Latest 30 day's activity from the HouseRevolution website http://www.houserevolution.com Thu, 8 May 2008 12:47:03 +0100 Thu, 8 May 2008 06:47:03 GMT It is a real pleasure for me to host the gathering of ‘Thai adoption UK’ every year here at Buddhapadipa Temple. Being present at this meeting and giving blessings to children is something that gives me personal pleasure and which I have done regularly now over many years. It is wonderful to see the same children growing bigger and bigger every time I see them. I hope that the children consider Buddhapadipa temple to be like their home They and their parents are, of course, always welcome to visit the temple any time they wish. Visits to the temple do not have to be restricted to just this one annual meeting!



This year, many children came with their adoptive parents. Seeing how much joy these families generate brings us all such great pleasure. Although of Thai heritage, these children are now very much sons and daughters of the UK which can be seen in how easily they have adapted to their British life and culture. Be happy and healthy boys and girls. See you next time. http://www.buddhapadipa.org/pages/eventwriteup_thaiadoptionvisit.htmlWed, 7 May 2008 06:30:58 GMT Genie is a story that was told by Ajahn Mitsuo Gavesako. He is a student of Ajahn Chah. He is Japanese. When he was young, he had many questions about life, such as “What is life? and how to live a life?” With those questions in his mind, when he grew up, he traveled to many countries such as India, Nepal, Iran, Europe, Africa and then back to India again. In India, he visited Buddhagaya and saw the Buddha’s statue. He realized that Buddhism was what he was looking for. He stopped traveling outside and turned inwards. He became a Yogi and practised Yoga. When his visa expired, he returned to Japan. In 1971, he traveled to Thailand and became a student of Ajahn Chah from then onwards. In 1989, he went back to Japan with a Japanese monk, Nanarato Bhikkhu and made a pilgrimage around Japan for 72 days. In Japan, they stayed in SHINAGAWA-JI temple, Tokyo, and they hiked to Hiroshima to commemorate the World Peace. At the end of 1989, they went back to Thailand and stayed at Wat Pah Sunan, Saiyok, Kanjanaburi. There he taught people and conducted meditation classes. He gave a lot of Dhamma talks and good similes; genie is one of them: Once upon a time, there was a gardener who was working in his garden. Then he found an old lamp. He cleaned and rubbed it and suddenly a genie appeared. The genie thanked him for releasing him and said, “From now on, I will become your slave. Whatever you want, I can do it for you, my lord. If you can accept my word; you must have some work for me to do all the time. If there is no work, I will kill you. Can you accept this?” The man thought for a while, “It should not be a problem”, and agreed with the genie. So he started to give the genie work, ordering, “You build me a big house”. Then the genie build the big house by magic, it took just a second. After finishing the big house, the genie asked for another job. The man ordered the genie to dig out the big swimming-pool. The genie did it by magic, in just a second. After that, the genie asked for another job. The man gave the genie the job of constructing a big road from his house to the town. The genie did that by magic, in just a second. The man had to give the genie some work all the time; day and night, and all the work concerned desire, especially greed; I want this and that. The genie did everything very quickly, by magic. Now it seemed that the man had become the slave of the genie, as he had to find some work for the genie all the time. He was depressed and suffered from trying to find the genie some work. He tried very hard to find a job that lasted for a long time so that he could take a rest. But it seemed that it was impossible because the genie did everything by magic. One day he got an insight into a realization, so that he ordered the genie to build a long pole. The genie made it in just a second and asked for more work as usual. The man told him to climb up and down the pole. When the genie did that, the man could take a rest calmly and peacefully. Ajahn Mistuo concluded that all of us have such a genie; some become its slave and some become its owner. What does the genie signify? We are comparable to the mind and body. The genie is our thought directed by desire. The long pole is the in-and-out breath. Therefore, if we want to live a calm, peaceful and happy life, we must focus our attention on the in-and-out breath and try to tether our mind to the in-and-out breath. When we notice that our mind, or attention, has drifted from the breath, we should bring our mind back gently to the breath; breathing in and out. Then we can take a rest calmly and peacefully.http://www.buddhapadipa.org/pages/dhammacorner_genie.htmlMon, 5 May 2008 03:51:36 GMT The term “Power” in Buddhism means two powers; mental and physical. This is because Buddhism teaches that life is a combination of two parts; mind and body. And when we, human beings, were firstly born, we are very weak; we cannot help ourselves. It is different from some