Buddha’s timeless message
View(s):In one of his early publications titled ‘What is Buddhism’, Ajahn Brahmavamso gives an overview of what the Buddha taught. Presented in a simple style, these extracts from the publication provide answers to some often asked questions.
What is kamma? Kamma means ‘action’. According to the law of kamma there are inescapable results of our intentional actions. There are deeds of body, speech and mind that lead to one’s own harm, to others’ harm, or to the harm of both. Such deeds are called bad or unwholesome kamma. They are motivated by craving, ill will or delusion, and because they bring painful results they should not be done.
There are also deeds of body, speech and mind that lead to one’s own well-being, to the well-being of others, or to the well-being of both. Such deeds are called good or wholesome kamma. They are motivated by generosity, compassion or wisdom, and because they bring pleasant results they should be done as often as possible.
Much of what one experiences is the result of one’s own previous kamma. Thus when misfortune occurs, instead of blaming someone else, one can look for faults in one’s own past conduct. If a fault is found, the experience of its consequences will make one more careful in the future. When happiness occurs, instead of taking it for granted, one can look for the past good kamma which caused it. If one can find such a cause, the experience of its pleasant results will encourage more good kamma in the future.
The Buddha pointed out that no being whatsoever, divine or otherwise, has the power to stop the consequences of good and bad kamma. The fact that one reaps just what one sows gives the Buddhist a powerful incentive to avoid all forms of bad kamma and do as much good kamma as possible.
Though one cannot escape the results of bad kamma one can lessen their severity. A spoon of salt mixed in a glass of water makes the whole glass very salty, whereas the same spoon of salt mixed in a freshwater lake hardly changes the taste of the water at all. Similarly, the results of bad kamma in a person habitually doing only a small amount of good is painful indeed, whereas the result of the same bad kamma in a person habitually doing a great deal of good is only felt mildly.
This natural law of kamma thus becomes the force behind, and the reason for, the Buddhist practice of morality and compassion in our society.
Rebirth
The Buddha clearly remembered many of his past lives. Even today many Buddhist monks and nuns, and others also, remember their past lives. Such a strong memory is a result of deep meditation. For those who remember their past lives rebirth becomes an established fact which puts this life in a meaningful perspective.
The law of kamma can only be understood in the framework of many lifetimes because it sometimes takes this long for kamma to bear its fruit. Thus kamma and rebirth offer a plausible explanation to the obvious inequalities of birth – why some are born into great wealth whereas others are born into pathetic poverty; why some children enter this world healthy and full-limbed whereas others enter it deformed and diseased. The painful results of bad kamma should not be regarded as punishment for evil deeds but as lessons from which to learn. For example, how much better to learn about the need for generosity than to be reborn among the poor!
Rebirth takes place not only within the human realm. The Buddha pointed out that the realm of human beings is but one among many. There are many separate heavenly realms and grim lower realms too, including the realm of animals and the realm of ghosts. Not only can we go to any of these realms in our next life, but we may have come from any of these realms into our present life. This explains a common objection against rebirth: “How can there be rebirth when there are 10 times as many people alive today as there were a century ago?” The answer is that people alive today have come from many different realms.
Understanding that we come and go between different realms, gives us more respect and compassion for the beings in these realms. It is unlikely, for example, that one would exploit animals when one has seen the link of rebirth that connects them with us.
No Creator God
The Buddha also pointed out that no God or priest nor any other kind of being has the power to interfere in the working out of someone else’s kamma. Buddhism, therefore, teaches individuals to take full responsibility for themselves. For example, if you want to be wealthy then be generous, trustworthy and diligent, and if you want to live in a heavenly realm then always be kind to others. There is no God to ask favours from, or to put it another way, there is no corruption possible in the workings of the law of kamma.
Do Buddhists believe that a Supreme Being created the universe? Buddhists would first ask which universe do you mean. This present universe from the moment of the ‘big bang’ up to now is but one among a countless number in Buddhist cosmology. When one universe cycle ends another begins, again and again, according to impersonal law and without discoverable beginning. A Creator God is redundant in this scheme.
