Author: LEMMER LEE, JR

The Dakkhineyyabuggala is one who is worthy of Dakkhina -gifts that one believes in cause and effect and then devotes. When Buddhists understand clearly the reason and result that such an action is the cause bringing in delight, such an action is the cause bringing in woe; then they will wish to complete only the cause of gladness. Concerning the cause of gladness, in Buddhism, the Lord Buddha decreed that "sukkho puññassa uccayo the act of accumulating merit is the cause of gladness." To collect merit, Buddhists must discern what merit and what causes of merit are, only then they can complete that merit. The word "merit" here means that quality always clarifies the mind, that quality is called "merit". Further explanation is that the human mind is always clear depending on the power...

The word "Kamma" here refers to the law of cause and effect or the law of reason and result of Buddhism and the word "Mangala" here refers to superstition as described above. In the law of cause and effect, the Exalted one taught by comparing cause and effect to seeds of plants as follows: "yadisam vappate bijam tādisam labhate phalam kalyanakārī kalyanam papakārī ca papakam. One sow what species of seeds always reaps such species of crops, one who habitually does good always gains good results, one who routinely does bad always gains bad results." The Lord Buddha taught this teaching, his goal is to make beings believe what the Law of Kamma is, which always produces results in accordance with what has been done by beings. Seed of rice such as glutinous rice and the like that is sown...

In Mangalatthadipani, there are comments about the chaos that arose from people seeking blessing and then being confounded by believing in three men who had proclaimed that seeing is a blessing, sharing is a blessing, and a mixture of smelling, tasting, touching is a blessing. Some of them followed the first man who said that seeing is a blessing, some Followed the second man who said that hearing is a blessing, and some followed the third man that said that a mixture of smelling, tasting, and touching is a blessing. Different adherence was the cause of unrest not only in this human world but also up to the divine, Mara, and Brahma worlds. That unrest continued for twelve years. After the Lord Buddha expounded the thirty-eight sublime blessings in the discourse of blessings, the unrest app...