Our FBA Dharmabyte today is from the Chair of Aryaloka, Dayalocana. This excerpt and#8220;The Heartwood of Aryaloka,and#8221; is from the full talk: and#8220;The Simile of the Heartwood.and#8221; Here, Dayalocana asks: What is the heartwood of Aryaloka? Celebrating 25 years of Dharma practice, Aryaloka is situated on a street named Heartwood Circle, giving her good cause to reflect on The Simile of the Heartwood, from the Majjhima Nikaya.
Dharmabytes from free buddhist audio
Simile of the Heartwood
[music] Dharma Bites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for your life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, make a contribution at freebuddhistaudio.com/donate. Thank you, and happy listening. So, we're here tonight to celebrate the 25 years of continuous, important practice here at Aya Loka. And somehow we got here, and tonight we're going to celebrate what we have become, what we have become here. So, I decided to call my talk the Similarly of Heartwood Circle. It's based on a sutra from this very wonderful book. The Majima Nakaya is what in the library. And in this book you will find 132 sutas or stories, teachings from the Buddha. 2,500 years ago, and they still apply to us today. And often he gives the teachings as a simile, a simile as a figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another. It's very interesting. And when you look at the index of the topics, it's just so fascinating. I'm just going to tell you a couple of them so that you'll kind of whet your appetite to want to go get it and look at it. I just don't, you just wonder, what was the Buddha talking about when he gave a discourse on the blind turtle? Or catching a snake, an elephant at play, fire in a grass shed, a heap of flowers, a jackal, a waiting fish, milk from a cow's horn, and a square pond. Go find out and report that. So, it's always struck me that it's a wonderful coincidence that there are two sutas in the Majima Nakaya, the greater discourse and the shorter discourse on the simile of the heartwood. And here we are at Aria Loca, situated at heartwood circle. After 25 years, I decided it's finally time for me to explore and see if there's any possible connection. But first of all, what is heartwood? Heartwood is the inner part of a trunk of a tree. It is wood that's not alive, but it provides a strength to the structure, and it also is very resistant to rot, so it's strong. It provides its uprightness, and it is beautiful wood. Yesterday, Elizabeth, you mentioned to me that you're very familiar with heartwood because your father made wood products and boxes. And the places that he could order heartwood. So, it's been used 2,500 years ago and still used today. So, I'm going to just give you a little taste of this sutta from the polycan of the Buddhist teaching. And then I'm going to go on to my own, not sutta, but my own, my own little simile. So, in the simile of the heartwood, the Buddha, the Blessed One, while living in Anatopindica's park, gave teaching to a Brahman. This is a friend named Pingala Kocha, Pingala Kocha. He said, "Suppose Pingala Kocha, a man needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering, in search of heartwood, came to a great tree, possessed of heartwood, passing over its heartwood, its sapwood, its inner bark, its outer bark. He would cut off its twigs and leaves and take them away thinking, "This is the heartwood." Then a man with good sight and seeing him might say, "This man did not know the heartwood, the sapwood, the inner and outer barker twigs and leaves. Whatever it was, this good man had to make with heartwood. His purpose will not be served." And then the Buddha goes on to say, "So, too Brahman, here, some clansmen, goes forth out of faith from home life into the homeless life. Considering to himself, I am a victim of birth, aging, death, and sorrow. I am a victim of suffering." When he has gone forth, he acquires gain and honor and renown. He is pleased with that and his intentions fulfilled. And on account of it, he lauds himself and disparages others. He says, "I have honor and renown, but these other bikus are unknown. There have no account." And so this bikus arouses no desire to act. Makes no effort at the realization of other higher states. Higher states than gain honor and renown, and not only that. He hangs back and slackens. The Buddha says, "I say that this person is like the man needing heartwood who came to a great tree, sending possessive heartwood and passing over its heartwood, its sap, its inner and outer bark, cut off its twids and leaves, and took them away, thinking they were heartwood." This holy life, Brahman, does not have gain honor and renown for its benefit, or the attainment of virtue for its benefit, or the attainment of concentration for its benefit. But it is this unshakable deliverance of mind that is the goal of this holy life, its heartwood and its end. In other words, it's enlightenment, which is why we live the holy life. So we understand from this similarly that it's easy for us to not see clearly, to miss the point, to become cut up in our own ego needs for recognition and fame, to slack off, to stop way short of the end goal when effort is required, and in a way either fool ourselves or have lack of any determination and commitment to push on. But not so here at Aria Loka, right? We have given our best. We have given our best to the further last 25 years to make Aria Loka a spiritual home for all who are seeking the path to peace and understanding. We have created a special place that offers a refuge from the everyday world and a place of friendship, done a study, a place for meditation and peace. Wow, hearts can connect with a deeper truth. So it is fitting that Aria Loka is here at Heartwood Circle. It is from the depths of our heart that we understand, that we reach out to the suffering of the world. I have seen the heart of Aria Loka, the goodness that resides here, and penetrates all that we see and do. But what is the heartwood of Aria Loka? What is its inner core, its strength, and the beauty that we all seek? We hope you enjoyed today's Dharma Bite. Please help us keep this screen. Make a contribution at freebuddhistaudio.com/donate. And thank you. [music fades out] [music fades out] [music fades out] You You