Some people are abusing the Buddhist flag which is one of the most respected flags in the world. Therefore, the use of Buddhist flags for Dansals were prohibited during the last Vesak season and replaced with a yellow flag, Buddhist Affairs Commissioner General Chandraprema Gamage said.

Translated from Taishō Tripiṭaka volume 8, number 235"All conditioned dharmasAre like dreams, illusions, bubbles, or shadows;Like drops of dew, or flashes of lightning;Thusly should they be contemplated."

Wisdom is the power of seeing things as they truly are, and how to act rightly when the problems of come before us. The seeds of wisdom lie latent in us, and when our hearts are warm with love they grow into their powers.

For this we must forget ourselves and substitute the world for ourselves. There is no evil in wanting universal happiness and peace, the evil arises when our desire are only for ourselves and not for others, or not in the sacred interests of truth. When we desire such things as we can share with others, our desires become wiser and more unselfish.

“I do not say you can attain purity by views, traditions, morality or conventions, nor will you gain purity without these. But by using them for abandonment rather than as positions to hold on to, you will come to be at peace without the need to be anything.” – Buddha

Generally we do actions because we like, which means based on greed. In the main greed is our guide, desire is our guide, we like this, that and the other all the time, all the time wanting, wishing; and why?

My friend Julia recently visited Buddhist monasteries in Nepal and India and was deeply touched by the Tibetan Monks there. Living on less than a dollar a day, the monks she met were models of spiritual humility, happiness and simplicity. She came back from Nepal and the monastery full of life, and more dedicated than ever to service, simplicity, and meditation.

The difference between thinking and meditation is that in thinking generally we have no definite object or too many objects, but in meditation we think of a definite object chosen by our will; that is why meditation is a real constructive practice of thinking. It is by meditation that we develop our power of seeing the object as it is, otherwise we many see only the appearance of the object without knowing anything of its nature. That is why meditation is very necessary; it purifies the thoughts, otherwise they are mixed up with many things, especially with ignorance.

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch is a Buddhist scripture that was composed in China during the 8th to 13th century. The text centers around teachings and stories ascribed to the sixth Chan patriarch Huineng. It contains the well-known story of the contest for the succession of Hongren, and discourses and dialogues attributed to Huineng. The text attributes its recollection to Fa-hai, but was probably written within the so-called Oxhead School, which existed along with the East Mountain School and Shenhui's Southern School. The text attempts to reconcile the so-called Northern School with its alleged gradual enlightenment teachings, and the so-called Southern School with its alleged sudden enlightenment teachings. In effect, the text incorporates the "rhetorical purity" which originated with Shenhui's attack on Shenxiu, while effectively "writing him out of the story". The key topics of the discourse are the direct perception of one's true nature, and the unity in essence of śīla, dhyāna and prajñā.