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Humanistic Buddhism
As Buddhists we acknowledge that the Dharma exists in the world, but what exactly is the Dharma as taught by the Buddha?
The word Buddha means “enlightened one,” for he is one who has enlightened himself, enlightens others, and has completed his mission of enlightening others. A Buddha is one who transcends the ignorance of sentient beings. The quality of his enlightenment is unlike that of the sravaka or pratyekabuddha, who pursue enlightenment for themselves alone. A Buddha has realized a state of enlightenment that even a bodhisattva has yet to fully attain.
The founder of Buddhism was originally named Siddhartha, though he is also called Sakyamuni Buddha, the World-honored One, the Tathagata, and so on. He was born on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar in Lumbini Garden within the Indian state of Kapilavastu. His father, King Suddhodana, was head of the Sakya clan. His mother, Queen Maya, died seven days after his birth.
Sakyamuni Buddha was raised into adulthood by his maternal aunt, Lady Mahaprajapati. As a prince, Siddhartha was a handsome and intelligent young man, who was skilled in both the civil and military arts. From boyhood, he was much beloved by the common people. His father put all his effort into training him to become a wise ruler. When he was seventeen, Siddhartha married the beautiful Yasodhara, and the following year she bore him a son, Prince Rahula.
However, despite his life in the palace with all its comfort and contentment, and the warm love and affection of his family, Siddhartha felt a deep void in his heart. He was seeking something more from life and needed a truer understanding of human existence. So at the age of twenty-nine, he bid farewell to his family, gave up all his pleasures and comforts, and left the palace to pursue his spiritual quest. At age thirty-five, after six years of austere practice, he sat underneath the bodhi tree, and attained enlightenment while looking up at a bright star, and said, “Marvelous, marvelous! All sentient beings have the Tathagata’s wisdom and virtue, but they fail to realize it because they cling to deluded thoughts and attachments.”
The now enlightened Buddha shared his realization with others, setting the wheel of Dharma turning, and established the monastic order. He then taught the Dharma for the liberation of living beings for forty-nine years, and entered nirvana while lying between two sala trees outside the city of Kusinara in the year 483BCE.
Buddha's Preaching
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Illustration of the “eight aspects of Buddha’s life” on woodblock print by Lin Chih-Hsin 林智信
The Buddha was born in this human world, grew up and attained enlightenment in this human world; he passed into nirvana in this human world, as well. Buddhism has always been concerned with this human world. The Buddhist sutras which circulate today are a record of the Buddha’s teachings to liberate living beings, gathered and organized by his disciples after the Buddha’s final nirvana.
From the time of the Buddha, the Buddhist teachings are meant to fundamentally address the issues of how we as human beings are to conduct ourselves, how we are to act and think throughout the course of our lives, as well as how we can gain liberation. The Dharma quite naturally serves as a guide to how to live our daily lives. As Buddhism enters the modem era, we as Buddhists must take an active role in the world and be diligent.
There are some people who think the Dharma serves as an escape, that one may “retreat into Buddhist practice,” as if Buddhism is some sort of pessimistic escape or resignation that does not demand that we accomplish anything. The Ekottara Agama states:
All the Buddhas and World-honored Ones come from the human world; their realization is not something attained in the heavenly realms.
Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of the Chan School, also said in the Platform Sutra:
The Dharma is within the world, apart from this world there is no awakening. Seeking bodhi apart from the world is like looking for a rabbit’s horn.
If we seek enlightenment by rejecting the world, in doing so we throw away our potential. This creates a sense of withdrawal and escape in the mind, and then nothing whatsoever will succeed.
Buddhism is not a religion that belongs only to monastics, nor is it a body of philosophical texts to be studied by scholars. Buddhism should be something that benefits all people. Buddhism is not an abstract theory; it is a religion that brings happiness and well-being into the world. To learn Buddhism is to learn how to be happy, carefree, liberated, and attain meditative bliss and Dharma joy. Joy and happiness are the most precious things in life, and living a happy, blessed, and carefree life is what Humanistic Buddhism promotes. Humanistic Buddhism is the practical application of the Buddhist spirit in the world.
One day, the Buddha and his disciples entered the city of Sravasti to gather alms, and it so happened that they encountered someone who bore a grudge against the Buddha. This person started to malign, slander, and shout in a loud voice as the Buddha walked along the street.
Seeing how the Buddha was being insulted in public, one of his disciples said to the Buddha angrily, “The people here lack any speck of goodness and do not know how to respect the Triple Gem. Lord Buddha, it would be better if we left this place and went to a city with kind-hearted people!”
The Buddha replied, “Suppose we do move to another place but the people there still do not believe in the Dharma, what would you do then?”
The disciple said, “We should move to yet another place!”
“When will we ever stop moving if we do so because of external conditions? This is not the way to ultimately solve the problem!
We can resolve the root of the problem this way: If we are treated with scorn, we must remain unperturbed and bring an end to slander through patience. We must not stop guarding our speech and training our minds until we are no longer treated with scorn.”
The Buddha continued, “An enlightened person remains calm and patient like the earth. We should not allow our mission to be shaken by either praise or blame. By contemplating the absence of an independent self, we will observe how all phenomena are false fabrications. Then the illusory distinctions of self and others, as well the so-called good and bad of the world, will become nothing more than froth upon the water that suddenly appears, and just as suddenly disappears. Can anything remain constant and unchanging?”
Buddhism such as this is what allows people to experience well-being and success. It is a religion for people, and one that is concerned with the development of people. In Buddhism there is a teaching called the “three Dharma seals,” which are three qualities that certify something as an authentic teaching. They are all conditioned phenomena are impermanent, all phenomena are without an independent self, and nirvana is perfect tranquility. By viewing the world through the teaching on impermanence, one can come to understand that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent.
Determination and diligence allows us to see that “all phenomena are without an independent self.” In Buddhism there is a saying that “there is nothing to attain,” and it is because of this understanding that all the wonders of existence can arise out of true emptiness. The last of the three Dharma seals, “nirvana is perfect tranquility” asserts that our potential for success is unlimited.
Source: Hsing Yun, Four Insights for Finding Fulfillment: A Practical Guide to the Buddha’s Diamond Sutra, Los Angeles: Buddha’s Light Publishing, 2012.
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