To Be a Buddha (An Enlightened Person)
A Buddha is not a mental deity who fulfills desires, nor a weak or fearful being who grants wishes. A Buddha is not a pleasure-giving or devotee-favoring god who rewards sinners separately. A Buddha is not merely a god; rather, a Buddha is the embodiment of wisdom and knowledge that resides within a human being.
To attain Buddhahood, a person must purify their mind. One must abandon negative qualities such as greed, anger, attachment, and ego.
The Buddha has shown the path to liberation from suffering. Only by practicing truth, non-violence, compassion, and loving-kindness can a person attain peace.
The teachings of the Buddha guide a person toward self-realization and liberation (moksha)
[2]
Staying away from sin, killing, and falsely claiming “I exist” — such illusions are considered sinful, and even the so-called sinner is not at the level of the परमात्मा (Supreme Being). A Buddha is not confined within philosophical doctrines, nor is he a mysterious concept like Brahman or a supreme soul. The teachings of Buddhism help a person understand suffering from an early stage, like a child, and to realize the causes of suffering. A person must free themselves from the illusion of ghosts, spirits, and deities.
If such things are believed to exist, their nature should be examined critically. One should abandon the intoxication of blind faith and think rationally, as these are not mysterious truths. One must value reality and live life accordingly.
On this very Earth, in Asia, to the north of India, in Nepal, in the Lumbini region under Tilaurakot, he was born. Even today, by visiting places like Lumbini and Kapilvastu, where he lived, one can remember the Buddha.
Therefore, by walking on the path of truth, morality (dharma), and compassion, a person can make their life meaningful and successful.
[३]
[3]
He was born in Kapilvastu. At the time of his birth, his father, Suddhodana, was the head of the republican state of Kapilvastu—effectively its king. At that time, his name was not Buddha; it was Siddhartha. There is also a history of how Siddhartha later became the Buddha.
He was deeply affected by the continuous suffering in the world. He would sit in solitude and think deeply. He devoted himself to understanding human suffering, its causes, and its solutions. He realized that people suffer not only physically but also mentally and spiritually.
He made it his life’s purpose to free people from suffering. For this, he renounced royal comforts and luxuries and undertook कठोर (rigorous) spiritual practices. He went into the forest and engaged in meditation and asceticism.
King Suddhodana made many attempts to bring him back to the palace, but he did not succeed. Eventually, Siddhartha attained enlightenment and became the Buddha.
He taught that external luxuries, pleasures, wealth, and royal life cannot provide true peace. He preached the path of truth, non-violence, compassion, and the Middle Way
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Page 7: The Rejection of Self-Mortification
"The inquisitive Siddhartha did not merely wander through the monasteries, temples, and pilgrimage sites of various rishis, sages, yogis, wanderers, religious gurus, avadhutas, aghoris, and practitioners of occult spells; he also studied their rituals, actions, logic, and philosophies while practicing diverse methods of discipline. He observed numerous fasts, subsisting only on fruits, roots, tree bark, leaves, grass, cow dung, cow urine, and water—or sometimes abstaining from food entirely. He performed various yogic postures, such as standing on one leg with arms raised or balancing on his head. He bathed many times a day and performed fire sacrifices (hom). During the summer, he endured the heat of the 'five fires' (panchagni), and in the winter, he remained submerged in water for weeks while performing various chants. Through his penance of forgoing all grain, he even reached the point of practicing breath retention.
Eventually, the 'machinery' of his body was on the verge of total failure. In other words, the so-called 'ageless, immortal, and indivisible soul'—supposedly wandering within a body made of illusion (maya) and immune to weapons, fire, water, or wind—was about to show its 'bravery' by fleeing the moment the body lacked nourishment or faced the impact of physical trauma. Siddhartha caught himself just in time.
He realized that the world already overflows with enough suffering and pain. To consider these grueling practices—which leave one suspended between life and death—as 'religion' is the height of human folly. Siddhartha attained the true realization that this was not a 'Bodhi' practice (a path to enlightenment) intended to elevate humanity, but rather a hypocritical pursuit that only degrades it."
Page 16: The Middle Way and the Comparison to Marx
"On one side were the profligates who considered the ultimate goal of life to be sensual indulgence—consuming alcohol and engaging in excessive sexual pleasure—while slaughtering goats, birds, and even cows, horses, and humans (Go-medha, Ashwa-medha, and Nara-medha rituals) in the name of religion for the benefit of kings, emperors, merchants, and priests. On the other side were the agonizingly painful methods of penance and fasting for 'self-purification' and the attainment of heaven or liberation, which could severely endanger one's very life.
Siddhartha cast both these extremes aside. He carved out a broad path where the state of mind would not be disturbed by excessive pain, nor would one become a slave to excessive luxury. This is 'Buddhism,' the Buddhist Path, or the Buddha’s Way—otherwise known as the Middle Way (the path in between).
