Buddhism is a way of life that has always fascinated me. The principles of Buddhism and the philosophical elements have always attracted me to know more about the religion. This paper is an effort to elaborate why Buddhism is of interest to me as a student in religious studies.
Buddha Shakyamuni is believed to be the founder of Buddhism. He lived and preached in the Indian subcontinent some two thousand five hundred years back. From that time onwards, a huge number of people from around the world have adopted the unpolluted spiritual route of Buddhism and the preaching based on non-violence and universal harmony. The Buddhist lifestyle is purely based on the importance of peace, brotherhood, love, kindness and eternal knowledge. The visionary concepts of Buddhism are even more relevant in today’s world as it was 2500 years ago. This aspect inspired me a lot, and the vision of the founder of the religion is truly worth mentioning.
Buddha preached in his teachings that all our troubles and problems began from an agitated and negative outlook of mind and that our entire happiness and success in life began from a calm and energized state of human mind. He preached systems for steadily out powering our pessimistic states of mind like rage, jealousy, and lack of knowledge, and indulging our energized thoughts and state of mind like affection, sympathy, and wisdom. Buddhism preaches that by adopting such a positive path, we will be able to enjoy long lasting eternal peace and blissfulness. These systems will be effective for all individuals irrespective of their nationality, age group, ethnicity or educational qualification. Once a person gains that delightful experience, they can help others to attain that stage, and enjoy eternal happiness forever.
Subdivisions
There are numerous sub-sects within Buddhism, but on a broader perspective, Buddhism can be segregated into three key branches: Theravada (The Way adopted by the Elders), Mahayana (The Greater Vehicle) and Vajrayana (The Diamond Vehicle). The sects of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism separated their ways during the first century AD itself. The Mahayana Buddhists were further divided into numerous schools of thoughts, like Pure Land, Zen, and Nichiren. Most of these subdivisions of Buddhism flourish even today in Eastern Asia. The group of Buddhists involved in esoteric practices is the Vajrayana Buddhist group. They have a prominent presence in Nepal and northern parts of Indian subcontinent. (Buddhist Sects and Schools)
Buddhism Beliefs and Practices of My Interest
As a student in Religious studies, I have a keen interest in religious practices and belief systems of Buddhism. As per Buddhist beliefs, the mind is not a physical entity. It is not considered as a result of a simple physical activity. Buddhist beliefs consider the mind as an amorphous entity that is not in any way, related to the physical body. When the physical body crumbles to dust at the time of death, the mind continues to exist. Even though our external awake mind stops functioning, it continues to exist by mixing up into a further deep stage of realization. The eternal flow of our own restrained mind does not have beginning or end. This form of mind is the one which is entirely purified. It often changes its shape and form into the eternal mind of a Buddha.
I am fascinated by the thought that as per Buddhist beliefs, every deed that we do in this world leaves an impression, or effect, on our very own mind, and all those karmic effects ultimately result in its own effects. The human mind can be compared to a playground, and doing deeds is like doing farming activities in that field. Creative and good deeds are equal to sowing the seeds of ultimate bliss, and pessimistic or negative deeds means sowing the seeds of troublesome life in the future. This clear-cut connection between deeds and their results, goodness resulting in happiness and bad deeds resulting in suffering is often known as the ultimate un-revocable law of karma. Knowing and living based on the principle of Karma is the base of the Buddhist principle of life.
As per Buddhist beliefs after the death of a person, the mind in its present form parts the body and gets into the transitional state, which is called the ‘Bardo’ in common Tibetan language. In this dream-like condition, we feel many distinct visions that begin from the karma related capabilities that were stimulated during death time. The resultant vision might be pleasing or horrifying based on the effects of karma. As time passes by, the already cultivated seeds of Karma will be fully ripe. This will result in further rebirths of the individual after death in their present life.
It is significant to know that as very insignificant beings human beings do not select our cycle of rebirth whereas they are born again barely based on the relations of our karma. As per the beliefs, if positive karma matures the individual is reborn in a much superior elite form, either as a man or in certain cases as a god, but if bad type of karma matures to be ripe, those individuals are reborn in an inferior form, as a beast, or as a furious spirit, or a hell being. It may feel that human beings are transferred to an unknown life in future by the winds that flow based on one’s karma. The rebirths, in certain cases results in superior rebirths, whereas certain karma results in deteriorated rebirths.
