July 2003 Edition

 

 

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A wealthy Brahman, named Bharadvaja, was holding his harvest-home when the Teacher came and stood by with his bowl. Some of the people went up and paid him reverence, but Bharadvaja was angry, and said, "Sramana (mendicant), I plough and sow, and having ploughed and sown, I eat; it would be better if you were in like manner to plough and sow, and then you would have food to eat."

 

"O! Brahman," was the answer, "I too plough and sow, and having ploughed and sown, I eat."

 

"You say you are a farmer; but we see no signs of it," said Bharadvaja. "Where are your bullocks, and the seed, and the plough?"

 

Then the Buddha answered, "Faith is the seed I sow, and good works are as the rain that fertilizes it; wisdom and modesty are the parts of the plough, and my mind is the guiding rein. I lay hold of the handle of the Law; earnestness is the goad I use; and diligence is my draught ox. Thus this ploughing is ploughed, destroying the weeds of delusion. The harvest that it yields is the ambrosia fruit of Nibbana, and by this ploughing all sorrow ends."

 

 

 

A course participant writes:

 

I have been trying to practice Right Thought and Right Speech everyday. However, the other day I made what could be construed as a disparaging comment about a woman in a store and it sparked a disagreement between me and my husband - a good example of why Right thought and speech should be practiced! I ended up silently berating myself through that day and the next. I know that we are supposed to pay attention when something like this occurs, and try harder in our practice, but how can I quit "beating myself over the head"?

 

Andrew replies:

 

Buddhists make an interesting distinction between remorse and guilt. When we have transgressed, remorse is regarded as a necessary and positive action of mind. It enables us to acknowledge the wrong action we have chosen to commit and to move on from it. It has the quality of compassion. Guilty feelings, on the other hand, tend to be entirely negative: we get bogged down in feelings of negativity about an action we cannot undo and this tends to prevent us from performing optimally in the present moment. Actions once committed cannot be undone. If we have recognized them as unskillful, in some circumstances we can try to perform another action that will improve the situation. If nothing can be accomplished directly to resolve the situation then Right Action consists of acknowledging our responsibility for what occurred and then acknowledging our responsibility to use this present moment more skilfully.

 

Although it is technically incorrect to see kamma working as a balance sheet of positive and negative actions it is, for many, a useful mental image. If we try each day to ensure that we have chosen to commit mostly skilful actions, then our 'balance' at the end of this day will reflect that - our behaviour will have been creditable and worthy of one who is taking the Noble Eightfold Path seriously. The key to spiritual engagement during our daily activities is to pay attention to the present moment as much as possible. How best can I use this time? The answer will not normally be backward-looking; it will more often be constructive. Regarding each new moment as an opportunity for kusala kamma (skillful or good chosen actions) is an attitude to life that is worth cultivating.

 

With metta

 

Andrew

 

 

 

One of the noteworthy characteristics that distinguishes the Buddha from all other religious teachers is that he was a human being with no connection whatsoever with a God or any other supernatural being. He was neither a God nor an incarnation of God nor any mythological figure. He was a man, but an extraordinary man (acchariya manussa). He was beyond the human state inwardly though living the life of a human being outwardly. He is for this reason called a unique being, man par excellence (purisuttama), a Buddha, an Enlightened One.

 

Depending on his own unremitting energy, unaided by any teacher, human or divine, he achieved the highest mental and intellectual attainment, reached the acme of purity, and was perfect in the best qualities of human nature. He was an embodiment of compassion and wisdom (karuna and panna) which became the guiding principles in his Dispensation (sasana).

 

Through personal experience he understood the supremacy of man. The Buddha never claimed to be a saviour who endeavoured to save "souls" by means of revealed religion. Through his own perseverance and understanding he proved that infinite possibilities are latent in man and that it must be man's endeavour to develop and unfold these possibilities. He proved by his own experience that enlightenment and deliverance lie absolutely and entirely in man's hand. Being an exponent of the strenuous life, by precept and example, the Buddha encouraged his disciples to cultivate self-reliance.

