In Buddhism, a man is capable of a virtue only if he has cognisance of it. One cannot despair of a man creating evil, if he knows what he does. He sees wrong, but at least he sees. Having achieved some knowledge, he can renounce his former deeds. But what may one expect of a man possessed of mental blindness? “Of two people who have committed the same error, he is worse who realises it. Of two innocent persons, he is better who realises that he is not guilty. For one cannot expect a man who does not consider himself guilty to manifest effort for the cessation of his erring.” (Majjhima Nikaya, v. 1, p. 25.)
In order to cure oneself, one has to know one’s ailment, but the realisation of it does not give health; for that, the necessary condition is a manifestation of will.
Considering all existing manifestations as correlations of most refined energies, the Teacher valued especially the evidence of effort in His pupils. He never taught the subjugation of passions, as such, but their transmutation and the sublimation of their quality: as at the basis of each passion, is contained the spark of energy without which no progress is possible.
Energy — will — makes the pupil vigilant and full of constant striving. These qualities arm him with patience, energy, sustained control — three indispensable conditions to crush the hordes of Mara, “as an elephant crushes a bamboo hut.” Patience is born of compassion and knowledge.
Of intolerance, it is pointed out that the mistakes of others are easily noticed but one’s own mistakes are perceived with difficulty. “A man sifts the misdeeds of his neighbor as the grain from the husk, but hides his own as the cheat hides the bad dice from the player.”
Nowhere do we see mention of non-resistance to evil; active condemnation and suppression of evil is everywhere. One should not submit to suffering, one must be daring in the perfection of good and not be satisfied with small achievements! “Like a beautiful flower, full of colour but without scent, so fruitless are the fine words of him who does not act in accordance with them.” (Dhammapada, ch. 20.)
“I indicated to My disciples the path which they must tread in order to manifest the four perfect efforts: to prevent the beginning of the harmful, evil thing if it be not yet manifested; to hinder its development if it be already manifested; to help the manifestation of useful things not yet manifested; and to strengthen those which are already manifested. Thus the disciple creates will, striving, develops courage, exercises the heart and fights.” (Majjhima Nikaya, 2.)
We can never call Buddha mild. On the contrary, He is the never-despondent Leader, the Fighter for community and for matter, the Hero of work and unity.
Buddha pointed out the necessity of co-measurement and goal-fitness. He said: “One should be neither less nor more.” His followers made of this formula of co-measurement the tiresome golden mean. Buddha likewise commanded the possession of fewer objects, in order not to allot too much time to them. This advice His followers transformed into pedantry. Buddha censured fanatics and advised that the body be treated according to the necessity of conditions. Where the body should be reduced for travel, the Teacher pointed out slenderness. But where the contagion of the atmosphere necessitated protection, the Teacher ordained food. In the Teaching of Buddha we find not only a materialistic philosophy but also the practical improvement of daily life.
The Teacher pointed out the necessity of harmony in a man’s forces, for the manifestation of the highest measure of knowledge and beauty, and for the scientifically vital necessity of cosmic economy for the general good.
“He will observe co-measurement in clemency, and, being resourceful in means, He will combine wisdom with compassion.” (Cikshasamuccaya, p. 38.)
“The charitable man has found the path of salvation. He is as a man who plants a sapling, thereby insuring shade, flowers and fruit for future years. Even so is the result of charity, even so is the joy of him who helps those that are in need of assistance. Even so is the great Nirvana.
“The immortal may be reached only by continuous acts of kindness; and perfection is accomplished by compassion and charity.”
Goal-fitness and compassion are vividly expressed in the following dialogue:
“Does the Blessed One pronounce a word which is false, destructive and disagreeable?”
“No.”
“If it is true, destructive and disagreeable?”
“Also not.”
“If true, useful and disagreeable?”
“Yes, when He finds it necessary.”
“If it be false, destructive and agreeable?”
“No.”
“True, useful and agreeable?”
“Yes, when He finds the time befitting.”
“Why does He act thus?”
