What
Buddhists Believe
Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera
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The
Buddha's Attitude Towards Worldly Knowledge
Worldly knowledge can never help one
to lead a pure religious life for gaining peace and emancipation.
Worldly
knowledge is useful for worldly ends. With such knowledge, mankind learns
how to use the earth's resources to improve the standard of living, grow
more food, generate power to run factories and to light up streets and
houses, manage factories and businesses, cure sickness, build flats and
bridges, cook exotic dishes, and so on. Worldly knowledge can also be used
for harmful purposes such as building missiles with nuclear warheads,
manipulating the stock market, cheating 'legally', and inflaming political
anxiety and hatred. Despite the rapid expansion of worldly knowledge,
especially in the twentieth century, mankind has been brought no nearer to
the solution of his spiritual problems and pervasive unsatisfactoriness.
In all likelihood, it never will solve mankind's universal problems and
bring peace and happiness because of the premises on which such knowledge,
discoveries and inventions are built.
While Buddhism can bring
greater understanding on how to lead a good, worldly life, its main focus
is how to gain spiritual liberation through the development of wisdom and
mental culture. For ordinary human beings, there is no end to the search
for worldly knowledge, but in the final analysis it does not really
matter. For as long as we are ignorant about the Dhamma, we will forever
be trapped in Samsara. According to the Buddha.
'For a long
time, Brothers, have you suffered the death of a mother; for a long time,
the death of a father; for a long time, the death of a son; for a long
time, the death of a daughter; for a long time, the death of brothers and
sisters; for a long time, have you undergone the loss of your goods; for a
long time have you been afflicted with disease. And because you have
experienced the death of a mother, the death of brothers and sisters, the
loss of goods, the pangs of disease, company of the undesired, you have
truly shed more tears upon this long way -- hastening from birth to death,
from death to birth -- than all the waters that are held in the four great
seas.' (Anguttara Nikaya)Here the Buddha is describing the Suffering of
continuous births and deaths in the world. He was interested in one simple
thing; to show people the Way out of all this Suffering.
Why did the
Buddha speak in this manner to His disciples? And why did He not make an
attempt to solve the problems as to whether the world is eternal or not,
whether it is finite or not? Such problems might be exciting and
stimulating to those who have the curiosity. But in no way do these
problems help a person to overcome Suffering. That is why He swept these
problems aside as useless, for the knowledge of such things would not tend
to one's well-being.
The Buddha, foresaw that
to speak on things which were of no practical value, and which were lying
beyond the power of comprehension, was a waste of time and energy. He
foresaw that to advance hypotheses about such things only served to divert
thoughts from their proper channel, hindering spiritual development.
Worldly
knowledge and scientific research should be complemented by religious and
spiritual values. Otherwise such worldly knowledge does not in any way
contribute to one's progress in leading a pure, religious life. Man has
come to the stage where his mind, fed by the instruments and fruits of
technological advancements, has become obsessed with egoism, craving for
power, and greed for material wealth. Without religious values, worldly
knowledge and technological advancement can lead to man's downfall and
destruction. They will only inflame man's greed which will take on new and
terrifying dimensions. On the other hand, when worldly knowledge is
harnessed for moral ends, it can bring maximum benefit and happiness for
mankind.
-ooOoo-
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Source: Buddhist
Study and Practice Group, http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddhism/
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Layout: Chan Duc - Nguyen Thao
Update : 01-11-2002
