Discerning the Right Dharma

In this day and age, when I read about various Buddhist sects and their teachings, and everyone’s spin on what the Buddha “meant”, it’s frustrating to find helpful information. Being in a state of doubt lately with regard to Buddhism, and my life as a Buddhist thus far, I’ve found information on the Internet rather frustrating. Talking to ministers at the temple too hasn’t helped at all.

So I was happy to read a sutta from the Pali Canon again, called the Gotami Sutta (AN 8.53). In this sutta, the Buddha’s step-mother, Mahapajapati Gotami, asks the Buddha to teach her the Dharma so that she is confident enough to go and practice on her own. The Buddha replies:

“As for the qualities of which you may know, ‘These qualities lead to dispassion, not to passion; to being unfettered, not to being fettered; to shedding, not to accumulating; to modesty, not to self-aggrandizement; to contentment, not to discontent; to seclusion, not to entanglement; to aroused persistence, not to laziness; to being unburdensome, not to being burdensome’: You may definitely hold, ‘This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher’s instruction.’”

So, when trying to understand what the Buddha meant, he taught a path, that if followed correctly, led to:

• Dispassion
• Unfettered
• Shedding
• Modesty
• Contentment
• Seclusion
• Persistence
• Not burdening others

Interestingly, much of this is also taught in the Tao Te Ching as well:

Evince the plainness of undyed silk,
embrace the simplicity of the unhewn log;
Lessen selfishness, diminish desires;
Abolish learning* and you will be without worries.
–Chapter 19

and:

The pursuit of learning* leads to daily increase,
hearing the Way leads to daily decrease.
Decrease and again decrease, until you reach non-action.
Through nonaction, no action is left undone.
–Chapter 48

Such simple words by both the Buddha and Lao-Zi, but it’s funny how much we complicate them. Why do we do that?

In the end, I am reminded of the quote (thank you Dougsamu) that comes from a Chinese Zen (Ch’an) monk Po-Chang who told his disciple, Huang Po:

“When hungry, eat, when tired, sleep.”

Speaking of which, I am going to bed.

P.S. Another great poem on the subject is the poem “Unbeaten by Rain“.

* – Learning here is meant in the sense of philosophical, moral studies, not practical subjects. The point is to not get your head full of rules, morals and obligations.