MJ26 - 38 Blessings - Hearing The Dharma (27 Of 39)

Last time you saw me,

We looked at blessing number 25 on gratitude.

With the Dharma talk today,

We'll continue with our series on enlightened living to the final blessing in the instilling oneself with basic virtues subsection,

That is,

Number 26 on regularly listening to Dharma teachings.

So today's blessing is the 26th step of the staircase of Buddhist practice entitled Regular Hearing of Dharma Teachings.

Only having availed ourselves of the first four virtues of group 7 of these blessings,

It will be fruitful for us to go on to listen to Dharma teachings regularly.

Since we have already done the requisite groundwork for the mind,

In other words,

Instilled ourselves with the respect of blessing 22,

Which helped us overcome the tendency to find fault with others,

The humility of blessing 23,

Which helped us to avoid overestimating ourselves so that we don't look down on others,

The contentment of blessing 24,

Which equipped us to connect with inner happiness rather than materialism,

And the gratitude of blessing 25,

Which allowed us to recognize benefits brought into our lives by other people and things,

With this blessing,

We finally sow the seeds of the Dharma by regularly listening to Dharma sermons.

The idea of listening to Dharma sermons is to be able to use the teachings we hear as a mirror to evaluate ourselves in order to know which virtues we possess and which we lack,

The weaknesses we have and those we have overcome.

In other words,

So that we know in which areas we have room for improvement.

Of course,

The point of listening to a sermon is to depthen one's wisdom.

However,

Wisdom is not an instant commodity.

There are some things we don't understand immediately when we hear them,

But that doesn't mean that listening to the Dharma is a waste of time,

Because the benefits may lie dormant for a while before bringing us delayed benefits further down the line.

You would be right in thinking that listening to Dharma sermons has objectives on many levels,

Namely to foster confidence in practice,

To wake you up to the reality of life,

To instill a sense of urgency about practice,

And lastly,

To help you identify where in your character you have room for improvement.

To deal with each in turn,

The first objective,

To foster confidence in the practice,

Or as it is sometimes expressed in a more traditional Buddhist setting,

To arouse faith in the Triple Gem,

Acknowledges that without a foundation of confidence,

It is unlikely that you will see the value of the teachings to the extent that you would want to practice them.

This sort of confidence is like a sword,

It helps you cut away unnecessary doubts and fears.

It is in our natures to be sceptical and potential doubts can run to the hundreds.

However,

If we are able to put aside the doubts for long enough to allow a few teachings to wake us up to reality,

It will often be enough to overcome chronic problems in our lives.

If you want to say the same thing in traditional Buddhist terms,

You would say that the same benefits can be gained by having confidence in the path of practice or the Dharma,

Its pioneer or the Buddha,

And the community of those who have followed the path to its completion or the Sangha.

The second objective,

To wake you up to the reality of life,

Or to arouse the quality of what is called urgency,

Or in the Pali language,

Sanghwia Ka,

We recognize that most of the time our mind wanders about aimlessly.

Dharma teachings have the quality of stimulating the mind to wake up to the real nature of our existence,

Such as the imminence of our death.

Such teachings can give people a sense of urgency to really get down to seeking the truth before it's too late.

It is like matches in a matchbox which may lie together throughout their lives,

But they never break into flame unless one is struck against the other.

In the same way,

People co-exist with the cruel reality of life for years without learning anything from the experience.

It's only when they receive some sort of transformative shock that they will get down to earnest practice to find a way out of that suffering.

Dharma teaching is a gentle way to provide its students with that transformative information,

And irrespective of whether the fruits of Dharma talks come quickly or slowly to the student,

It is necessary for them to seek out opportunities to hear such teachings regularly.

Finally,

Hearing Dharma talks is a good opportunity to identify where you have room for improvement in your character.

Hearing Dharma teachings regularly will allow the ideas and attitudes we hear to ingrain themselves in our character and start to contribute towards a more positive set of habits or what is known in the Pali language as Upanisaya for a brighter future.

