Tu Viện Quảng Đức105 Lynch Rd, Fawkner, Vic 3060. Australia. Tel: 9357 3544. quangduc@quangduc.com* Viện Chủ: HT Tâm Phương, Trụ Trì: TT Nguyên Tạng   

Why I love Buddhism

01/03/201722:16(Xem: 13466)
Why I love Buddhism
Phat Thich Ca 2

WHY I LOVE BUDDHISM

Recently I was asked why I love Buddhism. So here are 7 answers for why I love, appreciate, respect, study, practise and share the precious Buddha Dharma.
 Some answers are short and sweet, while others are in more detail. Of course I could give many more answers and more details, however I've kept it to just 7, for the benefit of easy reading. 

Answer #1 
The Buddha Dharma is the only path that leads to the realisation of the fruit of unsurpassed supreme enlightenment. Along the way we experience the fields of bliss caused by our fields of merit. Ultimate bliss is realised when we attain unsurpassed supreme enlightenment.

Answer #2
Practising Buddha Dharma enables us to get to know our mind, which is the source of all of our experiences. 

Answer #3
Not only does Buddha Dharma answer all of the important questions in life. If we wholeheartedly practise, we ourselves will directly realise both relative and ultimate truth.

Answer #4
We have the freedom to think, act and speak. We have the freedom and potential to learn and practise. We have the freedom, potential and ability to awaken transcendent wisdom and a great heart of compassion, and attain unsurpassed supreme enlightenment.
 
I would like to share with you that in my youth, I was very deeply inspired to wholeheartedly practise the Buddha Dharma, for the benefit of all sentient beings, by the following well known words of the Buddha. May you too be inspired to wholeheartedly practise the Buddha Dharma, for the benefit of all sentient beings.

-Do not believe in anything (simply) because you have heard it.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.                                                 Do not believe in anything because it is spoken and rumoured by many.                  Do not believe in anything (simply) because it is found written in your religious books.                                Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.                                             But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all then accept it and live up to it.

-We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with an impure mind
And trouble will follow you
As the Wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.                                       With our thoughts we make the world.                                         Speak or act with a pure mind       And happiness will follow you.         As your shadow, unshakeable.

-Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world; A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream, a flash of lightning in a summer cloud, a flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream. 

Answer #5.                                     The Buddha Dharma is inclusive, not exclusive. Our aim is to benefit all sentient beings, without exception. To help all sentient beings, including ourselves, to have happiness and its causes, and to be free from suffering and it's causes, and to attain unsurpassed supreme enlightenment as swiftly as possible. 

The Buddha Dharma transcends colour, texture, flavour, language, culture, tradition and nationality. It is for everyone, everywhere and at any time. 

This is especially evident in the practise of the Four Immeasurable's (Brahma Vihara) of universal loving kindness (metta), universal compassion (karuna), empathetic joy (mudita) and equanimity or non-bias (uppekkha). 

May you all be happy and free from suffering, and attain unsurpassed supreme enlightenment as swiftly as possible.

Please see more words of inspiration below from the great Indian master Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara (The Way of the Bodhisattva) (From the chapter on 'Commitment'). 

From verse 7 to 10:

'.....By the virtue I have just amassed, 
May all the pain of every living being
Be wholly scattered and destroyed. 

For all those ailing in the world, 
Until their every sickness has been healed, 
May I myself become for them
The doctor, nurse and medicine itself. 

Raining down a flood of food and drink, 
May I dispel the ills of thirst and famine. 
And in the ages marked by scarcity and want, 
May I myself appear as drink and sustenance. 

For sentient beings, poor and destitute,
May I become a treasure ever plentiful, 
And lie before them closely in their reach, 
A varied source of all that they might need.....'

From verse 18 to 22:

'.....May I be a guard for those who are protectorless, 
A guide for those who journey the road, 
For those who wish to go across the water,
May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge. 

May I be an isle for those who yearn for landfall, 
And a lamp for those who long for light;
For those who need a resting place, a bed;
For all who need a servant, may I be their slave. 

May I be the wishing jewel, the vase of plenty, 
A word of power and the supreme healing;
May I be the tree of miracles, 
And for every being the abundant cow. 

Like the earth and the pervading elements, 
Enduring as the sky itself endures, 
For boundless multitudes of living beings, 
May I be their ground and sustenance. 

Thus for everything that lives, 
As far as are the limits of the sky, 
May I provide their livelihood and nourishment
Until they pass beyond the bonds of suffering.....'

