THE 38 WAYS TO HAPPINESS
The reason that the 'Blessings of Life' from the Buddha's Mangala Sutta have been chosen as subject matter for teaching again and again at Wat Phra Dhammakaya is that
1. they form a body of knowledge of Buddhism that is very easy
to apply in everyday life.
2. They representation a graduation of practice
from easy practices to advanced practices.
3. Each blessing of the thirty eight contains
sufficient detail to allow it to be easily understood and practised by the student
in his everyday life.
Some might ask why the Mangala Sutta and not
other famous Buddhist teachings has been selected for such treatment, and in fact
other Buddhist teachings have been tried. When other teachings were tried, the results
were not very encouraging, because for each grouping of Dhamma tried, usually they
are numerical Dhammas consisting of only a few headings. Especially the younger generation
who have come to study such abbreviated forms of Dhamma have found that with their
lack of Dhamma study background, they are unable to make much sense of the subject
matter. Thus it has been found that studying the subject matter of the Mangala Sutta
is advantageous because it finely divides Dhamma practice into thirty-eight easy-to-comprehend
steps which summarize all of the practices contained in the forty-five volumes of
the Buddhist Scriptures.
In the time of the Buddha, the depth of background
of those studying the Dhamma was very varied. Some had studied so many Dhamma-related
subjects that all they needed to hear from the Buddha were a few words of wisdom
and they were able to understand and apply those teachings immediately or become
enlightened. Some even attained arahantship by the end of the sermon. Such people
must have had a very high level of Dhamma understanding. All such people needed from
the Buddha were a few sentences of Dhamma. Examples of such people were the five
first disciples to whom the Buddha taught the Dhammacakkapavatthana Sutta. After
hearing just this sermon Kondañña was able to become a Sotapanna. The rest
of the disciples, understood Dhamma according to their personal abilities. A few
days later, the Buddha taught the Anattalakkhana Sutta, and all five of the disciples
were able to become enlightened at the level of the arahant. For some people the
Buddha didn't actually teach aloud, he just gave a sermon in his mind (such as the
teaching to a Brahmin who had long been an adept meditator himself. The Brahmin has
made the wish in his mind, that if the Buddha was really as gifted as everyone said
he was, may the Buddha know his mind and teach him Dhamma by telepathy. The Buddha
knew the wish of the Brahmin and taught him by telepathy, and at the end of the sermon,
the Brahmin was able to reach an end of defilements and become an arahant.)
Some groups of people were not so well pre-disposed
towards the Dhamma. For such people, the Buddha might have to teach on the same subject
repeatedly for five or ten consecutive times before they were able to understand.
For those who even less well pre-disposed, the Buddha had to admit them to the monastic
order and teach them the same teaching daily for many years until they could understand
what he was teaching them. Those who were even less fortunate, heard the teachings
of the Buddha for the whole of their lives and could still make nothing of them.
At best, the teachings became engrained in their minds, making it easier for them
to learn the Dhamma in future lifetimes.
The Mangala Sutta has become very popular as
a structure for teaching Buddhism to the public, from the experience of many Buddhist
teaching monks and many lecturers on Buddhism, because it is subject matter that
is neither too hard nor too difficult. The Great Abbot of Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen
(Phramonkolthepmuni) used the Mangala Sutta as the blueprint of his teachings --
teaching one unit on each consecutive quarter-moon day until he came to the end of
the thirty-eight. He would then start teaching from the beginning afresh. H.H. The
Supreme Patriarch Chuan Uttayi (who died in a car accident), also used the Thirty-Eight
Blessings as the blueprint of his lectures to monks, novices and the general public.
He even made a textbook on the subject. The abbot of Wat Phrasri Mahathat, Bangkhaen
H.E. Somdej Phramaha Viravongse, who was famous for his teachings, used the Mangala
Sutta as the basis for all of his teachings. The Ven. Chaokuhn Upali (Cand Siricando)
of Wat Bovornives/Wat Thepsirind (?) both taught and made a textbook of the Mangala
Sutta. Even in the distant history of Thailand, in the reign of King Mengrai Maharaja
there was a monk called Phra Sirimangalacharn who wrote a textbook of the Mangala
Sutta in the Pali language which is still used to the present day. That the Mangala
Sutta has contributed so much to the teaching of Buddhism down the ages only goes
to show:
1. the Mangala Sutta is well suited to the average level of understanding
of the general public. It moves gradually from the simple to the complex;
2. much of the basic Buddhist knowledge known
by the public has its origins in the Mangala Sutta, although they might not realize
it. Thus it is easy to build on this foundation of knowledge.
