Buddhism in India

24/05/2024

Religious teachers from ancient times have introduced various theories and views in an attempt to reveal the secret of continued existence. Some even attempted to hand over the responsibility of existence to gods and Brahma. The Buddha, disproving all these theories and views disclosed that grasping (upādāna) is the root cause of existence as clearly explained in the Law of Dependent Arising, (Paṭicca Samuppāda Dhamma).

We have chosen as the topic of this 18th discourse on Paṭicca Samuppāda, two verses that shed light on our subject. These two verses are also from the Dvayatānupassanā Sutta, of the Sutta Nipāta which has already provided us with suitable topics for several discourses on Paṭicca Samuppāda. I have explained its style of presentation on earlier occasions. http://www.dhammikaweb.com/?p=21273

12/04/2024

“It is Buddhaghosa who claims in his commentary on the "Ratana Sutta" that it was first chanted by the Buddha to heal the city of Vesali of the devastating epidemic and affliction by non-humans. It must be noted here that Buddhaghosa’s claim of an epidemic is not supported by any other literary or historical source. ………. ”

all aspects of the new ritual Buddhism which changed the Theravada Buddhism into a system of worship, offering and prayer, has been very carefully planned and smuggled into practice with several bonus packages for the operators. At the base of all rituals was the donation of merit to the gods with a request for their protection. It must be noted here that the gods whose protection was prayed for were not the gods like Sakka, but South Indian gods like Vishnu, Natha, Pattini, etc.”

“The most important of these changes are those effected in the concept of the gods. Instead of gods who are merely a class of worldly beings, in the new Buddhaghosa religion, they have many functions to perform.”

As an avowed admirer of the profoundness of the science and philosophy, Gautama Buddha gifted to mankind, I was overjoyed to read that Theravada Tripitaka was to be recognised as a World Heritage. But my elation was short-lived as I realised, contrary to misleading media reports, it is yet to happen...

20/01/2024

Money is not allowable for the Buddhist monks - Maniculaka Sutta – Gāmiṇī Saṃyutta, Saḷāyatanavaggo, Samyutta Nikāya

For anyone for whom money is allowable, the five strings of sensuality are also allowable. For anyone for whom the five strings of sensuality are allowable, money is allowable. That you can unequivocally recognize as not the quality of a contemplative, not the quality of a Sakyan son.[2]

http://www.dhammikaweb.com/?p=23047

20/01/2024

Is Buddhism a Philosophy or a Religion?

The question has often been asked; Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy? It does not matter what you call it. Buddhism remains what it is whatever label you may put on it.

“First of all, Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic. If anything at all, it is realistic, for it takes a realistic view of life and the world. It looks at things objectively (yathābhūtam). It does not falsely lull you into living in a fool’s paradise, nor does it frighten and agonize you with all kinds of imaginary fears and sins. It tells you exactly and objectively what you are and what the world around you is, and shows you the way to perfect freedom, peace, tranquility and happiness.”

“There is no unmoving mover behind the movement. It is only movement. It is not correct to say that life is moving, but life is movement itself. Life and movement are not two different things. In other words, there is no thinker behind the thought. Thought itself is the thinker. If you remove the thought, there is no thinker to be found.”

“Real life is the present moment—not the memories of the past which is dead and gone, nor the dreams of the future which is not yet born. One who lives in the present moment lives the real life, and he is happiest.” http://www.dhammikaweb.com/?p=22349

28/12/2023

The deliverance of the heart through mettā made known by the Buddha is a simple meditation, which even a child can practice.

Although this is the Buddha’s behest due to some complicated exegesis in the commentarial period, the original message of the Deliverance of the Heart through mettā receded to the background. Visuddhimagga, (Path of Purification) which is regarded as the textbook by meditation teachers today, recommends a method of breaking down of barriers between oneself and one’s dear person, the neutral person and the hostile person as the means of attaining the Deliverance of the Heart through mettā. This is not at all in accordance with the content of the Metta sutta. This mode of exegesis relies on building barriers and breaking them down as an approach to that Deliverance of the Heart through mettā.

