Bhagvan Buddha:- No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
Bhagvan Buddha as a constructive worker committed an error in failing to give
the masses a religion, something tangible they could grasp, something
materialistic, if symbolic that their limited intellect could take hold of, in
addition to his ethics and philosophy. Here Sri Sage Sri, Sankara was wiser and
gave religion; such as Bhakti, worship, etc.--to the ignorant masses, as well as
wisdom to those of higher intellect.
Even the Sage, Sri, Sankara gave religious, ritual
or dogmatic instruction to the mass but pure philosophy only to the few who
could rise to it. Hence the interpretation of his writings by commentators is
often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus they may assert
that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.
Sage Sri Sankara in the commentary to "Brahma Sutras:~ " "The highest beatitude is not to be attained by Yoga." (Sacred Books of East Series page 298 Vol.1.) And he also says Samadhi is the same as sleep (p.312) - this indicates that yoga is not a means to self-realization. And yogic Samadhi is not nondual Self-awareness.
Everything
is consciousness, which Sage Sri Sankara declared 1200 years back
–everything is Atman because Atman is present in the form
of consciousness.
Sage Sri Goudpada says that:~ The merciful Veda teaches
karma and Upaasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is
taught to those of higher intellect.
Buddhism has not proved the truth of
Non-duality. There is no doubt Buddha pointed out the unreality of the world. He
told people they were foolish to cling to it. But he stopped there. He came
nearest to Advaita in speech but not to Advaita fully.
The practices of
the path and the destination or goals of both religions can be
different. Theravada Buddhism is relatively conservative, and generally
closest to early Buddhism. Later
on, Mahayana and Vajrayana also developed. It appears that
later schools of Buddhism have developed a variety of other ritual and devotional
practices that were inspired or influenced by the existing religious cultures
of India, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Tibet. Little differences can be
found between later schools of Buddhism and Hinduism. There is a huge
difference when comparing Hinduism to the teachings of the Buddha as recorded
in the Pali Canon of the Theraveda school of Buddhism.
Buddha is a
Sanskrit word. Buddha means "awakened one." A Buddha is someone
who has realized the enlightenment that ends the cycle of birth and death and
which brings liberation from suffering.
Among all the
Buddha's teachings, those on the nature of the self are the hardest to
understand, yet they are central to the religion. In fact, "fully
perceiving the nature of the self" is one way to define enlightenment.
The Five Skandhas
The Buddha taught
that an individual is a combination of five aggregates of existence, also
called the Five Skandhas. These are:~
- Form
- Sensation
- Perception
- Mental formations
- Consciousness
Various schools of
Buddhism interpret skandhas in somewhat different ways. Generally, the
first skandha is our physical form. The second is made up of our feelings,
emotional and physical, and our senses -- seeing, hearing, tasting, touching,
smelling.
The third skandha,
perception, take in most of what we call thinking --
conceptualization, cognition, reasoning. This also includes the recognition
that occurs when an organ comes into contact with an object. Perception can be
thought of as "that which identifies." The object perceived may be a
physical object or a mental one, such as an idea.
The fourth skandha,
mental formations, includes habits, prejudices, and predispositions. Our
volition, or willfulness, also is part of the fourth skandha, as our attention,
faith, conscientiousness, pride, desire, vindictiveness, and many other mental
states both virtuous and not virtuous. The causes and effects of karma are
especially important to the fourth skandha.
The fifth skandha,
consciousness, is awareness of or sensitivity to an object, but without
conceptualization. Once there is awareness, the third skandha might recognize
the object and assign a concept-value to it, and the fourth skandha might react
with desire or revulsion or some other mental formation. The fifth skandha is
explained in some schools as a base that ties the experience of life together.
What's most
important to understand about the skandhas is that they are empty. They are not
qualities that an individual possesses, because there is no-self possessing
them. This doctrine of no-self is called anatman or anatta.
Very basically, the
Buddha taught that "you" are not an integral, autonomous entity. The
individual self, or what we might call the ego, is more correctly thought of as
a by-product of the skandhas.
