CHANTING THE CODE OF THE 227 BUDDHIST PRECEPTS BRINGS MERIT
REQUEST TI RETURN TO BUILT TRANSCENDENT VIRTUE
They explained it like this: "Once, back in 2489, when you spent the Lenten saeson with Luang Boo Fun at Papootornpitak Temple in Sakol Nakorn, your recitation of the precept was so good that this house was the result of the merit gained from that chanting. "Hearing this cause Tan Phra ajarn Somchai Tidhawiriyo to feel both very happy and very sorry, sorry becuase previously he had thought the teachers had the policy of making the students chant the precept just to instill diligence. However, now that he had come directly into contact with the results like this, he knew that what the two were sayinf was true. Then he looked out to the east and ase a very beautiful mango gove, with a grassy place to relax, and a waterfall. In fact, ot would be impossible to find aplace so enchanting as the place he saw. So Tan Phra AjarnSomchai asked, "How did this mango grove come into existence?" They replied, "In that same year, 2489, you went out with your alms bowl to a place no other novice wanted to go because the place was so far out and difficult to villagers gave you a bunch of mangoes and you decided to take them back to present to your teachers You did this, offering mangoes to all the monks, leaving not one single mango for yourself. The merit you gained through this act has resulted in the mango grove you see in this place." Tan Phra Ajarn Somchai told me that if he compared his merit with the merit they had gained, which was at such a wonderful level, then 'it would be like comparing him as being an angel at the level of a commoner or beggar with the other angels at the levlel of millionaires or princely beings.' That's why he felt sorry and felt the need to return(to the human world)in order to give himself another chance to build his transcendent virtue anew.
So Tan Phra Ajarn Somchai said to himdelf: "If I have as muchvirtue as Luang Boo Mun, let these angels agree to the request that I will make of them; but if my virute is not sufficient to be of benefit to the Buddhist faith then let them refuse my petition."
Following this, he turned to the angels, put his hands together to show obeisance, and said, "I want all of you to know tha tI was born in this life in clothing stripped od any creed, that is a creed other than that of Buddhism, which taught that death leads to nothingness. That's the reason I am so sorry that if I had know of these things before, I would have given me another chance to build supreme virtue."
When he had finished, the angels raised their hands and said, "So be it." Then they said, Your retur will only be temporary. You must try hard to build complete goodness because the time you will have will be short."
"The human world now is still fortunate to have the teachings of the Lord Buddha and the Buddhist faith. If we are born in a viod that is in world without religion the world will be in dire strairs. Another hing is that it is very difficult for the Lord Buddha to know the real criterion of each monk in the human world. After all, before a monk can build completeness of vitrue, it takes aeons and aeons, doesn't it?"
Then they told Tan Phra Ajarn somchai Tidhawiriyo to look at the stars saying: "Look out there ar all of us who are goingaround is this death birth cycle. The stars we can see number in the countless trillions, with each star being its own universe. Generally speaking, universe can bedivided into two groups, those that give off their own light and those that do notemit any light od their own. We can tell the difference by noticing the stars that giveoff a blinking light - these are the suns that givelight to other worlds. However, there is noo life on these stars. The other stars are still; They are the universes onwhich there is life, and these latter stars can be further dicided into three typed, as follows: Type One. This universe has nothing but suffering, such as in hell. Type two. This universe has nothing but happiness, such as in a supernatural world or heaven. Type three. This universe has a mixture of happiness and suffering. One minute a person is crying, the next laughing; one minute one gets what one desires, the next one is hope and tomorrow one is very well off. It's like this. This type of universe is the 'human world'."
"And each Buddha must be born in the human world because it has a mixture of goodness and evil, of happiness and suffering."
"In the case of the world of hell and heaven, therer is nothing in either to compare. There is only suffering in the one and happiness in the other."
"Thus, the human world is the only place where each Buddha is able to reach an enlightened state. They call it 'the auspicious universe' or should we say the universe of the fortunate?"
Following these words the same two angels whohad fetched Tan Phra Ajarn Somchai took him back to the hut where his body could be seen with the mouth open and the eyes rolled back. After instructing him fir the last time, the two told Tan Phra Ajarn to close his eyes. Immeditately on doing is Tan Phra Ajarn felt as though he were back again in his own body.
