What You Should Know:

About the Basic Teachings of Buddhism

As we have seen, the Buddha taught what has become known as Buddhism to enable all beings to attain awakening. His goal was to free all people from suffering, and a major part of his awakening was the realization of an effective means for teaching everyone else the path to awakening. The Buddha explained these　"tactful" or "skillful" means in the Lotus Sutra. How, then, did the Buddha lead his disciples and, through them, all people awakening?

With new disciples, the Buddha would begin by teaching that positive actions will have positive consequences and that negative actions will have negative consequences, both in this life and in future lives. This is known as the law of cause and effect and the teaching of rebirth. Although these teachings were known before the Buddha, he brought a new and deeper understanding to these teachings based upon his awakening.

Next, for his disciples who were known as "hearers" of the Buddha's teachings (in Sanskrit, shravakas), the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths, an application of the law of cause and effect unique to Buddhism. He also taught the principle of dependent origination for those who wished to have a deeper understanding of the workings of cause and effect. Dependent origination was also the appropriate subject of meditation for the privately awakened ones, also referred to as "private-buddhas" (in Sanskrit, pratyekabuddhas), who did not follow any teacher, either through choice or lack of opportunity. All of these early teachings lead to the practice of the middle way, which is the central theme of all of the Buddha's teachings. Finally, those who accepted these teachings would take refuge in the Buddha as the awakened teacher, the Dharma as the teaching that leads to awakening, and the Sangha as the community that upholds the way to attain awakening. These preliminary lessons of the Buddha were taught to prepare people for the Mahayana teachings and, ultimately, for the Lotus Sutra. Let's explore these basic introductory teachings in depth.

The Law of Cause and Effect

The law of cause and effect, or karma, bears close examination because it is central to understanding the Buddha's insight. Karma does not mean "fate" or "destiny," though it is often misinterpreted as such. Instead, it refers to how our actions shape our lives.

In general, the law of cause and effect explains how all phenomena appear and disappear as a result of actions and their consequences. Everything that exists, from people to planets to subatomic particles to states of mind, are the effects of previous causes that will in turn generate the causes that will bring about future effects. When we become aware of this process, we realize that nothing exists independently of its causes and conditions and that nothing possesses any kind of permanent existence. Everything exists as a momentary and mutually supportive element in the dynamic process of cause and effect. This also means that when we try to grasp anything within this process, it invariably slips away and fails to provide us with the lasting satisfaction and security that we are seeking.

A few years ago, while driving past some wineries, I was struck by the fact that each grape was a transformation of soil, rainwater, sunlight, and the initial seed, none of which even resembles a grape. In terms of cause and effect, the seed was the cause and the grape was the effect, which bore within it new seeds, the causes for future grapes. The seed was the principal cause, and the soil, rainwater, sunlight, and farm workers were contributing causes which provided for the development of the seed into the grape. Furthermore, each of those grapes was destined to disappear. Some would be made into wine or vinegar. Some would be sold fresh as table grapes, while others would be dried into raisins. Others would fall upon the ground and rot, and some would be eaten by insects, birds, and other wild ani-mals. The grape is an example of the universal law of cause and effect that applies to all phenomena. The process of cause and etect is integral to all things, and all things are momentary event in the transformation of causes and effects.

People are not exempt from this process - we are as much a part of it as anything else. However, unlike inanimate objects and those living things that are not self-conscious, we make the causes ourselves that will determine the kinds of lives that we will have to suffer or enjoy. The Buddha taught that what we are today is a result of what we have thought and done in the past, and what we shall be in the future will be a result of what we think and do in the present.

