High school Buddhism: Session 4 - lesson 6A Almsgiving Compassion

Universal Buddhist Studies

SRAMANA. Thich Thien Hoa

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Fourth Session

Pratyekabuddhas and Bodhisattvas of Buddhism

Lesson 6

Six Degrees of
Land First: Alms and Compassion.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.

A. Open Topic

Buddhism is often called compassionate Buddhism, because the love in Buddhism is very vast and extensive. The Buddha, because of compassion, became a monk to find relief for sentient beings. So Buddhists, when following the Buddha's footsteps, must also take compassion as the main gesture for their practice.

How do we show compassion and make it grow? The most miraculous method is the practice of the giving of the Paramitas, one of the six disciplines (continents) that Buddha devised for spiritual practitioners to practice in order to save themselves and others. Sea of ​​birth and death and reincarnation enlightenment.

B. Right Concise

I. Definitions

Giving is the same: giving is giving. Almsgiving is all-around, for everyone, everything, everywhere.

The paramedic Sanskrit vowel is Paramita. The Chinese translates to "Belgian", in Vietnamese, "to the other shore".

Almsgiving, which is a practice of giving, has the function of a boat, taking you and the person from the delusion of sentient beings to the enlightened shore of the Buddhas.

II. Composition Of Paramita

Alms giving includes the following types: Talented, Fearless. Here we in turn learn the meaning of the types of alms:

1. Talents. Talented means giving away your money, possessions and real things. Talents have two types:

a) Internal assets. Are your most precious personal things like your body, your life. Testing internal resources here means sacrificing one's life to save others from danger. In the precursor stories of Shakyamuni Buddha, we have seen many examples of internal merit, like the story of the merchant, while sailing by the boat sunk his own life by letting go of the mast. I'm clinging to make way for the other ill-fated passengers from drowning.

To test the internal wealth is the most beautiful gesture of sacrifice that can only be done by those who are merciful and compassionate. If you still consider your own life to be precious, more important than the life of others, then you can never make this kind of giving.

b) Beyond financial ability. Foreign currencies are things we often use such as food, clothing, money, vehicles, gardens, houses, etc.

2. Dharma experiments. Bringing good words, reason, right truths, precious teachings of Buddha to show and counsel others; or according to the Buddha's precepts of sincere practice to model for the imitators, abandoning the good, the evil and righteousness are legal solutions. Dharma has a greater value than talent, and it only helps others in material need for a time, or at the very least, saves a person's life. But the dharma helps people spiritually, not only for the poor, but also for the rich and the title; not only has a good influence in a period, but sowing good causes for many afterlife. Because of these reasons, a true Buddhist can never miss an occasion without doing the dharma,

3. fearless experiments. Fearless means not being afraid. Fearlessness is to make others not be afraid, to be afraid. This test just sounds like it doesn't matter at all. But if we think critically, we will see that the Buddha is extremely profound when he invented this method.

Let's think again, is it true that in one human life, fear has already taken over half of life? When we are small, we are afraid of scolding, afraid of beating, afraid of the devil ... when young people are afraid of lack of food, lack of clothing, fear of enemies, fear of lack of fame and career; When they are afraid of pain, afraid of being sick, afraid of being old, they are afraid of death. That is not to mention the time of chaos, still afraid of high taxes, heavy taxes, fear of greed, corruption, fear of robbers, hoodlums, fear of imprisonment, fear of guilt, fear of slashing, fear of killing ... piling on people's heads, making them dare not look up, their backs bent, their knees about to collapse. To have a symbolic image of fear, take the image of the Vietnamese villagers during the French colonial period: Their hands are ready to bow, eyes do not dare to look up, their backs are cuffed and heads The pillows were ready to kneel whenever the bureaucratic or bureaucratic's boss was overbearing.

Life was miserable, even more miserable because of fear. So to make people afraid, it is to save them less than half the suffering in life. The compassion of the Buddha blossoming seeing sentient beings suffering in fear, created the fearless test.

To practice this method, one must first train itself with a virtue that is not afraid of anything. But the true spiritual practitioner, who understands the teachings of Buddha, is still afraid of what? Money, they are not greedy so are not afraid to lose; fame, they do not screen, should not be afraid of missing, life, they are considered temporary, so are not afraid of death. Because of that mentality, their hearts are always unwavering, their faces are always calm before any change, arduous danger. The fearless practitioner is ready to jump into the water to help the person who is about to die, to jump into the fire to save the dying person, to storm the bandits to save the honest people, to knock on the door of the public, to vindicate the innocent. ...

