The Path to
become a Buddha
The path to becoming a Buddha means to become a Buddhist. This
introduction to Buddhism was written primarily for westerners. Many westerners have
limited knowledge of what becoming a Buddhist or, for that fact, becoming a Buddha means.
Buddhism is not a part of western culture. Most people must overcome many
misunderstandings and misconceptions before they will be willing to become
Buddhists.
First of all, there’s the little statues of the Buddha that we
all associate with Buddhism. For all most Americans know, these statues hold the
same significance as a crucifix does for Catholics. Perhaps, they think, statues
are even more important for Buddhists. Some think that Buddhists believe that
some supernatural powers exist within statues of the Buddha. And in fact, some
ineffectual or, shall we say, untimely Buddhist beliefs do maintain that theory.
We’ll explain more about that later though. For now, it’s just important to know
that statues are an irrelevant element of Buddhism today. They have no
significant place within the Buddhist philosophy.
Another misconception that we westerners hold is that in order to
become a Buddhist, you must first recant all former beliefs. Buddhism holds that
truth is truth, no matter what title or religious affiliation you may have. To
clarify the Buddhist’s point of view, it’s like the parable of the blind men and
the elephant. This parable is told many different ways, but the gist of it is
this: Three blind men were introduced to an elephant and were helped to “see” it
by feel. One felt the elephant’s leg. Another felt the elephant’s tail. The
third felt the elephant’s side. When asked to describe an elephant, the first
said that an elephant is like a tree trunk. The second said that it is like a
rope. And the third said it is like a great wall. The point of this story is
that all three blind men were correct in their perception of what an elephant is
like. Yet, by using their descriptions, no one who had never seen an elephant
before could ever identify one.
It is somewhat the same with religion or philosophy. People get
so close to their beliefs that they can’t see the whole or entirety of life and
how to live it. Most of the commonly held religious beliefs or philosophies have
an undeniable element of truth within them, yet none, other than Buddhism, are
capable of “seeing” the whole truth of life.
What is true is true, and when you begin to practice Buddhism
for yourself, you will see your former beliefs from an entirely different
perspective. You will naturally keep what you discover to be true and discard
what is in error. No one will have to tell you or force you to do so, either.
You see, Buddhism is as natural as life itself…in fact, it is Life itself.
The final major misconception that many people hold about
Buddhism is that the religion is contained within temples, priests, or
organizations. There is no need for you to join a temple, follow a priest, or
join an organization in order to begin to correctly practice Buddhism. The
purpose of this writing is to enable you to begin practicing Buddhism on your
own. Since a major element of practicing Buddhism is that you carry out a
lifelong quest for the truth, you will continue to unfold truth after truth, not
only about Buddhism, but also about your life.
It is true and quite provable that as you practice Buddhism you
will naturally learn more and more about yourself and about others. Not only
will you learn the “good, the bad, and the ugly” about people, you will begin to
change and develop yourself right from the very start of your practice. This is
the reason we call it a path to Buddhahood. That term is a little misleading,
but it is a start in the right direction.
What really happens as you practice Buddhism is that you become
more and more aware of the Buddhahood you have within yourself. Buddhahood is
there in its entirety at this very moment, but because we are unable to perceive
it without Buddhist practice, we doubt and disbelieve that it even exists. So
you might say that the path to Buddhahood we are referring to really means the
gradual revelation of the truth of Buddhahood within your life. This Buddhahood
is very powerful and you are able to “plug in” to it right from the very start.
It’s unbelievably fortunate that you are reading this now with
the opportunity that this writing contains for you to unleash the best that
anyone could ever imagine. It’s not too much to say that you will actually
discover the meaning of life and, more specifically, the meaning of your life.
Let’s get started. All you need is an open, seeking mind, and a
willingness to try practicing Buddhism, Then you will be on your way to
enlightenment.
Enlightenment –
The Ultimate Goal
In order to understand Buddhism, one must first have an
understanding of the ultimate goal of Buddhism. That goal is termed
enlightenment. Understanding what that goal really means in concrete terms,
however, is quite difficult. For now, the term “absolute happiness” may suffice.
But even that is a term that is difficult to understand correctly.
In Christianity, the ultimate goal is to go to heaven after
death. The Christian religion teaches that a place like heaven is the only
environment in which you will ever be absolutely happy. It is based on the
belief that happiness lies outside of oneself in a blissful environment in the
sky where one can be ultimately happy for the rest of eternity. Buddhists assume
that all people essentially have that same goal – to be happy. Almost every
religion and philosophy has its own theory about how that goal will be attained.
