Our apologies that Pali
terms cannot be spelled
with proper diacritical marks.
Sauce 1. Although the so-called Cold War ended
a couple years after this message was dictated, nuclear proliferation is
in many ways more grave a danger than it was then. The reader may also
apply the Dhamma perspectives that follow to the other hot issues of
today, such as global warming. (The editor has added a few parenthetical
updates for this purpose.) back
Sauce 2. Kilesa are the defilements of
mind (or "afflictive emotions"), such as greed, hatred, fear,
and delusion, which darken, pollute, and torment the mind. back
Sauce 3. In discussing current affairs, Ajarn
Buddhadasa’s comments apply most directly to Thailand and its
limited experience with democracy based on the British model.
Nevertheless, he felt they also applied pretty well to the world at
large. Despite his criticisms of the way democracy has played out here
and aboard, he favored an unselfish, decentralized democracy as the
ideal system, although he doubted our ability to actually put it into
practice. back
Sauce 4. A selfish democracy seduces everyone
into its corrupt value system; a selfish dictatorship cannot do so using
its clumsy means of coercion. With Dhamma, he felt, an authoritarian
system could encourage its people in unselfishness. (The translator,
humbly, does not fully share this last view.) back
Sauce 5. This Thai idiom means to try in vain
to keep the member countries in line. The dilemma is amply illustrated
by the consistently selfish behavior of the permanent members of the
Security Council, especially its dominant member. back
Sauce 6. Ajarn Buddhadasa frequently
spoke of the instincts and considered the instinctive sense of self to
be the most basic of all. Because there is an instinctual feeling of
"somebody" being or possessing or controlling this mind and
body, all the other instincts have a field in which to operate.
back
Sauce 7. One can only wonder what he would say
to the modern temples to consumerism found in the rich countries of the
world today! back
Sauce 8. Based on the more squat stupas of
India and similar to the pagodas of Burma, cetiyas are the tall, round,
and graceful representations of Buddhist cosmology, with Nibbana at
the peak, that Thais use as memorials. back
Sauce 9. Both terms refer to things that are
obviously incomplete when missing an important part of their make up, so
incomplete that they can’t perform their proper functions. back
Sauce 10. The custom of young men ordaining
in order to receive a basic education and religious training has
deteriorated into a ritual in most cases, and a money-spinner in some. back
Sauce 11. This should not be taken to mean
that men should always be the front legs (leader), for wives made the
key decisions in many families and were often stronger than their men. back
Sauce 12. This passage has struck some
Western readers as sexist and offensive, and they encouraged me to cut
it out. Ajarn Buddhadasa wouldn't object if the father stayed home
and the mother took on the burden of earning the family's bread. His
point is that somebody must stay home and raise the kids properly, and
he is honest enough to admit that women are usually the ones who do it. back
Sauce 13. The next Buddha, Sri Ariya Metteya,
will usher in a world of universal loving kindness, peace, and well
being. Traditionally, she is believed to be due 5000 years after the
passing of the Gotama Buddha . Ajarn Buddhadasa taught that her
coming depends more on humanity creating the right conditions than on a
predetermined period of time. back
Kalama 1. Up until the mid 1990s, this issue
was a dangerous point of contention between democracy activists on one
hand and the military and conservatives on the other. back
Kalama 2. Different editions of the Tipitaka
name this Sutta differently. back
Kalama 3. By the Venerable Phra Mahasamanachao
Kromphraya Vachiraya Nyanarorot, the Supreme Patriarch at the time who
modernized Buddhist texts and education in Thailand. back
Kamma in Buddhism
No footnotes.
Nibbana 1. "Dyeing cats for sale"
is a Thai expression similar to "window dressing," to dress up
something shabby and inferior in order to trick the customer into buying
it. back
Nibbana 2. Arahant, "Worthy Ones," have seen through
ignorance, transcended self-centeredness, and are released from all
suffering. "Nirvana" is the Sanskrit equivalent of Nibbana.
back
Nibbana 3. Mahaparinibbana Sutta, D.ii.106.
back
Nibbana 4. The Solasapanha make up the final
chapter, Parayana-vagga, of the Sutta-nipata, Khuddaka-nikaya. In many
of the verses, the Buddha emphasizes conquering and going beyond death.
He never speaks of seeking death as some kind of salvation or end of
suffering. back
Nibbana 5. Digha-nikaya
(Long Discourses), Sutta #1. back
Nibbana 6. Here,
Ajarn Buddhadasa does not imply that these refined meditative states are
necessary attainments. Rather, he is using the traditional terminology
to illustrate how the flavor of coolness pervades all the Dhamma
teachings and is therefore immediately available to us all. back
Dasa 1: Paticca-samuppada (dependent
co-origination) is the law of inter-dependent, mutual causality that shows
how everything depends on other things as causes and conditions,
especially suffering and the way out of suffering. back
Dasa 2: He later spoke of these insights as
"the nine eyes." They are explained in more detail in Mindfulness
with Breathing: Unveiling the Secrets of Life (Wisdom, Boston, 1998)
and elsewhere. back
Dasa 3: Ajarn Buddhadasa liked to refer to this
popular belief, emphasizing that this Buddha would appear when we
practiced appropriately and not merely after a certain number of years
(popularly believed to be 5000 since the passing of Gotama, the Buddha of
this era). back
Dasa 4: These various worlds and kinds of beings
are mentioned throughout the Suttas, and are chanted every morning in Thai
temples:
Yo imam lokam sadevakam samarakam sabrahmakam
Sassamanabrahmanam pajam sadevamanussam
Sayam abhinya sacchikatva pavedesi
Who for this world, including the worlds of benevolent,
tempting, and godly beings,
For the benefit of all beings, seekers and sages, celestials and humans,
Has through supreme insight realized and revealed the final quenching of
dukkha. back
