BUDDHIST INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS ONE IS NOT REALLY QUALIFIED TO WRITE THIS INTRODUCTION. WE SEEK A KNOWLEDGABLE PRACTICING BUDDHIST TO WRITE AN APPROPRIATE INTRODUCTION.THE FOLLOWING ARE EXCERTS FROM A BOOK ON BUDDHISM AND THE REST IS FROM OTHER SOURSES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BECAUSE OF INADEQUATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE DOCTRINE OF BUDDHA,THE ENLIGHTENED ONE, NUMEROUS ERRONEOUS OPINIONS CONCERNING IT ARE AT PRESENT CURRENT AMOUNG EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN PEOPLES (MUCH OF THIS IS DUE TO CHRISTIAN "PREACHERS", WHO HAVE NEVER STUDIED IT, NEVER BEEN IN CONTACT WITH ACTUAL PRACTICING BUDDHISTS, OR ITS TEACHERS, WHO BELIEVE THEY KNOW ALL ABOUT IT AND ACTIVELY AND CONSTANTLY JUDGE AND CONDEMN IT OPENLY IN THEIR CHUCHES.) IT IS NOT ONLY THE CHRISTIANS WHO DO THIS. THERE HAS BEEN, ON THE PART OF MOST OPPOSING RELIGIONS, MUCH MISREPRESENTION, SOME DELIBRATE, SOME ARAISING FROM IGNORANCE OF THE SUBTLE TRANSCENDENTALISM WHICH MAKES BUDDHISM MORE A PHILOSOPHY THAN A RELIGION, ALTHOUGH IT CAN BE CONSIDERED BOTH FROM CERTAIN PERCEPTUALL VIEWS. AS A PHILOSOPHY, AND ALSO AS A SCIENCE OF LIFE, BUDDHISM IS MORE COMPREHENSIVE THAN ANY PHILOSOPHICAL OR SCIENTIFIC SYSTEM YET DEVELOPED IN THE WEST; FOR IT EMBRACES LIFE IN ALL ITS MULTITUDINOUS MANIFESTATIONS THROUGHOUT INUMERABLE STATES OF EXISTANCE, FROM THE LOWEST OF SUB-HUMAN CREATURES TO BEINGS FAR IN EVOLUTIONALARY ADVANCE OF MAN. IN OTHER WORDS, BUDDHISM VIEWS LIFE AS AN INSEPARABLE WHOLE, BEGINNINGLESS AND ENDLESS. INTRODUCTION TO BUDDISM, continued ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I am sure you will realize, it is not easy to summarize a religion that has been evolving for over 2500 years in many different cultural settings. Therefore, the following attempt to answer the question of what Buddhism is cannot possibly offer more than a very brief sketch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Siddhartha Gautama was born near the border of what are now Indian and Nepal approximately 563 years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth (whom Christians call the Christ). He is known by the description Buddha, which means one who become awake. The central question that the Buddha was interested in answering was: Why are living beings not content? The answer he gave to this was: Living beings are not content because they have unrealistic desires, and they have unrealistic desires because they have certain false beliefs. By eliminating these false beliefs one can get rid of unrealistic desires and therefore become free of unnecessary forms of unhappiness. And finally, there are methods by which a person can cultivate correct beliefs and eliminate unrealisitc desires. The most important of the false beliefs that people have are that: 1) their own individual existence is more important than the existences of other individuals. 2) fulfillment can be achieved by acquiring and owning property. Happiness and fulfillment, on the other hand, can be achieved by learning to recognize that": 1) no one is more important than anyone else. 2) the very idea of ownership is at the root of all conflicts among living beings. It is, in other words, important to learn that we all belong here on earth, but none of us belongs to anyone else, and none of the earth belongs to anyone. (So far, people are doing doing very well in learning this lesson.) The methods by which the contentment is to be achieved are both mental and practical. Intellectually, one can gradually become free of the kinds of beliefs that cause unnecessary pain by carefully observing one's own feelings and thoughts and by observing how one's own words and actions affect others. This kind of reflection can make a person more humble. And this humility can be reinforced by practising generosity and by putting oneself into the service of others who are in need and in pain. A saying of the Buddha by which Buddhists try to live is: If others practise hatred, let us practise love. If others practise war, let us pracise peace. As for the Buddhist attitude towards other religions, it was perhaps best expressed by a monk named Nagasena over 2000 years ago. Nagasena said that the heart of Buddhism is dharma (virtue) and that dharma can be found anywhere in the world in which people treat one another with kindness and compassion. Although the dharma was the heart of the teachings of the Buddha, said Nagasena, the Buddha was by no means the only person to teach dharma. So Buddhists are encouraged to applaud any religion or philosophy that tries to help people to live in peace with one another without hatred, without envy, without suspicion, with out judgement and without fear. Perhaps this very brief answer has satisfied your curiosity to some extent. If you have other questions, may I recommend a book entitled What the Buddha Taught. It was written by a Buddhist monk named Walpola Rahula over 30 years ago and remains one of the most commonly used introductions to Buddhist thinking and practice in the English language. It has also been translated into several other languages. May we all go in peace. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- from Richard Hayes Religious Studies McGill University Montreal, Quebec ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Buddha put forth a way of life to live called "THE EIGHT FOLD PATH" Buddhists try not to belive in that way but to live it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE EIGHT FOLD PATH: RIGHT BELIEF RIGHT INTENTIONS RIGHT SPEECH RIGHT ACTIONS RIGHT LIVIHOOD RIGHT ENDEAVORING RIGHT-MINDFULLNESS RIGHT CONCENTRATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- eof