beings such as an animal; when they were born, they could survive on their own without the help of parents. On the contrary, if we were left like an animal, we would certainly die. It does not mean that we don’t have power or ability to live our life. We certainly have, but we need a good care and certain time of care until we grow up and are able to help ourselves. As mentioned that human life consists of mind and body so the mind needs knowledge as food and the body needs healthy food to sustain life. Human life is comparable to a young plant which is needed a good care; it needs good soil, enough water and fertilizer. “Power” which mentioned consists of five as follows: 1) Confidence; which means self-confidence; the Buddha taught the world that all of us have power and ability to overcome all obstacles in life. We must be confident that we can do everything like others. We should not lose our confidence; bear in our mind that we can do. 2) Effort; which means anything needs to be done by our own effort. We cannot leave our work to others people’s hands. We must take responsibility for our own life and job. We must build our life with our own effort. We should not give up things easily. 3) Mindfulness; means awareness or carefulness. This is how to deal with life. We must know what is going on here now. Right must be known and wrong must be known here now. And then we can avoid doing bad actions and develop good actions. All actions are performed here now and after that the result is going to follow, so mindfulness is regarded as the most importance because here and now action will produce consequence. If present is good, consequence is good either. 4) Concentration; means stable establishment or readiness to work in our business. When we run any business, we must focus on or tether our attention to that. Otherwise, we cannot succeed in our business. To live a life as well, we need concentration to life; we cannot just live a life randomly. If we want to succeed in life, we need to concentrate on life. 5) Wisdom; means knowledge and comprehension which help us to know life, confidence to spend life, make an effort to live a life wisely. Wisdom is such great thing which moves life on; even there are a lot of problems. But if we are wise, we are able to deal with anything. Five of them are comparable to strong characters. Each of them has its own influence. Even they have their own influence, but they still need balance. Otherwise some may be stronger and dominate others. Balance will bring more and more harmonious power. For more understanding about power, there is one story which can be illustrated. Wood cutter Once upon a time, there was a very strong and confident woodcutter. He asked for a job from a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was really good and so were the work conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was confident and determined to do his best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work. The first day, the woodcutter brought down 20 trees. The Boss was very much impressed and said, "Congratulations, Go on that way!" Very motivated by the words of the boss, the woodcutter was more confident that he could do better the next day. When the next day came, he tried harder than yesterday, but he only could bring down 15 trees. In the evening, he went to see the boss with disappointment and got his lower wage. He was a bit uncertain about his ability and effort put into his work. The third day he went to work with uncertainty and tried even harder than before, but he only could bring down 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing down less and less trees. Then I lost his confidence completely and had no more effort to work. "I must be losing my strength", the woodcutter doubted and thought to himself. He went to the boss without confidence and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on. “When was the last time you sharpened your axe?" the boss asked. "Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I haven’t been aware of that as I have been very busy trying to cut trees. The moral of the story: Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy and are neither mindful nor aware of what we are doing now. We don't take time to sharpen our skills. Without awareness and sharpening skills, we lose confidence bit by bit, lose effort bit by bit and no more concentrate on the job that we are doing. We will try to complain and blame the others. This will cause conflict inside and outside. So we need time to reflect on what we are doing, sharpen our skills. With awareness and wisdom, we can gain confidence, effort and concentration back and we can be contented and enjoy life. In today's world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever. Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp? There's nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like our personal life, taking time to care for others, taking time to read etc. We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don't take time to sharpen the axe, we will become dull and lose our confidence, effort and concentration. When we lose those, our life will be affected. So start from today, think about the ways by which you could do your job more effectively and add a lot of value to it. Hope this story has given you some insight to life, may you be happy always! "To handle yourself, use confidence, effort, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. To handle others, use your heart".http://www.buddhapadipa.org/pages/dhammacorner_thefivepowers.htmlMon, 28 Apr 2008 04:41:50 GMT Attachment is an emotion that causes human beings to suffer. The first thing we should do is learn to understand it. Once we have the right understanding, we can then avoid it or even, being able to let it go. This can be illustrated by the following story; A man was travelling to visit his relatives who lived in another village. Along the way he saw an eagle with a piece of meat in its beak that was being attacked by other eagles. When it dropped the piece of meat, it was free from danger. He realised that if any eagles had picked up the piece of meat, it would in turn be attacked by the others eagles, just like the first one. The only eagle that would be safe from harm would be the one which didnt have it. He grew wise to the fact that the piece of meat was the cause of danger for the bird. He began to contemplate on the idea and compared the meat to sensual pleasures. Those who had grasped it would suffer, only once they let it go could they be happy again, just like the eagle without the meat. Further on in his journey, he came upon a monk, who was meditating under a tree, with rapture. He approached the monk and asked him how he managed to look so happy. The monk replied, I am happy because I have peace of mind, which sprang from meditation. The monk explained further, Through Meditation, we can learn about our mind and body and how they are affected to those external factors around us. What is the benefit of knowing such things? the man asked. The monk answered, To understand the way things are is the benefit. It isnt the happiness, is it? the man asked. The monk said, No, it is not, the happiness is just the result of realizing the way things are. The man then understood and asked to be ordained. After his ordination, the man studied under the monk and remained with him. The story illustrates that it is not necessary for us to put ourselves in the pit of suffering to be able to understand it. We can learn about it through observing the environment and all other things which is around us. Just like when the man saw the eagle. Once we have understood it, we should put it into action, use it in our daily lives so that we can get the full benefit of what we have learnt and practiced.http://www.buddhapadipa.org/pages/dhammacorner_nonattachment.htmlMon, 28 Apr 2008 04:31:12 GMT Wisdom is one thing that Buddhism teaches people to develop, and the Buddha said to the monks, “Behold monks, wisdom is a prime human gift. To develop life we have to develop wisdom”. If we have a child mind, we have to develop it to grow with knowledge or wisdom; otherwise it will be led by ignorance. Wisdom can save us from all dangers. We will see that if we are not wise enough concerning the things which we experience, we get into trouble. If we are wise, whatever happens, it will be ok. We just solve any problem, as there is always a way out, as is illustrated by this story of the elephant, tiger and human being; it goes as follows; In the jungle, there lived a furious tiger; he was very proud of himself because he was never defeated. One day he went hunting for food and saw the elephant. He thought, “I am going to eat this elephant”, and he went straight to the elephant. The elephant knew that danger was near, but it was too late to escape, so he calmed down and prepared for the danger. When the tiger approached him, he said, “Hi, tiger where are you going?” The tiger said directly, “I am coming to eat you”. The elephant thought for a while and replied, “Hold on a second, friend, you cannot eat me. Don’t you know I belong to a human being, I am a slave to him”. The tiger said, “I don’t believe you. You are so much bigger than the human. Who dares to do that, in this area, except myself”. “Friend, you would not believe it, friends of mine were chained and forced to work. You have to believe me”, the elephant insisted. The tiger wondered why the humans were so powerful, even though they had no sabre tooth, no claws, only two hands and two legs, so he questioned the elephant more, “What really does make humans so powerful?” The elephant said, “Yes, right, they don’t have sabre teeth and claws, but they have wisdom”. When the tiger heard of wisdom, which he had never known before, he asked the elephant, furiously, “What does the wisdom of the human look like? If I see wisdom, I will eat it”. The elephant tried to explain that the wisdom was in the human, but the tiger still had no idea. So the elephant said, “You have to go and see for yourself, so that you can understand”. The tiger commanded the elephant to find some human for him. The elephant could not deny him, so they went together. At a certain point, they saw a man walking in the forest with a trap. The tiger said to the elephant, “I am going