| Buddhism came to China in 67 AD. The Emperor had sent special envoys
to India to invite Indian Buddhist
monks to come to China to teach Buddhism, which in that period, was regarded as
an educational system, and
not as a religion. Regretfully, about two hundred years ago, the practice of
Buddhism had taken on a more
religious facade. To correct this
misunderstanding one must lead back to
the original form of Buddhism as taught by Shakyamuni Buddha. Buddhism is Shakyamuni Buddha's educational system which is similar to that of
Confucius for both
presented similar viewpoints and methods.
The goal of Buddhist education is to attain wisdom. In Sanskrit, the language of
ancient India, the Buddhist
wisdom is called "Anuttara-samyak-sambhodi" meaning the perfect ultimate wisdom.
Buddha teaches us that the main objective of our practice or cultivation is to
achieve this ultimate wisdom. He
further taught us that everyone has the potential to realize this state of
ultimate wisdom as it is an intrinsic
part of our nature, not something one obtains extremely. However, most
of us have become confused through general misconceptions and therefore, are not
able to realize this potential. So if we break through this confusion, we will realize this intrinsic
part of our nature.
Thus,
Buddhism is an educational system aimed at regaining our own intrinsic nature.
It also teaches absolute
equality which stemmed from Buddha's recognition that all sentient beings
possess this innate wisdom and
nature. Therefore, there is no inherent difference among beings. Everyone is
different now because we have
lost our true nature and have become confused. The degree of wisdom exhibited by
individuals depends on the
degree of delusion and has nothing to do with the true nature of the
individual.
Buddhism helps us to realize
that innate, perfect, ultimate wisdom. With wisdom, we can then solve all our
problems and turn suffering into
happiness. Due to our lack of wisdom, we perceive, view and behave foolishly,
and thus suffer the
consequences evoked by our incorrect actions. If we have wisdom, our thoughts,
viewpoints, and behavior will
be correct; how then can we suffer when there are no ill consequences to suffer
from? Of course, we will be
happy. From here, we can see that suffering is caused by delusion and the source
of happiness is our own
realization of wisdom.
There are Four Current Types of Buddhism being practiced today
First, there is the
religious Buddhism which can be
witnessed in Buddhist temples. However, this does not represent the
real Buddhism.
Second, there is
the academic Buddhism being taught in many universities today, where we see
Buddhism being treated purely as philosophy, an academic pursuit. This is not exactly
Buddha's education either.
Third,
the most unfortunate of all is the total degeneration of Buddhism into
a cult. This third type of
Buddhism is much more damaging to the general public than the first two types.
Fourth, is the
traditional Buddhism, the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha in its true essence
which is very rare in our day and age.
Buddha's teaching contains three major points:
1) Discipline,
2) Meditation and
3) Wisdom.
Wisdom is the goal and
deep meditation or concentration is the crucial process towards achieving
wisdom.
Discipline through observing precepts, is the method that helps one to achieve deep meditation;
wisdom will then be realized naturally.
Buddha's entire teachings as conveyed in the sutras, never really
depart from these three points.
Buddhism encompasses the entire collection of works by Shakyamuni Buddha which
is called the Tripitaka. This can be classified into three categories: sutra, vinaya, and shastra which
emphasize meditation, discipline or precepts, and wisdom respectively. |
