========================================================================= First printed in //The Maha Bodhi//, Vol. 93, nos. 4-6 (1985), pp. 49-56. Also printed in the Publication "Buddhism as a Way of Life and other Essays" by Sayagyi U Chit Tin, printed by the Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial Trust, United Kingdom, 1993. ========================================================================== *THE GOOD FRIEND* Sayagyi U Chit Tin //Kalyanamittata munina lokam adissa vannita. Kalyanamitte bhajamano api balo pandito assa. Bhajitabba sappurisa panna tatha pavaddhati bhajantanam Bhajamano sappurise sabbehi dukkhehi mucceyya.// The state of having good friends has been praised by the sage (the Buddha) with reference to the world; if he resorted to good friends, even a fool would be wise. Good men are to be resorted to; in this way the wisdom of those who resort to them increases. Resorting to good men, one would be released from all pains. Therigatha vv. 213-214 [1] The Buddha made very clear the importance of having a good friend (kalyana-mittata).[2] When Venerable Ananda said to the Buddha that half of the life of purity (brahma-cariya) was the state of having a good friend (kalyana), having good companions, and being inclined to good friends, the Buddha corrected him. "Do not say that, Ananda," he said. "Having a good friend, having good companions, and being inclined to good friends is the whole of the life of purity, not the half." And he went on to explain that this was so because it means that one will develop the Noble Eightfold Path, which is based on detachment, on dispassion, on cessation, involving maturity of relinquishing. "It is because I am a good friend to them that living beings subject to birth are freed from birth," he said.[3] The highest order of friendship, of course, is with the best of friends, the Buddha. But let us consider first some of the general qualities of a good friend and the advantages of associating with them before going into the more important aspect of the good friend as the meditation teacher. Once, when the Buddha was living among the Koiyans at Kakkarapatta, a man name Dighajanu Byagghapajja requested that the Buddha give a discourse on the Dhamma and teach things that would be helpful in this life and in lives to come for laymen such as him.[4] We can assume from this request that Byagghapajja was not concerned with aiming higher: with developing his concentration and insight. The Buddha complied by giving a discourse, and in it, he lists four conditions that lead to a man's advantage and happiness in this life. These are: (1) being alert, (2) being wary, (3) keeping good company, and (4) leading a balanced life. Good company, the Buddha explained, means that wherever a layman goes, wherever he talks with other laymen, he chooses men who possess the four qualities that lead to happiness in future lives: faith, virtue, charity, and wisdom. He will emulate those who are full of faith, virtue, charity, and wisdom. The Buddha also mentions friendship in speaking of the four ways in which the layman can lose his wealth. These four are: looseness with women, debauchery in drinking, dishonesty in gambling and in friendship, and companionship and intimacy with those who do evil. Abstinence from these four will lead to greater wealth. So we can see that even on the mundane level, a good friend is very important. Friendship is given as one of seven things that prevent decline for a bhikkhu: (1) reverence for the Buddha, (2) the Dhamma, and (3) the Sangha; (4) the (moral) training, (5) concentration, (6) right speech, and (7) good friendship. The Buddha also told the bhikkhus to cultivate the friend who possessed the following seven qualities: a friend (1) gives what is hard to give, (2) does what is hard to do, (3) bears what is hard to bear, (4) confesses his own secret, (5) keeps others' secrets, (6) does not forsake a person in time of want, and (7) does not despise a person who is ruined. A third set of seven qualities of a friend are: being (1) genial, (2) pleasant, (3) serious, (4) self-composed, (5) a speaker (of good), (6) mild, (7) profound in speech, and (7) being one who does not urge (one on) at the wrong time.