Meditation, means to attain nirvana

There is useful link here.

International recognition of th Day of Vesak

The international community at the United Nations, once again celebrated the Vesak Day of 2005 in accordance with the United Nations General Assembly Resolution adopted in 1999, which provided international recognition at the United Nations for the Vesak Day.
This resolution was adopted by consensus as a result of efforts by Sri Lanka led by Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, following a decision at the International Buddhist Conference held in Colombo in 1998. Full text.

Related information on International recognition of the Day of Vesak at United Nations Headquarters and other United Naitons offices can be found in the above link.

Dhamma to Become Millionaire by Preah Bhikkhu Vodano Sophan

This is a discourse performed by Preah Bhikkhu Vodano Sophan. The discourse explains the dhamma application in daily life. To be millionaire, Preah Bhikkhu advises us to recite the following mantra "U-A-TAK-SAK." To listen to the discourse please click on "Dhamma To Become Millionaire."

You can find a resourceful Dhamma collection in Khmer and English, through this link.

There is also the biography of the Buddha written by Preah Bhikkhu Vodano Sophan published ion the Cambodianview website.

Map of Tipitaka

The Time-line of Buddha

This is the interesting chart of the Buddha's life time-line from his birth to his death.

Source in the link here.

The Eightfold Path The Way To End Suffering

Chapter 1. Right Understanding

This meditation practice, as many of you have done with this day of sitting and walking, was actually quite a lot. Some people will start with a 20-minute sitting and do that for a number of months, or go to a class and have some instruction and sit for a little bit. There are people who also will come to a ten-day retreat. We’ve even had a few kind of unusual people sign up for a three-month retreat who had never meditated before, and say, “Well, I guess I’ll just do it.” But as you can discover, even in just one day of sitting, though some things are interesting and you learn some from it, it’s also not so easy. There aren’t a lot of distractions and iversions here. It’s pretty simple. All that’s really left for you in this place is your own body and mind, and there’s not a lot to take one away from that.

What is the essence of meditation practice? Here is a story. After the Buddha was enlightened he was walking down the road in a very happy state. He was supposed to have been quite a handsome prince before going off to be a monk. So here’s this handsome prince now recently enlightened, wearing golden robes and obviously quite happy, and very special from all accounts.

And he met some people and they said, “You seem very special. What are you, are some kind of an angel or a deva?” He seemed inhuman in some way. “No.”

“Well, are you some kind of a god then?” “No.”

“Well, then are you some kind of a wizard or magician?” “No,” he replied.

“Well, are you a man?” “No,” he said.

“Then what are you?” And he answered, “I am awake.”

And in those three words —“I am awake”— he gave the whole teaching which Buddhism contains. To be a Buddha is to be one who has awakened, awakened to the nature of life and death and the world in which we live, awakened to the body and mind. So the purpose of practicing meditation, the Buddhist and other traditions, is not to become a meditator, or a spiritual person, or a Buddhist, or to join something. Rather, it is to understand this capacity we have as humans to awaken.

What is that which we can awaken to, what is the Dharma which we can awaken to? Dharma is the Sanskrit word and Dhamma is the Pali word which refers to that which is universal, to the laws of the universe, teachings which describe it. The Dharma as a law is that the way things work are always here to be discovered; they’re quite immediate. Full text

S.N. Goenka in Wikipedia

Sri Satya Narayan Goenka (born 1924) is a leading lay teacher of Vipassana meditation and a student of Sayagyi U Ba Khin.