“Because He has compassion towards all beings.” (Majjhima Nikaya, v. 1, p. 395.)
Many indications about the evidences of compassion are contained in the Sutras; one does not need to enumerate them, because in the last episode is contained all the refinement and the touching relation of Buddha to His neighbor:
“Chunda, the smith, hearing that Buddha had come to Pava and was stopping in the grove, went to Him and, paying Him reverence, asked the Blessed One to partake of his meal on the following day. Receiving His acceptance, Chunda departed and prepared all possible delicacies and also a large piece of juicy pork, for the following morning. The Blessed One accompanied by His disciples came to the home of the smith. Sitting down on the prepared seat, He addressed Chunda the smith:
“ ‘Chunda, bring me the pork thou hast preserved, but to the disciples give the other delicacies prepared by thee.’
“ ‘Yes, Lord,” replied the smith, and executed what was told.
“Then the Blessed One said: ‘Chunda, bury whatever is left of the pork, for I know no being besides the Tathagata who could digest it.’
“ ‘Yes, Lord,’ answered Chunda, and he buried the remains of the pork in the ground.
“Having partaken of food in the house of Chunda the smith, the Blessed One was stricken with severe sickness of the stomach and suffered terrible pain. He said to His disciple, Ananda, ‘Arise, Ananda, we shall go to Kushinagara.’ On the way the Blessed One stopped often, suffering great pain, thirst and anguish. Thus they reached the river Kakutkha. Having bathed here, the Blessed One stopped at the outskirts of the grove and, lying down on the outspread robes, said to Ananda: ‘Ananda, it is possible that some one will harass the heart of Chunda the smith with the following speeches: “Chunda, what distress for thee! Thou must feel very unhappy that Tathagata left the illusory world, after He accepted the meal in thy house.”
“ ‘Ananda, dispel the heavy thoughts of Chunda by the following words: “Friend, thou must rejoice, for thy happiness lies in that this happened in such a manner. From the lips of Tathagata Himself, I have heard and understood that two gifts of food receive equal appreciation and reward — verily, they receive a greater reward and blessing than others. Which two? That, after which the Tathagata attains the highest and complete enlightenment and that, after partaking of which, He enters the liberation of Nirvana.” With such words, Ananda, should you dissipate the heavy thoughts of the smith Chunda.’ ”(Mahaparanirvana Sutra.)
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The more deeply we penetrate into the Teaching of the Blessed One, the more vividly appear His boundless compassion and love, which permeate each of His thoughts and actions.
“Like a mother who protects her only child with her own life, cultivate such boundless love toward all beings!”
His all-embracing sympathy with all existing things extends even to the vegetable kingdom. He avoids destroying seeds and plant-life. In the Anguttara Nikaya the Blessed One says, “Whoever of my disciples cultivates mind-delivering love but for a moment, that disciple meditates not in vain and follows the Doctrine and the discipline of the Teacher; how much more those who cultivate the thought of love!”
In Ituvuttaka it is said, “All methods for the earning of merit in this life are not worth one-sixteenth part of love, the deliverance of mind. Love, the deliverance of mind, embraces them into itself, shining and glowing and beaming.
“And as the shining of all stars does not equal one sixteenth of the brightness of the moon, but as moonlight absorbs it unto itself, shining and glowing and beaming, so all methods for the earning of merit in this life are not worth one-sixteenth part of love, the deliverance of the mind.
“Love, the deliverance of the mind, embraces unto itself, shining, glowing and beaming.
“And, as in the last month of the rainy season in autumn, the sun in a clear and cloudless sky, mounting the firmament, clears away all darkness in the expanse of air, shining and glowing arid beaming; and as, following the night, early at morning the morning star shines and glows and beams, even so all means for the earning of merit in this life is not worth one-sixteenth part of love, the deliverance of mind. Love, the deliverance of mind, embraces them unto itself, shining and glowing and beaming.”
