Meditation for Beginners
 
Author’s Preface
 
Lord Buddha will be able to uproot all defilements and craving from the mind
 
Lord Buddha will be able to uproot all defilements and craving from the mind
 
Buddhism is unique in teaching a way to overcome suffering, with its aim definitively to liberate oneself from the Cycle of Existence [vadda-samsara] thereby attaining the highest eternal happiness. This is the majesty of Buddhism.
 
Buddhism is unique in guaranteeing that  whoever practices in strict accordance with the teachings of the Lord Buddha will be able to uproot all defilements and craving from the mind, attaining the Path and Fruit of Nirvana in His footsteps. This is wonder of Buddhism.
 
Buddhism is unique in the way it groups its virtues and also by the way it graduates its teachings starting with simple ones and moving gradually onto more difficult ones making Buddhism easy to study and to practice.
 
However, more wondrous than all of these is the fact that the Lord Buddha was able to summarize the essence of Buddhism in its entirety in a teaching as short as his first the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta. Many religions shroud in exclusivity the practices or virtues that distinguish the founder from subsequent disciples but the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta contains teachings that can be practiced by anyone, giving access to the highest attainments even attainments on a par with that of the Lord Buddha himself.
 
That the Buddha was able not only to understand Dhamma teachings, but to teach them in a way that allows us to understand them as well as Himself, is a further illustration of the unique capability of the Lord Buddha.
 
needs first of all to have an under standing of the Buddha’s first teaching.
 
needs first of all to have an under standing of the Buddha’s first teaching.
 
Moreover, in keeping with the Great Compassion of the Lord Buddha for the beings of the world, it would be for a further forty-five years of his dispensation that the Buddha would expand upon the foundations of virtue outlined in the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta with deepar but comple mentary teachings and in spite of the volume of teachings in complete absence of internal contradiction.
 
The content of the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta taught to the “group of five” [pancavaggiya] monks led by kondanna, is familiar to the ears of Buddhists throughout the world because anyone wishing to understand the teachings of Buddhism, needs first of all to have an under standing of the Buddha’s first teaching.
 
When studying the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta students will find it useful not only to study the Sutta in translation, but also to learn how to chant the Sutta in its original Pali language. Committing the Sutta to memory by chanting is advantageous when it comes to reflection upon and hence understanding of the Sutta. It you cannot yet memorize the Sutta, it is advantageous even to listen to the Sutta that the chanting of the Sutta brings blessings to one’s life this is perhaps why the chanting of the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta is traditional in certain royal or civil ceremonies. This is especially true of the ceremonies held on Asalha Puja Day, when it is a traditional duty for Buddhist monks to celeberate the anniversary of the preaching of the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta by chanting the Sutta for the benefit of the laypeople or giving commentorial teachings about it, This tradition is one that has been carried down to the present day.
 
It is regrettable that in the present day, it is becoming more and more difficult to find unabridged commentaries on the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta. The present author was thus priviledged to obtain a copy of the Saratthasamuccaya reprinted by H.M.king Rama IX of Thailand on the occasion of the cremation held at Wat Thepsirindaravas of His Late Holiness the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand Phra Ariyavamsagatanana (Was Wasan Mahathera) on 18 March 1989. The Saratthasamuccaya itself is translation of a text com posed some 800 years ago.
 
This tradition is one that has been carried down to the present day.
 
This tradition is one that has been carried down to the present day.
 
The original Thai translation appears to have been made during the reign of H.M. king Rama III and comprised twenty-two verses.The commentary on the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta was to be found in the Twenty-first of these verses.Apart from offering a detailed explanation of the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta, the translationis notable for a use of language so rich and impressive that it could easily qualify in itself as a Buddhist literary masterpiece.
 
Having read this translation of the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta, it was the dearest wish of the present author to make this book more readily accessible to the Buddhist community, to facilitate the implementation of this sutta’s message into personal practice in the footsteps of the Buddha and the arahants. Modern students of the original translation are hampered in their studies both by the scarcity of the original and its archaic language. In spite of the present author’s respect for the original use of language, to leave it in its original form would frustrate young people in their ongoing studies of Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta. The present author has thus taken the liberty to adapt the more difficult passages into language which complies with more current usage. However, there has been strict complies with more current usage. However, there has been strict adherence to the original content throughout. For example, even though the section on “byadhidukkha” is described in the present author has retained reference to it in this version.
 
The emphasis of the Saratthasamuccaya was primarily on Dhamma principles rather than Dhamma practice and although readers might delight in the clarity of the theoretical explanations, it is unlikely that the reader will be inspired to practice the principles for themselves.
 
the Buddha’s Teaching who has the responsibility to study them to the point where they understand
 
the Buddha’s Teaching who has the responsibility to study them to the point where they understand
 
Luang Phaw Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen (Phramonkolthepmuni) (Sodh Candasaro) emphasized Dhamma practice throughout his life, considering Dhamma practice to the point of attaining the Dhammakaya to be the only sure way for Buddhists to understand the essence of the Buddhist teachings and to attain the fruits of practice in accordance with those described in the Scriptures. As an adherent to Luang Phaw Wat Paknam’s  tradition, the present author has taken the opportunity in this book to insert hints and tips for Dhamma practice in several places in this book in ordr to awaken the reader to the value and necessity of Dhamma practice, and integration of the said as a habitual part of everyday life in our quest for the Path and Fruit of Nirvana.
 
This book envisions the student of Dhamma as being an “heir” to the Buddha’s Teaching who has the responsibility to study them to the point where they understand them sufficiently deeply to instill these teachings in future generations of students in the same way kondanna did this for us in his day and age and the approach of the book is to facilitate the reader’s mastery of the scriptural material laid before us to a point of mastery both in theory and practice.
 
Lastly, the present author would like to express gratitulde to the ancient commentarians who authored the Sarattha samuccaya without whom this literary legacy would never have come down to our present time. Also, the present author would like to recognize with gratitude the virtue of H.M. king Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) of the translation of the Saratthasamuccaya at the aforementioned funeral and without which the present author would never have had access to the original of the translation brought to you, the reader, in the present day, as The Buddha’s First Teaching.
 
Phrabhavanaviriyakhun (Phra Phadet Dattajeevo)
Vice-Abbot: Wat Phra Dhammakaya
Pathumthani Province, Thailand
19 August 1994
 
 

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