
                       BHAVANA SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
                                          
                                          
                             Vol. 10, No. 4
                         October-December, 1994
                          Sanghamitta Edition
                                          
                     Copyright 1994 Bhavana Society
                                          
                            Bhavana Society
                            Rt. 1 Box 218-3
                          High View, WV 26808
                          Tel: (304) 856-3241
                          Fax: (304) 856-2111
                                          
                                 * * *
                                          
        This electronic edition is offered for free distribution
         via DharmaNet by arrangement with the Bhavana Society.
                                          
                        Formatting: John Bullitt
                                          
                        DharmaNet International
                 P.O. Box 4951, Berkeley CA 94704-4951
                                          
                                          
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                                CONTENTS
                                          
  {1}   That which is impermanent is unsatisfactory -- Bhante H. 
        Gunaratana
  {2}   Notes and News -- Ven Nyanaponika Mahathera (1901-1994); 
        Kathina; Travel; New Meditation Hall
  {3}   1995 Full Moon and New Moon Days
  {4}   1995 Retreat Schedule
  {5}   Bhavana Society Tape Collection -- New Releases
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
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                                  {1}
  
  
              THAT WHICH IS IMPERMANENT IS UNSATISFACTORY
  
                        by Bhante H. Gunaratana
  
  Everything is changing. Changes are astronomical, physical, 
  psychological and there is no end to it. One form of matter changes 
  into another form. One situation changes into another. One experience 
  changes into another. Some changes are inconceivably rapid and some 
  very slow. At the blink of your eye an incalculable number of things 
  change all over the universe and all over you. This whole world once 
  was a part of the sun without any living being on it. Then it cooled 
  down and was covered with ice. When the ice melted it was covered with 
  water. When the water level went down a mass of land with mountains 
  and lowlands appeared. This one land mass, through natural changes 
  over millions of years, is divided into continents. Wet lands at one 
  time became a dry land at another time. A cold country at one time 
  became a very hot country at another time. A very prosperous green 
  land at one time became a desert at another time. The space once 
  occupied by the sea and sea animals is now full of mountains with many 
  trees and numerous land animals. This process of change in this world 
  is going on forever. One day this world will become unsuitable for 
  living beings. From the beginning of human civilization this change 
  has been accelerating.
  
    If you travel by airplane, within seconds you could be moving from 
  98 degrees Fahrenheit temperature zone to 10 degrees Fahrenheit 
  temperature zone. The change of weather directly affects your body and 
  mind. If the weather is hot with polluted air, sticky, muggy, humid, 
  cold, windy, snowy, rainy, or cloudy, you experience a lot of pain. 
  The change can take place quickly or slowly and smoothly. As your body 
  and mind are surrounded by the atmosphere, any change in the 
  atmosphere affects your mind and body. It does not matter where the 
  change takes place -- within you or without you; you are changing.
  Every moment, every second, all the great forces of earth, water, fire
  and air are changing. At the same speed they are changing within you.
  You may not notice any of them.
    
    At every heart beat, arteries in your body carry blood away from 
  the heart and veins carry blood to the heart. Oxygen-rich blood from 
  the lungs is pumped by the heart to the tissues and the returning 
  oxygen-poor blood is sent to the lungs by this process. At any given 
  moment your blood in your body is recycling. Every time you breathe 
  in, you bring oxygen to your lungs. Every time you breathe out, you 
  discharge carbon dioxide from your lungs. Every moment your body is 
  putting out waste material through  the pores of your skin. Every 
  moment, every cell, every sub-atomic particle in your body is dying 
  out and new particles are born. The food that you consume in solid 
  form or liquid form replaces all the dying minerals, vitamins, 
  protein, iron, calcium, etc. in your body. While this process is going 
  on with full cooperation of everything else in your body, you are 
  aging, your internal organs are aging, your skin is growing, maturing, 
  forming wrinkles and flaking off. Through this process of change your 
  hair is turning gray; your teeth are decaying, your eyes are becoming 
  weak, your hearing is becoming weak, your taste buds are becoming 
  weak; your nails are becoming harder and more brittle, your bones are 
  becoming more porous and weak; and your joints are losing their 
  grease. Millions and millions of activities are going on in your body 
  and mind at any given moment. You can never be aware of all of them. 
    