Having heard teachings,

In theory,

The idea is to reflect on the virtues learned as an objective mirror to examine the presence or absence of those virtues in ourselves,

And to see whether the virtues we already have can be improved upon.

For example,

Having heard a teaching about patience,

One should use one's new knowledge with honesty to examine one's own character and assess the level of patience in ourselves.

If you have some degree of patience in you,

You should not exaggerate because there must still be some things that cause you irritation.

You might be able to put up with unpleasant things,

But you might find it hard to say no to temptations.

Listening to a Dharma sermon,

You will instantly be able to locate yourself on the spectrum of mastering a virtue.

The general idea of this particular blessing is to encourage us to seek out opportunities and make time to listen to Dhamma teachings from accomplished teachers.

So what we'd hope to learn from this blessing is the choice of appropriate things to listen to and the choice of appropriate times to listen to them.

In terms of what we're listening to,

The definition for the word Dhamma,

Which we also met up with back in Blessing 16,

Generally means Buddhist teachings as found in the Tipitaka.

We need to find the time to listen to such teachings because Buddhist teachings are designed to help alleviate the listener's suffering in the long and short term.

In Blessing 21,

We heard that there are 84,

000 headings of Dhamma in the Buddhist scriptures.

Not many of us could claim to have taken to heart even a tenth or a hundredth of these.

An enthusiastic person might know a handful of teachings by heart,

Maybe the five precepts and the four noble truths,

But even if we are aware of the teachings,

It doesn't guarantee that we've got around to practicing them for ourselves.

So if you have the opportunity to listen to any of the 84,

000 teachings you don't already have in your repertoire,

It would be useful to take the opportunity to listen to as many of these as possible.

In terms of when to listen to Dhamma teachings,

There are four main times it might be appropriate to hear teachings.

Quartermoon days,

Whenever unskillful states arise in your mind,

When you're in doubt,

Or basically whenever there's a Dhamma talk being given.

To look at each in turn,

Quartermoon days,

Buddhist Holy Days,

Or Poya Days as they're known in Sri Lanka,

Suitable for listening to Dhamma,

Include Full Moon Days,

New Moon Days and Quartermoon Days.

Such occasions are about seven days apart,

And you'll find a similar pattern of Holy Days in almost every religion.

What is described as Sabbath days would be observed by Christians each Sunday,

By Jews on a Saturday,

And by Muslims on a Friday.

The reason why all these religions seem to have a seven day top-up of their religious teachings is that usually,

Even if someone starts out awestruck by a teaching,

The inspiration will only last for a few days.

Most people have so many other things on their minds that within seven days,

They will forget any spiritual teachings that they have learned,

And at the end of seven days,

They will return to their old bad ways.

If you listen to a teaching which recommends that you study conscientiously,

Maybe you'll keep up the conscientious behavior for a few days,

But by the end of the week,

You'll be back to your old laziness.

It's the same for practically every good habit we set out to build up for ourselves.

If we fail to receive a reminder from our spiritual teacher for more than seven days,

We start to relapse into our old ways.

This is why it's no coincidence that there is a teaching every seven days in all the religions I've mentioned.

A second appropriate occasion to listen to the Dharma is whenever unskillful states have arisen in your mind.

For example,

Depression or temptation towards self-destructive behaviors.

If unskillful states arise in your mind,

You should be quick to listen to a Dharma teaching.

It doesn't matter what day of the week it is,

If you realize your mind has fallen under the sway of unskillful states,

That is the right time to listen to the Dharma.

It doesn't matter from where or from whom you listen to such Dharma,

From a monk in a temple or from a lay person,

Or even from your parents or elders.

The important thing is that you cannot just allow your mind to run riot.

You have to do something immediately to douse the flames in the mind.

If you're feeling despair or just sorry for yourself,

Then you shouldn't allow that state of mind to continue.

