On 16 August 1995 I came to London and I had the opportunity to visit the ‘Big Bell Tower’ where I had a rest and reflected on Lord Buddha teachings. I heard the sound of the Big Bell which was similar to the fruition of human beings’ karma.

For example, Lord Buddha has found the way for all world beings to escape from sufferings. Lord Buddha has set an example for all Dharma seekers to follow. He proclaimed Buddhism 2539 years ago when it was echoing to almost every corner of the world including the World of Brahma, Naga, Deva, Human and Yommaraj ; and until today his religion and teachings are sti|l echoing worldwide. All recognised Lord Buddha as their Supreme Teacher who attained Enlightenment by himself.

Time has passed, but Buddhism is still in existence. In Dharma practice, one of the most important factor is knowledge. Where is knowledge? Knowledgeable about breathing which Prince Siddhartha was searching for six years. This was described in the Buddha Pali as ‘ Pananusati’ and there are million types of breathings. Every part of our body is full of millions of tiny holes for breathing which cannot be described in brief.

All I am asking here is for all of you to keep practising Vipassana Samadhi in search of Pananusati as the foundation. It is a mistake to think that we only breath through our nostrils as we have not yet acquired wisdom.

We have to keep searching for the truth and if we are unable to find it we will find ourselves in an ocean of sufferings - suffer in Rupa, Sadda, Gandha, Rasa and Phodhabba. When our eyes see, our feeling (Araman) arises and this gives rise to desires. When we have desires, we suffer Dukkha which is the fruits of what our eyes had seen. Eyes is the source of all desires which is Kilesa.

It is a mistake to think that Kilesa is from our Citta, in actual fact, it is from our eyes and then followed by feeling (Arrom) and desires, which in turn, cause the body to Phodhabba (touch). When Phodhabba is made, a final feeling arises, and the Citta will make a decision for wisdom to examine causes and effects for final decision.

When a right action is carried out happiness, contentment, peace will follow. We will be satisfied and full of happiness which is called in Pali as ‘ Vimutti Sukkha’, that is when the Citta is free from Dukkha and sufferings. The Citta is without any doubts, any sadness or discontent. This is why wisdom is very important in Dharma practice. If we lack wisdom, our Citta will decline. Why? Because of Avijja (ignorance) which is darkness.

If we do something wrong, it is called bad karma. Bad karma is Dukkha which is Akusala, and in turn, is sinful. As a result, we will suffer, we will be sad, we will be unhappy, we will be restless, we will be discontent and unsatisfied all of which are Vedhana. If we are unable to escape from Vedana the Citta will keep suffering until all the fruition of bad karma were served. Then we will see light.

If our wisdom is able to catch up with the Sati, undoubtedly we will never commit bad karma. There is a saying in Buddha Pali ‘ Sampanno Sukkhato’ which means ‘To be happy or whether to be able get rid off sufferings for Vimutti to develop is not anywhere else, but inside oneself with one’s breathing. If we can find that kind of breathing, it means that we will be the Awakened One. If we do not wake up, we will never know that we are hungry. Once waking up, we will know. When we know, we will keep on doing to enjoy the fruition of our right efforts.

Many people, when they sit down, close their eyes and meditate, they think they know the stars, the moon, hell and heaven and become Arahant. In actual fact, this is ignorant. They are lost in darkness, they are lost in an ocean of desires which include to be better than anyone else, or to attain Nibbana. Lord Buddha passed away more than 2539 years ago, who can witness that such a person has become an Arhant. Lord Buddha always said that ‘ Do not be negligent and claim to be the Realised One, but just keep practising Kammathana Vipassana then enjoy the fruition of happiness’.

There is no other happiness than the Boromma Sukkha - Happiness of all Happiness. However, human beings always mistake their own doings. They mistake that they are more knowledgeable than others. They mistake that they have found Lord Buddha. These days, what we have found are Lord Buddha’s statues which are made of bronze, cement, stone or clay and so on. These statues are Lord Buddha’s representatives.

