why buddhism2

8/8/2019 Why Buddhism2

1/21

n+,S * e

'qthr_t-f3r';r4,'**1.J.1'

; ";tlt*"

.'ta{* Br,,l'l,;,,,ff enda

ka and &,ffff*mauhfl n #

lG+*l$rl Dha.Thef-f l,.ttrr1

rsBN 967-9920-76-3tiltililil||ililfiilillil tlil9 7 8967 9 92A7 65


2/21

Publication of the

Budd{qist Mission arq SocietgBuddhist Mafra Yihara,

123, lalan Berhala,5047A Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: (603) 274 1889Fax: (603) 273 3835

Malagsian First Edition 1997Published for Free Distributian

@ 1997 by the authorAll rights reservedlst EditionISBN: 967-9920-76-3

First Printing: 10,000 copies (MaA 1997\Cover design by Chong Hang C{too

Printed byLaser Press Sdn Bhd.,Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Aim of BuddhismFreed am l, O Bhikkhus, from all

bonds, whether divine or human. you,too, O Bhikkhus, are freed from allbonds whether divine or human.""Go forth, O Bhikkhus, for the goodof the many, for the happiness of themany, out of compassion for the world,for the good, benefit, and happiness ofgods and men. O, Let not two go by oneway. Preach, O Bhikkhus, the Dhamma,excellent in the begin n ing, excellent inthe middle, excellent in the end, bothin spirit and in the letter Proclaim theHoly Life altogether, perfect and pure."There are beings with a little dustin their eyes, who, not hearing theDhamma, will fall away, There will bethose who understand the Dhamma.

- The Buddha


3/21

ForewordIt is with great pleasure that I went throughthe few pages of this wonderful booklet onBuddhism. Al most every sentence of itillumines the gloomy heart of the Reader Itsupplies pre'cise but brief answers mainly tothe two questions Why is there religion?a nd Why is there Buddh ism? The pagesprepare a colourful picture of Buddhism inits natural colours, and the picture is morethan a painted one that depicts theimagination of the artist. The more times thereader reads it the more new things appearbefore his inquisitive mind. The thoughts arewell balanced and full of truth.'l'he longexperience of the author as the ChiefBuddh ist H igh Priest of Malaysi r, a nd h islong scholarly and pious life as Buddhistmonk of great repute are the well earnedq ua lif ications to write such a usefu I andinstructive booklet in such a brief way. Thequestion 'Why Buddhism?' is here wellil n swered.

Dikwela Piyananda, M A, Ph DBuddhist Vihara,5017, l6th Street, N.W.,Washington, D C. 200 I l, U S.A.

Foundation of Religionsefore we discuss the subiect "WhYBuddhism", we must find out howman's idea of religion got started inthe first place.Thousands of years ago when primitiveman's rnind started thinking about variouskinds of natural phenomena in this world, hefound many wonderful experiences. Whencertain natural forces or phenomena werenot in his favour he had to suffer. Hewitnessed disasters and terrible incidentswhich created fear, suspicion, insecurity,tension and suffering. Then he startedthinking how to find a solution and rid his lifeof these unfavourable conditions. But heknew that these things were beyond hiscomprehension. He therefore imagined therem ust be some sort of invisible powers,supernatural forces or persons behind allthese things. He started to pray and worshipthese imagined powers. He began to makeanimal sacrifices in order to appease the


4/21

Why Buddhism?

wrathful forces. He gave thanks when certainphenomena appeared in his favour, assum-ing they were acts of gods. The aim, then, ofthese practices was to gain protection and beblessed with a life of prosperity and littledifficulty. This is how religious belief andpractice got started ancl why primitive manstarted to pray. As this early concept ofreligion began to develop, other certainimportant practices were also incorporated,such as religious rites and rituals, ceremon-ies and festivals. These evolved naturally'according to the particular customs, trad-itions and ways of life prevalent in therespective regions and countries.The foundation of religion was thus laiddown by man as a means to assure his self-preservation in response to his fundamentalfear, insecurity and misunderstanding of thenatural phenomena of life. It is human fearthen which served as the building blocksof religion. These served not only as thefoundation of all religions, but as the basiscmaterials like bricks, stone, sand and cementneeded for erecting the building.

