WHY BUDDHISM? (completed) (FD16072020-9)
*mandarin words*
WHY BUDDHISM
*dharma wheel image*
*mandarin words*
KWAN INN TENG FOUNDATION
next page
WISDOM SERIES NO.16
*mandarin words*
next page
*all in mandarin words*
page 1 until page 24
FOREWARD
It is with great pleasure that I went through the few pages of this wonderful booklet on Buddhism. Almost every sentence of it illumines the gloomy heart of the Reader. It supplies precise but brief answers mainly to the two questions- Why there is religion? and Why there is Buddhism? The pages prepare a colourful picture of Buddhism in its nature colours, and the picture is more than a painted one that depicts the imagination of the artist. The more times the reader reads it the more new things appear before his inquisition eye. The thoughts are well balanced and full of truth? The long experience of the author as the Chief Buddhist High Priest of Malaysia and his long scholarly and pious life as Buddhist Monk of great repute are well earned qualifications to write such a useful and instructive booklet in such a brief way. The question 'Why Buddhism?' is here well answered.
Dikwela Piyananda,
(M.A. P.hd. Dip. in Ed.)
Buddhist Vihara,
5017, 16th street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20011, U.S.A
page 25
THE AIM OF BUDDHISM
Freed am I, O Bhikkhus, from all bonds, whether divine or human. You, too , O Bhikkhus, are freed from all bonds whether whether divine or human.
"Go forth, O Bhikkhus, for the good of many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the good, benefit and happiness of gods and men...Let not two go by one way. Preach, O Bhikkhus, the Dhamma, excellent in the beginning, excellent in the middle, excellent in the end, both in spirit and in the letter. Proclaim the Holy life altogether perfect and pure.
"There are beings with a little dust in their eyes, who, not hearing the Dhamma, will fall away. There will be those who understand the Dhamma.
(THE BUDDHA.)
page 26
WHY BUDDHISM
FOUNDATION OF RELIGIONS
Before we discuss this subject "WHY BUDDHISM", we must find out why religion or how the idea of religion started in man's mind at the beginning.
Thousands of years ago when man's mind started thinking about various kinds of natural phenomena in this world, he found many wonderful experiences. When certain natural forces or phenomena were not in his favour he had to suffer.He had seen disasters, and terrific incidents. Then he started to think of how to find out a solution to get rid of these unfavourable conditions which created fear, suspicion, insecurity, tension and suffering. He knew that these things were beyond the comprehension of man's thinking power. Therefore he thought there must be some invisible powerful supernatural forces or persons behind all these things. Then he started to pray and worship them and started to make animal sacrifices in order to please these supernatural powers. He also started to praise and worship as thanksgiving when certain
page 27
phenomena were in his favour by thinking that these were the acts of gods. The aim of these practices was to gain protection and blessings from these gods to live in this world without facing much difficulties. That was how this belief of practice called religion originated. That was why man started to pray. When this concept of religion started to develop, certain other important practices were also incorporated into religion. They were religion rites, rituals and ceremonies or festivals. They organised them according to their traditions, customs and ways of life in their own respective countries.
The foundation of religion was laid by man at the beginning for self-preservation because of fear , suspicion, insecurity, misunderstanding of life and natural phenomena. These served as the foundation for religions as materials like bricks, stones, sand, cement and earth used for laying the foundation of a building.
After that, man erected this building of religion by introducing faith, offerings, prayers, vows, penalties, moral and ethics in the name of god in order to control mankind. And also to find out an eternal place called paradise for everlasting happiness and peace of the soul.
page 28
FOUNDATION OF BUDDHISM
Later, when we study how another religion called "Buddhism" came into existence, we find that Buddha had not used any of those age old beliefs. he did not introduce the concept of god, soul theory, eternal hell or eternal heaven to build up Buddhism. He did not make use of fear and distorted views regarding the natural phenomena in support of his religion. Nether did he ask for blind faith or unnecessary rites and rituals. He did not believe in self-torture, the imposition of penalties or commandments in the building up of Buddhism. He also did not seek for any message from elsewhere to build up Buddhism. He used different ideas or materials such as Right Understanding of the life, the world and nature of the natural phenomena or cosmic order and the real characteristics of mind and matter, elements and energies, moral and spiritual development, discipline, mental training and purification, knowledge, wisdom and enlightenment to erect this religious building. It is true that He used certain religious materials used by other religionists at that time such as Karma- action and reaction, rebirth and certain moral principles but not in the same manner or in the same sense. He refined them and introduced them in a rational, scientific and psychological way.
page 29
AN INDEPENDENT RELIGION
Buddhism is not a concoction of religions. Buddha did not collect materials from other religions or from here and there to build up Buddhism. It had its own characteristics and identity.
By realising that no other religious teacher had found the absolute truth and final salvation of man, he pointed out that others had developed only certain worldly powers and could manage to attain only certain stages of spiritual development without complete purification of the mind, free from all superstitious beliefs, impurities, illusion, delusion, imagination, hallucination and ignorance.
The real meaning or the purpose of this word "religion" can be understood when we studied the way how the Buddha introduced this "religious way of noble life". If we were to utilise the word religion to introduce the teachings of Buddha, we must also understand the different interpretations givens to this word by other religionists. Then anyone can understand "Why Buddhism" is needed while there are many other religions.
page 30
NO DOGMAS
The Buddha could manage to remove certain misconceptions which had been held by people for thousands of years. For example, in those days everybody the this world believed that the sun and moon rotated daily round the earth. People had this belief due to lack of proper knowledge of the world system. But when Copernicus discovered and proved that it is not the sun and the moon that rotated the earth but that this earth goes round the sun, then slowly people realised that it is true. There was another misconception people had about the earth. For thousands of years people believed that the earth was flat. Galileo discovered and proved that the earth is round but not flat. Later people accepted that truth also. When Copernicus discovered that the sun is the centre of our solar system, people had to give up the former believe that the earth is the centre of our solar system. The belief that many ancient philosophers had up to the 19th century that the atom is the ultimate entity of the matter, and that it is impossible to split it, was given up when nuclear scientists managed to split it; likewise the belief that the people had for thousands of years that the soul is a permanent entity created by God had to be given up when the
page 31
Buddha pointed out and gave his reasons that it is a wrong concept and there is no such thing as permanent entity. To him it is only a dream. This belief exists in man's mind just like the visual object of rainbow colours whether there is no reality. The Buddha explained that the idea of soul is only a misunderstanding of man's consciousness. If there is a soul, is there any reason for the Buddha to hide it without revealing it to His Followers? Certainly not, particularly because this concept of soul theory is a very important issue to every other religionist.
