The Family of Dhamma

The following is the closing address by Goenkaji at the Annual Meeting at Dhamma Thalī on 5 January 1993. It was first published in the VRI publication For the Benefit of Many, which is a compilation of Goenkaji’s talks and answers to questions from Vipassana students. It has been adapted for the Newsletter.)

My dear Dhamma sons and Dhamma daughters:

The report that I just heard was quite positive. The Dhamma family is growing and this is a good sign. But at the same time it must grow in a proper way. The whole Vipassana family should be united without any disharmony.

Great responsibility rests on those who serve Dhamma. Serving starts at the stage when someone joins a camp as a Dhamma server in order to develop one’s own pāramīs, one’s own meditation, by serving people. Having learned the technique, now one learns how to apply it in life in a very congenial atmosphere. When you are in the world, you may find that the atmosphere is not very good and you are not very successful in applying Dhamma. Here, the atmosphere is wonderful; all around there are Dhamma vibrations. While you are serving the students, quite possibly one of them might generate negativity and speak harshly to you, or may not accept the discipline. If you become irritated and generate negativity, you are not working properly. You should immediately realize, “Well look, I am here to serve people, to eradicate my negativity, not to work like a policeman or a policewoman.”

When you meditate, you are not supposed to react to sensations, yet at times you find that when an unpleasant sensation arises, the part of the mind which has the habit of reacting starts doing so. But how quickly do you realize, “Oh no, I have started reacting with aversion.”? When you do, you come back to equanimity. A pleasant sensation arises, and you react with craving. You reacted because you are not perfect. But then how quickly do you realize, “Well look, I have reacted. Now, I must come back to observing with equanimity; I must come out of this craving”?

Similarly, when you are serving people and you have reacted wrongly, how quickly do you realize, “Oh, no, I am here to serve people, and I have made a mistake”? Come back. Always serve with love and compassion. Every action that you take, every suggestion that you give to a meditator must be with a very calm, quiet, harmonious mind, full of love and compassion.

Serving on a course is a training ground for you. You are successful here and then you can apply what you have learned in the outside world.

Along with Dhamma servers, there are some who manage the courses or the centres. This is a big responsibility for managers. A manager must have very congenial relations with the Dhamma servers and the meditators. Management should be full of love and compassion.

Then you have children’s course teachers. Their work is very important. Unfortunately, the present generation has a big burden of sectarianism, of communalism. All these struggles, strife and killing are going on because people have forgotten Dhamma and regard only their own sect as important. Everyone tries to build up one’s own sect without wanting to build up Dhamma in oneself.

We should not pass this inheritance to the coming generation; they should be saved from the madness of sectarianism. If Dhamma is given to them at a young age, pure Dhamma, free from sectarianism, universal Dhamma, they will understand, “I am a human being and whether I call myself a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian or a Jain, it doesn’t matter.” One is a human being only when one lives the life of Dhamma. Otherwise a person has lost his or her humanity. So from a young age, children must understand how to live in Dhamma as good human beings.

The technique to develop Dhamma within oneself is given to them. Sīla, samādhi and paññā are universal: this must be understood at a very young age so that children get this training in pure Dhamma. If they are given this with love and compassion, they will accept it. The information I get from these children’s courses is very encouraging, because benefits are coming. More children’s courses are essential. That is why I want more children’s course teachers to take up this job.

And then there are the assistant teachers. It is a serious responsibility for the assistant teachers who have to give these ten-day courses. People will come to these courses if the assistant teacher is working properly, with the volition to serve people, not just developing one’s ego. Do not think, “Now I am an assistant teacher, I sit on the Dhamma seat, and everybody bows down to me three times. Wonderful!” One has to come out of that ego. You are here to serve. When students are bowing down, they are bowing down to Dhamma, not to you. This point should be very clear to everyone.

And then you have senior assistant teachers. Now their job is not only to give ten-day courses, but also serious courses. At the same time they give guidance and training to the assistant teachers and the junior assistant teachers who have been appointed.

