INTRODUCING BUDDHISM

by Robert Hironaka

Buddhism is a personal religion primarily concerned with the individual. It teaches the natural laws of life and human behaviour, how to use them to cope with life's problems to live a full and meaningful life.

Buddhism has no deity. We are responsible for our own actions within natural laws. It teaches that all events follow natural laws. It gives us a path to follow to enrich the meaning of our lives. The deep significance of this simple beauty is expressed in living a life of gratitude. Expressions of this gratitude may appear outwardly to be worship, but are an inward expression of gratitude that Amida Buddha, the natural laws of life exists; that we have been fortunate to encounter the Dharma, the teachings of these natural laws; and for the Sangha, the multitude of people who have preserved and interpreted these laws for their time and culture and continue to do this precious work for people around the world.

Prince Siddhartha, who later became enlightened and known as Shakamuni Buddha started his quest to find an answer to his problem ‘why do people suffer?', by studying with and following the authority of several 'masters'. He learned all that they had to offer but his thirst for finding the reason for people suffering and a cure for it were not quenched. He then studied and practised asceticism with hermits following their instructions of torturing his body, expecting that enlightenment would enter from the outside. He practised asceticism right to the brink of death but he did not find the answer. His sense of futility in not finding the answer from any of the ‘masters' of the day - the learned men and the hermits - must have left him in a state of frustration and depression. He sat under a Bodhi tree resolute to remain until he found the answer to his quest to find why people suffered. This period was not a time of conventional vertical thinking, rather it was lateral thinking. A time when all the knowledge and experiences that he had garnered in his years of study and practices were allowed to flow freely through his brain. The Prince used this non-conventional manner of lateral thinking/meditation that allowed free movement of his accumulated knowledge in his brain. There was no authority or preconceived ideas that inhibited the flow of his accumulated knowledge that lead to his enlightenment. He experienced freedom of thought that resulted in his insight into the ecstasy of truth of the cause of people suffering. He was fully aware of the nature of life and human behaviour. He did not seek enlightenment, but he became enlightened, he was a Buddha. He is known as Shakamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha who lived in India over 2500 years ago.

‘Buddha' is a title that expresses 'an enlightened one' or one who totally understands the natural laws of life and human behaviour. These laws, like the natural physical laws that we have some familiarity with have no beginning and no end. We study these natural phenomenon to make use of them. Similarly, we study Buddhism to learn the laws of human behaviour to make use of them. 'Amida Buddha' is the term used to express the natural laws of life, existence and human behaviour.

The Four Noble Truths are the precious gift and foundation of Buddhism enunciated for everyone by Shakamuni Buddha.

The First Noble Truth recognizes that old age, sickness, death, turmoil, distress and dissatisfaction in our life are characteristics that Shakamuni Buddha called suffering.

The Second Noble Truth enunciates that the reason for our suffering is the clinging within our own minds. We cling to four great attachments:

  • First is our clinging to pleasures. Seeking pleasurable sounds, sights, smells, tastes and touch. An endless seeking of pleasure that is momentary and fragmentary.
  • Second is our views and opinions. Our preconceptions keep us from seeing things as they really are. We cherish our opinions, even though they may be illogical.
  • Third, we have attachments to impermanent things that we imagine to be permanent and important. Religiously, we have attachments to rites and rituals, practices such as burning incense, reciting of mantras and prayers thinking that if we follow them, all will be well. Some practices become self righteous. Even though they may be conducted within a Buddhist tradition, they may become a great bondage.
  • The fourth is the most subtle and deeply conditioned. It is attachment to the belief in self, in 'I', in 'me', in 'mine'. This attachment is so strong that we revolve around it. We get involved in many unwholesome actions, delusions for the gratification of self that tie the bonds even tighter to this pain.

    The Third Noble Truth is that suffering is ended by removing the clinging that causes the suffering. Nirvana or Enlightenment is the state of mind when all suffering is removed. It is a state of freedom from suffering. It is a state of peace, calm and release. It is putting down the burden. There are two kinds of nirvana. A momentary freedom from defilement, greed and delusion, a momentary putting out of the fires in the mind. These moments of freedom and peace of mind can become longer until there is a continuous freedom and peace when the person has become a living Buddha. The second kind of nirvana is the state beyond the process, the ending of the burden of suffering, when the fire is quenched.

