1. Comparative Religions (09.00-10.40)
(101 314) Monday
Asst. Prof. Boon Ketutassa
Many people say , slated to go to England to study in England.
2. Buddhist Ethics (12.30-14.10)
(102 428) Monday
Ven. Ashin Sumanacara
Every aspect of life is regulated by Dhamma.
Dhamma is neither cause by nor under the control of a supreme being and the gods themselves are subject to its, as was the Buddha.
Living in accordance with Dharma and implementing its requirements is thought lead to happiness, fulfillment and salvation; neglecting or transgressing it is said to lead to endless suffering in the cycle of rebirth.
The Four Noble Truths
Dukkha; the processes of body and mind and the experience of life are Dukkha.
Smudaya: Dukkha is caused by craving
Nirodha; can be transcended by destroying craving, and associated
Dukkha is elaborated through an analysis of personality through five kinds of unsatisfactory processes.
Normally we look on ourselves and the world as made up of permanent, desirable, substantial things.
We are thus attached to aspects of ourselves and the world, and so suffer when they change or disappear.
The goal of Buddhism
The aim of overcoming Dukkha, both in oneself and others, is the central preoccupation of Biddhism
The goal of Christianity
The goal of Christianity is the glory of
Teacher, which is the great
On these two commandments, depend the whole law and the Prophets.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
Human Salvation
You can meditate all day, but that won’t change your sinful nature nor forgive you of all your sins.
Only the work of Christ on the Cross is the sufficient payment for our sins, and the means of God’s grace in our lives.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9).
The Buddha says;
Striving should be done by done by yourselves. The Tathagatas are teachers (tumhehi kiccam atappam akkhataro
Buddha
No claim to have a relationship with God there is no God”
Seeing things as they really are
Buddha claimed to point the way through self-enlightenment
Jesus
Jesus came from the Father and truly knew the Father
Doing God’s will
Jesus is the way,
What is Buddhism?
Is Buddhism
Philosophy deals mainly with knowledge and is not concerned with practice; whereas Buddhism lays special emphasis on practice and realization.
Buddhism is not strictly a religion, for it is not a system of faith and worship owing any allegiance to a supernatural God.
Is Buddhism an Ethical System?
Suttas: moral teachings and ethical reflection,
The eightfold path
Prof. Rhys Davids says; Buddhist or no reflect thus: is this deed conducive my harm, or to others harm,
What is the criterion of morality according to Buddhism
If there is a deed, Rahula, you wish to do, reflect thus: is this deed conducive to my harm, or to others harm, or to that of both? Then is this a bad deed entailing fuffering. From such a deed you must resist.
If there is a deed you to do, reflect thus: is this deed not conducive to my harm, nor to others’ harm, nor to that of both? Then is this a good deed entailing
27,1,2012
The doctrine of karma is concerned with the ethical implications of Dhamma, in particular those relating to the consequences of moral behavior (Keown 2005).
· Is Karma a system of reward or punishment?
· Karma is not a system of rewards and punishments meted out by God but a kind of nature law akin to the law of gravity.
Theistic; God (Isvara), who is the creator, the preserver and the destroyer of the world, is believed to the lord of the law of karma.
Hindus conceive it as operating under the supervision of God (Isvara), so it is necessarily dependent on God.
In the Vedic belief, sacrifice was regarded as almost the only kind of duty, and it was also called karma or kriya and the unalterable was that these mystical ceremonies for good or bad, moral or immoral, were destined to produce their effects.
> Thus, the sacrifices performed in accordance with the Vedic teachings might unquestionably be supposed to be good karma which would in turn produce good results.
♠ In the Upanishads, the law of karma is considered as the law of the conservation of moral energy. >
> They laid on this law and the ritual sacrifices as the way leading to the salvation.
“sin could be removed by sacrifices to gods, great emphasis is laid on the law of karma.”
Buddhist Ethical Teaching on Karma
· What is Karma?
· What exactly meant by the idea of “action” in Buddhism?