The reason for this pervert commentarial trend is a wrong attitude born of an incorrect understanding of the relation between mettā and friendship (mittatā). Simply because mettā is opposed to ill-will or enmity, it should not be equated to friendship or amity. Many meditation masters today begin their instructions with the definition ‘Mettā is friendship’ by taking seriously the apparent similarity between ‘mettā’ and ‘mittatā’ (friendship). True enough when it comes to pronunciation,

The deliverance of the heart through mettā made known by the Buddha is a simple meditation, which even a child can practice. Although this is the Buddha’s behest due to some complicated exegesis in the commentarial period, the original message of the Deliverance of the Heart through mettā recede...

18/12/2023

Atheistic Buddhism

Animals in Buddhism - Humans, Devas, Devils, Demons, Kumbhandas

According to the Mahavamsa, before Buddha passed away, the protection of Lanka Buddha Sasana was handed over to Sakdevi, and Sakdevi handed it over to Lord Upulvan. By stating that, it is seen how the clear vision shown in the early Sutra Pitaka books about God has been distorted.

Although this situation can be thought to be the result of the majority of Sri Lankans not being able to get rid of the mentality of deity and demonic beliefs even though Mihindu Thero brought Buddhism , it should be noted that it is a distorted matter that cannot be normalized under any basis. is It can be seen how Buddhism helped to preserve an earlier system of deity worship by using Lord Saman, who is enshrined in the Sri Pada place, as the protector of the pilgrims who come there. In this way, the use of local deities such as Vibhishana as members of a Sri Lankan deity shows a transformation of atheistic Buddhism into semi-theism.

In addition to the gods, the Sri Lankans also continued to follow the rituals and protection methods that should be performed on behalf of the demonic parts whose sole intention is to harm the human being, such as demons, ghouls, etc., which surround the human environment. (Even today, Sri Lankans who follow such illusions are widely seen. This has become a racket that makes money by scaring people. The sad thing is that some monks are also involved in this racket.)

අදේවවාදී බුදුදහම බුදුදහමේ එන සත්වයන් – මනුෂ්‍ය, දේව , යක්ෂ, පිශාච, කුම්භාණ්ඩ මහාවංශයට අනුව බුදුන් පිරිනිවන්පෑමට ප....

18/09/2023

God in Buddhism

👉 Is there a God in the religion preached by Buddha?

👉 What did Buddha mention about God?

🙌 When searching for answers to these questions, the first sutras that appear to us are the Kannakatphala and Sangarava Sutras from the Majjima Nikaya. In this analysis, we refer to another book written by Mr. M. M. J. Marasinghe, “Perception and Belief , which he thoughtfully analyzes the above two sutras, Does God exist? Let us understand how fascinating the answers Buddha gave to the question asked by King Pesenadi

As per Kannakatphala Sutta , King Pasenadi Kosala asked “What the Blessed One says, lord, seems reasonable. What the Blessed One says seems logical. But, lord, are there devas?”

Buddha asked “But why do you ask, ‘?” (Mr Marasinghe’s point out:- Here, instead of giving an answer to that question, the Buddha, who asks the reason for asking such a question , The king, who answers this question, changes his stance on the original question: Does God exist? Instead he asks if the gods come here or become human. “Whether the devas come back to this life, lord, or whether they don’t.” Then King changed the subject & asked

Buddha who answers this second question “Those devas who are afflicted [2] come back to this life, whereas those devas who are unafflicted don’t come back to this life.”

Then King Kosol asked the Buddha another question. Buddha, does Brahma exist? asks As before, Buddha asked the reason for asking that question. King Kosol who answers this second question is the same as the first time…

The Gods can be seen, heard and communicate with, but they cannot accept prayer, offering and respond to man’s request. Buddhist cosmology, unlike the general Indian religious cosmologies is not a cosmographic description of the world. The world or the cosmos in the Buddhist conception does not co...

18/07/2023

The deliverance of the heart through mettā made known by the Buddha is a simple meditation, which even a child can practice.

Although this is the Buddha’s behest due to some complicated exegesis in the commentarial period, the original message of the Deliverance of the Heart through mettā receded to the background. Visuddhimagga, (Path of Purification) which is regarded as the textbook by meditation teachers today, recommends a method of breaking down of barriers between oneself and one’s dear person, the neutral person and the hostile person as the means of attaining the Deliverance of the Heart through mettā. This is not at all in accordance with the content of the Metta sutta. This mode of exegesis relies on building barriers and breaking them down as an approach to that Deliverance of the Heart through mettā.

