..續本文上一頁lde;ā (wisdom).
He taught the way to make pure Dhamma an integral part of life through the practice of Vipassana to deluded people who considered the reading and recitation of their scriptures and the inferring or denying of their philosophical beliefs to be the desired objective of their lives. Many people were under the delusion that if they prayed or appealed with exaggerated praise to some imaginary invisible power, that power would be pleased and liberate them from all suffering. The Buddha explained the importance of the true eternal Dhamma based on the natural laws of reaping results according to the actions done by oneself and taught the beneficial technique of improving one”s physical, vocal and mental actions.
It is with the help of this technique of Vipassana that the Buddha attained the state of liberation from the cycle of existence and became a sammāsambuddha. Upon discovering this technique, he cultivated the Dhamma-strengths of boundless patience, courage, equanimity, compassion and mettā, as a result of which he was able to face many unpleasant situations equanimously. Glimpses of some of these inspiring incidents from his life will be displayed in this exhibition hall so that people may develop enthusiasm for pure Dhamma. Glimpses of some inspiring historical incidents related to the innumerable people who became fearless, free from animosity and attained the state of complete liberation from the cycle of existence during his lifetime, will also be displayed.
The most important thing about the Vipassana Pagoda will be that the sacred relics of the physical body of the Buddha will be enshrined within it. Before the World War, the Archaeology department of the imperialistic British government found relics of the Buddha in the ruins of an ancient stupa in India. They took them to London and placed them in a museum. A museum is not an appropriate place to keep the sacred relics of the Buddha. In the last watch of the full-moon night of the Buddha”s mahaparinibbāna, in the month of Vesākha, on being questioned by Ananda, the Buddha gave this clear instruction that the relics of his body should be enshrined in a stupa at a public place in some capital city, so that devoted people could pay respect to them and earn merit. Those who were meditators were instructed to meditate.
On an earlier occasion also, the Buddha had explained in clear words that the true worship of the Tathāgata is to sit cross-legged, with straight back and steadfastly practice Vipassana meditation. To fulfil these instructions of the Buddha, the rulers of eight kingdoms of north India at that time wanted to enshrine these relics in their own capital cities and started quarrelling among themselves. They all knew that wherever the relics were enshrined, the glory of that city would increase manifold. That stupa would become a place of pilgrimage. Many devoted people would come for a pilgrimage from distant places; the kingdom would not only gain merits but its fame will also spread far and wide. Therefore everyone wanted the sacred casket of relics to be enshrined in the stupa of their capital. Seeing this quarrel intensifying, a wise brahmin named Dona satisfied everyone by piding these relics into eight parts. In this way, in accordance with the instructions of the Buddha, eight magnificent stupas enshrining the relics were built in the eight capital cities. For centuries they became places of pilgrimage for devoted followers and inspired people to walk on the path of Dhamma. Thus it was clear that a museum was not a suitable place for the exhibition of these relics.
Therefore there was a peaceful but strong protest in Sri Lanka regarding this situation directed against the British government. The British government quickly understood that bec…
《Why the Grand Vipassana Pagoda
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