Thus the Mangala Sutta as it appears here is
in the age-old tradition of respected Buddhist teaching monks and lecturers, but
for sure, the ways in which commentaries are given upon the material will change
with the times. Sometimes in the old textbooks will give illustrative examples of
transport such as horses, buffalo carts or caravans. However, for modern people,
sometimes we cannot imagine how people travelled in those days. These days, examples
of travel by cars or aeroplanes or rockets allow people to imagine more easily. Thus
in the treatment of the Mangala Sutta that is to follow, although the examples given
may have changed, the subject matter is original.
Why do we have to study the Dhamma?
If you are still unable to answer the question
for yourself about why you have to study the Dhamma, you may end up becoming to lazy
to sustain your interest. The main reason is that as men we are curious. Even if
we have enough food to eat and the ability to earn our living properly, he is still
unable to find fulfilment in life. If life was only about feeding yourself it would
be very simple -- but I am sure it is the experience of all of you here that the
challenges in life are more than this. If supporting yourself was all there is to
life then certainly millionnaires would be the happiest people on earth. However
millionnaires and multi-millionnaires with more than enough money to support themselves
all their lives are still experiencing suffering. Even kings who rule over the whole
country still experience suffering in life. This only goes to show that food in your
belly and a university degree are still not enough to give us satisfaction in life.
The reason is that wealth is only worldly wealth, and the knowledge is only worldly
knowledge. It can only bring physical comfort. There is still nothing to nurture
or nourish the mind. If the physical hunger is satisfied but the hunger of the mind
is left unfed then there will be trouble to follow. If your stomach is empty, all
you need to do is find some food to eat. However if your mind gets hungry, it is
more complex. Supposing your mind is left hungry and develops craving (eg. for honour)
then it is the start of a viscious circle. If your mind is hungry and develops hatred
(another sign of a disatisfied mind) then suffering will follow especially if you
follow up your hatred with acts of vengence. Also when you overestimate yourself,
it makes the people around you suffer. Thus you can see that whenever the mind is
left hungering for inner experience, you will suffer even if you have food on your
plate at every meal. For all our qualifications and diplomas, none of them can guarantee
us against hunger of the mind. None of them can guarantee us a happy life or guarantee
that we will not end up in jail. By contrast, by studying Dhamma, we can guarantee
that we will not be put in jail -- especially the Dhamma contained in the Mangala
Sutta.
The Origin of the Mangala Sutta
The Mangala Sutta has quite a spectacular origin.
The sermon originated in the human realm, but the Buddha did not preach to humans.
The sermon was given to angels. Irrespective of period in history, men need to hear
the Dhamma. Sometimes those expert in Dhamma can be found. Sometimes, those with
the knowledge are not so expert. India of 2,500 BC was no different. People had a
big interest to study the Dhamma. They would go and study in the various spiritual
cooleges of the day (such as those of Takkasila) or in the evening they would go
and listen to the sermons of spiritual teachers on the night of the full moon. Sometimes
such meetings would take place at the city gate. Sometimes, they would take place
in the meeting halls of the palace. Sometimes they would hire those knowledgable
about religion or history to lecture. Sometimes they would simply give a soapbox
for those who had particular points of view. Thus don't think that the people of
old were ignorant or uneducated. They were always searching for new knowledge.
One day during one of the public lectures,
someone raised the question, 'What is a blessing in our life?' The person has asked
'What sort of blessing could possibly allow us to live without obstacles'. Supposing
one wanted wealth, honour, praise and happiness, how could one insure that one received
just that? There was such a debate ensuing from this question, that everybody seemed
to have a different point of view. To generalize, however, people divided themselves
into three main groups:
1. The first group believed that the thing to make one's life a
blessing was to see something that was 'pleasing'.
2. The second group believed that the thing
to make one's life a blessing was to hear something that was 'pleasing'.
3. The third group believed that the thing
to make one's life a blessing was the mood in the mind which arose whenever you saw
or heard something that was 'pleasing'.
Each group disagreed with the others because
it is obvious that an image pleasant to one person may not be pleasant to another.
