Buddhism As Education

Whether attaining something outside of ourselves such as material objects or inside ourselves such as virtues, we still need to seek from within, from the mind. Seeking from outside would be futile. Why? The outside factor is a constant as it cannot change whereas the mind is variable, it can be changed. How do man made calamities, war for example come about? They are from the confrontational and conflicting thoughts in our minds. For example, when there is profit, who do you think of benefiting first? If we think of ourselves first, then it will be difficult to avoid conflicts of interest with others. If everyone thinks of him or herself, how can this world be safe and secure? On the other hand, if everyone can put others before themselves, how can this world be in disorder? Many scientist now believe that everything in this world is composed of elementary particles such as electrons and quarks and that they are all actually tiny particles vibrating at different frequencies. Th...

All phenomena are manifested by the mind. Our environment changes according to our mind. "Environment" here means mountains, rivers, earth, trees, flowers and grass. They all can be changed by our minds and we have to remember this sentence.. If we can be persons with pure, virtuous, sincere, compassionate mind, then the mountains, rivers, earth, trees, flowers and grass will become strong and wonderful. If our mind are full of greed, anger, ignorance and arrogance and our thoughts are constantly taking advantage over others to benefit ourselves, then the outer world will turn fragile. The true nature is of the utmost purity and virtuousness, it is perfect and radiant. Habits are the bad thoughts and views that one acquired after birth. Simply put, the conflict between the true nature and acquired habits are the conflict between altruism and self benefit. Compassion, loving kindness and all virtues are innate in the true nature of all beings, while selfishness and all ...

In Buddhism, we are taught not only to love, but that our love also needs to arise from a mind of sincerity, purity and equality. We call this kind of love compassion. Compassion is a rational love. We also need to use true wisdom. Wisdom is the true mind and emotion is the illusory mind. Love that arises from emotions will change while love that arises from wisdom will change while arises from wisdom will never change. Therefore, the Buddhas do not use love but instead compassion is used. On appearance, love and compassion seem to be the same but their intentions are different. Love may change to hatred but with wisdom, love will never change. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will love us no matter what happen; whether we love or hate them, becoming jealous or slandering, harming or destroying them. Their compassion for us will never change. This is true love. Most of us will find that our six sense become polluted when they encounter external surroundings. When they are pleasing...

Today, many people are seriously ill. Why do people become ill? Where do illness come from? The root cause is our anger. If we can calm ourselves down and stop being angry, there will be no more illness and when we learn that we will be healthy all the time. Although there are still many people and reasons out there that can make us angry, we Buddhist call them, our karmic creditors, we do not have to be so obedient and get angry when they irritate us. If we become angry once they irritate us, then we are being fooled. We have to know the truth. They are here to make me angry. I know that and I will not follow their will. On the contrary, I will smile at them. In this way, no one can harm me. Who can actually harm us? Actually, we can only be harmed by ourselves, due to our own actions. If we can learn these, no matter how hard others try to irritate us, we will be impervious. If we can impervious, we will truly see through to the truth and let go of everything. When bad cau...

What is merit? It is purity of mind, concentration and wisdom. Think about it, if we lose our tempers, how can we maintain our concentration and wisdom? It is impossible. As for good fortune, it is our wealth and intelligence. When our mind attains Constant Mindfulness of Buddha Amitabha or One Mind Undisturbed, we can accumulate merits and virtues. But with just one outburst of temper, all is lost i.e. no more Constant Mindfulness of Buddha Amitabha or One Mind Undisturbed. Therefore, we need to remain vigilant so as not to lose our merits. The Buddha once said, if we practice the Ten Virtuous Karmas, we will not fall into the Three Bad Realms. Instead, we would likely be born in the heavenly realms if we practice these good conducts diligently. If we achieve the deep concentration along with the Four Immeasurable Minds of loving kindness [providing happiness to others], compassion [taking away bitterness of others], joy [liberating others from suffering and feeling happy for t...

When we observe all the worries, pain, bitterness, anger, good fortune, misfortune, good, evil, conflicts, confrontations and natural disasters around worldwide, we see that they are due to wrong understanding of the truth about life and the universe. From this misunderstanding, we erroneously generate emotional attachments, differentiate between others and ourselves, expand the conflicts and confrontations within ourselves to all beings, affairs, objects and the natural environment outside ourselves. This is why we are making disasters worsening everywhere. In reality, natural disasters are caused by human minds. The Buddha said, "greed is the cause of flood, anger is the cause of fire, ignorance is the cause of wind, arrogance and inequality are the cause of earthquakes". Once we understand the fundamental principles, we will understand that everything in this world and beyond arises from the mind and changes according to our perceptions. If we seek to become Buddh...