realms is permanent and it is not until one attains Enlightenment that they
will eliminate discontentedness and escape The Cycle of Rebirth.
Siddhartha Gotama eventually left his royal heritage to seek a better
understanding of these observations of sickness, aging, and death to help
end discontentedness of the mind. He became a homeless roaming Ascetic
seeking a better understanding of life to resolve the significant
discontentedness he observed with the human existence.
He was not interested to be a ruler over people in misery and pain with
discontentedness affecting the mind. Instead he looked for answers to the
most significant problems that existed in the world - sickness, aging, and
death. The young Siddhartha Gotama was interested in understanding why
these three human conditions caused such significant discontentedness of
mind.
Through his six (6) year pursuit, he gradually awakened the mind as The Fully
Perfectly Enlightened Buddha finding the answers to these questions and
many others. He contemplated for seven (7) weeks of whether to teach his
new found wisdom, as he did not think the world was ready for The
Teachings.
Gotama Buddha returned to teach five (5) Ascetics he knew prior to his
independent pursuit of Enlightenment. They did not believe that he was
Enlightened so he sat down and touched the earth with his hand to call on
the animal kingdom to give witness of his attainment of Enlightenment.
Animals came from all directions and the Ascetics had confidence in him and
then listened to his Teachings and The Community of Enlightened beings
flourished.
It is said that immediately upon Gotama Buddha’s death, there was a
significant earthquake that shook the earth.
An earthquake following the death of a Buddha is an indication to those who
remain alive that this person was indeed a Buddha. This helps those who did
not learn and practice his Teachings during his lifetime that, with the
confirmation that he is a Buddha, they would be wise to learn, reflect, and
practice his Teachings to attain Enlightenment with those who remain alive.
These two examples are the only significant miracles I am aware of that were
said to have happened during the lifetime of Gotama Buddha and that I
know to be true. From this point forward, he provided Teachings that could
be understood and then practiced so each person can observe the truth and
gain wisdom for themselves liberating the mind from strong feelings.
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Gotama Buddha helped others to attain Enlightenment through his
Teachings and guidance out of compassion for the world.
Gotama Buddha’s Teachings do not require belief as you can see the truth
from your own practice of his Teachings as the condition of the mind
gradually improves. You learn The Teachings, practice The Teachings, gain
wisdom that liberates the mind and gain the results of a better, more
peaceful, and more calm existence.
As the mind experiences Enlightenment, it will reside peaceful, calm, serene,
and content with joy being unaffected by sickness, aging, or death. The
Enlightened mind is unshakable even by the most significant challenges in
life.
An Enlightened being will no longer experience any discontentedness related
to sickness, aging, nor death, or any other aspect of life. The mind is steady,
calm, stable, and unshakeable. The mind has been liberated and
experiences permanent peacefulness.
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Chapter 20
Animal to Human:
The Evolution of Our Consciousness
As mentioned in a previous Chapter, there are Five Realms of Existence -
heavenly realm, human realm, realm of afflicted spirits, animal realm, and
realm of hell.
Each of these realms have certain characteristics and aspects or conditions
within each realm, and certain conditions for the beings in that realm. To
obtain the human form, we are primarily reborn from the animal or heavenly
realms.
For humans to take form into the human realm, we have already had
countless previous births. Planet earth has existed for over 4.5 billion years.
Your existence for 80-100 years in your current human form, and our ability
to somewhat understand the last few thousand years is minuscule compared
to how long the planet has existed.
Globally we say it is the year 2021, however, that is just counting from a
period of time based on historical events that occurred in the recent past. Is
it really and truly the year 2021 when the planet earth has existed for over 4.5
billion years?
Well, it depends on when you started counting.
If we count from the beginning of the existence of the earth, the current year
2021 does not come close to accurately reflecting the total history of the
planet, its existence, and its evolution. There is a lot more to learn here on
this planet than what you currently know or understand.
Keeping this in mind, your own existence in this human form is also
minuscule in the grand scheme of planetary existence. Our 80-100 years of
natural life, is a blink of an eye compared to the total time and existence of
the entire earth.
At this point in time, you have memory and can recall events, situations, and
relationships that have transpired within your current existence - your current
life. However, you have had several lives prior to this life that you may not
currently recall and cannot remember. Those prior existences may not be
part of your current available memories.
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As the mind wakes up closer and closer to Enlightenment, the mind may
have memories of previous lives. The process of progressing towards
Enlightenment will allow you to attain a higher and Higher Consciousness,
which allows you to see more of your current life and past lives.
As you ascend to a higher place, you can see more of the bigger picture.
Just like if you were in a village or city, you can only see and experience what
is in that village or city. But if you relocated to a higher location on a nearby
mountain top, you would be able to see all the other villages from this higher
vantage point and how all these villages interconnect from one to the other.
Attaining a Higher Consciousness will have the same effect as being on
top of the mountain.
As you attain a Higher Consciousness, you will see more of your existing life
and how to create a smooth and peaceful existence within this life. You may
also observe previous births in the other realms, including previous births in
the human realm.
To obtain rebirth in the human realm, you would have needed to generate
significant amounts of wholesome Kamma in your previous births.
Seeing past lives, is not necessarily important because they are in the past
and have no significance on your attaining Enlightenment in this life.
Discovering past lives is interesting but will not help you to attain
Enlightenment in this life. Only what you do in this life will contribute to
Enlightenment in this life. Nothing from past lives and nothing in the past
from this life matters - it’s in the past and does not affect your ability to attain
Enlightenment in this life.
Being born into the human realm means there have most likely already been
countless previous births within all Five Realms. A certain number of rebirths
into the human realm occur from the heavenly realm. The vast majority of all
rebirths occur out of the animal realm into the human realm.
Gotama Buddha explained that the total volume of all our blood from our
previous births is greater than the total volume of water in all the oceans and
seas of the entire world. He also explained that all the milk we have drank
from our mother in our previous rebirths is also greater than the total volume
of water in all the oceans and seas of the entire world.
Considering the planet has existed for 4.5 billion years and your short life
span within each of your previous existences, you can easily see how your
previous rebirths would be numerous and countless. The total volume of
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blood from those existences and births would easily total more than all the
water of all the oceans on the planet.
This is why the goal for this human existence is to reach Enlightenment so
that you can eliminate The Cycle of Rebirth while experiencing a content and
peaceful remaining existence in this human form. You and I have been
wandering through this entire process of rebirth countless times, being
reborn into various forms.
Our Kamma in those previous births has not led us to The Teachings which
allow us to cultivate our consciousness and gain wisdom to completely
escape this Cycle of Rebirth. You are still bound by The Ten Fetters which
will keep you trapped in The Cycle of Rebirth, until you work to eliminate
these from the mind.
Animal to Human
To exist in the human realm, it means you have previously been reborn into
the animal realm countless times. You may not remember these births at this
time, but you may gain these memories as you continue to develop your
consciousness.
But even in your current mental state, you can understand the process of
rebirth and that you were previously born as an animal.
Let me explain…
Many people consider humans to be animals, more developed and
intelligent, but nonetheless we are often considered animals.
If you think of how the human mind works, it is very much like an animal’s
mind but much more evolved.
When we are first reborn into the human realm, we are evolving out of
countless previous animal existences. Just like an animal, we do not have
the ability to remember events, people or situations in great detail. As a
human, the mind operates on praise and reward, and continues to function
best in a praise and reward structure - just like an animal.
Even though we are now in the human realm, we go through all the same
trials and tribulations of the animal realm because the consciousness is
evolving out of the animal realm. We begin to understand, through
developing the mind, how to eat and what food does for the body. We learn
to walk, talk, interact, socialize, and what is acceptable or not acceptable
within our “pack” of like species. We learn through our experiences and
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interactions with other humans, just like animals learn through the
experiences and interactions they have with other animals of the same kind.
Some animal behaviors are instinctive while others are learned behaviors,
just like with humans. We have many instinctive behaviors while many of our
behaviors and conduct are learned behavior. Humans left on their own
without socialization (learned behavior) and without the ability to acquire
more wisdom, would instinctively revert to our animal consciousness.
The animal consciousness is overwhelmingly preoccupied with basic survival
instincts that are born out of craving, anger, ignorance (unknowing of true
reality), accumulation of an ego and protection of a self. Keep in mind that
craving encompasses strong desire and a lack of interest to share or be
generous, which includes the excessive accumulation of food. Animals are
well known for hoarding food without interest to share.
As humans, we start off our existence with these same qualities of our
consciousness, yet, because we are humans we can evolve beyond craving,
anger, ignorance (unknowing of true reality), the accumulation of ego and the
protection of a self.
Enlightenment is the abandoning of craving, anger, and ignorance
(unknowing of true reality) the elimination of ego and the realization of non-
self.
The process of Enlightenment is in effect, evolving beyond our animal
instincts and consciousness into the human realm of existence with a Higher
Consciousness. Many humans will not evolve into a Higher Consciousness
during their life or at death through the process of attaining Enlightenment
and, thus, will be reborn back into the animal realm or a lower realm of
existence.
Humans may also be reborn back into the human realm or into the heavenly
realm depending on Kamma in this life.
It should be the goal of every human, now that we have obtained this rare
rebirth into the human realm, to work to attain Enlightenment in this very life.
This is the only way to end our massive self destruction of the planet and
end the continuous Cycle of Rebirth.
Birth in its very nature consists of misery and pain whether in the animal
realm or human realm. If we are born, we will experience sickness, aging,
and death along with massive amounts of discontentedness and the
suffering it causes.
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Evolving past our animal instincts and the animal consciousness is possible
now that you have obtained this human state. It must not go to waste, and
you must not be complacent.
