Buddhism for the 21st Century
By Venerable Thich Minh Thien
The Buddha left everything behind including his palace, his wealth, his wife,
and his lovely son in order to find real happiness, the happiness that all people
could share, which is the inner peace. This is what we need to practice and
carry forward into the 21st century so that the world is peaceful and undamaged.
There are two traditions of Buddhism, namely Mahayana and Theravada, which focus
on the path of the Middle Way. For the Buddhist lay people who observe the Five
or Eight Precepts in their daily life, they will be blessed by the Buddha. Though
the Buddha in his physical form is no longer with us now, we still have the
Dhamma as our Guide and Teacher. Therefore, Dhamma is the second body of the
Buddha followed by the Sangha, which is the third body of the Buddha. The Sangha
in its growing number, plays an important role in the spread of Dhamma, the
guidance to the path of enlightenment and the steps to end sufferings. However,
not all Buddhists or believers of other religions in today's society may follow
the teachings of Buddha or God. For this reason, we have to take the responsibilities
to find the inner peace in ourselves. When we find inner peace in ourselves,
the world will become a peaceful place. We are fortunate to live in a good country
like Australia, where the people are blessed by the loving-kindness and compassion
of the Buddha and God.
When one is born, everyone tends to love him/her and share with him/her regardless
of religion, cultural background and language. However, as one grows up, he/she
becomes more self-centered where hatred starts to accumulate in the mind. This
is not the teachings of Buddha. The Buddha loved not only the human beings but
also the living beings, which highlights the importance of the First Precept
that is the abstention from killing or harming living beings. If one observes
the Five Precepts at anytime and anywhere, one is considered a Buddhist. When
one attains happiness and peacefulness via the observance of the Five Precepts,
no police or solicitors are required. However, the world needs Bodhi Doctors
or Mind Doctors in the practice of Dhamma and Precepts.
The world progresses with the advance in Science and Technology. However, people
do suffer as a result of that. This is shown in the invention of chemical bombs
and airplanes where Japan was bombarded and, World War I and II were started
respectively. Human beings are so intelligent to such an extent, can you imagine
what is going to happen in the 21st century? Humans can find the way to kill
through the invention of weapons but not the way to love and to unite. With
the knowledge of Buddhism, we have to practice Middle Path in the 21st century.
Everyone has to stay hand in hand, mind by mind, heart by heart and make use
of the power of Buddha, God, Nature and the Universe to stop killing. This would
not be possible without the unity of the Buddhists and the non-Buddhists.
One must understand that life is full of sufferings. As a result, we have to
practice the Four Noble Truths and always keep them in mind. In Buddhism, the
practice of the Eightfold Path is important as your right understanding, right
thought, right speech and right action can eliminate the unwholesome thoughts
and improper and harmful conducts.
Most people live in a world of extremity. They can be very sad today but very
happy tomorrow. This is not the teachings of Buddha. The way to get out from
extremities is to practice the Middle Path so that everyone can achieve the
real happiness without discrimination. Once again I would like to emphasize
that when we have noble peace in ourselves, the world will become peaceful.
The world we are living in is the body and the loving-kindness and, the nature
are the mind of the world. Without loving-kindness and nature, the world would
have been gone for million years. The world exists in the presence of karma.
When the karma ends, the world ends. This is also seen in ourselves where our
good or bad karma is carried for rebirth.
All the Buddhists have to help one another by showing care and loving-kindness.
You can either pay visits to the prisoners in jail and the patients in hospital
or to help the poor by giving generous donations in terms of money and foods.
You must offer your care and love to others without any conditions.
Selflessness is important for one to achieve happiness, to have more friends
and to treat everyone like brothers and sisters. Having this quality, we must
then unite to prevent World War III and to build a better world for our young
children.
At this point, I would like to share a story with everyone. When I was 9-10
years old, I was hospitalized with bandaged foot and arm. A few young American
soldiers involved in the Vietnam War had lost their legs, eyesight and arms.
During my stay in the hospital, I learnt English from them and they appeared
to like me very much. However, my mother hated them as they were the one who
destroyed my country and my countryman. My father had to escape during the war
or else he would be killed. Since I was born in a very poor family, my mother
and my siblings had to borrow money from the relatives to buy medicine for me.
After four years with six times operations, my body is left with many scars.
The young American armies involved in the war because they had no choice. I
was the victim because I lived in that village. If the American armies know
that I am a monk, they will not hurt me. This is the same as if you observe
the Five Precepts, you will not kill the animals and humans. Therefore I believe
that in the 21st century, the Four Noble Truths is the foundation of Buddhism
for everyone to end suffering, greed, hatred and delusion by following the Eightfold
Path.
In the practice of the Middle Path, you will not care about heaven or hell because
you have already a natural mind. The Buddha said that the heaven or hell is
in your heart. Everyone has been wondering how come I can still love everyone,
live a simple life and spread Dhamma around the world after all the sufferings
that I have been through. Well, I would say that all people are the same, we
breathe in the same air and drink the same water, therefore we must love and
care for each other unconditionally. With loving-kindness, we can then stay
in unity and build a peaceful world.
Thank you for listening. May all be well and happy.