    Similarly you could not find the feeling you had at the moment you 
  woke up in the morning. The feeling you had ten minutes after you woke 
  up would not be there fifteen minutes later. All your feelings from 
  the moment you woke up till you go to bed change continually. In the 
  same manner all your perceptions, all your thoughts and all states of 
  consciousness change, as well.
    
    At the very moment we are born we start our journey of change which 
  is known as growing, maturing and dying. At the very moment you enter 
  into what you call a "happy life of marriage", impermanence begins to 
  hover over your head, reminding you that you will be separated by 
  death, for every union ends up in separation. In this space age, some 
  people may even have to prepare for the inevitable ending of their new 
  "happy life" by divorce due to the fact that their sensual pleasure is 
  subject to the law of diminishing return. Your love changes, your hate 
  changes, your body changes and your mind changes. Nothing remains the 
  same for two consecutive moments.
    
    Any physicist or chemist possesses this knowledge. Pre-Socratic 
  philosophers, like Heraclitus of Ephesus, have spoken of incessant and 
  universal flux. However, the knowledge of change itself does not do 
  any good for you if you do not use it for growing, maturing and 
  understanding the very nature of your own predicament. You should 
  incorporate your knowledge of change into your life and use it as a 
  means of liberation from suffering. It is not the knowledge of 
  impermanence itself but the way you handle it or the way you use it 
  that opens your mind to the understanding of reality. When you know 
  things are impermanent you prepare for the reality of impermanence.
    
    Knowledge of constant change should help you realize the danger of 
  clinging to changing objects. When you cling to anything which is 
  subject to change, you experience pain. It is not by deceiving 
  yourself by trying to defy this process of change but by clear 
  understanding and accepting it that you can let go of your hatred and 
  be calm, relaxed and peaceful. //Resisting the law of change is the 
  cause of friction and pain//. Going with the change is the way to 
  relieve that friction in your own mind.
    
    All your experiences are unsatisfactory because they are 
  impermanent. Everything, without exception, is changing all the time. 
  No one can stop it. Seeing with wisdom the impermanence of all things 
  is a way to purification of the mind [1] In the same vein we read, 
  "Whenever one reflects on the rise and fall of all the aggregates, one 
  enjoys peace and joy comparable to that of immortality." [2]
    
    "That which is impermanent is unsatisfactory" [3] is one of the 
  most fundamental axioms in the Buddha's teaching. The First Noble 
  Truth is directly related to this eternal Dhamma. "Whether Buddhas 
  appear or do not appear, there is this established condition of 
  Dhamma, this fixed Law of Dhamma. All that is conditioned is 
  impermanent, unsatisfactory and all Dhammas are without self. To this 
  a Buddha fully awakens and fully understands. So awakened and 
  understanding, He announces, points out, declares, establishes, 
  expounds, explains and clarifies it: all that is conditioned is 
  impermanent, unsatisfactory and all Dhammas are without self." [4]
    
    When you read this it may occur to you, "Oh! yes, when my pain 
  changes I experience pleasure and joy right then and there. When I 
  think of it I experience joy and happiness." Well, it is not that 
  simple. There is much more to it. The change of pain to pleasure is 
  certainly a pleasant experience. If that pleasant experience remains 
  unchanged, you would be very pleased and joyful for the rest of your 
  life. Unfortunately things don't happen that way. When you were young, 
  you were healthy, vigorous, active and free from obligations. Almost 
  all of us have felt that way. That was the time you perhaps wishfully 
  thought that only others become old, but you would remain young. Only 
  they become sick but you would remain healthy forever. 
    
