Lord Buddha, after his Enlightenment,
Blessed his First Five Disciples
with Dharma Desana on The Eight Month
during the Year of the Dog
On the full moon day of the Eight month during the Year of the Dog, after his Enlightenment, the First Dharma that Lord Buddha blessed the First Five Disciples was the all Four Ariya Sacca Dharma that he had discovered and which was named in Pali as 'Dhamma Cakkappavattanasutra' which explains:
(1) Two principles for all Buddhist monks to avoid :
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1. Karmasukanlikanuyoga which is involving in all kind of sensual pleasure 2. Attakilamadhanuyoga which is self inflicting pain and fatigue. |
For those who wish to liberate themselves from Dukkha, Sankhara and to attain Nibbana, the principle below is to be followed :
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3. Matsimapatipadha which is the Practice of the Middle Way, that is, to distance from the two principles mentioned earlier with the following 8 factors as a tool to eliminate Kilesa, and these 8 factors is named in Pali as 'The Ariya Atthangika Magga' (The Noble Eight Fold Path) which is described below : |
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1. Sammadhitthi - Right Understanding 2. Sammasangkappa - Right Thoughts 3. Sammavaca - Right Speech 4. Sammakamanta - Right Action 5. Sammaajiva - Right Livelihood 6. Sammavayama - Right Effort 7. Sammasati - Right Mindfulness 8. Sammasamadhi - Right Concentration |
(2). The Ariya Sacca Principles (AriyaSatSee)
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1. See Dukha and Understanding Dukkha as Dukkha 2. Dukkha Samudhaiya = Cause of Sufferings 3. Dukkha Nirodha = Eradication of Sufferings 4. Dukkha Nirodhagaminipatitadha = Practice to eradicate sufferings with the Noble Eight Fold Path mentioned earlier. |
On that occasion, Lord Buddha spent his Rain-Retreat for three months during which time there were 60 Buddhist monks who had attained Arahanta. Having completed his Rain-Retreat period, Lord Buddha instructed all the 60 Arahanta who had all liberated themselves from all the Dukkha to go out and educate the mass of the world so that they could be happy. Lord Buddha emphasised that his Dharma must be preached in primary, secondary, and tertiary level in total including in writing. Beings of the world have Kilesa in their Citta and would miss this great benefits as they have no opportunity to listen to his Dharma. It can be said that when Lord Buddha instructed his Arahanta to go out and spread his Dharma and these Arahanta have three important functions which have been described in Pali in the Trepitaka as:
Caradhabhikhavecarigang Phrahusanasukkhaya Lokanukampaya
This refers to the instructions given by Lord Buddha to Phra Hutidhaya to lead the Sanga in preaching Dharma doctrines to the mass as well as in community development. However, before delivering Dharma principles which they have been practising until they became Dharma Preacher, or Dharma Kassa, or Upaphedkassinnakadha, they must understand the purposes of their Dharma preaching, for example, where is it at the moment? They must always remember the original principles when Lord Buddha attained Enlightenment at the initial stage and what was in the mind of Lord Buddha.
These original Dharma principles are very complicated for beings of the world who are full of Kilesa to understand.
Therefore, it is necessary to think about the benefits for the majority of the mass in Dharma preaching. Regardless of the time and place of Dharma preaching, always remember purposes of the majority in the community. For example, when people are poor and hungry, would it be successful to teach them to attain Nibbana? They should consider with 'Paramatha Pajhodha' according to the accepted reality of the majority in general. For example, the benefits to be gained by the community is just like a bull with two horns. For those who would attain Nibbana are the only pairs of horns whereas the number of people who would not make it are the number of hairs of the bull.
Remember the number of horns and hairs of a bull. Nibbana is the finest Paramattha Dhamma, should the Sanga miss the opportunity of liberating the beings of the world, although a very small number of people who would make it? The Sanga should always think about the way in which Lord Buddha delivered his Teachings. Firstly, Lord Buddha would start with the 'Buphikatha', secondly 'Sakkakhatha including Karmathinok' and finally the 'Four Ariya Sacca Dharma'. 'Abuphikatha' refers to 'Dhana, Sila and Bhavana - Donation, Dharma Precept and Meditation'. As for the 'Sakkakhatha and the Karmathinok' Lord Buddha would point out the defects of Karma (actions), discontent with the knowing and the practice which will lead to Mugga Phala and Nibbana and finally the Ariya Sat See (Ariya Sacca Dharma - The Four Noble Truths).
