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Philosophy of a Buddhist�s life

By Saddhatissa Maha Thera (Canada)

UPPOSE, brethren, a man in need of sound timber, in quest of sound timber, going about searching for sound timber, should come upon a mightly tree, upstanding, all sound timber, and pass it by; but should cut away the outer wood and bark and take that along with him, thinking it to be sound timber.

"Then a discerning man might say thus: 'This fellow surely cannot tell the difference between sound timber and outer wood and bark, branch-wood and twigs.......he passes it by and goes off with the outer wood and bark, thinking it to be sound timber. Now such a way of dealing with sound timber will never serve his need.

"Thus, brethren, the essentials of the pure life do not consist in the profits of gain, honour and good name; nor yet in the profits of knowledge and insight; but the sure heart's release, brethren that, brethren, is the meaning, that is the essence, that is the goal of living the pure life,"

The goal of a Buddhist�s life,shouldbe a the Noble Eightfold Path, which is Nibbana - a word better known in its Sanskrit form of Nirvana. The Buddha said: "Nibbana is the highest happiness." Hence the highest aim of the Buddhist is the attainment of it. Attempts have been made by writing many books to define this exalted state. It has to be appreciated that Nibbana is something that has to be realised within oneself, rather than described, explained or talked about as it is 'not within the scope of logic', being a supramundane state.

What happen to a person who realised Nibbana on his death? It cannot be stressed strongly enough that he is not annihilated, which opponents put forward as the only logical answer.

The argument devolves round the Buddhist view of the self; no part of the individual can possibly be identified with a self or soul; hence, one cannot speak of the annihilation of the latter. In the West, however, many follow the theories of Plato and maintain that the soul is synonymous with consciousness, and that is this that is immutable and immortal. This view, which is denied by Buddhism, is very much akin to the Hindu atman theory.

Nibbana, the goal in Buddhism, corresponds to salvation, except that the former is not attained through the agency of another or outside being but solely through one's own efforts. If it is attained during one's lifetime, it is termed 'Nibbana with aggregate' (Sopadhisesanibbana); if a death, then Nibbana without aggregate (Anupadhisesanibbana). One must realise on his own accord. In a very practical sermon, in fact, it was his first sermon given by the Buddha at Sarnath near Benares, he declared that those who wish to lead a pure life should avoid the two extremes of self-indulgence (kamasuhkallikanuyoga) and self-torture (attakilamathanuyoga). Self-indulgence is low, coarse, vulgar, ignoble and self-mortification is painful ignoble - both are profitless. There is the Middle Way which leads to Insight and Wisdom.

Its fruit is Serenity, Knowledge, Enlightenment, Nibbana. It is summed up in four great truths: the fact of suffering, the further fact that this suffering has its cause in the craving for personal satisfaction, the third fact that this suffering will cease when such craving is stilled, and fourthly that result can be achieved by treading the Middle Way, otherwise defined as the Noble Eightfold Path, consisting of

1. Right View: Seeing life as it is, in accord with three characteristics of anicca, dukkha and anatta; and appreciating the Four Noble Truths.

2. Right Thought: being motivated by friendly thoughts, without prejudice, towards one's fellow human beings and towards all other forms of sentient life.

3. Right Speech: speaking kindly and truthfully, and narrating incidents accurately.

4. Right Action: acting skilfully and sympathetically, while avoiding vain or violent efforts.

5. Right Livelihood: practising a means of living that does not cause oneself nor others to infringe lawful morality.

6. Right Endeavour: self-perfection by avoiding and rejecting ignoble qualities while acquiring and fostering noble qualities.

7. Right Mindfulness: the cultivation and practice of self-awareness and compassion resulting in self-reliance and equanimity.

8. Right Concentration: contemplation culminating in intellectual intuition, wisdom.

This is the Middle Way, the Buddhists' philosophy of life by which one lives and progresses in accord with the principles of moderation and detachments. Once deliverance is thus obtained from suffering, and the freedom appreciated, it cannot be lost by those who have once won it.

The first principle of all Reality is that whatever has a beginning must have an end. The Buddha said: 'Whatever is subjected to arise must also be subjected to cease'. (Yam kinci samudayadhammam sabbam tam nirodhadhammam). Therefore the suffering is no exception.

The first sermon contains all the essentials of the Buddhist ideal.

The Buddha does not proclaim himself a Saviour willing and able to take upon himself the sins of mankind. On the contrary, he declares that each man and woman must bear the burden of their own actions. The Buddha says: 'By oneself, indeed, is evil done; by oneself is one defiled; by oneself is evil left undone; oneself, indeed, is one purified. Purity and impurity depend on oneself. No one purifies another." - Dhammapada.

