Entries for November 2009

This month's podcast is a 14-minute video called Time to Breathe. Students of a primary school in the UK visit the Dhamma Dipa meditation center to learn to observe their respiration (anapana).  Includes interviews with children, their parents, and the teachers. This and previous podcasts can be seen, heard, or downloaded here.

A new book by Paul R. Fleischman, M.D. entitled An Ancient Path, is now available. Featured are public talks on Vipassana meditation given to medical professionals or academics in Europe and America in 2007. Dr. Fleischman practiced psychiatry for 30 years, is the author of several books and articles (including Karma and Chaos and Cultivating Inner Peace), and is a long-time Vipassana practitioner and teacher.

Pariyatti's fall fundraising campaign is underway to match challenge donations of $37,000 and raise an equal amount in support from others who value Pariyatti's uplifting mission. With a gift of $100 or more, members receive a discount of 20 percent off all titles. Donations of any amount can be made online, by check, or by phone. We will send a receipt for your records; your donation is tax-deductible in accordance with U.S. tax regulations.

These days, the Thanksgiving holiday may evoke thoughts of bargain-hunting more than its original purpose: generously giving, and sharing gratitude.

The Buddha always emphasized the importance of cultivating generosity through giving, usually speaking at length on this topic. Writes Bhikkhu Bodhi in Dāna: The Practice of Giving (BPS, Wheel 367/369), "Only after the audience had begun to appreciate this virtue would he introduce other aspects of his teaching." Giving is seen as "the foundation and seed of spiritual development." (pg.vi) Dāna (generosity) is the first of the ten pāramī (perfections) necessary to develop by aspirants to enlightenment.

Fulfilling the dāna pāramī is influenced by three primary factors. Most important is the volition of the donor, before, during, and after the act of generosity. The highest type of giving is associated with wisdom. It is said that giving lends to "pliancy of the mind, an essential asset in developing concentration and wisdom, the prime requisites of liberation." (pg. 3). The next factor is the purity of the recipient. The worthier the receiver, the greater benefits that will accrue to the donor. The third factor is the gift itself, whether material or immaterial. Dhammadāna, the gift of the noble teaching, is said by the Buddha to excel all other gifts. (Dhammapada 354) Those who expound the Teaching--monks and Dhamma teachers--practice the highest kind of generosity. Donating Dhamma books, or for the printing or translation of such works, is another way of giving the gift of Dhamma.

Susan Elbaum Jootla writes, "Gifts untainted by craving can only be made during a Buddha-sāsana, the period when the teachings of a Buddha are available. So when we give now, during such a time, we should do so with the aim of putting an end to craving. With the end of craving, suffering ceases, and that is liberation." (pg. 15)

Pariyatti's fall fundraising efforts are underway with a matching gift challenge to raise $35,000 and an equal amount in support from people who value Pariyatti's uplifting mission. With a gift of $100 or more, members receive a discount of 20 percent off all titles. Donations of any amount can be made online, by check or by phone. Your donation is tax deductible and we'll send a receipt for your records.

This month's podcast takes us to Kresge Auditorium in Boston, Mass., where S.N. Goenka discusses Vipassana meditation. This program is 79 minutes long, including the Q&A session that follows the talk. It was recorded July 31, 2002, near the end of his North American tour. This and previous podcasts can be heard or downloaded here.

The Pāli Canon descends from an august tradition. Within three months of the Buddha's maha-parinibbāna, a council was convened. It consisted of 500 learned disciples who had attained the highest state of sainthood, arahant-phala. To prevent the Buddha's words from being distorted intentionally or unintentionally, they formed the First Council with a view to preserving the teaching in its pristine purity. Their express purpose was to collect and arrange the Buddha's voluminous teachings, which they organized into what is now commonly known as the Tipiṭaka.

The Tipiṭaka (which means, literally, "three baskets") is a vast record, containing in modern script more than 24 million characters in over forty printed volumes. It is arranged in three divisions: Vinaya Piṭaka, Sutta Piṭaka, and Abhidhamma Piṭaka.

• Vinaya Piṭaka contains the rules of conduct for the monastic order.
• Sutta Piṭaka is a collection of discourses on various subjects by the Buddha.
• Abhidhamma Piṭaka is a compendium of profound teachings elucidating the functioning and interrelationships of mind, mental factors, matter, and all phenomena transcending mundane perception.

The Pāli literature also includes the Aṭṭhakathā (commentaries), Tikā (subcommentaries), and further subcommentaries such as the Anu-Tikā, Madhu-Tikā, etc. The commentarial literature is very extensive, exceeding the Tipiṭaka in length (an outline of the Tipitaka is available here).

During all the centuries following the first Council and up to the present day, continuous and consistent efforts have been made to preserve the Buddha's teaching. Periodic councils of learned monks have been convened to systematically review the Tipiṭaka. The first councils conducted oral reviews. The entire collection was committed to writing for the first time during the Fourth Council, held in Sri Lanka three decades before the Christian Era.

The most recent review, the Sixth Council, or Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana, was held in 1954 in Rangoon, Burma. Twenty-five hundred learned bhikkhus and scholars from Burma, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, India and other countries participated. By this time the Tipiṭaka and allied literature had been published in several scripts (including Burmese, Sinhalese, Roman, Thai, and Cambodian). The Pali Text Society of London, the Buddhist Publication Society of Sri Lanka and many scholars of high repute and dedication in the West and in the East had by then produced publications containing Buddha's teaching, making a profound contribution to the worldwide awakening to the existence of this rich treasure.

Realizing the importance of the Pāli Canon as an invaluable part of the ancient heritage of India,  after the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana the Government of India decided to publish the entire Pāli literature in Devanagiri script. Supplementing earlier work at the Nalanda Institute, the Vipassana Research Institute (VRI) in India undertook the monumental task of publishing the entire Pāli Canon and allied commentarial literature.

VRI has taken the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana version in Burmese script as the authentic, authoritative version. Pāli scholars from India and other countries, including many learned bhikkhus and research scholars in Burma, assisted in this work, which led to publication of an authentic version of the Tipiṭaka and allied literature in Devanagiri script in printed book form. Now the entire Pāli Tipiṭaka in eleven scripts produced by VRI has been digitally encoded and is available online at www.tipitaka.org.

The above information was edited and condensed from the VRI website.

A useful introductory guide to the Pali Canon is An Analysis of the Pali Canon, published by the Buddhist Publication Society. This small booklet is considered the unsurpassed guide through the Pali Canon for beginning students of Buddha's teaching.

An Ancient Path, a new book by Paul R. Fleischman, M.D. is at press and will be available in early November. Advance orders can be placed now. Featured are public talks on Vipassana meditation given to medical professionals or academics in Europe and America in 2007. Dr. Fleischman practiced psychiatry for thirty years, is the author of several books and articles (including Karma and Chaos and Cultivating Inner Peace), and is a long-time Vipassana practitioner and teacher.