Now the relationship between all these is very important. This is the inner core of the Vipassana family, from the Dhamma servers to the deputy teacher. If you quarrel, where is Dhamma? You are representatives of Dhamma. People examine Dhamma through you. They watch whether you live a proper life, and if so, they decide that Dhamma is good. If you are not living a proper life, they see it as all a sham. You will harm people by turning them away from the path of Dhamma. You have to be very careful, you have a big responsibility when you sit on the Dhamma seat.

If you get a higher post, understand, “Now I have an opportunity to serve in this way. ” Understand that there is no power. Each one has to serve, that is all. It is not like a hierarchy or bureaucracy where the senior has the power to dismiss the junior, or do that type of thing, which is dangerous.

If a senior finds that there is some defect in a junior, work with compassion and love, thinking, “I must take out whatever is wrong in this person. I must not drive this person away.” So with all the love try to rectify, to correct that junior.
And juniors must always have respect for the seniors. This is the tradition from the time of Buddha.

There was an incident at the time of Lord Buddha: when he returned to his homeland after his enlightenment, the people there might have had some sort of negativity towards him, wondering why he had run away from his responsibilities. But they found that he was such a wonderful person, and that what he had attained was good for the whole world, so naturally they were attracted to him.

A few princes decided that they should follow him and become monks, serve themselves and then serve others. When they reached the Buddha they gave all their ornaments and valuable clothes to a servant, a barber by the name of Upāli, saying, “We are going to become monks. You have these.” He thought, “These people who have lived such a luxurious life are leaving all this. What would I do with it all? Why don’t I also become a monk?”

The princes were from a very high caste. In this country unfortunately casteism was, and still is, the biggest malady, so the princes decided that the barber should be ordained first. The procedure was that someone who is ordained first is senior to the person ordained next. And a junior will always pay respect to a senior. The princes said to each other, “Every time we bow down to this barber, we will be dissolving our ego. If he pays respect to us, then our ego will not get dissolved.” What a wonderful way of thinking!

Similarly, anybody who is appointed earlier to these responsibilities will be seen as senior and respected by someone who is appointed later. Understand that he or she represents Dhamma, I bow down to Dhamma, and I have to respect them. Only then will the whole atmosphere be very congenial. The seniors must always have love and compassion for the juniors.

At the time of the Buddha, of course there were some who didn’t work properly, but the vast majority of his followers, the monks, etc., were renowned for this. Samaggā—“Look how they live united. Wonderful!” They were the followers of Buddha, the sons and daughters of Buddha.

You are all sons and daughters of Buddha, because you were given a new life with the words of Buddha. How did those sons and daughters of Buddha live? Samaggā—united, free from quarrelling, with happiness inside.

Sammodamānā—all the time there is compassion, love, happiness, cordiality. That is the quality of a Buddha putra or a Buddha putri, of a son or daughter of the Buddha. Avivadamānā—they don’t quarrel. If they quarrel then they are not fit sons and fit daughters.

And then, khīrodakībhūtā. Khīra means milk, udaka means water: they live like water and milk joined together; you can’t separate them. And they look at each other with love in their eyes, not with anger, not with red eyes. Their eyes are full of honey—piyacakkhū, so much love. This is their way of life. That ideal must be continued. This is the code of the family: khīrodakībhūtā. The whole family must live like brothers and sisters. Be an example; be ideal.

People look at you, so it is very important that your relations with each other are very cordial. People should be encouraged, inspired, seeing you. You should attract people towards Dhamma, who, until now, have had no attraction to it. And you must see that those people who have already been attracted towards Dhamma are attracted more strongly.

It is a very big responsibility. This is the time when the expansion is starting. Now it will be very rapid, there is no doubt. We are very fortunate that we have an opportunity to serve in such a good atmosphere. This is a time when there is so much unhappiness; Dhamma has to arise. It has started arising. It will grow, in spite of us, whether we are there or not. Now we have an opportunity to serve and to develop our own pāramīs.

Make use of the opportunity for your own good and for the good of others; for your own liberation and happiness, and for the liberation and happiness of others. May Dhamma grow! May the people of the world come out of their miseries! May there be peace, harmony and happiness!

