Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammā Saṁ-Buddhassa THE FINEST RELIGION THE WORLD TO U NYĀNA, WITH THE HIGHEST MASTERY, ITALIAN BUDDHIST MONK

Transcription

1 Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammā Saṁ-Buddhassa THE FINEST RELIGION IN THE WORLD TO U NYĀNA, WITH THE HIGHEST MASTERY, ITALIAN BUDDHIST MONK

2 Buddhaṁ saranaṁ gacchāmi! Dhammaṁ saranaṁ gacchāmi! Saṅghaṁ saranaṁ gacchāmi!

3 THE LORD OF INFINITE WISDOM He is The Exalted One! The Arahat! The Supreme Buddha! Full of Wisdom and Goodness! The Happy One! The World-Knower! The Incomparable Guide of Men to be restrained! The Teacher of Gods & Men! The Lord Buddha!

4 THE FINEST RELIGION IN THE WORLD Well proclaimed by The Exalted One is The Law! To be seen in this life itself! Not belonging to time! The Law which invites Everyman to come & See! Leading to the Nibbāna! To be known for themselves by the Wise!

5 Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammā -Sam-Buddhassa THE FINEST RELIGION IN THE WORLD Let 10 Lion-hearted young Bhikkhus walk from Buddha Gayā to Jerusalem, from Jerusalem to Rome. And the Saṅghā will be established in the West. In Missionary Work, Knowledge is A Fundamental Necessity. Controversialists will forever meet us on the Road, as the days of Our Lord Buddha, and eagerly strive to upset all Our Most Precious Noble Truths. If the Buddhist Missionary is A Genuine Ariyan disciple, He will have absolutely no trouble to meet all Religious controversialists put together. For Our Lord Buddha said: When compared with the Attainment of An Ariyan Disciple Who has won Vision, of the Person Who has Understanding, the attainment of Recluses & Brahmins who are Wanderers, heretical teachers, does not make up the 100 th, 1000 th, the 100,000 th part! So great in Attainment, Brethren, is the Person Who has won Vision, so great in Higher Knowledge! For the Cultivation of the Higher Knowledge, Books are not absolutely necessary. The Ancient Arahats had no Books. Mere reading without Practice is worse than useless. A man knows only as much as He actually practices. All that is required is to do good, to refrain from wrong, and to cleanse the Heart. When the Heart has been thoroughly cleansed, Wisdom will shine out spontaneously. For, Sīla Right Conduct purifies Samadhi Concentration. Concentration purifies Paññā Wisdom. The 13 Dhutangas lead to Wisdom. Hence the Great Necessity for Buddhist Missionaries to practice the 13 Dhūtāngas! A Genuine Bhikkhu who practices the 13 Dhūtāngas can take any non-buddhist controversialist and turn him around His little finger. This is a Noble Fact of Highest Truth. Only Cause & Effect! In my wanderings over India, many controversialists and sincere Truth-Seekers have met me with various questions which I have answered to my full satisfaction. It is impossible for a Genuine Bhikkhu to entertain doubts in the Religions of Our Lord Buddha, the Finest Religion in the World. Buddhism is the Religion of Absolute Wisdom. There is nothing higher than Buddhism. Buddhism is the Highest. The 10 Lion-hearted young Bhikkhu Who will walk from Buddha-Gayā to Jerusalem, from Jerusalem to Rome, must thoroughly trained to answer all Religious questions. Only by successfully overcoming all adversaries in open debate, can Buddhism sweep over India and the West. Only by successfully defeating all controversialists can the 10 Lionhearted young Bhikkhus plant the Triple Gem over the whole world. For the benefit of The 10 Lion-hearted young Bhikkhus, I have prepared in convenient form the most important sample questions usually asked by controversialists and sincere Truth-seekers on the road. If The 10 Lion-hearted young Bhikkhus completely master the following 25 sample questions with answers, they will have no difficulty in meeting all other questions on the road, especially if Their Hearts be full of Love and Compassion.

