Expert: Anandapanyo Bhikkhu - 10/11/2009

Question
how are you Anandapanyo,
  sorry, i am not sure if you would like to answer these question, my entire family with relative have worship Buddha since our grand-grandfather , we believe Buddha as a true god that can bring us peace and life now and after dead .however, some horrible things happen between 1985-2007,it finally turn all of us become christian.

before I tell you what happened, would you mind tell me what made you commit you life to Buddha forever ?

have you ever though who created our life and everything ?
 
thank  

Answer
Dear Lee,

Thank you for your questions, I am doing well. I hope you are doing well also.

I am very sorry to hear that you encountered horrible things in your life.

"what made you commit you life to Buddha forever?"

wow, this is a big question. I will try to answer it to the best of my ability.

In short, I did not fully commit to the Buddha until I realized his teachings existed in my life. I did not realize this until I uncovered empirical data of what the Buddha taught.

The Buddha taught that karma exists in the world. However, I never saw it. I only considered the extreme negative and positive things that happen as my karma. However, I began to fully understand karma once I scrutinized its existence in my life. I began to understand that karma is not something a God has punished or rewarded us with, however, it is merely the results of our decisions.

For example, back in 2000, my mother was in a horrific car accident. My mother was in a car driven by a close friend. Her close friend drove the car and another close friend was in the passenger seat. My mother was in the backseat of the car laying down. They were on the way to a mountain retreat. On the way, a car coming the other way crashed head first into the car my mother was riding in. The accident resulted in the death of the other driver, broken ribs and bones for the driver and passenger of my mom's car, but for my mother, she suffered multiple broken spinal bones and had to be airlifted to Stanford hospital. To date, she has had 6 surgeries and has constant pain.

I was angry at karma for doing this. However, through my practice, I came to understand that this was not karma's work. This was the immediate results of my mom's decisions. What decisions?
1. She always drives, she did. Why? She trusted the driver. (However, the driver admitted to not getting out of the way since she felt she had the RIGHT OF WAY)
2. She slept in the backseat. (She trusted the driver and was sure there wouldn't be an accident)
3. She did not wear a seat belt. (She was tired and confident that there wouldn't be an accident)

I know it is hard to blame our loved ones, or the victim of an accident as having culpability, but it doesn't take away from the truth. While the other driver had a big part of causing the accident, her's was not the only decision involved in the accident. Had my mom drove, sat in the front, or wore her seat belt, the accident, or severity of the accident might have been prevented.

In my practice, I began to see my responsibility and faults. The more suffering I saw and experienced, the more I was able understand what the Buddha taught. The Buddha's teachings really come out when considered along side suffering.

"have you ever though who created our life and everything ?"

I have thought about it, but I decided I did not care. If it is the Christian God, I still have to learn how to counter my suffering and do good on my own. If there is no God, then I STILL have to learn how to be a better person and counter my suffering on my own.

Personally, I have always felt that putting faith in a supreme being takes away from my own culpability and responsibility from my actions. I do not debate the existence of a Supreme God, but I would rather deal with what I can. Because in the end, we STILL need to make decisions. Whether or not a God exists, he will not bless me or curse me, I still feel like my decisions are my own.

I hope I have answered your questions, and if I haven't, I would be happy to explain anything you'd like to ask (within my ability of course).

Sincerely,

Phra Anandapanyo