This continuous rotational sequence of deaths and rebirths devoid of personal interest is called the ‘samsara’ in Sanskrit which means the ocean of births and rebirths. Samsara is often referred to as a Ferris wheel, often bringing individuals up into the most important three lucky realms, often resulting into the going down into the three inferior realms. The motivating strength of the cycle of samsara is our polluted deeds triggered by delusions, and the center of the imaginary wheel of samsara is the self-damaging lack of knowledge. Individuals will feel an everlasting cycle of difficulties and displeasure, and people will not have any opportunities to feel the pure, everlasting bliss as long as they are part of the wheel of samsara. By adopting the lifestyle of a Buddhist way of living to eternal freedom and clarification of the concepts, individuals can get rid of the problems of self-grasping, thus freeing themselves from the eternal circle of unrestrained rebirths and achieving a form of complete calmness and freedom.
The Four major Buddhist Dignified Truths
The preaching about the Four Dignified Truths is considered as the most important one among the concepts of Buddhism. It provides a theoretical outline for Buddhist beliefs. These four realities enlighten the types of dukkha which mean suffering, worry, un-satisfaction, its reasons, and the ways to overcome it.
The first Buddhist truth pertains to dukkha which includes feelings of anguish, worry, un-satisfaction. The second Buddhist truth pertains to the origin of dukkha. The third Buddhist truth relates to the ending of dukkha and the fourth Buddhist truth emphasize the route leading to the ending of dukkha
The Dignified Buddhist Eight-level track to Liberation
One of the prominent aspects of Buddhist beliefs that attracted me was the dignified eight-level track of Buddhism. This includes a group of eight interrelated circumstances, that when adopted together, direct to the ending of dukkha. The eight-level dignified track includes Right perspective (or Right knowledge), Right Objective (or Right thinking), Right talks, Right deeds, Right living, Right pursuit, Right Mindfulness, and Right attentiveness.
Samsara: In Buddhist beliefs, samsara means the everlasting cyclic form of birth, death, and rebirth in this mortal world. Samsara starts from the tendency of mortal beings to grasp and fixate on a feeling of self. Precisely, samsara means the cyclic journey of the real eternal self of a being from one birth to the next rebirth, within the purview of the six areas of existence. Each of these levels is considered as a physical level or a mind-related level identified as specific type anguish. The objective of human life is to put an end to the cycle of samsara. (The Berzin Archives)
Karma: As per Buddhism, Karma, which is a Sanskrit word for work or action, is the power that establishes samsara, the cyclic process of being in distress of life, birth, and rebirth for every being. Virtuous, competent actions often termed as ‘Kusala’ in Pali language used by the Buddha and negative, non-virtuous deeds termed as ‘Akusala’ in Pali language create ‘seeds’ in the hearts that results in the final result either during the current life or in one of the subsequent rebirths. The evasion of unpleasant deeds and the flourishing of the energized productive deeds are termed Sila. Karma particularly refers to the specific deeds of the body. It is often considered to be the verbal communication or something that emerge from the mind-related intentions, that ultimately results in the consequence, often referred to as the Phala which means the ‘fruit’ of the action or Vipaka, which means the result.
Rebirth: Buddhism believes in the concept of rebirth as in Hinduism. Rebirth is a concept in which beings are believed to go through a series of the numerous lifetimes adopting shapes and forms as one of the numerous probable forms of life. Each of these forms will have a beginning as its birth and an end during death. The body keeps on changing forms during subsequent cycles of births and deaths. The principle of anattā, otherwise called Atman discards the idea of an eternal self or a fixed, everlasting soul, as depicted in Hinduism and other Abrahamic religions like the Christianity.
