Live Uprightly in the Dhamma
- Parami
- Feb 25
- 6 min read
Another long blog post!
Last week we celebrated Parinirvana Day. There was a lovely atmosphere, sober and serene but also joyful. After a welcome and a Metta practice led by Vajracetana, I gave a talk on the significance of celebrating the Buddha’s Parinirvana. Parinirvana means nirvana without remains. In other words the body of the Buddha, like all conditioned phenomena, is subject to illness, death and decay. In one beautiful scene in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, which tells the story of the final days of the Buddha, we find his faithful companion Ananda, weeping. The Buddha responds to him saying
"Yet, Ananda, have I not taught from the very beginning that with all that is dear and beloved there must be change, separation, and severance? Of that which is born, come into being, is compounded and subject to decay, how can one say: 'May it not come to dissolution!' There can be no such state of things.
A teaching not only for Ananda and the Bikkhus present but resounding through the centuries to the present day and to each and every one of us.
My talk is on FBA:
After the talk we had a dramatised rendition of the scene around and after the death. I found it very moving and appreciated the thoughtfulness and preparation from Taradakini’s Dharma Drama group. Viryadevi’s beautiful and haunting cello playing added depth and atmosphere to the scene.
The afternoon started with a ceremony to celebrate 6 new mitras which, as always, was joyful and memorable. I loved seeing friends and family members there to witness and support the new mitras and to hear the rejoicing in each of them before the ceremony began. I sometimes hear that centres don’t do mitra ceremonies on Parinirvana day because it’s a different atmosphere. I understand and respect that but I’ve never felt that myself. I became a mitra on Parinirvana day 1978 and I’ve been at many other Parinirvana day Mitra ceremonies. Since the Buddha in his final days exhorts his disciples to practice the Dharma, it seems a fitting moment to make a commitment to do exactly that.
“Ananda, whatever bhikkhu or bhikkhuni, layman or laywoman, abides by the Dhamma, lives uprightly in the Dhamma, walks in the way of the Dhamma, it is by such a one that the Tathagata is respected, venerated, esteemed, worshipped, and honoured in the highest degree. Therefore, Ananda, thus should you train yourselves: 'We shall abide by the Dhamma, live uprightly in the Dhamma, walk in the way of the Dhamma.’"
It’s delightful to welcome Annie, Carol, Frances, Frank, Michelle and Morna to “abide by the Dhamma, live uprightly in the Dhamma, walk in the way of the Dhamma.”
In last week’s blog I mentioned preparing a talk for Mandala night on Positive Emotions, focusing on the Brahma Viharas - the divine abodes. I really enjoyed thinking of those states - not so much feelings as orientations of our life and energy. I particularly wanted to bring out that these positive emotions, while we can cultivate them in meditation, are essentially relational and have a social impact. I think they are revolutionary, based as they are in Metta, in a boundless love for all beings. I believe practicing these responses to the world around us can create cultures of trust, inclusion, and compassion.
In today’s polarised world, they help us to act from love, not reactivity, listen with empathy and without defensiveness and to stay grounded in peace while engaging in change. Bhante said that awareness is revolutionary. So is love. As Che Guevara said
At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality […] We must strive every day so that this love of living humanity will be transformed into actual deeds.
This comes from Guevara’s idea of the need for a new paradigm of socialism and a new kind of humanity. It was originally a piece written in 1965 for Marcha, a Uruguayan periodical in which Guevara argues that revolutionary ethics should be grounded in moral motivation—especially solidarity and love—rather than material incentives alone.
An example closer to home of a love based revolutionary with foundations not in socialism but in Buddhism is Dr B. R. Ambedkar. The massive and incredibly important difference between the two is, of course, that while Guevara accepted the need for a violent revolution to pave the way for this new society, Dr Ambedkar was the architect of a peaceful revolution. He believed the way for social change to take place needed, as well as democracy and law, a “change of hearts and minds.” I think this change of hearts and minds can be fostered by our practice of the Brahma Viharas.
While both Guevara and Dr Ambedkar were concerned with the overcoming of oppression (class for Guevara, caste for Ambedkar), and both could be seen as moral thinkers, the decisions they reached were fundamentally different. Guevara came to believe that transformation could be reached by violent means, Ambedkar chose Buddhism as the way to fundamentally transform the individual and therefore society. He saw, as did our own teacher and founder Sangharakshita (Bhante), the need for the transformation of both self and world. This has always been of great inspiration for me.
I am actually writing this in the room at Adhisthana dedicated to Dr Ambedkar and the peaceful revolution. It looks at the relationship between Ambedkar and Bhante and is incredibly inspiring. As an activist in my teens and twenties I was inspired by the Guevara type revolution, now I am an advocate of the peaceful revolution.
Our theme for the year continues to be thinking about Buddhism for Today and Tomorrow revisioned. What do we need, what can we offer in a world of increasing instability and chaos? What revolution can we offer and support? Big questions but questions that need addressing if we wish to be relevant to the 21st century. We are living in a time of societal breakdown, change and uncertainty. Things we took for granted cannot be relied on. What does it mean to rely on the Dharma? How do we keep perspective and recognise the law of conditionality as seen in the rise and fall of civilisations while dealing with the immediate and real issues facing people who cannot afford food or who are scared to go out in case they are suddenly detained because of the colour of their skin or their accent?
I don’t have answers but I care about the questions and I want to acknowledge the issues and keep a hold of the big cosmic picture.
Yet, Ananda, have I not taught from the very beginning that with all that is dear and beloved there must be change, separation, and severance? Of that which is born, come into being, is compounded and subject to decay, how can one say: 'May it not come to dissolution!' There can be no such state of things.
Worlds will rise and pass away. Everything is impermanent.
In his talk “Looking ahead a little way”, given on the 1999 order convention Bhante tells us:
The Buddhist vision of history is … a cyclical vision. Buddhism sees history as proceeding not in a straight, or relatively straight line, certainly not in a single line. It sees it as proceeding in a succession of cycles. Within each of these cycles there is a process of growth, maturity and decay, and this cyclical process Buddhism sees as applying not only to human history - Buddhism sees this process as applying to the whole world. It sees it as applying in fact to the whole universe. It sees it indeed as applying to the whole of phenomenal existence, or to what Buddhists traditionally call samsara. It sees phenomenal existence, it has , so to speak, a vision of phenomenal existence as being like a great ocean, an ocean without beginning and without end, an ocean without limit, without boundaries. And upon this great ocean, this infinite ocean, millions upon millions of waves are constantly rising and constantly falling, and these waves are universes or worlds. And upon these waves that are universes, that are worlds, there are millions upon millions of smaller waves, rising and falling. And these waves are civilisations, or empires or religions or nations or individuals. These too are constantly rising and falling, these too are undergoing the process of growth, maturity and decay.
Here’s the link to the talk:
So the Buddhist vision is huge and it allows for the passing and dissolution of societies. However, it also recognises suffering and there is a moral imperative to try to alleviate that suffering in whatever way we can in our immediate world.
Anyway…..
For now, as always,
May all beings be well, may all beings find true happiness and its causes and may all beings be free from suffering.
Where the Bodhichitta has not yet arisen
May it arise
Where it has arisen
May it flourish
Where it flourishes
May it never die
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