Volume V THE IMMUTABILITY OF CAUSE AND EFFECT by Venerable Wu Lin Respected Dharma Masters, respected practitioners and guests. Over the past few hundred years, the face of Buddhism has undergone several changes. First, it began to be regarded by some as a religion. Then, it was looked upon as a philosophy. Some even twisted it almost beyond recognition until it became more of a cult. And recently it has come to be portrayed by some as a show.
Some of these misunderstandings have been honest ones, often occurring as people have tried to understand and respect the teachings. Some of these misunderstandings occurred as people strove to benefit themselves at the expense of others. If we want to really understand and benefit from Buddhism, we need to go back to its original form.
Approximately two thousand years ago, in 67 AD, Buddhism officially came to China and since then, has spread and flourished throughout the country. The Emperor had sent special envoys to India to invite Buddhist monks to come to China to teach Buddhism, which at that time was understood to be an education.
The sutras, recorded teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni, address him as our “Original Teacher”. Those who listened to him were called students, which is what we call ourselves today. This teacher-student relationship is only found in education. Another reason that Buddhism is an education is also to be found in the sutras, where we learn that the students would ask questions of the Buddha, who would then answer them. If the students did not thoroughly understand, or thought that we would not thoroughly understand, they would ask for further clarification, which the Buddha would provide. This is essentially a classroom discussion. Please understand that Buddha Shakyamuni simply taught. He conducted neither ceremonies or rites.
Buddhism is Buddha Shakyamuni's educational system, which is similar to that of Confucius for both presented similar viewpoints and methods. The goal of Buddhist education is to attain wisdom. In Sanskrit, the language of ancient India, this wisdom was called “Anuttara-smyak-sambhodi” meaning the perfect complete wisdom. The Buddha taught us that the main objective of our learning and cultivation is to achieve this ultimate wisdom.
He further taught us that everyone has the potential to realize this state of ultimate wisdom, because it is an intrinsic part of our nature. It is not something we can obtain externally. However, most of us have become confused through general misconceptions and therefore, are unable to realize this potential. However, if we can break through this confusion, we will realize this intrinsic part of our nature. Thus, Buddhism is an educational system aimed at regaining our own original, intrinsic self-nature.
It also teaches absolute equality, which stemmed from the Buddha's recognition that all sentient beings possess this innate wisdom and nature. Therefore, there really is no inherent difference among beings. Everyone is different now because we have lost our true nature and have become confused. The degree of wisdom exhibited by individuals depends on the degree of delusion and has nothing to do with the original true nature of the individual. The Buddha's teachings help us to realize this innate, perfect, ultimate wisdom. With this wisdom, we can solve all of our problems and turn our suffering into happiness.
Due to our lack of wisdom, we perceive and behave foolishly, and thus suffer the consequences evoked by our incorrect thoughts, speech and behaviour. If we have wisdom, our thoughts, speech and behaviour will be correct; how then can we suffer where there are no ill consequences to suffer from? Of course, we will be happy. From here, we can see that suffering is caused by our delusion and the source of happiness is our own realization of wisdom.
The Buddha's educational system can also be witnessed today in lecture hall, in which we can see many teaching aids. When we enter the hall or classroom, we see the image of a Buddha, which symbolizes our original self-nature. We may see a container of water on the Buddha table. The clear water symbolizes the principle that our minds need to be as pure as the water; to be void of greed, anger and ignorance. It is calm without a single ripple indicating that we interact with people and matters with the serene and non-discriminating mind of equality. Furthermore, it is pure and calm, reflecting clearly and thoroughly just as we would see everything around us in a mirror.
Offerings of flowers symbolize the cause as the blossoms result in the bearing of fruit, reminding us that there are consequences to our every thought, word and action. Lamps or candles symbolize wisdom and brightness illuminating the darkness of our ignorance. The images of lotus flowers symbolize transcending the ten realms of existence. First, it rises through the mud at the bottom of the pond, which symbolizes the six realms of birth and death. Then it rises through the water, which symbolizes the four sage realms. Finally, it breaks through the surface of the water completely transcending the ten realms, reaching the one true Dharma realm, the stage of ultimate enlightenment.
The lotus flower teaches us that although we live in the world, we should not become polluted by our surroundings. The lotus flower above the water symbolizes that one day, all beings, from those in the hell realms to those who are Bodhisattvas, will become Buddha's; beings with perfect complete enlightenment. The Buddha realm exceeds the ten realms and to become a Buddha is the ultimate goal of our teachings. So, when we see the lotus flower, we are reminded to practice the teachings as well as to transcend the ten realms.
Today, when we see images of Buddha Shakyamuni, we are reminded that we need to feel gratitude for his forty-nine years of teaching. The Buddha, a voluntary social educator, dedicated his whole life to teaching us how to cut off our afflictions to attain perfect complete wisdom and true happiness. He was an ordinary person who saw the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death, but did not know how to solve these problems. He was deluded but became awakened. He learned, through cultivation, the truth of life and the universe and then taught us how to become awakened by using himself as an example so that we could learn from his experiences. So, that we too can become awakened and thus live happy and fulfilling lives.
In the world today there are many beliefs, religions and cultures, manu different viewpoints of how to explain our world and our relationship to it. But although we seem to have so many differences, we really have so many similarities. Do not kill, do not steal, do not lie. Do all that is good and nothing that is bad. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Remember the kindness of others and repay the kindness with gratitude.
Whether we call it caring for and respecting others or loving kindness or compassion, we believe in helping others, in giving of what we have or who we are, to those who need our help or our wisdom. Today, many people are searching for wisdom, for the understanding of why we are born, why we live and why we die. We are compelled by conflicting emotions. We are compelled by logic. When we hear of other beliefs the feelings of many people range from fear to curiosity, from surprise to fascination, from suspicion to cooperation.
Everywhere we look we see societies with greater diverse cultures, societies with more differences, societies that often emphasize these differences. Today many people look outside of themselves, to these differences, believing that they are the reason why so many are so unhappy. But the reason lies within us. As human beings, we undergo the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death. We suffer hardships, do not attain what we seek, are parted from our loved ones and find ourselves in the presence of those whom we resent or even hate. The failure of people to understand the real cause of their unhappiness, their suffering is increasing this very suffering.
We all know people who regularly have to take tranquilizers to be able to sleep. Why? They feel their lives are out of control. They wish to control other people and to possess more things. Fifty years ago, people had time to appreciate nature, time to study the works of wise people. Today we have no time for nature, no time for contemplation. Our lives are much more comfortable than were those of our predecessors but we have virtually no spiritual life. So, we search for excitement or take pills o paralyse our feelings, to cover our inability to cope with life.