A sound pleasant to one person might not be pleasant to another. Something that creates
a pleasant mood today might cause an unpleasant mood tomorrow. Thus there is nothing
to make anything discussed a 'blessing' without doubt. The debate went on and on
without any sign of coming to an end. It is just like people in the present day can
still not agree as to what is truly a 'lucky charm'. What is lucky about putting
sharks teeth on a necklace around your neck, for instance? Hearing the human world
in debate, the angel world could not help but start to debate the same question for
itself. The angels could not resolve the question and so the Brahma-world debated
further without being able to come to a solution. Only the Brahmas of the Five Suddhavasa
levels (those who had already attained enlightenment at the level of sotapanna, sagatagami
or anagami in the time of a previous Buddha) who knew what a 'blessing' really was,
but were unable to explain it fully to others. They advised that in another twelve
years, a Buddha would arise in the world who could answer the question conclusively.
The humans and angels and brahmas agreed to wait twelve years in order to find a
solution to their question.
One night in the Jetavana Grove near to the town of Savatthi, all the angels and brahmas assembled together to take audience with the Buddha. A representative of the angels asked the question of the nature of blessings to the Buddha and the Buddha's reply is what is now know as the Mangala Sutta - thirty blessings:
THE THIRTY EIGHT BLESSINGS OF LIFE
Pali |
Translation |
Asevana ca balanam, banditananca sevana, puja ca pujaniyanam, etam mangalam uttamam |
1. Not Associating with Fools |
Patirupadesavaso ca, pubbe ca katapuññata, attasammapanidhi ca, etam mangalam uttamam |
4. Amenable Location |
Bahusaccañ ca sippañ ca vinayo ca sukhitito, subhasita ca va vaca, etam mangalam uttamam |
7. Being learned |
Mata pitutanam, puttadarassa sangaho, anakula ca kammanta, etam mangalam uttamam |
11. Supporting one's parents |
Danañ ca, dhammacariya ca, ñatakanañ ca sangaho, anavajani kammani, etam mangalam uttamam |
15. Generosity |
Arati virati papa, majjapana ca saññamo, appamado ca dhammesu, etam mangalam uttamam |
19. Avoidance of all evil |
Garavo ca nivato ca santutthi ca kataññuta, kalena dhammasavanam, etam mangalam uttamam |
22. Respectfulness |
Khanti ca sovacassata, samananañ ca dassanam, kalena dhammasaccacca, etam mangalam uttamam |
27. Patience |
Tapo ca brahmacariyañca, ariyasaccañca dassanam, nibbanasaccikiriya ca, etam mangalam uttamam |
31. Austerity |
Phuttassa lokadhammehi, cittam yassa na kampati, sokam virajam khemam, etam mangalam uttamam ti. |
35. Mind invulnerable to temptation |
This is the content of the Mangala Sutta
taught by the Buddha to the assembly of angels in the course of that night. The Buddha
taught only the headings of the subject matter required and because they were angels
they could already understand -- because in order to have become angels, they had
each had to have done quite a lot of good in their past (or at least fear and shame
of evil). As a result of the sermon many of the assembly attained arahantship, anagami,
sagatagami, sotapana, gotrabhu or at the very least the first path (pathama magga).
As for the general public, like the reader of this orientation, just knowing about
the thirty-eight blessings doesn't seem to have had any of the effects enjoyed by
the assembly of angels on that night 2,500 years ago. The reason is that people of
our day and age require more in the way of explanation. For this reason, we have
furthered the explanation by giving particular themes to the ten groupings of blessings
which comprise the thirty-eight:
Group I. |
Content |
Turning your back on Evil |
1. Not Associating with Fools |
The first group which concerns the acquisition
of discretion concerns our understanding of what is wrong and what is right. Even
if someone is knowledgable, if their discretion is faulty, their future is unlikely
to be bright. On the contrary those with good discretion but who lack education,
at least they will not become a burden on society. It is the basis of Right View
(Samma Ditthi).
Group II. |
Content |
Turning Towards Goodness |
4. Amenable Location |
The second group concerns consolidating
upon the goodness of the discretion you already have through the environment which
we inhabit, from the habits we have built up for ourselves in the past and by setting
a proper aim in life. This is the style of the Buddha to teach virtue in a way that
becomes successively more complex.
Group III. |
Content |
Making Yourself Useful |
7. Being learned |
The third group concerns how we can make
a contribution to society by our skilfulness, so that we ourself do not become a
burden on society and can at the same time be a refuge to ourself in terms of earning
our living.
