The Practice Of The Buddha's Wisdom, Loving Kindness And Compassion

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When the Buddha was living in India there were 18 states ruled by various kings.  Buddha has visited them all and his teaching spread in every one of those states.  After the maha parinibbana of the Great Master his teaching disappeared from the country. Later, when Emperor Asoka passed away in the third century, his sons had some disagreements among them and they had no unity among them.  This resulted in the decline of the Dhamma. 

There was no way to write the Dhamma and it was learned by memory and brought forward by Arahants for the first three centuries.  After two hundred and thirty six years of the parinibbana of the Buddha, Emperor Asoka during his reign sent missionary monks to several countries around Asia. 

The Ven. Mahinda, the son of Emperor Asoka was sent to Sri Lanka to propagate the Dhamma.  His mission was the most successful and it flourished throughout the country.  A century later there came a severe drought and well versed monks of the Dhamma were dying because of the famine and people were thinking about a way to preserve the Dhamma. 

They convened an assembly of five hundred existing Arahants and invited them to have a Buddhist council and to write down the original teaching. They supplied the facilities and palm leafs and styluses to write down Dhamma.  It took six months for these five hundred monks to complete the task.  This is the way they preserved the Dhamma in Sri Lanka.  Up to that time Dhamma was brought forward by memorizing. 

From that point on Dhamma was protected in pristine form in Sri Lanka. They enshrined in huge shrines the texts of the written Dhamma so that invaders could not find them. Pali was a dead   language and its grammar and expression style would not be changed by the course of time.  The meanings of the words, phrases and styles of language will not change and ideas can be understood as in the original teaching. 

It had played a great role in the past in giving Dhamma to many countries and the Bhikkhu Sangha was exchanged among China, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and such other countries. In these countries they exchanged Dhamma and higher ordination of monks. Sri Lanka is the country that reestablished Buddhism in India. Mr. Anagarika Dharmapala was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Dhamma.

In the early days Chinese Buddhist monks came to Sri Lanka to take Buddhism back to their country and records of this can be found in the Chinese archives and the history proves it.  Today, everybody understands Buddhism. Theravada literature carries the perfect Buddhist teaching throughout the World.

His teaching was totally endowed with eighty four thousand discourses.  Out of them eighty two thousand discourses were delivered by him during his forty five year lifetime mission. Two thousand discourses were delivered by his disciples.  All these discourses were preserved in writing in Sri Lanka in the first century B.C.  (Mahavamsa).  Up to that time it was brought by memory by Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka.  All these teachings carried to guide human beings to purify their minds from greed, hatred and delusion leading them to the attainment of happiness of Nibbana.

It is based on loving kindness, Compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. It shows how to eradicate the continuously existing greed, hatred and delusion from their minds showing that the life is merely turmoil of changing nature, suffering and impersonality.  In brief, I can say it gives you the understanding of four noble truths.   He explained how to be satisfied in happiness in this world as well as hereafter.

Satisfaction of happiness cannot be gained by greed, hatred and delusion. Because such satisfaction is not permanent, it is changing.  All conditioned things are changing and not permanent.  They are perishable.  The satisfaction that can be gained through non-attachment, non-anger, and non-delusion will be permanent and bring happiness.  Ordinary worldlings can never achieve that. That can only be gained by developing mindfulness, and wisdom. Therefore, The Buddha taught us how to develop mindfulness and gain wisdom to understand the real happiness.

Long before the Buddha appeared in the world, as an Enlightenment being (Bodhisattva) his aspiration originated out of loving kindness, and compassion.  As a Bodhisattva he spent a long time in Samsara fulfilling tenfold perfections (Paramita) persuading others to join with him in merit making such as

1. Practice of generosity
2. Practice of morality
3. Practice of renunciation.
4. Practice of development of wisdom,
5. Practice of energy
6. Practice of patience
7. Practice of truthfulness
8. Practice of determination.
9. Practice of loving kindness.
10. Practice of equanimity. 

These wholesome mental qualities were practiced by the enlightenment being for four countless eons in Samsara fulfilling and persuading others who were associated with him.  The results of these practices were difficult to explain in words even by a Buddha during his whole life without speaking anything else. The diversity of those results can be seen in his life story by resulting as miracles in the birth moment and after as well in the stories of his past births.  

Miracles appeared in that moment not only in this world even in other 10 thousand surrounding worlds in the universe. Such a meritorious power was with him.  Buddha himself explained in one discourse that he enjoyed the worldly happiness during his lifetime before his renunciation.  All this happiness was organized by his father providing all comforts. But his mind could not be tempted due to his Samsaric experience of loving kindness and compassion.  These two wholesome qualities used to go together closely.

As a result of these wholesome practices Bodhisattva acquired his power which is beyond ordinary human beings, deities and brahma beings' capacity.  Therefore, it is not appropriate to compare Buddha's power with ordinary human beings.  Even though he was born as a human being his power is not comparable with ordinary human beings.

He had such a great loving-kindness and compassion upon all living beings without any distinction or discrimination. His whole life was one of total wholesomeness and body of compassion.  His mind was enriched with seventy three special higher wisdoms.  Among them six higher wisdoms were incomparable except with other Buddhas.   

Before his attainment of enlightenment he was in the samsara a long time and during that time he was practicing loving kindness and compassion with others whom he associated.  In addition to these practices sympathetic-joy and equanimity must be included to be complete as it comes in fourfold sublime states of the mind. 

To maintain peace, harmony, satisfaction, contentment, and cheerfulness in the world these fourfold sublime states are essential necessities to the society.  The followers of Buddha Dhamma are taught to practice these wholesome qualities in their daily lives instructed by the Buddha.  So we have to follow the instructions in our lives as much as in the capacity of our whole heart.  In the ancient inscriptions of Emperor Asoka as well as other Buddhist kings in Sri Lanka this was mentioned.   And they and their subjects were advised to do so.  By following to do so they got the full advantage of their lives.

Out of his compassion animals like Bhaddavatika she elephant, scavengers like Sunita, little girls like Rajjumala and boys like Sopaka and Mattakundali, wanderers like Bahiya Daruciriya, beauty queens like Uppalavanna, prostitutes like Sirima and Ambapali, royal families who belong to Sakyans and Koliyans were relieved from suffering.  All his life was spent for the sake of helping the living beings and mankind from suffering in Samsara.  A late poet paid him respect appreciating his invaluable service recited like this:

"Karuna sitala hadayam -panna pajjota vihata mohataman
Sanaramara loka garum -vande sugatam gativimuttam... "   

which means, 'He who has a kind heart soaked with compassion and kindness, who destroyed the darkness of delusion with the kindled lamp of wisdom, and became the teacher of  divine beings (gods) and human beings, and who has ended the circle of rebirths with heartfelt reverence, I  prostrate before him.

There is no appropriate vocabulary to express the reverential feelings of real idea given by the poet who expressed his inner thoughts of piousness he had in his mind to write this beautiful verse.  

May you all be well and happy!