My views on Buddhism - weblog.
I think Buddhism should not be too mystical or too complex. Buddhism is a way of life. To me, being a Buddhist is about keeping the 5 precepts. As long as we keep the 5 precepts, we are okay. We are considered very good Buddhists if we don't break the the precepts. The sila -> samadhi -> panna path are for serious Buddhists.
I think there is no lack of love or compassion in the Buddha's teachings. It is the Buddhist practitioner's own fault for not emphasizing the Brahmavihara of Metta, Karuna, Mudita and Upekkha. We should not blame the lack of love and compassion on the religion. Buddhism does not sing praises of Joy because we know and accept the underlying fact of life, as suffering. There are so many types of suffering, dukkhadukkha, sankharadukkha, etc. I am not sure what other types of sufferings are there but life is all about sufferings and I am drawn towards Buddhism because I realize that life is actually full of stress and sufferings.
I know of people who think that there is No suffering in their lives and they cannot be Buddhists because they don’t see these sufferings. They say Buddhists are pessimists because Buddhists keep stressing on the sufferings. They don’t get it that Buddhists are striving to get out of sufferings by following the 3rd and 4th Noble truths. They don’t know that Joy is impermanent, it is fun while it is there but when it is gone, they cling to it and suffer. As for Buddhists, we are already prepared for Joy to disappear.
It seems to me that in the Western countries, people are obsessed with anatta. I've never heard anatta discussed in this way and that way before. I don’t understand why anatta fascinates people. I think only intellectual people talk about anatta.
Imo, no-self does Not mean nihilism at all. When we were growing up, going to the temples and listening to Dhamma talks, no one told us that anatta means we're going kaput when we die or that there is no "real person" who is walking and talking. No one told us that there is No-freewill. I found out about the ‘theory of no freewill’ from some members who are propagating that anatta means no-freewill ! They could be right for all I know but I’ve never heard about it before from my Dhamma teachers.
Sometimes I think that in the Western countries, people get Buddhism slightly wrong. On the other hand, in the East, there are too many rites and rituals attached to Buddhism. There is no place on earth where Buddhism is pure anymore. But imo, as an individual, we should practise Buddhism to the best of our ability.
Coming back to talk about anatta since it is such an interesting topic. In my opinion, no-self is supposed to mean 'selflessness' but people tend to take no-self the other way, as 'selfishness'. I think, a Buddhist should help other people and be compassionate about others but this is rarely emphasized in Theravada Buddhism.
In Theravada Buddhism, we are supposed to help ourselves first before helping others. We have to strive to be enlightened first, only then help the others to get enlightened. Whether this is the right way or wrong way has been debated among the Theravadins and Mahayanists for a long, long time.
In the Theravada view, if you cannot swim, you cannot help a drowning person, so you have to learn how to swim first. But for Mahayanist Buddhists, they want to teach other people how to swim eventhough they themselves don’t know how to do it! Ok, I’m a bit bias towards the Mahayanists but I sincerely think that they are more helpful, more out-going and more fun-loving people because they are striving to become Bodhisattas and they want to help other people alleviate their sufferings. So, they will jump in to help regardless of whether they know how to swim or not. And it totally depends on the individual whether s/he wants to be a Theravadin or a Mahayanist.
It is okay that Paul Williams found another new religion that suits him better. I think a person should not find faults with Buddhism if they don't like it. Personally I think that it doesn't matter whether a person is a christian or hindu or mus,lim because all religions teach us to avoid evil and to do good.
But Imo Buddhism is superior because it teaches us to avoid evil, do good and purify our minds. I find the purifying the minds part, very important.
Sometimes I think that in the Western countries, people get Buddhism slightly wrong. On the other hand, in the East, there are too many rites and rituals attached to Buddhism. There is no place on earth where Buddhism is pure anymore. But imo, as an individual, we should practise Buddhism to the best of our ability.
Coming back to talk about anatta since it is such an interesting topic. In my opinion, no-self is supposed to mean 'selflessness' but people tend to take no-self the other way, as 'selfishness'. I think, a Buddhist should help other people and be compassionate about others but this is rarely emphasized in Theravada Buddhism.
In Theravada Buddhism, we are supposed to help ourselves first before helping others. We have to strive to be enlightened first, only then help the others to get enlightened. Whether this is the right way or wrong way has been debated among the Theravadins and Mahayanists for a long, long time.
In the Theravada view, if you cannot swim, you cannot help a drowning person, so you have to learn how to swim first. But for Mahayanist Buddhists, they want to teach other people how to swim eventhough they themselves don’t know how to do it! Ok, I’m a bit bias towards the Mahayanists but I sincerely think that they are more helpful, more out-going and more fun-loving people because they are striving to become Bodhisattas and they want to help other people alleviate their sufferings. So, they will jump in to help regardless of whether they know how to swim or not. And it totally depends on the individual whether s/he wants to be a Theravadin or a Mahayanist.
It is okay that Paul Williams found another new religion that suits him better. I think a person should not find faults with Buddhism if they don't like it. Personally I think that it doesn't matter whether a person is a christian or hindu or mus,lim because all religions teach us to avoid evil and to do good.
But Imo Buddhism is superior because it teaches us to avoid evil, do good and purify our minds. I find the purifying the minds part, very important.
No comments:
Post a Comment