The theory of evolution which was discovered by Charles Darwin disproved the then popular creation theory that the life was created by God. Geology, Biology and Physiology also explained very clearly that it had taken millions of years for the appearance of first life on this earth. These discoveries never contradict each other when one studies the teachings of the Buddha very carefully. Modern discovery of the gradual development of mineral life, plant life and other living things and living beings coincided with the teaching of the Buddha.
To the question how life came into existence, the Buddha gave a simple and reasonable answer. the Buddha gave a simple and reasonable answer. He said life is only a combination of mind and
page 32
matter. Further he defined the mind as composed of perception, conception, mental formations and passive consciousness. Again he analysed the matter into four elements as solidity, fluidity, heat and motion.
When we study the explanation of the Buddha about the Cosmos we find that He mentioned the existence of certain living beings, both fortunate and unfortunate, not only in this world but also in other certain planets.
The modern scientists and astronomers are open minded and conceded the possibility of the existence of some living beings in certain other planets.
Many of those traditional religious beliefs are exactly like the former beliefs about the world system and the origin of life. But the Buddha's teaching are akin to the new discoveries.
The belief that religious rites and rituals were the only important practices for man to find his salvation was not supported by the Buddha. According to the Buddha the development of morality, concentration or the purification of mind are the important aspects of religious life for the final salvation.
He pointed out that for a man to be religious, he must lead a harmless, unblameable, respect-
page 33
able, decent, noble and pure life. The mere act of praying or making offerings do not by itself, make a man to be religious man to gain his perfection and salvation.
He also advised people to keep away from evil practices. The idea of keeping away evils must be for the welfare of the living beings and not because of the fear of god or punishment. At the same time He advised us to cultivate the good humane qualities, practise good deeds and help others without any selfish motives.
The Buddha was the only religious teacher who gave the highest credit to man's intelligence. He advised us not to become slaves to external agencies but to develop our hidden power with self-confidence.
He also pointed out that man is responsible for everything in this world. His pain and pleasure both were created by him and he has the ability to get rid of his sufferings and maintain peace and happiness by using his effort, and wisdom without depending on external powers. Man's untrained mind is responsible for all the troubles, calamities, disturbances, unfavorable atmosphere and the changes of elements and matter. At the same time man's mind can change this unfortunate situation of the world and can make a peaceful, prosperous and happy
page 34
world for all to live in if man uses his mind properly. This can be done only through the purified mental energy.
Face Facts
This is a religion which always encourages man to face facts of life without acting as a hypocrite and accept the truth what or whenever it may be.Therefore, Buddhists do not reject the facts pertaining to worldly matter discovered by great thinkers and scientists. Although the Buddha had paid more attention to spiritual development,he never neglected man's worldly progress. In His teachings we can find some sound practical advice for man to work properly without wasting valuable time and effort and also to act wisely for the progress of mankind.He said that man should fulfill his duties towards his family, relatives, friends, community, his country and the whole world. Therefore, Buddhist should not ignore their duties and obligation to make this a happy and peaceful world by contributing their share within their capacity. He also did not interfere with the affairs of government or with reasonable laws imposed by the government. He was not against any social custom and tradition if they are harmless and
page 35
useful to the society. At the same time, he also never sought political or military power to introduce his way of religious life although the kings and the ministers were followers of him.
This is a religion which teach us to serve others, to sacrifice our own comfort for the sake of suffering humanity, and to observe religious precepts or disciplines voluntarily nut not as commandments imposed by some unseen beings.By observing such good principles according to our own conviction.not only the do we get the chance to be perfect but we also help others to live in peace.
COME AND SEE THE RESULTS IMMEDIATELY
According to this religion we can see the results of most of our good and bad actions within this life time. Heavenly bliss or Nirvanic bliss can be experienced within this life time. It is not necessary to wait to see the results only after our death as taught by many other religions.
page 36
That is why the Buddha always welcomes people to come and see his way of teachings but not to come and believe at once. He also advised people how to choose a proper religion by considering and investigating in various ways without accepting anything through emotion or blind faith. This is why Buddhism is called a doctrine of analysis. Here in this religion, we can see the scientific and psychological analysis of mind and matter which modern great thinkers can appreciate.
UNIVERSAL LAWS
To those who talk about the first cause of this world, the Buddha has said that it is impossible to find a first cause since everything is changing, interdependent and conditioned by others. The thing that acted once as cause next become the effect, after sometime that same effect becomes the cause again. This phenomenon will continue without stopping. This phenomenon is called universal law of Anicca or impermanency.
The Buddha was the teacher who discovered the real nature of the universal cosmic law and advised people to leave in accordance with this law. He mentioned that those who violate this law, such as going against nature, and leading
page 37
an immoral life, must be ready to face the consequences. It is impossible to escape from the reactions of such cosmic laws simply by praying to god, because this universal law is unbiased. It is impossible to escape from the reactions of this law. But the Buddha has taught us how to stop the reactions of certain bad practices by doing more and more good deeds by training the mind and eradicating the evil thoughts from the mind. After violating the cosmic order there is no other method to get rid of the reaction except by co-operating with the same cosmic law.
MENTAL CURRENT
The Karma that the Buddha has explained is accepted by the world famous psychologist Carl Jung as collective consciousness. This is nothing but the depository of Karma seeds in mental energy. As long as the collective consciousness and "will to live" remain in the mind as mentioned by the philosophers also, rebirth will take place whether people believe it or not.The elements of the body may disintegrate but mental current together with the "will to live" will be transmitted and another life will be conditioned according to that collective consciousness.
page 38
Gravitation and law of conservation of energy discovered by the modern scientists like Newton support the doctrine of Karma or action and reaction introduced by the Buddha.
MAN CAN BECOME GOD
According to the Buddha man can even become a god if he leads a decent and righteous way of life irrespective of his religious beliefs, but other religion only advise man to pray to god to get blessings. They also preach that only after death can man go to heaven, but that heavenly bliss or experience does not mean that man too can get the privilege to become a god. However, Buddhist concept of god is different from that of other religions.
No founder of a religion has ever said that the followers too can one day get the chance to gain the same experience, the same peace, happiness and the same salvation as did the founder of that religion. But the Buddha has said that any one can become a Buddha if one can practise the same perfection, the same method practised by Him.
THE NATURE OF THE MIND
The rapid changes of the mind and the elements of the body have been explained in
page 39
Buddhism. According to the Buddha in every fraction of a split second the mind appears and disappears. Biology, physiology and psychology also teach the same nature of changes in life. Therefore life is not static.
