Wisdom
Apr 23, 2011 | Views: 589
“Don’t try to use what you learn from Buddhism to be a Buddhist. Use it to be a better whatever-you-already-are.”
– His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
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Just be human.
Period.
❤️
What we learn from Buddhism, use it to be a better whatever we already are. Buddha’s life and wise teachings serve as the foundation of the Buddhist religion. We need not to be Buddhist to learn Dharma. All religions teach compassion, kindness and loving. Wisdom quote by HH the 14th Dalai Lama tells us all…be our own selves . If you are a Buddhist be a Buddhist, a Christian ,be a Christian . Many people call themselves spiritual but not religious.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
A powerful quote of wisdom by HH the 14th Dalai Lama. Buddhism is unique among the world’s major world religions. Many people consider themselves spiritual but not religious and having religion without being spiritual is emptiness. Wisdom and compassion in Buddhism, inspires us to make our life much better spiritually.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing.
This reminds me of a little story I read once, about a Christian man who travelled for miles and miles to look for this very famous Buddhist yogi to get some advice. After travelling across the world, trekking through very difficult terrain to a remote place, he found the yogi and begged to study with him. He told the yogi that he was Christian but that he now wanted to be Buddhist. He asked, “Please tell me how to be the best Buddhist I can be.” And the yogi answered, “To be the best Buddhist is to be the best Christian you can be”.
And Rinpoche has said something very similar too – that if we really take the principles of Buddhism and apply it to our lives, then we don’t even need to convert to Buddhism from whatever religion we already are in. In fact, by taking the Buddhist teachings and applying it to our current religion or beliefs, we would become better Christians, better Hindus, better Jews etc If we are aetheist, then applying Buddhist principles, would just make us better people, full stop 🙂 I love that the Dharma teachings are so universal, and that it’s never about having to convert or that there is this fear that if you don’t convert, you’ll be sent to hell etc. It’s about how you start where you are and become an even better version of who you already are.
Dear Rinpoche,
I agree 100 percent with what Sandy posted. Yes, the Dalai Lama is telling us that be we Buddhist, Christian or Muslim, etc, we should be focusing on applying the ‘dharma’ of our Faith to our actions.We should become more caring, more open-minded and see the universality of values of selfless giving, forgiving, remembering the kindnesses of others, gratitude, patience and so on.
We don’t just go around and declare to the world that we are Buddhists or Christians and start condemning and criticizing others of other Faiths. No, we work together to effect solidarity, peace and harmony through finding the common ground, and going beyond the narrow interpretations of tenets,etc.
Wisdom does not come from being an intellectual alone. Wisdom can come from the experiences of being a failure and realise where you have gone wrong. You put things right again by using wisdom. It does not mean if you are uneducated you cannot have wisdom to transform yourself. Wisdom is one of the ingredients of a complete Buddhas teachings of Compassion, Wisdom and Skilful means. These are the truth of the Buddhas teachings. And Manjushri is the Buddha of Wisdom. Majority of people pray to Lama Tsongkapa who is one of the embodiment of Manjushri, Chenresig and Vajrapani.
I take that to mean that, fundemental to Buddhism is the proper development of one’s spirituality and the change in one’s core values to morals and ethics – the transformation of one’s mind so that benefitting all sentient beings is foremost in the mind. Those changes mentioned can be applied to any religion. One can be very spiritual without being religious. On the other hand, having religion without being spiritual is empty.
P.S: The aim of Buddhism is not to have the largest number of Buddhist practitioners in the world. The aim is not to fill up temples, gompas, and dharma centres. The aim of Biddhism is to fill our minds with enlightened thoughts…and there is more than just one way.
I really love this comment from HH Dalai Lama – it really cuts through pop-spirituality and drives home such a wonderful truth.
To me (though I may be wrong), HH Dalai Lama implies here that the teachings of Buddhism (or by the Buddha) are simply that of truth. Buddha didn’t teach with the intention of creating Buddhists – he taught because he discovered the truth and wished others to realise it. HH Dalai Lama could have said the same thing with regards to Christianity or Hinduism – the whole point of the religion isn’t to get attached to being a student of that religion, but rather the point is to actually apply what the teachings say and watch as compassion, kindness, patience and wisdom progressively develop.
Kind regards,
Sandy
Dear All,
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Hope this inspire you 😉
http://www.tricycle.com/feature/something-nothing