I love this falsehood - knowingly of what he says echoes Stephen Batchelor's Reaction of a Buddhist Skeptic, except I am guessing that as a Tibetan Buddhist, the Ponlop would not arranged himself with Batchelor's distribution.
IS BUDDHISM A RELIGION?
Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche - Buddhist learned
Critic, revolt Buddha' (due out in October, 2010)
Posted: Noble 6, 2010 06:58 AM
We habitually address about Siddhartha, the fresh man who became settled as the Buddha, as if he were a god. The fact is that he was perfectly a simple Indian guy, a material someone similar you and me. We storage of him as some arise of super-genius for having attained comprehend spiritual awakening, but in fact his real vividness was in exposition how any one of us can get the self-same awakening as he did. We fact him as a prince and a enthusiast of the exclusive monarchs of his time, and we storage that basic restrain given him an bonus polished us -- but the precision is that peak of us today are believably surpass off, in fabric provision, than Siddhartha was.
We address about his win and so forth, but what the prince Siddhartha had was really no over than what you force find in any middle-class American household. He force restrain had over wives, but you've got over gadgets, over technologies and comforts and amenities. Siddhartha didn't restrain a refrigerator, and you do. He didn't restrain WiFi, or a blog, or Facebook or Peep. He force restrain had over houses and land, but you've got a over undemanding bed than he had. Most likely you even restrain one of persons new, space-age Tempur-Pedic beds. Pronounce of how knowingly time you give out in bed, and how incurable your bed is. I guarantee that Siddhartha had a let fall bed than you restrain.
The file is, we shouldn't mythologize Siddhartha's life and storage that his spiritual awakening was due to his special testify. Maximum of us today actually live in get through very unvarying to Siddhartha's, in provision of our fabric suit.
Siddhartha was a truth seeker, nobody over. He wasn't looking for religion, as such -- he wasn't specially alert in religion. He was penetrating for the truth. He was looking for a very path to discharge from tribulation. Aren't all of us penetrating for the self-same thing? If we outward show at the life of Siddhartha, we can see that he found the truth and discharge he was seeking solitary late he hysterical religious practices. Isn't that significant? The one who became the Buddha, the "Awakened One," didn't find justification sad religion -- he found it what he began to extend religion deceased.
THE Tempt OF Dutiful Kit
A lot of realm go for to storage of Buddhism as a religion. It's easy to see why, what Buddhism abounds with religious trappings: the rituals and the chants and the golden statues meeting on the testament. Buddha himself never desired to be blessed in any arise of icons; at the beginning, he told his students no icons, no worshiping. But it's thought that he had a very near apprentice who modest annoyance him, requesting his amend to make a statue of him, until in the end the Buddha gave up and permitted the outdo image to be made. And now we restrain all these feel like golden icons that outward show similar they were dug out of an Egyptian pyramid. It's sort to restrain these reminders, but we basic remind that's what they are: reminders of no matter which, an mock-up to be followed, not idols to be worshiped.
If our picture is to turn Buddhism in the sphere of a religion, that's fine -- in America we restrain discharge of criticize and the Safeguard of Position. We can make Buddhism in the sphere of a religion, or a branch of psychology, or a self-help rest, or whatever we long for. But if we're looking for justification, we won't find it sad among to the Buddha as a religious idol. So Siddhartha, we'll find real spiritual awakening solitary what we begin to extend deceased our stiff significant about religious practice. Seeing the Buddha as an mock-up and supporting his mock-up -- recreating, in our own lives, his hound of truth, his nerve and his open right mind -- that's the real power of Buddhism ancient history religion.
Trueness HAS NO Theology
Siddhartha actually became the Buddha sad his failure at religion. He saw that the severe practices he'd been conquered in were not leading him to true delivery, and so he not here them deceased. But he had five colleagues who continued their religious practices of undersupply, and they regarded Siddhartha as a failure. From their file of view, he perfectly couldn't disconnect it, and that's why he gave up. Highly developed, late he attained justification and became settled as the Buddha, they became his outdo five disciples; but at the time what he not here deceased their religious rest, they regarded him as a failure. I find that very clear-cut. As spiritual practitioners, we essential be open to someone a failure. We can thinking focal point in the fact that Siddhartha found justification not sad his endless achievement at religious practices, but sad his failures.
As Buddhists, Siddhartha's mock-up is the peak incurable one for us to apply. He was a endless explorer of right mind and its confines. He was unprejudiced, seeking truth, with no preconceived chart. He assumed, "Okay, I'll do these religious practices and see if I can find the truth that way." He did the practices, he didn't find the truth, and so he not here the religion. So Siddhartha, if we really long for spiritual justification we restrain to go ancient history religiosity. We restrain to let go of clinging to preconceived religious forms and significant and practices.
Theology, if we don't direct to it kindly, can decoy us in up-to-the-minute set of set of laws. On top of all the poor set of laws we are earlier than fanatical with in this world, we rank on a fly set of religious set of laws. I'm not saying display is at all bad about religion or set of laws, but you essential be competent about what you're seeking. Do you long for religion and a set of set of laws to apply, or do you long for truth? Trueness has no religion, no culture, no oral communication, no direct or track. As Gandhi thought, "God has no religion." The truth is perfectly the truth.
If you are alert in "meeting the Buddha" and supporting his mock-up, then you essential be familiar with that the path the Buddha taught is to start with a study of your own right mind and a custom for training your right mind. This path is spiritual, not religious. Its picture is self-knowledge, not salvation; discharge, not paradise. And it is muscularly children. Imperfect your attract and questions and your open right mind, display is no spiritual path, no lead to be hard at it, even if you deduce all the forms of the tradition.
Tags: Is Buddhism a Religion?, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Buddhist learned, Critic, Loner Buddha, Huffington Junk mail, Siddhartha, Buddha, Buddhism, Theology, history, spiritual awakening, tribulation, Stephen Batchelor, Tibetan Buddhism, icons, statues
