..续本文上一页em and make ourselves happy and satisfied.
To have sila is to abstain from hurting others by what we say and do such as killing, stealing, committing adultery, telling lies, and drinking alcohol, which could only hurt us and other people. Sila helps us eliminate stress, anxiety and worry that come from our misconducts. When we lie, cheat or steal we would worry about being caught and punished.
To bhavana is to cleanse our mind of defilement or kilesa like craving, greed, anger and delusion that make us depressed and miserable. It is like washing our clothes. In order to do it successfully following the example of the Buddha and his noble disciples, we need to have mental collectedness (samadhi) and discernment (panna) just as we need water and detergent to do our laundry.
By developing samadhi and panna the Buddha eventually achieved enlightenment, thus becoming a Buddha, one who rediscovers for himself the liberating path of Dhamma, after a long period of its having been forgotten by the world. He also became an arahant, a worthy one or pure one; whose mind is free of defilement (kilesa), who has abandoned all ten of the fetters (samyojana) that bind the mind to the cycle of rebirth, whose heart is free of mental effluents (asava), and who is thus not destined for further rebirth. Along with enlightenment the Buddha also realized the supreme bliss that is unsurpassed by anything in this world be it wealth, status, praise or sensual pleasure. The only way we can acquire it is through the practice of mind development (bhavana), developing samadhi and panna until the mind realizes vimutti or freedom from all forms of suffering (dukkha).
To dedicate merits to the deceased means to share the inner sense of well being that comes from having acted rightly or well. The recipients of our dedication are those people who have passed away and acquire the existence of a peta, a hungry ghost, one of a class of beings in the lower realms, sometimes capable of appearing to human beings. The peta are often depicted in Buddhist art as starving beings with pinhole-sized mouths through which they can never pass enough food to ease their hunger. We can”t dedicate our merits to the living since they can make merits for themselves and in greater quantity. The peta on the other hand are not able to do so and must rely on the living to do it for them. Those who are reborn in the human world or in the heavens have accumulated enough merits to keep them satiated and happy or are able to acquire more merits if they wish to do so. Those who are reborn in hell can”t also receive our dedication because they are completely consumed by the fire of suffering.
The peta who lust for our dedication are like beggars. Only a tiny fraction of the merits we have accumulated can be shared with them, like money for a bus fare or a cheap meal. That is all. Therefore, every time we have done something right or well like giving to charity and would like to do something for those who have passed away such as members of our family or friends, we could dedicate this merit to them. They might be waiting. But for us who are still alive, we shouldn”t be complacent. Don”t expect that after we die, others would share merit with us. Even if they do, it”s very little. We can accumulate a lot more merits ourselves while we are still alive like what we do today, coming to the temple to give alms, keeping the moral precepts and listening to a Dhamma talk, which are a lot more merits than what the peta would receive. Every time we give alms we should share this merit with those who have passed away. If they are waiting they would receive it and we would also gain more merit by sharing it.
Anumodana is to congratulate someone who has acted rightly or well. When we show our appr…
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