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...

If we see someone in need and we unreservedly give him a dollar or more, then the merit of this accords with our true nature because at that time we did not discriminate between others and us. We did not distinguish between the receiver and the donor. We were not attached. In this way, the merits from giving a dollar or more are infinite for they are the uncovering of our virtuous natures. Jealousy and hatred are indeed thoughts of stealing. Why is that so? Because one does not like seeing others doing better. This mindset is abnormal. Wishing others would be worse off or becoming displeased, critical or slanderous when seeing virtuous people or good deeds being carried out - these are all thoughts of stealing. A virtuous person delights upon seeing other virtuous people or good deeds and will wholeheartedly assist these good people and help them accomplish their good deeds. A virtuous person will set a good example for whatever community he is in and his good deeds will certa...

Needless worrying is also an indication of karmic obstacles. The past is past, what is the use of dwelling on it? Tomorrow is yet to come. To worry bout it is to have wandering thoughts. Some people are extremely good at worrying and wondering about the past and the future. The can do so all day long. This is to make a mountain out of a molehill and this is  karmic obstacle. What kind of mind are we using now? The deluded mind, it is not a true mind. There is no hindrance in the true mind With the deluded mind, when we try to see something with our naked eyes, we cannot see it clearly. It is like looking through  distorted glasses, seeing the external environment through a layer of delusion. This delusion is the Eight Consciousnesses and Fifty-One mind objects. With the glasses heavily contaminated, we then interact with the external environment through these consciousnesses and mind objects. Therefore, the environment has changed to that of the Six dusts. When these ...

The parami are then inclinations and potentials that we develop into clear intentions. Their development comes in three stages, the initiating, the gathering and the completion. Initially, one brings the subject to mind. Even this much is useful; it means that parami get built-in as a frame of reference, when other values such as fun, convenience, style, worldly performance and success can be taking over the mind. The "gathering" stage is when you apply the perfection in the face of opposition. Something in you does not want to bother, other people do not see the point, it is not convenient, etc, etc and etc. The third stage of completion, is when you know your fullness in that perfection will bring you through any obstacles, you can give up your life for it. You realise: "Why not? Life is going to end anyway, why not establish a mind in a position of strength while there is time?" So, when we establish our minds on one of these parami, we can put aside incli...

Within the last century, western science and physics have made a startling discovery. We are part of the world we view. The very process of our observation changes the things that we observe. For example, an electron is an extremely tiny item. It cannot be viewed without instrumentation and that apparatus dictates what the observer will see. If you look at an electron in one way, it appears to be a particle, a hard little ball that bounces around in nice straight paths. When you view it in another way, an electron appears to be a wave form, with nothing solid about it. It glows and wiggles all over the place around it. An electron is an event more than a thing. And the observer participates in that event by the very process of his or her observation. There's no way to avoid this interaction. Eastern science has recognized this basic principle for a very long time ago. The mind is a set of events and the observer participates in those events every time he or she looks inward....

"Our practice here is not to grasp anything", a chief monk told a young monk. "But isn't it necessary to hold onto things sometimes?", the younger monk protested. "With the hands, yes, but not with the heart", the chief monk replied. "When the heart grasp what is painful, it is like being bitten by a snake and when through desire, it grasp what is pleasant, it is just grasping the tail of the snake. It only takes a little while longer for the head of the snake to come around to bite you. "Make this non grasping and mindfulness the guardian of your heart, like a parent. Then your likes and dislikes will come calling like children. 'I don't like that, mummy. I want more of that, Daddy'. Just smile and say, 'Sure, kid'. 'But mummy, I really want an elephant'. 'Sure, kid'. 'I want candy, can we go for an airplane ride?' There is no problem if you can let them come and go without grasping". ...

If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in the sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain, without rain, the trees cannot grow, without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are. "Interbeing" is the word that is not in the dictionary yet but if we combine the prefix "inter" with the verb "to be", we have a new verb, inter-be. Without a cloud, we cannot have paper, so we can say that the cloud and the sheet of paper inter-are. If we look into the sheet of paper even more deeply, we can see the sunshine in it. If the sunshine is not there, the forest cannot grow. In fact nothing can grow. Even we cannot grow without sunshine. And so, we know that the sunshine is also in this sheet of paper. The paper and the sunshine inter-are. And if we continue to look, we ...

Penetration means to enter something, not just to stand outside of it. when we want to understand something, we cannot just stand outside and observe it. We have to enter deeply into it and be one with it in order to really understand it. If we want to understand a person, we have to feel their feelings, suffer their sufferings and enjoy their joy. Penetration is an excellent word. The word "comprehend" is made up of the Latin roots "com", which means "together in mind" and "prehendere" which means "to grasp it or pick it up". To comprehend something means to pick it up and be one with it. there is no other way to understand something. If we only look at the sheet of paper as an observer, standing outside, we cannot understand it completely. We have to penetrate it. we have to be a loud, be the sunshine and be the logger. If we can enter it and be everything that is in it, our understanding of the sheet of paper will be perfect...

A brief resume of the Metta Sutta given here will help to cultivate the spirit of Metta. The man who is wise seeks the good of all and who has obtained peace need to accomplish the following. He need to be strenuous, upright, sincere, contented and joyous. He need to cast of pride, greed for worldly things and riches. He must keep his sense in strict control. Let him be wise without being conscious of it, and let him not spend all his efforts in gathering riches for himself and his family. Let there be nothing mean in any of his actions. May all being be happy. May they be joyous and live in safety. All being whether weak or strong. In high or middle or low realms of existence. small or great, visible or invisible near or far. Born or to be born. May all beings be happy. Let no one deceive or despise each other or wish each other any harm. Let there be no anger or hatred amongst people. Even as a mother at the risk of her life watches over and protect her only child so with bo...

The Buddha strongly encouraged care and respect for the ecological environment as he clearly saw the close interdependence between man and nature. The Buddha also disapproved of animal sacrifice as he saw it cruel and unfair for anyone to destroy any living being for one’s selfish benefit. To the Buddha, miracles are but manifestation of phenomena not understood by common people. They are not seen as demonstrations of Enlightenment or Wisdom, as supernatural powers can be mastered by anybody. The supernatural is seen as phenomena not understood by the unenlightened. The ability to perform miracle is seen as a by-product of spiritual development of minor importance and relevance to the real goal of spiritual development itself. Though the Buddha had full mastery of psychic powers, he used them only out of compassion and skillful means to reach others. He never used his powers to win followers through blind faith and dependency on miracles. He taught that the highest miracle is the conve...