[5] In //The Path of Purification//[6] Ashin Buddhaghosa included in his discussion of virtue the bad effects of wrong friendship and the good effects of good friendship. The virtue will diminish in a man who does not visit the virtuous but rather cultivates the unvirtuous, a person who, in his ignorance, sees no fault in a transgression here. As a result of such association and action, his mind will often be full of wrong thoughts and he will not guard his faculties. Later in the same chapter,[7] we find long lists of both the wrong and the right kinds of people to associate with: bhikkhus should not frequent prostitutes, widows, old maids, eunuchs, bhikkhunis, or taverns. They should not live associated with kings, kings' ministers, sectarians, sectarians' disciples, or in unbecoming association with laymen. They should not cultivate, frequent or honour families that are faithless, untrusting, abusive, and rude, who wish harm, ill, woe, who wish no surcease of bondage for bhikkhus and bhikkhunis or for men and women who are disciples. In the //Dialogues of the Buddha//,[8] details are given concerning the qualities of good and bad friends. Four types of people are to be considered as foes disguised as friends, and four reasons for this are given for each: (1) A grasping person is rapacious, gives little and asks much, does his duty out of fear, and pursues his own interests. (2) A man of words, not deeds, makes friendly remarks about the past and about the future, tries to win favour by empty sayings, and when the opportunity for service comes, he says he cannot help. (3) The flatterer agrees to do wrong and does not agree to do right, praises you to your face and speaks ill of you to others. (4) The companion down the wrong path is a companion when you indulge in strong drink, when you frequent the streets at untimely hours, when you go to shows and fairs, and when you gamble. Having recognized such false friends, the wise man should avoid them from afar, for they lead to peril and dread. Four types of people are to be considered as good-hearted friends, and four reasons for this are given for each: (1) The helper guards you when you are off your guard, guards your property when you are off your guard; he is a refuge when you are afraid, and he gives you double what you require when you need something for your work. (2) The friend who is the same in happiness and adversity tells you his secrets, keeps your secrets, does not forsake you when you are in trouble, and lays down even his life for your sake. (3) The friend who declares what you need to do restrains you from doing wrong, tells you to do what is right, informs you of what you had not heard before, and reveals to you the way to future happy abodes. (4) The friend who sympathizes does not rejoice over your misfortunes, rejoices over your prosperity, restrains anyone who is speaking ill of you, and commends anyone who is praising you. Wise people should know that these four types are their friends and should devote themselves to them as a mother devotes herself to her child. In this same discourse,[9] the Buddha explains how the layman should act towards his friends and companions. He should minister to them with generosity, courtesy, and benevolence, by treating them as he treats himself and by being as good as his word. As a result, his friends and companions will love him, protect him when he is off his guard, and guard his property when he is off his guard. They become his refuge in danger, they will not forsake him in his troubles, and they will show consideration for his family. On another occasion,[10] the Buddha explained to King Pasenadi the advantages to be expected if one has a good friend, has good companions, and is inclined to good friends. In order to do so, he said, one must be diligent in good actions. If the king did this, the Buddha told him, then others would follow his example. The nobles and ladies of his court and his subjects in both the town and country would also be diligent. Living in this manner, the king would be guarded and preserved as would be the house of his women and his treasury and storehouses. More important than friendship that leads to mundane happiness is friendship leading to perfect happiness, Nibbana. The qualities of a good friend who will lead others to the highest happiness are enumerated.[11] The good friend has ten subjects of conversation: talk that is (1) concerned with effacement, (2) favours the mind's release, (3) leads to complete dispassion, (4) to fading, (5) to cessation, (6) to peace, (7) to direct knowledge, (8) to Awakening, (9) to Nibbana; that is to say, (10) talk on wanting little, contentment, seclusion, aloofness from contact, strenuousness, virtue, concentration, understanding, deliverance, and knowledge and vision of deliverance. In the good friend's presence, one hears what has not been heard, corrects what has been heard, gets rid of doubt, rectifies one's view, and gains confidence. By training under a good friend, one grows in faith, virtue, learning, generosity, and understanding. In one discourse, the Buddha emphasizes how essential friendship is in winning liberation. "For the bhikkhu who is a learner and who has not attained mental perfection," he said, "but who dwells with the desire for peace from bondage in his mind, as far as what is called `an external factor,' I see no other single factor as helpful as possessing good friends.