The love of Buddha was of so immeasurable a stream, that it could not be exhausted by any hate or hostility. On the contrary, such hostile attack only brought it to fuller unfoldment. Therefore, He ordained to His disciples, “However men may speak concerning you, whether appropriately or inappropriately, whether courteously or rudely, whether wisely or foolishly, whether kindly or maliciously, thus My disciples, must you train yourselves. Our minds should remain unsullied; neither should evil word escape our lips. Kind and compassionate will we ever remain, loving of heart, nor harbouring secret hate. And we will bathe that person with the unfailing stream of loving thought. And proceeding forth from him, embrace and flood the whole wide world with constant thoughts of loving kindness, wide, ample, expanding, immeasurable as the world, free from enmity, free from ill-will. Thus, disciple, must you train yourselves!” (Majjhima Nikaya, p. 127.)
Here we see that the love which His disciples had to cultivate was the boundless stream of kindness radiating to all four quarters of space, above and below, in all places, the wide world over.
According to the Teaching these waves of kindness, compassion or joy sent into space, reach a mind afflicted with sorrow and grief, which suddenly feels within itself a welling-up of peace and serenity.
Thought is energy and as such, acts in full conformity with its intensity and the impetus given to it.
Love, as taught by the Blessed One, being the deliverance of mind, was at the root of everything really great.
“The greatest of all is the loving heart.”
One more legend from Buddha’s life. “The Blessed One sat above the waters of a deep lake. In its depths one could discern an entire world of fish and seaweeds. The Blessed One noticed how this small world resembled the courts of royalty, ‘If man should sink there, he would destroy these ephemeral dwellings with his feet, but he himself would choke. Out of such depths the spirit of man does not arise.’
“ ‘But,’ smiled the Teacher, ‘for everything there is a remedy. One can shatter the rock and drain the lake. The snails will then have either to dry up or to find another place of existence. But man will not perish.’ ”
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In Buddhist writings are often mentioned six teachers, philosophers, as Buddha’s constant antagonists. Those were the philosophers who disputed the theoretical bases of Buddha’s Teaching. Two hypotheses in the Teaching of Gotama Buddha were especially subject to attack: His Teaching about causes and His denial of the independent and unchangeable soul in man and in the universe — the very hypotheses which are so close to our contemporary trend of thought.
Affirming the reality which surrounds us and is visible to all, the Teacher pointed out the existence of the most subtle reality, which is attainable only through higher knowledge. The knowledge of this reality and the possession of this higher knowledge are usually imperceptible to our coarse sense-organs.
“If that which is realized by our feelings would exist as the only reality, then the fool, by right of birth, would possess the fundamental Truth; what, then, would be the use of all quests for the realization of the essence of things.”
In our brains are centers, the opening of which gives possibility of possessing immutable knowledge. In this affirmation, we again see how the Teacher proceeded in a purely scientific direction, coinciding in this indication also with the affirmations of contemporary scientists concerning the many centers in our organism, the functions of which are yet unknown but which, according to the importance of the places they occupy, one may suppose to be of unusual significance.
The idea of God has its own interpretation for Buddhists, in accordance with the law of Karma and with the understanding of the necessity of personal efforts for one’s own liberation. “Who is it that shapes our lives? Is it Icvara, a personal creator? If Icvara be the maker, all living things should have silently to submit to their maker’s power. They would be as vessels formed by the potter’s hand; and if it were so, how would it be possible to practice virtue? If the world had been made by Icvara there should be no such thing as sorrow, or calamity, or sin, for both pure and impure deeds must issue from Him. If not, there would be another cause besides Him, and He would not be the self-existent one. Thus you see, the thought of Icvara is overthrown.
“Again, it is said that the Absolute has created us. But that which is absolute cannot be a cause. All things around us issue from a cause, as the plant issues from the seed; but how can the Absolute be the cause of all things alike? If it pervades them, then certainly, it does not produce them.
“Again, it is said that Self is the maker. But if Self is the maker why did he not make pleasing things? The cause of sorrow and joy are real and objective. How can they have been made by Self?