It was with the introduction of faith,however, which allowed for the building call-ed religion to be completed. Faith together

The Fou ndation of Buddhism

with the introduction of offerings, prayers,vows, penalties, morals and ethics - all in thename of god. There was also the promise of aplace of eternal peace called paradise inorder to control mankind.The Foundation of Buddhism

Later, when we study how another religioncalled Buddhism came into existence, wefind that the Buddha did not adopt any ofthose age old beliefs He did not introducethe concept of god, soul theory, eternal hellor eternal heaven to build up Buddhism.He made no use of fear or distorted viewsregarding natural phenornena to support hisreligion, Neither did he ask for blind faith ordemand unnecessary rites and rituals. He didnot believe in self-torture, or the impositionof penalties or commandments in the build-ing up of Buddhism. What is more, Hesought no sort of divine revelation. He usednew materials such as Right Understandingof life, the world, the occurrence of naturalphenomena or cosmic order, the real charac-teristics of mind and matter, elements andenergies, the acquisition of moral and

C:,0,; hi, *t,. lr "fi :' I'I

I


5/21

Why Buddhism?

spiritual development, discipline, mentaltraining and purification, knowledge, wisdomand enlightenment, as ingredients to erectthis religious building. It is true that Heborrowed certain religious materials usedby other religionists of that time such asDharma righteous way of life, Karmaaction and reaction, Punabbawa rebirth,and certain moral principles, but not in thesame manner or in the same sense. He in factrefined them and introduced them in a morerational, scientific and psychological way.An Independent Relision

Buddhism is not an ecclectic ccrncoction ofvarious religions. It has its own uniquecharacteristics and identity. Realising thatno other religious teacher had found theabsolute truth and final salvation of man,The Buddha pointed out that others had onlydeveloped certain worldly powers and couldonly attain certain limited stages of spiritualdevelopment and not the complete purifi-cation of the mind, or enlightenment. Theseteachers were thus not free from super-stitious belief, impurity, illusion, imagina-

No Dogmas

tion, hallucination and ignorance. But whatdoes religion really mean?The real meaning of religion can onlybe grasped when we study the way whichthe Buddha introduced his "religious way ofnoble life." If we use the word "religion" todescribe the Buddha's teachings, then wemust understand the different definitionsgiven to this word by other religionists. Thenwe can understand why Buddhism is needed.No Dogmas

The Buddha managed to remove certainmisconceptions that were held by people forthousands of years. For example, in thoseearly days everyone believed that the sunrotated daily round the earth. People heldth is belief beca use they lacked properknowledge of our solar system. But whenNicolaus Copernicus, the Polish astronomerdiscovered and proved that the sun was infact located at the centre of our solar system,only then did people grasp the truth of histheory and slowly give up their former belief.There was another misconception peopleheld about the earth. For thousands of years:li', #?ii,i


6/21

Why Buddhism?

people believed that the earth was flat. Thencame Galileo the celebrated ltalian astrono-mer and physicist who discovered and provedthat the earth was not flat at all, but round.But there was also great obiection to histheory from the Church. Galileo was sum-moned before the Inquisition and forced torecant under threat of torture and sentencedto pr'son. Only later did people come toaccefrt this truth.Even up to the lgth Century, philoso-phers generally believed that the atom wasthe ebsential entity of matter which wasimpossible to split. But their theory wasabandoned when nuclear scientists finallymanaged to split the atom. Similarly, inancient India, the belief held by philosophersfor thousands of years that the soul was apermanently enduring entity created by God,also had to be given up when the Buddhaproved this to be an imaginary concept, Thisbelief, however, still persists in human mindslike the apparently visual reality of arainbow which in fact has no substantiality.The Buddha explained that the notion of soulis only a misconception in man's conscious-ness. If indeed there is a soul, would there beany reason for the Buddha to withhold such

N o Dogmas

knowledge from His followers? Certainly not.Particularly because this concept of soul holdsgreat importance to every other religionists.The theory of evolution as put forth byCharles Darwin disproved the then popularcreation theory that life was created byGod. Ceology, biology and physiology alsoexplained very clearly that it had takenmillions of years for the appearance of thefirst form of life on this earth. There is nocontradiction between these modern find-ings and a careful study of Buddhism. Thediscoveries of a gradual development ofmineral deposits, plant life and other livingbeings are fully consistent with the ancientteaching of the BuddhaTo the question of how life came intoexistence, the Buddha gave a simple andreasonable answer, He said, life is only acombination of rnind and matter, He definedthe mind as being cornposed of feeling,perception, mental formations, and con-sciousness. He analysed matter into fourelements; solidity, fluidity, heat and motion.When we study the logical explanation ofthe Buddha as concerns the question of theCosmos, we find that He mentions theexistence of certain living beings, both


7/21

Why Buddhism?

fortunate and unfortunate, not only in thisworld but on certain other planets as well.Modern scientists and astronomers havebeen open minded and conceed the possi-bility of living beings existing on otherpla nets.Many ancient and traditional religiousbeliefs are exactly like the the old pre-scientific beliefs about the world system andthe origin of life. Yet the Buddha's teachrngsthough belonging to the ancient period -are akin to the modern discov r.es TheBuddha's chief aim was to liberate hurnanityfrom the bonds of ieligious slavery. His socialimpact was also great. He sought to upgradethe status of women by giving them freedomto enter the holy order. In another sweepingchange the Buddha abolished the existingbars on so-called low caste people byordaining them as full-fledged monks.

