THE WHY OF LIFE
Minh Tich (vumanhphat@gmail.com)
September 1998
Copyright ã 1998 by Phat Manh Vu
All Rights Reserved
The universe is energy, in various guises.
In its most basic condition, energy can be in
one of two states: latent, or
manifest.
Latent
energy is nowhere, yet it is everywhere. It cannot be detected, yet it is
ever-present. It has no form, color, sound, smell, taste, or touch, is not even
light, heat or vibration. Thus, it cannot be perceived with our senses, cannot
be discovered by any scientific instrument. It is non-being, yet it is not an idea. It is not bound by time and space. It is total and complete freedom.
It is pure, serene, self-sufficient,
self-justifying. It is proto-matter
and proto-consciousness.
It is unchanging, In Western terminology, it is the
real first cause, the only true reality, the only real self. It can only be comprehended by humans using supra-intelligence.
Under specific circumstances, due to motion
and other causes, a part of latent
energy may activate itself and change into manifest energy, initially in
the form of vibration, then in heat, light, and magnetism.
Further down the line, we have matter and spirit.
In the world of matter, initially we have photons,
neutrinos, electrons, neutrons, protons, then atoms, molecules, cells,
chemicals, minerals, vegetation, and the animal world. They are various forms of concentrated energy.
The direct relationship between energy and matter has been formulated by Einstein in his famous equation E= MC2 and has been eloquently proven by reality.
In the world of spirit, our science has not
made much progress. Yet it is something
that cannot be denied.
Actually, a better word would be consciousness. Just like matter,
consciousness is also a form of manifest energy. It can exist independently of matter, in the form of a spiritual being, or it can be combined with matter to form a sentient
being.
Energy, once changed from latent into
manifest, loses its freedom, purity,
serenity, and self-sufficiency. It becomes bound by time and space. In other words, it has a
life duration, and cannot be in two places at the same time. It is a localized field of magnetism, in the
case of consciousness, or electro-magnetism, in the case of matter.
Of the two forms of manifest energy, namely
matter and consciousness, consciousness is more volatile. It has no physical form that can be apprehended by our five senses.
But it can be detected as an entity with
vibration, radiation and heat, i.e. sensorial
signals.
The universe as we can see with our eyes or
through a telescope consists of vast galactic systems comprising matter in the
form of nebulae, stars, comets etc, and in the case of our solar system, the
sun, planets and moons. But the universe
also has other, less concrete realms that we have not been able to detect yet.
These realms are realms of the
spirit, or consciousness..
Getting into our world, we have inanimate matter, like
minerals, chemicals and the botanical world. These have no consciousness. Then we have the biological world, from
viruses, microbes, through insects, fish, amphibians, birds, to mammals, and at
the highest stage of development, humans. Each of these is a combination of matter, in the form of DNA,etc. constituting a body, and consciousness. They can feel outside impulses, and can
react positively to them. They can move around of their own will. They have
various degrees of intelligence, and various degrees of freedom from the
environment.
The world of manifest energy is the world of being, the world of phenomena.
And the most basic law of this world is the law of combination and deconstruction. For example,
light is a combination of vibration, radiation, heat, and electrons, an atom is
a combination of a nucleus and electrons, a molecule is a combination of
various atoms, a phenomenon is a combination of stance and circumstances...When
the elements deconstruct, the thing ceases to exist, and the phenomenon is no
more.
The second law is change. This can also be easily seen. Where there is motion,
there is change. Even in vibration, we can already see change in space and
time. Nothing stands still, and any
combination is a continuous flux of elements in juxtaposition, inter-connection
and interaction.
A corollary
of change is impermanence.
When things change all the time, they cannot be permanent,,
that is natural enough. Things are formed and then disintegrate. Sentient
beings are born and then die. Every
nanosecond, countless cells die in our body, to be replaced by new cells. Every nanosecond, our consciousness
changes, thoughts and feelings follow one another and mingle with one another
without stop.
The third law is the law of cause and effect. Everything has a reason,
everything can be explained through logic. There is no such thing as
'accident'. In the physical world, we understand this fully. In the world of
consciousness, it seems harder to explain. But this applies to the whole world
of phenomena, and consciousness is just another one of these phenomena.
Humans are two basic forms of manifest energy
combined with each other, namely body,
or a highly developed form of matter, and soul,
or a high form of consciousness. But as we have mentioned, both of these forms
are highly impermanent, and the resulting combination can only be highly
impermanent also. We have already talked about body, a combination of billions
of cells in a constant state of flux. As far as 'soul' is concerned, it is
actually a combination of four kinds of
accumulations, namely sensations,
thoughts, will, and consciousness.