“Again, if you adopt the argument that there is no maker, that our fate is such as it is, and there is no causation, what use would there be in shaping our lives and adjusting means to an end?
“Therefore we argue that all things that exist are not without cause. However, neither Icvara, nor the Absolute, nor the Self, nor causeless chance, is the maker but our deeds produce results both good and evil.
“The whole world is under the law of causation and the causes that are not un-mental, for the gold of which the cup is made is gold wrought. Let us not lose ourselves in vain speculations of profitless subtleties; let us surrender Self and selfishness and as all things are fixed by causation, let us practice good so that good may result from our actions.” (Vol. 19 of the Sacred Books of the East, Oxford, 1883.)
If the eternally changing existence of man excludes the hypothesis of a constant changeless entity, then the Universe, this complex of complexes, may be explained entirely without the necessity or even the possibility of introducing into it an unchanging and eternal Being.
Two doctrines were especially condemned by Buddha: 1. The affirmation of the eternal unchanging soul. 2. The destruction of the soul after death. Both these doctrines were denied by the law of causal conception which establishes that all dharmas are at the same time causes and consequences.
Buddha denied the existence of a changeless soul in man and in all, as He saw in man and the whole universe only inconstancy and the transitional.
The thesis of the continuity of the stream of phenomena and the formula of the causality of conception exclude the existence of the eternal unchanging soul, individual as well as universal.
The connotation of the word “soul” is absolutely inadmissible for the Buddhist; because the thought that man can be a being separated from all other beings and from the existence of the whole universe, can neither be proved by logic nor supported by science. “In this world no one is independent. All that exists depends on causes and conditions.” “Each thing depends upon another thing and the thing it depends upon is, in turn, not independent.” (Bodhicaryavatara, v. 6, pp. 26-31.)
Buddha constantly taught that there is no independent “I” and that there is no world separated from it. There are no independent things, there is no separate life — all are only indissoluble correlatives. If there is no separate “I”, we cannot say that this or that is mine, and thus the origin of the understanding of property is destroyed.
If the understanding of a permanent and independent human soul is to be rejected, what, then, in man gives him the sense of a permanent personality? The answer will be — trishna or the craving for existence. A being who has generated causes for which he is responsible and possesses this craving, will, according to his Karma, be born anew.
Of one and the same complex of elements (dharmas) are born infinite combinations of skandhas of elements, which are manifested at the given time as one personality, and after a definite period of time appear as another, third, fourth, etc., ad infinitum. There occurs, not a transmigration, but an endless transformation of a complex of dharmas or elements — that is, a continuous regrouping of the elements — substrata which form the human personality.
Upon the quality of the new combination of skandhas — elements of the new personality — the last desire before death of the previous personality has a great influence: it gives direction to the liberated stream.
In Buddhism a man is regarded as an individuality, built by numerous existences, but only partially manifested in each new appearance on the earthly plane.
The individual existence, consisting of an entire chain of lives, which began, continue and finish in order to begin again, ad infinitum, is compared to a wheel or a year of twelve months, invariably repeated. The chain of the twelve nidanas becomes no longer a chain but the wheel of life, with twelve spokes. Once set in motion, the wheel of life, the wheel of the Law, will never stop: “The wheel of the benevolent Law in its unchangeable rotation crushes untiringly the worthless chaff, separating it from the golden grain. The hand of karma directs the wheel, its revolutions marking the beat of its heart.”
All these changes of forms or of existence lead toward one goal — the attainment of Nirvana; it means the full development of all possibilities contained in the human organism. But Buddhism teaches the cognizance and creation of good, independent of this aim, as the contrary would be absolute egoism, and such speculation is foredoomed to disappointment. As it is said, Nirvana is the epitome of disinterestedness, complete renunciation of all personal for the sake of truth. An ignorant man dreams and strives to Nirvana, without any realisation of its true Essence. To create good with the view of gaining results or to lead a disciplined life for the attainment of liberation, is not the noble path ordained by Gotama. Without thought of reward or achievement life must be crossed, and such life is the greatest.
