Be pure in deed, word and thought The wise are restrained in deed; in speech too, they are restrained. The wise, restrained in mind, are indeed those who are perfectly restrained. Kodha Vagga - The Dhammapada

'There are gods, miracles do happen'

Excerpts from an inspirational discourse by Ven. Ajahn Brahmavamso (Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastry in Western Australia) at Maharagama Vajiraghnana Dharmayathanaya on Sunday 13th February 2005.

I knew an American who wanted to become a Buddhist monk. He heard that in Thailand he could get ordained.

So he went to Thailand and put up in a small hotel in Bangkok. But he did not know where to go to get the ordination. So he asked a person (a helper) working in the hotel where to go to get ordained as a Buddhist monk.

The helper of the hotel told him to go to Wat Pho temple in Bangkok (where men in Bangkok went to get temporary ordination). He told the American "go early in the morning and offer some fruits to a monk who will come for morning alms and ask for ordination. Then he will ordain you".

Accordingly the American went out early next morning to the temple with some fruit to offer to the first monk who would come. In his haste he had gone very early, at about 04.30 a.m.

The gates of the temple were locked. So he started to pace up and down near the entrance until the monks would come out from where they were meditating in the forest nearby, for their morning alms.

As he was pacing to and fro, a Thai man dressed in oriental attire came up to him and asked him in perfect English what he was about.

When he had said what he was about, the Thai man told him "I will take you inside and show you the inside of the temple". He then took a bunch of large keys from his waist and opened the iron gate. Then asking the American to follow him, he went up to the main door of the temple and opened it with a key from the bundle he had.

As he went in he switched on the lights, and the American saw a most beautiful shrine room with very bright pictures adorning the walls. He took the American to each one of the pictures and explained what each one meant.

After conducting him around the shrine room in this manner, he then switched off the lights and locked up the door. After coming out he told the American, now it is almost the time that the monks will come out for their morning alms, offer your fruit and ask to be ordained. He then went out of the temple and disappeared.

After a while the American saw a monk appearing with a begging bowl. He went up to the monk offered the fruit and asked to be ordained. The monk accepted the fruit and the American was ordained. Unfortunately for the American (who was now a monk) the Thai monks in the temple where he stayed spoke very little or no English.

After staying in the temple for a while, he one day asked leave of his teacher to go to another monk who knew better English for instructions. Then his teacher said that there was no other monk who could speak better English. He himself spoke the best English in the place.

Then the American monk remembered the Thai man whom he met before he asked for ordination. He told his teacher "There was a man I met here on the day I asked to be ordained who spoke perfect English, could I not seek his services as a translator?". The teacher was a bit surprised and asked details of this man from his pupil.

After listening to the story, he said "That is impossible! only the Sangha-Raja of Thailand has the keys to that shrine room. That is the place where the kings come for temporary ordination." So the American monk was taken to the Sangha-Raja of Thailand and asked to narrate the story once again. When he described the pictures and the stories he heard relating to the pictures inside the shrine room, the Sangha-Raja could not doubt his story. He was taken inside the shrine room to narrate the story and was asked how the Thai man had looked.

On looking around the pictures on the wall once more, the American monk saw to his surprise that the picture of the man he saw was adorning the wall. He pointed to the picture and said "that is the man".

It was the picture of King Rama I (who had passed away many years ago. As such it was established that the American monk had met a God or Devatha who was formerly the King Rama I of Thailand who had also built that temple.

I have known this American monk, and I know that this story is true. Therefore it is true that there are Gods, It is true that they exist, even today. Not only in Thailand, but in Sri Lanka as well, even in Australia (where I live presently).

A personal experience

I can tell you another story, a personal experience of mine in recent times. The Buddhist Society of Western Australia was getting ready for Vesak Celebrations one day.

Preparations got underway to hold open air celebrations in the night on Vesak day at a Central location in Perth. With just a few days to go we got to hear that the weather forecast was not good for Vesak day and night. It was forecasted that there would be severe storms.

As the days closed in the people who got together to organize the show were very doubtful of going ahead. Many requests came to me as president of the Buddhist Society of Perth to cancel it.

Continued faith

We had invited the Prime Minister to come as a special invitee amongst many other special guests. There were many calls asking me whether it would not be cancelled. But I continued to have faith.

Though people were surprised at my resolution, I decided to go ahead with the celebration despite the requests to cancel it from many quarters.

The day dawned with very cloudy skies. As the day advanced the conditions did not improve. It started to rain heavily and continued on to the evening. We heard over the news that the weather conditions were quite bad in surrounding areas as well.

It was worse than what the forecasts also predicted. However as night time advanced, and it was approaching to the time that we wanted to commence the celebrations the storm ceased and the sky cleared as if by magic. The full moon came out in all its splendour and illuminated the scene of the celebrations.

Vesak celebration

All those who gathered there that day had a most peaceful and serene Vesak celebration. Perfect weather prevailed until the celebrations were over and everyone went away to their homes. Thereafter the storm recommenced. And we got to know that even during the time of the celebration the storm had been raging in the surrounding areas.