Bhavatu sabba maṅgalaṃ—May all beings be happy!

Global Pagoda Course With Goenkaji

Vipassana meditators can avail themselves of the opportunity to meditate in the presence of Goenkaji and Mataji during a one-day course at the Global Pagoda on 12 June 2005 (Sunday) from 11 am to 5 pm. Only those who have completed a ten-day Vipassana course can take part in this course. For registration, contact Derik Pegado, Tel: (022) 2845-2261, 2845-2111.

One-day courses are organized at the Global Pagoda every Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm. Those wishing to visit the Pagoda site may call for gate pass:
Tel: (022) 2845-2111, 2845-2261 Tel/Fax: 2845-2112. Email: globalpagoda@hotmail.com

(Visit www.globalpagoda.org for updated information about construction of the Global Pagoda with photographs and for facility of online donation.)

Notice: There was a report in a Mumbai newspaper recently that construction of the Global Pagoda has been stopped because of a court order. This report is completely false. Construction work of the Global Pagoda is progressing as usual.

Public Talk by Goenkaji in Thane

Goenkaji will be giving a Hindi public talk at Dadoji Kondadev Stadium, Thane (W) on 5 June 2005.

Program is as follows: 5 to 6 pm: Group sitting (for old students only) 6 to 7:30 pm: Public talk by Goenkaji followed by question-answer session.
Contact: 1. Gautam Gaikwad, 98213-62283. 2. Vasant Varahate, 98693-17447. 3. Bharat Grover, 98212-41812

Goenkaji's Discourses on Television

India: A new series of Hindi discourses by Goenkaji are being telecast daily at 10 am. on Aastha TV channel.
USA: Aastha Network will be telecasting Goenkaji’s discourses in English at 6 pm EST (Monday to Friday) on the WORLDDIRECT platform of DIRECTV on channel no. 2005.

Vipassana Newsletter on the Website

Current and past issues of the Hindi Vipassana Patrika and English Newsletter can be downloaded from the VRI website:
http://www.vri.dhamma.org/newsletters

Telugu Vipassana Newsletter

Published every month. Annual subscription: Rs. 50/-. Subscriptions may be sent to Dhamma Khetta, VIMC, Kusum Nagar, (12.6 km) Nagarjuna Sagar Road, Hyderabad-500 070

Gujarati Vipassana Newsletter

Annual subscription: Rs. 30/- (Rs. 100/- for four years.) Contact: 3A, Pramukh Swami Arcade, 1st Floor, Malavidya Chowk, Rajkot-360001. Tel: 0281-2233190.

Children's Courses in Mumbai

 

Date	Venue	Age	Registration
5 June	South Mumbai	13-16 years	2 and 3 June
12 June	Ulhasnagar	13-16 years	9 and 10 June
12 June	Andheri	10-12 years	9 and 10 June
12 June	JNPT	10-12 years	9 and 10 June
19 June	Ghatkopar	10-12 years	16 and 17 June
26 June	Matunga	13-16 years	23 and 24 June
10 July	Ulhasnagar	10-12 years	7 and 8 July
10 July	Andheri	13-16 years	7 and 8 July
17 July	Mulund	10-12 years	14 and 15 July
17 July	JNPT	13-16 years	14 and 15 July
24 July	Matunga	10-12 years	21 and 22 July

 

Course Timing: 8:30 am to 2:30 pm Registration: 11 am to 1 pm.

Course Venues:
Andheri: Dada Saheb Gaikwad Sansthan, Babasaheb Ambedkar Marg, RTO Corner, Four Bungalows, Andheri (W), Tel: 2510-1096, 2516-2505.
Matunga: Amulakh Amirchand High School, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, New SNDT College, King’s Circle, Matunga (CR), Tel: 2510-1096, 2516-2505.
Ulhasnagar: Guru Nanak High School, Kurla Camp, Ulhasnagar 4. Tel: (0251) 252-2693.
JNPT Vipassana Center: JNPT Township, Trainee Hostel Bldg, Sector 3, Sheva Taluka, Uran, Navi Mumbai Tel: 98923-87145, 98218-08488, 2747-2554.
Khadavli: Dhamma Sarita : Jivan Sandhya Mangal Sansthan, near Khadavli station -Tel: 25101096, 25162505.
South Mumbai: for registration, call 23081622

NB *Please bring cushion. *Please register on the specified phone numbers. If you are unable to attend after registration, please inform in advance. *Please arrive on time for the course. (Those wishing to serve in children’s courses in Mumbai area may call 98200-22990.)

