{"collection":"Buddhism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bud/tib/life.htm","path":"bud/tib/life.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bud/tib/life.htm","text":"[This document can be acquired from a sub-directory coombspapers via\nanonymous\nFTP and/or COOMBSQUEST gopher on the node COOMBS.ANU.EDU.AU]\nThe document's ftp filename and the full directory path are given in the\ncoombspapers top level INDEX file]\n[This version: 8 November 1993]\n-----------------------------------------------------------------------------\nBUDDHIST ATTITUDE TO LIFE*\nby Lama Choedak\n[reprinted from: SAKYA LOSAL CHOE DZONG CLEAR MIND QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER\nNo 16]\nI am extermely happy to be given the opportunity to come and share with\nyou the contribution Buddhism could make to better the well being of\nhuman society. Tonight we have come together to discuss the benefits of\nsincere sharing of good things we value in our society in general and\nparticularly religion. Those of us who believe in one or another\nreligion have seen the benefits of religious practices if and when we\npractise them properly ourselves. We have also seen the danger and\nsuffering which come out of direct misuse of religious beliefs, power\nand religious fanaticism. The benefit or harm caused by religion in\neveryday life is not in the merit or demerit of the religions. It is\nentirely dependent on the behaviours of the people who profess\nthemselves to be religious. Since the problems of the world are created\nby human beings they can only be corrected by human beings, by properly\nfollowing the fundamental principles of human values, taught and\npractised by wise men and women of the world. Let us not be in the\nillusion that there were only one or few such wise people who came as\nsaviours of the world. We must credit ourselves and thank others for\nthe good things we enjoy in life and be responsible for the bad things\nwe experience. According to Buddhism, Religion or \"the Dharma\" is no\nmore than a raft or a path for people who wish to journey on it. If we\nhave an accident on the road it is not the road's fault and if we travel\nwell, we do not thank the road. However if we stand in the middle of\nthe road and tell other people that they do not know how to walk, that\nis not just an accident, it is sheer arrogance and ignorance.\nI have come here to share with you the Buddhist perspective and how its\nfundamental ideas and practices can benefit individuals and our society\nat large. Buddhism and its teachings respects all other religions and\nin fact, in Buddhism, it is a transgression to speak ill of anybody or a\ngroup of people or their philosophical or religious ideas. Condemning\nother people or their religion is considered non-religious conduct and\nis an idle-talk which is one of the ten non-virtues deeds one must\nabandone. There is no devil outside other than one's own inability to\naccept and respect other religions. There is no external god other than\nthe kindness and compassion that can flow through us to other living\nbeings. A mother dog who shows her kindness to her puppy is a much\nbetter example of compassion foe one to emulate than propagating\nteachings which discriminate against colour, race, religion or gender.\nIf one religion cannot tolerate another how can it teach to tolerate\nanything in this world? Religious intolerance and narrow-mindedness\namong Church and religious leaders have let down many of their adherents\nwho call themselves \"free thinkers\". These are not the benefits of\nreligious practice but the failure to understand and practise religion.\nOver the years I have met many people who wish to be identified as \"free\nthinkers\" rather than belonging to any religious denomination. Many\nregard religion as that which narrows their thinking and limits their\nfreedom to reason. Many modern thinkers, who have otherwise distanced\nthemselves from strict religious dogma have become attracted to the\nBuddhist way of life and its powerful ideas, have regarded Buddhism as a\nway of life rather than a religion. Many Australians I have known, who\nconsider themselves as Buddhists have become interested in Buddhism and\nhave adopted its non-pressured approach to life, mainly because they do\nnot have to believe in things they have not examined and experienced\nthemselves. They are taught to think for themselves rather than have a\nblind faith in something and are not even allowed to think of it\nlogically. They are encouraged to find a safe way for themselves rather\nthan accept the one and only ready-made highway. There is no one\nhighway to enlightenment, but there are different footsteps of past\nmasters we can follow if we wish. Learn from everbody and every\ncircumstance and take what it means most to you, but let us not be\nover-ambitious and try to make a highway to lead everyone. This is how\nthe seeds of religious fanaticism are planted.\nSeveral years ago there was a big inter-religious conference in London\nwhich was represented by all major religions. Buddhism was represented\nby a Sri Lankan monk. The conference was held in a beautiful Church and\nmost of those attending were Christians. All the speakers sat on the\nstage and the Sri Lankan monk who was the smallest in physical size was\nasked to speak first. The first remark he made was nothing but a few\nminutes of total silence and the people in the audience thought he was\nnot going to say anything and the Master of the Ceremony acted rather\nanxiously. Then the monk smiled towards the Master of the ceremony and\nnodded as if he was going to say something after all and then he said:\n\"I am sorry, Ladies and Gentlemen, there is no God\".