Who the Buddha is
- Part 2 -
Priya Thangjam *
A Buddhist temple at Tamu, Myanmar :: Pix - WT
7. The noble example of the Buddha
The Buddha's noble example was a source of inspiration to all his iron will, profound wisdom, universal love, boundless compassion, selfless service, historic renunciation, perfect purity, and magnetic personality have inspired people to respect him as a world - honoured Supreme Teacher!
8. Who are close to the Buddha?
There may be many disciples who stay with me, follow me holding my hand or clinging to my robes, thereby, thinking that they are close to me. On the other hand, there may be some other disciples who are far away from me and who have not seen me, but if their minds are pure, even though they are staying far away, they are indeed very close to me. Those who stay with me but exist only with polluted minds, are in fact not at all close to me.
9. The Buddha's way of human suffering
The Buddha's approach to the problems of human suffering is essentially empirical and experimental and not speculative and metaphysical.
10. The Buddha as a saviour
The Buddha is not a saviour in the same sense that others believe in a saviour, yet Buddhists regard him a saviour since he has shown the path to humanity to save themselves.
11. The Buddha for everybody
To great philosophers and unbiased thinkers, he is a teacher who understood worldly conditions in their proper perspective.
To moralists, he has the highest code of discipline and he symbolises perfection.
To rationalists, he is the most liberal minded religious teacher who understood vexing human problems.
To free thinkers, he is a religious teacher who encouraged people to think freely without depending on religious dogmas.
To agnostics, he is very intelligent, kind, understanding and peace - loving man.
To Hindus, he is an incarnation of their god.
To socialists, he is a social reformer.
To religious devotees, he is a holy man.
12. He has raised the nobility of mankind
As a man, he attained Buddha hood and pro - claimed to the world the latent possibilities and the creative power of man. Instead of placing an unseen supernatural being over man and making him subservient to him, he raised the worth of mankind.
13. The Buddha's attitude towards gods
When a discipline of the Buddha asked whether there is any evidence to prove the existence of gods, the Buddha asked whether there is any evidence to disprove the existence of gods.
14. The humble attitude of the Buddha
Kings, ministers and multi - millionaires approached the Buddha to pay their homage and seek guidance. But he, himself, visited and used his persuasive voice to enlighten sweepers, cobblers, thieves, gangsters, murderers, courtesans and many others who were leading hard, wicked and immoral lives to mend their ways and lead noble lives.
15. The Buddha's attitude towards evil doers
The more evil that comes to me, the more good will radiate from me.
16. Why the Buddha kept silence
When metaphysical questions were asked, He often did not reply, not because the Buddha had nothing to say but because He had far too much to say, which would only confuse the questioner.
The riddle- mongers of His day posed questions which were both too narrow and too shallow to answer for gaining wisdom or spiritual development.
17. Why is Buddha needed for our salvation
It was the Buddha who taught that man could gain his own salvation by his own exertion without depending on God or mediating priest.
Buddhists do not take refuge in the Buddha seeking salvation directly through Him, but to gain guidance and confidence and for salvation.
Concluded..
* Priya Thangjam wrote this article to The Sangai Express
The writer is a student of St. Edmund's College, Shillong doing Bsc (Honours) in Biotechnology. She can be reached at priyathangjam49(aT)gmail(doT)com
This article was posted on August 25 2015.
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