This knowledge is available for you to evolve to a Higher Consciousness if
you take steps forward to learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings so that
you can attain the results.
This is why these Teachings are not a “religion” as humans have understood
them and categorized them in the past. Religion is often thought as an
organization attempting to control human behaviors, I understand why many
would think this way.
However, these Teachings are to attain a better existence, a Higher
Consciousness, and guidance to assist you in escaping the continuous
Cycle of Rebirth. Through training the mind, we can experience an improved
human existence evolving beyond the animal instincts of our previous lives.
There is no interest to control behavior but for you to “save” yourself
from The Cycle of Rebirth and create a peaceful existence. But, you
must do the work to “save” yourself.
This is why there is no central organization that governs these Teachings and
there is no central figure who controls The Teachings or the people who are
learning and practicing these Teachings. Each person is able to make their
own decisions of what is helpful for their life.
These Teachings are to assist you and all of humanity, to evolve past animal
consciousness and into a better existence, so that you will not need to be
reborn into another existence to experience the misery that is associated
with birth. If you are reborn, you will experience misery through sickness,
aging, and death. The goal is to never be reborn ever again. “Not being
reborn” means you escape the misery of existing in any form while enjoying
the rest of this life without discontentedness. The mind will be peaceful,
calm, serene, and content with joy - permanently.
Status of the World
It is common for an unEnlightened mind to complain or take exception with
the current state of the planet. The environment is not healthy and a large
majority of the minds of people on the planet are not healthy. The health and
condition of the minds of humans is directly reflected in the health and
condition of the planet.
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Because human existence has largely reverted back to our animal
consciousness of craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality),
with the accumulation of ego and protection of self, we are seeing massive
amounts of destruction to our planet and to each other.
Murders, rapes, massive accumulation of wealth and power by a small
percentage of the population (i.e. hoarding) which helps to cause extensive
poverty and famine, corrupt politics that allows for further accumulation of
wealth and power, diseases, invented diseases that help to create wealth
with costly medical procedures or medications, these and countless other
problems exist on the planet due to the mind of humans reverting back to
the animal consciousness of craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of
true reality), with the accumulation of ego and protection of a self.
If this progression of human consciousness is allowed to continue to
degrade, our human existence will be utterly destroyed through creating “hell
on earth”.
The Path Forward
It is common for humans to complain about the condition of the planet and
the misery that exists. It is also common for humans to complain about how
“others” contributed to the misery of the planet and the world around us
rather than looking at our own individual intentions, speech, and actions.
What all humans must understand, is that there is nothing you can do to
individually change another human. It is the choice of each human to change
themselves.
You will not and cannot change the natural laws that govern the world. You
can do nothing to change the fact that The Natural Law of Kamma exists and
that The Cycle of Rebirth will continue for the remaining time of human
existence.
The only thing you can do, personally, is to seek your own Enlightenment
and assist those around you to also seek this Higher Consciousness as they
choose to ask questions.
As Gotama Buddha said, “do not allow yourself to be the last person” to
attain Enlightenment.
If you spend time attempting to change local laws, motivate people to
change local policies, or other aspects of life without the encouragement of
seeking a Higher Consciousness, you are attempting to change behavior but
not human consciousness through these Teachings.
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By attaining a Higher Consciousness, human behavior will automatically
change through freedom of choice with deeper and more profound wisdom.
We must be the influence and motivators to encourage all humans to
improve their consciousness to abandon craving, anger, and ignorance
(unknowing of true reality) to dissolve the ego and realize non-self. This will
automatically influence more healthy decision making and behaviors. We
influence others through our own intentions, speech, and actions, not
through telling others “what to do”.
If each human does not walk toward the “light” and continues to dwell in the
“darkness”, then the planet will continue to become a darker and darker
place to exist.
Most of us do not have the influence or ability to change or affect large
populations of people unless you are a leader within your community.
Most of us live a daily life with a handful of close friends and family around
us. We attempt to change a rule or policy that we think will bring about a
better existence for those people in our immediate society.
However, working endlessly to influence change or to change a law, policy,
or specific condition of the human existence as it exists in this current
modern time, does little to influence the overall evolution of our entire human
species and planet that has existed for over 4.5 billion years.
Do you have any insight into the laws or policies that existed a few hundred,
thousand, millions, or billions of years ago?
No, because all of that is well in the past and does not matter, it was all
impermanent and all that matters is this present moment. But the natural
laws that govern our existence have not changed and still influence
everything about our existence. You need to learn and understand these
natural laws of existence in order to create a peaceful existence in this life.
All you can do as an individual is to make a decision to work towards
attaining a Higher Consciousness, while motivating and encouraging those
around you to do the same by being a good example of a Practitioner who is
practicing these Teachings with your own wholesome intentions, speech,
and actions.
But it is your salvation and inner growth that is the most important. There is
nothing you can do to “change” another human. They need to make their
own decisions to change and evolve to a Higher Consciousness.
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When you have attained Enlightenment, you will not experience any anger,
have feelings of frustration, or blame others for the problems you face.
You will not have anxiety, sadness, boredom, loneliness, fears, or other
discontent feelings. When you attain Enlightenment, you will have eliminated
your cravings and addictions. You will not discriminate or judge others. You
will not have a desire to always be “right” and argue. If these exist now, you
need more growth and more inner development to fully awaken to your
Higher Consciousness.
It is not selfish to focus on yourself and your own evolution and growth.
You can run around the earth focusing on changing societies’ laws,
modifying a policy, or conducting business, those things are needed as well,
but if you are neglecting yourself and your own inner development then you
are not serving yourself nor humanity to the best of your ability.
You must work to evolve your consciousness beyond the animal instincts
and into a higher human consciousness. As you do that, you will be a better
parent, friend, family member, employee, boss, or whatever it is that you
would like to do in life. As you develop a Higher Consciousness, the sky is
the limit.
You need to start with “Right View”. Understand that “you” and “you alone”
cause your discontentedness and “you” can eliminate your
discontentedness by eliminating cravings, anger, and ignorance (unknowing
of true reality) seeking Enlightenment.
Without this basic and most important understanding, you will blame others
for your condition within this human existence. You will think there is no
ability for you to improve or modify anything to escape the misery. You will
feel hopeless and a victim to your surroundings and the events in your life.
Nothing will improve.
But you have 100% ability to create change in the current condition of the
mind. “You” and “you alone” are the only person that can improve your
consciousness through learning and practicing these Teachings.
You can pray to God, worship God for eternity, or practice “worshiping” of
other entities, however, worshiping is not going to gain you favor nor create a
better life for you. God is not a “genie in a bottle” and, if you have a belief in
God, it is “you” that must do the work. God will not change your life; only
“you” can do that.
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You cannot just “worship” or “believe”, you must practice The Teachings that
lead to an improved existence.
Nothing external will create inner peace and allow you to attain
Enlightenment.
There is no need to pressure or force others to practice Teachings that you
yourself are not fully practicing, do not fully understand, and have potentially
been misinterpreted. Belief is only belief, but by practicing Teachings that
produce results, you will know they are beneficial because your life will
improve. You will see the truth and wisdom in your practice as the mind
becomes more and more liberated, thus, concentrated, stable, peaceful,
calm, serene, and content with joy. The mind will become unshakable.
Childhood Development
Because humans mainly evolve out of the animal realm, you will find that the
best way to guide, teach, and lead humans is through praise and reward like
you would do in training an animal towards good behavior and good
choices.
You need to treat all beings with loving-kindness and compassion but we
can also guide our children in these Teachings and through life’s many
lessons much like we would guide any being through praise and reward.
Currently, there are still families around the world who choose to hit children
as part of the disciplinary process to guide and teach. This practice is born
out of our animal instincts to fight, have anger, and aggression when
something is done around us that we disagree with. In doing so, we are
teaching children to be angry, hostile, and aggressive, while lacking the
ability to solve challenges peacefully through discussion and sharing
wisdom. Children need to be taught how to make wise decisions but hitting
children only teaches anger, hostility, and aggression.
Instituting capital punishment to kill other beings who we think should not be
part of our society due to having committed crimes, is also from our animal
instincts and should be eliminated from our global society as killing any
being produces unwholesome Kamma and promotes killing.
Why would someone in society think they are wrong for killing if
governments sponsor killing through capital punishment, wars, and
assassinations?
Leaders of governments are promoting killing while condemning the killing
that happens on their streets. This conduct by governments is teaching
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humans that killing is appropriate and acceptable if someone has done
something we think is wrong.
As an animal, if something happens that angers us or we disagree with, we
will fight and show aggression until the other animal complies with our
requests or there is a battle to death. This is animal behavior that needs to
be purged from our human consciousness.
To guide our children to a Higher Consciousness, we must be actively
working to earn our own Enlightenment while being a role model for our
children to seek the same. If we continue the destructive cycles of the past,
we will continue to see destruction throughout the world.
Positive encouragement and positive influences will help to guide humans to
a better existence.
Bullying, mass shootings, aggression, fighting, gang violence, murder, war
and countless other behaviors are born out of our animal consciousness to
protect the self and show aggression when something happens around us
that we do not agree with.
To evolve individually and as an entire civilization, we must learn to talk,
discuss, and educate through respectful and polite dialogue. Talking to our
children and each other is the only way for us to share and learn.
Just like we learned animal behaviors through socialization, we must learn
these Teachings through human interaction and humans teaching each other
how to learn and practice these Teachings.
The best way to guide children on this path is to expose them to The
Teachings early in life when The Three Poisons and ego is minimal. Then,
allow children to experience their own Kamma helping them to understand
this natural law while guiding them to making good choices.
