Aggācāra International Theravāda Education and Meditation Centre (Aggācāra International College)

  We are happy to share my computer knowledge with the youths. Many old computers become unusable due to the hardware failure. Still, some are in good working condition. Now, we are no longer doing the copy+paste format -that is the study method existed 200 years ago until now. That means, the students read the books, memorize all, and write exactly in the exam. The trend of education is 1. Thinking and analytical skill 2. Team work 3. Leadership quality 4. Spiritual level like kindness, patience, etc. We give them a project to work on, and let the youths discuss among themselves. They can use own thinking, creativity, etc. to complete this task. They have been doing document, voice editing, powerpoint, and they will do movie-editing.

24 March 2024 Now in this March, in the summer time, we have one month children and youth education. I teach the youth computer and English. And my senior Sayagyi Aggavati takes care of young ones and teaches Buddhist culture   and English. This is our paññādāna, offering of knowledge to the needy children and youths. It is good to share our knowledge, good to cultivate bodhi seeds in their young minds. We have few young ones staying here, from age 7 to 14. It is a headache dealing with some youths or teenagers here! At one moment, they look like angel or deva/devi, having nice manner and cute like children, with the innocence and eagerness to learn. The next moment, they are like Māra: disobedient, do whatever they want to do, hide their bad characteristic and pretend to be a good one! One teenager came with her grandmother   and stayed here. Her Grandmother said, before as a child, she was very obedient. After moving on to teenagerhood, she became naughty and disobedient...

  20 March 2024 The Sudden Coldness and Sudden Realization in the Sudden Rain In the summer time, when the hot weather of about 36 degrees and very dry weather for one week, suddenly the rain came this evening. I thought it never came, as the broadcast said it would rain in other places. First, the wind blew, then a thunderstorm and the heavy rain came. Before the rain came, one worker came to cover a few machines. But still, there are many tools that are not covered yet. We two sayagyis here are the management here, so we are worried that equipment and tools will be spoiled with water, and the cement bag will be wet too.   These things are vital for the construction of the dining hall. The workers have returned to their dwelling place. So, we rushed to cover things. So, since I was the active one and knew the things and places, I was wet with the rain while looking for cover, wood, and other stuff to cover things. While I was busy with this duty, the four children w...

A Case Study of Removing the Cause of Anger When there is no anger, how can we know? We may contrast that with the moment of rage. When someone is furious, their voice is harsh, their expression is sad, and their movements are jerky. Like the elderly auntie described before. According to Abhidhamma, the mind causes both physical intimation (kayaviññātti) and verbal intimation (vaciviññatti). The term Viññatti refers to the process of expressing one's thoughts. When the mind is pleased, the body and verbal action are also pleasant. When the mind is dissatisfied, the body and speech will be unpleasant. Of course, occasionally because of greedy thoughts, the face will be joyful and happy. The Buddha is said as the physician and Dhamma is the medicine to cure disease. Now, we are applying Dhamma therapy to her. After administering the remedy to her, she is happier, her voice is softer, her face is more relaxed, and her movements are gentler. What  is  the  best  remedy ...

 Sharing on the Contemplation of Mind  Dosa mind Why does dosa (anger or hate) occur? Is it produced by oneself or others? It can occur when someone is exhausted, depressed, in a foul mood, or unhappy! Recently, we held a 10-day education workshop for young Sayalays and neighborhood children. Sayagyi Aggavati's auntie came to stay and prepare meals for us. She is 75 years old, and she has asked her 14-year-old niece and another young person to help her. Because they are young, they can only help just cleaning and cutting the vegetables. So recently, she grumbled and was dissatisfied. When we told her niece not to be lazy, she was not pleased. She complains about numerous things. Finally, I diagnose her with 'volunteering fatigue'. When she needs to prepare meals at 5 a.m. to 12 p.m., 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. it was long working hours for her. So, today, we offer her a day off for her to recover her exhausted body and mind. Dosa (anger) occurs when a ...

  The Long Life of Wooden Rice Paddle This morning, the children told me that the whole rice in the big rice cooker was burned to black. The metal coil inside the rice cooker was melted. It became totally unused. The reason was that its power switch always came up, so a person here used the end of the wooden rice paddle to press it permanently down, so it was pressed throughout the night. The rice was supposed for the next morning breakfast and lunch. Why don’t we cook the rice in the early morning? We wake up at 4 am, and the electricity failure was around that time. So there might not be enough time for the rice to be cooked at all for breakfast at 6am. The electricity sometimes comes only at 9am. So people commonly have to cook the rice late at night. But the person who used the wooden rice paddle to press down the switch button was very sleepy and busy with other tasks, so she had forgotten to remove it. So the rice cooker was turned up permanently, and its auto switch off...

The Death of a Young Puppy. Recently, a young puppy passed away. It was a male puppy and was only two months old. It seemed that a male puppy was more fragile compared to a female puppy. It had diarrhea, and it did not eat for one day. The next day, Sayagyi Aggavati took him to the nearby clinic by motorcycle. We put him in a small basket. The roads were rough. They were half-finished road covered with soil, not smoothen out yet. And it was hot at 12 p.m. When reaching there, the puppy was in a critical condition. When it was lifted from the basket, the body was very soft. The doctor tried to resuscitate it by doing CPR, but it died a few minutes later. When it came back in the basket, they told me, “It was gone!” I thought it meant the children had gone back to their houses. The children were still learning English lessons in the Dhamma hall. But it turned out that the puppy was gone forever. It was a surprise to me. The puppy was still breathing and walking up to drink some water one...

 Sutta Presentation of Pali Level Basic and Intermediate FEBRUARY 2024 Can be found this directory at the Google Drive