But you need to listen to some Dharma teachings to prevent that negativity pulling you further towards behaviors that might be self-destructive.

Supposing you're particularly angry with the neighbors,

Then you should go and listen to the Dharma before you do something you will regret later.

If you ever fall under the sway of what the Vittaka Sutta of the Angoja and the Gaya calls three sorts of unwholesome mental preoccupations,

Or Akusala Vittaka,

Then take the opportunity to listen to the Dharma without delay.

Whether it be preoccupation with sense pleasures or Gama Vittaka,

When your mind is overcome with desire or sensual temptation,

Preoccupation with vengefulness or Paya Pada Vittaka,

When out of anger you feel tempted to steal or slander another person,

Or preoccupation with violence or cruelty,

Or Vihingsa Vittaka,

When you feel tempted to hurt or take advantage of others.

The third sort of occasion to be quick to listen to a Dharma teaching is whenever you are in doubt.

For example,

When you feel there is something missing from your meditation practice,

Or something spiritual you haven't understood,

Or you find something seemingly inconsistent in the Dharma teachings that you've already heard.

If you have doubts,

Then go to find a teaching monk or someone more experienced in the Dharma practice than yourself,

So that you can put your mind at rest.

The fourth and final occasion when you should be quick to listen to a Dharma teaching is whenever there is a sermon being given.

If you hear that there is a sermon on Dharma being given and you know that the person or monk giving the sermon has genuine knowledge,

It doesn't matter what day of the week it is or what time of the day it is,

You should not hesitate to go and listen to such a sermon.

It is a very difficult thing for anyone who truly understands the Dharma to arise in the world.

To study the Dharma to the point of understanding takes time and it may need to be catalyzed by a truly gifted teacher.

A teacher also needs to be able to communicate what they've learned in a way that others can understand.

If there is such a person giving a Dharma teaching,

Then you should not hesitate to go and listen to what they have to say.

If you hear that there is someone who has reached mental attainment,

Then you should see what they have to teach.

But at the same time,

Remain cautious of those who advertise themselves as enlightened or masters of meditation.

If someone is truly knowledgeable,

Has a good manner of practice,

And has a gift for making Dharma easy to understand,

Be sure to book yourself a place in the audience.

Buddhist scriptures go further to enumerate the qualities of those effective both in teaching the Dharma and listening to it,

Of course,

In two separate lists of five.

In the Panchakarni Patha of the Angusrenikaya,

It is specified that those who are good at teaching the Dharma should have the following characteristics,

And you can use these characteristics to ascertain the likely quality of any Dharma teacher you are considering listening to.

In brief,

The five qualities of a good Dharma teacher are that they should expand the Dharma sequentially,

That they should give reasons for the Dharma taught,

That they teach out of compassion for the listener,

That they teach without motivation for receiving something in return,

And teaching without bringing themselves into conflict with themselves or others.

So to deal with each in turn,

The first quality of a good Dharma speaker is that they expound the Dharma sequentially.

This means the speaker must teach the Dharma that starts at the listener's level of knowledge and become gradually more profound,

Rather than skipping over important subject matter vital to the listener's understanding.

To be sequentially profound requires that the speaker has a real understanding of their own subject matter,

Is an effective communicator,

And finally that they must have prepared and planned what they are going to teach in advance.

It's not generally good enough just to speak off the top of one's head,

And I must also admit that I have issues with the recent trend for VJ monks,

Whose sermon consists of going through a playlist of Dharma videos for their audience.

The second quality of a good Dharma speaker is that they give reasons for the Dharma taught.

It is not good enough just to repeat what you memorise from a textbook or even from the scriptures.

It is considered bad form for a Dharma teacher who has not done any preparation to read out borrowed powerpoints to their audience.

A teacher has to be able to explain the causes and effects in any relationship,

Be able to categorise,

Analyse,

Generalise and distinguish.