Unfortunately, we trap ourselves in a vicious cycle of suffering by not recognizing the impermanent nature of things. Neither do we realize how we are setting in motion the various causes that will eventually determine the nature of our lives. Because of this ignorance, in our attempts to get those things that we mistakenly believe will bring permanent self-fulfillment, we act in ways that are far from beneficial, both for ourselves and for others. Most of us are familiar with the phrase "what goes around comes around," but how many of us actually make sure that all of our words, actions, and thoughts are the kind that we would like to see mirrored back to us by the people, places, and events in our daily lives? More often, we act without really thinking about the consequences of our actions. As an example, consider how many people seek companionship. Lonely individuals often decry the difficulty of meeting appropriate companions in our society or blame their lack of success on the cold-heartedness of others. However, we often do not take the time to consider whether we are cultivating qualities that make us attractive to those we seek to meet. In externalizing the blame for our loneliness, we further cultivate anxiety, frustration, and depression; these qualities make us even less likely to find a companion. If we have unrealistic expectations of our companions, we only further undermine our chances for happiness by creating a recipe for disappointment in any relationship we do find. Between our misguided efforts to get what we want and the unrealistic expectations for our desires, it is no wonder that we actually end up making causes that result in further suffering.

Rebirth

The Buddha was also aware that the process of cause and effect extends beyond a single lifetime. Based upon his deep insight into the processes of life and death and of cause and effect, the Buddha saw that who we are and what we are faced with in this life are the result of our actions in previous lifetimes. Furthermore, what we will become in future lifetimes will be determined by what we do in the present. In other words, our every thought, word, and deed has the power to create our destiny, both now and in the future.

According to the Buddha, there are six destinies or realms, basic states of existence that we can experience from moment to moment and even from lifetime to lifetime. These are the destinies of hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, animals, fighting demons, human beings, and the gods. Depending upon the positive or negative causes that we make, the very nature of our body, mind, and environment can change to resemble one or more of these worlds. When we give in to despair or unreasoning hatred we experience life as hellish. When we are so dominated by selfish craving that we can never get enough of what we desire, then we are in the half-alive state of a hungry ghost. When we live only for immediate gratification and ignore the consequences of our actions, then we have become like animals who live only by instinct. When we puff ourselves up with pride and compete with others for money, power, or sex, then we have become like fighting demons. When we can act reasonably and are not overwhelmed by pleasure or pain, then we are in the basic state of a human being. On those rare occasions when our desires are temporarily fulfilled and we are in a state of joyful harmony and well-being, then we are experiencing the heavenly realms. These different states are ever-changing and flow from one to the next.

This is not meant to be a mere system of metaphysical rewards and punishments. The point is that when our thoughts are dominated by greed, hatred, and delusion, we are creating our own unhappiness. The need, hostility, and confusion within our hearts will inevitably manifest itself in our bodies, our relationships with others, and even in our environment. On the other hand, when we develop love, compassion, joy, and peace of mind, we will have a correspondingly positive effect on ourselves, the people around us, and the world.

The Buddha also saw beyond the six destinies. He realized that it was possible to transcend these states and become free of both the suffering of the four lower realms and the limited happiness of both the human and god realms. The Buddha wished to share with others the ultimate happiness of the state of buddhahood itself. However, he knew that most people would have trouble even imagining such a state and that even fewer would have the confidence in themselves or in the Buddha to try to attain such a state. To help us, the Buddha provided many preparatory teachings so we could better understand our lives, free ourselves of suffering, and attain the confidence to realize our own buddhahood.

The Four Noble Truths

The four noble truths are the fundamental teachings of the Buddha, a straightforward application of the law of cause and effect. The four noble truths are the truth of suffering, the truth of the origin of suffering, the truth of the cessation of suffering, and the truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering, which is the eightfold noble path. The first two truths describe the effect and the cause of suffering; the last two truths describe the effect and cause of freedom from suffering.

The first noble truth of suffering is that we are bound to meet with trouble, pain, and disappointment in life. This suffering includes all minor and major forms of discomfort and pain, whether physical, mental, or emotional. The Buddha specifically spoke of the sufferings resulting from major changes such as birth, old age, sickness, and death, as well as the suffering that comes from loss, frustrated desires, unwanted situations, and the basic, changing nature of life. The truth of suffering teaches us to recognize these facts courageously.

