Buddhism is Actually Really Simple
How can I make Buddhism as simple as possible? The Buddha himself started by not even teaching any unique teaching or practice. He just emphasized three fairly universal points – a kind of spirituality 101. It wasn’t even so much a system of beliefs as three points to cultivate:
1. Be generous and charitable – esp. of worthy causes.
2. Cultivate self-discipline so you won’t hurt yourself or others – this means not killing, stealing, lying, engaging in sexually harmful activity, and not intoxicating oneself so as to cloud the mind and lose self-control.
3. Contemplate the heavenly realms – by this was meant that one should generate a heart of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity so as to be more like those who dwell in the heavens (thereby make it more likely you’ll be reborn there after death – but the Buddha did teach that even if there is no afterlife you still “win” by having such a heart even in this life).
Is there anything hard or difficult to understand about this? I don’t think so. And I will be the first to admit that it is difficult to be generous, to not have moral/ethical failings, and to maintain love, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity in our dealings with people. But don’t you want to be such a person? Don’t you want to be around people who at least try? I know I do. And of course we must forgive ourselves and others for their failings and keep trying and encouraging one another.
Also in regard to making things as simple as possible: When the Buddha did teach something unique he started off with the four noble truths. But these are more like a plan of action (like the 12 steps) that you either do or don’t do. They are either effective when put into practice or not. They are not four things to believe in or not. Belief is beside the point. Here is the four point action plan:
1. Understand fully that life is characterized by suffering, that while happiness is not guaranteed, it is guaranteed that there will be frustration, disappointment, longing, and ultimately loss. If nothing else, we will die, and our loved ones will die. Almost all of us will also face illness. Many of us will have to deal with the rigors of aging.
2. Cut off the sources of suffering, because while painful situations will certainly have to be faced, we can face them without the emotional add-on of suffering, anguish, denial, etc… We have to look at our unrealistic expectations, attachments, and aversions and not buy into them any longer.
3. Realize what it is like not to suffer. The more we mature in our views and attitudes and behaviors, the more we achieve equanimity and even a certain unconditional bliss (i.e. happiness that doesn’t depend on a particular situation) in life as we are able to accept things as they are. Even a glimpse of this is life changing and encouraging.
4. Cultivate a way of life that leads to getting rid of suffering by having more mature views, attitudes, ways of speaking, acting, making a living, more healthily directed effort, and an ability to be mindful and maintain focus and peace of mind. The Buddha outlined such a way of life in terms of the eightfold path:
To view life in terms of suffering, its causes, the end of suffering, and the way to end suffering.
To overcome hatred and greed and cultivate compassion and generosity.
To avoid lying, abusive talk, slander, and gossip and instead to speak only what is true and helpful in a kindly and timely way.
To avoid harming others; avoid taking what is not given; and to avoid sexual relations that are harmful, exploitive, or deceitful. Look – don’t over think this – this and the one before it about language are all about the golden rule – do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It’s as simple as that.
To earn a living in a responsible way that does not harm or exploit others.
To make constant efforts to cultivate the wholesome and eradicate what is unwholesome.
To be mindful of our bodily states and actions, our feelings, our mental states, and of the unfolding of phenomena generally so that we can see how things really are.
To take the time to cultivate states of mental concentration and calm that enable us to overcome negative thoughts and feelings and instead to experience an even, balanced, clear, and positive state of mind. This can be done through various types of chanting and meditation practice.
I don’t find this complicated or hard to believe. I find it imminently sensible.
The fourth truth is actually the 8-fold path, and so with the first three it is an action plan of 11 parts – one less than the 12 steps. This is something to put into practice allow to prove itself in action. Easier said than done? Yes, but so is anything worth doing. It is like exercising and eating well, so why shouldn’t we have such a healthy regiment for heart and mind as well?
Finally, one last part to this having to do with how Buddhism can help us frame a perspective on our experiences and how we interpret and react to life’s constant changes and challenges:
Simply to survive we need to prefer some things, avoid others, and select our attention to what is relevant to our needs. However, when this gets out of control to the point where it hinders our physical, mental, and emotional health, and our interactions with others than preference or attachment has become greed, aversion becomes anger, and selective attention becomes ignorance (as in ignoring reality, what is). When we are dominated by greed, anger, and ignorance than our emotional state is determined moment to moment by whether circumstances happen to meet or thwart our desires. Those who can overcome the overweening and thus unhealthy functioning of attachment, aversion, and selective attention can instead maintain reasonable and healthy needs and actively cultivate and promote more altruistic and positive mindsets like loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity and maintain those outlooks even when facing difficult circumstances. There are people who seem to do this naturally. They have a talent for it, seemingly. Others need to work at this. Buddhism adopts an ancient cosmology to symbolize different approaches to life. Here are the ten different modes (often called “worlds”) of this cosmology that illustrate the different states that we can find ourselves in or that we cultivate:
Hell-dwellers represent those overwhelmed by aversion to the point where they have become destructive of themselves and others.
Hungry-ghosts are those in the grip of self-destructive attachment.
Animals are those who don’t think beyond immediate gratification and have a kind of pack mentality at best (as opposed to thinking more globally or long term).
Fighting demons are those whose overweening egoism constantly puts them into conflict with others.
Humans are those who at least moderate their greed, anger, and ignorance with reason and social virtues, though imperfectly.
Heavenly-beings have at least temporarily overcome anger, but there is still ignorance and at least a subtle egoism, though generally loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity are cultivated. We might call this a state of enlightened self-interest.
Hearers – those who realize that something is wrong with the former six states and seek to get out of the vicious cycle driven by greed, anger, and ignorance by hearing and practicing the teachings set forth in the four noble truths and the eightfold path. They follow the program in other words.
Solitary awakened ones – those who on their own think carefully about life’s ups and downs and the reasons life is the way it is. They see the patterns of causes and conditions and gain their own insight that puts greed, anger, and ignorance in perspective so that they are free of such myopic and unhealthy drives.
Awakening beings – those who not only gain insight and freedom from greed, anger, and ignorance, but who realize that their own liberation is not enough and that compassion for others is integral to real awakening and freedom. These are the people who realize we are all in the same boat.
Awakened ones are those who are fully accomplished awakening beings, living embodiments of wisdom and compassion.
All of these states are within us and accessible to us, though certainly some are all too easy to fall into, and others (esp. the last four) require real determination and in a way effort (in another way no effort whatsoever but I’m trying to keep things simple here – better now to think in terms of sincere determination and initially real effort). I honestly don’t think there is anything here too complicated conceptually. I don’t see anything here hard to believe either. These are states we can observe in ourselves and others, and this model presents a way of gauging where we are and where we want to be. That is my view.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei