One’s evil ruins oneself
As rust sprung from iron eats itself away when arisen, even so his own deeds lead the transgressor to state of woe. (Mala Vagga - the Dhammapada)

Being in the now....

by Sanitsuda Ekachai

When we watch our mind, we find out how noisy it is, how full of endless thoughts.

Watch those thoughts, and we see how they are connected either to events from the past or to what we think will _ or should _ come in the future. An untrained mind drifts from one thought to another, forever driven by emotions generated by a flow of satisfactions and frustrations, of likes and dislikes.

The result is an exhausted, disturbed mind that see-saws between anger arising from frustrated expectations and fears concerning the future. This is a mind that does not know peace, because it is unable to be in the present.

If we train our mind _ to watch its thoughts, mindfully, without being swayed by emotion _ we discover that our thoughts are not free, as we may have believed. Instead, our thoughts are loaded with values and judgements _ about what we have been taught to believe is good and what is not good _ and about what should be. This is a mind conditioned by prejudice.

It may be prey to an us-against-them mentality which can lead to physical acts of aggression, exploitation and discrimination. That's why staying in the present is important for the soul. Stay

ing in the present can return us to inner peace by restoring the non-conditioned mind that will nurture a compassionate heart. How to start? The secret is under your nose: Mindful breathing.

Start by focusing your attention on the sensations of breathing. Sit comfortably, close your eyes and inhale slowly. Feel the sensation under your nose and follow the inhalation. Then exhale slowly. Follow the breath, feel the sensation under your nose. Then inhale again. Be mindful of the breathing and the sensations. Be aware of when the air is going in. And when the air is going out. Don't let your concentration stray. If it does, just smile. Relax. Treat yourself like a loving mother who is teaching her baby to walk. And start again.

Many meditation masters advise the silent recitation of certain words to accentuate the awareness of breathing in and out. For example, some people recite the words ``arising'' when inhaling, and ``passing away'' when exhaling. Such recitations help one to be aware of the impermanence of all things. This helps the mind to ease itself away from attachment, which is at the core of mental suffering.

While meditating, smile softly. or visualise the smile of a Buddha image. You will be pleasantly surprised how a smile can magically open up your heart and fill it with loving kindness.

Practise mindful breathing regularly, the more the better. Start and end your day with the practice, until it comes to you naturally. Extend mindfulness into your other daily activities, into whatever you are doing, so that mindfulness becomes a part of your every breath and movement. After just some meditation practice, you will find that the calming of your body through breathing leads to the calming of your mind. A calm and clear mind will enable you to quickly note the arising of thoughts and emotions, to see their origins, and to observe them pass away without your being carried away by them.

One meditation master likens such mental processes to a game of cat-and-mouse. When a clear mind, (which is likened to a cat), catches a thought, (likened to a mouse), the thought will stop dead. This prevents that thought from igniting more thoughts that spark more emotions until they become like an uncontrollable tiger that devours us. Mindful breathing withdraws food from this mental tiger. It is in the nature of the mind to focus on one thing at a time. By focusing our mind on breathing, the tiger has no more food. It becomes weaker and weaker until we eventually free ourselves from its grip.

As the mind becomes clearer, we see how it is conditioned, and when we rise above conditioning, our mind is free. A free mind enables us to realise a law of nature _ all that arises will pass away.

There is no self, there is no attachment. Everything is interconnected. Compassion often surges when we realise that we are all the same. Our thoughts, ideologies and religions which generally serve to divide us, need not. We are at one with others who are suffering.

Constant observation of the sensations of breathing is just one of the mindful meditation techniques suggested by the Buddha.

Other methods include focusing on physical movements. Although it was the Buddha who suggested these techniques, they are by nature non-sectarian. The workings of the mind are universal _ anyone who understands the mechanisms of thoughts and emotions well enough to break the chain reactions they set off, holds the key to leaving suffering behind.

Mindful breathing gives us more than inner calm _ it also gives us new wisdom in our attitudes towards life and towards other people. It can make us a new person _ someone who is balanced, contented and compassionate. That is the power of staying in the present moment.

The writer is Assistant editor, Bangkok Post

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The Buddha, the greatest physician of mind and body

by Rohan L. Jayetilleke

Gautama Buddha having attained Enlightenment under the Sri Maha Bodhi, at Buddha Gaya, (India), walked in seven days to Isipatana (Migadaya - saranath) of Varanasi (Benares) 288 miles, covering approximately 5 miles an hour. He walked for around 40 miles a day, in order to meet with his erstwhile associates of Uruvela (modern Dhungeswari) Kondanna, Vappiya, Bhadda, Mahanama and Assaji, to deliver his first discourse Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta.