to eat him”, and then started to attack him, but because of his doubt, he halted and thought, “Why is it so easy to catch him. It is totally different from what the elephant said”. Then he asked the man, “Where is your wisdom?” When the man heard that, he said, “Hold on Tiger, don’t eat me, I’ll show you my wisdom”. The tiger released him and asked, “Where is it, show me, before you are eaten by me”. “Ok, I am going to show you, but, you know, my wisdom is very frightening to all the animals. I am not sure that when I show you, you will dare to stay to see it or not”. The tiger said with pride that he had never been frightened or defeated, “What can I do so that I can see your wisdom?” The man offered a suggestion, “It is easy. You just let me tie you to the tree and then I’ll show you”. “That is fine, let’s do it then and show me”, the tiger said. And then the man tied the tiger to the tree, firmly, and grabbed the whip and hit the tiger, saying, “This is my wisdom, fool tiger”. The tiger cried, and tried to escape, but he could not. He was hit and his body was striped in the places where the whip hit him (it is a belief, until now, that this is why a tiger is striped). At the same time, the elephant witnessed all the event that had happened, so he laughed at the tiger who was proud of himself and despised the others. Because of human wisdom, he not only survived, but also the man did. He laughed so much that his eyes became very small (this is why the elephant has such small eyes, until now.) When the tiger escaped from the tree, he went for help. But no animals helped him, because he had once bullied them, or killed their friends, or a member of their family. Soon he could not stand the pain, and died. The moral of this story is: don’t despise others and think that no one can beat us, don’t live a careless life. http://www.buddhapadipa.org/pages/dhammacorner_wisdom.htmlMon, 28 Apr 2008 03:12:02 GMT Recently, I read a story about the Aztec people of Mexico, which is good. I would like to share it with you, here is the story: A long time ago there was a great fire in the forests that covered our Earth. People and animals started to run, trying to escape from the fire. Our brother owl was running away also when he noticed a small bird hurrying back and forth between the nearest river and the fire. He headed towards this small bird. He noticed that it was our brother, sparrow bird running to the river, picking up small drops of water in his beak, then returning to the fire to throw that tiny bit of water on the flame. Owl approached sparrow bird and yelled at him: "What are you doing brother? Are you stupid? You are not going to achieve anything by doing this. What are you trying to do? You must run for your life!" Sparrow bird stopped for a moment and looked at owl, and then answered: "I am doing the best I can with what I have." It is remembered by our Grandparents that a long time ago the forests that covered our Earth were saved from a great fire by a small sparrow bird, an owl, and many other animals and people who got together to put out the fire. The story shows that when we encounter a problem, big or small, we must try to solve it without discouragement. If the problem is so big that we cannot solve it now, we can consult with a great teacher who knows the solution, and ask him for advice. And please remember no matter how good the advice is, if we don’t put it into practice, we cannot overcome any problem. In this story, the great fire is compared to daily-life problems, big or small. To run away from the fire of human beings and animals is compared to the giving up of the problem. Sparrow bird’s running to the river, picking up small drops of water in his beak, then returning to the fire to throw that tiny bit of water on the flame is compared to making an effort to solve life-problems. To give a hand to put out the fire means to help each other when we encounter a problem or to get help from those who can help us. It is true that to help each other is great, and nothing is as uplifting as giving a hand. As we, humans, have to help each other in harmony and unity. Harmony and unity are great as the Thai proverb says “Harmony and unity are powerful”. So we should help each other to overcome any problem in life. http://www.buddhapadipa.org/pages/dhammacorner_unityispower.htmlMon, 28 Apr 2008 02:41:03 GMT Songkran 2008 (2551) at Buddhapadipa Temple Thai New Year was celebrated on the actual New Year’s Day this year (13th April 2008) because it actually fell on a weekend day. Usually at Buddhapadipa Temple we have to move the day as, of course, Thai New Year is not a national holiday in the UK and it is only fair to arrange things so that anyone who wants can be there to celebrate. And come and celebrate people did! Although we had a gloriously bright sunny start to the day, it was not long before the April showers crowded in. We did not need to throw water at one another as people do in Thailand, as rain-drops just fell out of the sky! Regardless of the weather, the devoted and loyal Thai community turned up in their hundreds as well as many local community and western guests - and fun was had by everyone.


