Why Buddhism is a Peaceful Religion - Five Distinctions
Five primary distinctions separate Buddhism from all other religions.
These differences on the surface can seem daunting to belief and faith based religions, but the facts are that the practices and attitudes that result from them foster peace and contentment among practitioners of Buddhism.
These distinctions are confined only to Buddhism, as far as I know, and as such may seem to be a separation from other religions.
But when they are viewed in the context of sane, compassionate human development, where our values include loving and understanding each other, they can be applied universally to almost any religion that is the least bit open-minded.
One thing to notice; there are no beliefs involved, only personal introspection and self discovery.
This is very satisfying for particularly modern Western minds that view religious dogma with disdain and appreciate a scientific, provable approach to spirituality.
1.
ANATTA (No self, no soul) Being an ex-Catholic, when I first heard this I was appalled! What was to become of me if I had no soul? But after practicing meditation and investigating for myself how my mind worked, I began to understand the mind and how it constructed an ego, and a soul by the way which is merely an extension of ego.
I could see that both those constructions took a lot of effort to maintain, and both illusions had a strong tendency to alienate me from other human beings.
2.
ANICCA (Impermanence) Everything in the universe is in flux, uncontrollable.
Everything changes whether we want it to change or not.
Once this is accepted and understood by one's own investigations into life, the tendency to doggedly hang on - to anything - is reduced and an ease of life is experienced within the context of being responsible with ones life.
3.
DUKKHA (Suffering) Being born into human life insures suffering, A human birth is a little of both pleasure and suffering, about 50-50.
This understanding that it is normal to suffer relieves the pressure of feeling that one must be happy all the time - or something is wrong.
4.
VIPASSANA MEDITATION The Hindu model for meditation was Samatha, or concentration meditation culminating in Jhana or extreme calm states of mind.
The Buddha took this a step further and indicated that without corresponding wisdom and investigation into the deeper aspects of life, which must be cultivated in tangent with Jhana, progress to enlightenment is stifled.
5.
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS I.
The First Noble Truth is a detailed description of human suffering and its inevitability - not to be believed, but to be looked at and understood for oneself.
II.
The second explains the root reason why we human beings suffer.
The Buddha makes a statement of why we suffer and challenges us to investigate, over a lifetime, and see if we come to the same conclusions.
The Buddha always said that we should not believe anything that we cannot prove true for ourselves.
III.
The third truth is a statement claiming that we can stop our suffering.
IV.
The fourth truth is a prescription for ending our human suffering - which is the Eightfold Path.
1.
Right View - Wisdom 2.
Right Intention 3.
Right Speech - Ethical Conduct 4.
Right Action 5.
Right Livelihood 6.
Right Effort - Mental Development 7.
Right Mindfulness - Vipassana Meditation 8.
Right Concentration - Jhana attainment Again, the Eightfold path involves personal training of the mind and the human conduct that results from this personal experience.
Buddhism is therefore an experiential religion.
It is a religion that one practices 24/7 and in every aspect of life.
It involves being mindful of one's speech and actions and how they impact others.
Of how our livelihood impacts our own values and peace of mind.
Do we deceive people, even subtly in our job assignments, or do we genuinely help people? Buddhism is a religion where one works on oneself.
Buddhists don't work on others, that is try to convince others to become Buddhists.
Buddhists feel that until they can achieve a little bit of sanity as human beings themselves, any efforts to prematurely convert others will only produce further insanity in an already crazy world! In effect, Buddhism, due to it's nature of investigating deeper aspects of mind and personal training of the heart, does not appeal to those not yet ready to face reality.
Therefore, proselytizing in the regular manner doesn't work.
If someone is ready, they will seek out Buddhism.
Until they are ready, twisting their arms until they succumb does little good because their karma would not be ripe enough to allow them to practice diligently and they would revert back to their original level of understanding in short order.
A Buddhist's primary concern is purity of one's mind.
Secondarily is a concern for material necessities.
Buddhists who have experienced past lives see the futility of a primarily materialistic pursuit, that is; all will be left at the casket and nothing taken with one to the next existence, neither riches, nor understanding, nor purity of heart.
The emphasis on one's own individual efforts and attainments may seem selfish on the surface, but in actuality, a person who becomes pure of heart can do much good in the world, or at least do minimal harm.