All too often, parents “protect” or “insulate” children from the consequences
of the child’s unwise decisions. As soon as their child does something that
would cause unwholesome Kamma for the child, the parent sometimes will
protect the child because they do not want to see the child struggle.
But it is through the struggle of the mistakes and learning from their mistakes
that children can grow to understand that The Natural Law of Kamma exists
and that their own wholesome or unwholesome intentions, speech, and
actions has a direct result or “cause and effect” in their life.
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Children can learn that through good decision making based on The Natural
Laws of Existence found in these Teachings, they can create a peaceful
existence and peaceful life where they do not harm others and, thus, no
harm comes to them through The Natural Law of Kamma. Children can attain
Enlightenment as young as age 7 with proper learning and guidance.
One of the best gifts you could ever give a child is for you to learn and
practice these Teachings so that you can attain Enlightenment. Then based
on your own growth, provide this same guidance to children so that they can
attain Enlightenment which means they will never experience sadness,
loneliness, or even cry among many other benefits.
Children can experience a peaceful, calm, serene, and content mind with joy
from early in life, being able to have healthy and productive relationships that
benefit their life for their entire life, without experiencing a life full of
frustration with a discontent mind and the suffering it causes.
The very best gift we could ever give a child is to guide them towards
attaining Enlightenment, cultivating a mind that has eliminated feelings
such as sadness, anger, frustration, boredom, loneliness, etc., while
practicing generosity, loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy,
and equanimity towards all beings.
Today, we have countless stimuli in our life. We teach each other but we also
learn through media like TV, Internet, music, and gaming. All of these various
media and images we hear and see, shape our views and perspectives. All
input into the mind is teaching and educating us.
Video games and other media that show graphic content or have us
participate in graphic content, does not help to educate us beyond our
animal instincts and animal behaviors. While gaming and media can be
entertaining, it can also be damaging to our consciousness, making the mind
think it is acceptable to harm and kill.
While we may say “it is just a game” or “it is just a movie”, gaming becomes
real life, especially when these games are played and media viewed
extensively from young age into adolescent and adult life without proper
guidance from these Teachings.
While these same games are played throughout the world and graphic media
input into the mind, there are only a few places in the world that experience
massive anger and acts of violence. The places that experience the most
violence and anger are those places that are lacking the social guidance
offered by these Teachings.
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Be thoughtful of the media that goes into the mind. Graphic violence or other
media can persuade you away from a solid life practice and impact the
calmness or stability of the mind. Pleasant feelings, painful feelings, or
feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant, i.e. discontentedness, can arise
through media that affects the mind. All input into The Six Sense Bases
including the mind, the doorways to discontentedness, can impact the mind,
so choose wisely what you allow into the mind to absorb through the sense
bases.
Wise Choices Eliminates Our Animal Behaviors
You can see that hatred and countless acts of violence have drastically
increased decade over decade. Mass shootings and violence are being
perpetrated throughout the world on a large scale through individual events
and terrorist organizations.
We can continue to deny the existence of massive amounts of hatred in our
world, which is exacerbated and stimulated by our choice of input into the
mind with lack of guidance, or we can implement the guidance found in
these Teachings to guide the world to a better existence.
The source of anger, aggression, and mass violence is not the video games
or media, it is our roots in the animal realm and our previous animal
existences, however, the media we choose to put into the mind encourages
or arises animal instincts and behaviors.
Making wise choices to purge hitting for discipline, eliminating input into the
mind of media that promotes hatred, violence, killing, taking what is not
given, sexual misconduct, false speech, use of substances that cause
heedlessness, and ensuring governments and leaders do not support the
same, will ensure that we “guard our doorways to discontentedness”
through wholesome input into the mind.
While The Five Precepts ensure the elimination of a significant portion of
unwholesome Kamma for each individual, they also guide each human away
from their animal instincts and animal consciousness.
Learning and practicing these Teachings will ensure that we continue to
evolve as a species and global society while moving away from our roots in
the animal realm and closer to functioning as awakened human beings.
To learn more about The Realms of Existence and The Cycle of Rebirth, see
the book titled “The Realms of Existence” (Volume 11) of this same book
series.
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Chapter 21
Do No Harm:
What is The Future of The Planet?
When we are reborn into this human existence, we are afflicted by The Three
Poisons of craving/greed, anger/hatred, and ignorance/delusion (unknowing
of true reality), as described in a previous Chapter.
Through life’s progression, The Three Poisons, our ego, and the protection of
a self, all affect our relationships, interactions, decisions, and countless
aspects of our life. Our decision making is influenced by the mind and what
we have accumulated over the course of our current life.
Currently, it is well known that the planet has experienced massive
destruction from the human population and our daily decisions. The human
population of the planet has drastically impacted the planet’s natural habitat.
Pollution, waste, lack of food, water, and other resources plagues our ability
to live in a healthy environment where all beings can thrive.
The destruction of the planet is a direct result of the destruction of the
mind of all of humanity. The pollution of the mind of all of humanity can
be seen in the pollution of the planet.
When a significant portion of humanity has accumulated craving, anger, and
ignorance (unknowing of true reality) with ego and protection of a self in
massive quantities, our decisions become tainted by the stains of our
consciousness.
We no longer look to take care of one another and our planet but instead
focus on how to enrich our own lives at the peril of everything else. We no
longer understand that we are part of a global society where all beings
depend on one another and the planet for a peaceful coexistence. But
instead, we focus on our own selfish “wants”, our own “cravings and
desires” rather than focusing on how we can best live a life in harmony with
all beings.
These Teachings bring our focus to an independent journey where we apply
effort to learn and practice Teachings that eliminate craving, anger, and
ignorance (unknowing of true reality) while dissolving the ego and realizing
non-self in our pursuit of Enlightenment to attain a peaceful, calm, serene,
and content mind with joy.
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We apply this practice as an independent journey through awakening the
mind in an “independent practice” with guidance of Teachers. We know that
we cannot change another being, we can only work to achieve our own
peaceful and content mind.
However, our independent journey with these Teachings raises our
awareness that all beings are interconnected and depend on each other to
sustain life.
While we need to have an independent practice, an independent journey,
and independent pursuit of Enlightenment, we realize through these
Teachings that we cannot be selfish nor conduct ourselves in a manner that
harms other beings nor the planet. Any harm that we cause will only be
returned to us as we understand based on The Natural Law of Kamma.
Attaining a Higher Consciousness means that we realize our peaceful
coexistence requires healthy resources from the planet and that our daily
decision making has a direct impact into the health and sustainability of our
environment.
We need to understand that we cannot cause destruction to the planet and
expect that it will provide us a comfortable environment in which to exist. We
cannot strain the planet through exhaustion of resources for the sake of
“greed” and expect the planet will provide us a healthy environment in which
to live. The “greed” that exists in the human mind has caused us to destroy
the planet and we can see the Kamma associated with this through the
massive pollution and unhealthy state of the planet.
Attaining Enlightenment means that we are no longer reborn through The
Cycle of Rebirth, however, we have significant loving-kindness and
compassion for all beings. Even in realizing we have attained Enlightenment
and are not returning to this planet, we feel a duty to all of humanity that as
we leave this life, our last life as part of attaining Enlightenment, that we not
only “do no harm” to other beings but that we also “do no harm” to the
planet. By practicing harmlessness towards the planet, we will reduce any
potential harm to other beings.
Through attaining Enlightenment, we will not experience any more rebirths,
but we know we are leaving a planet that needs to sustain life for the future
of all beings who will come after us.
We understand that the existence of this planet is over 4.5 billion years and
we have been constantly reborn countless times over several eons. In our
countless rebirths, it would be hard to find a being that exists today or will
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exist after us that has not been our mother, father, sister, brother, child or
some other relative at some point in the past. Through our countless rebirths,
we are related and have been family members with every being that has
existed, exists now, and will exist in the future.
We have significant compassion towards all beings and the need to provide
a planet that can sustain a healthy life so that all our “family members”, all of
humanity, have the opportunity to cultivate the mind, attain Enlightenment,
and escape The Cycle of Rebirth with a sustainable planet and its resources.
The pursuit of Enlightenment focuses us entirely and solely on the mind and
the elimination or destruction of “The Ten Fetters” through our independent
journey. But we are wise enough to know that our independent journey is
interconnected to countless other beings.
One could not practice these Teachings of “causing no harm or
harmlessness” without a focus on their individual decisions and how those
decisions affect the planet in which we inhabit.
We need to pursue Enlightenment with a focus on our independent journey
and purification of the mind. We also need to focus on the purification of the
planet through helpful decisions that lead to a revitalization of our planet’s
resources.
From the earth’s beginning of over 4.5 billion years ago, we have over fished
our seas, scraped natural resources from the soil, built extensively, dumped
waste, polluted the air we breathe, and have caused massive destruction
beyond imagination or our willingness, for some, to admit.
Through modernization, our civilization has lost its connection to the earth
and mother earth is hurting. Oftentimes “greed” becomes a priority when
many are looking for ways to become “wealthy in material possessions” for
the sake of “ego” without regard to the devastation we are causing to
humanity and the planet through unwholesome Kamma production.
As craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) and our ego with
the protection of a self rules the mind of each human, we destroy the planet
without care or regard to what comes next.
If we do not attain Enlightenment in this life, we will be reborn back into
another existence until we extinguish all our unwholesome Kamma from this
life and our previous lives. This means, we can never run or hide from our
unwholesome Kamma and the destruction of the planet.
Destroying the planet now and not attaining Enlightenment means we will be
reborn to deal with the destruction of the planet. Destroying the planet now
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and attaining Enlightenment means we leave an unhealthy environment for
our family members to inhabit for the remaining time of earth’s existence.