 

It was also the Buddha who for the first time in the world's history taught that deliverence could be attained independently of an external agency, that deliverance from suffering, conflicts of life or unsatisfactoriness, must be wrought out and fashioned by each one for himself upon the anvil of his own actions. The Buddha warns his disciples against shifting the burden to an external agency (a saviour, a God or Brahma), directs them to the ways of discrimination and research, and urges them to get busy with the real task of developing their inner forces and qualities. He says: "I have directed you towards deliverance. The Dhamma, the Truth, is to be self-realized.

 

The Enlightened Ones, the men who saw truth, are the true helpers, but Buddhists do not pray to them. They only reverence the revealers of Truth for having pointed out the path to true happiness and deliverance. Deliverance is what one must secure for oneself.

 

None can grant deliverance to another who merely begs for it. Others may lend us a helping hand indirectly; but nevertheless the highest freedom is attained only through self-realization and self-awakening to Truth. Self-realization can come only to one who is free to think out his own problems without let or hindrance. Each individual should make the appropriate effort and break the shackles that have kept him in bondage, winning freedom from the bonds of existence by perseverance, self-exertion and insight, and not through prayers and petitions to a Supreme Being.

 

"Man must himself by his resolute efforts rise and make his way to the portals that give upon liberty, and it is always, at every moment, in his power to do so. Neither are those portals locked and the key in possession of someone else from whom it must be obtained by prayer and entreaty. That door is free of all bolts and bars save those that man himself has made."

 

Buddhist monks are not priests who perform rites and sacrifices. They do not administer sacraments and pronounce absolution. A Buddhist monk cannot and does not stand as an intermediary between man and "supernatural" powers, for Buddhism teaches that each individual, whether layman or  monk is solely responsible for his own liberation. Hence there is no need to win the favour of a mediating priest. "You yourselves should strive on; the Buddhas only show the path." The path is the same Ancient Path trodden and pointed out by the Enlightened Ones of all ages. It is the Noble Eightfold Path leading to Enlightenment and highest security, Nirvana.

 

Another distinguishing characteristic is that the Buddha never preserved his supreme knowledge for himself alone. To the Buddha such a wish is utterly inconceivable. Perfect Enlightenment, the discovery and realization of the Four Noble Truths, is not the prerogative of a single being chosen by Divine Providence, nor is it a unique and unrepeatable event in human history. It is an achievement open to anyone who earnestly strives for perfect purity and true wisdom, and with inflexible will cultivates the Noble Eightfold Path.

 

When communicating the doctrine (Dhamma) to his disciples the Buddha made no distinction whatsoever amongst them; for there were no specially chosen favourite disciples. There is not even an indication that the Master entrusted the Dispensation (sasana) to any particular disciple before he passed away. He did not appoint anyone as his successor. In this connection it is interesting to note that the Buddha made clear to his disciples, before he passed away, that he never thought of controlling the Order of monks, the Sangha. Addressing the monks who assembled round his death-bed the Master said:

 

"The Doctrine and Discipline (dhamma-vinaya) which I have set forth and laid down for you, let them after I am gone be the teacher to you." Even during his lifetime it was the Doctrine and Discipline that controlled and guided the monks. He was no potentate. The Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path, which is Buddhism in practice, is the teaching for free men.

 

The Buddha's teaching definately encourages democratic ideas and institutions. Though the Buddha wisely refrained from interfering with the then existing governments, he made the Sangha, the community of monks, an absolutely democratic institution.  ...

 

Characteristic, again, is the Buddha's method of teaching the Dhamma. He disapproved of those who professed to have "secret doctrine", saying, "secrecy is the hall-mark of false doctrine". In his own words, "the Dhamma proclaimed by the Tathagata, the Perfect One, shines when revealed and not when hidden." Addressing the Venerable Ananda, the personal attendant of the Master, the Buddha said: "I have taught the Dhamma, Ananda, without making any distinction between exoteric and esoteric doctrine, for in respect of the Truth, Ananda, the Tathagata has no such thing as the 'closed fist' of a teacher who hides some essential knowledge from the pupil."

 

He declared the Dhamma freely and equally to all. He kept nothing back and never wished to extract from his disciples blind and submissive faith in him and his teaching. He insisted on discriminative examination and intelligent inquiry.  ...

And in conformity with this thoroughly correct attitude of true inquiry it is said, in a Buddhist treatise on logic: "As the wise test gold by burning, by cutting and rubbing it (on a touchstone), so are you to accept my words after examining them and not merely out of regard for me."

 

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