In this blog, the Ven. Buddhahdasa examines the perennial questions "Why was I born? What am I living for? what is the purpose of life?"
The answer he gives is that man's task in life is to break free form the bondage of his own mental processes.
The way the mind normally works just won't do. Each man's mind is a treadmill to which he is chained; and real freedom is an impossibility unless a man can break out of his old unsatisfactory thought patterns and develop a new consciousness of an entirely new order. In the Buddha's teach this mental treadmill is referred to as samsara--cycle of birth and death.
The first step towards breaking free from samsara is to recognize its existence and realize the manner in which it enslaves. Close scrutiny reveals that our bondage in samsara is dependent entirely on ignorance of that very samsara. As soon as we recognize its existence and mode of working, it ceases to operate. We become free by realizing how we are bound.
The blog is in two sections corresponding to two consecutive lectures given by Ven. Buddhadasa. The first section present a picture of life as a struggle to break free from the vicious circle of samsara and move towards nirvana. The second describes this progress towards nirvana, this "walking the Path."
The attainment of enlightenment is presented as not merely a task facing each individual, but as a long-term project for the whole of mankind taken collectively. More that this, it is seen as part of the evolutionary process in general. Enlightenment, full self-knowledge, is presented as the final goal of all life, the climaz and end of evolution.
But more importantly, this attainment of enlightenment is presented as a thoroughly practicable undertaking, a feasible project, something that can be done.
Buddha-Nigama,
Chiangmai
Thailand
The answer he gives is that man's task in life is to break free form the bondage of his own mental processes.
The way the mind normally works just won't do. Each man's mind is a treadmill to which he is chained; and real freedom is an impossibility unless a man can break out of his old unsatisfactory thought patterns and develop a new consciousness of an entirely new order. In the Buddha's teach this mental treadmill is referred to as samsara--cycle of birth and death.
The first step towards breaking free from samsara is to recognize its existence and realize the manner in which it enslaves. Close scrutiny reveals that our bondage in samsara is dependent entirely on ignorance of that very samsara. As soon as we recognize its existence and mode of working, it ceases to operate. We become free by realizing how we are bound.
The blog is in two sections corresponding to two consecutive lectures given by Ven. Buddhadasa. The first section present a picture of life as a struggle to break free from the vicious circle of samsara and move towards nirvana. The second describes this progress towards nirvana, this "walking the Path."
The attainment of enlightenment is presented as not merely a task facing each individual, but as a long-term project for the whole of mankind taken collectively. More that this, it is seen as part of the evolutionary process in general. Enlightenment, full self-knowledge, is presented as the final goal of all life, the climaz and end of evolution.
But more importantly, this attainment of enlightenment is presented as a thoroughly practicable undertaking, a feasible project, something that can be done.
Buddha-Nigama,
Chiangmai
Thailand
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