TI-SARANA BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION

TI-SARANA BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION Nov / Dec 2020

SIGNIFICANCE OF VASSĀVĀSA & KAṬHINA Dhamma Talk - by Ānanda on Kaṭhina Day

At age 29, Prince Siddhattha renounced his lavish worldly life and became an ascetic. For 6 years he searched and practised intensely until he found enlightenment while meditating under a . He became known as the Enlightened One or the Buddha. After enlightenment, he gave his first sermon – theDhammacakkappavattana Sutta, or The Great Discourse on the Wheel of Dhamma at Varanasi – Isipatana to the 5 ascetics monks.

The Buddha’s first dwelling place in Isipatana is known asMūlagandha kuti. Kuti means a dwelling place which is small house or hut. Gandha means smell or scent. The places where you see Buddha statues in temples or monasteries can be called Gandhakuti. But his first dwelling is named Mūlagandha kuti. In language, Mūla means root or origin. Therefore it is called Mūlagandha kuti because the first scent of Dhamma arose from the Deer Park, Varanasi – Isipatana where Buddha preached his first sermon. The Buddha subsequently preached the Dhamma for the next 45 years.

At the beginning of Buddha’s dispensation there were no rules laid down by him. It was only 20 years later with a large numbers of followers that the Buddha started to lay down disciplinary rules for monks and nuns to guide their practice. Today, there are 227 rules for the monks and 311 rules for the nuns. India experiences heavy monsoon rains for 3 months annually and during this period it is difficult for travellers. The Buddha spent his first rainy season with the five ascetic monks sheltering in Isipatana because of the bad weather. Before the Vassāvāsa rules (Vassā means rain and vāsa means remain or stay so Vassāvāsa means remain in one place.) were established, the Buddha sent monks out in all directions to propagate the Dhamma even during the rainy season. This practice was criticised by people who said “even the birds stayed in their nest during this rainy season, Buddhist monks use to wander here and there”. These critics were concerned about Kamma and the well-being of plants, small animals and insects that maybe inadvertently be trampled upon and damaged or even killed in flooded roads or paths.

However, the Buddha’s on Kamma differs from the other teachers. “Cetanāham bhikkhave kammam vadāmi Cetayitvā kammam karoti, kāyena, vācāya, manasā”. “It is volition or intent that I call kamma - by volition one performs kamma through body, speech or mind.” Venerable Arahant Cakkhupāla who was blind, while practicing , unintentionally stepped on and killed many insects. However, without volition or intent, there was no Kamma created. All beings are born as human, animal or other beings according to their own Kamma.

When we know the deep meaning of Upekkhā we can begin to understand why beings come and go from this world depending on their own Kamma. Previous Buddhas’ Sāsana or dispensation also observed the two ceremonies called Vassāvāsa and Kaṭhina. Aware of this, the Buddha waited for the right time to lay down rainy

1 retreat rules for monks and nuns. “Anujānāmi bhikkhave vassāne vasam upagantum” “Oh! Monks, I enjoined you to observe rainy retreat during rainy season”. According to this rule, all monks and nuns have to observe rainy retreat with or without an invitation from lay devotees. After completing 3 months rainy retreat and the Pavārana or invitation ceremony, lay devotees can offer Kaṭhina until the full moon day of November.

TI-SARANAKaṭhina BUDDHIST Robe ASSOCIATION is considered an important and special offering. Devotees can only perform a Kaṭhina ceremony together with a minimum of five higher ordained monks of which at least one monk has observed the rainy retreat. Lay devotees have to first offer the Kaṭhina Robe to the or community of monks who will then determine who amongst them will receive it. Novice monks or nuns are not able to receive Kaṭhina Robe.

