PHILOSOPHY,
BUDDHISM, TRUTH and ENLIGHTENMENT
It seems that most
people do not care for the greatest treasure they own - their own TRUTH.
WHY?
Don’t
they realize that when they let others make them believe in what is written or said, they
prevent themselves from KNOWING. If they instead constantly had applied
skepticism, they could have protected themselves (their treasure) against false
beliefs and instead allow their own
truth to grow.
Even if the truth you yourself choose as your
own truth, does not happen to be absolute truth, it is your own truth. You can
then always chose to change that truth if or when your own expriences or
realizations make you change your mind (truth).
To change your own truths when you reach new
insights or cognitions is the same as walking on the road to truth or the road
to enlightenment – which is what Gautama called the road to Buddha.
Or
as the philosopher Ludvig Feuerbach wrote:
To Religion only that which is HOLY is TRUE!
To Philosophy only that which is TRUE is HOLY!
Vhat makes buddhism
different from other religions?
If
there is anything that is different about Buddhism compared to other religions,
it is that in Buddhism you believe that the truth exists within you and that
you therefore do not need to find out from others what is true.
The purpose of buddhist philosophy thus is
to uncover this inner truth of your own in order to make you more wise. This is
possible if you apply sceptisism and your own judgment and try to determine what is true for
you.
Truth is something relative according to
buddhism. Every individual has his own truth. Thus every individual needs to
determine what is true for her/him. And every individual has to accept responsibilíty to change his truths as he experiences new realisations.
Or as Gautama Siddharta (the Buddha) said: You
should not believe anything as true because somebody said it is true. You should not
believe that something is true just because tradition says so. And you
shall not believe that something is true because a rumour says so. And you
shall not believe that something is true because it is written. And even if men
of great learning tell you that something is true, you shall not consider that
it must be true. And do not believe it is true just because an authority or
your best friend and teacher says it is true. But if you yourself can
acknowledge that what is written or spoken is true by using your own common
sense and judgement, then you can believe it is true (for you). And when you can believe
something and become aware that it is true for you, then you can believe it is
your own truth that you can believe in. Because I do not teach you to believe in
what I am teaching you just because I said so. I teach you to believe in what
you can see is true and what you can make yourself aware of. And that which you
yourself regard as true, that is what you shall accept responsibility for and
act upon.
Thus Buddhism has no holy sacred writings. The Buddha can only help other people find truth within themselves. Almost all other religions have sacred writings (holy scriptures) that may not be questioned. Buddhism, on the other hand, recognizes the truth of every Buddha, if it can be understood by the disciple. If an individual who has met Buddha can help others find their truths, he is a Bodhisattva. This gives each person a responsibility for their own salvation. One cannot blame others if one cannot walk on the road to truth. You cannot eliminate responsibility by saying that you have not had any chance to find truth. For one of the greatest truths one can learn in Buddhism is that if you seek truth you will find it. And when you find your own truth, you become free (salvaged) from the slavery of ignorance.
Another great truth in Buddhism is: You will reap what you sow, which is called the law of karma.
This means that the person who is in great difficulty has himself contributed
to his being in that situation. Therefore, each individual must contribute to
getting out of the difficulties he gets into. At the same time, Gautama
(the Buddha) teaches that one should help his neighbor by doing good deeds. Through the good deeds you give yourself better karma in the future, while giving others a chance to give help back when they have come out of their difficulties.
The philosophy of life that we teach in Duga is a modern, Buddhist
philosophy of life, which helps the student to find the truth within himself, by a modern socratic method.
You are welcome to try and find out if it can help you.
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