When teaching virtue,

It's only possible to explain something thoroughly if you have practised it already for yourself.

How can you expect to teach meditation if you never tried it for yourself?

How can you expect to teach about the five precepts or the eight precepts if you are unable to keep even a single precept for yourself?

So if you are going to give a description or an example and you only have examples of what others have done,

And you can't add anything from your own experience,

Anything you say will carry very little weight with the audience.

The third quality of a good Dharma speaker is that they teach out a sincere compassion for the listener.

The goodwill of loving kindness and compassion are the basic foundation of a good teacher.

Supposing someone is very virtuous and can practise many virtues for themselves,

Like a Pachaka Buddha,

But lacks compassion for their fellow man.

Supposing they give up teaching as soon as the audience dwindles,

Then it may be that they lack sufficient compassion to teach others.

Fourth quality of a good Dharma speaker is that their motivation to teach should not be to gain something material in return.

A good teacher must not teach solely motivated by material remuneration in terms of wealth,

Facebook likes or fame.

Some monks lose their interest in giving sermons if they are offered insufficient donations,

Which would be considered rather a mercenary attitude to a Dharma teaching.

Some are not interested in the income from their sermon,

But would be disappointed if their audience is small.

If there is a large audience,

They will rise to the occasion,

But if there are only a few in the congregation,

They don't really bother what they teach and try to finish as early as possible,

Which is not pretty noble on the part of the monk.

Giving Dharma talk should not become a popularity contest.

This is why as a Dharma teacher,

If you can be contented,

No matter how many or few come to listen to your teaching,

That is one of the signs of a successful Dharma teacher.

The great Abbot of Wat Phra Ngam taught,

If a thousand turn up,

We teach a thousand.

It can be tiring,

But a few words can change the lives of many,

So the speaker accrues a lot of merit,

So that's good.

If a hundred turn up,

We teach a hundred.

It may not be quite so tiring,

So that's also good.

If a handful of people turn up,

We teach a handful,

So we don't have to speak so loudly and the atmosphere can be a little bit more informal,

So that's also good.

And if no one turns up,

We sit for meditation and teach ourselves,

So that's also good.

The fifth and final quality of a good Dharma speaker is that they should teach without getting into conflict with themselves or others.

Sometimes when someone is teaching,

If they are not firmly established in the virtues they teach,

When they see someone they don't like in the audience,

They might try to score points by publicly humiliating that person in the course of what they say.

This would be an example of getting yourself into conflict with others.

Others use giving sermons as the opportunity to boast or end up making a fool of themselves,

Which would both be examples of getting into conflict with yourself.

This final quality characterizes the manner in which Buddhist teachings have always been spread around the world.

The Buddha was particularly careful that monks never teach in ways that bring Buddhism into conflict with other religions.

But that doesn't mean Buddhism is a religion of laissez-faire.

It means that when teaching,

One should choose one's explanations and subject matter with caution.

If you ever hear that someone is about to teach,

Who has all five qualities,

An effective Dharma teacher,

Then if you can take a leave from work,

Go and listen to them without delay and without worrying what day of the week it is.

We have time for a quick story that illustrates how the Buddha used special teaching skills to help one of his disciples who had been given up on by a less accomplished teacher.

Once upon a time when the Buddha was still alive,

There was a monk called Jula Pandhaka who had ordained for 10 years but had certain learning difficulties so severe that even after a decade as a monk,

He could still not memorize even four verses of scriptural teachings.

His elder brother,

Who was also a monk and who was already an Arahant,

Despaired of Jula Pandhaka.

He thought,

My younger brother has such a bad memory he cannot even remember four verses,

So what chance will he have of learning the chanting or any of the longer suttas of the Buddha?

Jula Pandhaka ended up being banished from the temple by his big brother and shunned because he wasn't considered worth his keep.

Jula Pandhaka considered disrobing but he came across the Buddha who had seen the opportunity to intervene in the monk's predicament.

