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Blessing Twenty-Five: 
Gratitude 
A. I:\7 RODUCTION 
A.1 Blessing Twenty-five in the order of things 
This blessing is the twenty fifth step on the stair-
way of Buddhist practice. In fact we have already 
come across much of the material in this unit al-
ready in the preceding units — such as Blessing 
Three 'Paying Respect to those worthy of respect', 
Blessing Twelve 'Cherishing One's Parents, Bless-
ing Thirteen 'Cherishing One's children and Bless-
ing Seventeen 'Cherishing One's extended family.' 
Sometimes it looks as if much of the material is re-
peated but in fact there are new things to study 
which go beyond the mundane household situa-
tions already discussed — because in this Blessing, 
gratitude is considered particularly in the context 
of the learning of virtue. This is why the Lord Bud-
dha chose to give special consideration to this vir-
tue for the purposes of Group VII of the Blessings. 
A.2 The Rarity of Altruism 
In the words of the Lord Buddha, there are two very 
rare sorts of people Idullabha-puggala] in the 
world (A.i.87): 
1. those who initiate favours to others [pubbakari] 
— whether they be our parents, relatives, elders, 
monks, the Lord Buddha or the King — it is no 
accident for someone to mature into a person 
who values virtue and who is dedicated to the 
cultivation of virtue; 
2. those who are gratefid and repay the benefits 
they receive from others Ikataiiiia-katavedil. 
Such altruism is hard to find amongst people in 
general because it requires a high degree of spir-
itual maturity. According to the research of psy-
chologist Lawrence Kohlberg (late 1950's), our wish 
to help others around us is a form of maturity that 
we acquire with age, we tend to start out in life self-
ish, but become less self-centred as we mature. From 
birth to age eleven children tend to be motivated 
mainly by self-interest — being mainly interested 
in avoiding punishment and maximising rewards 
from their parents and teachers. During the teen-
age years, motivation shifts to give more credance 
to social approval — they need to be liked by their 
peers or else to conform to social order such as stay-
ing on the right side of the Law. Only those who 
manage to extricate themselves from the mind 
frame of a teenager does a person's ethical motiva-
tion move onto considerations of social contract 
such as not doing something because of being 
obliged not to or Universal Rights such as those 
characterized by the spiritual traditions. Altruism 
belongs to this final category of abstract ideals. From 
such research we learn two things: 
• that an altruist is rare and that without an at-
titude of gratitude from those on the receiv-
ing end of such altruism it will surely become 
still harder to find; 
• that we cannot underestimate the role of so-
cial contract in bolstering our efforts to do 
good deeds; 
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A.3 Gratitude in the Cultivation of Virtue 
This second observation is borne out by experience. 
Although by this stage in the Blessings we ought to 
be beyond the self interest of 'reward' and 'punish-
ment', we are not yet at a level where our patience 
is at the level of abstract ideals unaffected by emo-
tions. Therefore we still have to use social approval 
(especially the approval of those to whom we owe 
a debt of gratitude) to give ourselves extra moral 
leverage. Somehow if left to our own devices we 
can succumb all too easily to temptation. Harder 
than simply doing good deeds, is to keep one's en-
couragement for the cultivation of good deeds go-
ing indefinately — rather than giving up at the first 
obstacle to come along. It is the nature of cultivat-
ing virtue that one must always come up against 
obstacles and hindrances - sometimes problems 
from our associates or our immediate surroundings, 
sometimes inner problems from the working of our 
defilements. Not to succumb to discouragement in 
the face of such hardships needs special strategies 
which we can use to help us overcome our tenden-
cies to backslide in the cultivation of goodness: 
1. patience [lehanti]: Such patience particularly 
needs development of 'shame of evil' Ilziri) and 
'fear of the consequences of evil' loftappaj— and 
can eventually allow us to be a good teacher to 
ourselves [yonisonzanasikEtra]. When we are not 
sufficiently definitive in our own mind to keep 
to our own principles, sometimes we need to give 
ourselves some extra moral leverage by think-
ing of the other people who our behaviour af-
fects. Patience will be developed to the full in 
Blessing Twenty-Seven. 
2. respect lgarava]: Sometimes, even though we 
know full well that something is wrong, we still 
do it, because we lack the patience. Because our 
patience is not yet fully developed (we didn't com-
plete Blessing Twenty-seven yet), it will reach a 
dead-end or a ceiling if we don't develop the 
virtues of respect and gratitude (together with 
the wish to repay the debt of gratitude) in rela-
tion to our spiritual teachers too. Respect doesn't 
just mean bowing or expressing reverence to-
wards one's teacher, it means using our sincer-
est effort and ability to ensure the transfer of the 
virtues of the teacher towards ourselves — and 
to rid ourselves of our remaining bad habits —
to the point that all their goodness becomes ours 
and they become a part of us — while avoiding 
the temptation to dwell on any faults the teacher 
may still have — and avoiding the temptation 
to answer back whenever the spiritual teacher 
delegates work or gives advice.If we recall our 
debt of gratitude to them, sometimes, even if we 
couldn't be bothered to make the effort for our-
selves, we would still do it "just for them". 
3. gratitude [kataiifird: Sometimes what our 
teacher asks of us exceeds the threshold of our 
patience, and even our respect cannot bolster our 
morale enough to keep us going. Sometimes it is 
because of our limited understanding, that we 
cannot understand by reasoning why a teacher 
has asked us to do one thing or another. Such 
limited understanding is often exactly the same 
reason why we are unable to make any progress 
in our spiritual practice. However if we think to 
ourselves that: 
'before I got to where I am today I was like 
the majority of other people in the world, up 
to my neck in water, drowning a slow death 
in the shark-infested sea of sense-pleasures 
Iscripsamj. However my teacher came along 
in his boat, and hoisted me to safety. After 
coming aboard and helping to row the boat 
so that it can go around helping to rescue oth-
ers like my former self who are still adrift in 
the ocean. Although such rowing is 
undisputably hard work, it is a thousand 
times better than being eaten up by sharks. 
No-one has forced my teacher to work his fin-
gers to the bone, day-in-day-out to perform 
this great act of altruism in helping other peo-
ple — my teacher could just as easily opt for 
the quiet life of meditation — without hav-
ing to bother about anyone else — thus I owe 
my life to the pure compassion of my teacher. 
Therefore even if I feel tired now and then 
and would prefer to take a rest, out of grati-
tude I realize that for as long as my teacher 
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doesn't rest from our mission, it is not my 
place to protest "How much longer do we 
have to wait before we can take a rest," or 
worse than that to go about persuading other 
oarsmen to take a rest too." 
We will begin to realize that the difficulties we 
are facing in our personal cultivation are very 
minor when compared to the huge debt of grati-
tude we have to our teacher for ameliorating the 
course of our destiny! 
Thus gratitude is a form of social approval which 
can be used to give leverage in elevating the usual 
threshold of our patience in cultivating virtue to 
the level of the ideal — even beyond the bolstering 
effect of respect. But something which remains of 
the utmost importance in the cultivation of virtue 
is that we must train ourselves a great deal in the 
regular practice of meditation — especially at times 
when we must 'weather out' conflicts or when we 
are feeling demoralized — we must be quick to sit 
for meditation, because otherwise hesitation can 
cost us our career of virtue cultivation. 
Schoolchildren persevere in their studies, often 
not because of their own intent, but out of grati-
tude to their parents and teachers. Similarly spir-
itual practitioners,who in spite of their good inten-
tions often succumb to petty quibbling with their 
fellow practitioners, can keep themselves on track 
to self-betterment by reminding themselves of their 
gratitude to the Lord Buddha and their spiritual 
teachers, even when their own vocation might be 
weak. Thus gratitude is one of the most important 
virtues which will act as a catalyst to allow even 
higher virtues to be developed in the future. 
