The
Buddha
Buddhism is the doctrine expounded by the Buddha. It is not a dogma,
nor a revelation made known by any supernatural agency. The Buddha the expounder
of this doctrine was neither a god, nor a son of a god, nor an incarnation of
a god nor a prophet sent by such an agency. He was a human being, a prince of
the clan of Sakyans of the northernmost part of Ancient India, born as a son to
a king called Suddhodana who ruled over the kingdom of Sakyans situated at the
foot of the Himalayan range. The name given him by his parents was Siddhartha
Gautama. Though he was not a supernatural being, he was a prodigy, an extraordinary
person, a rarest type of a person. He was brought up as any other child of a royal
family and he lived amidst luxuries of the highest type, as his family was extremely
rich and powerful.
But even from the days of his boyhood he was contemplative
and mostly inquisitive, prying and argumentative. He saw how men and animals suffered
from turmoil and tribulations of the world. He was moved by what he saw and grew
up in compassion and pity for the suffering mortals. At last when he was 29 years
of age, leaving behind his awaiting throne and all his possessions, went forth
from home to homelessness in search of a Guru who could show him the way to freedom
from all suffering.
His Discovery
He followed the instructions given
to him by the teachers who had claimed to have found the way to perfect release
from all suffering, but he was not satisfied with the results. At last, getting
away from all those ways, after much struggle and experience, he discovered the
way. Having trodden the path thereafter, he attained 'Full Enlightenment' (Buddhahood)
and henceforth was recognized by his followers as "the Buddha" the Enlightened
One. He realized what the world and the existence, as they really are, and how
everything is only a part of a restless flow of unsatisfactory states or suffering,
how and why this state continues to be so and what is the nature when it is ended
and the way to put an end to this flow. He called these four facts the four great
Truths.
After he attained enlightenment, he spent full 45 years teaching the
world his discovery, sharing his wisdom with others so that they could also tread
the same path and free themselves from all suffering. After incessant service
of 45 years he passed away to perfect rest of eternal Bliss. Nibbana the Summum
Bonum.
Freedom in Buddhism
The Buddha's method of teaching to his
followers was absolutely unique and is not found in the teachings of any other
masters of ancient days. The Buddha encouraged people to think for themselves,
to reason out and test for themselves and not to be bound by any blind belief.
No dogmas find footing in his teachings. The religion of Vedic sacrifice was the
predominant cult followed by the majority of people in India at his time, and
there were penalties for any infraction of the rules. If a man of a unacceptable
caste listened to Veda-reciting, his eardrums would be ruptured as a punishment.
If any of the lowest caste uttered any passage of Vedas his tongue would be cut
off. If any person of the same low caste would somehow enter any of their holy
centers and watch their ceremonies their eyes would be gorged out. People of other
classes or castes had to pay respect and cater to the needs of Brahmins with no
questions whatsoever. Such was the situation in ancient India at the time of the
appearance of the Buddha. Brahmins wielded influence over a greater part of India.
Caste distinctions introduced by Brahmins affected every sector in the country.
Women had no freedom and they were slaves of their husbands. The Buddha came forward
and criticized the system of Brahmins. He emphasized the importance of free thought
and encouraged people to think and reason out for themselves without being slaves
to dogmatic beliefs. Buddha did not approve anger, greed, killing, plundering,
falsehood and violence in his teachings.
One day, when the Buddha, accompanied
by a number of disciples was journeying along the high road, as it was getting
dark he took lodgings for the night, in a inn reserved for the members of the
royal families. In those days rulers had, allowed the monks, recluses and ascetics
to use their inn as their temporary lodgings. A leader of a religious movement
ended up coming to the same inn and took lodgings in another part, with his disciples.
Towards
evening some of Buddha's disciples who were walking up and down in the compound
of the building, overheard a hot discussion between the ascetic teacher and his
chief disciple. The teacher was criticizing the Buddha, his teachings and his
disciples in many ways while his disciple was praising the Buddha, his teachings
and disciples in many ways. Both were quite contradictory to each other in their
views.