    "Did you never see in the world a man, or a woman, eighty, ninety, 
  or a hundred years old, frail, crooked as a gable-roof, bent down, 
  resting on crutches, with tottering steps, infirm, youth long since 
  fled, with broken teeth, gray and scanty hair or none, wrinkled, with 
  blotched limbs? And did the thought never come to you that you also 
  are subject to decay, that you also cannot escape it?
    
    "Did you never see in the world a man, or a woman who, being sick, 
  afflicted, and grievously ill, wallowing in his own filth, was lifted 
  up by some and put to bed by others? And did the thought never come to 
  you that you also are subject to disease, that you also cannot escape 
  it?
    
    "Did you never see in the world the corpse of a man, or a woman, 
  one or two or three days after death, swollen up, blue-black in color, 
  and full of corruption? And did the thought never come to you that you 
  also are subject to death, that you also cannot escape it?" [5]
    
    As you grow older and older you lose your youthfulness, health, 
  vigor, and agility. Then you begin to see impermanence face to face, 
  very vividly, and you may not like it. Because of your memory of doing 
  things with some agility and flexibility, you build up your courage. 
  Because of your strength and pride you may think that you could be 
  able to perform everything much better and faster when you are young. 
  When you are older, because of your accumulated experiences in life, 
  you might understand things much faster and more easily than when you 
  were young. Nevertheless, the body and mind do not cooperate with your 
  wishful thinking or desire. You wish to be consistent in your 
  abilities of hearing, seeing, tasting, touching, speaking, movements, 
  thinking and so on. Soon you begin to realize, however, that your body 
  and mind have changed even though you may like to think that you are 
  still young in heart and spirit. Because of your past good kamma you 
  even wish to defy change, growth and decay. You wish to learn more and 
  more new things and retain what you have learned. Not withstanding 
  your pride of youth, health, and strength, you humbly surrender to the 
  truth of Dhamma and learn from your mature experience to meet it face 
  to face. 
    
    You may know some very healthy people at the age of 70 or 80 who 
  say "I will live 120 years." A few days or a couple of weeks later 
  they drop dead. Sometimes people say "If you think young you never 
  grow old and live forever." Unfortunately, the reality of impermanence 
  hits them very hard at a most unexpected moment in life, despite their 
  positive thinking. 
    
    This reminds me of a story of somebody who went to a very remote 
  and primitive part of the world and found a very old-looking man. This 
  sophisticated and most ambitious visitor asked this man "How old are 
  you?" He said, "130". He asked him, "What is the secret of living so 
  long?" He said, "I always think young." This ambitious man returned to 
  his rocket-age society and started giving lectures; telling people,  
  "If you think young, you will never die. I met 130-year-old people in 
  such and such a region. The secret of their long life is that they 
  always think young." Another more realistic visitor happened to be in 
  the same vicinity and he found out that people in that region do not 
  keep their birth records. When he asked another very old-looking man 
  how old he was, he got a similar reply. While he was interviewing this 
  man he saw a younger man laughing, holding his stomach. He approached 
  him and asked him why he was laughing. He said "This is my uncle and 
  he is only 70 years old. He does not know his birthday". Everybody in 
  that region thinks that they are twice as old as they really are 
  because they do not know their birth day. 
    
    Absolutely no one has ever been able to defy the truth of 
  impermanence, which exists eternally. All beings are subject to the 
  same law of impermanence. All who have lived on earth in the past have 
  obeyed and surrendered to this sacred law. What you cherish today in 
  your memories are the most insignificant fraction of some of the 
  thoughts, words, deeds, events and things left behind by a smallest 
  fraction of beings that lived in the past. You have no knowledge of 
  those who have not left any record.
    