Jula Pandhaka informed the Buddha that he was going to disrobe but the Buddha asked him,

When you ordained,

Did you ordain for the sake of Buddhism or did you ordain for the sake of your big brother?

Jula Pandhaka agreed that he had ordained for the sake of Buddhism so he renewed his interest to continue in the monkhood.

The Buddha looked back into the previous lifetimes of Jula Pandhaka to find the origin of his learning difficulty.

It turned out that in past lives he was very intelligent but he had become arrogant as a result of his intelligence and had often disparaged a fellow monk who was not so gifted.

Consequently,

The other monk despaired and disrobed.

That act of karma had rendered him unable to learn himself in every subsequent lifetime.

Buddha realized that to memorize any scriptures would be fruitless so he found another way to teach the monk.

To find a custom made meditation,

The Buddha looked back into previous lifetimes to see what Jula Pandhaka would be able to remember.

Tradition has it that Jula Pandhaka in another lifetime had been a king and that while going in a procession around his city he had wiped the sweat from his brow with a spotless garment which he wore and noticed how the cloth was stained.

The Buddha consequently decided to teach Jula Pandhaka the word Rajjo Haranam meaning sullied and gave Jula Pandhaka a piece of white cloth with which to wipe his own head.

The white cloth was blackened by sweat and dirt and eventually Jula Pandhaka,

Seeing the impurity of his own body,

Had sullied the white cloth to make it black,

Developed dispassion towards his own body.

Before long,

Jula Pandhaka's mind grasped the idea of impermanence with the same ease that he had done in that previous lifetime and his mind was able to enter the center of his body and attain the Dhammakaya inside and he became an Arahant on the spot.

A little later,

The Buddha and his monks were receiving their midday meal at the house of Chih Ura Gomarapachcha.

When the meal was about to be served,

The Buddha asked everyone to wait,

Saying that there was still one more monk left behind at the monastery.

A servant was sent to find him and Jula Pandhaka,

Aware of this,

Contrived that the whole grove appeared full of monks engaged in various activities.

When the messenger returned and reported that there was not one monk but many,

He was told to discover which of the monks was Jula Pandhaka and bring him.

But all the monks answered to this name and the messenger was forced to return a second time without him.

For the third visit,

He was instructed to take the hand of the first monk who says that he is Jula Pandhaka.

And when he did this,

All the other avatars of Jula Pandhaka vanished.

Only then did Jula Pandhaka's elder brother believe he was enlightened since his younger brother had performed a feat of mental power by replicating thousands of images of himself which in Pali language is known as Manomayiti.

So to return to the subject matter for today on regularly listening to dhamma teachings,

We turn now to look at the qualities of a good dharma listener.

In other words,

A person likely to get full benefit from hearing a dhamma teaching.

And in this respect,

You might like to tick off the qualities for yourself.

So a person who is a good listener to the dharma needs to have five qualities as listed in the Patamatsa Dhamma Niyamasutta of the Angotra Nikaya.

In brief that they should look down on the subject matter,

The teacher's level of knowledge or on their own ability to understand it.

They should keep their mind in meditation when listening and having heard the teaching,

They should reflect wisely on everything they've heard.

To deal with each one of these in turn,

The first mark of a good dharma listener is that they should look down the subject matter.

If for example,

You think the teaching is too basic for the likes of you,

You should remind yourself that each and every item of the dharma taught by the Buddha has the potential they've practiced to lead to enlightenment.

However,

Some people fail to see the teachings in sufficient depth because they look down on the subject matter and thereby miss its true value.

Some people,

For example,

Think that the first blessing on not associating with fools just means being choosy about one's friends and conclude that it's too simple to waste their time listening to.

They have their own preconceived ideas about what fools are like,

So they don't want to waste time hearing a sermon about such a subject.

