What is Buddhism?

Where every beginner searches for the meaning of Buddhism, he/she may turn to various sources of Buddhist Texts, Monks, Teachers etc. Innumerable books, websites and sources from the media have been written about Buddhism. As a beginner myself, I have read many books, websites that have defined and explained Buddhism. All explanations are similar although they are phrased differently. I believe in being kind, to do no evil, to help others, to give and to let go of worldly attachments and desires which, in the process and after having them, brings suffering. I also believe in the state of impermanence we are in – our life and body are impermanent for death is certain. It is therefore good to make full use of our present lifetime to do good to others and to understand the true state of worldly attachments as causes of suffering. Very importantly, to also be respectful of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

Below is an extract from a book “What is Buddhism”…

Source : “What is Buddhism”, Dallas Buddhist Association, USA; Reprinted by The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, Taiwan

-Buddhism is the most profound and wholesome education directed by the Buddha towards all people.

-The content is Shakyamuni Buddha’s forty-nine years of teaching describes the true face of life and the universe. Life refers to oneself, universe refers to our living environment. The Teachings relate directly to our own lives and surroundings.

-Those who possess a complete and proper understanding of life and the universe are called Buddhas or Bodhisattvas. Those who lack the understanding are called worldly people.

-Cultivation is changing the way we think, speak and act towards people and matters from an erroneous way to a proper way.

-The guideline for cultivation is understanding, proper views and purity. Understanding is without delusion, proper views is without deviation and purity is without pollution. This can be achieved by practicing the Three Learnings of self-discipline, concentration and wisdom.

-The Three Basic Conditions are the foundation of cultivation and study. When interacting with people, accord with the Six Harmonies and when dealing with society, practice the Six Principles. Follow the lessons taught by Universal Worthy Bodhisattva and dedicate one’s mind to everlasting purity and brightness. These complete the purpose of the Buddha’s Teachings.

To do no evil;
To cultivate good;
To purify one's mind:
This is the teaching of the Buddhas.

What is the essence of the Buddha's teachings?
extract from, "I Wonder Why", Venerable Thubten Chodron.

Simply speaking, is to avoid harming others and to help them as much as possible. Another way of expressing this is, "Abondon negative action; create perfect virtue; subdue your own mind. This is the teaching of the Buddha." By abondoning negative actions (killing, etc.) and destructive motivations (anger, attachment, close-mindedness, etc.), we stop harming ourselves and others. By creating perfect virtue, we develop beneficial attitudes, like impartial love and compassion, and do actions motivated by these thoughts. By subduing our mind, we cut away false projections, thus making ourselves calm and peaceful by understanding reality...

It should be understood that the Buddha did not preach all that he knew...
On one occasion while the Buddha was passing through a forest he took a handful of leaves and said:
"O bhikkhus, what I have taught is comparable to the leaves in my hand. What I have not taught is comparable to the amount of leaves in the forest."

The Dhammapada, The Buddha's Path of Wisdom, is available here :

a) Link to http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/dhp1/
b) Link to http://www.ehi-passika.org/Dhmpada.htm

All Buddhists' ultimate aim is to free oneself from attachment and to enter a state called Nirvana/Nibbana, in which there are no attachments or suffering - just peace.

Below is an excerpt from a publication by His Holiness, The Dalai Lama...