We are currently at the lowest point of humankind and our existence on the
planet. There has never been a time in the evolution of this planet that has
seen such massive destruction of the planet and each other. This is a direct
result of the destruction of “the mind” of all of humanity.
The solutions to the world’s problems lie within these Teachings. Every
problem that exists in the world today can be resolved by all of humanity
attaining Enlightenment and a Higher Consciousness.
Through eliminating craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality)
while dissolving the ego and realizing non-self, cultivating generosity, loving-
kindness, and compassion for all beings by all humans, while practicing
sympathetic joy and equanimity we can drastically improve the condition of
humanity and the condition of the planet.
We can create a more gentle, calm, and peaceful humanity through learning
and practicing these Teachings. We must start with our own independent
practice to learn, reflect, and practice these Teachings.
Humanity has countless problems that we have caused. But because we
caused these problems, we can also eliminate these problems. We have
100% ability to resolve the unwholesome condition of the mind, the
unhealthy planet, and reverse the destruction of humanity.
We can only apply effort to attaining our own Enlightenment while
encouraging those around us to do the same. But continuing on the current
path of destruction and disregard will only create more destruction.
This book and book series provides us a guide in three primary Teachings:
1.) Universal love for all beings 2.) Do no harm, and, 3.) Be a good moral
person.
“Do no harm” relates to harmlessness of other beings and the planet.
Through harming other beings or the planet, we harm ourselves due to the
harm we cause being returned to us.
This is The Natural Law of Kamma from which we cannot run nor hide.
We must experience all unwholesome Kamma from our previous lives in this
life or in future births until we extinguish all unwholesome Kamma through
the attaining of Enlightenment.
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It is in our best interest and the best interest of all of humanity, that we all
pursue Enlightenment while also caring for the planet. In order to sustain life
and allow humans the opportunity to live and attain Enlightenment, we will
need to have a planet that can support human life.
Our individual decisions each day and each moment contribute to the health
of the mind and the health of the planet.
What we have done in the past, is in the past. Now, we must focus on this
current moment and what is needed to clean up the mind and clean up the
planet.
Food
One aspect of reaching Enlightenment is to consider your food intake
ensuring that you are ingesting healthy foods, rather than processed foods.
Eating wholesome and nutritious food will ensure you are providing the body
with all the nutrients needed to sustain a healthy and fit body. What we
ingest into the body is to nourish and sustain “the body”, not to please “the
mind”.
Today, some food systems rely on packaged and preserved foods that have
an extensive amount of chemicals and other unnatural substances.
To ensure the body has the best quality foods, you should focus on a plant-
based food supply that does not include preservatives which can cause
unfortunate effects in the body and mind. Animal flesh has an extensive
amount of drugs, hormones, toxins, animal emotions, and other unhelpful
qualities that can make you sick or mask your true thoughts and emotions.
To have the best chance to observe the mind and know the thoughts and
emotions residing within the mind, eliminating preservatives and animal
products would be the best approach for the body and the planet.
Significantly reducing or eliminating stimulants like caffeine, sugar, alcohol,
drugs and other products will also help you to observe the true mind rather
than falsely associating the effect of these substances as coming from the
mind.
Drinking as much water, fresh fruit juices, plant-based milks, teas without
caffeine, and other natural products while reducing or eliminating the
chemicals associated with drinks you ingest, will all be helpful to purifying
the body so that you can observe and purify the mind.
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It is suggested that you consider the elimination of products such as fluoride,
monosodium glutamate (MSG), and other similar products from being used
as these contribute to affecting the mind in a way that would not allow you to
observe its true nature, and to purify the mind through active training of the
mind. Through the elimination of these products and others that have similar
effects to the mind, you can observe the improvements to the clarity of the
mind for yourself and eliminate any negative effects from these sorts of
substances. You will be able to see the truth for yourself as a Practitioner
gradually eliminates unbeneficial substances from being ingested that the
condition of the body and mind improves.
The best thing you can do to “save this planet” is to “not waste food”.
Forty percent (40%) of all food is wasted. The production, transportation,
packaging, preparing, and disposal of wasted food causes great harm to the
planet.
Next, eat vegan and you will be contributing enormous benefits to reducing
the destruction of our home - mother earth.
All these choices and others are helpful to you, helpful for the planet, and
helpful to all those yet to come.
You can implement adjustments slowly and over time. The body and the
mind will be more pleased with gradual and slow, but steady, progress. Too
many changes too quickly can have unsettling results.
We all need to find our own unique ways, based on wise decision making, to
ensure that we have the least amount of impact to the planet. As conscious
and concerned individuals, we can find our own unique ways of ensuring we
leave a planet that can continue to thrive for many years to come.
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Chapter 22
Mental Health:
A Modern Day Delusion
Humans have a complex consciousness, with the mind, which can be
muddled or evolved - it’s a personal choice. Our understanding of what is
around us and how we relate to it is a “personal choice”. And the personal
choices or decisions that we make as individuals, can be influenced by all of
humanity. As a species, just like other species, we often find the easiest way
or path is to “conform” to the established beliefs, understandings, and
customs of those around us. We conform to what is expected of us as
individuals within a larger society.
This conformity helps to keep us moving in a similar direction but conformity
does not lead to Enlightenment. Craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing
of true reality) demonstrated with the accumulation of ego and protection of
a self, with all these motivations being rooted in our consciousness,
humanity can become easily corrupted, destructive, and self serving as each
person chooses to just follow another without investigating to discover the
truth and acquire wisdom to make their own wise decisions. Conforming will
only keep the mind trapped in its own false beliefs and misperceptions.
We often think we are the “center of the universe” and “intellectually
superior” to prior civilizations. But with little known of civilizations that
existed even just a couple centuries ago, let alone thousands of years ago,
this is very egotistical.
Sure, we have historical records of what might have transpired in one
century or another but what motivated the people, their decisions, and how
they conducted their daily life is mostly lost to the impermanent nature of all
things.
We can be sure that the makeup of the human mind has not changed
throughout history. What’s in the mind and how evolved we are as a species
has changed, but the way the mind functions has not changed.
This is why The Teachings of Gotama Buddha are just as applicable today as
they were 2,500 years ago. Gotama Buddha’s Teachings are related to the
human mind and how the mind functions remains unchanged since Gotama
Buddha’s lifetime.
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The daily lives, motivations, and decision making of humans have all
changed but how the mind functions has not.
In our current civilization, we tend to think that “new” is “better”. We tend to
think that if we have just invented something, that it has to be better than the
past because it was just created and because our thinking is that “we are so
intelligent”, much more than in the past. So, this new thing must be much
better.
In the past, humans rubbed sticks together and it took a long time to make
fire. Now, we can instantly create fire at will with minimal effort.
So the advances in technology make it much easier to do things that could
not be done in the past, and this bolsters our false sense of ego and
superiority that we must be so much greater than past civilizations. This is a
delusion with extensive amounts of ego and self serving thoughts that cause
some to look down on humans of past civilizations.
This is not how civilizations before us thought or processed their
understanding of their own existence.
It was well understood, in past civilizations, that anything that existed and
any knowledge they had to improve their existence, was based on their
ancestral past. Honor, respect, and gratitude of the past was paramount in
their quest to improve their lives. But, all too often in modern society we look
down on the past with dismay and with ego, not understanding how those
past civilizations could not have understood what we now know today.
In many cases, we lack the humbleness to acknowledge that without the
past decisions of humans before us, we could not have the modern
advances we now enjoy. If it was not for the developments and advances of
past civilizations, we would not understand much of the world that is around
us today nor could we have built upon our ancestor’s knowledge.
In many cases, we have discovered healthy and productive ways to build on
prior knowledge which benefits our modern society. But, in many cases, as
craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) with accumulation
of ego and protection of a self, have permeated our consciousness more
deeply, the destruction of the planet, the individual mind, and humanity
becomes more and more apparent.
Because the functioning of the human mind has not changed, any conditions
of the mind that exist today also existed in prior civilizations. However,
because we think that our knowledge is far more advanced than prior
civilizations, we have developed “new ways” of looking at the mind.
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With our ego being center stage, we assume these new approaches to
understand the mind must be better and more profound than anything in the
past. However, any new developments or new approaches to understanding
the mind are highly unfounded and unproven with an extremely short
timeframe of development and use in society.
The modern mental health discipline has only been in existence for a
relatively short period of time compared to the length of time these
Teachings have existed in the world. Considering the entire span of time that
Gotama Buddha’s Teachings have existed, over 2,500 years, the short
timeframe of knowledge developed in the field of mental health is highly
unfounded, unproven, and untested.
Modern day society is, all too often, looking for an easy answer with a “quick
fix”. So, when humans are feeling sad, lonely, anxious or experiencing wide
ranges of discontent feelings, in our “new approach” to the mind we label
these feelings as “mental illness” and now have an enormous discipline of
treatments that we claim are going to improve the unwelcomed thoughts and
emotions of the human mind.
We have a highly medicated humanity that uses “drugs” to escape the reality
of our existence rather than accept responsibility for our personal choices
that lead to either a miserable existence or a Higher Consciousness with the
ability to relate to the world around us in a more healthy way.
Humans are more content to blame their unwelcomed thoughts and
emotions on “brain chemistry” along with blaming unwholesome intentions,
speech, and actions on brain chemistry.
Humans accept the notion from people in positions of authority that they are
not in control of their intentions, speech, and actions therefore are relegated
to a lifetime of expensive medicine, medical care, and treatments to treat a
mental illness because they truly believe they are sick or ill, yet, they may
never be cured.
Instead, humans could understand through the practice of these Teachings
that they are 100% in control of their thoughts, emotions, intentions, speech,
and actions, thus, we can resolve all internal and external conflicts finding
inner peace.