B. GRA11111DL AND INGRAM UDE 
B.1 Definitions 
The Pali word for 'gratitude', kataiiiia, used in 
this Blessing means recognizing benefit or virtue 
(in Pali the same word 'gun& is used for both com-
modities). It is similar to the western notion of'loy-
alty' — but loyalty to those people or things that 
have done favours for us or brought us benefit in 
the past. For our purposes in this blessing, 
ikataftliug means: 
1. Recognizing benefit brought to us by others: Such 
benefit usually comes to us as the result of an 
intentional effort on behalf of benefactor. In this 
context, the word 'gratitude' is a reasonable 
translation. 
2. Recognizing the latent benefit: sometimes ben-
efit comes to us not by any intentional action, 
but simply by the presence of a personage or a 
thing with latent virtue. An example of this is a 
paccekabuddha who is enlightened and has rid 
himself of all defilements— but because he lacks 
teaching skills is unable to transform his latent 
virtue into benefit for others who want to learn 
from him. It also applies to the benefit of things 
like merit in our mind accumulated by our past 
actions. This second meaning is something we 
have not yet met in the preceding Blessings —
and it is not quite the same as respect either. 
B.2 Degrees of Gratitude 
When we categorize any sort of thing in the world, 
we have to choose the standards by which we judge 
them. Some people divide up people according to 
the colour of their skin, or their nationality or the 
level of their knowledge, or maybe you can divide 
them into fools and wise men as we have done since 
the earliest Blessings. However, using gratitude as 
your standard, you can divide people into three 
different types: 
1. Able to appreciate favours received from oth-
ers [kataiiiiu]: This might be compared to virtue at 
the primary school level. Even some animals have 
virtue at this level of development so any person who 
still lacks this virtue should seriously question their 
own level of maturity. If you can already practice vir-
tue at this level you can congratulate yourself that 
you are already more advanced than some dogs! 
2. Able to appreciate the favours received front oth-
ers and repays his debt of gratitude to others 
too [katafifill-katavedi]. This might be com-
pared to virtue at the secondary school level. 
3. Being able to appreciate the favours received 
from others and repays his debt of gratitude to 
others such a person also honours the good-
ness of the person who has done that favour 
[pita]. This might be compared to virtue at the 
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university level because it is the most highly de-
veloped virtue concerning gratitude. If someone 
just thinks, "my parents have done me a favour 
by bringing me up so I will return the favour by 
looking after them in their old age" then it is only 
goodness at the secondary school level. If the 
person is truly virtuous he will not only repay 
his debt of gratitude to his parents —he will also 
honour them in some of the ways already dis-
cussed in Blessing Eleven (§D. & E.). If you re-
member, you can honour people in two ways -
with gifts lamisapirjaj and also by putting into 
practice what they have taught and exemplified 
for your benefit [patipatipajci]. You can see the 
distinction dearly in the case of a person who 
looks after their parents in their old age, but they 
never listen to any advice their parents give —
they do whatever they feel like doing — they 
never think what they might do to keep up the 
parent's inspiration to take concern for their 
child's well-being. 
B.3 Degrees of Ingratitude 
Similarly using ingratitude as your standard, you 
can divide people into three different types: 
1. Low-down people: Even though you know that 
a person has done you favours in the past, you 
don't even attempt to repay your debt of grati-
tude. The Buddha didn't go as far as to cause 
such people wicked but he called them 'low-
down' people. Such people often try to forget the 
good things that people have done for them in 
the past. Even a pet dog will help the owner 
guard the house, but if human being doesn't even 
recognize the debt of gratitude they have to an-
other, there is something seriously wrong. 
2. Wicked people: Such people are unable even to 
recognize the benefits or favours brought to them 
by others. In the olden days, even a robber 
wouldn't touch the possessions in a house where 
he had been given a free meal. However; the rob-
bers of today are different. When they have fin-
ished the food they have been given, they will 
steal everything in the house and even hurt the 
householders too. Doing a favour for such a per-
son is lost on them. 
3. Treacherer: Such a person goes further than the 
forgoing — they will not only fail to recognize 
the benefits they have received from others —
they bite the hand that feeds. They will not stop 
short of killing those to whom they have a debt 
of gratitude. Such a person might grow up as 
adopted child in someone's house, and as soon 
as they are old enough, run off with the house 
holder's daughter. 
Ungrateful people find it very difficult to integrate 
in society because they cannot accept the thinking 
of anyone else. If you are ever on the receiving end 
of a new acquaintance, employee, spouse etc. then 
always examine the degree to which they have or 
lack gratitude. If they have no gratitude and are 
unable to develop it, especially for their own par-
ents, never shelter them in your house — no mat-
ter how tempting it may be to have someone who 
is very skilled or talented dose at hand. You may 
find otherwise, it is like letting a cobra into your 
house. If you find your own children have such a 
tendency, quickly reeducate them from an early age, 
otherwise when they grow up there will be no limit 
to the evil they will be capable of. Don't go think-
ing that they will understand for themselves when 
they get older. You have to take responsibility for 
guiding them from the earliest possible age. 
C. OBJECT S OF GRA! 1 1 WA, 
C.1 Comparison between Respect and Gratitude 
There are many parallels between the list of people 
and things worthy of gratitude and those worthy 
of respect already discussed in Blessing Three. 
Gratitude is elicited not merely by a person or a 
thing that has latent virtue — but by the good that 
person or thing has done us. Thus the objects of 
gratitude tend to be more concrete than the corre-
sponding list for 'respect'. Thus to avoid repetition, 
in this Blessing we cover the details only of the ob-
jects of gratitude not shared with the list of objects 
of respect — with the following list serving as a 
rough-and-ready comparison: 
Personages 
• Lord Buddha (see Bt. Three §C1) 
• Community of Enlightened Monks (see Bt. Three §C2) 
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• Our parents (see B!. Three §C4) 
• Our teachers (see Bl. Three §C5) 
• Virtuous Employers (see Bl. Three §C6) 
• Virtuous Monarchs (see B!. Three §C3, i.e. those 
established in the Ten Rajadhammas, see Bl. Sixteen 
K2) 
Animals 
• Beasts of Burden 
Inanimate Objects 
• Educational Objects (see Bl. Three §D3) 
• Dhamma Scriptures (see B!. Three §D2) 
• Pagodas (see B!. Three §D1) 
• I iomeland 
• Shade-giving Trees 
Goodness 
• Merit 
Yourself 
• Your own health 
C.2 Gratitude to Animals 
The people of old were grateful to their beasts of 
burden by which they earned their living. They 
would not use their water buffaloes to plough in 
the heat of the midday sun when it would be tor-
ture to the beasts. They would find only the best of 
soft grass and pastures for their beasts to graze dur-
ing their time of rest. They would never kill an old 
beast when it was beyond its working life —out of 
gratitude for all it had helped them with. They 
would maintain the buffalo to the end of its days. 
Some people loved their buffalos and felt their debt 
of gratitude so strongly that they would hardly ever 
beat them and some would even put up a mosquito 
net for the buffalos at night! When the buffalo 
passed away of natural causes, the owner would 
divide up the meat with his neighbours. People in 
the old days would even choose new employees 
based on the level of gratitude they displayed to-
wards their old buffalos. If anyone didn't keep buf-
falo beyond their working age, they would not be 
accepted into a company. 