Group IV. |
Content |
Harmony in the Family |
11. Supporting one's parents |
The fourth group progresses from being able
to help ourselves to being able to help other people as well. The first people who
we must help are those to whom we are indebted: our parents. If we have new people
to whom we owe our efforts towards virtue, such as our children and our spouse. Furthermore,
we have to be able to divide our time so that neither our responsibilities in the
work and in the home are neglected.
Group V. |
Content |
Becoming a Pillar of Society |
15. Generosity |
The fifth group builds on the strength of virtue we have built up for ourselves in the home, expanding the scope of our virtue wider into society with generosity, public works. If you have already got your life under control, you will be able to do something for the benefit of society with some sort of efficiency. Those who try to help social works when they have not yet got their own personal attributes under control, may create disasters rather than helping others. Those who want to give advice to others but who are unable to speak politely, may make enemies instead of improving the quality of society. Thus never overlook the blessings that have gone before any level of training we have attained.
Definitions: The Word 'Mangala'
Some may still wonder about the meaning of
the word 'mangala' that we hear again and again interchangeably with the word 'blessing'.
Some people wear a piece of thread round their wrist and they think it is a blessing.
In fact, the word 'mangala' translates as 'the cause of prosperity, progress and
happiness'. If you want to know the definition, you could say that the progress towards
happiness that a 'mangala' will bring is four-fold:
1. progress through acquired wealth (worldly treasure, heavenly
treasure and the treasure of Nirvana).
2. progress through wisdom, which is the means
by which obstacles in life and evil are abated.
3. progress through virtue through the channels
of body, speech and mind, at the basic, intermediate and advanced levels
4. progress through the three benefits: benefit
in this lifetime, the next lifetime and in the furthermost of lifetimes.
Just not associating with fools will bring
us wealth. Because our reputation is not spoiled, our wisdom is not spoiled and may
be improved, virtue of all sorts will start to flow in our direction. This is the
result even of following the first blessing. What more will be the benefit of practising
all of the blessings in their entirety. The benefits will be not only to ourself,
but to society and to the world as well.
You notice that wisdom is dedicated to destroying
curses or obstacles on our lives. Concerning these obstacles or 'mara' (demons as
they are sometimes personified), when we are born in human form there we are born
along with obstacles in life. The technical term for such obstacles is Mara. When
we are born these obstacles will follow us making trouble for us like shadows in
our lives. Such obstacles will impede our progress and prosperity in life. If we
don't know about them or if we can't keep up with their tricks then they will ruin
our lives. There are five different types of obstacles:
1. Kilesamara: these are the
impurities that remain in our mind. Just as our body is weakened by illness, in the
same way, the mind is weakened by impurities, or as we see them expressed, bad habits.
Just like illnesses in the world there are many different sorts of impurities in
the mind. These illnesses of the mind can be broken down into three categories. The
first is greed wanting to get something (wanting to cheat people or steal from them
given the opportunity). The second is hatred wanting to destroy others when they
do something you don't agree with (the thought of harming other people) which if
left uncontrolled will become vengefulness. The third is delusion: seeing right things
as wrong, wrong things as right -- like generosity which everyone knows is good and
encourages people to help one another, but some people are overcome by delusion and
therefore say that generosity is bad because it encourages people to be lazy. Such
a person overcome by delusion might say 'Why keep the Precepts? They only make people
gormless'. Anyone whose mind is full of such impurities will be completely overcome
by Mara. Of course it is hard to deal with because it is in our own mind. What does
it look like? If you stand in front of the mirror and see what you look like when
your eyes light up with interest for something you'd like to get, that is what greed
personified looks like. What does hatred look like? A red and dried up face with
quivering lips -- you can see it for yourself by looking in the mirror any time you
lose your temper. When you are deluded, it depends on what sort of delusion it means.
We all have these impurities in our minds and if we aren't aware of them and careful
of them then we will will suffer. Even if you are the president or a cabinet minister
but your mind is overcome by greed, then you can end up in prison because of corruption.
If you were president or a cabinet minister who had an uncontrollable temper, then
you would go ordering executions or dismissals and in the end they will start an
uprising to bring you down. Supposing you are a president who is overcome by ignorance
then you will get ensnared in gambling or alcaholism until there is nothing left
of your reputation. These things are hidden away in our minds right from the time
we are born. Some babies are peaceful. Others bawl and cry so much that there is
no-one who wants to take care of them. These are babies suffering from the impurity
of hatred since the time of birth. The babies that are greed-ridden from birth will
just eat and eat and eat. Babies overcome by ignorance will just sleep the whole
time as if they have no awareness of what is going on around them, or else are always
being taken advantage of. We have them from birth -- but if we are prudent, they
will not increase with the passing years.
