Buddha’s Discourse on ‘Lay Person’s Welfare’ AN.VIII.170
Wong Weng Hon
Purport
Once, Dīghajānu, a householder approached the Buddha who was residing in Kakkarapatta and asked the Blessed One thus:
“What are the conditions which are conducive to the welfare and happiness of a householder both in the present life and in the future life ?
The Buddha responded that there are eight conditions which are important for the attainment of the welfare and happiness of a householder in the present life and in the future life. The first four conditions pertain to economic wealth and the last four conditions are related to spiritual cultivation and attainment. The eight conditions, which determine success for a lay person in the present and future lives, are:
- Accomplishment of Persistent Efforts
- Accomplishment of Protection
- Good Friendship
- Balanced Living
- Accomplished in Faith
- Accomplished in Virtue
- Accomplished in Generosity
- Accomplished in Wisdom
Efforts
When one exercises in persistent effort, one is said to be diligent, energetic and determined in undertaking any endeavour which is either secular (materialism) or spiritual development. Secular dimension generally comprises successful education and career which bring about finiancial security and physical wellness.The Gotama Buddha preached that finiancial insecurity or poverty leads to suffering and that sufficient economic wealth is the basis of human happiness. Hence, Dhamma advice is pragmatic and applicable to one’s daily life.
Protection
The Lord also preached that wealth acquired righteously with one’s own efforts must be well protected too in order to ensure incessant wellbeing and happiness
of the members of the family and other associates or relations. Gotama Buddha admonished the lay devotees that having acquired material wealth, one should know how to protect the wealth from thefts, and from destructions or losses due to natural disasters. Such Dhammic advice is consistent with the saving or deposit schemes in modern banking system and property protection insurance policies provided by modern insurance companies against thefts, fires, floods, cyclones and other man-made or natural disasters or catastrophes. What is righteously earned with own sweats ought to be protected.
Association
The Exalted One also recommended association with good friends as a way of protecting one’s hard-earned wealth from depletion. It is evident that association with evil friends will dissipate one’s material wealth through excessive social activities involving excessive sensual gratifications, such as consumption of smoking, liquors, gambling, drugs, womanizing, excessive entertainments over-eating, and so forth.
A good friend is defined by the Buddha as one who is accomplished in faith, virtue, generosity and wisdom. Good friendship will not dissipate the material wealth as good friends are self-restrained morally and avoid unhealthy or immoral lifestyle which depletes one’s wealth rapidly.
Balanced Life
Leading a balanced life ensures prudent financial management and a balanced budget. One should budget one’s financial position skillfully so that one’s income always exceeds one’s expenditure. One should neither be extravagant nor miserly. Unwholesome activities, such as womanizing, drunkenness, gambling and evil friendship are to be avoided as these unwholesome social activities will definitely dissipate one’s material wealth which have been earned with much sweats or efforts.
Material development alone can not ensure complete welfare and happiness in the present and future life of a householder or a lay person. The spiritual development of a lay person ought not be neglected at the expense of economic development. Firstly, one ought to be accomplished in faith. One ought to develop faith in the supreme gnosis of the Tathāgata and the Dhamma expounded by Exalted One. With faith, one will practise and cultivate diligently, ardently and resolutely using the Noble Eight Fold Path as the road map to liberation. Taking refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha is the initial requirement to initiate one’s faith in the religion. The faith ought to be underpinned further by undertaking actual practices of three-fold training of the Noble Eight Fold Path.
The three-fold training comprises the aggregate of Morality (sīla-khandha), the aggregate of Concentration (Samādhi-khandha) and the aggregate of Wisdom (Paññā-khandha). The initial faith is the acquisition of the mundane Right Understanding (Sammā Dițțhi). Mundane Right Understanding is the first item of the Noble Eight Fold Path. The mundane Right Understanding is the road map to eventually develop the supramundane Right Understanding. Mundane Right Understanding is exoteric or outward dimension of Buddhism. The exoteric dimension is kammatic Buddhism or conditioned Dhamma. Supramundane right understanding is the esoteric or inward dimension of Buddhism. The esoteric dimension is Nibbānic Buddhism and is the unconditioned Dhamma. It is the knowledge of the ultimate Truth derived from intuitive discernment of the relationship between the illusive, unreal empirical world and the ultimate Truth of the essence of the Buddha.
Virtue
The initial step of Buddhist practice is moral restraint of avoiding evils and doing good. One is considered to be accomplished in virtue if one is able to restrain oneself with the protection of five moral injunctions of the Buddha i.e the Five Precepts [pañcasīla]. The Five Precepts are not to destroy life, not to take what is not given, not to indulge in improper sex relation, not to speak falsely and not consume intoxicants. The antidotes for these five vices are lovingkindness and compassion, giving or charity, blamelessness or propriety, truthfulness and sincerity and mindfulness and heedfulness.
The virtue of generosity [dāna] is emphasized in all religions. There is no exception in Buddhist practices. Generosity is delight in giving one’s wealth and sharing it with others, and in doing charity or humanitarian services.
Wisdom
Wisdom is the highest fruit of religious training and spiritual development. Wisdom is the intuitive discernment of the eternal Truth of Unity or Non-duality by which one lives in unity with oneness of the world. It is wisdom by which one’s self-centric ego is annihilated. Wisdom distinguishes the conventional truth of the phenomenal world from the ultimate Truth of Reality or the Absolute. In other words, the two-fold truth of the ‘The One in the Many; the many in the One’ is penetrated into insightfully.
One is accomplished in wisdom [paññā] if one is taintlessly liberated in the mind by the intuitive discernment of the fundamental doctrines of the Buddha,namely:
- Three universal characteristics of Impermanence, Suffering and Insubstantiality
- The Four Noble Truths
- The Law of Dependent Co-arising.
Wisdom terminates suffering in the present life as well as in the future life. Most importantly, wisdom rectifies one mind and perfects character formation by the annihilation of self-centric ego.
This discourse on ‘Lay Person’s Welfare ‘ of Aṅguttara Nikāya (AN.VIII.170) of Gotama Buddha is comprehensive enough for a lay Buddhist to learn and practise. If the practice is serious and persistent with strict adherence to the Noble Eight Fold Path, it is possible to discern the ultimate Truth. Truth perceived develops wisdom. Wisdom results in the release from suffering.
The sole purpose of Dhamma cultivation for lay Buddhists is to rectify the ignorant minds of spiritual blindness through wisdom. Wisdom manifests the original supreme inner Heart – the insubstantiality of the five aggregates. It fine-tunes fallible human behaviours towards others through self-redemption. It harmonizes the harsh living environment so that the whole team can work co-operatively and harmoniously. Harmonious living is not an impossible dream. It is a possible dream when the self-centred ego of each team’s member is purged of from the human personality. Working selflessly solely for a teamwork, such as of a superb soccer match is shattering the shell of individuality. Slashing the shell of individuation is the annihilation of self-centric ego. A perfectly played soccer match is one in which selves or egoes have vanished and that there is one-pointed concentration on playing well the game. When battle is hard, they let the hard going gets on without grasping upon the game. Thus, we witness that Dhamma is immanent and pervasive everywhere not only in the soccer field. Dhamma is also immanent and pervasive among the spectators. Those who watch with Dhamma eye will alienate himself or herself from unrest should some miscreants turned errant because the referee made a wrong decision. |
