The Great Chronicle of Buddhas
by Ven. Mingun Sayadaw | 1990 | 1,044,401 words
This page describes The Perfection of Morality (sila-parami) contained within the book called the Great Chronicle of Buddhas (maha-buddha-vamsa), a large compilation of stories revolving around the Buddhas and Buddhist disciples. This page is part of the series known as on Pāramitā. This great chronicle of Buddhas was compiled by Ven. Mingun Sayadaw who had a thorough understanding of the thousands and thousands of Buddhist teachings (suttas).
(2) Second Pāramī: The Perfection of Morality (sīla-pāramī)
The Game Animal Cāmarī
The author gives an elaborate description of the animal, cāmarī, which we have translated as ‘yak’. He quotes various authorities to dispel the notion of many people that cāmarī is a kind of winged animal. Far from it, the author says on the authority of Abhayarama Sayadaw of Mandalay, and Taung Pauk Sayadaw of Mawlamyine that it is a yak, a Tibetan beast of burden, useful also for its milk and flesh. The fan made of its tail is one of the emblems of royalty.
Wishing to prevent damage, the yak will sacrifice its life rather then making any effort to release it, when even a single hair of its tail happens to be caught in the branches of a bush. Sumedha admonished himself to take the example set by a yak and preserve the purity of morality even at the risk of his life.
Miscellaneous Notes on Different Respects of Morality
As with Perfection of Dāna, these notes are given in the form of answers to the following questions; quoting the authority of the Visuddhi-magga, the Path of Purification:
(1) What is Morality?
(2) Why is it called Morality?
(3) What are the characteristics, functions, manifestations, and proximate cause of Morality?
(4) What are the benefits of Morality?
(5) How many types of Morality are there?
(6) What are the defiling factors of Morality?
(7) What are the purifying factors of Morality?
Exposition of Morality...