In Buddhism, actions are merely termed as unskillful or
unwholesome, not as sinful.
Buddhists do not regard man as sinful by nature of 'in rebellion
against god'. Every human being is a person of great worth who has
within himself a vast store of good as well as evil habits. The
good in a person is always waiting for a suitable opportunity to
flower and to ripen. Remember the saying, 'There is so much that is
good in the worst of us and so much that is bad in the best of us.'
Buddhism teaches that everyone is responsible for his own good and
bad deeds, and that each individual can mould his own destiny. Says
the Buddha, 'These evil deeds were only done by you, not by your
parents, friends, or relatives; and you yourself will reap the
painful results.' (Dhammapada 165)
Man's sorrow is his own making and is not handed down by a
family curse or an original sin of a mythical primeval ancestor.
Buddhists do not accept the belief that this world is merely a
place of trial and testing. This world can be made a place where we
can attain the highest perfection. And perfection is synonymous
with happiness. To the Buddha, man is not an experiment in life
created by somebody which can be done away with when unwanted. If a
sin could be forgiven, people might take advantage and commit more
and more sins. The Buddhist has no reason to believe that the
sinner can escape the consequences by the grace of an external
power. If a man thrusts his hand into a furnace, his hand will be
burnt, and all the prayer in the world will not remove the scars.
The same is with the man who walks into the fires of evil action.
The Buddha's approach to the problems of suffering is not
imaginary, speculative or metaphysical, but essentially empirical.
According to Buddhism, there is no such thing as sin as explained
by other religions. To the Buddhists, sin is unskillful or
unwholesome action - Akusala Kamma, which creates
Papa - the downfall of man. The wicked man is an ignorant
man. He needs instruction more than he needs punishment and
condemnation. He is not regarded as violating god's will or as a
person who must beg for divine mercy and forgiveness. He needs only
guidance for his enlightenment. All that is necessary is for
someone to help him use his reason to realize that he is
responsible for his wrong action and that he must pay for the
consequences. Therefore the belief in confession is foreign to
Buddhism.
The purpose of the Buddha's appearance in this world is not to
wash away the sins committed by human beings nor to punish or to
destroy the wicked people, but to make the people understand how
foolish it is to commit evil and to point out the reaction of such
evil deeds. Consequently there are no commandments in Buddhism,
since no one can command another for his spiritual upliftment. The
Buddha has encouraged us to develop and use our understanding. He
has shown us the path for our liberation from suffering. The
precepts that we undertake to observe are not commandments: they
are observed voluntarily. The Buddha's Teaching is thus: 'Please
pay attention; take this advice and think it over. If you think it
is suitable for you to practise my advice, then try to practise it.
You can see the results through your own experience.' There is no
religious value in blindly observing any commandment without proper
conviction and understanding. However, we should not take advantage
of the liberty given by the Buddha to do anything we like. It is
our duty to behave as cultured, civilized and understanding human
beings to lead a religious life. If we can understand this,
commandments are not important. As an enlightened teacher, the
Buddha advised us on how to lead a pure life without imposing
commandments and using the fear of punishment.
When a man has learned how to live as a real human being
without disturbing others, he can live peacefully without any fear
in his heart.
According to the Buddha, man himself is the maker of his own
destiny. He has none to blame for his lot since he alone is
responsible for his own life. He makes his own life for better or
for worse. The Buddha says: man creates everything. All our griefs,
perils and misfortunes are of our own creation. We spring from no
other source than our own imperfection of heart and mind. We are
the results of our good and bad actions committed in the past under
the influence of greed and delusion. And since we ourselves brought
them into being, it is within our power to overcome bad effects and
cultivate good natures. The human mind, like that of an animal, is
something governed by animal instinct. But unlike the animal mind,
the human mind can be trained for higher values. If man's mind is
not properly cultured, that uncultured mind creates a great deal of
trouble in this world. Sometimes man's behavior is more harmful and
more dangerous than animal behavior. Animals have no religious
problems, no language problems, no political problems, no social
and ethical problems, no colour-bar problems. They fight only for
their food, shelter and sex. But, there are thousand of problems
created by mankind. Their behavior is such that they would not be
able to solve any of these problems without creating further
problems. Man is reluctant to admit his weaknesses. He is not
willing to shoulder his responsibilities. His attitude is always to
blame others for his failure. If we become more responsible in our
actions, we can maintain peace and happiness.