The following morning, those bhikkhus told the Buddha about what they
had heard the previous evening. Thereupon the Buddha advised them, saying "Bretheren,
when you hear others speak ill of me, my teaching or my followers, don't hurt
your feelings, don't get angry. If you hurt your feelings and get angry, how could
you judge whether they were right or not in their criticism? Be impartial, on
such occasions, and think about what they said of us. When you see they were not
correct, and if you feel it was necessary, tell them where they were wrong, but
do not hurt your feelings. If you hurt your feelings on that account, it will
be a hindrance, which will prevent your self-development. Suppose others praise
me, my teaching or my disciples, don't be proud on that account, too. How could
you judge whether they were right or not right in their praising? Be impartial
and judge. If you see they were right, approve of that, but be not proud. Were
you proud on that account, it would be an obstacle against your own spiritual
development. This was the Buddha's way.
Blind Faith
On another occasion
he said, "Brotheren, when I speak to you, don't accept it blindly, because
you love and respect me. But, examine it and put it to test, as a goldsmith examines
gold by cutting, heating and hammering to know whether it was genuine gold or
artificial one. If you see it is acceptable, only then accept and follow it."
This is the Buddha's Way. This is how the Buddha encouraged everyone to think
for himself.
In some religions you are warned to believe what they teach, lest
the god would push you into hell fire. There is no such things, a punishment,
even a curse imposed on by the Buddha on others who would not believe him.
As
regards the ritual of worship, it has no place in Buddha's teachings. You might
question why Buddhists place flowers etc. before Buddha image. What Buddhists
do in that way is just showing their gratefulness to the Greatest teacher, for
his lifelong unselfish service done by teaching and guiding the world along the
right path. It is not a ritual, at all.
Whether you pay homage to the Buddha
or not it is not as important as living a wholesome life following the path shown
by him. One day when one of the Buddha's disciples, who was deeply loving and
respecting him, was sitting before him, looking at his saintly and beautiful form.
The Buddha knew that and told him "What is the use of looking at this body"
a mass of flesh and bones etc., go from here and look at the Dhamma (i.e. practice
virtues, follow the Path)."
Whether you pay such homage or not, it is
not so important as living a wholesome life, pure in deed, word and thought. If
you try to be pure in your life in this way, you are a real follower of the Buddha.
Advice to Kalamas
One day, the Buddha visited a hamlet called Kesaputta.
Then some princes of a clan named Kalama came to the Buddha and told him thus:
"Venerable Sir, various types of teachers now and then come over to our town
let and give us different kinds of teaching. One person teaches one thing and
another gives a quite contradictory teaching. This happens over and over again.
When we listen to them we get puzzled, and we cannot understand which one is correct
and which one wrong. Thereupon the Buddha said: "It is no wonder that a man
gets puzzled when he hears teachings contradictory to each other. But I tell you
this:
" "Don't accept
a thing merely because it is handed down by tradition.
" Don't accept
a thing merely because many people repeat it.
" Don't accept a thing merely
on the authority of the sage, who teaches it.
" Don't accept a thing merely
because it is found in the so called scripture.
" Don't accept a thing
merely because probability is in its favor.
" Don't accept a thing merely
because you have so imagined, or it is inspired (by some supernormal agency).
"
After examination, after testing for yourself, if you find it is reasonable and
is in conformity with your well-being and the well-being of others as well, then
accept it and follow it."
Respect for other teachers
From Buddhist
point of view, one should never ridicule a great teacher, merely because he was
not a Buddhist. There were great teachers like Zoraster, Confutze, Lao-tze, noble
Jesus and many others. A Buddhist should never insult them. To do so is against
Buddha's teachings. This freedom of investigation and accepting is encouraged
in Buddhist teachings.
This broad-minded approach is seen in the account of
Upali's meeting with the Buddha. Upali was a follower of Jainism. He came to the
Buddha with a view to argue on some points of Buddha's teachings. But at the close
of discussion he was convinced and expressed he wanted to become a Buddha's follower
and that he would stop his support to Jain monks who until now he had highly regarded.
But the Buddha said: "Consider further! Don't be in a hurry to follow me.
Never stop supporting those Jain monks whom you have respectfully treated for
so long."
