|
The teaching of Buddha is very simple and understand, in terms
of clarity and applicability. The Buddha preached of no
mystics: There is no God to save you. Only you can
save yourself.
All of what he said was derived from his direct experiences
through observations and meditations. For example, during the
meditation about the life of lotus plants in a muddy swamp, he
concluded that living things, especially human beings, possess
Bodhi-nature (Bodhi=Brilliance). If a lotus plant can emerge
from the murky water to reach the dazzling sun and produce its
colorful and fragrant flowers, a human being can emerge from
his adversity and work hard to reach his potentiality in order
to contribute something useful and beautiful to life -
regardless if one is a farmer, a worker, or a professional.
Ultimately, the Buddha's Teaching derives from the observable
truths that in present day scientists call "laws";
namely the Law of Impermanence, the Law of Cause and
Effect, and the Law of Causation.
Buddha had always reminded his audience that things are
impermanent, including life. Everything is forever
changing. He insisted that his followers shoud observe and
meditate on those in order to recognize them as a first-hand
experience.
Let us try some observations. From the human to the material
world, there is nothing that does not change. In the human
body, cells split, grow and die incessantly. Through the
processes, the cells transform an egg and a sperm into a cute
baby; a baby into a youthful teenager; a teenager into a
loving, beautiful young woman; a young woman into a delicate
wife and an adorable mother; and then, all traits of beauty of
an energetic life eventually fade away and are replaced by a
frail, unpleasant silhouette waiting for disintegration. How
pitiful and ephemeral human life is! Even in the United States
where the advancement of medicine and technology can prolong
life to over a hundred years, people cannot stay strong and
free from illness. All elderly people are dying to pass away
from their unproductive years. This Law of Impermanence,
thus, applies to all beings. No one can escape it. Because it
is an eternal truth.
Or take a look at a brand new car. No matter how much care you
put into it, after three to five years the car shows signs of
wear and tear. Finally, it will be winding into a wreckage.
And look at any relationship. None of them will last forever.
As time passes, neighbors move out, friendships disappear,
even kinship loosens, not to mention marital loves.
We are suffering because we do not understand the law, nor do
we acknowledge it. We wish to stay young forever, avoiding
sickness and death. We lament our health when sick, and are
terrified when death shows up at our doorstep.
Or we want to be always rich, to experience a comfortable life
or satisfaction, to have a wonderful family with a handsome or
beautiful spouse and smart children. We are afraid of
adversity and of any changes.
Therefore, some of us come to Buddha, unfortunately, not for
the truth in his teachings, but because of wrong thoughts that
we can pray Buddha for whatever we want. No wonder people
become increasingly greedy and miserable, despite the fact
that they go to temple very often.
Should we understand and recognize the Law of Impermanence,
we could change our perspective toward life. We would admit
life as it is, no matter what kind of change or
adversity we encounter. That is the teaching of Buddha.
We would be brave and wise in any circumstance,
and more sympathetic to others. Never again would we cry when
facing a mishap, an illness, or even death. And that is the
appropriate view, from which Zen Master Van Hanh in the Lư
dynasty put into verse, regarding life and human conditions:
The human body, like lightning, appears and departs,
As tree grow in Spring and droop in Fall.
Despite its growth or ruin, we should be not alarmed,
Considered dewdrops on tips of grass as they are all.
However, there are critics who interpret Buddhist viewpoint to
be discouraging, or even fatalistic. If things are always
changing and human lives are predetermined to suffer and die,
why do we bother to maintain a constructive and decent life?
Not only does this interpretation misconstrue the Teaching; it
represents a shallow thought.
With an earnest observation, it is true that life is forever
changing? But facing a truth, one can react either negatively
or positively, depending or his or her point of view. The
Buddhist teaching, in reality, broadcasts a positive
viewpoint. The aforementioned verse has proved it. Life is as
short as a lightning, which appears and departs in a blink, or
as trees that grow in the Spring and droop in the Fall.
Nothing remain unchanged. Despite many changes, an enlightened
would recognize them as they are, considering them as
dewdrops on tips of grass.
