sum.na

vesak lanterns by chi chi

Over 2,500 years ago today, The Buddha expounded the Dhamma, and exhorted us to use it as a tool to free ourself from suffering. Today, we “Buddhists” remember him as we celebrate (sic) Vesak, by lighting up lanterns and decorating the city with colored light bulbs. Actually, our priests, as the official custodians/guardians of the Buddha word, should probably be pointing out that what we are doing isn’t exactly Buddhism, but it appears they are busy.

Ultimately, Buddha’s doctrine (Dhamma) was mostly about suffering, the cause of suffering, the path that leads to the end of suffering (noble eightfold path).

Modern Myths in Buddhism
Buddha = God: Despite the Buddha clearly stating that he is not God, and that there is no such person (a creator), some people still believe that Buddha is/was a/the God, or something

Life: Buddha preached that people should refrain from taking the life of living things (other animals and humans). The reasons were 1. Living things love life just as much as we do, and 2. (for the more practical), taking the life of a living thing is considered an act of negative karma.

These days, the belief is that ‘life’ in the above argument refers to big animals like Cows. And even then, its quite OK to get someone to kill them for you. So, if you don’t personally kill any cows, you are a good Buddhist, and it’s OK to slap more mosquitoes than you can count. After all, they don’t count as animals.

Meditation: in Buddhism, meditation was originally used as a method of realizing the truth, i.e. by concentration and practising various methods of meditation, people were able to realize some of the deeper thruths of Buddhism such as Impermanence.

Today, the aim of Meditation, is simply to become a good meditator. At meditators conventions everyone talks about how “so and so can sit for four hours without moving” and his “Inner Buddha is all awakened”…

Buddhism isnt about getting Ping.
[Ed: Ping or Pin refers to ‘merit’ or cosmic bonus points. In modern day Sri Lanka, Buddhists spend a lot of time and money trying to get this stuff…]

These people do good things for the sake of getting Ping. This is counter intuitive, as the entire idea behind doing something good should be altrustic.

Final Thoughts
In Sri Lanka (and many other “Buddhist” countries), Buddhism is not what it used to be. It is now a prepackaged modern religeon which can be mass marketed and broadcast via loudspeakers.

Introduction 
In this, the first of a series of articles, I wish to describe three basic characteristics which Buddhists see as fundamental to all aspects of existence - Annica, Anatta and Dukha. I will also discuss the Buddhist view of Ignorance, God and Karma.

1. Annica
(Impermanence)
Buddhists see all things as impermanent -  in a constant state of flux and subject to change. Indeed the very human body is seen in a constant state of change. The universe, the planet, the very atoms that make us up are changing. [1]

2. Anatta
(No permanent soul)
Buddhism tells us that Human beings do not possess a permanent or unchanging soul. Rather, the human soul is described as a temporary manifestation, a stream of conscious. It is believed that what we perceive as self is a combination of constantly changing mental and physical components refered to as Skandhas [2], which if clung to, lead to despair.

3. Dukkha
(unsatisfactoriness)
The basis of life is a state of unsatisfactoriness [3]. For example, all living beings die, all things are subject to change, [impermanence] as such one cannot keep anything they possess (even their own body).  

4. Ignorance 
Desire and ignorance lie at the root of Dukkha. Ignorance in Buddhism refers to ‘not seeing the world as it really is’. By being unable to grasp the true nature of things, people strive to acquire what they cannot possesss (e.g. Eternal happiness) and are victims of their Karma, and vices such as such as greed, envy, hatred and anger arise.[4] 

5. God
Buddhism is a non-thiestic religion, as it does not recognise the existence of a central God or Creator/Supreme being who is the creator of the universe and humans. Buddhists considers that all people are responsible for their actions, and no-one can forgive and or absolve another of a their actions (karma), whether good or bad. [5] 

6. Karma
Karma (lit: deed/action) or causality - the concept of cause and effect [6].  In Buddhism, Karma refers to intentional actions, which lead to vipaka (consequences/results). There are generally two types of Karma - good and bad Karma, which lead to corresponding results. Buddhists see Karma as a natural law.

If you wish to learn more aboud about Buddhism, please visit http://www.accesstoinsight.org/, I also recommend you read the works of Narada Thera. 

If you feel this article was interesting, or have any questions or spot any errors, please leave a comment. Please ask me any questions you have and I will try to answer them.

For a one page introduction to Buddhism, please see
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/What_is_Buddhist_Philosophy

[1] “In less than one year you replace ninety-eight per cent of all the atoms in your body.” Deepak Chopra 
http://www.sarvodaya.org/2006/01/12/deepak-chopra-visits-sarvodaya-and-presents-lecture/

[2] Living beings are composed of five Skandhas: Form, sensation, perception (cognition), volition, and consciousness - learn more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skandhas

[3] Sanskrit  Duhkha  in Buddhist thought, the true nature of all existence

Three types of suffering are distinguished: they result, respectively, from pain, such as old age, sickness, and death; from pleasure changing to pain; and from the fact that, because of impermanence, beings are susceptible to pain in the next moment
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9031403?&query=dukkha&ct=eb

[4] In Buddhism, desire and ignorance lie at the root of suffering. By desire, Buddhists refer to craving pleasure, material goods, and immortality, all of which are wants that can never be satisfied. As a result, desiring them can only bring suffering. Ignorance, in comparison, relates to not seeing the world as it actually is. Vices, such as greed, envy, hatred and anger, derive from this ignorance.
http://www.pbs.org/edens/thailand/buddhism.htm

 …WITHOUT IGNORANCE THERE WOULD BE NO ATTACHMENT to the impulses to action, no attachment to the processes of consciousness, no attachment to the mind and body, to the sense organs, to the sense impressions, to the feelings, to the cravings, to the grasping and clinging, to the becoming forces; and there would then be no ego to be
born and no self to grow old and die.
http://www.luckymojo.com/avidyana/ignorance.html

[5]  Buddhism does speak of Gods (Devas) - these beings are considered celestial and occupy other worlds. They are not considered the creators of Earth or Humans, nor are they believed to be capable of the salvation of humanity, forgiveness, or other traits traditionally assigned to a creator by theistic religions.

For more on Buddhist attitudes to God, please read:
http://www.buddhistinformation.com/buddhist_attitude_to_god.htm

[6] A view of Karma or causality in popular culture: “In truth, a causal chain is finite; it begins and ends with choice. Freewill is the only true cause; all else is purely effect. Thus, freewill is both beginning and end”
http://montalk.net/metaphys/70/freewill-fate-and-causality-in-matrix-reloaded

Also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma for a detailed analysis of Karma, as it is viewed by Buddhism and other philosophies and religions.