Born in Mandalay, Burma to Indian parents, Goenka was raised a Hindu and, as an adult, became an industrialist and leader of the Burmese Indian community. After developing an interest in meditation in an effort to overcome chronic migraines, he began studying with U Ba Khin, a senior civil servant in the newly independent Burmese government. U Ba Khin was a renowned meditation teacher who had played an important role in the Sixth Buddhist Council of 1954-1956 and was one of the leaders of a Vipassana-centered reform movement that had exerted a positive influence on standards in public life. Goenka became U Ba Khin's most prominent successor and went on to found an international network of teaching centers, based at Dhammagiri in India. Goenka emphasizes in his courses and lectures on Vipassana meditation as offering a scientific investigation of the mind-matter phenomenon, and relates that through Vipassana meditation one can observe eight fundamental particles (which he refers to as "kalapas") at the experiential level of one's own mind, not to be confused with the standard model in physics. Full text

Vipassana Meditation Course For Business Executives

Mr. Goenka, who for most of his life worked as a prominent international businessman based in Myanmar and India, was a keynote speaker on the subject of Spirituality In Business at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January, 2000, addressed the World Peace Summit held at the United Nations in August, 2000 and was the keynote speaker at the Spirit in Business Conference ("SiB") held in New York City in April 2002.

In April, 2002, Mr. Goenka conducted in the United States the first 10 day course in Vipassana Meditation especially for business executives and government officials. Subsequent courses are being held exclusively for business executives and government officials at various locations around the world, including Texas; Illinois; Belgium; Australia/New Zealand; and India. Full Text


Quotes from Past Executive Course Participants

“Vipassana leads to clearer thinking and clear thinking is good for business.”
- L. Freese, Vice President, Freese & Nichols, Inc., Fort Worth, TX

“After the course, I am more tolerant, empathetic towards others.”
- B. Houlihan, Partner, Stoll, Keenon & Park, Lexington, KY

“I have become more efficient than ever”
- D. Lai, President, Sun Chemical Supply Co. Ltd., Taiwan

“The course has profoundly changed my life.”
- M. Schaffer, President & CEO, Global Tactics, Spokane, WA

“After the course, I have better ability to cope with stress, better concentration, and
higher energy level.”
- Previous Executive Course participant

“I have grown in equanimity”
- P. Gysi, Marketing Director, Switzerland

“Am calmer, less reactive, less irritable, more focused!”
- C. Moe, Principal, A&M Business Interior Services, St Croix, MN

“More relaxed, do not get angry, good listener, and performance is excellent along with
productivity.”
- S. Soni, Medical Director, Northern Cancer Center, Dixon, IL

“Most valuable thing that I learnt was that there is an ancient, simple way to achieve
happiness and serenity that really works.”
- C. McGuire, Consultant, New York, NY

“Less stress: not attached to the actions of others, so I don’t create conflict by responding
negatively.”
- S. Clute, Attorney, Richmond, VA

“Continued improvement! Calmer in the face of client anxiety and market conditions.”
- N. Stevens, Vice President, Sales, Reber/Russell Company, Boulder, CO

“The most important thing that I took away from the course was surrendering to the
process and letting it unfold – contrary to my business training (attack mode).”
- N. Stevens, Vice President, Sales, Reber/Russell Company, Boulder, CO

“Vipassana is an art of living through continuous self improvement. It has helped me
immensely in adverse conditions being tolerant to others and taking action as opposed
to blind reaction.”
- R. Vaid, Partner, Pacesetter Capital

Propsed Title of the Book

Here is the propsed titles of the book that is put for your vote. Which one you like the most?

Please score from 1 to 5 where 1 is the least preferable and 5 the most preferable.

We consider the first line as A, second line B and Third line C.

Seila - Samadhi - Panha

Forum on “Faith and Economics”

Does economic success result only from pursuing self-interest, or do we also need to base our actions on ethical values? On which values should the IMF base its work?

