..续本文上一页ere is no need for any blind acceptance. There were no doubts, as I was told to accept a truth only after I had experienced it. I also found that every step on the path is universal and non-sectarian. This gave me great confidence.
At the end of the ten-day course, I found the teaching to be completely results-oriented. It proved so beneficial to me physically, mentally and spiritually. Therefore, at the end of the first course I accepted it wholeheartedly and thereafter, I continued to walk on the path as taught by the Enlightened One.
After about fifteen years, I was authorized by my teacher to teach Vipassana courses in India and throughout the world. Hundreds of thousands of people from different countries, belonging to different sects and various traditions, have achieved the same good results. The teaching attracts people from all walks of life because they find that it is totally non-sectarian and results-oriented.
The Teaching: The Dhamma
The qualities of the path given by the Buddha are:
1.Svakkhato-It is simple and well-defined so that anyone can practice it without any confusion in the mind.
2.Sandiṭṭhiko-Every step is based on the reality of this moment. There is no imagination, no speculation, no auto-suggestion or outer suggestion.
3.Akaliko-Every step gives wholesome results here and now in this very life. No effort on the path goes waste.
4.Ehi-passiko-The teaching invites you to come and see for yourself, to experience the truth yourself.
5.Opaneyyiko-The path is straight; every step on it takes one nearer and nearer to the final goal of liberation from all misery.
6.Paccattaṃ veditabbo viññuhī”ti-It is for every sensible and rational person from every community to experience the truth within oneself by oneself.
As one continues to walk on the path and goes through the words of the Buddha, it becomes clearer and clearer that the teaching is not intended to convert people from one organized religion to another. The teaching itself is not an organized religion. It can be practiced by one and all.
When one reads the words of the Buddha and the commentaries and sub-commentaries, one is surprised to find that throughout the literature the words "Buddhism" and "Buddhist" are conspicuously missing. The Buddha never used these words. His followers also did not use these words for a number of centuries. He called his teaching the Dhamma-that means the Law, the Truth. He called his followers Dhammi, Dhammaṭṭho, Dhammiko, Dhammacari, Dhammavihari, and so on. In Indian languages, the word for "Buddhism" or "Buddhist" is Bauddha-a word without equivalent in the vast Pali literature.
If the word "Buddhism" is used for the Buddha”s teaching, it becomes limited to a particular community, but Dhamma is limitless-appamaṇo Dhammo. It is not for one particular community or religion. It is for all. We all know that the word "Buddhism" has now gained currency and is convenient to use. Many who use the word also understand that they are using it for the universal Dhamma or Dharma.
The Noble Eightfold Path
Let us understand what is the Buddha”s teaching. It is the Noble Eightfold Path. The path is noble in the sense that anyone who walks on this path diligently becomes a noble person, a saintly person, a pure-hearted person.
The Noble Eightfold Path is pided into three pisions.
The first is sīla-morality, which is summed up as:
Sabba papassa akaraṇaṃ
Abstain from all sinful actions-that is, all unwholesome actions, physical or vocal, which hurt other beings and disturb their peace and harmony.
The second part of the Path is samadhi-one-pointed concentration of wholesome mind, summed up as:
Kusalassa upasampada
Perform wholesome actions with concentrated,…
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