THERAVADA BUDDHISMUS

               

         Der Name des Gründers von dem, was im Westen als Buddhismus bekannt ist, war
Gotama, dies ist der Name des Clans oder der Familie, der er angehörte. Das Wort "Buddha" bedeutet "der Erwachte" oder "der Erleuchtete", und ist kein Name, sondern ein Ehrentitel, welcher dem weisen Gotama verliehen wurde weil er die Erleuchtung unter dem Bodhi-Baum in Buddhagaya in Indien erlangt hatte. 

         

From Aung San Suu Kyi

 

“If you're feeling helpless, help someone.”

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“The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear”

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“You should never let your fears prevent you from doing what you know is right.”

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“Fear is a habit; I am not afraid.”

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“To view the opposition as dangerous is to misunderstand the basic concepts of democracy. To oppress the opposition is to assault the very foundation of democracy.”

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“I don't believe in people just hoping. We work for what we want. I always say that one has no right to hope without endeavor, so we work to try and bring about the situation that is necessary for the country, and we are confident that we will get to the negotiation table at one time or another.”

Life is a series of test!

 Life is a series of tests. Difficulties are tests. We are in school now. Our whole life is a school. From the time we were born until we die, we are in school.

This is an informal school. There is no classroom. Everything we see, everything we hear, everything we smell, everything we feel, all happiness and all suffering, every problem, every achievement, every success and every failure is a lesson. When we have success, this is a test. It is testing how humble we can when we are successful. Most of us become very proud and conceited: "Oh! I am a success. Other people are failures." So we don't treat people with respect anymore. We become conceited and arrogant.

 In the same way, failure is a test. How equanimous can you be? How can you keep your balance and not feel depressed, inferior, or unhappy about not succeeding. Also it is a test to find out whether you will try again.

Happiness!

          

 Life is struggle. The struggle to make money, to feel comfortable and luxury. Whatever we do, we do essentially for happiness. Even in Religion, we do for happiness. Do we get it?
Some people think that a partner, a good congenial partner, may be a source of happiness, and it may be temporary sources of happiness, but not the real sources of happiness. When we are separated for some reason or other, as sooner or later we will be, we feel unhappy. Do we really understand that the outside sources are not the real sources of happiness; the main thing is the mind? Do we really understand only the mind which is controlled and cultured is the real source of happiness? Are we ready to train our mind? How much are we generous with our time to train our mind?
We should try to learn to be contented and happy with what we have. Here I would like to share a short story:

A certain oriental king who was very unhappy sought the advice of a philosopher. The philosopher advised the king to search for the most happy and contented man in his kingdom and to wear his shirt. After a long search the king finally found the man, but he had no shirt!

Ashin Kovida: “Change Will Come, No Matter What.“

Friendship

Man is by nature a social animal; no one can live alone. We do not live for us alone. We live for each other. So without others I do not exist. Imagine that there was nothing and nobody, what would you be then? So everybody we know somehow affects our lives. I think the quality of our life depends much on the quality of our friendship with people around us.

Buddhism and Politics

                                       

               Should Buddhist monks take part in political affairs?

U Kovida: Burma has a long history of monks being actively engaged in political affairs when it comes to the welfare of the people. Because everyday we eat food donated to us by the Burmese peoples, the majority are poor and oppressed. Sure, we Buddhist monks should not be attached to anything or anyone. But we did not live in total isolation. We monks remain in contact with the other members of the society. If someone perform any action, which disturbs the peace and harmony of the society, how can you have peace and harmony within yourself?