Nowhere to go but up!

This thought occurred to me recently: we Westerners who practice Buddhism still carry baggage from our Judao-Islamic-Christian backgrounds with regard to what a good or bad Buddhist is, and this doesn’t help. On your average Buddhist forum, when someone drops in and wants to learn about Buddhism, often times they ask questions like “can I be gay and Buddhist?” or “do I have to be vegetarian?” or “do I have to believe in X?”

This is perfectly normal in a way; people don’t want to start off in a new religion on the wrong foot. However, it occurred to me that if you one practiced Buddhism, no matter how much or how little, you’ve nowhere to go but up. That doesn’t mean you won’t suffer the results of your own harmful karma, but in the endless, aimless wandering of life, Buddhism will provide the one clear path to liberation and awakening.

For example, people when they first hear about Buddhism and the Five Moral Precepts, they feel that if they don’t follow all five, they are automatically a bad Buddhist. However, that’s not the point. If you can strictly follow even one precept, that is a great personal triumph. If you can strictly follow two, that is also praiseworthy, and so on.

The point of Buddhism isn’t to fit the mold of a good Buddhist, especially what others tell you.* You’ll benefit from Buddhism however much or little you take from it and put into practice. People expect to expect Enlightenment in this life if they drive themselves real hard, but the monk Ajahn Brahm points out in his talk “Is Nibbana (Nirvana) Guarenteed?” that Nirvana/Enlightenment is not about betting on the right horse (i.e. the right religion).

Buddhism has tangible benefits for whomever puts them into practice. It’s a religion based on insight, whereby one can see the fruits of the practice as one does them. If you have a habit of telling lies, and you resolve to follow the Second Precept (not telling lies), you’ll see the benefits of people trusting you more, but also in your own mind you’ll spend less energy covering your tracks, and you’ll learn to trust others more. If you practice meditation even as little as 5 minutes a week, that five minutes of peace and mind will provide solace in a world that can be exhausting. Kindness towards others has a variety of clear benefits, not the least of which is better confidence in yourself.

In one of the texts in the Pali Canon, The Ayacana Sutta (SN 6.1), the Buddha compares people to lotuses growing in the water. Lotuses grow deep in mud, but when they bloom on the surface, their petals are spotless. In the same way, everyone is growing as lotus, from one lifetime to another, and when we break through the surface we are enlightened. Lotuses don’t grow back into the ground, they grow up either quickly or very slowly. So, as you take bits of Buddhism and apply them to your life, your helping yourself as a lotus to grow and grow. It’s not about how fast you do it, but rather seeing the positive benefits in your own life as you do it.

The beauty of Buddhism is thus looking back on your life and seeing how far you’ve come and grown as a person through its practice. Enlightenment is simply an inevitability, if not in this life, then in a life to come.

Namo tassa Bhagavato,
Arahato Sammasambuddhasa

* – As a warning, the kind of people who usually frequent Buddhist online forums are typically more conservative and very dedicated. So, expect certain answers to certain questions. If in doubt, talk to people in person at a nearby Buddhist temple. There, you’ll see a greater (read: representative) variety of followers. If there is no temple nearby, then you may want to get creative.