Our Great Aspiration

“May the Buddha’s teachings spread far and wide,
may all sentient beings be free from all suffering and attain happiness,
may all those who have come to know the Dhamma learn the Dhamma,
practise the Dhamma,
realize the Dhamma and protect the Dhamma,
and may all those who have not come to know the Dhamma
have the opportunity to plant a seed of the Dhamma.”

Invitation to Our Kathina Ceremony

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Dhamma,

Malaysia Dhamma Society (MDS) and Dhamma Earth Club of Malaysia (DECOM) cordially invite all of you to our 2016 Kathina Ceremony in Kuching and Semenyih. Please refer to the table on the right for details. This year our theme is “Great Aspiration”. We welcome everyone to join us in this auspicious annual event. On this day, the monks and nuns will go for alms round as usual; you may experience offering food and other allowable requisites on your own.

Kathina Ceremony’s Origin

According to the third book of the Vinaya Pitaka (Vin III. 351ff), Mahavagga, at one time thirty monks of Pava were on the way to see the Lord Buddha who was staying at Savatthi in Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. They were all forest-dwellers, all almsmen, all wearers of rag-robes, all wearers of the three robes. As vassa was approaching, they were unable to reach Savatthi in time; so they entered vassa at Saketa.

Then after the vassa, the monks continued on their journey to Jetavana, Savatthi, where the Lord Buddha was staying. It was raining and the waters were gathering, while swamps were forming. By the time the monks arrived at their destination, their robes were drenched and they were exhausted. Having greeted the Lord Buddha, they sat down at a respectful distance.

Now it is the custom for the Buddha to exchange friendly greetings with in-coming monks. So the Lord Buddha said to these monks: “How are you keeping, monks? Did you have enough to support life? Did you spend a comfortable vassa in unity, being on friendly terms and harmonious? And you did not have difficulty with alms food, did you?” “Things did go well with us, Lord Buddha. We had enough to support life, Lord Buddha. We spent the vassa in unity, being on friendly terms and harmonious, Lord Buddha. And we did not have difficulty with alms food,” answered the monks. They then related what had happened to them when they were on their way to see the Buddha since the beginning of vassa.

Then the Lord Buddha, on this occasion, having given Dhamma talk, addressed the monks, saying: “Monks, I allow monks who have completed the vassa to spread the kathina. And thus, after the vassa ended, lay people may offer the Kathina cloth to the saṅgha, and the cloth will be ceremonially presented to the nominated monk with good virtue in a formal Saṅgha act (Saṅgha-Kamma).

Relations between Kathina and Dāna

Generosity (dāna) is easy to practise and even ordinary people can perform dāna. To do an offering, four conditions must be present:

• A donor
• Objects to offer (four requisites: food, robes, dwelling and medicine)
• A recipient
• The volition to give

It is a complete act of generosity (dāna) only when all these conditions are fulfilled. During the Buddha’s time, two great donors, Anāthapiṇḍika and Visākhā who devotional faith in the Triple Gems. They each offered food to two thousands bhikkhus every day.  Other devotees also offered food to bhikkhus according to their own capabilities. This is an example of making an act of generosity when all four conditions are fulfilled.

Sometimes, although a donor has offering items and the volition to give, there is no recipient present to receive the offering. Devas usually have this problem. Most of the time, when devas want to make an offering, they need to come down to the human world. For example, the Sakka (King of Gods) and Sujātā had to disguise as a poor peasant couple to give alms to the Venerable Mahā Kassapa (DhpC IV.10).

Sometimes, there is a recipient present to receive but there are no items to be offered. For example, poor men who have no ability to offer. In the story recorded in the Dhammapada Commentary XVII.3, Puṇṇa was an example for this situation. However, if there is any opportunity for the poor who have devotional faith to give alms, they will definitely think this: “Once when I had alms to give, I did not see the Elder; and once again when I saw the Elder, I had no alms to give. Today, however, I not only see the Elder, but also have alms to give…”

Sometimes, a donor may have alms to give and there is also a recipient to receive, but he may be a miser or has no faith, and therefore has no volition to give. Therefore, we can see that a wholesome act can be done only if all the necessary conditions are present.

Saṅghika-dāna (offering made to the whole Order of Bhikkhus [the saṅgha]) is more meritorious than Puggalika-dāna. Kathina ceremony is a ceremony organized by lay persons for monks. This offering of Kathina cloth to monks is a most precious opportunity for us to make a saṅghika-dāna.

Great Aspiration

Jeta-vane Anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme originally belonged to Prince Jeta, However, Anāthapiṇḍika with devotional faith was willing to buy the site for the monastery by laying cartloads of gold coins on them edge to edge over the surface of Prince Jeta’s Garden. His act of faith had inspired and influenced the once difficult Prince Jeta to join him in completing the meritorious offering.  In Buddha’s 45 years of propagating the Dhamma, He had taught many Dhammas at Jeta-vane Anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme, which all can be traced in the Sutta. Besides, out of Buddha’s 45 years of vassa, 19 of them were spent at Jeta-vane Anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme. Thus, it is obvious that providing a conducive place for the monastic to practise and propagate the true Dhamma is extremely beneficial to the local community and to all future generations.

Therefore, since March 2016, Dhamma Earth has started the plan to set up a Dhamma community of diverse groups in a shared environment that will naturally generate a Dhamma propagation synergy. This ecosystem consists of 4 main components:

• Meditation Hermitage Region (forest monastery) ~ long period intensive retreat area, intermediate retreat area
• Dhamma Activities Region (several multi-purpose halls and event camping site)
• Academic area- Introduction of meditation for beginners to learn and practice Dhamma in daily life; providing various training such as: Dhamma leadership course, cultivation of emotional intelligence, realization of causes and effects in different aspects of life, etc.
• Activities area- organizing routine activities, University Dhamma Camp, Youth Dhamma Camp, Children Dhamma Class, tuition class, life release, Family Camp, Volunteer Training Camp, different types of forum etc.
• Social Welfare Region ~ Centre for the elderly, Orphans’ Home, Centre for the physically challenged, Hospice Centre, Day-care Centre for infants and children.
• Health and Wellness Region ~ public open area for all groups of people to exercise, facilities and park areas. Herbs garden, Organic farms and garden.

This Dhamma Ecosystem is a meeting point of the receiving and the giving and of this pure aspiration:

“May the Buddha’s teachings spread far and wide,
may all sentient beings be free from all suffering and attain happiness,
may all those who have come to know the Dhamma learn the Dhamma,
practise the Dhamma,
realize the Dhamma and protect the Dhamma,
and may all those who have not come to know the Dhamma
have the opportunity to plant a seed of the Dhamma.”

We welcome you to join us to make this aspiration come true, whether to be a beneficiary or a benefactor. Let us together learn and grow in the Dhamma.

If you wish to make a monetary donation or reserve your robes and allowable four requisites for Kathina, kindly contact the person in charge as shown in the table below. You may channel your contribution to the following bank and attach your bank in slip via email or Whatsapp to respective person in charge. All robes and allowable four requisites can be collected at the respective (Kuching or Semenyih) donation counter on Kathina Day.We rejoice in your generosity and look forward to seeing you on Kathina Day! May all the merits performed during Kathina be a supportive condition for the attainment of Nibbāna.

By speaking of this Truth, may the Triple-Gem protect all beings! May you be well, happy and peaceful.

With mettā,

Kathina Organiser