Becoming a Buddhist Within

Dr.BCR.Mangala pirya
Wat suthivararam,
sathorn, yannawa,
Bangkok 10120.
thailand

Born into a family of traditionally Buddhist yet bent more towards the age-old religion of animism, I was brought up in an animistic mystified social environment where it was the custom for the young to learn from the old, to imitate the ‘ways of the old’. And as a young member of an indigenous animistic community, I was no exception. I imitated what I saw and did what I was told but sadly most of the so-called ‘ways of the old’ I imitated and did from A-Z for 24/7 turned out to be positive moral de-integration. The realization of this positive moral de-integration of my life was felt at the age of thirteen, on the day when I first opened a chapter of a Buddhist book on ‘Cause and Effect’ followed by my subsequent monastic training as a Buddhist novice monk on the basis of Lord Buddha’s much-emphasized formula of morality, concentration and wisdom, popularly known in Buddhism as Tisso Sikkha or Three-fold Training. But however, it wasn’t so easy to de-condition my old-self for the re-conditioning of a transformative new-self.

The much-valued enterprise of my long monastic training was, in a way, to remain as a lifelong committed member of the Buddhist monastic sangha, but surprising as it was at no time was I told to – be a good novice/monk – instead I was repeatedly reminded to – be a good human being. This piece of repetitive advice from my well wishers at first seemed inappropriate to me who was undergoing training as I said to be a lifelong committed member of the sangha. But it was only at a very later time that I did realize the greater significance of the simple repetitive advice – be a good human being.

Becoming a good novice/monk and becoming a good human being are in fact similar but not the same. The former is only a part of the greater scope of the latter. The basic qualities of a good monk are not intrinsic. They are byproducts of so-called monastic training. The basic qualities of a good human being, on the other hand, are intrinsic. A good human being is not necessarily a good monk, but however a good monk, given his strict monastic moral training, is also a good human being so to argue. Often a good or a bad novice/monk is judged by Buddhist moral standard which in turn is often linked to a particular Buddhist tradition or a Buddhist country, say, for instance, here in Thailand a Buddhist monk taking non-vegetarian food is not a problem whereas in China a Buddhist monk taking the same food is considered bad. Likewise, in Sri Lanka a monk accepting offerings from woman devotees from hand to hand is not a problem whereas here in Thailand it is. So this shows that so-called good or bad is not an intrinsic quality of a Buddhist monk. Good or bad is only a means of judging someone in the way we are socially, culturally and to a lesser extent religiously conditioned. It’s never the end though. Now let’s come back to the question – what it means to be a good human being. First of all, my personal experience records that most of us tend to think that to be a good human being, one should be religious – follow some sort of organized religions like Buddhism and the like. This is logical enough though but does it mean that those who do not follow some sort of organized religions like the so-called free thinkers are not good human beings? This however brings us to a subject of intense controversy which is better to leave at this point than to embark on an endless argument. My experience also records that for many Buddhists, becoming a good Buddhist means becoming a good human being. This again, though true, may unconsciously offend the feelings of non-Buddhists. This would well do justice to all if we just turn the same statement the other way round – becoming a good human being means becoming a good Buddhist. But as it were, every answer leads to more questions and every question has its own taste.

What does it mean to be a good Buddhist then? The so-called correct answer to this question is again up to each individual Buddhist, monk or lay person. For many lay Buddhists, a good Buddhist is he who performs ‘merits’ – offers alms to monks every morning and does some sort of so-called Buddhist rites. And for many monks, a good monk is he who can chant many suttas, can officiate in Buddhist rituals well and still sticks to the age-old practice of going for alms round every morning. As a result, many people, Buddhists and even non-Buddhists, think that the life of a monk is all about accepting dana (offerings), going for alms round and officiating in funeral rites. None of these is correct. They do not reflect the true meaning of becoming a good Buddhist in the true sense.

Whether we are good Buddhists or not, the answer would be clear if we recall the life of the Buddha and his teachings of human values, not so much as religious values. Buddhism becomes attractive to the modern so-called secular and sophisticated young generation only when looked from the point of view of human values and Buddha’s humanistic approach to life. The modern public is afraid of religions – this is a fact. This is partly due to the ongoing world problems created by extremists in the name of religions. Of course, the so-called western philosophies of secularism and individualism are also partially responsible for this trend. But however, Buddhism, probably the only world religion which is human-based, has always emphasized the balance between religion and secularism. Strict adherence to either of them is harmful not only to oneself but to others as well. Many of the world problems we are witnessing right now are the corollary of the strict adherence to religion. Likewise, many of the social evils of immorality like murder, rape, crimes, theft and robberies our society is facing today are the consequence of strict adherence to secularism. There is doubt whether anyone who considers himself/herself a good Buddhist ever tried to understand the harmonization of this balance between religion and secularism.

