BUDDHAM

Hello again!! Now I am going to discuss about a topic related to Buddha, As you all Buddha is thefounder of the religion of Buddhism. Buddha has always told people that he is a person on a whole and that his followers must not worship him as god. Buddha blessed the world with 5 moral ideas which the Buddhist call as the "Pancha shila"

Rule 1 - One should never harm or kill other living beings on earth. Just like us everything the world has a place to live.

Rule 2 - Do not lust for something which is not yours. Lusting for others belonging is also stealing.

Rule 3 - One should abstient from sexual activities, which for the monks means celibacy and shouls understand that pleasure which we get from these will bring us sorrows in future.

Rule 4 - Avoid lying or any hurtful speech. Lying will put ones self-respect down.

Rule 5 - Avoid alcohol and drugs which makes to addicted to it and thus will diminish your clarity of consciousness.

And to the monks and nuns there are another extra set of 5 rules like

Rule 6 - One simple meal a day, before noon.

Rule 7 -  Avoid and stay away from Worldly entertainment and focus on the entertainment of getting pure eternal bliss.

Rule 8 - Do not praise yourself. Avoid self - Adornment as it will make your heart dumb and blur your path to righteousness.

Rules 9 - Do not go for luxury as for the rich. To reach god one should restrain from sophestication and should lead a life of the poor.

Rule 10 - Do not touch money or any valuables. Piksha food only for today and don't save anything for tommorow cause when it is time to go you go back with only empty hands.

A full Monastic life includes more than two hundred rules and regulations.

THE PARAMITA

The perfections or virtues that is the noble qualities whcih every human should strive really hard to are

01. Generosity (Dhana dharmam).

02. Moral discipline (Ozhukkam).

03. Patience and tolerance (Shanthi and sakippu thanmai).

04. Wisdom of full consciousness (Paripurana budhi).

05. Energy (shakthi / viryam).

06. Meditation (Dhyanam).

07. Renunciation (Neekahamam).

08. Truthfullness (Unamai pesuthal).

09. Determination (orudhi).

10. Loving Kindness (Alavilladha anbu).

11. Sillful practices (Ubayangal).

12. Vow and resolution (Naa thavaramai).

13. The ten powers (Dasha bala)

14. Knowledge (Arivu).

15. Equanimity (Udvekkham).

BRAHMA VIHARA

The Brahma are the four basic definitions of four important terms to which all of us should inspire and aspire. They are the great signs of the Bodisattva, who vows to remain in Samsara. According to Buddham Samasaram is sorrowful life with pain and one should help himself to get out of it to attain the state of  NIRVANA.

01. Maitri is caring, loving kindess displayed to every one whomever you meet.

02. Karuna is the compassion or mercy which should be shown to someone who suffer.

03. Mudita is the sympathetic joy, being happy for others, without a trace of envy.

04. Upekhsa is equanimity of meacefulness, the ability to accept the cycle of life the joyous part and the sorrowful part with equal dispassion. There is no need to be too happy for something nor to be ultimately sad for another, take things equally.

SIGLOVATHA SUTHRAM

Siglovatha Suthram is the words which was spoken directly bu Buddha himself to Sigalo, a young middle class man who on his way to worship the six direction which are

01. NORTH.

02. SOUTH.

03. EAST.

04. WEST.

05. UP.

06. DOWN.

which was a ancient ritual performed by the first son of the family when his father had passed away just to remeber and think about him. When Sigalo was about to start this ritual Buddha told Sigalo that apart from rememberance there is also some intresting feature about this ritual. Buddha started some phrasing just as how he aparently often did by using lists and begins by warning him,

The four vices are:

1. The destruction of life.
2. Sexual Misconduct.
3. Stealing.
4. Lying.

The four things which leads to evil are:

1. Desire, which includes lust, greed, clinging.
2. Anger and hatred.
3. Ignorance.
4. Fear and Anxiety.

The six ways one dissipates ones wealth are:

1. Drinking and drugs.
2. Carousing late at night.
3. Wasting away your time at entertainments.
4. Gambling.
5. Keeping bad company.
6. Laziness.

He  also explains how habits of bad company will lead one to loose all the precious things one posses.

The lesson of true souls,

Question: What is friendship? How to distinguish from good friends and bad friends. 

Answer: There are some categories of people who will be with using the name of friendship and they will finally make your life miserable. There some incidences where you will not be able to recover back to life even, some of these people are not really your friends

1. The leech who always be with you for your possesions, they can be wealthy or not wealthy but all that comes to their about you is your Wealth.
2. The Bull - shitter who manipulates you to do some things unwanted.
3.  The Book - licker who always flatters you and the one who is happy to see you go down and talks about you on your back.
4. The Party-animal who also encourages you to be just like him.

Wheras a good friend is the one who: 

1. Is always ready to help you.
2. Is steady and loyal.
3. Provides good advice.
4. Is sympathetic.

Buddha even gives some advice regarding the wealth one earns:

1. One quarter of your earning should be used to cover your expenses.
2. Two quarters should be re-invested in your buisness.
3. One quarter should be put into savings for times of need.