On the surface,
this appears to be nihilistic teaching. But the Buddha taught that if we can
see through the delusion of the small, individual self, we experience that
which is not subject to birth and death.
Two Views:~
Beyond this point,
Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism differ on how anatman is understood.
In fact, more than anything else it is the different understanding of the Self that
defines and separates the two schools.
Very basically,
Theravada considers anatman to mean that an individual's ego or personality is
a fetter and delusion. Once freed of this delusion, the individual may enjoy
the bliss of Nirvana.
Mahayana, on the
other hand, considers all physical forms to be void of intrinsic self (a
teaching called shunyata, which means "emptiness"). The
ideal in Mahayana is to enable all beings to be enlightened together, not only
out of a sense of compassion, but because we are not really separate,
autonomous beings.
There's an apparent
discrepancy between the Buddha's words in The Dhammapada "By oneself,
indeed, is evil done; by oneself is one defiled. By oneself is evil left
undone; by oneself, indeed, is one purified. Purity and impurity depend on
oneself. No one purifies another." (Dhammapada,
chapter 12, verse 165)
Bhagvan Buddha also holds that this world which changes from moment to moment is no real, it is only a reflection and a thing of which it is the reflection alone is real. Buddha was not an atheist. He never denied reality. There is nothing in his words or teaching to show that he considered truth to be non-existent like horns of a hare. He could not have held the foolish view that something came out of nothing. It is true; some of his disciples misunderstood and misinterpreted him. his idea was that the truth which cannot be designated by a name, or described is words and of which one cannot even say whether it is existent or none extent, is like non-existent. The idea is quiet in agreement with the view of the Upanishads. An object which cannot even be talked about, is, for all practical purposes, as good as non-extent. But it is not non-existent in the sense that the son of a barren woman is non-existent. This subtle idea, Bhagvan Buddha's contemporaries and even his disciple fail to catch. In one passage Bhagvan Buddha says clearly: Srmana Gautama was an atheist. It is the annihilation of non-existent of truth that he teaches. So will people attribute to me atheism, which is not mine? So will they ascribe me to the theory of non-existence, which again is not mine?
From these similar statements of the Bhagvan Buddha, it is clear that he was not an atheist. All philosophers old and new arrivals at the same point. Orthodox Advaita (monism) that is inevitable; the people of thoughtful temperament cannot find peace and quietude until they do so. Moksha (liberation) is in the realization of oneness with God. They speak of God Goddesses, devotion and devotee, only in an in accurate way only from the standpoint of dvaithi. After realizing oneness with God, there is no distinction between God and devote and the word "devotion" has no meaning.
Bhagvan Buddha, Sage Sri, Sankara and Sage Sri, Goudpada have declared non-dual truth centuries back but one has to reach the destination with the scientific (rational) investigation, not through punditry and intellectuality. One has to mentally reach the final conclusion then only the conviction becomes firm. Without the firm conviction, the wisdom will not dawn. Therefore, there is a need to know consciousness is real all else is a myth, which Sri, Sankara declared as the world is a myth Brahman alone is real.
Buddhism says: all things are illusory and nothing exists. However, Advaita avers that it is not
so. It says that the universe, of course, is illusory, but there is Brahman, that exists forming the very substratum of
all things.
Sage Sri, Sankara says Atman is Brahman and everything is Brahman is a scientific declaration not religious or yogic. Sage Sri, Sankara and Sage Sri, Goudpada are more scientific than anyone else in the world. Since the real Advaitic essence is hidden it cannot be got without the inner (mental) journey.
Sage Sri, Goudpada says :~ The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect. Gnana here is knowledge un-contradictable truth or scientific truth. Thus their scientific truth of the whole, not the part is declared by Sage Sri, Sankara 1400 years back and thought only to those of higher intellect. Thus karma and upasana, yoga and orthodoxy have to be bifurcated in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.
The Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana is for those are capable of inquiring into their own existence to know and realize the ultimate truth or Brahman. Santthosh Kumaar
Bhagvan Buddha also holds that this world which changes from moment to moment is no real, it is only a reflection and a thing of which it is the reflection alone is real. Buddha was not an atheist. He never denied reality. There is nothing in his words or teaching to show that he considered truth to be non-existent like horns of a hare. He could not have held the foolish view that something came out of nothing. It is true; some of his disciples misunderstood and misinterpreted him. his idea was that the truth which cannot be designated by a name, or described is words and of which one cannot even say whether it is existent or none extent, is like non-existent. The idea is quiet in agreement with the view of the Upanishads. An object which cannot even be talked about, is, for all practical purposes, as good as non-extent. But it is not non-existent in the sense that the son of a barren woman is non-existent. This subtle idea, Bhagvan Buddha's contemporaries and even his disciple fail to catch. In one passage Bhagvan Buddha says clearly: Srmana Gautama was an atheist. It is the annihilation of non-existent of truth that he teaches. So will people attribute to me atheism, which is not mine? So will they ascribe me to the theory of non-existence, which again is not mine?
From these similar statements of the Bhagvan Buddha, it is clear that he was not an atheist. All philosophers old and new arrivals at the same point. Orthodox Advaita (monism) that is inevitable; the people of thoughtful temperament cannot find peace and quietude until they do so. Moksha (liberation) is in the realization of oneness with God. They speak of God Goddesses, devotion and devotee, only in an in accurate way only from the standpoint of dvaithi. After realizing oneness with God, there is no distinction between God and devote and the word "devotion" has no meaning.
Bhagvan Buddha, Sage Sri, Sankara and Sage Sri, Goudpada have declared non-dual truth centuries back but one has to reach the destination with the scientific (rational) investigation, not through punditry and intellectuality. One has to mentally reach the final conclusion then only the conviction becomes firm. Without the firm conviction, the wisdom will not dawn. Therefore, there is a need to know consciousness is real all else is a myth, which Sri, Sankara declared as the world is a myth Brahman alone is real.
Sage Sri, Sankara disagrees with Buddhists who say, there is nothing -
nonentity. Sage Sri, Sankara believe there is some reality, even though things are not
what they appear to be. If one knows the truth, he will know what to do to find
inspiration for action. Seeker of truth‘s subject is to know what is it that is
Real.
Sage Sri, Sankara says Atman is Brahman and everything is Brahman is a scientific declaration not religious or yogic. Sage Sri, Sankara and Sage Sri, Goudpada are more scientific than anyone else in the world. Since the real Advaitic essence is hidden it cannot be got without the inner (mental) journey.
Sage Sri, Goudpada says :~ The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect. Gnana here is knowledge un-contradictable truth or scientific truth. Thus their scientific truth of the whole, not the part is declared by Sage Sri, Sankara 1400 years back and thought only to those of higher intellect. Thus karma and upasana, yoga and orthodoxy have to be bifurcated in order to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.
Sage Sri, Sankara was criticized for
his views on Maya [illusion] without understanding him. He said that (1)
Brahman (Atman) is real (2) the universe is unreal, and (3) Brahman
is the universe. He did not stop at second because the third explains the
other two. It signifies that the universe is real if perceived as the ‘Self’
and unreal if perceived as apart from the Self. Hence Maya or illusion and
reality are one and the same.
The dualists criticize the concept of
illusion without understanding it. Sage Sri, Sankara said that:~
(1) Consciousness
(Atman) is real
(2) The universe ( mind) is unreal,
and
(3) Consciousness is the universe (mind) because the universe or mind
is merely an illusion created out of Atman (consciousness).
One need not stop at second because the
third explains the other two. It signifies that the universe is real if
perceived as the Self and unreal if perceived as apart
from the Self (consciousness). Hence illusion
and reality are one and the same because both are one in essence. Realizing
the essence, which is consciousness as the innermost Self, is Self-Realization
or Truth- Realization of GOD- Realization. Thus Sri, Sankara‘s declaration is
rational truth, scientific truth and also ultimate truth.
The Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or Atma Gnana is for those are capable of inquiring into their own existence to know and realize the ultimate truth or Brahman. Santthosh Kumaar