We are not “mentally ill” and we have the ability to improve the condition of
the mind through gaining wisdom and we can liberate the mind from 100%
of all discontentedness and the suffering it causes through these Teachings.
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By eliminating the delusion that we are “mentally ill”, we can eliminate a
lifetime of expense and unwelcomed thoughts or emotions.
Discontentedness of mind is not permanent, and a diagnosis of “mental
illness” is not permanent.
These Teachings have existed for over 2,500 years and are well founded,
proven, and tested. They continue to exist on this planet because they work
and help people attain a more peaceful existence.
There is no external substance that will eliminate unwelcomed thoughts
and emotions to produce a content mind. Only inner development of the
mind and having a “life practice” of causing no harm to yourself nor
other beings, can 100% resolve your inner and external conflicts.
Remember, the mind is not the brain. The brain is the organ that controls
function of the body while the mind is our consciousness that originates the
intentions (thoughts), speech, and actions we produce in each moment. The
mind, or consciousness, governs our “free will” or individual choices.
Mental illnesses are thought to be a chemical imbalance of the brain and
often treated with medications.
While medications do change the chemistry of the brain and can be helpful
in certain situations, they also sedate the mind suppressing past traumas,
cover up unwelcomed emotions, and hinder certain aspects of our thoughts
while complicating wise decision making that will lead to improved
outcomes. Medications never permanently “fix the problem” as an individual
struggling with unwelcomed thoughts and emotions needs to train the mind.
Medications will not permanently eliminate the accumulated unwelcomed
thoughts and emotions because these feelings in the mind are not generated
by the chemicals in the brain. The brain is not the mind, therefore brain
chemistry does not generate thoughts and emotions of the mind which
produce our intentions (thoughts), speech, and actions.
It is not brain chemistry that causes pleasant feelings, painful feelings, or
feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant (i.e. discontentedness). It is
craving/desire/attachment that causes discontentedness. Discontentedness
in the mind then influences and affects the chemistry of the brain. Brain
chemistry does not cause discontentedness; therefore, discontentedness
cannot be permanently eliminated through changing brain chemistry.
Attempting to change inner feelings through changing brain chemistry is
attempting to solve a problem based on a false theory that can lead to
continued suffering.
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To eliminate unwelcomed thoughts and emotions, we must empty the mind
through elimination of cravings/desires/attachments which will eliminate
discontentedness of the mind. An individual can’t eliminate
discontentedness by changing brain chemistry because it is not the brain
chemistry that is causing the discontent feelings. With proper guidance, The
Teachings of Gotama Buddha can lead a Practitioner to stability of mind
eliminating all unwelcomed feelings and emotions permanently.
Discontentedness will be eliminated, and the brain chemistry will become
balanced.
Examples of Mental Illness and Connection to These Teachings
Mental Illness Connection to Teachings
ADHD, ADD Craving mental stimulation. Lack of “Right Concentration”.
Anorexia, Bulimia, Eating Craving false image of beauty, identification of a self or personal identity.
Disorders
Anxiety Anticipation or fear of a future event, situation, or outcome.
Bipolar Disorder Craving sexual contact, craving material possessions, craving excitement
(i.e. mania). Untrained mind experiencing pleasant feelings, painful feelings,
and feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant.
Depression Attachment to past traumas, events, or expectations of the future.
Experiencing significant painful feelings.
Hoarding Craving for material possessions.
Insomnia An awakened mind needs little sleep. As the mind awakens, interrupted and
erratic sleep patterns emerge. Craving a permanent or fixed sleeping
schedule.
OCD Craving perfection.
Personality Disorders Craving to conform to others’ expectations for your personality. Observance
of past lives.
Phobias Personal existence view, protection of a self, craving existence.
PTSD Clinging to past traumas with the mind untrained in “letting go”.
Schizophrenia Lack of “Right Concentration”, communication with beings from other
realms, and observance of past lives.
Substance Abuse Craving pleasant feelings, happiness, and escape from life.
Suicidal Thoughts Craving pleasant feelings, happiness, and escape from life. Clinging to past
traumas or expectations of the future. Craving for extermination of life.
Desire to exterminate life to escape a discontent mind and the suffering it
causes due to observation of significant amounts of suffering in the mind
and in the world.
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This previous table is not meant to be an exhaustive or thorough categorization of all
mental illnesses and their relationship to these Teachings. Instead, this table provides a
brief example of insight into how mental illness is a misunderstanding of modern
society and how these Teachings, when practiced, can eliminate the symptoms of what
some people refer to as “mental illness”. There are other physical and emotional
symptoms that can be misunderstood as a medical condition that needs medical
treatments but can be resolved through these Teachings to train the mind. I have not
explored this topic to exhaust all possible options.
For example, many of the symptoms of “multiple sclerosis” are common to one who is
approaching Enlightenment and this illness may also be a modern day
misunderstanding. One approaching Enlightenment could be diagnosed with this
condition and offered medication rather than assisted to complete the process of
waking up the mind into Enlightenment.
Further research could be explored by qualified doctors and scientists who also deeply
understand and practice these Teachings and are Enlightened.
There is no medication that will improve our intentions, speech, and
actions as these can only be improved through training in wisdom,
moral conduct, and mental discipline. The mind is liberated through
wisdom and a medication will not produce wisdom in the mind.
There are many unknowns that we currently have related to how the human
body functions. Doctors or scientists will often share that we do not currently
understand everything there is to know about the human body. Out of
everything that we do not understand about the human body in modern
science, we understand the least about how the brain and mind function.
In modern medicine and modern science, we currently understand very little
about the brain and mind. In all that we do know, we know the least about
the brain and the mind. There is more to learn and more to discover that can
be highly beneficial to all of humanity.
The challenges and difficulties experienced in the human existence and the
human mind is because we do not understand what we do not understand.
The unEnlightened mind is hindered by a lack of wisdom not by a defective
brain. Awakening the mind to Enlightenment is to eliminate ignorance
(unknowing of true reality), along with the other pollution of the mind, through
acquiring wisdom.
While brain trauma can affect an individual’s ability to learn, reflect, and
practice these Teachings, the mental health conditions described in this
Chapter are not inclusive of individuals experiencing brain trauma or
brain injury.
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The mind can produce hallucinations, delusions, and countless other
thoughts, emotions, and feelings that when looked at by an individual
unfamiliar with the process of a mind awakening to a Higher Consciousness,
could be viewed as not normal and labeled as “mental illness”.
The mind can produce many hallucinations and delusional thinking as the
mind wakes up into a Higher Consciousness but lacks the stability of an
established practice with guidance in these Teachings.
With an established meditation practice and the support of a practice in
these Teachings, one can attain a stable, calm, and content mind free of
medication. The symptoms experienced are not a medical issue and there is
nothing “wrong” with the brain chemistry, but instead, the mind is untrained
and, thus, the individual experiencing the awakening does not have the
ability to control the mind.
Through proper training in these Teachings that includes meditation
techniques, the individual can learn how to control the mind to completely
eliminate all hallucinations, delusional thinking, desire for self harm, sad
depressed feelings, and all other unwelcomed emotions that are now
associated with mental illness.
If the mental health industry was effective at improving mental health, we
would see mental health cases consistently decreasing as these disciplines
are shared worldwide. As the new mental health discipline is shared more
widely, we would see the mental health of humanity consistently improving
throughout the world with more and more stability of mind. In the countries
of origin for these mental health disciplines and those countries where these
practices are shared most widely, if the new mental health discipline is
effective at improving the quality of mind, we would see that population of
people as the most mentally stable in the entire world. This is not the result
of what we see in the new mental health industry.
Furthermore, if the conditions described in the mental health industry such
as sadness, loneliness, anxiety, and others are based on chemistry in the
brain that can be resolved by expensive medications, we would see the
same conditions throughout all populations of humanity. If the premise of the
mental health industry is that these conditions are a result of a defective
brain that does not produce the proper chemical balance for the human
being to function normally, we would see all populations across the world
suffering from these same conditions that are currently labeled as “illnesses”
in modern times. We would also see these conditions dating back
throughout history as humans have evolved.
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Humanity and the human mind could not have truly become unbalanced and
defective in a matter of a few decades. The feelings of sadness, loneliness,
anxiety and others have been experienced by all humans throughout time,
yet they were not considered illnesses until recent times. Not all populations
across the world experience the same instability of mind. This is proof that
mental illness is not a human condition experienced throughout all of
humanity and, thus, there is no medication that will change the way one
thinks, speaks, or acts.
Civilizations in the past who learned and practiced these Teachings,
understood the process of a mind that is awakening and understood how to
assist these people with guidance and support to find stability, calmness,
and a peaceful mind.
An unawakened mind with significant cravings will have poor concentration,
lack motivation, and experience many difficulties in life, along with other
symptoms. All these symptoms and many more are now associated with
mental illness that rarely gets fully resolved through costly medications and
are merely symptoms of an unEnlightened mind.
While the suffering and anguish of mental illness is “real”, the reason for
why humans are having unwelcomed emotions is “not real”. Mental
illness is not due to brain chemistry but instead that the mind has not
been trained to eliminate craving/desire/attachment and attain the
qualities of a mind that has gradually awakened to Enlightenment and is
waking up to its Higher Consciousness. A trained mind can be
controlled through healthy practices known to humanity for over 2,500
years.
Enlightenment is a mind that is peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy.
This permanent mental state is achievable by all human beings who choose
to apply dedication and commitment to learning and practicing these
Teachings.
A mind with Enlightenment will have an unshakable calmness, steadiness,
and be “content” or “satisfied with what is” rather than constantly craving
more and more.