However, since his body had been without a soul for 15 hours, he felt that his body was as right as a piece of wood. He had to use every effort to get any movement, first in his hands and then later he was able to move his hands up to release his eyelids so that his eyes stared to blink again. Then he sat up and was able to get to the water jar in front of the hut where he was able to massage and strach his joints. Then he went on to the pavilion wherehe ate ravenously, finishing exactly at noon. He had been in a state of unconsciousness for a little over 15 hours.
At this point I had a chance to ask Tan Phra Ajarn Somchai to relate some ither experiences that he had had - other than of his 'death,' I mean. He was kind enough to tell me many other things, and so I will tell you about them in brief because I think these thoughts are very worthwhile and warrant much study.
I asked about the tiomethat he saw what the life of the angels or residents of the supernatural world was like, and whether he thought it was possible that it was true what some books and annals, and some teachers, said about heaven: that there was fighting and snatching of other person's children and wives. I meant in the way that stories like this are told about Buddhism and Brahminism. But I was not interested in these stories like this are told by individuals; what I wondered was "how qas it that true heaven could have wars and killings." The annals say it was to size terroitory ot other's children and wives. If heaven is really like that then it' no different from the human world because it is the human world that is full of evil and lust. Or, if you think of it in another way, then the world of the humans has a grear deal of things that arestranger than the things in heaven. For example, "In heaven elephants and horses are used for transportation, where as in the world of the humans there are rockets and airplanes. I felt very concerned about this because it is very important to religion. If things are really as I have said, no one id going to want to go heaven because they know they will not find peace there. The people of the world are aiready fed up wit wars, and then they would find only warfare in heaven as well."
That's why I asked Tan Phra Ajarn somchai Tidhawiriyo to give an answer to this problem so that the people would be able to see the real peinciples of the Buddhist faith.When I haf finished saying these things, Tan Phra Ajarn sat contemplanting the problem for a few minutes. Then he answered like this: "To learn what the heaven of Buddhism is or is not we will have to first stduy what it means inour Buddhism and what it means in Brahminism. If we follow the peinciples of Buddhism, we have to look at what the Lord Buddha said, 'Heaven comes about as a result of the accumulation of merits; there is no one who can build heaven. It comes as the result of good deeds.' That's why it's called the 'heavenly or supernatural world.' There you won't float away on water, fire will not burn you' and no one can steal anything. It's like your inner thoughts that no one can take it away from you. And one's accumulated merit is the same; if someone could take it away from us no one would want to perform meritorious acts. If this were not so, we could steal the merits of others or they could steal ours. But that doesn't happen. In brief, then, the heaven of Buddhism is a place free of envy, and with no envy there's no struggle to take others' property and there's exploitation of one another."
"Another point about what you said about heaven using animals and carts for ttransportation and the human world having rockets and aircraft: When I heard this I was reminded that I had seen this same thing in the Brahmin scriptures when I was a child. My grandfather, Khun Luang Sena, told me about this when I was still a believer in the Hindu faith. Later on I learned about the teachings in Buddhism and became a believer in the Buddhist faith. Then, when I studied further I was surprised to find reference to angels in Buddhism, too. I don't know how or when this became a part of Buddhist beliefs. Also, I don't think angels need any mode of tranaport to get from place to place. They have the ability to move by simply willing it to happen. It's similar to our own thoughts: wwe can shift our thoughts at will and we don't need any form of transport to do so. Suppose someone were unconventional enough to build a mind or thought transporter - then what a mess things would be, don't you think?"
Then I asked Tan Phra Ajarn Somchai this: "How did you feel whn you were there in that heavenly world?" He answered: "It's just as I have said: There were many strange things different from our world. For example, the palaces and other places were all very beatiful and fascinating. When I asked who ahd built these things, they replied that no one had built them anf that they ahd come about of their own. That's thereson for the name 'supernatural world.' This made me suspicious so I asked, "I'm already dead, aren't I?' 'Yes,' they replied, 'you've already died. Dying like this there is nothing to fear; it's just like we were human again. We can go anywhere we wish, with our bodies coming along just the same as when we were alive.' Then they told me: 'Our bodies can be classified into three separate groups: The Essential Body. This refers to the coarse bodily functions that we see with our materialistic eyes. This type of body is suited to the human world. The Divine Body. This means the finer bodily aspects seen with spiritual eyes. This type is suited to the celestial world. The Roghteous Body or the Bodies of the Buddha. This refers to the body of a saint, a pure person free of human passion, one suited to enlightenment.'
