Hari Aum.
Today I would like to share my views on the Buddha. I have been watching a television series on the Buddha and feel inspired to write something about him.
My first contact with Buddhism was about 14 years ago (before I discovered my Guru Sivananda) when I read the Tibetan book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. This book greatly increased my interest in spiritual life.
Later, on the recommendation of a friend, I did the ten day Vipassana meditation course- this involves 10 days of complete silence while doing Vipassana concentration for around 10 hours a day. (Although I was about 21 years of age, sitting for 10 hours a day was no easy task physically- everything ached afterwards!). During the course, the teachers told us that we must exert ourselves to walk on the spiritual path. They said we must walk every step of way ourselves- there is nobody outside us ultimately who can help us. This message had a profound impact on me.
After the course, the teachers told us we must continue to meditate using the Vipassana method for at least two hours daily. I was a medical student at the time- I managed to find time for this (two hours a day seemed easy after the pain of sitting 10 hours a day!). I continued this practice until I discovered my Guru Sivananda- then I switched to mantra meditation, which I have stayed with ever since.
Coming back to the Buddha and his teaching, who was the Buddha? There are many views. Some have no faith in him, they say he was an ordinary man. Others say he was an incarnation of Vishnu who was born to mislead asuras. Still others say he was an extraordinary being, a great world Teacher, a being of supreme compassion, an embodiment of love and wisdom. My opinion is the third of these- I regard him as a great Teacher, a great inspiration, an embodiment of love and goodness.
I was going to write a full piece on him, then I thought, let me first see what my Guru Sivananda had to say about the Buddha. I found some articles by him on the Buddha, and was delighted to find that my Guru's thoughts and feelings about the Buddha exactly match my own.
Therefore instead of writing my views on the Buddha, I will share my Guru's views here (see links below).
http://www.dlshq.org/saints/buddha.htm
http://www.dlshq.org/religions/buddhism.htm
I will simply summarise the views of my Guru here in my own words and based on my own feelings.
Buddha was a great being. He was born a prince, but renounced everything and became a hermit. He knew that true wealth lay within not outside. He abandoned home and pleasures, he practiced austerity, the middle path, and attained the spiritual goal of life which he called Nirvana.
His message was simple- he said that one should not waste time in pointless arguments such as "Is there a God or not?" "Why does this world exist?" etc. He said that life is short, and there is no time for useless arguments which do not lead one anywhere.
Instead of arguing, he said one should exert and find out the truth oneself before the body dies- this will lead to eternal bliss and freedom from suffering.
The method prescribed to discover the truth of life onself is basically two steps:
1. Purify the mind
2. Meditate with the pure mind
All mystics from all spiritual traditions ultimately advise the above two steps as the way to realise the Truth and thus experience eternal bliss, and freedom from suffering. So did the Buddha.
The noble eightfold path:
For purification of mind, the Buddha prescribed the noble eightfold path. This is as follows:
1. Right views: having proper understanding of this world, including the suffering in life and the law of karma
2. Right aspiration: having a firm desire to come out of suffering, to attain the spiritual goal of life
3. Right speech: purity in speech. i.e. speech that is truthful and non-violent
4. Right action: purity in action, i.e. action that is based on non-violence (ahimsa) and control of the senses (brahmacharya)
5. Right livelihood: doing work that is ethical in nature, based on principles of non-violence and truthfulness
6. Right effort: making a genuine and sincere effort to control the mind, to increase pure and sublime thoughts in the mind, and to eliminate negative impure thoughts- working to refine the mind and render it fit for meditation.
7. Right mindfulness: becoming aware of the activity of the body and mind without associating the 'I' with them, observing them as a witness (sakshi bhav)
8. Right concentration or meditation: having attained purity of mind through practice of the above seven steps, the sharp and pure mind is in an ideal state to concentrate and thus pass naturally into the state of meditation. Meditation then leads to nirvana (or samadhi), the state of direct realisation of the spiritual truths of life.
(Note- yogis say you cannot make yourself meditate. You can make the mind concentrate, and then meditation can happen. It is the same with sleep. You cannot make your mind sleep. You can go to bed, turn off the light, make yourself comfortable and create an environment in which sleep can happen. It is the same with meditation. A pure mind that can concentrate well, creates an environment in which meditation can happen. And when meditation happens, samadhi can happen).
Self-effort or Purushartha:
One of the key messages of the Buddha that I love the most, aside from the non-violence and compassion, is the emphasis on self-effort. What the yogis call 'purushartha'.
In the Dhammpada, the collection of sayings of the Buddha, the Buddha says:
"Just as a fletcher straightens an arrow shaft, even so the discerning man straightens his mind — so fickle and unsteady, so difficult to guard."