The second noble truth of the origin of suffering is that suffering arises when we refuse to recognize the reality of life and instead attempt to make reality conform to our desires. This truth is often expressed as "the cause of suffering is craving." This craving is the result of the unrealistic expectation that life should be a source of unchangeable happiness. Craving transforms our life into a state of subtle agitation and anxiety, even under the best circumstances. For example, we worry about paying the bills, losing a job, or not getting a promotion. In the worst circumstances, it makes life an ongoing cycle of agony and unbearable suffering, such as when we face serious illness or the death of a loved one. While external circumstances can indeed bring about uncomfortable or tragic experiences, it is our internal craving that turns pain, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual - into suffering. But the Buddha tells us that though pain and discomfort exist in everyone's life, suffering is optional.

The third noble truth of the cessation of suffering teaches that relief from suffering is possible. Liberation from the vicious cycle of craving and suffering is often referred to as nirvana. Nirvana does not refer to some other-worldly realm of bliss nor a nihilistic destruction of thought or being. It means "to extinguish." This refers to the extinguishing of the flames of selfish craving. When we extinguish these flames we can experience true peace of mind and happiness in our lives. We will still face painful events in our lives, but we will not suffer. Through our practice, we can reach the point where we can face any situation, both pleasant and painful, with hearts that are loving, compassionate, joyful, and at peace.

The truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering is the path we must follow to stop clinging and free ourselves from suffering. It is the middle way between self-indulgence and self-denial which is also called the eightfold nobe path.

The Eightfold Noble Path

The eightfold noble path consists of right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Each of these is an aspect of our lives that can be made whole or complete. This wholeness or completeness is what is meant by "right." The specific meaning of each part of the eightfold noble path is as follows:

Right View is fully understanding life as revealed by the four noble truths.

Right Intention is thinking clearly without the distortion of greed, hatred, or delusion. We are sincere and do not harbor ulterior motives.

Right Speech is the avoidance of deceit, gossip, slander, and other forms of verbal abuse and dishonesty. Instead, we speak only to benefit others and to reveal the truth.

Right Action is conducting oneself in an ethical manner and acting to benefit others. We refrain from killing, stealing, sexual deception or exploitation, and other activities that are harmful to ourselves and others.

Right Livelihood is making a living without harming or exploiting others. Right livelihood precludes such activities as dealing in armaments, drug dealing, fraud, insider trading, and any other means of living that involve the exploitation or harming of others. In other words, our work should accord with the rest of the eightfold noble path.

Right Effort is making every effort to develop good habits while curbing our bad habits.

Right Mindfulness is developing an ongoing awareness of all aspects of our life, including our physical condition and actions, our feelings, moods, ideas, our general environment, and our relations with others. Through such careful attention, we are able to see more deeply into the true nature of our lives.

Right Concentration is making every effort to develop our Buddhist practice to acquire tranquility, insight into the true nature of life, and liberation from false views.

The Threefold Training

The eightfold noble path is often taught in terms of the "threefold training," consisting of morality, concentration, and wisdom.

Morality refers to the ethical demands of right speech, right action, and right livelihood. There are five precepts at the heart of Buddhist morality. These are not killing, not stealing, not engaging in sexual misconduct, not lying, and not using intoxicants that cloud the mind. Through ethical living, we refrain from making bad causes and take responsibility for developing a life of integrity and confidence.

Concentration refers to mental discipline and refinement, covering right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. By training the mind, we can sharpen and strengthen our ability to maintain a peaceful mind and see things as they are— not simply as we wish them to be.

Wisdom refers to the development of right views and right intentions. This means that we can see the true nature of reality just as the Buddha sees it.

The Buddha taught that we can free ourselves from craving and ignorance and attain awakening when precepts, meditation, and wisdom are developed together.

Dependent Origination

The doctrine of Dependent Origination is the key insight upon which the entire teaching of the Buddha rests because it describes the Buddha's deep understanding of cause and effect.

As we have seen, the night the Buddha attained awakening, he reflected upon his own life and past lives; upon the lives, past lives, and future destinies of all other beings; and then upon causality itself. He observed, beginning with himself, how all beings forge their destinies through their own actions. He also saw how all phenomena arise and pass away as part of a network of mutually supporting causes and conditions. The Buddha shared this insight with others in many different forms, the best known being the twelve-fold chain of dependent origination.

