Increasing your longevity
on the right minds.
This script
was written and edited by: John D. Hughes, Arrisha Burling,
Frank Carter, Leanne Eames, Jocelyn Hughes, Lisa Nelson,
Julie O’Donnell, Nick Prescott, Pennie White and Lenore
Hamilton.
Life force
is the main requirement for living.
Consider a
water tank as a model of understanding. When the water in
the tank gets too low, you get sick and eventually die. For
you to stay alive, the tank must be consistently replenished
with water.
How is the
tank replenished?
The level of
the tank is dependent on actions - those of the present, or
the conscious, which have occurred, say, during the past
week, and those of the past. Those actions you have
performed during the past week could be labeled as
‘visible’, while those you have performed in the past, over
this life and many lives past, as ‘invisible’, or
alternatively, ‘known’ and ‘unknown’.
If an
action, for example an offering of food, was performed, it
resounds in the invisible, or the past. Contact in the
present causes associated thoughts and feelings from the
past to arise. The instantly tangible result of offering
food is equivalent to replenishment of water in your life
tank.
Is it wise
that longevity be cultivated?
A long human
existence is regarded as a blessing by persons of many
cultures and religions around the world. We know from the
Mangala Sutta discourse on the highest blessings that long
life is not one of the highest blessings.
However,
longevity is regarded as a minor blessing.
The origin
of the English word "longevity", used to describe something
as long lasting or having long life, is the Latin word
longeval.
The Late
Latin words longaevitas, longaevus, longus and longaevum
form the etymology of longevity.
If you have
the merit, a Buddhist Monk or Nun may bless you by saying
Happy Long Life. If you have little or no merit, it would be
most unlikely that a Monk or Nun would give this minor
blessing to you.
According to
the Britannica Book of the Year 1997 average human life
expectancy for the worlds’ population is 64.1 years for men
and 68.4 years for women.
The average
life expectancy for an Australian female is about 81.1 years
while life expectancy for an Australian male is about 75.4
years.
Persons in
Africa have one of the shortest life expectancies with the
male average at 53.2 years and female average at 56.2 years.
Japanese
persons are reported to outlive all other nations with life
expectancy for males at 77 years and females at 83.6 years.
Reported
life expectancy for persons in developed nations is clearly
higher than in less developed nations and is increasing.
A comparison
of medical statistics with average life expectancy
statistics reveals the figures for population per physician
is inversely proportional to life expectancy.
In the
Central Republic of Africa there are 18,660 persons to one
physician. In Japan there are 542 persons per physician and
in Australia there are 400 persons per physician.
The number
of hospital beds per 10,000 persons is also relevant with 15
available in Africa, 89 in Australia and 135 in Japan.
Rich persons
have more access to medical care of varying quality than
poor persons.
Too much or
too little food reflects in health.
Persons in
resource rich countries such as Japan, Australia, America,
Canada, New Zealand and Great Britain rarely die of
starvation. They are more likely to be overweight than just
right.
Some work
risks shorten your life. Farmers, tradespersons and other
persons in physically demanding jobs shorten their life span
potential due to workplace accidents. Many tradespersons
develop disability ranging from back injury to body damage
through incorrect use of power tools.
We are not
to surprised that some persons working in hazardous
professions like protection forces including armed forces,
police, fire fighters and rescue workers are injured or lose
their life at work.
Much
research is done to reduce danger in hazardous professions.
We hear from
time to time about the long term dangers of being exposed to
dangerous chemicals and materials such as asbestos.
Last
century, the average person had six jobs over their working
life. This century persons can look forward to twelve to
fourteen or more different types of jobs over their working
life because of the new economy’s ability to replace
traditional ways of working by machinery.
According to
Linda Christmas, the macho-I-can-work-longer-than-you
attitude currently found in Australia was reared in the
1990s . That decade yielded many a sad story of workplace
stress. ‘Burnout’ has become common in some occupations.
Recently, average working hours have increased with overtime
and pay increases.
Prolonged
idleness can also shorten your life.
In
Australia, after retirement or retrenchment, persons may
have at least two decades without paid work. As they become
older and slow down, some persons cannot retrain fast enough
to stay employable by learning new information technology
and telecommunications systems. An expectation to be working
for someone else at age fifty is unreasonable in the present
work climate.