In a manner similar to Buddha's systematic approach, 'Father' Marx (Marx Baba) formulated Communist ideology to uproot the exploitative tendencies of the minority capitalists and to elevate the living standards of the majority—the peasants and laborers. Buddha granted humanity mental freedom by liberating them from the clutches of 'gods' and 'idols.' To eliminate the divide between the exploiter and the exploited, he deprived his circle of disciples of the right to hold private property.
However, for the minority feudal class living outside his circle of disciples, Buddha’s doctrine of 'Karma from past lives' left a door open for feudal tendencies; it allowed them to claim their luxuries were merely the fruits of past deeds, thus justifying the looting and exploitation of society. In contrast, Father Marx gave no place to such superstitions, focusing instead on the economic and political..."
Page 17: Communism and Social Revolution
"...By providing a path to liberation [from exploitation], he provided a form of 'communism' that left the positions of the feudal lords, exploiters, and the priestly class vacant.
Buddha was the son of a king. For 29 years, he lived a life of royal luxury among thousands of young women. He understood the reality of how kings, emperors, priests, and wealthy merchants oppressed the majority—the peasants, laborers, and slaves—through deceit and force to maintain their luxurious lifestyles. He had experienced it himself. Therefore, he understood the plight of the masses. It was because of all this that he deeply reflected and discovered the path of 'Bahujan Hitaya, Bahujan Sukhaya' (For the benefit of the many, for the happiness of the many). He didn't just shout this slogan; he implemented it and spread his followers across all four directions.
Wandering through jungles, caves, huts, and cremation grounds, Buddha met ascetics, sanyasis, nagis, and aghoris who were suffering in the name of religion. Through his teachings, he liberated them from the agony of extreme penance and brought them to the easy Middle Way. He also traveled through cities and villages, where he and his disciples encountered the 'mental slaves' of the priestly class—those trapped in rigid dogmas and inhuman practices like caste discrimination and animal sacrifice (killing humans, horses, or cows)..."
English Translation: Page 30
"...as long as they remain enchanted by this 'divine' world!! While roaring with ego, the spiritualists also say this—'I am Brahman, I am Wellbeing, I am the Creator, Sustainer, and also the Destroyer. The wind, sun, moon, stars, planets, rivers, and streams—all things in this animate and inanimate world move at my command and for my pleasure'. Such self-proclaimed lords, great-lords, and sub-lords feel extremely delighted when they can wander within the cycle of their own arrogant imaginations.
But, if this world were truly being run by a secret circle of 'Lords' at their whim and for their pleasure, then why are there terrible epidemics, various diseases and ailments, wars and great wars, and mutual hatred, malice, and jealousy? Why is there dishonesty, injustice, and the barbaric oppression of the weak by the strong? Why the inhuman atrocities against the majority Shudras and Anaryas of India and Nepal, or the Negroes in Africa and America, and the indigenous inhabitants of Abyssinia? Why the cruel disorder of rape against helpless women, foeticide, and such?
Has all this also been ordained for the pleasure of these 'Great Lords'? Has there been no one capable of questioning these self-proclaimed lords about such things? What those who consider the world as themselves and chant 'The world is one family' (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam) or 'May all be happy, may no one suffer' are actually doing through their actions can be seen by flipping through their own poetry, epics, Puranas, and history. The descriptions in the Manusmriti regarding the treatment of Shudras, and the conduct toward Vaishyas, Kshatriyas, and Brahmins, are [akin to] Nazism and Fascism...".
English Translation: Page 31
"...is no less [than that]. If Brahmins consider themselves the 'Guru' or 'Divine-caste' of all, if Kshatriyas consider themselves the 'Ruler-caste' of all, and if Vaishyas consider themselves the caste that exploits everyone—then the German Nazis consider themselves the superior rulers of the entire world. It was 'Lord' Manu who gave birth to these [ideologies]. Recently, when Nazism emerged in Germany, the world cried out and eventually extinguished it. However, in India and Nepal, ever since the 'Aryans' (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas) arrived, the arbitrary and self-willed rule of these 'Nazis' has been ongoing.
Twenty-five hundred years ago, Ashwalayan—the 'Guru' of these Nazis—approached the Buddha with five hundred of his disciples and posed this question: 'O Gautama (Buddha), we hear that you give teachings on the purification of the four varnas (castes). Is this true? If so, you are acting against the (Sanatan) Dharma. We believe that Brahmins are the superior caste of the white complexion (Shukla Varna), while others are lower castes of the black complexion (Krishna Varna). What is your opinion on this matter?'
In response to this question, the Buddha said: 'In that case, you Brahmins who consider yourselves superior, light a fire and cook Marsi rice; let the so-called "lower castes" also light a fire and cook the same Marsi rice. If the fire refuses to cook the rice of the lower castes and only cooks yours, then—and only then—can you be considered a divine and superior race. Furthermore, you who are called the superior caste...'"
English Translation: Page 32
"...Go to the river to bathe with cleansing powder (soap, etc.), and let the so-called lower castes come as well. If the river water specifically cleanses and washes away only the dirt of you 'superior' castes, but fails to cleanse or wash away the dirt of those called 'lower' castes, only then can you be considered superior. If that is not possible, then how can one accept that only Brahmins and Kshatriyas are superior and everyone else is lower?"
