How Do You Practice Your Sprituality? A Buddhist Perspective
Introduction by Cole Goodwin
Welcome to The Spiritual Roundtable, an interfaith roundtable featuring a diverse range of spiritual belief systems in the Gorge Community.
Each week, spiritual leaders and learners share their take on some of humanity's biggest questions, starting with: What does your spirituality mean to you? And ramping up into discussions about the nature of existence, the soul, the divine, and of course…a question as old as time itself: why are we here?
Roundtable writings will be published each Saturday and Sunday morning of the month.
Now take a deep breath… Meditate for a moment…And when you’re ready…keep reading to explore one of the many diverse faiths, belief systems, and philosophies that exist in our communities.
This Month's Question: What is your belief systems basic belief structure? What are some of the major celebrations or rites of passage? What are some of the core beliefs and major practices?
Why this question was chosen: This question asks us to examine the basic principles and values that guide our Spirituality and expand our understanding of the many paths one can walk to live a Spiritual life.
About Scott See: Scott first became curious about Buddhism in 1983 in Ladakh, India where he met people living in primitive and challenging conditions whose smiles shone so bright that Scott wanted to learn more about this Buddhist culture. Fast forward to 2015, Scott approached Thay Kozen at the Mt. Adams Buddhist Temple with an offer to barter website services for Buddhist teachings. Scott was ordained as a student of the Lay Novice Buddhist Ministerial program at Mt. Adams Buddhist Temple in April of 2019 and was given the Dharma name, Minh Tự. (Pronounced: min-dun — with the final n very muffled.) Scott also maintains a personal blog that reflects on his journey on the Path.
A Buddhist Perspective
by Scott See
Siddhārtha Gautama
To explore Buddhism’s basic belief structure, it’s interesting to begin with the quest Siddhārtha Gautama undertook to find a cure for suffering.
Siddhārtha Gautama, otherwise known as Shakyamuni Buddha, or more commonly as The Buddha, grew up in India 2,500 years ago and lived within the confines of his father’s palace. His father was a king and insulated Siddhārtha from the harsh realities of the world outside the palace walls. As life inside the palace was stifling, Siddhārtha managed to travel outside where he was confronted with the realities of sickness, old age, and death. This sparked a quest to discover the cause of suffering and how to alleviate suffering. He began to study various spiritual philosophies of the time. At one point, he practiced asceticism (severe physical deprivation) which almost killed him. The practice that helped Siddhārtha find the nature of and cure for suffering was meditation.
Here’s a passage that illuminates the role of meditation in the Buddhist practice:
“Continuously explore the presence of desire and aversion in the mind, and see living meditation practice (in which the development of insight pervades every aspect of our life and not just the hours devoted to meditation) as a ‘lifelong process of constant observation and continuous investigation.’”
Source: https://oaor.org/about-us/
Meditation is a key part of Buddhist practice.
Eventually, Siddhartha meditated long enough and deeply enough to find the answer to his fundamental question: “how does one alleviate suffering?” His answer is as follows:
Four Noble Truths
The truth and existence of suffering. (the diagnosis)
The causes of suffering. (the cause)
The truth that one can be liberated from suffering. (the prognosis)
The Path that leads to liberation from suffering. (the remedy)
The Truth of Suffering
We all suffer.
This seems obvious, but it was not long ago that I misunderstood the word suffering from a Buddhist perspective. To me, suffering was something horrible that happened to other people–extreme poverty and sickness, such as what you see in the TV commercials soliciting donations for starving families in Africa. I thought that my first-world problems don’t warrant classification as, “suffering.” Within Buddhism, “suffering” is an approximate (and perhaps unfortunate) translation of the Sanskrit word duhkha which can also be translated as unsatisfactoriness or unpleasantness. Understanding suffering this new way, I came to realize just how much I do, in fact, suffer. Seeing something for what it is is the first step in dealing with it. Accordingly, the truth of suffering is the first of the four noble truths.
The Cause of Suffering
Suffering is caused by our ignorance which leads us to become attached to things. All things are impermanent, so there’s no way to avoid being separated from “all that is dear to me and everyone I love.”