Australians
worked 1,034 million Hours Overtime during 1999-2000
according to statistics reported in The Age Magazine, Good
Weekend, January 27, 2001.
We encourage
persons to help our Temple. Volunteerism is on the rise.
Helping others is beneficial to our health and long life. At
present, we require more persons to care for our garden.
We are
always improving our garden setting and reducing our fire
risks. We have been raking leaves to put on our humus heaps
and have placed top-dressing on parts of the existing lawn.
We transplanted plants from one flower bed to another site
to make room for a Reclining Buddha image. We have just
moved the Western Gate a few metres to the West.
We take care
that our garden is safe and that we work safely. This week,
some dead branches were trimmed off two large trees
positioned on the northern and southern boundaries of our
Centre. We hired a professional tree cutter to do these
tasks.
Our next
door neighbour had her driveway escavated and kindly gave us
the top soil that was removed. Because we are on the top of
the hill, our soil is mostly clay and we need to add lime
and then topsoil to make new garden beds.
Our three
humus heaps need turning over and breaking up and mixing
with the donated topsoil. We are making more open space at
present. One other garden project we need urgent help with
is the repositioning of our bell tower a few metres to the
North to open up more space in what we like to call "the
village square".
This is hard
work in the summer months. If you are healthy, enjoy
gardening, can work outside in the heat without undue
stress, can work safely with power tools and would like to
help, or donate some garden supplies, please contact us on
(03) 9754 3334.
In Buddhist
culture, it is known that actions, such as offering flowers,
contributes to the attainment of minor blessings including
long life.
Our culture
views the tortoise and the elephant as representations of
longevity. The long-legged crane is another symbol of
longevity.
In recent
times in Australian society more and more people attempt or
contemplate attempting suicide. This is a sign of poor
mental health. Buddha Dhamma can improve mental wellness and
reduce suicidal tendencies, thus increasing longevity.
What
combination of wisdom factors operate to give longevity?
Tsong-kha-pa
wrote;
"Wisdom is
the eye with which to see the meaning of Sunyata and is the
Path by which to cut through ignorance, the root of samsara.
It is the treasure of knowledge praised in all of the
scriptural texts. It is well known as the Lamp that
illuminates all the darkness of closed-mindedness. Knowing
this, the Masters who have wished to attain Liberation have
made all efforts to progress along this Path."
If we write
Dhamma (good things) down and keep the writings for use by
others we extend the longevity of knowledge. This action
adds more water to our life tank. Another way of thinking is
that if we plant seeds at the right time by so doing we
cultivate and prolong the life of that plant variety. In the
Vinaya, the Monks and Nuns rules, the Buddha told his Monks
and Nuns not to destroy the seeds of plants. If we think of
the string of words crafted by the Buddha as if they were
plant seeds we might draw the assumption that if we preserve
this string of words, long life would come to us.
This is a
simple explanation of Bodhicitta (Wisdom Mind).
Plato wrote
about the merits of writing.
The
following is a dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus.
Socrates:
Well, then, someone who thinks that he can set down an art
in working, and equally someone who accepts something from
writing as though it were going to be clear and reliable,
must be very simple-minded... how can they possibly think
that words, which have been written down can do more than
serve as a reminder to those who already know what the
writing is about?
Phaedrus:
Quite right.
Socrates:
You know, Phaedrus, writing shares a strange feature with
painting. The offspring of painting stand there as if they
were alive, but if anyone asks them anything, they are
solemnly silent. The same is true of written words. You’d
think they were speaking as if they had some understanding,
but if you question anything that has been said because you
want to learn more, it gives just the same message over and
over. Once it has been written down, every discourse rolls
about everywhere, reaching just as much those with
understanding as those who have no business with it, and it
does not know to whom it should speak and to whom not. And
when it is faulted and attacked unfairly, it always needs
its father’s support; alone, it cannot defend itself or come
to its own support.
Phaedrus:
You are quite right about that too.
Socrates:
Now tell me, can we discern another kind of discourse, a
legitimate brother of this one? Can we say how it comes
about, and how much better and more capable it naturally is?
Phaedrus:
Which one is that? How do you say it comes about?
Socrates: It
is a discourse that is written down, with knowledge, in the
soul of the listener; it can defend itself, and it knows to
whom it should speak, and with whom it should remain silent.
Phaedrus:
You mean the living, breathing discourse of the man who
knows, of which the written one can fairly be called an
image.
Socrates:
Exactly - and tell me this. Would a farmer who was sensible
and cared about his seeds and wanted them to yield fruit
plant them in all seriousness in the gardens of Adonis in
the middle of summer and enjoy watching them become fine
plants in a week? Or would he do this as an amusement and in
honour of the holiday, if he did it at all? Wouldn’t he use
his knowledge of farming to plant the seeds he cared for
when it was appropriate, and be satisfied if they bore fruit
eight months later?
Phaedrus:
That’s how he would handle those he was serious about.
As we
practice reading and hearing with sustained awareness we
must know we are producing future bases. Our awareness of
both known and unknown information increases. Our knowledge
of the known subject matter of that we read becomes greater
over time.
Learning can
occur if we cultivate ourselves.
The unknown
gradually becomes known to the mind, and it becomes more
pliant and fit for use.
We do not
wish to be narrow minded in future.
To think
globally, we must study and operate globally today.
Our Buddhist
Centre is well positioned to study many things and play a
leading role within the context of the World Fellowship of
Buddhists’ globalisation of true knowledge.
We want to
sustain our assets and add to them over time.
It is rare
for a Western commercial organisation to achieve the
longevity of 100 years (the oldest continuous Western
business being only about 450 years). The mode of operation
of a Buddha Dharma organisation that desires longevity must
be different to those that have short existence. In order to
provide sustained facilities for persons to practice
Buddhism in the future free of charge, we do not charge for
teaching today.
Since
Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana and Ch’an are being taught
and practiced at our Centre, free of charge, we are
culturally adaptable without being disorientated by
commercial stresses.
Unfortunately, the process of knowledge globalisation is, to
a greater or lesser extent, producing some kind of
disorientation in traditional Buddhist societies. A
weakening in confidence of the relevance of Buddha Dhamma is
appearing in the younger section of the population. Other
religions are even more susceptible to this tendency.
Since young
persons have been sold the notion of consumerism, that is
their new religion. They equate an increase in living
standard with an increase in consumption of goods and
services. However, true quality of life does not follow this
notion but is the result of past causes.
A Temple
that shows young persons cause and effect and holds the
tradition that gives reasons to explaining why mind
cultivation is important is useful to society.
Our Centre
intends to help these young persons who are being negatively
influenced by some aspects of Western culture.
Recently, a
young Member of our Centre went to Perth to attend her
brother’s wedding. On the morning of the wedding, the
groom’s dog ate a quarter of the wedding cake, which had
been made by his mother and decorated by his grandmother.
The mother became hysterical and took a pessimistic view of
the event, unable to understand that it was the result of a
previous cause. The Member, understanding the kamma involved
and finding the situation humerous, calmly patched up and
redecorated the cake. The "cutting the cake" photos were
able to be taken at the wedding. The event became a talking
point at the wedding and was reported on in the Western
Australian newspaper. This would not have occurred had the
Member not understood cause and effect and instead reacted
according to her Western cultural background.
The
advantage of our websites is that they are independent of
time and place, as persons are able to choose on their
terms, when, where and how they read our material.
The Karma
Sutra has changed the lives of many who read it for it
explains the direct results of causes.
Here is, in
part, the English translation of the Karma Sutra:
Once upon a
gathering attended by 1,250 followers, the Venerable Ananda,
after bowing to the Buddha with respect, asked: "In the
present dark age where the majority of our people are
indulgent in unrighteousness, disrespectful to the Lord's
Teaching, undutiful to their parents, immoral, miserable and
sordid, among them, how could we understand the cryptic and
fundamental principle or causes that have brought about this
reality and what consequences each individual is to suffer
eventually for his/her deeds. My Lord, would you kindly
explain these to us?
The
Enlightened One then answered, "Listen carefully, I will now
expound the Law Of Karma. Because of Karmic effects
inherited from previous lives, some people are poor, some
rich, some happy and some miserable. Following these
guidelines will help you obtain happiness and prosperity for
your next life. They are:
1. Be
dutiful and respect your parents.
2. Respect
the Buddhas, the (Dhamma Teachings of Buddha) and the
Buddhist
Monks
(Sangha).
3. Abstain
from killing and set free sentient beings.
4. Be
charitable.
