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A Manual of Buddhism
By Venerable Narada Mahathera

This is a fairly comprehensive book enablingthe reader to appreciate and understand certa inimportant finer aspects of Theravada Buddhism.This book would also serve as a reference, for both Teachers and Students alike, gain a good insight into the fundamentals of Buddhism.

The author, the late Venerable Narada MahaThera was a well-known Buddhist Missioner. Heis also the author of many other Buddhist Publications. We are grateful to him for his kind permission, enabling this reprint to be effected in Malaysia.

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“But Vaccha, suppose they were to ask you: ‘This fire in front of you that is quenched: in what direction did it go—east, south, west, or north?’ How would you answer?”

“It doesn’t apply, worthy Gotama. The fire depended on grass and logs as fuel. When that runs out, and no more fuel is added, the fire is reckoned to have become quenched due to lack of fuel.”

“In the same way, Vaccha, any form [feeling … perception … choices … consciousness] by which a realized one might be described has been given up, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, obliterated, and unable to arise in the future. A realized one is freed from reckoning in terms of form [feeling … perception … choices … consciousness]. They’re deep, immeasurable, and hard to fathom, like the ocean. ‘They’re reborn’, ‘they’re not reborn’, ‘they’re both reborn and not reborn’, ‘they’re neither reborn nor not reborn’—none of these apply.

Partial excerpts from MN 72: Aggivacchasutta

Dhammapada Verse 202
Annatarakuladarika Vatthu

Natthi ragasamo aggi
natthi dosasamo kali
natthi khandhasama dukkha
natthi santiparam sukham.

Verse 202: There is no fire like passion; there is no evil like hatred; there is no ill like (the burden of) khandhas; there is no bliss that surpasses the Perfect Peace (i.e., Nibbana).

The Story of a Young Bride

While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (202) of this book at the house of a lay-disciple, with reference to a young bride.

On the day a young woman was to be wedded to a young man, the parents of the bride invited the Buddha and eighty of his disciples for alms-food. Seeing the girl as she moved about the house, helping with the offering of alms-food, the bridegroom was very much excited, and he could hardly attend to the needs of the Buddha and the other bhikkhus. The Buddha knew exactly how the young bridegroom was feeling and also that time was ripe for both the bride and the bridegroom to attain Sotapatti Fruition.

By his supernormal power, the Buddha willed that the bride would not be visible to the bridegroom. When the young man could no longer see the young woman, he could pay full attention to the Buddha, and his love and respect for the Buddha grew stronger in him. Then the Buddha said to the young man, "O young man, there is no fire like the fire of passion; there is no evil like anger and hatred; there is no ill like the burden of the five aggregates of existence (khandhas); there is no bliss like the Perfect Peace of Nibbana."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 202: There is no fire like passion; there is no evil like hatred; there is no ill like (the burden of) khandhas; there is no bliss that surpasses the Perfect Peace (i.e., Nibbana).

At the end of the discourse both the bride and bridegroom attained Sotapatti Fruition.
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BUDDHISM IN THE EYES OF INTELLECTUALS
By Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda

Buddhism is a great religion which enlightened humanity twenty-five centuries ago and released from all bondages, superstitious practices. It is a scientific religion. Gotama the Buddha is honoured today by every cultured and intelectual man irrespective of whatever religion he may profess, while the founders of most of the other religions are honoured only by their followers. Not only those who belong to some religions but also so-called free thinkers respect this world honoured Supreme Enlightened One. From the historical point of view there never lived any other Teacher who has ever given so much religious freedom as well as due credit to humanity. Before the advent of the Buddha, religion had been owned and monopolised only by a certain section of the society. The Buddha was the Teacher in history who indiscriminately opened the gate of religion to each and every man society. The Buddha has advised his followers to cultivate and develop the latent power of man and showed him how to make the best use of his willpower and intelligance without being a slave to an unknown being to find eternal hapiness which He proclaimed to the world through His own experience but not through therories, mere beliefs and traditional practices. His teaching is such that anyone can practise it without having any religious brand.

To compile this book I have selected various statements made by eminent philosophers, scholars, historians, scientists, writers, religious dignitaries, social reformers and politicians who are well-known to the modern-world as most intellectual people. Among them many are non-Buddhist and free thinkers. According to them, Buddhism is the most practical and rational religion which will apeal to scientific knowledge and which really can do a better service to mankind if the followers practise this religion properly.

