Buddhist Mind

Karma and rebirth account for many of our existing problems. They account for the suffering for which we ourselves are responsible. They explain the inequality of mankind. They explain why identical twins who are physically alike, enjoying equal privileges, exhibit totally different characteristics, mentally, intellectually and morally. They explain how we are the result of what we were, we will be the result of what we are; in other words, we are not absolutely what we were, and will not be absolutely what we are. Above all, they account for the arising of omniscient, perfect spiritual teachers like the Buddhas who possess incomparable physical, mental and intellectual characteristics, which can be explained only by karma and rebirth. A single life is not enough to prepare for one’s salvation. If a single life here decides the whole course of the future, then why does one life last only for a few weeks, and another for 70 or 80 years? For one thing, the person who lives only a few weeks, risks less chance of eternal damnation than does the person who lives up to 80 years. The person who lives only a few weeks cannot fully develop and mature his intelligence and understanding. He does not encounter all the pitfalls and the temptations that life abounds with. What follows us after our death? Germs, bacteria, and viruses of the physical body never go with our body when we die. However, the germs such as greed, hatred and ignorance that we have harbored in our mind never remain behind but follow with our consciousness even after death. Only the effects of good and bad deeds follow us. All our material properties remain behind when we depart from this world. Our relatives and friends follow us up to the graveyard only. Only the good and bad actions (karma) that we have committed during our lifetime follow us into the next life either to support us or to disturb us. Karma has neither a beginning nor an end. If we understand karma as a force or a form of energy, then we can discern no beginning. To ask where is the beginning of karma is like asking where is the beginning of electricity. Karma like electricity does not “begin.” It comes into being under certain conditions. Conventionally, we say that the origin of karma is volition but this is as much conventional as saying that the origin of a river is a mountain top. But when you attain enlightenment, your karma exhausts (kammakkhaya). Therefore, an individual’s karma has no beginning but it has an end. Just as an electric light is the outward manifestation of invisible electric energy, even so are living beings the outward manifestation of invisible karmic energy. The bulb may break and the light may be extinguished, but the current remains and the light may be reproduced in another bulb. The bulb can be compared to the parental cell of the body and the electric energy to the karmic energy. In the same way, the karmic force remains undisturbed by the disintegration of the physical body, and the passing away of the present consciousness leads to the arising of a fresh one in another birth. Source: Food for the Thinking Mind by K Sri Dhammananda Music: www.bensound.com

Karma (Sanskrit) and Kamma (Pali) is the principle that all good and bad actions have consequences that will affect one throughout life, and even in future lives. By extension, karma is sometimes loosely used to mean fate or destiny. Man is the architect of his own fate, and he will reap what he sows. Thus, the material and mental forces combine and recombine with no underlying substance or soul to make them permanent, and this process of becoming, the wheel of life, continues indefinitely unless its cause, craving or selfish desire for existence, is totally extinguished. It is this desire, which sets the wheel of life in motion, and it is manifested in action, which is in reality volition or will power. Volitional action is responsible for the creation of being. Every action produces an effect; cause comes first and effect afterwards. We therefore may say that karma is the “law of cause and effect,” and that man because of his actions is the master of his own destiny, child of his past and parent of his future. The law of karma explains why each individual has a unique mental disposition, a unique physical appearance and unique response to experiences. These are the various effects of the countless actions that each individual performed in the past and are stored as mental habits. At the root of man’s trouble is his primal state of ignorance, and from ignorance arises desire, which sets the karmic force in motion. According to the law of karma, the tragedy of inequality in creation itself, falls short of any reasonableness. For instance, the sadness of the spastic child and the sadness of the deaf and dumb, cannot easily be accommodated in the concept of the Compassionate Creator. The Law of Cause and Effect is a logical and a reasonable explanation of the tragedy that is creation itself. The universal law of karma throws a challenge and helps one to become the means to control one’s own fate. Intentional actions create karma. The law of karma does not exclude people because of their intellect or other characteristics. Buddhism teaches that consciousness is not a property of matter and life, is not a mere result of change produced by chemical or electric forces, but is a result of the Law of Causation. One is responsible for one's own karma. We have to face the consequences of what we have done. Buddhists believe in a just rationale of karma that operates automatically and speaks in terms of cause and effect instead of rewards and punishments. Source: Food for the Thinking Mind by K Sri Dhammananda Music: www.bensound.com