The reason for this pervert commentarial trend is a wrong attitude born of an incorrect understanding of the relation between mettā and friendship (mittatā). Simply because mettā is opposed to ill-will or enmity, it should not be equated to friendship or amity. Many meditation masters today begin their instructions with the definition ‘Mettā is friendship’ by taking seriously the apparent similarity between ‘mettā’ and ‘mittatā’ (friendship). True enough when it comes to pronunciation, mettā and mittatā are similar. But the very difference between mettānisaṁsa sutta and mittānisaṁsa sutta is a telling argument against such confusion.

The deliverance of the heart through mettā made known by the Buddha is a simple meditation, which even a child can practice. Although this is the Buddha’s behest due to some complicated exegesis in the commentarial period, the original message of the Deliverance of the Heart through mettā recede...

30/06/2023

All conscious beings possess the ability to reflect or retrospect. This reflection can be done rightly or wrongly. To illustrate these two ways of reflection, we gave a simile – a simple one intelligible to anybody.

The simile of a dog on a plank crossing a stream. We have mentioned this quite often. While crossing the stream on a plank over it, a dog looks down in to the water. Seeing a dog there, it either wags its tail in a friendly way or growls angrily. Or else out of curiosity it keeps on looking down again and again.

Due to wrong attention it doesn’t understand what really happens. The dog thinks that it is looking because it sees. But the truth of the matter is that it sees because it looks.

All conscious beings possess the ability to reflect or retrospect. This reflection can be done rightly or wrongly. To illustrate these two ways of reflection, we gave a simile – a simple one intelligible to anybody. The simile of a dog on a plank crossing a stream. We have mentioned this quite oft...

27/04/2023

A distinguished scholar of Buddhism, Lewis Lancaster founded the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative to use the latest computer technology to map the spread of various strands of Buddhism from the distant past to the present.

One of the best presentations on the Buddhist history & the development towards the future. his presentation skill was remarkable. It was not just a speech or presentation. A great presentation does not just happen. It is planned, rehearsed then delivered with flair. A good presenter is one who learns the skills of presentations – not one who hopes for talent to carry them. Public speaking is a set of skills not a talent. specially when we talk about a philosophy.

http://www.dhammikaweb.com/?p=10414

06/03/2023

3 funny excuses used by most Buddhists to eat meat:

funniest of the Buddhists monks are the ones who make websites and YouTube videos spending their entire life trying to convince us that it’s okay to eat meat. Their life’s goal is to somehow prove that Buddha ate meat. They spend sleepless nights breaking code in Buddha’s teachings to find one more ridiculous reason to eat meat. Wherever they go they only talk about how eating meat is not a barrier to attain enlightenment.

Majority of Buddhists are total hypocrites (including myself for a long time) when it comes to eating meat. One of the fundamental teachings and an absolute necessity for being a Buddhist is “Meththa” (Pali) – a combination of love, kindness and compassion to all animals. Here are the top 3 funny excuses used by most Buddhists to eat meat:😀😀

1. Buddha gave permission to eat meat
2. Buddha only said not to kill animals, so it’s okay to eat animals killed by someone else.
3. Eating Meat is no different from eating Dhal

Read full article

The funniest of the Buddhists monks are the ones who make websites and YouTube videos spending their entire life trying to convince us that it’s okay to eat meat. Their life’s goal is to somehow prove that Buddha ate meat. They spend sleepless nights breaking code in Buddha’s teachings to find...

04/03/2023

" Contact " ( ස්පර්ශය ) - Extracted from "The Miracle of Contact" – Ven Kaṭukurunde Ñāṇananda Thero

“If there are those who ask whether there could be another
mode of contemplating the dualities, they should be told: ‘There
is.’ How could there be? ‘Whatever suffering that arises, all that
is due to contact.’

“….cakkhuñcāvuso, paṭicca rūpe ca uppajjati cakkhuviññāṇaṁ,
tiṇṇaṁ saṅgati phasso”

This is a clear indication that the Law of Dependent Arising is concerned with the arising of consciousness. Because of eye and forms arises eye-consciousness. But once it arises, worldlings, because of their delusion, because of their ignorance, count them as three. It is not really justifiable to count these as three. Why? It is because of the eye and forms that consciousness arose. We have explained what eye-consciousness is.

The nature of consciousness is the very discriminating as two things. Until consciousness arises there is no idea of eye and form as two things. It is when Miracle of Contact 6 consciousness arises that one gets the idea: ‘This is my eye and there is that form.’

