Every moment is Karma

We always recite Namo Buddhaya Sitan – “Homage to the Buddha, success!”

Success is self-confidence and understanding. In Buddhism, we have no self which exists on its own; we only have truth. We take the time to investigate the reality of who we are, we don’t just accept the conventional belief in self. We are here speaking, but it is not about this concept of you or me. It is about action.

No you, no me. If you listen to me, that is the action of listening, not about the concept of you. And if we have good action, then we become good, and if we have bad action we become bad. What we must develop is the courage to avoid bad things and do good things. We must employ compassion, esteem for right things, self-confidence, and self-acceptance. We must speak with confidence, and we must accept our role in life.

Yes, we do have predispositions. We have seven aspects of karma. If you kill people you will have a short life; if you do not kill people you will have a long life,. If you are angry by nature, you will become ugly; if you have a lovely nature, you will become beautiful, always smiling and happy. If you harm other beings, you will become ill; if you do not harm, you will be healthy. If you are jealous, you will be forlorn and friendless and no will be able to approach you; if you are not jealous, you will have many friends everywhere.

It is like your coming here. You have come for peace, and now you have many Cambodian friends,. You are not a jealous person. You have the goal to help, and therefore people love you. People have become your friends.

If you are a miser you will become poor., if you are not a miser, then you are very well off. If you look down on people, are very proud and haughty, your mind will become ignorant. If you respect everybody, because the whole world is your house and all human beings are your mother, then you will become very wise.

You must have su, shi,po, li. Su means to listen, chi means to think, pu means to question, and li means to record. To listen, to think, to question, to record, these make you become very wise. If you don’t have them you become very ignorant. This is the law of the Dhamma.

Yes. You are what you associate with. Wisdom comes from listening.

Every moment is karma, physical karma, mental karma. Karma simply means action.

Journey to the Heart

"The highest form of happiness in the world is peace. And it's a step-by-step process that begins and ends in the heart."

"Cambodians are very patient."

"We have to prefer the vigilance of struggle. We have to listen with patience and forbearance. Everyday from the beginning, in the middle, and to the end. Every breath in and every breath out. Every posture, sitting, standing, and walking, is important. We have to achieve perfection."

"Buddha always walked. I walk everywhere. I walk with the people. Walking is good exercise."

-- Maha Ghosananda

[from angkortourism.net]

Maha Ghosananda's education

My first teacher Venerable Choun Nath, the Sangharaja of Cambodia. That was quite a great honor for such a young monk.

As a novice, we followed the Three Trainings – in morality, concentration, and wisdom. These three things go together like the head, the body, and the limbs. And we learned the Eightfold Path: Right Understanding; Right Thinking; Right speech; Right Action; Right Livelihood; Right Effort; Right Mindfulness; and Right Meditation.

That is the path of the Buddha, to overcome these three things: greed, hatred, and ignorance.

All the Buddha’s teachings are about ‘compositing.’ Everything in life follows four formulas: when this is existing, that comes to be; with the arising of this that arises; when this does not exist, that does not exist; with the ceasing of this, that ceases. Every moment is like that. It is the universal law. It is the Dhamma.

Morality was taught to us by five precepts: to refrain from killing; to refrain from cheating people by word, and to refrain from intoxicants. This always goes together with compassion, right livelihood, good conduct, loving speech, mindfulness, and clear comprehension. This is Buddhist morality.

We put wisdom into action by taking care of the present moment. In speaking, be rightful, lovely, timely, and useful. This is the right verbal action. And physical action, don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t’ commit adultery. And develop compassion, right livelihood, right conduct. Create mindfulness and comprehension. Don’t’ drink poison, so that your mind can become clear.

You know, we have thirty-eight blessings. First among them is to associate with a wise man. You are who you associate with. In Buddhism, this actually has many meanings. We are what we eat, what we drink. If we drink good things, we become healthy. If we drink poison, we will die. If you eat the world, you are the world. If you understand it, you understand the Dhamma.

Buddha’s teachings are very easy! There is no need to make them complicated. You must do three things only: to refrain from evil, to do what is good, and to purify the mind. That is all.

Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic. It is realistic. Dharma means truth. The trust is realistic. People are fighting because they still have hatred, they are against each other. But we tell them that everything is changing every moment. Breathing-in changes into breathing-out.

Every moment is like that. Life will change into death.

This is the first teaching of the Buddha – impermanence. Because of impermanence we suffer. We cannot stop things from changing. And we cannot control suffering because we are ultimately not permanent ourselves. We are therefore selfless. We have no permanent self. We are only a composite. Our own body is composed of elements: air element, water element, earth element, and also elements of consciousness, element of space. Everything changes. Even hatred will change.

Only the Buddha has escaped this cycle of life.

Loving the Evil Minded

"Should a person commit evil, let one not do it again and again. Let one not find pleasure therein, for painful is the accumulation of evil." Dhammapada 9.11

Both the noble and the good are embraced because loving-kindness flows to them spontaneously. We also love unwholesome evil-minded people, because love embraces all beings, whether they are noble minded or low minded, good or evil.

The evil-minded are the ones who need loving-kindness the most. In many of them, the seeds of goodness may have died because warmth was lacking for its growth. It perished from coldness in a world without compassion.

[The Khmer Rouge did evil] did evil because they cling to hatred, so they are fighting always. They are pushed by the desire for power. They want to become prime minster or something. They want name and fame. And they want money. That is why they are always fighting.

[We can forgive them.] We always say, ‘Hatred is never pacified by hatred. Only through love is hatred pacified.’

That is the eternal law. I also remind people that the wars of the heart always take longer to cool than the barrel of a gun. We must heal through love, but it takes a bit of time. We must go slowly, step by step.

[Human beings are not essentially selfish and violent.] There are four categories of man. Some are violent and some are very peaceful. We compare these to light and darkness. Some people come from the light and again enter into the light. Some people come from the light but go into darkness. Some people come from the darkness but then go into the light. And some people come from the darkness and return to darkness. These are the four kinds of people. [Nipata Macala Vagga]

What decides if a person goes into light or darkness? According to the teaching of the Buddha, it is decided by mindfulness. Here! Now! This!

You are here, now, in this present moment. When I am speaking, you are listening. When you are speaking, I am listening. We are nowhere else but here. And when we are here together you and I have to speak the truth: right speech, lovely speech, timely speech, and useful speech. When these things happen, we are happy.

Why is there violence in Buddhist countries? These people do not know about the essential teachings, or they do not know how to apply them. Theory, practice, and enlightenment go together. Theory without practice us useless. If you write very good things, but you do not follow the teachings, then it is useless.

If you are mindful, you are a Buddha. Mindfulness is in the present. The past is already gone, the future has not yet come. You must take care of the present moment. The present moment is mother of the future. You and I speak at this moment about peace, and in the future it will give birth to many benefits, many children, in many countries.

The past is our teacher. it teaches us. The past is mother of the present.

[From The Future of Peace, by Scott Hunt]