Understanding Key Buddhist Concepts : หน้า 125/135

"Fools" (palay): spiritually defective people. A fool is someone wicked, weak, or feeble in a moral sense. His discretion is faulty, not knowing right from wrong, good from bad. A fool is one who gives bad influence. You can't tell a fool by his looks. He could be well-educated and be true a good family. You can tell him by his action or behavior. The opposite of a "fool" is a "wise". Heaven: celestial realm, in Buddhist there are six levels of heaven which offer a temporary respite from rebirth in the human realm; however only Nibbana offers a permanent state of bliss. Unlike heaven, the human realm is the only place where merit can be acquired and Perfections achieved. Kamma (Skt, Karma): action or deed of body, speech and mind. Every waved odor brings future consequences, including future rebirths, the consequences of past deeds largely determine one's general life situation. Under the Law of Kamma, by which all creatures must live, a person who commits a deed will experience the consequences of his own actions. Bad actions cause bad consequences and good actions bear good consequences. Kathina: wooden frame which monks in ancient India used to sew their clothes on. The clothes thus prepared came to be known as Kathina clothes or Kathina robes. The event or robes are offered to the monks if is known as the Kathina Ceremony or Robe Offering Ceremony. To perform the ceremony it is required that at least five monks are present to represent the Sangha, the community of monks, during the Buddhist Lent period. The ceremony can only take place with a month after Buddhist Lent. Khinnoonyoong: Khun Yai's adopted last name; a Thai word which means "peacock feather". Khun Yal: The word that literally means "grandmother". It is an affectionate and respectful way of addressing a woman of advancing age in the Thai culture. Magha Puja: Buddhist religious day in commemoration of the Great Assembly of Disciples. Magha Puja Day, full moon day of the 3rd lunar month (February/March) marks the day 1,250 Ascendants from different places came to pay homage to the Lord Buddha, each on his own initiative and without prior notification. The fact that these Ascendants were individually ordained and the Lord Buddha himself came to the assembly on the very own free will and without notice, and the event took place on the full moon day of Magha, the third lunar month, made this occasion unique and remarkable. This is a big day in Buddhism. Some call it the Dhamma Day. Mara: evil, both as a concept and as a personification. In Buddhist cosmology, Mara is a supra-natural being responsible for hindering people from performing meritorious deeds. Mara can also mean obstacles for doing good deeds. Merit: result of good deeds; merit is something that can be accumulated as well as used up. When someone is enjoying his good fortune, he is using up his "old" merit. A wise person should not let his merit run out by acquiring more "new" merit whenever he can. Merit sphere: each person possesses a sphere of merit within; the more merit accumulated the larger the merit sphere. Mundane merit: merit gained through performance of good deeds, such as sweeping the temple, helping the poor, making charitable contributions.