There is a beautiful old saying in Sinhalese, “ova denu parahata, tama sammathaya pihita sita” that I always tell and share with my friends, colleagues, and my mother when she gossips about our neighbor saying he/she said thus and thus to her. It means you have to set an example and be the same before you can teach someone else to do things. I always recommend her to think like this when they talk badly about her because we all know the personality and attitude of our neighbor.
"You can't teach me about the negative sides and effects of drinking alcoholic drinks because you drink them yourself," I tease my father sometimes laughing. "But since I don't drink, I can teach my students that drinking or taking alcoholic drinks is breaking the first precepts from the Buddha's teachings."
I also never tell my students, like my teachers used to tell me, “Study harder so that you will get a good job, and you will drive a car,” since I don’t have one. I worry that my students will ask me, “If that is the case, why are you still riding a bicycle, teacher?”
I'm trying to say that we must first set an example before we can advise someone.
I studied English and improved my communication skills, so I teach it and give my students advice on how to learn it more quickly and talk like a pro.
I advise my sisters not to listen to my father when he talks about having nothing to do in Nepal—no purpose and no future—because I believe that if a man wants and needs, he can farm and still live. My father doesn’t help my mother to plant vegetables and export and sell them in markets—supermarkets.
Because I studied and lived Buddhism for fifteen years as a novice and a monk in Sri Lanka and Thailand, I tell and share Buddhist stories as well as the teachings and philosophies of the Buddha.
The Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, and the other gods in the Hindu scriptures were the greatest people and teachers ever lived—they lived what they preached, and they preached what they lived. That’s why they were the greatest teachers and masters, and we take them as an example to walk on paths for living and spirituality.
The Buddha said, “attanam upamam katwa” in Pali. That means when you say something to someone—when you judge others; when you blame others; when you complain or gossip about someone; when you hurt someone both physically, mentally, or emotionally—take yourself as an example. What if those people do the same to me? Will I feel sad? Will I feel sorry? Will I get hurt?
If the answer is yes, then do not do the things that hurt others bodily, physically, or mentally and intentionally.
The Buddha also said not to idolize anyone and worship them. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther, Mother Theresa, and Dr. Ambedkar were great people who influenced a lot to the humanities in so many ways. We can take them as an example but idolizing them as deities and gods would be the most considerable act since once you see any faults in their ever-done acts, you will feel betrayed and sad.
There is a beautiful quote from Shunryu Suzuki: “There are, strictly speaking, no enlightened people; there is only enlightened activity.”
I want you to read it again and again—understand its meaning.
So if you don’t want to feel sad, then hurt not others. If you don’t want to be killed, kill not others. If you don’t want to be regretted, do not commit any misdeeds. These are the teachings of all great people who ever existed.
Comments