The kalyanamitra Temple

Meditation

Meditation for Beginners

 

The kalyanamitra Temple

 

 

To educate and train people in the community to have the Four Target Character Traits

 

Objectives of the kalyanamitra Temple 

Within the Buddhist community, temples are recognized as a centre for moral training. Another way of viewing this is that temple is a place that teaches people to be ‘human’. For a person to judged ‘human’, it is not just their physical appearance but behaviour that must be ‘humane’ too. Many people see their life’s achievements as coming from moral principles they studied at temples. Having apolied what they learn to daily lives, they have been able to see things more clearly and thoroughly and have thus be able to attain good outcomes in their work. Recently, the role of clergy anf temples has been much reduced due to various factors which are beyond the scope of this book.

 

Since temples have less role in providing moral training, the society is now then full of networks of unscrupulous people. These people cause never-ending social and economic problems. Therefore, it is essential for all relevant authorities to co-operate in restoring the temple as a moral training institute. Only the clergy have the chance to make up for the neglect of other social groups in the Six Directions is called a ‘kalyanamitra Temple’.

 

The activities organized by a kalyanamitra Temple

 

More specifically, a kalyanamitra Temple has four concrete objectives: 

- To educate and train people in the community to have the Four Target Character Traits;

 

- To educate and train people in the community to have the Sixteen Characteristics of the True Friend.

 

- To educate and train people in the community for to have the Seven Characteristics of a Good Friend.

 

- Have a strong determination to create networks of kalyanamitra Temples.

 

Preparation for a kalyanamitra Temple

 

In order for a temple to become a kalyanamitra Temple, it must prepare the following: 

1. All monks and personnel in the temple all the way from the abblt, monks and novice monks to the congregation, must be virtuous. They all must possess the three standard kinds of characteristics of virtuous people. If there is a single unscrupulous member in the temple, that temple cannot be considered a kalyanamitra

 

2. The temple premises must be clean. There should be gnough facilitires as meeting places, restrooms and so on, for people to study moral principles as well as to train their minds in comfort. These facilities must be kept clean, otherwise, people would be discouraged from attending activities arranged by the temple. Furthermore, the temple should plant trees and flowers to make its landscape more attractive as well as to purify the atmosphere breathed in the temple. Attractive premises will draw more people to visit;

 

3. The temple should have a fence to define its premises, This concern is for the safety of monks living in the temple as well as people who go to participate in temple activities;

 

4. The temple should formally set up a reception department and information centre in order to visitors. Most visitors do not know whom or where to ask for information when they visit a temple; 

5. Monks responsible for moral teaching must be experts on Buddhist principles. Furthermore, they should have teaching skills, being able to clearly explain difficult concepts as well as being to help people to apply Buddhist principles in their lives. The monks should have deep and thorough knowledge on various subjects of Buddhist principles, namely: the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta, the Singalovads Sutta, the Dighajanu Sutta, the Four Virtues of the Householder, the Four Bases of Sympathy, Ringht View, The Seven Characteristics of the Good Friend, Shame of Evil and Fear of the Consequences of Evil, the Ovadapatimlkkha, the Three Types of Meritorious Action and Noble Self-Discipline.

 

6. Monks responsible for teaching meditation should have a lot of experience in meditation. They must, at least, know the principles, objectives and benefits of different meditation techniques. They must have a deep and correct understanding of Right Concentration. 

 

Monks responsible for moral teaching must be experts on Buddhist principles.

 

Guidelines on Instilling Morality in the General Public 

1. When a person does something frequently or repeatedly, it will gradually become a habit. Once it becomes a habity, it will be difficult for the person to change, particularly, a bad habit. For example, most people know that a bad habit. For example, most people know that watching too much television is a waste of time but they still can’t stop themselves from watching television hour-after-hour, since they are already so used to it. Another example is gamblers know that the chance of winning is small while the chance of losing is much greater. Nevertheless, they still gamble. Since it has already become a habit, gamblers cannot stop themselves from gambling.

 

Similarly, if a person does virtuous deeds on a regular basis, they will not easily abandon such good habit because they already realize the value and benefit of virtuous actions. A person who volunteers at a nursing home on a regular basis will not easily give up such work since they see for themselves the values of the work that is provided to others.

 

2. A person can make a living from their worldly knowledge but they can live a happy life only when this knowledge goes hand-in –hand with moral knowledge. Under-standing moral knowledge will lead one to practice standing moral knowledge will lead one to practice virtuous deeds and merits, which open the way to happiness-even in the hereafter. Regardless of levels of education, one cannot have a true understanding of life if one does not study and practice moral principles. Without high moral standards, a person is prone to become unscrupulous, if surrounded by unscrupulous people. 

Although some monks may not have high levels of education, this may not be an obstacle to instilling moral standards in others. They can still be great resources for moral knowledge if they have profound understanding of Buddhist principles and are capable of transmitting the knowledge to others. Monks should train themselves to be virtuous monks by following the Buddha’s teachings. Qualifications attained by strong determination to train themselves will guarantee success in the operation of a kalyanamitra Temple.

