MY PERSONAL OPINIONS ON BUDDHISM

Metta to all of you out there! Well, metta is a meaningful and wonderful word in the Buddhists' perspective. Metta means loving-kindness and loving-kindness in this context refers to love with equanimity, without bias or love that is unparallel to all living beings. It is definitely not an easy task to do but as most Buddhists know, the training of the mind will eventually succeed everything that seems impossible to us. The mind is the source of all defilements that we do or bad conducts that have been trailing us all this while.

Actually, I had no intention to set up my site that is based on the philosophy of Buddhism. Half a year ago, I planned to set up a homepage that is based on Buddhism, but after consulting with my father, he said that this is not a wise idea. He was afraid that I might give distorted views on Buddhism and it will be a bad kamma to me. If you are interested to know more about kamma, then you should read the article "Blueprint of Happiness" in my site. Though it only gives a brief introduction on the doctrine of kamma, but it serves the basic point to let you know what kamma is really about. Back to my case of setting up this web site, I had abandoned the idea for a while.

The idea arose in me again when I was helping my Dhamma friend to set up a web site on Buddhism a few months back. This too, was in accordance with my studies that required me to present a personal web site. Before this, I had been a samanera (novice monk) in August 2000, which was during my college holiday. I was given a Pali name, Lokapala, by my Venerable Teacher, Sayadaw Ashin Rewata. I didn't study much on Dhamma as a monk. Most of the time, I would be meditating in the temple that I was ordained. I must say that Buddhism has indeed helped me to see things better and clearly as they are. I think no one can deny the fact that everything is impermanence in this world or the human abode. We are born in this world and so; we will leave this world one day too. No matter how long we can live in this world, we will eventually die subject to the law of impermanence, and that is just one part of the whole theory on impermanence.

However, I would not elaborate more on this subject, because I had included many other articles on the subject of impermanence in my web site. No doubt, I'm afraid that I might not be precise about Buddhism too, as my father had warned me first and I beg for your forgiveness if I had said anything that might not be correct or not in agreement with your views. I think the most important thing to me is that I had tried to be as precise as possible and not to include any distorted views in my own personal opinions.

In my own words, Buddhism is a religion that is transparent to all. In Buddhism, we are opened to examine and question the doctrines that Lord Buddha taught. But, I would like to say that I had no doubts in the religion itself. To me, the doctrines that the Buddha pointed out twenty-five hundreds years ago still hold true today in this modern world. We can basically examine everything on the world ourselves. It is through self-examination that we know Buddhism as the religion really implies itself. Just take a look around, in the city, in the forest and practically everywhere in the world, and you will eventually find the answer to your questions and doubts if you are observant enough.

Just as Lord Buddha said, "As the wise test gold by burning, cutting and rubbing it on a piece of touchstone, so are you to accept my words after examining them and not merely out of regards for me". This is astonishing as in Buddhism; we do not rely on faith alone to be a noble or better person but through self-examination that will eventually helps us to differentiate what is right from wrong.

I believe in self-salvation through the taming of the mind. The mind is the source of all defilements that we had created. It is the mind that our actions are based on and it is the root that we need to care for if we are to eradicate all defilements. It will be just like a mango tree. Before we can really eat juicy mangoes, we had to start by cultivating the tree from the infancy stage. We need to tend the tree from the young so that it will grow to be a huge mango tree that can stand on its own. Well, taming the mind needs time. It is not a day or a year process. Certain individuals can observe what our human body that we called self is about while some might not realize it in this life. Generally, there is no such thing as soul or self (anatta) in Buddhism.