The prevalent belief that the performanceof religious rites and rituals was a mandatorypractices for man to achieve salvation wasdispelled by the Buddha. According to Him,the C ;velopment of morality and the pur-ification of the mind are the most importantpoints in gaining one's final salvation. Hepointed out that for a man to be religious he

No Dognas

must lead a harmless, blameless, respect-able, noble and pure life. The mere act ofpraying or making offerings does not by itselfmake a man religious nor gain him perfectionand salvation.He also advised PeoPle to keep awayfrom evil practices, Evil is to be avoided forthe welfare of all living beings, not for fear ofgod or his punishment, Further, He advisedus to cultivate good hunrane qualities, topractise good deeds and help others withoutany selfish motive.The Buddha was apparentlY the onlYreligious teacher who gave highest creditto human intelligence. He advised us notto become slaves to external agencies butto develop our hidden mental power withself-conf idence.He also pointed out that man is res-ponsible for everything in this world. Painand pleasure are both created by manhimself, and man has the ability to get rid ofhis sufferings. Man can learn to maintainpeace and happiness by applying wisdomdiligently without depending on externalpowers. lt is man's untrained mind that is '?responsible for all the troubles, calamities,disturbances, unfavourable circumstances

d.. .,b


8/21

l0 wlty Buddhism?and frictions. At the same time, man's mindcan transform the unfortunate situation ofthe world and render it a peaceful, pros-perous and happy place for all to live - if onlyhe uses his mind properly. Man-rrradeproblems must be solved by man himselfThis can only be done by purifying his mentalenergy.

Faclng the FactsBuddhism is a religion which always encou-rages man to face the facts of life withoutdepending on imaginary concepts, and toaccept the truth wherever it may be. There-fore, Buddhists do not reject the factspertaining to worldly matters as discoveredby great thinkers and scientists. Although theBuddha paid more attention to spiritualdevelopment, He never neglected man'sworldly progress. His teachings give somesound'and practical advice on how to workproperly without wasting valuable time andeffort, and how to act wisely for the progressof mankind. He said that man should fulfilhis duties towards his family,relatives,friends, community, county and th,. wlrole

Facing the Facts t t

world. Therefore Buddhists should notignore their obligation to make this worldmore happy and peaceful by contributingtheir share within their capacity. He neverinterfered with the affairs of government orwith reasonable laws imposed by govern-ment. He was not against social customs andtraditions so long as they were harmless anduseful to society.It must also be said that the Buddhanever sought personal political or militarypower in order to introduce his spiritual wayof life, though kings and the ministers wereamong His many followers.

Here we have a religious way of life whichteaches us to care for others, to sacrifice ourown comfort for the sake of suffering huma-nity. It asks us to observe religious preceptsor disciplines voluntarily, not as command-ments imposed on us by some unseenbeings. By observing such good principlesaccording to our Qwn convictions, we get thechance to perfect ourselves and also helpothers live in peace.

Such perfection is the hiehest goal whicha person must attain before gaining his ,salvation It cannot be obtained through theinfluence of any Cod.


9/21

12 Why Buddhism?Come and See the ResultsImmedtately

According to this religion we can see theresults of most of our good and bad actionswithin this very life time. Heavenly bliss orNirvanic bliss can also be experienced withinthis very life time. You don't have to waituntil you dieThis is why the Buddha always welcomedpeople to come and observe His way ofteaching; not to come and believe it all atonce He actually advised people on how tochoose a proper religion, by considering,analysing and investigating it in various wayswithout accepting anything through emotionor blind faith, of course all religions promotefaith, But faith in Buddhism is not a surren-der to the unknown; it is not submission tofear and punishment. Buddhist faith is thecourageous acceptance of what one hasfound, out through careful observation andanalytical investigation. This is why Buddhismis called a doctrine of analysis. This religioncontains a profoundly scientific and psycholo-gical analysis of mind and matter which manygreat modern thinkers have admired.

