BUDDHISM IN HUMANITY

Bhikkhu Sumanapal

The Buddha taught us that profit and loss, defamation and fame, praise and blame, suffering and joy, all of these are impermanent and so any of these should not cause us satisfaction or dissatisfaction. They are a natural part of our life. So we should consider them as temporary and consider them as an opportunity to learn something new. If we can be successful in achieving this state we will concentrate more on what we do and not on what we get.

In order to prosper we must know how to behave. So we must know how to control the desires of our bodies. When this becomes known to us we come to know what to do and what not to do, when to act and when not to act. When we act or speak we should always do it with compassion which teaches us to be tolerant, patient and wise.

In the modern world we should be careful in our speech between of the coexistence of different cultures and groups. Something that is considered as a joke by one person may be considered as an insult by another person. That is why we should be very cautious about our remark. We should select our words with the intention of inspiring and helping people.

The Avatamsaka Sutra says,” The mind controls everything.” In order to control our body and speech we must learn to control our mind. When we learn to control our mind we can control everything. This concept is very well expressed in a passage written by Master Xing kong,” The practice of Buddhism can be compared to preside over a walled city; during the day, thieves and bandits must be kept at bay while at night one must be constantly alert. If the mind in charge is thoughtful and able, then there will be peace without the use of weapons.” In this metaphor our virtuous mind can be compared to the city while the thieves and bandits can be compared to the six senses that try to steal our peace and wisdom. 

The Buddhahas advised us to be patient in the face of insult. From the Sutra of Bequeathed Teachingswe can say, “There is nothing better than patience in the cultivation of virtue, morality and the practice of Buddhism. It adds,” One who knows how to be patient gains great power. If you cannot joyfully quaff the poison of evil insults as if you are quaffing sweet dew, then you cannot yet be called wise.”

Sentient beings generally suffer from the disease of greed. Ignorance is at the root of this greed. When we become greedy our higher sensibility becomes impaired and our morality is damaged. Greed sometimes appears before us wearing the mask of need or requirement. In Buddhist sutras we find greed mentioned in the list of six basic defilements, the other five are anger, ignorance, pride, doubt and false views. According to the Yogachara Bhumi Shastra grasping, sight, not having, having, evil behaviour, wanting to have children, friends and relatives the necessities of life, desire for eternal life and the desire not to have eternal life are the conditions that cause greed.  Though most of these conditions are normal we can become greedy if we fail to control our attachments to them. Greed prevents us from developing our Bodhi mind completely. When we try to free ourselves from greed it may seem at first that we are losing something, but if we pause and consider the issue judiciously we will realize that we have not lost anything and, on the contrary, we have gained everything. There is no way of avoiding grief completely because half of our life is made up of greed and the other half is made up of joy. We should try to control greed wisely otherwise it will lead to a subtler kind of greed. Buddhism advises us to take a middle path that lies midway between asceticism and self-indulgence. A combination of thoughtfulness introduction and introspection is the prescription for curing greed. The Yogacharbhumi Sastra says,” Greed is without essence, /All attachments are illusion.”The realization that greed is devoid of any fundamental reality is the first step towards the freedom from grief. “One who follows the teachings/ becomes as brilliant as the sun and the moon/ and can overcome all darkness.” Lotus Sutra.

Anger is another poison mentioned by the Buddha. Anger can appear in different disguises like resentment, hatred, cruelty, jealousy, abuse, and taking delight the misfortune of others. The cause of anger is the deluded belief that the self which is illusory in nature has lost its control over some important thing. From this an ignorant rage is produced which inspires us to restore the lost equilibrium. If the rage flares up in an instant we call it by the name of anger or fury. If this survives for a longer period of time it is called hatred or jealousy. According to the Buddha anger is a component of the five hindrances. They are anger, desire, drowsiness, excitability and doubt.

Anger can be divided into three main parts.  1. Anger for no reason: This form of anger originates in the mind without any reason. 2 Anger without some reason: This form of anger arises when something is done by someone to cause it. 3. Dialectical anger: This type of anger is originated when someone do not agree with us. In the Avatamsaka sutra it has been said,” Anger is the worst form of evil. A single moment of anger can obstruct our growth greatly.”

