Group
1
Turning
your back from Evils |
Group
2
Turning
towards Goodness |
Group
3
Making
yourself useful |
Group
4
Harmony
in the Family |
Group
5
Becoming
the pillar of Society |
Group
6
Preparing
ones heart & mind to meet the basic qualifications |
Group
7
Seeking
the basic virtue of Dhamma for oneself |
Group
8
Seeking
the advanced virtue of Dhamma for oneself |
Group
9
Actual
practice to terminate the Impurities in the Mind |
Group
10
Result
from practising oneself untill all the Kilesamara is terminated |
|
Ten
Groupings
of
the 38
Blessings
of life
|
 |
The
Mangala Sutta is a path to total fulfilment in our daily lives & spiritual
achievement. In order to easily understand the Mangala Sutta, you should
imagine yourself as father asking yourself what kind of a person and what
qualities do you want your children to have.
Supposed
you are a teacher, what qualities do you want your student to possess?
What kind of people you want your little brother or sister to be? What
if you are an owner of a big company, who do you want to work for your
company?
You
would find that the kind of person whom you want your children, students,
brothers, sisters, and workers to be, would be the person who possessed
the qualities of the “perfect man”; that is:
-
That
person must be a good person. Nobody likes mischievous or unkind people.
-
That
person must be ready to improve his or herself. He or she should get guidance
& encouragement him or her to do good work and good deeds.
-
That
person must be a useful person. He or she must have talents, or some sort
of specialty. He or she must know how to work and how to speak appropriately.
-
That
person must have a good family. Having a stable family and a stable income
is very important. A warm and supportive family makes the individual happy.
Family members will not argue with each other.
-
That
person must be generous. He or she must not be selfish or like to take
advantage of others. He or she should always likes to help others as well
as making contribution to society.
The
five qualities mentioned above are the qualities of the perfect person
who everyone wants to associate with.
However,
we do not know how to develop these qualities to become our character.
The
Buddha has already taught us the lesson of how to become one of these “perfect
people”.
That
lesson is called: The Mangala Sutta.
The
Mangala Sutta or the thirty-eight blessing of life are categorized
into ten groups. The first five groups are the guidelines of how you should
behave, in order to shape your life. They are the things in which all of
us have to face with and react to in every single day of our lives. The
last five groups are dedicated directly towards clearing and purifying
one’s heart and mind.
When
one can behave according to the first five groups, one would automatically
possess the five qualities of the “perfect people” we have mentioned earlier. |