Our belief in some power beyond the world is as old as the human race. Different religions have given this belief enduring substance, and spawned a rich diversity of ritual and ceremony. While theologians debate religious truths, great philosophers attempt to understand our physical world, grappling with logic in their search for knowledge and certainty. The word “religion” has no one generally accepted definition. Philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, theologians, and many others interested in a particular aspect of life, have all defined religion in their own ways and for their own purposes. However, the main purpose of every religion is to teach people how to lead a respectable and harmless life and to find out their liberation from physical and mental suffering. Religions are meant for the emancipation of living beings. Religions are not mere subjects of study and essay writing, but are practical modes of conduct in the grooming of human beings externally in matters of the mundane and internally in things that concern the inner spirit. Religion must be experienced at the very source of its beginning and lived in utter abandonment, through all phases of change to attain a spirituality and inner growth. Among all the great founders of religions, it was the Buddha alone who encouraged the spirit of investigation among his followers. He advised them not to accept even his teachings with blind faith and without thorough impartial investigation. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that Buddhism can be called a religion of science. Whatever scientists have discovered so far, it has never gone against the teachings of the Buddha. Buddhism is truly a religion suited to the modern, scientific world. The light, which comes from nature, from science, from history, from human experience, from every point of the universe, is radiant with the Noble Teachings of the Buddha. Source: Food for the Thinking Mind by K Sri Dhammananda

Once, a beautiful and well-dressed woman visited a house. The master of the house asked her who she was and she replied that she was the goddess of wealth. The master of the house was delighted and so greeted her with open arms. Soon after, another woman appeared who was ugly looking and poorly dressed. The master asked who she was and the woman replied that she was the goddess of poverty. The master was frightened and tried to drive her out of the house, but the woman refused to depart, saying, “The goddess of wealth is my sister. There is an agreement between us that we are never to live apart; if you chase me out, she is to go with me.” Sure enough, as soon as the ugly woman went out, the other woman disappeared. Birth goes with death. Fortune goes with misfortune. Bad things follow good things. Men should realize this. Foolish people dread misfortune and strive after good fortune, but those who seek Enlightenment must transcend both of them. Source: Thus Have I Heard Buddhist Parables and Stories

For the seasoned practitioner, even the Dharma (teachings of the Buddha) must not become an attachment. As an analogy, to clean one’s shirt, it is necessary to use soap. However, if the soap is not then rinsed out, the garment will not be truly clean. Similarly, the practitioner’s mind will not be fully liberated until he severs attachment to everything, including the Dharma itself. Source: Thus Have I Heard Buddhist Parables and Stories Prelude No. 2 by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/preludes/ Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/

Once there was a devoted old woman who built a place of retreat for a monk, arranging that he would not lack for anything, so that he could concentrate upon his meditation and practice. One day, after twenty years, she instructed her daughter: “Today, after serving the Master his meal, take advantage of the situation to embrace him tightly, asking him at the same time, ‘how does it feel to be hugged these days?’ Come back and let me know his answer as faithfully as you can.” The daughter dutifully did as she was told, putting her arms around the Master and asking the question. The Master replied, “I am not moved in the very least by sexual desire, no different from a dried up tree leaning against a cold mass of rocks in the middle of winter, when not even a drop of warmth can be found.” The young woman repeated the answer to her mother, who said unhappily, “I have really wasted my time and effort during the last twenty years. Little did I know that I was only supporting a common mortal!” Having said this, she went out, evicted the monk, lit a fire, and burned the meditation hut to the ground. In truth, it is rare enough these days for anyone to cultivate to the level of that monk. As far as the old woman is concerned, she is said to be a saint in disguise. Her action of burning down the hut was to “enlighten” the Master. Why is this so? It is because, while not moved by sexual desire, he still saw himself as pure and was still attached to the empty and still aspects of Samadhi (a state of deep meditative contemplation which leads to higher consciousness). Thus, he had not attained true and complete Awakening. Source: Thus Have I Heard Buddhist Parables and Stories