These questions underpinned a full day of discussions at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, last month, as a distinguished panel examined the relationship between faith and economics. One panelist was former Managing Director, Michel Camdessus, who explained that his active interest in these questions had been triggered by discussions with Czech President Václav Havel and with Pope John Paul II in 1991. Throughout the rest of his time at the IMF, he had taken every opportunity to meet with religious leaders of all faiths. Economists, he concluded, had much to learn from people whose life task was to foster human development and human dignity. Without a sense of universal ethics and individual responsibility, economic development was unlikely to flourish. To buttress the point, Camdessus paraphrased a line often attributed to André Malraux, that "the 21st century will be a century of ethics, or it will not be at all." Full text

The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation

Everyone seeks peace and harmony, because these are what we lack in our lives. From time to time we all experience agitation, irritation, disharmony, suffering; and when one suffers from agitation, one does not keep this misery limited to oneself. One keeps distributing it to others as well. The agitation permeates the atmosphere around the miserable person. Everyone who comes into contact with him also becomes irritated, agitated. Certainly this is not the proper way to live.

One ought to live at peace with oneself, and at peace with all others. After all, a human being is a social being. He has to live in society--to live and deal with others. How are we to live peacefully? How are we to remain harmonious with ourselves, and to maintain peace and harmony around us, so that others can also live peacefully and harmoniously?

One is agitated. To come out of the agitation, one has to know the basic reason for it, the cause of the suffering. If one investigates the problem, it will become clear that whenever one starts generating any negativity or defilement in the mind, one is bound to become agitated. A negativity in the mind, a mental defilement or impurity, cannot exist with peace and harmony. Full text

Metta

"The Pali word metta means loving-kindness, friendliness, goodwill, benevolence, fellowship, amity, concord, inoffensiveness and non-violence. The Pali commentators define metta as the strong wish for the welfare and happiness of others (parahita-parasukha-kamana).

Essentially metta is an altruistic attitude of love and friendliness as distinguished from mere amiability based on self-interest."

from http://www.mettaforkatrina.org/origins.html
Source: source: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/bps/wheels/wheel365.html#intro
Learn more about The Buddha's Words on Kindness (Metta Sutta), and about Three Aspects of Metta

Samadhi is the matter of Buddhist monks only

Though I never saw monk in Samadhi practice while I was living in the pagoda, I believe that Samadhi must be one of the duty of the monk. In many places in Cambodia, there were and are monks who are good in fortune telling, efficient in removing bad luck through showering water to people or other praying. This kind of magical power was generally known as the result of Samadhi.

With this kind of insight, I considered Samadhi as the duty of the Buddhist monks only because the monks are the ones who maintain the Buddhism. So Samadhi is not the job of the householders except the old people who renounce the household and go to live in the pagoda.

Meditation and Leadership

Article form Cambodian View

Preamble

Almost four months in Asia Pacific Leadership Program course that has provided me the realization of how important of individuality in supporting sustainable development. Three lessons are mainly to value the individuality that has full potential to impact the whole compounding society. In Leadership Seminar have the core ideas that center on individual’s motivation. Started its class with silent lesson had inspired me very much to explore my inner strength and ability. Culture and diversity also emphasized the existence of self to extend to other beings, environment and culture through the prospects of respecting, tolerating and compassionating. Visioning the future and personal action plan (PAP) also intensified self-centered, self-innovated, self-projected, and self-oriented. In Professional Development Leadership Seminar has encouraged individuals to improve self-resume and curriculum vitae through self-experiences, community services and orientations. Egonet and networking classified self as the most important component to create networking effectively. Through self-effort, self-intelligence, self-awareness and self-responsibility should bear fruits to success in exposing with other people and tasks. Full text

Ta Duk got mad

A mad man improperly dressed was walking nervously along the village road. It was a bald man who kept talking all non-sense words along the way. Dogs were barged when he passed by and the villagers prevented the dogs from barging. Group of kids who played nearby the road laughed of him and imitated him, or followed him with some distance. Sometimes, they threw rocks on him before the villagers to come and protect him. Though mad, Ta Duk was not violent. The villagers had pity of him and they used to bring him food and drink. Some other gave him shelter for night rest, but Ta Duk could not stay long in one place and he kept moving without direction. His family felt sad of him and tried without success in finding the remedy to him.

