The best way for all life in the Universe.
WHAT
DID THE BUDDHA TEACH?
H.H.
SOMDET PHRA NYANASAMVARA
Best
of paths is the Eightfold Path.
Best of truth is the Four Noble Truths.
Best of conditions is Passionlessness.
Best of men is the Seeing One.
This is only way;
None other is there for the purity of vision.
Do you enter upon this path,
Which is bewilderment of Mãra.
(The
Buddha's Words in The Dhammapada)
WHAT
DID THE BUDDHA TEACH ?
Eighty years before the commencement
of the Buddhist Era, a great man was born into the world. He was
the son of king Suddhodana and Queen Siri Mahã Mãyã
of the Sakka country which is now within the boundaries of Nepal.
His name was "Siddhattha". Thirtry - five years later,
Prince Siddhattha attained Supreme Enlightenment and thereafter
became known as the " Enlightened One" or the "Lord
Buddha" as he is called in Thai. He proclaimed his "Dhamma"* or Universal Truth to the people; and, thereafter, the Buddhist
religion (the Teachings of the Buddha) and the Buddhist community
of disciples came into existence. The community was composed of
bhikkhus or monks (including samaneras of male novices), bhikkhunis
or nuns (including samaneris or female novices), upasakas or male
lay followers and upsikas or female lay followers. At present, in
Thailand, we have only monks and novices, upasakas or Buddhist layment
and upasikas or Buddhist laywomen. A monk is a man who has been
ordained and
_____________________________________
* Also colled
"Dharma" from the Sanskrit.
conducts himself in accordance with
the precepts laid down for a monk. A novice is a person under or
over 20 years of age who has been ordanined and conducts himself
in accordance with the precepts laid down for a novice. A Buddhist
layman or laywoman is one who has taken refuge in the Triple Gem,
i.e. the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, and observes the precepts
applicabe to laymen and laywomen. At present we call laymen and
laywomen, whether of age or under age, "Buddhamãmaka"
and "Buddhamãmika" and "Buddhamaãmika"
respectively, meaning "he or she who believes in the Buddha".
Buddhism has spread from its place of birth into the various countries
of the world.
The
focal point of worship in Buddhism is the Ti-Ratana (the Triple
Gem) namely the Buddha who by Himself discovered, realized and proclaimed
the Dhamma, Thereby establishing the Buddhist religion, the Dhamma
(Umiversal Truth) discovered, realized and proclaimed by the Buddha
and the Sangha or community of those who hear, follow and realize
the Buddha's Teachings. Some members of the Sangha become monks
and help in the dissemination of Buddhism and the perpetuation of
monkhood up to the present time. Everyone who is initiated into
the Buddhist religion, whether a layman, a laywaman or a monk, ought
To conform to a preliminary rule, namely one must Solemnly promise
to take refuge in and accept the Triple Gem as one's own refuge
or, in other words, to regard the buddha as one's father who gives
birth to one's Spiritual life. A buddhist may associate himself
or herself with people of other faiths and pay respect to objects
of reverence of other religions in an appropriate manner in the
same way as he or she may pay respect to the father, mother or elders
of other people while having at the same time his or her own father.
He will not lose his Buddhist religion as long as he believes in
the Triple Gem, just as he will remain the son of his own father
as long as his father instead, or just as he will remain a Thai
as long as he does not adopt another nationlity. Buddhism, therefore,
is not intolerant. Its followers may at will associate with people
of other nationalities and religions. Buddhism does not teach disrespectfulness
to any one. On the contrary, it declares that respect should be
paid to all those to whom respect is due and that the Dhamma should
not be withheld from the knowledge of others and kept only to oneself.
Whoever desires to study and practice the Dhamma may do so without
having to profess first the Buddhist faith. The Dhamma as proclaimed
by Buddhist religion, will help to demonstrate that it is "Truth"
that will be beneficial and bring happiness in the present life.
The essence of the entire Buddhist teachings lies in the Four Noble
Truths.
Noble
Truth (Ariya-Sacca) is short for "truth of the Noble ones (or
of those who have attained a high degree of advancement)",
"truth attainable by the noble ones", "truth by which
one is ennobled". It should first be understood that it is
not simply truth that is agreeable to the world or to oneself, but
truth that is directly born of wisdom. The four Noble Truths are
:-
1.