6 Twenty-Five Questions For Lions 1. Question: What is Man? Answer: Man is a sentient being belonging to one of the five realms of existence. The five realms of existence are; (a) Heaven world. (b) Human world. (c) Ghost world. (d) Animal world. (e) Purgatory. 2. Question: Where does he come from? Answer: Man comes from any one of the 5 realms of existence. 3. Question: Who sends him here? Answer: Craving based on Ignorance sends him here. All is Cause and Effect. The Complete Formula called Paticcasamupaddo The Causal Chain of Causation, is as follows: Ignorance is the cause of The Tendencies. The Tendencies are the cause of Consciousness. Consciousness is the cause of Mind & Body. Mind & Body is the cause of The 6 Senses (Sa-Lāyatana). The 6 Senses are the cause of Contact. Contact is the cause of Feeling, Vedana. Feeling is the cause of Craving, Tanhā. Craving is the cause of Grasping, Upadāna. Grasping is the cause of Becoming. Becoming Birth is the cause of Birth. is the cause of Decay & Death, Sorrow, Lamentation, Grief, Misery, and Despair. 4. Question: Where will he go? Answer: If he destroys Craving, he will not be reborn; he will attain The Eternal Bliss of Nibbāna. If he does not destroy Craving, he will be reborn in one of the 5 realms of existence in accordance with the Law of Cause & Effect. As we have sown we shall reap. 5. Question: What is Your Aim in Life? Answer: My Aim in Life in to destroy Rebirth. 6. Question: What are you doing to fulfill your Aim? Answer: I am trying to destroy Rebirth by destroying Craving. I am trying to destroy Craving by Meditation and Renunciation. Meditation teaches Renunciation. Renunciation gives The Nibbana. 7. Question: How do you remove Sorrow? Answer: Craving is the cause of Sorrow.

7 Therefore destroy Craving and you destroy Sorrow. Destroy the Lust of the 6 Senses, and you destroy Sorrow. Walk on the Noble 8 th Fold Path, and you destroy Sorrow. Practice (1) Sīla Moral Conduct (2) Samādhi Concentration (3) Pa ā Insight, and you will destroy Sorrow. 8. Question: Who is God (GOD)? Answer: God is Anyone Who creates Insight, destroys the world, and attains the Nibbana. (a) God is Truth. (b) God is Anyone Who Attains The Nibbana. Proof: God is The Highest. Truth is The Highest. Therefore, God is Truth. (Things equal to the same thing are equal to each other). Again, God is Truth. Anyone Who attains Nibbana becomes Incarnated Truth. Therefore, God is Anyone who attains Nibbana. (Things equal to the same thing are equal to each other). RULE: Attain Nibbana and you will become God. Our Lord Buddha has pointed out The Way how to become God. 9. Question: Is Lord Buddha God or a Viceroy of God? Answer: There are 3 classes of Gods; (a) Sammuti-Devā Conventional Gods, Gods in the public opinion, i.e., Kings & princes. (b) Upapatti-Devā Being born Divine, i.e., in a Heavenly State. (c) Visuddhi-Devā Beings Divine by Purity, i.e., of great Religious Merit of Attainment like Arahats & Buddhas. Off all these Gods, Our Lord Buddha is The Chief. He is The Supreme God, Devātideva; The God of Gods. 10. Question: What is Life? Answer: (a). Life is Attachment to the 6 Senses. (b). Life is A Delirium of Sensual Enjoyment. 11. Question: What is Worldly Life? Answer: Worldly Life is to create by Ignorance. And how does one create by Ignorance? Dependent on Ignorance is Craving. Dependent on Craving is Grasping. Dependent on Grasping is Coming-to-be. Dependent on Coming-to-be is Rebirth. Dependent on Rebirth is Decay & Death, Sorrow, Lamentation, Grief, Misery, & Despair. This is the arising of the world. 12. Question: What is Holy Life?