Source : “An Open Heart" ,by the Dalai Lama, Chapter Five Karma

Our ultimate aim as Buddhist practitioners is attaining the fully enlightened and omniscient (all knowing) state of the Buddha. The vehicle we require is a human body with a sane mind. Most of us take being alive as relatively healthy human beings for granted. In fact, human life is often referred to in Buddhist test as extraordinary and precious. It is the result of an enormous accumulation of virtue, accrued by us over countless lives. Each human being has devoted a great amount of effort to attaining this physical state. Why is it of such value? Because it offers us the greatest opportunity for spiritual growth: the pursuit of our own happiness and that of others. Animals simply do not have the ability to willfully pursue virtue the way humans do. They are victims of their ignorance. We should therefore appreciate this valuable human vehicle and must also do all we can to ensure that we shall be reborn as human beings in our next life. Though we continue to aspire to attain full enlightenment, we should acknowledge that the path to Buddha hood is a long one for which we must also make short-term preparations. As we have seen, to ensure rebirth as a human being with the full potential to pursue spiritual practice, one must first pursue an ethical path. This, according to Buddha’s doctrine, entails avoiding the ten nonvirtuous actions. The suffering caused by each of these actions has many levels. To give ourselves more reason to desist from them, we must understand the workings of the law of cause and effect, known as karma. Karma, which means “action,” refers to an act we engage in as well as its repercussions. When we speak of karma of killing, the act itself would be taking the life of another being. The wider implications of this action, also part of the karma of killing, are the sufferings it causes the victims as well as the many who love and are dependent upon that being. The karma of this act also includes certain effects upon the actual killer. These are not limited to this life. Actually, the effect of an unvirtuous act grows with time, so that a ruthless murderer’s lack of remorse in taking human life began in a past life of simple disregard for lives of others as seemingly inconsequential as animals or insects. It is unlikely that a murderer would be immediately reborn as a human being. The circumstance under which one human being kills another determines the severity of the consequences. A brutal murderer, committing the crime with delight, is likely to be born to great suffering in a realm of existence we call hell. A less severe case—say, a killing in self-defense—might mean rebirth in a hell of lighter suffering. Less consequential non-virtues might lead one to be born as an animal, lacking the ability to improve mentally or spiritually. When one is eventually reborn as a human being, the consequences of various unvirtuous acts determine the circumstances of one’s life in different ways. Killing in a previous lifetime dictates a short life span and much illness. It also leads to the tendency to kill, ensuring more suffering in future lives. Similarly, stealing causes one to lack resources and be stolen from; it also establishes a tendency to steal in the future. Sexual misconduct, such as adultery, results in future lives in which the company you keep will be untrustworthy and in which you will suffer infidelity and betrayal. These are some of the effects of the three nonvirtuous acts we commit with our body. Among the four nonvirtuous acts of speech, lying leads to a life in which others will speak ill of you. Lying also establishes a tendency to lie in future lives, as well as the changes of being lied to and not being believed when you speak the truth. The future life-consequences of divisive speech include loneliness and a tendency to make mischief with other people’s lives. Harsh speech begets the abuse of others and leads to an angry attitude. Idle gossip causes others not to listen and leads one to speak incessantly. Finally, what are the karmic consequences of the three nonvirtuous acts of the mind? These are the most familiar of our unvirtuous tendencies. Covetousness leaves us perpetually dissatisfied. Malice causes us fear and leads us to harm others. Wrong views hold beliefs that contradict the truth, which leads to difficulty understanding and accepting truths and to stubbornly clinging to wrong views. These are but a few examples of the ramifications of non-virtue. Our present life results from our karma, our past actions. Our future situation, the conditions into which we shall be born, the opportunities we shall or shall not have to better our state in life, will depend on our karma in this life, our present acts. Though our current situation has been determined by past behavior, we do remain responsible for our present actions. We have the ability and the responsibility to choose to direct actions on a virtuous path. When we weigh a particular act, to determine whether it is moral or spiritual, our criterion should be the quality of our motivation. When someone deliberately makes a resolution not to steal, if he or she is simply motivated by the fear of getting caught and being punished by the law, it is doubtful whether engaging in that resolution is a moral act, since moral considerations have not dictated his or her choice. In another instance, the resolution not to steal may be motivated by fear of public opinion: “What would my friends and neighbors think? All would scorn me. I would become an outcast.” Though the act of making the resolution may be positive, whether it is a moral act is again doubtful. Now, the same resolution may be taken with the thought “If I steal, I am acting against the divine law of God.” Someone else may think, “Stealing is nonvirtuous; it causes others to suffer.” When such considerations motivate one, the resolution is moral or ethical; it is also spiritual. In the practice of Buddha’s doctrine, if your underlying considerations in avoiding a nonvirtuous act is that it would thwart your attainment of a state transcending sorrow, such restraint is a moral act. Knowing the detailed aspects of the working of karma is said to be limited to an omniscient mind. It is beyond our ordinary perception to fully grasp the subtle mechanics of karma. For us to live according to Shakyamuni Buddha’s pronouncements on karma requires a degree of faith in his teachings. When he says that killing leads to a short life, stealing to poverty, there is really no way to prove him correct. However, such matters should not be taken on blind faith. We must first establish the validity of our object of faith: the Buddha and his doctrine, the Dharma. We must subject his teaching to well-reasoned scrutiny. By investigating those topics of the Dharma that can be established by means of logical inference—such as the Buddhist’s teachings on impermanence and emptiness, which we shall explore in Chapter 13, “Wisdom”—and seeing them to be correct, our belief in those less evident teachings, like the workings of karma, naturally increases. When we seek advice, we go to someone we consider worthy of giving the sought guidance. The more evident our wise friend’s good judgment in to us, the more seriously we take the advice given. Our developing what I would call “wise faith” in the Buddha’s advice should be similar. I believe that some experience, some taste of practice, is necessary for us to generate true, profound faith. I believe that some experience, some taste of practice, is necessary for us tp generate true, profound faith. There seem to be two different types of experience. There are those of highly realized holy beings who possess seemingly unattainable qualities. Then there are more mundane experiences that we can achieve through our daily practice. We can develop some recognition of impermanence, the transient nature of life. We can come to recognize the destructive nature of afflictive emotions, like anger and hate. We can have a greater feeling of compassion toward others or more patience when we have to wait in line. Such tangible experiences bring us a sense of fulfillment and joy, and our faith in the process by which these experience came about grows. Our faith in our teacher, the person who leads us to these experiences, also intensifies, as does our conviction in the doctrine he or she follows. And from such tangible experiences, we might intuit that continued practice could lead to even more extraordinary attainments, such as those immortalized by saints of past. Such reasoned faith, stemming from some taste of spiritual practice, also helps strengthen our confidence in the Buddha’s account of the workings of karma. And this, in turn, gives us the determination to desist from engaging in the unvirtuous actions that lead to our won ever increasing misery. It is therefore helpful in our meditation, after even the slightest insight into the subject we have studied, to spend some time recognizing that we have had this insight and acknowledging form whence it is derived. Such reflection should be thought of as part of our meditation. It helps strengthen the foundation of our faith in the Three Jewels of Refuge—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha—and helps us progress in our practice. It gives us the heart to continue.

