Dhamma is the Refuge
In ‘Dhamma is the Refuge’, six Dhamma discourses are presented that Sayadawgyi gave in Myanmar. Each talk gives a wealth of insights into the essences of the Buddha’s teachings. It encourages us to be heedful, study and practise well in order to obtain discriminative knowledge and to end saṃsāra.
Attā hi attano nātho or You Are Your Own Refuge means to not depend on others because the true refuge is to be found within ourselves. By acquiring knowledge about good and bad deeds, applying this and correct ourselves without excuses, the mind gets pure. Sayadaw illustrates this with the stories of five persons who became a Pacceka Buddha.
In To Practise the Dhamma: Easier Said Than Done, Sayadaw emphasizes that learning Dhamma is important. Putting it into practise is not easy but equally important. Not practising gives the danger of pride and the risk of conveying the Dhamma wrongly. This has very bad effects, as is illustrated with the story of Kapila.
In When to Approach Your Venerable Teacher, Sayadaw explains that not a god, nor a doctor, cures lives’ difficulties or diseases. Our own study and practise of the Dhamma leads to the end of life’s difficulties. When facing difficulties on the path, six of them can be a good reason to consult your Venerable Teacher.
In Dhamma Duty Sayadaw gives the picture of the situation of the teachings of the Buddha after his demise. The precious heritage of the Buddha remained pure and genuine due to the six Buddhist councils. The strength of the Theravada Tradition is Myanmar is due to seriously carrying out the Dhamma Duty. To preserve the Dhamma, we need to fulfil Dhamma Duty dutifully.
In Err Not on the Journey through Saṃsāra, Sayadaw makes it easy to understand when deeds are not good. It asks truthful self-examination and Sayadaw stimulates us to ask ourselves daily if we made mistakes or not. The negative consequences of bad deeds are illustrated in 13 stories.
Both in the translations and the editing process meticulous effort is made to precisely convey the meaning of Sayadaw’s deep words. If there are any mistakes however, I apologize in advance.
May these profound and compassionate teachings of venerable Sayadaw Nandamālābhivaṃsa support the readers’ path to the peaceful state.
Dhammacari (editor)