    The Fourth Noble Truth is the ‘Eight Fold Path' that leads to enlightenment. It is a positive path composed of eight elements. It is a path to become aware of what is reality and a guide to our daily living. It is a path for each individual to follow for them selves. The truth of suffering is to be realized. The truth of the cause of suffering is to be understood. The truth of the end of suffering is to be experienced. The path to end the suffering is to be walked by each of us. The Buddha's enlightenment solved his problems, but it did not solve ours except to point the way for us to follow. There are no magic formulas to follow, only the path to purify our minds. We follow the path to live a full and enriched life.

    Over many centuries people made commentaries to assist others to follow a path that is meaningful for them in their circumstances. Shinran studied and followed these comments and made further commentaries on the path that his predecessors had understood from the Teachings of the Buddha. This path is known as the Jodo Shin Shu path in Buddhism. Realizing the great gift of Shinran's path of understanding ‘what is', opens the door to Truth that enriches our lives and how to live a meaningful life. We realize that we must take responsibility for our own life within the natural laws that govern life and human behaviour, but we do so in a life of gratitude. To live a temporal life and at the same time to live a life of gratitude that the natural laws of life exist was the great gift that Shinran taught, and is a cornerstone in Jodo Shin Shu Buddhist thought. The fundamentals of life taught by Shakamuni over 2500 years ago are current today because the truth of life and human behaviour have not changed. Shinran's teachings on living a life of gratitude is to awaken an awareness within us of the great truth about life enunciated by Shakamuni Buddha.

    Buddhism does not speculate on what happens after the change that men call death. Buddhism is concerned with living and with life. Just as living follows natural laws, dying follows natural laws. Death is a state of nirvana. 'Life' is constantly changing, there is no permanent or unchanging 'soul'. Life is like energy, it cannot be created or destroyed. At death, there is a large change in our biological bodies, but life goes on. The form of life may change but is not lost or destroyed at death. As we realize this fact, we live a life of gratitude as Shinran taught. This gratitude arises from our focus on Amida Buddha, the natural laws of life, which sustains us in our daily efforts to practice the Buddha Dharma.

    As Shakamuni Buddha lay gravely ill realizing that his death was near, his last teachings to his disciples who had gathered around him were "Make of yourself a light. Rely upon yourself: do not depend upon anyone else. Make my teachings your light. Rely upon them: do not depend upon any other teachings. My disciples, my end is approaching, our parting is near but do not lament. Life is ever changing. The true Buddha is not a human body - it is Enlightenment. A human body must die, but the Wisdom of Enlightenment will exist forever in the truth and practice of the Dharma".

    This brief ‘Introducing Buddhism' does not do justice to the multitude of commentaries that have been written on the subject. It is meant to stimulate the reader to investigate on their own... to use lateral thinking. The Buddha wanted people to investigate and find out for them selves. He did not want blind following just because he or anyone else said it. The following is a sample of books that will give an insight into the Buddha's teachings:

    Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (Buddhist Promoting Foundation). - The Teaching of Buddha.
    Dalai Lama - Freedom in exile - Autobiography of the Dalai Lama.
    DeBono, Edward - Lateral thinking.
    Goldstein, Joseph - The Experience of insight.
    Harvey, Andrew - A Journey in Ladakh.
    Jacobson, Nolan P - Buddhism and the contemporary world.
    Jacobson, Nolan P - Understanding Buddhism.
    Kawamura, Leslie - A Buddhism primer.
    Krishnamurti, K. - Meditation.
    Krishnamurti, K. - Think on these things.
    Kubose, Gyomay M. - Everyday suchness.
    Nakai, Gendo - Shinran and his religion of pure faith.
    Nhat Hanh, Thich - Living Buddha, living Christ.
    Prebish, C.S. and K.K. Tanaka ed. The faces of Buddhism in America.
    Suzuki, D.T. - Shin Buddhism - Japan's major religious contribution to the west.
    Suzuki, D.T. - The essence of Buddhism.
    Tabrah, Ruth - The monk who dared.
    Tanaka, K. and E. Nasu ed. Engaged pureland Buddhism.
    The Tannisho Kenkyukai - Perfect freedom in Buddhism. (Translated from Japanese).
    Walter, John - Introduction to Buddhism.
    Wettimuny, R.G. deS. - Buddhism and its relation to religion and science.

    01.11.26 Robert Hironaka