On the basis of this middle-way approach, Buddhism is thus centered on the destruction of greed, hatred and delusion – the three roots of social evils and the cultivation of one’s own mind to a level of highest wisdom through meditation. Obsessed with thousands of thoughts and activities, our mental efforts and energies are scattered. Buddhist meditation is therefore the harmonization, integration and unification of these scattered mental efforts and energies into one mental force, with the achievement of which one can do wonder in this world. Buddhist meditation is not a mystified divine experience. It is simply an intense struggle between your mind and thoughts. Excessive attachment to and lavish performance of rites and rituals which a so-called good Buddhist is so proud of therefore has no place in Buddhism so long as this fundamental aspect of Buddha’s teaching is concerned.

In this fast growing age of materialism, many people, especially the young generation of today feel uncomfortable with the Buddhist emphasis on the development of a mind which is unattached, craving-less and desire-less. Their argument is that an unattached, desire-less and craving-less mind is the mind of a depressed person. This is certainly not true. Desiring to be morally good, desiring to be happy and successful in life and desiring to attain nibbana has never been denied in Buddhism. What Buddhism denies is the excessive desire of wanting more and more. This kind of unrestrained desire based on greed has rightly been compared to a ‘thirsty man drinking salty water’. A desire-less mind is therefore the clear distinction between wants and needs. Human wants are limitless. They can never be fulfilled, nor is it necessary to fulfill them. It is necessary that the human being learns to be contented but not to be greedy. The resources are not unlimited. But the greed of human being either does not know or care these limitations. Earth provides enough to satisfy everyman’s need but not for everyman’s greed In contrast, human needs are very few and can easily be fulfilled. So why not we go after something that is limited, which is necessary and can easily be fulfilled? Why not we put all our efforts, times and energies into searching what is within us rather than searching the whole world for something that is unnecessary?
What is within us actually? It’s the mind, the mind which was pure but has been unpurified by the dusts of ignorance, craving and desire. The purification of this impure mind is in fact the main purpose of human life because human beings are the only beings who are fortuned with the power of molding and transforming one’s own mind from impure into pure and vice versa. A mind of purity is like a polished diamond. Just as a polished diamond can penetrate into any hard substance so can a purified mind into the hardest substance of ignorance, craving and desire. And this purified mind is the mind which is unattached, craving-less and desire-less. In Buddhism, attachment is harmful, so is detachment in the sense of aversion. A purified mind is a mind of equanimity which is exercised in the non-duality of attachment to likes and aversion to dislikes. It is, however, not to be understood that a mind which is unattached to likes and averse to dislikes is passive and feeling-less. Contrary, it is said that Buddhas and arahants whose minds have reached to the level of highest purity admire the beauty of this entangled world with all its impurities and temptations more than anyone else while still maintaining their detached minds to their highest alert.

The Buddhist humanistic approach to life is based on human values – values that do not recognize God and religions, time and space. Wishing to be loved, wanting to be happy and avoiding sufferings of any form are some of the basic human tendencies we all have irrespective of religions, nationalities and genders (Buddhism in fact applies the same principle to all sentient beings). We all struggle so hard to achieve these goals at any cost. Every one of us wants to be the first, the highest, the richest especially in this global age of material competition. Who wants to be the last, the lowest? No one. But surprising as it may seem, a good Buddhist can be that one who volunteers to be the last, the lowest. That good Buddhist in Buddhism is a Bodhisatta, a super-being who is ready to suffer for the greater happiness and welfare of all. After all, someone in society has to be the last, the lowest, and that special someone in our society is worthy of highest respect and veneration. He/she is the great, the noble who becomes the last, the lowest because he/she is willing to become someone while nobody wants to be that one. Every one is competing to be the boss of everybody. But has anyone ever thought of becoming the boss of one’s own mind? If we are honest with ourselves, in most cases, the answer would be – no. This is the point where a religion like Buddhism can play a vital role because it is concerned with the mind and its factors, not so much concerned with rites and rituals, not even chanting so-called Holy Scriptures, not even having so-called strong faith (saddha), though they are not rejected. The ongoing war on terror is nothing compared to the war with our untamed mind and unrestrained thoughts. The winner of the latter is the winner of the world. So a good Buddhist is he who aspires to be the boss of his own mind – the winner of his own self.

