The Sixth Buddhist Council

The picture in my blog header shows the man-made cave used for the Sixth Buddhist Council.

Soon after regaining Independence, the Government of Myanmar began plans to hold a Sixth Buddhist Council (Chaṭṭha  Saṅgāyana) in Myanmar, with four other Theravāda Buddhist countries (Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos) participating. For this purpose the Government dispatched a mission to Thailand and Cambodia, composed of Nyaungyan Sayādaw, Mahāsi Sayādaw, and two laymen. The mission discussed the plan with leading Buddhist monks of those two countries.

In the historic Sixth Buddhist Council, which was inaugurated with every pomp and ceremony on 17th May 1954, Mahāsi Sayādaw played an eminent role, undertaking the exacting and onerous tasks of Final Editor (Osana) and Questioner (Pucchaka). A unique feature of this Council was the editing of the commentaries (Aṭṭhakathā) and Subcommentaries (Ṭīkā), as well as the canonical texts. In the editing of this commentarial literature, Mahāsi Sayādaw was responsible for making a critical analysis, sound interpretation, and skilful reconciliation of several crucial, but divergent passages.

A significant result of the Sixth Buddhist Council was the revival of interest in Theravāda Buddhism among Mahāyāna Buddhists. In 1955, while the Council was in progress, twelve Japanese monks and a Japanese laywoman arrived in Myanmar to study Theravāda Buddhism. The monks were initiated into the Theravāda Buddhist Saṅgha as novices while the laywoman was made a Buddhist nun. Then, in July 1957, at the instance of the Buddhist Association of Moji, the Buddha Sāsana Council of Myanmar sent a Theravāda Buddhist mission to Japan. Mahāsi Sayādaw was one of the leading representatives of the Burmese Saṅgha in that mission.

Also in 1957, Mahāsi Sayādaw undertook the task of writing an introduction in Pāli to the Visuddhimagga Atthakathā, to refute certain misstatements about its famous author, Ven. Buddhaghosa. The Sayādaw completed this difficult task in 1960, his work bearing every mark of distinctive learning and depth of understanding. By then the Sayādaw had also completed two volumes (out of four) of his Burmese translation of this famous commentary and classic work on Buddhist meditation.

Fake News

As far as possible, one should avoid speech that is displeasing to others, but sometimes it is necessary to refute untruths. Nowadays, there is a lot of fake news available as it is easy for rumours to spread without anyone checking the facts. Even before the invention of the Internet, this was a problem. Sir Winston Churchill said: “A lie gets half way around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” (Brainy Quotes)

Politicians with an agenda use lies and half-truths to stir up hatred between different groups. Religious and political leaders should be promoting tolerance and harmony, but many seek their own advantage by spreading intolerance and racism. In the Dabbhapuppha Jātaka, a wily jackal saw two otters disputing over the ownership of a fish. He offered his services to make a judgement on their dispute. They agreed, so he gave the head to one, the tail to the other, and took the middle for himself.

In any community where there are people of different religions, or from different ethnic backgrounds, the entire community can be prosperous if they co-operate and remain in harmony. Even within a family or a workplace there can be disputes. Wherever harmony is destroyed, everyone suffers. People may be lynched or beaten to death on the basis of a rumour. Careers, friendships, and marriages can be destroyed by false allegations. Anyone who claims to be fighting the war on error should make a proper inquiry before accepting as true the statement of another, words written in any book or on the Internet. Whenever accusations of serious wrong-doing are made, such as murder, theft, or sexual assault, a proper investigation should be made by the police and a judgement made in the courts. If the decision is just, everyone should accept it and abide by the ruling. If it is not, then one can appeal to a higher court, or just accept it as the result of past evil kamma and get on with one’s life. The world is full of injustice, and it is seldom worthwhile dedicating one’s entire life to reversing an unjust decision.

Free OpenType Fonts for Pali

I have updated my Pali OpenType font to include all of the currency symbols, including those new in Unicode version 10.0

Pali Typeface Download Pali as a  7-Zip  Archive.

I need fonts with a wide range of diacritics for Pāḷi and Sanskrit words in Buddhist Publications. Over the years I have added a full set of Latin Extended Additional for the benefit of Vietnamese Buddhists, basic Greek, and a full set of Miscellaneous Symbols and Dingbats.

Version 10.0 of Unicode added another currency symbol for Bitcoin. I have added this to my latest fonts to complete support for the Currency Symbols character set.

OpenType features were added using FontCreator 11.5 from High-Logic.

Typeface Sample

Latest Updates

Earlier versions used Contextual Ligatures for Velthuis Encoding of Pāḷi, which led to problems for some users. These newer versions now use a Stylistic Set, which is not enabled by default.

A Bitcoin currency symbol has been added, and some more superscripts and subscripts to use with fractions like (a+b)/c-d).

Version 3.90 adds Stylistic Alternates for gold drop capitals — the Pagoda Symbol is now gold too.

The Stylistic Set for symbols was changed to Character Variants, and a second Stylistic set was added for Romanian Alternate forms: Şş and Ţţ (Localised forms are not supported by the Serif Apps that I use). More superscript and subscript glyphs were added for the fractions feature, which now works for fractions like x+y/(a-b). The fonts were validated to remove suspicious points and other bugs.

Acariya Typeface  • Download 

Cankama TypefaceDownload

Guru TypefaceDownload

Sukhumala TypefaceDownload

Verajja TypefaceDownload

Verajja Serif TypefaceDownload

The Reclining Buddha

The image of a Reclining Buddha that I use in my Forum Profile has great significance in Buddhism. The image is not of the Buddha sleeping, but of him lying on his death-bed just before his final passing away (parinibbāna). For most people, the last hours of a beloved parent is a moment of great sadness, and the dying person may be greatly distressed too, fearful of what might lie ahead, or grief at separation from loved ones. However, in the case of the Buddha, it was the moment of his final victory over Māra. On the eve of his Enlightenment, he gained personal realisation of the truth and liberation from suffering, but his duty was not yet complete. He had to strive and face adversity for forty-five more years in order to propagate and establish his teaching.