Answer #6                                            

To bring about the awakening of students of all temperaments, the Buddha taught a wonderful variety of spiritual practises. There are foundation practises for the development of loving kindness, generosity and moral integrity. Then there is a vast array of meditation practises to train the mind and open the heart. These practises include awareness of the breath and body, mindfulness of feelings and thoughts, practises of mantra and devotion, visualisation and contemplative reflection, and practises leading to refined and profoundly expanded states of consciousness.

We sentient beings are all different in one way or another. All at different stages on our spiritual journey, our path to enlightenment. Therefore, we should seek to receive instructions on the particular methods, as taught by the Buddha, that are suitable to our current individual temperaments and needs, and wholeheartedly put them into practise.

Furthermore, we all have the potential to avoid all extremes and practice the middle path, the Noble Eight-Fold Path, which consists of perfect understanding, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration. 
 
We all have the potential to practise the Dharma, to develop immeasurable love and compassion, realise perfect wisdom, and to attain unsurpassed supreme enlightenment. 
Answer #7
The Buddha recommends, invites and encourages all who are interested to thoroughly investigate, analyse and test the Dharma teachings. Just as a goldsmith tests for real gold. Not to just believe in them with blind faith.

He then advises us to wholeheartedly put them into practise and to work diligently towards realising the result of the Dharma path, enlightenment. 

If we do as he recommends, we will realise that his teachings are very clear and that they make perfect sense. That they are perfectly logical when tested with critical analysis and that they are in accord with modern scientific findings. In more than 2,600 years they have never been proven wrong. 

Take for instance the Buddhist belief in the Law of Karma, which is a view that has been checked and analysed by many great practitioners and realised masters. Conviction in its validity is gained through logical reasoning. It should not simply be followed blindly. 

Any action of body, speech, or mind, places an imprint, an 'energy potential' or 'seed' in the mind. Mental seeds are planted through your awareness of what you do, say or think. The imprints of these actions are left on the mind stream and carried on moment by moment - the present moment of mind coming from the previous moment of mind.

When the necessary supporting conditions are in place, this imprint, or latent potency, manifests as perceptions or experiences of happiness or suffering. We can liken this to a biological seed, which ripens when the contributing causes and conditions of water, soil, sun, and the like are gathered together.

May we all realise the foundation, path and result of the path, & swiftly attain unsurpassed supreme enlightenment.

Please enjoy the following quotes about the Buddha Dharma from Albert Einstein:

- 'Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.'

- 'Buddhism requires no revision to keep it up-to-date with recent scientific finding.'

- 'Buddhism does not need to surrender its views to science, because it embraces science as well as goes beyond science.'

- 'The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal gods, and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description.'

- 'If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs, it would be Buddhism.'

And the following quote from historian, Arnold Toynbee:

- 'The coming of Buddhism to the west may well prove to be the most important event of the 20th century.'
 
May these 7 answers be in some way helpful and beneficial to all sentient beings. 
 
May they inspire you to study, practise and share the Buddha Dharma to the best of your ability. 
 
May the Buddha Dharma flourish throughout infinite space. 
 
May all sentient beings attain unsurpassed supreme enlightenment as swiftly as possible. 
 
