Buddhism Touching the Heart of the Dharma

TOUCHING THE HEART OF THE DHARMA THE CORE TEACHINGS OF BUDDHISM Raj Mansukhani INTRODUCTION Many people associate Buddhism with all sorts of things: with incense, with bald monks, with temples, with the figure of the Buddha sitting with a benign smile on his face, with chanting, and with vegetarianism. I know this to be the case because these are the words and images I get whenever I ask students to free-associate on the word Buddhism. One student even associated Buddhism with liquor because he had just gone the night to a place called The Buddha Bar! What all this shows is that the average person on the street has all sorts of preconceptions about Buddhism. Even those who have read a little about Buddhism have all sorts of misconceptions about it, thinking that Buddhism is pessimistic (for emphasizing suffering), or that Buddhism is a religion that regards the Buddha as a God. What I want to do in this paper is to go beyond the rituals and external trappings of Buddhism in order to touch the deeper core of the teachings. This will help us understand Buddhism in way that would be beneficial and rewarding. THE WORD ‘BUDDHISM’ Perhaps the best way to approach the core of Buddhism is to ask, first of all, what the word Buddhism means. Buddhism comes from the word Buddha, whose root, budh simply means awake. The Buddha, therefore, is simply one who is awake. In Angutttara Nikaya, one of the major collections of Buddhist texts, we are told that a Brahmin (a Hindu priest) once encountered the Buddha and asked him a series of questions (Bancroft 2001): The Brahmin Dona saw the Buddha sitting under a tree and was impressed by his peaceful air of alertness and his good looks. He asked the Buddha: “Are you a god?” “No, Brahmin, I am not god.” “Then an angel?” “No, indeed, Brahmin.” “A spirit, then?” “No, I am not a spirit.” “Then what are you?” “I am awake.” When the Buddha said that he was awake, what he implied was that he was once, like most of us, asleep. To be sleep is to be ignorant of our true nature. It means that there is so much about ourselves and the world that we don’t understand. If we could only open our eyes and be awake, then we, too, can be Buddhas, This, in fact, is one of the central teachings of Buddhism: that each of us is a potential Buddha, that each of us has the seed of enlightenment. All we need to do is to work at it. All we need to do is to nature the seed of enlightenment.

THE LIFE STORY OF BUDDHA Now let’s go back to the Buddha. How did he awaken? What path did he take? In order to understand this, we need to take closer look into his life story? The Buddha was born around 560 B.C in what is now Southern Nepal. He was Indian, and was born a prince. His name was Siddhartha. Right after he was born, an astrologer came for the kingdom and predicted that Siddhartha would either become a great king or a great spiritual leader. When Siddhartha’s father, King Shuddhodana, heard this, he thought: “I don’t want my son to be a spiritual leader; I want him to be a king.” So that king made sure that Siddhartha would be not be exposed to the difficulties of life. (It is life’s difficulties, you see, which motivates us to take the spiritual path.) So the king surrounded Prince Siddhartha will all the possible pleasure one could possibly imagine, and he was not exposed to any difficulties or suffering whatsoever. One day, as Siddhartha left the palace wall with his charioteer (named Chandaka), he saw a bent, wrinkled old man. This was something he had ever seen before. Siddhartha ask Chandaka: “Who is the man, and why does he look like that?” Chandaka then explained that he was an old man. He is that way because of the effect time has on everyone who is born. What that man has are the afflictions of old age that await all of us. The skin dries and wrinkle, the hair loses its color and falls out, the veins and arteries stiffen, the flash loses its suppleness and shapelessly sags. We are beset with pains. Our eyes skin over and get red. The rest of our sense grows feeble. In fact, as time goes on, our whole body winds up with little strength left in it, hardly enough to move along, as you see with that old fellow there.” (Kohn 1994:8) Chadaka’s words upset the prince. He had never thought that everyone would grow up old. On another trip outside the palace walls, Siddhartha saw a man suffering from some kind of disease.