During his last Rains Retreat (August to October) the Buddha was visited by Māra urging him to pass away as he had already accomplished his task of establishing the monastic communities of monks and nuns, and his teaching would therefore be continued after his demise. The Buddha told Māra to wait, and declared that three months from that time he would attain the final nibbāna. This event recorded in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta is significant, because it would put the date of the Buddha’s demise sometime in January, not in May when the Buddha’s final demise is usually commemorated in most Buddhist traditions.

In Theravāda countries, the anniversary of this great event passes by unnoticed in January. The full-moon day this year is 12th January.

The photograph in my profile is, I think, taken of the “Nine-storey Buddha” in Rangoon, which is a huge reclining Buddha not far from the Mahāsi meditation centre. There is an older and more famous statue in Pegu, called the “Shwethalyaung Piya.”

I cannot Stand Intolerance

If there is one thing that I cannot stand, it’s intolerance. Many countries are populated by people from a wide range of ethnic origins, speaking different languages, and holding divergent views on religion and ethics. Diversity is not a new phenomenon, and intolerance is not a new human trait. The caste system existed during the time of the Buddha, and it still exists now. Barbaric practices and punishments existed then, and they still exist today in many places.

Buddhists are supposed to be tolerant, but there’s a lot of Islamophobia and prejudice among some Buddhists. Burmese soldiers are rarely pious Buddhists, but they are only able to slaughter innocent Moslems or Christians because they are ignorant of the Buddha’s teaching, and urged on by a climate of fear, hatred, and intolerance. 

Tolerance should not be confused with some kind of bleeding-heart liberalism that is afraid to criticise what is blameworthy. When a country’s leaders are intolerant and stir up racial tensions, it’s disastrous for the entire nation. No one needs to tolerate what they find agreeable and supportive to their own views. It is when others hold obnoxious views that tolerance is required.

I think that most people are wasting their lives with sensual indulgence, politics, war-mongering, or other worthless pursuits, but that’s their choice. If I don’t approve of what they doing, I can do whatever I think is worthwhile and beneficial to myself and others. If others ask, ”What should I do?“ I can advise them to meditate, study the Buddha’s teaching, etc., which will be for their long-term welfare. If they don’t ask, it is nothing that I need to worry about. I can give my opinion, even unasked, but that is rarely effective.

Extreme Views to be Avoided

There are many religious views that are intolerant, and that do not fit with the Buddha’s teaching of openness and freedom of inquiry. Communities like the Hasidic Jews isolate themselves from the larger society, as it is the only way to maintain their narrow-minded view of the world. Their reasons for isolation are similar to those of the Amish, who see modern education as a threat to their community. Cults of all kinds rely on the same kind of restrictions on their members to keep them from leaving to seek their own happiness, and liberation from clinging to views.

If one makes a thorough inquiry into Buddhism, one will find therein methods for the abandoning of views.  At one time, a wanderer known as Dīghanakha (long nails) approached the Buddha and stated his own view: “I do not approve of anything.” The Buddha replied: “If this is your view, Aggivessana, ‘I do not approve of anything,’ do you also not approve of this view?” The Buddha immediately showed that Dīghanakha was attached to his own view.

There is right-view, and there are many wrong-views, but even right-views should not be clung to, even more then should wrong-views be abandoned. The teaching of the Buddha should be regarded as a raft for crossing over a river in flood. After crossing, one should abandon the raft, not carry it on one’s shoulders.

There are three wrong-views that are particularly dangerous:

  1. The belief in Almighty God. The idea that the happiness and sorrow experienced by living beings is the will of an Almighty God. There is no evidence for any such being that stands up to scrutiny.
  2. The second dangerous belief is the idea that the happiness and sorrow experienced by living beings is the result of previous kamma. This is fatalism, not the teaching of the Buddha on causality. Some things are the result of kamma done in previous existences, but much more depends on our actions, speech, and thoughts in the present life. The law of kamma gives us the power to create our own happiness, and to remove the causes for our own misery.
  3. The third dangerous belief is that there is no cause or reason for anything. If this view is adopted there is no reason to do good or to avoid evil; no benefit to be gained by seeking knowledge or spiritual development.

The above three wrong views should be shunned. Each of them is very dangerous to society. Others will believe and follow such wrong-views, whatever one says, but it is right to criticise intolerant views. The views that a person holds are the seeds that he or she plants and nourishes. Sooner or later they bear fruit in speech and actions that have consequences. If one plants mango seeds, one will obtain mango fruits; if one plants bitter-gourd seeds, one will harvest only bitter-gourds.

See the Bīja Sutta (The Seed) on one’s view being the determining factor that leads to good or bad results.

The Salla Sutta

The Salla Sutta is found in the Suttanipāta.  The Buddha taught the Salla Sutta for the benefit of a certain householder whose son had died. Unable to abandon his grief, the householder had not eaten for seven days.

It is not as well known as other discourses in the same collection, but it deserves to be taught more often. When affected by grief, sorrow, and despair due to loss of loved ones, or change of circumstances, there is no more effective method for the removal of grief than acceptance of the way things are.

The Pāḷi word “Salla” means an arrow or dart. Grief is self-inflicted — no one is immune from aging, disease, and death. If you understand the truth of suffering fully, you can just let go, and pull out the arrow of sorrow, grief, and despair at once.