Dukkha or suffering; which means birth, decay and death which are
the normal incidents of life. It also means sorrow, lamentation,
pain, grief and despair which are at times experienced by our body
and mind. To be separated from the pleasant, to be disappointed,
or to be in contact with the unpleasant are also suffering. In short
our body and mind are subject to suffering or, in other words, we
may say that our existence is bound up with suffering*.
2.
Samudaya; which means the cause of suffering, which is desire. It
is a compelling urge of the mind, such as the longing to own what
we desire, to be what we desire to be, or to avoid those states
to which we feel aversion.
3.
Nirodha; which means cessation of suffering, which connotes extinction
of desire or such longings of the mind.
4.Magga;
which means the way to the cessation of suffering, which is the
Noble Eight fold Path, namely Right Understanding, Right Intention,
Right speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right
Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
Some
people believe that Buddhism is pessimistic in outlook because its
teachings deal only with suffering and are of so high a standard
that ordinary people are unable to practise it because it advocates
extinction of desire, which is very difficult to accomplish. Since
such misunderstanding exists, clarification is necessary before
the noble Truths can be dealt with. The Buddhist religion
_____________________________
* Some present-day
Buddhists are of the opinion that the word "frustration"
is a good translation of Dukkha, as it carries a wider meaning than
"suffering"
is
neither wholly pessimistic nor wholly optimistic. It derives its
outlook from truth, i.e. truth which can only be understood through
a combination of insight and purity of mind.
According to the history of Buddhism,
the Buddha did not enunciate the Four Noble Truths to anyone lightly.
He would first feed the minds of his listeners with other points
of the Dhamma until they became pure enough to be receptive to higher
teaching. Then he would expose the Four Noble Truths to them. The
other points of the Dhamma that are constantly stressed particularly
to laymen, are Dãna or charity, Sãla or morality,
the natural and logical result of charity and morality which is
bliss (meaning happiness and prosperity even in this life), the
dangers of sensuality (anything that binds one to love and desire)
and the advantages to be derived from the renunciation of sensuality.
This method of gradual teaching adopted by the Buddha is comparable
to the present day method of education. We may say that the Four
Noble Truths were taught at university level; pupil at the lower
education levels were taught other points of the Dhamma suitable
to their understanding. The Buddha would never teach the Dhamma
beuond the comprehension of his listeners, for to have done so would
not have benefited anyone. For those who are in search of knowledge,
although they may not be able to comply with the Four Noble Truths,
study of this fundamental point of the Dhamma would certainly advance
their rational knowledge of truth and may make them consider how
much they can in practice comply with it in spite of the fact that
they are still unable to rid themselves of desire. Such consideration
is possible as in the following instances:-
1.
Everyone wants to be happy and never wants to suffer. But why are
people still suffering and unable to do away with their own sufferings
themselves? Sometimes, the more they try to get rid of them, the
more they suffer. This is because they do not know what is the true
cause of suffering and what is the true cause of happiness. If they
knew, they would be successful. They would eliminate the cause of
suffering and create the cause of happiness. One of the important
obstacles to this success is one's own heart. Because we comply
too much with the dictates of our hearts, we have to suffer.
2.
In saying that we comply with the dictates of our hearts, in fact,
we mean that we are gratifying desire or those compelling urges
of the heart. In worldly existence, it is not yet necessary to suppress
desire totally because desire is the driving force that brings progress
to the world and to ourselves. But desire must be under proper control
and some limit should be set for satisfying it. If desire could
be thus restricted, the probability of a happy life in this world
would be much greater. Those who start fires that burn themselves
and the world are invariable people who do not restrict the desires
of their hearts within proper bounds . If we wish to the best of
our ability. This is tantamount to observing the Noble Eightfold
Path in relation to the world, which is at the same time acting
in accordance with the Dhamma.
3.
But human beings require some rest. Our bodies need rest and sleep.