(A dewdrop is so beautiful, especially under the early morning
sun. But it won't last long. And certainly nobody is going to
cry when a dewdrop liquefies; because that is the way
it is).
Moreover, Prince Siddhartha became Buddha only because of his
positive outlooks. After witnessing the pain and bitterness of
his destitute, sick, and dying people through his rare outing
trips, he took a solemn promise to search for a Way capable of
erasing all human suffering. In other words, his wished to
bring happiness to all human in this painful world.
In order to realize his vows, he bravely renounced his life of
luxury and prestige and went into the wilderness for an
ascetic life. Later on, after attaining the Way, the Buddha
proclaimed that to successfully follow his path, one should
arm oneself with some degrees of intelligence, compassion,
and courage.
In addition to the Law of Impermanence, Buddha preached the
Law of Cause and Effect. Where there is a cause, there will be
an effect. The effect may follow the cause immediately or
eventually, from previous life to present, and even future
life. Of course, a good cause will produce a good effect and a
bad cause will give rise to a bad one. In brief, Buddha
advised his audience, :"Would you like to know what you were
doing in a previous life, see what you have inherited in this
life. To predict what you will be receiving in the next life,
carefully observe what you are doing now".
Most people, due to lack of knowledge of the Law of the
Cause and Effect, believe that their misfortunes were
contrived by a Creator. With this common belief, people
heavily become dependent of a heavenly deity who control their
fates. As a result, people like to pray to all sorts of Gods
they can think of to protect them, to bestow on them good
fortunes over the bad ones. More often, people willingly admin
that they have sinned, and readily succumb themselves to the
forgiveness of an imaginary but powerful Creator. In that line
of thinking, a human being inherits no dignity and freedom; he
is nothing but a puppet of his creator.
To Buddha, that belief is not based on the truth. The truth
is that everyone is free to control his or her own life.
He is solely responsible for his actions and he is the only
one who bears the results. Happiness or misery, success or
failure... it all depends on what he had done or has been
doing. Good deeds will bring happiness; evil action will breed
misery. As an old saying dictated: "He who sows winds, reaps
the storm".
Not only does the Law of Cause and Effect govern human
actions, it also is universal. An orange tree will produce
orange fruit; a lemon tree will provide lemon ones. When dark,
heavy clouds gather, one can be sure that rain is going to
fall. And a boy is too lazy to do this homework, his parents
can be certain that he is going to fail his class.
Just observe any event around us. We will realize that nothing
is untouched by the law. By the same token we won't see any
interference from Gods. That is why Bodhisattva is always
doing only good deeds, and staying away from evil actions.
After all, the Bodhisattva understands the law. His life,
therefore, is free of god-controlled fears. He is only
afraid of himself, of his three poisons (Greed,
Hatred, and Delusions) which will inflict evil behaviors on
him, he is not afraid of any heavenly deities' curses.
On the contrary, common people make their lives miserable due
to their evil actions. They life, they cheat, they fabricate
stories, they speak evil, and they even have plans to hurt
other for their own gain. In brief, they act under the
stipulations of greed, anger, or attachment. Naturally, when a
bad seed is sowed, an evil effect will sooner or later be
delivered. It is clear that only the doer is responsible for
the result of what he has done not a God or a Creator. Neither
praying, nor blessing can save one from one's own devilish
actions.
To prove this viewpoint, one day the Buddha raised questions
to a group famous Brahmins who, claiming that they had power
to talk to God, regularly held prayer sessions for rich people
in return for gold and money. They first question was: "If a
man pushes a big chunk of heavy rock down into a well and asks
you to pray that it floats, can you do that?". - "No!" replied
the Brahmin: "The rock is so heavy, and we cannot pray God for
it to float. It has to sink, no matter what".
The next question was: "If a man pour a bucket of oil into a
well and asks you to pray that the oil can sink to the bottom,
can you do that?". - "No!" came the reply: "Oil is so light;
no matter what we do, we cannot make it submerge".
The Buddha, then, concluded: "By the same token, if a person
is always doing good deed, his karma will be as light as oil.