“He was emaciated and pale. Parts of his body were swollen and other parts were covered with Sore…..When Chandaka explained to Siddhartha what disease was… the prince returned to the Palace deeply troubled (Kohn 1994: 8).” On a third occasion, Siddhartha encountered a funeral Procession and saw a dead body inside a box followed by crying relatives. He was horrified. When He asked Chandaka what is was, Chandaka explained that the man in the box was someone who had just died. Chandaka said: “My prince, do you not know? This man lying on the litter is dead. His life has come to an end. His senses and feelings and consciousness have departed forever. He has become just like a log or a bundle of hay” (Kohn 1994: 8). On a fourth occasion, Siddhartha encountered a wandering monk who seemed very happy, serene, and contented. When he asked Chandaka who is this person was, Chandaka said: This is a holy man who has renounced worldly life and entered upon a life of Homelessness. Such homeless mendicants devote themselves to spiritual pursuits such as meditation or practicing austerities. They have no possessions but wander from place to place, begging their daily food (Kohn 1994: 11). These events were what led Siddhartha to a deep realization: that everything is ravaged by time; that we don’t live forever and that life-at is very root-is filled with suffering. These facts motivated Siddhartha to look for a cure for suffering. Thinking that the wandering monk he had seen had found the cure (since he seemed happy and contented). Siddhartha decided to leave home at the age of 29. He cut off his hair, gave hi possession away, and became a wandering ascetic. He performed all sorts of austerities and penances to discipline his mind. He meditated for hours on end, fasted for weeks, and lived for a time on a single grain of rice each day. These

severe practices almost cost him his life. One day, Siddhartha realized that the he had gone too far. The correct path, he though, was the middle way, a life characterized neither by extreme sacrifice nor by extreme pursuit of pleasure. So he decided to stop his extreme regimen and begin to eat some food. When Siddhartha regained his energy, he decided to sit under a tree and meditate. He vowed to continue sitting in meditation until found the solution to the problem of suffering and then one day, during a full moon, Siddhartha attained enlightenment. During his enlightenment, he was finally able to discover the cure that was seeking. At first, he thought that he could not teach what he had discovered, since what he had discovered seemed so profound. But after careful deliberation, he decided to teach what he had learned. He got up from under the tree, walked a few miles, and met a few friends who had deserted him. It is to these friends that he gave his first sermon, the sermon on the Four Noble Truths. THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS The Four Noble Truths are the foundational teachings of Buddhism. These teachings say that (1) human existence is characterized by suffering, (2) that there is a cause for suffering, (3) that there is a way out of suffering through the elimination of its cause, and (4) that there is a path leading to the cessation of suffering. In most Buddhist text, it is said that the cause of suffering is trishna (literally meaning thirst, but translated into English as desire). We suffer because we have too many wants and needs. We own a cell phone but soon grow dissatisfied with it as soon as a new model comes along; we own a car but soon get dissatisfied with it because we desire a better, faster, or more luxurious model; we have a perfectly good relationship with someone but then look for someone else because we want something new and more exciting. All these desire inevitably lead to suffering because we cannot possibly fulfill them all. In the end, we get utterly frustrated. Actually, if we think about it hard enough, there are many cause of suffering, since there are many types of suffering. The suffering that results from a viral infection that makes you sick, for instance, is not due to desire but to the presence of a virus that has infected you. Some other form of suffering that do not have desire as their root cause would be a headache, a toothache, a broken limb, a wound, and various other physical pains. These forms of suffering, which are all physical, are to be distinguished from other form of suffering which are mental. Examples of mental suffering would be depression, worry, jealousy, regret, anxiety, and so forth. (Take note that the Buddhist use of the “mind” or “mental” includes the emotions.) Between the two general form of suffering, the physical and the mental, the one which is most important, and which Buddhism tries to address, is the mental. Why? Because it is the more serious type of suffering. When you are sick with a fever, you can make yourself feel better by changing your attitude about your sickness. However, if you are suffering from some sort of mental anguish, it doesn’t quite help if you work on the body. In fact, people do not commit suicide because of a toothache, but there are those who would commit suicide because of heartache. THE ROLE OF THE MIND What we need to understand at this point and I think you would agree with me when i say this is that the mine plays a very big role in human suffering. We need to understand this very clearly if we want a glimpse of the heart of the Buddhist teachings. To give you a graphic illustration of the role the mind plays in suffering, here is a short folktale about a Jewish man who goes his rabbi for advice about something that distresses him (yolen1986).The poor Jew had come to the end of his rope. So he went to his rabbi for advice. “Holy rabbi” he cried.

