Email Fantastic Or Is It
MZC: There's a combination of what one experiences and comes to understand and a belief perhaps in the sense of a confidence that there is an efficacy to the practice of the teachings. But again it's based in one's own experience, not taken, as Batchelor says and the Buddha teaches, because some authority says so.
theravada Before I left for the Southern Hemisphere, however, I needed a place to practice for awhile, to get back on track, and Theravada.vn I knew the perfect place; at Bhante Gunaratana's monastery outside of Washington, DC. The Bhavana Society (bhavana in Pali translates as mental development) is tucked away in the picturesque hills of West Virginia just down the road from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Bhante Gunaratana is the founder of Bhavana, a Sri Lankan monk who has been in robes for almost seventy years, and a world recognized meditation teacher.
MZC: So you train and become a monk. What was your experience as you began to meditate regularly and to follow the precepts? What was it like to become so close to your teacher, U Silananda?
BN: Yes and I see it now in Burma and in the world. I gave a presentation on ethics recently to the judiciary in Xalapa. We spoke about how institutions can too often act like predators rather than being fair to the people. How can we say we are serving others if we are exploiting them? At the time of the Buddha, you would be brought to the king if you committed some offense. Simple. A punishment or a pardon was swiftly given. Now it's so much more complex. Modern society demands that we apply ethics more broadly.
He goes through the Pali Canon and separates what was new to the Buddha and what was also held in Indian philosophy before the Buddha. He can then pinpoint what's unique to Buddhism. So he doubts rebirth and different realms of existence. He pinpoints as distinctively Buddhist: dependent origination; the practice of mindful awareness, being focused on the totality of what is happening in our moment to moment experience; the Four Noble Truths & the Eight Fold Path; the principle of self-reliance, not to be dependent on some authority figure.
BN: The amazing thing for me in Burma was the people's devotion to Theravadan Buddhism; the monks are very serious about studying the Pali Canon. They monks are very orthodox; they study Pali grammar according to the ancient method. Though it's a poor country, the people are very nice. And they live under very difficult conditions. I think Buddhism has helped a lot, but on the other hand, I wonder if the people are too patient, if they put up with too much. I ask myself whether the people should tolerate so much.
The Noble Truth Leading to the Extinction of Suffering: Refers to the Noble Eightfold Path, which deals with choosing the right speech, right actions, and more throughout your life.
