October 3, 2546 B.E.
The Monkhood and Nibbana
The Rains-Exit Day will be here in just eight days. Time is passing by so quickly and before one knows it, one’s time on earth is already up. Kru Mai Yai saw a poster advocating people to abstain from alcohol during the Rains-Retreat. Actually, it should advocate people to abstain from alcohol not just during but after the Rains-Retreat as well. The monkhood is sublime and not just anyone can enter it and remain in it. To do so means that one has to possess merit and Perfections and had to have pursued Renunciation Perfection to a certain extent in one’s previous existences. One must also meet all the requirements of a monk before one can enter the monkhood.
During the Lord Buddha’s time, no one entered the monkhood only for a time. Everyone entered the monkhood for the specific purpose of attaining Nibbana. But nowadays, allowances have been made to allow men to gradually pursue Perfections by entering the monkhood for a certain period of time. Nonetheless, as a monk, one must do one’s best to make clear the Path and Fruit of Nibbana. After all, one has left all concerns behind for a time in order to enter the monkhood. One should endeavor to practice meditation earnestly and continuously.Eight days are long enough for those monks who must disrobe soon to make history for themselves by endeavoring to practice meditationearnestly and correctly.
The purpose of entering the monkhood is to make clear the Path and Fruit of Nibbana and it should begin with the first day in the monkhood. Let every monk at Wat Phra Dhammakaya and the different branches here in Thailand and abroad endeavor to do his best for the duration of this Rains-Retreat. Let these final eight days be the time for entering the Dhamma battlefield by practicing keeping one’s mind still and quiet. Let everyone wrestle with his mind. Nothing can beat one’s endeavor. If one is truly earnest, success is sure to be had. Many lay devotees have been practicing meditation very earnestly and are able to make good progress. If they can do it, so can the monks. If one can see the Dhammakaya and have the Dhammakaya as one’s refuge, one will know true happiness.It is the duty of a monk to practice meditation. Otherwise, one’s time in the monkhood will be an unhappy one. But if one’s time in the monkhood is a happy and joyful one, one will never grow tired of being in the monkhood.
Coming from the Light, Returning to the Light
For those who need to disrobe, do not forget to practice meditation as earnestly as possible. There is no need to search for an auspicious time to disrobe. Whenever your mind is pure and bright, that is a good time to disrobe. So, be sure to increase the brightness in your mind in the meantime.When one came from the light, one must return to the light. Having disrobed, it means that one has died from the monkhood and is reborn as a householder sort of like descending from the Celestial Realm to be reborn in the Human Realm. And one will have to encounter many temptations as a householder.
Therefore, it is best to fill one’s mind with brightness before disrobing. One should recall all the wholesome deeds that one has performed since the first day that one entered the monkhood up until now. And one should make a resolute wish based on one’s earned merit for one to attain the Dhammakaya, to meet with success and prosperity as a householder, to be surrounded by righteous persons, to be distant from wrong-viewed persons and all the causes of ruin. One can then dedicate the earned merit to one’s forefathers, departed parents and departing loved ones as well as those one has trespassed against. Lastly, one should spread love and kindness to every living being.Having disrobed, one should vow to be a good Buddhist and a good role model for one’s fellowmen.
Having abstained from smoking, drinking, and other vices while being in the monkhook, one should not think for one minute that now that one has disrobed, one has to smoke, drink, and engage in these vices to the hilt. That is not the way to think at all.One is now considered to be a Pandit which means a person being replete with morality, concentration, insight, and wholesomeness because one had spent the time as a monk to learn and practice the Lord Buddha’s Teachings. And one should now be a better human being.As a householder, one should be a good role model for others. One must staunchly perform wholesome deeds and abstain completely from alcohol and other vices. One should encourage whomever one meets to perform wholesome deeds. Should one be asked by anyone to do anything unwholesome, one should ask the person to perform wholesome deeds instead. The situation is sort of like a tug of war between wholesomeness and unwholesomeness.
One should also continue to learn more about the Lord Buddha’s Teachings especially those having to do with how to be a righteous householder so that one can live one’s life accordingly. This way, one will conduct oneself in an admirable manner such that others will be motivated to emulate one. One will bring honor to one’s Preceptor, temple, and Dhamma teachers. If one had been a monk at Wat Phra Dhammakaya, one will do Kru Mai Yai proud because his former monk is spreading our temple’s reputation by being a good role model and a good lay devotee.After disrobing, one should be sure to continue practicing meditation every day without fail. One should be a merit-making leader and a top virtuous friend like other Inner Dreams kindergarteners.
A Monk’s Life Is the Most Sublime Life of All
Frankly, Kru Mai Yai does not wish to see anyone disrobe at all. Kru Mai Yai is wont to witness any monk disrobing. It hurts! But Kru Mai Yai loves it when a lay devotee has decided to enter the monkhood because a monk’s life is the most sublime life of all. As a great Bodhisatta, Prince Siddhattha chose to leave the title and position of a Universal Monarch due to happen in seven days by taking up the religious life. Prince Siddhattha had been a Universal Monarch many of his previous existences already. He realized all too well that life in the round of rebirth had no real substance. Therefore,upon seeing the four celestial messengers in the forms of an old person, a sick person, a dead person, and a monk, he knew that it was time for him to leave the householder’s life behind.He did not wish to grow old, get sick or die over and over again. He realized that however lofty one’s position and title might be, however great one’s retinue of attendants might be, one still had to grow old, get sick, and die. Therefore, at the sight of a monk, he knew that he had to take up the religious life.
These four messengers are commonly seen but very few persons see them the way that Prince Siddhattha saw them. It was the reason that he could attain Self-Enlightenment and become the Lord Buddha. We need to use the Lord Buddha as our perfect role model.If every person on earth shared the same goal of making clear the Path and Fruit of Nibbana, world peace would become a reality.When looking at one’s life and the life of one’s fellow humans, one sees how the human life is filled with suffering. A wealthy person encounters a wealthy person’s problems. A middle-class person encounters a middle-class person’s problems. A poor person encounters a poor person’s problems. In other words, every person encounters problems which bring about his suffering. There are permanent suffering* and temporary suffering**.
It is a wise person that grows tired of life in the round of rebirth and wants to be emancipated from it.If every person shares the same quest for emancipation from suffering, there will be peace, happiness, and equality in the world. Everyone will be working to find the lifestyle that will lead one to emancipation and everyone will come to the same conclusion that the lifestyle of the Buddhist monk is the answer. The reason is that a monk’s lifestyle is simple. A monk has few concerns and requires just the four necessities. It is the lifestyle conducive to practicing keeping one’s mind still and quiet in order to search for emancipation.
If everyone on earth can come to the same conclusion about the most sublime lifestyle, there will be peace and happiness. And everyone will be able to learn such Higher Knowledge as Vijja-3, Vijja-8,Abhinna-6, Patisambhidanana-4, Vijja Dhammakaya, Buddhist Cosmology, so on and so forth. To study these truths requires one to first attain the Dhammakaya. A householder’s life is filled with many concerns not to mention the time and effort spent earning a living. It is extremely difficult for a householder to do what a monk does. Therefore, a monk’s life is the most sublime life of all.
*Permanent suffering includes birth, aging, and death.
**Temporary suffering includes sadness, lamentation, physical discomfort, mental discomfort, exasperation, encountering what one dislikes, being separated from what one loves or likes, and not getting what one wants.
