From left: Novice Ananda and Novice Kyle.

Realizing that death is inevitable, the one who loves life on earth will go into a devout prayer expressing the hope that his soul will survive in heaven. No man can be happy in such a tempest of fear and hope. Yet it is hard to despise or ignore these manifestations of the instinct for self-preservation. There is however a method of overcoming this fear. Forget the concept of self; turn one’s love of the inward outwards, i.e. provide humanitarian service and to shower love on others. Whoever constantly keeps in mind the fact that he would someday be subjected to death and that death is inevitable, would be eager to fulfill his duties to his fellow human beings before death, and this would certainly make him heedful in respect of this world and the next. Being engrossed in service to others, you will soon release yourself from the heavy selfish attachments, hopes, vanity, pride and self-righteousness. ~By Venerable Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda

Give up anger; renounce pride;
transcend all worldly attachments.
No sufferings touch the person
who is not attached to name and form,
who calls nothing one’s own.
Whoever restrains rising anger like a chariot gone astray,
that one I call a real driver;
others merely hold the reins.

Overcome anger by love; overcome wrong by good;
overcome the miserly by generosity, and the liar by truth.
Speak the truth; do not yield to anger;
give even if asked for a little.
These three steps lead you to the gods. Continue reading →

Buddha used to be a rabbit in one of his previous lifetimes

A Tale of Selfless Generosity.

In this lifetime the Bodhisattva was born as an animal, a rabbit. Yet even as a rabbit, he possessed incredible virtue, goodness, beauty, and vigor; so much so that the other animals viewed him as their king. None feared him and none caused him fear. Among his devoted following, three animals in particular became his closest students and companions. They were an otter, a jackal, and a monkey, who through the Bodhisattva’s teaching, forgot their lower animal nature and became infinitely compassionate themselves.

As instructed by the rabbit in a teaching one night, it was customary that on the next day, a holy day, to offer alms to anyone who passes through their forest. Later that night, the rabbit was distraught as he realized he had nothing to offer. His three companions had ample means to feed a guest, but the rabbit had nothing but the meager blades of grass he ate to sustain himself, which were far too bitter to offer a visitor. Then he realized he could offer his own flesh as food and without hesitation, decided this was what he would do. Continue reading →

This year, Khmer New Year (Year of the Snake) falls on Sunday April 14. However, the new Buddhist Era (B.E. 2557) does not fall on the same day as Khmer New Year. I see many Khmer Buddhists around the globe, got this mixed up. New Buddhist Era always enter one day after the Buddha’s Day or Vesakha Puja, the day Buddha was born, the day he attained enlightenment, and the day he passed away. So this year, Vesakha Puja will occur on May 24th, 2013. Therefore Buddhist Era 2557 will fall on May 25, 2013, not on April 14, like Khmer New Year. I hope you are willing to correct this important mistake in the future. ~Jendhamuni