Universal Lars 17

Universal LawsTo those who talked about the first cause ofthis world, the Buddha responded by sayingthat it is impossible to find a first cause sinceeverything is changing, interdependent andconditioned by other things. Something thatacts as the cause in the present may becomethe effect in the future. Later that same effectmay again become the cause. Such pheno-menon continues ad infinitum. It is called theuniversal law of An icca or impermanency,With regard to the origin of the worlditself, the Buddha did not claim it was theproperty of Buddhism or that existing worldsystems and living things were controlledaccording to the Buddhist Order, but by uni-versal law or natural phenomenon. Man wassimply to accept his position in the world andregard himself and all things, animate andinanimate, as a compound. According to thescholar Dr, Rhys Davids, "in each individual,without any exception, the relation of itscomponent parts to one another is everchanging, so that it is never the same for two .consecutive moments. It follows that nosooner has separateness begun than dis-


10/21

l4solution, disintegration, also begins; therecan be no individuality without a puttingtogether; there can be no putting togetherwithout a becoming; there can be nobecom' lg without a becoming different; andthere r:on be no becoming different withoutdissolution, a passing away, which sooner orlater will become inevitably complete."The Buddha was the teacher who dis-covered the real nature of the universalcosmic law and who advised people to livein accordance with this law. He mentionedthat those who violate this law, such asgoing against nature, and leading an im-moral life, must be ready to face theconsequences. It is impossible to escapef rom the reactions of such cosmic lawssimply by praying to god, because thisuniversal law is unbiased. Yet the Buddhataught us how to stop the reactions ofcertain bad practices by doing more andmore good deeds, by training the mind anderadicating evil thoughts from the mind.After violating the cosmic order or theuniversal law there is no other method to getrid of the reaction except by co-operatingand conforming with the same cosmic law.

Mental Energy l,Mental Energy

The theory of Karma that the Buddha hasexplained is accepted by the world-farnousSwiss psychologist Carl Iung as "collectiveconsciousness". This is nothing but thedepository of karmic seeds in mental energy.As long as the collective consciousness andthe "will to live" remain in the mind, asmentioned by the philosophers, rebirth willtake place whether people believe it or not.The elements of the body may disintegratebut the rnental current together with the "willto live" will be transmitted and another lifewill be conditioned according to that collec-tive consciousness or Karma.Gravitation and the law of conservationof energy as discovered by the modernscientists like Newton, support the doctrineof Karma, or action and reaction as intro-duced by the Buddha.

Man Can Become GodBuddhism upholds the view that man isthe supreme being. He surpasses even the


11/21

l6 Why Buddhism?devas (gods) in wisdom and strength. TheBodhisatta left heaven and descended to thisworld in order to attain His Enlightenment.Why? Because gods have neither the puritynor the intelligence to achieve such highdevelopment as Enlightenment. Such statuscan only be gained by man.Buddhism gives pride of plact' to manwho lives in human society. The uniqtlenessof man among other living beings is wellrecognised. The ability to adapt to new situa-tions and control the environment are wellwithin man's capabilities. The Buddha gavedue recognition to the moral and intellectualdevelopment of man and further showed thepath to its fulfilment. Human birth is not amere chance of accident. The very existenceof man is due to his own karmic results. ThusBuddhism recognises the importance ofhuman birth. No other living beings possessthe q .ality of rational thinking. Hence thesupenority of man is upheld.The potentialities of man are enormous.The faculty of mind which man possesses canbe developed to a very great extent. Accord-ing to Buddhism, man need not depend onany kind of supernatural being. He hirnselfhas the capacity to develop up to the state of

The Nature of the Mind 17

attaining omniscience. The Buddha's analy-sis on this point was given after his ownEnlightenment which he attained withoutthe aid of any external supernatural power.According to the Buddha man can evenbecome a god if he leads a decent andrighteous life irrespective of his religiousbeliefs. But other religions advise man onlyto pray to god for blessings. They also preachthat only after death can man go to heaven.Yet such a heavenly experience will nevergrant man the privilege of becorning a god.The Buddha said that humans can expe-rience heavenly bliss within this life ifthey do not abused their position. Yet theBuddhist concept of god is different fromthat of other religions.

