Numerous people have approached me with questions on Buddhism and how to best approach learning more. I the paragraphs below I'll discuss my recommendations on how to approach gaining a better insight to Buddhism and the practice of Buddhism. I'll also discuss some potential pitfalls to the effort to learn about Buddhism.
1. Introduction:
a. If you have been in the Temple you'll have seen numerous books that are displayed on the table at the back of the Templa hall. These books are free and you can take them home to study. There is, however; something that you should be aware of. Buddhism is a very deep religion. Most of the books are written by scholars and you will probably be overwhelmed by the content and complexity. In addition, remember that Buddhism is comes from a very different culture. These factors make it difficult to near impossible to understand without a significant amount of study and effort. If that is your aim then select a book and study it at your leisure. Please remember that it is a religious text and treat it with respect.
b. I expect most visitors to the Temple have a general interest in basic Buddhism and really are only interested in the basics. Occassionally, we have books in the Temple that are more focused on an overview of Buddhism with a slant towards non-Buddhist Americans. I have asked the Temple to include some basic Buddhism books.
2. One Person's Approach:
a. The Temple has a Q&A session on the Temple and Buddhism every Sunday from 11:30am to 12:30pm. Bring your questions and (hopefully) we can answer them on the spot.
b. Browse the free books on Buddhism in the Temple. Make sure that the level of the book is not too advanced for your current knowledge.
c. Go to http://buddhanet.net. This site has materials for the Buddhist novice to the Buddhist expert. If you are new to Buddhism start easy. For example, from the Buddhist Studies menu, select Basic Buddhism Guide or Study for Schools as a starting point.
There a lot of good information on the web (and some not so good). I think the links above and some of your time will get you the information you seek!
This article was first published in the Monthly newpaper (February 2019) for the Thai Buddhist temple in Ft. Walton Beach.
Man the NOBLE Being by P.A. Payutto
Human beings are special unlike any other kind of animal. What makes them special is sikkha' or education namely learning training and development. Human beings who have been trained, educated or developed are called "noble beings." They know how to conduct a good life for themselves and also help their society fare securely in peace and happiness.
To be truly involved in this education human beings, especially children and young people, who are the new members of the human race should aquire the seven fundamental quantities known as the auroras of a good life or the dawn of education. These are the guarantees of life moving forward toward full human development to peoples becoming truly nobile beings. They are:
1. Kalyanamittata seeking out sources of wisdom and good examples.
2. Sila-sampada having discipline as a foundation for ones life development.
3. Chanda-sampada having a heart that aspires to learning and constructive action.
4. Atta-sampada dedicating oneself to training for the realization on ones full human potential.
5. Detthi-sampada adhering to the principle of conditionlity, seeing things according to cause and effect.
6. Appamad-sampada establishing oneself in heedfulnes.
7. Yonisomanasikara-sampada thinking wisely so as to realize and see the truth.
EDITOR's NOTE: This article was handed out to the June 1, 2017 Meditation Workshop attendees at Wat Tampa as one of two documents. The other document (Meditation Explained) is also available on this website. Although this article is titled as "Introduction to Buddhism", I believe that this information is more intermediate to advanced level Buddhism. The content has not been changed from its original edition but there are some typographical changes – primarily breaking out lists within paragraphs to bullet points to more clearly identify the key points and concepts. I also added the mailing address for War Thai, D.C. for those interested in more information.
Historical Background: Buddhism was born in northeastern India in the year 588 BC founded by Siddhartha Gautama Buddha. He was born on the full moon day of the sixth lunar month 623 years before Christ at beautiful Lumbini Garden, located between Kapilavattu and Devadaha City south west of the country known as Nepal today. His father was King Suddhodana and his mother was Queen Sirimahamaya or Queen Maya. He married Princes Yasodhara when he was sixteen years old and became a monk at the age of 29. He lived a luxurious life during his 29 years in the palace. After he left the palace, he studied and practiced meditation with the very popular gurus of his time, Arala and Utaka, passing many levels of concentration or tranquil meditation. When he completed the causes of study from those teachers, he left them to find the way known as Atthanggika Magga or Middle Eightfold Path, and he attained enlightment in the sixth year of his monkshood. His mind became free from all the ten fetters:
His mind filled with clear understanding, rationality, understanding of cause and effect, understanding of cause and effect on sensual craving and how to let go of craving. His mind filled with acceptance of the way things really are, and with loving-kindness and compassion, clear comprehension of both visible and invisible objects, the value of a simple and humble way of life, and he shined with the light of right understanding. He became known as The Buddha, the Awakened One.
What the Buddha Taught
The Buddha taught us the Four Noble Truths, the truth of all beings with and without consciousness. They are:
Dukkha: The Noble Truth of Dissatisfaction or Suffering. Buddhism did not view anything in an optimistic nor pessimistic manner, but Buddhism views everything is a realistic way. When Buddhism talks about Dukkha or Suffering or Dissatisfactoriness it means the hardship of maintenance and the problems in daily life, such as birth, old age, diseases, death, sorrow and frustrations of every kind. What is undesirable is painful, so too is not getting something desired. All problems are unwanted but although people try their best to avoid trouble and to be free from suffering, they cannot protect themselves from it. The truth Buddha taught solves the problems and problematic situations which, when observed and comprehended by self-investigation, helps us learn for ourselves whether the teaching is true. With careful observation of life we can see that all life is unstable, decaying and subject to change.