No being is a Supreme Saviour, because gods, humans, animals and all other beings are subject to the law of Kamma. Even the Buddha had no power to save – he could only point out the truth for the wise to see for themselves. Everyone must take responsibility for their own future well-being, and it is dangerous to give that responsibility to anyone else.
The Illusion of a ‘Soul’
The Buddha taught that there is no ‘soul’, no essential and permanent core to a living being. Instead, that which we call a ‘living being’, human or otherwise, can be seen to be but a temporary coming-together of many parts and activities – when complete it is called a ‘living being’, but when the parts have separated and the activities have ceased it is not called a ‘living being’ anymore. Like a computer assembled of many parts and activities, only when it is complete and performs coherent tasks is it called a ‘computer’, but when the computer is taken apart and the activities cease it is no longer called a ‘computer’. No essential and permanent core can be found which we can truly call the ‘computer’, and just so no essential and permanent core can be found in a living being which we can call the ‘soul’.
Yet rebirth still occurs without a ‘soul’. Consider this simile: on a Buddhist shrine a candle is burnt low and is about to go out. A monk takes a new candle and lights it from the old one. The old candle goes out but the new candle burns bright. What went across from the old candle to the new one? There was a causal link but no ‘thing’ went across! In the same way, there was a causal link between your previous life and your present life, but no ‘soul’ went across.
Indeed, the illusion of a ‘soul’ is said by the Buddha to be the root cause of all human suffering. The illusion of ‘soul’ manifests as the ‘ego’. The natural unstoppable function of the ego is to control. Big egos want to control the world, average egos try to control their immediate surroundings of home, family and workplace, and all egos strive to control what they take to be their own body and mind. Such control manifests as desire and aversion, and it results in a lack of both inner peace and outer harmony. It is this ego that seeks to acquire possessions, manipulate others and exploit the environment. Its aim is its own happiness but it invariably produces suffering. It craves for satisfaction but experiences discontent. Such deep-rooted suffering cannot come to an end until one sees, through insight based on deep and powerful meditation, that the idea of ‘me and mine’ is no more than a mirage.
Buddhism’s relevance
Today, Buddhism continues to gain ever wider acceptance in many lands far beyond its original home. People throughout the world, through their own careful choice, are adopting Buddhism’s peaceful, compassionate and responsible ways.
The Buddhist teaching of the law of kamma offers people a just, incorruptible foundation and reason for living a moral life. It is easy to see how a wider embracing of the law of kamma would lead any country towards a stronger, more caring and virtuous society.
The teaching of rebirth places this present short lifetime of ours in a broader perspective, giving more meaning to the vital events of birth and death. The understanding of rebirth removes so much of the tragedy and grief surrounding death and turns our attention to the quality of a life, rather than its mere length.
From the very beginning the practice of meditation has been at the very heart of the Buddhist way. Today, meditation grows increasingly popular as its proven benefits to both mental and physical well-being are becoming more widely known. When stress is shown to be such a major cause of human suffering, the quieting practice of meditation becomes ever more valued.
Today’s world is too small and vulnerable for us to live angrily and alone, and thus tolerance, love and compassion are important. These qualities of mind, essential for happiness, are formally developed in Buddhist meditation and then diligently put into practice in everyday life.
Forgiveness, gentleness, harmlessness and peaceful compassion are the well-known ‘trademarks’ of Buddhism, and they are given freely and broadly to all beings, including animals of course, and also, most importantly, to oneself. There is no place for dwelling in guilt or self-hatred in Buddhism, not even a place for feeling guilty about feeling guilty!
Teachings and practices such as these are what bring about qualities of gentle kindness, unshakeable serenity and wisdom, identified with the Buddhist religion for over 25 centuries and sorely needed in today’s world. In all its long history, no war has ever been fought in the name of Buddhism. It is this peace and tolerance, growing out of a profound yet reasonable philosophy, that makes the Buddha’s message timeless and always vitally relevant.
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