That is why we say that the gap – the interstice – between the two is consciousness. But due to non-understanding one counts eye, forms and consciousness as three. It is when one imagines them as three, that contact arises. From there onwards it is all delusion. That is why we call contact the turning point....Read complete book

The Dhamma that the Teacher of the Three Worlds, the fully Enlightened Fortunate One placed before the world is one that goes against the current. That Dhamma which flows against the pervert and narrow current of becoming is the massive body of water called ‘Dhammasota’ that takes one towards th...

29/01/2023

Buddhaghosa was commenting on. Second, the statement that people went to see the Buddha carrying flowers and incense and being disappointed when they found that the Buddha was not there, is itself wrong because the Buddha as the human teacher was not an object of worship and offering when he was living. The word pújá, it must be noted, does not occur in the Pali canonical texts in the sense of a religious offering.

The story raises several questions. First, the story of an Anandabodhi is out of context here as it is not found in the original Kalingabodhi Jataka Pali which Buddhaghosa was commenting on. Second, the statement that people went to see the Buddha carrying flowers and incense and being disappointed....

11/09/2022

The title ‘Concept and Reality‘ might be a poser to those acquainted with Western philosophy.

It must be emphasized that this work does not subscribe to the dichotomy between concept and reality as envisaged by modern philosophers.

The title ‘Concept and Reality‘ might be a poser to those acquainted with Western philosophy. It must be emphasized that this work does not subscribe to the dichotomy between concept and reality as envisaged by modern philosophers. The Buddha’s Middle Path steers clear of such extreme notions ...

24/08/2022

Please refer the way >> Ven Buddhaghosa has given his poor commentary on the Jata Sutta:

Antojaṭā bahijaṭā
jaṭāya jaṭitā pajā ( There is a tangle inside and there is a tangle outside. The progeny is doubly entangled.)
taṁ taṁ gotama pucchāmi
ko imaṁ vijaṭaye jaṭaṁ ( I question you Gotama, about that. Who will disentangle this tangle?)

The answer given by the Buddha in the first verse amounts to this:
Sīle patiṭṭhāya naro sapañño
cittaṁ paññañca bhāvayaṁ (The wise man having established himself on virtue, developing concentration and wisdom – (‘citta’ signifies concentration)

Out of these four verses, perhaps many of you are familiar with the first two, because the commentator, Venerable Buddhaghosa has made them the basic topic for his treatise Visuddhimagga. But it seems the last verse is the most abstruse. In our last sermon we explained how ‘form’ gets a verbal impression through recognition given by ‘name’ and how ‘name’ gets a resistance impression by the impact offered by ‘form’. We mentioned in our last sermon that ‘contact’ is a combination of these two. http://www.dhammikaweb.com/?p=21598

Please refer the way >> Ven Buddhaghosa has given his poor commentary on the Jata Sutta: Antojaṭā bahijaṭā jaṭāya jaṭitā pajā ( There is a tangle inside and there is a tangle outside. The progeny is doubly entangled.) taṁ taṁ gotama pucchāmi ko imaṁ vijaṭaye jaṭaṁ ( I quest...

23/02/2022

> Who Was the Buddha?

Siddhartha Gotama was born into a royal family in Lumbini, now located in Nepal, in 563 BC. At 29, he realised that wealth and luxury did not guarantee happiness, so he explored the different teachings religions and philosophies of the day, to find the key to human happiness. After six years of study and meditation he finally found ‘the middle path’ and was enlightened. After enlightenment, the Buddha spent the rest of his life teaching the principles of Buddhism — called the Dhamma, or Truth — until his death at the age of 80. http://www.dhammikaweb.com/?p=11316

What is Buddhism? Buddhism is a religion to about 300 million people around the world. The word comes from ‘budhi’, ‘to awaken’. It has its origins about 2,500 years ago when Siddhartha Gotama, known as the Buddha, was himself awakened (enlightened) at the age of 35. • Is Buddhism a Religi...

23/02/2022

“Everyone knows that the middle way is the noble eightfold path. Everyone knows that the first sermon was the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.