C.3 Gratitude to Inanimate objects 
In the old days, those who took their rest under a 
tree for many years, even though the tree is inani-
mate (it has no mind) people would still be grate-
ful for the shade and shelter they had had from it. 
Maybe they will take care of the tree as a result so 
that others might get the same benefit. They might 
not make a mess under such a tree or cut it down. 
You will miss the forests and realize the forests 
when they're gone. If you have gotten benefit even 
from your meditation centre or temple you ought 
to treat that place with respect. 
Some people might even go as far to reflect as to 
the value they have taken from their homeland, 
home country or even the territory fought for and 
won by one's ancestors, where one has grown up 
in peace. You would know the value of your own 
country ifyou were ever made a refugee and had to 
leave your own country. You will miss it when its 
gone. 
CA Merit 
Just as electricity works invisibly to bring us many 
benefits and conveniences, the Lord Buddha dis-
covered that there is another force which brings ben-
efit to all of our lives, but about which (in general) 
we understand little of the workings — and that is 
merit — which had brought all forms of success 
and happiness into our lives. It gives us life and 
strength and protects us from handicap at birth. It 
brings us material comfort and intelligence. Most 
of us are new to meditation so we are still not par-
ticularly versed in the real value of merit, but if you 
meditate further until you attain the Dhammalciya, 
you will be able to start to understand the work-
ings of merit in the same way that a scientist un-
derstands the workings of electricity. This is why 
merit deserves our gratitude 
C.5 Yourself 
None of the forgoing forms of gratitude are of any 
great surprise to anyone — but something which is 
many times more miraculous is gratitude to your-
self. Your physical body is a vital piece of equip-
ment for you to use in the pursuit of goodness. You 
can't have anyone else do it for you. Those who 
use their body for doing evil things such as break-
ing the Precepts: killing, stealing, committing adul-
tery, lying or taking intoxicating drugs and alco-
hol. It is as good as destroying your own body. The 
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demerit of all these activities will follow you like a 
shadow. However. if you use your body to perform 
generous actions, keep the Precepts and meditate 
— the merit which arises as the result will nourish 
the mind and when it comes to time to leave this 
world, our physical body will go to the graveyard 
but our merit will be collected by our astral body 
and angelic body, leading us to take new life in 
heaven. When the power of that merit is exhausted 
then you return to be born as a human again. You 
will be the sort of person they invite to be born hu-
man — not the sort who has to compete to be born 
as a human. The proportions and characteristics of 
your body will be better than before — not exces-
sively fat or thin, or white or black — everything 
will be in equilibrium. Eventually you will be able 
to advance you meditation until you are able to 
overcome all the defilements in the mind and you 
can enter upon Nirvana in the footsteps of the Bud-
dha. You have to rely on your own body to do this. 
Thus everybody should be grateful to their own 
body which is their vehicle on the path to Nirvana. 
D. DEVELOPING GRA1111.11% IK EVERYDAY LIFE 
D.1 Repaying a Debt of Gratitude 
How large or small does a debt of gratitude have 
to be before it is worth recognizing? Sometimes it 
is impossible to put a price on a favour one has re-
ceived. If you are dying and someone donates a 
bottle of blood to save your life, how can you put a 
price on that blood you have received? The blood 
is worth your life. You cannot put a price on the 
milk you have suckled at your mother's breast. If 
your mother had refused to feed you since you were 
small, you would have died. That milk is worth as 
much as your life also. For some things it is likely 
that you will never be able fully to repay the debt 
of gratitude you owe. The best we can do is to do 
what we can to repay our debt of gratitude until 
our dying day. Thus if not entirely necessary, stand 
on your own feet rather than accepting the help of 
others — but in case you cannot do without their 
help, then don't forget that debt of gratitude for the 
rest of your life. As a practical guideline, however 
for how a debt of gratitude can be repaid appropri-
ately, bear in mind the definitions of conditional 
and unconditional love (described in Blessing Seven-
teen §A.2) which will allow you to size up your debts 
in a way that allows you to set your priorities with-
out conflicting loyalties. 
If someone has done you a favour, be quick to 
repay your own debt of gratitude (without them 
having to ask) — not just once but many times un-
til your dying day. Don't go thinking like some chil-
dren, "I lived in my parents' house for fifteen years 
— therefore I will look after may aging parents for 
only fifteen years, no more than that." If a person 
has done both good and bad things to you in the 
past, try to remember that person for the good 
things they have done, and be grateful for those 
good things. If you are to remember the bad things 
they have done, don't remember thinking only of 
vengeance, but remember in order to protect your-
self from further such situations. Don't allow a few 
faults on the part of another person to obscure the 
good favours you have received from them. If you 
can manage to do this the whole of the time, you 
will be able to maintain a joyous heart and a happy 
face. You will not get old before your time with a 
frown established on your face. If all you can think 
of is the bad you have received at the hands of oth-
ers, then this world will not appear a very pleasant 
place to live. You will fail to see any value in life. 
Some final hints for putting gratitude into practice 
in everyday life are as follows: 
1. Build up the roots of gratitude in the younger 
generation: The people of old used to have a way 
of developing gratitude in the younger genera-
tion. Children would be trained to use only the 
very highest of words to greet and speak of their 
parents. They would bow to their parents every 
night before going to bed. When children get 
older, instead of just going through the motions 
of bowing they start to look for the virtues in 
their parents that make them worthy of respect. 
Once one can see the benefits received from one's 
parents one will be able to identify the goodness 
in others such as the Buddha or one's teachers. 
If we are unable to see the goodness received 
from our parents it is unlikely to be able to iden-
tify the goodness in anyone else. 
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2. Be grateful to your own body: by using it only 
for good deeds. Don't go destroying your health 
with alcohol. Don't abuse your mouth by lying 
or gossiping with the neighbours. Don't go us-
ing your handsomeness to become a womanizer. 
Everyone has the opportunity to go to Nirvana 
so why don't you hurry up and use your entitle-
ment? Thus you should use your own body with 
gratitude. 
D.2 Words of Warning concerning Gratitude 
It should be noted that gratitude needs be moder-
ated by 'equanimity' [upekkha] (i.e. not allowed 
to be influenced by bias Ifigatij or by familiarity 
[visfiscr] or else can lead to corruption. Thus the im-
portance of understanding Blessing Sixteen (§C) 
before moving on to this blessing. 
Secondly, supposing you have done someone a fa-
vour in the past. In fact they owe you a favour in 
return. However if you are to openly claim a favour 
in return, then it makes you look like a manipulator 
instead of a benefactor in others' estimation. Thus if 
you ever do someone a favour, never go ask for that 
favour back! If you ask for money back that you have 
lent someone, that is alright — but when it is a fa-
vour you have given someone, asking for the favour 
back is not at all appropriate — because you often 
cannot put a price on a favour. 
L. ILLUS I HAI IVh EXAMPLES 
.E.1 Metaphor: Sunlight is lost on a blind man 
In the same way that the light of the sun is blind 
man no matter how brightly it shines, the favours 
and compassion of a benefactor are lost on an un-
grateful person no matter how much help they may 
give. 
£2 Er. One ladleful of rice DK/1.5.104f): 
Besides being the right-hand disciple of the Lord 
Buddha who was wise in teaching second to the 
Buddha himself. Sariputta was also unsurpassed 
in the virtue of gratitude. He would not let even 
the smallest favour pass by unnoticed. There was 
one day in the town of Rajagaha, the Lord Buddha 
was staying at Veluvana Temple and Sariputta 
was there also. An aged brahmin called Radha who 
had been shunned by his wife, family and in-laws 
because he was not very wealthy. They abandoned 
RAdha instead of looking after him in his old age. 