The Nature of the MtndThe rapid changes of rnind and the elementsof the body have all been explained inBuddhism. According to the Buddha, withevery fraction of a split second of time,menta I energy appears and disappears. 'Biology, physiology and psychology alsoaffirm this "fleeting nature of life" pheno-

ilI

Ix,


12/21

l8 Why Buddhism?mena. Therefore life is not static or readymade.Another noted psychologist, Prof. WilliamIames, has talked about the point-moment ofconsciousness. He explained how conscious-ness comes into being and passes away inrapid succession. According to the naturethat causes the continuous process of mind,as soon as a thought is born, it gives birth toanother thought and dies. The thought that isborn in turn gives birth to yet anotherthought and similarly dies, and so on.As to the question of how evil thoughtsoriginally appear in the mind, the answer canbe found in the Buddhist religion. The causeof evil thoughts is man's selfish motiveswhich exist due to craving for existence andsensual pleasure.

verything Is OpenWhen we study the life and the te achingsof the Buddha we can see that even, thingis open to everybody. There are no secretdoctrines. The events which occured through-out His whole life were like an open bookwithout any hidden and mystical incidents. ln

Evolving Llfe Process I9the eyes of the Buddha, what many peopleregard as "supernatural powers" are in factquite natural, only ordinary man cannotunderstand them. If all component things aresubiect to the natural laws of change, howcan we call them Supernatural powers? Eventhe Buddha's birth, enlightenment and deathtook place in normal circumstances. He livedas a normal religious teacher.

Evolving Ltfe ProcessThe Buddha has pointed out the process ofevolving from animal life into human statusand from human status into divine status *divine life into Brahma status and Brahma lifeinto perfect life, One can also proceed from anoble pure life directly to perfect holy life. Thereverse order was also pointed out - that iS,descending from human life into animal life.

Moderate Way of LlfeAll religions follow a course of training inorder to groom the 'inner-self'. The avoid-ance of extremes in the sphere of self-


13/21

20 Why Buddhism?indulgelce and self-mortification bear thecharacteristics of Buddhist grooming. TheMiddle Way is the avoidance of bothextremes, eternalism and annihilation.The Buddha advised people to follow thismiddle path in every aspect of their life. Butrnany people have not realised the realmeaning and usefulness of this noble middlepath The deeper meaning of this middlepath goes beyond the concern with righteousbehaviour, avoiding extremes and taking amoderate course in life. The deeper meaningis learning how to use our human sensefaculties most effectively, without misuse orabuse. The formation of the senses is for ourown protection, as well as the protection ofthose around us. Then we can all live insafety and peace. All religions teach us totrain the 'inner-self'; but unfortunately manypeople spend their whole life in pursuit ofthe gratification of their senses and misusethem to satisfy only their desire. Finally, theircraving becomes so intense that satisfactionbecomes an obsessive pursuit. Manyimmoral practices, cruel deeds, mentaldisturbances, nervous breakdowns, unheal-thy competition, tensions and unrest, whichare very common in our modern society, can

Gentle Attitude 2lbe traced to this discontented mind whichhabitually misuses the senses. Then thepower of the senses gradually starts to decay,and as a result many types of sicknessesaffect the human organs. That is how manpays the price for misusing or over-taxing hisown senses If there is too much attachmentto sensual pleasure in this world, we have notime to mould and prepare ourselves for ourfuture life or the next world.

Gentle AttttudeThe Buddha told that it would be cruel andunfair for us to destroy living being for anypurpos; but many other religious teachershave ignored this important sympatheticaspect. Destroying the lives of other livingbeings is not the only way to deal with theirbeing a nuisance. ln fact human beings havebecome the real nuisance to all the otherliving beings.The aim of Buddhism is not to createcertain wild imaginations in our mind - it isnot to please mere hu man emotion orindulge in certain worldly desires. The aim ofBuddhism is to awaken mankind to the

t,


14/21

22 Why Buddhism?possibility of attaining the highest happinessthrou,;h.a clear understanding of life andnature.

Real Nature of LifeThe purpose of life is a very complicatedissue since different people give differentinterpretations. But from the Buddhist pointof view, the purpose of life is only to find outa complete solution to the problems of lifea nd attain everlasting happiness. Medicaltheory, science and technology have yet todiscover any remedy for man's mental pain,frustration and dissatisfaction in life, yetBuddhism offers us a very clear picture bydeclaring its stark prognosis: suffering has ;cause, and so does Happiness.

