CJ Articles

Is Buddhism Useful in Your Daily Life!

By
Venerable Dhammasami
Delivered at the Clare College, Cambridge University, England
Friday, 15 October 1999
(Talk was facilitated by the Buddhist Society of Cambridge University)

Introduction

Buddhism has been around for almost 2600 years and continues to be a strong and growing spiritual force and guide for millions of people in different parts of the world. It is a puzzle to many people that any religion can exist without any mystical belief such as a God or permanent soul. Ironically, for some, the lack of the requirement for a mystical belief makes Buddhism mysterious! Many people, Buddhists and non-Buddhists, have tried to comprehend the words of the Buddha in a context of mystique and miracle.

In Christianity, Judaism and Islam, the real reward from God comes only in the next life. The present life is largely viewed as a chance to demonstrate your faith in Him. Purifying the so-called permanent soul and thereby achieving reunion with Brahma, which is the union of the individual and universal soul in Hinduism, is also possible only in the after-life. Sainthood in Christianity is, after all, a reward after this life has ended.

Confusion arises around Nibbana and Karma where people mistakenly focus entirely on experience of life after death. If you try to understand Buddhism in this context, you can very well miss the point and the purpose of the Buddha's teaching.

The Buddha

The Buddha, born as a human or a prince to be more precise lived and worked as a human. As a prince, he felt heat and cold, tiredness and hunger, happiness and unhappiness in the way we do and experienced human problems in an exactly human way. He had sickness and needed treatment from the doctor. When he was young, he needed to be educated under tutors from different disciplines and he had a family life. He was very used to having big royal social parties. His father made a conscious effort to make him stay in the royal household life, and not to leave it and become an ascetic, so that he would one day succeed him as a king.
Before he left the royal household, he was torn emotionally between his ambition and his beloved wife and child. As the heir apparent, he also had a sense of duty over his people as the heir since he was the most second powerful person in the kingdom. His remarkable departure from his family and people, imminent as it were, only made him more determined to return to help his people after he had found the solution to human problems.

Based on human touches, his teaching, therefore, is not derived from a divine revelation. Indeed, it has very little to do with the word "divinity" and its definition at all, although Buddhism is taught under the Faculty of Divinity here at Cambridge University. Instead, if I may say so, Buddhism should come under the Faculty of Humanities because it deals with all human problems. It can also be analyzed under the themes of philosophy, sociology, psychology and lately history and anthropology. For its origin, it is often classified under the Faculty of Oriental Studies as well.

The Main Focus of Buddhism

The main focus of his teaching is on our daily experiences like frustration, disappointment, irritation, being upset, anxiety, fear, worry, failure and success, unhappiness and also joy and happiness - all human emotions and thoughts, actions and reactions.

We all know that these are common human experiences and we all began having them from a very young age. We also know that we are not happy when we feel irritation and disappointment etc. Then, the question is, "why can't we leave them out of our life?" Is it inevitable? Why do we have to repeat them again and again?

The Buddha, through his own effort, found out that we can avoid suffering as a human being; we do have a choice. The way to do this has been revealed by the Buddha and is now called Buddhism. It is to remove these psychological stress reactions, once and for all, and to build undisturbed peace. That is the sole purpose of His teaching. The Buddha's teaching is quite meant to be useful in this way. It is for people like you and me, here and now. You do not have to wait for the next life to enjoy the fruits of Buddhist teaching. To put it another way, even if you do not believe in rebirth, it is still possible to benefit from the teaching because all it focuses on is the here and now.

The Here and Now

In Buddhism, enlightenment is something you achieve while still living. It is an objective understanding of the way life operates, of the causes of miseries and frustration, and finally how to put an end to those causes and thereby end the miseries and frustration.

The goal of all religion is liberation from suffering. This goal can and has to be achieved while we are still living. To free oneself from the causes of misery in life is exactly what we mean by liberation in Buddhism. The causes are described by the Buddha as clinging (tanh1), aversion (dosa), and illusion (moha). All miseries can be traced to them. They happen here and now in our mind. In addition, they can only be stopped here and now as and when they occur.

