|
Nothing that
Buddha actually said was ever written down. The monks and devotees had
to remember what he said. Years after he died, many monks got together
to write down what they remembered. Being totally honest people, they
started each recollection with a statement "I have heard it said" or
the equivalent. Unlike many other religions, Buddhism does not claim a
divinely inspired written document of any kind. They were supposed to
be cynical of anything told to them. Buddha himself is reported to have
said:
Do not believe in anything simply because
you have heard it.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is
spoken and rumoured by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is
found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority
of your teachers and elders.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been
handed down for many generations.
But
after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with
reason, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then
accept it and live up to it.
Buddhism
is a personal practice of a way of life. It is yours and only yours. No
one else can judge or tell you how to act. You alone are responsible.
THE METTA SUTRA
This is
what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness, and who knows
the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright, straightforward and
gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties
and frugal in their ways. Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful, Not
proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the
slightest thing That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and
in saftey, May all beings be at ease. Whatever living beings there may
be; Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none, The great or the
mighty, medium, short or small, The seen and the unseen, Those living
near and far away, Those born and to-be-born,
May all beings be at ease!
Let none deceive another, Or despise any being in any
state. Let none through anger or ill-will Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings:
Radiating kindness over the entire world
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one,
having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.
|
|