He didn't want to bother anyone unduly so he 
thought of becoming a Buddhist monk for the final 
days of his life. None of the monks in the temple 
were interested to take responsibility for his ordi-
nation because they saw that he was already old 
and would only be a burden on the temple. No-
one would give him ordination. The Buddha asked 
if there was not a single monk in the temple who 
had received benefit from this Brahmin in the past. 
Sariputta spoke up and said that once a long time 
ago RAdha had given him a ladleful of rice when 
he was on alms round. The Buddha therefore asked 
Sariputta to help out Radha on this occasion. 
Sariputta ordained Rat and allowed him to stay 
in the same lodging teaching him meditation and 
the teachings of the Buddha. Radha practised hard 
and before long was able to become an arahant. 
Sariputta certainly showed his gratitude and the 
Buddha revealed that it was not only in that life-
time that he had been grateful. Even in previous 
lifetimes, he had been grateful and this had built 
up the habits that allowed him to absorb the 
Dhamma to the point of mastery. 
£3 Er. Gil:fru/Saha Jataka (J.157) 
A second disciple of the Buddha well known for 
his gratitude was Ananda. Ananda had his own 
disciples to look after — five-hundred of them —
according to the duty of senior monks. There was a 
young monk who attended Ananda in every way 
— washing his robes, sweeping the lodging and 
massaging his feet because Amanda himself had 
many other responsibilities to attend to, especially 
as secretary to the Buddha. Even though Ananda 
did not have much time to spare to look after his 
charges, he thought of his junior monks with grati-
tude. One day when Ananda went to teach in the 
palace he was offered 500 sets of robes. Ananda 
offered all 500 to that faithful student of his. Some 
people wondered why Ananda was biased towards 
this particular student and whether he was really a 
stream-enterer Isotapanaj as others claimed. Why 
didn't he divide up the robes equally? In any case 
the faithful student divided up the five-hundred 
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robes equally amongst the other 499 monks and 
kept only a single robe for himself. There were still 
tell-tale monks who went to ask the Buddha about 
what Ananda had done. The Buddha explained that 
Ananda had not given all the robes to a single monk 
because of bias because of three reasons: 
1. He recognized with gratitude the benefits he 
had received from that student; 
2. He knew that that particular monk possessed 
true virtue; 
3. That monk had made himself endearing. 
The Buddha praised Ananda for doing the right 
thing. If he had praised all the five-hundred monks 
equally, it would have obscured the special good 
deeds possessed only by a single monk. 
ES Er. Cullapaduma Jataka (J.192) 
When the Lord Buddha was still pursuing Perfec-
tions as the Bodhisattva, he was born as a prince 
called Paduma. His father the king was suspicious 
of his young and handsome son because he was 
afraid that his son might compete with him for his 
own wives and consorts. He banished his son from 
the kingdom and told him to come back only after 
the death of the king. Prince Paduma lived in the 
forest with his wife. 
One day the prince came across a prisoner who 
had had his arms, legs, nose and ears cut off in pun-
ishment but who was nevertheless still alive and 
who had been cast away on a raft. The prince at-
tended to the health of the prisoner even though 
the princess shunned him at first. Later, when the 
prisoner had recovered his health, somehow a love 
grew up between himself and the princess and the 
two of them had an affair. The princess was afraid 
she would be discovered so she lured the prince to 
the edge of a cliff and pushed him over. The prince 
survived by clinging to a branch below and re-
turned to his home kingdom, in time to become 
king. He was fed up with marriage and ruled the 
kingdom in justice doing only good deeds through-
out his life. As for the princess, she put her lover in 
a basket and would carry him here and there beg-
ging for a living. They made up a story that they 
had been married only out of respect for the wishes 
of their parents. Everyone was sorry for them, think-
ing that the wife had gratitude towards both her 
parents and her husband so they gave their dona-
tions of food and money. One day, the princess 
crossed into the kingdom of King Paduma and that 
day the king himself was there making donations 
to the poor with the others. Of course he remem-
bered the couple and was angry because he had 
still not come to an end of defilements. He ordered 
the execution of both the princess and the prisoner, 
but after a few moments, his temper cooled down 
and reduced their punishment to banishment. 
Thus you may trust a person but never trust their 
defilements — even if they are an invalid. Ingrati-
tude has deep roots which can even be communi-
cated from one lifetime to the next — therefore to 
get rid of ingratitude right from the present life-
time is the safest bet. 
£5 Er. Silaranaga Jataka (J.72) 
In another lifetime the Lord Buddha was born as a 
white elephant in the forest. Devadatta was born a 
hunter. The hunter had lost his way in the forest so 
the elephant showed him the way home. The hunter 
left marks on the trees as he went and later found 
the opportunity to return to the same place in or-
der to get the tusks of the white elephant. The first 
time the hunter came, the elephant gave him the 
tip of his right tusk. The second time the hunter 
came he gave him the tip of his left tusk. Each time 
the hunter came, the tusks of the elephant were cut 
a little shorter. As the tusks got shorter, sawing the 
tusks became very painful for the elephant. When 
only stumps were left, the hunter no longer used a 
saw. He cut into the flesh of the elephant's face to 
get the tusks out by their roots. The Bodhisattva 
elephant thought to itself,"It is not that I don't love 
my tusks, but I love them less than the prospect of 
pursuing perfection towards Buddhahood. The el-
ephant thought of its giving as the perfection of giv-
ing. In the end the hunter took the life of the el-
ephant — it's final gift to the world. As the hunter 
was cutting the tusks from the carcass of the el-
ephant, the earth split in two where the hunter stood 
and sucked him directly into hell, without having 
to wait for him to die. 
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E.6 Ex. Javasaktata Jataka (J.308) 
Once upon a time in the Himavanta forest a moun-
tain lion was devouring his prey under a tree near 
his den. A piece of bone got stuck in his throat caus-
ing the lion extreme pain. A woodpecker perched 
above heard the lion's cries and asked what had 
happened to make him look so pained. The lion re-
plied, "A piece of bone has stuck in my throat" 
"I can take it out," offered the woodpecker. 
"Please hurry up and remove it, my friend —you 
will be saving my life," roared the lion. 
"... but this is not going to be easy ..." 
"... I don't see what is so difficult?" 
"... the problem is I don't dare to go inside your 
mouth," said the woodpecker. "I am afraid you will 
eat me up!" 
"Oh! I wouldn't do that," said the lion. "Hurry 
up and save my life!" 
Thus the woodpecker accepted to help the lion 
— but not without circumspect. He used a stout 
branch to prop the lion's jaws open first and only 
then did he enter the lion's mouth and pull the bone 
from the lion's throat with his beak. Only then did 
he re-emerge from the lion's mouth, knock away 
the branch and retreat hastily to a nearby tree. The 
lion's pain subsided. Later, fit and well again, the 
lion caught a wild buffalo and returned to sit un-
der the same tree to devour his prey. The wood-
pecker learned of the lion's success in his hunting 
and tested the lion asking: 
"I have heard you've been successful in your 
hunting — could you spare a little of the meat to 
share with me?" 
"Be off with you," growled the lion. "You don't 
deserve anything from me — think yourself lucky 
that I granted you your life when you were between 
my jaws!" 
The woodpecker criticized the lion for his self-
ishness and ingratitude and then flew away never 
to return. 