I know that this miracle was aided with the help of the Devathas, who enabled us to have the Vesak Celebrations without any hindrance.

Therefore it is not a lie that Gods do exist, and they do assist the pure followers of the Dhamma.

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1900 years of Afghan Buddhism

by Lionel Wijesiri

Ryukoku University, a Buddhist school in Kyoto, and Afghanistan's National Institute of Archaeology have signed an accord to survey and excavate newly found Buddhist relics lying west of the famed Bamiyan ruins. The excavation is expected to shed new light on the history of Buddhism in Afghanistan.

Buddhist stupas, monasteries and the massive statues carved out of a sand rock at Bamiyan in the heart of Afghanistan were the wonder of scholars and connoisseurs of art and culture. Unfortunately they are no more, devastated by the Taliban regime of Afghanistan.

Buddhism has played very important role in shaping the history and culture of Afghanistan. It continued to be a Buddhist country for more than nineteen centuries and thereafter for many reasons the pristine culture and original religion of Afghanistan were completely wiped out from there.

We know the story of Tapassu and Bhalluka. They are said to have been touring merchants and met the Buddha under the Rajayatana tree at Bodha-Gaya while coming from Ukkala (Orissa) in the eighth week after his Enlightenment. They took refuge in the Buddha and the Dhamma and thus became the first lay-devotees or Upasakas of the Buddha.

It is now proven that their homeland was located somewhere near Balkh, the ancient Bahlika at the far end of the north-western Afghanistan. It has also been suggested that the name Bhalluka is a derivative from the town Bahalika.

In all probability it appears that Tapassu and Bhalluka were the merchants from Balkh area and they were the first persons who took the message of the Buddha to Afghanistan. Bhalluka later became a monk and built a monastery near his home city. He brought with him eight hairs of the Buddha as relics, for which he built a stupa monument.

The area across the Khyber Pass, which was called Udyana in ancient days is a part of Afghanistan in the Province of Ningarahar with its capital Jelalabad. It was a part of Gandhara in ancient times.

There are stories about Sakyan migration from eastern India to Gandhara, even during the Buddha's life-time. These are now proven facts. We have found the skull relics of the Buddha from Hadda and his tooth relics from Dauranta. Both these places are near Jelalabad.

Another relic casket with inscription was found at Wardak located in this very area. All these antiquities discovered from this area lead us to infer that Jelalabad or Udyana was an important centre of Buddhism from the very beginning.

History

Just after the second Buddhist Council, held in 443 BC, it is said that a section of the early Theravada Sangha branched off. They are known as Mahasanghikas, probably because they were in large number. They migrated from Magadha into two streams. One went to south India and the other to north India and settled in Udyana.

Several years later, the Mahasanghikas split into further five sub-schools. The main one was Lokottaravada, which later established itself in the Bamiyan Valley in the Hindu Kush Mountains. There, its followers built the world's largest standing Buddha statue, in keeping with their assertion of Buddha as a transcendent, superhuman figure.

The Han Chinese pilgrim Fai-hien travelled through the territory between 399 and 414 and reported the flourishing of Buddhism.

In 330 BC, Alexander the Great conquered most of the Afghanistan. He was tolerant of the religious traditions of these regions and seemed interested primarily in military conquest. His successors established the Seleucid Dynasty.

In 317 BC, however, the Indian Mauryan Dynasty took the country from the Seleucids and thus the area was only superficially influenced during this short period.

The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (268 - 232 BC) favoured Theravada Buddhism. In the latter part of his reign, he sent a Theravadan mission, led by Maharakkhita. The mission erected "Ashoka pillars" with edicts based on Buddhist principles. Through these missions, Theravada established a presence in Afghanistan.

In 197 BC, the Greek and Bactria conquered Afghanistan from the Mauryans. One of its kings, Menandros (Pali: Milinda, ruled 155 - 130 BCE), was a follower of Theravada due to the influence of the visiting Indian monk Nagasena. The king put many questions to this Indian master and their dialogue became known as The Questions of Milinda.

Shortly afterwards, the Graeco-Bactrian state established relations with Sri Lanka and sent a delegation of monks to the consecration ceremony of the great stupa built there by King Dutthagamani (ruled 101 - 77 BCE). From the cultural contact that ensued, Graeco-Bactrian monks orally transmitted The Questions of Milinda to Sri Lanka. It later became an extra-canonical text in the Theravada tradition.

Kanishka

In the second century AD with the ascension of Kanishka to the throne, Afghanistan became a great seat of Buddhist learning and the arts. It was from this pivotal centre that Buddhism reached China and Mongolia. Kanishka, being intellectually convinced of the pragmatism of Buddhism became a Buddhist and later became a very liberal, generous and steadfast promoter of Buddhism and Buddhist art and culture.

During his long and epoch-making reign (120 to 160 AD), Buddhism and Buddhist art and culture became the life-blood of his far-flung empire. In Peshawar, Kanishka built a beautiful Sanghararma (monastery like the Mahavihara of Anuradhapura) with a lofty stupa of about 150 feet in height, a most breathtaking construction of the time. Capisa was dotted with viharas and statues.