Vipassana in China

25 ten-day courses and 2 Satipatthana courses were successfully organized in China in 2004. These courses were held at four different sites: 17 ten-day courses and two Satipatthana courses at Jileso, Fujian Province, 6 courses in BeiDaiHe, Hebei Province (near Beijing) and one course each at Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province and at Urumqi, Xinjiang Province.

In addition, a group of Chinese students sat a ten-day course at Dhamma Tapovana, Igatpuri.

This year, the NY China trust has scheduled 20 courses, including two Satipatthana courses, at Ziguosi, Fujian Province. Courses may also be held at Xian, ShaanXi Province, Chendu, Sichuan Province and at other sites. NY China Trust has received 501-c3 status from the US government. Therefore, donations from old students in the US are income tax deductible. For details, visit www.dhamma.org (non-center courses Asia & Pacific) or Chinese website: www.chinese.dhamma.org

Dhamma Service at Dhamma Giri

There is now a good opportunity for long-stay service in Dhamma Giri. Meditators who wish to serve for shorter durations are also welcome to apply. Dhamma servers with electrical, plumbing, gardening and landscaping skills are particularly required. For more details, contact the centre management.

Additional Responsibilities

Ācaryas:

1. Mr. Ratilal & Mrs. Chanchal Savla - To serve UAE and Dhamma Vāhinī (Titwala, near Mumbai)

New Appointments

Assistant Teachers:
1. Mrs. Mira Ambwani, Thane
2. Dr. Sangram Jondhale, Nanded
3. Mr. Babasaheb Khedkar, Ambajogai
4. & 5. Mr. Jayant & Mrs. Abhita Khobragade, Kota
6. Mr. Ashok Pawar, Nashik
7. Mr. Baburao Shinde, Chandrapur
8. Mr. Arun Suryavanshi, Aurangabad
9. Mr. Kam-Ling Chiu, Hong Kong
10. & 11. Mr. Albert Chow and Mrs. Rebecca Wai, Hong Kong
12. Mr. Kim-Fong Lee, Malaysia
13. Ms. Huey-Chyong Loo, Malaysia

Children Course Teachers:
1. Mrs. Alka Agarwal, Ahmedabad
2. & 3. Mr. Bharatkumar & Mrs. Niranjana Rathod, Gandhinagar
4. Mr. Ashok Kumar Sharma, Ludhiana
5. Mr. Rajeev Shrivastava, Ratlam

Dhamma Dohas

Dharama vihārī puruṣa hoṅ,
dharamacāriṇī nāra;
Dharamavanta santāna ho,
sukhī rahe parivāra.
May the husband dwell in Dhamma,
May the wife walk in Dhamma;
May the children be full of Dhamma,
May the family be happy.

Dharama sadā maṅgala kare,
Dharama kare kalyāṇa;
Dharma sadā rakṣā kare,
Dharama baḍā balavāna.
Dhamma always gives happiness,
Dhamma always gives welfare;
Dhamma always protects,
great is the power of Dhamma.

Dharama sadṛśa rakṣaka nahīṅ,
Dharama sadṛśa nahīṅ ḍhāla.
Dharama pālakoṅ kī sadā,
Dharama kare pratipāla.
There is no protector like Dhamma,
There is no shield like Dhamma;
The Dhamma always protects,
Those who protect the Dhamma.

Pralayaṅkārī bāḍha meṅ,
Dharama sadṛśa nā dvīpa.
Kāla andherī rāta meṅ,
Dharama sadṛśa nā dīpa.
In the all-destroying deluge,
there is no island like the Dhamma.
In the pitch-black night,
there is no lamp like the Dhamma.