The path to perfection will only lead to exhaustion and disappointment; meanwhile, your actual life will be passing you by. - Mark Van Buren
The Buddha did not put his teachings into writing. However, his lessons were accurately recorded after his death. Here's how that happened.
During the first year after word of the Buddha’s death spread, his followers grieved heavily at the passing of their leader. Among one group of grieving devotees, an elder monk spoke to them saying: “While the Buddha was with us, we couldn't do this and we couldn't do that. Our lives were very restricted. Now that he is away, we can do whatever we want! Why should you feel sad?" Mahakasyapa, one of the Buddha’s most senior and respected monks, overheard that comment. Alarmed that the Buddha’s teachings could become corrupted or, worse still, become completely forgotten, he he called for a gathering of the five hundred monks to recollect, from memory, Buddha's teachings. This was the First Buddhist Council. That original group established this method for reconstructing and recording the Buddha’s teachings: Ananda, the personal attendant to the Buddha and the monk closest to the Buddha, was selected become the primary source of this information. He would recite a teaching or recall a story told by the Buddha. Then, the monks present would consider whether it was in the spirit of the Buddha’s teachings, making corrections and clarifications before it was accepted. This process was intentional and labor intensive in order to assure authenticity and produced the Agama Sutra, the first recorded teachings of the Buddha. Initially the sutra was oral having been committed to memory by monks skilled in memorization and recitation. Eventually, these original teachings came to be written down and called the Agama Sutra. Another sign of hope for peace between North and South Korea took place this week when Buddhist representatives from the two countries met together and offered affirmations for peace. Vesak which celebrates the Buddha’s 2,562nd birthday, was occasion marked by colorful lanterns, boy monks, and a joint inter-Korean aspirations for peace.
In the wake of last month’s inter-Korean summit, The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and North Korea’s Buddhist Federation adopted an inter-Korean statement to mark the religious celebration. Earlier this month, North Korea’s Buddhist Federation sent a draft of the statement to its South Korean counterpart.* The statement was recited simultaneously by members of both groups during their respective services. It was the first time in three years that North and South Korean Buddhist organizations adopted a joint gathering in celebration of the Buddhist holiday. The Panmunjom Declaration “is a flare announcing a new start of history, and a landmark to open up a new era of autonomous unification and connect the divided peoples [of South and North Korea],” the prayer read. It also stated that the declaration was an affirmation of the principle of self-determination, allowing both Koreas to decide their own fate. (source: www.buddhistdoor.net) You can spend the rest of your days attempting to become some imagined, perfect person, but I recommend you don’t waster your life striving to become some unattainable version of yourself. - Mark Van Buren
Vedic wisdom consistently promotes spending time outdoors, as much time as possible. Sadly, in the West people spend more than 95% of their time indoors.
Recently, researchers at the University of Illinois report that third graders at a Midwestern elementary school were significantly more attentive and engaged in their indoor studies following a 40 minute lesson conducted outdoors in a natural setting. Called the "Nature Effect" it allowed the two educators who participated in the project to teach their 50 students uninterrupted for almost twice as long as would have been possible if the students never left the classroom. Writing up their study in Frontiers in Psychology, researchers concluded that the positive effects on students of spending part of the day outside in the natural world were consistently apparent day after day throughout the 10 week project. They recommended that schools seriously consider offering regular "refueling" in nature. Though the Buddha made it abundantly clear there are no “sacred” rivers, languages, sites etc., followers of his teachings are inevitably drawn toward important Buddhist centers. The four key Buddhist pilgrimage sites include: 1) Lumbini, Nepal where the Buddha was born; 2) Bodh Gaya, India where the Buddha experienced his enlightenment under a Bodhi tree; 3) Sarnath, India where in Deer Park, the Buddha offered his first teaching and where the Sangha was established; 4) Kushingara, India where the Buddha delivered his last teaching and where he died.
A Japanese monk issuing his temple at Koyasan, because he says he was overworked during tourist season at the World Heritage Site. Koyasan, where Buddhist temples offer accommodations for pilgrims and tourists, has become an increasingly popular destination for domestic and foreign travelers. The monk’s lawyer explained that he at one point worked 64 days in a row, with work days that sometimes ran as long as 17 hours. “You provide labor, but you are told it’s part of religious training,” the lawyer explained. “And if it’s training, you must endure even it causes you significant hardship.”
(source: The Guardian) In my life yoga is an aid to well-being, permitting me to do more and to do better
– Yehudi Menuhin |
Victor M. Parachin ...is aVedic educator, yoga instructor, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of a dozen books. Buy his books at amazon or your local bookstore. Archives
April 2024
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