    Change is not a feeling, but pain is. Therefore change itself is 
  neither pleasant nor unpleasant nor neutral. Your mind shifts from one 
  feeling to another, depending upon your mood. When you have a pleasant 
  feeling, for instance, you cling to it with greed, for you are unaware 
  of the fact that the pleasant feeling will change. When it changes you 
  become unhappy. If you experience the pleasant feeling with 
  mindfulness, the change of the pleasant feeling does not make you 
  unhappy, for you are aware of the change and you anticipate the change 
  of the pleasant feeling. If your attitude toward the feeling is guided 
  by your mindfulness, then the change of one feeling or another does 
  not make you unhappy. You are often unaware that it is your desire for 
  permanent pleasure from impermanent things that causes your 
  unsatisfactoriness. How can you have permanent pleasure from 
  impermanent experience? Any change is painful. When a pleasant feeling
  -- whether physical or mental -- arises, you wish that it would not
  change at all or you wish that it would change as slowly as possible. 
  You wish the unpleasant feeling would change as fast as possible. 
  Unfortunately, change does not obey  your wish. Everything, pleasant 
  or unpleasant, within you or without you, things near to you or far 
  away from you, gross or subtle, is changing. When change goes on 
  defying your wish and crushing everything under its most powerful 
  weight, you experience very unpleasant feelings of not getting what 
  you wish.
    
    You know that the sameness of anything is dull and boring; you need 
  a change. Then you change it and the new situation changes as well. 
  Then you change it again, hoping "This time I will be happy for ever." 
  The change does not make any concession or discrimination. It remains 
  fair and square with everything, everybody and all the time, and 
  continues to change everything. 
    
    Nothing in your body and mind remains the same for two consecutive 
  moments. The change is absolutely necessary for your improvement, 
  growth, maturity, understanding, courage, determination, knowledge and 
  wisdom; in short, even for your existence. Even the attainment of 
  enlightenment is not possible without the process of psychological 
  changes. 
    
    However, you do not experience any physical or mental pain directly 
  as cause of change in your body, feeling, perception, thoughts or your 
  consciousness. Then why is it said, "Change causes pain?" As you may 
  notice, this axiom does not say that you experience pain while the 
  change is taking place. What it says is "That which is subject to 
  change is painful." If the pleasure is subject to change, it 
  necessarily and intrinsically is also subject to pain. "But how?" is 
  our question. It is not the change itself that creates pain, but your 
  desire for the things you enjoy. It is your desire for permanent 
  enjoyment from impermanent experience that causes pain. When pain 
  changes you experience pleasure. You welcome it. When pleasure changes 
  you experience pain. The change of pain into pleasure is more 
  desirable. You go through this yo-yo experience or pendulum 
  experience, between pain and pleasure. When you practice mindfulness 
  of change in your body and mind, you will not be affected by the 
  change. You endure cold and heat, hunger and thirst, wind and sun, 
  attacks by gadflies, mosquitoes and reptiles. [6] Those who are 
  capable of seeing this simple truth are the ones who are really 
  peaceful and happy.
    
    The knowledge you gain from this experience of change of pleasure 
  and pain helps you grow and mature. You remember this monotonous and 
  repetitious occurrence in your life from your youngest days. This 
  memory of change of things in the past makes it easy for you to face 
  and accept whatever comes up in your life.
    
    In a much deeper and more complete sense, you understand change 
  when you mindfully watch all your activities in life. You do only 
  three things in your entire life-- have thoughts, words and deeds. All 
  of them have changed in the past, are changing now and will change in 
  the future. There is no way that anybody can stop this constant flux 
  of activities in your life. Therefore you can say without hesitation 
  that no person can do the same activity twice in the same manner. As 
  life is like a river, nothing remains stagnant. If you cannot 
  penetrate into the depth of this simple truth, this constant flow or 
  constant change may make your life very painful. 
    
    Natural change is known as evolution and forced change is called 
  revolution. The underlying truth in both is pain. You may try to 
  resist change. When you have perfected your mindfulness and learn to 
  remain the same under all circumstances, then you will not react to 
  any change. This, of course, is impossible for someone who has not 
  attained enlightenment. The enlightened beings have the same 
  experience as anybody else. However, they do not suffer because they 
  have eliminated both the desire for pleasure and the resentment for 
  displeasure. Desire and ignorance are the causes of suffering.
  
