5 Things you might not know about being a buddhist
Buddhism arrived in the UK in the early 1920s however at the time it was not yet widely available. In the more recent decades, it has seen a significant increase in interest, made popular by figures such as the Dalai Lama who has a huge following across the world. Also many have been attracted to Buddhism following the popularity of Mindfulness in mainstream western society.
On a personal note, I was drawn to Buddhism and Eastern philosophy as a young girl because I found it just made sense. When I first started to explore Buddhism fully, I was a lot older and a little wiser. However, I was still not fully prepared for the journey I had committed to taking because what Buddhism promises to do is to turn everything upside down!
In his book “Not for Happiness” Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse asks the question
“Do you practise meditation because you want to feel good or to relax and be happy?”
Of course, I am sure that’s what we think will happen but Khyentse goes on to explain
“These practises will not bring the kind of comfort and ease most worldly people crave, quite the opposite, in fact”.
That should have been a warning sign for me to move on but I persisted regardless.
This week in one of my Buddhist groups we discussed this quote
“Buddhism is simple but not easy”
and I came to the same conclusion, Buddhism is by no means easy. So to help clarify some misconceptions I thought I’d share five things people might not know about Buddhism:
1- Buddhism isn’t really a religion as such, it is a way of life that is often referred to as “The Middle Way”.
Yes, there are religious establishments that we can attend to learn and practice together and there are many rituals, however, real Buddhism is much deeper than that. As Buddhists, our intention is to train our minds away from the conditioning we have picked up in life so we can stop conceptualising. In other words, we try to stop paying attention to what the mind is thinking so we can see things as they really are because the mind is great at making up stories, is it?
2 – There is no god or higher power in Buddhism, there is only cause and effect, otherwise known as Karma.
Buddhism is essentially a science that puts us in the middle of all that happens in our life. Buddha was not a god, he was an ordinary man that went on a journey of self-understanding, and then he shared what he learned. Often Buddhists are asked how we explain creation, and how we got here. Well in a very simplistic way, in Buddhism there is no beginning or end, there is only change. Buddhism aligns very much with science because The Buddha taught that all things come into existence due to certain conditions and causes coming together. I guess it supports the view of the big bang or similar.
3 – The Buddha taught his students to question everything especially the Dharma (the Buddhist teachings).
The Buddha said that you should never accept anything unless you know from your own experience that it is true. This is why we say we are practicing Buddhists because it is an experential practice. We are often required to be rebellious and may even appear irrational because we are questioning even the most widely accepted narrative.
For example, I often ask myself “Who am I if I am not a woman, mother, teacher, sister etc?”
Then I look closely below those labels and everything I’ve attached to them and in that space, I see that I am, that’s all.
4 – There are 5 main Buddhist vows that we try to live by when we take refuge. Broadly defined as:
Refrain from taking the life of other sentient beings (do not kill)
Abstain from sexual or sensual misconduct (what might harm you or others)
Do not take what is not given (do not steal)
Refrain from consuming intoxicants that might cloud the mind
Do not lie or take part in unwholesome speech (that might harm you or others)
And although we vow to live by these simple rules we know there will be times when we might be tempted back to our old ways but there is no punisher. So we must take responsibility for our actions and when we do come off track we guide ourselves back because we know that life is better when we are mindful of our speech, mind, and actions. Over time it becomes natural to live this way because the old way was way too painful.
5 – Renowned Zen Buddhist teacher Charlotte Joko Beck wrote:
“Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment.
This includes every mosquito,
every misfortune,
every red light,
every traffic jam,
every obnoxious supervisor (or employee),
every illness, every loss,
every moment of joy or depression,
every addiction,
every piece of garbage,
every breath.
Every moment is the guru.”
Our job as Buddhists is to learn to
“coexist with the unpleasant, with an open heart”
And to do that we must always remember that everything is always changing, people will come, and they will go, circumstances will come and then they will go, life will come, and then it too will go. Not forgetting to add that everything is grounded in compassion for self and others.
This is the nature of life and to be truly free we must learn to be at ease with all of that. This is fundamentally what being a Buddhist means.