his time and to which he often referred in his commentaries. His explanations are not based on his own opinion, but are based on the Buddha's teachings themselves. We cannot do without his commentaries, which the theras of that time and their unbroken descendants down to the present day have regarded as correct and the most helpful. When one translates from the Pali into one's own language a verse by the Buddha, one will of course use one's own knowledge of the term and subject, and one's own common sense. but it is wiser first to consult the commentaries and sub-commentaries for the orthodox meaning. There are commentaries on all the teachings of the Buddha, but unfortunately very few of them have been translated into English; we need more Pali scholars like Miss Horner (deceased 1981), there is a lot to be done yet in this respect. We should study pure Dhamma, and spread pure Dhamma.
The second stage in following the Dhamma is to practise it in daily life. Since we are subject to birth, old age, sickness, death, and we suffer from dissatisfaction and unhappiness, we are sick people. The Buddha is compared to an experienced and skilful physician. and the Dhamma is compared with the proper medicine; but however efficient the physician may be, and however wonderful the medicine may be, we cannot be cured unless and until we ourselves actually take the medicine. I think many of us are in need of some medicine to cure us of our misunderstanding of one another, our impatience. irritability, lack of sympathy and metta (loving-kindness). Right understanding. patience. tolerance, goodwill and loving-kindness are the primary and elementary principles of Buddhism. For the average person this may prove to be difficult to practise. but we should be trying to rise above the average. Buddhists should be good examples to others by practising what they preach: examples are better than any preaching. Only by practice can realization, the understanding of things as they really are, devoid of concept, be achieved. The only way in which we can truly express our gratitude and veneration for the Buddha, our Master, who with infinite compassion showed us the road to the end of suffering, is by practising the Dhamma.
Lastly we go the the Sangha for refuge. because the Sangha is the living stream through which the Dhamma flows to us.
Sangha literally means group. but here it means a group of saints who have reached the aryan noble stage. There are eight stages, from the first of initiation to the eighth of arahatta. perfect saint. A bhikkhu who has not attained to any of the states, but sincerely follows the Dhamma, belongs to the Sangha.
The Sangha is the point at which the Buddha-Dhamma makes direct contact with humanity', it is the bridge between living men and absolute truth. The Buddha greatly emphasized its importance as a necessary institution for the well-being of mankind; for, if there had not been the Sangha. the Buddha-Dhamma would have become a mere legend and tradition after the passing of the Buddha. Not only has the Sangha preserved the word of the Master, but also the unique spirit of the Noble Teaching. It cannot exist, however, without the support of the lay Buddhists, upasakas and upasikas. Those who help to maintain the Sangha, benefit both themselves and others, for in so doing they not only acquire merit but they are helping to keep alive and spread the Noble Teaching.
The task of each and every Buddhist is first to make the Buddha Dhamma a living reality, by studying it and practising it in everyday life. When we live in accordance with the Dhamma we can speak about it with authority. Secondly, a Buddhist's task is to spread the pure Buddha-Dhamma, or to help the Sangha who devote their whole lives to the study, practice and spreading of the pure Dhamma - which is excellent in the beginning, in the middle and in the end. Thereby we become helpers of humanity and messengers of peace and happiness.
WHAT BURMA IS DOING FOR BUDDHISM
The Parliament of the Union of Burma passed unanimously the following resolution, moved by the Religious Affairs Minister, on the 1st October 1951:
'That not being satisfied with the measures usually undertaken hitherto by the peoples and governments of the world for the solution of the problems confronting mankind, by promoting the material well-being of man in his present existence in the form of ameliorating his living conditions and standard of life. and also being fully aware of the fact that such measures would result only in a partial solution of the problems. this Parliament declares its firm belief that it is necessary to devise and undertake such measures for the spiritual and moral well-being of man as would remove these problems and help man to overcome Greed, Hatred and Delusion which are at the root of all the violence, destruction and conflagration consuming the world.'
In pursuance of the above resolution and in furtherance of its general plan for the spiritual and moral uplift of man, the Government of the Union of Burma have provided one million pounds to form the central fund for the purpose of making necessary preparations for holding the Sixth Great Buddhist Council in Rangoon. This project involves two principal pro grammes of work:
(a) Preparation of the Buddhist Texts.
(b) Erections of necessary buildings for the Great Council.
The holding of the Sixth Great Council will be the most momentous event not only in the history of Burma but also of Asia and the Buddhist world. Throughout the history of nearly 2500 years since the demise of the Buddha, there have been five Great Buddhist Councils held for the purpose of re-examination and recension of the teaching of the Buddha with a view to preserving the same in its pristine purity. The First Great Council was held soon after the demise of the Buddha with the support of King Ajatasattu. a most devoted follower of the Buddha and a powerful king of North India, when all the principal disciples assembled together at the city of Rajagaha and proceeded to recite, classify and arrange all the teachings of the Buddha.