Nobody knows where is Lord Buddha. According to my experiences and understanding. Lord Buddha is in the Goodness and Righteousness. Where is the Righteousness? It is in the Citta. Lord Buddha is not in the bronze, cement or clay statues. He is in the Goodness and the Righteousness ( Right Understanding, Right Thoughts, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration) .

Lord Teachings of Lord Buddha has 84,000 Phra Dharma Khana. It is the foundation which Lord Buddha has laid down for all of us to follow. They are the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Whichever way we want to follow, we can make a decision ourself. To decide, we have to use our wisdom.

Our wisdom can be found in our breathing which we can use to reduce our sufferings. Reducing sufferings does not simply means hanging Lord Buddha statues around your neck, or by sleeping on Lord Buddha teachings . This is not so. The way to eliminate or reduce our sufferings is to have faith. Faith in Dharma, Goodness and Righteousness. Listen to and Rely on Dharma, Goodness and Righteousness. Our Sankhara is temporary. It rises and falls. It is Anicca. It is Dukkha. Dukkha is just like passing time. In the morning, it is fresh and lively, in the afternoon, when the weather is bit hot, it is uneasy, in the evening, when the weather cools down, it is fresh and lively again.

This is similar to conditions of our Sankhara. After we were born and reached adulthood, let us say, by the age of 30, we are full of desires which is about 70% on the bad karma side and 30% on the good karma side. As we are getting older, let say, by the age of 40-50, our way of thinking starts to change. We tend to do more good karma by attending religious ceremony more often than before. We want to have peace and tranquillity. We tend to do more Kusala karma as we wish to attain Nibbana. I would say 70% on the good karma side and 30% on the bad karma side. As we are getting older again, let us say, to about 60-90. Our way of thinking changes again. The thought of doing bad karma is almost zero. Many would prepare to dress in white and attend Dharma talks and listen to the Sangha regularly. Our life is so short. Not many live to 100 years old. It will not be long before we pass away. Our life is not like a time or a clock or a watch. A watch, when the battery dies, we can replace it, but our youth, once it has gone we cannot replace it.

Similarly, our life, once it has gone, we cannot replace it. It is impossible to know when we are going to die. Our karma is the indication. This is similar to the three hands on the clock. The biggest hand will move very slow, the middle hand would move faster than the biggest hand while the smallest would move even faster than any of the two biggest hands. It does not matter whether these hands move fast or slow, they have a common destination, that is to make one turn around the clock from seconds to minutes, hours, days and so on.

This is similar to death. It is happening all the time. Some die at early age, others die when they get old. Some die before they have not even been born. Death is inescapable. This is just like the time, that is, 365 days to be one year. Nothing can change this fact. This is like one of the Lord Buddha sayings ‘ Sousutsang Latipanyang’ which means ‘ To listen’ . It means ‘Listen good, do good - eliminate sufferings’. On the other hand, ‘ Listen wrong, do wrong - accumulate sufferings’. In conclusion, it is ourselves that matters. Likewise, the three hands of the clock all depends on the axle in the middle. Without the central axle, they cannot move.

This is similar to our life. If it does not have Citta, the body will be useless. Citta is the principal and without the breathing the body will be useless. Everything consists of Kusala Dharma. Kusala is to perform righteous karma, a noble person, a civilised person. AKusala Dharma is to perform unrighteous karma, an evil person or uncivilised person. Civilised (good) or uncivilised (bad) is in our body. It is very easy to do something bad. On the contrary, it is extremely difficult to do something good. For example, place a drop of black paint on the back of your hand is very easy, but to get it off completely, it takes hours.

Good and bad are in all of us. The question is that are we going to keep doing good and at the same time are we going to stop doing bad? At this point, we should remind ourself that no one is perfect. We all make mistake. Even Prince Siddhartha, before his Enlightenment made a mistake, when he was lost in the Rupa, Sadda, Gandha and Rasa and when he began to torture himself in order to attain Enlightenment.