In short, the practitioner is fearless, where he will go, bringing a calm and peacefulness to everyone and everything.

III. How To Give Alms Right Dharma

We have known through the ways of the Paramitas. At this point, we also need to know clearly what the attitude of austerities almsman must be like.

Almsgiving as mentioned above, actually not difficult and not rare. A lot of people can do it. In our life, we often see many wealthy people bring tens of thousands of thousands of silver to alms, there are many people who put their entire fortune to set up hospitals, pediatric houses, schools, many people dare to risk their lives to fire into the fire. rescuing the dying, jumping into the water to save the drowned; there are heroes who bring talents to protect the weak, or dare to confront the invaders to preserve the country.

In terms of experiments, there are many people who bring ethics and teaching everywhere, everywhere they show that we understand and direct.

On the outside, those actions are alms. But in terms of psychology and internal motivation, there may be two different cases.

1. Alms generals accept. Means giving with an impure mind. We know almsgiving comes from the heart. Almsgiving is a method of self-salvation and forgiveness. But if you give alms with another mind such as praying for fame, praying for wealth (for a little but you pay a lot), or because of competition, or because you want to humiliate a person who is grateful, or because he is forced, or with a contempt, regret, or giving with a deceitful, unfair, biased mentality; if giving with such a mentality, such an attitude, then it is alms-attachment.

Such as bringing money to set up hospitals, schools to be mentioned in the newspaper, to be reminded to always; or jumping into the river to save drowned people to be praised by the "beautiful people"; or kill the enemy in order to earn a medal, or preach the moral teachings to show that they learn a lot. Those beautiful outside behaviors, the inside are really worthless.

Almsgiving with psychology, with such motivation, is not Almsgiving; and the merit of those actions belongs to a very fragile possession, like clouds floating in the middle of nowhere, having the wind blow away.

2. Alms don't accept generals. Means giving with a clean intention, true to its meaning.

While giving, the practitioner because of loving kindness, treating sentient beings as children, should not be selfish, indifferent, impersonal. Practitioners because their property and body are both temporary and impermanent, so they are not greedy or regretful. Practitioners know that the ego is not real, so when you do not see there are givers and recipients, not arrogant, egotistical.

Alms with such a pure heart as above will be blessed with smuggled purity, which is true Alms Ba la confidential.

IV. The Virtues of Compassion

Dharma giving is the benevolent cause of bliss in the world and in the world. In the universal record of virtue, almsgiving is first, because it is relatively easier to do than all things, but merit is beneficial to both the recipient and the giver:

1. For the recipient No one is full life. One who gains one part lacks another: the one who gains materiality is depraved, fully mentally deprived of material things.

Those who are lacking in food to be eaten, those who are lacking in clothing to be dressed, those who are in pain to be comforted, comforted, and those who are afraid of being sheltered and protected, are so blessed. In a society where there are many rich people of compassion, always seeking to help people, that society will surely be happy and prosperous.

2. For the giver. Almsgiving has been beneficial to the recipient, but also to the equally precious giver. In addition to the happiness to see themselves working, to see the happy, happy, practitioners also thanks to almsgiving that advance quickly, far on the path. Whenever giving wealth, the practitioner has an opportunity to conquer greed, greed, selfishness, and the spreading of compassion; whenever he sacrifices his life to save people, he has the opportunity to test his greed for life, to fear death, and to cultivate the benevolent and calm nature. Whenever giving without counting the enemy, the practitioner has the opportunity to fight the ego, ego. If practitioners practice the dharma, they are opportunities for themselves to remind and memorize the Buddha's teachings and the merits that he has done to follow.

C. Conclusion

We have clearly seen the value of giving and giving. Its merit is not only for the recipient, but also for the giver. It is both moderately moderate. It functions to bring oneself and man from the delusion to the enlightened shore, from the sublime status to the Bodhisattva fruition.

So please advise all Buddhists to develop the Bodhi mind, cultivate the virtue of giving, giving alms, to put on the Buddhahood, under the sentient beings, to the Three Jewels. END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).WORLD VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST ORDER=GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.21/1/2020.