Three Things

Three Things

by Ven. Balacitta

Hokkien Cemetery Pavillion

17-10-2009

There are 3 things which are beneficial to be learned in detail either for the householder or for the renunciant. The importance of cultivating these 3 things are very much mentioned in the canon and it is highly beneficial for one to know about it. For one who has become a Buddhist for a long time but does not know about these three things, or if he or she had heard of it before but did not take note of it or is unable to recall it even briefly, I say, it's a pity. When one is learned in these three things and has accepted them, he or she is a wise person for he or she knows truly what is good and what is bad, which path leads to heaven and which path leads to hell. Wise people will not knowingly choose the path that leads to hell.

What are these three things? These are the three kinds of conduct- body, speech and thought; the wholesome and the unwholesome.

When we want to improve ourselves, we have to know what is good to be cultivated. To know thus, we have to learn from wise people. When we have learned it, we have to let the message stay in our memory, otherwise, how can we scrutinise and cultivate something which we cannot recall, you see? But if any of you have problems even in memorising these three things in brief, I suggest you copy it on a piece of paper and recite it daily. I believe, after some time, you will be able to remember it at any time and place, and thus, it will be for your long term benefit and happiness. ¹

There are many places in the canon which show the importance of these 3 things:

In a Sutta, it is mentioned that if one really knows what is wholesome and unwholesome, what is the root of the wholesome and unwholesome, then in that way, one would have arrived at the true Dhamma, have confirmed confidence in the true Dhamma, whose view is straight, who has right view; in brief , I say, he or she would have become a noble person. It is explained in that sutta that the wholesome are the three kinds of good conduct, the unwholesome are the three kinds of bad conduct; and the root of the wholesome are non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion and the root of the unwholesome are greed, hatred and delusion. (MN 9 Sammaditthi Sutta).

In another Sutta, it is shown that when these three kinds of good conduct are well practised and developed, it causes the practice of the four foundations of mindfulness to be perfected. When the four foundations of mindfulness are well practised and developed, it causes the practice of the seven factors of enlightenment to be perfected. When the seven factors of enlightenment are well practised and developed, it causes the right knowledge and liberation to be perfected. ( First, when the restraint of the sense faculties is well practised and developed, it causes the practice of the three kinds of good conduct to perfection). (SN. 46.6 Kundaliya Sutta).

Now, how do we practise and develop these three things? Shown in a Sutta, it is like this, there are three stages -

Stage one, before we do, speak or think of something, we should reflect and check whether these actions are wholesome or not, are going to be beneficial to ourselves or to others or to both or not. If we find that it will be unwholesome and harmful, then we should abandon it. But upon reflection, if we are sure that it is wholesome and beneficial, then we are free to perform it.

Stage two, even while doing, speaking or thinking of something , we should also reflect and check whether those things that we are doing, speaking or thinking are wholesome or not, is beneficial or not. If it is not so, we should give it up.

Stage three, after we have already done, spoken or thought of something, we should also reflect and check whether those things that we have done, spoken or thought of were wholesome or not, were beneficial or not. If it were not so, we ought to feel ashamed, disgusted and sincerely make an effort to refrain from doing it in the future²; but if it was so, then naturally,we can be happy. Thus, in this way, we are practising and developing these three kinds of good conduct. It is mentioned in the Sutta that whatever recluses and brahmins in the past or in the future or at present, who had or will do or are doing the purification of the conduct of the body, speech and thought, all did so, will do so or are doing so respectively by repeatedly reflecting thus. (MN 61: Ambalatthika-rahulovada Sutta)

And that's all for today. May all be happy. Thank you.

1There are many suttas which explain these three things in detail, one of them is in this sutta- AN 10.176: Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta. You may check it out here. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.176.than.html

2For a monk who follow rightly the monk's rules, he would had to confess his wrong doing (but no confession for wrong thought) to another monk or if it is a serious case (any of the thirteen offences require probation and reinstatement) he would had to look for at least twenty monks to congregate in a Sima for two occasions, one time for confession and asking for probation and the second time for reinstatement. But if he had committed any of the four top offences, there is no necessity for confession because he is automatically no more a member of the Sangha, for life. The four top offences, briefly, are- sexual inter-course, stealing, killing human being, and falsely claiming superhuman state.

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Dhammapada

Chapter 11
The Self

157
If one holds oneself dear,
one should diligently watch oneself.
Let the wise man keep vigil
during any of the three watches*
of the night.

*Three watches: Youth, middle age and old age

158
One should first establish oneself
in what is proper;
then only should one instruct others.
Thus the wise man
will not be reproached.

159
One should do
what one teaches others to do;
If one would train others,
one should be well controlled oneself.
Diffficult, indeed, is self-control.

160
One truly is the protector of oneself;
who else could the protector be?
with oneself fully controlled,
one gains a mastery
that is hard to gain.

161
The evil a witless man does by himself,
born of himself
and produced by himself,
grinds him as a diamond
grinds a hard gem.

