Dec 29, 2019 | News & Message
New Year greetings to all!
We rejoice with all the services you have rendered over the past year, and with your continued generosity and effort in supporting Aloka Meditation Centre, ABM and ACI.
The highlight of the year 2018 has been the success of the Metta Convention in Putrajaya, Malaysia, along with various other activities held in conjunction with the birth centenary celebrations of the late ‘Chief Reverend’, Ven. K Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Maha Thera.
Our grateful thanks to all our sponsors and donors, organisers and volunteers, as well as all the participants.
The Metta Convention generated greater awareness of the need to cultivate loving-kindness and compassion amongst all the 500 participants, young and old. Going forward, we wish to promote Metta-in-Action ‘From Womb to Tomb’. As such, we are looking out to recruit those interested to offer their services and expertise to form a task force to identify and implement activities for metta-in-action catering for all stages of life. These would include workshops, seminars and other activities dedicated specially for newly-wed couples, young parents, retirees and our elders, for metta to be embraced and practised for their own well-being and also for the happiness of others. This will ensure continued blessings to all members, devotees and their family members at different stages of their lives.
As you celebrate the New Year 2019, the Year of the Pig – considered an auspicious year – please do not forget the age-old values of generosity, reverence, humility, contentment and gratitude. These values are essential to promote peace within oneself and live in harmony with others around us.
Peace and harmony are the basis of all worldly gains such as health, wealth and longevity. They also provide the basis for us to progress further along the Dhamma’s path.
Wishing you all a happy and prosperous New Year.
With Metta,
Venerable Mahinda
May 17, 2019 | News & Message
The real significance of Vesak lies in the universal peace message of the Buddha.
What the Buddha realised on the night of his enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree in Bodhgaya more than 2,500 years ago, he taught in simple language to the first five ascetic disciples in terms of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Four Noble Truths explain DUKKHA, the sufferings and unsatisfactoriness of life; SAMUDAYA, the cause of suffering; NIRODHA, the cessation of suffering; and MAGGA, the path which leads to peace and the end of all suffering.
The path which leads to peace and the end of all suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path. It consists of:
Right Understanding, Right Thoughts, Right Speech, Right Body Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
These eight path factors help to purify our thoughts, speech and body action from the tendencies of grasping (or greed), aversion (hatred), and delusion, through the systematic cultivation of:
SILA (morality or good conduct),
SAMADHI (concentration) and
PAÑÑĀ (wisdom).
SILA, or morality, refers to the restraint of speech and body actions, through the practice of Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood.
SAMADHI, or concentration, is achieved through the discipline of the mind, by cultivating Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
PAÑÑĀ, or wisdom, refers to the cultivation of Right Understanding and Right Thought.
These three phases of training are essential for the purification of our body, speech and mind. Through the restraint of speech and body actions, the tendencies of greed, hatred and delusion can be prevented from manifesting at the physical and verbal level, but not at the mental level. As such, we need to meditate, to cultivate calmness and insight, in order to prevent the tendencies of greed, hatred and delusion from manifesting at the mental level.
When one’s mind is well trained and is at peace with oneself, naturally one’s speech and body actions will be under control, resulting in a peaceful and harmonious way of life.
The training of the mind based on moral and ethical principles is indispensable if we wish to live in peace and harmony within our families, society, nation, and the world.
The preamble of the UNESCO constitution declares that: “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed”. Therein lies the universal peace message of the Buddha.
We are indeed very fortunate to live at a time when we are able to enjoy the freedom and relative peace and harmony in our country. As such we should make good use of this opportunity to live a life of discipline and to cultivate our minds – not only for our own benefit, but also for the welfare and happiness of all.
As we celebrate Vesak by radiating thoughts of METTA, or loving-kindness, and extending goodwill to all, we need to realise that peace and harmony can only come about with one’s own discipline of body, speech and mind. The inner peace in our minds will naturally manifest in outer harmony. Let us reaffirm our faith and commitment to the Triple Gem.
May the blessings of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha be upon you always.
May all beings be well and happy.
Happy Vesak!
– Venerable Mahinda –
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