But in the eyes of those with a more profound understanding,

Even this single subject,

Practiced properly,

Can pave the way to nirvana.

And looking at the teaching more deeply,

They will realize that they must also give up associating with the fool in themselves.

The part themselves that is stingy,

Undisciplined,

Or too lazy to meditate.

Effective dharma listeners will never look down on the materials that they're taught.

Second mark of a good dharma listener is that they shouldn't look down on the teacher's level of knowledge.

Just because a monk looks young or inexperienced or their English is not very good,

You shouldn't go thinking that there is nothing you can learn from them.

Just because you are a senior citizen doesn't mean that you need to hear dharma from an aged monk.

It is therefore a great mistake to look down on the knowledge of a dharma teacher.

In order to help remind themselves not to look down on the knowledge of a teacher,

In the olden times people would hold their hands in a gesture of prayer throughout the sermon they were listening to.

However,

In the present day,

Although dharma talks are a lot more informal,

You still need to avoid falling asleep or chatting with your friends during the sermon or else that is showing that you are looking down on the knowledge of the teacher.

To assume you know better is to impede your own potential for spiritual progress.

The Buddha warned in the Dâhâra Sutta of the Samyutta-Dikaya that there are four things which although seemingly small and insignificant,

Nonetheless should never be underestimated.

And these are a small fire where a tiny spark can burn down an entire city,

A small poisonous snake which can deliver a fatal bite,

A young king who even as a baby can threaten the monarchy's line of succession,

Or a young monk,

Some of whom have been arahants since they were seven years old.

So don't let appearances deceive you.

The third mark of a good dharma listener is that you should never look down on your own ability to understand profound spiritual matters like the dharma.

In fact,

Even the most unlikely of people have benefited from dharma teachings to the degree that they could become arahants,

Like in the story of Jula Pandika that we just heard.

Some people think that they have no chance of being able to transform themselves for the better,

So they give up even before they start.

They think to themselves that success in the study of the dharma may take years,

Even for fanatics.

So what chance would a lazy person like them have?

The fourth mark of a good dharma listener is that they need to keep the mind in meditation when listening to the sermon.

This is why,

For example,

It is a complete waste of time to teach the dharma to someone who is drunk.

For best effect,

You should avoid distractions during a teaching,

Even if it's chatting or picking your fingernails.

The better your mind is concentrated in meditation as you hear the talk,

The more you will understand about the subject being taught.

In the time of the Buddha,

When he needed to teach a very subtle subject,

He would sit with his eyes closed in meditation to teach,

And the listeners would do the same,

In order to be able to follow the subtleties of his teaching.

In this way,

Many people were able to attain the path and fruit of nirvana.

In a similar way,

We too should keep a mind of meditation when listening to dharma teachings in keeping with the age-old Buddhist tradition.

And I should add that although we keep our mind at the center of the body,

Generally we don't close our eyes when we're listening to a dharma sermon.

The fifth and final mark of a good dharma listener is that they should reflect wisely on everything learned.

In other words,

They need to have the quality known in Pali as yoniso manasikara,

Which means being a good teacher to yourself.

You should reflect further on the things you have learned after the sermon,

Ruminating on the subject matter afterwards in your mind,

And examining it from different angles to assimilate it into your previous knowledge.

Consequently,

Both the person who gives the dharma talk and the person who listens to it each have five points of practice which they need to apply if a dharma sermon is to give its maximum benefit.

So turning now to look at the benefits accruing to those who listen to dharma teachings regularly,

These can be divided into immediate benefits in this lifetime and delayed benefits that manifest in lifetimes to come.

To examine the immediate benefits first of all,

According to the Dhammatsat-savana Sutta of the Angotrainikaya,

There are five benefits that come immediately from listening to dharma teachings.

To start with,

The first benefit is to listen to a dharma talk,

Which is a brief hearing things you've never heard before,

Clarifying teachings you've already heard,

Dispelling your doubts,

Straightening your views,

And calming the mind to bring happiness.