8 Answer: Holy Life is to destroy by Wisdom. And how does one destroy by Wisdom? Dependent on Wisdom is Non-craving. By the utter passionless Ceasing of Craving comes Ceasing of Grasping. By Ceasing of Grasping comes Ceasing-to-be. By Ceasing-to-be comes the Ceasing of Birth. By the Ceasing of Birth comes the Ceasing of Decay and Death, Sorrow, Lamentation, Grief, Misery, Despair. This is the Destruction of the World. 13. Question: What is the Greatest Thing in the world? Answer: Wisdom is the Greatest Thing in the world. WHY? (a) Because wisdom destroys the world.. (b) Loving kindness, Compassion, Chastity, Nibbana and all other Great things proceed from Wisdom. Wisdom is the Mother of all Great Things. Therefore Wisdom is the Greatest Thing in the world. Wisdom Good Men declare is best by far, E en as the Moon eclipses every star; Virtue, Fair Fortune, Goodness, it is plain, All duly follow in the Wise Man s train. Best be full of Wisdom: These no lust can set afire; Never the Man with Wisdom filled is slave unto desire. 14. Question: What is the worst thing in the world? Answer: Ignorance is the worst thing in the world. Why? (a) Because Ignorance creates the world. (b) Lust, Hatred, Delusion, Misery and all other bad things proceed from Ignorance. Ignorance is the Mother of all bad things. Therefore Ignorance is the worst thing in the world. 15. Question: Who created the world? Answer: Ignorance created and creates the world. For, where there is no Ignorance, there is no world. The world is ever changing, ever flowing, like a river, never the same for 2 consecutive moments. Things that change cannot be said to be. All is Becoming. Therefore all is a dream, unreal. The world is void, without essence. The world is the child of our ignorance. The world is continually being created by our ignorance. If God created the world, then God is Ignorance. People worship Ignorance. Therefore they are ignorant. They become what they worship.

9 16. Question: Who am I? Answer: I am a bundle of 5 Elements (Khandas) produced by Craving rooted in Ignorance. Just as it is by the condition precedent of the co-existence of its various parts, that the word chariot is used, just so it is that when the 5 Elements (KHANDAS) are there, we talk of a Being. A Being is The Craving for the 5 Khandas. The 5 Elements (Khandhas) are; RŪPA 1. Body Rūpa 2. Feeling Vedanā NĀMA 3. Perception Sa ā 4. Tendencies Sankhārā 5. Consciousness Vi āṇa The Cause of the 5 Khandhas is Craving rooted in Ignorance, i.e., regarding the 5 Khandas as Permanent, Pleasant, Mine, Not Myself! The Removal of the 5 Khandas is Disgust rooted in Knowledge, i.e., knowing the 5 Khandas as Impermanent, Painful, Not Mine, Not I! 17. Question: If I am a bundle of 5 Khandhas, what produced the 5 Khandhas? Answer: Craving produced the 5 Khandhas. What produced Craving? Ignorance produced Craving. What produced Ignorance? The Asavas produced Ignorance. (The 4 Asavas are; a. Kamāsava Sensuality, b. Bhavāsava Rebirth [Lust of Life], c. Ditthāsava Speculation, d. Avijjāsava Ignorance.) What produced the Āsavas? Ignorance produced the Āsavas. Where there is no Ignorance, there are no Āsavas. Thus we have come to the end of the series. The series ends in a circle, and the problem is completely solved without a remainder. A circle denotes Zero. All is Zero. All is Void. And Void of what? Void of the Self! NOTE: Analyze any other Religion and you will find that all of them end in A Reminder. Buddhism is the only Religion which solves the problem without a Remainder. Buddhism is the only Religion with a Perfect Mathematical Solution.