\nWell, I am not going to repeat it here but such comments do raise\nquestions as to what Buddhism is all about and the role of Buddha for\nBuddhists. To be frank Buddha was a great critic of the idea of\ncreation of the world by some supreme God-Head and the idea of the\noriginal sin and eternal heaven and hell. To the Buddha, most important\nthing was \"now\", the present moment and how we go from here rather than\nwhat happened in the past and what might or will happen in the future.\nPast is gone and future is not yet due except what we are creating now.\nHe did this not out of believing in some theory but examining it for\nhimself through analysis and rationality.\nBuddha came up with four fundamental principles which he thought was\nuniveral to all human problems. Even to his most faithful disciples,\nthe Buddha after his enlightenment, warned of the danger of \"blind\nfaith\" and asked them not to believe everything what he said just\nbecause he taught them. He emphasised the importance of individuals to\ntest and examine the authenticity of his teaching through personal\nexperience, not through mere belief.\nThese four principles are called the four Noble Tuths. The first is\ncalled the Truth of Suffering (Dukkha Satya). When people face suffering\nin their lives, the first thing they do is deny it, reject it and worst\nof all they try to avoid it. This he said was the obvious reason why we\nsuffer in life, because we fail to see the truth, the meaning and its\npurpose of suffering. Although nobody desires suffering, they always\nget it, not because of the suffering itself, but because they fail to\napply the correct antidote to the problem. He explained that people\nfail to apply the antidotes to their suffering, not because they do not\nwant to but because they do not know the causes of the suffering. We\nthink that the cause of our problem is something or someone outside us\nand this, he says \"is barking up the wrong tree\" as the saying goes. We\nmust remember that suffering is a mental phenomenon and it can only be\nchanged or eliminated by correct perception and transformation of our\nmental attitude. For instance if a person called John loves his friend\nBarry, and Barry has become very fond of Chris, who John dislikes, John\nwill be upset. This experience of upset, John believes is due to the\nbehaviour of his friend Barry who has become fond of Chris. But if we\nexamine it carefully, the cause of upset is largely due to John's own\ndislike, resentment and hatred towards Chris, rather than the\nrelationship of Barry and Chris. If friendship is to be admired and\ndesired, then one must be able to rejoice in other's friendship. That\nwhich is causing John to be upset is because of his feeling of\ninsecurity and jealousy provoked by his own anger which he had not dealt\nwith effectively in the past.\nLet me elaborate this from the point of view of the importance of\nsolving a problem at hand rather than of the distant past. If a man is\nshot by an arrow into his eyes, what should he do? Most people fail to\nremove the arrow struck in their eyes but instead waste time trying to\napprehend and convict the accused. They are more interested to find out\nwhat happened before the arrow struck in the eye than to remove the\narrow from the eyes. If the hurt is caused by the arrow in the eye,\nthen obviously the arrow must be removed first. But we don't. We want\nto find out the beginning of the problem how it all started from\nscratch, i.e. \"the creation\". The spillover of this way of dealing with\nsuffering is so epidemic and extremely hard to overcome. We deny and\ndisapprove the hurt that we have already experienced but attempt to\nbring similar if not heavier hurt upon someone else, whether proven\nguilty or innocent. Blaming the past and the way we were treated in our\nchildhood, by our parents does not address the problem at hand but makes\nthe individual feel more resentful towards their past to the extent of\ndeveloping self-hatred.\nThis takes us to the second Truth, the truth of the origin of the\nsuffering. In Buddhism, the basic ignorance, greed and hatred in our\nminds are called \"the three poisons\". The benefits of religious\npractice can only be appreciated if individuals take full responsibility\nfor their own poisons of the mind. The events of the past are not\nhappening now, except by oneself playing it back in one's own mind. We\ncan see how our mental problems are created from small factors. To\nreduce or eliminate suffering caused by one's own poisons of the mind,\none must not see them as bad or eternally evil. People who do not know\nanything about poison become its victims. There are also large numbers\nof people who know the danger of the poisons of the mind but they\nsuppress them without becoming able to detoxify them. Familiarity and\nundertsanding of this second truth is crucial to be able to do something\nabout the upset which I referred to earlier. When we become aware that\nall human beings are victims of their own