Venerable Ol Sam from Wat Buddharangsi, Springvale South
In Buddhism, there are four kinds of development.
1. Physical development is the development of body as well as its material or physical environment.
2. Social development is the development of good and friendly relationships with other people to have a desirable society with a good social environment.
3. Mental development is the development of such mental states as love, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity, mindfulness, and concentration.
4. Intellectual development is the development of wisdom.
These four kinds of development indicate that a person must be developed physically, socially, mentally and intellectually.
The mind is of first importance.
It is the most important element in the human being.
All deeds, wholesome or unwholesome, are the result of the process of the mind.
The Buddha has repeatedly proclaimed the mind is the forerunner of all actions, the chief of all things.
If we work without concentration and mindfulness, then work cannot be perfected.
So we have to clean our mind before starting to act, then we get a good result.
When a person is developed of both body and mind, they then have the four mental attributes of a being who is sublime or grand-minded.
1. loving kindness: goodwill and amity, the wish to help all people attain benefit and happiness.
2. compassion: the desire to help other people escape from their sufferings, the determination to free all being, both human and animal, of their hardships and miseries.
3. appreciative gladness: when seeing others happy, one feels glad; when seeing others do good actions or attain success and advancement, one responds with gladness and is ready to help and support them.
4. equanimity: seeing things as they are with a mind that is even, steady, firm, and fair like a pair of scales; understanding that all beings experience good and evil in accordance with the causes they have created; ready to judge, position oneself and act in accordance with principle, reason, and equity.
Finally, may all beings be free from enmity, affliction, and anxiety, and may they live happily.