[12] Bhikkhus, he who has good friends abandons the unprofitable (akusala) and develops the profitable (kusala)." And the Buddha gave the following verse: //Kalyanamitto yo bhikkhu sappatisso sagaravo Karam mittanam vacanam sampajano patissato Papune anupubbena sabbasamyojanakkhayam.// The bhikkhu who has a good friend, who is deferential (to him), who is respectful (to him), who does what friends advise, if he is attentive and mindful, he will eventually destroy all the fetters. Itivuttaka, p. 10 [13] In //The Gradual Sayings//,[14] we find several indications of the importance of having good friends. This is given first in a list of things that have the power to cause good states that have not yet arisen to come up and the power to cause evil states already arisen to wane. It is included in lists of the things that lead to great profit (in a general list, and, in lists separating subjective factors and external factors, among the latter). In //The Kindred Sayings//,[15] the Buddha tells the bhikkhus, "Those for whom you have fellow-feeling, those who may deem you worth listening to, your friends and colleagues, your kinsmen and blood- relations, ought to be roused, admonished and established in the comprehension of the Four Noble Truths." Similarly,[16] he says the same people "should be advised about, grounded in, established in the four constituents of attaining the first stage of Awakening, Sotapanna." These four constituents are: loyalty to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, and being blessed with the virtue dear to Noble Persons -- unbroken virtue leading to concentration of the mind. Having good friends is also given as the first of several qualities that are forerunners and harbingers of the arising of the Noble Eightfold Path, which is based on seclusion, dispassion, cessation, and which ends in relinquishing.[17] The other qualities are: virtue, desire (to do good), self-possession, the attainment of right view, earnestness, and wise attention. In //The Gradual Sayings// [18] the Buddha gives five conditions as belonging to Awakening. The first of these is having a good friend, a good companion, a good comrade. "This may be expected of a bhikkhu who has a good friend, companion, comrade," the Buddha said, "he will be virtuous, restrained, perfect in behaviour, and will undertake the training. He will employ right speech. He will dwell strenuous in purpose and will not shirk the burden of righteousness. He will have wisdom and noble penetration concerning the way to the utter destruction of pain (dukkha)." In other words, if he has the first condition -- a good friend -- he will acquire the other four conditions. The same list of five conditions leading to an emancipated mind is given elsewhere in the same collection.[19] These conditions were explained by the Buddha to Meghiya, who at that time was his attendant. Meghiya had seen a mango grove that was pleasing and beautiful, so he thought to himself that it would be a good place to meditate. He went to ask the Buddha to permit him to meditate in the grove. The Buddha knew that this was not a good place for Meghiya to meditate, but instead of refusing to let him go, he answered a little indirectly, giving Meghiya a hint. "I am alone, Meghiya," the Buddha said. "Stay a while till some other bhikkhu comes." But Meghiya did not catch the hint and asked permission three times. In his final answer, the Buddha makes it clear that he is giving permission because Meghiya insists and because to answer otherwise would give the impression the Buddha was discouraging someone from meditating. "What can we say to you, Meghiya, when you repeat: `I would strive'?" he said. "Do as you think fit, Meghiya." When Meghiya tried to meditate, three sorts of evil thoughts kept coming: sensual thoughts, thoughts of ill-will, and cruel thoughts. This was because in a past life he had been a king in that same place. As he had had wives in that past life, sensuous thoughts arose when he tried to meditate, and because he had passed judgement on criminals there, the thoughts of ill-will and cruelty arose. Meghiya thought to himself, "It is amazing and astonishing. By faith alone I have gone forth from home to this homeless state; yet I am still dogged by these evil thoughts." Then he went to the Buddha and explained everything to him. The Buddha did not criticize Meghiya, or tell him "I told you so," or explain away what had happened. Instead, he explained the five conditions leading to an emancipated mind given above: a good friend, being virtuous, right speech, being strenuous in purpose, and being possessed of wisdom. Both these groups of five are completed by four more conditions: (1) reflections on the foul (which is particularly appropriate for bhikkhus) to put away passion, (2) being established in loving kindness to put away ill will, (3) mindfulness of breathing to cut off distractions, and (4) the thought of impermanence (anicca) to uproot the conceit "I am." The first two of these are directly related to the problems Meghiya was having trying to meditate in the mango grove. This story gives a very good example of why the best good friend of all is the Buddha. He is best able to foresee potential problems for a person. And he understands best what instructions are the most appropriate to give. But, as we can see from Meghiya's story, even the best of friends cannot force someone to work properly. In this connection, we might mention the importance of right association as explained in //The Path of Purification//.[20] Avoiding people without understanding and cultivating people with understanding are included among the seven things that lead to the arising of investigation- of-states, one of the factors of Awakening. Avoiding rough people and cultivating refined people are among the eleven things leading to the factor of Awakening of happiness. The most complete discussion of the good friend as the meditation teacher is found in //The Path of Purification//. This is the aspect of friendship that is most important to anyone who wishes to make an end of suffering. Ashin Buddhaghosa explains in detail what one must do to make progress on the Path of Awakening. First, one must be established in virtue. Next, one should overcome any of the ten impediments one may have. By this is meant impediments to meditation.[21] Briefly stated, they are: being preoccupied about one's dwelling, about one's family, about gain, about one's own students, about building work that is in progress, about travel, about fellow workers, being distracted by illness, by responsibility for the texts, and the supernormal powers of the ordinary person that are hard to maintain. The last is only an impediment for insight as the powers are gained through concentration, but the other nine are all impediments for concentration. The story given to illustrate the importance of not letting the texts become an impediment is of interest as it shows some important aspects concerning the relationship between teacher and student. At one time, there was an elder who was a Stream-Winner named Tipitaka-Cula- Abhaya. Elder Abhaya assembled the bhikkhus and said that he would explain the three Pitakas, but this was before he had learned the commentaries. The bhikkhus told him, "Which teachers' teaching is it? Unless you give only the teaching of our own teachers, we shall not let you speak." His preceptor listened to part of his explanation and then advised him to go learn from their own teachers and sent him to Elder Maha-Dhammarakkhita. Elder Dhammarakkhita consented to let Elder Abhaya recite the texts by night so that he could give the explanation by day, and they went through the canon. After it was over, Elder Dhammarakkhita, who had been teaching Elder Abhaya, sat down on a mat on the ground in front of Elder Abhaya and said, "Friend, explain a meditation subject to me." "What are you saying, venerable sir," Elder Abhaya answered, "have I not heard it all from you? What can I explain to you that you do not already know?" Then the senior elder said, "The Path is different for one who has actually travelled by it." So Elder Abhaya consented and taught Elder Dhammarakkhita a meditation subject. Later, he heard that Elder Dhammarakkhita had attained Nibbana, and he said, "The Arahat path befits our teacher, friends. Our teacher was a true thoroughbred. He sat down on a mat before his own Dhamma pupil and said, `Explain a meditation subject to me.' The Arahat path befits our teacher, friends." This story is a good illustration of the type of humility that is required for the next step on the Path to Nibbana. After establishing himself in virtue and overcoming the impediments, the student "should then approach the good friend, the giver of a meditation subject, and he should learn from among the forty meditation subjects one that suits his own temperament. After that he should avoid a (place) unfavourable to the development of concentration and go to live in one that is favourable. Then he should sever the lesser impediments and not overlook any of the directions for development."[22] "Meditation subjects are of two kinds," Ashin Buddhaghosa explains, "that is, generally useful meditation subjects and special meditation subjects. Loving kindness towards the Community of Bhikkhus, etc., and also mindfulness of death are what are called generally useful meditation subjects. ... A special meditation subject is that one from among the forty meditation subjects that is suitable to a man's own temperament.... So it is the one who gives this twofold meditation subject that is called the giver of a meditation subject."