Please also visit the following link "Buddhist Goals and their Daily Relevance", Jeffrey Hopkins, Professor of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, University of Virginia

Source : “Two Main Schools of Buddhism", by Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda", Kuala Lumpur The real followers of the Buddha can practise this religion without adhering to any school or sect.

A few hundred years after the Buddha's passing away, there arose eighteen different schools or sects all of which claimed to represent the original Teachings of the Buddha. The differences between these schools were basically due to various interpretations of the Teachings of the Buddha. Over a period of time, these schools gradually merged into two main schools: Theravada and Mahayana. Today, a majority of followers of Buddhism are divided into these two schools.

Read more...
Two Main Schools of Buddhism, by Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.

Another link... THE EIGHTEEN SCHOOLS OF BUDDHISM, by Vasumitra; THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY, A JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH, EDITED BY JAS. BURGESS, M.RAS., F.R.G.S., VOL. IX.--1880, Bombay, Education Society's Press.

The life of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha.

Approximately 600 years BC, admist the surrounding Himalayan range, in the city of Kapilavatthu, Nepal a prince was born. He was born into a royal Hindu family and was named Siddhartha Gautama(Prince Gautama) where Gautama was His family name. His father was the leader of the Sakya caste. As prince, He was surrounded by wealth and pleasure in the palace. He was not to be allowed to wander away from the palace by His father who does not want Him to observe and be exposed to suffering as He would be King one day..

Heeding His father's wishes, he married young and lived in the luxury of the palace at the idea of inheriting His father's throne. However as He grew older, His curiosity of what is happening outside the palace walls begins to develop as He knew that something is missing from His life in the palace. So one day, he managed to slip out of the palace without been seen.

On his first trip, he met an old beggar. He then realized that everybody will grow old someday and aging cannot be stopped. Youthful life is 'fun' but alas, it is only temporary.

Gautama managed to slip out from the palace one day. On his second trip he came across a very sick and weak man who was very thin until his bones are portruding his skin. Seeing this He realized that everybody cannot escape illness & diseases.

Developing more curiosity, He slipped out of the palace again and on His third trip, he travelled around and he saw a corpse in a funeral procession. He then realized that life is not a permanent state of existence and all beings who live must die one day.

He realized that however high a throne may be to a king, however rich a person may be, however great an empire a king may build, nobody can escape the destinies of : old age, sickness and death.

However, on His fourth runaway from the palace, He met a monk who convinced Him to seek into the 'other' side of life - to find for the truth. This is the Great Renunciation as He discard His wealth, power and also His family in order to seek for the truth.

He left the palace alone, dressed in a yellow robe and went on as a mendicant, begging for food, without a home. It is from here that he learnt the meaning of suffering. In search for the truth, he studied about Hinduism from various teachers and although He learnt much, it did not meet His purpose. He fasted and did everything to find the truth. He had five disciples. However all of them deserted Him.

One day He reached a village near the Neranjara river and He sat beneath a Bodhi tree to meditate. And after all the torment of seeking the truth, he finally gained Enlightenment in which He became the Buddha and found the truth, the way of salvation from suffering and the Dhamma. (Buddhist celebrate this day as Wesak Day every year)

He then spreaded His teachings and gave sermons to everybody far and wide. His five followers also rejoined Him. After 45 years of preaching and spreading of His teachings, He passed away peacefully into Nirvana in Kusinagara. He was 80 years old then.

After his death, his followers gathered His teachings, complied & consolidated them and then were passed down until today where Buddhist literature and sutras can be found everywhere.

Read in detail about Buddha & His Dharmma at Ambedkar's Portal

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SADHU, SADHU, SADHU