Your Questions, My Answers ~ BEGINNING
WITH YOURSELF
QUESTION:
"What’s the use
of following the Way?"
ANSWER:
To answer this question, let us see what
it implies. It has the taste of ‘What’s
in it for me to make it worth my while? What can I
get out of it?" This sounds rather calculating
and self-centered, but it doesn’t really matter,
for this is the only place we can begin: with oneself.
It usually comes as a shock to learn, after
resisting it for so long, and pretending/hoping it
isn’t so, that life as we know it, stripped
of the veneer we have applied to it, is basically
a state of suffering. Before anyone objects, saying
that there is happiness, too, it should be said that,
because the Universe is governed by the Law of Impermanence,
even our states of happiness are potential states
of suffering, as they change and become otherwise,
and the higher we soar, the further we fall. As long
as we grasp at happiness, seeking to possess it, this
will always be so. Paradoxically, the search for happiness—something
most of us are engaged in, especially in affluent
societies—is the greatest obstacle to finding
it and produces endless frustration. And so, seeking
a way out of suffering, people turn to religion, concerned
with merit, trying to abstain from negative, harmful
deeds and to do positive, helpful ones. But of course,
at this stage, it is all for self, undertaken either
out of fear of possible consequences of not doing
certain things, or from desire for things we think
might come as results of different courses of action.
And it is perfectly legitimate to start out in this
way, just as much so as it is for a little baby to
crawl on all fours before it learns to stand and walk;
no-one blames babies for not being able to walk or
run. But it is also necessary to know that this is
only a stage where we will not remain forever, but
will go on.
Slowly, just as slowly as we grow and develop
from childhood, through adolescence, to adulthood—maybe
even slower—our perceptions change, and we begin
to see things clearer. Whereas before, when our initial
response to the sufferings of life impelled us into
fearfully following a religion, now we are able to
look at things with better understanding, and see
things in terms of Cause-and-Effect: Nothing comes
from nothing or is accidental; all things arise from
causes—not one cause, but many; every effect,
from smallest to greatest, comes about from a concatenation
of causes, working together, at some particular time
and place, to produce something unique, as unique
as anything and everything is unique. Moreover, we
begin to see that we are not alone in this complexity
of things; no-one is, nor ever can be. And in proportion
as we see this to be so, our fear of the sufferings
of life and death diminishes. Having seen, if only
dimly, the relationship between Cause and Effect,
we no longer feel powerless in the face of it all,
and know that we can do something about it. Such knowledge
is liberation, and is valuable not just to oneself,
personally, but to the whole world, for we have seen—have
we not?—that we are all in the same boat, regardless
of race, caste or creed; we are friends in suffering,
all; having been born, we face aging, sickness and
death.
In times of trouble, people turn to religion,
but often, because of poor understanding, only become
further confused thereby. For example, many uninformed
Buddhists obviously think of the Buddha as some sort
of corrupt official who they can bribe into answering
their prayers: "Hey, Buddha, last week I offered
you flowers, fruit and incense and asked you to help
me, but nothing’s happened yet! What’s
the matter? Are you asleep or on strike or something?"
Not long ago, I was called upon to visit
someone in the terminal stages of cancer. When I got
to the house and saw him, I knew he had not long to
live. As a result of the devastating chemotherapy
he had undergone, he was emaciated and had only a
few wisps of hair on his head. Twice daily, someone
from the hospital came to check on his condition and
administer medication. Many relatives and friends
were there. What could I do, having been summoned?
While not holding out any false hopes to him, I tried
to cheer and encourage him with a Dharma talk, but
alas, it was too late; both he and his family were
paralyzed by fear and were not able to think clearly.
Though they thought of themselves as Buddhists, and
had a Buddha image on an altar with incense burning
before it, they had obviously never bothered to learn
anything about the teachings of the Buddha, and so,
when help was available to them, they could not accept
or use it.
I asked the man what he thought of his condition,
and he replied that if the Buddha would help him,
when he recovered he would become vegetarian for a
month and shave his head. His wife clung to me, begging
me to help her husband. I told her that I had been
a regular blood donor for many years, so there was
no need to ask me for help; I would do whatever was
within my capacity, without being asked. I also told
her that it was a matter of karma, and, while some
things might be changed, the causes of other things
are so strong that it is very difficult to change
them.
The man died a few days later, but the family
didn’t contact or inform me about this; I think
they were disappointed because I didn’t perform
the miracle they were desperately hoping for. Many
Buddhists expect miracles from monks.
