Buddhism As Education

Today, the message of peace of this Great Teacher is more important than ever before particularly at the time when human beings are intoxicated with power, greed, jealousy, pride, racism, extremism and craving for world domination. This teacher was born in this world to dispel the darkness of ignorance and to save the world from its ills. It is a common knowledge that throughout the world, many people continue to live without practising any form of noble life. However, if they would make an effort to study and understand what this Great Teacher had taught, they could clarify their doubts and be convinced of his teachings that could best contribute to find the aim of life. Whether one believes in him or otherwise, his teaching had a profound effect on everyone. His message was spread without any violence nor war. It is a significant fact that not a single drop of blood had ever been shed in his name or in the name of his teachings. This is indeed the most remarkable record in the wor...

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...

Greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt are the roots of all natural disasters. They are also the root cause of human diseases. When one has the cause of illness - greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt - in one's mind, one tends to feel resentment, hatred, vexation, anger and annoyance and these give rise to thoughts of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct and lying. The retribution will be the malfunction of internal organs and the occurrence of diseases and epidemics. When we as ordinary people, looking around us, we see only the illusory, ever-changing phenomena, not the truth of these phenomena. It is like looking at a stormy sea. we tend to see waves and surf. We forget the truth. What is the truth? The truth is that the waves and surf are water. When the Buddha said that all phenomena are empty, he meant that the condition is empty; all the phenomena do not have self-nature and are empty in themselves. Everything is empty and without self. "Self...

The teachings of Mahayana Buddhism emphasize perfect harmony, perfect wisdom, perfect undertaking and perfect merits. People today should try to appreciate this point and learn from the teachings. Only the sages' teaching of wisdom can help us improve ourselves. Buddhism teaches us to eliminate our afflictions and bad habits. In other words, we are to correct our wrong thoughts, wrong mindsets, wandering thoughts, discrimination and attachments and accord with the rules of the nature and the order in which nature functions. We should also understand the relationship between the entire universe and the rules of nature; the ultimate truth is what everything indeed one entity and is harmonious. We and the universe are all in one entity. The reason why our merits cannot compare with those of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is the differences in the minds, in the intentions. The environment changes according to the mind. As ordinary people, we are very narrow-minded, thus no matter ho...

Many people, particularly the educated, professional people are moving out of the big cities and metropolitans in order to seek a quiet live and simpler livelihood in the small town and rural areas. This is natural. If you grab a handful of mud and squeeze it, it will ooze through your fingers. People under pressure likewise seek a way out. Many people ask about the problems of our world, about a coming apocalypse. What does it mean to be worldly? What is the world? You do not know? This is very unknowingly, this very darkness, this very place of ignorance, is what is meant by worldly. Caught in the six sense, our knowledge develops as a part of this darkness. To come to an answer to the problems of the world, we must know its nature completely and realize the wisdom that shines above the darkness of the world. These days, it seems that our culture is deteriorating, lost in greed, hatred and delusion. But the culture of the Buddha never changes, never diminishes. It says, ...

Many people who have studied on a university level and attained graduate degrees and worldly success find that their lives are still lacking. Though they think high thoughts and are intellectually sophisticated, their hearts are still filled with pettiness and doubt. The vulture flies high, but what does it feed on? Dharma is understanding that goes beyond the conditioned, compounded, limited understanding of worldly science. Of course, worldly wisdom can be used for good purpose, but progress in worldly wisdom can cause deterioration in religion and moral values. The most important thing is to develop super mundane wisdom that can use such technology while remaining detached from it. It is necessary to teach the basics first, i.e. basic morality, seeing the transitory of life, the facts of aging and death. Here is where we must start. Before you drive a car or ride a bicycle, you must learn to walk. Later, you may ride in an air plane or travel around the world in the blink of ...

If the Earth were your body, you would be able to feel the many areas where it is suffering. War, political and economic oppression, famine and pollution wreak havoc in so many continents. Everyday, children are becoming blind from malnutrition, their hands searching hopelessly through mounds of trash for a few ounces of food. Adults are dying slowly in prisons for trying to oppose violence. Rivers are dying and the air is becoming more and more polluted and with difficulty to breathe. Although the two great super powers are becoming little more friendly, they still have sufficient nuclear weapons to destroy the Earth of dozen times. Many more people are aware of the world's suffering; their hearts are filled with compassion, they know what needs to be done and they engage in political, social and environmental work to try to change things around. But after a period of intense involvement, they may become discouraged if they lack the strength needed to sustain a life of acti...

In Buddhism, the word "suchness" is used to mean "the essence or particular characteristics of a thing or a person, its true nature". Each person has his or her suchness. If we want to live in peace and happiness with a person, we have to see the suchness of that person. Upon seeing it, we understand him or her and there will be no trouble. We can live peacefully and happily together. When we bring natural gas into our homes for heating and cooking, we know the suchness of gas. We know that gas is dangerous - it can kill us if we are not mindful. But we also know that we need the gas in order to cook, so we do not hesitate to bring it into our homes. The same is true of electricity. We could get electrocuted by it, but when we are mindful, it can help us, and there's no problem, because we know something about suchness of electricity. A person is the same as well. If we do not know enough about the suchness of a person, we may get ourselves into trouble...

We have to take note that conditions of peace and stability in this world can only be maintained when the inner spirit and being of man is also at peace. It is therefore of most importance that we work for inner peace in our own life and the life of our people. Outward conditions, however, do also react on the inner condition of mind. Few can develop an inner peace of mind and heart when the world round them is in a state of turmoil. All the Arahants and Bodhisativas left India when it was laid waste by invading hordes of barbarians from the northwest. This lesson therefore has to be taken to heart that the effort to establish conditions of peace and happiness both in ourselves, as also in the world surrounding us has to be simultaneous. The Lord has rejected the peace that the Ashramas of Alara Kalama and Udraka Ramputta had offered Him, the Buddha ventured further to obtain true insight and when this had been won, He overcame the temptation to lead a solitary life of peace and bliss ...

The same story is repeated in the field of medicine, art, in industry, science and in the higher and more subtle spheres which effect our well being, ie spiritual, moral social, political and economic. The very core of our being has also vastly changed. A man may yet be selfish and cruel in many ways, yet in most ways he is different from the primitive man in whom he has his beginnings. Previously one whim of a blood-thirsty tyrant send thousands of men to their doom. Armies at his sole command and on his personal orders laid waste large tracts of thickly populated lands. Now it is no more the whim and caprice of a despot, though occasionally, one such does still rise amongst us and is able to sway us but in a greater measure, it is now the unbridled greed of armed nations who have not fully appreciate the beauties and happiness of a peaceful way of existence that causes war. The fight for peace The fight for peace, however goes on. Every challenge to the growing stability of humanity ...