In Buddhism, all of us can practise perfection to reach the stage of Buddhahood. Of course, in Buddhism, everyone of us can be a Buddha if we practice perfection after perfection. But this is not an easy task and it takes innumerable rebirths to reach that stage of perfection. For an instance, if we are to aim for the stage of Samma Sambudha, like Gautama Buddha in this dispensation, it will take at least four aeons and one hundred thousand kalpas with unprecedented practise of morality, dana and meditation. Dana in Buddhism is a rather abstract word. There is no real single English word that is capable of explaining the whole meaning. The conventional meaning is alms-giving. But, alms-giving in Buddhahood expand more than that. A Boddhitsava (Buddha to be) is ever willing to sacrifice himself/herself for the sake of others. This is the extreme case of alms-giving.

However, it is not the primary goal of Buddhism to be a Buddha. The primary goal of Buddhism is Nibbana. You do not need to be a Buddha to enter Nibbana. Nibbana is a Pali word and the Sanskrit equivalent is Nirvana. Both these words mean cool, peace, calm, serenity, bliss, supreme happiness, emancipation and passionless. This is totally different from Heaven. When a person has reached the stage of Nibbana, there is no more rebirth for him/her. He/She has eradicated all defilements and the conditions for a future rebirth. An individual can enjoy the bliss of Nibbana by reaching the stage of Arahant (Saint), Pacekka Buddha (Silent Buddha) and also Samma Sambuddha (Full Buddha), as mentioned above.

Taming the mind does not only mean that we try to control our actions and thoughts. We can practice self-restraint but our mind will continue to wander if we are not careful. Therefore, we must practice meditation too. Meditation is actually the core of Lord Buddha's teachings for the monks and also layman in respect. Only through meditation that we can see things as they are and not in the fictional form. It does not mean that everything in this world is not real. It means that everything that we can see, feel, touch, hear, smell and taste is based on the 5 senses that the human has. Without the 5 senses, we will not see an object as a form. It is through the 5 senses that we perceive our thoughts on the object itself. In returning to our discussion, it points out that the mind is the one that is interpreting the object. Therefore, the 5 senses help the mind to interpret things as they are and they merely serve as doors to the mind. Without the mind, we would not be able to interpret an object even though the 5 senses are present. It is also through meditation that we could be able to eradicate defilements and we can see that we are actually beings without souls. There is nothing to be proud of this body and subject to the law of impermanence, this body that we take for granted as ours will be subjected to rot and decay. This is what I would refer to as self-examination. It is from this self-examination that we develop wisdom. It is through this wisdom that we become wiser and not ignorant in nature. We must also remember that we cannot help others if we do not help ourselves first, and it is through self-examination that we are able to help ourselves. We must see for ourselves the nature before we can really set our mind to help others toward this path. It is not an easy path though.

Nevertheless, meditation does not mean that we sit in silence and let our mind wanders. That is not the meditation technique that we have in Buddhism. There are actually various meditation techniques that can be used to suit one's temperament as long as he/she finds that the technique is comfortable to him/her. If you are looking towards the various methods for meditation, you can feel free to browse my site and look for whatever that might suit you. The key point is awareness and awareness can only exist through concentration. If you really intend to practice meditation, I would advice you to get a good meditation monk to teach you meditation. This is due to the circumstances that various images or thoughts might arise when one is meditating. Some signs are for real while the rest are not. Therefore, a good meditation monk will tell you which one to trust and which one not to trust. Under the guidance of a monk, you will know whether you are practicing the correct way or method.

Lastly, I would like to conclude my point by referring to a saying by the late Venerable Achaan Chah. He was a forest monk in Thailand before his passing away.

"Try to be mindful, and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool. All kinds of wonderful, rare animals will come to drink at the pool, and you will clearly see the nature of all things. You will see many strange and wonderful things come and go, but you will be still. This is the happiness of the Buddha".

Of course, I would like to thank Sayadaw Ashin Rewata, who is my master for his teachings, no matter in Dhamma or meditation practice. I would like to thank my father and mother too, as they have taught me well throughout my childhood until now. I would like to dedicate these merits from spreading the Dhamma to all beings in different abodes. Sadhu (Excellent) to all of you and may you be well and happy always (Sukhiatanam pariharantu)!