Based on the Buddhist beliefs, there is no ultimate and defining thing as a constant self which stands alone detached from the rest of the cosmic and physical world. Buddhists often makes it clear that they believe in the principles of anatta – which is often termed as Nairaatmyavaadin or Anaattavaadin. Rebirth of bodily forms in the subsequent births and forms should be thus perceived as the prolongation of an ever-changing, cyclic system of pratītyaasamutpaada which means needy arising. This is well determined based on the rules of the karma rather than about the merits of a being, taking rebirths from one form to another. (About Buddhism)
Buddhism and its Relevance
In the present day world, the principles of Buddhism are highly relevant. Buddhism teaches that we should have an introspective assessment of ourselves to find reasons for real problems in life. This will help to find the root cause for many issues. Many people adopt the common strategy to blame external factors as the reason for the problems in our life. People become angry, and they believe that the anger is caused because of the crumbling economy, or due to the bad weather outside, or the political scenario, or any other external factor beyond their control. The reality is that those external aspects are just reasons that the individual finds out to hide the real issue. The reality is that the cause for the anger resides within the individual.
Practicing to behave and perform in the right way will reduce stress and enhance productivity. Buddhist ideologies preach to behave in a positive manner irrespective of the external factors and situations. Hence, one of the core aspects of Buddhism is that the way we treat our life is wholly up to us. Life will always have ups and downs, and we can feel the same in a very disinterested and unenthusiastic manner, or we can experience the same with a positive gesture and complete peace of mind. The people involved in a problem alone are the sole decision makers to lead a fruitful life. Whenever there is an issue in life, the Buddhist principles preaches to analyze the situation and react. The initial step to resolve the issue is to identify the real issue itself. The subsequent endeavor is to look for the reasons for the problem. It is worthy to check for the elements in life that are resulting in unhappiness. Looking for root causes of issues will lead a person towards its solution. Principles of Buddhism tells that we need to go deeper numerous steps to analyze and find the reason for unhappiness and unrest. If the problem of an individual is that he has a bad temper, then he needs to go deeper into the issue. He needs to identify situations that cause bad temper, the frequency of losing temper and so on.
As per Buddhism, the highly realized people have found reasons for the unrest and unhappiness. The basic problem of unrest and unhappiness emerge with confusion. Confusion, about how I came into existence, how other beings in this world exist, how each element and things we see around exists. And rather than just viewing the actuality of all the things around us, we also try to attribute all types of imaginations onto actuality.
Buddha identified that birth was the ultimate reason that leads to suffering, decay, and ultimately death. It also causes worries, misery, and ultimate dissatisfaction. Buddha identified that the only solution to end suffering and death was to end the birth, which is the beginning point of all anguish. He analyzed the reason for birth. He found that grasping was the reason for material desires. He also found that craving was the reason for grasping.
In the modern world which is scientifically and technologically developed, people are often unhappy due to various reasons. Despite all the advantages of the modern world in terms of gadget and other facilities people are unsatisfied physically as well as emotionally. Hence, the mind is the prime entity which is most important in one's life. Based on the teachings of the Buddha, human beings are the amalgamation of five entities, called: shape, emotion, awareness, volition, and realization. Only the first one, which is the shape, is a physical entity, and all the other four elements are related to the mind. These mind-related elements are most important in relation to human aspects. However, the modern world benefits offered to humans do not offer any benefits to the emotional elements of human existence.
My Interest in Buddhism
Buddhism offers an excellent solution to most of the issues faced by the modern society. The craving for material gains is the prominent reason for sorrow and distress. Buddhism preaches about the insignificance of the physical body and the importance of nirvana or eternal bliss. I was attracted about the mighty concepts of karma, samsara and the concepts of births and rebirths in Buddhism. The fact that Buddhist ideologies explain the reason for sorrow in the best way possible also inspired me to learn more about Buddhism. In the present day world, where people are craving for materialistic benefits, and still unhappy, the Buddhist philosophies will help to realize the true nature of human life and to live one’s life in the most creative and productive way.
References
Buddhist Sects and Schools - ReligionFacts. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2016, from http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/branches
About Buddhism. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2016, from http://www.aboutbuddhism.org/buddhism-beliefs.php/
The Berzin Archives. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2016, from http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/approaching_buddhism/world_today/relevance_buddhism_modern_world/transcript.html