Having discoursed the first sermon, and Kondanna attaining Arhantship, and later the rest of four too attaining Arhantship. Thereafter Yasa, son of Sujatha of Senanigama who offered him Gana payasa and his fifty four friends too entering the Order and attaining Arhantship, enjoyed them with their task spreading the Dhamma.

In the vastness of India

Thus the bhikkhus and the Buddha had to walk many miles in the vastness of India, enduring biting winters and scorching heats of summers, through tracks of various types. The Buddha and the bhikkhus were human, they were subject to physical ailments.

Medicinal systems of India had reached the zenith by the time of the Buddha, medicine being a basic need of society, the Buddha was qualified to frame rules for the use of medicine by the bhikkhus in keeping with monastic rules (Vinaya) and ideals. Hence the whole section (khandhaka) of the Vinaya Pitaka (Mahavagga) is devoted to a discussion of medicine prescribed by the Buddha for ailments of bhikkhus.

A group of five items is very commonly referred to as pancabhesajjani, which were both food and medicine namely, ghee (sappi), fresh butter (novanita), oil (tela), honey (madhu) and treacle (phanita).

Various kinds of oils

Fresh butter and ghee are obtained from the milk of the cow, she buffalo, or she goat. Oils from various kinds of nuts and seeds, namely sesamum, mustard or from the tallow of animals., such as bears, alligators, pigs, donkeys or fish.

Oil from a tree called madhuka, honey from bees, treacle from sugar cane. These constituted a balanced diet and taken regularly in keeping with the Vinaya restriction of taking solid or soft food only in the forenoon, and ensured restoration to normal health and also as a precaution against physical ailments. Because of this medicinal value they were regarded as five standard medicines.

According to Vinaya, 1, page 199, when monks were suffering from an ailment resulting from the heat of the autumn the Buddha recommended these five medicaments, provided they were accepted at certain times in the forenoon. These five kinds of food came under the rule relating to their consumption of soft and solid food. Lay devotees normally went to the monastery in the evening, as they were engaged in their daily chores at home or in the fields or other places of work.

Another medicine prescribed by the Buddha is roots (mula). They were used to prepare decoctions like in Ayurveda. The first in the list is tumeric of which dried roots are powdered and used. The others are ginger Orries root both yellow and white, aromatic and tuberous, garlic and black hellebore recommended by ancient Indian sages for insanity and khus khus a fragrant root. Setties and fans from the latter were allowed (Vinaya 11, p. 130), Finally in the list is nut grass a plant with edible roots. Having recommended this list the Buddha further permitted the use of any kind of roots as medicine on condition in does not serve as a food either solid or soft from noon to dawn the following day.

Resin and gum

In order to grind the roots the Buddha allowed a grinding stone and a pounder. When the monks sought permission of the Buddha to take astringent decoctions, the use of leaves as medicine and fruits too were allowed. Resin was also allowed to be used in medical preparations. As an example he gave the tree called hingu to be used as resin and gum. Salt too was allowed. The Buddha gave a list of five salts viz., sea salt, black salt a kind of rock salt found in Sindhi areas culinary salt and red salt.

According to Vinaya 1, p. 204 - 5, Pilindavacca Thera was afflicted with vatabadha and the physician wanted to give him a decoction of oil which was mixed with alcohol. A Group of monks who were recalcitrant elements, abused taking this particular decoction and got intoxicated. The Buddha then being informed decreed that the decoction should not have colour or taste of liquor. Thereby percolation of alcohol was restricted to a very minimal dosage. When a monk was bitten by a snake a decoction of four filthy things of dung urine ashes and clay was prescribed (Vinaya 1.p.206).

In case a monk had taken poison accidentally a concoction of dung a decoction prepared from the mud turned by a plough was prescribed. In case of constipation a preparation of raw lye for jaundice (panduregabhada) a compound of cow's urine and yellow myrobalan were prescribed by the Buddha. In case of eye ailments the Buddha gave a prescription details of which are available. Various kinds of external applications in the form of collyrium (anjana) were allowed. In order to store these he perimited an ointment box (anjani) turned out of bone, ivory, horn, reed, bamboo, wood, crystal, copper and conch shells.

Various devices

In respect of rheumatism in the limbs (angavata), sweating treatment (sedakamma) and various devices such as vats filled with hot water (udakakothaka), where the patient had to be put into, were prescribed. The old stone 'behet oru' found at Anuradhapura are these medicinal oil vats introduced by Arhant Mahinda, when established the Order of Maha Sangha in the third century B.C. and the hot water bath he had made to be built while planing the holy city of Anuradhapura, are reminiscent of the vats decreed by the Buddha.

The Buddha even prescribed medication for cracked feet. In case of nasal disorders, including headaches the Buddha prescribed application of certain medicinal oil on the head and ineffective administration of the oil through the nose was allowed. Part of oil to be administered to the nostrils, or to inhale the smoke, by lighting a wick smeared with the medicinal oil.