       He who binds himself to joy
       Does the winged life destroy
       But he who kisses the joy as it flies
       Lives in eternity's sun rise.
  
                                -- William Blake
  
  
                                 * * *
                                          
  NOTES
  ~~~~~
  [1] //sabbe sankhara aniccati -- yada pannaya passati; atha nibbindati 
     dukkhe -- esa maggo visuddhiya// (Dhp. Vs. 277).
  
  [2] //Yato yato sammasati -- khandhanam udayabbayam; labhati piti
     pamojjam - amatam ta vijanatam// (ibid Vs. 374).
  
  [3] //yad aniccam tam dukkham//.
  
  [4] Abbreviated from Dhammaniyama Sutta.  
  
  [5] SN. XXII, 29; "The Word of the Buddha," by Nyanatiloka, Wheel 
     Publication, Fifteenth edition, 1971 pp. 13-14.
  
  [6] MN. I. 119, "The Word of the Buddha," by Nyanatiloka, Wheel 
     Publication, Fifteenth edition, 1971 p.67.
  
  
                            * * * * * * * *
  
  
  
  
                                  {2}
                                          
                             NOTES AND NEWS
  
  
  Ven. Nyanaponika Mahathera (1901 - 1994)
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  In the hour before dawn on Wednesday, 19th October 1994, the 
  distinguished German scholar-monk, Venerable Nyanaponika Mahathera, 
  Founding-President and Patron of the Buddhist Publication Society 
  (BPS), passed away at his residence, the Forest Hermitage in the 
  Udawattakele Reserve, Kandy. At the time of his passing Ven. 
  Nyanaponika was the seniormost Theravada Buddhist monk of Western 
  origin in the world, both in age (93) and in years in the Sangha. That 
  same day he had completed his 57th rains as a bhikkhu.
  
    Despite minor infirmities and advancing blindness over the past 
  forty years, Ven. Nyanaponika had enjoyed remarkably robust health 
  through his 93rd birthday on 21st July. His birthday was celebrated 
  joyously by his friends and the BPS staff with the release of the BPS 
  edition of his book The Vision of Dhamma. He was especially happy to 
  know that on that day the BPS had commenced its Dhamma Dana Project by 
  sending out over a hundred gift copies of' this book to Buddhist 
  centers and temples around the world. In late August, however, the 
  inexorable process of aging suddenly accelerated, ushering in a 
  combination of ailments that signaled the approaching end. Ven. 
  Nyanaponika was brought to a private hospital for medical treatment in 
  late September, but as he sensed his end coming and wished to pass 
  away in his familiar surroundings, at his own request he was returned 
  to the Forest Hermitage after a week in the hospital. Three weeks 
  later, in the hushed quiet of the pre-dawn forest, he breathed his 
  last. Ven. Nyanaponika maintained lucidity of mind through his 
  terminal illness, impressing visitors with his mental acuity, his 
  heartfelt concern for others, and his unfailing sense of humor even in 
  physical affliction.
    
    Born in Hanau, Germany, in 1901 into a Jewish family, with the name 
  Siegmund Feniger, the future bhikkhu became a Buddhist by 
  self-conviction before his twentieth year. Intent on entering the 
  Buddhist order, in 1936 he left Germany for Sri Lanka. In June of that 
  year he received novice ordination (pabbajja) as a pupil of the 
  illustrious German elder Ven. Nyanatiloka Mahathera (1878- 1957), who 
  was himself a prolific author and translator of Pali Buddhist texts. 
  The following year he took higher ordination (upasampada). He received 
  his monastic training at the Island Hermitage (Polgasduwa) in 
  Dodanduwa, established by Ven. Nyanatiloka in 1911 as a retreat center 
  for Western monks. During the Second World War Ven. Nyanaponika was 
  interned both in Sri Lanka and in India. He returned to Sri Lanka in 
  1946 and, together with his teacher, was made a citizen of the newly 
  independent country in 1950. From 1952 until his death he resided at 
  the Forest Hermitage.
  
  
    Ven. Nyanaponika earned worldwide recognition for his authoritative 
  expositions of Theravada Buddhism and for his lucid translations of 
  Pali Buddhist texts into both English and German. His best known book, 
  The Heart  of Buddhist Meditation, has attained the stature of a 
  modern Buddhist classic and has been translated into seven languages. 