"Wisdom never becomes perfect in one whose mind is not steadfast, who knows not the Good Teaching and whose faith wavers."
"By oneself one must censure oneself and scrutinize oneself. The self-guarded and mindful monk will always live in happiness."
"One is one's own protector, one is one's own refuge. Therefore, one should control oneself, even as a trader controls a noble steed."
"Exert yourself, O holy man! Cut off the stream (of craving), and discard sense desires. Knowing the destruction of all the conditioned things, become, O holy man, the knower of the Uncreated (Nibbana)!"
Here is a link to the Dhammapada, a most excellent and practical manual for spiritual practice:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.intro.budd.html
My Guru Sivananda also emphasised the importance of self-effort. He used to say "Do not say 'Karma (destiny), karma, my karma has brought me this'",
He said:
"Exert, exert. Do purushartha (self-effort). Do tapas (austerity). Concentrate. Purify. Meditate. Do not become a fatalist. Do not yield to inertia (tamas)."
"Do not bleat like a lamb. Roar Om, Om, Om like a lion of Vedanta".
A lot of people think that a Guru or God outside them is going to give them salvation. The Buddha and the yogis say otherwise.
They all say that Truth, God, whatever you want to call it, is within us. If you cannot find Truth in yourself, you will not find it anywhere- so said my Guru and many other Gurus.
Finally, the Buddha was the embodiment of compassion, of kindness. These qualities are the basis of spiritual life. He was born at a time when people troubled each other in the name of caste and other divisions, when people killed animals in the name of sacrifices to God. He tried to put an end to these heinous and evil practices by declaring the importance of ahimsa or non-violence as the basis of a moral and spiritual life.
Hail to the Buddha, the master who commanded his disciples to work for self-realisation instead of expecting somebody else to hand this to them on a platter. Hail to the embodiment of ahimsa (non-violence) and karuna (compassion).
During the Vipassana course we said the following to affirm our commitment to live the noble life outlined by the Buddha, to experience ourselves the truth of his teachings, and I will conclude by saying this now:
Buddham sharanam gacchami
Dhammam sharanam gacchami
Sangham sharanam gacchami
This means:
In Buddha, I take refuge
In Dharma, I take refuge
In the spiritual community, I take refuge.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
Today I would like to share my views on the Buddha. I have been watching a television series on the Buddha and feel inspired to write something about him.
My first contact with Buddhism was about 14 years ago (before I discovered my Guru Sivananda) when I read the Tibetan book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. This book greatly increased my interest in spiritual life.
Later, on the recommendation of a friend, I did the ten day Vipassana meditation course- this involves 10 days of complete silence while doing Vipassana concentration for around 10 hours a day. (Although I was about 21 years of age, sitting for 10 hours a day was no easy task physically- everything ached afterwards!). During the course, the teachers told us that we must exert ourselves to walk on the spiritual path. They said we must walk every step of way ourselves- there is nobody outside us ultimately who can help us. This message had a profound impact on me.
After the course, the teachers told us we must continue to meditate using the Vipassana method for at least two hours daily. I was a medical student at the time- I managed to find time for this (two hours a day seemed easy after the pain of sitting 10 hours a day!). I continued this practice until I discovered my Guru Sivananda- then I switched to mantra meditation, which I have stayed with ever since.
Coming back to the Buddha and his teaching, who was the Buddha? There are many views. Some have no faith in him, they say he was an ordinary man. Others say he was an incarnation of Vishnu who was born to mislead asuras. Still others say he was an extraordinary being, a great world Teacher, a being of supreme compassion, an embodiment of love and wisdom. My opinion is the third of these- I regard him as a great Teacher, a great inspiration, an embodiment of love and goodness.
I was going to write a full piece on him, then I thought, let me first see what my Guru Sivananda had to say about the Buddha. I found some articles by him on the Buddha, and was delighted to find that my Guru's thoughts and feelings about the Buddha exactly match my own.
Therefore instead of writing my views on the Buddha, I will share my Guru's views here (see links below).
http://www.dlshq.org/saints/buddha.htm
http://www.dlshq.org/religions/buddhism.htm
I will simply summarise the views of my Guru here in my own words and based on my own feelings.
Buddha was a great being. He was born a prince, but renounced everything and became a hermit. He knew that true wealth lay within not outside. He abandoned home and pleasures, he practiced austerity, the middle path, and attained the spiritual goal of life which he called Nirvana.
His message was simple- he said that one should not waste time in pointless arguments such as "Is there a God or not?" "Why does this world exist?" etc. He said that life is short, and there is no time for useless arguments which do not lead one anywhere.