· Actions can be different types ‘but what is action itself?
q karma as “action” is defined by the word cetanā:
Bhikkhus, volition (cetanā), I say, is kamma.
q Having willed, we create kamma, through body, speech, and mind [AN iii.415].
q The variety of the world is born of karma (action); karma is volition (cetanā) and (also) that which follows from action (i.e., effect or result).
Ø Volition is mental, verbal, bodily action.
Ø It wills (cetayati), thus it is volition (vetana)
Ø it collects, is the meaning.
Ø Its characteristic is the state of willing.
Ø Its function is to accumulate. It is manifested as coordinating.
[Visuddhimagga 463]
Ø In the Visuddhimagga, cetana is described as a state of willing, a state of “coordinating, or as a state of willing, a state of directing things towards a particular course of action.
Ø Herbert Guenther, argues that cetanā corresponds to “our idea of stimulus, motive or drive”; yet, he is against translating cetanā as “volition” (Guenther 1976, 41–44).
Ø Peter Harvey thinks that karma or cetana is the overall “psychological impulse behind an action, which sets going a chain of causes culminating in a karmic fruit” (Harvey 2000, 17).
Ø Damien Keown states that “cetanā is often regarded as a purely cognitive function, as the translation of it by ‘intention’ and ‘volition’ indicate.” Instead, he says,, cetanā can be seen as “not distinct from thought and feeling” (Keown 1992, 213).
Ø Thus, in understanding cetana, there are a number of lmportant facets to consider.
Ø First of all, there is the aspect of intention.
Ø What is an intention?
Ø it is usually positive or negative and is thought
Ø a product of intellectual analysis or as an idea
Ø thought of as something purely cognitive.
Ø Buddhist commentators; cetana as having a volitional aspect to it.
Ø Guenther argues that “volition” is not a proper translation but “stimulus, “motive” or “drive” mightbe.
Ø Therefore, we could define cetanā as the psychic or mental feeling of being pulled in a particular direction which underlies any action, be it a mental action, such as a thought, or a physical one, such as speaking or acting.
· What makes an action good or bad?
· It can be seen to be largely a matter of intention and choice.
· The psychological springs of motivation are described in Buddhism as ‘roots’ and there are said to be three good roots and three bad roots.
· Actions motivated by greed (raga), hatred (dvesa), and delusion (moha) are bad (akusala), while actions motivated by their opposites – non-attachment, benevolence, and understanding – are good (kusala).
v Majjhima Nikaya: “Of these three kinds of action, Tapassi, thus analysed and distinguished, I describe mental action as the most reprehensible for the performance of evil action, for the perpetration of evil action, and not so much bodily and verbal action” (MN i.373).
v All of these passages seem to be implying that there is a psychic feeling component underlying all physical, mental, and verbal action and that this psychic feeling is the primary defining characteristic of cetana.
The Purification of Karmic Effects
Ø Even when the action is verbal or physical, then would every action of every person always be accompanied by catena?
Ø Also, would this type of feeling be present even in the mind of a Buddha, an arhat, or a bodhisattva?
Ø All volitional action, except that of a Buddha or arahant, constitutes kamma. Buddhas and arrhants do not accumulate
Ø kamma, since they have eradicated ignorance and craving, its roots” (Bodhi and Dhamma, 2000).
Ø Therefore, actions that are completely devoid of ignorance (avijja) and craving (tanha) do not leave any residual effect, trace, or result, and they are contrasted to normal “volitional” actions or actions accompanied by cetana.
Ø if one acts in this entirely non-selfish manner, not only does one not accumulate future karmic effects, but one also eliminates or purifies the psychic residues that have built up in one’s current state of mind from previous selfish actions.
· When a passionless person to a passionless person gives with trusting heart a gift righteously obtained, placing faith that the fruit of the action is great, I say, is the best of worldly gifts’” (MN iii.257).
· In regard to the preceding quote, the Majjhima Nikaya’s Atthakatha says that last part refers to the gift of an arhat, which has no fruit or leaves no effect.
