What Makes You Not a Buddhist by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Author:Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse [Khyentse, Dzongsar Jamyang]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Published: 2011-03-15T03:00:00+00:00

The word karma is practically synonymous with Buddhism. It is usually understood as a sort of moralistic system of retribution—“bad” karma and “good” karma. But karma is simply a law of cause and effect, not to be confused with morality or ethics. No one, including Buddha, set the fundamental bar for what is negative and what is positive. Any motivation and action that steer us away from such truths as “all compounded things are impermanent” can result in negative consequences, or bad karma. And any action that brings us closer to understanding such truths as “all emotions are pain” can result in positive consequences, or good karma. At the end of the day, it was not for Buddha to judge; only you can truly know the motivation behind your actions.

In a discussion with his disciple Subhuti, Siddhartha said, “Those who see Buddha as a form and those who hear Buddha as a sound have the wrong view.” Four hundred years later the great Indian Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna concurred. In his famous treatise on Buddhist philosophy, he devoted an entire chapter to “Analyzing the Buddha,” and concluded that ultimately there is no externally existing buddha. Even today, it is not unusual to hear Buddhist sayings such as, “If you see buddha on the road, kill him.” This is of course meant figuratively; certainly one should not kill him. It means that the real buddha is not an externally existing savior bound by time and space. On the other hand, a man named Siddhartha did appear on this earth who became known as Gautama Buddha and walked barefoot on the streets of Magadha begging alms. This buddha gave sermons, nursed the sick, and even visited his family in Kapilavastu. The reason Buddhists will not dispute that this physical buddha existed in the fifth century B.C.E. in India—as opposed to modern-day Croatia, for example—is that we have historical records that for centuries he has served as a source of inspiration in India. He was a great teacher, the first in a long line of learned masters and disciples. It is nothing more than that. Yet for a serious seeker, inspiration is everything.

Siddhartha used many skillful methods to inspire people. One day a monk noticed a tear in Gautama Buddha’s robe and offered to stitch it, but Buddha refused his offer. He kept walking and begging alms in his torn robe. When he headed toward the hideout of a destitute woman, the monks were puzzled because they knew that she had no alms to offer. When she saw his torn robe, the woman offered to mend it with what little string she had. Siddhartha accepted and declared that her virtue would allow her to be reborn in her next life as a queen of the heavens. Many people who heard this story were inspired to acts of generosity of their own.

In another story, Siddhartha cautioned a butcher that killing generated negative karma. But the butcher said, “This is all I know, it is my livelihood.

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