Sensations result from the contact of our five sense organs with
outside stimuli. Thus, we feel sight, sound, odor, taste, and touch. But these can only be made aware through our
consciousness. When we are unconscious, we cannot feel anything, even if
our five senses may still be affected by outside stimuli.
Thoughts cover activities
related to our brain, including the thinking
process, intellect, and imagination. Thoughts belong to the sixth level of
consciousness.
Will is an area including
volition, intention, wish, urge, resolution, determination, and the concretization of them in actual deeds.
Thus, if a person kills, steals, lies, etc, he must of necessity go through the
first step of having the urge, intention, or will to do it. Will is in the
realm of the seventh level of
consciousness, that of the 'self'.
The last element of the four accumulations
making up 'soul' is the highest level of consciousness, the universal, or eighth level. It is the great
store of 'seeds' from which all existential phenomena draw to manifest
themselves. It is shared by all
living things, be they spiritual or sentient. It is also the great store of energy from which
matter forms.
Dreams
are a special category. They are usually hidden wishes actualized through the
brain to bring about illusory satisfaction in sensations without the knowledge
or participation of the five sense organs.
They may also be fear, insecurity... actualized in psychic symbols. They
may also be visitations by other beings, spiritual or sentient. They may also
be premonitions of things to come, in the form of complex symbols. Dreams are
the products of the seventh level of
consciousness, the subconscious self,
or the eighth level, the universal subconscious, which sends
signals to the seventh sense, to be decoded into images, simulating actual
experiences.
The law
of cause and effect also applies to the spiritual realm, just as it applies to
the realm of matter. Everything we do or intend to do make up our karma, which will
affect us right in this life or in one of our later reincarnations.
The individual
subconscious, or personal psyche, is the reason that makes us think
that we are really existing entities, having individual characteristics, and all things around us are also really existing. And all of these trace to a higher form of self, the
concept of a Deity, a Supreme
Being encompassing all living things, the Brahma in Brahmanism, or God in other religions.
Actually, the highest level is universal consciousness,
the sum total of latent energy in the
universe that activates itself into manifest energy. It transcends the idea
of self, either individual or greater, in our limited solar system.
Our body and the four accumulations are not
separate and independent of one another, but are inter-dependent and interact
with one another. Thus, the subconscious
self retains all wishes, sensations, and memories recorded by the sense organs,
even after it has left the body as a result of death. But the subconscious self cannot cause new
karma independently of the body, and can only bear the consequences of old
karma.
The impermanent universe consists of billions
of systems, each of which must go through four
stages of transformation, namely actualization,
sustenance, disintegration, and disappearance. Each
system comprises both matter and spirit. Everything that we can detect is in
the stage of actualization, sustenance or disintegration. What we don't see is the stage of disappearance. This accounts for 'black holes', or great voids in
the universe.
Let us now take a closer look at our own realm, the solar
system. As with everything else, it
indeed has a beginning, the actualization stage. And the first being that inhabits it is a
spiritual being, an individual consciousness coming from another system.
And as with all beings, this first one also has wishes to see the realm it
inhabits grow and proliferate. And due
to the inevitable process of nature, things begin to be actualized, both
spiritually and materially. Various new realms are created, where
various forms of consciousness dwell. The earth is a realm with both physical
and spiritual elements. In it, humans are the highest form of sentient beings,
and are both physical and spiritual, i.e. matter combined with consciousness. It is consciousness that gives matter
heat, radiation, magnetism, and motion.
A human being is born through the combination
of biological elements, most
commonly a sperm and an ovum, and a magnetic field in the form of an individual psyche in search of a body to
combine with so that it can be reborn. This psyche is actually
not something permanent, but merely an
ever-changing entity which also experiences the four stages of
transformation, but has the capacity
before it disappears to transmit its
characteristics on to new entities that inherit it, the same way that a
father and a mother transmit part of their elements to their children.
Thus we see that what we usually call 'self'
is actually not something unchanging, in the strictest sense of the word, but
something with an illusory identity,
existing 'by default'. Therefore, our 'self' is actually not real self, but for practical purposes, we can hypothesize that it
does exist.
Of the four kinds of accumulations making up
the 'soul', will is the most important agent that prompts actions,,resulting
in specific consequences, strictly in accordance with the law of
cause and effect. The consequences might be right in the same lifetime,
just as a murderer is punished by society through existing laws carried out
within the legal system. But even if the culprit can somehow go unnoticed and
escape the punishment of society, he
will still have to pay for his crime, in one form or another,
either in the form of fear, or in the form of actual suffering brought about by
events. And if he does not pay his full due in the same lifetime, then he will surely pay back sometime in his
future lives. No one, including 'God', can help him get away with his bad
deeds.
