La
Via Del Nirvana by Gedun Tharchin - English translation of the first chapter
Buddhism, The Dharma of Buddhas
Every
time we get in touch with something new, something different than we
have direct knowledge and experience of, we spontaneously react to it
with fear and suspicion. This happens because we do not yet
understand it. Anyhow, fear and suspiciousness can be a hindrance to
our understanding.
During
the time when the Buddha was deepening his knowledge, he was often
confronted with doubts and criticism about his teachings. The
Buddha, responded to whoever
approached him expressing their doubts regarding his teachings by
saying: “You will always entertain
doubts and uncertainties about things you have not experienced
yourselves. Therefore I am asking you to come
along and check up for yourselves before you decide whether to accept
what I am teaching or not”.
Similarly,
you who are reading will have to understand what the Buddha said
before you make up your mind about whether it is appropriate or not
to accept its foundation. During forty-five years the Buddha has
given us many teachings. If by studying and investigating you come
across some teachings that bring you benefit then make them your
teachings and abandon the parts you consider to be superfluous or not
very convincing.
The
Dharma, Buddha’s teaching, is a way of life which is based on the
cultivation of Wisdom; therefore, in reality, if one wishes to
practise the way of Buddhism, one does not necessarily have to become
a Buddhist.The
Buddha often said: “I am only a guide showing you the way to
Liberation, you will have to be the ones to attain Liberation
yourselves.”
Buddha
therefore is not considered a liberator of mankind. He is a teacher
and a guide whose example can be followed by whoever wishes to.
During
all his lives the Buddha has accumulated so much morality and many
practises of ascetism until his efforts became successful and allowed
him to reach Enlightenment. If we too want to separate from ties and
suffering and wish to achieve Wisdom and Enlightenment, we can follow
his example, whatever the conditions we find ourselves in life are.
Even
if the Buddha cannot save anyone he represents an inspiring example
of the way we can attain the Wisdom leading to Enlightenment and
Liberation. Whoever wishes to truly deepen the principles of the
Dharma will have to do it with an open and inquisitive mind. That is
how any initial sense of suspiciousness eventually disappears. When
judgement is not conditioned by distrust fear will be dispelled.
According
to the Dharma the effect of turning to the Buddha as an authority, as
a teacher, comes about from having critically investigated and
examined his essential teaching: The Four Noble Truths. Only after
having checked up on the authenticity and reliability of his doctrine
can we accept the Buddha as our trustworthy guide. Only at this point
we will be able to state “I take refuge in the Buddha”.
The
Buddha once said: “Everyone is
their own saviour or their own enemy.” This
statement is valid for all of us: when we try to cultivate goodness
and positive thoughts we save ourselves, on the other hand, when we
allow negativities to dominate us we destroy ourselves.”
According
to Buddhist scriptures the world as we know it is created by the
ripening of the force of our previous actions, our karma. Whichever
of our actions leave an imprint in our mental continuum, it will be
the imprint contributing to our future development. Buddhists believe
that the aim of every sentient being is to attain Enlightenment, or
Buddhahood, which is an internal state of happiness and ultimate
well-being.Following
Buddha’s teachings implies the intent to define the problems we
encounter in daily life and to indicate the way to solve
them. According to this doctrine, pain and discomfort that
afflict our society are of two types: physical and mental.
In
this context the Buddha stated that, even if one is free of physical
pain for a long time, there is no being in Samsara, or
mundane existence, who is free of mental discomfort. Discomfort is
defined by the state we find ourselves in when we have been harmed.
When desire, anger and jealousy arise, they cause discomfort in our
minds. All beings are social: it is a
fact that no one can live outside society. Every time our senses come
into contact with an object we perceive we react with pleasure or
disgust, desire or aversion. Every time negative emotions arise
within us we feel discomfort.
If
we experience pain or unhappiness we complain. It
is at that point that negative emotions run through our
consciousness. When someone opposes us we get
upset, and this does not only happen due to the other person’s
behaviour, but also because we easily fall prey to anger. If these
feelings were not part of us we would not develop them when dealing
with actions or words we get confronted with. The Buddha said that we
are responsible for our suffering as well as for our happiness: we
are the ones who create paradise or hell. By using a metaphor we
could therefore consider the Buddha to be an amazing doctor, the one
who has diagnosed our illness and has been able to prescribe the
appropriate cure. Consequently, he becomes our refuge.