To deal with each in turn,

The first immediate benefit of listening to a dharma talk is to hear dharma teachings that you have never heard before,

Or as it's known in the Pali language as suttang sunati.

Because a dharma teacher will always endeavour to find the new items of dharma for the listener As we have heard previously in blessing number three,

If we listen to a dharma sermon,

We will almost always be hearing something we have never heard before.

The second immediate benefit of listening to a dharma talk is to clarify dharma teachings we have already heard,

Or as it's known in the Pali language,

Suttang pariyodapeti.

If it happens that the subject of a sermon is something we have already heard before,

At the very least it will allow us to revise in depth in what we already know,

And to raise our familiarity level,

Allowing us to remember more of the details.

The third immediate benefit of listening to a dharma talk is to dispel one's doubts,

Or as it's known in the Pali language,

Kangkang vihanati.

If after hearing teachings in the past,

We are still struggling to give up old habits and strive for new better ones,

As a result of hearing a dharma talk,

Some of our doubt and reluctance will be overcome.

The fourth immediate benefit of listening to a dharma talk is to straighten one's views,

Or as it's known in the Pali language,

Titthin uchung karoti.

Because we are so mixed up with a world of delusion in our everyday lives,

Many false views can brush off on us.

Such negative worldview,

If left to its own devices,

Can eventually lead our spiritual cultivation to go in circles,

Or else deviate from the objectives we have set ourselves.

One advantage of regularly listening to dharma teachings is that we are able to identify the workings of false view in our mind,

And to uproot it,

Establishing right view in its place.

The fifth and final immediate benefit of listening to a dharma talk is to calm the mind and bring happiness,

Or as it's known in the Pali language,

Titthamasa vasidati.

Hearing dharma sermons will wake us up to the reality of life in the world,

Shaking our mind out of obsession with sensuality,

Vengeance and aggression,

While making it clearer to us where our weaknesses lie,

And boost our morale,

Giving us the means by which we can move past the source of suffering,

So that we can attain successfully higher levels of happiness as we reach towards the path and fruit of nirvana.

And in conclusion,

The Buddha told us in the Samyutta Nikaya that,

O you who see the danger in the cycle of existence in whatsoever era,

The noble disciples hear the dharma,

Allowing it to seep to the very marrow of their bones,

To the innermost part of their mind,

And who muster all of their encouragement,

Bending their ears,

To listen to the dharma in earnest,

In that era their five hindrances will be overcome,

And their seven factors of enlightenment will be brought to completion through the power of their meditation.

Furthermore,

It turns out that the benefits of listening to dharma teachings don't run out at the end of the present life,

But they carry over into future lifetimes as well.

By listening to dharma sermons,

Even though we might not immediately understand everything we hear,

Nonetheless,

Wisdom will form positive predispositions in our character in the long term.

Such deeply rooted habits become like bedrock for the mind.

Gradually,

We will start to build up familiarity with the technical vocabulary associated with the dharma,

Even if we are not sure of the meaning.

We might not know the meaning of the chanting,

But before long we have a passing acquaintance with the Pali words.

Such predispositions will be like a down payment on future cultivation of good deeds,

By accelerating our attainment of wisdom,

Our ability to teach others,

Recognizing the message of the dharma when we hear it in the future,

And being easily reawakened to the value of dharma teachings.

To deal with each of these future benefits in turn,

The first benefit of listening to dharma teachings for lifetimes to come will be accelerated attainment of wisdom.

In subsequent lifetimes,

One will attain wisdom quickly,

And with ease,

Being better able to recall and apply the wisdom of dharma,

Allowing attainment of the path and fruit of nirvana more quickly.

The second benefit of listening to dharma teachings for lifetimes to come will be ability to teach.

In subsequent lifetimes,

Since one has an underlying gift for the dharma,

It will be easier to teach it and explain it to others.

