This is from my friend who wrote this, who claims to be a Bodhisattva. He also says this of Jesus, & the years not recorded of His life were the ones he spent learning Buddhism. Anyone care to share what they think of this? Thanks ~All organisms seek to persist; they want not to perish. Homo Sapiens are no different than any other organism in this regard. They are different, however, in two important ways; they possess self awareness and the capacity for abstract thought. In combination, these two capabilities have, in addition to many positive manifestations, served to manifest within humans two deeply-rooted psychological needs: self-preservation and self-protection. For self- preservation, humans have created the notion of a soul, something with permanence that will continue to exist after the death of the body. Buddhism stands unique in the history of human thought in that it denies the existence of a soul. According to the teaching of the Buddha, the idea of a soul is rooted in the false notion that the mortal self has some permanence and that it is not what it truly is, an aggregate of atoms; where the atoms have permanence, but the aggregate does not. This false belief in a permanent self produces harmful thoughts of me, mine, selfishness, desire, craving, attachment, hatred, ill-will, conceit, pride, egoism and other defilements, impurities and problems. It is the source of all the troubles in the world, from personal conflicts to wars between nations. In short, to this false view can be traced all the evil in the world. For self-protection, humans have created the notion of God, an entity to dispense the disposition of this soul and to therefore, instill in humans a subjugational role to an imaginary entity in the living of their Lives. For these humans, the imaginary protection provided by the imaginary entity of their imaginary permanent self after the death of their bodies is worth subjugating the truth of their impermanence and the joy that comes from that truth in order to not be afraid in Life. Truth is traded for a feeling of safety; a safety from a threat that doesn’t exist. Homo Sapiens, then, are again unique among organisms due their capacities for self awareness and abstract thought: they can be afraid outside of the presence of a threat. Like other organisms, humans can experience fear, but there are no other organisms that can be afraid outside of the immediate presence of a threat. It is upon this human capacity to be afraid for the disposition of one’s imaginary permanent self that all religions are founded and all of the delusion and mental enslavement that they proffer is empowered. What the Buddha realized was the truth of impermanence and the liberation from fear that comes from this knowledge. This is the essence of his enlightenment. The same enlightenment is available to all other human beings as well. The beautiful thing about such an enlightenment is that the same capacity for abstract thought that serves to enslave the human mind with irrational fear becomes the means of it’s emancipation through knowledge of the truth of impermanence. In the decoupling of one’s self-awareness from one’s capacity for abstract thought, one’s mind that was it’s jailor becomes it’s liberator.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 08:09:38 +0000