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Ambattha Sutra - The Staff of Kinhona
I respectfully offer my three pure actions to bow to all the countless Buddhas in the ten directions, past, future, and present; using wondrous sounds and pure words to praise the ocean of the Buddha’s virtues, offering garlands of flowers, fragrant incense, music, parasols, robes, lamps, agarwood, and requisites. With trust in the Buddhas of the three times and relying on the power of Samantabhadra’s great vows, I repent of all unwholesome karma from beginningless time, rejoice in the merits of all beings in the ten directions, both those in training and beyond training, and share the merit with the Three Jewels, praying for the Buddha’s way to endure and for all beings to be liberated. Each moment of mindful awareness pervades the Dharma realm, embracing all beings; space, sentient beings, afflictions, and karmic retribution are all boundless, and so too is my sharing of the merit.
The Spring 2002 retreat at Tu Nghiem Monastery continues the study of the Southern Great Canon, the Long Discourses (Dīgha Nikāya), comparing them with the Chinese Canon. There is now an English–Vietnamese translation; it is necessary to build a complete library with Sanskrit, Chinese, and other translations. The third sutta, Ambaṭṭha Sutta (D3 / Taisho 1.20), tells of the young disciple Ambaṭṭha, proud of his Brahmin lineage. The Buddha uses Vedic knowledge to show that his lineage is not pure and teaches that true nobility lies in virtue, concentration, and insight, completely transforming Ambaṭṭha. The Buddha’s flexible teaching methods help listeners overcome prejudices of caste and religion.
Studying the sutras is not only to absorb the teachings but also to learn how the Buddha responded and skillfully adapted to circumstances. For example, the koan “mu/無” in Zen breaks through the learner’s fixed concepts. Moving on to the Sonadanda Sutta (D4 / Taisho 1.21), the Buddha asks about the five conditions for becoming an “ideal Brahmin,” in which the foundation is virtue, concentration, and insight, surpassing bloodline, Vedic knowledge, and appearance. Through the Sonadanda Sutta, five hundred young Brahmins realize that only insight and ethical conduct are of true value. In learning the Dharma, the method of transmission and the ability to dissolve rigid views in the listener are more important than fixed doctrinal content.