Is there any truth in man'sclaim that he should be given
freedom to do things as he likes?
When we consider human freedom, it is very difficult to find out
whether man is really free to do anything according to his own
wishes. Man is bound by many conditions both external and internal;
he is asked to obey the laws that are imposed on him by the
government; he is bound to follow certain religious principles; he
is required to co-operate with the moral and social conditions of
the society in which he lives; he is compelled to follow certain
national and family customs and traditions. In modern society, he
in inclined to disagree with life; he is expected to conform by
adapting himself to the modern way of life. he is bound to
co-operate with natural laws and cosmic energy, because he is also
part of the same energy. He is subjected to the weather and
climatic conditions of the region. Not only does he have to pay
attention to his life or to physical elements, but he has also to
make up his mind to control his own emotions. In other words, he
has no freedom to think freely because he is overwhelmed by new
thoughts which may contradict or do away with his previous thoughts
and convictions. At the same time, he may believe that he has to
obey and work according to the will of god, and not follow his own
free-will. Taking into consideration all the above changing
conditions to which man is bound, we can ask 'Is there any truth in
man's claim that he should be given freedom to do things as he
likes?' Why does man have his hands tied so firmly? The reason is
that there are various bad elements within man. These elements are
dangerous and harmful to all living creatures. For the past few
thousand years, all religions have been trying to tame this
unreliable attitude of man and to teach him how to live a noble
life. But it is most unfortunate that man is still not ready to be
trustworthy, however good he may appear to be.
Man still continues to harbor all these evil elements within
himself. These evil elements are not introduced or influenced by
external sources but are created by man himself. If these evil
forces are man-made, then man himself must work hard to get rid of
them after realizing their danger. Unfortunately the majority of
men are cruel, cunning, wicked, ungrateful, unreliable,
unscrupulous. If man is allowed to live according to his own
free-will without moderation and restraint, he would most
definitely violate the peace and happiness of innocent people. His
behavior would probably be much worse than that of dangerous living
beings. Religion is required to train him to lead a respectable
life and to gain peace and happiness here and hereafter. Another
obstacle confronting religious life and spiritual progress is
racial arrogance. The Buddha advised His followers not to bring
forward any racial issue when they come to practise religion.
Buddhists are taught to sink their own racial origin and caste or
class distinction. People of all religions should not discriminate
against any groups of people by bringing forward their personal
traditional way of life. They should treat everyone equally,
especially in the religious field. Unfortunately, followers of
different religions create more discriminations and hostility
towards other religious groups when performing their religious
activities. While working others, they should not disturb their
feelings because of their so-called traditions and customs. They
can follow traditions and customs that are in keeping with the
religious principles and moral codes of their religions. Racial
arrogance is a great hindrance to religion and spiritual progress.
The Buddha once used the simile of ocean water to illustrate the
harmony which can be experienced by people who have learnt to cast
aside their racial arrogance: Different rivers have different
names. The water of the individual rivers all flow into the ocean
and become ocean water. In a similar manner, all those who have
come from different communities and different castes, must forget
their differences and think of themselves only as human beings.
Oneself, indeed, is one's savior, for what other savior
would there be? With oneself well controlled the problem
of looking for external savior is solved, -- (Dhammapada
166)
As the Buddha was about to pass away, His disciples came from
everywhere to be near Him. While the other disciples were
constantly at His side and in deep sorrow over the expected loss of
their Master, a monk named Attadatta went into his cell and
practised meditation. The other monks, thinking that he was
unconcerned about the welfare of the Buddha, were upset and
reported the matter to Him. The monk, however, addressed the Buddha
thus, 'Lord as the Blessed One would be passing away soon, I
thought the best way to honour the Blessed One would be by
attaining Arahantship during the lifetime of the Blessed One
itself.' The Buddha was pleased by his attitude and his conduct and
said that one's spiritual welfare should not be abandoned for the
sake of others.
