A poem by Adelina Adalis.
A man about himself is still not clear, –
That is one thing in life of which I’m sure.
A man is like this oak , or ash-tree here,
Which from the depths broke through the
forest floor….
A man is not what’s visible at a glance,
Not what you feel, when hands on him you lay!
He came to know himself not all at once,-
But tramped, and tramped, and tramped
from far away….
From: The Tender Muse, Collection of Verse, 1976
Nirvana is the focus of the new-age novel, From Paradise To Nirvana.
Two young nurses, Nangi and her adopted sister Akki, are preparing a road map to go in search of Nirvana.
The genesis of the project is the strategic plan prepared by Professor Happiraja for the yogis in his Sotapatti Meditation Program in the Happy Raj Meditation Center to expedite their march towards Nirvana. They meet the Professor at the ordination ceremony of their brother, Akura, who gives up his job to follow the meditation program he was promoting.
They request Happiraja to open their male Bastian to women. He agrees and builds the Paradise to house an exclusive center for yoginis.
Akki enters the Paradise and wears the yellow robes to go in search of Nirvana. On an invitation from Akki, Nangi agrees to join her, without wearing the yellow garb, as she has to look after her fatherless baby at her home.
From Paradise to Nirvana is a continuation of THE HAPPY RAJ, the award-winning novel by the same author. It is the fifth novel in the Happy Raj Saga Series, with a common theme and common characters.
The entire saga is based on the words of Lord Buddha:
Happiness is Wealth Supreme.
Billionaire Happiraja is investing his entire fortune into his Meditation Center with the objective of increasing that wealth in the planet earth, through meditation.
Set in the beautiful island of Happy Raj, From Paradise To Nirvana runs on two parallel rails: Emotion-packed family drama of Nangi with her son on her lap, runs forward, backwards and sideways, with pathos, tears, smiles and high aspirations.
On the other rail runs the preparation of the philosophy-packed road map to go in search of Nirvana, amidst disturbances of squirrels and divine beings. Akki Maniyo, born into non-Buddhist family, struggles with the help and blessings of her family to continue with her holy pilgrimage.
When Nangi plans to build a temple in their own estate, Akki Maniyo donates her savings to finance the cost of all constructions. Happiraja finances all the furniture and equipment. A divine being makes available bone relics of Lord Buddha to her temple. Nangi believes that her plans to be a Stream Winner will be successful.
After completing their first seminar for women in the temple Akki Maniyo steps into their family home to see her old playmate, Prince, who had been kept away from her after the debacle on the day Akki Maniyo, took her precepts.
Fully committed to the joint plan, Nangi continues with her research into the Cannons of Buddhism, and suddenly stumbles upon a section, which confirms that both sisters have qualified [Chula Sotapanna] to enter into the holy path and would certainly reach Nirvana. This makes Akki Maniyo rev up her engines to finish the pilgrimage within five years as planned. This novel uses an easy to read style, dotted with dialogues, simple words, and common phrases, to explain the philosophy of Buddhism on which it is based.
From Paradise to Nirvana suits best those young women who seek to increase their happiness levels through meditation.
Happy Raj Saga Series is a set of six novels with common characters and a common theme: Happiness is wealth supreme.
The original novel, The Happy Raj, is the story of enigmatic billionaire Professor Happiraja who invests his billions in a beautiful island to build his dream project: The Kingdom of Happiness. The entire series revolves around Professor Happiraja, and his super meditation center where he succeeds in being a Stream Winner.
His Sotapatti Meditation Program offered free in that environment has the objective of helping those who are committed to move up to be a Sotapanna.
The six novels in the Happy Raj Saga Series are:
Weavers, weaving at break of day,
Why do you weave a garment so gay? . . .
Blue as the wing of a halcyon wild,
We weave the robes of a new-born child.Weavers, weaving at fall of night,
Why do you weave a garment so bright? . . .
Like the plumes of a peacock, purple and green,
We weave the marriage-veils of a queen.Weavers, weaving solemn and still,
What do you weave in the moonlight chill? . . .
White as a feather and white as a cloud,
We weave a dead man’s funeral shroud.
Mettanisansa sutta talks about eleven advantages of cultivating loving kindness.
1. You sleep in comfort.
2. You wake up in comfort.
3, You do not see evil dreams.
