Buddhism As Education

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 ...

Love is a mind that brings peace, joy and happiness to another person. Compassion is a mind that removes the suffering that is present in the other. We all have the seeds of love and compassion in our minds and we can develop these fine and wonderful source of energy. We can nurture the unconditional love that does not expect anything in return and therefore does not lead to anxiety and sorrow. The essence of love and compassion is understanding, the ability to recognize the physical, material and psychological suffering of others, to put ourselves inside the skin of the other. We go inside their body, feelings and mental formations and witness for ourselves their suffering. Shallow observation as an outsider is not enough to see their suffering. We must become one with the object of our observation. When we are in contact with another's suffering, a feeling of compassion is born in us. Compassion means literally, :to suffer with". We begin by choosing as the object our...

Mind and matter, though closely associated, are entirely two distinct entities; very different in terms of their nature, cause and functions. Unlike matter, which is composed of physical constituents such as atoms and molecules, the mind has no such physical quantity. It composed of its own continuum only, just as a wheat requires a grain of wheat as seed for its substantial cause, so does mind always require an earlier moment of its own type as its main cause. Matter can never become consciousness and vice versa. But this does not mean that matter could exist independently from the mind. It is on this point that many well-respected western scientist have made a fundamental error. Their obsessive conviction in measuring every physical phenomenon in their basic constituents lead them to believe in the existence of absolute space and time, totally independent of the subjective mind. Matter exists because mind perceives it; and mind exists because there is a matter to be perceive...

Does the mind have a form or is it formless? Can it be identified with the chemical mechanism of the brain or is there something more to it than that? What are its causes? Is it hereditary? These are some of the questions that we are going to probe in the course of our investigation here. In Buddhist writings, the mind is defined as a phenomenon which is formless and possesses the dual nature of clarity and knowing. The first characteristic (clarity) speaks of its quality of being luminous and clear; clear in the sense that its fundamental nature could never be defiled or polluted by negative influence. Emotions, such as desire, hatred and anger contaminate the mind and hold constant sway over it as our own personal experiences testify; the pollution is, however, only at a superficial level, for they do not penetrate into the core of the mind. In other words, these negative emotions are not part of the intrinsic nature of the mind. Irrespective of how forceful one's experi...

This paradoxical statement, when not viewed in its context, would make little sense for the ordinary observer. Yet this statement was made by a very early thinker, the Buddha, who is now being respected and recognized as one of the greatest philosophers, especially in the science of mind. Although the philosophical system evolved by the Buddha has had a tremendous religious impact, the theme here is not the religious aspects which are by no means insignificant, but rather the philosophical implications. So, we intend to approach the subject from a purely philosophical perspective. The study of mind and consciousness has not surprisingly been one of the most prominent fields of study in ancient Indian philosophy and the topic on which all schools have diferring, if not contradictory, viewpoints. Despite differences, none of these schools question the paramount importance of this subject. For mind and consciousness is the principal force behind every action undertaken by human b...

Although all sentient beings have the Buddha nature (potential to become Buddha), their minds are clouded by ignorance since beginning. From ignorance springs craving (greed) and aversion (hatred), which cause us to be continually greedy for life and its illusory pleasures while hating or rejecting death and other displeasure. Each moment of ignorance was produced from the preceding moment without a beginning. Although ignorance has no beginning, it can be eradicated through attainment of Wisdom in Enlightenment.

Our mind that carries over from life to life has no beginning - its continuity is infinite. Each moment of our mind is a continuation of the previous moment. Who we are and what we think and feel depends on who we were yesterday. Our present mind is a continuation of the past mind. One moment of our mind was caused by the previous moment of our mind. This continuity can be traced back to childhood and even when we were a foetus in our mother's womb. Even before the time of conception, our mind stream existed in another body. Using the example of a number line, looking left from position zero, there is no first negative number and looking right there is no last number - one more can always be added. Likewise, our mind stream has no beginning or end. We all have had countless past rebirths and our mind will continue to exist infinitely. By purifying our mind stream, we can make our future existence better and better.

Our Mind that carries over from life to life has no beginning, its continuity is infinite. Each moment of our mind is a continuation of the previous moment. Who we are and what we think and feel depends on who e were yesterday. Our present mind is a continuation of the past mind. One moment of our mind was caused by previous moment of our mind. This continuity can be traced back to childhood and even when we were a foetus in our mother's womb. Even before the time of conception, our mindstream existed in another body. Using the example of a number line, looking left from position zero, there is no first negative number, and looking right, there is no highest last number, one more can always be added. Likewise, our mindstream has no beginning or end. We all have had countless past rebirths and our mind will continue to exist infinitely. By purifying our mindstream, we can make our future existence better and better.