No one told us the real problem behind this. People just said "Ten Duk bek Kammathan". Ta Duk was the chief of monks in the nearby Pagoda. He was a kind, loving, and respectable venerable. The incidence happened just a year ago that forced him to leave the monkshood and come back home for the care of his family. The villagers still respected him, protected him, and gave him food anywhere he come.

I take me a long time to understand blurrily what is 'kammathan". According to my blur understanding, it is the 'Samadhi practice at the higher level'. So 'bek kamathan' should mean 'doing wrong in the practice of kamathan'. In sum, what I bear in mind is that Samadhi is dangerous for some people if he/she didn't practice it rightly.

'Little Nuon's Sad Day When Ta Men Visited Home

Little Nuon run fast towards her grandpa when she saw him entered her home compound through the front gate. She missed him so much when he was away for about one month from home, and she was too young to do why he left her and the family. She expected to embrace him as it usually was a loving company since she was born. While her parent were busy with the field works or palm sugar producing, Grandpa was the only companion at home who looked after her, played with her, brought her food when she was hungry, took shower for her, and especially sang the melodious song for her day sleep in the balance. The absence of grandpa is a great lost in her heart. On that day, she was so excited when she saw grandpa while she was playing with her toys outside the house. She was alone while her mom was busy with lunch cooking. At age of 2, she needed someone to play with, but at home there were only mom and dad who were busy with their household or field work, most of the time.

"Kmenh oeuy!", he acclaimed, "why don't you come and take Nuon, now?". Recognizing her dad voice, Neang Menh replied "Pouk! I am going now". While she rushed out towards Ta Men, Nuon was being prevented by her grandpa by using his walking stick. Grandpa and grand-daughter were both embarrassing. Neang Menh immediately lifted Nuon who began to cry of her upset and kept leaning toward grandpa. When everyone came into the house, Ta Men consoled Nuon: "Chao [grand-daughter], don't touch Ta as it may loose Seila. Ta is taking Seila at the pagoda". Nuon was too young to understand what he meant. And Nuon was carried on her mom hip to prevent Nuon from disturbing Ta Men.

After lunch, Ta Men took a nap while Neang Meng prepared rice and dried food for her dad to bring back to the pagoda. Nuon was always kept with her mom. When the sun declined and the warm had been reduced, Ta Men went back to the pagoda with stuff given by his daughter. Nuon swept again while seeing Ta Men raised his hand to say goodbye to everyone and walked out his way.

It is just a little story, but it has great impact on my mind. I view practicing Dhamma is really a sacrifice, a renounce against the family intimacy or sentiment. I feel hurt if one day in the future I become Ta Men and confront the same embarrassment.

Ta Pen run away from his Samadhi hut

A friend of mine whispered to me that something wrong with Ta Pen while he passed by. I became curious, since similar news was spread secretly in the pagoda in recent days. Actually, now it sounded fine or at least thing had been fixed since Grandpa come to his hut at the pagoda normally.

Two or three days ago, people said that Grandpa left the hut and go home in the mid-night. He must have problem in his stay in or his work at the hut. It was unclear whether it was the health problem or the problem with his Dhamma practice . Next day, I learnt that his son had accompanied him back to the pagoda. When I saw him that day, he looked healthy as usual, but there were signs of worrisome or sadness on his face.

After his son left, he went to meet with the chief of old people called 'Achar'. After a long discussion, he continued to meet with the Chief of monks 'Lok Kru'. Achar and Lok Kru were the two important persons for him. Grandpa meet them more often in the following days, either in the evening or in the morning. Then, everything looked fine and Grandpa continued his practice normally. However, the words 'Ta Pen run away from Samadhi hut' were spread secretly with growing intensity among young monks and the pagoda boys. I asked a friend of mine whether it was the ghost as generally belived as happened in the pagoda. 'No,' he said, 'Grandpa saw something scary when he started 'Thveu Thor' for the first time. I understood that it must be the problem with Samadhi.