But if for some reason Āḷārakālāma or Uddaka Rāmaputta were alive, what we would have as the Dhammacakkappavattana would be something short like the Bāhiya Sutta, because they were facing a duality of a different nature…http://www.dhammikaweb.com/?p=22403

This is a collection of my correspondence with readers preserved over the years. They have been put together as a book in the hope that it will clarify some deep points for those with inquisitive minds who wish to delve deep into the depths of the Dhamma. Except in a few instances, we have substitut...

23/02/2022

“Purana Kassapa, O sire Gotama, claims to be omniscient and all-seeing; he claims to have perfect knowledge and vision saying : ‘While walking, standing, sleeping and lying awake, knowledge and vision is ever-present to me.’ And he has declared: ‘I abide knowing and seeing an infinite world with an infinite knowledge.‘ But Gotama, this Nigantha Nathaputta too, claims to be omniscient and all-seeing; he too claims to have perfect knowledge and vision saying: ‘While walking, standing, sleeping and lying awake, knowledge and vision is ever present to me.’ And he has declared: ‘I abide knowing and seeing a finite world with a finite knowledge.‘ Out of these two professors of knowledge, sire Gotama, who contradict each other, which one has spoken the truth and which one the falsehood ?”— http://www.dhammikaweb.com/?p=22441

“Purana Kassapa, O sire Gotama, claims to be omniscient and all-seeing; he claims to have perfect knowledge and vision saying : ‘While walking, standing, sleeping and lying awake, knowledge and vision is ever-present to me.’ And he has declared: ‘I abide knowing and seeing an infinite world ...

09/04/2021

There is hardly any teaching that has given rise to more internal disputes among Buddhists than paṭiccasamuppāda. My next question is based on a comment by Bhante Ñāṇananda, which considers paṭiccasamuppāda as the golden mean between atthitā (existence) and natthitā (non-existence), replacing them with samudaya (arising) and vaya (passing away). “Everyone knows that the middle way is the noble eightfold path. Everyone knows that the first sermon was the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.

But if for some reason Āḷārakālāma or Uddaka Rāmaputta were alive, what we would have as the Dhammacakkappavattana would be something short like the Bāhiya Sutta, because they were facing a duality of a different nature... http://www.dhammikaweb.com/?p=22403

This is a collection of my correspondence with readers preserved over the years. They have been put together as a book in the hope that it will clarify some deep points for those with inquisitive minds who wish to delve deep into the depths of the Dhamma. Except in a few instances, we have substitut...

23/12/2020

“What did you buy those coconuts for?”

“I bought them to eat.”

“Are you going to eat the shells as well?”

“No.”

“I don’t believe you. If you’re not going to eat the shells then why did you buy them also?”

Well what do you say? How are you going to answer their question? We practice with desire. If we didn’t have desire we wouldn’t practice. Practicing with desire is tanha. Contemplating in this way can give rise to wisdom, you know. For example, those coconuts: Are you going to eat the shells as well? Of course not. Then why do you take them? Because the time hasn’t yet come for you to throw them away. They’re useful for wrapping up the coconut in. If, after eating the coconut, you throw the shells away, there is no pro

food_for_the_heart ………Why is the practice so difficult and arduous? Because of desires. As soon as we sit down to meditate we want to become peaceful. If we didn’t want to find peace we wouldn’t sit, we wouldn’t practice. As soon as we sit down we want peace to be right there, but wantin...

21/11/2020

communist ideology

Buddha must be smiling "You can destroy idols, you can't destroy faith'.

Actually Buddha does not mind. You can find Buddha within yourself.

This surely a warning to world on how to deal with china - Swagat Maharana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CC35yjOI-0&fbclid=IwAR3LcXCnDE-Yq9rOOt7_VXfhsnyzShznJUjFCZTjZW6paE4GSPd6dZmKEsk

In China, the government is not only cracking down on Muslims, but on other religions as well as it pushes to assert communist ideology. Buddhist temples hav...

05/11/2020

Do not expect good luck to come to you or be handed to you easily without any effort on your part. If you want to reap the harvest, you must sow the seed and it must be the right seed. Remember, “Opportunity knocks at the door, but never break the lock to gain entrance”.

Modern astronomy seeks to find answers to the still unanswered questions regarding the origin of man and the final, possible end of his existence as a member of the human race. It is fascinating area of study and our new knowledge of the Universe and the galaxies has put much pressure on many religions to evaluate their old-age postulations regarding a creator and the creation of life.