These differences on the surface can seem daunting to belief and faith based religions, but the facts are that the practices and attitudes that result from them foster peace and contentment among practitioners of Buddhism.
These distinctions are confined only to Buddhism, as far as I know, and as such may seem to be a separation from other religions.
But when they are viewed in the context of sane, compassionate human development, where our values include loving and understanding each other, they can be applied universally to almost any religion that is the least bit open-minded.
One thing to notice; there are no beliefs involved, only personal introspection and self discovery.
This is very satisfying for particularly modern Western minds that view religious dogma with disdain and appreciate a scientific, provable approach to spirituality.
1.
ANATTA (No self, no soul) Being an ex-Catholic, when I first heard this I was appalled! What was to become of me if I had no soul? But after practicing meditation and investigating for myself how my mind worked, I began to understand the mind and how it constructed an ego, and a soul by the way which is merely an extension of ego.
I could see that both those constructions took a lot of effort to maintain, and both illusions had a strong tendency to alienate me from other human beings.
2.
ANICCA (Impermanence) Everything in the universe is in flux, uncontrollable.
Everything changes whether we want it to change or not.
Once this is accepted and understood by one's own investigations into life, the tendency to doggedly hang on - to anything - is reduced and an ease of life is experienced within the context of being responsible with ones life.
3.
DUKKHA (Suffering) Being born into human life insures suffering, A human birth is a little of both pleasure and suffering, about 50-50.
This understanding that it is normal to suffer relieves the pressure of feeling that one must be happy all the time - or something is wrong.
4.
VIPASSANA MEDITATION The Hindu model for meditation was Samatha, or concentration meditation culminating in Jhana or extreme calm states of mind.
The Buddha took this a step further and indicated that without corresponding wisdom and investigation into the deeper aspects of life, which must be cultivated in tangent with Jhana, progress to enlightenment is stifled.
5.
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS I.
The First Noble Truth is a detailed description of human suffering and its inevitability - not to be believed, but to be looked at and understood for oneself.
II.
The second explains the root reason why we human beings suffer.
The Buddha makes a statement of why we suffer and challenges us to investigate, over a lifetime, and see if we come to the same conclusions.
The Buddha always said that we should not believe anything that we cannot prove true for ourselves.
III.
The third truth is a statement claiming that we can stop our suffering.
IV.
The fourth truth is a prescription for ending our human suffering - which is the Eightfold Path.
1.
Right View - Wisdom 2.
Right Intention 3.
Right Speech - Ethical Conduct 4.
Right Action 5.
Right Livelihood 6.
Right Effort - Mental Development 7.
Right Mindfulness - Vipassana Meditation 8.
Right Concentration - Jhana attainment Again, the Eightfold path involves personal training of the mind and the human conduct that results from this personal experience.
Buddhism is therefore an experiential religion.
It is a religion that one practices 24/7 and in every aspect of life.
It involves being mindful of one's speech and actions and how they impact others.
Of how our livelihood impacts our own values and peace of mind.
Do we deceive people, even subtly in our job assignments, or do we genuinely help people? Buddhism is a religion where one works on oneself.
Buddhists don't work on others, that is try to convince others to become Buddhists.
Buddhists feel that until they can achieve a little bit of sanity as human beings themselves, any efforts to prematurely convert others will only produce further insanity in an already crazy world! In effect, Buddhism, due to it's nature of investigating deeper aspects of mind and personal training of the heart, does not appeal to those not yet ready to face reality.
Therefore, proselytizing in the regular manner doesn't work.
If someone is ready, they will seek out Buddhism.
Until they are ready, twisting their arms until they succumb does little good because their karma would not be ripe enough to allow them to practice diligently and they would revert back to their original level of understanding in short order.
A Buddhist's primary concern is purity of one's mind.
Secondarily is a concern for material necessities.
Buddhists who have experienced past lives see the futility of a primarily materialistic pursuit, that is; all will be left at the casket and nothing taken with one to the next existence, neither riches, nor understanding, nor purity of heart.
The emphasis on one's own individual efforts and attainments may seem selfish on the surface, but in actuality, a person who becomes pure of heart can do much good in the world, or at least do minimal harm.
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