[23] "It is only the Fully Awakened One who possesses all the aspects of the good friend," Ashin Buddhaghosa continues. "Since that is so, while he is available, only a meditation subject taken in the Blessed One's presence is well taken. But after his final attainment of Nibbana, it is proper to take it from any one of the eighty great disciples still living. When they are no longer available, one who wants to take a particular meditation subject should take if from someone with taints (asava) destroyed, (an Arahat) who has, by means of that particular meditation subject, produced the fourfold and fivefold //jhana//, and has reached the destruction of the taints by augmenting insight that had that //jhana// as its proximate cause." Then Ashin Buddhaghosa says that an Arahat will say that he is one whose taints are destroyed -- that is to say, he will declare himself to be an Arahat -- when he knows that his instructions will be carried out. "So if someone with cankers destroyed is available," Ashin Buddhaghosa continues, "that is good. If not, then one should take (the meditation subject) from a Non-Returner, a Once-Returner, a Stream- Enterer, an ordinary man who has obtained //jhana//, one who knows the three Pitakas, one who knows two Pitakas, one who knows one Pitaka, in descending order (as available). If not even one who knows one Pitaka is available, then it should be taken from one who is familiar with one Collection together with its commentary and one who is himself conscientious. For a teacher such as this who knows the texts, guards the heritage, and protects the tradition will follow the teachers' opinion rather than his own." [24] From what is said here, it is obvious that the more highly developed, the further along the path a person is, the better he will be as a good friend. It is noteworthy that knowledge of the texts is so important for the teacher who is an ordinary man, who has not reached at least the first stage of Awakening. This may seem to be in contradiction to the fact that being distracted by responsibility for the texts is included in the impediments to meditation. But Ashin Buddhaghosa makes it clear in his discussion of this impediment that what is meant is neglecting one's meditation through reciting the canon, and this applies to the student, not the teacher. "Guarding the heritage," of course, means keeping the pure Buddha-Dhamma without trying to add to it or to take away from it, and not distorting it in any way. This is particularly difficult for an ordinary person who has not personally experienced for himself the most profound aspects of the Four Noble Truths. So we see that the teacher who is an ordinary person and who knows the texts will guard the heritage and protect the tradition. He will do so through following his own teachers' guidance rather than by relying on his own opinion. Ashin Buddhaghosa concludes the remarks given above by saying, "Therefore the Ancient Elders said three times, `One who is conscientious will guard (the heritage).'" Ashin Buddhaghosa next gives some information about the different approaches used by teachers:[25] "Now those beginning with one whose taints are destroyed mentioned above will describe only the Path they have themselves reached. But with a learned man, his instructions and his answers to questions are purified by his having approached various teachers, and so he will explain a meditation subject showing a broad track, like a big elephant going through a stretch of jungle, and he will select discourses in the canon and reasons from here and there, adding (explanations of) what is suitable and unsuitable. So a meditation subject should be taken by approaching the good friend such as this, the giver of a meditation subject, and by doing all the duties to him." This does not mean that a teacher who uses a broad track is the superior teacher. As we have seen in the story of Elder Abhaya and Elder Dhammarakkhita, the man who knew all the canon and the commentaries on it was the one who approached the man who had attained the first stage of Awakening. Ashin Buddhaghosa's discussion of the duties of the meditator towards his teacher applies mainly to bhikkhus. But the basic principle to be applied should be followed by laymen also. This means that one should show every respect to the teacher, being courteous to him. Ashin Buddhaghosa does mention one case when the student may request that the time set for explaining the meditation subject be changed. If he is ill, he should let it be known and propose a time appropriate for him. "For if a meditation subject is expounded at an inconvenient