“Things are in a bad way, and are getting worse all the time! We are poor so poor that my wife, my six children, my in laws, and I have to live in a one room hut. We get in each other way all the time. Our nerves are frayed and, because we have plenty of troubles, we quarrel. Believe me my home is a hell and I’d sooner die than continue living this way.” The Rabbi pondered the matter gravely. “My son,” he said, “promise to do as I tell you and your condition will improve.” “I promise, Rabbi.” answered the trouble man. “I’ll do anything you say.” “Tell me what animals do you own?” “I have a cow, a goat, and some chicken.” “Very well! Go home now and take all these animals into your house to live with you.” The poor man was dumbfounded, but since he had promised the rabbi, he went home and brought all the animals into his house. The following day the poor man returned to the rabbi and cried, “Rabbi, what a misfortune have you brought upon me! I did as you told me and brought the animals into the house. And now what I got? Things are worse than ever! My life is a perfect hell --- the house is turned into a barn! Save me, Rabbi –help me!” “My son”, replied the Rabbi serenely, “go home and take the chickens out of your house. God will help you!” The poor man went home and took the chickens out of his house. But it was not long before he again came running to the rabbi. “Holy Rabbi!” he wailed. “Help me save me! The goat is smashing everything in the house—she’s turning my life into a nightmare.” “Go home,” said the Rabbi gently. “And take the goat out of the house. God will help you!” The poor man returned to his house and removed the goat. But it wasn’t long before he again came running to the rabbi, lamenting loudly, “What a misfortune you’ve brought upon my head, Rabbi! The cow has turned my house into a stable! How can you expect a human being to live side by side with an animal?” “You’re right—a hundred times right!” agreed the Rabbi. “Go straight home and take the cow out of your house!” And the poor unfortunate hastened home and took the cow out of his house. Not a moment had passed before he came running again to the rabbi. “Rabbi!” cried the poor man, his face beaming. “You’ve made life sweet again for me. With all animals out, the house is so quiet, and so clean! What a pleasure!” The story above illustrates how important one’s attitude or state of mind is with regards to the experience of happiness and suffering. If we think about it close enough, we should also come to the conclusion that our state of mind also affects other people’s happiness or suffering. Here is an example to illustrate this point. Suppose you have just received word that the knapsack which you lost in school was finally found with everything intact. Feeling relieved, you decide to walk leisurely to school, humming one of your favorite tunes. You pick up the papers along the way and look at the winning number for the recent lotto draw and realize that you have won a cool 200 million pesos. You reach for your cell phone to call your best friend about the good news only to discover that you have a message waiting for you. You read it and find out that it’s an invitation to go out on a date from the person you’ve had a secret crush in school. Now, as you’re feeling really high, someone accidentally steps on your toe and spills some coke on your pants. How would you react? You probably wouldn’t be bothered by this, would you? You’d probably just brush it off as a freak accident, and you probably wouldn’t get angry with the person who spilled coke on your pants. Now imagine that you have just found out that you failed two major subjects. Your lover has just dumped you for your best friend. You just lost your knapsack with important paper inside. To top it all, your computer just crashed, so you can’t retrieve the files where you saved your term papers, and the deadline is at 5 p.m. today. As you walk to school, someone steps on your toe and spills coke on your pants. How would you react this time? You would probably say something really nasty about the person’s mother wouldn’t you? You might even punch that person—and all because of the state of mind you were in while the incident happened. If you really think about it, you might conclude that happy persons do not need to be told to be good because they will be naturally forgiving, kind, and helpful. It is easier to be kind,

forgiving and helpful if you’re happy, and more difficult to be kind, helpful, and forgiving if you’re miserable. For this reason, Buddhists emphasize the need to develop states of mind which contribute to the feeling of happiness. A happy person needs no commandments. THE BUDDHIST SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING: TRAINING THE MIND The solution to the problem is simple: in order to live a better life, in order to be happier, in order to minimize suffering, what we need to do is to discipline the mind, to transform the mind. This is very important in Buddhism. This is what I want to stress in this paper: that in order to touch the core of the Buddhist teachings, we must understand that Buddhism is really about training the mind. So for now on, I hope that when you hear the word Buddhism, you associate it not with temples or saffron robes or incense. I hope that you associate it with mental training. But what is mental training, and how is this approached by the Buddhist? The answer is simple. First, we must examine the mind and its contents. The Buddhist tells us that if we look closely at the human mind, we will