Expert: Justin Choo - 6/11/2006

Question
I wondered what Bhuddists believed about Jesus. I am a Roman Catholic and so I believe in God as the Trinity and that Jesus is like a designated driver, the safe most certain way to get to heaven. I know Muslims believe he was a prophet and Jews believe he was just a historical figure. I wondered what the Bhuddist teaching is. I also wondered what the best books on meditation are. I heard the Dalai Lama speak and thought he was a fabulous person.  

Answer
Hi Michael,

Thank you for asking me.

First of all if one wants to believe in something or somebody that something or somebody must have relevance to the person.  Asking what Buddhists think about Jesus is like posing the question back to you.  What do Christians (or Muslims) think about the Buddha?  It is actually not very relevant and insignificant asking such question. Apart from that it gives others an implied impression of the importance of one's belief.  Just like asking you what do you think of me?  A positive answer will surely make feel elated; and a negative answer will hurt my feelings. Sorry if I sound rude, but I don't mean to be.

The Dalai Lama is not the supreme leader of the world Buddhist community.  The public at large has been misled to think that way.  He is the leader of one of the 4 major Buddhist sects in Tibet. Thanks to China that he is now so famous, for the wrong reason.  

    
Buddhism is the name given to the teachings of the historical Buddha, whose name was Gotama.
What did he teach? He taught us to use our human intelligence to see the world as it really is. He taught us to be masters of ourselves. He taught us to be free from dogmas and commandments. So long as we are fearful of something or someone we are not free. We cannot have peace of mind if we are fearful.
He taught us how to have peace within ourselves. If we do not understand the true nature of the world and this life, we will never experience peace within ourselves.
The Buddha discovered the way to peace and happiness through realizing the true nature of life and this universe. It was more than 2500 years ago in northern India where the Buddha through harnessing the power of his mind realized that if man were to be free of greed, hatred and delusion, he had to look inwards into his mind, and start cleansing his inner defilements. If one reduces one's defilements, one would experience peace and happiness. He discovered that the whole world had certain characteristics and that life continued to exist because of certain causes. This world is very uncertain and unsatisfactory, because we cannot be fully satisfied in life; and that nothing is permanent. He also pointed out that because of our craving for permanent happiness and complete satisfaction, we were always miserable. Once we understand and come to terms with this imperfect world, we will not complain too much, and will live through life with wisdom accepting the whole "package of life".

The most salient aspect of Buddhism is FREEDOM in its practice. The Buddha encouraged his followers to use their common sense and human intelligence to analyze his teachings before accepting them. The natural law of cause and effect rules the world. No matter what you are and where you are, or what you believe, this UNIVERSAL LAW rules supreme. There is no escape. It is perfectly impartial. In simple language, good begets good; evil begets evil.
 The Buddha advised us to live in peace with ourselves. What others do, or do not do, is their business. We cannot change the whole world. But we can change our lives if we want to.

Buddhist teachings are like air. They are free, and non-discriminating. If anyone thinks they are beneficial, then they can breathe the air. If anyone chooses otherwise, then it's up to the person. This is the "religion" of Buddhism....Truth, Peace, Harmlessness, and Freedom.  A more appropriate term to describe Buddhism is "humanism". It deals with the peaceful conduct of human lives.

If you need further info please refer to www.buddhnet.net

Regarding books on Buddhist meditation, it is advisable that one has some knowledge of Buddhism before embarking into actual Buddhist meditation.

Smile from justinchoo :-)