Buddhist Gems 72
Dharmadeva
What's the meaning of shra'ddha'? `Shraddhaya' diiyate yastu ityarthe
shra'ddhah': that which is offered with shraddha' is shra'ddha.' And
what is shraddha'? `Shrat satyam iti dhiiyata ityarthe shraddha'',
that is, when an idea or a culminating point is accepted as supreme,
then that idea or culminating point is called `shrat'; and when the
mind, with its propensities, moves towards that object, that movement
is called shraddha'. Shrat + dha is shraddha'. Now let us see some of
the prevalent usages of the world in connection with this shraddha',
or shra'ddha. When you offer something with shraddha', it is
shra'ddha. A priest may say that your father will die only once, and
so after his death you should arrange for a sufficient quantity of
food-stuffs, a sufficient quantity of edibles, a sufficient quantity
of clothes, etc., for him. And that has been done in India for about
five thousand years, since the time of the Atharva Veda. And people
have generally offered rice and sesame, also honey and ghee, to be
consumed by that person who has left the world.
Regarding these things, Mahars'i Ca'rva'ka (He lived in India about
2500 years ago, during the time of Lord Buddha. He was a bit senior to
Lord Buddha. Ca'rva'ka's disciple, Ajit Kusum, was a contemporary of
Lord Buddha.) said said 'If you are in a room, and another man is in
the courtyard a few yards away, and you offer rice and sesame for that
man, he won't get that rice and sesame, and his hunger won't be
satisfied. And if a man is in another world, Aparaloka, and you are
offering rice and sesame for him, will he get them? Is it reasonable?
No, no. All these things are exploitation by the privileged class'.
Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
SHRA'DDHA
A'nanda Vacana'mrtam Part 3
18 October 1978, Patna
---
What is proper remembrance? You boys and girls, you know that one
should go on repeating one's Is't'a Mantra (the mantra that leads to
the Goal). Always you are doing your work, but you are not repeating
your Is't'a Mantra in your mind. Why? Because you have forgotten the
fact that you should repeat it in your mind. Your memory is not
strong. That's why you have forgotten it. Here Lord Buddha said,
Samyak Smrti ("proper remembrance"), that is, you must never forget
that it is your foremost duty to take the name of the Lord, to repeat
your Is't'a Mantra in your mind.
Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
(A'nanda Vacana'mrtam XIV, 6)