..续本文上一页 in contact with their respective objects; there is a sensation (vedanā)-”phassa-paccayā vedanā. If one does not have the ability to feel the vedanā, how can one understand that with the base of sensation, craving and aversion arise-”vedanā-paccayā taṇhā.

　　Vedanā-paccayā taṇhā was there before the Buddha, at the time of the Buddha and it will also remain after the Buddha. That is why this law, the Dhamma, is eternal-”esa dhammo sanantano.

　　The Buddha discovers it and makes use of it for his own liberation, and with all compassion, distributes it to others. "Look, this is how you are miserable. Vedanā-paccayā taṇhā, vedanā-paccayā taṇhā. I will teach you a way by which you can come out of it. Now vedanā is there, but no more taṇhā. Every time you experience vedanā, paññā must arise. Oh anicca, anicca. This vedanā or that vedanā, it is anicca."

　　Again, if it becomes a philosophy that every vedanā is anicca, one doesn”t gain anything, it is merely one”s belief. But if one experiences: "Look, a sensation has arisen. Sooner or later, it passes away. However unpleasant a sensation may be, it is bound to pass away. However pleasant a sensation may be it is bound to pass away."

　　One has to remain aware of this arising and passing away-”Samudaya-dhammānupassī viharati, vaya-dhammānupassī viharati.8 It seems that vedanā stays for some time but sooner or later it passes away. However, a meditator realises with his or her own experience that every moment it arises and passes away without any gap. As it arises so it passes away with great rapidity-”samudayavaya-dhammānupassi viharati.9

　　Vedanā is there all the time. It arises and passes away. One keeps on reacting to it. If it is pleasant, one reacts with lobha. If it is unpleasant, one reacts with dosa. This is what one does for the whole life and creates more and more misery for oneself. One keeps on multiplying one”s misery. Look, there is a way to come out of misery. With the cessation of sensation, craving and aversion cease; with the cessation of craving and aversion, attachment ceases-”vedanā-nirodhā taṇhā-nirodho. Taṇhā-nirodhā, upādāna nirodhā.10 One reaches the stage where one transcends the field of mind and matter.

　　The Buddha did not merely give sermons. Mere sermons would have made him just one among so many philosophers in the world. He experienced the ultimate truth himself to become the Buddha and taught others to experience it.

　　The Buddha”s teaching fascinated me because of its practical aspect. If it were only an intellectual exercise, I doubt that I would have gone on the path taught by the Buddha. I would have said: "Very good. Our Gita also says so. Our Upanishads also says so. This is wonderful." I would not have walked on this path. I was convinced because I was given the way: "Look, this is how you can come out of craving and aversion."

　　I feel very fortunate that I was born in this wonderful land, the land of Dhamma. I am very fortunate to be born in a country where the teaching of the Buddha is preserved in its pristine purity. Vipassana-”the way it should be practised-”is maintained here. I feel very fortunate that I came in contact with a saintly person who taught so compassionately without expecting anything in return.

　　Myanmar has a special place in the life of the Buddha. After his enlightenment, after enjoying the bliss of enlightenment for seven weeks, the first meal he took was Myanmar rice and honey offered to him by two businessmen from Myanmar, Tapassu and Bhallika. They became the first lay devotees by taking refuge in the Buddha and the Dhamma (dvevācika upāsakas). This was the first and only dvisaraṇa gamana (refuge in the Buddha and Dhamma). The Buddha plucked out a few strands of his hair (kesa-dhātu) and gave them to the two Myanmar businessmen.

　　The dhātu given in his own lifetime, personally gifted by him, and that too the only time he ever gave such a gift in his lifetime is very special indeed. This Buddha-dhātu that was gifted in his very lifetime came to Myanmar-”and the Shwedagon is such a glorious tribute to that fact. Myanmar preserved more than just the kesa-dhātu of the Buddha. Through the millennia, it preserved the Saddhamma, pariyatti as well as paṭipatti, especially the practice of Vipassana.

　　Now Vipassana is spreading round the world. Whether one is from Myanmar, from India, from other Theravadin countries, from a Mahayana country or from any other part of the world-”the most important thing is to take actual steps on the path of Dhamma.

　　May all of you get the opportunity to taste pure Dhamma at the experiential level! May all of you come out of your misery! May all of you enjoy real peace, real harmony, real happiness!

　　Bhavatu Sabba Maṅgalaṃ - "May all beings be happy!"

　　Notes:

　　1. Khuddaka Nikāya, Khuddakapāṭha, Maṅgalasutta 2. Ibid.

　　3. Paṭisambhidāmagga Aṭṭhakathā, Óāṇakathā

　　4. Majjhima Nikāya. III, Mahākammavibhaṅgasutta

　　5. Saṃyutta Nikāya, Sagāthāvagga, Upacālāsutta

　　6. Aṅguttara Nikāya, Navakanipāta, Sambodhisutta

　　7. Saṃyutta Nidānavagga, Nidānasaṃyutta, Paccayasutta

　　8. Dīgha Nikāya II, Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta 9. Ibid. 10. Ibid.

《The Universal Appeal of the Buddha Dhamma: A Personal Experience》全文阅读结束。