As soon as I heard the above, I thought of the past when we studied the dhamma and now at last I was just able to understand what this matter of the three bodily types really meant."
I went on to ask Tan Phra Ajarn Somchi this: " Then is the fighting and warfare of the angels that is written in the legends really possible?" Tan Phra Ajarn answered: "No, it is not possible because when one gets there one's mind has changed completely. One feels so impressed and tender; and one's merit is manifested so clearly that all doubt has disappeared. So how could one feel like fighting or going to war? I don't think there's any way that this could happen since one has one's remorse for one's sins and one's conscience with one at all times. So what you have said about remorsefulness and conscience being the natural truth of the angels is true. And the person who has these two qualities thyoughout his or her life will upon death without a doubt become a part of the heavenly angels."
Then I asked Tan Phra Ajarn Somchai this: From what you have seen of the heavenly world, whatdid you notice about it that was different from the human world?" He answered: "There were so many things that it would be impossible to tell you aboout them. So let me tell you about just a few things I remember and saw clearly.
"When one first steps into this world one sees trees that are arranged very orderly and are very tall. Even the grass under our feet is smooth with no hilly areas. Above us the branches of the trees are all interwined making the area shady and beautiful.
"On reaching each welling the owner comes out to greet us in a friendly manner and then invite us in. This reception has no equal on earth. There is one strange thing, though: there were no babies or children everyone was an adult. And in their welcoming reception there was no food, drink or the like served. As for tthe movement of the angels and my own movement when they took me around there was no form of transport used. What happened was that once a place was decided on, we were there instantly. Each place I visited, from what remember, had neither a kitchen nor a bathroom of any kind. And each angel appeared in good heslth, and I felt the same because everyone felt so fulfilled. There was never any hunger pangs. All of this shows us that in this heavenly world they live in fulfillment, that is, in fulfillment with their meritious deeds.
"I noticed many things. For example, in each dwelling that I saw there was large and open with very intricate designs, like those in a castle. The angels did not wear the pointed headdresses that the stories tell us they wear; I saw nothing like that. I'm sorry I'm not an artist so I cannot draw what I saw for you. But one thing I did nitice was that the angels were not all of equal rank. Some that I saw were of a higher rank who had a lot of followers and resided in a castle which was adorned with all sorts of paraphernalia. When I sae their castle I thought of my own place and felt a bit sorry for myself. Some of the angels acted as servants but even the level of a servant in the heavenly world were better than the level of a ruler in the human world. However, I cannot compare this lavel of a an empepor because I've never seen an empepor. What I mean in saving they are better odd than an earthly ruler is that they have nothing to do in heaven. Each possesses constant fulfillment. In this heavenly world there's no envy, no enmity, no killing or warfare. When I asked who had built these things, they replied that no one had built them and that they hadcome about of their own. That's the reason for the namr 'supernatrual world.' This made me suspicious so I askd, 'I'm already dead, aren't I?' 'Yes,' they replied, 'you've already died. Dying like this there is nothing to fear; it's just like we were humanagain. We can go anywhere we wish, with our bodies coming along just the same as when we are alive.' Then they told me: 'Our bodies can classifed into three separte groups. In this heavenly world there's no envy, no no enmity, no killing or warfare. Nakorn. He stayed there for a while before going on to Tah Baw District and Then on to a temple built by Luang Boo Fun called Phra Ngam Sri Mongkhol in Nong Khai Province. After practicing the dhamma there for a short period, he left and set out for Mukdaharn Province, intending to find a sulteable place for practice of dhamma there.
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Developer by Mr. Taweesak Rattanakom Science Computer, Rajabhat Institute Rambhaibarni  |