The Kingdom of Hungry Ghost and Titan exists in the universe

The Kingdom of Hungry Ghost and Titan exists in the universe
Hungry ghosts and titans are created by excessive cravings for everything. When a person is seized by an excessive craving for something, they become extremely greedy to get it excessively. They may be burnt by extra anger, disappointment, hostility, animosity, resentment, and all the negative emotions that can burn the person as immediately as possible. They are experiencing the energy of hungry ghost here and now, not waiting for you to experience in the hereafter or the next life.
The actions and behaviors caused by such a terrible excessive craving can create the kingdom of hungry ghost and titan because their excessive craving is deeply connected with the kingdom of hungry ghosts, and their actions and behaviors construct the abode for them in the kinbdom of hungry ghost. The excessive craving is the key just to open the door of their abode in the Kingdom of hungry ghost. How terrible it is. You are just responsible for your own excessive craving, your actions and behaviors.
However, you have an opportunity to deal with your excessive craving here and now scientifically while you are living as a human being because the Buddha gave you a technique how to deal with your excessive craving when it is present in you. the technique is simple and easy to use if you are willing to do so. It is just within yourself.
What you have to do is to pay attention to it and mindfully and patiently observe it. You will see its true nature, “arising and passing away.” I’m sure that it will be passed away as soon as you observe it mindfully. this is the only way that can save you from falling into the Kingdom of Hungry Ghost.
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May Thet Hnin, Hay Elna and 7 others

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What is Hināyāna Buddhist school Sir?

What is Hināyāna Buddhist school Sir?

I have never heard of the Buddhist school Hināyāna throughout my life when I was a layman outside the monastic life. I’m now 52. However, I heard of this word, Hināyāna just the word not more than that. I’m not too much interested in any names and labels. These are not important for me. Dhamma itself is the most important in my life.

There has been no Hināyāna school too in my mind since I was young. I have never experienced with Hināyāna Buddhist school but I know there have been two major schools: Theravāda and Mahāyāna in eastern Buddhist countries.

However, when I became a monk, and studied the texts of the Buddha’s Teaching, I unavoidably have to know it because I’m a Buddhist monk. I also thought I must know it. And also, I was getting interested in all the Buddhist schools split from original Buddha’s Teaching.

However, I have never lost my interest in the Buddha’s Teaching because I became a monk when I was fully grown up after my university studying Mathematics. I started my in Buddhism with meditation which touched my heart so closely. Meditation practice changed my life more than a lot.

After I have studied theory in the scriptures and put into practice, I understood the Four Noble Truths are the essence of the Buddha’s Teaching. They are very scientific, experiential and realizable to everyone who practices “Mindfulness-Based Vipassanā” meditation.

No matter who you are, Buddhist or non-Buddhist, if you practice “Mindfulness-Based Vipassanā” meditation, you will experience with the Four Noble Truths because they are within your reach.

Therefore, the essence of the Buddha’s Teaching is the Four Noble Truths truly discovered by the Buddha, by practicing very deep and serious meditation. If there are no “Four Noble Truths” in Buddhist schools of any name split from the original Teaching of Buddha, it will not be called “Buddhist school” but It can be called “superstitious religious schools” based on too many believes and deities.

Such schools will not make us clear and comprehensive but rather confused in the essence of the Buddha’s Teaching which is extremely scientific even to these days in the age of technology.

In my own understanding, “Mindfulness-Based Vipassanā” meditation is the purest form of Buddha’s Teaching proven by science and applicable even in our day-to-day life in these days. Names and labels are not important for me but the essence of the Buddha’s Teaching is the most important of all in Buddhism. I don’t like this word, Buddhism very much. However, it is a conventional term used by many people across the world for a long time. I hope you get it.

Merry Christmas 🎁🎄!

Merry Christmas 🎁🎄!

Just praying or wishing by saying “Merry Christmas” is not enough. We mindfully and wisely have to modify our mind in accordance with our wishes on “Christmas”; it is more important than praying 🙏. Every religion tries to teach good deeds, words and good wishes but all of us must do it as we teach others and as we are taught, don’t we?

Life is too short. No matter what we believe in, and what philosophy we follow, we will definitely die in either far or near future; it is exactly the same to all of us, right? We have to leave everything we thought what we belong to when we die. It is also the same.

At the moment while living, the moral quality seriously developed in determination without being torn even for a little bit of it, charitable works done by deep love for the benefits of entire humanity, and the spiritual practice that develops hygiene of emotions and wisdom will always be with us by keeping us happy and confident forever.