  His shorter essays from the BPS's Wheel and Bodhi Leaves series--all 
  models of clarity and depth of thought--have been collected into a 
  single volume, The Vision of Dhamma. He is also the author of 
  Abhidhamma Studies, investigations into the philosophical psychology 
  of early Buddhism. His numerous German works include several books on 
  Satipatthana meditation, a translation of the Suttanipata, and a 
  translation of the Atthasalini (currently in the press). Ven. 
  Nyanaponika was one of the three founders of the Buddhist Publication 
  Society in Kandy, which he served as Editor from its birth in 1958 
  until 1984 and as President until 1988. From 1988 until his death he 
  was the Society's distinguished Patron. It was above all, his 
  sagacious guidance, his overflowing compassion, and his dedication to 
  the Dhamma that transformed the BPS into a major Buddhist publisher, 
  bringing the teachings of the Buddha to over eighty countries around 
  the world. His own outstanding writings and his devoted service to the 
  Sasana through the BPS constitute one of the truly monumental 
  contributions to Theravada Buddhism in the twentieth century. Ven. 
  Nyanaponika was made an honorary member of the German Oriental Society 
  in 1978 and was also a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. 
  In recent years within Sri Lanka he received several honors befitting 
  his achievements. In 1987 the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri 
  Lanka awarded him its first-ever honorary degree of Doctor of 
  Literature. In 1990 the University of Peradeniya granted him the 
  honorary degree of Doctor of Letters at a convocation held specially 
  for him in the courtyard of the Forest Hermitage. In 1993 the 
  Amarapura Nikaya, the chapter of the Buddhist monastic order into 
  which he had been ordained 56 years earlier, conferred on him the 
  honorary title of Amarapura Maha Mahopadhyaya Sasana Sobhana, Great 
  Mentor of the Amarapura Nikaya, Ornament of the Teaching..
    
    The body of Ven. Nyanaponika was cremated on 23rd October at the 
  Mahaiyawa Cemetery in Kandy at a funeral attended by religious and lay 
  dignitaries as well as by his many friends and admirers. The remains 
  are to be interred near the remains of his revered teacher at the 
  Island Hermitage in Dodanduwa, where Ven. Nyanaponika spent his 
  formative years as a monk. The entire Buddhist world, and in 
  particular the English- and German-reading followers of Theravada 
  Buddhism, will forever be indebted to him for his life of selfless 
  service in transmitting the wisdom of the Buddha to humanity.

                                               -- Bhikkhu Bodhi
  
  
  Kathina Celebration
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  This year's Kathina celebration was organized by Mr. & Mrs. Bau 
  Nguyen, Sila Phong Nguyen and Thanh & Diep Nguyen with the help of 
  many other Vietnamese friends and  members of the Bhavana Society, 
  including Americans, Burmese, Cambodians, Germans, Srilankans, and 
  Thais. Nine monks and two nuns also participated in the ceremony. The 
  weather was very cooperative for us to hold the ceremony on the Sima 
  ground so that many people were able to watch.
  
  
  
  Travel and teaching
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Bhante Gunaratana will be conducting retreats in the following 
  locations: November 18-20: Philadelphia; December 1-8: Edmonton; 8-12: 
  Calgary, Canada; January 13-15: Florida; February 6 - 13 Singapore; 
  14-20: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 21-  March 6:  Sri Lanka; April 10-13: 
  London; 14-19: Kendal Buddhist Society, Lake District; 20-25: Austria; 
  26- May 10: Germany; June 1- 11: Ocate, NM.; July 14-August 6: Brazil. 
  
    Bhante Rahula has been invited by the Mahabodhi International 
  meditation center in Ladakh (North India) to lead a series of five 
  meditation retreats in the trans-Himalayan state during July, August 
  and September next year (1995). 
  
    If anyone has been wanting a good chance to visit India and the 
  Himalayas this is a opportunity to combine adventure travel and 
  meditation.
  
    Two retreats will be "trekking retreats" and two others, "camp out" 
  retreats. You can write to Bhante Rahula for more details, i.e., dates 
  of each retreat etc., if interested. 
  
  
  
  Our Office Hours