The condition of Nirvana may be attained by man in his earthly Life.
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Buddhism admits no difference between the physical and the psychic worlds. Reality attributed to the action of thought is of the same order as reality of objects cognised by our senses.
Buddhism regards all existing phenomena as one reality. Physically and psychically these phenomena are dharmas, objects of our cognisance. Within us and without, we come in touch only with dharmas, as in us and outside us exist but dharmas. The word “dharma” is one of the most significant and most difficult to translate in the Buddhist terminology. Dharma is a manifold factor, a factor of consciousness with an inherent property of definite expression. Our organs give us sensations which are transformed into dharmas through the action of cognisance. Ideas, images and all intellectual processes are, first of all, dharmas.
As colour, form and sound are to the eye and ear, so dharmas are to the consciousness. They exist for us by their effects. “The blue colour exists only as we receive the sensation of blue.”
It is customary to call the Teaching of Buddha itself, Dharma, since dharma also signifies law.
Subjective and objective phenomena are continuously changing. They are real; but their reality is momentary, because all that exists is but part of an eternally unfolding development — dharmas appear one moment, in order to change in the next. This doctrine of the eternal flux of all things was so fundamental a characteristic of the Teaching that it was even named “The Theory of Instantaneous Destruction.”
Dharmas (transcendental bearers of definite qualities) are drawn into the stream of eternal change. Their combinations define the specifications of objects and individual. Only that which is beyond combinations is unchangeable. The ancient teaching knew only one concept which was integral, unconditioned and eternal — Nirvana.
Every dharma is a cause, for every dharma is energy. If this energy is inherent in each conscious being, it manifests itself in a twofold way: outwardly, as the immediate cause of phenomena; inwardly, by transmuting the one who has engendered it and by containing in itself the consequences revealed in the near or distant future.
We find that the physical and psychic organism of a man is but the combination of five groups of aggregates or skandhas, which are divided into physical qualities: form — rupa; sensation — vedana; perceptions — samjna; forces — samskara; consciousness — vijnana. All five are equally unstable and dual. Samskara are the inclinations and creative powers, explaining the present dharmas by the previous and indicating which of the present dharmas prepare those of the future.
“Samskara are accumulations left by former sensations and lending their fragrance to future sensations.” From this definition of samskara (skandhas), it is clear that this group of elements appears as the one absorbing all peculiarities of other skandhas. Vijnana-skandha and partly samjna lend their colouring or character to the other combinations, and therefore appear as the cause defining the next existence, in the sense of strivings and inclinations.
“Rupa is like a plate; vedana is like food contained in the plate; samjna is like a sauce; samskara is like the cook and vijnana is like the eater.”
No element carries from one existence into another, but not one attains a new existence without having had its cause in the previous existence. When the old consciousness ceases to exist, it is death. When consciousness returns to existence, a new birth takes place. One should understand that the present consciousness is not born of the old consciousness, but that its present state is the result of causes accumulated in the previous existence.
From one life to another there is no transmission, but there is a seeming reflection, solidarity.
“The man who sows is not him who reaps; yet he is not also another man.”
The content of consciousness consists of dharmas. Dharmas are thoughts. These thoughts are as real as the four elements or the organs of sense, because from the moment a thing is thought, it already exists. Man is a complex of combinations and at each moment his nature is defined by the amount and quality of the particles of which he is composed. Each change in his combination makes a new being of him. But this change does not exclude continuity because the motion of skandhas does not occur accidentally or beyond the law. Drawn into the eternal ebb and flow, the aggregates change in one direction or in another, as the conditions of each new combination are defined by a cause; and this cause is the quality of the preceding cause. Each successive combination harvests the fruit of former combinations and plants the seed which will bear fruit in the future combinations.
Man is a complex of combinations and at the same time he is the link. He is the complex because at each moment he contains a great number of skandhas; he is the link because between the two successive conditions there is at the same time the difference and solidarity. “If there would be no difference, milk would not turn into curdled milk. And if there would be no solidarity, there would be no need in milk, in order to have curdled milk.”