discover that it is like a vast field with many seeds. Given the right conditions, some seeds will grow and bear fruit. These seeds are thoughts and emotions we are each capable of. If we nurture the seeds of tranquility and compassion, then these are the seeds which will grow. We all know that we have seeds of anger, for example, because when someone triggers us, the anger comes out. We also have, apart from anger, the seeds of hatred, fear, revenge, spite, jealousy, greed, and a host of others which make us suffer. However, we also have seeds of kindness, caring, forgiveness, joy, serenity, and many others which contribute to our sense of well-being and happiness. Imagine, therefore, that in front of you are two large boxes. Inside one box, put in the seeds which you think are harmful. Inside the other, put in all the seeds which you find to be beneficial. After you have done this, make a decision to nurture those seeds which are beneficial and stop nurturing those seeds which are harmful. It is important, while you are classifying the seeds, to use your reasoning to convince yourself that a certain seeds are, indeed, harmful, and that certain seeds are, indeed beneficial. For example, you can begin to look deeply into the nature of anger and think about its effect on other people. Imagine someone who is angry. Imagine the things this person would do under the influence of intense anger. Isn’t it the case that this person may do things that he or she would later regret? Think also of what a person looks like when gripped by this powerful emotion. What would happen to this angry person if you were to show him his own face in the mirror? Would he like what he sees, or would he regard his facial contortions as somehow ugly? Think, also about the harmful effects of anger on your health: that constricts your blood vessels, that it increases your blood pressure, and that it lowers your resistance to certain diseases. When you think about all these, ask yourself if anger is a state of mind which you would like to nurture and cultivate. If you answer is a sincere “no”, then put it in a box with other harmful seeds and decide to nurture other seeds instead. THE ANTIDOTE The question that may naturally come to mind at this point is this: how is one to cultivate the positive beneficial seeds? And how is one to get rid of those seeds which cause suffering? In order to understand the Buddhist approach to this task, we must familiarize ourselves with a mental law that the Buddhist invoke: that if you have two thoughts going in opposite directions, you cannot experience them at the same time (See Dalai Lama 1999). This means that you cannot be angry and laugh (or feel compassion) at the same time, that you cannot experience hatred and kindness towards the same person at the same time. Given this fact, the best way to

deal with a negative or unproductive state of mind (such as anger) would be to cultivate its opposite. In order to fix anger, it is the best to develop its opposite, which is compassion or loving-kindness. This approach is a little different from the approach taken by modern psychology. Many psychologists tell us that the best way to deal with anger is to express it. They say that when you feel anger, you should hit your pillow or kick a punching bag to release the energy. Then the anger will dissipate. The Buddhists say, on the other hand, that every time you express anger, you are actually practicing it. You are turning it into a habit. The next time someone insults you or accuses you of something you didn’t do, you will get angry more quickly this time. This is because anger has become second nature. The Buddhist approach is different. As mentioned earlier, the best way to deal with a negative, unproductive state of mind is by cultivating its opposite. This means that for every negative or destructive emotion, there is an antidote. The antidote to greed is generosity, the antidote to pride is humility, and the antidote to hatred and anger is compassion. In some Buddhist texts, it is said that there are $4,000 types of destructive emotions, and there are $4,000 antidotes as well. I don’t know if this is true. Perhaps what the text want to say is that we have many destructive, negative seeds but that we ought not to be discouraged by this because we have many antidotes to them as well. MEDITATION ON LOVINGKINDNESS Let us now look into one particular negative emotion and see how we can counteract it through its antidote. For this particular exercise, let us work with anger. I have chosen anger because it is something we succumb to very often, and we know how destructive it can be. Now the opposite of anger is patience or kindness or compassion (these are actually interrelated). In Buddhist literature, the antidote most often used for fixing anger is metta, or lovingkindness (see Salzberg 2002). Lovingkindness is that warm, benevolent feeling you have for a close friend, that kind of feeling where you feel a natural fondness for the other without expecting anything in return. Let’s see how we can cultivate this state of mind. I would like you now, just for a moment, to imagine a good friend in front of you, someone who likes you and treats you with lovingkindness. If you can’t think of such a person, imagine some fictional character who has the capacity to treat you with lovingkindness. If you happen to be religious, you can think of Jesus or any other spiritual figure. If you have a hard time imagining a person n front of you, the just imagine a presence, or imagine that there is