TEACHING OF BUDDHA.

(The philosophy of Co-existance & Co-progress.)

"If you come to compare the Buddhas' teaching with the North American Democracy Theory, you will be surprised that both are identical, so much so that it gives an impression that the EDITOR of those two ideology are one and the same!?!?!?..."

Buddha taught that man must face the reality of the World and look within himself for the answer to the problem of life. Man must not expect to get what he wants or needs by praying to gods; neither can he blame the gods for his misfortunes.

All life is suffering in some way. Mostly we suffer from our own desires and the inability to fulfill them. A life that is not free from desire and passion is always involved with suffering.

In order to enter into a condition free of desire and suffering, one should avoid extremes and follow the Noble Path of the Middle Way. This Middle Way is the most expressive of reality and man will be able to gain true happiness by following it.

Buddha does not recognize a reality that is the product of man's imagination or a projection of his needs. There is no supreme power to reward, punish or to make rules for man to follow. There is no god who speaks through men or can establish the laws that dictate right or wrong, or provide the answer to life's meaning and solve man's problems. The only power man can turn to for guidance in life is knowledge of the world and mankind (SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, THEORY, WISDOM.) Man cannot use a god to evade his own responsibility or blame such god for his misfortune.

Man must recognize the fact that he does not stand alone and that nothing stands apart from the rest of reality. All things are a part of the same great circle and any action is related to all other actions.

The way of life most expressive of reality is the Middle way of harmony,the Golden Mean. This is living in such a manner as to maintain the proper balance between physical and mental needs. Extreme of any kind must be avoided.

Man is dependent on his fellow men and cannot stand-alone. He must develop the proper relationship with his envioment and the society in which he lives. At the same time, he is an individual and should preserve his individuality.

All life is a process of becoming and nothing ever stands still. Each moment is reflection of the past and a projection of the future, as well as of the present.

Human desires are endless. It is like thirst of a man who drinks salty water; he gets no satisfaction but thirst is increased.

The man who seeks to gratify his desires; he only gains increased disasti faction and his desires are multiplied.

The delusions of reasoning are based upon ignorance, and the delusions of practice are based upon desire, the two sets are really one set, and goes together. They are the source of all unhappiness.

In reality, it is one's own mind that causes the delusion of grief, lamen tation, pain and agony. From ignorance and greed there spring desire for things that are, in fact, unobtainable, but for which men restlessly and blindly search.

People cling obstinately to lives of rich and famous, comfort and pleasure, ignorant of the fact that the desire for these very things are the source of human suffering.

In this world there are three wrong viewpoints:

1.- Some says all human experience is based on destiny.
2.- Some holds that everything is created by God and controlled by his will.
3.- Some say that everything happens by chance without having any cause or condition.

If all has been decided by destiny, nothing would exist that has not been fore ordained. Then all human plans and efforts or improvement and progress would be in vain and humanity would be without hope. Same is true of the other viewpoint for, if everything in the last resort is in the hands of an unknowable God, or of blind chance, what hope has humanity except in submission? It is no wonder that people holding these conceptions loose hope and neglect efforts to act wisely and to avoid evil (negative). In fact, these three conceptions or viewpoints are all wrong; everything is a succession of appearances whose source is the accumulation of causes and conditions.

There are causes for all human suffering, and there is a way by which they may be ended. Because everything in the world is the result of a vast concurrence of causes and conditions, and everything disappears as these causes and conditions change and pass away.
Rain fall, winds blow, plants bloom, leaves mature and blown away. These phenomena are all interrelated with causes and conditions and are brought by them and disappear as the causes and condition change.

Since everything in this world is brought by causes and conditions, there can be no fundamental distinctions among things. The apparent distinction exists because of people's absurd and discriminating thoughts. People grasp at things for their own imagined convenience and comfort.

Like a said in Canada: "What you hear or read is what you got in your mind" .

In the sky there is no distinction of East and West; people create the distinction out of their own mind and then believe them to be true. If a person is to avoid being caught in the current of his desires, he must learn at the very beginning not to grasp at things he should become attached. He must not become attached to good or bad, right or wrong.

One should not maintain regrets or cherish anticipation, but, with an equitable and peaceful mind, will meet what comes.

Both delusion and enlightment originate within the mind and every existence or phenomenon arises from the functions of the mind, just as different thing appears from the sleeves of a magician.

The activity of the negative mind surrounds itself with negative things and a positive mind surrounds itself with positive things; hence, surrounding have no more limits than the activities of the mind.

Just as a picture is drown by an artist, surroundings are created by the activities of the mind. A single picture is capable of an infinite variety of details. So the human mind fills in the surrounding of its life. An enlightened life rises from a mind that is bewildered by its own world of delusion. If we learn that there is no world of delusion outside the mind, the bewildered mind becomes clear; and because we cease to create negative surroundings we attain Enlightment.

Man's nature is like a dense thicket that has no entrance and is difficult to penetrate. In comparison, the nature of an animal is easier to understand. Still, we can in a general way classify the nature of man according to few out standing differences.

There are three type of people in the world.

  1. The firsts are those who are like letters carved in rock; they easily give way to anger and retain their angry thoughts for a long time.
  2. The seconds are those who are like letters written in sand; they give way to anger also, but there angers thoughts quickly pass away.
  3. The third is those who are like letters written in running water; they do not retain their passing thoughts; they let abuse and uncomfortable gossip pass by unnoticed; their minds are always pure and undisturbed.

There are three kinds of people.

  1. The firsts are those who are proud, act rashly and are never satisfied; their natures are easy to understand.
  2. The second are those who are courteous and always act after consideration ; their natures are hard to understand.
  3. The thirds are those who have overcome desire completely; it is impossible to understand their natures.

People have worldly passion that leads them into delusions and sufferings.

5 ways to ematicipate themselves from the bond of wordly passions.

  1. First, they should have right ideas of things, ideas that are based on careful observation, and understand causes and effects and their significance correctly. Since the cause of suffering is rooted in the minds desires and attachments, and since desire and attachments are related to mistaken observations by an ego-self, neglecting the significance of the law of cause and effect, and since it is from these wrong observations, there can be peace only if the mind can get rid of these wordly passions.
  2. People can get rid of these mistaken observations and resulting worldly passions by careful and patient mind control. With efficient mind control they can avoid desires arising from stimulations of the sense and the subsequent mental processes and, by so doing, cut off the very root of all worldly passions.
  3. They should have correct ideas regarding the proper use of all things. That is, regarding food, and clothings, they should not think of them in relation to the body's needs. Clothing is necessary to protect the body against extremes of heat and cold, and to conceal the private part of the body. Food is necessary for the nourishment of the body.
  4. People should learn endurance; they should learn to endure the disconfort of the heat and cold, hunger and thirst, they should learn to be patient when receiving abuses and scorn; for it is the practice of endurance that quenches the fire of worldly passions that is burning up their bodies.
  5. People should learn to see and so avoid all danger. Just as a wise man keeps away from wild animal and people. One should not make friends with evil men, nor should he go to places that creates danger. Practice caution and prudence.

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