Though it was unclear what was happened, I retain in my memory of something very scary. I knew that Ta Pen is very mature and senior, since he cannot resisted from that fear, it must be something serious. This incident spread great fear to me of the unknown problems.

Samadhi is the matter of old people only

When the old people come to stay in the Pagoda for 'Thveu Thor', I though they learn and apply praying. Later on when people said they come to 'Samnak Thor' I though they may come for meditate though I have no notion what mediation or Samadhi is. Then I learn the word 'Thveu Kammathan' I though it must be another degree of meditation. Up to know, I still don't know what each jargon exactly means, although I was a pagoda boy who has good education from the public school.

A friend of mine confirms me that Samdhi is something that for forbidden to tell kids. His statement should be true as I never know anyone tell us about Samadhi and none of the pagoda boy talk about it as well. I know something about it because her parents assigned him to assist old people when they were going to take refuse in the pagoda. And he told me a scary story 'Ta Pen rot choal toub' (Grandpa Pen run away from his Samadhi hut.)

What I know about 'Thvey Thor, Samnak Thor, Thveu Kammathan" are all the business of old people who begin to renounce from this life and prepare for the future life. Nothing the young should know about it. On the way of his and her renouncement, he/she tried to separate him/herself as much as possible from household daily life. They will not work to earn living any more, they depend on the supply from children or other goodwill people, they maintain 'five, eight or ten Seila' in accordance to the Buddhist teaching. It seems to me that they learn to die step by step so that they can get more happiness in the future life. I feel sad of Saruon, a little girl who was prevented form touching her grandpa while he came home from pagoda for supply. This is the story of 'Thgnay Kamsot Robos Komari Nuon Pel Ta Men Mork Phtas' ('Little Nuon's Sad Day When Grandpa Men Visited Home)

In sum, Samadhi is a secrecy particularly to young people. In addition, it is a matter for the old people and the young should not bother with it. So it belongs to a specific group of people who prepare to leave this world. The young who are curious about it would commit sin.

Then, ... what did I know about Samadhi?

I still feel regrettable that one of my mother's wish was not fulfill before she passed away. She told me that she wants to stay in the Pagoda. Little know what she and other old men and women would do there. When I stay with the monks, I saw many old men and women come to stay in small hut built in the pagoda during the period of "Chol Vossa" or 'Kan Vossa." According to his memory, a friend of mine noted that the old people came to stay in the pagoda only the last 15 days of the "Chol Vossa or Kan Vossa" period. This is called "Kan Ben" period which will be ended by the last but very special day call "Pchum Ben" (ancestor Day).

'Chol Vossa' or 'Kan Vossa"is a three-month period of the raining season that monks take enhanced application of Dhamma practice with stricter 'vinaya' (discipline). I knew they wake up at 4:00 am and join group praying at the temple. Another restriction is that monks cannot stay overnight outside the Pagoda. What else you know?

As a young boy, I recalled the beautiful time of of the fifteen-days of 'Kan Ben'. Though the often intermittent raining was abundant, day and night, food was better supplied to the pagoda by the Cambodia people to support the monks, eventually more or less it would also benefit the Pagoda boys. People from different villages of groups take turn in this supply. Particularly, they all come on the Pchum Ben Day which is the richest day of the years. Besides the plenty of foods for the breakfast and lunch (no food service to the monks after noon time), there would be plenty of cakes for the day (Noum An-soam, Noum-Korm, Noum Boat). We can keep these cakes for many more days afterward through warming them up. Both monks and Pagoda boys enjoy it very much. The pagoda pets are also well fed at that time. Beyond that what I love much was the Discourse on Preah Vesandor which occur for the whole days. This discourse was divided in 10 chapters. Each Chapter assigned to one monks to read Sastra for the people who choose the chapter related to them through the ballot. After each chapter session, the assigned monk will get plenty of supply ranging from slippers, notebooks, pencils, sugars, teas, etc, ... Eventually, it is also the big celebration for pagoda boy.