The whole teaching of the Buddha is dedicated only to eradicating these causes of suffering. Once they are removed, there occurs the best opportunity for wisdom and peace to arise. The Buddha therefore said that he taught only two things, suffering and the way to end it. This is the purpose of Buddhism.

Take the five precepts that a lay Buddhist observes. The five precepts are 1. To refrain from torturing, hurting and killing any living being. 2 To refrain from taking what does not belong to oneself 3. To refrain from sexual misconduct. 4 To refrain from telling untruthful and hurtful words and 5. To refrain from drugs and alcohol.

If followed, these five precepts help both the follower and others to be at peace, free from family, health and criminal problems. It is good, both for oneself and for society at large, here and now. Their focus is not on the next life. The evil effects of breaking these precepts can be witnessed almost immediately as well.

So, how then, can we benefit from the teaching of the Buddha here and now?

Awareness

In simple language, it is to keep awareness on your own mind: to be aware of what you think, what you feel, what you perceive, what you say, and how you act. If it is going to harm you or someone else, don’t do it. If it will bring any good then you can do it.

This awareness is also called mindfulness and it is the foundation of all-good qualities and progress in both the worldly and the spiritual life. In meditation, when we focus on breathing, it is to establish this mindfulness so that we can make use of it in daily life. Meditation is not to shut yourself away from other people. Nor is breathing the only meditation object. It is one of the many objects used as an instrument to achieve powerful mindfulness.

You should take whatever you perceive as a meditation object. You should not seek for a meditation object yet because you have not developed an active awareness. Awareness is the key word in Buddhism.

When you have developed constant awareness, you will see that the teaching of the Buddha is useful in your daily life whatever job you do.

I will stop here and take any questions you may have.

Questions and Answers

Q. Didn't the Buddha also talk about previous and future lives?
A. That is true. Knowing the past lives is a part of enlightenment. But only by observing and comprehending the present moments can we retrace our mind to the past. Removing all the factors (kilesa) that disturb our mind at the present moment has to be done first. After that, knowing the past will follow.

Talks about the past and future are not the central point in the Buddha's teachings. The past is gone and the future is not yet here. Without knowing how to make use of the present moment, it is hard to imagine how we can be better in the future.

Q. What is your daily routine as a monk?
A. Different monks have different routines depending on how long you have been ordained and what you choose to do. For me, meditating, reading scriptures, writing, teaching Buddhism and meditation, chanting, cleaning, listening to the radio and going out for a walk are my routine. I spend a considerable time on the internet replying questions on Buddhism. I also have outreaches and sometimes conduct meditation retreats. I am also doing a doctoral research.

Q. You said the Buddha was concerned with only two things: suffering and the way to get out of it. I want to know how Buddhism sees other teachings like Catholicism. Do you believe that they can do as much good as Buddhism does?
A What the Buddha said was to neither follow a religion just for its own sake nor just to have a sense of identity. A religion's value is to be judged in the degree to which it helps one see suffering and put an end to it. This is a criterion the Buddha applied to his own teaching and in fact all religious teachings. I believe other religions, Catholicism included, can also help people overcome suffering.

Let me put it again in this way. In principle it may be right to say that Buddhism or any other religion can help people get rid of suffering. However, to go by the collective name of any religion is too generalizing and it can be vague. There are Buddhists who have not overcome any suffering but have indeed increased it. There are good and bad Buddhists as there are good and bad Catholics. What I am saying is that it is dangerous to judge people by the collective name such as Buddhist, Catholic etc. As far as overcoming suffering is concerned, the Buddhist way of thinking is that we should only judge someone on an individual basis. We have to bear in mind that only as individual can we experience uninterrupted and constant peace of mind, not as Buddhists or Catholics or Hindus. There is no guarantee, even as Buddhist monks that we will definitely have peace of mind merely by virtue of being a monk. It is up to the effort of the individual.