Another psychologist, Prof. William James has explained about the point-moment of consciousness. he pointed out how consciousness comes into being and passes away again in rapid succession.
According to the nature that causes the continous process of mind, as soon as a mind is born, it gives birth to another mind and dies. The mind that is born in turn gives birth to another mind and dies, and so on.
To the question how evil thoughts appeared in man's mind at the beginning, the answer can be found in this religion. The cause of those evil thoughts is man's selfish motives which exist due to craving for existence.
EVERYTHING IS OPEN
When we study the life and the teachings of the Buddha we can see that everything is open to everybody. There are no secret doctrines. The events which took place during his whole life were open and there were no hidden and
page 40
mystical incidents.In the eyes of the Buddha, so called supernatural powers to many people are not supernatural but only natural phenomena which ordinary man cannot understand.
If the component things are subject to the natural laws of change, decay and death, how can we introduce them as supernatural powers?
Even the Buddha's birth , enlightenment and death had also taken place in an open area. He lived as a normal religious teacher.
PROCESS OF EVOLVING
The Buddha has pointed out the process of evolving from the animal life into human status and from human status into divine status. Divine life into Brahma status and Brahma life into perfect life. One can also proceed from noble pure life directly into perfect holy holy life. The Buddha has pointed out the reverse order as well, that is, going from human life into animal life.
MODERATE WAY OF LIFE
The Buddha has advised people to follow the middle path in every aspect of their life. But not many people have not realised the real mean-
page 41
ing and usefulness of this noble middle path. The deep meaning of this middle path is not only righteous way of life, not only avoiding two extremes of life, and not only leading a moderate life but learn how to use our human senses or faculties without misusing or abusing them.The meaning of the formation of these sense is to protect our life, to avoid certain dangers and to find out our livelihood. But unfortunately, many people spend their whole life only for the gratification of these senses and misuse them to satisfy only their desires. Finally, their cravings becomes more intense but they never get the satisfaction they crave for. Many immoral practise, cruel deeds, mental disturbances, nervous breakdowns, unhealthy competition, tension and unrest which are very common in the modern society are due to this discontented mind which misused the senses. Then the instinctive power of these senses also gradually starts to decay and many types of sickness appear in human organs. That is how man pays the price for misusing or over-taxing his own five senses. If there is too much attachment to sensual pleasure in this world, we have no time to mould and prepare for our future life or the next world, then it will become a miserable one.
page 42
BUDDHIST ATTITUDE
The Buddha has advised that it is cruel and unfair for us to destroy any living being, but many, other religious teachers have ignored this aspect. Destroying the lives of other living beings is not only the solution to get rid of the nuisance created by them.
The aim of Buddhism is to awaken mankind to the attainment of the highest happiness through clear understanding of life and nature. Its aim is not to create certain wild imaginations in the mind or to please the emotion of the people or to indulge in uncertain worldly desires. It also does not promise eternal mundane pleasure anywhere.
REAL NATURE OF LIFE
Buddhism gives a clear picture of both side of life. The real nature of life, the cause of suffering, and the cause of happiness. Medical theory, science and technology have not discovered any remedy for man's mental pain, frustration and unsatisfactoriness of life.
The purpose of life is a very complicated issue since different people give different interpretations. However, from the Buddhist point of view it is only to find out a complete solution
page 43
for the problems of life and the attainment of unconditioned state of happiness.
WHAT IS WISDOM?
From the Buddhist point of view, wisdom is based on the right understanding and right thought, the realisation of the universal law and development of insight not only to see the truth but also to perceive the way for complete liberation of unsatisfactoriness of life.
Therefore, real wisdom cannot be found in academic institutions or in the laboratory of scientific research of in a place of worship where people always go and pray of perform certain rites and rituals. The wisdom is within the mind. When the experience, understanding, realisation and purification are completed, this wisdom, comprising of the highest perfection can be seen. The aim of life is the attainment of this wisdom. Instead of searching what there is in outer space if man can makes the effort to find out the nature of inner space, man can reach his final goal.
Man can get rid of the worldly natural forces which are not favourable for him by the strengthening and purification of his mind to attain supra-mundane state of happiness where these forces have no power to function anymore.
page 44
A PRACTICAL METHOD
One philosopher has said that religion contradicts all that man has ever experienced. If it is so Buddhism does not belong to that type of religion since Buddha has taught us everything through His experience.
Many philosophers, great thinkers and scientists have only used only their worldly knowledge, thinking power and wisdom to find out many things and they have expressed their views accordingly. Even with such intellectual knowledge it is impossible to understand the real nature of the phenomena without the purification of mind. When we study certain statements made by some scholars we can see some truths in their sayings in their sayings. But many of those sayings remain as dry philosophy because they have used only their brains with much illusion and egoism. But the Buddha has used His brain and heart both as refined human intelligence with compassion and wisdom to understand the things in their proper perspective. That is why His teaching has never become a dry philosophy or theory, but a practical method to solve human problems.
page 45
DOES REAL RELIGION HINDER WORLD PROGRESS?
Many scientists, great thinkers and philosophers have adopted a hostile attitude towards religions. They say religions hinder the progress of mankind and mislead them by introducing ridiculous, superstitious beliefs and practices and try to keep people away from facts discovered by the scientists. But when we ascertain the way how they explain the meaning of religion, we can understand that Buddhism does not belong to those religious groups. Therefore, in time to come if those intellectuals are going to oust or refute religion, it is impossible for them to throw away Buddhism as a false religion because, the Buddha has revealed absolute truth. If there is truth anywhere that will remain for ever as a truth, If any truth is changeable under certain conditions then it is not absolute truth. That is why the truth revealed by the Buddha is called Noble truth, That truth leads man to a noble man. Therefore, there will remain a noble, righteous way of life which is strong enough to face any intellectual and scientific challenge. In that respect the Buddha's message is unshakeable. Intellectuals surely give due respect to this way of life if they really can understand what the
page 46
Buddha taught. Therefore, the teaching of the Buddha will continue to be a way of life, continue to aspire for a noble, holy and perfect life, a life of peace and happiness whether religious labels exist or not.
A LIBERAL RELIGION
Another important point that the Buddha has taught us is how to live, work and cooperate with the follower of other co-religionists without disturbing them while practising our own religion. This type of liberal religion is very important if we are to live peacefully without religious prejudices and conflicts. The Buddha's peace message of tolerance is remarkable. It is a great virtue and is useful for peaceful co-existence in any country with any race at any time.