Maybe the above joy remembering overrides my other memory on what the old people would do while staying at the pagoda. I only know that they would learn praying and apply it in the morning and in the evening. I saw also some old women cook for the monks. Because of good contact, I also benefit some support from that old women. It was the head of fish she grilled and kept for me while the body of the fish she cook for the monks. Don't think that it is less important when I talk about grilled fish-head. It is really delicious. It was the best food for pagoda boy like me where food was scare. Not many pagoda boys got that benefit, except the ones who have good contact with the old women, who is polite and serviceable to the old women (supply of water is the most demanding one, since they are old and difficult to bring it from the river to their water pot.)

At that time, I learnt the word 'Thveu Thor" and I think it means that the old people who come to stay in the pagoda would learn praying. Later on, I learnt that they come for 'Samnak Thor' and I think something related to mediation. However, how and what they do it, I have no idea at all.

In sum, you can see, even being the pagoda boy, I have no idea about Dhamma and Samadhi. What do you expect others who stay far away from Buddhist source would know about these essence.

Be a pagoda boy - but little is known about Dhamma

I took shelter with monks in the Buddhist temples in the major parts of my childhood so that I can attend school. This is a great complement to my subsistence since my family was very poor and there is no school available in my home village or the nearby one.

Besides the education opportunity in the pagoda schools and then the public school, I had come very close with the Buddhist life since pagoda and monks are the institution in charge of maintaining and developing Buddhist teaching and practice. Unfortunately, my knowledge about Buddhist teaching and practices is still limited, though it is far better than other boy who have no comparable opportunity to me.

There are two groups of boys who take refuse in the pagoda. Female children cannot have such an opportunity because it is restricted under the Buddhist principle. The first group are boys who pursue their to study of Buddhist prayer as the core purpose while writing, reading, and calculation are also learnt to master the illiteracy. This group is aimed to ordain into monkshood when he grown up in both education and age. The second group of boys children including me who take refuse with the monk and pursue the education in the public school. This group rarely become monks. There are quite a number of people from the second group, though poor, can obtain middle to high education because of the support of the monks and the temple. Besides their main focus on education, they provide some services to support the monks like cooking food, make tea, filling water for daily use, etc.

The group of mine had not been taught how to pray. I know some daily praying only when I was very young about 5 or 6 years old. At that time, I have no idea why I come to stay with the monks - the simple reason was to follow my cousin whose parents put him in the pagoda to study literature and praying. We used to walk together along with kids in our village everyday for about three Kilometers from home to school located in the pagoda. We need to go in group so that we can protect each other against wild animal or other incidence. Along the road, we used to play with each other and some times we fight in the childish manner. When my cousin stopped joining us it becomes a big loss for me. Who will protect me against the bigger child. That fear pushed me to take refuse with the monk in joining my cousin without prior notice to my family. Before come to stay in the pagoda, I stayed with my grand-parents in view to alleviate the burden on my widowed mother since my father was passed away when I was one year-old. When learning that I already stayed at the pagoda, my grand parents, my uncles and aunts were worry about me. The most concern of them was that I would starve of food since food is insufficient in the pagoda. Fortunately, I have strong support from the chief of pagoda who know my grandpa very well. With his influence, older boys have to take care of me and share food with me.

In light of the progress in education, I moved from on pagoda to another which was closer to my primary school, secondary school, high school, and college. Though the time spent in the pagodas were relatively long, my knowledge of Buddha teaching and practice was far minimal. Lately, when I was at college, there was time for pagoda boys to pray once a week on Sunday night. It was short, but good time for me to learn praying and listened to Venerable Ngin Phen who explain some Buddhist teaching in plain language. He can interpret Buddhist teaching in simple language because he obtained Bachelor Degree in Khmer literature ( License es Litterature Khmere.)

The above story indicates that though I have the opportunity to stay very close to the source of Buddhism, little is known. What is the gap of knowledge or awareness of the Dhamma in Khmer society in general?