the Buddha's Teaching

( OPEN LETTER )Dear Jacob :

i am giving an extract from Encyclopedia Britannica " the Buddha and Buddhism " ---

> the law of dependent origination < ... an understanding of the mechanism by which psy.cho.phys.i.cal {{x dic_ psy.cho.phys.i.cal adj ; psy.cho.phys.ics n. ( construed as sing. ) the branch of psychology that deals with the relationships between physical stimuli and resulting sensations and mental states ; { Q: not psychological ?[\]> no < x}}} being evolves;

the general principle of dependent arising ( the law of dependent origination ) : " when this exists , that comes to be ; with the arising of this , that arises . when this does not exist , that does not come to be ; with the cessation of this , that ceases " - the Buddha [ Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy ] Q : wikipedia ?[ ] ; the Buddha ( c. 480 BCE - c. 400 BCE ) ; i feel Jacob , the Buddha's perspective is a psy.cho.phys.i.cal perspective on bliss , that supreme happiness { dic_ bliss n supreme happiness -- Syn. see happiness -- Ant. misery } ; { dic_ happiness Syn. delight , happiness , bliss } ; the Buddha avoids the extremes of Dogmatism and Skepticism and advices treading { dic_ tread v walk in a specified way } on the Middle Path ; The importance of dependent arising (paṭiccasamuppāda) cannot be overestimated : the Buddha realized its workings during the night of his enlightenment ; dear Jacob i also feel what J.Krishnamurti calls ' thought ' or ' the process of thought ' is also what the Buddha recognized as the working of the general principle of dependent arising or the law dependent origination ; the working of the law of dependent origination is also evident in the thinking of the Lebanese mystic Khalil Gibran in whose thinking it displays its pleasant qualities ;

two truths --- Nāgārjuna was instrumental in the development of the two-truths doctrine, which claims that there are two levels of truth or reality in Buddhist teaching, the ultimate reality (paramārtha satya) and the conventional or superficial reality (saṃvṛtisatya); because of this position the Buddhist logic differs from the more prevalent { dic_ prevalent adj widespread } two-valued logic ; [ ] pray clarify ;

[ ] the two levels of truth of Sankyamuni Gautama the Buddha is a concept worthy to be understood for resolution problems in Life ; Q: may i request the Buddha to grant me the status of a Bodhisatva ? {{ Rem : Bhodisatva is a Buddist concept of a person who deliberately keeps his own Buddha-hood in abeyance { dic_ abeyance n in abeyance not in use ; abeyance n ( in abeyance ) in temporary disuse } out of compassion for the as-yet unenlightend }} < i pray to the Buddha to grant me the benediction of the status { dic_ status n 3 the situation in a particular time } of the Bodhisatva > ; may Mother Kali grant me the same ;

[ ] there are two levels of truth --- the mundane { dic_ mundane adj everyday ; earthy } and the timeless ; this is a significant teaching of the Sakyamuni Gautama the Buddha with deep understanding of the human mind usually subject to tanaha { which means grasping } ; this is similar to Sri Krishna's advice to Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita of acting without attachment to the results of action ;

given the awareness of the law of dependent origination the question arises as to how one may escape the continually renewed cycle ( of rebirths ) ; here the ethical conduct enters in ; the Eightfold Path centers around the ethical conduct ;

...

there exist Four Noble Truths

> the truth of suffering
> the truth of origin of suffering
> the truth of cessation of suffering
> the truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering { the noble Eightfold Path }

Rem: un-trimmed version of Four Noble Truths from the Encyclopedia Britannica article on the Buddha and Buddhism is given below ;

begin

Four Noble Truths:

> the truth of misery
> the truth that misery originates within us from the craving for pleasure and for being or nonbeing
> the truth that this craving can be eliminated
> and the truth that this elimination is the result of a methodical way or path that must be followed

end;

...

the Noble Eightfold path :

1. the right mode of seeing things
2. the right thinking
3. the right speech
4. the right action
5. the right mode of living
6. the right effort in every mode of being
7. the right mindfulness
8. the right meditation

...

the Buddha guarantees that one who follows the Eightfold path reaches Nirvana ( one may take several re-births ) which is a complete destruction of ego ;

please read the article on the Buddha and Buddhism from the Encyclopedia Britannica ( a later edition not too early edition ) and let me have the benefit of your observations ; i feel the mainstream Hindu religious thinkers concentrated on the minimal condition for liberation while the Buddha addressed himself to the question of complete and irreversible transformation of personality ; at the end of his life the Buddha turned himself into a bridge between Samsara and Nirvana , and entered into Parinirvana to help future generations of people ; Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said one who sees one is not the doer ( i am not the doer ) becomes liberated and Mother Kali guides him to identity with Almighty ( who is the only one who is qualified to say I am the doer ) ; the Buddha makes no reference to God nor includes prayer in his Eightfold path ; though the Buddha has no doubts about the absolute , He made no use of it in his discourses restricting himself to what is strictly sentient { dic_ sentient adj able to perceive or feel things } ;

Sincerely

( Krishna Rao PUTCHA );