A sermon fit for the devas

Are you intrigued by the title of this blog. I'm sure you would be. The story goes like this and it is a true story, by the way. 2500 years ago when Gautama Buddha was alive, it was said that he went up to heaven with his supernormal powers to repay a debt to his mother. His mother died after giving birth to the Bodhisatta and became reborn in Tusita heaven (the second plane of devas).

According to our Buddhist scriptures, the Buddha stayed for his whole lent months giving a sermon about the Abhidhamma - a sermon about how the mind works and how the mental processes interact with the human body. Not only did he give a detailed description about every human thought or emotion but he analyzed all the thought processes of all living beings. According to Buddhist cosmology there are 31 planes of existence - four woeful planes, six planes of devas and twenty planes of Brahma gods. (by the way the Brahma gods are celestial beings who live for a long, long time. Their lives are counted in world cycles.)

The Buddha explained in his Abhidhamma sermon (Abhi means profound, and dhamma means law), that there are only four ultimate truths in this and all other universes: mind, mind modifiers, matter and nivarna.

He went on to explain in detail that there are 89 types of human consciousness (or emotions).

How does the knowledge of Abhidhamma help us in our daily lives, you might ask.

Good question.

Well, I go back to what an ancient British poet said:

"Know then thyself, presume not God to scan, the proper study of mankind is man."

Food for thought.

Spiritual not religious

Just an observation I wish to make. I am finding a lot of people who say they are spiritual but not religious. I think some people get disenchanted with their respective religious institutions. In my own opinion, the most important thing for a person is to follow the basic rules of humanity and to follow the basic rules of human conduct.

Take "not telling the truth" for example. What does this mean? It may mean different things to different people.

Then there are "white lies".

When a person does not tell the truth on a consistent basis, people will not believe him or her anymore and then this sort of person cannot have the love and confidence of those around him. Even the family members will look upon that person with disdain.

However, a person who tells the truth and "walks the talk" will be respected by all.