time, one cannot give attention," Ashin Buddhaghosa says. [26] Venerable Ledi Sayadaw, in his book //The Requisites of Enlightenment//,[27] discusses wrong teachings and makes many important points concerning the Buddha-Dhamma today that will serve to compliment our discussion of the good friend. Ven. Ledi Sayadaw says that it is essential for laypeople to keep the five precepts (permanent morality, nicca-sila) and this leads to good conduct (carana). Combined with right knowledge (vijja), this enables them to attain the Paths and the Fruition States. Many people today keep these precepts, but people who have developed perfect concentration are very rare, as are people who have attained insight. "Such people are very rare," Ledi Sayadaw points out, "because these are times when wrong teachings (miccha-dhamma) are ripe -- wrong teachings that are likely to cause danger and obstruction to the Dhamma (dhammantaraya)."[28] Ven. Ledi Sayadaw then gives an explanation of wrong teachings that we would like to quote at length: [29] *Wrong Teachings* By wrong teachings likely to cause obstruction to the Dhamma are meant such views, practices, and limitations as the inability to see the dangers of repeated rebirths (samsara), the belief that these are times when the Paths and Fruition States can no longer be attained, the tendency to defer effort until one's perfections (parami) ripen, the belief that people today are endowed with only two root-conditions (dvi-hetuka),[30] and the belief that the great teachers of the past never existed, etc. Even though it does not reach the ultimate (Nibbana), no wholesome volitional action (kusala-kamma) is ever rendered futile. If effort is made, a wholesome volitional action is instrumental in producing perfection in those who do not possess perfection. If no effort is made, the opportunity to acquire perfection is lost. If those whose perfections are immature put forth effort, their perfections become ripe and mature. Such people can attain the Paths and Fruition States in their next existence within the present Dispensation (Sasana). If no effort is made, the opportunity for the perfection (that is immature) to ripen is lost. If those whose perfection is ripe and mature put forth effort, the Paths and the Fruition States can be attained within this life. If no effort is made, the opportunity to attain the Paths and Fruition States is lost. If people with only two root-conditions put forth effort, they can become endowed with all three root-conditions (ti-hetuka) in their next existence. If they do not put forth effort, they cannot ascend from the stage of having two root-conditions and will slide down to the stage of being without any root-conditions (ahetuka). Suppose there is a person who plans to become a bhikkhu. If another person says to him, "Only entertain the intention if you can remain a monk all your life. Otherwise, don't entertain the idea." This would amount to obstructing the Dhamma. The Buddha said, "I declare that the mere arising of an intention of performing good deeds is productive of great benefit."[31] To disparage either the act of generosity (dana) or to discourage the person who is generous may invoke the obstruction of the Dhamma for a person; that is to say, he causes obstruction to the performance of meritorious actions. If acts of virtue, concentration, and insight, or if those who perform these acts are disparaged, it may be an obstruction of the Dhamma. If obstruction to meritorious actions is caused, one is liable to be bereft of power and influence, of property and riches, and one may be abjectly poor in future lives. If obstruction to the Dhamma is caused, one is liable to be defective in conduct and behaviour and defective of sense and thus utterly low and debased in the existences that follow. Hence, all beware! In the discourse to Venerable Cunda that Ledi Sayadaw quotes above, the Buddha pointed out the importance of working on one's own development in order to help others.[32] "This situation does not occur, Cunda," he said, "when one sunk in the mud will by himself pull out another who is sunk in the mud. But this situation occurs, Cunda, when one not sunk in the mud will by himself pull out another who is sunk in the mud. "This situation does not occur, Cunda, when one who is not tamed, not trained, not utterly quenched, will by himself tame, train, make another utterly quenched. But this situation occurs, Cunda, when one who is tamed, trained, utterly quenched, will by himself tame, train, make another utterly quenched." [1] Based on the translation by K.R. Norman, //Poems of Early Buddhist Nuns// (Pali Text Society, 1989). For the Pali, we follow the edition by L. Alsdorf in Appendix II of the Pali Text Society's 1966 edition of Therigatha. [2] For a