A FREE RELIGION
The freedom that the followers of the Buddha enjoy in this world is commendable. In fact, many Buddhist have not yet realised this. We have full freedom to judge and to think, either to accept or to reject anything. We are not bound to accept anything in the name of religion either simply by thinking of the greatness of the religious teacher or by thinking that it is our
page 47
duty to accept just because those teachings are found in our holy scripture or because they are our traditions or customs. Buddhists are at liberty to investigate and to accept if agreeable with their own conviction. Buddhists do not accept or reject anything without any sensible reasons. They never say that they are forbidden to do this or that. They say that they do not like to do this because it creates some troubles or miseries or pain or disturbance amongst the masses. They do certain good deeds not because Buddhism asks them to do so but because they realise the value and meaning of such good practices for the welfare of others. This is a religion of freedom which never restricts the personal affairs of man if they are not immoral or harmful. Buddhists have full freedom to organize their family affairs without violating the basic religious principles. This religion is like a gold mine to intellectuals to do some research work and to find out the deeper aspect of psychology, philosophy, science and the universal law, for the spiritual development and for the liberation of mankind from unsatisfactoriness and unrest. That is why for more than 2500 years Buddhism could manage to convince the masses in almost every Asian country. At that time people invited and welcome the Buddha's teaching as a peace message or a goodwill message. That is why
page 48
Buddhists could manage to introduce this religion without any difficulty, without adopting any kind of exploitation.
BUDDHA PREACHED THROUGH HIS OWN EXPERIENCE
This is the only religion which explained to mankind through experience, realisation, wisdom and enlightenment of the founder of this religion without introducing it as a message given by a god. Human problems must be understood by a human being through human experience by developing great humane virtues and should find out the solution to settle these problems by a human being through the purification and development of that human mind, and not through outsiders. That is why the Buddha did not introduce himself as a supernatural saviour. He did not acknowledge that there is such a saviour. According to him we are the only saviours to save ourselves.
THREE CHARACTERISTICS
The three essential characteristics of everything in this universe is clearly explained only in this religion. They are impermanency of every-
page 49
thing, unsatisfactories of everything and impersonality or unsubstantiality of everything. This is the most remarkable discovery of the Buddha. But due to ignorance of mankind very few can understand this kind of lofty and sublime teaching.
CAUSE OF OUR PROBLEMS
Another important aspect in this religion is the explanation of the main cause of human problems and sufferings. According to the Buddha, we are facing all these problems in this mundane world due to our strong craving which exists in our mind. He has revealed that there are three kinds of craving in our minds and these are responsible for our existence, rebirth and all the other thousands of problems and mental disturbances. They are:- craving for existence, craving for worldly or sensual indulgence and craving for non-existence. To understand the real meaning of this intepretation of the Buddha, we have to think about this very carefully and wisely until realisation comes to us.
World famous philosophers and psychologists also have explained the same three forces in
page 50
different languages as cause of existence. Arthur Schophenhour explain these three forces as sexuality, self-preservation and suicide. Psychologists like Sigmond freud explain the same things as libido, ego instinct and death instinct. Another psychologist, Carl Jung says: "From the sources of instinct spring forth everything creative". Now see how great intellectuals are prepared to support the truth revealed by the Buddha twenty-five centuries ago. However, when we examine these explanations, we can understand that Buddha has gone beyond the understanding capacity of other great thinkers regarding these issues.
CAUSE OF SUFFERINGS
Evidently the world is full of various kinds of sufferings such as death, decay, sorrow, lamentation, pain, despair, etc. The Buddha pointed out that birth (Jati) brings forth sufferings. If there is no birth, there is no scope for suffering.
Q: Why is there birth?
A: The sub-conscious process of becoming as a combination of mind and body (Namarupa) (bhava) causes birth. In other words, where there is bhava, there is birth.
*author note: namarupa mean name and form according to wikipedia . bhava mean generations of factors for rebirth.*
page 51
Q: What does lead to the formation of the combination of body and mind.
A: Thoughts grasped by Tanha (upadana) lead to the formation of Karmic tendencies and lead to mind-body combination.
Q: what does lead to clinging?
A: Craving (tanha) lead to clinging.
Q: What does produce craving?
A: Craving is produced by sensations or feelings (Vedana).
Q: What does generate feeling?
A: It is the contact (of the senses with their objects) with which generated feeling.
Q: Why is there such contact?
A: Six sense-bases (salayatana) are the causes of contact.
Q: How do the six sense-bases come into being?
A: Psycho-physical combination (namarupa) bring forth six sense-bases.
Q: How does the psycho-physical combination come into being?
A: With the appearance of inactive or passive consciousness (vinnana or vipaka citta) psychophysical combination comes into being.
page 52
Q: How does there appear passive consciousness?
A: It is the outcome of Karmic energies (sankhara)
Q: How do Karmic energies (sankhara) appear?
A: In dependence upon ignorance (avijja) which is a facet of Tanha Karmic energies appear.
Thus it is apparent that ignorance (avijja) is at the whole process. However, it cannot be taken as a 'prima causa', a meta-physical cause or a cosmogenic principle, but as a condition under which development takes place. In dependence upon the one another they arise. In fact this is a conditional arising 'paticca samuppada'. Entire series can be called as the cycle of existence 'bhava cakka'. Every link can be combined with another. These links (i.e. ignorance, Karmic energies etc.) are known as the twelve spokes of the cycle of existence.
These spokes are linked with the past, present and future in succession. In the back-ground of past life are found ignorance, Karmic energies. Within the sphere of present life there are reactive type of consciousness, psycho-physical com-
page 53
bination, six sense-bases, contact, sensation, craving, clinging, formation of Karmic tendencies. In the future are seen the re-birth and attendant sufferings. Thus the cycle of existence being linked with the periods of past, present and future goes on.
This is a religion in which we can find real religion principles, which can be maintained without changing the same basic ideas and principles at any time, anywhere, and under any circumstances. The understanding capacity of the value of these religious ideas may disappear from the man's mind. Man may experience the difficulty of practising these principles in a corrupted society. But the value of these precious golden discipline will be appreciated by every cultured and understanding man at anytime.
It is hoped that the explanation given here on would serve as an appropriate answer to the question posed "Why Buddhism" and as to why Buddhism is needed even in this modern era.
page 54
DONATED BY
KWAN INN TENG FOUNDATION
NOS. 1-3, JALAN 49E, PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA
TEL: 03-563702
For Free Distribution
Next page
*all in mandarin words*
next page
*mandarin words*
(By Walpola Rahula)
*mandarin words*
next page
Printed by Percetakan Kit Sang Sdn. Bhd
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author got this free book in a temple in year 2017. This book has the sign of ink faded.
