Buddhism - The Science of the Mind

All religions such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism propagate high morals values and preaches good deeds. I am in no way a religious person nor am I an atheist. I am just expressing my views on certain issues concerning Buddhism. I sincerely believe that truly religious people irrespective of race or religions have compassions for all human beings irrespective of race, gender and creed.

Buddhism is a religion based on the cultivation of the mind. The mind is the most complex subject in a human. This involves the person’s character, behavior, value system deciding on what he/she ought to do and not to do. We should be mindful of what we do or say and how it affects others.

In Buddhism, the only thing that is certain is suffering from illness, aging, dying and etc. Since we do not bring anything into this world we will take nothing out of this world. We are all born naked with nothing tangible. When we die even the clothes we wear will decayed and therefore we take nothing out of this world. The aim of all Buddhist is to liberate themselves (and for some undergoing the avalokesvara path such as the Goddess of Mercy Kuan Yin it include liberating all sentient beings as well) from the wheel of sufferings (where one does not get reborn again and therefore cease from sufferings). It is much easier said than done.

Many people think making donations and giving alms would generate lots of merits (kung ter) or good karma. Whether it bears any merit depends upon our own expectation. We should not expect to be rewarded for whatever good deeds done as such an expectation will render the deed as having no merit. The point here is to do things out of compassion for others and without expectation for any reward. The thoughts of helping others out of compassion and not for rewards will bear good karma and merits. We have to treat everyone with kindness and compassions. Our mind should be free of greed, hatred, lust, anger, vengeance and all kind of negative emotions. We should also not be too happy or proud over whatever achievement or look down upon others. We must give up attachment to everything knowing it is transient. We should not have egos. We should be humble. We should forget about our present selves knowing it is only a vehicle for us to get to another destination. Upon achieving all these then only can we see our true nature and achieve enlightenment.

The mode of trainings and rituals might be different in different parts of the world but the above objectives and ideas are still the same. For instance the Buddhists monks in China are vegetarian. The monks in Thailand eat whatever the devotees gave them and in some cases meats. Some Thai monks even smoke cigars bought by devotees. Similarly the lama of the Tibetans order is divided into red hat and yellow hats and their supreme ruler was suppose to be the Dalai Lama until the Chinese Communist took over in the 1940s. The Tibetans eat meat as their land can hardly grow any vegetables. I am not trying to say which system is better. For instance, if we want to reach the top of a high rise building, there would always be many ways of doing so. We can climb the stairs; we can climb the building from the outside like the French "spider man"; we can take the lift:; we can take a private helicopter and many other ways. Some methods are easier than others and depending on what you have in mind, you should choose the method that is most suitable to you. Many people would think climbing all the way to the top to be too slow and tedious and many people does not have what it take to climb to the top. For those who make it through the hard way, the rewards are bountiful and treasured for the rest of their life. These people become stronger and more focus on what need to be done to get to the next stage. Similarly, taking the lift is the simplest way but it might not leave any lasting impression. There is not much to gain here. If you continue to take the easiest way out, it would be hardly surprising that you have no lasting impressions of the training you have undergone.

Definitely we do see lots of difference between the Tibetans Vajrayana order and the Chinese Mahayana Buddhism and the Pureland schools that arises on the beliefs that simpler methods of attaining enlightenment is available. I have a former house mate (and fellow student of a Buddhist temple in Ampang) who claimed he wants to be free from being reborn and free himself from the wheels of sufferings. It is good to be free of these worldly sufferings but when our thoughts and desires are still attached to it, how can we escape reincarnation? As far as I am concern, a person's mind must reach the egoless stage where he care for the general suffering of others more than of himself (he seek no fame and has no worldly desire). He is not hurt by words or deeds of others nor does he hurt others with words and deeds. Otherwise, there is no way a person fill with so much ego and worldly desire can become enlightened. If one is not enlightened, one has no business wanting to be free of rebirth. Such people obviously do not qualify either on merit or on their deeds. If you do not train your minds you cannot hope to be enlightened. This is mere wishful thinking.

