The Essence of Buddha: The Path to Enlightenment
It is the last Sunday of the month so we are looking at religion, making this weeks book The Essence of Buddha: The Path to Enlightenment by Ryuho Okawa. So let’s do this.
This book is broken into six parts, each part having ten chapters...short chapters, the book was only 200 pages, but this is the format Okawa went with.
So part one is The Journey to Enlightenment, and is basically a brief biography of Gautama Siddhartha, aka Shakyamuni Buddha, the guy who started it all. There are a lot of books out there that explain Shakyamuni’s history and how he came to renounce his life and lifestyle. He was born a prince, and had a wife and heir before he came upon the pathway that would become known as Buddhism. He renounced his princely lifestyle, walking away from his wives and heir to become an ascetic and search for a teacher. And he found many teachers. And really, ANYONE can be a teacher, if you’re willing to listen to what they have to say and approach the conversation as a learning experience for you. Don’t assume they are as willing to be taught as you are to learn. So he has his asceticism and his teachers and he begins self-reflection. What does all this mean? Extreme denial is not the answer. Enlightenment does not exist through starving yourself to death. And this acceptance of truth led to his own enlightenment.
Part two is an explanation of the Eightfold Path. These are the eight things you should be seeking to learn to advance spiritually. Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
What do each of these mean? Right View means using the eye of your inner wisdom to impartially review the perceptions you are holding on to. Another way to look at this would be, rather than ascribing the worst of motives to someone you disagree with, ascribe the best. See the good in your fellow man.
Right Thought is examining if your thoughts are aligned with The Truths, which is Eternal Buddha’s way of thinking. This one is hard because...well, how do you put yourself in the position of A God and assess your thoughts objectively. For me, this pulled me back to Stoicism: You can’t control the world around you you can only control how you respond to it. Control your thoughts. If what you’re thinking is not productive, maybe let it go. And above all, think good thoughts.
Right Speech is the external practice of Right View and Right Thought. If Right View is vital to the health of the mind because poisons are formed from wrong perspectives, Right Speech keeps those poisons from even entering and from spreading out to others. Good Thoughts, Good Words...there’s a reason, I think, that Zoroastrianism and Buddhism were in such close proximity for a few centuries.
Which brings us to Right Action...good deeds. Traditionally, Buddhism was seen as the prohibition of criminal acts, which makes sense. The work world today is vastly difference then it was 2000 years ago. So how can we promote right action in a world wholly removed from proximity to nature and natural law? Okawa says consider whether the purpose of your job will promote your harmony with others and bring happiness to society. Well, that’s right out for me. I work for the real life version of Arasaka Corporation. Although, if you work for an evil megacorporation, you CAN seek other employment. Or seek to make a difference in your off hours. Lots of charities out there that need volunteers.
Right Action and Right Livelihood are two sides of the same coin. Although we see livelihood as “what I do for a living” Okawa uses it more as right living...how do you treat people around you? Do you treat the life you are living as precious, and realize the fleeting nature of time?
Right Effort is what effort have you made to live according to the Truths? The Truths, as explained in Buddhism is The Truth of Suffering, The Truth of the Origin of Suffering, The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering, and the Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering. So what efforts are you making to acknowledge these truths and follow the pathway out of suffering? All suffering usually results in the mirror. Buddha came to this knowledge while living as an ascetic and literally starving and he realized that starving himself did not lead to more spiritualism, it led to him becoming obsessed with food and thoughts of food. The earth is a training ground for the soul. What efforts are you making to pull yourself out of the path of suffering you are now on?
Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration are also part of the same branch, which is prayer. Praying for family, praying for peace, praying for good will. Concentration is focusing those prayers on the ultimate goal: attuning the mind to the Eternal Buddha...or God, if you will.
Book three is The Six Paramitas, which are how you attain innermost wisdom and manifesting thoughts as deeds to benefit yourself and ultimately others.
Dana Paramita is the Perfection of Offering. Offering is the Buddhist way of expressing love, or charity. Offering from a place of goodness, not to stroke your own ego “well I donated enough money to re-roof the church. ALL PRAISE ME!” It’s quietly showing up at the local soup kitchen every week to help feed the homeless.
Sila Paramita is the Perfection of Observing the Precepts. Observing the eightfold path, how well do you follow right thoughts, right words, right deeds? How concentrated are you when you’re praying and meditating?
Kasanti Paramita is the perfection of perseverance. If you fall off the path, do you put yourself back on it? Or do you go “oh well, I tried.” and move on to the next thing that grabs your interest? This path also includes tolerance and not just of those situations that seem to be against you, but letting go of feelings of resentment. Resentment goes against Right Thought.
Virya Paramita is the perfection of effort. The discipline of actually making effort, the practice of Right Effort.
Dhyana Paramita is the perfection of meditation. Which kind of ties into the perfection of discipline.
And then Prajna Paramita, The perfection of wisdom. This is deep wisdom, not surface level knowledge of this world, but transcendental wisdom. You need both reading and experience.
The next section is The Concept of the Void...where does the spirit go after death? And what is reincarnation, how does that work in Buddhism? What is the meaning of life and death?
Section Five is The Law of Causality, discussion of karmic law, what you put out you get back, fatalism and the concept of fate and what is fated. How does free will play into causality, karma and fate?
The last section is The Philosophy of Human Perfection, in which Okawa breaks down how many times you have to reincarnate as a perfect human to transcend to the next level of spiritual enlightenment. And initially, I was quite a bit skeptical about this. Because he’s saying impossibly long time periods like you have to have spent 100 million years at x level to become a Buddha.
But as I sat with that idea I took this more as a caution on two levels: 1. caution against gaining too much ego. It is extraordinarily unlikely that YOU are the next coming of buddha. Keep it humble kids. 2. It’s extraordinarily unlikely that your specific guru is the next coming of buddha. And frankly, if someone is claiming that level of spiritual enlightenment, they are likely a fraud.
Think about the OG Buddha. He was a humble man, who freely admitted he did not know everything and was constantly looking for teachers. Jesus...humble. Zoroaster: humble. The true spiritual leaders are not leading from marble mansions. They lead from the fields and the trenches, serving those who need the most help, not preaching from the pulpits of gold and gemstones.
This book was food for spiritual thought, it was a fast snack, but not meant to be a deep dive into buddhism.
Now, normally I close with see you all next week. But...I’m taking a few months off from this channel. I have a ton of other projects I’ve been neglecting in favor of learning all the things, and frankly, my brain needs a break from all the new information I absorb every week. So my general plan is to take the next 9-ish months off. While I specifically focus on getting better with python and linux. So still learning some new things. But hopefully at the end of that, I’ll come back here and do more reviews.
But, if I don’t come back, or if you guys don’t come back in favor of channels that never stop posting, I have loved every interaction with those of you who comment on my posts, and thank you all for watching. Read lots, learn lots, and I hope to see you next year.