4. You become dear to other human beings.
5. You become dear to non-human beings.
6. You receive the protection from devas (gods/deities).
7. Fire, poison, and weapons cannot touch you.
8. You are able to concentrate quickly.
9. Your countenance becomes serene.
10. You can die without being confused of mind.
11. If you fail to attain arahantship (the highest sanctity) here and now,
you will be reborn in the brahma-world.
Says the Buddha:
“These eleven advantages, monks, are to be expected from the release of heart by familiarizing oneself with thoughts of loving-kindness, by the cultivation of loving-kindness, by constantly increasing these thoughts, by regarding loving-kindness as a vehicle (of expression), and also as something to be treasured, by living in conformity with these thoughts, by putting these ideas into practice and by establishing them.”
Photo by Wallace Chuck from Pexels
Photo by Lucas Ricardo Ignacio from Pexels
This is the third session from a One-day Meditation Program for Children and Teenagers with guidance from Ven. Olande Ananda #OlandeAnanda via @TheHappyRajSaga @MindcultureGuru
By Percy Bysshe Shelley shows the reality of impermanence.
I met a traveller from an antique land,Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,Tell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;And on the pedestal, these words appear:My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal Wreck, boundless and bareThe lone and level sands stretch far away.”
The mind is very hard to check
and swift, it falls on what it wants.
The training of the mind is good,
a mind so tamed brings happiness.
The mind is very hard to perceive, extremely subtle, flits wherever it listeth. Let the wise person guard it; a guarded mind is conducive to happiness.
A devout woman, receiving instruction from the monks, attained Anàgàmi, the third stage of Sainthood, with supernormal powers such as reading others’ thoughts, even before the monks had gained their Deliverance. Understanding the physical needs of the monks, she ministered to them well. Before long they too attained Arahantship.
An avaricious monk, hearing of her powers, visited the place. She did everything he desired. The monk, fearing that evil thoughts might arise in him, went to the Buddha and reported the matter. The Buddha advised him to subdue his uncontrollable mind.
A restrained mind leads to happiness. Learn to check your mind, your feelings, your emotions, your inclinations, your passions. Such a check would ensure you only think, say and do exactly what you want to. Meditation can help you get there.
You can read other posts in this Dhammapada series here and here.
Sources: Dhammapada: Chapter 3 - Mind (Citta Vagga); verse 35 Treasury of Truth and Metta.lk
There are two main types of meditation we use in the Buddhist system.
One we call Samatha meditation. This has the objective of focusing the mind on one concept or a thing in order to aid mental or spiritual development, contemplation or relaxation.
The other is called Vipassana. It is looking at something to analyze. You analyze your body. It is necessary for you to strengthen your mind before you can attempt to do any vipassana meditation.
~Nihal Dissanayake in Meditating Into Happiness
You can read more about this book in this post.
Meditating Into Happiness is the seventh novel in The Happy Raj Saga Series by Nihal S. Dissanayake. This book will be serialized in the MeditatingIntoHappiness Blog from today.
Previous books in The Happy Raj Saga Series are available on Amazon in print and Kindle versions.
As fish from watery home
is drawn and cast upon the land,
even so flounders this mind
while Mara’s Realm abandoning.
Like a fish that is drawn from its watery abode and thrown upon land, even so does this mind flutter. Hence should the realm of the passions be shunned.
A monk was overcome by evil thoughts. The Buddha admonished him to subdue his mind. The first part of the advice is here: Get a Grip.
If you don’t want to flutter around like a fish out of water, and become a victim of your own passions, you must learn to control your mind. To make it still. To learn how to be still, in thoughts, words and without any action. Meditation can help you get there.
Sources: Dhammapada: Chapter 3 - Mind (Citta Vagga); verse 34 Treasury of Truth and Metta.lk
Eileen Duggan’s poem, The Tides Run Up the Wairau expresses the duality of our most passionate feelings.
The tides run up the Wairau
That fights against their flow,
My heart and it together
Are running salt and snow.
For though I cannot love you
Yet, heavy, deep and far,
Your tide of love comes swinging,
Too swift for me to bar.
Some thought of you must linger
A salt of pain in me,
For, oh, what running river
Can stand against the sea.
And then there is this about a bird:
For he broke off, forgetting all,
And sang four pure, plain notes, a call
That startled him as well as me,
It was such aimless ecstacy;
Unwary even in a bird,
A joy too naked to be heard.
Source: The New Zealand Railways Magazine, July 1938
Meditating into Happiness 