If our new approaches and these new medications are helpful to resolve the
conditions of mental health or the mind, we would see a reduction of mental
health cases and significant improvements to humanity’s mental health.
However, since the introduction of these medications and discipline of
mental health practices, we have seen a continuous degrading of mental
health across humanity represented in the actions of humans through
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increased war, conflicts, hate, terrorism, mass shootings and countless other
problematic actions created by humans.
With modern disciplines being created in the mental health field being based
upon, but not proven on brain chemistry, these new disciplines overlook the
past developments, discounting their significance. This mindset is based on
the ego of modern humanity thinking that what we have developed in “new”
disciplines is more advanced than past civilizations, and that our
understanding of the mind must be more profound than in the past. We put
more significance on our intelligence and scientific methods than our
ancestral knowledge of the past.
The make up of the human mind has not changed since Gotama Buddha’s
lifetime 2,500 years ago, therefore, the thoughts and emotions experienced
by humans also have not changed.
Humans 2,500 years ago had sadness, loneliness, and anxieties.
Rather than look for the “quick fix” and the “easy methods” to resolve these
unwelcomed thoughts and emotions, people who learned with The Buddha
looked for answers within themselves. Humans, in the past, took
responsibility for the thoughts and emotions they had and looked for
methods to rid themselves of the unwelcomed and uncomfortable emotions
through means of a permanent solution, seeking insight and wisdom of the
mind and its function.
Humans trusted that they had the ability to eliminate the unwelcomed
conditions of the mind and they found the answers. People of past
civilizations that attained Enlightenment did not look for impermanent things
to create inner peace. Enlightenment, Nibbāna, or a Higher Consciousness
was discovered and realized by humans.
Later, due to impermanence, these Teachings were degraded and, thus, the
collective condition of humanity’s mind has also degraded. The destruction
of humanity’s mind can be seen in the planet, the news of human actions,
and our blaming of others for our despair or misery.
Many are waiting for the return of a savior that will sort out all of this mess
and instantly save us all. Some are expecting that a universal power from a
higher entity will resolve the crisis of humanity and ask for favors through
daily prayer. But, the wise understand that we got ourselves into this mess
and “we are the only ones” who can get ourselves out of this mess.
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There have been countless prayers and ceremonial worship for many
generations, however, humanity continues to get worse and worse and
worse. Why is humanity continuing to hold out hope for a third party to
resolve all the conflicts and mess “we” created? If a third party had the
interest or ability to instantly “save us all”, that would have happened
already.
We can resolve the issues of the world through gradual training and
development of our individual mind.
Humanity is a collection of humans with individual minds. If individuals in
humanity decide to purify the mind through these Teachings, we will create a
kinder, gentler, and more peaceful civilization.
There is not one person or one entity that can decide for you to pursue a
Higher Consciousness. You must decide for yourself and pursue to evolve
your own Higher Consciousness to attain Enlightenment.
Diagnosis of mental illness is devastating large populations of people
convincing them that they are sick, ill, and relegating them to a lifetime of
medications and treatments with no cure and a lifetime of expenses. If you
are not sad prior to the diagnosis, you certainly will be after being convinced
by a person of authority that you are sick and your brain is defective.
There are people with diagnosed mental illness who have eliminated all
unwelcomed thoughts, emotions, medications, and medical treatments
through these Teachings and practices.
Belief is a powerful persuader of the mind. If you believe you are sick and ill,
then you will continue to believe this and be relegated to medications,
doctors, hospitals, and treatments for an imbalance in the brain chemistry.
This imbalance cannot be proven through any test and there is a good
chance you may never become fully well through the mental health industry.
Or, you can understand that the mind is not the brain, and that the mind
produces unwelcomed thoughts and emotions. The mind can be trained and
then controlled by you to eliminate unwelcomed thoughts and emotions just
like has been done for the last 2,500 years. This knowledge has been largely
lost and pushed aside due to the egotistical thinking of our modern age
along with overwhelming greed.
The last several decades has seen a tremendous increase in craving, anger,
and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) because these Teachings are only
practiced by 500 million people rather than all of humanity.
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Currently, we are seeing a surge of meditation practices around the world,
increased awareness of mindfulness training and development, and we are
putting more importance on having a calm, stable, and steady mind without
ego, recognizing that we all have the ability to accomplish this for ourselves
without medication and that a content mind is achievable through healthy
mind practices.
Medications could be helpful in acute circumstances to bring the mind to a
place where it can receive Teachings and decide to acquire wisdom through
mental training. It is training the mind through these Teachings that will bring
long term success in developing wisdom to improve one’s life practice that
will create stability in the mind. A population of people who choose to
practice these Teachings as part of their way of life can experience a
significant reduction in long term use of medications and increase long term
success of establishing good mental health in their community averting the
constant struggle and crisis of a lack of mental health around the world.
We can accept the notions of our modern society continuing to think we are
smarter, more intelligent, and better off than past civilizations. Or, we can
look at the past realizing that the simple and humble life they lived in
harmony with the planet and each other, was a peaceful and content way to
co-exist with all beings.
The future of the world and the planet is based on the individual
decisions and personal choices of all that exist and occupy this planet.
While craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) with
accumulation of ego and protection of a self are pervasive throughout
humanity, we will continue to see conflict, fighting, wars, terrorism,
substance abuse, prostitution, human trafficking, famine, suicide, harm to
animals, orphans, childhood deaths, financial disasters, poverty, corrupt
politics, and destruction of the planet and its resources - and much more.
We created this “mess” and we are the ones that need to fix it.
The way to start is to accept full responsibility for our intentions (thoughts),
speech, and actions, realizing that we have the ability to create a peaceful
existence by giving up our notions that we are the “best this planet has ever
seen”. We must eliminate our ego and look to the past for the answers they
provided, answers that we have overlooked due to our delusion of superior
intelligence.
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Chapter 23
Symbolism of Teachings:
Reminders Through Imagery
Our knowledge and ability to understand these Teachings has evolved over
time. During Gotama Buddha’s lifetime, all his Teachings were shared orally.
Later, human development evolved to include technology and the ability to
capture these Teachings in written format.
Today, we have the ability to read, write, and understand The Teachings in
written format, through oral instruction, and a full range of other options.
Prior to organized educational systems, the oral Teachings were captured
into symbolism and imagery that could remind Practitioners of these
important Teachings that guided their lives.
The symbolism was captured in the architecture of Temple construction
projects, artwork, and in other locations where people could be reminded of
The Teachings through viewing of imagery which would then strengthen their
understanding and practice of The Teachings.
If an individual had learned The Teachings with Gotama Buddha in detail,
then upon viewing certain images they could be instantly reminded of The
Teachings helping to further soak The Teachings into the mind so that a
Practitioner could practice them in daily life.
Today, if a Practitioner has deeply studied and learned The Teachings of
Gotama Buddha, they can view symbolism and imagery in Temple
construction projects, artwork, and in other locations to be reminded of The
Teachings and help to further develop their life practice.
Having the understanding of Gotama Buddha’s Teachings and then visiting
Temples or viewing artwork can be even more enjoyable and beneficial as a
Practitioner can confirm their understanding of The Teachings. It is also
interesting to “decode” the symbolism and imagery used in past generations
through Temples built many centuries ago. These Temples and the artwork
located in the Temples indicate what was on the mind of those who
participated in the construction of the Temple.
Visiting Temples throughout the world can be an enjoyable family activity.
Together with family and friends, you can uncover the secrets of the past
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identifying connections to The Teachings in the symbolism and imagery used
in Temple construction. But first, you will need to have an understanding of
The Teachings themselves through developing your life practice.
This chapter will help you to develop an understanding and connections to
The Teachings of some of the most common imagery used through Temple
construction projects, artwork, and in other locations. This will help you
remember The Teachings and help you to further develop your life practice
when you are viewing Buddhist symbolism.
Now that you have had the opportunity to learn a significant portion of
Gotama Buddha’s Teachings in this book and book series, learning the
symbolism and imagery to remind you of The Teachings can be quite
interesting and intriguing.
As you visit Temples and view Buddhist artwork, you can look for these
images and others to “decode” what was on the mind of those involved in
the Temple construction and the artists in developing the artwork.
You might also find images that are not shared in this chapter but based on
your continued practice to deepen your understanding and wisdom of these
Teachings, you might be able to “decode” other symbolism and imagery on
your own.
As always, if you are unsure or you’d like to confirm your understanding, you
can ask your Teacher or other Practitioners for assistance in understanding
any imagery that you encounter in your journey within Buddhist
Communities. But through a deep understanding of these Teachings, you
may find that with your own investigation it is quite interesting, fun, and
beneficial to reflect on the symbolism and imagery you discover in your
journey to determine if you can “decode” the meaning on your own.
This will help to further confirm The Teachings of The Buddha within the
mind providing you an opportunity for learning and growth.
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Symbol Connection to Teachings
These symbols represent the attainment of Enlightenment.
The image originates at the bottom, typically with a large circle,
through a long winding path ending with a straight line pointing
upwards.
This symbolizes being bound to “The Cycle of Rebirth” represented
in the circular part of the image. Then, once a human being gains
access and understanding of Gotama Buddha’s Teachings, there is a
long winding path that starts broad and wide, narrowing towards the
top until we have a straight and direct line to our Higher
Consciousness, Nibbāna, and Enlightenment.
Notice how the image loops and sometimes tracks slightly
backwards in its progression from bottom to top but ultimately
proceeds upwards to completion at the very top where the line then
becomes extinct and nonexistent.
This symbolizes The Path to Enlightenment as one will walk forward,
sometimes with minor steps backwards but ultimately moves
forward and upwards to completion attaining Enlightenment.