162
Just as a jungle creeper
strangles the tree on which it grows,
even so,
a man who is exceedingly depraved
harm himself
as only an enemy might wish.

163
Easy to do are things
that are bad and harmful to oneself.
But exceedingly difficult to do are things
that are good and beneficial.

164
Whoever, on account of perverted views,
scorns the Teaching of the Perfected Ones,
the Noble and Righteous Ones--
that fool, like the bamboo,
produces fruits only for self-destruction.*

*Bamboos perish immediately after producing fruits.

165
By oneself is evel done;
by oneself is one defiled.
By oneself is evil left undone;
by oneself is one made pure.
Purity and impurity depend on oneself;
no one can purify another.

166
Let one not neglect
one's own welfare
for the sake of another,
however great.
Clearly understanding
one's own welfare,
let one be intent upon the good.

E Dhamma

Module 9 : THE POWER OF SPEECH (1)

How much time do we spend talking?
A normal person speaks averagely 25,000 words a day. If we were to translate it, we can compile 105 volumes of book, each with 500 pages and 200 words per page in a year.

We spend so much time talking (some even talk in their sleep) and yet we don’t know what we are speaking. The output from the speech was not use effectively to create happiness to oneself and others, and actually goes to waste.

In communication, we should always be aware of the 2 parties involved.
1. The person who talk
2. The person who listen

One cannot be talking to oneself unless he is doing a reflection or self-contemplation. Therefore the person who speaks shall always consider the feelings and situation of the party that listen such that they may clearly understand the message and are not hurt by it.

The speak must also understand their Right and options in the process of talking
1. The option of silence
2. The option to speak

Many a time, we think that we must voice up our opinion, our right to speak.
We often forget the other important option that is not to speak at all.

In fact, this option of silence should be our first consideration before we open our mouth to produce the sound that may or may not be beneficial to one and others. We should always consider what we intent to put forward are aligned with our personal principles and self-values. Beside having the Right to speak or Freedom of speech, one must also consider the Right of others not to listen or the Freedom of being alone.

Next we must understand the characteristics or nature of speech.
1. Once spoken, it cannot be retrieved / taken back
(It travels to the ears that will become the door to the heart.)
2. It reflects the credibility of the speaker
(People will judge / measure by the manner / ways we speak)

“It is better to keep silence and to be thought a fool,
then to open our mouth to confirm it.” ~ Confucius

A Word is basically a vibration that one sends his intention or motive across to another’s heart through their ear-sense.

a. Great words are equally powerful through out the time.
A beautiful quotation such as the above can make one smile privately even until today.
b. Good Words are known to be the oldest medicine in the world that cures such as worry, fear and
anger. Therefore one should not under estimate its medical values.
c. If one knows how make to use it, it can create the happiness that money couldn’t buy.

Once there was a wise old man. After all the efforts failed to cure a very rare sickness of a boy, the villagers approach him as the last resort. The villagers gathered to see as he murmured some blessings. Between the crowds there was a sceptic who was talking behind the gathering.

The wise man then stops and scolded the sceptic, “You stupid fool who know nothing about the power of speech!” The sceptic’s face immediately turned red and before he is able to utter a word, the wise man cut in. “See. Even with a simple word of insult, I am able destroy your ego and make you feel so angry. And with some good blessings what make you think I can’t make this little boy cure from his sickness.”


The Power of Speech

There are two powers of speech that need to consider in our daily communication.

The Power to create
A wise speech can create goodness for oneself, others or both while a bad speech can create evil in oneself, others or both.

In the case of Angulimala who chooses the Buddha as his last one thousand victims to be killed for the finger he promised to bring back to his teacher: “Stop thee. Oh saffron monk. Don’t run!” shouted Angulimala when he failed to chase after the Buddha.

“I do not run but you run instead. Stop awhile and follow me,” said the Buddha as he uses him psychic power to unable Angulimala to reach him. As Angulimala was a learned pupil, he is able to understand that simple utterance of the Buddha who advice him to stop from doing mistake in his life by killing people which will eventually bring him to a continued running or rebirth in the cycle of samsara (suffering world).

He then repented and became one of the leading disciples of the Buddha.

As for the case of Kisa Gotami who cannot accept the fact that her baby child has passed away, begging for the Buddha to make miracle to resurrect her child: the Buddha agreed with a condition, “bring me the mustard seeds from a home that never experience death in the family.”

Kisa Gotami was confident that she could find the required mustard seed, went around the villages but to find no avail and realized that death is part of our life.

The Power to destroy
Similarly a skilful speech can destroyed sorrow in oneself, others or both and a slander can destroyed the happiness of oneself, others or both.

Often if we are not careful with our words, we hurt ourselves most just like one born with a pair of saw in one’s mouth.

Sometime when certain individual such as a minister give a statement of controversial, two countries can get into trouble such a war or get their tie cut.
“What is the sharpest sword? - Wrong speech.”