Just in case people could not get wet enough, Phramaha Visit (from Dhammapadipa Temple in Scotland) was sitting not far away from the Lay Buddhist Association book stall, serving out blessings with splashings of water to those seeking good merit for the year to come. In front of him were the usual stalls with their wonderful colours and (to western eyes) exotic products. Most eye-catching for me were the vegetables painstakingly carved into the imitation of beautiful flowers to be used as centre pieces on tables. This year we had an attraction that we had not seen in previous years and that was the addition of a sand pit in which you could build a sand-castle to bring you luck! All one needed of course, was a deck-chair and a bit of sunshine to make even English people feel nostalgically at home!


The local Thai restaurateurs were in their usual location in the car park and their sizzling hot food with piquant spices was particularly welcome given the inclement weather. I understand that the stall selling hot tea also did particularly well this year thanks to the chill and dampness.





As the rain continued on and off, the grass underfoot soon began to turn to mud and one might have been forgiven for thinking that one was in a field at the Glastonbury pop festival. Still, as at Glastonbury, the musicians and dancers were not to be deterred! Those children and grown-ups who had been practising their traditional Thai dancing for so many hours, braved the stage and brought great warmth and delight to people’s hearts through their performances. The traditional beauty pageant also carried on regardless, but relocated to the lower hall of the temple.


The Lay Buddhist Information desk and bookstall was not quite as bustling as on previous years. Nevertheless people came and generously gave donations and showed interest in the three or four titles of dhamma books that we could offer them. We were fortunate this year in having a fresh supply of chanting books in Thai and English, which are always popular and which consequently sell out fast.


One of the highlights for me this year was to see the local community policemen and women cheerfully joining in with the throng. I was able to offer two of the officers some tamarind fruit, which neither of them had tasted before. It is this mingling of cultures and openness to different tastes and ideas which is something that always brings great warmth and happiness to my heart and makes me realise how important such occasions are in increasing sharing and understanding. I wish everyone reading this article a very happy Thai New Year!http://www.buddhapadipa.org/pages/eventwriteup_songkran2008.htmlMon, 28 Apr 2008 02:19:04 GMT Meeting of the Lay Buddhist Association Committee 03 Feb2008 Minutes Members present:- Colin Brown, Lynne Parry, Andy Brown, Mike Carveth, Alan Townsend & Nathalie Deacon Apologies for absence: Sue Hoxley & Trevor Flaxman 1) Matters arising from the Minutes. There were no matters arising from the Minutes. 2) Winter Retreat 27 – 31 December. The retreat went well with 14 participants. Thanks were given to all the helpers who shared the duties to make this Retreat work. It was mentioned, not for the first time, that the problem of retreat participants not being able to sleep due to snoring can lead to excessive tiredness. The LBA will buy a supply of ear plugs prior to the next retreat but apart from that there is little that can be done apart from putting known snorers in their own rooms but they can still be heard from the neighboring school rooms. 3) 2008 Program / Maghapuja Day: Martin Evans from Amaravati Lay Buddhist Association has been invited as our Guest Speaker for the afternoon session. Nathalie will do the Sutta reading. Andy will arrange a donation cheque of £100 4) Visakhapuja Day: Andy will invite one or more of the Nuns from Amaravati to give a talk. The LBA will offer transport costs and a donation. 5) Spring Retreat 11 – 17 May 2008. Lynne offered to do the shopping for breakfasts. Other volunteers to share the duties will be needed. Andy will copy the various retreat forms and documents by e-mail to Colin. 6) Songkran – 13 April 2008: Any LBA volunteers may help on the Information desk / Book Stall. 