No matter what we believe in, those who are used to doing nonsense and immoral behaviors knowing that these things are evil and wicked will never be happy even though they stand in the people pretending as if they are fully nice. They will never be happy accusing themselves “Oh, I did so many things wrong”.

For those kinds of people, no God and no saintly ones can help them wash their evil minds away to purify them. The only way to wash away their evil minds is to learn their lessons from their wrong doings by feeling deeply regretful and by modifying themselves in time not to do evils again any more. Only then can they get happy and confident again.

Only then will God and saintly ones in the entire universe bless such people who modify their evil minds in time feeling regrettable for their wrong doings. Only then will the power of God and saintly ones and the self-confidence of the victim of wrong deeds, itself, collaboratively wash away all of their evil minds and wrong deeds and purify them.

Therefore, on such great occasion of “Christmas” I wish you all to learn your lessons from your wrong deeds (if you would have done) feeling deeply regretful and try to modify your own mistakes by clearly admitting not to repeat them again. Then, try to let go of the past. Then, from such a great occasion of Christmas onwards, you should try to rebuild your happiest and the best future mindfully and wisely by doing all everything the best you can. “Merry Christmas” again.

Ashin Kelasa, who loves everyone
Mahagandhayon monastery
Amarapura
Myanmar.

My New Year’s wishes to the world

My New Year’s wishes to the world

The year 2019 is going to be changed to the new year 2020 very soon but don’t forget that it is just the label, nothing more. People all over the world will welcome to the new year 2020 as usual by loudly screaming ‘Happy New Year’ and clasping very traditionally with loud noice.

However, if all of us still cherish our old useless ideas that have not worked well so far for the solution we need, and if we also carry them on to the new year, how can we truly and properly welcome to new year 2020?

By learning weaknesses and strengths from old year, 2019, We all each individual must be ready to let go of our old habitual patterns, ideas, opinions, emotions and the techniques, whatever that have not worked well so far for the solution we need.

We must prepare with all newly updated and modified wishes, ideas, opinions and techniques to welcome to such a pure and innocent new year 2020 coming soon.

What I want to advise you all, monks and laypeople is to add just 2 minutes breathing meditation in your everyday’s life as new year resolution. Only then will your new year be so blessed and precious. You will see the benefits by your own experience and by your own direct knowledge.

You should also determine that you will do just 2 minutes breathing meditation everyday till the end of the year 2020. Now, you will know how to do this two minutes meditation in your everyday’s life.

Here is how to do for the 2 minutes meditation

As soon as you wake up, before you get up, at the moment while lying down on your bed, you should prepare your reclining position in a comfortable way and relaxed and pay attention to your breathing as they are “coming in and going out” just for two minutes in bed while comfortably lying down.

It must be just 2 minutes, please, no more but you must do it everyday for the whole year 2020. It will bring you a very satisfactory benefit and will make you achieve whatever you wish.

Believe me. All positive things will come to you on your way ahead by doing so because your awareness, concentration, attention and wisdom will become stronger day by day and keep you spiritually healthy and resilient to everything you have to face. It will help you a lot more than that. You just need to do it without words. You know ‘Actions speak louder than words’.

I hope you all will do so.
May the coming new year 2020 bring you all the auspicious blessings, joy, happiness, peace, safety and security, prosperity, benefits and all bests of the bests.

The Quality of the Dhamma and Religion

The Quality of the Dhamma and Religion

Religion concerns only those who believe in it but Dhamma, taught by the Buddha, concerns the entire universe because everything is working in its nature of cause and effect in the flux of the phenomena arising and passing away. It is very simple.

The scholars want to make a simple thing complicated because they want the other to see that they are more intelligent, smarter and more important than everyone else except them.

However, the wise developed by practical experiences in most of their life situations make everything easier, clearer and more precise to see and to understand so that they can make people convince as clearly as they do.

The Buddha and His disciples are truly wise persons of the entire world, the simplest and the most sincere human beings among all of us because they are morally straight and spiritually the most sincere.

Without practicing “Mindfulness-Based Vipassanā” meditation good enough, it is very dangerous to protect Dhamma in its pristine purity. And also, you will be very difficult to see real Buddha and real Dhamma without practicing it well and skillful enough.

Actually the Dhamma is wholeheartedly and respectfully followed by the science nowadays. Quite many scientists are tracing back the Path of Dhamma taught by the Buddha. However, “Religion without science is blind but science without religion is lame”, said Elbert Einstein.