The third benefit of listening to dharma teachings for lifetimes to come will be recognition of the dharma message.

In subsequent lifetimes,

Even if you can't personally remember items of the dharma oneself,

But hearing those teachings from others,

Will trigger one's attainment of the path and fruit of nirvana,

And one's understanding will be thorough and free of doubt.

Like a person who has heard the sound of a drum once before,

Even if much later,

After a journey of many miles,

They hear a similar sound again,

They will immediately recognize it as the sound of a drum.

It would be hard for anyone to persuade such a person that what they are listening to is not a drum.

The fourth and final benefit of listening to dharma teachings for lifetimes to come would be being easily reawakened to the value of dharma teachings.

In subsequent lifetimes,

Even if one can no longer remember the dharma one has learned,

And even if there's no one to teach it,

But on hearing only a few words of advice from others,

Or perhaps even overhearing such advice,

It will bring back one's former knowledge of dharma,

Easily allowing one to attain the path and fruit of nirvana with ease.

Those who know the morning and evening chanting by heart,

Even without the meaning translated,

Will gain peace of mind and familiarity with the pali terms of phrase,

So that just overhearing the same sound in the future,

Will access our previous disposition,

To allow us to build upon this as we pick up on our journey towards nirvana.

So for today,

I'd like to finish by telling you a story about a lady who was extremely devoted to hearing dharma teachings,

A habit which brought benefit to her and those around her in that particular lifetime.

The lady's name was Guru Raga Rikā,

Although she is sometimes known as Gāli,

And she was a devout supporter of the Buddha and the mother of a monk called Sona Kutikanna Thera,

So we'll call him Sona for short.

On one occasion,

The monk Sona was passing through his hometown,

And on her way back from the Chetavanam monastery,

Guru Raga Rikā met her son,

The monk,

And organized a grand charity event in his honor.

Having heard that her son could expand the dharma very well,

She requested him to give a discourse.

Sona complied with her request,

And so she built a pavilion especially for the purpose.

A large crowd,

Including his mother,

Turned up to listen to the dharma expanded by Sona.

However,

When she was at the pavilion listening to the sermon,

Some thieves broke into her house.

Meanwhile,

The leader of the thieves went to the pavilion to keep watch on the owner of the house.

His intention was to attack Guru Raga Rikā if she should return home early on learning about the theft taking place in her house.

Right on cue,

The maid left behind to guard the house went to the pavilion to inform her about the thieves breaking in.

But the lady only said,

Let the thieves take all my money,

I don't care.

But don't come and disturb me while I'm listening to the dharma.

Having reprimanded her,

She sent the maid home.

The leader of the thieves who was sitting close by overheard everything.

Her words also made him think if we steal the property of this wise and pious lady,

We will surely be punished.

We might even be struck by lightning.

The leader of the thieves got so anxious that he hurried back to the house and ordered his fellow thieves to put back all the things they'd taken.

The gang of thieves then returned to the pavilion to listen to the dharma.

It turned out that Sona's dharma teaching went on right through the night to finish at the crack of dawn.

And by that time,

The leader and all the thieves had admitted their mistakes and requested for the lady's forgiveness.

Being a kind and devout lady,

She pardoned them all.

Realizing the evil of their ways,

All the thieves chose to join the monastic community.

After receiving instructions from Sona,

The new bhikkhus went into the forest to practice meditation.

And the Buddha,

Knowing their mental attitudes,

Sent forth his radiance and exhorted them until they all ended up becoming enlightened.

So,

This session I have introduced to you Blessing 26 on regular listening to the dharma.

For my next session,

We'll move on to the first blessing of the eighth group with the Blessing 27 on patience.

Hopefully,

As a result of today's session,

You will not only have benefited from hearing the dharma,

But also realize how these benefits are brought to you both in this lifetime and the next.

So for today,

This is me,

Prarat Nicholas,

Signing off for now.

So long folks,

And stay safe.