28.04.2015 Views

Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

"Though he should live a hundred years, immoral <strong>and</strong><br />

uncontrolled, yet better, indeed, is a single day's life of<br />

one who is moral <strong>and</strong> meditative." (Dhp. 110)<br />

iii. Benefiting others. This resembles "doing good," but<br />

its range is wider. In this aspect one extends beneficent<br />

activities from oneself out to other beings, a natural part<br />

of morality when this is considered in relation to the<br />

doctrine of the paramitas.<br />

All these teachings may be briefly summed up by<br />

saying: If you want to get rid of evil, cultivate good, <strong>and</strong><br />

benefit others: develop meditation.<br />

c. Repetition <strong>and</strong> other good deeds<br />

There are different practices using repetition, but all<br />

require concentration—without it only confusion will<br />

result.<br />

When we are praising the Buddhas <strong>and</strong> Bodhisattvas in<br />

our puja, concentration is very necessary, otherwise<br />

verses will be out of place <strong>and</strong> lines forgotten. The same<br />

applies to the repetition of a mantra: unless the mind is<br />

fully attentive <strong>and</strong> counting carefully, then we easily<br />

become muddled (two beads of the rosary may be<br />

counted as one, or vice versa). If one lacks mindfulness,<br />

some part of a long mantra is easily omitted. Such are<br />

the dangers of reciting mantra.<br />

147

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!