There is a person who was not born in hell – niraya. Hell! Yes the place in which the most unlucky beings are born and have to spend a very sad life time – horribly, painfully and wretchedly. A life time is very long there. There, the beings burn with flames constantly. They don’t die from the pain or the suffering until the life time is over. There is no one to listen, help, take care or rescue. They suffer for the deeds they have done in their previous lives.

There is a person who was not born in the animal world. One may think the animal world is very nice just by looking at it. But the inside story is very different. They can’t say the things they want to say. Most of the time they are starving, they have no shelter, no safety or affection. They don’t have those basic needs that any being requires. Fortunately, this person was not born there.

Then there is a person who was not born in the ghostly world. There, too, a life time is very long. Some beings in that world are very lengthy and the whole body burns with flames. Some have bodies which are like a piece of flesh, and the other ghostly animals are biting and eating it. But the ghost does not die because of that pain, until the life time is over. There are some ghosts who are eating dump, saliva and the rotted flesh of animals and humans. Some have no clothes, some have no food for hundreds of years. There are not enough words for us to explain the suffering they are enduring. Fortunately, this person was not born there.

And also this person was not born in the Asura world. There are Asura Nagas, Asura Kumbandas, Asura Yakkas and so on in this world. They are dreadful, awful and dangerous beings. They fight with each other. They attack humans, animals and even divine worlds. Fortunately, this person was not born in these worlds also.

The one was not born as an unintelligent person in the human world. He was not born in a troubled country where there is war and other problems and he was not born into a family that believes everything is made by a creator or everything is made automatically.

There is a person who was not born in a time when the reality of life is not mentioned. This person was not born in heavenly worlds like Asangna; a level where the reality of life cannot be understood.

This person was born in the human world in a very lucky time period when the reality of life which has been preached by the Enlightened One, is talked about. Though he or she was not lucky enough to be born at the time when the discoverer of the reality of life was born and preaching it, he or she was lucky enough to be born at the final moment when it is still spoken of in the human world.

The person talked about here is no one else but you, the disciple who is reading this newspaper in seeking an ending for all sorrows.

You, the lucky one, are born in a Buddhist family or became a Buddhist by understanding. You were born in a time when the dispensation of Gauthama Buddha is prevailing in the world. You, the meritorious friend, have found noble friends and have a chance to associate with them. A noble friend is a great friend who teaches you about the four noble truths and the noble eightfold path, which helps you to root out or abolish all suffering; decay, aging, sickness and death. The present day noble friends are teaching you about reality which is understood by the greatest noble friend of all humans and divine beings, the Buddha. The greatest noble teacher spoke about the four noble truths thus; suffering, cause of suffering, cessation of suffering and the path to the cessation of suffering. The greatest teacher, the noble friend, the Buddha explained the four noble truths 2600 years ago. The teachings still remain exactly as they were, very safely. But for hundreds of years there were no noble friends who could tell us about them.

Fortunately, now you can learn about the Supreme teachings in your own language. You have found the noble friends who teach the great doctrines of the Supreme Buddha without any alterations.

The Buddha’s supreme teachings are well preached; can reap results in this life itself; do not change with time; you can ask anyone to come and see them; you have to understand them by yourselves; they are understood according to the intelligence of the individual. These are the supreme qualities of the teachings of the Fortunate One. If someone has faith in the Buddha, the teachings, the noble followers or the sangha; that is to say, if someone has faith in the triple gem and try to develop it into an unshakeable faith and try to protect the precepts without breaking them, the Buddha has said that he will not die without achieving the stream entrant-ship.

Once, the omniscient Buddha showed the Himalayan mountains and seven small stones, as big as berries, to the monks, then asked them which is biggest. The monks said they could not compare the size of the mountain with the small stones because the mountain was too big and the stones were too small in size. Then the Buddha said if someone becomes a stream entrant the suffering that he abolishes is like the Himalayan mountain and he has as little suffering as the seven stones to face. This comfort can be found only in Buddhism.

By learning, following and practicing the Buddha’s teachings you can achieve such a great level only in a dispensation of a Lord Buddha. Even thinking about it makes us great.

Aren’t you a luckier, more fortunate one among the seven thousand million people in this world today!

You are seeking reality, you are on the path, you are on the threshold of the path.

Have a go, and become a son who is born in the heart of the Buddha. You are the one who can do that. That is why you are lucky. Though the great sun has set in the west, the final light and the warmth is still there falling on the people like you who are still trying to blossom in the Lotus pond. The light and the warmth in the western sky is more than enough for you to blossom. Have a go. Noble friends are waiting to help you, don’t look back, you are not alone, meritorious friend!