[Commentary by yours truly.
First: note the writer's use of quotes. Or should I say, note the "writer"'s use of quotes.
Thus, it's not the Four Noble Truths, it's the "Four Noble Truths."
Is that like the "Ten Commandments" or the "Beatitudes"?HUNTINGTON,
Ind. – Looking for a quiet little place where you
can hone your skills in Zen Buddhist meditation? The Sisters of St.
Francis of Philadelphia can help. Weekends devoted to Zen Buddhism are
regularly scheduled events on the calendar of their retreat center in
Spokane, Wash.
Or
perhaps you’re more interested in doing a little reading before bedtime
on the religious traditions of the East? Jesuit Father Robert Kennedy's. . . Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit can school you in the ways of the Buddha and help
reconcile your fascination with all things Asian to your Christian
past.
And should you have any doubts about the compatibility of Buddhist
practices with the Christian faith, look no further than Sister Elaine
McInnes, whose book Zen Contemplation for Christians dismisses such reservations as antiquated
hang-ups from those dreadful days before the Second Vatican Council.
So, is she correct?
The simple answer is “no.” Nevertheless, thousands of Catholics and
Christians from coast to coast are still buying into the belief that
the best way to become a better Christian is to first become a better
Buddhist. Thousands more are rejecting their Christian roots altogether
and embracing the more exotic religious practices of the East. [feeling threatened, are we?]
‘Four Noble Truths’
Just what exactly is it about Buddhism that attracts these Westerners?
And why do so many Christians stubbornly insist that the two faiths are
compatible?
Answering those questions first requires some defining of terms, which
with Buddhism is no easy task. Rather like Protestantism, there are
many different types of Buddhism, [no, really? how horrid! "Many different types"? with many different sets of beliefs.
{diversity, ooh!] The most well-known in the West are Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, but the
exact shape those forms take in America are different still from the
shape they take in their native habitats. ["Habitats"? ]
Defining what constitutes a Buddhist is almost as difficult as defining Buddhism. [Harder than defining Christianity or Christians?]
Because many forms of Buddhism require little to no community
participation [hunh?] a person can consider himself a Buddhist because he
attends an occasional Buddhist retreat, practices Buddhist meditation
or just attempts to incorporate the teachings of the Buddha into his
daily life. [Well, no, actually, formal affiliation involves "Taking Refuge." There are many other formal steps along the way.]
But according to Anthony Clark, a professor of Chinese history at the
University of Alabama, for all the seeming and real differences in
Buddhism, at their core, all forms share the same four fundamental
principles. Those principles, referred to as the “Four Noble Truths,”
came to the Buddha . . . while he was
meditating one afternoon in the shade of a bodhi tree.
["One afternoon"? Oh? Writer makes Buddha's enlightenment sound like a happy accident at tea-time. On the contrary, Buddha attained enlightenment after a lifetime of searching, and after a long long period of meditation. That he was under a bodhi tree is correct. ]
The writer continues:
The “Four Noble Truths” are:
1) All of life is suffering.
2) Selfish desire causes that suffering.
3) Detachment from desire brings freedom from suffering.
4) Desire can be extinguished through following the “Eight-fold Path” –
having right views, intentions, speech, actions, livelihood, effort,
mindfulness and concentration.
[Let's correct these misconceptions with actual teachings on The Four Noble Truths -- commentary by Traleg Rinpoche:
The Truth of Suffering -- The first of the Four Noble Truths is suffering (Skt. dukkha). . ..
We should qualify that translation by saying that this does not mean
that the Buddha didn’t acknowledge the existence of happiness or
contentment in life.
The point that he was making is that there is
happiness and also sorrow in the world; but the reason why everything
we experience in our everyday life is said to be dukha is that even
when we have some kind of happiness, it is not permanent; it is subject
to change. So unless we can gain insight into that truth and understand
what is really able to give us happiness, and what is unable to provide
happiness, the experience of dissatisfaction will persist.
Normally
we think our happiness is contingent upon external circumstances and
situations, rather than upon our own inner attitude toward things, or
toward life in general.
The Buddha was saying that dissatisfaction is
part of life, even if we are seeking happiness and even if we manage to
find temporary happiness. The very fact that it is temporary means that
sooner or later the happiness is going to pass. So the Buddha said that
unless we understand this and see how pervasive dissatisfaction or dukkha is, it is impossible for us to start looking for real happiness.
According
to the Buddha, even when we think we are trying to find real happiness,
we are not doing it effectively, because we don’t have the right
attitude and we don’t know where to look for it. The Buddha was not
against happiness; rather, he gave us a method of finding out how to
overcome that sense of dissatisfaction, and this method is part of the
last Noble Truth.
2. The Origin of Suffering
The
second Noble Truth is the origin of suffering, which means that once we
have realized that suffering or dissatisfaction exists, we next have to
find out where that suffering comes from: does it originate within, or
does it come from some kind of external situation or condition? The
Buddha said that when we start to examine ourselves and see how we
respond to situations, how we act in the world, how we feel about
things, then we will realize that the cause of suffering is within.
This is not to say that external social or economic conditions don’t
create suffering; but the main suffering that afflicts us is created by
our own mind and attitude.
