|
The Buddha had a disciple named Sariputra, he was
regarded the wisest among all disciples. In the beginning he was a
renowned leader of non-buddhist teachings. He had mastered a deep
understanding of various non-buddhist teachings prevalent in India
then, yet he felt greatly frustrated knowing that what he knew was
not the ultimate truth. One day when he was strolling in the
street, he coincidentally met a disciple of the Buddha named
Ashvajit, who was walking his elm's round. The wise Sariputra
immediately observed that this Bhikshu had an unusual quality –
even though his dress was simple, his manner had an indescribable
nonchalance, calmness, reserve and loftiness. Out of a sense of
respect and curiosity, Sariputra walked toward Ashvajit and asked
him, “Your greatness, where do you live? Who is your teacher and
what has he taught you?”
Ashvajit humbly replied, ”I live in the Bamboo Grove
and my teacher is the Buddha. The meaning of his dharma is very
profound. I have not left home for long, so I still have not yet
fully understood his teaching, but I can briefly tell you what I
have learnt.” Then Ashvajit spoke a gatha as follows: “All dharmas
arise because of accumulation of conditions, so the Buddha speaks
of the cause; and all dharmas extinguish because of the
disappearance of conditions. This is what the Great Sramana
teaches.”
Sramana refers to left-home person in India, but it
does not necessarily refer to a Buddhist left-home cultivator.
Ashvajit said, “Our Buddha is a great left-home person. He teaches
us that all phenomena arise because of the accumulation of
conditions, and extinguish because of the disappearance of
conditions.” This short gatha immediately removed the long-lived
doubts from Sariputra's mind, and he ultimately found the
day-breaking light of the truth. So he gave up his established
religious leadership position, and took refuge with the Buddha,
and became a member of the Sangha. How can a few short sentences in the gatha bring about such a
strong appeal to Sariputra? This is because the gatha was able to
pinpoint the deficiencies of all kinds of non-buddhist teachings.
All non-dependent-cause-arising teachings can be broadly
summarized into two categories as follows:
(1) The Teaching of No Cause In the development of human culture, it is a natural phenomenon
for man to investigate causes. For example, when we feel cold, we
will investigate the cause for that – Are we lack of clothing? Is
the room temperature too low? Are we getting sick? When we are
able to identify and confirm the cause, we will implement the
right solution. If we do not have enough clothing, we can wear
more; if the room temperature is too low, we can adjust the heater
to function at a more appropriate room temperature; or if we are
sick, we can quickly seek for appropriate medical assistance. The
human race has continuously been able to solve problems through
investigation of causes and conditions and improve man's
livelihood, resulting in numerous great cultural achievements.
However in Ancient India there was a minority group of people who
believe in the Teaching of No Cause: They thought that all
phenomena in the world that happened or extinguished were out of
coincidence. That is, all things happen without causes, such that
there is no need to investigate causes.
(2) The Improper (Evil) Teachings
The so called “evil” teachings do not mean that they are evil, but
rather that they are improper. That is to say, they do not teach
the proper law of cause and effect. Therefore, in Buddhism they
are known as “non-cause treated as cause”. As the Buddhadharma has
been in existence in the world over a long period of time, many
areas of which have been contaminated by such improper teachings.
As a result, many Buddhist followers are influenced by such wrong
concepts despite many years of Buddhist practice. Therefore, we
must carefully distinguish between proper and improper dharmas.
From India to China, there are various teachings which mistakenly
treat non-causes as causes, and they can be classified into the
following four categories: a. Predestinism Many people encounter difficulties in life, they will conclude
that such difficulties are predetermined. Because they had not
practiced in their past lives, so it is in their best interest to
accept the difficulties now. This kind of belief is predestinism.
People with such a belief can live with others in a
non-competitive way, but this can also mean that they will ignore
the significance of making efforts. In this way, people may simply
sit idly to wait for bad things to happen, rather than to strive
for solutions when problems occur. ( to be
continued... ) |