The Type of Speech
There are two type of speech mainly:

Wrong Speech

1.Lying / falsehood
These telling of the untruth also include,
- speaking less than it should (deceive),
- keeping the truth away,
- speak more than it should (exaggerate)

2. Slandering
Speaking bad about another people with the intention
- to separate / divide a relationship or
- be-friend them with another relationship

3. Frivolous speech
Speech that is unguarded or not mindful
- gossip,
- talk in excess (rumours)

4. Harsh speech
Unskilful speech that hurts
- gross, unrefined, sarcastic, abusive

Sometime we think white lies are harmless but in a long run it is actually creating unhappiness to both oneself and others. White lies may seem to be a short-term solution but a problem creator in a later stage.

Once there is a couple living alone; invited the elder brother and his wife to come over to their new house for a dinner. There was not much talking during the dinner and finally the sister-in-law decided to break the cold ice, “Wow, what a nice dish you have prepared.” And that’s a white lie. That dish actually does not taste good at all. The couple’s face was very please with that praises and you know what? Each time the elder brother and his wife visited them that same dish will definitely be served on the dinning table.

Please note that fables, stories, analogies that carry the message of Truth should not be considered as wrong speech as the intention is to educate for improvement. Sentences such as “I’m sorry.... or I regret to inform you....” that we write in a letter which is considered as a norm should be reconsidered if you don’t really feel sorry or regret about it.

Right Speech

1. Truth
Word are considered, as Truth after one has investigated it through seeing, hearing, understand it or cognise it and then spoken out wisely. (AN IV.183 Suta Sutta)

2. Beneficial
Beneficial here refers to both oneself and others in the form of constructive, encouragement, motivating and etc. If one is lack of faith, after spoken to him, he grows in faith and if he has faith, it becomes more refine. The same goes to charitable, virtues, knowledge and wisdom.

3. Polite & pleasant
This does not refer to the subject of conversation but the way we conveyed and how the listeners react towards the way we speak. Words with “sugar coating” should not fall under this category.

The 4 types of people
The Buddha speaks about the four types of people as regards to speech.

When worthy they praise, when blame they keep quite
when worthy they keep quite, when blame they blame
when worthy they keep quite, when blame they keep quite
when worthy they praise, when blame they blame

Who among the four is considered the wiser one?
The Buddha recommended the fourth one as he has the ability to recognize good as good, bad as bad and he has the courage to speak it out, wisdom to know when and where to say it.

When we praise someone, we must be specific and sincere and when we “blame” them, we must always observe not to use any of the wrong speech but gave great consideration to the Right Speech.

We must always remember that the freedom to speak is not what you want to speak. One should speak not with wrong speech but rather filled with Right Speech.

___________________________________

Questions
1. What are the advantages of choosing the option to be silence over the option to speak as the first choice?
2. Buddhism does not encourage match making. How can you explain this from the context of wrong speech?

Sutta Chanting

在豆瓣上见着这个连线:

是Metta Sutta 的巴利文念诵。
放上来与大家分享：

http://mp3.evdd.com/fyf/hhy/cijing1.mp3
(可用本部落的player噢~）

Metta Sutta：

愿我无敌意、无危险。愿我无精神的痛苦。 　　　　　　　　
愿我无身体的痛苦。 　　　　　　　　
愿我保持快乐。 　　　　　　　　
愿我的父母亲， 　　　　　　　　
我的导师、亲戚和朋友， 　　　　　　　　
我的同修， 　　　　　　　　
敌意、无危险。 　　　　　　　　
无精神的痛苦。 　　　　　　　　
无身体的痛苦。 　　　　　　　　
愿他们保持快乐。 　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　
愿一切有情众生： 　　　　　　　　
一切活着的、一切有形体的，
一切有名相的、一切有身躯的，
一切雌性的、一切雄性的众生， 　　　　　　　　
所有圣者、所有非圣者，
所有天神、所有人类，
所有苦道中的众生， 　　　　　　　　
无敌意、无危险。 　　　　　　　　
无精神的痛苦。 　　　　　　　　
无身体的痛苦。 　　　　　　　　
愿他们保持快乐。 　　　　　　　　
愿一切众生脱离痛苦。 　　
　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　
節錄自南傳《慈經》( Metta Sutta )

另可见：　Loving Kindness
http://ymoon-mun.blogspot.com/search/label/sutta
　　
　　

e- dhamma

新春一些感想。

来到中国之后，直觉自己的宗教学习怠慢了下来。
一是因为没有学习的环境，一是因为功课以及其他玩乐事务也忙。
心里不是没有着急。

有一回在大学门前遇见了一位穿着慈济制服的师姐，连忙向前去打招呼。
原来从台湾过来的师姐与一群慈济同人在南京行施着 证严法师的慈济道路。
我虽然至今还没有在此参加过任何慈济活动，但心里却也觉得一阵温暖和安慰。

最近常常上慈济大爱网站聆听证严法师的《静思晨语》，与大家分享这份法喜。
http://www.newdaai.tv/?view=item&id=91

并祝大家新春愉快~