Q. Apart from breathing, what else can you take as meditation objects?
A. The whole world; whatever you see, feel, or perceive. We are in contact with the world in six ways, through seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thinking. They are our six senses. But can you simultaneously accept all that comes through the prism of the senses as meditation objects? Impossible! That is why we choose something to focus on, initially, like breathing. Say, breathing is your primary object. During the time you are focusing on it, if you hear a sound, you take it as a temporary meditation object and, after a while, return to the initial object. If a thought comes to your mind, you acknowledge it as a meditation object and return to breathing. At this stage, you need to keep coming back to the primary object to develop concentration. Be patient with yourself. Once concentration is developed, you may not need to come back to your primary object as frequently. That is when you can control your mind to a certain extent.

Q. What do you mean in your talk by active awareness and how to achieve that?
A. Active awareness is an awareness that exists continuously for a long period of time, not only for one or two days. It is something you achieve when practising correctly and continuously for a long time. Before that, it is a passive awareness in that you are only aware of an object when it appears to your senses. You wait until it bangs at your senses! You are not able to direct your mind to a certain issue, if you do so you risk losing your concentration and your mind tends to become speculative. It is like trying to reflect before one can actually do it and, that only encourages the mind to wander more. At this moment, you need to develop a passive awareness in conjunction with concentration.

Once awareness is established and concentration is achieved, then one can direct one's mind to a certain object leaving all the gross breathing, sensation and sound unnoticed. The mind does not become speculative but reflective. It does not wander any more. This is what I call active awareness.

Q. How do I deal with my mistake when I discover one?
A. Discovering your own mistake is the first step.  There are always two extremes to be avoided, according to the Middle Path teaching of the Buddha. The two extremes in this case are blaming yourself or regretting it and making all sorts of excuses for your mistake. Both indicate that you cannot accept your mistake.

When you blame yourself, you create more suffering. It takes away your sense of self-confidence. Blaming yourself or even others is a part of aversion and anger (dosa). When you are angry you are not likely to see things objectively. Regretting is not helpful either. People say you have to regret and repent. But Buddhism regards regret as a misery in the mind. It is not regret that prevents you from repeating a mistake but an understanding and accepting of it. You have to acknowledge your mistake and try to understand it. Once you see its causes you will not have to repeat it, moreover you will be able to let go of it. If you blame yourself, it will linger on in your mind. You cannot let go of it that way.

Making excuses for your mistake means indulging in your own mistake. This is likely to lead to repetition of the same mistake.

When you see the two extremes in each case and avoid them, you are on the Middle Path. To do that, you need a non-judgmental awareness or mindfulness that helps you detect the two extremes, that helps you to recognize the mistake and look for its causes.

Q. Why did you have to adopt this (monk's) way of life to practise Buddhism?
A. Well, for me, I became a monk when I was very young as a part of our traditional custom that every boy should become a monk at least for a few days to undergo a certain training. I did not understand anything. But I felt it was good and fun. Later I came to like it and have continued to live as a monk.

It is not necessary for one to become a monk or nun to practise Buddhism. You can practise it as a university student, a businessman, a lawyer, or even a politician. However, a monk's life is more peaceful. You can devote more time to the practice. You surrender a lot of your privacy to the community when you live a life like mine. There are rules and regulations to follow. The rules are to encourage individuals to practise and to bring harmony in the monastic community in a democratic way.

I have to live a celibate life. I work but do not earn. I depend on people for my meals, clothes and shelter. I have to be open to criticism and I have to meet a certain standard in living this way of life. It was hard at the beginning. But one is free to leave at any moment if he or she does not feel happy with this monastic life. It is a voluntary vow. It is not contractually bound. To leave or stay is one's own decision.

Q. How should I deal with my anger?

When anger arises, recognize it immediately. In doing that, you should not notice that you are getting angry. Simply acknowledge that this is anger, this is anger. Repeat it a few times and shift your mind to something else for a while, perhaps to breathing in and out or counting your breathe. Name anger only as an impersonal term. There is no "I" or "you" in anger. There is only a destructive force that makes any one unhappy.

This kind of awareness, if practised over and over again, will help you detect anger before it became strong. You will then be in a better position to let it go.

