Pronouncing THE PERFECT NAME!

Discussion of meditation in the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions.
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sraddha
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Pronouncing THE PERFECT NAME!

Post by sraddha »

http://www.buddhistdoor.com/glossary/wo ... rd_id=7649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(*) p.486ff.; in the Sutta Nipāta (vv. 153, 177) and again in the Samyutta (i. 33) the Buddha is spoken of as Anomanāma.

Buddhaghosa (SA.i.67) explains this as meaning having no "defect," endowed with perfection

sabbagunasamannāgatattā avekalla - -nāmam; name possessing all virtues in perfection

paripūranāmam - the supreme name, also glorious name, perfectly whole.
Some of these definitions I looked up in sanskrit and got their meanings!

Bhikku Bodhi translates it as "the perfect name".

And how is this name is abused by being mispronounced!

Buddha is pronounced from everthing as "Booo-dah" to "budah"

In fact there is no "ooo" sound, it actually rhymes with "shoulda, coulda, woulda - buddha" :smile:

the DDH sound is not found in the english language!! :tantrum: However, the closest word that has this sound is "the".

Butha.
thornbush
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Re: Pronouncing THE PERFECT NAME!

Post by thornbush »

When I was with the Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist frens, they often pronounced it as what sounded like:
"Boot-the" and when I was in some Indian shops, and looking for Buddha statues and I pronounced it like the Sri Lankans, they were like :shrug: Luckily, I had a spare pic of Buddha in my wallet :tongue:
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words....in this case pronounciations :rolleye:
sraddha
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Re: Pronouncing THE PERFECT NAME!

Post by sraddha »

Hi thornbush,

One can only say, thank goodness for Youtube! :smile:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omuieQSlQUg

Here is how the Saranagaman or going for refuge is pronounced!

Now a bit about the power of taking Buddha's name from the Mahayana Tradition:
In fact, in the course of a previous life, he had been attacked one day by a tiger, while looking for wood in the forest, and cried out: Adoration to Buddha! (Namo Buddhaya); This cry of faith (reliance), which at that time saved his body, had now put him in the way of final liberation. Asvaghosa concludes:


This single invocation of the Buddha

Has something in it not easy to discern:

By it this man has broken his evil circuit,

By it displayed his worthiness,

Whole-heartedly took his refuge in the Buddha,

and so must attain at last to liberation. 28

King Milinda, the Menander of the Greeks, still sceptical, questions the old monk Nagasena: You say: Men who in one existence have done evil for up to a hundred years, if they think of the Buddha at the moment of death 33 will all obtain after death rebirth in Heaven above. I cant accept that. You say furthermore: Let one kill a single living being, and at death he must go to hell (niraya). I cant accept that.;


Then Nagasena asked the Kind: If you take a little pebble, and lay it on the surface of the water, O King, will it float or sink?; The King replied: ;The pebble will sink.; Nagasena went on:;If you take a hundred boulders, and lay them on a boat, O King, will the boat sink?;It will not;, the king said.


Nagasena explained: On account of the boat, the hundred boulders laid on it do not sink. Although a man have a thoroughly bad karma, let him think once of the Buddha, and on account of this thought he will not go to hell, but will be reborn in Heaven. The little pebble which sinks to the bottom is like a man doing evil and ignorant of Buddha: after death, he will go to hell.;
He himself declared, according to the Majjhina nikaya;Monks, whoever utters with regard to me a simple sentiment of faith or affection, will go to paradise, nirvana and progress in the way of nirvana being reserved for those who apply themselves to the teaching
On this beautiful and beatific full moon day of Vesak, hope this instills faith in calling out Buddha's name with fervor!

Namo Buddhaya! :anjali:
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retrofuturist
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Re: Pronouncing THE PERFECT NAME!

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings sraddha,

Very interesting, thank you.

Metta,
Retro. :)
Live in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes.
Drolma
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Re: Pronouncing THE PERFECT NAME!

Post by Drolma »

:smile:


Namo Buddhaya!

:heart:
sraddha
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Re: Pronouncing THE PERFECT NAME!

Post by sraddha »

Hi all!

I hope the day of rest and meditation on the full moon has earned much merit for all of you! I missed 2 weeks of upasathas or improperly observed them ( once I even forgot the day :shrug: )-- and I was feeling tired and drained...I observed yesterday -- next morning I was full of energy again! It just showed me how important these days are! For lay followers, it is a must as we become tired due to work, stress etc.! :smile:

Just a small note on the above quotes:

Asvaghosa's writing is from his Sutralamkara, "the Embellishment of the Sayings" of Buddha.
The Question of King Milinda comes from the Sutra of Nagasena (in Chinese: Nasien King), a Chinese version of the Milinda-panha ;

Now a few more statements of conviction from the seers of Mahayana! :smile:
Dhammapada: He who takes refuge in the Buddha will not depart to a bad destiny; when he gives up his body, he will go to the assembly of the gods
Ekottara Agama: He who has sinned in deed, word or thought, if at the hour of his death he thinks of the merits of the Tathagata, he will be preserved from the three bad destinies, and though most vile, will be reborn in heaven
Asvaghosa: Even if you possess no more than a grain of worthiness, you must look to Buddha for your salvation. A man of little merit appealing to Buddha receives ambrosia from him. hence, let us wholeheartedly take refuge in the Buddha
Mahaprajnaparamita-sastra: Plant your merits in the field of the Buddha, and the reward that you will reap from it will be like these lotuses which fill innumerable earths,
Dasabhumivibhasa- sastra,Among the ways of this world, there are easy ones and hard ones. To walk on the way of the land is arduous, to steer by the way of the water is pleasant. So it is with the ways of the Bodhisattvas: some jealously practice the spiritual energy; others, by the easy practice of the means of faith rapidly arrive at the avaivarti. 46
Nagarjuna writes, by getting into the boat of the Eightfold Way, one can cross the sea difficult to cross over, cross it oneself and cause others to cross it. The smallest roots of good related to Buddha spring up as great Trees of Blessing. I earn merit by virtue. I transfer this merit, and in so doing earn more merit, which I transfer and so on to infinity!
Mahakarmavibhanga: narrating the legend of the young and poor Malini, it says:She gave a garland of straw to the monument of Sugata, and she gained the best of garlands of gold and precious stones, the garland of the Members of the Illumination (the Holy Sangha)
:anjali:
sraddha
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Re: Pronouncing THE PERFECT NAME!

Post by sraddha »

retrofuturist wrote:Greetings sraddha,

Very interesting, thank you.

Metta,
Retro. :)
:hi:

Here's a treat for you from the Pali:
Anomasuttaṃ
45.

‘‘Anomanāmaṃ nipuṇatthadassiṃ, paññādadaṃ kāmālaye asattaṃ;
Taṃ passatha sabbaviduṃ sumedhaṃ, ariye pathe kamamānaṃ mahesi’’nti.



Anoma Sutta
Discourse on the Glorious
45. (The deva said)

"Behold the One with the Perfect Name, the perceiver of the subtle sense, the giver of Insight, the one who is not attached to sense-pleasures, the Great Sage, the Seeker-After-Perfection (in Morality, Concentration and Wisdom), who walks the Ariya Path"

Anoma Sutta

Aditta Vagga, Devata Samyutta
Sagatha Vagga Samyutta, Samyutta Nikaya, Suttanta Pitaka

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