by Shirfu Samanta
Why be a Buddhist? What does Buddhism offer that makes it worth while?
We can speak of many reasons or the many benefits such as a community based on spirituality not religion, genuine respect and compassion for others, or the deep psychological insights and ultimately the goal of being free for integration and free from suffering and many more. But then how are these wonderful benefits accomplished? There are many paths in Buddhism, each suited to different temperaments and situations but people want something relatively quick. We can talk about this under two broad headings. The absolute or Dharmakaya and the courses of training.
There is a large group of sutras spoken by the Buddha Shakyamuni that deal directly with wisdom. In English the are called the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras.
The Sutra of The |Perfection of Wisdom in 700 Lines; The 25,000 Line Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, The 100,000 Line Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and other texts teach the one practice samadhi. The one practice samadhi is discussed in the Zen literature, the Tientai literature and else where.
Here is the passage from the “700 Line Sutra”: “Manjusri asked the Buddha, ‘Lord, what should one do to acquire supreme awakening quickly?’”
“The Buddha answered, ‘If one follows the teachings of the Perfection of Wisdom, one can acquire supreme awakening quickly. Furthermore, there is a single practice samadhi: a good man or good woman who cultivates this samadhi will quickly acquire supreme awakening.’”
So, we see even in ancient times people wanted something quick. We haven’t changed much.
The Buddha then explained what the practice entails. It has two parts the first is the meditate on the oneness of the absolute. This includes studying the perfections and practicing accordingly. These perfections are: giving, morality, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom. The second aspect is that one should be fond of retreats (formal and informal) and concentrate on one Buddha’s excellent qualities while disregarding other things, repeat his mantra. Some people claim that the teachings from the Perfections of Wisdom Sutras stand in opposition to the Pure Land teachings. If that were true, why do these Perfection of Wisdom Sutras advise a Pure Land meditational practice?
Let me begin with the second part of this powerful method. Select a buddha such as Akshobhya, Amitabha, or Shakyamuni. Actually, you could also select one of the Great Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara, Manjusri, Maitreya, Samantabhadra or Prajnaparamita (the female bodhisattva). Meditate on his or her good qualities such as the form, the color, the mudras, and so on. Continue being mindful of his or her great compassion, the sacrifices he or she made to become a Buddha or bodhisattva including the vows, the aura he/she has, and most importantly his/her minds which is the Dharmakaya or absolute.
Then repeat the mantra. Usually the mantra includes the name, or the seed syllable connected with that Buddha/bodhisattva. For example, DHIH is the seed syllable of Manjusri or HRIH is the seed syllable of Avalokiteshvara. NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHAYA is the mantra for Amitabha.
Many of you know the quote “to know the Dharma is to see the Buddha,” but actually that is only half of the message. The other half according to the Pali “Vakkali Suttaṃ” in The Saṃyutta Nikāya is “to see the Buddha is to know the Dharma”. The Buddha is the embodiment of Dharma so by meditating on a buddha, one is accessing all the Dharma or teachings.
In addition to this meditational practice, you should also course in the perfections. That is enact compassion which is referred to by the term “giving”. Buddhism is something you do, you enact. If you are not being compassionate, if you are not “giving” you are not practicing selflessness. But it is not enough to give money, or to pass on a tweet, you should be actively engaged. Go plant a tree, work in a soup kitchen, or even when you see a worm on the blacktop pick it up and put it back in the grass. Next don’t get a big head about how you are a giving person. Do it–forget it. Morality in Buddhism actually is about what is spiritually healthy it is similar to western morality but there are important differences, I’ll talk about that on another occasion. Patience; if you look deeply at yourself you will see that each time you lose patience, there is a big concept of “I” or “self” at the root of your feeling. The idea in your head is “how can this person treat ME this way” or “how can this be happening to ME?” Buddhism is about lessening the notion of self, so being impatient is going in the wrong direction. Energy is about being diligent in your Buddhist life and activities it should be part of every moment, not just something you do on your meditation cushion. Meditation can help you but later in your career when you teach, you’ll need to know different meditations to help the people. Wisdom is of two kinds: based on studying Buddhist texts and based on insight from practice.
Now about the absolute, The Srimaladevi Sutra states that one should have confidence that you and the Buddha are one and the same. This does not mean that he was a human and you are a human, so you are the same. It means that you are a buddha. No difference between you and him. In a way this is the same thing that the Pure Land is saying. Shinran’s basic message is if you take the Pure Land sutras seriously, then you are already liberated in the pure land.
So, how are you and the Buddha the same?
The absolute is sometimes called Dharmakaya or sometimes called Dharmadhatu. In this teaching the Dharmakaya is everything. That is it, there is nothing else. It is the non-dual. No two things actually exist. If all is Dharmakaya then the experience of multiple things is an illusion. All those things are simply the Dharmakaya. It is similar to having a white light which passes through a prism. All there really is, is white light but it looks like many colors. Or it is like the waves on the ocean water. Actually, all there is –is the water. It is not the waves are one thing and the water is a different thing. The Buddha is the absolute and all there is -is absolute, and you are also the absolute, then you and the Buddha are the same.
Some people can quickly access the Dharmakaya taking its sameness as the focus. But many people find this direct approach difficult. Not because the Dharmakaya is difficult but because humans complicate things even when they don’t have to. The Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, teach about shunyata. This word has been translated as “emptiness’ but that is only a partial translation and some other time I can discuss that point. Here I wish to focus on the practice and not on the philological or philosophical aspects. From the point of practice, the idea is to move from holding some object in our minds to not holding an object. The Perfection of Wisdom Sutras state that those training to be Buddhas don’t get fixated anywhere. So, don’t fixate on any object. Don’t fight the arising of a mental object or get involved in one. Just let them come and go unattached. When you must engage a thought do so using them as a skilful means, not in the manner you have been engaging them.
When you get good at dis-attaching from your mental stream of objects, you will find that the stream slows down. This is like a river that has large rocks in it. In that river the water of the stream has to move faster around the rock, so it speeds up the whole stream. Same too with your mind. When you hold firmly some object the mind-stream speeds up and produces more and more thoughts and feelings. When you don’t fixate, the stream will slow and even stop. You will find gaps between your thoughts sometimes longer sometimes shorter. Yet, you will be completely clear in your mind, very vivid because the moment isn’t covered by the stream of objects.
First you have to become familiar with this clarity or this gap. When you can enter this practice at will, you are only halfway there. Next you also have to find the shunyata of shunyata that is the no-object gap is the same as having an object. This has to be because all there is –is the Dharmakaya. If the gap is one thing and the object another then there would be two things not one. That wouldn’t be the Dharmakaya.
Now don’t fool yourself with a lot of intellectualization. Don’t think that since the no-object gap and the object are the same then there is no point to practice. Here you would be mistaken an intellectual understanding with the real wisdom that comes from practice. It is the wisdom from practice that will set you free. So, you have to get this experience.
Practice meditating on a buddha or practice with shunyata or you can do both, but you must apply yourself.