This was a mistake which Prince Siddhartha realised before became Lord Buddha. Lord Buddha is the founder of ‘Pananusati’ which Dharma practitioners are practising in their Kammathana Vipassana Samadhi. Breathing in say ‘BUD’ when breathing out say ‘DHO’. Many of you when suffer Dukkha tend to go and see the Sangha for help thinking that they are the worshiped One or the sacred One.

I would like to let you know that all these depends on your faith whether something is most sacred or most worshiped. This is like in one of the Buddha sayings ‘ Pujaca Pujaniyanang Etammang Khalamoudhanang ’ It means have faith in righteousness, practice righteousness and respect righteousness. All these are kusala karma. If one has faith in wrong doing, respects wrong doing and practises wrong doing one’s life will lead to sufferings and Dukkha.

We must not believe anybody except Buddha Dharma. We must listen to Dharma, practise Dharma, know Dharma in order to eliminate or reduce our Dukkha. Dharma cannot be given to anybody or by anybody. Similarly, righteousness cannot be given by anybody or to anybody. We must practise ourselves in order to obtain and understand Dharma or righteousness. If Dharma can be given, Lord Buddha could have given Dharma to all of us by now. Like myself, I am a ‘Samati Bikkhu - authorised/ appointed Buddhist monk’ observing 227 Dharma codes of conduct for monks and wearing yellow robe.

I am one of Lord Buddha’s students searching for Dharma and happiness, and at the same time preaching Lord Buddha words to all beings. What you have heard is not from me, but from Lord Buddha Dharma. What you believe is not me, but Lord Buddha Dharma. What you practise is not my Dharma principles, but Lord Buddha Dharma principles.

All I am doing is showing you the way to reduce and eventually eliminate your Dukkha. What you gain from Dharma practice is for your own good and whether you practise it or not is up to you. All members of the Sangha are ordinary human beings like you and me. They feel hot, cold, warm, pain, sad, happy, content or discontent like all ordinary human beings. Therefore, you should smile with what you have been through in life.

When you smile, you will be happy. On the contrary, if you cry and feel sad, you will add more sufferings to your life. Therefore, keep smiling and keep doing good karma, but do not add more sufferings to your life.

We must always remember that whatever is happening to us now in this life is the fruition of our past life. Whatever debts we have incurred in our past life, once they catch up with us, we have to pay them back. The question is time. It could be sooner or later.

A good example is that when we borrow a sum of money from someone and that person has never asked back for a very long time. We feel happy thinking that the person who has lent us the money forgot all about it. In actual fact, this is a mistake to have a thought as such. When you have incurred a debt, you will pay it back one day. It could be any time that the lender will ask it back.

This is similar to our karma in our past life, we have no idea when we have to enjoy or suffer the fruition of our karma in this life or the next life. When you are suffering Dukkha, there is no need to complain about it because the more you complain about it the more sufferings you would have to go through. Just keep paying your debts until they are all paid off and then you will be happy. Remember that there is no debts that cannot be paid. Therefore, we must understand the nature of sufferings. Why do we suffer and what are the causes of our sufferings? Once you manage to understand this, you will at least reduce your Dukkha.

In conclusion, I would like to wish all of you who gather here today to listen to Lord Buddha Dharma to be happy and be successful in your life. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu.

LuongTa Chanhphy Panyano Manivong
16 August 1995 . London, ENGLAND

In a Budhhist religious ceremony, whether it is conducted by one Monk or a number of Monks, through their prayer, they invite all the Gods and Devas residing in the Universe to come and witness the ceremony and to listen to Lord Buddha Dharma. Their prayer in Pali goes like this: ‘Siddhi Brahma ca Indhra ca Catuloka Bhiraggaka Samuddha Butung Kanga Ca Sab Siddhi Bhavantume ’ .

