What
Buddhists Believe
Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera
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The
Ultimate Truth
The Ultimate Truth can be found in
the Teaching of the Buddhism.
Buddhism
recognizes two kinds of Truth. The apparent conventional truth and the
real or ultimate Truth. The ultimate Truth can be realized only through
meditation, and not theorizing or speculating.
The Buddha's
Teaching is the Ultimate Truth of the world. Buddhism, however, is not a
revealed or an organized religion. It is the first example of the purely
scientific approach applied to questions concerning the ultimate nature of
existence. This timeless Teaching was discovered by the Buddha Himself
without the help of any divine agency. This same teaching is strong enough
to face any challenge without changing the basic principles of the
doctrine. Any religion that is forced to change or adjust its original
Teachings to suit the modern world, is a religion that has no firm
foundation and no ultimate truth in it. Buddhism can maintain the Truth of
the original Teaching of the Master even under the difficult conditions
prevailing in the modern world. The Buddha did not introduce certain
personal or worldly practices which have no connection with morality or
religious observances. To the Buddha, such practices have no religious
value. We must make the distinction between what the Buddha taught and
what people preach and practise in the name of Buddhism.
Every religion consists of
not only the teachings of the founder of that religion but also the rites
and ceremonies which have grown up around the basic core of the teachings.
These rituals and ceremonies have their origins in the cultural practices
of the people who accepted the religion. Usually the founders of the great
religions do not lay down precise rules about the rituals to be observed.
But religious leaders who come after them formalize the religion and set
up exacting codes of behavior which the followers are not allowed to
deviated from.
Even the
religion which we call 'Buddhism' is very different in its external
practices from what the Buddha and His early followers carried out.
Centuries of cultural and environmental influence have made Burmese, Thai,
Chinese, Tibetan, Sri Lankan and Japanese Buddhism different. But these
practices are not in conflict, because the Buddha taught that while the
Truth remains absolute, the physical manifestation of this truth can
differ according to the way of life of those who profess it.
A few hundred
years after His passing away, the disciples of the Buddha organized a
religion around the Teachings of the Master. While organizing the
religion, they incorporated, among other concepts and beliefs, various
types of miracles, mysticism, fortune-telling, charms, talismans, mantras,
prayers and many rites and rituals that were not found in the original
Teaching. When these extraneous religious beliefs and practices were
introduced, many people neglected to develop the most important practices
found in the original Teaching; self-discipline, self-restraint,
cultivation of morality and spiritual development. Instead of practicing
the original Teaching, they gave more of their attention and effort to
self-protection from evil spirits and sought after prosperity or good
luck. Gradually, people began to lose interest in the original Teachings
and became more interested in discovering ways and means of getting rid of
the so-called misfortunes or bad influences of stars, black magic, and
sickness. In this manner, through time the religious practices and beliefs
degenerated, being confined to worldly pursuits. Even today, many people
believe that they can get rid of their difficulties through the influence
of external powers. People still cling to this belief: hence they neglect
to cultivate the strength of their will-power, intelligence, understanding
and other related human qualities. In other words, people started to abuse
their human intelligence by following those beliefs and practices in the
name of Buddhism. They also polluted the purity of the Buddha's message.
Thus the modern religion
we see in many countries is the product of normal human beings living in a
country and adjusting to various social and cultural environments.
However, Buddhism as a religion did not begin as a superworldly system
that came down from heaven. Rather it was born and evolved through a long
historical process. In its process of evolution, many people slowly moved
away from the original Teachings of the founder and started different new
schools or sects. All the other existing religions also face the same
situation.
One should not come to a
hasty conclusion either by judging the validity of a religion or by
condemning the religion simply by observing what people perform through
their blind faith in the name of that religion. To understand the real
nature of a religion one must study and investigate the original Teachings
of the founder of that religion.
In the face of the
profusion of ideas and practices which were later developments, it is
useful for us to return to the positive and timeless Dhamma taught by the
Buddha. Whatever people believe and practise in the name of Buddhism the
basic Teachings of the Buddha still exist in the original Buddhist texts.
-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