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  During non-retreat times:  9:00 - 11:00am  and  2:00 - 6:30pm.
  During retreat times:      5:00 - 6:00pm only
  
    Please leave a message,  including your telephone number on our 
  answering machine if nobody answers your call. In addition, please 
  leave your name and address if you need any information. When you 
  leave a message, please speak very slowly. We will call you back 
  collect as soon as possible. 
  
  
  
  Voluntary help wanted
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  On the one hand we are very pleased to hear that more and more people 
  are interested in learning Dhamma and on the other we feel sad when we 
  are unable to keep up with their requests. At present we have requests 
  for Dhamma audio tapes. Being always understaffed we are compelled to 
  make a request of our Newsletter readers. We would greatly appreciate 
  it if any of you who read this announcement would kindly volunteer to 
  help us duplicate our audio Dhamma cassettes. Also if you have a home 
  computer would you mind making cassette labels, printing them and 
  printing a tape list to distribute? This has to be done in the United 
  States. 
  
    One who shares Dhamma is sharing immortality. (//Amatam dado ca so 
  hoti -- yo dhammam anusasati//)
  
  
  
  NEW MEDITATION HALL
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Our new meditation hall is slowly and surely progressing. In early 
  November, concrete was poured for the foundation. Plans for the 
  structure are now complete; it will be of post-and-beam construction, 
  with hardwood floor and clay tile roof. The building will be 
  efficiently heated by burning wood and passive solar energy. It will 
  have a large room for seated meditation, including a separate hallway 
  for walking meditation and an attached greenhouse for flowers for the 
  Buddha, year round. The meditation hall will be on the opposite end of 
  the main building from the kitchen, providing a much quieter 
  meditation space.
  
  Construction on the meditation hall will begin in the Spring, pending 
  the receipt of sufficient donations. Material costs - not including 
  the tile roof, hardwood floor, or greenhouse - are estimated at 
  $52,000; of which approximately half has been donated to date. We are 
  actively seeking additional funds, so that we may go forward 
  confidently with construction in the Spring. Your generous support is 
  needed and will be deeply appreciated.
  
                            * * * * * * * *
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                  {3}
                                          
                    1995 FULL MOON AND NEW MOON DAYS
  
  
            NEW MOON DAYS             FULL MOON DAYS
            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            Sunday Jan 1              Monday Jan 16
            Monday Feb 30             Wednesday Feb 15
            Wednesday Mar 1           Friday Mar 17
            Friday Mar 31             Saturday Apr 15
            Saturday April 29         Sunday May 14
            Monday May 29             Tuesday Jun 13
            Wednesday Jun 28          Wednesday Jul 12
            Thursday Jul 27           Thursday Aug 10
            Saturday Aug 26           Saturday Sep 9
            Sunday Sep 24             Sunday Oct 8
            Tuesday Oct 24            Tuesday Nov 7
            Wednesday Nov 22          Thursday Dec 7
            Friday Dec 22
            
                            * * * * * * * *
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                  {4}
  
                         1995 RETREAT SCHEDULE
  
              Weekend retreats            Ten day retreats
              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              Feb 3-5                     Mar 10-19
              Apr 7-9                     Jun 30-Jul 9
              Jun 2-4                     Apr 28-May 7
              Jul 28-30                   Sep 1-10
              Oct 6-8                     Nov 3-12
              
              
              Youth retreat:  Aug 11-13
              Family and Work retreat:  Sep 22-24
              Year-ending two-week retreat 1995:    Dec 15-31
  
  
                            * * * * * * * *
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                  {5}
                                          