The Truth of Liberation from Suffering
Since everything is impermanent, suffering too must be impermanent. And suffering has causes; it does not exist independently and in isolation. So there must be a way to alleviate suffering.
The Path of Liberation from Suffering
The way is known as the Noble Eightfold Path which I will address next.
The Noble Eightfold Path
1. Right View
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
This list begs the question, “What is ‘Right View, Intention, Speech, and so on?’” That question is worthy of a lifetime of study, but here are some thoughts. Before taking action, consider “does this action promote compassion, contentment, and wisdom, or does it promote anger, attachment, and delusion?” Being guided like so avoids thinking in terms of right/wrong or good/bad, and as a result, helps us not become judgemental. By the way, the word, “right” is often replaced with “wise,” “skillful,” or other similar words. Buddhists avoid thinking in terms of right and wrong, so in this context, please understand that the word, “right” means promoting compassion, contentment, and wisdom.
Implicit in The Eightfold Path is the idea of “The Middle Way.” The Middle Way cautions us to avoid extremes. Just enough–not too much; not too little–is a good guideline. And this applies to our thoughts as well as our actions. As Shakyamuni Buddha found in his spiritual quest, asceticism and deprivation do not alleviate suffering, and an extravagant lifestyle also does not alleviate suffering. Living modestly and simply is The Middle Way.
Again, a big part of The Noble Eightfold Path is meditation. It is through meditation (seeing things as they are without our filters, preconceptions, or likes/dislikes) that we are able to use The Noble Eightfold Path as a guide throughout life.
Letting Go
Buddhism is more a spirituality of letting go, rather than acquisition and attainment.
Someone once asked the Buddha: “What have you gained through meditation?”
The Buddha replied, “Nothing at all.”
“Then, Blessed One, what good is it?”
The Buddha said: “Let me tell you what I have lost in meditation: sickness, depression…
This brings us back to the second of the Four Noble Truths.
The cause of suffering is our attachment to things and outcomes. Letting go of our attachment to things and outcomes is easier said than done, but such is the path of Buddhist teachings. The good news is, once you’ve learned how to let go of one thing, you will feel a lightness, a liberation, that makes it easier to continue letting go of attachments. Do not think for a moment that this non-attachment is the same as inaction or apathy. You will find that Buddhist practitioners work hard, but despite great ambition and determination, are not attached to the outcome. Rather, they accept whatever happens and adapt their efforts accordingly. In theory… The Buddhist path is simple, but not easy. It takes persistence. (The comic, though intended to be humorous, illustrates the Buddhist teaching that if we become attached to Buddhism, that can also lead to suffering. We learn to let go of even attachment to letting go.)
Emptiness (Impermanence and Interdependence)
Emptiness is a central theme in Buddhist teachings.
It’s easy to misunderstand the concept of emptiness and interpret it as non-existence.
Good news… you don’t have to stop existing to practice Buddhism.
By emptiness it’s meant that things don’t exist in isolation; they are dependent on other things. Everything is interdependent. By emptiness it’s also meant that things are impermanent and inevitably change. By emptiness it’s meant that all of our “notions” about things are not the same as the things themselves. We tend to view things through our filters. For example, I may look at a bacon-cheeseburger and drool. Another may look at it in disgust. We all bring our pre-conceptions and judgements along when we view things, people, ourselves. And when we view things through our colored glasses, we are not seeing things as they are, and this can make life difficult for us and those around us. When we realize the interdependent nature of things; when we realize the impermanence of things; when we realize that things just are, not necessarily as we perceive them, then we let go of our fears.
Core Daily Practices
Venerable Thich Minh Tinh (Thay Kozen), the Abbot at Mt. Adams Buddhist Temple, tells us, “I recommend that your daily practice include three things: 1. Compassion, 2. Devotion, 3. Meditation.” Compassion is not only for others, but equally importantly, for ourselves. Devotion involves an act of appreciation for something outside of ourselves. And meditation is the process by which we learn about calming the mind and seeing things as they are.
Getting Started
The 3 steps of starting a Buddhist Practice
Quit reading and start sitting
Find a teacher
Continue sitting
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