These Five worlds are:-

(1) Brahma World - Brahma God accepts and recognises Lord Buddha as the Suppreme Teacher

(2) Deva World - Indra Gods and all the Gods, Goddesses as well as all the Devas accept and recognise Lord Buddha as the Supreme Teacher

(3) Naga World - A City under the ocean belongs to the Nagas and the Garudas who recognise and accept Lord Buddha as the Supreme Teacher

(4) Human World - Human beings of the world accept and recognise Lord Buddha as the Supreme Teacher

(5) World of Hell (Yommaloka) - Lord of Hell also accepts and recognises Lord Buddha as the Supreme Teacher

All of them want to understand Dharma. They want to practise Dharma and they want to attain Dharma. What is Buddha Dharma? According to my understanding, this has two important words or meanings :-

(1) The first meaning is to awaken.

The word ‘BUD’ means awakened. Lord Buddha was the only One who was awakened first. Lord Buddha was the One who knew and understood first. Therefore Lord Buddha wanted to wake up all beings of the Five World.

If they want to learn, understand and attain Dharma, they must wake up first otherwise they will not learn and understand Dharma. Therefore, it is necessary for all of us to wake up. For example, when we are asleep, we do not know whether we are hungry or thirsty. Once waking up, we will know these conditions.

(2) The Second meaning is that Lord Buddha’s Dharma Teaching Principles teach all beings to know and to understand ‘ What is Right and Wrong, Good and Bad, Progress or Destruction’ as well as to use wisdom to combat desires (Kilesa).

When talking about Kilesa (desires) it has two meanings, that is, desire in the right way and deisre in the wrong way. Alternatively, it could be said either positive desire or negative desire.

All of us must be very careful in order conquer negative desires by continuously practising and carrying out good deed. Lord Buddha taught us how to listen. Here one might be asking what do we listen?

The simple answer is ‘ To listen to goodness or righteousness, practising, doing and having faith in them without any doubts’. Goodness or Righteousness come from Lord Buddha’s own teachings and principles as he was the Awakened One, the Enligthened One, the Realised One.

His Dharma Principles can lead all world beings to the Supreme Happiness (Borommasukha - Nibbana). I would like to give you an example, all Buddhist Monks observe 227 codes of conducts (227 Dharma Precepts).

But, in actual fact, they are human being like all of you. They suffer pain, feel hungry, feel hot and cold, feel happy and sad like all of you. They are the ‘Sammati Monks - assumed Monks.’ Here, I would like to point out that once we are unable to conquer our own desires, it is extremely, if not impossible, to teach other people to control theirs.

Here is a good example, a teacher always advises his students not to smoke, not to take drugs while he himself carry out the contrary. In this case, his students are unlikely to to follow their teachers’ advice. So, it is necessary to listen to goodness or righteousness as it is the supreme teaching of Lord Buddha who has demonstrated to us that goodness or righteousness can lead world beings from sufferings and be happy.

This is why Lord Buddha’s Teachings have been accepted by the Five World as they are the principles of truth that can truly lead all beings from sufferings. Lord Buddha taught us how to practise, how to conquer sufferings with wisdom, to know the cause of all sufferings and to find ways to conquer them.

Sufferings must be conquered at their roots where they start. It will not help if we want to conquer sufferings somewhere else. Where are the roots of all sufferings, one might ask?.

They are in our Citta. Wisdom are also in our Citta. There are 84,000 Phra Dharma Khanna of Lord Buddha wisdom. During his search for wisdom for six years, Prince Siddhartha tortured himself endlessly in order to gain wisdom. He suffered enormously, but he never gave up. He kept going firmly and determinedly to find the supreme wisdom until he attained Enlightement from his own breathing.

