..續本文上一頁cher”s advice. I had been told from childhood that the Buddha incorporated good points from the Hindu tradition in his teaching and then added delusion to it; and that he had not discovered anything new. Since I found the Buddha”s teaching to be very beneficial, I further explored the truth about these statements. Reading the words of the Buddha (Tipiṭaka) gave me so much joy! How wrong my earlier information turned out to be! It showed me how the Buddha”s emphasis was on actual experience of the truth. The Tipiṭaka is so inspiring and there is such a wonderful description of the Dhammakāyā of the Buddha in it.

　　When the Buddha taught Dhamma to people, he said: "I have no interest in making you my disciples. I have no interest in snatching you away from your old teachers. I have found the way out of misery. Give it a trial." At one time, while talking to some ascetics who were sceptical of Dhamma, he exhorted them to give a trial only for seven days.

　　If more and more people in the world start calling themselves Buddhists, how will they benefit

　　 Yes, if they start practising sīla, samādhi, paññā then yes, they will surely get the best fruit of the Buddha”s teaching. If one calls oneself a Buddhist, but does not practise sīla, samādhi and paññā, how will one benefit from the teaching of the Buddha

　　The Buddha had no interest in changing the names of his disciples. Moggallāna remained Moggallāna; Kaccāna remained Kaccāna; Bhāradvāja remained Bhāradvāja. These were brahmin names, the names of brahmin clans.

　　The Buddha”s teaching is so simple and yet so profound. But to actually practise Dhamma, one has to work hard. My Sayagyi used to say, "It is very easy. And yet, it is so difficult!"

　　Listening to discourses or reading scriptures is very beneficial-”Kālena dhammassavanaṃ etaṃ maṅgalamuttamaṃ1. Discussing Dhamma is wonderful-”kālena dhammasākacchā etaṃ maṅgalamuttamaṃ2. But if one just keeps on discussing and debating, and one doesn”t practise Dhamma, then it doesn”t work. One has to start walking on the Path. If one doesn”t walk on the path of Dhamma, one doesn”t get any benefit.

　　The Buddha teaches Dhamma, the law of nature, the universal law of nature, which is applicable to one and all. He teaches in such a simple language and in such a lucid manner. When we don”t practise it we make a philosophy out of it and we start fighting: "Your belief is wrong. My belief is all right. Your belief is wrong, my belief is correct." What do we gain

　　 Even if my belief is all right, very good, yet if I don”t practise, what is the use of this belief

　　I was born in Myanmar. I feel very grateful, and proud also, that I was born in this Dhamma land. More than eighty percent of the people here do not believe that there is a soul inside. They do not believe that there is a creator of this universe, a God Almighty. Now, for the last more than three decades, I have been living in a country and I often have been travelling in countries, where more than eighty percent of people believe that there is a soul inside. They believe in God Almighty as the creator of the universe.

　　There could be thousands of arguments to prove that there is no soul and an equal number of arguments to prove that there is an eternal soul. Similarly, there may be arguments for and against the existence of God Almighty. These arguments are useless.

　　When one practises Dhamma, one experiences oneself that the entire phenomenon is nothing but the interaction of mind and matter. At the apparent level, it looks so solid, so substantive, and so lasting. This is paññatti; it appears to be so. The Buddha”s teaching is a journey from the apparent truth (paññatti) to the ultima…

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