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Blessing Twenty-Six: 
Listening Regularly 
to Dhamma Teachings 
A. INTRODUt HON 
A.1 The Place of Blessing Twenty-sir in the 
order of things 
We come to the twenty-sixth step of the staircase of 
Buddhist practice entitled 'Regular hearing of 
Dhamma Sermon?. Only once we have availed 
ourselves of the first four virtues of Group VII of 
these Blessings is it useful for us to go on to listen 
to Dhamma Teachings regularly. If we have done 
the requisite groundwork for the mind, when we 
come to listen to the Dhamma, it we can use what 
we learn as a mirror to evaluate ourselves in order 
to know which virtues we possess and those we 
lack, the weaknesses we have, and those we have 
overcome — so that we know in which areas we 
have mom for improvement. 
A.2 Objectives of listening to the Dhamma 
Of course the point of listening to a sermon is to 
depthen one's wisdom. However wisdom in not an 
instant commodity. There are some things we don't 
understand immediately when we hear them, but 
that doesn't mean that listening to the Dhamma is 
a waste of time. Therefore listening to Dhamma ser-
mons has objectives at many levels of complexity: 
1. To arouse faith in the Triple Gem: without a foun-
dation of faith it is unlikely that you will see the 
value of the teachings to the extent that you will 
want to reflect on them. Thus faith is like a sword 
which helps you to cut away the unnecessary 
doubts and fears. People are potentially so full 
of suspicions and doubts that they could write a 
list of hundreds. However, if you can put these 
doubts on one side to the extent that a few items 
of the Dhamma start to wake you up to reality, 
often these problems will be overcome. If at least 
you can see some value in the Buddha, the 
Dhamma and the Sangha, then you begin to 
open your heart to the benefits which you can 
absorb from Buddhism. 
2. To wake you up [sarpvega] to the reality of life 
Most of the time our mind wanders about aim-
lessly. If you can point your finger at something 
that allows the mind to wake up to the real na-
ture of mind (such as the imminence of death) it 
can stimulate people really to get down to prac-
tice of the Dhamma. It is like matches and a 
matchbox which may lie together throughout 
their lives but they never break into flame un-
less one is struck against the other. In the same 
way, people co-exist with the cruel reality of life 
for years but it is not unless people receive some 
sort of transformative shock that they will get 
down to earnest practice to improve their lot. 
This form of transformative shock is the func-
tion of Dhamma teaching. 
The Lord Buddha taught that whether Dhamma 
practice gives its fruit quickly or slowly, we still 
need to do it because at the very least such practice 
will start to engrain itself as a positive disposition 
lupartessaya] in oneself. 
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b. LISTENING REGUIARLY TO 
1. 
B.1 Definitions 
The meaning of the title of this particular blessing 
is to seek out opportunities to hear Buddhist teach-
ings and make time to listen to them from knowl-
edgeable teachers in order to transform one's mind 
for the better — and having heard teachings in 
theory, to use the virtues learned as a minor to ex-
amine the presence or absence of those virtues in 
ourselves and to see whether the virtues we already 
have can be improved upon. For example, having 
heard a teaching about 'patience' one should use 
one's new knowledge to examine one's own heart 
to see the level of patience in oneself. If you have 
some degree of patience in you, you should be hon-
est about yourself about how much — are there 
some things which still make you impatient? Can 
you put up with unpleasant things, but find it hard 
to say 'no' to temptations? Listening to a Dhamma 
sermon, you will know instantly where you have 
room for improvement. The main point of this par-
ticular blessing is the choice of appropriate things 
to listen to and secondly the choice of appropriate 
time to listen to them too. 
The word 'Dhamma' means (also defined in Bless-
ing Sixteen) Buddhist teachings as found in the 
Tipitaka. We need to find the time to listen to such 
teachings — because the teachings of the Buddha 
are without a shadow of a doubt beneficial — be-
cause if anyone can really understand them and 
practice them for themselves, they will certainly 
manage to avoid hardship in the long or short term. 
Sometimes we hear that there are 84,000 headings 
of Dhamma in the Buddha's teachings. Do you 
2. 
think you know as many of these as 10,000 yet? Or 
perhaps 1,000? People in general know 10-200 head-
ings of Dhamma from the Teachings. Sometimes, 
we only know such subject matter but we have still 
not got round to practising it for ourselves. Thus if 
you are to ask yourself which of the 84,000 head-
ings of Dhamma it would be useful to listen to, the 
answer is 'as many as possible'. 
£2 Appropriate times to listen to the Dhamma 
There are four main appropriate times to listen to 
the Dhamma teachings. The Buddha taught: 
On Quarter-Moon Days (the Buddhist Holy 
Daysk These are the full-moon days, new-moon 
days and half-moon days. Such days are about 
seven-days apart. You will find a similar rhythm 
of holy days in almost every religion. Christians 
observe their Sabbath every Sunday. Moslems 
observe the Sabbath on Fridays and Jews on 
Saurday. Why should all religions have such a 
seven-thy periodicity for listening to religious 
teachings? Usually even if someone is impressed 
or inspired by a teaching, they will remember 
such a teaching for only a few days. Most peo-
ple have so many other things on their minds, 
that within seven days will forget spiritual teach-
ings they have learned and at the end of seven 
days they will return to their bad old ways. If 
you listen to a teaching which recommends that 
you study conscientiously, maybe you will be-
come a conscientious student for a few days, but 
by the end of the week you will be back to your 
old lazy ways. Supposing your parents have 
given you some strong advice about a matter. 
Maybe you will remember what they have 
taught you for a few days, but by the end of the 
week you will start to forget again. It is the same 
for practically every good habit we set out to 
build for ourselves — if we are absent from our 
spiritual teacher for more than seven days, we 
start to revert to our old behaviour. Thus it is no 
coincidence that there is teaching every seven 
days no matter what the religion. It is like re-
charging your batteries every seven days — top-
ping up your morale. 
Whenever there are unskilful states arising in the 
mind: If unskilful states arise in your mind, you 
should be quick to listen to a Dhamma teaching. 
It doesn't matter what day of the week it is, if 
your mind has fallen into unskilful states — that 
is the right time to listen to the Dhamma. It 
doesn't matter where or from whom you listen 
to such Dhamma — from a monk in a temple or 
from a layperson or even from your parents or 
elders — the important thing is that you cannot 
just allow your mind to 'run riot' — you have to 
do something immediately to solve the problem 
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of the mind that you are experiencing. If you are 
feeling slighted or sorry for yourself, don't al-
low that state of mind to continue, but you 
should listen to some Dhamma teachings or else 
you might get so negative that you feel suicidal. 
Supposing that you are particularly angry with 
the neighbours, then you should go and listen 
to the Dhamma before you do something you 
will regret later. If ever the feeling that you would 
like to respond to any of these three sorts of un-
wholesome mental preoccupations [akusala-
vitakka] (A.iii.446) arises in the mind to make it 
unskilful, then find the opportunity to listen to 
the Dhamma without delay: 
1. preoccupation with sense-pleasures [kama-
vitakkaj: when your mind is overcome with 
desire (especially sensual temptation); 
2. preoccupation with vengefulness [byttpada-
vitakka]: (when you feel that you would like 
to steal from people, or damage their reputa-
tion or even when you are angry), 
3. preoccupation with violence or cruelty ivihirpsa-
vitakka]: when you want to hurt or take ad-
vantage of others 
3. When in Doubt: An appropriate time to listen to 
the Dhamma is when doubts arise in your mind 
— for example, when you feel there is something 
about your meditation practice or what you have 
heard that you don't understand or if you find 
something seemingly inconsistent in the 
Dhamma teachings you have heard. If you have 
doubts, then go to find a teaching monk or some-
one more experienced in the Dhamma practice 
than yourself — so you can put your mind at 
rest. 