It once happened that a monk, having awakened to the Way under the eminent Master Fu Shan, went to reside in a famous monastery. Although living among the Great Assembly, he did not practice meditation or seek guidance in the Dharma; all he did all day was lay sleeping. Upon hearing this, the abbot arrived at the meditation hall, a big staff in hand. Seeing the guest master reclining with eyes closed, he admonished: “This place does not have surplus rice to allow you to do nothing but eat and rest!” Reply: “What would you, High Master, advise me to do?” The abbot said: “Why don’t you sit in meditation?” Answer: “Succulent food cannot tempt those who have eaten their fill.” The abbot continued, “A great many people are unhappy with you.” Answer: “If they were happy, what would I gain?” Hearing these unusual replies, the abbot inquired further, “Who was your master?” Answer: “I arrived here after having studied under the eminent Master Fu Shan.” The abbot said, “No wonder you are so headstrong!” They then clasped hands, laughing aloud, and headed toward the abbot’s quarters. One day, many years later, the guest Zen Master, having washed himself, ascended the Dharma seat, bid farewell to the Great Assembly, wrote a parting stanza, immediately dropped the pen and expired in a seated position. The guest master, as we can see, conducted himself easily and freely, having mastered life and death. Is it not because he had truly internalized the meaning of the passage, “When neither hatred nor love disturbs our mind, serenely we sleep?” (Quotation from the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng.) Note: True cultivators always have a clear and solid position and viewpoint, and pay no attention to the praise and criticism, likes and dislikes of the outside world. Source: Thus Have I Heard Buddhist Parables and Stories

These are the Truths that the Buddha awakened to when he became enlightened. The Four Noble Truths were the subject of the Buddhaʼs first dharma talk, and are the foundation of the teachings. “Noble” (ariya) can mean universal or standard—i.e., different from personal truth. Or it can imply that these are “the truths of the Noble Ones”, or “ennobling truths”. The First Noble Truth is there is suffering (dukkha). Dukkha means physical and mental stress: sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair; association with the unloved; separation from the loved, and not getting what one wants. More subtly, dukkha is the overall unsatisfactoriness of conditioned phenomena (the Five Aggregates) because they do not provide lasting happiness. Comprehending suffering is accomplished by observing it in a nonjudgmental, nonreactive way. The Second Noble Truth is the cause of suffering is craving (taṇhā). Craving has three aspects: Craving for sensual pleasure, for becoming (continued existence), and for non-becoming (annihilation). Craving for becoming means the desire for the formation of states that are not currently happening, while craving for non-becoming means the desire for the destruction or halting of any states that are already occurring. Craving is fueled by ignorance (avijjā)—blindness to suffering, to its cause and possible release, to the link between action and results, and especially to the construction of a self whose craving is to be satisfied. Craving is the fuel that feeds the defilements (kilesa) of greed (lobha), hatred (dosa), and delusion (moha), which drive unskillful actions leading to more suffering. The Buddha’s teaching on dependent origination (paṭicca samuppāda) is the most detailed explanation of the interlinked causal chain from ignorance to suffering. The Third Noble Truth is there is an end to suffering. Each time the mind lets go of some activity of clinging, the associated suffering ends. The causes of suffering are unraveled by knowing and seeing the arising and passing away of the Five Aggregates: “Such is form, such is origination, such is disappearance. …feeling, … perception, …fabrications/formations… Such is consciousness, such is origination, such is disappearance.” The cessation of suffering is the realization of Nibbāna, also called the Deathless, or the unconditioned. “This is peace, this is exquisite — the stilling of all fabrications, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the ending of craving, dispassion, cessation, Nibbāna.” Literally Nibbāna means “blowing out” or “extinguishing,” although Buddhist writings like to present it as “the absence of craving.” The Pali and Sanskrit idiom characteristically appears in a verb form—“s/he nirvana-s,” indicating that nirvana is not a “thing,” but a process or experience: the experience of extinguishing the three fires of greed, hatred, and delusion. The Fourth Noble Truth is the way leading to the end of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path. The eight “steps” of the path are developed integrally, not in a linear sequence. However, they are arranged in a supportive order: The initial wisdom of seeking freedom from suffering (Right View and Intention) leads to moral discipline and behavior (Right Speech, Action, and Livelihood), which support the development of meditation (Right Effort, Mindfulness, and Concentration). This hones the mind to achieve a penetrative understanding of the Four Noble Truths (Right View). The Buddha offers many approaches to developing the path factors, suitable for many kinds of minds. Source: https://www.imsb.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/FourNobleTruths.pdf

In a time long past, there was an old monk who, through diligent practice, had attained a certain degree of spiritual penetration. He had a young novice who was about eight years old. One day the monk looked at the boy’s face and saw there that he would die within the next few months. Saddened by this, he told the boy to take a long holiday and go visit his parents. “Take your time,” said the monk. “Don’t hurry back.” For he felt the boy should be with his family when he died. Three months later, to his astonishment, the monk saw the boy walking back up the mountain. When he arrived, he looked intently at his face and saw that the boy would now live to a ripe old age. “Tell me everything that happened while you were away,” said the monk. So the boy started to tell of his journey down from the mountain. He told of villages and towns he passed through, of rivers forded and mountains climbed. Then he told how one day he came upon a stream in flood. He noticed, as he tried to pick his way across the flowing stream, that a colony of ants had become trapped on a small island formed by the flooding stream. Moved by compassion for these poor creatures, he took a branch of a tree and laid it across one flow of the stream until it touched the little island. As the ants made their way across, the boy held the branch steady, until he was sure all the ants had escaped to dry land. Then he went on his way. “So,” thought the old monk to himself, “that is why the gods have lengthened his days.” Compassionate acts can alter your fate. Conversely, acts of viciousness can adversely affect your fate. Source: Thus Have I Heard Buddhist Parables and Stories