Buddhism does not face any such dilemma, simply because the Buddha did not encourage his followers to speculate on things which were beyond their comprehension. However he has made many allusions which in the light of our new knowledge gained through science, shows us that the Buddha was very much aware of the true nature of the Universe, that it was never created in one glorious moment, that the earth is merely a tiny even relatively unimportant speck in all space, that there is a constant creation and destruction and that everything is in constant motion. http://www.dhammikaweb.com/?p=15210

From the very beginning of time man has been fascinated by the stars and he has always tried to find some links between them and his own destiny. His observation of the stars and their movements gave rise to two very important areas of study, namely Astronomy and Astrology. Astronomy can be consider...

30/10/2020

A Guide to Walking Meditation – Bhikkhu K. Ñāṇananda

“Aren’t you drowsing Moggallāna. Aren’t you drowsing Moggallāna!” Venerable Moggallāna admitted to his weakness and the Buddha gave a systematic course of treatment to it as if administering 7 ‘waking pills’ – the peerless ‘physician – cm surgeon’ that he is:
...This exhortation makes it clear that the meditator should try to maintain the seated posture which is more restful and take to the walking posture (caṅkamana) only as the last resort in one’s course of training for overcoming drowsiness. One should not uncritically interpret the onset of drowsiness as an invitation to the promenade.

Owing to the necessity of a fixed timetable, in some meditation centres, the routine of one hour sitting and one hour walking is recommended. It is true that it affords a certain amount of training to the beginner. But if even a beginner builds up some concentration (samādhi) towards the end of the period for sitting, it is not advisable....http://www.dhammikaweb.com/?p=21951

A Guide to Walking Meditation – Bhikkhu K. Ñāṇananda Once when the Buddha was dwelling at Suṁsumāragira in Bhagga territory, Venerable Mahā Moggallāna was meditating in the village called Kalalavālamutta in the Magadha country. He was drowsing in his meditation seat when the Buddha saw h...

27/10/2020

Disciple who has fallen into the Dhamma current reaches Nibbāna which is called the cessation of becoming. The turning point between these two is contact.

Therefore we have chosen as the topic of this 15th sermon, two verses on contact found in the 12Dvayatānupassanā Sutta of the Sutta Nipāta, III Mahavaggo,Khuddaka Nikaya.

Introducing various items of Dhamma which incline to two sides and distinguishing their arising aspect and the cessation aspect is the style of preaching in this discourse. Now the two aspects of contact the Buddha first of all introduces to the congregation of monks with this statement in prose. “If there are those who ask whether there could be another mode of contemplating the dualities, they should be told: ‘There is.’ How could there be? ‘Whatever suffering that arises, all that is due to contact.’ This is one mode of contemplation. With the remainderless cessation of contact,……….

The Dhamma that the Teacher of the Three Worlds, the fully Enlightened Fortunate One placed before the world is one that goes against the current. That Dhamma which flows against the pervert and narrow current of becoming is the massive body of water called ‘Dhammasota’ that takes one towards th...

27/10/2020

Buddha's Word( Buddha Vachana)

👉 Tipitaka (Tamil) - http://www.tipitaka.org/taml/

👉Tipiṭaka (Malayalam) - http://www.tipitaka.org/mlym/

👉 Tipitaka in (Gujarati )https://www.tipitaka.org/gujr/

👉 Tipitaka in (Kannada) https://www.tipitaka.org/knda/

👉 Tipitaka in (Telugu) https://www.tipitaka.org/telu/

25/10/2020

Monks, what are the preparations? There are three, preparations of the body, speech and mind. Remember they are in the singular. There is yet another clear analysis of these terms in the Cūlavedalla Sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya.

We meet Arahant Therī Dhammadinnā making a comprehensive analysis of them in reply to lay disciple Visākha’s questions. He wished to know what exactly is meant by kāya saṁkhāra, vacī saṁkhāra, citta saṁkhāra. Arahant Therī Dhammadinnā explained “Friend Visākha, inhalation and exhalation are the preparation of the body, reasoning and deliberation are the preparation of speech. Perception and feeling are the preparation of the mind.”

kāya saṁkhāra, vacī saṁkhāra, citta saṁkhāra. Coming back to our subject saṁkhāra, we see it occurs as the second factor in the Paṭicca Samuppāda, following avijjā. You know we have many a time repeated and so on. The Buddha has himself given a clarification of the term saṁkhāra...