IT IS BETTER TO FEED ONE ARHAT
His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. HH the Dalai Lama was born in a small village called Takster in north-eastern Tibet in 1935 to a peasant family, HH the Dalai Lama was recognized at the age of two, in accordance with Tibetan tradition, as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama and by age 19 he was negotiating with China's Mao Tse-Tung over the future of Tibet, which China invaded in 1950 and has occupied ever since. H H the Dalai Lama fled in 1959 to Dharamsala, India, where he continues to be the spiritual leader of Tibet's people and heads Tibet's government-in-exile. The Dalai Lamas are the manifestations of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who chose to reincarnate to serve the people. Dalai Lama means Ocean of Wisdom. Tibetans normally refer to HH the Dalai Lama as Yeshin Norbu, the Wish-fulfilling Gem, or simply, Kundun, meaning The Presence. The Noble Eightfold Path, according to Buddhism and as taught by Gautama Buddha, is the way to the cessation of suffering, the fourth part of the Four Noble Truths. It is summarized into three important categories: wisdom (pañña), virtue (sila), and concentration (samadhi). It is very easy to get confused about the number of paramitas, especially if one follows the theosophical tradition. The Mahayana tradition names 6 paramitas; The hinayana tradition names 10 (similar) virtues; and as if to confuse the issue even further, Blavatsky uses the number 16, but elaborates on 7 paramitas in her classic The Voice of the Silence. These 7 paramitas are the six Mahayana paramitas plus a seventh one. The five precepts are the basis of Buddhist morality. To take Pancha Sila, that is, to vow to live according to the following rules of conduct, is a set of vows a lay-person may take on, to try and live by, to the best of their understanding. So here goes: Pancha (= five) Sila (= discipline), the Five Precepts.
THE BUDDHA SAID: IT IS BETTER TO FEED ONE GOOD MAN THAN TO FEED ONE HUNDRED BAD MEN. IT IS BETTER TO FEED ONE WHO OBSERVES THE FIVE PRECEPTS OF BUDDHA THAN TO FEED ONE THOUSAND GOOD MEN. IT IS BETTER TO FEED ONE SROTAPANNA THAN TO FEED TEN THOUSAND OF THOSE WHO OBSERVE THE FIVE PRECEPTS OF BUDDHA. IT IS BETTER TO FEED ONE SKRIDAGAMIN THAN TO FEED ONE MILLION OF SROTAPANNAS. IT IS BETTER TO FEED ONE ANAGAMIN THAN TO FEED TEN MILLIONS OF SKRIDAGAMINS. IT IS BETTER TO FEED ONE ARHAT THAN TO FEED ONE HUNDRED MILLIONS OF ANAGAMINS. IT IS BETTER TO FEED ONE PRATYAK BUDDHA THAN TO FEED ONE BILLION OF ARHATS. IT IS BETTER TO FEED ONE OF THE BUDDHAS EITHER OF THE PRESENT OR OF THE PAST OR OF THE FUTURE THAN TO FEED TEN BILLIONS OF PRATYAK BUDDHAS. IT IS BETTER TO FEED ONE WHO IS ABOVE KNOWLEDGE, ONE-SIDEDNESS, DISCIPLINE, AND ENLIGHTENMENT THAN TO FEED ONE HUNDRED BILLIONS OF BUDDHAS OF PAST, PRESENT, OR FUTURE. IT SAYS SO MUCH ABOUT YOUR HEIGHT AND OUR DARKNESS, AND HAS PRODUCED TWO FEELINGS IN ME: THE BLESSING AND JOY OF BEING IN YOUR MAGNIFICENCE, AND THE ARDUOUSNESS OF HOW FAR WE HAVE TO TRAVEL JUST TO HAVE A TASTE OF YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS.
Ordinarily you cannot eat the same thing every day. But the reason is not that it is the same thing, the reason is that it doesn't suit you. One day you can tolerate, another day it becomes too much. And how can you tolerate it every day? If it suits you then there is no problem; you can live your whole life on it, and every day you can enjoy it, because it brings such harmony. It simply fits with you; it is in accord with you.