The following are the questions given to the monks in the Cincinnati temple at Feb 14, 2004. The conversation is not written down exactly word by word, rather this is an abridged version to help readers understand the point given by the monks.
Q: How can we laymen who are busy with daily chores practice Dhamma? Especially for those who are mothers that have to take care of their children, job, and housework as well since they don�t have much time to practice Paritta chanting and meditation.
A: The essence of Dhamma is not in the chanting of Paritta or the meditation itself. Paritta chanting and meditation is just a tool to help us better in practicing Dhamma so you can still practice Dhamma even if you can�t do Paritta chanting or meditation. Here is a story to illustrate it.
There is a story of a Tibetan man who went to the temple to practice Dhamma. He sat at the shrine room and began chanting all Paritta in the Paritta book. The monk saw this and then told him, �Good. You can do chanting pretty well, but it is better for you to practice Dhamma.� The man became puzzled and then went to do meditation. He sat there and meditated for the whole day. The monk saw it and told him, �Good. Seems like you are very patient, but it is better if you practice Dhamma.� The man became even more puzzled and then asked the monk, �I have practiced chanting Paritta and also do meditation but why are you saying that it is better for me to practice Dhamma?� The monk said, �Indeed you can chant Paritta very well, however, your heart and mind did not follow. It was also true that you sit there quietly with eyes closed doing meditation but your mind roamed everywhere.� The point is that to practice Dhamma you don�t have to meditate or chant Paritta. You can be busy doing your chores but if you are thinking of good deeds at the same time, you are practicing Dhamma. Say if you are on your way to grocery and you saw someone in need of help and you help him, then that is practicing Dhamma. As long as you have compassion in your heart, Dhamma is never too far away.
Q: What is the benefit of chanting Paritta?
A: Those Paritta we chant usually contain Buddha�s teaching, Buddha�s personalities, etc. By chanting those we hope to bring Buddha�s personalities closer to us and hopefully we will gain some of those personalities. Chanting Paritta will also remind us of Buddha�s teaching and hopefully by remembering his teachings we will be more mindful and wiser. This is especially important to monks because chanting will help them memorize Buddha�s teaching better so that they may teach others about Dhamma.
Q: What is the role of technology in Buddhism?
A: Technology in itself is actually neither a positive nor a negative thing. For example, flight is a result of technology. It benefits us by making it faster to cover longer distance but it doesn�t come without its disadvantage. It costs money as well as a certain amount of risk is involved. Another example is nuclear power. It can be used as weapon as well as efficient energy source. It all comes down to how the technology is used. If it is used for good things then it will produce good karma and vice versa.