detailed discussion of the Pali terms and the concept of the good friend in the canon and commentaries, see Steven Collins, "//Kalyanamitta and Kalyanamittata//," //Pali Text Society Journal// XI (1987) pp. 51-72. See this article for references to other passages on the good friend. [3] KS I 113f.; V 2f. The last statement is quoted in //Path//, Chapter III para 62. Collins (op. cit., p. 70, n. 23) quotes the commentary (Spk I 156f.) where it is said that Ananda thought that half of the life of purity was the state of having a good friend and that half was individual effort (paccatta-purisa-kara). The commentary explains that these two cannot be separated. [4] GS IV 187-191. [5] GS IV 17-19. [6] Chapter I para 14. [7] //Path//, Chapter I para 45. [8] DB III 177-182 (THIH 464ff.) [D III 185ff.]. [9] DB III 182 (THIH 467) [D III 190]. [10] KS I 112-115 [S I 87-89]. [11] //Path//, Chapter I para 49. [12] As Steven Collins points out (op. cit., p. 71, n. 42), the preceding discourse (It 10, MA II 121) and similar parallel discourses at S V 101f. (KS V 84f.) give the best internal (or subjective) factor as "careful attention." [13] MA II 122. [14] GS I 10-12. [15] KS V 368. [16] KS V 317f. [17] KS V 27-30. [18] GS IV 232. [19] GS V 234-237. [20] Chapter IV paras 54ff. [21] For details on these, see //Path//, Chapter III paras 29-56. [22] //Path//, Chapter III para 28. [23] //Path//, Chapter III paras 57, 60. [24] //Path//, Chapter III paras 62-64. [25] //Path//, Chapter III para 65. [26] //Path//, Chapter III para 73. [27] //Wheel// nos. 171-174. [28] //Op. cit.//, p. 24. [29] //Op. cit.//, 25f. [30] That is to say, people today are only capable of non-greed and non- hatred and cannot attain non-delusion. [31] MLS I 55. [32] MLS I 56. Worldwide Contact Addresses in the Tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *AUSTRIA*: International Meditation Centre, A-9064 St. Michael/Gurk 6, Austria;Tel: +43 4224 2820, Fax: +43 4224 28204 *EASTERN AUSTRALIA*: International Meditation Centre, Lot 2 Cessnock Road, Sunshine NSW 2264, Australia; Tel: +61 49 705 433, Fax: +61 49 705 749 *UNITED KINGDOM*: International Meditation Centre, Splatts House, Heddington, Calne, Wiltshire SN11 OPE, England; Tel: +44 380 850 238, Fax: +44 380 850 833, Email: CIS, IMC-UK,100330,3304 *USA (East Coast)*: International Meditation Centre, 438 Bankard Road, Westminster MD 21158, USA; Tel: +1 410 346 7889, Fax: +1 410 346 7133; Email: CIS, IMC-USA, 74163,2452 *WESTERN AUSTRALIA*: International Meditation Centre, Lot 78 Jacoby Street, Mahogany Creek WA 6072, Australia; Tel: +61 9 295 2644, Fax: +61 9 295 3435 *CANADA*: IMC-Canada, 336 Sandowne Drive, Waterloo, Ontario, N2K 1V8, Canada; Tel: +1 519 747 4762, Fax: +1 519 725 2781 *GERMANY*: Sayagyi U Ba Khin Gesellschaft, Christaweg 16, 79114 Freiburg, Germany, Tel: +49 761 465 42, Fax: +49 761 465 92 *JAPAN*: Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial Trust, Komatsuri-Cho 923, Kishiwada-Shi, Osaka-Fu, 596 Japan, Tel: +81 724 45 0057 *THE NETHERLANDS*: Sayagyi U Ba Khin Stichting, Oudegracht 124, 3511 AW Utrecht, The Netherlands, Tel: +31 30 311 445, Fax: +31 30 340 612 *SINGAPORE*: Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial Association, 9 Penang Road #07-12, Park Mall, Singapore 0923 Tel: +65 338 6911, Fax: +65 336 7211 *SWITZERLAND*: Sayagyi U Ba Khin Gesellschaft, Greyerzstrasse 35, 3013 Bern, Switzerland;Tel: +41 31 415 233, Fax: +41 61 691 8049; Email: CIS, 100256,3576 *USA (West Coast)*: IMC-USA, 77 Kensington Rd., San Anselmo, CA 94960. Tel: +1 415 459 3117, Fax: +1 415 346 7133 *BELGIUM*: Address as for the Netherlands, Tel: +32 2414 1756 *DENMARK*: Contact Address: Mr. Peter Drost-Nissen, Strandboulevarden 117, 3th, 2100 Kopenhagen, Denmark. Tel: 031 425 636 *ITALY*: Contact address: Mr. Renzo Fedele, Via Euganea 94, 35033 Bresseo PD, Italy. Tel: +39 49 9900 752 -------------------------------------------------- Published by the Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial Trust, United Kingdom Address as above, registered charity no. 280134 -------------------------------------------------- DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT TITLE OF WORK: The Good Friend FILENAME: GOODFRND.ZIP AUTHOR: Sayagyi U Chit Tin AUTHOR'S ADDRESS: n/a PUBLISHER'S ADDRESS: International Meditation Centre, Splatts House, Heddington, Calne, Wiltshire SN11 OPE, England COPYRIGHT HOLDER: The Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial Trust, U.K. DATE OF PUBLICATION: 1985 DATE OF DHARMANET DISTRIBUTION: 1994 ORIGIN SITE: BODY DHARMA * Richmond CA 510/234-9431 DharmaNet (96:101/33) The copyright holder retains all rights to this work and hereby grants electronic distribution rights to DharmaNet International. 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