Spectrum of Truth (Collection of 30 Dhamma Talks)

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Venerable Dr. Acharya Buddharakkhita is the founder president of Maha Bodhi Society, Bengaluru. He was a member of the Editorial Board of the Sixth Buddhist Synod (Chattha Sangayana) in Yangon, which brought out a complete edition of the sacred Buddhist Scriptures - Tipitaka. Since then he has established many Buddhist centers in India and abroad and rendered yeomen spiritual and humanitarian services. He established Mahabodhi Monastic Institute in Bangalore, India, Buddhist Meditation Center in USA and conducted many Dhamma and Pali courses, meditation courses and written numerous books and translations of the Pāli Buddhist Texts. They have been published all over the world, including some German, Portuguese, Korean and Chinese translations. He was editing and publishing English monthly DHAMMA Magazine for four decades.

Mahabodhi Academy for Pāli and Buddhist Studies and Bhagavan Buddha University of Theravada Buddhism are the result of his effort and research to provide a systematic Theravāda Buddhist education as widely as possible, first of its kind in India. The Venerable Dr. Acharya Buddharakkhita passed away on 23rd September 2013 in Maha Bodhi Society, Bangalore at the age of 92.

At the time when the word 'Buddha' was rare in South India, Most Venerable Acharya Buddharakkhita (Bada Bhanteji) arrived in 1956 and established Maha Bodhi Society with the aim of bringing the light of the Dhamma. Since he established Maha Bodhi Society, one of the main programs he started was giving discourses, specially on Sundays. This program has been continuing even today without break. It was the wish of the Venerable Acharya that the gift of Dhamma, Dhammadana, should be given as much as possible.

Venerable Acharya was a great scholar of Pali and Buddhism, was a prolific writer and also an orator who could touch the hearts of many people. Thousands of people who have heard his discourses over many years have only one expression; that is, Venerable Acharya Buddharakkhita Bhanteji can bring the complicated subjects to even a simple first-timer with lucid explanations and examples. Every Sunday, he has delivered discourses without fail, whenever he was in Bengaluru, for which even today thousands of people are deeply grateful.

The topics he touched range from ethics and meditation to daily life and ultimate realities. Most of the topics that came up had some reason connected to the listeners. He had great intuitions because of which many people used to express that they exactly needed to hear that particular topic. They also wondered how Bada Bhanteji could know their minds and how he could give solutions to their questions or their problems! This is the result of the deep compassion Bada Bhante had on people.

We are herewith presenting thirty talks. We hope you will enjoy them, as one can feel the presence of Bada Bhanteji, since the presentation is in the speech form almost exactly the way he delivered. We are grateful to Mr. Christian Schweizer and Ms. Monica Thaddey of Switzerland for going through the initial proof and creating proper sentence endings and punctuation, etc. To bring it from the speech form into the literary form, Ven. Bhikkhu Ananda has worked hard editing them and it is laudable achievement. We are happy to present this book on the occasion of 96 birth anniversary of Bada Bhanteji Ven. Acharya Buddharakkhita on Phalguna Purnima Day (12-03-2017).

May the wisdom contained in these valuable articles conduce to the wellbeing and happiness of all beings!

Most Venerable Acharya Buddharakkhita (Bada Bhante) had been one of the illustrious Buddhist monks of modern India, who dedicated his life to the study, practice and propagation of the Buddha's teachings. It was 2500 Sacred Buddha Jayanti in the year 1956 when he arrived in Bengaluru and established Maha Bodhi Society. For nearly sixty years he rendered tireless service through various spiritual and humanitarian activities.

One could feel the depth of his knowledge and experience of the Dhamma, even during short encounters with him. His Dhamma talks were a great pleasure for many people on Sundays, week after week. The Dhamma discourses were very well attended by the people from all walks of life. They were very inspiring for many people who could change their lives by understanding and practicing these teachings.

In the last few years his discourses were recorded both in video and audio. Thirty of these talks are being presented here. The subjects vary widely and it makes a very good study of the Dhamma. For a free thinker and sincere truth seeker these are ambrosia coming straight from the heart of this great Dhamma teacher. We can also feel the compassion of Bhanteji when we see how he emphasises to come out of ignorance, greed and hatred.

Kamma is the heart of Buddha's teachings and from these discourses we can clearly see that Ven. Acharya touched this subject almost in every discourse. Because kamma makes our life and our living process, it is to be dealt wisely. As kamma also determines our future, one needs to be even more careful. How kamma brings suffering can be seen with very many examples that Bhanteji gives.

There are few discourses dealing with the process of enlightenment. This is one of the subjects which not many people speak about. Most of the people have a very big confusion about life itself and then about its purpose and the goal in life.