Buddhists, as opposed to Christians, believe that happiness comes from within,
and therefore, absolute happiness can be obtained in the here and now. They also
believe that ultimate enlightenment, or Buddhahood, contains the universal truth
of life and encompasses all aspects of life, death, time, space, self and others
and leads people to embrace the vow of the Buddha. That vow is to make all
others equal to them -- that is, to make all others Buddhas.
Enlightenment is not simply existing peacefully in a state of
mind where you are not unhappy and yet are not elated either. There is another
term for that which we will discuss later. Enlightenment is unmistakable,
unshakable, undeniable, invigorating happiness and confidence. It is difficult
to explain such a feeling to people who have never experienced it before. It’s
like trying to explain what chocolate tastes like to someone who has never had
it. You can tell them it’s sweet, and they may even think they understand, but
you know that they can only relate to what they have tasted in the past, which
is probably not even close to how good chocolate really tastes.
To further try to explain the feeling of enlightenment, we have
decided to quote an explanation that we think is good: “Enlightenment is not a
mystical or transcendental state. Rather it is a condition in which one enjoys
the highest wisdom, vitality, good fortune, confidence, and other positive
qualities, and in which one finds fulfillment in one’s daily activities, and
comes to understand one’s purpose in being alive.”
(Nichiren xxxi From the
Introduction by Soka Gakkai)
This is the goal of Buddhism. This is enlightenment.
Origins of Buddhism
To begin to understand why anyone practices Buddhism, one needs to
understand the Buddha, Shakyamuni’s, original quest. Born in India almost 3000
years ago, Shakyamuni searched for an end to human suffering. He categorized
human suffering into four groupings: The sufferings associated with birth,
sickness, aging, and death.
If you are interested in the specifics of Shakyamuni’s life,
there are several good accounts of it available in English. For our purposes,
though, it is enough to know a few factors about his life that are important
today. For one thing, by attaining enlightenment himself, he proved that human
life contains the power to become enlightened and that enlightenment (Buddhahood)
provides an end to all suffering. So, to end one’s own suffering or to seek
answers to why people must suffer are reasons why people become Buddhists
Another thing we should note is that, after attaining
enlightenment, Shakyamuni immediately attempted to teach all others the path to
enlightenment so that they, too, could put an end to their sufferings. The
problem, though, was that he lived in an age when the capacity of the people was
extremely limited. They could not understand Shakyamuni’s teachings nor directly
practice them because they could not even begin to fathom that they, themselves,
could ever attain Buddhahood. Shakyamuni, far from giving up on them, instead
taught them according to their capacity using what he later termed “provisional
doctrines” and “expedient means.” He gave them lower, more attainable goals to
try for and described the practices suited to accomplishing these goals. Some of
these practices involved attempts to extinguish desires and create good causes
through such practices as almsgiving. The results of these practices was the
formalization of commandments, or precepts, that were designed to improve the
quality of life (and in fact did improve the quality of life) for those who were
faithful to them. Shakyamuni used various teachings for approximately forty
years before he began teaching the Lotus Sutra. In the Lotus Sutra, he shocked
his listeners by telling them that all he had previously taught them were
nothing other than “expedient means” to now be discarded. We will quote
Shakyamuni for disbelievers who may be reading this. In the Immeasurable
Meanings Sutra, which Shakyamuni taught just before the Lotus Sutra, he said,
“In these more than forty years, I have not yet revealed the truth.”
(Nichiren p.475)
While his previous teachings were not incorrect, they were
incomplete. Earlier, he had expounded precepts similar to Christianity, and
partial truths similar to some psychological theories, but not the truth of life
itself. Christianity and psychology have been known to help people, just as
Shakyamuni’s early teachings did, but they have not been known to entirely
eliminate all suffering associated with life. When he felt that several of his
disciples had increased their capacity enough to understand the most profound
truth of life, and when he felt that he must preach the truth for the sake of
the future before his eventual death, he preached the most profound teaching of
all, the Lotus Sutra.
Those who heard the teachings of the Lotus Sutra couldn’t fathom
why Shakyamuni would disregard and dispute everything that they had practiced
and benefited from for so many years. This misunderstanding eventually resulted
in the proliferation of many sects of Buddhism. It is important to know this
about the origins of Buddhism so that one may understand how it became divided
into so many different sects. It is also important to note that only the forms
of Buddhism that use the teachings of the Lotus Sutra are, as Shakyamuni taught,
“full and complete.” He said that, far from leading people to enlightenment, the
expedient means would instead create further suffering, because people would
develop attachments to incomplete truths when they have access to the most
profound and complete truth.
