"Namobuddhaya" is not just a chant.
"Namobuddhaya" is not just a chant, but a map of past, present and future Buddhism.
Many people have been reciting the word "Namobuddhaya" since they couldn't remember it, before they took the exam, before they traveled, before they started important work, or in almost every religious ritual.
This short five-syllable hymn became a familiar sound that has been in Thai culture for a long time, but the almost never-established question is:
"What are we chanting?" And does this hymn have a deeper meaning than being just a wording of auspiciousness?
When we seriously unfold the meaning, we find that "Namobuddhaya" is not just a chant, but a shortening of "The History of Buddhism in the Present Gap" in one word.
It is a map that connects the past, present and future of man and shows us that dharma does not happen once and then end, but is a process that repeatedly returns to human aid in each age.
= = = =
"Phatra Gap" is a special era in which the world has five Buddhas.
In Buddhism, the time of the universe is not viewed as a year or a century, but divided into enormous long ranges called "capes," which are too long for humans to imagine.
The Gap we live in today is called "Phatra Gap," which means a prosperous or auspicious Gap, because it was a time when five Buddhas came to enlighten him, which is considered to be the most difficult thing to happen.
In comparison, it is like a world that has been dark for a long time, and has repeatedly come back to light, so that man does not stray too far.
And the word "Mo Put Dhaya" is a shortening of the names of the five Buddhas in this world, as a timeline of dharma that stretches from the past to the present and to the future.
Understanding this point, witchcraft is not just a begging but a spiritual remembrance of mankind's journey.
= = = =
The five Buddhas in Phatra Gap
1) "Yes," is Gusantho Buddha.
* The First Buddha of the Present Gap (an age when humans lived a life expectancy of 40,000 years (high awakening), it is said that the appearance of the body is very tall (over 40 cubits), with his vehicle / symbol, the chicken or the prom).
* Humans were still very long-lived, society was not complicated, and the decline was not as severe as modern times.
* His role is thus like the one who opens the door for the world to reknow the path of dharma after a long period of time when the world is said to have abstained from religion.
* The teachings of that era emphasized moral foundation, coexistence, and mental initiation, like the first generation of teachers who had to re-teach all the basics.
2) "Mo" is the Buddha.
* The Second Buddha in this Gap (an age when humans lived 30,000 years, the Gospel was 30 cubits high, and the vehicle / symbol was the serpent)
* Many often wonder why he is rarely mentioned in Thai society.
* An understandable explanation is that His era was a time when humans were morally sound, society was not chaotic, so the dissemination of dharma did not face conflicts or mythical dramatic events.
* Therefore, the stories of that era did not proliferate much in the memory of later generations.
* But Dharma, he played a key role in raising mental training and passion to a deeper level from the previous era, like a society that began to grow and had to learn more self-control.
3) "Put" is the Buddha.
* The Third Buddha (an age when humans lived 20,000 years, a 20-cubit-high body, with a turtle / symbol [if you remember when we spent a million spells, there was the word "Nasangsimo"])
* His era is cosmologically the closest to modern times.
* Many practices in Thailand often mention Him because it is believed that many people in this era have previously accumulated merit or been associated with the religion of that era.
* It is told that the Bodhisattva, who would later come to enlightenment as a god, studied in the religion of Gassapa, thus likening it to passing on the mission of dharma from teacher to disciple before the modern age, as passing on the torch of wisdom from one generation to another.
4) "Tha" is the Buddha.
* The Buddha that this generation of humans knows and respects (is our age where humans have a life expectancy of 100 years [the fewest of 5], his appearance is 4 cubits tall by current human standards).
* The special is that He came to enlightenment in an age when short-lived humans, passion, and society were most complex.
* Humans face more competition, fear, greed, and uncertainty in life.
* Therefore, His teachings emphasize the use of wisdom to extinguish the point and most quickly; not just philanthropy or ritual, but to truly understand one's own mind. "We therefore consider it the most difficult era, but also the one with the most direct access to dharma."
5) "Ya" is Sririmaitreya (the future Buddha).
* The next Buddha to come to enlightenment in the future (it is said that in this future age, humans have a life expectancy of 80,000 years, you and humans in this age will be elegant, perfect, unattractive, without poor, or may be called Utopia).
* Will appear when modern-day teachings fade, and humans re-enter a higher moral age.
* The Bible describes it as an era when society was calm, people lived stable lives, conflict declined, and dharma was more accessible than today.
* So it's like the revival of mankind after a difficult time.
= = = =
The five Buddhas are the relay team of the Dharma.
Looking at the big picture of human spiritual history, the five Buddhas do not appear in isolation or isolation, but rather as "relay teams" taking over the task of guiding humans in each age.
All Buddhas have the same enlightenment: the truth of suffering, of affliction, of extinction, and of the way out of suffering, which is a universal truth independent of race, language, or time.
What is different is not the dharma itself, but the state of the world and the state of human mind in each age. Some human ages are highly moral. Life is simple. Suffering is not yet complicated. Some are full of competition, fear, scarcity, and social turmoil. The teachings must therefore be adapted to suit the people in that period.
It can be likened to a generation of teachers teaching the same subject, but it must adapt the teaching methods to students in each era with different basics, experiences, and life problems. Some generations of teachers have to start from the most basic, while others have to help solve more complex problems.