Once enlightened, we should try to help other sentient beings to overcome their problems. It is not about helping ourselves and our loved ones but helping those requiring our help most irrespective of whom. This is because as an enlightened being, he/she is compassionate and kind to all sentient beings regardless of whether the person is an enemy or friend. There is, however, a danger of trying to help others when we ourselves are riddled with imperfections. The Dharma expounded by us might be inaccurate and deceiving due to our own imperfect knowledge and understanding. In Tao Te Qing, there is mention of how the most dangerous thing is not knowing what we do not know. In other words, it simply means that if we do not know that we actually are unclear about a certain matter whether it is through ignorance or simply naive, we might endanger ourselves and others by thinking we know. A lot of us are unable to differentiate what is right or wrong. To a drug addict, the drug is medicine while to others it is poison. Due to our lack of understanding of the nature of things, we are sometimes not able to differentiate what is right or wrong. Our perception of things might not be correct. It is when we are ignorant and still believe we are right that is most vile. Nothing can be done to help such people unless they are made to realize they are on the wrong path. For example, meditation is said to be good for our physical and mental health but trying to do meditation on our own without the guidance of a good master can be very dangerous. Some have gone mentally unstable to the extent of being insane. If we were to help an accident victim out of compassion but due to our lack of understanding of first aid, we might actually do more damage than good. The accident victim might become paralyzed due to our inadequate knowledge. Similarly, preaching wrong dharma unknowingly can be the activation of bad karma naively. 

My fung shui master told me not to do healings or give healing lessons for free. He reasoned that people are suffering due to past karma. If we heal the person out of compassion and get the bad karma pass to ourselves, is it worth it? Further, you can use part of the fee received to do good deeds. That is why you do not get cheap fung shui consultation I guess. If we are to care only about ourselves, it would be hardly surprising that we do not go far spiritually. Even if we are to be punished for trying to mess with other's karma, surely we will be rewarded for helping others (not that I really care). It is the satisfaction that you have helped someone suffering from some ailment which the doctor cannot cure and that it is a very good feeling regardless of the reward if any. If the patient is unable to pay you due to poverty, so be it as it is a noble cause. However, I really detest the people who has lots of money to pay the doctor and specialist (who unfortunately could only make matter worse to the extend that he wishes to be dead). Some do not even bother to thank the person that healed them. Perhaps it must be some previous karma.

Some ignorant people will think that calling out to Amithaba Buddha will deliver them directly to the Pureland of the west (Kek Lok Sai Kai) and allows them to attain enlightenment. According to the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng (also known as Wei Lang), if you have not cultivate yourself to an enlightened stage, it is unlikely the Amitabha Buddha would deliver you to the Kek Lok Sai Kai. There is also no Pureland of the West as the people living in the east would like to be reborn in the West hoping for a change in their fortune and vice versa. If the person is born in the west commit a sin, where would he/she ask to be born next? In other words you must have kindness and compassions, self detachment, no ego, humble and enlightened before you can join the other enlightened beings who managed to free themselves from the wheel of sufferings. Imagine the unenlightened getting the chance to become a Buddha, such a person will be egoistic and come with all the imperfections he/she has still not overcome. Even if I am allowed to be a Buddha in such a way (which is actually not possible), I will not accept it as I know, with my imperfections, I am not worthy to be a Buddha (there is always a tingling doubt inside my head reminding me of my own imperfection). Outwardly, we might be able to conceal our imperfections, we cannot lie to ourselves. We know exactly what our imperfections are. Reflect on yourself, listen to your true self (inner voice) and you will be able to see exactly what I mean. Knowing your own imperfections, you should strive to overcome them. At least we know we are improving day by day, gaining more wisdom and enlightenment. To the enlightened, everywhere is the same (Western Pureland). Only the unenlightened would seek for another place to be born in, knowing they have not reached the required level to free themselves from the wheel of sufferings. If we happen to be such an undeserving person, why waste time hoping for a fluke shot to become a Buddha. Why not double up your efforts and deservingly become enlightened. It might take more than one lifetime but so what? You do not need to seek the Buddha elsewhere as it is inside all of us. Seek inwardly within ourselves for the Essence of Mind. As long as the mind is pure, it is the Western Pureland of the Essence of Mind. The real Buddha is within ourselves not without.