10 18. Question: What is Avijjā Ignorance? Answer: Ignorance is the absence of Vijjā Knowledge. But Knowledge is something. Therefore Ignorance must be nothing. For, the absence of something is nothing. But Ignorance produced Craving produced the 5 Khandhas (a Being ). Or, Nothing produced Nothing produced Nothing. There is no Being. A Being is Nothing. All is Nothing. All is Void. There is only Becoming. All things are Becoming! And nothing is! Therefore, there is nothing! All is void! Sabbe Dhammā Anatta. All Mental States are Impersonal! The world is Void. And Void of what? Void of THE SELF! Note: This Perfect Remainder-less Solution exactly agrees with the Perfect Remainder-less Solution in answer 17. (See above). For, The Truth is One! 19. Question: If all happiness ends in suffering and so life is all suffering, then it is equally true that all suffering ends in happiness. Is it not so? Answer: It is so! (a) All happiness ends in suffering and so life is all suffering. All that is when clung to fails. For all things are impermanent, fraught with suffering, and unstable, empty, void, without essence, without a soul. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Pleasure soon turns stale. When we have eaten all the food we want, to eat more is painful. Prince Siddhartha was fed up with pleasures and luxuries. For pleasure, it turns to pain. The sight of Birth, Old-Age, Disease, and Death drove Him forth into the wilds, i.e., Pain drove Him forth into the wilds. And this Pain gave Him the supreme Happiness of supreme Buddha-hood. The Paticcasamuppado The Causal Chain of Causation concisely states the proof as follows; The Six senses are the cause of Contact. Contact Feeling Craving Grasping Becoming Birth is the cause of Feeling. is the cause of Craving. is the cause of Grasping. is the cause of Becoming. is the cause of Birth. is the cause of Decay & Death, Sorrow, Lamentation, Grief, Misery, and Despair. So we see that the pleasure of the 6 senses ends in Pain.

11 (b) It is equally true that all suffering ends in happiness. In the Saṁyutta-Nikaya, Our lord Buddha follows up The Causal Chain of Causation as far as Arahatship, as follows: Pain is the cause of Faith. Faith is the cause of Delight. Delight is the cause of Calmness. Calmness is the cause of Happiness. So we see that Pain ends in Happiness. Moreover, Happiness is the cause of Samādhi. Samādhi is the cause of Knowing & Seeing things as they really are. Knowing and Seeing Things as they really are, is the cause of Weariness. Weariness is the cause of Passionless. Passionless is the cause of Deliverance. Deliverance is the cause of Knowledge in Extinction. So Pain leads up to Nibbana the Highest Happiness. 20. Question: Since Taṇhā Craving is inseparably intertwined with life, is it possible for a life to annihilate Taṇhā? Answer: Yes, it is possible for a life to annihilate Taṇhā. It is true that Taṇhā Craving and Life are inseparably intertwined. For, Taṇhā is the Cause. And Life is the Effect. But Life is Pain (the 1 st Noble Truth). And Pain produces Knowledge. Knowledge produces Weariness. Weariness destroys Taṇhā. Refers to Answer 19 (b) (above) for the detailed Causal Formula. Therefore it is The Pain of Life which leads to the destruction of Taṇhā.

12 21. Question: What is the Complete Causal Formula from beginning to end? Answer: The Complete Causal Formula from beginning to end? 1. Avijjūpanisā - Sankhārā. 2. Saṅkhārupanisaṁ - Vi āṇaṁ. 3. Vi āṇūpanisaṁ - Nāmarūpaṁ. 4. Namarūpūpanisaṁ - Saḷāyatanam. 5. Saḷāyatanūpaniso - Phasso. 6. Phassūpanisā - Vedanā. 7. Vedanūpanisa - Taṇhā. 8. Taṇhūpanisaṁ - Upadānaṁ. 9. Upadānūpaniso - Bhavo. 10. Bhavūpanisa - Jāti 11. Jātupanisaṁ - Dukkhaṁ. 12. Dukkhūpanisa - Saddhā. 13. Saddhūpanisaṁ - Pāmujjaṁ. 14. Pamujjupanisa - Pīti. 15. Pītūpanisā - Passaddhi. 16. Passaddhūpanisaṁ - Sukhaṁ. 17. Sukkhūpaniso - Samādhi 18. Samādhūpanisaṁ - Yathabūta āṇadassanaṁ. 19. Yathābūta āṇadassanūpanisā - Nibbidā. 20. Nibbidūpaniso - Virāgo. 21. Virāgūpanisa - Vimutti. 22. Vimuttūpanisaṁ - Khaye Ñāṇanti.

