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Greetings

It is generally felt in Buddhist countries that the common western form of greeting, the handshake, is unsuitable when greeting bhikkhus. The point here is that a bhikkhu must avoid all body contact with women. Since if lust arose in him, he could be embroiled in a heavy offense, entailing formal meeting. For these reasons it is obvious that the handshake is not a suitable greeting and, in the case of a bhikkhu, if one has invited him knowing that he has knowledge and experience of Dhamma which is not one's own, then greeting by handshake will not express one's willingness to learn, as well as do the traditional gestures.

In a public place, a bhikkhu is traditionally welcomed and parted by "action of añjali," inclining the head and sometimes the body. This position of the hands is associated in theistic religions with prayer (one thinks of Dürer's famous "Praying Hands") but its use and meaning in Buddhist tradition is rather different.

Here, given space, one might elaborate a little upon relationships of mentality (nama) with materiality (rupa) and the reverse. Suffice it to say that there are certain gestures and positions of the body which lead to the arising, maintenance, or increase of skillful and concentrated mental states. We are concerned here with two of them: "action of añjali" and what is usually called "prostration," but which we prefer to call the "five-point-rest" or "lowering" the body. Of these, "action of añjali" is commonly seen when laypeople greet bhikkhus at stations, in the streets, within a hall, or other public place. The amount of respect thus accorded to a particular bhikkhu tends to be expressed by the height at which the hands are held (from the heart up to the forehead) and the angle at which the head and body are inclined. However, any exaggerated form of añjali is disliked and not encouraged, since it usually expresses some mental strain in the mind of the persons making it (such as flattery, stupidity, conceit, etc.). What has been said here also applies to all novices and junior bhikkhus when respecting their seniors in the Sangha. It is also widely used by Buddhist lay people when greeting each other.

Another point which should be mentioned and which applies both to "action of añjali" and "five-point rest" (see below), is that the action of respecting one who knows Dhamma by one who wishes to learn, is for the benefit of the latter. Through associations with prayer which will be present on many western minds, it is often assumed that these actions when performed by Buddhists, are acts of propitiation or are somehow for the benefit of whoever is "on the receiving end" (i.e., a Buddha image, or a bhikkhu)! This is indeed very far from the truth, since even when Lord Buddha was teaching, he said: "But also, bhikkhus, if others should speak in praise of me, in praise of the Dhamma, or in praise of the Sangha, you should not on that account be filled with pleasure and gladness, or be lifted up in mind... (for if that happened) that also would become a danger to your own selves" (DN 1, para 6).

This is certainly true of good bhikkhus of the present who will know that to have a mind that is stuck in the desire of praise and honor, which is one of the eight worldly conditions, is also one of the marks of an ignorant, worldly person and far from the ideal of the Noble Disciple (ariyasavaka) to which he aspires. Thus a bhikkhu does not teach the advantages of "the action of añjali" and "five-point rest," because he wants to be honored but because these things are skillful ways of conduct and increase the puñña of those performing them. According to a famous verse, this puñña increases in four ways:

He of respectful nature who
Ever the elders honoring,
Four qualities for him increase:
Long-life and beauty, happiness, and strength.

— Dhp 109

Just as a bhikkhu will "honor the feet" by the five-point lowering before his preceptor, teacher, or any elder bhikkhu, or at shrines and in temples where there are Buddha-images, so do lay people lower themselves to their bhikkhu-teacher of Dhamma. This they generally do in a relatively quiet and enclosed space such as temple, bhikkhu's lodging, or in their own houses where they may have invited bhikkhus for teaching, chanting, or for making puñña by giving gifts. At the time when they respect a Buddha-image, their Teacher, or other bhikkhus in either of these ways, they encourage their children to do likewise, thus early inculcating a sense of respect which is bound to bear good fruits in the future. Happiness and peace characterize the faces of those who perform these acts of reverence with care. After all, is not happiness associated with an absence of mental strains?

Some laypeople, however, do these things carelessly, so that they become unmindful of their meaning and benefits; but those who really aspire to make progress on the Path never do so unmindfully, however often they have cause to greet with the añjali or lower the body in the five-point rest.

In the West, where these customs are not established among Buddhists and where bhikkhus are in any case, very few in number, carelessness is not likely to be a hindrance, although there is another one which deserves a little attention. Among some people one finds what amounts to a strong aversion to the practice of lowering the body. It may be that they hold some wrong view, perhaps an unconscious trait persisting from Protestant Christianity (idolatry, the bowing down to idols, etc.). Perhaps it may be connected with the idea dealt with above, that the other requires or expects to be worshipped; or perhaps compounded with some "view" which is like a smokescreen put out to conceal the true cause for objection — which is pride. It is the head which contains the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, many touch organs, and that agglomeration of nerve tissue called the brain, a circumstance which powerfully reinforces the idea of ego. That this topmost and splendid piece of apparatus should be lowered to the ground at the feet of another will naturally cause the mental strain of pride to object and perhaps to put out a smokescreen: "It's not part of our culture," "It's only an eastern custom," etc.

The modern world manages most successfully to stimulate all the mental stains in man. Among them, the mental stain of pride is fostered by such notions as, "I'm as good as any man." As far as the training in Dhamma-Vinaya is concerned, such ideas do not apply and it is the humble man who goes forward, not he who is stiff with pride and therefore has no chance to learn. A Tibetan work, "Trees and Water" puts it like this: "Just as the branch adorned with good fruits is bent down beneath their weight; so a wise man's mind adorned with all qualities is bent downwards with humility and calm and knows no pride. (But) just as the fruitless branch of a tree has the nature to grow aloft, so the head of the haughty man is always held high for his heart is not humble." The traditional position of lowering the body cannot be excelled for encouraging humility. It is known as the five-point lowering (pañcanga vandana) since in making it, five points are on the ground: (1) the forehead, (2-3) the two forearms, (4-5) the two knees.

It is common for bhikkhus to acknowledge respectful salutation in either of these ways by saying (in Ceylon) "Sukhi hotu" ("May you be happy") and in Siam often "Ayu vañño sukham balam" ("Long-life, beauty, happiness, and strength"). In English, "May you be happy" seems very suitable since all Dhamma practices undoubtedly bring happiness.

What has been written here has only been set down with a view that laypeople should understand, as bhikkhus and samaneras have been taught to understand, what is truly beneficial. Neither Lord Buddha, nor any teacher in Buddhist tradition has ever prescribed that this or that sort of greeting for bhikkhus must be made. There is actually no rigid formality about this at all and much the same course of individual conduct applies in a Buddhist country like Siam, as commonly applies in the days of Lord Buddha: "Having approached (Lord Buddha) some lowered themselves before the Lord and sat down to one side: some greeted the Lord politely and having conversed in a friendly and courteous way, sat down to one side; some by their 'action of añjali' to the Lord, sat down to one side; some proclaimed their name and clan and sat down; while others without saying anything just sat down likewise." The commentary upon this frequently recurring passage in the Suttas makes it quite clear, however, that those who greeted him with humility reaped ample fruits, while those who "just sat down" were people with minds beset by pride, false views and the rest.

The information gathered here and elsewhere in this book is, the writer believes, very difficult to come by in other works. Yet this is standard practice in the East where it never has to be explained since people are in contact with living tradition. As and when readers also make contact with a living Buddhist tradition, it will also be useful for them.

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Редакция перевода от 21.01.2017 23:04