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Help needed !
NomaDBuddha
Scalpel wielder :) Bucharest Veteran
Another occasion in which a young buddhist needs the help of the people around him.
This is how it goes : I need to make some sorts of essay, presentation, long text ...(you name it) for school, for the "Religion Studies" matter.
I volunteered (in fact , the situation demanded that I volunteered) to write about buddhism, and I need something that encompasses all Buddhism in just 10 minutes. I need something to be exact and to be easily understood ( my "Religion studies" teacher thinks that Buddhism is a polytheistic religion, and it's still all about God ) in all its aspects.
Can you help me with that ? ( free beer for whoever helps me !!
)
This is how it goes : I need to make some sorts of essay, presentation, long text ...(you name it) for school, for the "Religion Studies" matter.
I volunteered (in fact , the situation demanded that I volunteered) to write about buddhism, and I need something that encompasses all Buddhism in just 10 minutes. I need something to be exact and to be easily understood ( my "Religion studies" teacher thinks that Buddhism is a polytheistic religion, and it's still all about God ) in all its aspects.
Can you help me with that ? ( free beer for whoever helps me !!
) 0
Comments
You might find this study link helpful.
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/index.htm
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/basic-guide.htm
Good luck !
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Answers to questions a non-Buddhist is likely to ask about the fundamentals of Buddhism
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1) Suppose we are asked: "What subject did the Buddha teach?<O:p</O:p
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THE BEST WAY of answering this is to quote the Buddha himself, "Know this, O Monks: Now, as formerly, I teach of only dukkha (suffering, unsatisfactoriness) and the elimination of dukkha."<O:p</O:p
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Whether or not this answer agrees with what you had thought, please take good note of it. There are many other ways we may answer, but this one saying of the Buddha sums up his teaching very succinctly.<O:p</O:p
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The Buddha taught only dukkha and the quenching of it. This renders irrelevant any questions without a direct bearing on the elimination of dukkha. Don’t consider such questions as "Is there rebirth after death?" or "How does rebirth take place?" These can be considered later.<O:p</O:p
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So, if a Westerner asks us this question, we shall answer it by saying, "The Buddha taught nothing other than dukkha and the elimination of it." <O:p</O:p
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2) Following on this we may be asked: “What did he teach in particular" <O:p</O:p
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AS YOU CAN see, this is a big subject which can be answered from many different points of view. <O:p</O:p
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A) If asked this, we can say first of all that he taught us to tread the Middle Way, to be neither too strict nor too slack, to go to neither the one extreme nor the other. On the one hand, we are to avoid the very harsh self-mortification practised in certain yoga schools, which simply creates difficulties and trouble. On the other hand, we must keep away from that way of practice which allows us sensual pleasures, which amounts to saying, "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!" This is an extremely cynical expression appropriate for people interested only in sensual pleasures.<O:p</O:p
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By contrast, the Middle Way consists, on one hand, in not creating hardships for yourself and, on the other hand, not indulging to your heart’s content in sensual pleasures. Walking the Middle Way brings about conditions which are in every way conducive to study and practice, and to success in putting an end to dukkha (suffering).