poisons of the mind, we have\nno time to become angry at the other person, but instead we feel empathy\nfor the other person. This feeling of empathy brings ourselves to the\nsame level as the other person and become more connected. By doing this\nwe will not dwell in our own misery to deepen and enlarge it, but it\nsharpens one's focus on the other person's needs. If the cause of the\nhurt is the event of the past, it has already gone and is not happening\nnow except oneself playing it back in one's own mind as if it was\nunforgettable. The moment we express our feelings and care for the\nother person, we will discover that he is in a similar if not worse\nmental state than we were. There will be an instant cure of the hurt\nthat one has been experiencing out of misunderstanding. This changes\nthe mental climate of anger into compassion and one will feel powerful\nto bring this change in one's mind without feeling powerless and\nhopeless. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said that anger does not help\nus to solve the problem at hand, but robs us of our sleep, appetite and\nmake us unable to appreciate the good things we have in life.\nCompassion is taught in all religions but compassion without wisdom is\nlikened in Buddhism to a bird with only one wing. While we all believe\nin compassion and its virtues, we mustn't use anything to impose upon\nothers in the name of compassion. If someone does not want our\ncompassion, we must have the wisdom to accept the rejection of our\ncompassion but at the same time not to be discouraged by such\nexperiences. This raises the importance and need of balance and\nmoderation in whatever we do in our lives, be it religious,\ncompassionate or otherwise. If we go into extremes, religion can bring\nmore suffering than it can benefit the world, as we all know. There\nare certain things we should not be too certain about. So let the law\nof cause and effect take its own course of reality. Some things we just\nhave to accept. They will change in their own time for nothing is\npermanent in the world.\nNo matter how hurtful it may have been, it will pass or it mustn't have\nhappened at all. So do not dwell on the past whether good or bad for it\nmay obscure the good things which surrounds you now. The ability to\nmaintain the mind in a free and accepting state is an art of happiness,\njoy and love. This is called the truth of the path, the third noble\ntruth. It is also the path known as \"The Middle Way (Madyam marga). This\ncomprises of eight fold paths:\n1. Right View: All things are in a state of dissatisfaction, whether\nyou are young or old, have a partner or do not have a partner, or you\nhave a job or do not have a job and so forth. Even if you obtain\nsomething you desire, it will never remain the same as all things are\nimpermanent. If we wish things were permanent instead, you are asking\nfor more trouble. If you are enjoying this meeting, that is because it\nwas not here before and it will soon be over. If we sit here longer\nthan it is comfortable, we will be in heaps of trouble, so we must move\non. Reflection on the law of impermanence can resuscitate you when you\nare short of breath in certain problems of life and help to cultivate\nright view.\n2. Right Thought: Through the correct attitude that things are not as\nreal, satisfactory and durable as it appears or we want them to be, it\nwill enable us to let go of things so we can become more flexible and\nless rigid and thus experience less stress. This helps us to sort out\nthe thoughts and to get rid of certain thoughts which are harmful to\ndwell on. Certain thoughts such as kindness, impermanence and\ncompassion towards other living beings can become a very powerful way of\ndirecting one's energy. Lots of the sufferings come from one's\nselfishness and the unability to think of positive things. Therefore it\nis important to choose the right things to think about. We see and hear\nwhat is in our mind.\n3. Right Concentration: This way we will sort out the priorities in our\nlives and we will not waste time on trivial matters. There will be a\nsense of focus and discipline in life which will inject much needed\nmotivation to live and help others rather than cherish for one's own\nwelfare. This requires the adoption of a practice of meditation which\none should learn from qualified teachers; not from books or people who\nhave not invested devotion and faith in teachers, and lineage in which\nsuch teachings are kept, but teach from books without any experience and\nauthority. Like a camera, one's mind has to be carefully focussed\nthrough attentive concentrated meditation to see the clear picture of\nreality as it is. If the camera of mind is out of focus, then our\nmental lens will project the incompetence of the cameraman who may in\nturn blame the object for being too close or far. His picture will be\nunclear if any.\n4. Right Action: One will have the ability to restrain one's senses\n(particularly when things are going into extremes) and refrain from\ninflicting lots of unnecessary suffering by sheer carelessness and\nindulgence. By conserving all the physical energy one will carefully\nutilise them to benefit others but not to cause any injury to their\nlife, health, property and relationship. A person practising right\naction, who is able to give so much to others enjoy good health and\nwill be full of energy. He will not feel worn out or exhausted.