Let us explain by one more example: Physiologically the human organism completely changes every seven years and yet when the man A is forty years of age he is absolutely identical with the eighteen-year-old youth A; nevertheless, on account of the constant destruction and rebuilding of his body and changes in his mind and character, he is a different being. A man in his old age is the precise consequence of the thoughts and deeds of each preceding stage of his life. Likewise, the new personality, being the previous individuality, but in a changed form, in a new combination of the skandhas of elements, reaps justly the consequences of the thoughts and deeds of his former existences.
The consciousness and its eternally changing contents are one. “There is no permanent ‘I’, which would remain unchangeable.” — “It is necessary that the embryo should die in order that a child may be born; the death of the child is needed in order that the boy may be born and the death of the boy produces the youth.” (Ciksshasamuccaya, p. 358.)
It is customary to compare human existence with a necklace — each bead is one of the physical manifestations. But perhaps it is clearer to conceive of this evolution as a complex mixture into which, with each new embodiment on the earthly plane, a new ingredient is being added which naturally changes the whole mixture.
Each new manifestation is limited by physical elements, rupa-skandha.
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The energy striving to create a new being and directed by karma is called “trishna” — the stimulus, the craving for existence.
And this stimulus, when imbued with the essence of the Teaching, rises before us not only as the greatest cosmic principle, but also as the greatest and most beautiful cosmic mystery. And Gotama Buddha, who unceasingly pointed out the eternally rushing stream of our lives, has thus asserted the cosmicality and, consequently, the Infinity of this stimulus, which many misquoters of the Teaching try to suppress in themselves; but the fiery spirit of the Teacher could only destroy small conceptions, broadening them into Infinity. And Nirvana is the Gate which introduces us into the rhythm of the highest, fiery, creative and eternally expanding stream of infinite Existence.
The Teaching of Buddha is an untiring fiery call to the realization of beauty and unity of the great creativeness of the infinite Existence.
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What is Karma? The action of consequences of that which is committed by man — in deed, word and thought. The inner effect, as pointed out previously, manifests itself only in conscious beings. Hence, the colossal responsibility of man before all that exists and, first of all, before himself. “That which I call karma, is only thought; as, having thought, man acts through his body, word and mind.” (Kathavattha, vol. 8-9-36.) Karma is created by thoughts. “There is no merit for the one who gives gold, thinking he gives a stone.” The tendency of thought gives man his moral value, changed by deeds into one direction or another.
“A good action is manifested and completed. And even though it may no longer exist, nevertheless its consequence exists. At the moment of action a definite combination of dharmas arises in the ‘stream’ of this man.” In this is contained the indestructibility of the deed. Thus, to the purely mechanical understanding of cause and effect, Buddhism adds also responsibility. One of such combinations, aggregates, which we call individuum is defiled or uplifted by the actions of the preceding combination with which it is solidary. “I teach nothing but karma.” (Mahavastu, vol. 1, p. 246.)
The persistence which Buddha exerted in order to instill into his disciples the understanding of moral responsibility resulting from the law of karma, proves that herein was contained the fact of primary Truth, self-contained and absolute. Truth which must guide all actions of man. “To doubt the moral power of a deed means to close our eyes to evidence.”
“All beings have their karma. They are the heirs of deeds and the sons of deeds. They are completely dependent upon their deeds. Deeds establish differences of low and superior conditions between beings.” (Majjhima Nikaya, vol. III, p. 202.)
“Verily out of that which was, is being created that which is. Man is born according to what he has created. All beings have karma as their heritage.” (Majjhima Nikaya, vol. I, p. 390.)
“Not only is the correspondence between fruit and seed exact, but action, like every good seed, expands a hundredfold.”