This image can often be found on Buddha statues or artwork located
between the two eyes, at the third eye.
Opening of the third eye, or inner eye, is also a symbol of having
attained Enlightenment.
When you observe this imagery, it should remind you that
Enlightenment is achievable by all human beings. And, that your path
may be long, wide, twisting and turning until you finally narrow in on
The Teachings and your practice, until the mind ascends to
Enlightenment through dedicated learning and practice.
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Symbol Connection to Teachings
The “Dhamma Wheel” is most often depicted with eight spokes, this
represents The Eight Fold Path. (Dhamma = The Teachings)
The Eight Fold Path is the path that leads to the elimination of
discontentedness and ultimately The Path to Enlightenment to
escape from The Cycle of Rebirth.
The Wheel itself can remind us that, in the unEnlightened mental
state we are bound by “The Cycle of Rebirth” with The Eight Fold
Path providing us The Path to escaping The Cycle of Rebirth. The
circle of the wheel represents The Cycle of Rebirth while the
individual spokes represent the individual steps of The Eight Fold
Path, the escape from discontentedness and The Cycle of Rebirth.
This imagery is usually placed on Temple markers, in artwork, and
oftentimes behind the head of Gotama Buddha in paintings or near
statues.
The purpose for placing The Dhamma Wheel behind Gotama
Buddha’s head is, a Dhamma Wheel is turned by a Buddha. It
signifies a stepping forward of civilization into a new era.
A Buddha awakening in the world is a major step forward for all of
humanity. A Buddha turning a Dhamma Wheel signifies a stepping
forward of civilization into a new era. With the awakening of a
Buddha, The Teachings that lead to Enlightenment can shine in the
world and be shared with all of humanity in a way that will guide
countless beings to Enlightenment during their life and after their
death.
A Buddha will know the location of this dhamma wheel, when to turn
it, and in what direction to turn it.
The location of The Dhamma Wheel is on the head of a Buddha
where the top of the skull and back of the skull comes together. A
Buddha will turn this Dhamma Wheel counter clockwise upon their
awakening.
When you observe a Dhamma Wheel in artwork, it should remind you
that you are bound in The Cycle of Rebirth, and The Eight Fold Path
is the path to escaping The Cycle of Rebirth.
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Symbol Connection to Teachings
Lotus flowers are another form of imagery and symbolism that is
used to remind us of The Teachings.
A closed lotus reminds us of everyone’s potential to become
Enlightened. We all have the potential to attain Enlightenment, just
like every flower has the potential to bloom.
A fully open lotus flower is another symbol of the attainment of
Enlightenment.
A lotus flower will oftentimes float above the water and even be
suspended over the water by a strong stem while the roots of the
plant are down into the dirty and murky earth under the water.
The roots signify our attachments to this physical world while the
attainment of Enlightenment, the fully bloomed lotus flower above
the water, signifies the mind raising above craving/desire/attachment
ascending to Enlightenment.
The strong stem of the lotus flower signifies one’s solid dedication
and stability of learning and practicing these Teachings from Gotama
Buddha with a strong life practice to attain Enlightenment. Our life
practice is the support and stability needed for the mind to progress
to Enlightenment.
You will also see combinations of symbols like the one depicted
here. You can see the symbol depicting Enlightenment with a lotus
flower at the top. These are two symbols that are combined both
representing the attainment of Enlightenment.
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Symbol Connection to Teachings
The King of the Serpents or Serpent King (Naga), reminds us of a
story passed down from the time of Gotama Buddha that reminds us
of The Teachings.
It was shared that during Gotama Buddha’s lifetime, there was a
Serpent King who, although reborn into the animal realm, was so
close to human existence that with a more developed consciousness
he could turn himself into the human form.
He turned himself into a Monk, male Ordained Practitioner, so that he
could be in the company of Gotama Buddha and learn The
Teachings of Gotama Buddha.
However, the Serpent King fell asleep along with the other Monks
and lost the control of his consciousness turning back into a serpent.
Upon observing this, the Monks were unsettled and fearful deciding
to alert Gotama Buddha.
One who has attained Enlightenment has eliminated all fear 100%.
Gotama Buddha calmly walked to the area where the Monks were
frightened and had a discussion with those present.
Gotama Buddha explained to the Serpent King that it was impossible
for him to attain Enlightenment in the form of an animal that he
needed to live out his current existence facing his Kamma as a
Serpent. And, if his Kamma led him to being reborn as a human in
his next existence, he could then learn and practice The Teachings to
attain Enlightenment in that new human existence.
Upon Gotama Buddha explaining this to the Serpent King, he agreed
to leave The Community of Monks to not cause any further
disruption but decided to be a protector and guard of The Teachings
from all evil doers who worked to degrade The Teachings of Gotama
Buddha.
Today, you can see this imagery at the front of many Temples and at
the front of staircases leading into many Temples as The King of the
Serpents is standing guard protecting The Teachings from all evil
doers. Anyone entering should have wholesome intentions to learn
and practice The Teachings not interested in causing any harm to
The Teachings but instead, interested in seeing them shared.
It should remind us of our past existences in the animal realm and
that it is only in the human or heavenly realms that we can attain
Enlightenment. All fear needs to be eliminated to attain
Enlightenment. It should remind us not to be complacent or delay
our learning and growth in The Teachings and practice. It can also
remind us of our commitment to learning and practicing The
Teachings as the Serpent King was highly dedicated, even in his
animal existence, to learn and protect The Teachings. Additionally, it
reminds us that we must experience all the unwholesome Kamma we
create in this existence and from our past existences prior to
attaining Enlightenment, thus, motivating us to create only
wholesome Kamma.
Whether this story is actually true is unknown, however, it is a
wonderful story that can remind us about many of The Teachings
through viewing this one artwork as we enter many Temples or viewing
any artwork that contains the Serpent King.
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Symbol Connection to Teachings
You will often see drawings or depictions of a leaf from a Bodhi Tree,
Pippala Tree, Peepul Tree, Peepal Tree or Ashwattha tree (in India
and Nepal), or the scientific name “Ficus Religiosa”.
This is the tree that it is said that after six (6) long years of dedication
to his practice, while meditating under this tree, Gotama Buddha
made the final effort to attain Enlightenment.
Gotama Buddha then contemplated under this tree for seven (7)
weeks whether or not to share The Teachings he had discovered in
his independent journey to Enlightenment. He was not sure that the
world was ready to understand what he had to share.
He eventually did share The Teachings going on to a long teaching
career of 45-years of sharing The Teachings on The Path to
Enlightenment.
While Gotama Buddha shares in his Teachings that the journey to
Enlightenment is through gradual training and gradual practice to
experience gradual progress, it is this tree that is considered the
location where Gotama Buddha attained Enlightenment.
In reality, one would gradually attain Enlightenment over the course
of a multi-year life practice and there is not just one point in time
where a person might be considered Enlightened or not but instead,
a gradual progression towards the goal with gradual training and
gradual practice needed to accomplish the goal.
But, with the significance of a Buddha arising in the world, a specific
date of his Enlightenment and location of where he attained
Enlightenment was determined so that it could be visited and
celebrated after his death. Today, this location is celebrated as the
place where Gotama Buddha attained Enlightenment and there is a
specific date identified as the date of his Enlightenment.
Again, in reality, he attained Enlightenment over a multi-year life
practice and one might even say over multiple lifetimes a Buddha
has been working to attain Enlightenment through gradual training
and gradual practice.
The leaf of this tree is another symbol of Enlightenment and a
reminder of our ability to attain Enlightenment. Due to its
significance, you will see the image of this leaf in countless Temple
construction projects and artwork throughout Buddhist communities.
You can observe the thick base of the leaf gradually narrowing to a
fine point, a symbol of the progression towards Enlightenment.
There is plenty of other symbolism that you will observe in various types of
artwork and Temple construction. These are a sample of the most common
and widely used symbols.
The more you understand and practice The Teachings in this book and book
series, the more you will be able to observe artwork and architecture to
determine the symbolism that reminds you of The Teachings for yourself.
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Through understanding The Teachings and symbolism, you can easily visit
Temples around the world while being reminded of The Teachings for your
own practice. Likewise, as you view artwork you can be reminded of the
important Teachings in a glance that help to develop a more stable practice
of The Teachings.
These are powerful reminders of The Teachings, the practice, the results, and
that we are all on The Path to Enlightenment.
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Chapter 24
Misunderstandings of
Gotama Buddha’s Teachings
Gotama Buddha’s Teachings, just like everything in the world, are affected by
impermanence. There have been several traditions of Buddhism that have
spawned from his original Teachings. All traditions of Buddhism respect
Gotama Buddha for his Teachings, but due to impermanence affecting
everything in life, there are several influences from various traditions and The
Teachings of Gotama Buddha have been modified since the time of his
death.
There are three primary traditions of Teachings hosted by various regions
around the world. The Theravada tradition is primarily hosted in South and
Southeast Asia. Mahayana tradition is primarily hosted in East Asia.
Vajrayana is primarily hosted in Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia, and the Russian
republic of Kalmykia. There are also other traditions taught and practiced in
other parts of the world. These three represent the more widely practiced
traditions but there are other Teachings besides these. While these traditions
are primarily hosted within these various regions, today they are practiced
throughout the world.
These Teachings are truly hosted in the mind of people. There is no
centralized organization with authority to compile and distribute these
Teachings within each tradition throughout the world. Gotama Buddha
taught us to not blindly follow The Teachings of a Teacher but to practice The
Teachings to determine the “truth” and “wisdom” of The Teachings for
ourselves.