Those references in the Vinaya indicate that the Buddha knew that in order to lead a life of righteousness one has to be of sound health. Thus he not only discoursed the path of detachment to attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana but also to maintain oneself physically in the pink of health.

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Confluence of cultures

Cultural heritage of Gandhara

Story and picture by Yvonne Bohwongprasert

Gandhara, Pakistan - One doesn't have to be a follower of the Buddha to marvel at the cultural heritage, ancient ruins and trails of Gandhara. Like many other Thais, I was totally ignorant of this part of Pakistan and its history until I travelled there recently and discovered its strong links with Buddhism and why the people there, even though they are Muslim, guard this national treasure with such passion.

Pakistan is a melting pot of cultures and civilisations. And Gandhara, a northwestern province on the border with Afghanistan, is one of the most intriguing of them all. Walking through this former cradle of Buddhist faith, I felt a strong urge to protect whatever is still left of this once flourishing kingdom. Gandhara means the "land of fragrance and beauty" and it's home to World Heritage sites such as Taxila, Takht Bhai and Swat which we visited.

Our chief guide on this trip was none other than the renowned scholar of Gandhara civilisation, retired Prof Fidaullah Sehrai. He has written numerous books on the subject. He is a former director of Peshawar Museum and chairman of the Department of Archaeology and Fine Arts at Peshawar University.

"I became interested in the Buddha's life at a young age," he recalled. "It's a passion, and I am happy to speak on what I have learned through these years about the Buddhist remains in Pakistan, especially Gandhara.

"I am often invited to give lectures on the subject in Buddhist nations such as Sri Lanka. In fact, some people have often mistaken me for a Buddhist. Actually, it's not only outsiders, my own wife used to often ask me why I had so many books on the Buddha in my library. She was afraid I was going to convert to Buddhism," he said laughing.

The 300-foot tall monastery sits atop a hill. Since it was spring time in Pakistan the air was still cool and refreshing and we enjoyed the climb to the top. Prof Sehrai explained that the stupa courts are set at different levels with chapels around it. Walking around, one could only marvel at the way the architect came out with the building plan. On closer observation, visitors will find that the monastery has cells for the monks on four sides, a verandah in front, assembly hall and store rooms. You can imagine the kind of life monks led those days.

Five minutes drive from there were the ruins of Sirkap. Here Bactrian Greeks founded the second fortified city of Taxila in the 2nd century. Excavations have revealed a thick fortification wall and relics of spectacular buildings of secular and religious significance. After viewing the ruins, we drove to Taxila Museum that houses numerous Buddhist statutes and stupas, silver jewellery, writing materials, domestic articles and household vessels.

Another place of great Buddhist significance is Takht Bhai. Excitement filled the air as we set out the next morning for what Prof.Sehrai described as "the focus of so many excavations" that it has been attracting visitors all year round. Takht Bhai is four hours ride north of Islamabad.

We stopped briefly at Kamra, a delightful town full of tea stalls and restaurants, and then rode on enjoying the unspoilt natural beauty, the view of isolated valleys and great mountain ranges.

We arrived at Takht Bhai monastery in Mardan district and saw excavation work in progress. Prof Sehrai said the monastery was one of the most recognised Buddhist monuments in Takht Bhai. Built on a rocky ridge, it stands 500 feet above the ground and can be reached by a steep winding path.

The monastery is a case of architectural diversity. A standing Buddha statue welcomes guests in its huge courtyard. There is plenty to explore and I particularly found the worship hall and meditation rooms interesting. Prof Sehrai said the history of Takht Bhai monastery is shrouded in mystery because Chinese pilgrims _ Fa-hien, Song-yun and Hiuen Tsang have not made a mention of it in their writings. He noted that either the site was abandoned before they arrived or they just had no knowledge of its existence.

Some historians, said the professor, hold the view that the Huns from Central Asia ransacked it. After all, their king, Mihiragula, is credited for the destruction of 1,600 stupas and monasteries and the slaying of two thirds of Gandhara's inhabitants.

We would have wanted to spend more time there and explore this enchanting piece of history, but the sun was setting and we had to rush to Swat, a mountainous district in North-West Frontier province, where we were booked for the night. Swat was also a bastion of Buddhist culture in the old days.

Saidu Sharif is its capital and home to Swat Museum. Buddhism flourished in Swat and spread to other parts of Asia from here, explained Prof Sehrai, thanks to the effort of Indian Emperor Ashoka. Other points of interest are the Shangerdar Stupa and Ghaligai.

Gandhara widened my perspective on Buddhism and shed new light on the history and culture of Pakistan. More importantly, it helped erase from my mind the popular misconception that Muslims were not tolerant of other religions.