Expert: Justin Choo - 4/3/2006

Question
I am interested in becoming a Buddhist to free my mind of stress. Could you give me details on what it means to be a Buddhist and the teachings of Buddha?
Thank you,
Adam

Answer
Hi Adam,

Thank you for asking me.

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. He pointed out that there was no super agent who controlled us, punished us and rewarded us. We are not puppets on the strings; and there is no puppeteer up above to manipulate us. 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.
So, in Buddhism there is no dogma and no commandment. There are only the guidelines and noble precepts which the Buddha advised us to follow. As diligent Buddhists we use certain precepts to guide our lives. These are the 5 precepts: to refrain from killing, to refrain from stealing, to refrain from committing sexual misconduct, to refrain from telling lies, and to refrain from taking intoxicating substances.  The Buddha advised us to keep these 5 precepts to the best of our ability, and we will be able 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.

To refer to a more traditional rendition of what Buddhism is please surf through this website:

http://www.budhhanet.net/e-learning/5minbud.htm


There are two aspects of the Buddha's teachings. One is the detailed analyses of the mind and consciousness. To a new-comer, it is very awe-inspiring. The other is the day-to-day practical approach towards a more wholesome and peaceful life. It is important to understand the latter approach in order to conduct our lives in a skilful manner, thereby experiencing inner peace and happiness.
The Buddha's teachings are very practical and down to earth and are meant for everyone. It is so because it is based on universal truth that transcends race, nationality, location, space and time. He preached kindness and compassion based on universal truth. He was not interested to convert anyone. He just emphasized that we must avoid committing evil deeds because we, ourselves, are very fearful that others may hurt us. On this premise alone we can just use our common sense and fair judgement that it is not fair to hurt others. We must have this human dignity to conduct our lives in this dignified manner.
On the other hand, we always wish that all good and happy things come our way. Knowing that, it is also fair that others should be given a fair chance to enjoy good and happy lives.
Do we need any more creed, commandment, or threat in order to live in a civilized manner? It is only when others demand that we must believe in their dogmas or else hell will befall them, that the world is in trouble.


Our life's trilogy is this:
I want
I don't want
I don't know

If I get what I want I will be very happy. The more I get the more I want; I become greedy. I don't want things that give me sorrow. If I get things that I don't want, I become very angry. The more bad things I get, the angrier I become, the more hateful I become. I am subject to such uncontrolled reactions because of "I don't know" the true nature of this world and this life. Because of this ignorance, the vicious cycle goes round and round. I get greedy, I get angry, because of my ignorance in life. Our lives revolve around this trilogy of human tragedy.

Unless we change our mind-set, we will suffer through our own ignorance and stupidity. The whole world is such.

The Buddha's message is very simple: Reduce our greed, reduce our hatred, reduce our ignorance by realizing the true nature of this existence. Then we will have inner peace and happiness.

Have a happy journey of inner peace.

Smile from justinchoo :-)