WHY BUDDHISM
*dharma wheel image*
*mandarin words*
KWAN INN TENG FOUNDATION
next page
WISDOM SERIES NO.16
*mandarin words*
next page
*all in mandarin words*
page 1 until page 24
FOREWARD
It is with great pleasure that I went through the few pages of this wonderful booklet on Buddhism. Almost every sentence of it illumines the gloomy heart of the Reader. It supplies precise but brief answers mainly to the two questions- Why there is religion? and Why there is Buddhism? The pages prepare a colourful picture of Buddhism in its nature colours, and the picture is more than a painted one that depicts the imagination of the artist. The more times the reader reads it the more new things appear before his inquisition eye. The thoughts are well balanced and full of truth? The long experience of the author as the Chief Buddhist High Priest of Malaysia and his long scholarly and pious life as Buddhist Monk of great repute are well earned qualifications to write such a useful and instructive booklet in such a brief way. The question 'Why Buddhism?' is here well answered.
Dikwela Piyananda,
(M.A. P.hd. Dip. in Ed.)
Buddhist Vihara,
5017, 16th street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20011, U.S.A
page 25
THE AIM OF BUDDHISM
Freed am I, O Bhikkhus, from all bonds, whether divine or human. You, too , O Bhikkhus, are freed from all bonds whether whether divine or human.
"Go forth, O Bhikkhus, for the good of many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the good, benefit and happiness of gods and men...Let not two go by one way. Preach, O Bhikkhus, the Dhamma, excellent in the beginning, excellent in the middle, excellent in the end, both in spirit and in the letter. Proclaim the Holy life altogether perfect and pure.
"There are beings with a little dust in their eyes, who, not hearing the Dhamma, will fall away. There will be those who understand the Dhamma.
(THE BUDDHA.)
page 26
WHY BUDDHISM
FOUNDATION OF RELIGIONS
Before we discuss this subject "WHY BUDDHISM", we must find out why religion or how the idea of religion started in man's mind at the beginning.
Thousands of years ago when man's mind started thinking about various kinds of natural phenomena in this world, he found many wonderful experiences. When certain natural forces or phenomena were not in his favour he had to suffer.He had seen disasters, and terrific incidents. Then he started to think of how to find out a solution to get rid of these unfavourable conditions which created fear, suspicion, insecurity, tension and suffering. He knew that these things were beyond the comprehension of man's thinking power. Therefore he thought there must be some invisible powerful supernatural forces or persons behind all these things. Then he started to pray and worship them and started to make animal sacrifices in order to please these supernatural powers. He also started to praise and worship as thanksgiving when certain
page 27
phenomena were in his favour by thinking that these were the acts of gods. The aim of these practices was to gain protection and blessings from these gods to live in this world without facing much difficulties. That was how this belief of practice called religion originated. That was why man started to pray. When this concept of religion started to develop, certain other important practices were also incorporated into religion. They were religion rites, rituals and ceremonies or festivals. They organised them according to their traditions, customs and ways of life in their own respective countries.
The foundation of religion was laid by man at the beginning for self-preservation because of fear , suspicion, insecurity, misunderstanding of life and natural phenomena. These served as the foundation for religions as materials like bricks, stones, sand, cement and earth used for laying the foundation of a building.
After that, man erected this building of religion by introducing faith, offerings, prayers, vows, penalties, moral and ethics in the name of god in order to control mankind. And also to find out an eternal place called paradise for everlasting happiness and peace of the soul.
page 28
FOUNDATION OF BUDDHISM
Later, when we study how another religion called "Buddhism" came into existence, we find that Buddha had not used any of those age old beliefs. he did not introduce the concept of god, soul theory, eternal hell or eternal heaven to build up Buddhism. He did not make use of fear and distorted views regarding the natural phenomena in support of his religion. Nether did he ask for blind faith or unnecessary rites and rituals. He did not believe in self-torture, the imposition of penalties or commandments in the building up of Buddhism. He also did not seek for any message from elsewhere to build up Buddhism. He used different ideas or materials such as Right Understanding of the life, the world and nature of the natural phenomena or cosmic order and the real characteristics of mind and matter, elements and energies, moral and spiritual development, discipline, mental training and purification, knowledge, wisdom and enlightenment to erect this religious building. It is true that He used certain religious materials used by other religionists at that time such as Karma- action and reaction, rebirth and certain moral principles but not in the same manner or in the same sense. He refined them and introduced them in a rational, scientific and psychological way.
page 29
AN INDEPENDENT RELIGION
Buddhism is not a concoction of religions. Buddha did not collect materials from other religions or from here and there to build up Buddhism. It had its own characteristics and identity.
By realising that no other religious teacher had found the absolute truth and final salvation of man, he pointed out that others had developed only certain worldly powers and could manage to attain only certain stages of spiritual development without complete purification of the mind, free from all superstitious beliefs, impurities, illusion, delusion, imagination, hallucination and ignorance.
The real meaning or the purpose of this word "religion" can be understood when we studied the way how the Buddha introduced this "religious way of noble life". If we were to utilise the word religion to introduce the teachings of Buddha, we must also understand the different interpretations givens to this word by other religionists. Then anyone can understand "Why Buddhism" is needed while there are many other religions.
page 30
NO DOGMAS
The Buddha could manage to remove certain misconceptions which had been held by people for thousands of years. For example, in those days everybody the this world believed that the sun and moon rotated daily round the earth. People had this belief due to lack of proper knowledge of the world system. But when Copernicus discovered and proved that it is not the sun and the moon that rotated the earth but that this earth goes round the sun, then slowly people realised that it is true. There was another misconception people had about the earth. For thousands of years people believed that the earth was flat. Galileo discovered and proved that the earth is round but not flat. Later people accepted that truth also. When Copernicus discovered that the sun is the centre of our solar system, people had to give up the former believe that the earth is the centre of our solar system. The belief that many ancient philosophers had up to the 19th century that the atom is the ultimate entity of the matter, and that it is impossible to split it, was given up when nuclear scientists managed to split it; likewise the belief that the people had for thousands of years that the soul is a permanent entity created by God had to be given up when the
page 31
Buddha pointed out and gave his reasons that it is a wrong concept and there is no such thing as permanent entity. To him it is only a dream. This belief exists in man's mind just like the visual object of rainbow colours whether there is no reality. The Buddha explained that the idea of soul is only a misunderstanding of man's consciousness. If there is a soul, is there any reason for the Buddha to hide it without revealing it to His Followers? Certainly not, particularly because this concept of soul theory is a very important issue to every other religionist.