In this story is illustrated one of the most important aspects
of Buddhism. A person must constantly be on the alert to seek his
own deliverance from Samsara, and his 'salvation' must be brought
about by the individual himself. He cannot look to any external
force or agency to help him to attain Nibbana. People who do not
understand Buddhism criticize this concept and say that Buddhism is
a selfish religion which only talks about the concern for one's own
freedom from pain and sorrow. This is not true at all. The Buddha
states clearly that one should work ceaselessly for the spiritual
and material welfare of all beings, while at the same time
diligently pursuing one's own goal of attaining Nibbana. Selfless
service is highly commended by the Buddha. Again, people who do not
understand Buddhism may ask, 'It may be all right for the fortunate
human beings, in full command of their mental powers, to seek
Nibbana by their own efforts. But what about those who are mentally
and physically or even materially handicapped? How can they be
self-reliant? Do they not need the help of some external force,
some god or deva to assist them? The answer to this is that
Buddhists do not believe that the final release must necessarily
take place in one life time. The process can take a long time, over
the period of many births. One has to apply oneself, to the best of
one's ability, and slowly develop the powers of self reliance.
Therefore, even those who are handicapped mentally, spiritually and
materially must make an effort, however small, to begin the process
of deliverance.
Once the wheels are set in motion, the individual slowly trains
himself to improve his powers of self-reliance. The tiny acorn will
one day grow into a mighty oak, but not overnight. Patience is an
essential ingredient in this difficult process. For example, we
know from experience how many parents do everything in their power
to bring up their children according to the parents' hopes and
aspirations. And yet when these children grow up, they develop in
their own way, not necessarily the way the parents wanted them to
be. In Buddhism, we believe that while others can exert an
influence on someone's life, the individual will in the end create
his own kamma and be responsible for his own actions. No human
being or deva can, in the final analysis, direct or control an
individual's attainment of 'the ultimate salvation'. This is the
meaning of self-reliance. This does not mean that Buddhism teaches
one to be selfish. In Buddhism, when someone seeks, by his own
effort, to attain Nibbana, he is determined not to kill, steal,
tell lies, lust after others, or lose the control of his senses
through intoxication. When he controls himself thus he
automatically contributes to the happiness of others. So is not
this so-called 'selfishness' a good thing for the general welfare
of others? On a more mundane level it has been asked how the lower
forms of life can extricate themselves from a mere meaningless
round of existence. Surely in that helpless state some benevolent
external force is necessary to pull the unfortunate being from the
quicksand. To answer this question we must refer to our knowledge
of the evolution theory. It is clearly stated that life begin in
very primitive forms?no more than a single cell floating in the
water. Over millions of years these basic life forms evolved and
became more complex, more intelligent. It is at this more
intelligent level that life forms are capable of organization,
independent thought, conceptualization and so on. When Buddhists
talk about the ability to save oneself, they are referring to life
forms at this higher level of mental development. In the earlier
stages of evolution kammic and mental forces remain dormant, but
over countless rebirths, a being raises itself to the level of
independent thought and becomes capable of rational rather than
instinctive behavior. It is at this state that the being becomes
aware of the meaninglessness of undergoing endless rebirths with
its natural concomitants of pain and sorrow. It is then that the
being is capable of making its determination to end rebirth and
seek happiness by gaining enlightenment and Nibbana. With this high
level of intelligence, the individual is indeed capable of
self-improvement and self-development.
We all know human beings are born with very varying levels of
intelligence and powers of reasoning. Some are born as geniuses,
while at the other end of the spectrum, others are born with very
low intelligence. Yet every being has some ability to distinguish
between choices or options, especially when they concern survival.
If we extend this fact of survival even to the animal world we can
distinguish between higher and lower animals, with this same
ability (in varying degrees of course) to make choices for the sake
of survival. Hence, even a lower form of life has the potential to
create a good kamma, however limited its scope. With the diligent
application of this and the gradual increase of good kamma a being
can raise itself to higher levels of existence and understanding.
