Deva Kaji Shakya
I want to start this article with the polite appeal to all spouses, to express their feelings and aspirations as ideal couples, for creating a very beautiful world, to turn this earth into the SUKHAVATI, BHUWAN, the heavenly abode of eternal peace, bliss and harmony.
Great! I do highly admire and cherish the lofty feelings or paradigm for the promotion of Family Spirit, for strengthening the Family Bond, the Family, the core andthe component of central importance to lay the foundation of Universal Peace, Bliss, Progress and Prosperity of the entire humanity and the whole universe.
I do always like to speak and write for the purpose of unifying hearts to generate the feeling of kinship with closeness and connectedness that “we are one family”.Shakyamuni, the Buddha, the Enlightened One, has clearly conveyed the message that a family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. From the Buddhist perspective, the ethics of family life includes duties between husbands and wives, duties between parents and children, and resources for addressing familial discord. Sigala or Sigalika or Sigalovada Sutta from DighaNikaya, (the long discourse of the Buddha), is the sutta (verses), the Buddha himself has uttered to a youth named Sigala, which the great Buddhist scholar Buddha Ghosha has referred it as the Buddhist Code of Conduct and discipline for the householders for good family.
We are so overwhelmed with the sense of gratification, jubilation and spiritual triumph to express our genuine desire for “GOOD FAMILY : PROSPEROUS NEPAL”, the motto put forward by Family Federation for World Peace and Unification – Nepal (FFWPU- Nepal).It is the momentous and auspicious responsibility for us to generate the message that we as human beings should dedicate ourselves for the cause of humanity, to promote human values and propagate the principle of “Live and Let Live”, the principle of Peaceful Coexistence and Co-operation. It is genuinely required for us to propagate the principle, Act locally, think Globally, for the practice of magnanimous heart, for the country and beyond for the world.
I do very humbly appreciate late reverend Dr. Sun Myung Moon and reverend Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon for their emphatical approach of the campaign for the promotion of the full realization of family roles of ideal couples in the building up of peaceful and blissful world.
All the married couples, come on, Let us echo the atmosphere with L O V E “ Let us express our Love for each other, to our fellow human beings and to all the living creatures. Let us Start the day with love, Fill the day with love and End the day with love to create the perfect family, our onlygoal and the central focus to achieve WORLD PEACE and UNIFICATION of HEARTS. But that love should becrystal clear love, the pure love, the detached love and the rational Love with prajna, the intuitive wisdom or perfect knowledge.In the Metta Suttaof Buddhism, the Buddha gave sermon, “Let thoughts of boundless love and compassion pervade over the whole world; above, below and across without any obstruction, without any hatred and without any enmity.”Reverence, humility, contentment, gratitude, and opportune hearing of Dhamma are conducive to family peace and harmony in accordance with the Mangala sutta of the Buddha`s teachings.
The Buddha alerted his pupils and lay disciples as well, “Be careful, attached and sensual love brings only sufferings. Not only the attachment to relations but also attachment to your views, ideas, principles and philosophiesis dangerous, which creates problems, conflicts andit disturbspeace and harmony in the society.
Once the Buddha advised to a so-called wise and renowned man named Kapitthika, not to come to the conclusion that this alone is truth and everything else is false. Buddha, the Awakened One, said, “To be attached to one thing or to a certain view and to look down upon other things(views) as inferior is a detrimental factor in maintaining peace and happiness in society”. Attachment is just like a `fetter`, which impends moving towards the spiritual progress.
Asoka, the third century B.C. emperor of India was the perfect example for us, to emulate his attitude of religious harmony and amicability. He declared a decree, “One should not honor only one`s own religion and condemn the religions of others but one should honor others` religions for harmonious and blissful living”.
The Buddhist teaching gives emphasis onThe Chatubrahma Vihara, the four sublime states of mind and let us resonate,May Loving-kindness, compassion, altruistic joy and equanimity prevail over far and wide in this world. Let the pure water of Dhamma (righteousness) flow and irrigate the whole land of all the continents of this earth. Let the light of Dhamma illuminate the world, eradicating the darkness of ignorance.Dhamma is the only means, which can work effectivelyto manifest the vast potentialities lying hidden in human mind, through proper training and appropriate useful activities to fulfill the goal of spiritual elevation. Let us play remarkable role to utilize those potentialities for the benefit of humankind.
All the peace loving people, let us make commitment for strong and tight family bond and for genuine ideal family spirit.Let us inoculate the sense of humanistic spirit in our children, creating causes and conditions for full development and the practice of human Values in the family and encourage to dispatch these values gradually and continuouslyto society, country and to the whole universe for peace and bliss of humanity.I would like to say very humbly we have capacity to make difference in this world.
Please realize, please, we have the greater responsibility tosprinkle the seeds of Dhammaamong our loved ones and other family members, Dhamma as the righteousness and purity in speech, righteousness and peace in thoughts, and in bodily and mental actions.
We should strive hard to realize that Family, as the fundamental and component unit, can contribute a lot in dispatching and propagating the message of peace and harmony throughout the world.
Founder President and Senior Advisor
The Shakya Foundation, Nepal
