Expert: Laurie McLauglin - 12/19/2010

Question
While learning Reiki, I read few books that relate to Buddhism, though Reiki itself has no roots in any religion. I also read few articles on Zen and inspired with it.

Since last two years, due to few unfortunate things that happened in my life, I am in a deep depressed state and lost happiness altogether.

I want to know the essence of Buddhist philosophy and how it can bring balance in my life. Where are the most sacred and spiritually advanced Buddhist monasteries located and are there any realized souls still in these monasteries?

Answer
Hello Rohit,

Thank you for letting me answer your questions.

I am sorry that you have lost your happiness and are depressed.

I hope doing Reiki helps you with that as in doing it you are helping others who are suffering and helping others with a good motivation plants good karmic seeds that will ripen down the road and provide a way for you to be happier.

Contrary to the title of the website, I really am not an expter as to what the essence of Buddhism is, but from what I have learned so far, it seems that it is to end suffering.

Buddha's first teaching was about suffering and how to end it.  Buddha saw that most of the problems in the world came from the fact that people don't see the world as it really is, but instead we see a rather distorted view of reality but we cling onto that distorted  view as reality.

But naturally, if something is distorted, it cannot bring you true, lasting happiness.

So Buddha basically said - let's take the most basic thing - the thing everyone has that no one wants - suffering.

We think that suffering is bad and we do everything in the world to avoid it, and that it comes from things that happen to us, most of which we have no control over and that we cannot change it. No wonder so many people are unhappy.

But Buddha taught that fist off that just by being born in this world we will suffer - he said we will have to experience sickness, old age and death.  But we try to aviod it. Basically he said we cannot so we should not be stressed about suffering when it will happen anyway. Already we can feel better - everyone is going to go through it - we are not along and so we can let go of the pain attached to the fact that we must suffer.

But why do we have to suffer at all?  He said that we suffer because we grasp at things - we crave them - we crave things we want and we crave to be free of things we don't want.  And when our cravings are not met we suffer, he said.  

He explained that we can be free of suffering by letting go of our cravings - grasping - addictions - That does not mean that we don't enjoy things - it means that we let go of the intense feeling that only by having certain things and avoiding other that we will be happy - only by seeking our happiness in things outside of ourselves can we be happy - He said that is not true. We think that craving things outside ourselves will make us happy but if that were true, we would already be happy because we have been grasping at what we want and trying to avoid what we don't our whole lives but we are not happy - That is the Second Noble Truth

So, Buddha in his wisdom realized and then taught that grasping for things we want or on the other hand averting things  we don't that exist outside of ourselves can only bring suffering and not true happiness.  And the cessation of grasping and averting will therefore bring happiness. When we begin to see things as they really are - that things that we grasp at do not exist in the way we think they do - that they are not permanent but instead will arise, abide  for a time and then decline or decay - that we are grasping at things and expecting them to be  permanent when they are going to change anyway, then will find happiness. That was the Third Noble Truth

Then the Buddha said something even more wonderful - he said that by practicing what he called the Noble Eightfold Path, that we can eliminate suffering from our lives - forever. He then listed the 8 things we can do - and if we practice them and really keep them then we will never have to suffer again.  They are right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.  By studying and practicing them, we really can be happy and let go of our negative thinking, slowly let go of our depression and find peace.

Of course the Buddha taught many other things too, but I have heard it said that all the teachings he gave after this one which was his first are linked to this one - so if one did nothing but practice the Four Noble Truths, one would find happiness in life and be able to be to eliminate suffering and depression from our lives.

As far as sacred and spiritually advanced Monasteries, that you will have to find for yourself - I could tell you of the ones I know of but the ones I like might not resonate with you - plus I do not know much about Zen Monasteries, since I practice Tibetan Gelugpa Buddhism.

Just remember, if you go to a monastery, you will still be dealing with people - and people are not always perfect - so some have found that if they are looking for perfection and enlightenment simply because one is at a monastery or dharma center that one can be disappointed. So be aware of not having too many expectations if/when you do travel to one.

Are there realized souls still in these monasteries - well, the technical answer would be no as Buddhism really does not teach the belief in a soul in the spiritual context that westerners would understand.

But are there realized beings in the monastaries - I am sure of it - And from my experience one does not have to go to a monastery to find a realized being - one can find them at dharma centers all over the world - and sometimes one can find them walking on the beach or in coffee shops.

From my experience, when I was in a really bad place emotionally and I first came across Buddhism, I found it very helpful to do a lot of reading from well known teachers in the particular Buddhist tradition I chose or if you have not chosen one to read many different teachers till you find one you resonate with.  By reading books on the dharma, I found myself becoming happier and also what helped was finding a dharma center where I could meditate and get teachings from qualified teachers and be around other dharma students.

I hope this answer helps in some way and pray that you begin to let go of your unhappiness and find happiness through the dharma.

If you have any other questions about what I wrote or something else, don't hesitate to let me know.

Namaste - Laurie