He does not have to pray for his fate. Conversely, if one only
indulges in evil actions, his karma will be as a big chunk of
rock and will pull him down to Hell. Any praying to God for
him to be saved would be futile".
To emphasize the importance of the Law of Cause and Effect,
in his first lecture, the Buddha preached the Four Basic
Truth:
-
The sufferings.
-
The customs and habits that lead to sufferings.
-
The cessation of sufferings.
-
The Way that procures cessation.
By the following his teaching, one can save him or herself
without the salvation of any deities.
To make himself clearly and logically understood, Buddha
explained that human sufferings are derived from causes
created by customs and habits, which are generally devilish,
by nature. From generation to generation, from one life to the
next these devilish cause are repeated and carried over. As
result, he who has created these evil causes has to repay the
debts afterwards. In order words, the suffering that humans
must endure in number (1) is the effect produced by
number (2). Now, there is a way to end those suffering. To
reach the cessation as effect in number (3), one has to
practice the Way as the good cause governed by number (4).
The Way, consisting of the Eightfold Path is devised to
completely eradicate the three poisons (greed, hatred, and
delusion) which, for many lives, seriously infest human
behaviors and cause diabolical thoughts and actions. The
Eightfold Path includes: Appropriate Views, Appropriate
Thoughts, Appropriate Language, Appropriate
Actions, Appropriate Livelihood, Appropriate
Effort, Correct Mindfulness and Correct
Medication.
Nowadays, in practicing the Law of Cause and Effect to
change our lives for the better, we can proudly declare that
Buddhism is not mysticism, but very competitive to the
advancement of Science. As a matter of face, the very
existence of Science today is based on the Law Of Cause and
Effect; which, in the essence, is nothing new to the
teaching of Buddha since over 2500 years ago.
Besides the Laws of Permanence and Cause and Effect,
the Buddha also preached the Law of Causation. Through
his meditation, Buddha observed that a thing does not exist
independently by itself. Every existence is a combination.
Without such as a composition, nothing actually exists. To
be is to be under the formation of causes and
conditions.
Let's try some observations as the Buddha did. Scientists now
confirm that the human body is a combination of one hundred
trillion cells which create the formation of blood, bones, and
inner organs such as the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys,
stomach, intestines... and of outer organs such as eyes, ears,
nose, mouth, skin, etc. Lacking one or more of these
components, a body does not function properly or simply cannot
exist.
The Law of Causation shows that in humans, there is no
such thing called the "ego" or "self". The concept of "I" or
"You", with the underlying idea that "Mine" is always better
than "Yours" is a delusion. Actually, if "my" condition is
better than "yours", it is only because the karma of previous
life is not the same, rather than because my body is better
than yours.
In addition, even if the body is make from a perfect junction
of cells and organs, it will not last long if there is no
proper provision of fresh air, nutritious food, and potable
water.
In other words, the Law of Causation also means that:
"Things only exist when there are enough causes
which come together under favorable conditions; and
things will disintegrate when causes or conditions are
scattered".
Obviously, to be a human, there are numerous causes and
conditions that blend together and create an existence. From
the day a mature egg met a healthy sperm and grew in a womb,
there are countless unfavorable causes and conditions that may
abolish the chance of being born a healthy human child.
Statistics shows that in the Third World, the percentage of
young children who survive their harsh environment after seven
years of age is also very low. Apparently, being born in the
Third World is having less favorable causes and conditions
than in the industrialized world.
The Buddha explained that the earnest observations on any
events in daily life, one can recognize that nothing happens
without numerous causes and conditions involved.
Normally, they appear in innumerable form that result in good
or bad occurrences, depending on one's karma. When karma is
formed and causes and conditions cast on, it is not in
anyone's hand to control the event any more; not even Gods.
Scientists today express the same about the Law of
Causation. If there is enough Oxygen and Hydrogen in
proper proportions and if the condition, if favorable, it will
product Water (2H + O = H2O). Otherwise, no water
exists. This same law applies to all aspects of the human
world, including family structures, politics, economics, and
social activities.
|
