What the Buddha Taught: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada

by Walpola Rahula

In fact there is no ‘sin’ in Buddhism, as sin is understood in some religions. The root of all evil is ignorance (avijjā) and false views (micchādiṭṭhi).

To force oneself to believe and to accept a thing without understanding is political, and not spiritual or intellectual.

Sectarian labels are a hindrance to the independent understanding of Truth, and they produce harmful prejudices in men’s minds.

his teaching is compared to a raft for crossing over, and not for getting hold of and carrying on one’s back:

It is admitted that the term dukkha in the First Noble Truth contains, quite obviously, the ordinary meaning of ‘suffering’, but in addition it also includes deeper ideas such as ‘imperfection’, ‘impermanence’, ‘emptiness’, ‘insubstantiality’.

This vicissitude is included in dukkha as suffering produced by change (vipariṇāma-dukkha).

Mind is only a faculty or organ (indriya) like the eye or the ear.

Being impatient or angry at suffering does not remove it. On the contrary, it adds a little more to one’s troubles,

craving, manifesting itself in various ways, that gives rise to all forms of suffering

Here the term ‘thirst’ includes not only desire for, and attachment to, sense-pleasures, wealth and power, but also desire for, and attachment to, ideas and ideals, views, opinions, theories, conceptions and beliefs (dhamma-taṇhā).2

To eliminate dukkha completely one has to eliminate the main root of dukkha, which is ‘thirst’ (taṇhā), as we saw earlier. Therefore Nirvāṇ a is known also by the term Taṇhakkhaya ‘Extinction of Thirst’.

Nirvāṇa is neither cause nor effect. It is beyond cause and effect. Truth is not a result nor an effect. It is not produced like a mystic, spiritual, mental state, such as dhyāna or samādhi. TRUTH IS. NIRVĀNA IS. The only thing you can do is to see it, to realize it. There is a path leading to the realization of Nirvāṇa. But Nirvāṇa is not the result of this path.

He who has realized the Truth, Nirvāṇa, is the happiest being in the world. He is free from all ‘complexes’ and obsessions, the worries and troubles that torment others. His mental health is perfect. He does not repent the past, nor does he brood over the future. He lives fully in the present.1 Therefore he appreciates and enjoys things in the purest sense without self-projections. He is joyful, exultant, enjoying the pure life, his faculties pleased, free from anxiety, serene and peaceful.2 As he is free from selfish desire, hatred, ignorance, conceit, pride, and all such ‘defilements’, he is pure and gentle, full of universal love, compassion, kindness, sympathy, understanding and tolerance. His service to others is of the purest, for he has no thought of self. He gains nothing, accumulates nothing, not even anything spiritual, because he is free from the illusion of Self, and the ‘thirst’ for becoming.

For self-protection man has created God, on whom he depends for his own protection, safety and security, just as a child depends on its parent. For self-preservation man has conceived the idea of an immortal Soul or Ātman, which will live eternally. In his ignorance, weakness, fear, and desire, man needs these two things to console himself. Hence he clings to them deeply and fanatically.

and lastly, there are questions which should be put aside.

He therefore discovered the other form of ‘meditation’ known as vipassanā (Skt. vipaśyanā or vidarśanā), ‘Insight’ into the nature of things, leading to the complete liberation of mind, to the realization of the Ultimate Truth, Nirvāṇa.

It is very necessary for this exercise that the meditator should sit erect, but not stiff; his hands placed comfortably on his lap.

Now, bring your mind to concentrate on your breathing-in and breathing-out; let your mind watch and observe your breathing in and out; let your mind be aware and vigilant of your breathing in and out.

But if you continue to practise this exercise twice daily, morning and evening, for about five or ten minutes at a time, you will gradually, by and by, begin to concentrate your mind on your breathing. After a certain period, you will experience just that split second when your mind is fully concentrated on your breathing, when you will not hear even sounds nearby, when no external world exists for you. This slight moment is such a tremendous experience for you, full of joy, happiness and tranquility, that you would like to continue it. But still you cannot. Yet if you go on practising this regularly, you may repeat the experience again and again for longer and longer periods. That is the moment when you lose yourself completely in your mindfulness of breathing.