In this way, we can determine for ourself and with the guidance of a Teacher,
what is working to evolve the mind and liberate it through wisdom. We can
determine for ourselves that the mind is more liberated through increased
levels of concentration, peacefulness, and a content mind that is
unshakeable as a result of practicing Teachings that liberate the mind.
Due to the movement of people and the impermanent nature of all things,
The Teachings that Gotama Buddha taught during his lifetime have been
modified due to the exact conditions of the mind he taught to eliminate.
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Just like impermanence affecting all things in the world, unless one is
Enlightened as an Arahant their mind is also affected by craving, anger, and
ignorance (unknowing of true reality), the ego and the protection of a self.
Thus, multiple traditions of these Teachings have spawned.
At the time of Gotama Buddha’s death, not everyone in the world was
Enlightened as an Arahant having eradicated the mind’s Three Poisons nor
The Ten Fetters. Attaining Enlightenment is a gradual process with qualities
of Enlightenment being enhanced the closer to Enlightenment one becomes.
It is not like throwing a switch and either you are Enlightened or you are not,
instead there are varying degrees of Enlightenment which will shine through
at various stages, while defilements of the mind will also be present. This is
one reason we should never consider ourselves as Enlightened and
constantly pursue deeper amounts of wisdom through our practice.
Therefore, as the numbers of Practitioners of these Teachings expanded and
humans experienced various degrees of Enlightenment, some people were
still affected with various degrees of The Three Poisons of the mind including
the ego. Through impermanence and ego, The Teachings were modified,
morphed, and adjusted to fit localized culture and beliefs. There are no
beliefs in The Teachings of The Buddha.
The approach I have taken in practice and teaching is to remain true to The
Teachings of The Buddha as he was the discoverer, originator, and declarer
of The Path, so there is no need to modify his Teachings.
The Theravada tradition of these Teachings thinks that it is best to retain The
Teachings in the form closest to those Teachings shared by Gotama Buddha
during his lifetime. The Pāli Canon is the most available and comprehensive
historical source of Gotama Buddha’s Teachings that is relied upon within
the Theravada tradition.
You may learn that some refer to the Theravada tradition as Hinayana or
“lesser vehicle”. Mahayana tradition as the “greater vehicle”. And, Vajrayana
tradition as the “lightning fast vehicle”. “Vehicle” is described as the speed
or quickness in which one can attain Enlightenment. This description and a
comparison of one to the other could be viewed as egotistical in referring to
Teachings as a lesser, greater, or lightning fast vehicle. Hinayana is
considered to be a degrading term born out of ego. One goal of Gotama
Buddha’s Teachings is to eliminate ego and the word Hinayana should not
be used if one has dissolved the ego.
Because The Teachings live in the mind of humans and there is no
centralized organization that compiles and distributes these Teachings, there
is no common definition of what all of these traditions teach, the description
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of Enlightenment, nor how to determine if one is or is not Enlightened. A
Practitioner can observe for themselves that what they are learning and
practicing is working to liberate the mind as the condition of the mind
gradually improves to become more and more peaceful, calm, serene, and
content with joy. In this way, an observant Practitioner can never be misled.
The Teachings are not a forced behavior or a requirement that one must
fulfill, but instead, guidance for how to eliminate defilements of the mind if
one chooses to do so through learning and practice of The Teachings.
The translation of the word Theravada means “The Teachings of The Elders”.
It is understood that the Theravada tradition is The Teachings and practices
closest to that which existed during the lifetime of Gotama Buddha, with
Mahayana tradition and Vajrayana tradition starting much later. The traditions
of Mahayana and Vajrayana have been highly affected by impermanence,
that’s why they originated long after Gotama Buddha’s death, with significant
modifications to The Teachings.
One small example of these modifications is that during Gotama Buddha’s
lifetime he explained that he was a human, just a man and a Teacher.
Traditions and beliefs changed much later after his death, and some refer to
Gotama Buddha as a God, deity, or avatar.
Why would we refer to Gotama Buddha as a God, deity, or avatar if he
himself never referred to himself as such? There are significant modifications
to The Teachings within Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions that the author of
this book does not have a need to introduce nor share as that would just be
confusing to a Practitioner learning these Teachings. The Teachings in this
book and book series will lead you to Enlightenment as taught by Gotama
Buddha.
The Teachings and practices described in this book and book series are
from The Teachings that existed closest to the time of Gotama Buddha’s
death from the Theravada tradition sourced from The Pāli Canon. The
Pāli Canon is the largest most complete and accurate collection of
Gotama Buddha’s Teachings.
It is not so important to understand where these modified influences
originate from, other than the mind of humans affected by craving/greed,
anger/hatred, ignorance/delusion/unknowing of true reality, the ego and a
protection of the self. But understand impermanence does affect all
conditioned things including The Teachings of Gotama Buddha.
Theravada Buddhism is considered to be the form of Gotama Buddha’s
Teachings which is closest to the time of his death. However, even within this
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tradition there are some adjustments that are practiced based on
misunderstandings and impermanence.
An Arahant with Enlightenment and practicing Gotama Buddha’s Teachings
closely can see these misunderstandings clearly as not part of his original
Teachings.
Examples of cultural influences and misunderstandings are provided in the
below to help you navigate what are and are not The Teachings of The
Buddha so that you can ensure to learn, reflect, and practice the actual Path
to Enlightenment rather than participate in activities that will not lead to
Enlightenment.
1.) Pouring Water Ceremony (Gwat Nam): There is a practice of pouring
water in many places that practice the Theravada tradition. Water is poured
from a small urn into a small bowl. While doing this, the people “believe”
they are dedicating or transferring their Merit and wholesome Kamma to
friends, family, or others who have already passed away.
Gotama Buddha taught us that “…beings are owners of their Kamma, heirs
of their Kamma, they have Kamma as their origin, Kamma as their relative,
Kamma as their resort, whatever Kamma they do wholesome or
unwholesome, they are its heirs. And, a person with wrong view, there is one
of two destinations: either hell or the animal realm”.
Thus, the practice of pouring water to dedicate or transfer Merit and
wholesome Kamma to another being is impossible. This is one aspect of
“wrong view” and the first step of The Eight Fold Path to attain
Enlightenment is “Right View”. This practice of pouring water to dedicate or
transfer Merit is a misunderstanding of Gotama Buddha’s Teachings and
leads people to not fully understand Gotama Buddha’s Teachings through
promoting “wrong view”.
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2.) Blessed Water (Nam mon): There is a practice of a Monk lighting a
candle to drip wax into a bowl of water while chanting to create “holy water”
or “blessed water”. This water is then distributed out onto the body of others
around the Monk.
This practice is in conflict with Gotama Buddha’s Teachings and instructions
that making of “holy water” is considered a “lowly art”. The Buddha
prohibited Monks, including himself, from participating in a practice such as
this.
He stated that the Ascetic Gotama refrains from such lowly arts and that a
Monk refrains from such lowly arts. There are several lowly arts that are
currently practiced by Monks throughout the world that are not in keeping
with Gotama Buddha’s original Teachings.
Moreover, Gotama Buddha also taught “the harm of explaining what has not
been stated, spoken and prescribed by The Tathāgata as having been
stated, spoken and prescribed by him. Those are acting for the unhappiness
of many people, for the ruin, they generate much demerit and cause the
good Teachings to disappear”.
3.) Sacred Thread (Sai sen): The practice of obtaining a sacred thread from
an Ordained Practitioner that wraps a body part, oftentimes the wrist, does
not originate with Gotama Buddha’s Teachings. Gotama Buddha’s Teachings
were offered to liberate the mind through wisdom. He provided Teachings
that could be practiced that affect the mind.
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External objects like sacred thread, bowing to statues, certain body gestures
or positioning, ringing bells, hitting gongs, etc., by themselves, do not
produce a healthier mental state. These practices alone do not change the
condition of the mind if it’s greedy, has hatred, delusion, wrong intentions,
wrong speech, or wrong actions, etc.
No matter how many strings or other external objects we look to, they are
not capable of producing permanent inner change or peace of mind attained
through Enlightenment. There is nothing external that will create lasting inner
change or inner fulfillment.
4.) Ordained Practitioners (Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis): It is important to
review the practices of Ordained Practitioners closely. There are past
Teachers who have modified and changed Gotama Buddha’s original
Teachings that could produce unwholesome practices that lead individuals
through a longer path towards Enlightenment or potentially inhibiting
Enlightenment altogether.
Teachers after Gotama Buddha have influenced or even modified his
Teachings, thus, could be potentially inadvertently affecting one’s path if they
were to blindly follow The Teachings of Teachers other than Gotama Buddha.
For example, many Ordained Practitioners follow a practice of not “wai-ing”
(showing respect) to Household Practitioners, and Household Practitioners
will often get on their knees and bow to Ordained Practitioners.
This practice of not showing respect to Household Practitioners is not
described anywhere in Gotama Buddha’s Teachings and could potentially be
harmful for the Ordained Practitioners’ development of the mind if they allow
“ego” or other unwholesome mental states to develop or exist. Bowing to
Ordained Practitioners could produce a mind placing an individual above or
below each other with judgment. If the mind is developed in this way, it will
inhibit one from attaining Enlightenment.
Ordained Practitioners are human just like everyone else with their own
challenges and struggles in pursuing Enlightenment. They have chosen a
lifestyle, temporarily or perhaps until death, that provides a discipline that
helps create conditions conducive for Enlightenment but does not guarantee
Enlightenment. Therefore, Ordained Practitioners will need to pursue their
own Enlightenment with the same Teachings and learning as Household
Practitioners including “The Three Universal Truths”, “The Four Noble
Truths”, and “The Eight Fold Path” along with others.
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