The Buddha said that if we want
to overcome dissatisfaction, which is intimately linked with our
experience of suffering, then we have to deal with craving, grasping,
clinging, and attachment—all these exaggerated forms of desire.
Now,
some people think that Buddhists encourage the idea of eradicating
desire altogether, but that is not what the Buddha said. He said that
we should try to overcome excessive and exaggerated forms of desire,
which manifest as craving, grasping, and so on, because they make our
condition worse by increasing our sense of dissatisfaction and
discontentment. It is the more obsessive types of desire that the
Buddha said we should try to overcome.
As long as we have these strong
forms of desire, they will always be accompanied by aversion, hatred,
resentment, and so forth, because when we can’t get what we want, we
become frustrated, angry, and resentful. Or, if we find some obstacles
in the way of satisfying our desire, we want to eliminate them,
eradicate them, or attack them. We may even resort to violence and
deception in order to satisfy our greed and craving.
So the Buddha said
that we need to deal with these extreme forms of desires; but we should
not aim to eradicate desire altogether, because we can use desire in
all kinds of positive ways as well.
3. The Goal: The Cessation of Suffering
The
third Noble Truth is the goal. First we find out about the human
condition, how it is pervaded by a sense of dissatisfaction, then we
look at the cause of that dissatisfaction, and after that we look at
the goal, which is the attainment of nirvana. Some people think nirvana
is some kind of absolute reality that is transcendent and otherworldly.
But the Buddha said that one can attain nirvana while still living in
this world. . . it is possible to achieve nirvana in this very lifetime.
Achieving nirvana means that one’s mind is no longer afflicted by
delusion and emotional afflictions. The mind becomes tranquil, and
one’s experience of happiness is no longer dependent upon external
situations and circumstances. Therefore, one’s reaction to things is
less extreme, and one is able to maintain a sense of tranquillity and
peace, even when faced by adverse circumstances.
This is so
because the one who has attained nirvana has overcome the three root
delusions of attraction, aversion, and ignorance. When the mind is no
longer governed by strong emotional reactions of either attraction and
aversion, we can be at peace and tranquil even when things are not
going right. We maintain a sense of fortitude and face things
courageously.
The Path: The Way Out of Suffering
Having
realized that this is the goal—to achieve a permanent happiness that
is not based upon external changing conditions—we then have to find out
how to apply ourselves in order to achieve that goal. This is what the
fourth Noble Truth explains. The fourth Noble Truth is the path, and
this is the essence of Buddhist practice.
Known as the Eightfold Noble
Path, it is oriented toward developing three things in an individual:
moral sensitivity, meditation or the concentrated mind, and wisdom.
Through the practice of moral sensitivity we become better individuals,
able to overcome our egocentric tendencies. We become more
compassionate and more sensitive to the needs of others. Through the
practice of meditation our mind becomes more focused, more resilient,
and more aware, which in turn gives rise to wisdom. Full teaching, here.]
The writer continues:
Agnostic tendencies
In addition to the “Four Noble Truths,” most forms of Buddhism are
agnostic –-[they're all actually non-theistic] the question of whether God exists being irrelevant to the
reality of the “Four Noble Truths” and the “Eight-fold Path.” [Truth enough. The "existence" of God is regarded as irrelevant].
Most forms of Buddhism also deny the immortality of the soul. [Buddhism asserts the non-existence of ego. See Kamalasila quote, above]. For
Buddhists, said Clark, “The final goal is not just eradicating desire,
but becoming free of suffering.”
The way they do that, he said, is by reaching nirvana, which ultimately
means extinguishing the self and becoming part of the “great monad,”
the universal oneness. [This is just dead wrong.]
Buddhism also contains a strong component of relativism, viewing other
religious practices and beliefs as acceptable because they are upaya, expedient means to achieving spiritual growth. ["Acceptable"? Well, they're not buddhadharma, but they might be better than a smack in the head with a 2 by 4].
That element of relativism, Clark believes, at least in part accounts
for so many Westerners’ attraction to Buddhism. “Buddhism allows you to
be anything you want to be with all sorts of East Asian trappings,” he
said.
[Ooh, weird oriental 'trappings'. One prefers one's own Catholic "trappings".]
Institutional ‘trappings’
Another strong point of attraction is that “Eight-fold Path.” Unlike
Christianity, which puts control over the universe in God’s hands, not
man’s, Buddhism gives its adherents a step-by-step plan for eliminating
suffering from their lives and achieving, at least a form of,
salvation. [It's not "salvation," it's enlightenment].
For Phillip Harbin . .the emphasis placed on “personal effort and experience” was compelling. . . .It also . . comes with as many
or as few institutional trappings of religion as the adherent likes.
Monks, robes and prayer beads are there for those who want them. [Say, weren't Buddhists using rosaries 500 years before Christ? Your 'trappings' are actually our trappings.] For
those who want to practice a spirituality that brings them peace
without having to conform to any institutional practices or demands,
Buddhism offers that.
[Of course, there are plenty of Buddhist religious practices and demands, for those who wish to pursue them. For example, the 227 rules of conduct for monks; the 4 x 100,000 practices of ngondro (completion of all of which is merely a preliminary practice); lay vows; vows of yogins; , etc. etc.]
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