\n5. Right Speech: Excercising restaint over one's physical energy will\nenable one to conserve one's energy. So much suffering in our lives are\ncreated by our mouth's Karma. So if we understand the meaning of right\nspeech we should watch out for our mouth. Go for a short retreat and\nsee how much peace there is in silence and see how much garbage we talk\nevery day. Gain some power over your speech so that no hurtful words\nwill slip out of your mouth. Say what is good for the many and that\nwhich is only truthful and helpful. When you do this, you will hear\nboth praise and blame as the echo of voidness and oneself will be\nunaffected by other's verbal abuse. Rather they will become objects of\ncompassion.\n6. Right Livelihood: This world is for all creatures not just for human\nbeings and the powerful ones. We must give a fair go and act decently\ntowards other living beings. It is not considered clever to take\nadvantage of others who are weaker than ourselves. Cultivate the\nability to treat others with respect as an individual just as oneself\ndesires to be happy. Think of animals and their welfare if you cannot\ndeal too many unruly human beings. Focus on what you can do without\ncausing direct harm on others and share things you have with others who\nneed them most. Give to the needy and do not hoard wealth for it will\nonly become one's own prison and create many enemies. You can not take\nanything with you when you die anyway.\n7. Right Mindfulness: We know we should be fair to others but without\ndeliberate mindfulness we are often very forgetful to do the very things\nwe want to do ourselves. We may become angry with ourselves just\nbecause we were not mindful enough to bring the key left on the table\nbefore closing the door. You may become very cranky and may have a very\nhard day at work. This will create a very bad working environment for\nyour colleagues who will blame it on your temper and so forth.\nMindfulness practice requires consistent daily meditation practice on\nhow to integrate it into every day life. In one Sutra it says: \"One\nwith mindfulness is happy and one without is unhappy\".\n8. Right Effort: One must be diligent to change one's habitual patterns.\nJust as weight conscious people get up early in the morning to jog and\ndo excerice, likewise one who is concious of the actual health of mind,\none must employ right effort to break the negative habitual pattern of\none's attitude to life and its problems. The effort to come here\ntonight can be regarded as right effort but we must implement what we\nhave learnt from this meeting tonight. You do not learn these things in\nschool, college, univeristy, on the soccer field or in the pub. One\nshould create an environment in the house to change one's habits, in the\nbed room, in the kitchen and wherever you are by yourself. Develop\nstrong will inside you and this undying will and courage to do good for\nthe benefit of many will be of great benefit whether you regard yourself\nas religious or not.\nIf we have individuals who adopt this theory of the eight noble paths\nthey will experience the fourth noble truth, the truth of the cessation\nof suffering. Whether you believe in god or you are an aethiest, or\nbelieve in reincarnation or in an eternal heaven and hell, it does not\nmatter. You will only experience what you deserve. You will be a kind\nand sincere person, that is the purpose of religion. Who cares what we\nbelieve in? It largely depends on how we conduct our everyday lives.\nThat is the essence of religious practice, the eight noble paths I have\nspoken about tonight are one of the many ways to practise it.\nIn brief, do not be too happy when everything is fine with you for there\nare many less fortunate beings who are suffering at this very moment. Do\nnot forget the poor, sick, abandoned children, the lonely and aged\npeople. Share your happiness by thinking of their welfare. Think of\nthose caught in the war in former Yugoslavia and places like Cambodia\nand do something useful with compassion instead of indulging in your own\nfortune. Also do not be too sad when things are not going well with\nyou. You are one of the many fortunate people in the world. Appreciate\nand be grateful for the things you have, this will reduce your\nsufferings. In order to experience the cessation of suffering, the\nfourth noble Truth, learn to be durable like the earth, fluid like the\nwater, creative and light like the air and free and vast like the sky.\nLearn these qualities you yearn to cultivate from the mother nature, if\none fails to find any human being devoid of fault. Finally may the\nills of humanity not defile the ever shining truth of the enlightened\nones, like the lotus flower untainted by the soil in which it grows.\nAccept what you can now, for this cannot be repeated again. What you\ncan not accept now, do not reject it straight away, for you might find\nit useful later on. Let there be awareness, compassion and tolerance\namong all living beings.\n*This was delivered at the Australian Parliament of World Religions,\nPilgrim House, Canberra 26 June, 1993 and was subsequently published in\nBhakti magazine.\n-----------------------------------------------------------------------------\nend of file","title":"Buddhist Attitude To Life by Lama Choedak","type":"page"}