4. Whenever there is a sermon being given: If you 
hear that there is a sermon on Dhamma being 
given and you know that the person or monk 
giving the sermon is someone who has real 
knowledge, it doesn't matter what day of the 
week it is, or what time of the day it is, you 
should not hesitate to go and listen to such a ser-
mon. It is a very difficult thing for anyone able 
to understand the Dhamma to arise in the world. 
To study the Dhamma to the point of under-
standing takes time and it requires that they 
study from the Buddha Himself or someone who 
is as adept as the Buddha. Not only that, but they 
must also be able to communicate what they 
have learned in a way that others can under-
stand. If there is such a person arisen in the 
world, you should not delay — go and listen to 
what they have to teach without hesitation. If 
you hear that there is someone who is enlight-
ened then you should see what they have to teach 
— but beware of those who make false claim to 
being enlightened such as the many people who 
have to advertise themselves. However, if some-
one is knowledgeable, has a good manner of 
practice and has a gift for making Dhamma easy 
to understand — be quick to make yourself one 
of the audience whenever you hear news that 
they are teaching. 
The Buddha even went further to enumerate the 
virtues of those who teach the Dhamma and those 
who listen to the Dhamma. 
B.3 Marks of a good Dhamma Teacher 
Those who are good at teaching the Dhamma 
should have the following characteristics 
(A.ii.184)(you can use these characteristics as qual-
ity control for any Dhamma teacher about whom 
you have your doubts): 
1. Expounds Dhamma sequentially: This means the 
speaker must teach the Dhamma in way that 
becomes gradually more profound (not some-
one who skips over important subject matter vi-
tal for the listener's understanding). To be 
sequentially profound requires that the speaker: 
1. has a real understanding of their own subject 
matter; 
2. has skill in communication 
3. must have prepared and planned what he is 
going to teach. It is not good enough just to 
speak 'off the top of one's head'. 
2. Gives reasons for the Dhamitta taught: It is not 
good enough just to repeat what you have 
memorized from a textbook or even from the 
Scriptures. It is unacceptable for a teacher who 
has not done any preparation simply to take the 
same textbook which the students already have 
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and read it aloud to them. You have to be able to 
explain the causes and effects in any relationship, 
be able to categorize, analyze, generalize and 
distinguish. When teaching virtue, it is only pos-
sible to explain something thoroughly if one has 
practiced such a virtue for oneself. How can you 
expect to teach meditation if you have never 
practised for yourself? How can you expect to 
teach about the Five Precepts or Eight Precepts, 
if you are unable even to keep a single Precept 
yourself? If you are giving a description or an 
example and there are only the examples of what 
others have done, but you can never pay wit-
ness to your own good deeds, who will be con-
vinced by what you have to say? 
3. Teaches out of sincere compassion for the lis-
tener. The goodwill of loving kindness and com-
passion are the basic foundation of a good 
teacher. Supposing someone is very virtuous and 
can practice many virtues for himself (like a 
paccekabuddha) but lacks compassion for his fel-
low man — supposing he gives up teaching as 
soon as someone doesn't understand a few 
words of what he has said — then it may be that 
he lacks sufficient compassion to teach others. 
4. Teaching without the motive of gaining some-
thing (material) in return: A good teacher must 
not teach with a wish for something material (e.g. 
wealth, praise or fame) in return. Some monks 
lose their interest in giving sermons if they are 
offered insufficient donations. Such thinking is 
more worthy of a mercenary Dhamma teacher. 
Some are not interested in the income from their 
sermon, but will be disappointed if their audi-
ence is small. If there is a large audience, they 
will rise to the occasion — but if there are only a 
few in the congregation, they don't really bother 
what they teach and try to finish as early as pos-
sible. This is wrong. Thus if you can be pleased 
no matter how many or few come to listen to 
your teaching, that is one of the signs of a suc-
cessful Dhamma teacher. The Great Abbot of Wat 
Paknam taught: 
"If a thousand come, we teach a thousand: (its 
tiring but a few words can change the lives of 
many, so the speaker accrues a lot of merit —
so that's good). If a hundred come, we teach a 
hundred: (its not so firing — so that's also 
good). If a handful of people come, we teach 
a handful: (so we don't have to speak so 
loudly, and the atmosphere can be a little more 
informal — so that's also good). If no-one 
comes, we sit for meditation and teach our-
selves (so that's also good)" 
5. Teaching without bringing conflict to yourself 
or others: Sometimes when someone is teaching, 
they are not firmly established in the virtues they 
teach — when they see someone they don't like 
in the audience, they take the opportunity to in-
sult that person in the course of their teaching 
(bringing yourself into conflict with others). Oth-
ers use giving sermons as the opportunity to 
boast about themselves (bringing yourself into 
conflict with yourself). This is a very important 
distinguishing feature of how the teachings of 
Buddhism have always been spread — the Bud-
dha laid down guidelines for his monks so that 
they never teach in a way that brings Buddhism 
into conflict with other religions — but that 
doesn't mean Buddhism is a religion of laissez-
faire'— it means that when teaching, one should 
choose one's explanations and subject matter 
with care. 
If you ever hear that someone who has all five of 
these qualities who will give a sermon, then if you 
can take leave from work, go and listen to them 
without delay and without worrying what day of 
the week it is. 
B.4 Marks of a Good Listener to the Dhamma 
The person who is a good listener to the Dhamma 
also should have five qualities (MNidA.8): 
1. Doesn't look down on the subject matter: Never 
look down on the subject matter being taught 
that it is too basic 'for the likes of yourself'. The 
Buddha taught that each and every item of 
Dhamma that he taught has the quality that if it 
is practised to the full it can lead to enlighten-
ment in the end — but some people fail to see 
the teachings in sufficient depth because they 
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look down on the subject matter and thus miss 
the real value. Some people, for example, think 
that the First Blessing (not associating with fools) 
just means being choosy about one's friends —
and conclude that it is too simple to waste their 
time with. They have their own preconceived 
ideas about what fools are like so they don't want 
to waste time hearing a sermon about such a sub-
ject! But looked at through the eyes of the initi-
ated, even this single subject practised properly 
can allow us to enter upon Nirvana! — however 
a person needs to look at the teaching sufficiently 
deeply to realize that they must also give up as-
sociating with the fool in themselves — the part 
of themselves that is stingy, undisciplined and 
too lazy to meditate. Thus don't go thinking any 
item of the Dhamma is too simple to bother team-
ing or revising. Thus those who appreciate 
Dhamma teaching never look down on the ma-
terials they are taught. 
2. Doesn't look down on the level of knowledge of 
the teacher: Don't go thinking that a monk is 
young, therefore there is probably nothing you 
can learn from him. Don't go thinking that as an 
older person you have to hear the Dhamma from 
and old monk to be a match for your own level 
of experience. It is therefore a great mistake to 
look down on the knowledge of a Dhamma 
teacher. In order to help remind the people not 
to look down on the knowledge of a teacher, in 
the olden times, people would hold their hands 
in a gesture of prayer throughout the sermon 
they were listening to. However in the present 
day, you can sit however you like, but don't fall 
asleep or that with your friends during the ser-
mon or else that is showing that you are looking 
down on the knowledge of the teacher. You close 
the door on your own possibility of spiritual 
progress. The Buddha warned (Dahara Sutta 
S.i.68) that there are four small things which you 
should never underestimate the importance of: 
1. a small fire: even a small fire can grow to burn 
down an entire city 
2. a small poisonous snake: you can die from the 
bite even of a small snake 
3. a young king: some kings have reigned since 
they were not yet thirty (e.g. Alexander the 
Great) 
4. a young monk: some have become arahants 
since the age of seven. 