The theory of evolution which was discovered by Charles Darwin disproved the then popular creation theory that the life was created by God. Geology, Biology and Physiology also explained very clearly that it had taken millions of years for the appearance of first life on this earth. These discoveries never contradict each other when one studies the teachings of the Buddha very carefully. Modern discovery of the gradual development of mineral life, plant life and other living things and living beings coincided with the teaching of the Buddha.
To the question how life came into existence, the Buddha gave a simple and reasonable answer. the Buddha gave a simple and reasonable answer. He said life is only a combination of mind and
page 32
matter. Further he defined the mind as composed of perception, conception, mental formations and passive consciousness. Again he analysed the matter into four elements as solidity, fluidity, heat and motion.
When we study the explanation of the Buddha about the Cosmos we find that He mentioned the existence of certain living beings, both fortunate and unfortunate, not only in this world but also in other certain planets.
The modern scientists and astronomers are open minded and conceded the possibility of the existence of some living beings in certain other planets.
Many of those traditional religious beliefs are exactly like the former beliefs about the world system and the origin of life. But the Buddha's teaching are akin to the new discoveries.
The belief that religious rites and rituals were the only important practices for man to find his salvation was not supported by the Buddha. According to the Buddha the development of morality, concentration or the purification of mind are the important aspects of religious life for the final salvation.
He pointed out that for a man to be religious, he must lead a harmless, unblameable, respect-
page 33
able, decent, noble and pure life. The mere act of praying or making offerings do not by itself, make a man to be religious man to gain his perfection and salvation.
He also advised people to keep away from evil practices. The idea of keeping away evils must be for the welfare of the living beings and not because of the fear of god or punishment. At the same time He advised us to cultivate the good humane qualities, practise good deeds and help others without any selfish motives.
The Buddha was the only religious teacher who gave the highest credit to man's intelligence. He advised us not to become slaves to external agencies but to develop our hidden power with self-confidence.
He also pointed out that man is responsible for everything in this world. His pain and pleasure both were created by him and he has the ability to get rid of his sufferings and maintain peace and happiness by using his effort, and wisdom without depending on external powers. Man's untrained mind is responsible for all the troubles, calamities, disturbances, unfavorable atmosphere and the changes of elements and matter. At the same time man's mind can change this unfortunate situation of the world and can make a peaceful, prosperous and happy
page 34
world for all to live in if man uses his mind properly. This can be done only through the purified mental energy.
Face Facts
This is a religion which always encourages man to face facts of life without acting as a hypocrite and accept the truth what or whenever it may be.Therefore, Buddhists do not reject the facts pertaining to worldly matter discovered by great thinkers and scientists. Although the Buddha had paid more attention to spiritual development,he never neglected man's worldly progress. In His teachings we can find some sound practical advice for man to work properly without wasting valuable time and effort and also to act wisely for the progress of mankind.He said that man should fulfill his duties towards his family, relatives, friends, community, his country and the whole world. Therefore, Buddhist should not ignore their duties and obligation to make this a happy and peaceful world by contributing their share within their capacity. He also did not interfere with the affairs of government or with reasonable laws imposed by the government. He was not against any social custom and tradition if they are harmless and
page 35
useful to the society. At the same time, he also never sought political or military power to introduce his way of religious life although the kings and the ministers were followers of him.
This is a religion which teach us to serve others, to sacrifice our own comfort for the sake of suffering humanity, and to observe religious precepts or disciplines voluntarily nut not as commandments imposed by some unseen beings.By observing such good principles according to our own conviction.not only the do we get the chance to be perfect but we also help others to live in peace.
COME AND SEE THE RESULTS IMMEDIATELY
According to this religion we can see the results of most of our good and bad actions within this life time. Heavenly bliss or Nirvanic bliss can be experienced within this life time. It is not necessary to wait to see the results only after our death as taught by many other religions.
page 36
That is why the Buddha always welcomes people to come and see his way of teachings but not to come and believe at once. He also advised people how to choose a proper religion by considering and investigating in various ways without accepting anything through emotion or blind faith. This is why Buddhism is called a doctrine of analysis. Here in this religion, we can see the scientific and psychological analysis of mind and matter which modern great thinkers can appreciate.
UNIVERSAL LAWS
To those who talk about the first cause of this world, the Buddha has said that it is impossible to find a first cause since everything is changing, interdependent and conditioned by others. The thing that acted once as cause next become the effect, after sometime that same effect becomes the cause again. This phenomenon will continue without stopping. This phenomenon is called universal law of Anicca or impermanency.
The Buddha was the teacher who discovered the real nature of the universal cosmic law and advised people to leave in accordance with this law. He mentioned that those who violate this law, such as going against nature, and leading
page 37
an immoral life, must be ready to face the consequences. It is impossible to escape from the reactions of such cosmic laws simply by praying to god, because this universal law is unbiased. It is impossible to escape from the reactions of this law. But the Buddha has taught us how to stop the reactions of certain bad practices by doing more and more good deeds by training the mind and eradicating the evil thoughts from the mind. After violating the cosmic order there is no other method to get rid of the reaction except by co-operating with the same cosmic law.
MENTAL CURRENT
The Karma that the Buddha has explained is accepted by the world famous psychologist Carl Jung as collective consciousness. This is nothing but the depository of Karma seeds in mental energy. As long as the collective consciousness and "will to live" remain in the mind as mentioned by the philosophers also, rebirth will take place whether people believe it or not.The elements of the body may disintegrate but mental current together with the "will to live" will be transmitted and another life will be conditioned according to that collective consciousness.
page 38
Gravitation and law of conservation of energy discovered by the modern scientists like Newton support the doctrine of Karma or action and reaction introduced by the Buddha.
MAN CAN BECOME GOD
According to the Buddha man can even become a god if he leads a decent and righteous way of life irrespective of his religious beliefs, but other religion only advise man to pray to god to get blessings. They also preach that only after death can man go to heaven, but that heavenly bliss or experience does not mean that man too can get the privilege to become a god. However, Buddhist concept of god is different from that of other religions.
No founder of a religion has ever said that the followers too can one day get the chance to gain the same experience, the same peace, happiness and the same salvation as did the founder of that religion. But the Buddha has said that any one can become a Buddha if one can practise the same perfection, the same method practised by Him.
THE NATURE OF THE MIND
The rapid changes of the mind and the elements of the body have been explained in
page 39
Buddhism. According to the Buddha in every fraction of a split second the mind appears and disappears. Biology, physiology and psychology also teach the same nature of changes in life. Therefore life is not static.