To look at this problem from another angle, we can consider one of
the earliest stories that have been told to show how the
Buddha-to-be first made the initial decision to strive for
Enlightenment. A great many rebirths before the Buddha was born as
Siddharta, he was born as an ordinary man. One day while traveling
in a boat with his mother, a great storm arose and the boat
capsized, throwing the occupants into the angry sea. With no
thought for his personal safety, the future Buddha carried his
mother on his back and struggled to swim to dry land. But so great
was the expanse of water ahead of him that he did not know the best
route to safety. When he was in this dilemma, not knowing which way
to turn, his bravery was noticed by one of the devas. This deva
could not physically come to his aid, but he was able to make the
future Buddha know the best route to take. The young man listened
to the deva and both he and his mother were saved. There and then
he made a firm determination not to rest until he had finally
gained Enlightenment. This story illustrates the fact that
Buddhists can and do seek the help of devas in their daily life. A
deva is a being who by virtue of having acquired great merit (like
the king of the devas) is born with the power to help other beings.
But this power is limited to material and physical things. In our
daily existence, we can seek help of the devas (when misfortune
strikes, when we need to be comforted, when we are sick or afraid,
and so on). The fact that we seek the aid of these devas means that
we are still tied to the material world. We must accept the fact
that by being born we are subject to physical desires and needs.
And it is not wrong to satisfy these needs on a limited scale. When
the Buddha advocated the Middle Path, He said that we should
neither indulge ourselves in luxury nor completely deny ourselves
the basic necessities of life.
However, we should not stop at that. While we accept the
conditions of our birth, we must also make every effort, by
following the Noble Eightfold Path, to reach a level of development
where we realize that attachment to the material world creates only
pain and sorrow. As we develop our understanding over countless
births, we crave less and less for the pleasures of the senses. It
is at the stage that we become truly self-reliant. At this stage,
the devas cannot help us anymore, because we are not seeking to
satisfy our material needs. A Buddhist who really understands the
fleeting nature of the world practises detachment from material
goods. He is not unduly attached to worldly goods. Therefore he
shares these goods freely with those who are more unfortunate than
he is -- he practises generosity. In this way again a Buddhist
contributes to the welfare of others. When the Buddha gained
Enlightenment as a result of His own efforts, He did not selfishly
keep this knowledge to Himself. Rather, He spent no less than forty
five years imparting His knowledge not only to men and women but
even to the devas. This is Buddhism's supreme example of
selflessness and concern for the well-being of all living things.
It is often said that the Buddha helped devotees who were in
trouble not through the performance of miracles such as restoring
the dead to life and so on, but through His acts of wisdom and
compassion.
In one instance, a woman named Kisa Gotami went to seek the help
of the Buddha in restoring her dead child to life. Knowing that He
could not reason with her as she was so distressed and overwhelmed
with grief, the Buddha told her that she should first obtain a
handful of mustard seeds from a person who had never lost a dear
one through death. The distracted woman ran from house to house and
while everyone was only too willing to give her the mustard seeds,
no one could honestly say that he or she had not lost a dear one
through death. Slowly, Kisa Gotami came to the realization that
death is a natural occurrence to be experienced by any being that
is born. Filled with this realization she returned to the Buddha
and thanked Him for showing her the truth about death. Now, the
point here is that the Buddha was more concerned with the woman's
understanding about the nature of life than giving her temporary
relief by restoring her child to life -- the child would have grown
old and still have died. With her greater realization Kisa Gotami
was able not only to come to terms with the phenomenon of death but
also to learn about the cause of sorrow through attachment. She was
able to realize that attachment causes sorrow, that when attachment
is destroyed, then sorrow is also destroyed. Therefore in Buddhism,
a person can seek the help of external agencies (like devas) in the
pursuit of temporal happiness, but in the later stages of
development when attachment to the worldly conditions ceases, there
begins the path towards renunciation and enlightenment for which
one must stand alone. When a man seeks to gain liberation, to break
away from the endless cycle of birth and death, to gain realization
and enlightenment, he can only do this by his own efforts, by his
own concentrated will power. Buddhism gives great dignity to man.
It is the only religion which states that a human being has the
power to help and free himself. In the later stages of his
development, he is not at the mercy of any external force or agency
which he must constantly please by worshipping or offering
sacrifices.