Shakyamuni understood that human capacity would gradually
improve and that human society would one day not need the teachings of expedient
means. He so thoroughly understood this principle that he predicted three
corresponding time periods. These corresponded with one-thousand-year periods:
the Former, Middle, and Latter Days of the Law. We could think of these time
periods as corresponding to the development of a child: infant/toddler,
teen/youth, and adult. It would be inadvisable to teach a toddler about
chemistry or physics in the same way as we would an adult. Instead the child’s
parents just give commandments and explanations commensurate with their child’s
capacity to understand. An example would be “Don’t touch that pan on the stove.
It will hurt you!” The infant/toddler stage is akin to the Former day of the
Law. People in that age knew little about life and science or how the universe
worked, so rather than teaching them profound principles, it worked well to
teach them commandments. Later, as society came to understand more about life,
they would also be more capable of understanding the teachings of the Lotus
Sutra. Returning to the analogy, this is like the ability of an adult as opposed
to an infant or youth. While an adult’s capacity to understand is much greater,
there is also a great deal of corruption associated with the age. Doubt and
egotism tend to deter the learning process. But once doubt is challenged and
egotism tempered, adults can learn anything. The same characteristics hold true
to the time period that we are now living in, termed “the Latter Day of the
Law.” We are in an age when there is no longer a need for commandments, when
people have the capacity to understand even the most profound components of life
and of religion. People in this day and age must begin to look objectively and
open mindedly at life and detach themselves from earlier partial teachings in
order to understand.
You are probably now wondering, “What is this Lotus Sutra, and
what makes it so profound?” There is much that can be said, and this
introduction could go on forever in deeper and deeper philosophical concepts,
yet we would still never be able to capture the complete profundity of the Lotus
Sutra. So how can a person gain benefit from a teaching that cannot be readily
understood? You would probably throw away this book if we had to tell you that
you must first study the teaching for twenty or thirty years before you can gain
benefit from it. That is not the way life works, however, and the Lotus Sutra is
a teaching about life. For instance, to drive a car you do not need to know how
the car works. You only need to know a few basic things to get started, such as,
the car turns when you turn the wheel, and to make it go faster you need to step
on the gas peddle. This introduction to Buddhism is designed to help you
understand a few basic concepts about the Lotus Sutra that will start you off in
your new journey of life. Later, after you have learned how to “steer” your life
towards happiness, and you have seen the benefits that can result from this
Buddhism, you will probably want to learn more deeply about how it works.
Nichiren studied the Lotus Sutra among other things and found it
to be the most profound teaching on the planet. He grabbed this wonderful
teaching and took off with it. He used it as a basis to revolutionize the world
of religion. This being the case, we can say that Nichiren Buddhism is a
Buddhism of the Lotus Sutra.
We term the teachings of Nichiren the “law of life.” The “law of
life” is similar to other laws in scientific theory. For instance, there is
another law called the “law of gravity.” While we have no physical proof of its
existence, and we do not entirely understand how it works, we know that it
exists. The reason we know that it exists is because we “stick” to the earth.
Moreover, every time we drop something, it falls to the ground. As scientific
laws go, if even one time we dropped something and it fell toward the heavens,
we would have to discard the theory of gravity. The same should be true in
religion. Nichiren demanded that religion be the same way. He challenges people
to discard religions that don’t work. If even one time a person practiced
according to the teachings of Nichiren and didn’t become happy as a result, we
would have to discard the theory. We can therefore make predictions based on the
laws of the universe. As for the law of gravity, we can predict, for instance,
that if you let go of something, it will fall to the earth. In Buddhism, the
prediction is that each and every person who practices according to the
teachings of Nichiren will attain instant enlightenment, causing them to feel
stronger and happier.
The essence of this practice begins with a chant or intonation.
That chant is Namu- myoho-renge-kyo. When someone says the name “Earth,” they
are referring to all of the qualities of the earth. They are talking about the
trees, plants, life, water, oxygen and all things that the word “Earth” means.
The word may even arouse a mental picture in your mind that includes certain
elements. If I say that cars are destroying earth, you may be aware that I am
referring to earth’s ozone layer and the life that requires the ozone layer for
its survival. I would not, however, be understood if I said that cars were
destroying Mars, because the very name of the planet implies certain elements.
In short, a name is more than just a name, or a word. The same applies to
Myoho-renge-kyo. Within that phrase is contained the very essence and meaning of
life itself.
NOTE: much of the above text was reprinted from
Nichiren Buddhist Association of America website