· The arhat’s actions leave “no traces behind” because an arhat is without “desire and lust” (MN iii.257).
· In the Pali canon, selfish motives are often described as being based upon the three poisons; greed, hatred, and delusion (Thera 1949, 69).
Different Types of “Action”
Ø Volition may be good or bad, just as desire may be good or bad. So karma may be good or bad relatively.
§ In the Jatakas, it is stated that “All Kamma (action), whether good or evil, bears fruit. There is no kamma (action), no matter how small, which is void of fruit.
§ Anguttara Nikay clearly denies that the results of an action can be eliminated or “wiped out”
§ Is Karma the Sole Causal Factor for our Condition?
§ Is
3. Buddhist Meditation VI (14.20-16.00)
(000 356) Monday
Phrakru Gositbuddhisart, Dr
Study principle and method of practicing insight meditation in suttas relating to mahasatipatthana sutta such as appannaka sutta symptom of attaining Maggas and palas/ and virtues of noble ones, training in practicing insight meditation by walking meditation in exercise 6, and meditation report.
Apannaka-Sutta
O monks, the monks who perform three virtues. They are called “sure practitioner” and it is called “application of wisdom for removing mental intoxicants (Asava)”. How are three virtues? O monks, the monks in this Dhamma and Vinaya (1) control internal sense-fields, (2) moderate eating and (3) practice wakefulness.
1. O monks, how do the monks control internal sense-fields? O monks, the monks in this Dhamma and Vinaya are seeing visible objects by eyes, do not attach to them. They perform as such for restraining eye-faculty. If it is not restrained, it causes indecent unwholesome that is covetousness and painful mental feeling dominate their mind. When the monks are controlling eye-faculties, they are reaching the restraint of eye-faculties. They listening to sound by ears,
2. O monks, how do the monks moderate eating? O monks, the monks in this Dhamma and Vinaya, having properly considered food, eat food not for playing, not for being infatuated, not for making up bodies, but just for bodies being as they are, for eradicating physical suffering, for helping Bramacariya by thinking that we are going to get rid of old terrible feeling, to protect the new terrible feeling not to arise; the bodies upholding for last long without disease, and well-being arises to us. O monks, this is called “moderation of eating.
3. O monks, how do the monks stir up exertion? O monks, the monks in this Dhamma and Vinaya purify their mind from hindrances by walking meditation, sitting meditation, all day; purify their mind from hindrances by walking meditation and sitting meditation throughout the first watch and middle watch of the night. They do lying on the right side by overlapping a foot with a foot, are mindful and self-conscious to make themselves ready to wake up in their mind. They wake up and purify their mind from hindrances by walking meditation and sitting meditation throughout the last watch.
4. Take Home work
What does the monk perform is called “a sure practitioner”? Explained it relate to Kayanupassana Satipatthana.
Sixteen Insight Knowledges
To practice insight meditation in accordance with the four foundations of mindfulness is the only way to purify the mind of practitioners. It leads them to the cessation of suffering and the attainment of Nibbana.
5. Religion and Philosophy (09.00-10.40)
(103 336) Tuesday
Phramaha Suriyo Uttamamedhi, Dr.
1. What is Religion?
2. What is Philosophy?
3. 13- 18 G (3)
Study about attitude of religion
4. What is difference between Religion and Philosophy?
There are serious problems with the definition of "religion:"
Many people have their personal favorite definition which they know to be the correct one, to the exclusion of all others. Unfortunately, there does not exist anything approaching a consensus.
What is Philosophy?
Philosophy is different from many other Arts subjects in that to study it you need to do it. To be an art historian, you needn't paint; to study poetry, you needn't be a poet; you can study music without playing an instrument. Yet to study philosophy you have to engage in philosophical argument (reasons or evidence leading to a conclusion). Not that you have to operate at the level of the great thinkers of the past; but when you study philosophy, you will be doing the same sort of thing as them. You can play football without reaching the level of Pelé, and you can get a great deal of intellectual satisfaction from philosophizing without the originality or brilliance of Wittgenstein. But in both cases you will have to develop some of the skills used by the great practitioners. That's one of the reasons why philosophy can be such a rewarding subject to study.