Q: Are you saying that anger's destructive force can be diminished, or actually neutralised by impersonal labelling of it? I am not persuaded that anger, like the tiger, can change its stripes though I agree that it can be brought under control with proper handling! Isn't anger always destructive, however it's identified?
A: There is not a different thing as a force of anger that exists separately from anger. The force of anger means the anger itself. To make its consequences clear, we say the destruction force of anger. Anger can be diminished or even eliminated. An impersonal labelling is to help one see it (anger) as it is, not the way one would like to. You may like to say anger is good; it makes people respect you or it serves as an outlet. But that is not the way anger is. Anger damages your health, reasoning ability, dignity and social life. These are its destructive forces. However, these forces can be weakened by first discovering and acknowledging them as they are; secondly by seeing their causes.

Identifying yourself with anger makes it worse. As you take it on personal level, you may well be fuelling it by doing so. Pride and more bitterness enforce the force of anger. Anger is more destructive then.

Q. You said that we should learn to accept things. If you think that something happens due to Karma and just accept it, then you are not doing anything to make things better?

A. Accepting things does not mean not doing anything. That is a passive way of looking at how to solve a problem. Accepting means not reacting through anger or giving excuses. You still do what you should be doing. If somebody tries to damage your car, stop him or call the police. But do not kill him. You can claim for compensation but do not rejoice in seeing him going to jail. Here you accept that he is under the influence of anger or hatred or alcohol. You do not go for a person. You do not develop anger and hatred in your mind. Nevertheless, you should still take action to protect your interest.

Karma is not something that encourages people not to do anything better, I mean if you understand Karma (kamma) in its true sense. Karma actually means action, something we do out of our own choice and intention. Some people mistake it as a force existing only in the past. That is wrong. Karma as an intentional action can only take place here and now. Any effort to make progress, without hurting anyone, is Karma. But Karma in general covers both good and bad, past and present.

The Buddha was the one who accepted things as they are. He did not sit idle but worked day and night for over forty years until his last day. However, since the time he accepted things as they are he worked for the people in a selfless manner without any desire for fame and gain. He was not affected by success or failure. He did what he did simply because of his boundless compassion. His motive was not egotistic and self-centred. You do not need even to know him personally to benefit from his teaching.


Q. What do you teach in London?

A. I teach Buddhism to adults on Thursday evenings, and children on Saturday afternoon. I teach meditation on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. I give talks whenever there is a request in the Centre or outside the Centre. You are welcome to our Centre. You can visit our Website as well. The address is www.ssibc.dircon.co.uk


Q. Why do you have to meditate the way people do by sitting, closing your eyes? Can you go on like that without working and doing anything at all?

1. To slow down your mind. Your mind is working so fast you cannot see it. But you can when it is slow. Life in our age is so complex and conducted at such high speed. It's hectic. You need to slow it down to have peace of mind. If you have to pay attention to everything, what you say, what you do, what you see and what you hear, you cannot focus. To focus only on the mind, you close your eyes so as not to see things. You do not listen to music either. You stay still to prevent physical movements distracting you.

To start slowing down the mind, you first try to tie your mind to a slow object like breathing. Then the mind becomes still and clam. It is focussed and not scattered now.

It is not the aim of meditation to sit still all your life without doing anything. It is but to train your mind. You will understand your mind better that way. When you understand your mind better, you will see things more clearly and make better decisions. Normally, we like to think we understand our mind, but then why do we repeat frustration and unhappiness if we know how our mind works? Why do some people have to suffer from depression for a long time? We should be able to stop them happening again. The source of happiness and unhappiness lies in the mind itself. These mental states arise there and have to be removed there. Meditation is a science to study our own mind. You do it through self-observation. That is why people sit still and observe their own mind.
Q: What do you think is the greatest support to meditation?

A: There are many kinds of support one needs in meditation, starting from a good teacher, a conducive environment, a good health and sufficient nutrition. Mentally, patience is necessary to sustain your meditation. Patience brings effort and perseverance. Of course, the very first point to begin with is some sort of experience with suffering.