Against The Stream ~ FACT, NOT FICTION
SURELY, TO BE FAIR,
we should scrap all one-sided systems that favor particular
groups, and look for impartial foundations for our
living in Nature. Present-day concern over environmental-pollution
and conservation is a good step in the right direction,
as it involves everyone on the planet. Maybe ecology
will be the religion of the future, as we become more
and more aware that we share our Planet with countless
other life-forms, and learn to live with instead of
on them. We have many things to learn from Nature.
In our pride and arrogance at being able
to walk upright, we have lost our sense of relationship
with the rest of Nature, and see ourselves apart from
it instead of part of it. Thus, we have tried to master
and control it, until now, we find ourselves in a
hell-of-a-mess! We can understand ourselves only in
relation to the Whole of which we are parts, but we’ve
cut ourselves off, and live apart from the rest of
existence, so how to understand ourselves? We have
countless theories and philosophies of life, but if
we wish to find out what is true, we must look to
Nature, not to Man and his ideas, for Nature has not
forgotten what is True.
And Nature is at the heart of Buddhism,
not the person of Gotama Buddha; Truth is not a Person
or a Being. The Buddha never said things like: "I
am the Way, the Truth and the Life", but showed
others the Way to find Truth themselves, so He explained
about Life in an impersonal way. He spoke about Three
Universal Facts of Life, which no-one, looking impartially
and objectively, can deny. Here is a passage from
the Pali Canon, entitled: DHAMMANIYAMA SUTTA (The
Discourse on the Fixed Law of Dharma):
THUS HAVE I HEARD: At one time, the Exalted One was
staying at Savatthi in Prince Jeta’s Grove,
in the Park of Anathapindika. Then the Exalted One
spoke thus to the monks: "O monks". Those
monks replied to the Exalted One: "Lord".
The Exalted One then said: "Monks, whether there
is the appearance of Tathagatas or there is not the
appearance of Tathagatas1, there is this established
condition of Dhamma, this fixed Law of Dhamma: All
that is conditioned is Impermanent. That, a Tathagata
has fully-awakened to, He fully understands. So, awakened
and understanding, He announces it, points it out,
declares, establishes, expounds, explains and clarifies
that: All that is Conditioned is Impermanent.
Monks, whether there is the appearance of
Tathagatas or there is not the appearance of Tathagatas,
there is this established condition of Dhamma, this
fixed Law of Dhamma: All that is Conditioned is Dukkha.
That, a Tathagata has fully awakened to, He fully
understands. So, awakened and understanding, He announces
it, points it out, declares, establishes, expounds,
explains and clarifies that: All that is Conditioned
is Dukkha.
Monks, whether there is the appearance of
Tathagatas or there is not the appearance of Tathagatas,
there is this established condition of Dhamma, this
fixed Law of Dhamma: All things are Without Self.
That, a Tathagata is fully awakened to, He fully understands.
So, awakened and understanding, He announces it, points
it out, declares, establishes, expounds, explains
and clarifies that: "All things are without Self".
Thus spoke the Exalted One. Delighted, those
monks rejoiced in what the Exalted One had said.
These are the Three Universal Facts of Existence.
By perceiving and understanding them, Sakyamuni became
the Buddha, Enlightened and Free.
ANICCA (Impermanence):
All things, having come into being, move
towards dissolution: all meetings end in partings,
all building ends in destruction, all birth ends in
death.
To cling to that which changes results in
pain, anguish, suffering. In all this seemingly-fair
show of Earth, there is nothing that will not change
and pass. In whatever form one might be born, the
natural and inevitable result of that birth is death.
Therefore, the intelligent person uses his opportunities
to search for Truth while living in this world; he
does not expect to find it only after death.
DUKKHA (Unsatisfactoriness):
The word Dukkha— like Anicca and Anatta—
is Pali, and we will understand it if we know how
the Buddha defined it. He said this: Birth is Dukkha,
Old Age is Dukkha, Sickness is Dukkha; Sorrow, Lamentation,
Pain and Dejection is Dukkha. Separation from the
Loved is Dukkha; Association with the Unloved is Dukkha;
not getting what we want is Dukkha; getting what we
don’t want is Dukkha; and finally, Death is
Dukkha. In short, the bodily condition is Dukkha.
Continuing, He taught that it is possible
for Dukkha to come to an end, without Craving remaining,
in the abandoning, forsaking, release from Craving,
in Non-Attachment.
And the Way to this state— which He
called Nirvana, and which can be experienced in this
very life, and not in some far-off after-death state
or place— consists of following the Noble Eightfold
Path:
Right Understanding
Right Aspirations.
Right Speech.
Right Action.
Right Livelihood.
Right Effort.
Right Awareness.
Right Concentration.
The Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path is
a Middle Way of Peace, Knowledge, Understanding and
Enlightenment.
ANATTA (Without Self):
Nothing exists in and by itself; things
arise according to various factors, remain a while,
then cease to be. Nothing is independent; everything
depends upon many things; indeed, if we would look
at things clearly, we would find that everything is
involved with, and connected to, everything else.
This means interdependence, inter-existence, Unity
of Life. Brotherhood is therefore not an abstract
idea, a far-off dream, but a reality; however, it
is a reality we would usually rather not see, preferring
to live in conflict with each other.
The Buddha’s way does not require
belief but only practical and intelligent application.
In fact, belief is regarded as an obstacle, and, contrary
to what many people think, belief and faith are quite
different, for belief exists where there is no knowledge,
while faith is born of knowledge applied; faith means
confidence in something that one has some knowledge
and experience of.
From this, it may be seen that the Buddha’s
Way does not center around Him personally, but around
facts that are visible and verifiable. It is a clear,
democratic and non-authoritarian Way, a Way that is
right HERE and NOW; all this is required is to walk
it!
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1The Buddha used the term Tathagata when speaking
of Himself; it means: ‘He who has thus come
(or gone)’
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