The expression "Middle Way" can be applied generally in many varied situations. It can’t lead you astray. The Middle Way consists in striking the golden mean. Knowing causes, knowing effects, knowing oneself, knowing how much is enough, knowing the proper time, knowing individuals, knowing groups of people: these Seven Noble Virtues constitute walking the Middle Way. This is one way of answering the question,<O:p</O:p
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C) ANOTHER WAY OF answering is to say the Buddha taught that everything is caused and conditioned. Everything happens in consequence of causes and conditions, and in accordance with law. This statement is like the answer received by Sariputta when, prior to his entering the Order, he questioned a bhikkhu (monk) and was told, "The Buddha teaches thus: Each thing arises from a cause. We must know the cause of that thing and the ceasing of the cause of that thing." This principle of Dhamma is scientific in nature, and we can say that the principles of Buddhism agree with the principles of science. The Buddha did not use individuals or subjective things as criteria; that is to say, Buddhism is a religion of reason.<O:p</O:p
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D) TO ANSWER YET another way, as a rule of practice, the Buddha taught, "Avoid evil, do good, purify the mind." Those three together are called the "Ovāda pāṭimokkha", meaning the "summary of all exhortations". Avoid evil, do good, purify the mind. Avoiding evil and doing good need no explaining, but making the mind pure isn’t as obvious. If one goes about grasping and clinging, even to goodness, the mind develops impurities: fear of not receiving good, fear of being deprived of existing good, anxiety, worry, and attaching to this and that as "mine". All of these produce suffering. Even though we may have successfully avoided evil and done good, we still must know how to render the mind free. Do not grasp at or cling to anything as being a self or as belonging to a self. Otherwise it will be misery, it will be a heavy burden and it will be suffering (dukkha). In other words, grasping and clinging, like carrying something along with one all the time, is a heavy weight and a burden of suffering. Even a load of precious gems carried on the shoulders or head is just as heavy as a load of rocks. So don’t carry rocks or gems (dukkha). Put them aside. Don’t let there be any weight on your head (which here means the mind). This is what is meant by "purify the mind". So then, to purify the mind is the third thing. The first thing is to avoid evil, the second is to do good, and the third is to make the mind pure. This is what he taught.<O:p</O:p
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E) HERE IS ANOTHER important teaching, a worthwhile reminder. He taught, "All compounded things (all things and all beings in this world) are perpetually flowing, forever breaking up (they are impermanent). Let all be well-equipped with heedfulness!" Please listen very carefully to these words: everything in this world is perpetually flowing, forever breaking up, that is, all is impermanent. So we have to equip ourselves well with heedfulness. Don’t go playing with these things! They will bite you. They will slap your face. They will bind and hold you fast. You will be made to sit and weep, or perhaps even to commit suicide.<O:p</O:p
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Now let us bring together these various ways of answering this one question. If asked just what the Buddha taught, answer with one of the following: <O:p</O:p
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· He taught us to walk the Middle Way; <O:p</O:p
· He taught self-help;<O:p</O:p
· He taught us to be familiar with the law off causality and to adjust the causes appropirately for the desired results to follow;<O:p</O:p
· He taught as the principle of practice "Avoid evil, do good, purify the mind";<O:p</O:p
· And he reminded us that all compounded things are impermanent and perpetually flowing, and that we must be well-equipped with heedfulness. <O:p</O:p
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There are several different ways of answering this question. If asked what the Buddha taught, then answer in any one of these ways. <O:p</O:p
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3) Now, suppose you meet a person from another country who asks you: "Put as briefly as possible, what is the basic message of Buddhism?" <O:p</O:p
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THIS CAN BE answered in one short sentence, a saying of the Buddha himself: "Nothing whatsoever should be grasped at or clung to."<O:p</O:p
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That nothing should be grasped at or clung to is a handy maxim from the mouth of the Buddha himself. We don’t need to waste time in searching through the Tipiṭaka (the recorded Teaching), because this one short statement puts it all quite clearly. In all the discourses, in the entire teaching, there are as many as eighty-four thousand Dhamma topics, all of which may be summed up in the single sentence, "nothing should be grasped at." This tells us that to grasp at things and cling to them is suffering (dukkha). When we have come to Know this, we can be said to know all the utterances of the Buddha, the entire eighty-four thousand Dhamma topics. And to have put this into practice is to have practised Dhamma completely, in its every phase and aspect.<O:p</O:p
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The reason a person fails to keep to the rules of conduct is that he grasps at and clings to things. If he refrains from grasping at and clinging to anything whatever, and puts aside craving and aversion, he cannot fail to keep the rules of conduct. The reason a person’s mind is distracted and unable to concentrate is that he is grasping at and clinging to something. The reason a person lacks insight is the same. When he is finally able to practise non-grasping, then simultaneously he attains the Noble Paths, their Fruits, and ultimately nibbāna (Sanskrit, nirvāna).<O:p</O:p
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The Buddha was a man who grasped at absolutely nothing. The Dhamma teaches the practice and the fruit of the practice of non-grasping. The Sangha (Community of Noble Disciples) consists of people who practise non-grasping, some who are in the process of practising, and some who have completed the practice. This is what the Sangha is.<O:p</O:p
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When people asked the Buddha whether his entire teaching could be summarized in a single sentence, he answered that it could, and said, "Nothing whatsoever should be grasped at or clung to." <O:p</O:p
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Buddha-Dhamma For Students<O:p</O:p
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