Anger is also one of the chief hindrances for the study of Buddhism. That is why the Buddha always advised his followers to be free from anger. We should learn how to get rid of it. From the Saddharma Smrty Upasthana Sutra we come to know that anger is like a poisonous snake, a knife and fire. So we should do everything to avoid anger.

The way to cure anger is to see it as a form of energy. There is another way to control anger and that is to recall the past instances in which we were angry. Now only the memory remains and it is devoid of any feeling.

Sutra of Bequeathed Teaching says, “If we do not know how to be satisfied, / Even if you are rich you will be poor, /If you know how to be satisfied, / Even if you are poor you will be rich.” We can never satisfy our desire. When we do not have something we feel dissatisfied but when we get it we feel dissatisfied because it proves tobe unable to fulfil our expectations. In these connections our needs should be separated from our desires. If we want to drink water when we are thirsty that is our need but if we want to drink lemonade that is our desire. We shall be successful in our practice of Buddhism when we will learn to be satisfied with our possessions.

One of Buddha’s disciples Mahakashyapa lived many years in distant graveyards as a part of his ascetic practice but he never felt dissatisfied for that. Though we live in a more complex society than the people of the past we can still have our feet firmly rooted to the ground.

Everyone wants to enjoy a good reputation. In order to achieve it we have to follow three principles. 1. Not to point out other people’s fault. We should always see others with a positive outlook i.e. notice only their good qualities. People with fault a finding and back biting nature becomes unpopular very quickly. A negative attitude and the habit to criticize excessively always prove disastrous. People who have such habit generally suffer from jealousy, anger or low self-esteem. If we fall a victim of such an attitude we should correct ourselves immediately. But at the same time we must learn not to overreact to criticism and not to become too sensitive to it.

We should not praise ourselves. We should not point out our own virtues to people. If we really possess any good qualities other people will praise that quality and we should remain silent about it.

The universe is immense and we know very few people in it. They are our friends and so we should learn to value them. In Buddhism the idea of friendship is considered to be very valuable and deep. Our friends are also our teachers. We should be honest in our dealings with our friends and consider our relationship sacred.

Compassion is another important factor in the practice of Buddhism. When we will become truly compassionate we shall find it easier to adjust with others and help them. Another important matter in the study of Buddhism is correcting our mistake. We should always remember that we are not perfect but we should try to rectify our faults and learn from them. If we follow this path shown by the Buddha we shall surely become a good human being.

Bibliography:

1.      Bryan Wilson and Daisaku Ikeda, Human Values in a Changing World: A Dialogue on the Social Role of Religion , Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart Inc., 1987.

2.      Cai Delin, Toyo no chie no hikari: Ikeda Daisaku kenkyu, The Light of Eastern Wisdom: Collection of Research on Daisaku Ikeda, Tokyo: Otorisyoin, 2003.

3.      Daisaku Ikeda, "Mahayana Buddhism and Twenty-first-Century Civilization", Address at Harvard University, Cambridge, Sept. 24, 1993, A New Humanism: The University Addresses of Daisaku Ikeda, Tokyo: Weatherhill, 1996.

4.      Daisaku Ikeda, "Homage to the Sagarmatha of Humanism: The Living Lessons of Gautama Buddha" , Address at Tribhuvan University, Nepal, on Nov. 2, 1995, Monthly SGI Newsletter, No. 152, November 1995 Issue.

5.       Daisaku Ikeda, et al., The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra: A Discussion (Santa Monica, CA: World Tribune Press, 2000.

6.      Daisaku Ikeda, "Creative Life", Address at Institut de France, Paris, June 14, 1989.

7.      Ikeda, et al., The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra, vol. 3.

8.      K. R. Norman, tr., The Group of Discourses (Sutta-nipata), Oxford: The Pali Text Society, 1995, vol. 2.

9.      Norman, tr., The Group of Discourses (Sutta-nipata), vol. 2.