Reply To: Jethavanarama Buddhist Monastery – English Discourses

#51804
Jittananto
Participant

  • I highly recommend this sermon. I felt pitī (joy) while listening to it. I listened to it while waiting for the train. I closed my eyes from time to time and felt great joy. The Venerable Bhante who gives this sermon is the abbot of Jethavaranama monastery. His sermon talks about the danger of only working for a life of 100 years and ending up in the Apayas later. He said that we must work for our salvation and for that, we must associate ourselves with noble friends. They will help us to understand the Dhamma. This is a brief summary, he talked about a lot of other things. We can all see that young people around are working to live in comfort and lead a peaceful retirement. They don’t think about death. We are told, “You have a life ahead of you”. For them, life is about accumulating wealth to enjoy sensual pleasures. When the time comes to die, they die with troubled minds. I worked part-time at the hospital as a housekeeper, last summer. I saw an old lady who died with her mouth open. I don’t know if she was terrified of something, but she didn’t seem calm at all. His eyes were a little open. The nurse wrapped her up and put her in a body bag. When I saw this scene, I said to myself how sad it was. May she be happy in her next life. I have said to myself since that day, if I were to die now of cancer, an accident or murder, I am convinced that I would have done the most important thing before dying; know the Dhamma. If I have to live a life of 100 years to die miserably without the Dhamma, it would be better if I died now. A 100-year-long life without the Dhamma is empty and a 23-year life with the Dhamma is more meaningful. See Upaḍḍhasutta and Dhammapada Verse 114 Kisagotami Vatthu
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