Samudaya: The Noble Truth of Origin of Dissatisfaction (dukkhosamudaya-ariyasacca). The origin (origins) of dissatisfaction are many, depending on the conditions. Every kind of dissatisfaction has its origin in craving (tanha) or self desire, which is the result of ignorance (avijja) or delusion, resulting in hatred, destruction, violence and suffering in society in the past, today, and the future. Craving produces re-existence and re-becoming (ponobbavika) and is bound up with passionate greed (nandiragasahagata), finding flesh delight now here and now there (tatratatrabhinandini), namely:
It is this craving, desire, greed, manifesting itself in various ways, that gives rise to all forms of suffering and continuity of beings. It should not be taken as the first cause, for there is no first cause possible as, according to Buddhism, everything is relative and hater-dependent.
Nirodha: The Noble Truth of Cessation of Suffering (dukkhanirodha-ariyosacea), which is Nibbana or Nirvana in Sanskrit. To uproot the suffering, the Buddha introduced the Path (magga) leading to the cessation of suffering. It is the cessation of craving, cession of hatred, cessation of illusion or ignorance. There are great details in the suttas about the way to practice to put an end to these mental defilements.
Magga:
The Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering ( Dukkhanirodhagaminipatipada-ariyasacca. This is known as The Middle Way (majjhima-patipada), because it avoids two extremes; one extreme is to search for happiness through the pleasures of the senses which is low, common, unprofitable and the way of ordinary people; the other method is the search for happiness through self-mortification in different forms of asceticism, which is painful, unworthy and unprofitable. The Buddha himself tried these two extremes and having found them to be useless, the Buddha discovered through personal experience. The Middle Path, which gives vision and knowledge and leads to experiencing Calm, Insight, Enlightenment, Nibbana. This path is known in Pali as Ariya-Atthangika-Magga because it is composed of eight categories, namely:
Wisdom Level
Moral Level
Samadhi Level
The whole teaching of the Buddha, to which he devoted himself for 45 years, deals with this Path. Buddha explained the Dhamma in different ways with different words to different people, according to the stage of their development and their capacity to understand and follow him, but the essence of those many thousand discourses in the Buddhist Scriptures are found in the Noble Eightfold Path and summarized in the Threefold doctrine namely:
The eight categories of the Path should not be followed and practiced one after the other in the numerical order as given the list above, but they are to be developed more or less simultaneously, as far as possible according to the capacity of each individual. The eight factors aim at promoting and perfecting the three essentials of the Buddhist training and discipline:
Moral Conduct:
Moral conduct is the basic principle of Buddhism for the training and development of an ordinary person to become a perfect human being. It consists of commitment to:
Mental Discipline:
When we develop moral conduct, we are certain to have peaceful family and peaceful society, and then we are ready to go on for meditation practice for more training in mental culture. Mental culture develops the human mind to become a noble being and finally to become a perfect noble one through wisdom training. There are two kinds of mental culture, namely:
The details of meditation cannot be given here but those who want more information about meditation practice may contact Wat Thai, D.C. at the mailing address provided below.
Wat D.C of Washington D.C, 13440 Layhill Road, Silver Spring, MD 209906
Wisdom Training:
Wisdom is the way to see the ultimate truth of reality. When the mind of the meditation practitioner becomes calm, clear and peaceful, he or she may apply peaceful mind to look at the ways of all things visible and invisible as they really are. Their ways are as follows:
When the mind understands the way of everything as it really is, the mind does not cling and does not attach to anything, the meditation practitioner will see and view all things with a realistic approach. At that level of meditation the mind becomes free from all kinds of mental defilement, becoming a mind that can be called free mind, independent mind, perfect mind, or enlightened mind. The person who lives with this mind will always live his or her life in peace and happiness here and now, not waiting until after death. This is what Buddha taught and the goal of Buddhism.
What is the Goal of Buddhism?
The Awakened One, the Buddha, classified people into two groups and set goals for both to help them according to their capabilities, namely,
Goal for householders is to live their life in a happy by following at least three of the precepts of the Eightfold Path namely, right action, right speech and right livelihood in moral training. This includes the administration and governmental affairs, as the Buddha introduced 10 virtues of rulers or administrators to carry out duties and responsibilities in righteous ways.
Goal for the monks or those who live monastic life is Nibbana, enlightenment or perfect freedom of the mind by following the Eightfold Path as above mentioned. The monks have to strictly observe moral conduct (Sila Visuddhi) and clarification of their moral disciplines set out by the Buddha, proved by the Sangha. Monks must train themselves in meditation practice (Samadhi-Vipassana Bhavna) to cultivate wisdom to purify their minds from mental impurities or delusion.