 

3. Some of the concepts in Buddhism may be difficult to understand. A person can realize the value of Buddhism only when they regularly practice Buddhist principles and sees the results for themselves. For example, the Law of karma, which describes the effects of each action that will happen in one’s life, may be difficult for some to comprehend at first. Even though one might not yet have profound understanding of the law, if one chooses to follow the teachings by committing only virtuous actions, one will gain positive consequences from one’s action, After seeing satisfying results, then one can have a better understanding of the Law of karma. From this example, one can see that it may not be easy at all for monks to convince others to see things the same way they see them. In order to overcome this obstacle, monks must be able to give good examples and comparison to clarify difficult concepts, When people understand and follow the teachings, they will gradually gain a clearer and more profound understanding of the subjects. 

 

Have a strong determination to create networks of kalyanamitra Temples.

 

4. Close and continuous collaboration with kalyanamitra Homes and Schools will enable the kalyanamitra Temple to achieve its objectives without much difficulty. Such success will fulfil the duties of the Spiritual Mentor – Devotee relationship according to the concept of the Six Directions which are to: teach people not commit any wrongdoing; teach people to do good deeds, and; point out a path to heaven.

 

5. Students studying the theory of music without ever playing an instrument cannot be a musician. Likewise, anyone studying Buddhism without ever practicing meditation or applying Buddhist principles to daily life cannot get fruitful results from Buddhism. Meditation is a very important practice in Buddhism and a tool to bring the kalyanamitra Temple programme to its goal.

 

Activites of kalyanamitra Temple

 

The activities of kalyanamitra Temple 

The activities organized by a kalyanamitra Temple

 

The activities organized by a kalyanamitra Temple may be classified into two types:

 

- Activities associated with religious ceremonies: These ceremonies may be held inside the temple or at a person’s house. In general, these activities are means to express people’s house. In general, these activities are means to express people’s faith in the religion. The participants will have chances to affirm their recognition of benefits of the religion on their lives. A question that one may ask is that how much understanding of the Buddha’s teachings a person can get from attending religious ceremonies. A general

 

1. A kalyanamitra Temple should explain the benefits of following the practices of kalyanamitra Temples to other temples in the community;

 

2. A kalyanamitra Temple should provide advice to other temples on ho to organize activities in order to achieve the objectives of a kalyanamitra Temple; 

3. A temple that has been successful in organizing kalyanamitra activities should provide training for monks from other temples such that they can use similar techniques or activities to teach people;

 

4. A kalyanamitra temple should send monks to help teach at other temples if those temples lack personnel.

 

5. Meetings or seminars should be organized for monks from different temples to meet, discuss and exchange ideas. 

 

Guidelines on Instilling Morality in the General Public

 

Cooperation between temples in order to create networks of kalyanamitra Temples will greatly benefit the society as summarized below:

 

1. Such cooperationis a development to elevate the image of monks or clergy in the eyes of society by indirectly encouraging clergy to fulfil their expected social duties. Monks who cannot improve to keep up with the demands of such cooperation will not be well accepted by the society and will be forced to consider themselves;

 

2. Such cooperation will encourage monks to fulfil their duties as prescribed in the Six Directions;

 

3. If the majority of the congregation have strong faith in Buddhism, monks will have the morale and continuous support to study and practice Buddhist principles and will become a reliable refuge to their congregation, Consequently, more and more people will be interested in practicing Buddhism seriously. Kalyanamitra Homes and Schools will expand to different groups of people in the society, gradally turning unscrupulous people into virtuous ones. Ultimately, there will be peace in the society; 

4. More virtuous people may want to enter monkhood in order to devote themselves for Buddhist studies, purify their minds, and make a contribution to the society. Thus, the number of bogus monks using Buddhism simply as a means to make a living, will automatically be minimized. As a result, Buddhism will not be undermined by the scandalous behaviors of rogues masquerading as monks;

 

5. When Buddhism becomes more firmly established in people’s minds, people will have more chance of accumulating virtuous deeds. Thus, their future lives will be full of happiness;

 

6. When most people have the characteristics of virtuous people, the monk’s duties to educate them will be less tedious. Monks will have more time to focus on personal pursuit of meditation and perfection.

 

 

 To educate and train people in the community to have the Sixteen Characteristics of the True Friend

 

In fact, cooperation between temples in building networks of ka;yanamitra Temples may yield more than the six benefits mentioned here. Although these six benefits may be difficult to obtain, they are not beyond the realm of human endeavour. Those who have experience in providing moral education and training to the public have seen results in pilot studies which are progressively more encouraging. Therefore, it is possible to expand this program to a wider group of people. Some people who have never been exposed to moral education may think that benefits received from building networks of kalyanamitra Temples are a dream.

 

However, non-swimmers are habitually afraid of water but a good swimmer sees a wide river as a challenge. Likewise, people who have been successful in training others to be more virtuous are bolder when it comes to tackling moral problems in society.

 

We cannot deny that critical social, economic, and political problems in many places around the world have arisen because many people act without much consideration or under the influence of defilements their interference only adding to the gravity of the problems. However, if nothing is done, society will keep deteriorating. More and more serious problems will occur.

 

Solving problems by issuing new laws or introducing more serious punishments is only a way to reduce the problem, not a way to eliminate it. Preventing the problem from occurring is always the best alternative. The most effective prevention program is to instill positive core values in peoples’ minds for them to have the standard characteristics of virtuous people. To achieve this, different social sectors must work together.

 

Strong collaboration among kalyanamitra Houses, Schools, and Temples will yield effective results since all parties have the same objectives. The success of such cooperation means peace and prosperity will occur in the community. When peace and prosperity is brought to every community, all critical problems in the country will be eliminated.

 

 

 

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