“Kaṭhina” means something that is very hard and cannot be destroyed. It is said that offering a Kaṭhina Robe may reduce your unwholesome kamma. During the Buddha’s time, a group of 30 monks wanted to travel from Pāva city to Sāvatthi city to see the Buddha and pay their respects to him. However, the rainy season started so they could not proceed and instead observed rainy retreat at city of Saketa. After the rainy season passed, they went to see the Buddha. These monks arrived dressed in damp robes and in poor condition. The Buddha realised that they needed extra robes after the rains retreat. “Anujānami bhikkhave vassam vultham bhikkhunam kaṭhinam attharitum” “Oh! Monks I enjoined you to accept a special robe (Kaṭhina) for those who have successfully observed the rains-retreat”. This was how the Kaṭhina robe offering came about. The Kaṭhina ceremony requires the presence of both monks and lay devotees. Offering the Kaṭhina robe is a great meritorious deed that generates highest blessings and lay devotees should try to offer a Kaṭhina robe once in their lifetime.

On this Kaṭhina day and also during the last three months, all of us have performed many meritorious deeds. Now we will transfer the merits acquired to all departed members and devotees of Ti-Sarana Buddhist Association including our late Chief Religious Adviser, Most Ven. Dr. P. Gnanarama. Then we will share these merits with all Devā and all sentient beings. Finally we will share all these merits with all the Mahāsangha, members and devotees of Ti-Sarana Buddhist Association.

2020 Kaṭhina Day Celebration Ti-Sarana Dhamma Community celebrated Kaṭhina Day on 8th November this year at its premises amidst the ongoing Phase 2 of the Covid-19 pandemic. Much work and planning by the Management Committee went into the preparation for the celebration, which revolved around crowd control and safe distancing measures that had to be taken during the day for the safety of devotees attending. This was aided by the good guidance of our Resident Monk, Ven R. Ᾱnanda Mahāthera.

As with previous years’ activities, we kicked off Kaṭhina Day 2020 with a special blessings service on the Eve of Kaṭhina Day. This was followed by the 7 am morning programme on Kaṭhina Day, where our nominated Upāsaka Abhaya Marcus Lee and Upāsikā Kāñcanā Elaine Tan offered the sacred Kaṭhina Dussa (Cloth) to members of the Mahāsangha (community of monks). In view of the pandemic restrictions in place, we could only invite four Venerables, namely Ven. Dr. N. Sumana Nāyaka Mahāthera, Ven. K. Dhammika Mahāthera, Ven. K. Anoma Thera and Ven. E. Manirathana Thera to attend our programme, and together with our Ven. Ᾱnanda, they kindly accepted the noble offering. Ven. Dr. N. Sumana delivered the Dhamma Talk for the benefit of the Dhamma community of Ti-Sarana.

Throughout the day, members and devotees streamed in to offer the Vassāvāsika robes and Essential Requisites to our resident Venerable, with protocols in place for safe management measures like Safe Entry and observing social distancing at all times. Volunteers worked tirelessly to ensure a smooth experience for everyone.

2 This year, we were privileged to have Sis. Tan Siew Luan and Sis. Rosalind Fong to help sew the Kaṭhina Cloth, which started at 9 am. Devotees attending were given the opportunity to cut the Kaṭhina Cloth, to symbolise the collective effort of Ti-Sarana Dhamma community in the making of the Kaṭhina Robe.

The programme culminated with the evening 6.30 pm Pūjā, where both our Upāsaka and Upāsikā offered the sewn Kaṭhina Robe to our Resident Bhante, who then gave a Dhamma talk to devotees on the significance of TI-SARANA BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION TI-SARANA BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION Kaṭhina Day.

On behalf of the Management Committee, we like to thank our Resident Bhante, invited Venerables and all volunteers/devotees for their time and contribution to make our Kaṭhina Day a BIG success amidst the Covid-19 pandemic that we are currently facing.

May all be well and happy!

Kaṭhina Eve Blessing Service

Kaṭhina and Robe Offering Ceremony

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Offering of Sewn Kaṭhina Robe during Evening Pūjā

4 Special Blessing Service for the New Year 2021 As safe distancing measures and overseas travel restrictions are still in place, we are unable to invite guest Venerables from to conduct our annual year end overnight blessing service.

