Observed Sil..

Our whole family, (mom, dad, sis and me), observed sil today, at the Kalutara Bodhi temple.

When observing sil, we promise ourselves that we will refrain from several things by chanting 8 stanza of pali script that we call ‘8 precepts’.
The precepts goes like this…
1. To refrain from taking life.
2. To refrain from taking that which is not freely given (stealing).
3. To refrain from sexual misconduct (improper sexual behavior).
4. To refrain from lying and deceiving.
5. To refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness.
6. To refrain from eating at the wrong time (by only eat from sunrise to noon, it ensures that all food eaten that day is digested; thus no night time activities).
7. To refrain from all entertainments and using decorative accessories; ie. dancing, using jewelry, watching movies, going to shows, etc.
8. To refrain from using a high, luxurious seats.

And you dedicate the whole day for religous activities and to regulate self and mind.
It is actually a good exercise.. and spending time medicating is always rewarding..

I happened to read a book on Abhi-Dharma today.. which is considered the core part of buddhist philosophy..
In that Lord Buddha has stated that there are 4 componenets that cannot be divided into further.. Only these 4 are really existing, and called ‘Paramartha’.. and all the rest of the world has just a notional existence.

These are Chittha, Chaithasika, Roopa and Nirvana.

Chittha is ‘awareness’.. it is caused by the sensory organs, eye, ear, skin(touch), nose, tongue and mind(imagination).
Chaithasika are other activities mixed with the above ‘awareness’.. They are kind of simillar to the ‘thoughts’.
Roopa is what all the physical objects are made out of.. there are 28 types of roopa.. but only 1 type is visible.. which is called ‘warna dhathuwa (color element)’..
Nirvana is a state of things(mind) without any bad toughts..

I find all this too cmplex to undertand.. let along express in a foreign language like english..
but the above is is the basic idea that I got above the four ‘paramartha’ that the world is made out of.. The Nirvana is the only element that is non-causal.. and hence the only eternal element.. realising that is the ultimate aim of a buddhist.