The Buddhist humanistic teachings of unconditional love and boundless compassion make a true Buddhist unique among humanity. It’s true that love and compassion are also taught in other religions but unfortunately they are limited to either their own followers or to just a sectarian group or to humanity at the most whereas in Buddhism love and compassion are radiated without boundaries. Unconditional love and boundless compassion are in fact within every one of us. Good human qualities are always our innate human nature. It’s only that we are reluctant to dig them out. Good human qualities of love and compassion, caring and sharing are not induced by God or any other external divine power agent, nor can they be dug out by the help of any external divine force. It’s we, with our own efforts and willpower, who can generate these excellent human qualities. By exercising our efforts and freewill, it is possible to cross the boundary of God and divine powers. And this is the supremacy of a human being and this is the uniqueness of a human-based religion.

Formerly religion was very much connected with the everyday lives of the people. It was an integral part of their lives. In contrast, nowadays people seem to do well without religions. Is it that we are more advanced than those people of the past? We are obviously advanced in materialism and technology so much so that we are now able to do things that were out of the question some thousand years back. Materialism is only for time being whereas humanistic religions like Buddhism is timeless. People may forget religions in their time of so-called happy days but once faced with sudden unexpected disasters and tragedies, they will have to turn their faces towards religions. We, especially the young people neglect the role of religions in our lives. We invest all our efforts, times and energies into building up what we call a successful life. We postpone religions to our future days of old age without realizing that – tomorrow never comes. We are not even aware of what’s going to happen in the next few hours, how can we be so sure of our future days of old age? Understanding this uncertainty of life, an average human being should invest half of his efforts, times and energies into seeking material development and the rest half to his inner development, for the former is necessary for the reality of this very life and the latter is necessary for both here and hereafter. However, given its highly psycho-physical analysis, we may not believe in next life nor is it necessary to do so, but if by chance there is next life then we can make use of the wealth of our inner development acquired in this very life. On the other hand, if we are empty of inner development though we are materially rich but mentally poor even in this very life. Therefore, the balance between these two is also vital for becoming a successful good human being in this very life.

Buddhism is a philosophy which urges us to explore our mind and inner self – the spots where human potentials are hidden. The discovery of these human potentials is our sole duty and responsibility. When something is our duty and responsibility, it’s unwise to make excuses in order to be exempted from them. Venerable Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, the Thai reformist monk has rightly said, ‘Life is duty, duty is dhamma and dhamma is life’. A few months back, it was unfortunate to read in the Bangkok Post that many young Thai people are reluctant to go to temples because monks are often portrayed in newspapers as getting caught in un-monk-ly behaviours. If going to temples and doing some sort of dhamma activities there is an integral part of our lives then it’s simply unhealthy to find excuses for doing or not doing something. After all not all monks in Thailand are behaving in that way! Excuses are always obstacles to achieving a successful life both materially and spiritually. Buddhism says that sloth, torpor and laziness are few of the factors that lead to our excuses. But however, as I said, whether you go to temples or not, whether you give alms to monks in the morning or not, whether you even pay respects to monks or not – that do not count. They do not necessarily make us a committed or at least a good Buddhist. What it counts is our self cultivation, our self discovery, our self awakening, our self attitude to life. There are people who truly and sincerely practise the core essence of Buddha’s teaching but they hardly introduce themselves as Buddhists. As long as they commit themselves to cultivating their mind and inner self followed by the development of humanistic values of love and compassion, caring and sharing, there is no wrong in doing so. In fact, these people are real Buddhists – better than those of the nominal Buddhists of traditional Buddhist countries.

One does not necessarily need to involve oneself with religion in the developing and practicing of humanistic values. The sole purpose of involving oneself with religion is simply to be reminded of these values. Since Buddhism is so closely connected with practical humanistic values – values that help one live a better and transformed life, many people do not consider it as a religion, rather it is a way of life. Thus the statement – becoming a good human being is in fact becoming a good Buddhist – is fair to all concerned.

Knowing that everyone has hidden human potentials as his/her own innate nature, we can develop a sense of great respect and veneration even for the worst criminal (as long as his innate nature is concerned). We may have been born into traditional Buddhist families and countries, we may have been doing so-called Buddhist rites and rituals like chanting, praying and so on, as long as the development and practice of these values are absent in our daily lives we can not claim to be good and committed Buddhists no matter how well we pretend to be good Buddhists in our outward appearances. Becoming a true and committed Buddhist lies not in outward appearances, but within – our heart.