In that Great Council in 546 B.C., soon after the Buddha's death, it was considered necessary to entrust different portions of the teachings of the Buddha to different groups of disciples who came to be known as the Reciters of the Texts. The groups of monks to whom these portions of the Texts were entrusted, and their pupils after them, preserved the Texts by learning and reciting them, and thus the original teachings of the Buddha were handed down by word of mouth from teacher to pupil for over four centuries, until the Texts were committed to writing for the first time in Ceylon in 29 B.C. To these groups of monks we owe the preservation of the original teachings of the Buddha in the form of Pali Texts.
The Second Great Council was held at Vesali in 443 B.C. with the support of King Kalasoka, and the Third Great Council at Pataliputta in 308 B.C. with the support of Emperor Asoka. through whose good offices and religious zeal Buddhism spread to almost all the then known countries of the world. The Fourth Great Council was held in Ceylon in about 29 B.C. where the Texts were committed to writing for the first time, as it was then felt that it would no longer be safe under modern conditions to leave such vital teachings to human memory. The Fifth Great Council was held when the Texts were recorded on 729 marble slabs at Mandalay, Burma, in 1871 with the support of King Mindon.
The forthcoming Great Council will have the collaboration and participation of the learned monks of Ceylon, Siam. Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Nepal etc., and thus have a much wider significance than any of the previous Great Councils. Five hundred Buddhist monks in Burma who are well versed in the study and practice of the teachings of the Buddha, take the responsibility of re-examining the Texts; for that purpose they are organized into ten groups so that each group would be responsible for a particular portion of the Texts. A large group of lay scholars edits the first draft of the Texts in Pali and also makes original draft Burmese translations for submission to the respective groups of monks. In each of the Buddhist countries as far as possible, national groups of monks have been organized on similar lines. The preparation may take about three years and the first meeting of the Great Council will take place on the Vesakha, the full moon day of May 1954. The Council will go on till the completion of its task on the Vesakha, the full moon of May 1956 which will coincide with the completion of the 2500th year of the Buddhist era, i.e. 2500th anniversary of the Buddha's passing away.
The buildings which have been newly erected for holding the Sixth Great Council, include one large assembly hall, one ordination hall, one library, a few blocks of hostels and dormitories, small meditation huts and such other buildings as may be required for use as a sanatorium, lecture theatres, staff residential flats and quarters. offices, press etc. When the Sixth Great Council is over, these buildings will be used for the new Buddhist University which is expected to become not only the seat of Buddhist learning, culture and civilization but also the spiritual centre of South East Asia. radiating such irresistible and over-powering rays of Wisdom, Truth and Righteousness as will dispel from the earth those dark and evil forces rooted in Greed, Hatred, and Delusion which are now threatening to swamp and swallow the whole of Asia and of the world.
All these achievements of the past, and plans and preparations for the future, are the outcome of the unprecedented and happy unity of purpose and harmony of action between the community of monks and the Government and the people of Burma, in spite of all the troubles and tribulations following in the wake of her newly won independence. They have passed through dark days, and there is still a long and difficult road ahead of them; but they are confident that it is the strength of Buddhism that has borne them through countless tribulations, and they look to it with supreme confidence to enable them to help the troubled and benighted world in achieving peace, prosperity and happiness.
May all beings throughout the universe share the merits of our work and may peace be established in the world.
THE SPIRITUAL BASIS OF ASIAN CULTURE
While Western cultures stem from a dozen different sources; from the old magics of the dawn of time, persisting longer in the cold western climes; from the Greek tradition; from the Norse tradition; from the blending and play on those of the impacts of the Hebrews, the Huns and the Arabs, with Christianity as a moulding force, the culture of Asia is firmly rooted in the religions of Asia.
The genuine culture of Asia is based entirely on the spiritual principles of its religions. The cultural life of the Asian countries would not exist without this spiritual basis.
So much so that this highlights the difference in our culture as compared with Western culture, and has given rise to the myth of 'the unchanging East'. Asia changes and is changing gradually, developing slowly and consistently to more and more beautiful forms like the opening of a thousand-petalled lotus which appears so often in our imagery.
Take away our religion and what of culture is left? Just what would be left if you took away from the lotus the life-giving waters ...nothing but the odour of decay.
This applies not only to Buddhism but to the two great faiths of Hinduism and Islam as well.
What is Buddhism?
The answer is in the Dhammapada.
'Sabbapapassa akaranam,
kusalassa upasampada,
sacitta-pariyodapanam,
etam Buddhana sasanam.