Dharma is
the medicine prescribed by the Buddha.The
Dharma presents three aspects:
Sila morality;
Samadhi concentration;
Prajna Wisdom.
Generally
speaking Sila stands
for ethic rule. Traditionally these ethic rules are collected in the
form of various precepts, aimed to help the conduct of lay people or
Sangha. Furthermore there are Pratimoksha precepts,
also known as individual Liberation vows of the Small Vehicle (also
known as Hinayana),
the Bodhisattva precepts,
known as vows for the universal Liberation of the Great Vehicle
(Mahayana),
and the Tantric vows belonging to the mystical tradition of Buddhism
(Vajrayana).
Sila,
or morality, basically means not to do any harm. None of our actions
or words should be used to cause harm or discomfort to another
sentient being. The very moment we cause harm to a being and we make
them unhappy we fail to meet Sila.
The
Buddha taught to treat even the lowest creature as we would like to
be treated ourselves.Therefore,
Buddhist history, theory and practice can be summarized into two
principles:Development
of a world vision based on the understanding of dependent
origination of all events;The
practise of a non-violent, compassionate and innocent way of
life follows from that.Samadhi,
or concentration corresponds to Meditation. Meditation is the method
that allows us to control our emotions, thought and feelings in daily
life. If we are not able to watch our mind and our feelings how can
we be faithful to ethic vows then?
Whatever virtuous action we do we
have to remember that the Dhammapada starts
like this:
“The
mind is the predecessor of any negative state of mind, the mind
prevails.
Whoever
speaks or acts with a corrupted mind will endure suffering.
Whoever
speaks or acts with a pure mind will be accompanied by happiness.”
The
Buddha also said:
“The
conquest of millions of enemies in a battle is not a real conquest.In
reality, the most noble hero is the one who conquers himself.”
Prajna,
Wisdom, in this context means the understanding of the true nature of
our life. When we realise that existence is changeable in its nature,
full of suffering and empty of a permanent self, such cognition can
chase away all our negative energies: when Wisdom arises it is
possible to eradicate all faults and latent negative dispositions. It
is comparable to light appearing to dissipate darkness. Such form of
Wisdom can be achieved through meditation and represents the
method Dharma uses
to cure our suffering.
Whoever
practices Sila, Samadhi and
Prajna and through practising
those means has at some level purified their mind, can be said to
have entered the Sangha,
the holy community. If we want to be cured from our disease we have
to follow the example of the Sangha community and take refuge in it.By
understanding the real meaning of taking refuge in the Three Jewels
one will comprehend that in fact Buddhism does not exist. Whoever
holds the wish to cure their own discomfort can and must practise the
triple Dharma;
whoever practises it will lead a pure and happy life.
The
essence of Buddha’s teachings is summarized as follows in verse 183
of the Dhammapada:
This is the Buddha’s teaching,
Learn
to do good actions.
Stop
doing bad actions.
Make
your mind pure.
Therefore
Buddhists affirm that Wisdom and Compassion are complementary virtues
and that they should be cultivated contemporaneously if one wishes to
attain the Ultimate Truth. Ultimate truth does not depend on time or
space, on culture or geopolitics even though mankind can express it
very differently. In his first
teaching the Buddha introduced the Four Noble Truths and the Gospel
also says: “Get to know the truth, knowing the truth will set you
free.”
Attaining
knowledge of the Truth is the most worthy scope for being a human,
anywhere and in any time the knowledge of the Truth cannot be
realised through blind faith. “Seeing is believing”, this is the
rule of the profound vision no one should neglect.
For
this purpose I would like to present to you with a short anecdote.
The famous Buddhist sovereign Ashoka who lived in India in the third
century before Christ, got to write the following decree on a marble
column that was put in a special place in Sarnath, near
Benares: “Whoever does not
respect other people’s religion does not respect their own. Whoever
respects other people’s religion also respects their own.” I
am convinced of the truth of this statement and this conviction is
one of my principal practices.
As
long as space remains, As
long as sentient beings remain, Until
then, may I too remain. And
dispel the miseries of the world.
i Buddha: from bodhi which means awakening; the one who attains Awakening: Lit. the Awakened.
ii Sangha: in a close sense it stands for the community of monks and nuns; in a broader sense it indicates the whole Buddhist community formed by religious and lay people.
