 |
| (Attribution: Sacca) |
It is not so much a rulebook for monastic training as it is a distillation of what’s really important in Buddhism. Just as the 613 original Hebrew Bible precepts were given unto Moses as Ten Commandments – and just as Jesus then further distilled these Ten into Two (“Love God” and “Love one another”) – so, too, did Buddha
offer His Heart during a Magha Puja sermon called the Ovada Patimokkha.
Wikipedia reports that these Magha Puja teachings were first shared on a full-moon day nine months after Buddha’s Enlightenment. On that blessed occasion (approximately 2500 years ago), 1250 Arhantas (advanced spiritual practitioners – each of whom had been ordained by Buddha) were spontaneously drawn to attend this key Ovada Patimokkha sermon.
The essence of what they heard that day went something like this: Cease to do evil, cultivate that which is good,
purify the heart. This is the Way of the Awakened
Ones.
Buddha also offered this brief explanation: Patient endurance is
the ultimate asceticism. Profound liberation…
is the supreme goal. A renunciate should
not oppress anyone.
His pithy sermon then came to this swift conclusion: Not insulting, not harming, cultivating restraint
with respect for the training, modesty in
eating and contentment with one’s dwelling
place, devotion to mindful intent: this is the
teaching of the Buddha.
Short - but when faithfully undertaken, incredibly sweet…
Resources
http://www.zhaxizhuoma.net/DHARMA/Tripitaka/OvadaPatimokkha.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magha_Puja
Copyright March 8, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke
No comments:
Post a Comment