Not to do any evil,
to cultivate good,
to purify one's thoughts,
- this is the Teaching of the Buddhas.'
Inasmuch as the Hindus and the Moslems teach these as eternal truths and verities, we honour these great faiths therefore. Where the Buddhist bases his actions, his culture, his whole life on the law of cause and effect working through Kamma. the Hindu postulates a Supreme Being as the author of Kamma and the Moslem regards the tremendous laws of day and night, of life and death, of growth and decay' as 'manifesting the power of Allah and attesting his sovereignty'.
Though difference there is, there is not so much difference here as may at first appear, for the great laws of decay and death and the greater law of love is recognized by all.
This is the thread that joins and harmonizes all Asian culture. This is the thread that the materialists have sought to snap, in vain. That is true, but the danger is not over, and indeed is intensifying. Why is this? Why is there to be seen everywhere a decline in spiritual values? It is simply because the spiritual has for some time now been neglected for the purely material values. Spiritual and moral concepts of some Asians as well as of some Westerners have been deteriorating rapidly. There has been an over-emphasis on purely material value.
Nobody would deny that material values are values. On one occasion the Buddha knew that a certain man was ripe for salvation and would understand the Doctrine. But he demanded that the man who was hungry, first be fed. Only then would he be able to pay the requisite attention to the Teaching.
It is useless preaching spiritual things to hungry people, to the sore oppressed. On the other hand it is just as useless to preach materialism to people who are spiritually starved. For this materialism, in the absence of any spiritual force, will turn and rend itself, will inspire the leaders of a country or a movement to make plays for power, through greed, that will destroy the people and destroy that which would make for the very material prosperity they seek. We have seen instances of this in history right up to the present day.
Only by maintaining the spiritual force in its full power can we get the best out of the material advances which modern science is everywhere making.
In the world as a whole there is enough material and no lack of intellect. What then is lacking? The spiritual basis of culture is lacking, the world is disturbed and peace eludes us. Men distrust each other. Conflicts, greed-based conflicts, racial, political, religious, economic, bring war due to the lack of a spiritual basis of culture.
The word 'culture' is here used in the sense of refinement of thought and activity in human life. This term 'culture' is very wide in its significance. It includes religion, philosophy, ethics, politics, economics, every human activity. The basic inspiring principles of a man's life or that of a race or that of a country, along with the way of life adopted, constitute the basis of their culture. It is therefore impossible to expect oneness or uniformity or identity of culture. In a profound harmony, it is the variety that gives depth and feeling.
But if culture is to amount to anything worth having and really worthy of the name, it must be spiritually based. With Asians it has been, and still is, spiritually based and a part of and not apart from their religions.
A so-called material culture leads, as we have seen, to conflict, to war, to greed and to desolation.
Taking all nations as one whole, there is in the world to-day sufficient wealth and ability to abolish unemployment, poverty, much of disease and hardship, and certainly all of cruelty and oppression. The world possesses all that it needs, and the discovery of new sources of power can, if scientists will but unite in a commonwealth of humanity, give all mankind the leisure to work for good and for happiness, instead of for mere subsistence.
This is the disease and the remedy. But how are we to persuade this sick world patient to take the remedy?
We must show him that the materialist way of looking for gold on the earth all the time, averting his gaze from the stars and the sun and the moon, will but lead him into a bog, just as he will fall into a bog if he keeps his gaze forever on the stars and never looks about him.
We must give him a remedy, persuade him to take it, and persuade him to walk on the way of Truth and Enlightenment, to a better and more prosperous living here, that will give him leisure to walk the way of salvation. Here is the safe way and the safe remedy.
The only way to impart this remedy is by making it practical, by education, true education; by imparting it with vigour. If we can propagate the Truth with half as much vigour as the materialists propagate untruth, we shall save the world.
To establish lasting peace and happiness, a genuine religious, spiritual awakening is absolutely necessary. That awakening is here, but energy is required to keep it awakening. What is of importance is not mere faith, rituals and ceremonies in religion but lives of compassion and love and reason and justice based on the moral, spiritual principles of religion. True religion is an education of the heart, and exercise of the heart and of the mind. True education is the free development of personality and character and conduct within a framework of morality, of love for one's neighbour. It is not mere acquisition of information, but information of such a character that it inspires and embodies in itself the capacity for its use in the expression of personality. No doctrine merely held in the mind has any driving force; no doctrine is of any value unless it is applied. One must study and apply the Teaching; applying it first to oneself, only then can wisdom come. The Buddha said: 'A beautiful thought or word which is not followed by a corresponding action is like a bright-hued flower that bears no fruit'.