When a human being dies, his psyche, or
individual subconscious, leaves his body, which
loses heat and begins to disintegrate immediately. In the forty-nine days
after the consciousness leaves the body, it will be judged by its past deeds, and will be reborn into one of many realms, ranging from the very pure and
blissful to the very impure and painful.
Of all kinds of beings, humans are the most
enviable form. They are the only
beings in our solar system capable of improving their own lots, by beneficial
deeds in their lifetimes, or worsening destinies, due to their malevolent
crimes which will result in dire consequences later on, in the
form of suffering. And since humans are
reaping what they sowed in
their past all the time, they
do not have the same destinies. Some are rich, healthy, beautiful,
intelligent, happy, while others are poor, sick, ugly,
stupid, miserable. Some live in cities, in material comfort, while others live
in backward regions, lacking all amenities. What we do in the present life can help alleviate the terrible
consequences of actions in past lives, but cannot totally change them.
However, the deeds in this present
life will bear fruits in future lives.
What are the causes for suffering in general?
We can cite three principal agents: greed,
anger and ignorance.
Greed is the desire to
satiate one's instinctual needs, and to possess things for future
gratification. It is the most serious
perturbation affecting our serenity. It constantly urges us towards
acquisition and jealous safeguard of what we think we own. It drives us to take
as much as we can, as fast as we can. It is the primary cause for all human
problems in the world since antiquity up to the very present time and far into
the future as well. The thirst for
power, love, fame, riches, immortality... all comes from a deep-rooted feeling
of inadequacy, physically and/or spiritually, as well as ignorance, and accounts for all
kinds of atrocities in the history of humankind.
Anger is the second most
harmful agent responsible for human suffering. It results from the lack of self-control, another form of ignorance, and can lead
to violent verbal or physical
reactions, with the most deplorable consequences imaginable. How
many crimes have been committed, how many people end up in prison, due to a
sudden surge of anger, can be recounted in innumerable instances, past, present
and future.
Ignorance is the third cause, yet it actually is the most basic and all-encompassing reason for human
folly. It is the lack of knowledge of the most basic laws of nature,
thus the lack of wisdom. We have to emphasize at this point that
knowledge is different from information. Wisdom is different from the
indiscriminate gathering and memory of facts. Thus, you can be the most erudite
scholar, and yet you don't know anything about the keys to life's secrets.
Ignorance can be seen in various guises.
The first one is pride. Pride is the
inflated consciousness of self. It has to do with the seventh level of
consciousness. It comes from the lack of true knowledge of the laws of
combination and impermanence. As explained above, when we have mastered these
laws, we can clearly see that there isn't such a thing as a real individual
self. And if that is the case, what's the point clinging to an inflated image
of it?
The second guise is doubt. When we do not understand the true underlying
principles of life, we are nagged by doubt. We doubt if there is any reason at
all to existence, if there is really the law of cause and effect in the
spiritual sphere, if we can ever escape suffering, etc It
leads to a nihilistic, anarchic tendency in thoughts and actions.
The third guise is false view. This has five branches. First is the false view that there is actually a
self. Second is the belief in
the immortality of the self, or the nihilist train of thought, denying everything. Third is vicious, malevolent view, such
as the belief in violence, class struggle, revenge, ...
to bring about justice in human affairs, or the belief in the superiority of
one race over another, or other superstitions.... Fourth is the intransigent adherence to false beliefs.
And fifth is the blind obedience to
sanctified practices and behavior.
The
lack of wisdom naturally leads to suffering, which can be seen in
three forms. First is the unquenchable desire to satiate oneself and indulge in
material gratification, making us forever unhappy. Second is the suffering
seeing the gradual disintegration of all the things we hold dear, such as our
own selves, our loved ones, our belongings. And third
is the suffering that individual selves constantly inflict on one another.
Looking from another angle, we can see
suffering in eight forms: suffering at
birth, suffering in old age,
suffering through illness,
suffering at death, suffering
because one has to part from what one
loves, suffering because one
has to be bonded to those one hates, suffering because one cannot attain one's wishes, and suffering because one is burned by never-ending desire due to the ever-growing
accumulations that conflict and compete with one another.