It may seem that many features that have become associated with what is called 'religion' are not present in the Buddhist concept.

Buddhism has none of the activities of a religion, but as an ethical philosophy it may be described as a progressive scheme of self-discipline and self-purification. This philosophy, based on the teaching of the Buddha, is to be understood and practised, not accepted and believe. "Buddha point the way, you must make the effort", says the Buddha. In the Mahaparinibbana Sutta the Buddha categorically states thus: "Therefore, Ananda, dwell making yourselves your island (light), making yourselves, not anyone else, your refuge; making the Dhamma your island (light), the Dhamma your refuge, nothing else your refuge."

Therefore the first requisite of his teaching is a frank recognition of the facts of life - a just estimate of their values. The first essential is a realisation that all conscious existence is enveloped in suffering which is called dukkha. It means not merely suffering, pain or misery, but includes all other factors of an unsatisfactory nature, namely: decay, death, hunger, thirst, impermanence, insubstantiality and alike. This truth is easily realised by any person who can think soberly and dispassionately. It can be easily understood, too, due to its grossness and to the fact that it can be seen everywhere around us.

It cannot be denied that where there is sensibility, there also is dukkha. Infatuation with transient pleasures prevent us from seeing things as they truly are but pain is an experience which results in a feeling of dissatisfaction. All activities, whether good or bad, stem from this feeling. Buddhism is the adaptation of one's life to harmonise with natural laws. The importance of happiness cannot be overstressed. It can only come about when we live in harmony with the natural laws, which bring us health, success and contentment, tranquillity and peace of mind. One can understand the same fact in the sayings of the Buddha: "Here he rejoices, hereafter he rejoices; in both states the well-doer rejoices; he rejoices, exceedingly rejoices, seeing the purity of his own deeds." - Dhammapada. "Here he is happy, hereafter he is happy; in both states the well-doer is happy. Thinking that 'I have done good', thus he is happy. Furthermore is he happy, having gone to a state of bliss."

When we live in discord with these laws we experience sickness, failure, discontent, worry and unbalance. In its practical application to our daily life harmony is the fruit of understanding the law, while discord is the fruit of ignorance of it. Discord arises through greed, ill-will and delusion. Greed is the parent of selfishness and avarice; selfishness is the parent of envy and jealousy; avarice is the parent of covetousness and the competitive spirit; ill-will is the parent of resentment and anger; resentment is the parent of pride and revenge: anger is the parent of malice and strife; delusion is the parent of attachment and fear; attachment is the parent of craving and lust; fear is the parent of superstition and intolerance.

All crimes result from greed for wealth, power, position, etc., in short, in the desire to be a step ahead of everyone else. However, as in times of war, it is inevitably the innocent or those wishing not to become involved, that are the victims in such a ruthless struggle to remain on top. The positive aspect of harmony arises through charity (dana) loving kindness (metta) and wisdom (pannas). Charity is the parent of unselfishness and generosity; unselfishness is the parent of sympathy and altruism; generosity is the parent of magnanimity and co-operation; loving-kindness is the parent of equanimity and goodwill; goodwill is the parent of compassion and self-control; wisdom is the patent of renunciation and serenity; renunciation is the parent of contentment and mental tranquillity; serenity is the parent of sound judgement and tolerance.

The right to be happy is accepted by nearly every nation, but the interpretation of how this happiness is acquired is conflicting.

There is the popular belief that when an individual piles up all the possessions he can, he will have arrived at a state of perfect happiness. In practice, he finds that the more he has the more he wants; like the sorcerer's apprentice, they conjure up a demon which cannot be controlled.

(This article was published in World Buddhism September 1967).

පොසොන් අමාවක පෝය

පොසොන් අමාවක පෝය ජුලි 2 වනදා බදාදා පූර්ව භාග 11.21 ට ලබයි. 3 වන දා බ්‍රහස්පතින්දා පූර්ව භාග 7.49 දක්වා පෝය පවතී
සිල් සමාදන්වීම
ජූලි 2 වනදා බදාදාය.

මීළඟ පෝය
10 වනදා
බ්‍රහස්පතින්දාය


පොහෝ දින දර්ශනය

New Moonඅමාවක

ජූලි 02

First Quarterපුර අටවක

ජූලි 10

Full Moonපසෙලාස්වක

ජූලි 17

Second Quarterඅව අටවක

ජූලි 25

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