some light in front of you which gives off benevolent energy. As soon as you begin to imagine this person in front of you, visualize that this person is sending you strong feelings of loving kindness. You might want to imagine some sort of energy or light coming from this person’s heat which begins to completely envelop your whole body. Feel the loving kindness and just experience how good this makes you feel. Accept these feelings. Try to understand that you deserve to be treated this way. If you want, you can intensify these feelings and stay with them for a little while longer. Now begin to imagine someone else in front of you, someone whom you are particularly fond of, such as a friend or a family member, someone whom you would like to share this feeling of loving kindness with. Imagine this person sitting between you and the person originally sending you the feeling of loving kindness. Now imagine that you are so filled with loving kindness, that you can share it with this other person you are fond of. Give yourself some time to experience the sensation of sending out your own feeling of loving kindness. You might even imagine that the more you send out feelings of loving kindness, the stronger you experience of loving kindness becomes. Allow a few moments for this to happen. Now try to imagine that there is someone else in front of you, but towards the left, shifting beside the person whom you are sending loving kindness to. Let this person ne natural person, someone

who you don’t particularly like, but whom you don’t particularly dislike either, like an elevator boy whom you often see or a guard at school or a salesclerk in a department store. Imagine sending feelings of loving kindness to this person as well. You might even visualize the loving kindness as a form of light energy which is getting larger and which envelops the space around you, reaching out to that person you are find of, and reaching out as well to this neutral person. Imagine that you are all surrounded by this feeling. And then, when you are prepared, imagine someone you dislike in front of you, sitting somewhere on the right side. See if you can also send feelings of loving kindness to this person. At this point, you might discover that this is not as difficult as you would have imagined. Allow the feelings of the loving kindness to be directed towards this person whom you dislike and notice how this feels. When you have done this, just let the feelings of loving kindness intensify. Imagine it as some sort of energy or light spreading around you and covering all the people you have imagined. Now, when you are ready, imagine that all the possible living beings in the universe are surrounding you. Visualize yourself sharing the feelings of loving kindness with all of them. Notice how the loving kindness gets stronger the more you give it. You can do the exercise above with your eyes open or your eyes closed. No matter how you do it, you will begin to notice (particularly if you do it often enough), that it is easier for you to generate kindness, compassion, and care for the people around you. If, while you’re walking towards school, someone steps on your toe and spills coke on your pants, your immediate impulse will not be to hit or curse the person. This is because the anger which was once in you as a seed is slowly beginning to be overshadowed by the seeds of compassion. CONCLUSION To conclude, I would just like to mention again that the most important feature of Buddhism is not the Buddha or the lighting of incense or the wearing of certain kinds of clothes. The most important feature is the training of the mind. This means that one must take the time to cultivate positive states of mind, because these are what ultimately lead to the end of suffering, both for oneself and for others. NOTES: 1. Dharma, in this context, simply means the teachings of the Buddha. 2. The two books I would recommend for anyone who wants to know more about the life story of the Buddha are: The awakened one: A life of the Buddha (Kohn 1994) and Old path, white clouds: Walking in the footsteps of the Buddha (Hanh 1991) 3. Although we do not have the space to discuss this fully, it is important to know that Buddhists have identified three major causes of suffering: desire, ignorance, and anger, for a clear exposition on the various causes of suffering, see Thich Nhat Hahn’s The heart of the Buddha’s teachings. REFERENCES: Bancroft, Anne. 2001. The pocket Buddha reader. Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc. Bercholz, Samuel and Sherab Chodzin Kohn, eds. 1994. Entering the stream: An introduction to the Buddha and his teachings. London: Random House. The Dalai Lama. 1995. Awakening the mind, lightening the heart: Core teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. Harper San Francisco

The Dalai Lama. 1999. Eight verses for training the mind (Audio Cassettes). Snow Lion Publications. Hanh, Thich Nhat. 1991. Old path , white clouds: Walking in the footsteps of the Buddha. Parallax Press _____. 1991. The heart of the Buddha’s teaching. New York: Broadway Books Kohn, Sherab Chodzin. 1994. The life of the Buddha. In Entering the stream: An introduction to the Buddha and his teachings. London: Random House. Salzberg, Sharon. 2002. Loving kindness: The revolutionary art of happiness. Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc. Smith, Jean. 1991. Radiar mind: Essentia Buddhist teachings and texts. Riverhead Books. Yolen, Jane, ed. 1986. Great fokltales from around the world. New York: Pantheon Books.