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Dhamma learning and teaching in 
the home. 
B.4.6 Profit in for next life 
(A.iv.284) 
The special characteristic of 
Dhamma teaching that 
prevents a person from "leaving 
the world emptyhanded" 
are the sort of teachings that lead 
to "profit 
in the hereafter". The Lord Buddha 
taught that the 
minimum of virtue required is the 
four virtues for 
benefit in the hereafter as follows 
[sampAyikatthapayoj anal 
(see detail from B1.2 §C4.2). 
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I. Faith [saddha]: means 
confidence in things you ought 
to have faith in — being a person 
of discretion especially 
in the operation of the laws of 
karma — that doing good 
deeds will lead to good outcomes 
and that doing evil 
will lead to bad retribution. 
Without such well-founded 
faith you have little chance of 
well-being in your future. 
2. The Precepts [stla]: You must 
keep the minimum 
of Five Precepts as the baseline of 
one's virtue 
because the Precepts measure the 
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degree to 
which you are a person as opposed 
to being a 
savage. 
3. Self-sacrifice [cAga]: 
Self-sacrifice has many levels 
of meaning from the superficial to 
the deep. 
At its simplest, it means avoiding 
being so stingy 
that you cannot bear to see anyone 
else sharing 
your possessions or getting any 
benefit from 
them. It means the habit of liking 
to share with 
72 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
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towards Enlightened Living 
others. At its deepest level it 
means giving up 
even the destructive feelings we 
might feel towards 
other people or more generally, 
letting go 
of anything that encroaches on our 
quality of 
mind — i.e. all thoughts of evil 
and unseemly 
habits until none remain. 
4. Wisdom [pain A]. To be 
specific, diligence in 
studying both worldly and spiritual 
knowledge 
— so that we can earn a decent 
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living efficiently 
and at the same time know the 
difference between 
good and evil — in order to win 
the path 
to heaven. Once people are able to 
identify what 
is merit and what is demerit, they 
will gain the 
inspiration to do only good deeds. 
Thus knowledge 
paves the pathway to heaven. 
C. PRACTICAL 
CONSIDERATIONS 
C.1 Choosing the location of a 
new home 
Having studied the four main 
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principles of a location 
which is amenable to the spreading 
of the 
Dhamma, we have at the same 
time discovered a 
recipe for success in choosing the 
location of a new 
house. In the olden days, no-one 
would dare to 
build a new house without first 
seeking the advice 
of a teaching monk or at the very 
least of a fortune 
teller. They would always advise 
the oracle in question 
to look at the lie of the land. In 
fact, the most 
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successful oracles were not 
interested in the lie of 
the land at all, but were interested 
in how many of 
the four principles of amenable 
location were 
present at the proposed site of the 
new house. If 
you want to tell as much about the 
potential site of 
a new house as the oracles of old 
did, start by drawing 
up a grid with five rows as 
follows: 
Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 
Once you have drawn up the grid, 
supposing you 
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wanted to build a house and you 
have a choice of 
four or five locations, but cannot 
decide which to 
choose, then award points to each 
of the different 
locations according to the four 
principles of an 
amenable location: location, food, 
neigbours and 
Dhamma. Give each principle 
points out of twentyfive. 
When we add up the total points 
for each different 
location, we will be able to choose 
the most 
amenable location by choosing the 
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site with the 
highest point rating. Use the 
following guidelines 
for giving points: 
I. Amenable location: We should 
look at the neighbourhood 
and give points if the place has 
good 
facilities including access, running 
water, electricity 
and a telephone line. If there is 
already a 
house on the site, the more 
spacious the better. 
The quality of the construction 
work will also 
guide you as to your awarding of 
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points. Look 
at the subdivision of rooms to see 
whether it is 
habitable or not. Give the location 
points accordingly. 
