What
Buddhists Believe
Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera
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No Self
Surrender
Dependence on others means a
surrender of one's effortand self-confidence.
Buddhism
is a gentle religion where equality, justice and peace reign supreme. To
depend on others for salvation is negative, but to depend on oneself is
positive. Dependence on others means surrendering one's intelligence and
efforts.
Everything which
has improved and uplifted humanity has been done by man himself. Man's
improvement must come from hi own knowledge, understanding, effort and
experience and not from heaven. Man should not be a slave even to the
great forces of nature because even though he is crushed by them he
remains superior by virtue of his understanding of them. Buddhism carries
the Truth further: it shows that by means of understanding, man can also
control his environment and circumstances. He can cease to be crushed by
them and use their power to raise himself to great heights of spirituality
and nobility.
Buddhism gives due credit
to man's intelligence and effort for his achievements rather than to
supernatural beings. True religion means faith in the good of man rather
than faith in unknown forces. In that respect, Buddhism is not merely a
religion, but a noble method to gain peace and eternal salvation through
living a respectable way of life. From the very outset, Buddhism appeals
to the cultured and the intellectual minds. Every cultured man in the
world today respects the Buddha as a rational Teacher. The Buddha taught
that what man needs for his happiness is not a religion with a mass of
dogmas and theories but knowledge of the cosmic nature and its
relationship to the law of cause and effect. Until this principle that
life is merely an imperfect manifestation of nature is fully understood,
no man can be fully emancipated.
The Buddha has given a new
explanation of the universe. It is a new vision of eternal happiness, the
achievement of perfection. The winning of the human goal in Buddhism is
the permanent state beyond impermanency, the attainment of Nibbana
beyond all the worlds of change, and the final deliverance form the
miseries of existence.
-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