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Dhammapada Verse 203
Eka Upasaka Vatthu

Jighacchaparama roga
sankharaparama dukha
etam natva yathabhutam
nibbanam paramam sukham.

Verse 203: Hunger is the greatest ailment, khandhas are the greatest ill. The wise, knowing them as they really are, realize Nibbana, the greatest bliss.

The Story of a Lay-Disciple

The Buddha uttered Verse (203) of this book at the village of Alavi, with reference to a lay-disciple.

One day, the Buddha saw in his vision that a poor man would attain Sotapatti Fruition at the village of Alavi. So he went to that village, which was thirty yojanas away from Savatthi. It so happened that on that very day the man lost his ox. So, he had to be looking for the ox. Meanwhile, alms-food was being offered to the Buddha and his disciples in a house in the village of Alavi. After the meal, people got ready to listen to the Buddha's discourse; but the Buddha waited for the young man. Finally, having found his ox, the man came running to the house where the Buddha was. The man was tired and hungry, so the Buddha directed the donors to offer food to him. Only when the man had been fed, the Buddha gave a discourse, expounding the Dhamma step by step and finally leading to the Four Noble Truths. The lay-disciple attained Sotapatti Fruition at the end of the discourse.

Afterwards, the Buddha and his disciples returned to the Jetavana monastery. On the way, the bhikkhus remarked that it was so surprising that the Buddha should have directed those people to feed the young man before he gave the discourse. On hearing their remarks, the Buddha said, "Bhikkhus! What you said is true, but you do not understand that I have come here, all this distance of thirty yojanas, because I knew that he was in a fitting condition to take in the Dhamma. If he were feeling very hungry, the pangs of hunger might have prevented him from taking in the Dhamma fully. That man had been out looking for his ox the whole morning, and was very tired and also very hungry. Bhikkhus, after all, there is no ailment which is so difficult to bear as hunger."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 203: Hunger is the greatest ailment, khandhas are the greatest ill. The wise, knowing them as they really are, realize Nibbana, the greatest bliss.
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Inviting Fear

Amaro Bhikkhu guides us through a meditation on fear and teaches us to tame it with attention.

By Amaro Bhikkhu, abbot of Abhayagiri Monastery in the lineage of Ajahn Chah and the Thai forest tradition.

Above all, a materialistic society desires certainty—it seeks to guarantee it; passes laws to enforce it; wipes out the pathogens that threaten it; and lets everyone have guns to protect it. Even the seemingly innocuous habits of inking in plans and clinging to beliefs and opinions are the reverse-image of the uncertainties that the heart yearns to be certain about.

Yet, if we seek security in that which is inherently uncertain, dukkha, or discontent, is the inevitable result.

Fear is a discomfiting friend. The impulse is to get to a place of safety, but where in the phenomenal world—either mental or physical—could that be? The insight of the Buddha, informed by his own experiences of exploring fear and dread, encourages us to make a 180-degree turn. Whereas the instinct is to shrink away from the threatening aspects of life, his injunction for those who wish to free the heart is to contemplate frequently the following:

I am of the nature to age, I have not gone beyond aging;
I am of the nature to sicken, I have not gone beyond sickness;
I am of the nature to die, I have not gone beyond dying;
All that is mine, beloved and pleasing, will become
otherwise, will become separated from me.

For that which is threatening to the ego is liberating for the heart.

By turning to face the inarguable facts of nature, the habit of investing in unstable realms is interrupted. It shines the light of wisdom on the issue, reveals that we’ve been looking for certainty in the wrong place, and thus frees up the attention to realize where security can be found.

This needs to be examined in the light of personal experience, but in traditional Buddhist terminology, such security is said to be found in the Triple Gem: the Buddha—the awakened, knowing faculty of the heart; the Dharma—the truth of the way things are; and the Sangha—the noble, unselfish response. For when the awakened heart knows the way things truly are, what springs forth is harmonious and virtuous action. Undiscriminating awareness is dependable. The reality of Nature is dependable. Harmony is possible.

How can we arrive at such security?

There are many ways to meditate on fear. One is to wait until it appears adventitiously. Another is to invite it in—when we send out invitations we can be a little better prepared for who shows up at the party.

Fear is not the enemy—it is nature’s protector; it only becomes troublesome when it oversteps its bounds.