Lord Buddha knew all, by himself. He realised all, by himself. He attained Enligtenement, by himself. What I explain to you at this moment is not my Dharma, it is Lord Buddha Dharma. What you worship and respect at this moment is to worship and respect Lord Buddha Dharma. And above all, what you are practising at this moment is not my Dharama, but it is Lord Budddha Dharma.

My knowledge is very limited, I do not claim that I know more than Dharma. This is not so, as Dharma has been in existence before me. Lord Buddha Dharma is universal, not only beings of the Five World recognise and accepte Lord Buddha Dharma, but any beings who practises, carries out and follows Lord Buddha Dharma, he will find happiness in life, he will be able to conquer his sufferings to a large degree, if not all.

To escape from sufferings, it is necessary to be knowledgeable, and this knowledge can be gained from wisdom. Wisdom can be obtained from vigorous practising goodness or righteousness. Listen to goodness, practising goodness, as a result, sufferings will be eliminated. Goodness is the supreme knowledge of Lord Buddha Dharma.

In brief, I can only emphasise, ‘Listen to Dharma, Practise Dharma and Believe in Dharma then enjoy the fruition of a suffering free life’. Here are some of the things which I would like all of you to take note:-

Do not listen to anyone, except Goodness or Righteouness.

Do not perform like anynone, except carrying out Goodness or Righteousness. Goodness or Righteousness are in the Lord Buddha’s Teachings.

Lord Buddha knew all of these before and he would like to pass his teachings to all of us to practise so that we can reduce and eliminate, if not all, our suffering so that we can be happy. On the question of ‘Emptiness’ the meaning of ‘Emptiness, has been classified into three ways:-

1. Emptiness - means one is not occupied by any job or duty. In other word, one has time for oneself, and for others and the community;

2. Emptiness - means one is not mistreating oneslef or others including all beings regardless of their sizes and shapes and from not killing fellow human beings or animals.

3. In Buddha Pali, Emptiness is:

   Sunyatta Buddho - means Lord Buddha is the One who is Empty;

   Sunyatta Buddho also means the one who has already awakened. If one is not awakened how would one knows one’s own mental and physical conditions

   Sunyatta Dharmo - means Dharma is an Emptiness;

   Sunyatta Dharmo also means the one who knows. If one is not wakened, how would one knows one’s own mental and physical conditions;

   Sunyatta Sangho - means Buddhist Monks are empty;

   Sunyatta Sangho also means the one who keeps on practising Dharma. If one is not empty, how would one has the time to practise.

Lord Buddha was the Awakened One. Lord Buddha was the Enligtened One. The Teachings of Lord Buddha are Sacca Dharma. Lord Buddha would like the Sangha and all beings of the worlds to practise his Dharma so that they can be happy and free from sufferings.

The Teachings of Lord Buddha are Sacca Dharma. They are Empty and can be practised by anyone regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, age, sex, or social status. They are Goodness and Righteousness. They do not belong to anoyone. Lord Buddha Dharma is Anatta. Emptiness means that the Citta has finally liberated itself from all Kilesa and found happiness. Happiness means that the Citta is free from all desires.

The Citta is free where Vimutti Sukkha has occurred. Happiness is when the Citta is no longer the slave of any Kilesa. Sunyatta Buddho also means already awakened, already liberated. If there is no liberation, the Citta will not be happy. Therefore, Buddho is an emptiness which we use in our Vipassana Kammathana practice which we call ‘Anapanasati’ which means breathing in and breathing out. This kind of breathing is called Budhho or Sunyatta Buddho.

Dharmo means Dharma is an ‘Emptiness’ which means anyone can practise Dharma in anywhere. There is no restriction. That is why it is called Sunyatta Dharmo - Dharma is everywhere with everyone and in the Citta. If our Citta is not empty how can we fill it with Dharma .

Sangho means members of the Sangha are empty. Emptiness in this context means that members of the Sangha are empty from mistreating anyone. They are the ones who study and practise Dharma. They are the ones who leave everything wordly. That is why we obtain the word Sunyatta Sangho.

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