By Dharma Teacher Andrew Williams 
Gửi ý kiến của bạn
Tắt
Telex
VNI
Tên của bạn
Email của bạn
09/01/2017(Xem: 14280)
Every morning when I read the news, there are so many reports on war and destruction happening all over the world. This sometimes leads me to feel overwhelmed, helpless and somewhat guiltyfor the relatively peaceful life I have. How do Itransform these feelings of sadness, anger and helplessness into something a lot more productive and constructive?
30/12/2016(Xem: 9788)
1/ How does reincarnation work in Buddhism? 2/ When we pray who do we pray to? And the words we say when praying what do they mean? 3/ Have you ever been in love? 4/ In the future when treating patients how can I use Buddhism to help me? 5/ If good and bad are all relative to a person, let’s say, to a terrorist bomber, what they are doing is a good thing, but to others it is not. So that would mean right and wrong is relative too. So how do we know that something is an ‘absolute’ right thing who says that this is right and that is wrong. 6/ As a practising Buddhist lay person how can I reconcile my desire to be successful/ambitious/career-driven with the Buddhist concept of right livelihood. Sometimes it feels like the pursuit of being successful career-wise is very wordly, driven by materialism. Can I be a decent Buddhist AND a successful career person. Is this possible?
11/11/2016(Xem: 7479)
Audio: Body Mind Transformation
26/10/2016(Xem: 14985)
Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World | BBC Documentary | with English Subtitles, Over thirty years ago I sat and watched a programme on British television about Tutankhamen. I still remember the frisson - the realisation that the stories I'd heard; of boy-kings dripping in gold; of hidden burial chambers and court intrigue could, sometimes, be true. That BBC documentary was inspirational. I've been fortunate enough to spend my adult life following my own research interests - and delight in being able to share the results with a wider public.
26/10/2016(Xem: 30308)
In India in the 6th century BC, Sakyamuni, "a wise man of the Sakya tribe", had been meditating under a tree when, suddenly, he was struck with the comprehension of all things. He became Buddha, meaning the « Illuminated ». His message, based on a pragmatic philosophy, taught how to free oneself from all needs in order to achieve illumination. After the death of the Enlightened One, his disciples – a few monks – began to spread his teachings all over India, from Ceylon to the Himalayan. Fearing man’s penc
29/07/2016(Xem: 5662)
Fund Raising Dinner for Victorian United Nations Day of Vesak Inc. Since 2009.
10/03/2016(Xem: 9503)
It is generally accepted that the Vietnamese print media started in 1979 in Australia when the first issue of the Bell of Saigon / Chuông Saigon was on sale in Sydney. Initially, it was published fortnightly then became a weekly. Over the past four decades, the media in Vietnamese have gone through a developmental pattern which is not dissimilar to those in other culturally and linguistically diverse communities (CALD) in that it has grown in number and strength along with the Vietnamese speaking community.
29/11/2015(Xem: 8868)
Thousands of Tasmanians who travelled from all corners of the State rallied in Hobart for climate action in the lead up to this week’s Climate Summit in Paris. This should be a wake up call for the Hodgman government which has ripped up Tasmania’s ClimateSmart strategy and continues to subsidise the emissions-intensive native forest logging industry. The science tells us that protecting the vast stores of carbon in Tasmania’s forests must be part of our response to climate disruption. Tasmania is uniquely placed to be a world leader in responding to global warming, but the state government seems happy to keep its head in the sand and ignore the enormous opportunities that exist to create jobs and prosperity in low carbon industries. Every responsible government has a climate plan. Even war-torn South Sudan has acknowledged its civil responsibility and prepared a comprehensive climate plan.
22/11/2015(Xem: 11399)
Thiền tập .b ở trường Trung học Phật giáo Pal, Sydney The Mindfulness in Schools được biết đến rộng rãi trên thế giới có tên gọi .b (dot bee), và theo khảo nghiệm của đại học Cambridge và Oxford thì .b mang đến những tác động tích cực cho các em học sinh luyện tập đúng cách. Trinh Nguyễn tìm hiểu chương trình này trong cuộc phỏng vấn với Giáo viên hướng dẫn Bodhidasa Caldwell của trường Pal, và phiên dịch viên Thu Vân. Muốn tìm hiểu thêm về hoạt động 'Mindfulness in Schools', chương trình 'Teach 4 Peace', và buổi dạ tiệc gây quỹ 'Little Buddha', liên lạc với trường Trung học Phật giáo Pal Phone: +612 9755 7778 Email: info@pal.nsw.edu.au Web: http://pal.nsw.edu.au/
17/11/2015(Xem: 5506)
Thank you to a very dedicated Buddhist scholar Dion Peoples, our paper with the Most Venerable Thich-Nguyen-Sieu and Dr. Bureau on The Art of Living according to Spiritual Leaders was published on the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Universities JIABU, Volume V, 2015: 90-94. To read the whole journal, please click here. Here are the words of the editor, Dr. Dion Peoples about our article.
facebook youtube google-plus linkedin twitter blog
Nguyện đem công đức này, trang nghiêm Phật Tịnh Độ, trên đền bốn ơn nặng, dưới cứu khổ ba đường,
nếu có người thấy nghe, đều phát lòng Bồ Đề, hết một báo thân này, sinh qua cõi Cực Lạc.

May the Merit and virtue,accrued from this work, adorn the Buddhas pureland,
Repay the four great kindnesses above, andrelieve the suffering of those on the three paths below,
may those who see or hear of these efforts generates Bodhi Mind, spend their lives devoted to the Buddha Dharma,
the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Quang Duc Buddhist Welfare Association of Victoria
Tu Viện Quảng Đức | Quang Duc Monastery
Most Venerable Thich Tam Phuong | Senior Venerable Thich Nguyen Tang
Address: Quang Duc Monastery, 105 Lynch Road, Fawkner, Vic.3060 Australia
Tel: 61.03.9357 3544 ; Fax: 61.03.9357 3600
Website: http://www.quangduc.com
http://www.tuvienquangduc.com.au (old)
Xin gửi Xin gửi bài mới và ý kiến đóng góp đến Ban Biên Tập qua địa chỉ:
quangduc@quangduc.com