“To Understand Buddhism”
Excerpts From a Talk by Venerable Master Chin Kung
A Virtuous and Perfect Education
Today, we see an increasing number of people around the world starting to practice Buddhism. However, not many people truly understand what Buddhism is.
Therefore, this becomes a very important topic. What exactly is Buddhism? We need to understand it clearly. Buddhism is a most virtuous and perfect education directed by the Buddha towards all sentient beings in the nine realms.
How can we tell that Buddhism is an education? First, we can tell from the way we call Buddha Shakyamuni our “Original Teacher” that he is the founder of Buddhism and that we are his students.
From this, it is very apparent that the Buddha and we share a teacher-student relationship. This is only found in education.
If Buddhism is his teaching, who then is the Buddha?
Buddha is a Sanskrit word meaning wisdom and enlightenment.
However, this wisdom is not the worldly wisdom we think of today. Broadly speaking, the Buddha’s wisdom is the ability to ultimately, perfectly and correctly comprehend the true reality of life and the universe in the past, present and future.
One who has perceived this wisdom is called a Buddha. Buddha Shakyamuni told us that all sentient beings, including ourselves, possess this innate wisdom and ability.
Thus Buddhism regards all beings equally. Although we are equal in origin, presently we cannot see this because everyone’s wisdom and abilities differ.
In our society, there are those who are intelligent and those who are not, those with great ability and those with less. How do these things come about?
The Buddha told us that they are due to our varying degrees of delusion. Our innate wisdom and abilities are temporarily lost due to this delusion, but are not truly or permanently lost.
If we can break through this delusion, then we will be able to recover these abilities. Therefore, the Buddha’s teachings show us how to rid ourselves of delusion and to uncover our innate abilities.
It is often stated in Mahayana sutras that the Buddha did not directly help sentient beings. Then how do sentient beings become Buddhas? By themselves.
The Buddha only assists from the side by explaining the true reality of how we delude ourselves. After realizing this, we diligently put his teachings into practice to attain enlightenment of true reality.
We then become Buddhas. Buddha Shakyamuni clearly explained that becoming a Buddha is attainable by all sentient beings.
From this, we can see that Buddhism is a teaching.
However, a teacher can only educate us about the principles, tell us of his/her experiences in practice and attainment, and suggest various methods for our attainment.
The rest ultimately depends upon us. We are the ones who need to be enthusiastic and diligent in order to attain achievement.
Once we understand that Buddhism is an education, we will logically regard the Buddha as our teacher. From this, we understand that in proper Way Places, we do not regard the Buddha or Bodhisattva images as gods to be worshipped. We make offerings to these images for two reasons.
First, to remember and repay our gratitude for this truly great education, which we have so fortunately encountered and accepted in this lifetime.
The opening verse to sutras says it very well; “It is extremely difficult to encounter this teaching in infinite eons.”
The debt of gratitude we owe the Buddha is similar to the remembrance, which some Chinese have toward their ancestors. We reflect on our origins for without these ancestors we would not exist.
The second reason we make offerings to the Buddha is to follow the examples of the virtuous. Buddha Shakyamuni was an ordinary person like us; yet, he was able to be awakened and become a Buddha.
What is there to stop us from achieving this as well?
Therefore, the pictures or statues of the Buddha serve to remind us every moment to advance diligently towards this goal.
The images are not to be regarded as gods or objects of superstition.