3. Never look down on yourself Don't go thinking 
that you have no chance of being able to under-
stand anything as profound as the Dhamma. In 
fact, even the most unlikely of people have 
benefitted from Dhamma teachings to the degree 
they could become arahants. $ee the story of 
Citlapanthaka §13.2 below). Some people think 
that they have no chance of being able to trans-
form themselves for the better so they give up 
even before they start. They think to themselves 
that success in the study of the Dhamma may 
take years even for an enthusiastic person — so 
what hope does a lazy person like them have? 
4. Keeping the mind in meditation (concentration) 
when listening: Your mind should be in medita-
tion while listening to sermons—you shouldn't 
distract yourself during a sermon by chatting or 
picking your fingernails etc.. The better your 
mind is concentrated in meditation as you hear 
a talk the more you will understand of the sub-
ject being taught. In the time of the Buddha, 
when He needed to teach a very subtle subject, 
he would sit with his eyes closed in meditation 
to teach and the listeners would do the same in 
order to be able to follow the subtleties of his 
teaching. In this way, many people were able to 
attain the path and fruit of Nirvana. Thus we too, 
should keep a mind of meditation when listen-
ing to Dhamma teachings in keeping with this 
age old Buddhist tradition. 
5. Reflects wisely Iyonisomanasikeral on every-
thing learned: You should reflect further on the 
things you have learned from a sermon — turn-
ing the subject matter over in your mind and 
examining it from different angles. Such a habit 
will allow you a fast and quick mastery of the 
subject matter. 
Thus both the teacher and the listener each have five 
points of practice which they need to apply if a ser-
mon of the Dhamma is to give its maximum benefits. 
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LOCRDNISOILISIIAINO 10 1111; DI L1MMA 
C.1 Fruits of listening to the Dhamma (A.iii.248) 
1. Hearing things never before heard lassutarp 
sugati]: Because a Dhamma teacher will always 
put in the effort to find new items of Dhamma 
for the listener (see Blessing Three §C.2), if we at-
tend a Dhamma sermon, we will almost always 
be hearing something we have never heard be-
fore; 
2. Clarifying things already heard Isutarp 
pariyodapetij: If it happens that the subject to 
the sermon is something we have already heard 
before, at the very least, it will allow us to revise 
and depthen what we already know and raise 
our mastery to a new level allowing us to remem-
ber more; 
3. Dispelling one's doubts [lecilzharg vihanati]: If 
after hearing teachings in the past, it is still with 
some reluctance that we give up old bad habits 
and strive for new better ones, as a result of hear-
ing a Dhamma sermon, some of that doubt and 
reluctance will be dispelled; 
4. Straightening one's views [ditthiqt equip karotij: 
In the course of our everyday life as we journey 
in pursuit of virtue, we may come up against 
many obstacles from inside and outside which 
might conspire to infiltrate our thinking with 
'false views' Imiccha ditthi]. Such false views if 
left to their own devices can eventually lead our 
spiritual cultivation to go in circles or else to de-
viate from the objectives we have set ourselves. 
One advantage of regularly hearing Dhamma 
teachings is that we will be able to identify the 
workings of False View in our mind and to up-
root these, cultivating Right View Isamma 
ditthiJ in their place. 
5. Calming the mind and bringing happiness 
[cittamassa pasidati]: Hearing Dhamma ser-
mons will 'wake us up' to the reality of life and 
the world, shaking our mind out of distraction 
with sensuality, vengeance and aggression while 
making clearer to us where our weaknesses lie, 
and to raise up our morale giving us the means 
by which to definitively overcome those weak-
nesses— ultimately attaining the path and fruit 
of Nirvana. 
C.2 Predispositions acquired through listening 
to the Dhamma 
By listening to Dhamma sermons, even though we 
might not understand everything of what we heat, 
something which we will gradually acquire in our 
personality through our perseverence are certain 
sorts of predisposition. Such deeply rooted habits 
become like bedrock for the mind. Even though we 
might not understand everything we hear when we 
listen to the Dhamma, before long, we will start to 
build up a vocabulary of technical terms associated 
with the Dhamma — even if we are not sure of the 
meaning, we have a familiarity with them. Some-
times we don't know the meaning of chanting, but 
before long we have a passing acquaintance with 
the Pali words. Such predispositions will be like 
'capital' that will be a downpayment making culti-
vation of good deeds by us easier in future in four 
different ways: 
1. Quicker attainment of wisdom: in subsequent 
existences one will attain wisdom quickly and 
with ease. One will be able to recall and apply 
items of Dhamma with ease allowing one to at-
tain the path and fruit of Nirvana quickly: 
2. Ability to teach: in subsequent existences, once 
one has a knowledge of Dhamma, it will be easy 
for one to teach it and explain it to others; 
3. Recognition of the Dhamma message: in subse-
quent existences, even if one cannot remember 
items of Dhamma oneself, but upon hearing 
Dhamma teaching from others, one will be able 
to attain the path and fruit of Nirvana quickly 
— and one's understanding will be thorough and 
without any shadow of a doubt. Like a person 
who has heard the sound of a drum once before 
—even much later, after a journey of many miles 
— if they are to hear the sound of a drum for the 
second time, they will recognize it instantly for 
what it is. It would be hard for anyone to per-
suade such a person that what they are listening 
to is not a drum. 
4. Easily re-awakened to the value of Dhamma 
teachings: in subsequent existences, even if one 
can no longer remember the Dhamma one has 
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learned, and even if there is no-one to teach it, 
but on hearing only a few words of advice from 
others, or perhaps even overhearing such advice 
— it will bring back one's former knowledge of 
Dhamma easily allowing one to attain the path 
and fruit of Nirvana with ease. 
Even those who regularly perform their Morning 
and Evening Chanting, even though they might not 
know the precise meaning of the Pali vocabulary 
— it is certainly not a waste of time because at the 
very least it will bring peace of mind and a famili-
arity with the Pah turns of phrase so that in a fu-
ture existence even just overhearing the sound of 
someone else chanting, it will attract one to inves-
tigate more closely and have the opportunity to hear 
Dhamma teachings — and having heard them, to 
understand them with ease as the result of the past 
disposition we have built up for ourselves, so that 
we can attain the path and fruit of Nirvana with 
ease. 
b. imus RA IN it. EXAMPLES 
D.1 Proverb: Those who see the danger in the 
cycle of existence (9.v.94-6) 
"0! You who see the danger in the cycles 
of existence Isaipsaraj, in whatsoever era 
the Noble Disciples hear the Dhamma, lis-
ten to the marrow of their bones, listen to 
the innermost part of their mind, and who 
muster all of their encouragement, bend-
ing their ears to listen in earnest — in that 
era their Five Hindrances will be overcome 
and their Seven Factors of Enlightenment 
[bojjhanga] will be brought to completion 
through the power of their meditation." 
112 Ex. Culapanthaka DhA.i.239ff. 
There was one monk in the time of the Lord Bud-
dha called Cfflapanthaka who had ordained for 
ten years but was so inert that after all that time he 
could not even remember four lines of verse (one 
vagga). His elder brother (already an arahant) de-
spaired. He thought, "My younger brother is so 
dumb he cannot even remember four lines of verse 
so what chance would he have of learning the chant-
ing or any of the longer suttas of the Buddha?" 
Cfflapanthaka was chased out of the temple and 
shunned because he wasn't considered worth his 
almsfood. Cfflapanthaka left the temple in despair 
and met with the Buddha. Cfflapanthalta informed 
the Buddha that he was going to disrobe. The Bud-
dha asked him, "When you ordained, did you or-
dain to offer your life to Buddhism or did you or-
dain for the benefit of your big brother?" 