Please, read it carefully; it will give you a practical clue on the idea of rebirth

Please, read it carefully; it will give you a practical clue on the idea of rebirth

I have one faithful European Vipassanā meditation student who has faithfully and loyally followed and respected me and my teaching of Vipassanā meditation till the last moment of his life. We have had a long time relationship between he and I for more than two decades on the path of “Mindfulness-Based Vipassanā meditation practice”. Two years age, he unexpectedly passed away by cancer at his operation room of hospital in Austria. When I received the email that mentioned “He passed away”. I couldn’t accept it at once because I have never heard of he has suffered for cancer. However, it was a real message from his responsible doctor.

Last night, around 12 p.m. he gave me a dream that he was born in a celestial abode as a beautiful shining celestial being with other friends. In the dream, he said, “Ashin, I was so lucky to meet you, accept you as my spiritual teacher and practice “Mindfulness-Based Vipassanā Meditation” with you as you taught me more than two decades. I’m so happy to be born now in celestial abode and to continue practicing the technique as you taught me while I was with you. Please, keep practicing and teaching people. Do not go away from such a beautiful forest. As you said, nature is perfect with meditative mind and with contemplative monk like you. Thank you so much for your Teaching.”

What a strange thing to me is that I have no time to dream while sleeping because I’m used to sleeping for 5 hours everyday because of my active and intensive and attentive meditation everyday but I’m quite happy to see that my long time meditation student, now a celestial being, Ewald is so shining and satisfied with his new life that made me really interesting.

Whether you believe it or not, Ewald came to me last night at midnight and talked to me very pleasantly and satisfactorily in the dream. I don’t want to write it down on Facebook but I think that I should share it with my meditation students across the world including Myanmar. If they are interested in something new like that, they can see it.

Of course, he didn’t intend to be born in such a celestial abode as a celestial being by practicing this meditation. However, We both see that the benefits from meditation practice are visible to our lives. We both are very practical and living day after day life.

We have never argued with each other for the next life or the existence of a certain God because it will stupidly waste our precious time but we live very mindfully in day-to-day life. We are very practical. We have never wasted our precious time by talking about the past but always reminded to learn our lessons from the past. It is the truth.

Thanks a lot Ewald for the beautiful and wonderful dream you give me. Take a good care in your new celestial life and please, continue practicing “Mindfulness-Based Vipassanā Meditation” as I taught you. It will bring you a great benefit visible to you.
Deep regards
Yours

Buddha Dhamma and western scientific world today

Buddha Dhamma and western scientific world today

Why are the westerners interested in the Dhamma and meditation?

They are respectfully listening to the Dhamma talk in the retreat course and put it into practice diligently and attentively. Why are the westerners interested in Dhamma and meditation? It is because of western science, their skills of modern education, their genius brains and gifted hearts.

Particularly, the neuroscientists discovered a very positive relation between meditation and human brain. They are not practicing meditation religiously to attain something else but they scientifically believe that mindfulness meditation practice brings positive benefits in their day-to-day life.

Of course, in these days, mindfulness meditation has scientifically already been tested by a quite many scientists; they discovered practical benefits from mindfulness meditation by scientific test and research. This is the reason why mindfulness meditation becomes popular in western world.

I’m so happy to teach them mindfulness meditation, to be with them feeling like home and to practice with them experiencing their love of Dhamma and love of such a compassionate Buddhist monk and the Buddha’s Teachings.

At the same time, I want to shout at my people in Burma or modern myanmar “Please, be serious with your Buddhism and Buddha Dhamma and please be more scientific than religious and please, be serious with practice than religious prayer. Dhamma and meditation is nowadays scientifically tasted by very well-known scientists in the western developed world.

Of course, they love Buddha, Dhamma and compassionate Sangha practicing mindfulness meditation in a scientific approach to find the truth but I’m sure that they do not practice Buddhism as a religion. However, they strongly and deeply respect and love Buddhism as a way of life; they scientifically believe that they need to do it in their every day life as a spiritual tonic.

I believe that my meditation is my friend that can make a true friendship (Kalyānamitta) with everyone who loves to live peacefully, happily and harmoniously in everyday life doing nothing against any faiths of the world. I feel that I gradually become a global citizen to see human being as they truly are by wisely taking off names and labels. Love and trust everyone wisely. I hope you all get it.

Something special happens in this April retreat

Something special happens in this April retreat

My father and late mother, they both are real Burmese couple. Actually, my mother passed away when I was about 8 years old boy. This is one of the strongest reasons why I took retreat at my young age to find solution for so much Suffering of my late mother. As soon as I finished my university majoring Mathematics, I intentionally went to meditation center for retreat. After six months long course of meditation practice, I requested my meditation teacher to become a monk if possible.