What is Wisdom?From the Buddhist point of view, wisrcom isbased on right understanding and rightthought, the realisation of universal law andthe development of insight. Insight meansnot only to see the truth, but to perceive the

A Practlcal Mind 23

way of complete liberation from the state ofunsatisfactoriness in Iife.Therefore, real wisdom cannot be foundin academic institutions or in the laboratoriesof scientific research, nor even in a place ofreligious worship where people go and prayor perform rites and rituals. wisdom is withinthe mind itself, when experience, under-standing, realisation and purification arecomplete, this wisdom, comprising of thehighest perfection, will arise and be seen. Theaim of life is the attainment of this wisdom.Instead of searching into outer space, manshould make the effort to explore the spacewithin Then he could reach his final eoai.Man can overcome the worldly forceswhich hamper his progress througl-r streng-thening and purifying his mind. Then h;would reach a supramundane state ofhappiness where evil forces have no power tofunction anymore

A Practical Methodone ph ilosopher holds the opin ion that 'religion contradicts all that man has everexperienced. lf this is so, Buddhism does not


15/21

24 Why Buddhism?belong to that type of religion, since Buddhahas taught us everything from H is ownexperience.

Many philosophers, great thir,ker; andscientists have only relied on their worldlyknowledge and power of intellect. Throughthe discipline of their minds they havemanaged to find out many new things. yeteven with such intellectual knowledge it isdiff icu lt to understand the real nature ofexisting phenomena without the puri-fication of one's mind. When we studycertain statements made by some scholarswe can see some truth in their sayings, Butmany of their sayings remain as dryph ilosophy because they have only usedtheir nind with much illusion and concepts.But the Buddha used His brain and hearttogether as refined intelligence coupledwith compassion. Thus he gained thewisdom to understand things in their properperspective. This is why His teachings neverbecame mere dry philosophical theory, butremain a practical method for solvinghuman problems. Religion is meant for theemancipation of living beings, Therefore allreligions must make a concerted effort to fillthe gap of human limitation through the

Does Religion Hinder Human progress? 2jscience of spiritual insights and the moraltraining of the innr-self. Religion andethics are inseparable.

Does Reltglon HtnderHuman Progress?Many scientists, great thinkers and philo-sophers have adopted a hostile attitudetowards religion. They say religion hinder theprogress of mankind and misleads them byintroducing ridiculous, superstitious beliefsand practices which keep people blinded toscientific facts. But when we ascertain howthey define religion, we can understand thatBuddhism does not belong to those religiousgroups. Therefore, from the intellectuals'own point of view, Buddhism is clearly ascientific religion and cannot be dismissedon superstitious grounds. what is more, theBuddha revealed not only the man-madetruth, but the absolute spiritual truth as well.lf indeed there is truth, it will remain forever

as truth. lf any truth is changeable under any,conditions, then it is certainly not theabsolute truth. This is why the truth asrevealed by the Buddha is called the noble-rif: .. *t


16/21

26 Why Buddhism?truth the truth which leads man to be anoble person. There will always remain anoble, righteous way of life which is strongenough to face any intellectual and scientificchallenge. In this respect, the Buddha'smessage is unshakeable. Intellectuals willsurely respect to this way of life if they onlyunderstand what the Buddha really taught.Whether religious labels exist or not, theteaching of the Buddha will continue toprevail as a noble way of perfecting life. Theessentials of the teaching are set in place.Even with the passing of time, people willnot need to change it.

A Ltberal ReligionAnother important point which the Buddhataught is how to live, work and Ccr-tffleratewith the followers ol'other religior,s withoutdisturbing or ridiculing their practices. Thisliberal and understanding style of religion isvery important if we are to live peacefullywithout religious preiudices, strife andconflicts. The Buddha's message of peaceand tolerance is indeed remarkable. Tole-rance is a glorious virtue, It is essential

for the peacefulpeoples anywhere

A Religion of Freedom 27

co-existence of differentand any time.A Religion of Freedom

The f reedom that the followers of theBuddha enioy is commendable. In fact, manyBuddhists have not even realised thisthemselves, We have full freedom to iudgeand to think for ourselves whether to acceptor to reiect anything. We are not bound toaccept anything in the name of religion,either simply by thinking of the greatness ofa particular religious teacher or by thinkingthat it is our bounden duty to accept thewords of holy scriptures or the ways ofancient traditions. Buddhists are at liberty toinvestigate for themselves and accept orreiect any proposition irr accordance to theirown conviction, based on Sensible reason.Buddhists never say that they are forbiddento do this or that. They simply say that theydislike doing something because it createsSome troubles, miseries, pain or disturbancea mongst the masses. Conversely, theypractise certain good deeds not becausetheir religion asks them to do so, but


17/21

28 Why Buddhism?because ' they themselves have come torealise the value and meaning of such gooddeeds for the welfare of themselves andothers.This is a religion of personal freedomwhich never restricts the affairs of individualsso long as they are not immoral or harmful.Buddhists are granted full freedom toorganise their family affairs in keeping withbasic religious principles. For intelectuals aswell, this religion is like a gold mine in whichto conduct meaningful research on thedeeper aspects of psychology, philosophy,science and the universal law. Buddhismholds the greatest wealth for humankind, andthe ultimate key to our spiritu;ll developmentand liberation from unsatisfactoriness andunrest. This is why for more than 2500 yearsBuddhism has managed to convince themasses in many parts of the world withoutsupport of political powers, In the time of theBudd'ha, people welcomed and invited Histeaching as a goodwill message of peace andharmony worthy to be spread around the

world, This is why Buddhists have introducedtheir religion without any difficulty andwithout resorting to any kind of exploitationor violence.