Each man, by the action of unerring karma, receives in exact measure all that is due, all that he deserves, neither more nor less. Not one benevolent or evil action, trifling as it may be, as secretly as it may be done, escapes the precisely balanced scale of karma. Karma is causality, acting in the moral as well as in the physical and other planes. Buddhists say there are no miracles in human deeds; what man has sown he will reap. “There exists no place on earth or in heaven or under the water, nor is there such place in the depths of the mountains, where evil action does not bring suffering to him who begot it.” (Dhammapada.)
“If a man offend a harmless and innocent person, the evil blows back upon that fool, as light dust thrown up against the wind.”
“An evil that is committed, does not curdle at once like milk. It follows the fool closely like a smouldering spark that at last breaks into burning flame.”
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A foolish man, learning that Buddha observed the principle of great love which commands the return of good for evil, came and abused Him. Buddha was silent, pitying his folly.
After the man had finished his abuse, Buddha asked him, “Son, if a man declines a gift made to him, to whom would it belong?” And he answered, “In that case it would belong to the man who offered it.”
“My son,” said Buddha, “You have railed at me, but I refuse to accept your abuse and request you to keep it yourself. Will it not be a source of misery to you? As the echo belongs to the sound and the shadow to the substance, so infallibly will misery overtake the evildoer.
“A wicked man who reproaches a virtuous one is like a man who looks up and spits at heaven; the spittle does not soil the heaven, but comes back and defiles his own person.
“The slanderer is as one who casts dust at another when the wind is contrary; the dust only returns on him who cast it. The virtuous man cannot be hurt, and the misery that the other desires to inflict turns back upon himself.”
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In general, people return to earth until their consciousness outgrows the earthly level. Buddha pointed out that there existed whole systems of worlds of different grades — the highest and lowest, and that the inhabitants of each world correspond to each other in their development. The world in which the appointed man must be manifested as well as the quality of the reincarnation itself, are determined by the predominance in him of positive or negative qualities, in other words, in scientific language — the birth will be controlled by his true attractions or by his karma, according to Buddhists.
Like a misdeed, remorse is an action. And this action has consequences, which can balance the consequence of the misdeed. Buddha said, “If the man who committed evil realizes his fault, is remorseful and creates good, the power of his chastisement will gradually be exhausted, like a sickness which gradually loses its destructive effect in proportion to the perspiration of the patient.” (Sutras, paragraph 42.)
Karma is thought; therefore, the quality of thinking may change or even completely liberate man from the effects of karma. If deeds would accumulate one upon another, man would be encircled by his karma as in a conjured circle. But by teaching that there is a state of consciousness which can destroy the reaction of committed deeds, Buddha pointed out the possibility of cessation of human suffering. Will and energy are rulers of karma. From all that was said it is clear that the law of karma and the law of reincarnation are inseparable, as one is the logical consequence of the other.
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Among some western scholars it has been an accepted opinion to regard Buddhism as the Teaching of despair and inaction, which does not at all correspond to its fundamental character.
Buddha, as the true Leader of general good, fearlessly revealed to humanity the real dangers of existence and at the same time showed the way to avoid them — this way is knowledge. Who may call the man who halts you at the edge of the precipice a pessimist?
“Beings live in a house surrounded by flames; nevertheless they feel no fear nor awe. They do not know; they are frivolous; they are not frightened; they do not try to save themselves, they seek enjoyments and roam about in different directions in this triple world, similar to a house ensnared by flames.” (Saddharma-Pundarika, p. 77.)
“The fools think that suffering lies only in sensations of pain. Verily their feelings are distorted. They are like a sick man who imagines that sugar is bitter. A fluff of wool settling on the hand is imperceptible, but entering the eye, it causes severe pain. The palm is the ignorant man, the eye is the sage. Only the sage is deeply affected by the spectacle of the suffering of the world.” (Madhyamakavritti, p. 476.)
If after such statements anyone could call Buddha a pessimist, he would be like those ignorant people, who kill the doctors that come to make healing inoculations. And the same people, inclined to ascribe to the Teaching the keynote of despair, cite the affirmation of Buddha, “I am the destroyer of old age and death. I am the best physician. I possess the highest means.” (Lalita Vistara, p. 93.)