13 1. Ignorance is the cause of The Tendencies. 2. The Tendencies are the cause of Consciousness. 3. Consciousness is the cause of Mind and Body. 4. Mind & Body is the cause of the 6 Senses. 5. The 6 Senses are the cause of Contact. 6. Contact is the cause of Feeling. 7. Feeling is the cause of Craving. 8. Craving is the cause of Grasping. 9. Grasping is the cause of Becoming. 10. Becoming is the cause of Birth. 11. Birth is the cause of Pain 12. Pain is the cause of Faith. 13. Faith is the cause of Delight. 14. Delight is the cause of Joy. 15. Joy is the cause of Calmness. 16. Calmness is the cause of Happiness. 17. Happiness is the cause of Concentration. 18. Concentration is the cause of Knowing & Seeing things are they really are. 19. Knowing and Seeing things as they really are is the cause of Weariness. 20. Weariness is the cause of Passionless. 21. Passionless is the cause of Deliverance. 22. Deliverance is the cause of Knowledge in Extinction. Here is a Noble Ultra-Scientific Formula the life of which is found nowhere else save in Buddhism. Only Supreme Buddhas or Their Disciples can give us such a Wondrous Formula of Highest Truth, leading us from Ignorance to Pleasure, from Pleasure to Pain, and from Pain to The Highest Happiness of Supreme Nibbana! In the light of such a Glorious Pain-quenching Formula, if any man brands Buddhism as pessimistic, what can he be but a fool. 22. Question (A): Who enjoys the world? Answer: Man enjoys the world. But man is Avijjā, Ignorance, Nothing, Unreal. The world is Avijjā, Ignorance, Nothing, Unreal. Or, The Unreal enjoys the Unreal!

14 22. Question (B): Who enjoys The Nibbāna? Answer: The Arahat enjoys The Nibbāna. But the Arahat is Vijjā, Knowledge, Something, Real. The Nibbāna is Vijjā, Knowledge, Something, Real. 23. Question: What is the Shortest, Quickest and Only Way to attain the Highest Wisdom, the Highest Nibbāna? Answer: Renunciation is the Shortest, Quickest, and Only Way to attain the Highest Wisdom, the Highest Nibbāna. Meditation teaches Renunciation. Renunciation gives the Nibbana. 24. Question: Suppose everybody renounces the world, what will happen to the world? Answer: If All renounce the world, They will lose this unreal world, and will win The Real Nibbāna! Which is better, this unreal world or The Real Nibbana? 25. Question: Is Buddhism A Religion? Answer: To answer this question, we must ask: What is the Object of Religion? The object of Religion is to remove Pain (Suffering). Every man wants to be happy. No one loves pain. If there were no pain in the world, Religion would be entirely unnecessary and superfluous. So we must ask: Does Buddhism remove Pain? We Buddhists profoundly believe that Buddhism (The 8 th Fold Noble Path, for example) is the Most Scientific and Effective Method for the Removal of Pain. Our Lord Buddha said: One Thing alone do I teach now as ever, O Bhikkhus, Sorrow and the Removal of Sorrow. Just as the Mighty Ocean has but one taste, the taste of salty, in exactly the same way, the Mighty Dhamma has but One Taste, the Taste of Deliverance. Indeed the Buddhists of Burma, Ceylon and Siam are the happiest people on the face of the earth. And since Buddhism is the Very Best Method for the Removal of Pain, Buddhism is The RELIGION par excellence, The Finest RELIGION in the world. Buddhism is The Religion of Cause & Effect! The Ultra-Scientific Religion par excellence! The Finest Religion in The World! Printed by P. C. Ray at Sri GOURANGA PRESS, 71/1, Mirzapur Street and Published by Rev. U Ottama, Carmichael Medical College Hospital, Calcutta. Republished as ebook by O Bhikkhu (