2. Khandhamara: This concerns
the health of our body and mind. Some people need to wear spectacles because our
eyesight is not so good. Worse than this some people are born lame. Worse than that
some babies are born as conjoined twins and the first thing the doctor has to do
is to operate on them to take them apart. As we get older when you get up you groan,
when you sit down you groan, because you have so many aches and pains. The older
you get the worse it is. These are all what we mean by Khandhamara. When you're young
you look pretty and fit, but as you get older you get long in the tooth and wrinkles
line your faith. Your eyes get deeper in their sockets. Your back is bent.
3. Abhisankaramara: These concern
the evil things that we have done in the past. They catch up with us in the end.
Supposing you used to slaughter animals, at the end of your life you will find that
your body is in very bad condition. Supposing you used to be a gangster, but later
you gave up and became an honest person again. In such a case, even though you have
gone straight, there will still be no-one who will trust you. Supposing you used
to be unfaithful to your wife. Later on you gave up all those extramarital affairs,
but even so, there is no way you can get your reputation back again. Before you used
to be an alcaholic. Later you gave up alcahol but it was too late because your liver
was already hardened and your stomach ulcerated, you are vulnerable to diabetes and
the vultures are following you! These are the abhisankara mara and you can't blame
anyone but yourself because you did it all to yourself in the past.
Some things are shadows that catch up with
us from the things that we did in previous lifetimes. A person who has drunk alcahol
for many previous lifetimes may be born mentally handicapped this lifetime. This
would also be referred to as an abhisankaramara. Others who drank alcahol in previous
lifetimes but less so, may be born mute because they were drunk at the time they
died. If you were an adulterer in a previous lifetime mixed up with other evils will
be plagued with cancer in this lifetime. If in a previous lifetime, you overworked
slaves or beasts of burden will be born stuck together like conjoined twins.
As a child the author used to stick blades
of grass up the behinds of scorpions and later in life ended up with all sorts of
trouble with going to the toilet such as haemorrhoids. Smoking mice or crickets out
of their burrows has made the author have a running nose continuously.
4. Devaputtamara: These are the
shadows we can actually see personified. When mosquitos bite you as you meditate,
that is the work of devaputtamara -- or when dogs come and howl and fight next to
your window just when you want peace and quiet for your meditation -- or when a drunk
is shouting and singing next door or the family next door is quarreling or the teenagers
are revving up their motorbkes with the silencers off, just when you want to do your
chanting. Or maybe it is someone in your workplace who is a constant troublemaker.
Even we ourselves can sometimes be devaputtamara to ourselves when we make a fool
of ourselves. These sort of mara are the sort we read about the Buddha having to
overcome. If you meditate further you will be able to see them for yourself.
5. Majjumara: This means death.
Death is waiting at every moment to carry us away. Of all the people in the audience,
we have no idea who will be the first to go. Sometimes you see someone in the morning,
by noon they have died. Sometimes you were only just talking to them at noon and
by the afternoon they are dead. Sometimes you might even be eating a meal together
and your friend may choke on a fishbone and die. Once there were a husband and wife
asleep in a barge under a bridge, in the middle of a canal. A car came skidding across
the bridge and went into the canal sinking the barge. Both the husband and wife died
-- even though they were asleep in a boat, they were still run-over by a car. Usually
we think that the old people will die before the young ones but sometimes people
die young. Who would think that the parents would be the ones to organise the funeral
for their children? Who would think that grandparents would have to bury their own
grandchildren?
We are always on the brink of death at every
moment. Who knows how much insecticide is on the vegetables we eat? Every mouthful
is bringing us closer to our deaths. Thus try to learn as much meditation as you
can before majjumara come to claim us.
So there are five sorts of shadows that seek to upset the good things that we do in our lives. Our goodness is a constant fight against these shadows. They will try to impede our goodness at every step. The ancients said that if we realized 100% of the working of these shadows we lose half the battle but if we know any less, we lose the whole battle. Only by meditation and the study of the 38 Blessings can you hope to keep up with the working of the shadow side.