Perhaps for both methods of approach the first thing to bear in mind is that fear is not the enemy—it is nature’s protector; it only becomes troublesome when it oversteps its bounds. In order to deal with fear we must take a fundamentally noncontentious attitude toward it, so it’s not held as “My big fear problem” but rather “Here is fear that has come to visit.” Once we take this attitude, we can begin to work with fear.

Begin by sitting quietly and focusing the attention as clearly as possible on the present moment, using a simple tranquil object to establish equilibrium—the natural rhythm of the breath is good for this purpose for most people, moving in the empty space of the heart .

Once such centeredness has been established, deliberately bring to mind something that will arouse a fear reaction. For example,

“Anthrax in the mail”
“Nuclear war”
“Suicide bombers”

—or any other memory, imagined possibility, or Image that triggers the compulsive effect.

Once the seed crystal has been dropped into the mental pool and the consequent flow of thoughts and images has begun, make a definite and concerted effort to withdraw the attention from the stories the thoughts are telling. Bring it instead into the sensations of the physical body.

Where do I feel the fear? What is its texture?
Is it hot or cold?
Is it painful? Rigid? Elastic?

We are not necessarily looking for verbal answers to all these questions; rather, we are just trying to find the feeling, accept it completely, and not add anything to it.

“Fear feels like this.”

Many find that fear locates itself primarily in the solar plexus, sitting like a tightened knot in the belly. Just feel it, know it, open the heart to it as much as possible. We’re not trying to pretend or force ourselves to like it, but it is here—right now it’s the way things are.

Let this process run for at least ten minutes, then consciously let it wind down—not suppressing it, but, as when it’s time for guests to leave, make the hints, and let the event wind down naturally. It might take a while, but that’s fine; just let it run out at its own pace. During this time, reestablish the breath as a focal point, and use the exhalation to support the fading of the fear-wave.

Once it has come to an end, focus the attention on the feeling of the breath, moving as before in the empty space of the heart. Let the heart be clearly conscious that the fear cycle has come to cessation: it arose out of emptiness, returned to emptiness. It was florid and impactful in its appearance, but the overarching quality, now having been seen directly, is its transiency.

Now we know …

The effect of this practice is to train the heart, so that when the next wave of fear arises, from whatever quarter, something in us knows. The intuitive wisdom faculty is awakened and recognizes: “I know this scenario—don’t panic—it looks impressive, but it’s just the fear reaction.” It becomes vastly easier to avoid being sucked into the vortex of anxiety.

The feeling is not pleasant, but the heart knows, with absolute certainty: “It’s only a feeling.” And if action needs to be taken, then that action will be motivated by wisdom, kindness, and sensitivity to time and place rather than by neurotic reactivity and habit.
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Amaro Bhikkhu is co-abbot of Abhayagiri Monastery in northern California, in the lineage of Ajahn Chah and the Thai forest tradition. He has been a monk for twenty-three years.

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Dhammapada Verse 204
Pasenadikosala Vatthu

Arogyaparama labha
santutthiparamam dhanam
vissasaparama1 nati
nibbanam paramam sukham.

Verse 204: Health is the greatest gift, contentment is the greatest wealth, a trusted friend is the best relative, Nibbana is the greatest bliss.

1. vissasaparama: vissasa + parama: vissasa here means trust, also interpreted as intimacy.

The Story of King Pasenadi of Kosala

While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (204) of this book, with reference to King Pasenadi of Kosala.

One day, King Pasenadi of Kosala went to the Jetavana monastery after having his full morning meal. It was said that the king had eaten one quarter basket (about half a bushel) of rice with meat curry on that day; so while listening to the Buddha's discourse he felt very sleepy and was nodding most of the time. Seeing him nodding, the Buddha advised him to take a little less rice everyday and to decrease the amount on a sliding scale to the minimum of one-sixteenth part of the original amount he was taking. The king did as he was told and found that by eating less he became thin, but he felt very much lighter and enjoyed much better health. When he told the Buddha about this, the Buddha said to him, "O king! Health is a great boon; contentment is a great wealth; a close and trusted friend is the best relative; Nibbana is the greatest bliss."

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
Verse 204: Health is the greatest gift, contentment is the greatest wealth, a trusted friend is the best relative, Nibbana is the greatest bliss.
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