6. Buddhism in Contemporary World
(101 323) Tuesday
(12.30-14.10)
Dr.Doungkamon Tongkanaraksa
Assignment
Buddhism in the West (Europe)
Even before the seventeenth century, people in the west had already heard of the Buddha and His teachings. Early travelers, for example Marco Polo, who lived in the thirteenth century and Christain missionaries who had lived and worked in Asia, wrote accounts of this religion and its influence on the local people.
Introduction of Buddhism to Europe
In the eighteenth century onwards, a number of Buddhist texts were brought to Europe
7. Buddhism and Economics 24.1.2012
(101 405) Tuesday
Dr. Montra Leoseng
· Welfare _ A goal of economics
· Benefits (money, facilities (water supply, clean drinking water, education, electricity, happiness (peace, local wisdoms, unity)
· Pareto optimality – the welfare theory (activity that promotes the quality of life/ wellbeing) said that any activities/ projects the government/ actors decided to implement should offer benefits to people and not reduce the benefit of anybody. If it is founded that some groups are affected by certain activities (their welfare reduces), so the government should compensate them.
Thai Health Promotion
Spiritual Welfare
Sustainability
Sustainable peaceful life
Welfare
Interdependence law – we relate to others and environment.
Business and its environment are interdependent. This means the business grows from the bank of natural resources the country has (competitiveness).
Profit making and doing good deeds are mutually exclusive.
Doing good deeds means
· Cleanliness
· Dana
· Honesty/justice price
· Quality
· Healthy food
· Morality
· Humanitarian service - burning deadbody, psychological support, making public toilet, blood donation, helping disabled people, body donation.
Material welfare – profit maximization
Wat Kanikaphol – postitube
Moral/Spiritual welfare – mind development through practicing sila and mindfulness.
8. Applied Dhamma
(103 404) Wednesday
Mr. Saddhanaratna
Applied Dhamma is the heart of Buddhist Psychology.
Assignment
Mahadukkhandha Sutta
The greater discourse on the Mass of Suffering. The Buddha explains the full understanding of sensual pleasures, material form, and feelings, there is a long section on the dangers in sensual pleasures.
170 – Diganikaya
191 – voluns 2
Majjimanikaya
We can change if we cannot find much information from our topic.
What is your psycho problem?
What my psycho problem is thinking about how to solve the problem for the people who are so poor economy and knowledge, its means I want the people to gain their economy and Buddhist theory those who are Buddhist or not to become good and peaceful in human life that I do not know.
9. Visuddhimagga Studies
(101 309) Wednesday
P.M. Pomchai Sirivaro. Dr
Assignment
Group 1
Topic ; virtue and society
Nature of virtue
Function of virtue
Kinds of virtue
Virtue’s benefit
-to man
- to society of virtue
- cultivation of virtue
- virtue and world peace
Group l
Leader – Piyarakhi
Visuddha
Nyanika
Kaung Shwe
Consists of three important parts;
1 is precepts or sila
(purification of virtue)
2 is concentration or samdhi
Purification of consciousness
3 is wisdom or panna
Visuddhimagga
This word can be separatel as follow;
Vi means extra or supreme
Suddhi means pure, clean, without confuring
Magga means way, path , or way of life.
Virtue
Virtue is
1 virtue as volition
2 consciousness – concomitant
3 restraint
4 non – transgression
Volition is doer
Second question
In what sense is it virtue?
It is the sense of composing (silana) either
Third question
What are its characteristic, function, manifestation, and approximate cause?
Its
25,01,2012
1.What is benefit of observing of precepts?
2. can people in society live peacefully?
In what sense is it concentration?
It is concentration in the sense of concentrating.