Instead a special blessing service will be held on 1st January 2021, Friday at our Sturdee Road premises.

TI-SARANABhantes BUDDHIST will ASSOCIATION recite Suttas and Parittas to invoke the blessings of the Triple Gem on all members, devotees and their families. The names of members and devotees who requested to be blessed will be read out before the commencement of the Blessing Service. Enclosed in this newsletter is the form “Special Blessings for 2021. Please submit your completed form to the Hon. Treasurer by 25th Dec. 2020.

Programme on New Year’s Day, 1st January 2021, Friday

7.00 am Vandanā and Buddha Pūjā 7.30 am Dāna (breakfast) for Mahāsangha 9.00 am Invitation to Mahāsangha to the Relic Chamber Invitation of the Sacred Buddha Relic and Ola Leaf Manuscript to the Mandapa Reading the names of members and devotees for Special Blessing Ᾱradhanā - Invitation to Mahāsangha to commence the Special Mahā Paritta Blessing Service Anusāsanā - Admonition Administration of 9.50 am Chanting of Mahā Paritta (Great Protection) 10.50 am Sharing of Merits with Devās and all sentient beings 10.55 am Blessings for members and devotees by Mahāsangha 11.00 am Vandanā and Buddha Pūjā 11.30 am Saṅghika Dāna for Mahāsangha 12.15 pm Vegetarian lunch for members and devotees 7.30 pm Vandanā and Pūjā 8.00 pm Gilānapaccaya for Venerables

For those who like to attend the 9.00 am Special Blessing Service or attend the 11.00 am Buddha Pūjā on 1st January 2021, you will need to pre-register by email ([email protected]) with the Association prior to 29th December 2020 on a first come first serve basis.

For those members and devotees who are unable to attend the Special Blessing Service at 9 am or the 11.00 am Buddha Pūjā on 1st January 2021, they may come any time for blessings by Bhante later that day from 1.00 pm to 8.00 pm or during the weekend.

May the New Year 2021 bring happiness, success, good health, peace and harmony to all!

5 Update on development of 303 Guillemard Road, Singapore The circuit breaker measures implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Singapore which included the suspension of works at most worksites, have delayed the progress of the redevelopment of 303 Guillemard Road. TI-SARANA BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION TI-SARANA BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION Megabuilders & Development Pte Ltd has resumed work in early August and has put in place new safe distancing requirements. However with the new safety measures, work is slowed down as workers would have to be in small teams and restricted to work in a single zone; no cross- deployment or interaction between workers in different teams would be allowed.

By the end October 2020 (post circuit breaker), Megabuilders has completed the structural floor slab of the upper 1st storey. The proposed 4-storey Association Building is expected to be completed by the 4th quarter of 2021.

Interior furnishing, fixtures, equipment and decorative items arrangement and installation will commence shortly after the building is completed. This is expected to take another 9 to 12 months.

With the aforesaid and assuming that the COVID-19 pandemic is under control, we are at this juncture, targeting to move into the new premises by the 4th quarter of the 2022.

We thank all donors for their kind generosity in helping to finance the construction of the new Association premises. Currently, we still have a funding shortfall of about $200,000. We are therefore appealing to members, devotees and friends for your continued support for the 303 Redevelopment Building Fund.

Note of Thanks The Management Committee would like to thank all members and devotees for their support and participation in Ti-Sarana’s activities during the year. Our deepest appreciation to all:

• Bhantes for their guidance and patience in imparting the Teachings of the Buddha to us. • Sunday Dhamma teachers and administrative members for their dedication and commitment. • Sunday Dāna chefs and their spouses who prepare Dāna for Bhantes and at all our religious events with much mettā. We look forward to your continued support and participation in 2021.

Ven. I. Indasara Mahāthera, Ven. W. Ratanasiri Mahāthera, Ven. R. Ᾱnanda Mahāthera and The Management Committee wish all Members and Devotees A Very Blessed, Peaceful and Happy New Year 2021!

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