Cfflapanthaka agreed he had ordained to offer his 
life for Buddhism so he renewed his interest to con-
tinue with the ordination. The Buddha looked back 
into the previous lifetimes of Cfflapanthaka to see 
what was the problem impeding his progress in the 
apprehension of Buddhism. In past lives he had 
been very intelligent but he had become arrogant 
as the result of his intelligence and had regularly 
teased a fellow monk who was not so gifted so of-
ten that the other monk despaired and disrobed. 
That evil had made him as stupid as his victim in 
every subsequent lifetime. The Buddha realized that 
to memorize any scriptures would be fruitless so 
he found another way to teach the monk. He taught 
the monk the word irajoharanarre (meaning sul-
lied) and gave the monk a piece of white cloth with 
which to wipe his own head. He gave the monk 
the practice of reciting the word while at the same 
time wiping his head with the cloth. The white cloth 
was blackened by sweat and dirt and eventually 
Cfflapanthalta, seeing that the impurity of his own 
body had sullied the white cloth to make it black, 
lost attraction for his own body, his mind was able 
to enter the centre of his body and attain the 
Dhammakiya inside. He became an arahant where 
he stood. His elder brother could not believe he was 
enlightened until his younger brother performed a 
feat of mental power by replicating thousands of 
images of himself [manomayiddhi]. 
D.3 Et Janasana Ascetic (Mahaucupsa-tika 
190ff) 
In the time of Kassapa Buddha, there was a python 
which had dug a burrow just next to a cave where 
monks regularly chanted the Abhidhamma. The 
monks often chanted the verses concerning the 
sense doors [ayatana] and how they should be re-
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strained. The python heard the chanting every day 
but because it was a snake, of course it could not 
understand the meaning. It could only remember 
the word tayatand and the pleasant personality of 
the monk chanting the verses. It was these things 
that the snake remembered at the last moments of 
its life. Usually animals will only think of food, 
mating and fear of death — but this snake thought 
only of Dhamma and was reborn as an angel. It 
lived in heaven for a hundred years. The ex-snake 
was reborn in about 300 B.C. as Janasina and his 
former familiarity with the chanting attracted him 
to ordination, even from teenage. He became an as-
cetic who was able to become versed in the Vedas'. 
The ascetic also trained in meditation and was able 
to make accurate predictions. 
At that time the Queen who would be mother to 
the Emperor Asoka conceived. Usually when 
women become pregnant, they have morning sick-
ness which leads them to have some strange com-
pulsions. Some would like to eat strange things such 
as sand or human blood. Some feel compelled to 
shout at the neighbours. For the mother of Asoka, 
her compulsion was to have the moon and the sun 
at her feet and to eat stars and clouds. 
The young ascetic heard the strange desires of the 
queen and was able to tell her that he child would 
be no ordinary son. He told her that wanting to 
stand on the sun and the moon was a sign that her 
son would rule the whole of the subcontinent. Want-
ing to eat the stars was a sign that Asoka would kill 
some of his own brothers and sisters and wanting 
to eat clouds was a sign that he would destroy her-
etic sects which got in the way of the truth (like the 
clouds which hide the sun). 
The life of Emperor Asoka proved all the proph-
ecies of the ascetic to be true, so Asoka sent his men 
with a golden palanquin to invite the ascetic to the 
palace. However, on the way, the ascetic visited 
Vattaniya Hermitage and met with an arahant 
Assagutta who taught about the sense doors. Just 
hearing the word 'balance woke him up to the 
value of Buddhism to the extent that he asked to 
1. The Vedas are Hindu scriptures in which some of the pro-
phetic materials share elements of the Buddhist scriptures from 
a time when Buddhism has almost disappeared from the world 
and which is passed down to the next era. 
ordain at that very moment and could become an 
arahant himself in the reign of Asoka. Thus even 
listening to the Dhamma without understanding 
the meaning can have implications to the extent of 
enlightenment in the future. 
D.4 Ex. Saccaka Nigantha M.234)7., MAI 469ff. 
In the Jiiyamarigalagiithi chanting which recol-
lects the victories of the Buddha achieved without 
aggression — there was one example in that chant-
ing of a dialogue with a leading philosopher in con-
temporary India. Both his parents were also phi-
losophers. In his own right, he was renowned for 
his skill in dialogue. He was not contented when 
many of his supporters became followers of the 
Buddha so he planned to defeat the Buddha in de-
bate to desaedit Him. He went to see the Buddha 
with a huge congregation of supporters (who loved 
debates). 
That morning the Buddha had seen in his medi-
tation that Saccaka Nigantha was ripe for progress 
in Dhamma that day, but not to the extent of attain-
ing the Path and Fruit of Nirvana (the reason for 
this was because he lacked sufficient engrained fa-
miliarity with the Dhamma). However, as a result 
of their debate, Saccaka Nigantha would absorb the 
Dhamma he had learned as an engrained familiar-
ity that would help him towards enlightenment in 
a future lifetime. The philosopher was defeated in 
the discussion and listened to the teaching of the 
Buddha. He invited the Buddha to take a meal in 
his own house and again heard a repetition of the 
same sermon, but still was unable to understand it. 
He could manage no more than faith. 
In the next lifetime he was born in Sri Lanka and 
became a monk known as Kala-Buddharaldchita 
at an early age. He knew all the Teachings by heart, 
but the engrained habits of a philosopher rendered 
him unable to practice any of them. He knew only 
the theory. One day his teacher wamed him to prac-
tice himself or else all his students would be 
arahants before him. The monk realized his mis-
take, practised for himself and was soon able to be-
come an arahant himself. At that time, with his old 
ability in dialogue together with the sermon in his 
mind, received from the Buddha in a previous life-
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time, he was soon able to become a valuable Bud-
dhist missionary. 
D.5 Ex. Kali Kuraragharikti (Dh.A.iv.103ff.) 
Kali Kuraragharikfi was the mother of Sooa-
Kutilcafifia Thera. On one occasion, Sona passed 
through his home town. On his return from the 
Jetavana monastery, his mother met him and 
organised a grand charity in his honour. Having 
heard that her son could expound the Dhamma very 
well, she requested him to give a discourse. Sona 
complied with her request and so she built a pavilion 
for the purpose. A large crowd, including his 
mother, turned up to listen to the Dhamma 
expounded by Sona. 
While she was at the pavilion, some thieves broke 
into her house. However the leader of the thieves went 
to the pavilion to keep an eye on her. His intention 
was to kill her should she return home early on learn-
ing about the theft at her house. Her maid, left be-
hind to guard the house, went to the pavilion to in-
form her about the theft, but the lady only said, 'Let 
the thieves take all my money, I don't care. But don't 
come and disturb me while I am listening to the 
Dhamma!' Having reprimanded her, the sent the 
maid home. 
The leader of the thieves, who was sitting closeby, 
overheard everything. Her words also made him 
thinlc, 'If we take away the property of this wise and 
noble lady, we will surely be punished. We might even 
be struck by lightning.' The leader got alarmed, hur-
ried back to her house and ordered his thieves to re-
turn all the things they had taken. The gang of thieves 
then went to the pavilion to listen to the Dhamma. 
Sona finished his exposition of the Dhamma at the 
crack of dawn. Then, the leader and all the thieves 
admitted their mistakes and requested for her forgive-
ness. Being a kind and devout lady she pardoned them 
all. Realising the evil of their ways, all the thieves 
joined the Holy Order. After receiving instructions 
from Sona, the new bhikkhus went into the forest to 
practise meditation. The Buddha knowing their men-
tal attitudes sent forth his radiance and exhorted them 
on the way to gain Purity 
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