The human excrement that we consider fetid and dirty is regarded as fragrant, clean and succulent by animals such as insects and worms—because of their deluded karma. They therefore compete and struggle to gobble it up. The defiled desires of this world are considered by humans as lovely and clean. However, the Gods and Immortals see them as foul smelling, dirty and unclean, not unlike the way human beings regard insects and worms eating filthy substances. The various desires of sentient beings, defiled and upside down, are generally thus. The practitioner should strive gradually to destroy them. Source: Thus Have I Heard Buddhist Parables and Stories Music source: Prelude No. 6 by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/preludes/ Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/

Dharma means truth, that which really is; it also means law – the law which exists in a man’s own heart and mind; it is the principle of righteousness; therefore, the Buddha advises to man to be noble, pure and worthy of honor. Dharma, this law of righteousness, exists not only in a man’s heart and mind, but it exists in the universe also. The etymological meaning of the word is “that which upholds or supports,” therefore, Dharma is every principle on which the cosmos operates. The entire universe is an embodiment or revelation of the Dharma. The law of nature which modern science has discovered is the revelations of Dharma, for Dharma is that law within the universe which makes matter act in the way studied in physics, chemistry, zoology, botany, and astronomy. Dharma exists in the universe just as gravity, wind and heat. The teaching of the Buddha is called Dharma because he explained how natural occurrences take place according to worldly conditions and universal law. Buddhism is the philosophy of awakening. Buddhism as a religion or as a science is unique in the importance it attaches to philosophy and metaphysical inquiry. As such, it is often regarded as the most advanced of the philosophic systems of India. Ethics, science and philosophy are delicately interwoven into a system, which is divorced from mythology and which attempts to unravel the real nature of life. There is no aspect of the Buddha-Dharma, or the Buddhist teachings, which does not stem from the logical and rational foundations of that philosophy. The Buddha Dharma is to pave the way for final salvation by leading a noble life. Buddhism may be defined as a way of life, called the Noble Eightfold Path, leading to a goal called Nirvana. This goal or deliverance is the state of supreme good, because it is free from defects, and has ultimate peace, purity, and the highest happiness that our minds can conceive. Yet, it is something, which cannot be conferred by another person, however exalted he or she may be, but must be won by one’s own effort. Buddhism teaches the principle that everything in the world comes on account of something else. There is no first event or first cause. Source: Food for the Thinking Mind by K Sri Dhammananda

Buddhahood is not reserved only for the chosen people or for the supernatural beings. Anyone can become a Buddha. No founder of any other religion ever said that his followers could have the opportunity or potentiality to attain the same position as the founder. However, attaining Buddhahood is the most difficult task a person can pursue in this world. One must work hard by sacrificing one’s worldly pleasures. One has to develop and purify one’s mind from evil thoughts in order to obtain this enlightenment. It will take innumerable births for a person to purify himself and to develop his mind in order to become a Buddha. Long periods of great effort are necessary in order to complete the high qualification of this self-training. The course of this self-training which culminates in Buddhahood, includes self-discipline, self-restraint, superhuman effort, firm determination, and willingness to undergo any kind of suffering for the sake of other living beings who are suffering in this world. This clearly shows that the Buddha did not obtain his supreme enlightenment by simply praying, worshipping, or making offerings to some supernatural beings. He attained Buddhahood by the purification of his mind and heart. He gained supreme enlightenment without the influence of any external supernatural forces but by the development of his own insight. Thus, only a man who has firm determination and courage to overcome all hindrances, weaknesses, and selfish desires can attain Buddhahood. The Buddha had a natural birth; he lived in a normal way. But he was an extraordinary man, as far as his enlightenment was concerned. Those who have not learnt to appreciate his supreme wisdom, try to explain his greatness by peeping into his life and looking for miracles. However, the Buddha’s supreme enlightenment is more than enough for us to understand his greatness by introducing any miraculous power. Every supernatural power becomes natural when people come to know how it takes place. The voice of the Buddha is the most powerful voice that has been heard in human history in support of the dignity of man and of the principle that man is the maker of his own destiny, and that man is not for religion but that religion must serve man. That means: without becoming a slave to any religion, man must try to make use of religion for his betterment and liberation. Source: Food for the Thinking Mind by K Sri Dhammananda