Man has been described as 'a thinking animal', and between man and animal there is no great gulf. But man, along with animal instincts and sensual feeling, has memory and reason to guard and to guide him. As a moral being, guided by moral conscience, man rather than living lower than the animals by neglecting and spurning reason and human feeling, can use his ability to rise to supreme heights if he will make up his mind to endure the hard climb.
And there is something in man that welcomes a challenge, especially if the challenge is shown to be a challenge to himself, calling on him to rise and act and to act and rise, to rise indeed above the world.
This indeed is the very essence of religion, of true religion: the very essence of spirituality. Not the preaching of 'Be good and you will be happy'. Not the teaching of mere rite and ritual, but the positive action, the striving, the improving, the loving, the comradeship of men of goodwill.
This is what must be propagated to keep the present awakening of spiritual values a real progressive awakening; to oppose with it the negativistic materialisms which deny spiritual values and make vague promises of heaven on earth, evolution after evolution.
There has been too much defeatism on the part of religions. We are an army with banners. The Buddha pointed out that: For lofty virtue, for high endeavour, for sublime wisdom - for these things do we wage war; therefore are we called warriors'.
The sun of reasoned spirituality is rising and the dark clouds of materialism cannot stand before it.
We shall win if you march with us.
Pali is the original language in which the Buddha spoke and all the Buddhist scriptures were written. The serious student of Buddhism is undoubtedly to derive more advantage from a knowledge of Pali than from the knowledge of any other language. In the first place he thereby gains access to the vast stores of a noble literature. The advantage of being able to read the original Buddhist scriptures called Tipitakas or three baskets of the canon, which have been estimated by some English translators of them to be eleven times the size of the Christian Bible, and the commentaries on them, is incalculable.
It is true that most of the Buddhist scriptures and some of their commentaries have been translated into many Asian languages and also some European languages, and that those translations were honest attempts to get at the truth. Unfortunately, however, some of them are totally incorrect and misleading, or, at the very least, ambiguous. The English rendering, for example, of the Pali words, sati (mindfulness) by insight, understanding or reason; nama-rupa (mind and matter) by image and ideal; sankhara (kamma-formations, 50 mental properties or conditioned things) by tendencies or conceptions and Nibbana (extinction of greed) by annihilation or nothingness, are some of the worst interpretations by some Western scholars. The Italian proverb that translators are traitors, is worth remembering in this regard.
The readers who rely on such mistaken terms have often misunderstood the true meaning and the true nature of such fundamental principles of Buddhism as the Eightfold Path, the Four Noble Truths, the Paticcasamuppada, the Five Groups of Existence and the doctrine of Anatta, which is the essence of the whole Teaching of the Buddha. The Dhamma, therefore, should only be described by those who have not only confidence in it but also a proper knowledge of Pali, otherwise the writer is likely to miss the true nature of it which alone makes the Teaching a living thing capable of swaying the lives of men. Without this vital point his effort is bound to be not only futile but harmful to the Teaching.
Probably no religion has suffered so much in this respect as Buddhism. In the first place, Buddhism is an oriental religion which was quite unknown to Europe a hundred years ago, and its discovery was so gradual that the whole of its scriptures have not been properly translated. Of the commentaries on the scriptures, scarcely any prominent part except the Dhammapada and Dhammasangani has been translated into any European languages. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that some Western writers misrepresented Buddhism in the most grotesque manner.
Among the Western writers on Buddhism there were some who had no intention of doing justice to Buddhism but were only concerned with showing that it was a heathen religion and inferior to the existing faith of the West. There were also others who were not only friendly but had a good intention and yet often took a distorted, one sided view, for the simple reason that their knowledge of Pali and Buddhism was inadequate. As a result there have been some extraordinary mixtures of misconceptions and queer ideas, or, in some cases, of Theosophy and Hinduism that have passed for Buddhism in the West.
The English language in the world of ideas is so impregnated with the Christian view of life that it has, in many cases, no equivalent ideas to the Buddhist ones. It is therefore difficult, if not impossible, to convey Buddhist ideas through the medium of the English language which has no perfect equivalents for the words required by them. The word 'bhikkhu' for instance. although its Pali meaning is a very simple one, has no English equivalent that exactly conveys the meaning of it. It is often mistranslated as a beggar or priest or monk. As he does not beg in the true sense of the word he (bhikkhu) is not a beggar. Neither is he a priest, because he does not act as a mediator between God and man. Nor is he strictly a monk, since he is not bound by any vows. As a result, in the books on Buddhism in English the Western reader will come across a great number of Pali words retained for that reason.
This being the case, the serious student who genuinely wishes to gain an understanding of the profound teaching of the Buddha should be prepared to take a little trouble to acquaint himself with its essential keywords, or to acquire such working knowledge of Pali as will enable him to understand the sublime Dhamma in its true light.
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