Another psychologist, Prof. William James has explained about the point-moment of consciousness. he pointed out how consciousness comes into being and passes away again in rapid succession.
According to the nature that causes the continous process of mind, as soon as a mind is born, it gives birth to another mind and dies. The mind that is born in turn gives birth to another mind and dies, and so on.
To the question how evil thoughts appeared in man's mind at the beginning, the answer can be found in this religion. The cause of those evil thoughts is man's selfish motives which exist due to craving for existence.
EVERYTHING IS OPEN
When we study the life and the teachings of the Buddha we can see that everything is open to everybody. There are no secret doctrines. The events which took place during his whole life were open and there were no hidden and
page 40
mystical incidents.In the eyes of the Buddha, so called supernatural powers to many people are not supernatural but only natural phenomena which ordinary man cannot understand.
If the component things are subject to the natural laws of change, decay and death, how can we introduce them as supernatural powers?
Even the Buddha's birth , enlightenment and death had also taken place in an open area. He lived as a normal religious teacher.
PROCESS OF EVOLVING
The Buddha has pointed out the process of evolving from the animal life into human status and from human status into divine status. Divine life into Brahma status and Brahma life into perfect life. One can also proceed from noble pure life directly into perfect holy holy life. The Buddha has pointed out the reverse order as well, that is, going from human life into animal life.
MODERATE WAY OF LIFE
The Buddha has advised people to follow the middle path in every aspect of their life. But not many people have not realised the real mean-
page 41
ing and usefulness of this noble middle path. The deep meaning of this middle path is not only righteous way of life, not only avoiding two extremes of life, and not only leading a moderate life but learn how to use our human senses or faculties without misusing or abusing them.The meaning of the formation of these sense is to protect our life, to avoid certain dangers and to find out our livelihood. But unfortunately, many people spend their whole life only for the gratification of these senses and misuse them to satisfy only their desires. Finally, their cravings becomes more intense but they never get the satisfaction they crave for. Many immoral practise, cruel deeds, mental disturbances, nervous breakdowns, unhealthy competition, tension and unrest which are very common in the modern society are due to this discontented mind which misused the senses. Then the instinctive power of these senses also gradually starts to decay and many types of sickness appear in human organs. That is how man pays the price for misusing or over-taxing his own five senses. If there is too much attachment to sensual pleasure in this world, we have no time to mould and prepare for our future life or the next world, then it will become a miserable one.
page 42
BUDDHIST ATTITUDE
The Buddha has advised that it is cruel and unfair for us to destroy any living being, but many, other religious teachers have ignored this aspect. Destroying the lives of other living beings is not only the solution to get rid of the nuisance created by them.
The aim of Buddhism is to awaken mankind to the attainment of the highest happiness through clear understanding of life and nature. Its aim is not to create certain wild imaginations in the mind or to please the emotion of the people or to indulge in uncertain worldly desires. It also does not promise eternal mundane pleasure anywhere.
REAL NATURE OF LIFE
Buddhism gives a clear picture of both side of life. The real nature of life, the cause of suffering, and the cause of happiness. Medical theory, science and technology have not discovered any remedy for man's mental pain, frustration and unsatisfactoriness of life.
The purpose of life is a very complicated issue since different people give different interpretations. However, from the Buddhist point of view it is only to find out a complete solution
page 43
for the problems of life and the attainment of unconditioned state of happiness.
WHAT IS WISDOM?
From the Buddhist point of view, wisdom is based on the right understanding and right thought, the realisation of the universal law and development of insight not only to see the truth but also to perceive the way for complete liberation of unsatisfactoriness of life.
Therefore, real wisdom cannot be found in academic institutions or in the laboratory of scientific research of in a place of worship where people always go and pray of perform certain rites and rituals. The wisdom is within the mind. When the experience, understanding, realisation and purification are completed, this wisdom, comprising of the highest perfection can be seen. The aim of life is the attainment of this wisdom. Instead of searching what there is in outer space if man can makes the effort to find out the nature of inner space, man can reach his final goal.
Man can get rid of the worldly natural forces which are not favourable for him by the strengthening and purification of his mind to attain supra-mundane state of happiness where these forces have no power to function anymore.
page 44
A PRACTICAL METHOD
One philosopher has said that religion contradicts all that man has ever experienced. If it is so Buddhism does not belong to that type of religion since Buddha has taught us everything through His experience.
Many philosophers, great thinkers and scientists have only used only their worldly knowledge, thinking power and wisdom to find out many things and they have expressed their views accordingly. Even with such intellectual knowledge it is impossible to understand the real nature of the phenomena without the purification of mind. When we study certain statements made by some scholars we can see some truths in their sayings in their sayings. But many of those sayings remain as dry philosophy because they have used only their brains with much illusion and egoism. But the Buddha has used His brain and heart both as refined human intelligence with compassion and wisdom to understand the things in their proper perspective. That is why His teaching has never become a dry philosophy or theory, but a practical method to solve human problems.
page 45
DOES REAL RELIGION HINDER WORLD PROGRESS?
Many scientists, great thinkers and philosophers have adopted a hostile attitude towards religions. They say religions hinder the progress of mankind and mislead them by introducing ridiculous, superstitious beliefs and practices and try to keep people away from facts discovered by the scientists. But when we ascertain the way how they explain the meaning of religion, we can understand that Buddhism does not belong to those religious groups. Therefore, in time to come if those intellectuals are going to oust or refute religion, it is impossible for them to throw away Buddhism as a false religion because, the Buddha has revealed absolute truth. If there is truth anywhere that will remain for ever as a truth, If any truth is changeable under certain conditions then it is not absolute truth. That is why the truth revealed by the Buddha is called Noble truth, That truth leads man to a noble man. Therefore, there will remain a noble, righteous way of life which is strong enough to face any intellectual and scientific challenge. In that respect the Buddha's message is unshakeable. Intellectuals surely give due respect to this way of life if they really can understand what the
page 46
Buddha taught. Therefore, the teaching of the Buddha will continue to be a way of life, continue to aspire for a noble, holy and perfect life, a life of peace and happiness whether religious labels exist or not.
A LIBERAL RELIGION
Another important point that the Buddha has taught us is how to live, work and cooperate with the follower of other co-religionists without disturbing them while practising our own religion. This type of liberal religion is very important if we are to live peacefully without religious prejudices and conflicts. The Buddha's peace message of tolerance is remarkable. It is a great virtue and is useful for peaceful co-existence in any country with any race at any time.