                    BHAVANA SOCIETY TAPE COLLECTION
                                          
                              New Releases
  
  
  (BR = Bhante Rahula)
  
  The Retreat Experience
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  TAPE 344 (BR) 7/2/94
  Description of what one might experience during a retreat. 
  Expectations compared to reality. Understandings and insights 
  developed during a retreat. Necessary attitude towards body/mind 
  process. Gross to subtle levels in the cultivation of awareness.
  
  
  Dhamma-The Way Things Are
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  TAPE 345 (BR) 7/3/94
  An explicit, detailed explanation of what is meant by The Way Things 
  Are. Options we have and results of choosing. Effectiveness and 
  results of mindfulness training. Establishing and maintaining a safety 
  zone.
  
  
  Causes and States of Mental Conditions
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  TAPE 150 (Bhante Sukhacitto)  7/4/94
  Going beyond the view of "I want to get something from this retreat". 
  Right understanding necessary to develop a practice of mental 
  cultivation. Five aggregates of clinging explained. Using the body as 
  a mindfulness anchor.
  
  
  The Second Noble Truth and Self
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  TAPE 346 (BR) 7/5/94
  Relationship of sense of self and thinking explained. Effect of deep 
  meditation on the "I am". Why desires can never be satisfied. Basis of 
  ignorance described. Three causes of pain and conflict.
  
  
  The First Noble Truth and the Dhamma
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  TAPE 347 (BR) 7/6/94
  Levels and aspects of dukkha explained. Three classifications of 
  dhamma practice which overcome levels of suffering. The necessity and 
  benefits of precepts clarified. Using the peaceful concentrated mind 
  to develop wisdom. The function of insight.
  
  
  Reading from Discourses of the Buddha
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  TAPE 348 (BR) 7/7/94
  Discourse on what is to be followed and what is not to be followed. 
  Right effort-one of the most critical factors in dhamma practice. 
  Majjhima Nikaya. (full name of the sutta given.)Bodily, vocal, mental 
  conduct. Bases of indolence and energy.
  
  
  TAPE 151 (Bhante Sukhacitto) 7/8/94
  The Paramis and Destroying the Kilesas. Investigating the source of 
  defilements. Reflections on believing, disbelieving or keeping an open 
  mind. Paramis as an antidote to the kilesas and leading to the Buddha 
  mind. Characteristics of existence discussed.
  
  
  The Essence of the Practice
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  TAPE 349 (BR) 9/3/94
  Meanings of Dhamma. Natural law explained in terms of the conditioned 
  world, mind and body. Meaning and value of seeing reality as it is. 
  Finding true security and refuge. 
  
  
  Practical Aspects of Wisdom
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  TAPE 350 (BR) 9/4/94
  Main purpose of the practice described. Making the unconscious become 
  conscious. How to approach the mind. Methods of applying the Four 
  Foundations of Mindfulness. Development of concentrated awareness.
  
  
  Aspects of the Conditioned Mind
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  TAPE 351 (BR) 9/5/94
  Conditioning as an aspect of non-self. Importance of understanding the 
  nature of feelings. Aggregates of the mental process described. 
  Creation of kamma at the sankharas. Illusion of "I" explained.
  
  
  Practicing Dhamma in Ordinary Life
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  TAPE 352 (BR) 9/9/94
  Qualities of the mind to be developed in everyday life. In depth 
  description of dana. Three things accompanying the practice of Dhamma. 
  Explanation and definition of sila and renunciation.
  
  
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  --------------c-u-t----a-l-o-n-g----t-h-i-s-----l-i-n-e------------


                     BHAVANA SOCIETY DONATION FORM

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                         DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 TITLE OF WORK: Bhavana Society Newsletter, Vol. 10, No. 4 (October-
                December, 1994)
 FILENAME: BHAV10N4.ZIP
 AUTHOR: N/A
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