Futher question;
What is this concentrating?
It is the centering of consciousness and consciousness concomitants evenly and rightly on a single object.
What are its characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause?
· It is said that concentration has non-distraction as its characteristic.
· To eliminate distraction is its function.
· It is manifested as non-wavering.
· Its proximate causes is bliss.
How should it be developed?
For example, it is said that after purifying his Virtue, he should sever any of the ten impediments that he may have, then he should
Subjects of meditation
There are 40 subjects’
A kasina : Meditation devices;’
· 1. Pathave ; the earth
· 2. Apo : the water
· 3. Tejo : the fire
· 4. Vayo : the air
· 5. Nila : the blue
· 6. Pita: the yellow
· 7. Loahita : the red
· 8. Odata : the white
· 9. Aloka : the light
· 10 . akasa : the space
Anussati : recollection or constant mindfulness
1. Buddhanussati “ recollection of the Buddha
2. Dhammanussati ; re Dhamma
3. Sanghanussati ; re Sangha
4. Silanussati : Morality
5. Caganussati : Liberality
6. Devatanussati deities
7. Maranassati : Mindfulness on teath
8. Anapanasati : Mindfulness occupied with the body
9. Anapanasati : mindfulness on breathing
10. Upasamanussati : recollection
For Brahamavihara
1. Metta : loving kindness
2. Karuna ; Compassion
3. Mudita ; Sympathetic joy
4. Upekkha ; Equanimity
.
10. Theravada Buddhist Philosophy
(101 404) Thursday
Dr. Natdhira (09.00-10.40)
1. Evolution of Theravada Buddhist Philosophy.
2. metaphysic of Buddhist Philosophy
3. Epistemology of Buddhist Philosophy
4. Buddhist Ethics
5.
How to write research work
Introduction
1. The significance of the study
2. The objectives of the study
3. Research method
4. The scope of research
5. The Benefits the research
Have to submitted 2,2,2012
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
1. Code 101 307 Credit 3 (3-0-6)
Subject - Major Subject
Level - B. A.
Deparment of Buddhism
2. Lecturer
Dr. Natdhira Sridee Pali 9, B.A. in political science, M.A. in Ethical Studies, Ph. D, in Philosophy and Religion
3. Course Description
This course is study of the history, concept, evolution concerning of Metaphysis, Epistemology and Axiology of Theravada Buddhist Philosophy including social, political science, concept of action and temporally philosophical concept of Buddhism.
4.
5. Objectives of Education
5, 1. To enable student to acquize the history, concept and evolution of Theravada Buddhist Philosophy.
6. Ethical objectives
6.1, The students know the value and benefit of Theravada Buddhist Phiosophy.
7. The courses outline
7.1 the history
2 Theravada Buddhist Philosophy
2.1 Metaphysics
2 Epistemology
3 Axiology
7.3 Temporary Philosophy of Buddhism
7.3.1 Pakudha Kaccayana
2 Puranakassapa
9, Measurement and Evaluation
11. Books for study and External Reading
12. Mahayana Sutras
(101 312) Thursday
Dr. Sudarat Bantaokul
Lotus Sutra
The teachings in this Sutra is largely different
Essence of the lotus sutra
Lotus Sutra has 28 Chapters.
M.S.M.O meeting in Wat Ta Lom, 2011
မဟာခ်ိဳင္ ၿမန္မာၿပည္သားမ်ား ယဥ္တိုက္မွဳအတြက္ ၿမန္မာေက်ာင္းသားရဟန္းေတာ္မ်ား ဝတ္တလံုး ၿမန္မာဆရာေတာ္မ်ားဆရာေတာ္မ်ား ၾကြေရာက္ကူညီေထာက္ပံ့။
ထိိုင္းနူိင္ငံ ဘန္ေကာက္ၿမို႔ MON THON စက္ရံုမွ သၾကၤန္အလွဴပြဲေတာ္။ သၾကၤန္အၾကတ္ေန႔ 14,04,2012