A FREE RELIGION
The freedom that the followers of the Buddha enjoy in this world is commendable. In fact, many Buddhist have not yet realised this. We have full freedom to judge and to think, either to accept or to reject anything. We are not bound to accept anything in the name of religion either simply by thinking of the greatness of the religious teacher or by thinking that it is our
page 47
duty to accept just because those teachings are found in our holy scripture or because they are our traditions or customs. Buddhists are at liberty to investigate and to accept if agreeable with their own conviction. Buddhists do not accept or reject anything without any sensible reasons. They never say that they are forbidden to do this or that. They say that they do not like to do this because it creates some troubles or miseries or pain or disturbance amongst the masses. They do certain good deeds not because Buddhism asks them to do so but because they realise the value and meaning of such good practices for the welfare of others. This is a religion of freedom which never restricts the personal affairs of man if they are not immoral or harmful. Buddhists have full freedom to organize their family affairs without violating the basic religious principles. This religion is like a gold mine to intellectuals to do some research work and to find out the deeper aspect of psychology, philosophy, science and the universal law, for the spiritual development and for the liberation of mankind from unsatisfactoriness and unrest. That is why for more than 2500 years Buddhism could manage to convince the masses in almost every Asian country. At that time people invited and welcome the Buddha's teaching as a peace message or a goodwill message. That is why
page 48
Buddhists could manage to introduce this religion without any difficulty, without adopting any kind of exploitation.
BUDDHA PREACHED THROUGH HIS OWN EXPERIENCE
This is the only religion which explained to mankind through experience, realisation, wisdom and enlightenment of the founder of this religion without introducing it as a message given by a god. Human problems must be understood by a human being through human experience by developing great humane virtues and should find out the solution to settle these problems by a human being through the purification and development of that human mind, and not through outsiders. That is why the Buddha did not introduce himself as a supernatural saviour. He did not acknowledge that there is such a saviour. According to him we are the only saviours to save ourselves.
THREE CHARACTERISTICS
The three essential characteristics of everything in this universe is clearly explained only in this religion. They are impermanency of every-
page 49
thing, unsatisfactories of everything and impersonality or unsubstantiality of everything. This is the most remarkable discovery of the Buddha. But due to ignorance of mankind very few can understand this kind of lofty and sublime teaching.
CAUSE OF OUR PROBLEMS
Another important aspect in this religion is the explanation of the main cause of human problems and sufferings. According to the Buddha, we are facing all these problems in this mundane world due to our strong craving which exists in our mind. He has revealed that there are three kinds of craving in our minds and these are responsible for our existence, rebirth and all the other thousands of problems and mental disturbances. They are:- craving for existence, craving for worldly or sensual indulgence and craving for non-existence. To understand the real meaning of this intepretation of the Buddha, we have to think about this very carefully and wisely until realisation comes to us.
World famous philosophers and psychologists also have explained the same three forces in
page 50
different languages as cause of existence. Arthur Schophenhour explain these three forces as sexuality, self-preservation and suicide. Psychologists like Sigmond freud explain the same things as libido, ego instinct and death instinct. Another psychologist, Carl Jung says: "From the sources of instinct spring forth everything creative". Now see how great intellectuals are prepared to support the truth revealed by the Buddha twenty-five centuries ago. However, when we examine these explanations, we can understand that Buddha has gone beyond the understanding capacity of other great thinkers regarding these issues.
CAUSE OF SUFFERINGS
Evidently the world is full of various kinds of sufferings such as death, decay, sorrow, lamentation, pain, despair, etc. The Buddha pointed out that birth (Jati) brings forth sufferings. If there is no birth, there is no scope for suffering.
Q: Why is there birth?
A: The sub-conscious process of becoming as a combination of mind and body (Namarupa) (bhava) causes birth. In other words, where there is bhava, there is birth.
*author note: namarupa mean name and form according to wikipedia . bhava mean generations of factors for rebirth.*
page 51
Q: What does lead to the formation of the combination of body and mind.
A: Thoughts grasped by Tanha (upadana) lead to the formation of Karmic tendencies and lead to mind-body combination.
Q: what does lead to clinging?
A: Craving (tanha) lead to clinging.
Q: What does produce craving?
A: Craving is produced by sensations or feelings (Vedana).
Q: What does generate feeling?
A: It is the contact (of the senses with their objects) with which generated feeling.
Q: Why is there such contact?
A: Six sense-bases (salayatana) are the causes of contact.
Q: How do the six sense-bases come into being?
A: Psycho-physical combination (namarupa) bring forth six sense-bases.
Q: How does the psycho-physical combination come into being?
A: With the appearance of inactive or passive consciousness (vinnana or vipaka citta) psychophysical combination comes into being.
page 52
Q: How does there appear passive consciousness?
A: It is the outcome of Karmic energies (sankhara)
Q: How do Karmic energies (sankhara) appear?
A: In dependence upon ignorance (avijja) which is a facet of Tanha Karmic energies appear.
Thus it is apparent that ignorance (avijja) is at the whole process. However, it cannot be taken as a 'prima causa', a meta-physical cause or a cosmogenic principle, but as a condition under which development takes place. In dependence upon the one another they arise. In fact this is a conditional arising 'paticca samuppada'. Entire series can be called as the cycle of existence 'bhava cakka'. Every link can be combined with another. These links (i.e. ignorance, Karmic energies etc.) are known as the twelve spokes of the cycle of existence.
These spokes are linked with the past, present and future in succession. In the back-ground of past life are found ignorance, Karmic energies. Within the sphere of present life there are reactive type of consciousness, psycho-physical com-
page 53
bination, six sense-bases, contact, sensation, craving, clinging, formation of Karmic tendencies. In the future are seen the re-birth and attendant sufferings. Thus the cycle of existence being linked with the periods of past, present and future goes on.
This is a religion in which we can find real religion principles, which can be maintained without changing the same basic ideas and principles at any time, anywhere, and under any circumstances. The understanding capacity of the value of these religious ideas may disappear from the man's mind. Man may experience the difficulty of practising these principles in a corrupted society. But the value of these precious golden discipline will be appreciated by every cultured and understanding man at anytime.
It is hoped that the explanation given here on would serve as an appropriate answer to the question posed "Why Buddhism" and as to why Buddhism is needed even in this modern era.
page 54
DONATED BY
KWAN INN TENG FOUNDATION
NOS. 1-3, JALAN 49E, PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA
TEL: 03-563702
For Free Distribution
Next page
*all in mandarin words*
next page
*mandarin words*
(By Walpola Rahula)
*mandarin words*
next page
Printed by Percetakan Kit Sang Sdn. Bhd
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author got this free book in a temple in year 2017. This book has the sign of ink faded.
Comments
Post a Comment