Actually, they didn’t let me do easily because they told me that being a monk is not easy. However, I told them that I would tried my best. Then they allowed me to do it. Since I became a monk, I have left home and gone forth to homeless monastic life in the Buddha’s Teaching and have done both study and practice enthusiastically and energetically for finding the solution from Suffering of my late mother.

This year in April retreat in my forest, my father, an 85 years old gentle man took retreat guided by me after 30 years I left home. I’m now 53. My father is 85. He was so much delighted in meditation practice by following my instruction. I’m also happy to see that he enjoyed meditation practice in the forest even if it is the first time for him.

He was curiously observing everything and everyone surrounding me and taking care of me because he always thinks that I’m a 24 years old young boy in his eyes forever. Finally, he kneeled down at my presence to pay respect for all of my wise teaching in the seven days’ retreat course. It is something really special for me in my life.

Could you please kindly explain the difference between “Rebirth and Reincarnation”?

Q: Ven. Ashin Kelasa, we know that you have traveled to different countries for teaching Dhamma and meditation. we also know that Burma or Myanmar is a strong country of Buddhism like Indonesia in which majority of population is Muslim in Southeast Asia. We respect Burma in which all the Buddha’s Teaching has powerfully been preserved and purely practiced by monks and laypeople. We have read your books that were bought from your monastery, Mahagandhayon when we visited there.

You explained Dhamma very clearly by different means and the way you explained is very simple. We feel great by reading your books. All of sudden, I have a question regarding reincarnation. Could you please kindly explain the difference between “Rebirth and Reincarnation”?This is the question from Germany by email.

A: Well, you are very welcome. I know such a question you asked is usually very popular in the west. When I was there in the west, I was asked to answer the question regarding “reincarnation and rebirth”. Actually, reincarnation is totally different from rebirth in the Buddhism. Reincarnation is Hindu religious belief. There is nothing to do with Buddhist philosophy of rebirth. There is nothing to do with belief or blind faith in the idea of rebirth taught by the Buddha.

Nobody needs to believe in reincarnation or rebirth to become a Buddhist but many people get concerned about whether they have to believe in reincarnation or not when they want to become a Buddhist, particularly in the west. The idea of rebirth is like being reborn every moment.

For example, when you are angry, you are angry person at the moment. You should mindfully observe such an anger in you at moment. When this anger passes away, angry person passes away too. Angry person dies; another person is reborn. It is called “rebirth” taught by the Buddha and accepted in Buddhist philosophy.

When you are happy, you are a happy person at the moment but happy state of mind cannot exist permanently in you. When happy state of mind passes away, happy person passes away too. Happy person dies; perhaps, thinking person is reborn. It is called ‘Rebirth’ according to Buddhism. Rebirth is going on and on in the flux of arising and passing away of physical and mental phenomena almost every moment.

When I say this, I have to explain about “Mindfulness-Based Vipassanā” because it is the only technique that can keep us awake, alert and vigilant to see how often true rebirth is happening within us almost every moment. Therefore, there is a very close connection between rebirth and meditation according to Buddhism. Now, you can see that rebirth has nothing to do with belief but to see rebirth, you have to practice “Mindfulness-Based Vipassanā“ meditation guided by an experienced spiritual friend so that you can see rebirth practically and clearly.

Therefore, reincarnation is totally different from the idea of rebirth taught by the Buddha and accepted in Buddhist philosophy. I hope you get it.

Sunset beauty and sunrise beauty

Young people should be like sunrise beauty that can become brighter and brighter with its hope and innocence shining themselves and the society fully and unconditionally. The old people should be like sunset beauty that is getting browner and darker with its maturity and smile of wisdom leaving everything and everyone with hopes and nice dreams to do like them.

To achieve such beauty, both the young and the elder must practice Dhamma (Mindfulness-Based Vipassanaā meditation) so that you can be freed from sectarian philosophy and belief.

We have to eat the time by developing wisdom so that we can become wisely mature and wisely grown up. Otherwise, we will be eaten by the time in stupid maturity and dishonest smile.

When we are eaten by the time, just old age, sickness and death will be left but when we eat the time by developing wisdom, wise maturity and smile will be left and the young will be inspired and encouraged by our wise maturity and smile.

I hope that everyone learn something from gazing at sunset beauty and sunrise beauty everyday.