There is another account of certain wandering recluse who had
a discussion with Buddha concerning the difference between the doctrines of the
both, at which the Buddha said, "Well, my friend, though we discuss our views
and practices, don't think that I am trying to convert you to my side. I don't
want to do so. You may go on your way, but let us see whether you or we that practice
as you and we teach."
Thus there is full freedom of thinking and full
freedom of speaking in the teachings of the Buddha. You can even be critical of
the Buddha or his teachings and this freedom is extended to all people. So you
should not get angry when others say things that you do not agree with. Listen
to them and judge impartially, whether they are right or not right. That is the
Buddha's way
Disease and cure
Most of the great teachers taught their followers
to worship a god and tried to explain how the world was originated and so forth.
The Buddha, on the other hand, taught that to find answers to the problem of the
origin of the world was not at all helpful in finding answer to the question of
suffering. Suppose a physician goes to a patient suffering from a serious illness
he would diagnose the illness, find its cause, finds whether it is curable and
prescribes the suitable treatment. Even though the patient is interested in getting
some astronomical or geological problems solved, the physician would not listen
to him and does not go out of his duty, because he knows how serious the patient's
condition is.
The Buddha was just like the physician in this illustration.
He served the world as the Physician for the mind's illnesses. All beings in the
world suffer from so many distresses because of their mental diseases. There is
greed ,anger, pride, selfishness, hatred, jealousy and many more adverse things
in our mind. The root cause of all the diseases is ignorance. All beings (human
and non-human) have become slaves of all these mental diseases, due to which they
commit all types of wrong deeds, speak wrong words, and think wrong thoughts.
Such action cause pain both to themselves and others. The Buddha directed his
teachings towards the curing of all this suffering.
Root Cause of the Problem
Whether
the universe has a beginning or does not have a beginning, has nothing to do with
the curing of our suffering. What we have to do is to realize the nature of the
mental diseases which bring us all sorts of sufferings both mental and physical,
their cause, their cure and path. The Buddha guides you to realize these four
facts. There are specific steps that must he taken to achieve this realization.
The
first step is to build a good character within you. You have to refrain from wrong
deeds, wrong speech and wrong way of earning your living. This is the foundation
you have to set, on which you have to erect the building of spiritual development,
which consists of two kinds of developments: development of mind's calmness and
the development of insight. To develop mind's calm, you have to develop concentration
of mind, for which there are 40 methods given in Buddhist scriptures, out of which
one is to he chosen suitable to one's temperament.
The next and last step is
to examine yourself to understand what you really have in your physical body and
investigate and see whether there is anything permanent, that will never change
in your body. As a result of this investigation you will see that body is a collection
of ever changing materials and that there is nothing permanent in them, there
is restlessness in them as they are always rising and vanishing and that there
is no ego-entity in them. After realizing the exact nature of your body in this
way you have to examine your mind. As you go on analyzing and scrutinizing your
mind you will find what you call mind is but a stream of rising and vanishing
mental states in which there is no substance. Every mental state is subject to
change, that they are rising and vanishing more rapidly than material states of
your body restlessly, and that there is no ego-entity. When you come to this understanding
of your body and mind, your ignorance as to their nature disappears before the
wisdom dawns at the moments of this full realization of your own nature. When
you look at the external things from the same angle of your wisdom you will see
the whole world is of the same nature as what you are. You will perfectly see
there is nothing in the world that is to be attached to, that is to he angry with,
that is to be taken for an ego-entity. When you achieve this full wisdom of the
nature of life in the world, you will see its opposite side, the unconditioned,
unchanging, eternal state of perfect calm and serenity free from all sufferings.
To
achieve this goal you should require no worship, no ritual, no belief in a dogma.
Only thing you have to do is to know yourself perfectly.
In brief, the Buddha's
way is the way to self-understanding, the way to self purification, the way to
free oneself from slavishness to the deceptive world.
" The Buddha
gave an expression to truth of ever lasting value and advanced the ethics not
of India alone but of humanity. The Buddha was one of the greatest ethical men
of genius ever bestowed upon the world. - Albert Schweitzer
" Buddhists
or Non-Buddhists, I have examined every one of the great religious systems of
the world and in none of them have I found anything to surpass in beauty and comprehensiveness
the Noble Eight-fold path of Buddha. - T.W.Rhys Davids