In 224 CE, the Persian Sasanad Empire overthrew Kushan rule in Afghanistan. Sasanids tolerated Buddhism and allowed the construction of more Buddhist monasteries. It was during their rule that the Lokottaravada followers erected the two colossal Buddha statues at Bamiyan.

At the beginning of the fourth century, the White Huns took the territory from the Sasanids. At first, the White Huns followed their own religion, which resembled Zoroastrianism. Soon, however, they became supporters of Buddhism.

During the subsequent centuries, political and military alliances changed frequently as the Arabs, Chinese, Tibetans, Turki Shahis, and various other Turkic tribes fought and took control of Afghanistan.

Tragedy struck in 1215, when Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire, conquered Afghanistan. As was his policy elsewhere, he destroyed those who opposed his takeover and devastated their lands. By 1325, all the leaders of the community have been converted to Islam. After this, there is no positive indication of the continuing presence of Buddhism in Afghanistan.

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Bhutan awaiting world Buddhist leaders for conference in Thimphu

Bhutan which is making preparations to hold the 23rd WFB and WFBY General conferences in the first Buddhist kingdom of the world of which King Jigme Singye Wangchuk is the head of state will be the venue for the conferences shortly. The conferences were postponed due to the cold weather conditions in Bhutan.

by H. M. Nemsiri Mutukumara

Bhutan is the one and the only Buddhist Kingdom in the world ruled by a king as the head of State.

Called as Druk-Yul in Bhutani National language Dzongkha, the Buddhist kingdom is ruled by His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuk.

Bhutan is separated from her neighbours by the vast mountain ranges of the north and the dense forests of the south. This ancient Kingdom has two capital cities. The old capital was Punakha. The modern capital is Thimphu.

For Sri Lankan people, Thimphu is quite well-known. Sri Lanka visited Thimphu for a political conference during the time of President J. R. Jayewardene.

The Buddhist monarchy and the entire kingdom of one hundred per cent Buddhists are awaiting to host the Twenty third (23rd) General Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) and the Fourteenth (14th) General Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth (WFBY).

Both these international Buddhist organisations were born in Sri Lanka. The WFB in 1950 and the WFBY in 1972. Both Buddhist movements unanimously elected two Sri Lanka Buddhist leaders as presidents.

Today, the WFB and WFBY are located permanently in Bangkok, Thailand with Thai Buddhists as permanent presidents.

Bhutan is a founder member of the WFB in 1950. The Kingdom was represented by the present king His Majesty Jigme Singye Wanchuk's father.

He was well-known to Dr. Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera. When he visited Thimphu as President of the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress he was very cordially and respectfully received.

After the successful first General Conference which was inaugurated at the sacred Sri Dalada Maligava, Mahanuvara, all the participants were privileged to pay homage to the sacred Tooth Relic of Sakyamuni Buddha. Thereafter King sent his son and successor, the present King, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuk to strengthen the already close relations with Sri Lanka.

The present King became a regular visitor. He took part in the activities of the WFB and devoted himself to the cause of Buddhist youth.

The young prince, heir to the throne who succeeded his father represented the kingdom at the inaugural conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth in May 1972 at the Colombo Young Men's Buddhist Association Hall in Borella.

Today, Bhutan and Sri Lanka have become inseparable. The close and fratneral Buddhist relationship has grown to represent all spheres of international and diplomatic activity with both countries consulting and agreeing with each other in world organizations like the United Nations, the UNESCO, the Non-Aligned Nations, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation - SAARC, World Trade Organisation - WTO, and the latest economic grouping called BHIMSTEC with Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Besides all these remarkable achievements in social and economic, national and political, diplomatic and international affairs, His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wanchuk's determination to demonstrate Bhutan's impregnable position as the world's one and the only Buddhist Kingdom with a monarch as the Head of State and Head of Government ranks first in the list of priorities.

That accounts, mainly for the King and the community - one hundred per cent Buddhist - to look forward eagerly to host the Twenty third (23rd) WFB and the Fourteenth (14th) WFBY general conferences in Thimphu.

Sri Lanka and Bhutan the Pasalosvaka Poya (Full Moon) day is the only day dedicated to Buddhist religions and spiritual advancement.

Although Sri Lanka has lost the importance of the Amavaka (new moon), Pura Atavaka (moon in the waxing period), Pasalosvaka (full moon) and Ava Atavaka (moon in the waning period) as auspicious days, Bhutan todate observe the eighth and the fifteenth days as absolutely holy.

Bhutan celebrates the Vesak Poya day in May and the Esala Poya - the Dhammacakka Day.

Sri Lanka's landmass in ancient times was dotted with Vihara and Upasikarama - which taught the people the tenets of the Buddha Dhamma.

In similar fashion, Bhutan's monasteries and nunneries provide for the welfare and the well-being of the people. Let the world Buddhist leadership visit Bhutan to consolidate her unique position as the one and the only Buddhist kingdom in the world.