2. Amenable food supply: 
Consider that if you 
should choose a particular site for 
your home, 
you will be living there for a long 
time and therefore 
should give adequate thought to 
the availability 
of food. Make sure that the 
location isn't 
too far from the market or from a 
shop selling 
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food and various other 
`perishables'. If any of 
these sources of food are close at 
hand, you can 
award that site plenty of points for 
the food supply. 
3. Amenable neighbours: Inspect 
the location to see 
whether it is near to or part of a 
slum. Do people 
gamble there or nearby? Is it close 
to a liquor 
factory? Is it a den of thieves? If it 
is any of these 
things, then keep your distance. 
Choose somewhere 
else. If on the contrary, all the 
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neighbours 
are respectable, socially 
distinguished and of 
Right View (such as doctors or 
teachers) of good 
social standing and of good 
conduct, then this 
should attract us to live nearby. At 
the very least, 
those good neighbours will give us 
peaceful surroundings 
and in times of need they will be 
able 
to help us. Give the neighbours the 
appropriate 
point rating. 
4. Amenable Dhamma: In order to 
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give points for 
this particular factor, it is 
necessary to divide the 
1. Location 
2. Food 
3. Neighbours 
4.Dhamma 
Blessing Four: Living in an 
Amenable Location 73 
factor into two contributing parts: 
Dhamma for 
the children and Dhamma for the 
adults. 
When you add up the total points 
for each site, you 
should choose the location with the 
maximum 
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points as the site for your new 
house. Next time 
you move house there is no need to 
call in the fortune 
teller — or a monk either, because 
armed with 
an understanding of the factors that 
make a site 
amenable for habitation, you can 
choose the site for 
new house without anyone else's 
help. This is certainly 
a good example of Dhamma that is 
immediately 
applicable to everyday life. 
C.2 Making your present home 
amenable 
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For those who do not ordain and 
leave the home 
life, usually, the home and family 
form the hub of 
life. In this connection, what 
should be done to the 
home to make it amenable to the 
prospering of the 
Dhamma? According to Thai 
tradition, even though 
we might have three meals a day, 
there should be 
at least one of those meals when 
the whole of the 
family is together (See Blessing 12, 
§B.3.1 heading 3.2). 
Some people claim that they are 
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overburdened 
with work. However if you 
consider that the only 
reason that you spend so much 
time at work is to 
be a breadwinner for your family 
to send your child 
to a private school — then think 
again. If you are 
left with no time to bring up your 
children properly 
and your child gets addicted to 
heroin because 
of your negligence, a million 
dollars would be insufficient 
to rectify the problem. If on the 
contrary, 
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you can get by while still finding 
sufficient time to 
give full attention to your child's 
upbringing, then 
you will be rewarded when your 
child grows up 
into a virtuous example of a human 
being. 
Many parents have been reduced 
to tears by disappointment. 
They're upset that their child 
cannot 
go to university because of 
becoming a junkie. They 
cry about their awful child — but 
it would be more 
fitting to cry about having been 
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such an awful parent 
who didn't take the trouble to 
bring up their 
own child properly! 
Therefore, remember that bringing 
up a child 
means more than just seeing that 
there is food on 
their plate. You need to instil your 
child with virtue 
and to this end, both children and 
parents 
should see each others' faces 
across the dining table 
at least once a day, and discuss 
Dhamma, instruct 
one another and comment on the 
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habits 
which each should be improving 
upon. If you can't 
manage to meet at mealtimes, you 
should make 
sure that the family come together 
before bedtime, 
perhaps for Evening Chanting —
but even bedtime 
cannot beat mealtimes. A child 
will never miss a 
meal, and a good telling off before 
dinner will stay 
in his mind for a long time. 
Thus if you are to give a good 
example of 
Dhamma which is amenable to the 
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household, then 
a family being together at 
mealtimes will certainly 
fit the bill. 
C.3 Relative importance of the 
Four Amenable 
Location Factors 
In conclusion, an amenable 
location has four characteristics: 
an amenable location, amenable 
food 
supply, amenable personnel and 
amenable 
Dhamma. If you put these four 
characteristics in 
order of importance, you will find 
the following: 
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