The three principal agents mentioned above
make us swim and sink in the great ocean of misery, and never give us one
minute of rest or joy. But we should know that latent in each of us is also the capacity to acquire wisdom and
serenity. We have mentioned earlier about latent energy, which
is everywhere and ever-present, but which is also nowhere. It is the capacity within each of us to experience a sublime state
of being that is non- being, or proto-being. It is total and complete
freedom, where no obstacles can hinder a sufficiency unto itself. It is what makes all beings equal, and
supreme, in the final analysis. Some of us do feel this sublime state
for a flash of an instant some time or other in our lives. As an example, we
might be completely at peace in our sleep when we are unperturbed by any kind
of dream, any visitations by outside spirits, or any vestige of fear or doubt,
however hidden from our waking consciousness. This is ultimate liberation from
all disturbances that cause suffering. The
wise men of the past have attained this level with various degrees of success.
zakyamuni Buddha is a historical figure. He is that rare human
being in our solar system who has attained total enlightenment and complete
liberation from all suffering. He has disentangled himself from the
cycle of life and death, has divested himself
of all impurities, and has returned to the state of latent energy.
He has attained Nirvana, the only real self, ever-present, blissful, and
pure.
But in the boundless universe, there are innumerable
Buddha’s dwelling in innumerable realms, in limitless time. All
of them have attained the state of proto-consciousness, of latent energy, and
whether they manifest themselves in physical forms or not, they have, or will
have terminated their life and death cycle, and can be anywhere in the boundless universe anytime, because they are
one with latent energy.
In addition, there are innumerable sentient beings that have also ceased their life and death
cycle, and will not be reborn after their present live span. They are Arahants,
and when they leave life, they will also be one with latent energy. The
difference between these and the Buddhas is that they do not have the compassion or potency to spread beneficent
influences on life.
The way the Buddhas spread their benevolence
over life is through Bodhisattvas,
sentient beings that make a vow to help others attain serenity, rescue them
from disasters, or relieve them from distress. We can also extend the
concept of Bodhisattvas to include anything
or anybody that helps us survive a calamity, be it an animal, a log of wood
floating down the river, or even an instinct within us to veer away from
danger. The bodhisattvas are the
multifarious outward manifestations of Buddhahood. One of the best
known of these Bodhisattvas is Avalokitesvara
Bodhisattva, the symbol of Compassion, who can be seen everywhere in Buddhist
art.
There is also a third form of Buddhahood, and
that is in the Dharma that zakyamuni Buddha has
mastered and teaches humankind after he attained Buddhahood. It is Reason, the underlying
principles that exist independently of human intervention or awareness,
comprising the laws of combination and deconstruction, change and impermanence,
cause and effect, suffering and liberation, etc
Through
his own efforts, zakyamuni Buddha has attained
supra-intelligence, making him see
all things in their true nature, making him realize the basic one-ness
of all beings and phenomena, making him speak and act according to
nature, at the right time and in the right place, and making him comprehend
the whole universe as if in a great mirror.
zakyamuni Buddha has
transmitted his teachings in the form of thousands of Sutras that he spoke to his great disciple Ananda and made
him write down to pass on to posterity. In these sutras, he has explained
everything in a very clear, simple, thorough and concise way. He does not hide
anything. He shows the way to us with open arms. His teachings, first passed on
to later generations in Sanskrit and Pali, were then translated into Chinese,
Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Burmese, Thai, Tibetan, French, German, English,
etc.The Vinayas, regulations
set out for his Sangha, or the body of followers, make up another category of
his teachings. And finally, the Abhidharmas,
writings by some of his most outstanding disciples, such as Asvaghosa,
Nagarjuna, Asanga, Vasubandhu, Bodhidharma,.Hui Neng,
etc, make up the third group of literature pertaining to the Dharma.
Since the time zakyamuni Buddha
spread his teachings, billions of people on this earth have been faithful
followers, and have attained various degrees of enlightenment, though always
partial. Because even if all beings
are capable of attaining Nirvana, the ultimate state of serenity and
bliss, total and complete freedom, the
road to this final end is an infinitely long one, requiring innumerable
lifetimes and unceasing practice.
But we should not feel discouraged by the
distant prospects. Any journey has a beginning. And once on the road, we will begin to see right away the beneficial
results, just as a weightlifter begins to see his muscles
develop with practice.
We should realize that Buddha's teachings are in no way commandments. They are rather admonitions, warning
us of the consequences of bad deeds, and encouraging us to do good things in
life. Buddha teaches us that suffering
is a fact of life, but it is not inevitable. He points out the causes of suffering,
comprising greed, anger, and ignorance.
He says we can neutralize suffering,
and shows us the way to do it. That
is the Four Noble Truths, the
content of the first sutra he taught mankind after attaining enlightenment.
