Expert: Joe McSorley - 10/10/2005

Question
im interested in understanding buddhism better and wanted to
aske you a few questions about it. from what ive heard and know of
buddishm the idea is to achieve inner peace, how is this done? do
you need to do anything to become a buddist? like is there a
cerimony or anythign of that nature? what is involved with
becoming buddist? and once a person has become a budish how do
they deal with the quest of dharma or Tao? please note that i am
interested in the religon and that i am doing a essay on this so the
more detailed youre answer i will be very grateful.

Answer
 
Dear Andrew,
This is always a difficult question for me to answer.  There isn't one thing called Buddhism just as there isn't one definition of Christianity.  Fundamentalist Christians believe they are the only ‘right' ones while others are more compassionate in their view.  Buddhism has many sects and different practices though it is not dogmatic like Western religions are.  Here is a brief history of Buddhism's beginnings and its goal which you might already be aware of:
The historical Buddha was born in 563 AD in the city of Kapilavatsu, 160 miles northeast of Benares, India.  Technically speaking Buddhism is not a religion, it is not theistic ( has no God) and does not have an external means of salvation.  In Buddhism one's awakening and redemption is all through self -effort alone.  Historically speaking Buddhism came about because of the life of the Prince  Gautama Siddhartha, who at age 29, encountered for the first time suffering, sickness and death and  wanted to find an answer to the cause of suffering for humans.  He tried to lose himself in the pleasures of the world but found no solace.  He then became an ascetic and this too yielded no answers.  After many years of searching and frustration he finally sat under a tree and declared that he would not move until he understood the solution.  According to legend, several days later, as he glanced up at the morning star his mind became clear and he was enlightened.  From this he postulated the Four Noble truths of Buddhism:
Life (human) is dukkha . (suffering, with no apparent cause),  There is a cause for the suffering. ( avidya or ignorance.), the cause can be abated, and there is a path ( Margo yoga).  What the crux of this is that our minds do not see reality clearly, we do not know who we are, both to ourselves and in relation to the universe.  The cause for this is ignorance of ourselves as egos that blinds us to seeing beyond ourselves.  This can be remedied.  And there are many ways to do this, such as yoga, contemplation, self examination, etc.  When one realizes the true nature of reality, often called ‘seeing things as they are', one has an identical experience to the historical Buddha so there is no hierarchy.  The word ‘buddha' means ‘awakened one' so anyone can become a buddha.  As Buddhism evolved through the centuries there have been many different sects arising.  Theravada is not unlike western religions as they revere the historical buddha as godlike and pray to him.  They have many rituals and prayers, gods, saints and icons.  Mahayana and Zen Buddhism do not ascribe to these practices and strive for a direct awakening.
  So this is not something you convert to or ‘follow'.  There are some schools that do have belief systems and rituals to enter them but they truly miss the point of Buddhism.  From the perspective of Zen, Buddhism is not about ritual or dogma but about self-awakening.  Buddhism is universally known as not being dogmatic and judgmental.  Most historical figures who came to study Zen Buddhism did so because they had some major questions in life that were not getting answered by other religions or philosophies.  In a sense there is no place to hide in Buddhism.  By this I mean in other religions you can say “ I believe so God will take care of me no matter what” but Buddhism's approach is if you have a problem you must come to the solution within yourself.  Some of those belief system schools of Buddhism do have a belief in reincarnation and other things.  In Zen these things are seen as distractions from seeing the truth.
 Buddhism  also varies greatly from culture to culture.  There are elaborate ceremonies in Thai and Vietnamese Buddhism that are not part of Chinese Buddhism.  The Pureland Buddhism of Japan teaches one about going to the ‘pure land' or heaven while this does not exist in other schools of Buddhism.  Tibetan Buddhism is very heavy on ritual and technique while Zen is austere in its practice.
 Some would define Buddhism as an attempt at personal awakening to a universal truth that would instill great compassion for all sentient beings.  All Buddhism should have some sense of this at its core.
 I hope this helps you.  Take care,
         Joe