HOW THE RATANA SUTTA WORKS
Helping ourself to help
others.
When we all recite the Ratana Sutta, can we end, or at
least, slow down, the Covid-19 pandemic?
We are taught, especially in Sinhala Buddhism, that
that the “3 suttas”—the Maṅgala Sutta, the Ratana Sutta and Karaṇīya Metta
Sutta—are “powerful” suttas for our blessing. In the minds of the faithful, the
suttas THEMSELVES work to help us. We only need to recite them with faith, or
better, get the monks to recite them and we listen faithfully (followed by
generous donations, lavish food offerings etc). This is, of course, based on
the BUDDHISM OF MERIT: do good, get good, but we remain in samsara.
.
PROTECTION
When we think that the suttas or verses work in
themselves, we are treating them as MANTRAS, words of power. This idea is very
popular and powerful after the Buddha’s time, when we depended on TEACHERS to
teach us, bless us, and as a “field of merit.” This idea is found in ethnic
Buddhisms (basically race-based Buddhism), such as Tibetan Buddhism, Chinese
Buddhism, Sinhala Buddhism etc. (Notice that the race comes first.)
.
In the popular “Book of Protection” (Piyadassi, 1999),
a collection of the popular “protective verses,” the author reminds us that the
PROTECTION only works when we have 4 “powers.” Or better, it means that we must
cultivate these 4 qualities for the protection to work: that is, the power of
truth, virtue, love, and sound
.
THE POWER OF TRUTH
The protective verses work because they are TRUE, or
should be true. After all, they all come from the suttas or are excerpts of the
suttas. The truth here does not lie in the WORDS of the suttas, If this were
the case, then, we don’t need to understand any teaching of the Buddha and can
still be awakened like him! Or, even taped or digitized recordings of these
powerful sound can better the world!
We must carefully examine and understand the suttas
teachings AS TAUGHT BY THE BUDDHA. Even then, we need to understand these
teachings as intended by the Buddha, that is, what they actually mean to convey
to us so that we are free from greed, hate and ignorance, the real disease of
the mind; the real pandemic that will still rage on even after the Covid-19
pandemic is over.
.
THE POWER OF VIRTUE
The protective chants only work when we are MORALLY
VIRTUOUS, that is, we properly keep at least the 5 precepts. “Properly” here
means we understand what the 5 precepts are, what they mean, how to observe
them wholesomely and effectively. This means that even as LAY BUDDHISTS, when
we keep the precepts, we will see the “power” of these protective verses
working for us.
But many of us feel we are NOT GOOD ENOUGH (for all
kinds of reasons). We think that the monks (because “they are venerables”) are
“purer” or “better” than us. This is a very serious wrong view rooted in the
idea of SELF-IDENTITY. This wrong view makes us think that when a person LOOKS
holy, he is holy. Maybe that’s why religious people tend to dress impressively
to look holy, or at least “powerful.”
.
LOOKS OFTEN DECEIVE
The irony is that the more overdressed a “holy” person
is, the less likely he is to be holy or good. He is at best a well-dressed
salesman. We never see the Buddha overdressing himself like the powerful
religious people we see today! The Buddha is a true RENUNCIANT, and truly looks
like one, too. Hence, we need to look THROUGH such deception of the
well-dressed and over-dressed into the true nature of goodness and remind them
of the simplicity of awakening to true reality.
It is wonderful when we hear virtuous monastics
(monks, nuns, novices, etc) chant the Dhamma together. Again, the chanting only
“works” when these monastics are VIRTUOUS. When they break the rules of
RENUNCIATION that they have vowed to keep, they are fundamentally lying. Their
chanting won’t work; it’s just a sales pitch.
Monastics have taken the vows not to use money, nor
have wealth, nor economically engaged, nor own property, nor to enjoy worldly
pleasures (including sex of any kind), not to get caught up in politics
(renouncing the world), not to take solid food between noon and dawn. When they
break these karmic rules, what they chant are all LIES to them, and they are
also building up very bad karma. How can their chanting of protection work at
all.
.
THE POWER OF LOVE
“Love” here refers to the purest kind of positive
emotion, that is LOVINGKINDNESS (mettā). This an unconditional acceptance of
ALL beings, having and showing no hatred or negative emotions to anyone or
anything (to living beings and to nature). The underlying idea is that we are
all connected in goodness; badness separates us.
The greatest power of love is invoked when we
understand that there is NO SELF, nothing permanent—everything is
impermanent—then we understand whoever is right now before us is the one we
should attend to with wholesome emotions.
All this will pass, but our wholesome emotions must
keep growing through what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch and think. Then,
our whole being IS love, lovingkindness. Then, what we chant is good and
”powerful.” Not only that: what we do and think will be good, too.
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THE POWER OF SOUND
The belief that chanting the Ratana Sutta or any sutta
to remove the pandemic or any disease for that matter belongs to the teachings
of “magical Buddhism.” We think of changing the outside, when the real sickness
is or will be INSIDE US. We think of curing only the signs and symptoms,
instead of removed the ROOT of the problem.
Now, we can make the power of SOUND work for us, as
taught by the Buddha. Sound, like everything else, is IMPERMANENT. When we
carefully notice this true nature of sound, whether it is in chanting or just
listening, we are in touch with true reality. It is like breathing fresh air in
a clean place. We do not immediately see the result, but we remain healthy for
our life. Our MIND remains healthy when we see impermanence in this way.
.
PANDEMIC LESSON
Instead on panicking (that’s when we will only harm
ourself or become the prey of others), we should ask: WHAT DO I LEARN from the
pandemic. The 1st noble truth is that of suffering. DISEASE (the pandemic) is
one kind of suffering. More pandemics, worse ones, will come (this pandemic IS
worse that the once before!) Suffering is our 1st living teacher. What can we
learn from it?
Here are a few interesting hints. It is reported that
the reduction in negative human impact on the environment on account of the
pandemic lockdown has contributed to the skies over China and other industrial
areas being significantly clear of harmful nitrogen dioxide clouds; there is a
sharp drop in air pollution and air particulates in world cities. Even the
canal waters of Venice, due to drastically less boat traffic, is now clear with
fishes, even dolphins, swimming in them.
.
THE REAL PANDEMIC is always there inside us when we
have false views, we must have the power to deal with this pandemic. The
world’s pandemic is only a SIGN of negative human action. We must collectively
work together to put the world right: it starts with putting our mind (our
inner world) right first by not believing false teachings and avoiding
unhelpful practices. This is an important meaning of the practice of
RENUNCIATION: letting go of the world because all things are impermanent.
The pandemic teaching:
RENOUNCE THE WORLD, STAY HOME, DISCOVER OURSELF.
.
©piya
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