The Noble Buddha's Approach - Essay Example

What kind of s did the noble Buddha avoid? There are a number of s which the Buddha avoided such as God, soul, self, the nature of existence, and so on. Instead, his overt teachings centered on the problem of suffering and how to end suffering. Also, the Buddha did not define the nature of divinity, or any prayers or rituals either although practical precepts in general are plentiful. One practice the noble Buddha did not engage in was performing miracles. His mission was "to establish a path to spiritual perfection, to full enlightenment and nibbana, liberation from suffering …" (Bodhi, 2010). This short paper focuses for the main part on the subject of God in addition to the soul, rebirth and the more mundane affair of marriage. We also discuss points that would help to explain this situation that is peculiar to the Buddhist religion. In relation to mundane life, the noble Buddha did not delve extensively on the topic of marriage for example, so no rules were laid down dealing with married life although he did give some basic advice to ensure that people would lead happily married lives. Similarly, there are no direct references to related issues such as divorce or birth control. Nonetheless, worldly concerns were addressed but the focus was on liberation from suffering in this world and general guidance on how to live a good life. The most notable absences however, that one would expect to have been talked about by the founder of a religion, are the subjects of God and soul. A common fallacy is that buddhists deny the existence of both. Some would differ saying that by not proclaiming the existence of God, the noble Buddha in effect denied the existence of God, but even with this position, they cannot claim this with certainty for the very reason that no clear statement was made accepting the existence of God. At the same time, we could also argue that God does exist because there are sufficient records of noble Buddha discussing God in the Buddhist scriptures. In regard to the soul, the position of Buddhism is similar to Islam wherein God responded to a question concerning the soul; that people have only been given a little knowledge. The noble Buddha however was more strict in ensuring that his teachings were kept simple, and he did not intend to cause any confusion. In actual fact, the noble Buddha neither categorically denied God or the soul, nor did he affirm their existence. What the noble Buddha discouraged was speculating on such subjects on which one does not have proper knowledge. The noble Buddhas position was to either remain silent when asked about such questions or to discourage delving on the subject in detail because the knowledge was not helpful to know. His point was also to show that the world is in a constant state of flux. Again, he attempted to make his followers simply focus on more important issues that concerned their liberation, and attaining enlightenment after which truths are revealed anyway. During an individuals own journey on the path to enlightenment, the soul, God etc. are observed and experienced for oneself. The noble Buddha wanted people to rely on themselves; to see and understand the truth for themselves (Hunt, 2006) so as to cease any dissatisfaction. The noble Buddha said, "One is ones own refuge, who else could be the refuge?" (Rahula & Demieville, 1997: 1) thereby highlighting the principle of individual responsibility and establishing the freedom of thought in Buddhism. This also brings the subject of the existence or non-existence of God and the soul as inconsequential. On the subject of rebirth and karma, the noble Buddha considered this to be fruitless as well. Instead, he stressed on the importance of looking within, into the inner self, because then a person starts to see things differently and loses interest in matters pertaining to life and death. He stressed on living in the present so pondering on eternity becomes irrelevant. Enlightenment is directly related to how one lives their life in the present and that is the rebirth that needs to be brought about. Even with subjects the noble Buddha did teach, he did so in a very assiduous manner. For example, his teachings on the four noble truths were not given lightly. He would first ensure that the minds of listeners are fed with the essential points of Dhamma so that they are pure enough to receive the four noble truths. This suggests the noble Buddha was very aware of what was appropriate to be taught and what was not, and that he applied a certain teaching methodology. His teachings were clearly "not meant for little children" (Sasana). In the Parable of the Raft (Majjhima Nikaya i.134-135, in Wilson, 1995: 573), the noble Buddha gives a beautiful example of the link between knowledge and need. The man who wanted to cross the river only needed the raft for crossing it but not thereafter so it would have been foolish for him to carry it on his head upon reaching the other side instead of leaving it afloat in the river. The man did not need to know about walking on land while he was crossing the river, because that would not have been helpful, and he needed to discard his attachment to the raft for continuing his journey further. Similarly, knowledge of a particular teaching exists to serve its purpose, which differs according to ones waystation along the spiritual path. The noble Buddhas approach is not unique however, because other holy people and prophets also imparted and withheld certain knowledge depending on the persons stage of development and understanding. Thus, the noble Buddha avoided some subjects not because he lacked knowledge about those subjects but because he made decisions based on the needs of people and their society, and their capability to hold that knowledge. His comment, that the dhamma is only revealed by the good among the good shows the need to be good and enlightened before more ultimate truths are revealed. References Bodhi, Bhiikku. 2010. The Buddha and his Dhamma. Access to Insight. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel433.html [Accessed 29 April 2010]. Hunt, Geoff. 2006. What the Buddha did not teach. Wanderings. http://www.wanderings.net/notebook/Main/WhatTheBuddhaDidNOTTeach [Accessed 29 April 2010]. Rahula, Walpola & Demieville, Paul. 1997. What the Buddha taught. Oneworld publications. Sasana. N.d. Definition of Buddhism. http://www.dhammadana.org/en/main/buddhism.htm [Accessed 29 April 2010]. Wilson, Andrew (Ed.). 1995. World scripture: a comparative anthology of sacred texts. 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