So when we last talked I let you in on the fact that we’re in Samsara, the nature of Samsara being suffering and dissatisfaction, or dukha in Sanskrit. Dukha is the first of the famous Four Noble Truths of the Buddha. First he laid out what suffering was precisely, and why even seemingly good things in our lives are in actuality the “suffering of change”, suffering in disguise; but before you come to the conclusion that the Buddha was a gloomy nihilist or an ancient Indian Goth kid, please read on. The second Noble Truth is that there is a recognizable and discoverable origin of the first Noble Truth of suffering— which is craving rooted in ignorance. We suffer because we are addicted and attached to what is essentially illusory, impermanent, and unsatisfying. The third Noble Truth is where the good news comes in—it is possible to completely eradicate the afflictions which give rise to Samsara once and for all. Once the root is completely cut, you are free, forever. The way to go about this is the fourth Noble Truth, the truth of the Path which leads to Nirvana, known as the Noble Eight-fold Path.

    I mentioned earlier that Buddhism is both a religion and the antithesis of religion; let’s take a quick look at both aspects. There is a sociological phenomenon called Bud So dhism which is the outermost layer, and then there is the essence of Buddhism. At the outermost level, pious believers, many of whom are born into the religion, view the Buddha as an omniscient, infinitely compassionate, and extremely powerful being who abides in Nirvana, envisioned as an abstract kind of heaven. In order to accrue what Buddhists call merit, which can be loosely defined as positive karma connected to the Buddhist path, they abide by a code of ethics called the Five Precepts, make offerings to monks, nuns, clergy, temples and organizations, and do things such as offer flowers and candles to images of the Buddha. By doing so, devotees hope to avoid lower rebirths, attain higher rebirths, and maintain a positive connection with the path, so that over time they will become strong practitioners capable of traversing the Eight-fold Path fully and achieve liberation. The fact that this is the most low-tech, outer way of going about being a Buddhist does not diminish its value. Such activity has value due to a key teaching of the Buddha, Dependent Origination. According to the teaching of Dependent Origination, all phenomena arise from causes, and effects correspond to the cause (yes, karma ties into this). So, doing things like making offerings, saying prayers, and developing the aspiration to become a better practitioner all bear positive fruits in the future.

    How is Buddhism not a religion? Ultimately, you have to stop simply believing in its tenets and actually realize them, experience them directly, in fact, that is the point. The Buddha stated, “I show you the way to liberation, but know that liberation rests with you”. The point of Buddhism is not to convert people into believers; the point is to end suffering once and for all. There are methods of meditation taught by the Buddha and his predecessors that one can perceive the results of in a very short period of time, sometimes immediately. The masters of just about every tradition that have developed in the 2500 years since the Buddha’s passing emphasize a two-pronged approach to following the Dharma (the Buddha’s teaching). First one studies the teachings and uses reason, logic, and one’s own life experience to get a good intellectual grasp of how and why the practice works and asks questions of those who are supposedly in the know, until your questions are satisfactorily answered. It is your job as a practitioner to be sure of what you are doing and why you are doing it. If you disagree with something taught, look into it. Do not accept answers like, “well, the Buddha said so” or “our master says so”. Find out why they say so and ask yourself if it is feasible for you. Then, one actually does the practices, which include meditation, visualization, physical yogas aimed at controlling one’s energies in order to elicit certain experiences, and many others. So, the Buddha did not give out divinely inspired truths (did I mention there is no God in Buddhism? more on that later) that we simply believe. The Buddha taught a practical path that all human beings can follow successfully, in varying degrees, to its eventual completion. I will go into a little more detail about how all this factors in to a Buddhists daily life next time around. BK