When delivering his Dharma Teachings, Lord Buddha always think about benefits for majority of the mass. This is very much different from current Dharma Teachings. As a result, the mass do not achieve results as expected. The population of Laos is about 3,000,000 people. About 90-95% of the population are Buddhist. Although almost of the whole the country has known the most precious Teachings of Lord Buddha for so long, the country is still one of the poorest nations in the world. What are the reasons for being poor? The countries which profess Theravada Buddhism tend to be poor, like Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Burma as opposed to countries which profess Mahayana Buddhism. From my own experience, I would say that is caused mainly by mistakes in Dharma Teachings and Practices. If we compare past and present Dharma Practices and Teachings, after Buddhism has firmly established in a country. These days, the Sanga eat and sleep much better than the Sanga in the past where they had to sleep under trees or something similar. Additionally, Sanga these days have been well respected by the population and as a result and automatically the Sanga then become 'Ceremony Performer' such as blessing an opening of a new business premises, conducting various religious activities either at a temple or in a private house. Anything other than these are being taken care of by Buddhamamaka (Buddhists).
In the past, the Sanga had to build temples themselves. Buddhamamaka provided them with construction materials and tools. We could even have said that the Sanga in the past possessed a lot of skills. Not only preaching Dharma, they practised Dharma as well. On only giving Dharma talks, they demonstrated their ability to the population by building and helping the villagers to build their place of abode. This is community development at the same time. The Sanga in the past can do lots of things.
These days, the Sanga are conducting ceremonies only and this is why they cannot perform other functions. As a result, they cannot help the community as expected. This is the limit of their role. Each day, the Sanga sleep and eat in a temple. It is true that they learn the Teachings of Lord Buddha, but they are not using the Teachings of Lord Buddha for the benefits of the mass as expected. For the villagers to have Saddha (faith, confidence), the Sanga has to set a good example and demonstrate their ability to the villagers to obtain maximum benefits. Also, when preaching Dharma, they have to look at the benefits to be gained from such a preaching. The Sanga have to assess the whole situation of the villagers, the level of their knowledge as well as their well being.
Each situation must be treated separately, Buddhamamaka, after they practise their Dharma and gain some benefits, the Sanga should preach them about Dhammaditthadham. Ditthadham not only in the Ditthadham Mitkatdha Pajhodha that the Sanga have learnt all the four principles. Not only Udhanasampadha Arakkhasampadha or Kanlayanimittata and Dhatsanasivitta, but other Dharma which sustain Ditthadhamma can also be preached to bring peace and tranquility. The Sanga should know the continued steps at present which must be in accordance with any identified benefits to be gained at present by Dharma practitioners. The Sanga should point out any temptations and cause of ruin which must be relinquished by any Dharma practitioners in order to prosper.
The Teaching of Lord Buddha, 84,000 Phra Dhammakhana (principles) have been classified in the Trepitaka which is also divided into three main parts including 'Phra Vinaya, Phra Sutra and Phra Abhidhamma'. These principles are to be used by all Buddhamamaka, but the Sanga are to play the leading role in preaching all Buddhamamaka so that they can fully understand the principles as set forth by Lord Buddha. The principle intention of Lord Buddha is for beings of the world to fully understand the real cause of sufferings and how to liberate themselves from sufferings. However, before we able to know the real cause of sufferings, it is necessary to follow the method which had been tried and succeed by Lord Buddha.
Lord Buddha had shown us the path, and if we follow his path, we will know the real cause of sufferings and then we will be able to liberate ourselves from sufferings. I have written a number of books which some of you may like to read about principles of liberating ourselves from sufferings. Vipassana according to the Sixth State of Consciousness (Vipassana Bhumi 6) is the true principles in Dharma practice, Kamathana practice which Lord Buddha has gambled with his life until he attained Enlightenment. In Kamathana practice we must understand 'Arrom' (object of consciousness - feeling) of creation which cause happiness or sadness. Arrom has the following factors :
1. Arrom (object of consciousness)
2. Khandha (categories)
3. Twelve Ayatana (senses)
4. Dhatu (natural elements)
5. Indriya (sense faculties)
6. Ariya Sat See and Paticcasamupada (Four Noble Truths and Dependent Origination)