7) Any other business: Nothing further has been heard from the person who had offered to produce a plan for improving the Temple Pond 8) Date of the next Meeting: Sunday 27 April at 2 pmhttp://www.buddhapadipa.org/pages/eventwriteup_minutes03feb2008.htmlMon, 17 Mar 2008 04:34:03 GMT Life is suffering, this is the teaching of the Buddha. Why is it suffering? It must be that something makes this suffering. Yes, it is true; it is something rooted within, and when it is activated, it bursts out and gives rise to the fruit of suffering. Then we ask “What is the root of suffering?” The answer which the Buddha himself gave, in Itivuttaka, is that the root of suffering is desire, which consists of three roots; greed, hatred and delusion. If the roots of suffering are eliminated, life can be extremely happy. What is next when the roots are already known? The answer is, to learn the method which can get rid of them and apply this method in life. What is the method mentioned? It is the purification of the mind. Why purify the mind? Because it is a producer which can create everything from small to big, so greed, hatred and delusion try to conquer some parts of the mind, or the whole of it. If the mind is pure, nothing can take root in it; as the Buddha said in Dhammapada, “Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts, happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow”. Take good care of your mind, then your life will be safe.http://www.buddhapadipa.org/pages/dhammacorner_whatistherootcauseofsuffering.htmlMon, 17 Mar 2008 04:32:31 GMT Wisdom is the ultimate knowledge which all want to achieve. And what leads to that wisdom? The Buddha once answered this question*, he said, “Monks, Dhamma which leads to wisdom consists of two things; firstly Samatha (calmness) and then Vipassana (insight). Samatha, which anyone learns and practises, calms down her or his mind. The calm mind can abandon desire. Vipassana, which anyone learns and practises, gives clear understanding right to her or his mind. The clear and wise mind can abandon ignorance.” Here is more about Samatha and Vispassana; Samatha and Vipassana are the two main types of Buddhist meditation. There is discussion about them; some say this one is better than the other. That is just saying, it is said that whoever says that, neither really knows nor practises either of them. The Buddha said, “Samatha and Vipassana are duo Dhamma.” In practical terms they cannot be separated from each other; they go side by side. In a rhetorical sense they may be separated but in practice they always go side by side. It is said that if a meditator has no Vipassana, he cannot enter Samatha. He might be able to do so for a while, but that is just because of his previous action, which does not last long. When he enters Samatha, he must abandon the past, and future and abide in the present consciousness; for this he needs Vipassana. It is also said that if a meditator has no Samatha; he cannot get rid of desire. He gets struck in the hindrances. This is comparable to those who know a lot of Dhamma, but cannot use any of it, or those, who know what is right or wrong, but still do wrong actions, even if they know exactly. The Buddha called those people, “Empty man or holy book.” So both of them; Samatha and Vipassana, must go together, whatever phenomena; painful or happy, arise, they must be observed, intentionally and mindfully. Usually Samatha concentrates on a happy object, but Vipassana observes a painful one. It is said that it is marvellous if the meditator can do both at the same time, because at the end, happy or painful object must both be left behind. Some meditators observe all painful objects, but when they confront happy ones, they become distracted or get caught in happy objects. Some always concentrate on happy objects, and then they suffer, because they crave to prolong them, but they are uncontrollable. So it is said that, in the end, both happy and painful objects must be left behind, or let go of. Before letting go of both, don’t forget to learn and remember their value. From considering and observing them, wisdom rises. It is said that consideration of all phenomena gives rise to wisdom, which helps us see the truth, and to accept the truth gives rise to unconditioned happiness. The Buddha said that to attain happiness, mankind must get rid of suffering. It connot get pure happiness without confronting suffering, and he added, “Seeing suffering is seeing the path leading to ultimate happiness.” In Samatha-meditation, there are 40 objects which lead to calmness or concentration, but in Vipassana it can be said that everything occurring to mind and body is the object. In general, there are two objects: matter and mind, or nama and rupa which lead to wisdom or deep, right, understanding. Both meditation methods are taught by the Buddha, they are tools which can lead mankind out of the cycle of life. These two types of meditation are guaranteed and proved by the Buddha himself, and his disciples. Many examples are written about and explained, don’t die reading or listening, but practise to develop yourself and help others. The results await you, just start doing the practice; no more thinking or saying. That’s it really. *Dukkhanibata Angguttara Nikayahttp://www.buddhapadipa.org/pages/dhammacorner_whatleadstowisdom.html