Knowledge is something which has been defined as “justified true belief,” and which is studied in the branch of philosophy known as epistemology. The quest for knowledge knows no boundaries. There is no limit to pursuing knowledge, because knowledge is clearly different from “feeling sure” about what exists or about the course of events. Most philosophical debate on the subject centers on the nature of truth and on what counts as appropriate evidence for claiming to know something. In Buddhist teaching, there are three sources of knowledge: Inference, Perception, and Experience. Knowledge of how things work is quite different from realization, which is wisdom, which is insight, which wants to see why it works, and how it works. Wisdom is so much more than knowledge. Knowledge is the answer to the question “How?” Wisdom is investigation of the answer to the question “Why?” Knowledge can answer a query about function, result, and purposes: wisdom does not provide an answer, but is realizing why such a question has arisen. And in that realization of the question, there is no search beyond because insight has solved the problems, dissolved the conflict and ended the search. Thus, where knowledge searches outside, wisdom ceases at the insight into the question. The Buddha was once asked as to whether without sensuous pleasure life would be endurable; without belief in immortality, man could be moral and without worship of a God, man could advance towards righteousness. The Buddha replied in the affirmative and mentioned that these ends could be attained by knowledge; knowledge alone was the key to the higher path, the one worth pursuing in life; knowledge was that which brought calmness and peace to life, which rendered man indifferent to the storms of the phenomenal world. Source: Food for the Thinking Mind by K Sri Dhammananda

Modern discoveries are confirming what the Buddha had realized twenty-five centuries ago: that the mind is not a thing or an entity with a separate existence but that, which arises dependent on conditions. It is an energetic intelligent force, which arises in an individual and which can be cultivated to develop positive values such as kindness, sympathy, compassion, and love. These values can be utilized to serve the world. A powerful mind, fully developed, like that of a Buddha’s can even purify the atmosphere. On the other hand, when abused by developing negative qualities like hatred, greed, jealousy, and ill will, it can become a potent destructive force. A mind like Hitler’s, Idi Amin’s, or Pol Pot’s can be a source of great misery and suffering to living beings. On a smaller scale, individual humans can also create sufferings to those around them. A mind, which is not properly guarded and trained, can become a dangerous force. In modern times, great minds are being exerted to discover many truths about the workings of the universe through science. But if these discoveries are allowed to be used by untrained minds, great havoc can result. We only have to consider how the discovery of nuclear fission led to the creation of the most horrible weapons of destruction in our own time. The human mind is capable of great achievements that benefit all human beings, but conversely, it can also be the source of untold sufferings. In trying to explain the tremendous power of the mind, Einstein had said, “Science may have split the atom but it cannot control the mind.” What he meant was that mental energy was far more powerful than atomic energy. The only way this tremendous energy can be harnessed and controlled, is by adopting the age-old mind controlling techniques developed by the ancient sages of the past, like the Buddha. In his teachings, the Buddha analyzed the workings of the human mind, its function and its development. He then showed how, given proper spiritual guidance, the mind can be directed to work for the benefit of all living things. Source: Food for the Thinking Mind by K Sri Dhammananda

The Buddha compares the human condition to that of a traveler on a stormy night. Only from time to time does the dark night give way to a flash of lightning. Suffering (dukkha) is like the dark night that surrounds the traveler, while the flashes of lightning are those rare occasions of joy that excite the human mind. (birth, marriage, a promotion, etc.) Source: Thus Have I Heard Buddhist Parables and Stories Music: www.bensound.com

The three characteristics of everything in this universe are clearly explained only in Buddhism. They are the impermanency of everything, the unsatisfactoriness of everything, and the impersonality or insubstantiality of everything. This is the most remarkable discovery of the Buddha. But due to ignorance and craving, there are very few people who can comprehend such a lofty and sublime teaching. Source: Food for the Thinking Mind by K Sri Dhammananda #Buddha #Buddhism #Buddhist

An effort to reform society, which is not coupled with an equal effort to develop one’s spiritual self, cannot bring about lasting results. It is like trying to cool a pot of boiling soup by merely stirring it, while ignoring the blazing fuel underneath. Source: Thus Have I Heard, Buddhist Parables and Stories #Buddha #Buddhism #Buddhist