Tony Morris - What Do Buddhists Believe?: Meaning and Mindfulness in Buddhist Philosophy

Buddhism is one of the world's oldest and most widespread religions with a history spanning some 2,500 years. It has over four hundred million adherents and there are Buddhists today in almost every country in the world. How can one possibly attempt to bring all that diversity within the compass of a hundred or so small pages?

I can't. What I can do is try to give a sense of some of the most important and interesting facets of Buddhism and some of the reasons why, in an age which seems increasingly disenchanted with organized religion, Buddhism appears to be thriving.

The teachings of Buddhism are vast and various, and it has a well-developed mystical and philosophical side. At its core, however, is a simple set of propositions and practices. Its emphasis has always been, and remains, how to live a wise, happy, compassionate and fulfilled life.

My hope is that some of the questions I have asked will be the questions you would want to ask, and that this little book will take you a step further on your own journey of discovery.

Tony Morris

July 2005

1
What does it mean?

Who is a Buddhist?

The Buddha was once asked by an eager student what happens to an enlightened person when they die. He deflected the question with a joke. But the earnest enquirer persisted. So the Buddha turned to him and said:

Listen - if you had just been shot by a poison-tipped arrow, you wouldn't be standing there asking me, 'Who fired it? What did they look like? Where did they come from?'... You'd be saying: 'Help! Get this arrow out! Quick!'

The point the Buddha wanted to make is that it is important to attend to what is urgent and a matter of fact, rather than getting distracted by speculations and theories. We must live in the here and now.

Buddhism is not anti-intellectual. It has a profound and elaborate philosophical dimension, refined over centuries by some of the worlds most sophisticated scholars. The provenance of the arrow would be critical to a full and proper investigation of the incident, and the Buddha was not seeking to duck the question. The point he wanted to stress is that we need to call for the doctor first and the forensic scientist second. Priorities matter.

This fundamentally pragmatic approach is what makes Buddhism so distinctive. It is also what makes the title of this book at first appear rather odd. For Buddhists aren't primarily concerned with believing and thinking', their main interest is in being and doing Buddhists do what they do because they want to become wiser and happier. It is hard to think of any religion or philosophy that wouldn't support the same aims, but few are as explicit about it. In the words of the Dalai Lama: 'The very purpose of life is to seek happiness.' What that means in Buddhist practice (as well as theory) is the subject of this book.

There is only one way to find out whether Buddhism works or not: by testing the teachings in daily life. Of course it is important to listen to what other people have to say, and to read and study the scriptures (which are voluminous); but there is no substitute for direct, actual, personal experience.

The Buddha was emphatic about this. 'That which you affirm [must be] that which you have realised, seen, known for yourself.' Every teaching should be tested rigorously before being accepted or rejected. Belief based on theory was one thing, knowledge grounded in personal experience another.

The Buddha might not altogether have approved of the title of this book therefore. Perhaps a better question would be: 'Does Buddhism work? Does it make your life more meaningful?' The answer to this would be a resounding and unequivocal 'Yes'. There aren't many questions to which over four hundred million people, living in all corners of the world, would respond unanimously, so this in itself is highly significant.