Our minds also must be given time to be empty. If they are at work
all the time, we cannot sleep. Among those who take pleasure in
forms and sounds there are, for example, some who are fond of good
music; but, if they were compelled to listen to music too long,
the lovely music constantly sounding in their ears would become
a torment. They would run away from it and long for a return of
silence or tranquility. Our mind requires such tranquility for a
considerable time every day. This is rest for the mind or in other
word the extinction of desire which, in fact, amounts to elimination
of suffering. Therefore, if one really understands that elimination
of suffering is nothing but keeping the mind at rest and that rest
is a mental nourishment which is needed every day, then one will
begin to understand the meaning of Nirodha.
4.
We should go on to realize that when our mind is restless it is
because of desire. The mind then causes us to act, speak and think
in consonance with its agitated state. When gratified, it may became
peaceful; but only momentarily, because action dictated by a restless
mind may very soon afterwards bring us intense pain and severe punishment
or make us conscience stricken and cause us to regret it for a very
long time. So let it be known that a person with his mind in such
a state is termed "slave of desire" . Then is there a
way to overcome desire or to master the desire in our own hearts?
Yes, there is the Noble Eight fold Path that leads to the extinction
of suffering, namely:
(1)
Sammãditthi or Rihgt Understanding, meaning an intellectual
grasp of the Four Noble Truths or of the true nature of existence
even in a simplified form as outlined in the preceding paragraphs.
(2)
Sammãsankappa or Right Intention, meaning intention to be
free from all bonds of Dukkha. Such intention should be free from
revenge, hatred, and harmfulness.
(3)
Sammãvãcã or Right Speech, meaning abstinence
from lying; from tale- bearing and vicious talk that cause discord;
from harsh language; and from vain, irresponsible and foolish talk.
(4)
Sammãkammanta or Right Action, meaning avoidance of killing
and torturing, of theft and misappropriation, and of adultery.
(5)
Sammããjiva or Right Livelihood, meaning Rejection
of wrong means of livelihood and living by right Means.
(6)
Sammãvãyãma or Right Effort, meaning effort
to avoid the aresing of evil; effort to overcome evil and demeritorious
states that have already arisen; effort to develop good and beneficial
states of mind, and effort to maintain them when they have arisen.
(7)
Sammãsati or Right Mindfulness, meaning dwelling in contemplation
of the true stations of the mind, for instance, the Satipahattna
or four Stations of Mindfulness which are the Body, Sensation, Mind
and Dhamma.
(8)
Sammãsamãdhi or Right Concentration, meaning the fixing
of the mind upon a single deed which we wish to perform along the
right path.
The Noble Eightfold Path is in reality
one complete Path with eight component parts which may by summed
up in thre stages of training (sikkhã) namely :
Sïla Sikkhã or Training
in Morality, which includes Right Speech, Right Action and Right
Livelihood. In general this means that whatever we say or do, we
must say or do in the right way. This also applies to our livelihood.
We must reject wrong means of livelihood and live by right ones.
If we do not yet have a means of livelihood, for instance if we
are students depending on the support of our benefactors, we must
spend the money given us properly and not squander in extravagantly.
We must learn to control ourselves and refrain from spending it
wrongly or improperly on ourselves and our friends.
Citta Sikkhã or Mental Training,
which includes Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
Generally speaking, the subject of the mind is very important. We
must study and train our minds. It is not really difficult to do
so if only we can get started. For instance we can begin developing
diligence, train ourselves in mindfulness and cultivate our memories
by focussing our minds on what is beneficial and by practicing concentration.
Such training can be applied to our study since it requires diligence
and proper use of our memory and powers of concentration.
Pannã sikkhã or Training
in Wisdom, which includes Right Understanding and Right Intention.
Generally speaking, man succeeds in his own development erally speaking,
man succeeds in his own development through insight by means of
which he makes right decisions. Right intention means right deliberation
and right understanding leads to right decisions. students in the
various fields of study all aim at acquiring wisdom in order to
enable them to deliberate rightly and arrive at correct decisions
in accordance with reason and reality. The training in wisdom should
in particular
include the knowledge of Ti-lakkhana or the Three Characteristics
of Existence and the practice of Brahma Vihãra or the Four
sublime States of Consciousness.
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