Finally, the Buddha discusses how one might best benefit from worshipping the six direction

Regarding the East, A child should be good to his or her parents: support them, help them, keep their traditions, be worthy of your inheritance, and offer alms in their honour when they die. A parent should be good to his or her children as well: keep them from getting in to trouble, encourage them to be good, train them for a profession, make sure they are suitably married, and provide a good heritance.

Regarding the South, A student should be good to his or her teachers: show respect, work hard and be eager to learn. A teacher should be good to his or her students: teach them well, Make sure they understand well and help them achieve their goals.

Regarding the West, a husband should be good to his wife: Treat her well, be faithful to her, share authority with her and give her jewelery. A wife should be good to her husband: by being gracious, faithful, industrious, and frugal.

Regarding the North, a friend should be good to his / her friends: be genrous, helpful, protective and so on evn on the fact if it is going to be only sided.

Regarding the Nadir (down), An employer should be good to his or her employees: assign work according to their abilities, provide food and wages, take care of them when they are sick, Share delicacies with them, and grant them occasiona leave. Employees should be good to their employers: Get to work early, leave late, perform their dutoies well, don't pilfer from the supply closet and uphold their employer's good name.

Regarding the Zenith (up), Lay people should be good to people who have devoted themselves to spiritual life: kind deeds, kind words, kind words, kind thoughts, opening one's home to them, and supplying them with their physical needs. And people in the spiritual life should be good to lay people: Keep them from doing evil, encourage them to do good, make sure they hear the dharma, clarify what they don't understand, pount out the way, and generally love them.

 TEN DUTIES OF A KING

01. DANA: Liberality, generosity, charity, with welfare of the people.

02. SILA: High moral chracter, observing at least five precepts.

03. PARCCAGA : Willing to sacrifice everything for the people -- comfort, fame, even his life.

04. AJJACA : Honesty and intergrity, not fearing some or favoring others.

05. MADDAVA: Kindness and gentleness.

06. TAPA:  Austerity, content in the simple life.

07. AKKODHA : Free from hatred, ill-will, and anger.

08. AHIMASA: Non-violence, a commitment to peace.

09. KHANTI: Patience, tolerance, and the ability to understand other's perspectives.

10. AVIRODHA: Non-obstruction, ruling in harmony with the will of the people and in their best intrests.

Some intresting Buddha quotes are,

1. "No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourself must walk the path."
2. "Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others."
3. "Even dealth is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely."
4. "All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone ; Everything is is relation with everythin else in this universe."
5. "Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by sharing."
6. "A jug fills drop by drop."
7. "The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed."
8. "Ambition is like love, impatient both of delays adn rivals."
9. "What we think we are is what we are. All that we are arises with our thought. With our thought, we make the world."
10. "An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea."
11. "Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with deligence."
12. "I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done."
13. "He who loves 50% has 50% voes; he who loves no one has none".
14. "When one has the feeling of dislike for evil, when one feels tranquil, one finds pleasure in listening to good teachings: when one has these feelings and appreciates them, One is free of fear."
15. " However many holy words you read, hoeever many you speak, what good will they do if you do not act on upon them."
16. "What we think, we become."
17. "Every human being is the author of his own health or diseases."
18. "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coalwith the intent of throwing it at some one else; you are the one who gets burned."
19. "Unity can be manifested only by the binary. Unity itself and the idea of unity are already two."
20. "You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not found anywhere."
21. "You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and Affection."
22. "Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship."
23. "He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye."
24. "The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present."
25. "Life is suffering."
26. "To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him."
27. "To keep the body in good health is a duty.. Otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear."
28. "Do not dwell in the past. do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present movement."
29. "Without health life is not life; it is only a state of langour and suffering an image of dealth." 
30. "It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the Victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell."
31. "Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without spiritual life."
32. "Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without."
33. "Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so is the virtues appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue."
34. "On life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous are deeds are shelter, wisdom is the light by day and mindfulness is the protection by night." If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him."
35. "The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows."
36. "The way is not the sky. The way is in the heart." 
37. "The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground."
38. "To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own in the midst fo abundance."
39. "There has to be evils so good that can prove its purity above it".
40. "When you realize how perfect you are, you will tilt you head back and laugh at the sky."
41. "There is nothing lore dreadful that the habit of doubt. Doubt seperates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendship and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills."
42. "You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself."
43. "Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it."
44. "To be idle is a short road to dealth and to be deligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent."
45. "I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act, but i do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act." 

Being in a land of diverse relegions has given a better exposure to my life to understand and to follow what is right.! The principles said by Buddha thousands of years ago is applicable even to todays modern life. More than a religion Buddha can be considered as a great teacher and if we follow what he said in our lives then we could lead a peaceful and a happy life.! Thank you for your patience in reading something that many think to be boring. If you have any comments please post them below.! :)