THE DHAMMA Part I Is it a philosophy? The non-aggressive, moral and philosophical system expounded by the Buddha, which demands no blind faith from its adherents, expounds no dogmatic no blind faith from its adherents, ceremonies, but advocates a golden mean that guides a disciple through pure living and pure thinking to the gain of supreme wisdom and deliverance from all evil, is called the Dhamma and ts popularly known as Buddhism. The all-merciful buddha has passed away, but the sublime Dhamma which he unreservedly bequeathed to humanity, still exists inits pristine purity. Although the Master has left no written records of his Teaching his distinguished disciples preserved them by committing to memory and translating them orally from generation to generation. Immediately after hid demise 500 chief Arahats1 versed in the Dhamma2 and Vinaya3 , held a convocation to rehears the D0ctrine as was originally taught by the Buddha. Venerable Ananda Thera, who enjoyed the special privilege of hearing all the discourses, recited the Dhamma, while the Venerable Upali recited the the Vinaaya. The Tipitaka was complied and arranged in its present from by those Arahats of old. During the reign of the pious Sinhala King Vattagamani Abhaya, about 83 BC, the Tipitaka was, for the first time int the history of Buddhism, committed to writing on palm leaves (ola) in Ceylon. The voluminous Tipitaka, which contains the essence of the buddha,s Teaching, is estimated to be about eleven tomes the size of the Bible. A striking contrast between the Tipitaka and the bible is that the former is not a gradual development like latter. As world itself implies the Tipitaka consists of three baskets. They are the Basket of Discipline (Vinaya Pitaka), the Bassket of Discourses (Sutta Pitaka), and Basket of Ultimate Doctrine (Abhidhamma Pitaka). The Vinaya Ptika which is regarded as the sheet anchor of the oldest historic celibate order-the Sangha-mainly deals with rules and regulations which the buddha promulgated, as occasion arose, for the future discipline of the Order of monks (Bikkhus) and nuns sasana (Dispensation). An account of the life and ministry of the Buddha is also given. Indirectly, it reveals some important and interesting information about ancient history, Indian customs, arts, science, etc. The Vinaya Pitaka consists of the following five books: Vibanga: 1. Parajika Pali – Major Offences 2. Pacittiya Pali – Minor Offences Khandaka: 3. Mahavagga Pali – greater Section 4. Cullavagga Pali – Shorter Section 5. Parvara Pali – Epitome of the Vinaya
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 07:30:19 +0000
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