Heeding the Buddha’s word in a world fast hurtling to disaster
Are you sitting comfortably? Perhaps not! Right now, the whole wide world is looking at the future with great trepidation. Is it going to continue as we know it, albeit with unceasing violence here and there,or is it going to continue to grumble and rumble into a full-blown world war III? There is no need to elaborate on the pain, sorrow and misery that will be inflicted on all living things wrenching them out of known existence into cataclysmic oblivion, by the sheer unleashing of such an extreme event.
Why would a third world war be conceivable? Grossly, because of dissatisfaction with ourselves – all the time ‘aspiring’ for more and more. This, we know as ‘thrushna’, or un-quenching greed, the root of all ‘un-satisfactoriness’ (for lack of a better term).Why does ‘greed’ arise? It arises because of ‘ignorance’- the inability to understand that everything on earth is ‘impermanent’, therefore nothing is of any importance, least of all to start a war. All the above factors: Greed (Thrushna or Thanha), ‘un-satisfactoriness’(Dukkha),‘ignorance’ (Avijja) and ‘impermanence’ (Anichcha)are all fundamentals in the Teaching of the Buddha.
The Buddha is the first explorer of ‘things’ both ‘within’ (ourselves) and ‘without’ (the universe). He found that there was nothing that is not impermanent. It follows from this, that all that is impermanent causes nothing but grief, suffering, sadness, sorrow, pain etc. – all meaning ‘Dukkha’ –the First Noble Truth as taught by the Buddha.This however is not readily understood by many. The Buddha says further, that all Dukkha must necessarily arise from ‘a cause or causes’, being ‘conditioned’ things – the Second Noble Truth or ‘Dukkha Samudaya Ariya Satta’. There is nothing that arises out of nothing.
When the causative factor is identified, it can be ‘removed or eliminated’ in order to alleviate Dukkha.This is the Third Noble Truth or Dukkha Niroda Ariya Satta. The Fourth Noble Truth explains the means through which this elimination can be made. This is the gist of The Four Noble Truths as described by the Buddha. These Four Noble Truths are unshakable and those who choose to follow the ‘path leading to the cessation of Dukkha’ (Dukkha Niradagamani Patipada) will be successful in eliminating sorrow of this existence and ‘forever’.One will wonder why the word forever is used here. The followers of the Buddha believe that this existence is not the beginning of ourselves and that we have existed a considerable number of times before. The Buddha himself has admitted that He has gone through various existences in numerable times, on His way to Enlightenment. It is up to us to make sure we relinquish this unending cycle of recurring birth and death, in this very existence, following the Fourth Noble Truth. Otherwise it may be too late.
As the Buddha’s teaching goes, the term ‘existence’ is designated to mean a ‘stop gap’ in a whole series of existences, taking various physical forms, depending on the gravity of the contributory factors that result in unending ‘rebirth’, until the final goals on the ‘path leading to the cessation of dukkha’are reached. A world war, needless to say, will see to the end of peaceful living for such achievements. As the Buddha predicted there will be an irretrievable decline in His Ministry in due course, when greed and ignorance will prevail among humanity. Society is destined to collapse following the chaos after such catastrophic events, as is so obviously visible in the countries so far affected. None of this is of benefit for the human race. To the credit of Buddhist nations, no wars have been fought on religious grounds and we could only hope that the ripples of impending radical wars will not change the status quo.
It is useful to mention here that the term ‘The Buddha’ denotes a title for ‘The Enlightened One’. All Buddhas preach the same, as the knowledge each One acquires at Buddhahood is the same, being the ‘reality’ that exists in the universe – both ‘within’ and ‘without’.‘Reality’ does not change with time. The current era is that of Gauthamathe Buddha, who was born 623 BCE. The Four Noble Truths were expounded as His first sermon of Gauthama the Buddha, about 2600 years ago and whose teaching is still being followed. No discrepancy exists between His teaching and the discoveries in science despite the vast expanse of time between the two.
The second sermon explains Anatta, the absence of ‘self’. In an ‘impermanent’ body, a permanent ‘self’ that migrates from body to body during ‘rebirth’, is not rationally acceptable. This leads us to the complex issue of Anatta which denotes that which moves between births is ‘not necessarily “the individual”, yet not another’. Thus the student of Buddhist Teaching will need some degree of disciplined scientific thinking to understand this doctrine. If one has at least a little basic knowledge of science, then it is easier for one to build up on that knowledge to understand the facts. It is known that even the smallest particle such as the atom, is not really a permanent entity but consists of electronic particles which are only packets of energy in constant motion. Between these smallest of particles, we know that there is still ‘nothing’- nothing but space. So what talk of the presence of a ‘self’? If one can comprehend that there is no one as ‘I’ in existence, then why be enraged with or envious of, any other person or persons? Similarly, why be lustful of things? What’s to be gained for oneself from such conduct? Just mental and physical ill health. For general wellbeing and ultimate emancipation, the Buddha prescribes the following three things, i.e.refraining from and non-indulgence in:
1) Lust and desire (raga); 2)Rage and anger (dvesha); 3) Envy and ignorance.(moha)
Would this not be the perfect prescription for world peace if everybody adheres to this advice?
May all beings be well and happy!