Introduction
INTRODUCTION
Dharma is a Sanskrit word with many meanings, but in this case, we will mainly use it in the meaning of the "Buddha-dharma" or the teachings of the Buddha. Probably the shortest summary the Buddha himself gave of his teachings is
"I teach on suffering and the way to end it".
Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical teacher gave many teachings during his life, and it is not very simple to condense these all into a small, comprehensive package.
Moreover, during the last 2,500 years, various different traditions have developed in Buddhism (see history), which all are based on slightly different interpretations of his teachings, and emphasize somehwat different practices.
The Buddha gave some remarkably modern-sounding advice just before his passing away on how to approach the teachings, called the Four Reliances:
"Rely on the teaching, not on the person;
Rely on the meaning, not on the words;
Rely on the definitive meaning, not on the provisional;
Rely on your wisdom mind, not on your ordinary mind."
These kind of statements may clarify a bit why there is not simply 'one Buddhism'; every individual is encouraged to use their own intellect and wisdom to figure out what the teachings mean for them.
Buddha-dharma is also not a simple, easy-to-grasp subject, as the Buddha himself explained:
"This Dhamma that I have attained is profound, hard to see and hard to understand, peaceful and sublime, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle, to be experienced by the wise.
HAT IS BUDDHISM?
This question is easier asked than answered. Lama Anagorika Govinda expressed it as follows in 'Living Buddhism for the West':
"Thus we could say that the Buddha's Dharma is, as experience and as a way to practical realisation, a religion; as the intellectual formulation of this experience, a philosophy; and as a result of self-observation and analysis, a psychology.
Whoever treads this path acquires a norm of behaviour that is not dictated from without, but is the result of an inner process of maturation and that we - regarding it from without - can call morality.
THE KALAMA DISCOURSE
One time, when the Buddha passed through the city of Kalama, people asked him: "So many teachers were here, and all of them gave us excellent teachings, but they contradict each other. What should we do?" The Buddha then gave the so-called Kalama Discourse and expounded on ten aspects that one should consider when listening to spiritual teachings. (See the full text of the Kalama Sutra.)
Summarised, the Buddha said:
"Do not believe a spiritual teaching just because:
1. it is repeatedly recited,
2. it is written in a scripture,
3. it was handed from guru to disciple,
4. everyone around you believes it,
5. it has supernatural qualities,
6. it fits my beliefs anyway,
7. it sounds rational to me,
8. it is taught by a respectable person,
9. it was said to be the truth by the teacher,
10. one must defend it or fight for it.
However, only when it agrees with your experience and reason, and when it is conducive to the good and gain of oneself and all others, then one should accept the teachings, and live up to them.
Or, as the Buddha taught:
"My teaching is not a philosophy. It is the result of direct experience...
My teaching is a means of practice, not something to hold onto or worship.
My teaching is like a raft used to cross the river.
Only a fool would carry the raft around after he had already reached the other shore of liberation."
To his favourite disciple, Ananda, the Buddha once said (from: Old Path, White Clouds by Thich Nath Hanh):
"If you were to follow the Dharma purely out of love for me or because you respect me, I would not accept you as disciple. But if you follow the Dharma because you have yourself experienced its truth, because you understand and act accordingly - only under these conditions have you the right to call yourself a disciple of the Exalted One."
History
SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA'S LIFE STORY
Prince Siddharta Gautama was born some 2,500 years ago as a prince in what is now called Lumbini in Nepal. At his birth, many special signs appeared. His father asked a sage living in his kingdom for advice on his son. The sage predicted that Gautama would become either a great King or a great spiritual teacher.
The King wanted his son to be his successor and tried to keep him far away from all matters of life that could incline him to a spiritual life. Gautama usually spent his life in his father's palace, surrounded by all the possible luxuries of the time. He proved to be a special child, being quite intelligent as well as an excellent sportsman. He married to a beautiful woman he loved, and they had a son.
When Gautama was 29 years old, he discovered there was much suffering in the world around him. Traditionally it is explained that he suddenly recognised the problems of sickness, old age and death when visiting the city. Being shocked by the suffering of all living beings, he decided to search fo