admin

Bank Details for USD

by

Beneficiary’s name: Rev. llukpitiye Pannasekara Thero
Account Number: 5336024005
Beneficiary’s Bank: Exim Bank (Tanzania) Ltd
Bank Branch: Namanga Branch

Bank Address:
Plot No 83, Ada Estate
P.O. Box 1431
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Exim Bank Swift: EXTNTZTZ
Beneficiary’s Bank: Exim Bank USD
Account Number: 36124208
SWIFT: CITIUS33

Bank Address:
Citi Bank N.Y
111, Wall Street
New York 10043, USA

Buddhist Temple & Meditation Centre

by

(The Oldest Buddhist Temple in Africa)

History

Buddhism is spreading on the world through clear understanding of followers. People are not converted or forced to follow it. They follow it after understanding. If one follows and practices it, one can eliminate suffering and attain full liberation. The Buddha also followed and practiced the same way and attained enlightenment about 2550 years ago

At that time there was one Buddhist who was the Buddha himself. But afterwards he preached his understanding to the five laymen. Then it spread many places in India. Under the principle of spreading the Dhamma without violence (Dhammawijaya), followed by Emperor Dhammasoka, many messengers were sent to nine countries in the world. One of them named Arahath Maha Mahinda Thero, the son of the Emperor Dhammasoka was sent to Sri Lanka in 247AD.

After Buddhism was established in Sri Lanka in 19th century, it started spreading to Europe, America, Australia and etc. Some monks from Sri Lankan, Myanmar, Tibet and Thailand, contributed their part of spreading the Dhamma in these continents.

In 19th century, in Africa especially in Tanzania, Sri Lankan people established Buddhist temple after they came to work in Dar es Salaam around 1920. This is the oldest Buddhist temple in Africa. They were about 400-450 people. First Buddhist person came to Tanzania is Mr H. G.Gunapala with Ven Lokanatha thero in 1920. he is the person established this temple in Tanznaia.

The Four Noble Truths

by

By Ben Chang and George Soko, Malawi

The Buddha, through his limitless, immeasurable, boundless compassion and loving kindness, revealed them to us for our own benefit. The Buddha wishes that all sentient beings should perfectly understand these teachings, but due to ignorance, sentient beings fail to realize them and as a result they keep on doing unwholesome deeds that give rise to rebirth now and again. Failure to understand the Four Noble Truths is failure to attain supreme happiness (enlightenment). It needs self-diligence to attain this type of happiness and not rely on someone else; as the Buddha said, ‘rely on one self not others.’ Truth is an English world, which means sacca in Pali. No one has the ability to change this sacca. This is so because sacca is limitless and ultimate. The Four Noble Truths pertain to all sentient beings in this deluded world and they are eternal. These truths are called the Four Noble Truths because they are four in number, they ennoble the defiled one and they are the reality or supreme truths of the so-called being. In Pali, they are called Ariyasaccani.

These truths include:

  • DUKKHA (SUFFERING)
  • CAUSE OF SUFFERING (DUKKHA)
  • CESSATION OF SUFFERING (DUKKHA)
  • THE WAY LEADING TO THE CESSATION OF SUFFERING (DUKKHA)

i. DUKKHA(SUFFERING)

The Buddha realized that life is suffering. Suffering can be categorized into mental suffering and physical suffering and can be experienced in many different ways. Examples of physical suffering can be birth, sickness, old age and death. Mental suffering may include stress, worry, discontentment, disharmony, hunger, craving for power and contact with enemies, loneliness, fear, hatred, etc. All sentient beings are subject to all these types of uffering. Contact with disliked ones is suffering because no one wants to meet someone or something that he does not like.If he meets them, he feels unhappy and develops hatred or an evil mind while trying to eliminate or run away from them. Though I have said that life is suffering, it does not mean that there is no happiness or pleasure in the world. Happiness and pleasure exist, only that they are impermanent and do not last for long. The happiness that we experience in this world is a fake, fleeting happiness; it just deceives us. This type of happiness cannot make us attain supreme happiness or everlasting peace; instead, it increases our craving, desires, attachment and unsatisfactoriness