As time passes, teachings gradually fade, people misinterpret, or forget the essence of the Dharma, the world slowly re-enters confusion, and during that time, the next Buddha will appear, to guide and re-lead man on the path of understanding and suffering.
It can be said that the world has never been left in darkness forever, because in the most lost times, the light of dharma will always return.
= = = =
What about the "past nation" that some teachers talk about?
In the teachings of Buddhism, there is an important concept of "samsara," or birth, that is, so long that the beginning cannot be determined. The Buddha likened that the birth and death of the world is more than the water of the ocean.
From this frame of mind, it is not uncommon for some to have been born through countless different eras, including during the existence of the previous Buddha.
Many practices are used to describe phenomena that are common in life, such as: some people are interested in dharma from childhood, not forced, others understand the teachings of impermanence or suffering unusually quickly, or some people are able to practice concentration more easily than the average person, as if they were familiar with mental training.
There is an explanation among some teachers that these individuals may have already established the Dharma Factors in the past, allowing them to build up faster, like those who have already learned the basics, and understand them more quickly.
However, the Buddha clearly warned that sticking to the past does not free one from suffering, but what really matters is knowing your mind today.
Because no matter who we were in the past, how much we had merit or lost, those things can no longer be reversed.
The important thing is not who we used to be, but what we are doing to our minds today.
* Every action, thought, and decision today is the direction of our lives in the future.
* In other words, the past is just a lesson, but the present is the only area where we can actually change the course of life.
* Thus, the past may help some to be encouraged to practice, but the core of the teaching remains to take care and develop their own minds in "this nation."
= = = =
So "Namobuddhaya" is not just a hymn.
But it is to remember the past of the Dharma, the present of man, and the future of the world, but it reminds us that despite the changes of the world, the basic human problem remains the same, and the answer is "knowing the heart and gradually reducing the passion of the heart," because in the end,
"We may not know what age we were born in, but what we do with our minds today is what will shape our lives in the days ahead."
And perhaps that is the deepest meaning of prayer.
"Namo Puthaya"
ในประสบการณ์ส่วนตัว การสวดนะโมพุทธายะไม่ได้เป็นเพียงเสียงสวดที่ทำให้รู้สึกสงบ แต่ยังเป็นการเชื่อมโยงจิตใจไปสู่การเข้าใจภารกิจและความต่อเนื่องของธรรมะในมุมกว้าง การตระหนักว่าคำสวดนี้เป็นเสมือนแผนที่ธรรมะที่ข้ามเวลาช่วยให้ผมรู้สึกมีจุดหมายในการฝึกจิตและดำเนินชีวิตอย่างมีสติ บทสวดนะโมพุทธายะเป็นการรวมพระนามของพระพุทธเจ้าทั้ง 5 พระองค์ในยุคภัทรกัป ซึ่งแต่ละพระองค์นั้นมีบทบาทในการนำธรรมะที่เหมาะสมกับยุคสมัยของตนเองมามอบให้กับมนุษย์ ตั้งแต่ยุคของพระกกุสันโธผู้ซึ่งวางรากฐานศีลธรรม ไปจนถึงพระศรีอริยเมตไตรยที่เป็นอนาคตที่สังคมในยุคนั้นจะสงบสุขและเจริญรุ่งเรือง ความเข้าใจนี้ทำให้ผมเห็นว่าธรรมะไม่ได้เป็นเพียงเรื่องเล่าหรือคำสอนที่คงที่ แต่เป็นกระบวนการตอบสนองจิตใจมนุษย์ในทุกยุค ทุกสมัย นอกจากนี้ กระบวนการเวียนว่ายตายเกิดหรือสังสารวัฏที่พระพุทธเจ้าทรงสอน ยังช่วยสะท้อนถึงเหตุผลว่าทำไมบางคนถึงมีความรู้สึกคุ้นเคยกับธรรมะตั้งแต่เด็ก หรือทำไมบางคนสามารถฝึกจิตและทำสมาธิได้ดีอย่างรวดเร็ว เพราะอาจเคยเก็บเกี่ยวบุญและประสบการณ์ในอดีตชาติมาก่อนนี่เอง อย่างไรก็ดี สิ่งที่พระพุทธเจ้าทรงเตือนใจคือ การไม่ยึดติดกับอดีตชาติแต่สำคัญที่การรู้เท่าทันใจในปัจจุบัน ทำให้ผมเรียนรู้ว่าไม่ว่าจะเคยผ่านกาลเวลามาอย่างไร ทุกการกระทำและเจตนาในวันนี้ต่างหากที่จะกำหนดเส้นทางชีวิตและจิตใจในวันข้างหน้า จากการใช้คำสวดนะโมพุทธายะในชีวิตประจำวัน ผมรู้สึกว่าเป็นเครื่องเตือนใจให้กลับมามีสติ มองเห็นปัญหาที่แท้จริงของตนเองและสังคมรอบตัว ไม่ใช่แค่ขอพรหรือโชคลาภเพียงอย่างเดียว แต่มุ่งหน้าไปสู่การลดกิเลส ฝึกจิตใจและดำเนินชีวิตอย่างมีคุณค่าในแต่ละวัน