“Lord Buddha never used miracles to prove the superiority of His teachings. Using miracles to gain converts is like using dancing girls to tempt people to do something to their liking. The doctrine of the Buddha is not like any creed or faith which could be accepted as a profound truth today and discarded tomorrow if found to go counter to modern science. Buddhism is a doctrine that remains unaffected with the passage of time.”_______________________
by S. Somajeeva Ariyaratne Fernando
(May 22, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) "Buddhism is a beautiful Gem with numerous facets attracting persons with diverse personalities. It embraces philosophy, religion and a way of life. It goes beyond these categories.
Its primary purpose is the mental development and purification of the individual. Although the Buddha, the Flower of mankind is no more physically in this world His teachings have spread far and wide through-out the world to the extent that scholars of various hues and characteristics are in quest of his teachings as it is only the teachings of Lord Buddha that only tallies in toto with modern science but also goes beyond what is not known to science.
Prof. Rhys Davids has said that he examined everyone of the great religions of the world and in none of them did he find anything to surpass, in beauty and comprehensiveness, the Noble Eightfold Path of the Buddha, and that he is content to shape his life according to that Path. Albert Einstein, the father of modern science, has stated that he is not a religious person, but if he were one he would be a Buddhist. These two announcements alone suffice to confirm the acceptance of the doctrine of Lord Buddha through self-conviction in other words by self-induced proselytisation as opposed to proselytisation by forced conversion or other strategies like healing campaigns, procuring of financial aid, jobs etc. Lord Buddha never allowed people to accept His doctrine by mere hearing but insisted to do so only after a thorough examination of same. It was His compassion and tolerance that He even advised the adherents to support their former religion in accordance with their practice.
Lord Buddha never used miracles to prove the superiority of His teachings. Using miracles to gain converts is like using dancing girls to tempt people to do something to their liking. The doctrine of the Buddha is not like any creed or faith which could be accepted as a profound truth today and discarded tomorrow if found to go counter to modern science. Buddhism is a doctrine that remains unaffected with the passage of time. Buddhism is quite unique as it could be discussed without making any reference to Heaven, Hell or any God, which other religions cannot do. The recent catastrophe caused by the Tsunami on 26th December 2004 is a tacit confirmation based on the doctrine of Lord Buddha that every being or material is not a creation by any Brahma, God or any incarnation but a formation by the four elements namely earth, water, air and fire, and these formations get destroyed by the same elements. Why? Because there is no one to take the responsibility!!
Lord Buddha had a natural birth and lived as a human being and Himself underwent the effects of a previous bad Kamma when His leg got slightly injured by a splinter of a rock. Kamma as taught by Lord Buddha is the law of moral causation and rebirth is its corollary, Kamma and rebirth both being inter-related. Buddha saw the whole universe composed of both the noble and the wicked as well as the happy and unhappy.
Man is the noblest living being born in this plane by the merits earned in past births and must strive to lead a good life by collecting more and more good Kamma while in this plane so as not to fall below the levels of the present plane, in ones future existence. Man in Sanskrit means ‘manas’- mind. Therefore man must be a thinker since thinking is the specific function of the mind. All our actions are manifestations of the thinking and feeling activities. Our thoughts, therefore, should be geared to do good deeds.
Every wrong we think or do makes the world meaner while every good we do makes the world richer and happier. We must be gentle and kind with everyone and be severe with oneself. One of the greatest lessons of life is to learn not to do what one likes, but to like what one does. Can the scientist who invented the Atom Bomb which devastated Hiroshima with millions of innocent human beings be satisfied or could he have liked what he has done? He has, by implicitly aiding, inherited tremendous bad kamma the effects of which will follow in his future births. No prayers to an unseen God will help to wipe out the consequences of bad actions or Kamma. It is the vicious thoughts harboured by individuals that lead to actions inimical and dangerous to oneself as well as society. An uncontrolled mind is far more dangerous to a person than the enemies one has to confront with.
Knowledge can be used for harmful purposes such as building missiles with nuclear warheads for the purpose of inflaming political anxiety and hatred for the ulterior purpose of gaining political leadership in world affairs and not for celestial gain. This is opposed to the fundamental teachings of Buddhism, which is targeted to cultivate Renunciation as opposed to grasping which impedes inner purification.
Buddhism teaches us to bring greater understanding on how to lead a good worldly life the main focus being attainment of spiritual liberation, through the development of the head concerned with imagination, reasoning and planning, and the heart with compassion and sympathy. The central part of education is that it determines man’s moral conduct. Man has rights by nature, which should be directed along the right path. It is a right, which belongs to every rational being. That right physically as well as verbally should be used for the promotion of his own or others’ happiness and virtue. These are the great genuine purposes of ones existence taught in Buddhism. It should not be confined merely to words of the tongue but extended to a compassionate, sympathetic and grateful heart. That is what Buddhism teaches.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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