Taking Refuge In Buddhism

Taking Refuge in Buddhism Taking Refuge in Buddhism by Sujin Boriharnwanaket Translated from the original Thai by Nina van Gorkom First Edition April 2000 zolag • London First Edition April 2000 zolag 46 Fircroft Road Tooting Bec London SW17 7PS Find us on the web at www.zolag.co.uk ISBN 1 897633 20 3 © 2000 Sujin Boriharnwanaket. All rights reserved. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library. Printed in Great Britain by: Biddles Ltd., Guildford, and King’s Lynn. Front cover picture: Battersea Park Peace Pagoda, London. Contents Preface....................................................................................... 7 Introduction ........................................................................... 11 Chapter 1 ................................................................................ 17 Mental Phenomena and Physical Phenomena Chapter 2 ................................................................................ 27 Confidence in the Buddha’s Teachings Chapter 3 ................................................................................ 37 The Meaning of Dhamma Chapter 4 ................................................................................ 43 Listening to the Dhamma Chapter 5 ................................................................................ 55 Different Degrees of Understanding Chapter 6 ................................................................................ 67 The Eightfold Path Chapter 7 ................................................................................ 77 The Right Way and the Wrong Way Chapter 8 ................................................................................ 89 The Natural Way to develop Understanding Glossary .................................................................................. 99 From the sponsor: Dedicated to the memory of John Kirkpatrick (1921-1999) •7 Preface This book is a compilation of Discussions on Buddhism Ms Sujin had with Cambodians in 1992 and 1993, in Cambodia and in Nakorn Nåyok, near the border between Thailand and Cambodia. The teacher of the group of Cambodians, Mr Buth Sawong, had learnt Thai in seven years in order to follow Ms Sujin’s radio program on Buddhism which can be heard also in Cambodia. Several years ago a blind friend had encouraged him to listen to Ms Sujin. During the day Mr Buth Sawong studied Buddhism and in the evening he explained to others what he had learnt about the development of right understanding of mental phenomena and physical phenomena in daily life. People generally thought that they had to sit and be tranquil in order to develop wisdom as taught by the Buddha; what they learnt from Ms Sujin about the development of understanding in their daily lives was quite new to them. When I met Mr Buth Sawong in Thailand he said that he had never heard before such teaching of the development of right understanding. He was very happy to learn that this development was to be done in daily life. The Thais helped Mr Buth Sawong with a new radio station and now he has his own program on two different stations. He also translated my “Abhidhamma in Daily Life” into Cambodian. One of the members of his group is a magician famous all over Cambodia. He also entertained us with magic tricks when he was in Thailand. More extraordinary is that he, after each magic show, gives a lecture on Buddhism, explaining that his tricks are an illusion and that illusion is different from reality. He said that people should not only have enjoyment in what is only an illusion, but that they should also learn more about realities in their daily lives. 8•Taking Refuge in Buddhism This is the Middle Way the Buddha taught. People do n