Buddhists - What Do They Believe?

Growing up in the Catholic tradition, I believe that I can understand some of the feelings that Christians, Muslims, and Jews might have about people who don't believe in a creator God! And Buddhists are guilty! I wouldn't be surprised if they think that Buddhists have a one-way ticket to hell because there is no transcendental being looking out for them! And that surely, humankind is too weak and feeble to be a truth unto itself.

Actually, we don't feel that we will perish if an omnipotent entity doesn't ultimately help us, or believe necessarily that a Father in heaven is taking care of us. They aren't frightened or lonely when they confess that they simply don't know! Is there a God? Are we on our own? Our interest, rather than become entangled in these metaphysical puzzles, remains a little closer to home where we can actually do some investigating. We ask; "What is this being, called ourselves, that believes one way or the other? Is it real? Is it a fabrication of mind?"

Buddhism takes a stand somewhere between two opposite poles: The first one, the monotheism of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, being that if we somehow continue after death, then we had better have a God looking out for us! And the other, atheism, that if we don't continue, what is there to worry about.

We split these two opposing poles by believing that only our karma continues - this is what we typically see in our meditation. Therefore to a Buddhist, it is not a God that determines our destiny, but rather our own actions. Instead of a permanent God taking care of a permanent personality, We question any kind of permanence within existence - personality or God! We see everything as a reflection of cause and effect, and therefore Buddhism is very in tune with science.

Everything that Buddhists can observe in the universe is in flux, and they take the rather long overview - that if a permanent personality doesn't exist, what is there to lose? If all of what we experience is merely an illusion (real at the time but insubstantial and fleeting); and if life itself is only an illusion, then is this life of ours all that it is cracked up to be? Or, is life, when looked at carefully, really quite a hassle? Doesn't all of our cherished things change and disappear right before our eyes, as quickly as we can blink?

If it is true that life involves angst, even though we seek happiness as our most important goal, and if there is no such thing as a permanent personality, then everything we do must be based on a fiction. Therefore, when life is over and the fairytale ends, do we enter "the long sleep" for ete
ity, in which case we escape all of our troubles? Not so fast for a Buddhist - don't forget about karma!

Since we see the entire universe in constant change, he or she sees no permanent resting place in time and space for the illusory self's karma (the psychic residue of our past actions that must be resolved). The only rest would be at the end of the illusion of our self, when the self is finally understood as a fiction. This is called enlightenment, and this is when the flux ends. This is the unborn, uncreated, undying that transcends all of existence, all Gods, all universes. This is the Buddhist Nibbana.

We are simply scientists in many ways, finding out what is real and what is fiction. If in fact we are not real, and if in fact we are only imaginations concocted by our minds and thoughts, what happens to that imaginary personality when it is all over? Does that something (our "selves") that has never existed, except as a fantasy in a mind, continue to exist in some manner? Does the karma (those strong imaginations that result in physical action) of that individual continue into another lifetime, or does everything go blank for ete
ity? This is what the we investigate, just like a scientist, except that the Buddhist's microscope is his or her meditation.

I know the feeling that Christians might have, because I was a Christian for many years - that God, Jesus, and the Bible are the only hope and the only truth. Or from a Muslim perspective, it's Allah, Mohammed, and the Koran. And for the 4,000 or so other religions on this earth, it is something else. Can you see where I am going with this? What belief is true? All have their unique rationalizations, documentations and evidence that theirs is the only truth, with men and women of 4,000 different faiths spending lifetimes studying their scriptures to prove their point.

Instead of figuring out intellectually what religion is true or what book is true - the Koran, the Old Testament, the New Testament; all with their inconsistencies, discrepancies, and disagreements - we depend more or less on mindfulness, or seeing what actually "is" instead of words written on pages. The Buddhist does not rely upon what is supposed to be, or what is hoped to be, or what has been - legends and myths of long ago - it's more of a: "Here, consider this, and prove it true for yourself!" For example, they consider whether or not everything within existence is in flux. And whether existence is therefore unstable and undesirable. And also whether no permanent personality stands behind appearances.

Mindfulness means seeing what is going on in this exact moment, without the fog of judgment, preconception. If we can't see it for ourselves, then whatever is in question is put on hold, on a back burner so to speak, until it can be seen or proven.

A difference exists between beliefs, and knowing something for certain, so many times a Buddhist will typically announce that he or she doesn't know a damn thing! This is because a Buddhist, through practice, learns to live in each moment, and once that momentary knowledge of that momentary experience becomes stored in the brain, it is in essence dead and not part of the next, vibrant moment. So what can we know?

We do not believe blindly, they consider things. This leaves our minds open and unobstructed to see what actually is, moment to moment. This kind of vision begins with meditation, and eventually moves into daily life.

Buddhists perfect mindfulness by concentrating their minds in meditation. This causes shifts in consciousness, which clears the windshield so that they can see clearly. Once shifts in consciousness occur, wisdom and insight develop in various stages, as the meditator awakens to deeper insights.

These deeper insights, in turn, bring about certain characteristics. Meditation develops open-minded qualities such as lovingkindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, rather than negative attitudes such as sectarianism, arrogance, self-righteousness, fear, and hatred that are bred by errant, careless thought.

In line with seeing things clearly, the Buddhist will gain courage, enough to face the three characteristics of existence. He or she might not acknowledge or understand them immediately but with further meditation, will begin to see that in fact everything does change; that life indeed involves dissatisfaction even though we pursue happiness; and that there is no underlying, permanent entity behind our thoughts - there is no self.

We also have guidelines as we train: to refrain from killing, stealing, lying, be involved with illicit sex or drink or taking illegal drugs. Also, a Buddhist naturally seeks out solitude, quietness, simplicity and stableness internally, and is therefore eventually unaffected by gain or loss, happiness or unhappiness, fame or disrepute, praise or blame. They practice by themselves and never make a spectacle of their practice. Seldom will you find Buddhists actively proselytizing.

And most importantly in this war-to
world, Buddhists respect the peaceful aspects all religions. This is because we will always admit, "What do I know? I just observe! And who or what am "I" anyway?"nn