Page 35 - Applied Buddhism

of global Buddhism as well as the future of Thailand as a leading when human society puts due emphasis on purification of the mind
Buddhist nation. Thailand is well known in the world as a leading can we hope to see a better life in this world.
Buddhist country, and it can contribute tremendously to humankind
by spreading Buddhism to the world. At the personal level, an untrained or impure mind leads us to
commit evil and encourages us to indulge in our senses, thereby
Huntington, the author of Clash of Civilizations, rightly pointed making us slaves to our senses and unable to see and do the right
out that, politically, there is no “big brother” among Buddhist nations things. With an untrained and impure mind that is continuously fed
in this world, unlike Christian nations, which has a ‘big brother” in by the senses, we will not be able to see the true nature of Dharma
the USA. I think it is also true that, in terms of Buddhist propagation, (phenomena) around us and gain the final bliss of Nirvāṇa. No
there is no country which can claim supreme leadership. What amount of meritorious deeds or dāna or prayer to unknown forces
we see today is that several countries, such as Thailand, China would lead a person to attain the final goal of Nirvāṇa, if the mind
(including Taiwan), Japan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, are countries is impure.
that many of us in non-Buddhist countries look to for leadership.
I am glad to note that in recent times, Thailand’s role is gaining An untrained and impure mind also leads one to many mental
importance especially among Buddhists in South East Asia. problems such as frustration, worry, stress, misery, anxiety and
fear. It is now well-accepted by medical science that these mental
Venerable Sirs, Brothers and Sisters, problems are the contributory causes of many diseases such as
cancer, high blood pressure, heart attack, stomach ulcers and
The Buddha’s teaching is aptly summarised by the following gastritis. Many of these diseases can be avoided if people spend a
phrases, “Avoid evil, do good, and purify one’s mind.” While few minutes a day developing a healthy mind.
avoiding evil and doing good is found in practically all great
religious and moral systems in the world, purification of one’s mind So it is important for us to purify or develop our minds, if not
is not found or not given due emphasis in many of these systems. for our eventual liberation then at least for our good health, although
This lack of emphasis on purification of the mind means not tackling achieving good health is only a by-product of Buddhist meditation.
human problems at its root; hence human problems and conflicts
persist. But how do we go about purifying our own minds? The
Buddha taught us to purify our minds by bhāvanā, or meditation.
At the societal level, we can see for ourselves how greedy We normally translate bhāvanā as meditation, but some Buddhists
people amassed wealth at the expense of exploiting others; how think it is incorrect to call bhāvanā “meditation”. The monk and
hateful people go around killing others in the name of religion; and scholar Walpola Rahula wrote,
how deluded people indulge in their senses in pursuit of happiness.
The impure mind is creating untold suffering to humankind. Only “The word meditation is a very poor substitute for the original

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