Buddha Preached through His Own Experience 29

Buddha Preached throughHis Own ExperienceThis is the only religion which explainsth ings based on the h u man experience,realisation, wisdom and enlightenment of itsfounder, and never as divine revelation orcommandment dictated by a god. It affirmsthat hurnan problems must be understoodby fellow human beings through their ownexperience and by developing altruisticvirtues. solutions to problems have got tobe found through the purification and deve-lopment of the human mind. It is thereforeeasy to understand why some people saythat Buddhism is not a religion at all, buthumanism. Yet humanism is the beginningof every religion. Buddha did not introduceHimself as a supernatural saviour. He didnot acknowledge the existence of anysaviour. According to Him, only we can saveourselves.such an attitude makes Buddhism theleast dogmatic of all religions. The Buddha

explained the nature of suffering, the causeof suffering, and how to get rid of suffering.He also explained the nature of bliss whichpeople can experience when they free


18/21

30 tVhy Buddhism?themselves from suffering. External forcescannot bring freedom. Bliss comes only ifpeople work for it.

Three CharacterlsticsThe three characteristics of everything in thisuniverse are clearly explained only in thisreligion, They are the impermanency ofeveryth ing, the u nsatisfactories of every-thing, and the impersonality or unsubstan-tiality of everything. This is the rnostremarkable discovery of the Buddha. But dueto the ignorance or limited mental capacityof mankind, very few people can comprehendsuch a lofty and sublime teaching.

Cause of Our ProblernsAnother important aspect of this religion isthe explanation of the main cause of humanproblems and sufferings. According to theBuddha, we face the problems of th ismundane world due to the strong selfishcraving which exists in our minds. He hasrevealed that there are three kinds of craving

Th ree Characteristlcs 7lforces in our minds. These ?f:- craving forexistence, craving for worldly or sensualindu lgence, and craving for non-existence.These three cravings are responsible for ourexistence, our rebirth, and all the thousandsof other problems and mental disturbances.To understand the profound meaning ofBuddha's interpretation, it has to be con-sidered very carefully and wisely. Only thencan realisation come.World famous philosophers and psycho-logists have also explained these threeforces, but they used different terms.The German writer Arthur Schopenhauerexplained these three forces as sexuality,self-preservation and suicide. The Austrianpsychologist Sigmund Freud explainedthese same things as libido, ego instinct anddeath instinct. It was Freud's famed studentCarl Jung who said, "From the sources ofinstinct spring forth everything creative",This is the way gr"eat intellectuals areprepared to support the truth revealed bythe Buddha twenty-five centuries ago. Butwhen we study the explanations of thesemodern thinkers we Can See that the Buddha'went far beyond their limited understandingcapacity.


19/21

32 Why Buddhism?The Cause of Sufferin g:Ouestlons and Answers

It is evident that the world is full of variouskinds of sufferings such as death, decay,sorrow, lamentation, pain, despair, etc. TheBuddha pointed out that birth (iati) bringsforth sufferings. If there is no birth, there isno scope for suffering.O: Why is there birth?A: The sub-conscious process of becomingas a combination of mind and body(lt,rma-rupal (bftava) causes birth. In other

words, where there is bhavo, there is birth.O: What leads to the formation of thecombination of body and mind?A: Thoughts grasped by Tanha or craving(upadana\ lead to the formation of Karmictendencies and lead to the mind-bodycombination.O: What leads to clinging?A: Craving {tanha} leads to clinging.O: What produces craving?

The Cause of Suffering:0uestions and Answers 33

Craving is produced by sensations orfeeling (vedanal .What generates feeling?It is the contact (of the senses with theirobiects) which generates feeling.Why is there such contact?The six sense-bases (salayatana) are thecauses of contact.How do the six sense-bases come intobei ng?Psycho-physica I com binations (nama-rupa) brings forth the six sense-bases.How do the psycho-physical combi-nations come into beng?With the appearance of inactive orpassive consciousness (vinntna or vipaftacitta) the psycho*physica I combinationscome into being

Q: How does passivea ppea r?

con sciou sn essIt is the outcome of latent Karmicenergies (sankharal .

