The Ultimate Truth can be found in the
Teaching of the Buddhism.
Buddhism
recognizes two kinds of Truth. The apparent conventional truth and the real or
ultimate Truth. The ultimate Truth can be realized only through meditation, and
not theorizing or speculating.
The Buddha’s Teaching is
the Ultimate Truth of the world. Buddhism, however, is not a revealed or an
organized religion. It is the first example of the purely scientific
approach applied to questions concerning the ultimate nature of existence. This timeless Teaching was discovered by the Buddha Himself without the help of any divine agency. This same teaching is strong enough to face any challenge without changing the basic principles of the doctrine.
Any religion that is
forced to change or adjust its original Teachings to suit the modern world, is
a religion that has no firm foundation and no ultimate truth in it.
Buddhism
can maintain the Truth of the original Teaching of the Master even under the
difficult conditions prevailing in the modern world.
The
Buddha did not introduce certain personal or worldly practices which have no
connection with morality or religious observances. To the Buddha, such
practices have no religious value. We must make the distinction between what
the Buddha taught and what people preach and practise in the name of Buddhism.
Every
religion consists of not only the teachings of the founder of that religion but
also the rites and ceremonies which have grown up around the basic core of the
teachings. These rituals and ceremonies have their origins in the cultural
practices of the people who accepted the religion. Usually the founders of the
great religions do not lay down precise rules about the rituals to be observed.
But religious leaders who come after them formalize the religion and set up
exacting codes of behavior which the followers are not allowed to deviated
from.
Even the
religion which we call ‘Buddhism’ is very different in its external practices
from what the Buddha and His early followers carried out. Centuries of cultural
and environmental influence have made Burmese, Thai, Chinese, Tibetan, Sri
Lankan and Japanese Buddhism different. But these practices are not in
conflict, because the Buddha taught that while the Truth remains absolute, the
physical manifestation of this truth can differ according to the way of life of
those who profess it.
A few hundred
years after His passing away, the disciples of the Buddha organized a religion
around the Teachings of the Master. While organizing the religion, they
incorporated, among other concepts and beliefs, various types of miracles,
mysticism, fortune-telling, charms, talismans, mantras, prayers and many rites
and rituals that were not found in the original Teaching. When these extraneous
religious beliefs and practices were introduced, many people neglected to
develop the most important practices found in the original Teaching;
self-discipline, self-restraint, cultivation of morality and spiritual
development. Instead of practicing the original Teaching, they gave more of their
attention and effort to self-protection from evil spirits and sought after
prosperity or good luck. Gradually, people began to lose interest in the
original Teachings and became more interested in discovering ways and means of
getting rid of the so-called misfortunes or bad influences of stars, black
magic, and sickness. In this manner, through time the religious practices and
beliefs degenerated, being confined to worldly pursuits. Even today, many
people believe that they can get rid of their difficulties through the
influence of external powers. People still cling to this belief: hence they
neglect to cultivate the strength of their will-power, intelligence,
understanding and other related human qualities. In other words, people started
to abuse their human intelligence by following those beliefs and practices in
the name of Buddhism. They also polluted the purity of the Buddha’s message.
Thus the modern religion we see in many countries is the product
of normal human beings living in a country and adjusting to various social and
cultural environments. However, Buddhism as a religion did not
begin as a superworldly system that came down from heaven. Rather it was born
and evolved through a long historical process. In its process of evolution,
many people slowly moved away from the original Teachings of the founder and
started different new schools or sects. All the other existing religions also
face the same situation.
One should not come to a hasty
conclusion either by judging the validity of a religion or by condemning the
religion simply by observing what people perform through their blind faith in
the name of that religion. To understand the real nature of a religion one must
study and investigate the original Teachings of the founder of that religion.
In the face
of the profusion of ideas and practices which were later developments, it is
useful for us to return to the positive and timeless Dhamma taught by the
Buddha. Whatever people believe and practise in the name of Buddhism the basic
Teachings of the Buddha still exist in the original Buddhist texts.
Source : . Thebuddhism.net