Essential Themes of Buddhist Lectures Sayadaw U Thittilla BO S B e DHANET ' UD O K LIB R A R Y E-mail:
[email protected] Web site: www.buddhanet.net Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc. Essential Themes of Buddhist Lectures by Sayadaw U Thittila Essential Themes of Buddhist Lectures Sayadaw U Thittila Sukhi Hotu Sdn Bhd 1A-2 First Floor, Mayang Plaza Jalan SS26/9, Taman Mayang Jaya 47301 Petaling Jaya Selangor Tel 03 7062833 Fax 03 7062733 42V Jalan Matang Kuching 11500 Air Itam Penang Tel 04 8277118 Fax 04 8277228 This layout edition © SukhiHotu All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the Publisher. First edition – 3500 copies (1992) Revised edition – 3000 copies (1997) Book layout and cover art design by Hor Tuck Loon ISBN Email:
[email protected] The contents that follow in this small publication comprise a collection of expanded notes prepared for unconnected individual talks on Buddhism giv en in the West by the author over the period 1938– 1983. They are not, therefore, subject matter nec essarily for consecutive reading. To give the differing teaching material and informa tion surrounding the main themes, repetition of phraseology in respect of the themes themselves is an unavoidable feature; thus each short article is here reproduced as originally conceived and without regard to any repetition. Essential Themes of Buddhist Lectures Sayadaw U Thittila 4 CONTENTS Part 1 INTRODUCTORY ARTICLES OR TALKS ON BUDDHISM 1 THE BUDDHA .......................................................... 9 2 THE BUDDHA AND HIS MESSAGE ............................... 18 3 WHAT IS BUDDHISM? ............................................... 22 4 BUDDHISM ............................................................. 27 5 THERAVADA BUDDHISM ............................................ 33 6 THE MEANING OF BUDDHISM (EXTRACT) ..................... 47 7 WHAT BUDDHISM MEANS TO A BUDDHIST ................... 51 8 BUDDHISM: THE PATH TO WISDOM (B.B.C. TALK 1948). 63 9 A SHORT HISTORY OF BUDDHISM .............................. 70 10 VESAKHA FESTIVAL .................................................. 77 Part 2 TALKS INVOLVING SILA IN PARTICULAR 11 BUDDHISM IN BURMA................................................ 86 12 B.B.C. EUROPEAN SERVICE GENERAL NEWS TALK........ 92 13 A BUDDHIST VIEW OF WORLD PEACE .......................... 99 14 WORLD FELLOWSHIP THROUGH BUDDHISM .................. 105 15 PARAMI ................................................................... 120 5 Part 3 TALKS INVOLVING SAMADHI IN PARTICULAR 16 THE MIDDLE PATH ................................................... 129 17 BUDDHIST METTA..................................................... 143 18 COMPASSION............................................................ 159 19 THE WAY TO NIBBANA .............