During my time in the Refugee Camps in the
Philippines, people sometimes came to me in the temples
there and ask me to shave their heads. When I asked
why they wanted to do this they usually said that,
while on their fragile boats at sea, in danger of
drowning or starving to death, they prayed to the
Buddha and vowed that, if He would help and save them,
they would shave their heads; many people also promised
to become vegetarians for a month or so. Some kept
their promises, while others did not.
Where do they get such ideas? If just a
few people thought like that, it may be supposed that
they themselves had concluded that the Buddha might
be cajoled and persuaded into helping them by offers
of head shaving or abstention from eating meat for
some time; but this superstition is so widespread
that I can’t help thinking it must be part of
their collective Buddhist background. Why should they
suppose that shaving their head has any meritorious
significance, or that it can be used as a bargaining
chip? If there is any merit in shaving one’s
head, I should have a mountain of merit, as I shave
mine every week or so! And, if they consider that
vegetarianism is the proper thing, why are they so
reluctant to adopt it? Why wait until disaster befalls
before becoming vegetarian? Surely, it would be better
to prevent a thing before it happens, if possible,
than to try to correct it after it has hit.
Have you noticed that when people survive
a disaster or a dangerous situation, they often attribute
their escape to supernatural intervention, saying
such things as: "God saved me! I wouldn’t
be alive today if He hadn’t helped me!"
They are unaware of the implications of such statements:
If God really did help and save them, why didn’t
he do the same for others who perished? This is a
serious stumbling block for the believers. I heard
of missionaries telling Cambodian refugees in the
overcrowded Camps in Thailand, that their parents,
family and friends died in Pol Pot’s ‘Killing
Fields’ because they didn’t believe in
Jesus, and that the Buddha was only a man who couldn’t
save anyone; so they had better accept Jesus and be
saved. Poor refugees—to be insulted with such
superstitious nonsense after undergoing so much suffering!
We can’t blame them for not seeing the glaring
flaw in the missionaries’ arguments: If Jesus—or
God, who whoever else—could save anyone, then
why didn’t he save those who Pol Pot’s
demons tortured and starved to death? In fact, if
he is as all powerful as they claim, why did he allow
the whole thing to happen at all? It is true what
the missionaries say about the Buddha—that He
was a human being who could not save anyone; no-one
claims that about Him if they understand what He taught.
But is it true what they say about Jesus? What evidence
have they got to support their claims—evidence
that would stand up in a court of law? It is better
to be honest and admit you don’t know, instead
of making extravagant claims without evidence to support
them; belief is not enough.
It is not my intention to denigrate Jesus,
and I do not think I have done so; what I question
are the claims of his followers. I respect Jesus as
a Teacher, but am sorry that his teachings —or
what remains of them in the gospels—are not-a-little
ambiguous, and so were easily bent and twisted to
the political purposes of ambitious churchmen into
whose hands they later fell. If Jesus could see what
they have done with his teachings, I’m sure
he would be shocked!
To return to our question: "What is
the use of following the Way?" Following the
Way enables us to lessen the suffering in the world,
does it not? Have you not had enough suffering already,
without creating more? There is good reason for us
to think about this, and to expand our consciousness,
to think of the impact our living in the world has
upon the life around us, not always to think of what
we can get out of it, but also of what we can put
back in. Do we not get so much out already, without
thinking of getting more? Do we live by ourselves
alone? Even Robinson Crusoe didn’t do so, but
had his dog, his goats and his chickens, and was eventually
joined by another human being—even though he
was of a different race and couldn’t speak a
word of English! And did Robinson later refuse to
be rescued and choose to remain on his desert island?
Or was he not happy to return to his homeland and
rejoin his society? Few of us could live alone for
long; some of us couldn’t even stand a single
day of doing so; we prefer the company of others,
as we are gregarious by nature, and there are many
benefits to be had from living in a community. Imagine
how life would be if each one of us had to live separately,
and produce by ourselves all the things we needed:
we wouldn’t like it at all, and definitely would
not have all the wonderful things that cooperation
with others makes possible. It is good for us to ponder
on this now and then, as it’s so easy to lose
sight of it.
Ah, but while we benefit in so many ways
from living in a community with others, there are
also responsibilities, and if we do not want to accept
the responsibilities, we are also not entitled to
enjoy the benefits; the two go together, inseparably.
To conclude, therefore: When we understand
about our relationships with others, it is natural
for us to follow the Way, and there’s no longer
any question about the point of doing so. |
