Modern people and Buddhism

◎The life of modern people 

    In modern society, the pace of living is getting faster and faster, and the society is full of  various stimuluses.  That makes our living fully filled with external affairs, and there is no time to explore the issues of soul, self and life—Am I happy? What kind of life do I want? How can life be meaningful? Maybe there are some people who still think their life is pretty good now and they don't need to think about these issues. Looking back to see that we wasted a lot of time on meaningless things from our birth to now—in order to pass the time, we watch TV for a long time, and for living, we force ourselves to go to work in order to make money even if we don’t like it. Day after day, our daily life just consists of getting up, eating, working, watching TV, and sleeping. Although we feel helpless, we are unable to change, or we don't know how to change.

    Everyone is busy seeking happiness, but not everyone can get real happiness. Some people would rather endure a long period of pain in order to be successful or to be affirmed by others, and think this is worth it. Some people live just to satisfy their desires temporarily; they can get short-term happiness, but when they fail to achieve the desired happiness, they will feel pain. People always ignore these questions—why am I unhappy? How can I achieve the happiness I want? What kind of life is happy? Maybe you have searched for the answers to these questions and you have found nothing. Maybe you are now looking for the answers to the questions. Take a moment to calm yourself down. It is likely that you are already on the right path.

◎Who needs Buddhism

    Due to the communication of information nowadays, western countries have recently begun to accept a large part of eastern Buddhism and actively apply Buddhism in daily life. Therefore, our understanding of Buddhism should not be the same as before—Buddhism is only worshiping, reciting, chanting sutras, participating in ceremonies, and making reincarnations better... etc, and consider that it’s just activities such as praying for blessings and eliminating disasters. Besides,some people think that one’s fate is in their own hands, and belief in Buddhism is a kind of superstition and only to comfort people’s hearts. In fact, this is just what Buddhism looks like on the surface. But, leaving aside these Buddhist activities for the time being, the doctrines of Buddhism can provide modern people with a correct philosophy of life and a theoretical basis for a happy life. Buddhism is not just a religion like ordinary people think and it is the "philosophy of the mind", which allows us to subdue our annoyances and solve or improve our life problems. Moreover, Buddhism is suitable for people from all walks of life. As long as you absorb the part that suits you, you can rest our minds and start to face living, birth-and-death, suffering and happiness... and other issues again. It definitely is not negatively staying away from the crowd and self-comforting, but actively facing the problem. If we can learn Buddhism correctly, the change that can be expected is that our minds will be calmer than before, our worries will be less than before, and our outlook on life will be more meaningful than before.

◎Misunderstandings of Buddhism

    Buddhism is a religion formed in India based on the teachings of the Buddha more than 2,000 years ago. The Buddha is a person, not a god. He has realized the truth of life through his practice and he taught the principles he has found to those who are willing to believe. But today, more than two thousand years later, the Buddha's teachings have been misunderstood and distorted. For example, the folk beliefs in Taiwan have absorbed Buddhist rituals and part of the teachings, but in essence they cannot be called Buddhism, and some people intentionally claim that they are a type of Buddhism and mislead the public. In Buddhism, there are no methods of asking god or asking for divination, such as fortune-telling, throwing divination blocks, shaman, worshiping with incense sticks, burning joss paper, and in buddhism, there is no such god who wants you to worship him, and then he will bless you. Furthermore, human behavior is the master of one's own destiny and the destiny has nothing to do with one's own horoscopes, the feng shui of the house, or the ancestor's grave. These are the basic knowledge of Buddhism. If someone thinks that Buddhism is superstition, then he is likely to confuse Buddhism and folk beliefs.

◎Conclusion

    The ultimate goal of believing in Buddhism is understanding the truth of life and getting relief from birth-and-death rather than seeking ascension to heaven or seeking personal fame, money, health, or fortune in this life. Although practicing Buddhism also can get these benefits, the connotation of Buddhism is definitely not that simple. Therefore, a Buddhist needs to continue going deep into the Dharma, and do not think that it is satisfied after just getting a little benefit and then waste the precious teachings of the Buddha.

    When we choose to believe in a doctrine or law, we should first think: How is this law formed? What kind of mentality do I use to deal with this doctrine? Is this doctrine close to reality enough? Regardless of whether it is Buddhism or other religions, we should use the same standard to examining them, instead of thinking that a certain doctrine is more in line with my intentions, or a certain doctrine is said by the religion I believe in, so I believe it, and the other doctrines are not compatible with my religion, so I don’t believe it. We should even use the spirit of scientific experimentation to analyze, judge, and get to the bottom of the doctrine until we are sure that the trustworthiness of the doctrine is high enough before we accept this doctrine and use it in our practice. When we treat a doctrine or law with this method, our belief will not become a blind faith. (to be continued)