A:

o:A:

Q:A:

o:A:

o:A:

, f, . r,


20/21

34 Why Buddhism?o: How do Ka rm ic energies (sankharal

a ppea r?A: Their appearence depends upon ignor-ance (avijja) which is a facet of Ta nha.Thus it is apparent that ignorance (aviiia)is at the base of the whole process of birth ororigination. However, this beginning cannotbe taken as a 'prima causa', a metaphysicalcause or as a cosmogenic principle; but as acond ition u nder wh ich development takesplace. ln dependence upon the one, anothermay arise In fact this is a conditional arising'paticca samuppadA' , The entire phenomenon is

a series called the cycle of existence or 'bfravacaftka', Any link can be combined with anyother. These links (i e. ignorance, ':arm icenergies, etc. ) are known as the tw:lvespokes of the wheel of existence.Further, these spokes are linked withthe past,present and future in successionor series In the background of past life,ignorance and karmic energies are found.itlrin the sphere of the present life there areReactive types of consciousness, psycho-hysica I com binations, the six sense-bases,sensation, craving, clinging,for-of karmic tendencies. ln the future

The Cause of Suffering:Ouestions and Answers 3,are seen the re-birth and attendant suffer-ings. Thus the cycle of existence of being islinked with the periods of past, present andfuture. lt goes on.

Here we have a religion in which we canfind true religious principles which can bemaintained without changing the essentialideas and principles at any time, anywhere,under any circumstances. Yet, the capacity ofhumans to value these religious ideas maywell disappear in course of time. Man is likelyto experience difficulty in practising theseprinciples while living in a corrupted society.But the value of this precious golden dis-cipli ne will rema in and be appreciated byu nderstanding people everywhere.It is hoped that the explanations givenhere will serve as an appropriate answer tothe question posed, "Why Buddhism?" - andwhy Buddhism is still so vitally neededespecially in this modern era.


21/21

BunuHFT MnslonAny SoclETyoun Mtsst0ilTo build a centre of excellence for the propagation of the Buddha Sasanaand the promotion of the buddhist way of life.ouR vtstoil1. Vihara

To build and maintain a vihara that is conducive to the propagation ofthe Buddha Sasana & the promotion of the buddhist way of iife.2. 0hammaduta WorksTo propagate tne Buddha Sasana.To encourage the practice of Dhanrma in our daily life.To build a support structure for Sangha and full time practitioners activ*ly involve in Dhammaduta works.3. Welfare and charitable worksTo initiate and encourage social wellare and charitable wsrks to helpcreate a caring and sharing society with good virtues of generosity andcompassion.4. Buddhist GultureTo encourage buddhist arts and cultural works that are compatible tobuddhist way of life,FellowshlpTo foster fellowship amongst the buddhist community.To have close interaction with other buddhist organisations.Buddhist Education and TrainingTo implement systematic buddhisl education, training and developmentfor our children and youth so that they grgw up ai good and usefulbuddhists.To implement leadership and management training for aspiring buddhistprofessionals for efficient management of budOhiit organisations,To set up a well-equipped library as an inlormation and resource cen-tre for the study and research of buddhist works.lnformation DlssemlnaffonTo implement an effective information dissemination system for mem-bers and devotees through newsletters, communication link, publica-tions, etc.

trJ.

BuooHt$T MnsloilAny SoclETy- A Buddhist $piritual and Gommunity centre For you -With the co-operation of the Sasana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana Society,the Buddhist Missionary Society (BMS) is dedicated to the spirituatand communal needs of fellow Buddhists as well as the welfare ofthe general community, irrespective of their religious beliefs. Ourregular Dhamma activities include:o Sunday Puia $eruice and Dhamma Tallso Sunday Dhamma $chool lor Childreno illeditation and Chanling Classes. Dhamma Gamps and Meditation Retreabo Youth $ection Gatheringso Buddhist Library $erviceWe are also actively involved in community services and fellowshipprograms such as:o Wellare seruices at Old Folks Homes, Oryhanages and otherwelfare institutionso Eye Pledge and Blood Donation Campaignso Fellowship outingso Annual Ohamma ExhibitisnsWe welcome you to join us in our activities. Do bring your family,relatives, and friends along! May we walk the Noble Eightfold Pathtogether for a fulfilling life until we attain the Highest Happiness!

We can be reached at:Buddhist Missionary Society,Buddhist Maha Vihara,123, Jalan Berhala,50470 Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia.Tel: 03-27 41886, 27 4lBBgFacsimile: 03-2733835

6

7

why buddhism2

Documents