“Drink, laboring ones, drink the remedy of Truth and, partaking of it, live. Having absorbed it you will conquer old age and death.” (Lalita Vistara, p. 335.)
We quote an authoritative opinion of the chief abbot of the monastery Kamakura Soyen-Shaku, “Buddhism is the most rational and intellectual teaching in the world.” (Sermons of a Buddhist, p. 28.)
The Teaching of Buddha impregnated in its very structure with the affirmation of the self-contained human entity in its cosmic scope of striving towards far-off worlds is full of true greatness and beauty.
Naturally the question may arise — how did the Teacher recall beauty in its earthly manifestations? In Mahaparanirvana Sutra is pointed out that even at the hour of Death the thoughts of the Teacher were directed towards the beautiful, remembering the beauty of the best places He traversed. “Beautiful is Rajagriha, the top of the Vulture, the rock of the Robber; beautiful are the groves and mountains.” “Vessali, what a place of beauty!”
All ancient philosophical teachings affirmed the law of karma and the law of final liberation, but the value of the Teaching of Buddha lies in the fact that without infringing upon the basis of all these scientific and philosophic theses, it turned to earth, to earthly labor, pointing out that only by the way of real, strenuous labor and self-development may one reach true progress; thus He affirmed the evolution of humanity as an organic part of the Cosmos.
The word “stream” so often used by Buddha in its application to the Cosmos and human existence is nothing else than the concept expressed by our word “evolution.”
“The contact of cosmic transformation with psychic energy gives birth to the condition of a successful stream.” Thus spoke Buddha.
Much as previous Teachings may be characterized as an estrangement from earth, so Buddha appeared as a true ploughman of our earth, laying the foundation of conscious and real labor. In his case the formula, “by human hands and feet,” may be applied. And in this is contained the unrepeatable uniqueness of the value of the Teaching and the labor of Gotama Buddha.
We are not interested in the latest additions which surround Buddhism, but only the foundations, ordained by the Teacher Himself, are needed for the future. And in these foundations one may see the Teaching, not only executed with an iron will but impressed with the steps of his lengthy wanderings.
One may be astonished at the arguments with which superficial investigators have supported their opinion of the Teaching of Buddha as one of despair. This is a falsehood! It is the song of the greatness of labor, the song of the victory of humanity, the song of austere joy!
The Teaching of Buddha may be termed the experiment of a laboring community.
Not only the Buddhist understanding, but all just minds as well, must value the stone of Buddha’s labor.
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From the very beginning a difference was made between the spirit and the letter. The Teacher said, “Knowledge is not the letter, but the spirit.”
The word of Buddha is different from the letter. The Teacher communicates the Truth to the disciple, but only after deep and personal realization may the pupil possess it.
According to the words of Buddhist scholars the premise upon which the Teaching is based answers all demands of reason, but to substitute reason by the limited mind of ignorant man would be exceedingly absurd.
To this day there are preserved a sufficient number of Buddhist legends, more or less authentic, to permit us at least approximately to know the character of the Teacher’s discourses. From these traditions we know that the Teacher never hesitated to answer questions put to Him. In the ancient compilation of Buddha’s words, an unusual conciseness and definiteness of expressions, above all, is evident. “The Sutras” are nothing but the aphorisms or concise sayings of Buddha, containing the philosophical and moral statutes of the Teaching. The aphorisms of Buddha retained their conciseness in Buddhist traditions, but already with the addition of comments.
The vividness of the Teachings of Buddha was contained also in the power of His simple expressions. Never did He apply any verses. Verily, like a lion, He roared about the purity of life. Never did He preach, but only explained on occasion, using parables to emphasize the given advice.
Buddha ordained to His disciples that they should always expound the Teaching in the colloquial language and severely censured each attempt to codify the Teaching in an artificial literary language. In Buddhist traditions indications exist about the travels of the Teacher beyond the contemporaneous boundaries of India, into Tibet, Khotan and Altai.
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