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Sum It Up
MindGate
United States Veteran
In Buddhism: We have the Pali Canon, which is so big. We have numerous Mahayana sutras, some very very long. We have stories and legends about everything and anything. All of these writings are attempting to do one thing: awaken us. All of these writings comprise of what we call "Buddhism."
But I am wondering... is it possible to sum up all of the teachings into one sentence? One sentence that describes enlightenment - a true understanding the world. One sentence that is all that is needed to find enlightened. Just one. What would this sentence be, getting to the very essence of what we call Buddhism.
But I am wondering... is it possible to sum up all of the teachings into one sentence? One sentence that describes enlightenment - a true understanding the world. One sentence that is all that is needed to find enlightened. Just one. What would this sentence be, getting to the very essence of what we call Buddhism.
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To summarize the Four Noble Truths:
Our lives are filled with frustration because we crave for things to be different than they are (and fail to see how they actually are). Once free of this craving through clear-seeing, we become liberated from all suffering. The Noble Eightfold Path is the method to actualizing this freedom.
"I once read when I was very young a story about a Chinese premier, a premier of many hundreds of years ago when the whole of China was ruled by emperors.
This prime minister was the most well known in his time, not only for his position as premier, but for his learning, being a poet, a great writer, orator; almost all qualifications were embodied in this particular person, and he was a very wise man. However, as a result, he became very conceited and proud of his attributes, his qualifications; so, just to justify his opinion about himself he asked his fellow ministers, 'Friends who is the most educated man, the most wise man in China, tell me?" All without hesitation replied, "You, sir; you are the most educated and wise man in China" He was so pleased and proud of himself that he ventured to ask a further question. "From your answers I now know that I am the most learned man, but tell me, who is the most loved, the most revered man in China?" Expecting to hear once again. "You, sir", he was instead greeted with silence; so he repeated his second question. His ministers, though, still remained silent, so he asked them a third time, adding, "why do you remain quiet, why is it you say nothing at all? Speak, friends, do not hesitate in your answer." At this the ministers felt bound to respond. and so they said, "Well, sir, because you force us to answer this question our reply is that the most beloved, most revered person in China is not you, sir." The prime minister was very displeased to hear that, and said rather crossly "Who else, then?" The ministers said that the most revered, most loved person was a very elderly monk living in a remote part as a forest dweller.
This time it was the prime minister who was silent, he was extremely put out at his ministers' reply. He began to consider what they had said; he wondered why people should so revere such a bhikkhu; bhikkhus, monks, knew only religion, were ignorant about the life of the world. He himself had had to try his best to become learned, the greatest lawyer, orator, poet; but monks, they did nothing, just sit and talk about religious things, about the future. He decided there and then that he must see this monk, there must be something about him that he should be so regarded as the greatest man in the case of love and reverence. So he inquired where the monk was staying. "He lives in a very remote area, he is very elderly and would be unable to come, it would not be possible to invite him", was the reply he received.
So, one day, together with his friends he went there. It was a very long way, with no proper road or pathway by which to travel, and when they arrived they found in the jungle that elderly thera, practising - what was he practising? Meditation.
Eventually, when the old thera observed the group of people, he was surprised to see them and asked if there was some reason for them to come. So one of the group introduced the premier to him, saying. "This is the wisest, most learned person, the premier of China who has come to see you." The thera then said. "What can I do for you?" "Sir", said the premier, "You are very well known, people love you. they revere you, so I have come to ask you a very short question. very short, because I am a very busy man." The old monk said quietly. "Well, you may ask."
"Venerable Sir, tell me, what is the most important thing in the world for a man or a woman to do? Please answer this question in the shortest possible way, if not in one word, then in one sentence, since I have no time to listen to a discourse. Bhikkhus have nothing to do, but I am so busy that I have no time to listen to a lengthy explanation." so the old monk recited a stanza:
Sabbapapassa akaranam,
Kusalassa upasampada,
Sacittapariyodapanam,
Etam buddhana sasanam.
To refrain from all evil,
To do what is good,
To purify the mind,
This is the teaching of the Buddhas.
(Verse 183 in Dhammapada)
The Premier retorted, "Venerable Sir, I expected wonderful things from you, of you, but what you say is very elementary to a man like myself. even a child of three knows it."
To this remark the old thera quietly responded, "Well, well, a child of three may know it, but a man of seventy" - for that was the age of the premier at that time - "a man like you, may find it very, very difficult to practise." This time the premier made no rejoinder, so the old monk continued, "To know it literally is easy; to practise it is not easy. Do you find it easy not to do evil, not to do anything evil?" Then the premier had to admit that it was not easy not to do evil, especially for a premier who has to deal with many things. Sometimes they had to advise the emperor to surprise his opponents, his enemies, sometimes to kill them. Under the emperor's orders sometimes many lives might be destroyed, and so on. As for doing good, that also was not always easy either; and to purify the mind was the most difficult thing of all to do."
At the conclusion of the story the Sayadaw reiterated that although even this short stanza of four lines seems to be very easy to know, when it actually comes to realizing its true significance through practice, it is really very, very difficult, and requires a proper understanding of the Noble Eightfold Path, The Middle Path, about which he then went on to deal with step by step.
- Taken from: http://www.thisismyanmar.com/nibbana/ashin.htm
Metta,
Guy
-Buddha
Form is emptiness and emptiness is form!
Do I win anything?
"Suffering is this: the five categories of clinging objects. The origin of suffering, is this: It is the craving for those 5... Cessation of suffering is this: It is remainderless letting go of that same craving. The way leading to cessation of suffering is this: It is simply the noble eightfold path, that is to say, right view, right intention; right speech, right action, right livelihood; right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration."
Where in the scriptures does buddha say that?
I always thought it was a little saying made up by somebody who hadn't yet transended the illusiory duality of good and bad.
When there's no desire there's no good and bad or right and wrong. Just what is, arisen as it is due to conditionality.
Realise that and you've found nirvana.
Metta,
Guy
Without a mind that discerns right from wrong (which is part of Right View), how can we have ethical conduct? Without ethical conduct, how can we purify our mind? Without a pure mind, how can we transcend conditionality?
Metta,
Guy
I need;
I crave;
I want,
and thus I tremble.
Hi Guy.
Right speech etc is an incorrect translation. The pali word is samma, and it roughly translates as, this works, not right as in right and wrong.
Also, it's impossible to transend conditionality, unless you're a self sustaining entity outside of the universe.
Metta,
Guy
Nirvana is when the mind is as empty as the form. It's naturally this way, but has wrong understanding and so doesn't see it. The realization of Nirvana is when the mind sees it and lets go.
Samsara is when we are clinging to dharmas as satisfying and permanent. Nirvana is when we stop doing that. There never was anything permanent that was conditional. There was always only nirvana or non-grasping.
All is one.
As soon as you add an observer to reality if becomes dualistic thought.
That's as summed up as it gets.
However the awareness you're speaking of only exists in your mind. Nothing exists independently to be aware. Awareness is aware of itself. You can say there is awareness, but you cannot say there is something being aware. You cannot separate awareness and reality .... Reality equals awareness. Two words for the same thing, the only thing there is.
EDIT: This is more about what Buddhism points to rather than Buddhism itself I guess. Enlightenment and Buddhism are not the same thing.
My attempt...
Be honest, kind and mindful, doubt all things and be your own light.