I have no doubt about the Buddha’s teaching and I feel the happiness directly and personally. The Buddha’s teaching is definitely good. However, not everyone can learn. Different people hear the same words but the outcomes are different, as evident by the existence of so many Buddhist sects with wide differences in their doctrines. So many people think they can teach Buddhism to others, but they teach widely different doctrines. I think the Buddha has foreseen this; he instructed his disciples to pass down the Suttas, all started with: “Thus as I heard, …” instead of “The Buddha said, …” He doesn’t want to be misrepresented; not that he would be displeased by any misrepresentation (because he has no greed, hatred, and delusion) but he has great compassion for all beings and he wants people to learn the true Dharma and feel true happiness from the perfection of virtue, equanimity and wisdom. No one should “accuse” the Buddha of saying anything; as far as the records or Suttas are concerned, those are words heard by the disciples rather than said by the Buddha. No one knows whether those words were really said by the Buddha. It could be counterfeit suttas, words put into the mouth of the Buddha, or misheard, wrong recollection, wrong propagation from one generation to another, or some other reasons. The Buddha encourages followers to listen, investigate, practice, and agree if, and only if, one directly and personally attain the attributes of the teaching, i.e. cessation of suffering. There are big differences between believing, remembering, agreeing based on reasoning, awakening, and attainment of the truths. If one has no awakening to the truths, he cannot claim to understand the Buddha’s teaching; therefore, he is not in a position to confirm that the Buddha teaches the truths (because he doesn’t really directly and personally know the truths). The Buddha doesn’t want anyone to claim any word is the truth until and unless that person has direct and personal knowledge of the truth, like personal experience. Buddhists are free to say they believe the words are the truths, but not pretending to have awakening nor attainment of the truths. As such, we can’t claim Buddhist religion is the secret of happiness; we can only say we believe it can lead to happiness or cessation of suffering. We will never say other religions cannot lead to happiness.
I am an Engineering Professor and I have taught many students over 30 years. Not all students can understand what I taught, as evident by the results in which very few score grade “A”. Maybe I am a lousy teacher; but my students love my teaching although they don’t get “A”. There are big differences between believing, remembering, agreeing based on reasoning, awakening, and attainment of the truths. I can teach but I can’t guarantee everybody can learn it. Similarly, the Buddha is a great teacher; he is still a great teacher until today, teaching through the words recorded by his disciples, although not all are truly his words. The Buddha can’t guarantee everybody can learn it correctly and find true happiness.
How many Buddhist countries are prosperous? How many Buddhists are happy? Can we blame it on the Buddha or his teaching? A Buddhist country need not be a poor country. Many kings were followers of the Buddha and they were not expected to become poor after becoming Buddhists. There must be something wrong with the ways Buddhism is taught today. I have witnessed different Buddhist sects fight for power, influence and wealth. I have witnessed fear, anger, anxiety, depression, sorrow, grief, lamentations, and despair. I have witnessed Buddhists in a monastery fighting for power, influence and wealth. I have seen many unhappy Buddhists with fear, anger, anxiety, depression, sorrow, grief, lamentations, and despair.
We can’t claim Buddhist religion is the secret of happiness; we can only say we believe it can lead to happiness or cessation of suffering. We will never say other religions cannot lead to happiness.
Buddhism is a religion of peace. Islam and Christianity are also religion of peace. However, the world is still not peaceful. Something must be missing here.
RESILIENT KID 