To
neutralize greed, he teaches us to give. We can give others material things, such as food, lodging,
etc or spiritual things, such as
consolation, friendship, support in times of misfortune, etc. But the greatest gift is to spread the Dharma,
because by doing it, we provide our beneficiaries with a spiritual refuge that
will stay with them throughout their lives. And by showing them the Dharma, we also help them overcome fear, because
they know by practicing the Dharma, they will be protected and saved from
danger. To neutralize anger, Buddha
teaches us to be patient and humble, and be compassionate toward the
person causing us to be angry, because only
an unhappy person will make others suffer. And to neutralize ignorance, he teaches us to develop supra-intelligence,
by studying his teachings and practicing his precepts.
Buddha
shows us the primordial importance of faith, but this is not
blind faith in his dictates. Faith in
Buddhism develops slowly, based on a thorough study of phenomena, a thorough
exertion of logic, and a thorough adherence to right behavior. They can be
summed up in the eight-fold path:
1- Right view
2- Right method of thinking
3- Right speech
4- Right action
5- Right livelihood
6- Right effort to improve oneself
7- Right concern and mindfulness
8- Right meditation and concentration
zakyamuni Buddha's Sangha
consists of four groups, namely monks, nuns, male laypersons, and female
laypersons. The monks and nuns are
not to own earthly properties, are to live frugally, to beg food
from people to sustain their lives, and to spread Buddha's teachings in
return for the food they receive. They are to concentrate on understanding
thoroughly the meaning of the sutras, practicing the techniques of meditation and concentration
of the mind, following regulations set out in the vinayas, and studying the abhidharmas written by the
great followers of Buddha to elaborate on his teachings.
There are many Buddhist religious sects
throughout the history of Buddhism, each paying attention to particular facets
of Buddha's teachings. Presently, we have the
To be a
Buddhist, the minimum requirements are to take refuge in the Buddha, the
Dharma, and the Sangha, and to refrain from the five activities which
result in bad karma, or in the loss of self-control leading to bad
deeds:
1-killing
2-stealing
3-unjustified sex
4-lying, slandering, causing discord
5-taking intoxicants,
including alcohol and drugs.
We can see that Buddhism is a very special
kind of religion, because it is
concurrently science, philosophy, logic, psychology, and ethics.
It is a total and complete way of life. It does not preach intolerance,
bigotry, violence, or expediency. Instead, it
shows a clear and sure path to understanding, compassion, sympathy, and freedom
from stress and conflict. It rescues the individual from misery, fear,
ignorance, and folly. It connects the
microcosm of insignificant beings with the macrocosm of the infinite realm of
universes. It gives meaning and perspective to a life that otherwise might as
well be absurd, as the
existentialists see it. And it
cannot be refuted logically, because it is science.
At the present pace of scientific and
technological development, humankind can survive without the necessity of war,
provided wise policies are followed in terms of food production, environment
protection, and world population. With the coming unification of the whole of
humanity through better communication and faster dissemination of knowledge,
the future of humankind is bright. Human life span will increase. Living
conditions will improve. A time will come when another Buddha will appear on earth, and that is Maitreya Buddha. That is the message zakyamuni Buddha leaves to humankind.
Contrary
to common belief, Buddhism is very positive and optimistic. It affirms that
each of us is fully capable of the best, each of us is capable of improving
himself or herself, each of us is the master of his or her own destiny, each of
us can overcome suffering and attain serenity and bliss, total and complete
freedom within his or her lifetime. Each of us can help others attain total and
complete freedom through true knowledge and right conduct, at the same time he
or she is helping himself or herself. Anyone
can become a Bodhisattva, if he or she
makes a vow to help others overcome greed, anger and ignorance. But the very first condition to become a
Bodhisattva is to have faith in Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
And since Buddhism does not accept
blind faith, to have faith means to always develop one's understanding and never
cease the process of learning.
This essay is a synopsis of
Buddhism as absorbed through an individual filter, and extended through the
exertion of logic. It is intended to serve as an introduction to the wondrous
wisdom that zakyamuni Buddha has attained and showed us. There may
be many shortcomings and inadequacies, even a lack of rigorous reasoning, or
errors in scientific knowledge. Still, it is a modest effort to grasp the whole
picture, and should be seen as an invitation to further investigation by the
truly eminent minds of humankind who cannot accept superstition and illogic as
a way to explain the mysteries of life.
If this essay seems in
anyway ostentatious, it is so only out of necessity, and not out of
intellectual pretense. To summarize such a colossal and magnificent body of
knowledge and wisdom in such a short note might indeed seem pure folly and
conceit, were it not for the most earnest of intentions, to bring the greatest
way of life within the easy reach of the widest audience in this hectic modern
era when time is indeed at a premium, and the awesome flood of information can make
one drown in confusion and triviality.
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