The Buddha
proceeded on the Karma Sutra:
"Destiny is
the aggregate of karmic effects from the past. To believe in
and practice this sutra will bring you prosperity and
happiness."
Learn the
Law of Karma, expounded as follows:
To be able
to hold office in the government is a reward for your
building Buddha's Statues in a previous life. For building
Buddha's statues is likened to molding yourself, and to
protect the Tathagata is protecting yourself. To be able to
hold a high ranking position in the government is reward for
your putting gold on the Buddha’s Images and Statues. To be
a public officer cannot be taken for granted, for without
practising Buddhism it will not befall you.
Your present
enjoyment of various transportation facilities without
getting foot-worn is a reward for your help in the
construction of bridges and roads in your past life. To
donate clothing to monks will ensure you are well provided
with clothing in future lives or in your next life. (For
example, offering affron Robes during a Kathina Festival).
To be free
from hunger and starvation is the result of your providing
food to the poor in your previous life.
To be
miserly and unwilling to help the needy gives rise to future
starvation and lack of clothing.
To have
ample housing is a reward for donating food to monasteries
in your past life. (Known as offering Dana to the Sangha).
To abstain
from eating meat and to pay respect to Buddha will assure
you to be reborn a very intelligent child in your next
rebirth.
To be
heirless now is the result of destroying flowers habitually
in your previous life. Your longevity is due to setting free
sentient beings in your past life. Being short-lived is the
result of committing too many killings in your previous
life.
To distort
the truths habitually will cause you to suffer blindness in
your next life. To have a wry mouth is due to your
intentionally blowing candles before the Buddha's altar in
your past life.
Plugging
snake-pit and mouse holes habitually will cause you to
starve to death in your next birth. To intentionally poison
a river or water source will cause you to die of poison in
your next life. Disrespecting Buddha's teaching will bring
you constant starvation in your next rebirth.
To hunt
animals with rope and net will predestine your death by
hanging in your next birth. To be struck by lightning or
burnt by fire will be the punishment for dishonest trade
dealing. Being attacked and wounded by wild beasts and
snakes tells you that those creatures were your enemies in
your previous life.
Whatever you
do will come back on you, so accept whatever justice and
retribution that befalls on you.
You will
live to bear the consequences of your deeds, either within
this lifetime or in your future life.
Past karma
determines your present destiny. Present karma moulds your
next life.
Whoever
distributes this sutra free to all will become a leader to
humanity in his or her next life.
After having
spoken the above teaching to Ananda and the followers, the
Buddha added that there are innumerable examples of karmic
law. He only mentioned some examples for generalization.
May you be
well and happy and increase your longevity on the right
minds.
We wish you
a happy and prosperous New Year.
This script
was written and edited by: John D. Hughes, Arrisha Burling,
Frank Carter, Leanne Eames, Jocelyn Hughes, Lisa Nelson,
Julie O’Donnell, Nick Prescott, Pennie White and Lenore
Hamilton.
======
References:
Brown, L.
(ed.) (1993) The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, New
York, United States of America: Oxford University Press.
Buddhadatta
Mahathera, A. P. (1968) Concise Pali-English Dictionary,
Colombo:The Colombo Apothecaries’ Co., Ltd..
Encyclopedia
Britannica Inc., (1998) Britannica Book of the Year 1997,
United States of America: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.
Hugo,
French-English English-French Dictionary, London: Hugo’s
Language Institute.
Tzong-kha-pa,
Je (1974) Lines of Experience, The Main Aspects of the
Practice of the Stages on the Graded Path to Enlightenment,
English translation prepared by Dhargyey, G. N., Tulku, S.,
Tulku, K., Berzin, A. and Landaw, J., Dharamsala: Library of
Tibetan Works and Archives.
Warder, A.
K. (1984) Introduction to Pali, London: Pali Text Society.
Monk, Ray
and Raphael, Fredrick. (2000), The Great Philosophers, from
Socrates to Turing, Weidenfeld and Nicolson London, Plato by
Bernard Williams
Christmas,
Linda, (2001) The Australian Newspaper, "knock off time",
Weekend Focus section
"Journey To
The Underworld" (1987) by Sheng Xian Tan Temple Tai Chung
Statistics
in The Age Magazine, January 27 2001.
For more
information, contact the Centre or better still, come and
visit us.
===
Source:
Buddhist Discussion Centrer
