Against The Stream ~ FULL CIRCLE
AS WE CAN ALL very
clearly see, Change, or Impermanence, is the Law of
Life. Our new house doesn’t remain so forever,
the shiny new car gets scratched, dented, breaks down,
wears out; we ourselves grow older from the moment
we are born, and finally, after a period of time that
varies with each individual, we die.
All things, having come into being, move
towards dissolution. Meetings end in partings, construction
ends in destruction, birth ends in death. We might
not like this, and there is nothing we can do to prevent
or change it, but we can accept and try to understand
it. Complaining and struggling blindly and feebly
against it doesn’t help, but only makes matters
worse.
Buddhism, too, with its philosophy based
upon Change, is not exempt. See how the great Way
of Freedom proclaimed by the Buddha over 2,500 years
ago has degenerated and come almost full-circle. Many
monks have become priests (some even term themselves
so), like the Brahmins of the Buddha’s time,
who considered and taught that they were a class apart,
the highest of the four castes of the brahmin dominated
system that prevailed in those days (and largely still
does). They claimed to have been born from the mouth
of their supreme God, Brahma, hence their caste-name:
Brahmins. The second caste were the Kshatriyas—
nobles, rulers, statesmen and warriors— who
were said to have come from the arms of Brahma. (Prince
Siddhartha was of the Kshatriya caste; his father
was a Raja or minor king; perhaps that is why it is
said that Siddhartha was born from the right arm-pit
of his mother, instead of in the usual manner). Next
in the hierarchy were the Vaishyas— merchants,
artisans and farmers; the Brahmins said the Vaishyas
came from Brahma’s loins. The lowest of the
four castes were the Sudras, who were said to have
come from Brahma’s feet, and who were permitted
to do only menial work like sweeping, cleaning toilets,
garbage disposal, etc; they were considered Outcastes
or Untouchables, whose very touch to a brahmin was
considered defiling; if touched by an Untouchable,
even accidentally, a brahmin was required to immediately
bathe and put on clean clothes. Society was so stratified.
The brahmins, through long centuries of
brow-beating and intimidation, had convinced the people
that they had the monopoly on religion. They claimed
to hold the ‘keys to heaven’, and taught
that anyone wishing to be reborn there had to pass
through their mediating influence and rituals—
for a fee, needless to say. Just as Christians of
today claim — though without the slightest scrap
of evidence— that only through Jesus can a person
be ‘saved’ and go to heaven after death,
the brahmins taught that their rituals and sacrifices
were necessary for a heavenly rebirth. It is not hard
to see how this led to all kinds of excess and corruption.
The brahmins grew rich and arrogant through exploiting
the gullibility of the unlearned and superstitious
masses.
The Buddha wasn’t the only one to
denounce the caste-system, of course; there were other
free-minded individuals who saw through the fallacy
and iniquity of it. But it was He who spoke out against
it the most clearly and effectively, and it reeled
under the impact of His wisdom and compassion. Whereas
the brahmins taught that caste was a matter of birth,
and that a person could never, within a particular
lifetime, change caste, the Buddha said: "Not
by birth does one become high-caste or low, but by
his actions".
The Buddha spent His life going from place-to-place,
patiently teaching and explaining to anyone who was
ready to listen. Sometimes, He would speak to large
crowds, sometimes to small groups, and often, just
to individuals, trying to lead them on to enlightenment.
He never performed ceremonies or engaged in rituals
as the brahmins did. Indeed, He identified attachment
to rites and rituals as one of the three fetters cut
through when a person attains the First Stage of Enlightenment
(Sotapatti, literally: Entering the Stream).
How come, then, that in many temples, there
is so much emphasis on ceremonies and rituals, and
so little on teaching of the Dharma? Why have the
monks become mere performers of ceremonies instead
of teachers of the Way? Is it good enough to say:
"Oh, well, it’s the Kali Yuga (Dark Age)
now"?
Shortly after His Enlightenment, the Buddha
called His disciples together. There were only 60
of them, but they had become enlightened through listening
to His Teachings. He said to them: "Go forth,
O monks, for the good of the many, for the happiness
of the many, out of compassion for the world, for
the good, benefit and happiness of gods and men. Let
not two of you go the same way. Preach, O monks, the
Dharma, which is excellent in the beginning, excellent
in the middle, and excellent in the end, both in the
spirit and in the letter. Proclaim the Holy Life,
perfect and Pure. There are beings with just a little
dust in their eyes who, not hearing the Dharma, will
fall away. There will be those who will understand
the Dharma".
He did not say: "Go forth, O monks,
and build big temples, and exhort people to make offerings
to you and the temples", as the brahmins did.
We might say: "Yes, but those monks were already
enlightened, they were Arahants, while we are not".
You see how we evade the issues? If we are going to
wait until we become enlightened before we do anything,
or sit down and wait for someone who is enlightened
to come by and teach us, we will probably wait for
a very long time. These days, it seems, there are
very few enlightened people in the world, and they
are not to be met on every street-corner or in every
temple. But because enlightenment— like a thermometer—
has many degrees, it would not be incorrect to say
that many of us have some degree of it, even though
we might be nearer to the freezing-point than to the
boiling-point. If we know a little, we can share it
with others; if we know a lot, we can share that;
but we do not need to be Fully-Enlightened—
or to show certificates of Arahantship or Buddhahood—
to share something of the Dharma with others. We might
know only a little, yes, while others might know much
more than us, but there are countless others who know
even less than we do, and who are in greater darkness.