Put simply, dependent origination means that everything is dependent on other things or causes for its existence. That is, all phenomena arise as the result of causes and conditions. Therefore, no phenomena have any existence intrinsic to themselves - they depend on other phenomena. To have one thing, you need to have other things working together to bring about and support its existence. Everything depends upon everything else in this way. This may sound familiar, perhaps calling to mind the factors needed to create a grape, because dependent origination is also called the law of cause and effect.

All of the teachings of the Buddha have dependent origination as their basis. For instance, the four noble truths are composed of two sets of causes and effects. The noble truth of life's suffering and the noble truth of craving as the origin of suffering are examples of a negative effect and its cause. The noble truth of freedom from suffering and the noble truth of the Eightfold Path to eliminate suffering are examples of a positive effect and its cause.

Dependent origination is also the deeper meaning of the middle way, taught by the Buddha as the path to nirvana. It is the middle way between the one-sided view of existence, which asserts that life is made up of separate independent substances, and the one-sided view of non-existence, which asserts that nothing in life is real. Neither of these extreme views recognizes life as a dynamic and interdependent process. Dependent origination is the teaching that things have an existence based on causes and conditions. Therefore, one who is following the middle way will think in terms of causes and conditions rather than in terms of existence and non-existence. For the followers of the middle way, there are no longer any static or unchanging categories or boundaries. Dependent origination is the awareness of cause and effect, and the interdependence of all things. This awareness gives rise to an authentic sense of responsibility, genuine love, and compassion.

The Middle Way

Having covered the four noble truths, the eightfold noble path, and dependent origination, we can see that the middle way is what Buddhism is all about. As a description of Buddhist practice, it is the middle way of the eightfold noble path between self-indulgence and self-denial. As a description of Buddhist insight, it refers to the teaching of dependent origination, which avoids the false views of existence and non-existence. Both the middle way as practice and the middle way as insight are dependent on each other. By practicing the middle way, we attain the insight of the middle way, and through the insight of the middle way, we can live in accord with the practice of the middle way. Therefore, the middle way is the unity of practice and insight.

The middle way appears as a central theme throughout all of the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. The ideal of the middle way is to live a life of harmony and equilibrium, free of self-centeredness and awkward self-consciousness. Following the middle way, we avoid fanaticism, fundamentalism, or legalism and act with genuine insight and compassion in every situation. Ultimately, every aspect of our lives becomes an expression of the freedom and selflessness enjoyed by the Buddha.

The Three Treasures

Most people find that pursuing lofty goals such as achieving wisdom and living in accord with the middle way are easier with some structure and community. These are provided by the Three Treasures in which all Buddhists take refuge: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

The Buddha shows us the possibility that we can awaken to the truth about life. Shakyamuni Buddha provided us with a model of human wisdom and compassion. When we take refuge in him, we take refuge in the possibility of our own awakening. In different schools of Buddhism, the Buddha is interpreted as anything from an abstraction to an almost god-like celestial being, but in Nichiren Buddhism, we do not regard Shakyamuni Buddha as an otherworldly reality, abstract ideal, or long-dead teacher. He is the awakening to the living reality of our own lives, which we realize when we take faith in the Lotus Sutra.

The Dharma is the Buddha's teaching that enables us to cut through the delusions and bad habits that prevent us from awak-ening. On a deeper level, the Dharma is not just the teachings, but also the reality that the teachings point to. The Dharma as teaching uses words and images to awaken us to the Dharma as reality, which cannot be reduced to words and images. In Nichiren Buddhism, we uphold the true intention of the Buddha's Dharma expressed in the Lotus Sutra.

The Sangha is the Buddhist community, consisting of both clergy and lay people who support and encourage us in establishing a life devoted to following the Buddha and the Dharma. The Sangha provides us with a community that enables us to reach out to the larger community of all beings. Without the Sangha, we are like a plant lacking firm roots that can easily be swept away by a storm. The way of the truly compassionate person is the way of engagement with one's fellow beings. The Lotus Sutra teaches us that our awakening depends upon the awakening of all other beings around us. The Sangha is the community in which we grow in our own practice by supporting each other.