Another very important, practical, and useful form of ‘meditation’ (mental development) is to be aware and mindful of whatever you do, physically or verbally, during the daily routine of work in your life, private, public or professional.

actions, in the present moment. They live in the past or in the future. Though they seem to be doing something now, here, they live somewhere else in their thoughts, in their imaginary problems and worries, usually in the memories of the past or in desires and speculations about the future.

Sometimes you see a man in a restaurant reading while eating—a very common sight. He gives you the impression of being a very busy man, with no time even for eating. You wonder whether he eats or reads. One may say that he does both. In fact, he does neither, he enjoys neither. He is strained, and disturbed in mind, and he does not enjoy what he does at the moment,

You cannot escape life however you may try. As long as you live, whether in a town or in a cave, you have to face it and live it. Real life is the present moment—not the memories of the past which is dead and gone, nor the dreams of the future which is not yet born.

Try to examine it as if you are observing it from outside, without any subjective reaction, as a scientist observes some object.

To read this book, and to think deeply about the subjects discussed in it, is a form of meditation.

So, according to this form of meditation, you may study, think, and deliberate on the Five Hindrances (Nīvaraṇa), namely: 1. lustful desires (kāmacchanda), 2. ill-will, hatred or anger (vyāpāda), 3. torpor and languor (thīna-middha), 4. restlessness and worry (uddhacca-kukkucca), 5. sceptical doubts (vicikicchā).

One may also ‘meditate’ on the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (Bojjbaṅga). They are: 1. Mindfulness (sati), i.e., to be aware and mindful in all activities and movements both physical and mental, as we discussed above.

2. Investigation and research into the various problems of doctrine

3. Energy (viriya), to work with determination till the end.

4. Joy (pīti), the quality quite contrary to the pessimistic, gloomy or melancholic attitude of mind. 5. Relaxation (passaddhi) of both body and mind. One should not be stiff physically or mentally. 6. Concentration (samādhi), as discussed above. 7. Equanimity (upekkhā), i.e., to be able to face life in all its vicissitudes with calm of mind, tranquillity, without disturbance.

The common belief that to follow the Buddha’s teaching one has to retire from life is a misconception. It is really an unconscious defence against practising it.

According to his ‘noble discipline’ the six directions were: east: parents; south: teachers; west: wife and children; north: friends, relatives and neighbours; nadir: servants, workers and employees; zenith: religious men.

If one understands the Buddha’s teaching, and if one is convinced that his teaching is the right Path and if one tries to follow it, then one is a Buddhist.

the Buddha suggests that, in order to eradicate crime, the economic condition of the people should be improved:

When people are thus provided for with opportunities for earning a sufficient income, they will be contented, will have no fear or anxiety, and consequently the country will be peaceful and free from crime.1

four things which are conducive to a man’s happiness in this world: First: he should be skilled, efficient, earnest, and energetic in whatever profession he is engaged, and he should know it well (utthāna-sampadā); second: he should protect his income, which he has thus earned righteously, with the sweat of his brow (ārakkha-sampadā); (This refers to protecting wealth from thieves, etc. All these ideas should be considered against the background of the period.) third: he should have good friends (kalyāṇa-mitta) who are faithful, learned, virtuous, liberal and intelligent, who will help him along the right path away from evil; fourth: he should spend reasonably, in proportion to his income, neither too much nor too little, i.e., he should not hoard wealth avariciously, nor should he be extravagant—in other words he should live within his means (samajīvikatā).

the Buddha considered economic welfare as requisite for human happiness, but that he did not recognize progress as real and true if it was only material, devoid of a spiritual and moral foundation.

For a country to be happy it must have a just government.

The teachings of the Buddha were committed to writing for the first time at a Council in the first century B.C.—held in Ceylon four centuries after his death. Up to that time, the whole of the Tipiṭaka had been handed down from generation to generation in this unbroken oral tradition.