Instead of arguing, he said one should exert and find out the truth oneself before the body dies- this will lead to eternal bliss and freedom from suffering.
The method prescribed to discover the truth of life onself is basically two steps:
1. Purify the mind
2. Meditate with the pure mind
All mystics from all spiritual traditions ultimately advise the above two steps as the way to realise the Truth and thus experience eternal bliss, and freedom from suffering. So did the Buddha.
The noble eightfold path:
For purification of mind, the Buddha prescribed the noble eightfold path. This is as follows:
1. Right views: having proper understanding of this world, including the suffering in life and the law of karma
2. Right aspiration: having a firm desire to come out of suffering, to attain the spiritual goal of life
3. Right speech: purity in speech. i.e. speech that is truthful and non-violent
4. Right action: purity in action, i.e. action that is based on non-violence (ahimsa) and control of the senses (brahmacharya)
5. Right livelihood: doing work that is ethical in nature, based on principles of non-violence and truthfulness
6. Right effort: making a genuine and sincere effort to control the mind, to increase pure and sublime thoughts in the mind, and to eliminate negative impure thoughts- working to refine the mind and render it fit for meditation.
7. Right mindfulness: becoming aware of the activity of the body and mind without associating the 'I' with them, observing them as a witness (sakshi bhav)
8. Right concentration or meditation: having attained purity of mind through practice of the above seven steps, the sharp and pure mind is in an ideal state to concentrate and thus pass naturally into the state of meditation. Meditation then leads to nirvana (or samadhi), the state of direct realisation of the spiritual truths of life.
(Note- yogis say you cannot make yourself meditate. You can make the mind concentrate, and then meditation can happen. It is the same with sleep. You cannot make your mind sleep. You can go to bed, turn off the light, make yourself comfortable and create an environment in which sleep can happen. It is the same with meditation. A pure mind that can concentrate well, creates an environment in which meditation can happen. And when meditation happens, samadhi can happen).
Self-effort or Purushartha:
One of the key messages of the Buddha that I love the most, aside from the non-violence and compassion, is the emphasis on self-effort. What the yogis call 'purushartha'.
In the Dhammpada, the collection of sayings of the Buddha, the Buddha says:
"Just as a fletcher straightens an arrow shaft, even so the discerning man straightens his mind — so fickle and unsteady, so difficult to guard."
"Wisdom never becomes perfect in one whose mind is not steadfast, who knows not the Good Teaching and whose faith wavers."
"By oneself one must censure oneself and scrutinize oneself. The self-guarded and mindful monk will always live in happiness."
"One is one's own protector, one is one's own refuge. Therefore, one should control oneself, even as a trader controls a noble steed."
"Exert yourself, O holy man! Cut off the stream (of craving), and discard sense desires. Knowing the destruction of all the conditioned things, become, O holy man, the knower of the Uncreated (Nibbana)!"
Here is a link to the Dhammapada, a most excellent and practical manual for spiritual practice:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.intro.budd.html
My Guru Sivananda also emphasised the importance of self-effort. He used to say "Do not say 'Karma (destiny), karma, my karma has brought me this'",
He said:
"Exert, exert. Do purushartha (self-effort). Do tapas (austerity). Concentrate. Purify. Meditate. Do not become a fatalist. Do not yield to inertia (tamas)."
"Do not bleat like a lamb. Roar Om, Om, Om like a lion of Vedanta".
A lot of people think that a Guru or God outside them is going to give them salvation. The Buddha and the yogis say otherwise.
They all say that Truth, God, whatever you want to call it, is within us. If you cannot find Truth in yourself, you will not find it anywhere- so said my Guru and many other Gurus.
Finally, the Buddha was the embodiment of compassion, of kindness. These qualities are the basis of spiritual life. He was born at a time when people troubled each other in the name of caste and other divisions, when people killed animals in the name of sacrifices to God. He tried to put an end to these heinous and evil practices by declaring the importance of ahimsa or non-violence as the basis of a moral and spiritual life.
Hail to the Buddha, the master who commanded his disciples to work for self-realisation instead of expecting somebody else to hand this to them on a platter. Hail to the embodiment of ahimsa (non-violence) and karuna (compassion).
During the Vipassana course we said the following to affirm our commitment to live the noble life outlined by the Buddha, to experience ourselves the truth of his teachings, and I will conclude by saying this now:
Buddham sharanam gacchami
Dhammam sharanam gacchami
Sangham sharanam gacchami
This means:
In Buddha, I take refuge
In Dharma, I take refuge
In the spiritual community, I take refuge.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