"The best gift of all is the gift of
Dharma", we say. So, why are we so unconcerned
about bestowing this best-of-gifts on others? We call
it ‘the Dharma-Jewel’, but do we understand
what this means? In many temples, the Dharma is relegated
to the background, and a Dharma-talk is the exception
instead of the norm; it shows that we don’t
really consider the Dharma to be a jewel at all; in
fact, some Buddhists obviously regard it as rubbish!
Or can it be that, in these years of inflation and
economic insecurity, we are stock-piling and hoarding
it, waiting for the price to rise before bringing
it out to sell.
Buddhism was originally a Way of Life, a
Way of freedom from superstition and ignorance, but
it has become a ‘Way of Death’, centered
around ceremonies for the dead, a Way of Bondage and
dependence upon the monks. Many Buddhists feel monks
are indispensable to perform ceremonies. In this way,
the monks are like a drug that people have become
addicted to— monk-addiction! I have looked at
it from both sides of the fence, and so can say that
there is absolutely nothing that a monk can do that
a lay-person cannot do, if he wants to do it. It is
we, not the Dharma, that make distinctions between
monks, nuns, and lay-people.
Some years ago, when I was staying in a
large and very wealthy temple in Manila, the chief
monk grumbled at me for not joining the other monks
in performing ceremonies, but going to the jail to
be with "all those bad people" (as he called
them). I remained silent until he had said what he
wanted to say. Then I replied: "I also can perform
ceremonies for the dead if I wish to, but my way is
more for the living than for the dead. I don’t
think I can help the dead very much, but I might be
able to do something for the living". He wasn’t
able to say anything else to me then, but soon after,
he stopped the monthly allowance I had been given.
However, no-one can keep me quiet for $10 per month!
I am not for sale like that!
If you buy a can of lemonade, do you buy
it for the can or for the contents? Buddhism, as an
organized religion, with its temples, monks, devotees,
ceremonies, rituals, traditions and whatever, is like
a container. Unfortunately, few Buddhists are aware
of this, and do not know what it contains. It is the
Container of the Buddha’s Teachings, and the
Contents are more important that the Container.
Many people, who have never thought of it
or investigated, assume that Buddhism and the Buddha’s
Teachings are one-and-the-same-thing, but it is very
useful to know the difference, especially in these
times when materialism reigns, and decline and corruption
of religion is evident all around, causing people
to lose their faith. If we understood the difference,
our faith would be strengthened instead of weakened.
Buddhism began at a specific point in time,
when the Buddha went out to teach at the age of 35,
shortly after His Enlightenment. It had a beginning
in time and so, too, it will have an end. Moreover,
during its existence so far, it has grown, changed,
adapted, absorbed various elements that it came into
contact with, developed rituals, ceremonies and traditions,
and became an establishment long ago. Things have
been added and taken away, and it certainly underwent
the inevitable process of editing. We can be sure
that it is quite different now than when it started
out on its long journey.
Going deeper into Buddhism, the religion,
we find the Teachings of the Buddha, but this is also
a Container— a Container within a Container—
because, after His Enlightenment, the Buddha had to
attempt to describe what He had discovered in order
to share it with others. Of course, this was very
difficult— like trying to explain to a blind
man about colors or flowers, etc. He formulated His
teachings around what He had seen, and called it The
Middle Way; He explained about Suffering, the Cause
of Suffering, the End of Suffering, and the Way—
known as The Eightfold Path— to the End of Suffering’;
These He called The Four Noble Truths. These basic
Teachings did not change during the rest of His life,
although He did present them in many different ways.
So, although His Teachings were His own
way of presenting what He had found, He was merely
trying to point out to others, who saw less clearly
than He, what was already— and is always—
HERE. He spoke about facts, which He did not invent,
and which do not depend upon Him, as everyone can
see. Therefore, there are three levels that we should
know about: (1) Buddhism, the religion; (2) Buddha-Dharma,
or the Teachings of the Buddha; and (3) Dharma, or
the Facts of Life. A Buddha is one who realizes these
Facts (Dharma) and reveals them to the world through
His Teachings (Buddha-Dharma), as far as He is able
to; Buddhism, the organization, developed out of His
Teachings.
Now, after so many centuries, Buddhism is
old and tired, and— not unnaturally— beset
with sickness and corruption. In Asia, many temples
have degenerated into business-houses or funeral-parlors,
where blessings are dispensed, fortunes told, horoscopes
cast, charms made, spirits exorcised. Many monks have
become magicians and medicine-men, pandering to the
desires of people who are quite ignorant of what the
Buddha taught, instead of helping them to understand.
Perhaps, soon, we must hold a funeral-ceremony for
Buddhism!
Seeing all these things— which, really,
have little to do with Buddha-Dharma— many people
become disgusted and lose their faith in Buddhism;
they either turn to other religions or choose not
to identify with any. For this, they cannot be blamed,
and can even be understood, but it is a pity that
they see only the Container and get no glimpse of
the Contents. This is largely because almost nobody—
the monks whose duty it is to explain the Way to others—
cares to try to help them understand, and also because
the people themselves are lazy and not interested
to learn.
A new car will be shiny and spotless, but,
after driving it 100,000 kms or more, you could hardly
expect it to be as bright and clean as when it was
new. So, although the Container is not now the shining,
crystal flask that it once was, and it somewhat stained
and covered with the dust of Time, we owe it a debt
of gratitude. It has preserved the Contents down the
ages for us, and we can, with a little effort and
perseverance, still see the Contents through the dust.
Do not be too disappointed if the Container is no
longer bright and shiny.
THE
CONTAINER IS NOT THE CONTENTS!
BUDDHISM
IS NOT BUDDHA-DHARMA!
LOOK
DEEPER!
|