Introduction

One day, a famous government official, who was also a poet, was passing along a road. He saw an old monk teaching Buddhism. This was hardly unusual except that the monk was seated on a tree branch. The official asked the elderly monk what he was doing. After all, the monk was in a very precarious position. One wrong move and he could fall to his death!

The monk replied that the official’s position was even more precarious. If the monk made a careless move, he alone might be killed. But if the official made a mistake, it could cost the lives of thousands. The official considered this and decided that it was a very good reply. He told the monk that if he could explain the essence of Buddhism in one sentence, then he would become the monk’s student. "Easy!" said the monk. "The essence of Buddhism is to avoid all that is evil, to embrace all that is good, and to purify one’s mind." The official scoffed, "Is that all? Even a child of three knows that!" The monk replied that while it was true that a child of three may realize it, there was no certainty that a man of eighty could practice it.

The master in our story was absolutely right. It is one thing to know what we are supposed to do; doing so is an entirely different matter. How do we begin? We can begin by looking at how Buddhism is viewed today.

Today, many people regard Buddhism as a religion. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines religion as "the service and worship of God." But Buddhas are not gods. The person whom we know as the Buddha, over many lifetimes, uncovered the goodness, compassion, and wisdom that lay within his true nature. He achieved supreme enlightenment and in doing so became an example of what we, too, can achieve: We have within each of us our true nature, our own Buddha-nature, that is waiting to be fully awakened.

Once, the Buddha was asked if he was a god. The Buddha replied that, no, he was not a god. Then was he an angel? No. A spirit? No. Then what was he? The Buddha replied that he was awakened. Since the Buddha, by his own explanation, is not a god, we do not worship him. We respect and are grateful to him for teaching us the Way to be liberated from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, and to become perfectly enlightened just as he was.

Religion is also considered a belief in a supernatural power or powers regarded as the creator and ruler of the universe. But the Buddha is neither.

The Buddha did not create the universe. Having observed the reality of basic eternal principles, he explained that everything arises from our minds. In effect, the universe is the creation of all our thoughts and behavior, not the creation of any one being.

Neither does the Buddha govern the universe. The natural law of causality determines what will happen. Simply put, we reap what we sow. If we plant the seeds for wheat, we will harvest wheat. Likewise, if we plant the seeds for kindness, for example, by caring for others, we will receive kindness in turn. We have already sown the seeds, some good and some bad. Some lie dormant within us, just as others have already matured.

We bear the consequences of our thoughts, speech, and actions that we initiated in the past. No other being, no matter how wise or compassionate, can bear the consequences on our behalf. We alone are responsible for our individual lives. Just as our lives today are the direct results of what we did in the past, what we do today will, similarly and unequivocally, create our future.

It is the belief of many religions that heaven and hell are permanent and everlasting. As Buddhists, we believe that while our lives in the heaven and hell realms are eons long and may therefore seem eternal, they are not. We rise and fall through the realms of existence as our good actions help us to rise to better lifetimes while our bad behavior literally brings us down. We rise again, only to fall yet again. We have done this, over and over again, innumerable times. Some lifetimes last just a matter of days. Others last longer than we can possibly imagine. But within the realms of existence, of which heaven and hell are a part, no life is permanent. And no lifetime is eternal. Because of this aimless re-cycling, Buddhists seek to transcend this cycle through enlightenment.

What about the concept of Buddhism as a philosophy? By studying Buddhism in this context, people will likely fail to achieve lasting benefits because they will not practice the teachings. And without practice, no one can achieve enlightenment. Also, philosophy is just one field studied in school, whereas Buddhism actually encompasses and transcends every single field. In regards to time, Buddhism encompasses the past, present, and future. In regards to space, it encompasses everything: from our daily lives to the infinite universe.

So if Buddhism is neither a religion nor a philosophy, what is it? Buddhism is a way of understanding life and the universe, and of practicing that understanding to end suffering. It is a way of life and a state of mind. Buddhism is a teaching: a systematic learning of eternal truths.