Be Mindful and Diligent

Ven. Horowpothane Sathindriya Thera

This is the 2552nd anniversary of Parinibbana of the Buddha which millions of his very pious devotees commemorate in the globe.

Not only Buddhist, but also many wise members in other faiths respect and admire remarkable and an incomparable inner qualities of he Buddha and his marvellous teachings.

Today as human beings, we are fortunate to reflect upon the Path of Peace and Freedom that the Supreme teacher, the Buddha profoundly expounded.

Though the teachings of the Fully Enlightened One are more than 2552 years old, no one will ever dare to challenge these teachings by saying they are obsolete or outdated in our wise community.

It is hard to find any fact to expunge from the text by arguing with nano-technology and modern science. The teaching of the Buddha is the only real science and beyond too.

The Blessed One openly declared and profoundly proclaimed the essence what he comprehended thus:

“All conditioned things are impermanent- when one sees this with wisdom one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification”

“All conditioned things are unsatisfactory - when one sees this with wisdom one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification.”

“All things are not self - when one sees this with wisdom one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification.”

Some intellectuals do compare Buddha Dhamma with science without deep concentration and penetration of the Dhamma and unwisely try to prove and confirm their arguments and altercations with their academic and theoretical knowledge.

The Gotama Buddha said:

“The Dhamma is deep, hard to see, hard to understand, peaceful and sublime, not within the sphere of reasoning, subtle and to be experienced by the wise.”

The Great Master, the Compassionate One comprehended with his own experience and advised us to cultivate sublime inner qualities to expel and eradicate all defilements which defile and pollute one’s own mind.

One should not unwisely and negligently postpone or delay the practice of Dhamma or spiritual development. Procrastination is the ultimate repentance and the heartrending grief at one’s last breath.

Once the Blessed One said:

“If one holds oneself dear, one should diligently watch oneself. Let the wise person keep vigil during any of the three watches of the night.”

We are extremely fortunate to be born as human beings. It is obvious that we are in human forms, but it does not mean that humane inner qualities spontaneously grow or develop in our minds.

For that purpose, we should practice wholesome qualities such as virtue, generosity, morality etc.,etc for the development of mental culture.

It is crystal clear that without any effort and endeavour instinctively defilements flourish and multiply in one’s heart - mind due to lack of mindfulness, lack of spiritual advancement and dissociation of Dhamma friends.

This is the catastrophic threat and the danger in Samsaric journey (Cycle of birth and death). Whether one believes or not, re-becoming or rebirth will take place after death if the desire or the craving exists in one’s mind.

Only the enlightened beings those who have completely eradicated and utterly eliminated craving and ignorance, will not be born again.

It has been explicitly explained in Ratana Sutta thus:

“Their past is extinct, with no new arising, their minds not drawn to future birth; their old seeds destroyed, desires no more growing, the wise go out just like this lamp.”

Jealousy, anger, ill will, craving, impatience, stinginess and other unwholesome thoughts will definitely create a dark, wild inner atmosphere and culture of violence in human mind.

When one mindfully and deeply contemplates on that innermost situation, one can feel and recognise what the suffering is. When one associates with unpleasant thoughts, one’s mind will become very unpleasant and atrocious, simultaneously this person will make others unpleasant and suffer too.

That is why the human society is always in conflict. One should be very mindful of human guide lines - five precepts which should not be violated in daily life.

Not only observing and following them but also cultivating and practising of their positive facts such as loving kindness, compassion, generosity, sharing, respecting others, truthfulness, practising and developing mindfulness is the real path to peace.

This way of life guides oneself to innermost happiness and genuine peace as well as others may be free from fear, danger, insecurity and suffering.

When one takes refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, one should honestly tread on the path of purification - the Noble Eightfold Path.

The person, who diligently and steadily follows the path which the Buddha assured, will be free from all burdens, sorrow, lamentation and grief.

“One by one, little by little, moment by moment, a wise man should remove his own impurities, as a smith removes the dross of silver”.

(The Dhammapada)

The Gotama Buddha is the extraordinary man who taught us the value and the advantage of the culture of peace and compassionately advised us to renounce unwholesome deeds.

When one trains, disciplines and tames one’s own mind by observing and monitoring his or her own hidden tendencies and other defilements with introspection, one can achieve a peace of mind.

Untamed and untrained mind is like a monkey mind. It wanders everywhere according to one’s past memories and future plans. If one is able to train one’s mind to settle back into the present moment by letting go, laying down burden, practising deep concentration and developing wisdom one is fortunate enough to be free from inner tangles and outer tangles.

Once answering a burning question of a particular divine being, the Blessed One succinctly replied thus:

“A man established on virtue, wise, Developing the mind and wisdom, A bhikkhu ardent and discreet: He can disentangle this tangle”

Inner peace and innermost tranquillity are the treasures that one should earn in this very life. One of the paramount advices given by the Buddha was.

“Heedfulness is the path to the Deathless, heedlessness is the path to death. The heedful do not die, the heedless are already dead.”