"Unable to answer this question, Ashwalayan left with his followers, bowing his head in silence. In this context, the Buddha further explains to others— 'If one understands humanity and the entire human race, how can there be caste discrimination between one human and another? Trees have distinct types (species), and the form and qualities of different trees vary. For example, a Pipal tree is a tree, and a Coconut tree is also a tree; yet the structure of the leaves, the shape of the tree, and their properties are different.'"
"'Similarly, there are different species among animals, and different animals have different qualities, faults, and are treated in different ways. For instance, both the elephant and the horse are animals, but there is a vast difference in their shape, nature, and qualities. Furthermore, there are species among insects, but like trees and animals, insects also differ in form and quality. A locust and a butterfly both belong to the same category—insects—yet there is a great difference in their appearance and nature. Therefore, what is the difference between one human and another? The same shape of the nose, the same shape of the eyes, and the same hands and feet—everything is the same, everything is identical. If there is any difference at all, it is perhaps only a slight or significant variation in skin color...'"
English Translation: Page 33
Differences are seen in speech, height, and so on; those are merely differences caused by the influence of one's country. However, the essence known as 'humanity' does not differ in any human being. It can be said—not just by the Buddha’s words, but by the virtue of humanity itself—that keeping the majority of the population deprived of human rights by maintaining discrimination between man and man is baseness; it is tyranny. It is because of this very baseness and tyranny that India was enslaved until yesterday, and even after being freed from slavery today, it has been unable to develop independently. Even when Nazi Germany was destroyed, the Americans were unable to even establish a relationship with the Communists.
In the religious sphere, due to the distinctions between 'form' and 'formless,' and within human society because of caste and color, and because the words of religious scriptures were accepted as absolute and eternal truths, the earth has been stained red by various forms of slaughter. Many brilliant scientists lost their lives. Even in the 20th century, in this very India, massacres and rapes occurred in the name of religion with such extraordinary cruelty that even a violent beast would not commit them; describing these to anyone with even a scent of humanity causes one’s head to bow in shame. Religion... religion... it is in the name of this very religion that India was divided. Why all this deception? This is the result of coloring one's own intellect with sectarian (scriptural dogmatism) thoughts and becoming the carriage-horses for 'divine' scriptures.
Even today, unless a system based on the economic policies of Marxism is brought to India and Nepal, those same handful of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas will continue to hold a monopoly over politics and economics. The effort to uplift the majority castes—whom these three types of 'Lords' have neglected and crushed...
[३४]
English Translation: Page 34
"...If not, who knows how many more divisions will occur. If things continue this way, the fragments will never cease to break further. For this reason, humanity must strive to quickly free itself from the slavery of 'scriptural dogmatism'. This is because the nature of slavery is so wretched that it is beyond description. The Buddha was an opponent of such systems of slavery because he was a human being; humans desire freedom; they desire development. Therefore, the Buddha is the inventor of independent intellect.
One day, while visiting the Kalama Ashram, the Kalama Brahmins asked the Buddha this question: 'Venerable One! Many different religious teachers come here and give various discourses on religion. The views of one do not match those of another, and because of this, our confusion grows more and more. Now that you have arrived, surely there will be some instruction from you regarding religion as well; now we cannot distinguish whose word to follow and whose word to reject'.
In response to this, the Buddha spoke with a sweet voice (Manjughosha): 'Look, O Kalamas! Do not accept something simply because it is an ancestral tradition, or because it is in a religious scripture, or because it is the talk of your own sect, or the word of a teacher, or the word of the powerful, or because many people say it, or because it seems good and pleasant, or even because it is the word of your own guru'. 'Listen to everything from everyone, but accept only that which stands the test of the touchstone of your own intellect, combined with practical and reflective experience, and the welfare and happiness of the many'.
This same sentiment is heard today from the mouth of Mao Zedong, the leader of China who leads Asia, who said: "To build a New China, the various [ideas] of various countries...".
English Translation: Page 34-35
"...[It] explains the path; when practicing something, it must be such that it causes no harm, and one must be able to discard things that do cause harm. Furthermore, we must not blindly imitate the West; this is something that must certainly be kept in mind even when bringing Marxism to China".
"Buddha is a human being. Buddha is not one who consumes worship, devotion, flattery, sacrifices, or divine offerings. Therefore, as long as humans exist, his words will continue to be remembered on this earth. He is a human. He did not throw anyone into a whirlpool of mystery by giving them stones of imagination; instead, he showed each individual the path of Dharma by giving them the tool of logic. He always called himself 'Akkhataro'—meaning simply one who shows the way. Buddha never claimed to be superior to others, or to be the most supreme, highest, or powerful being beyond human effort. He is a human who showed a path that humans can follow for the sake of humanity. That path—the Buddha’s path—is the path for everyone who possesses intellect. Buddhism is not a personality-centered religion; it is an idea-centered religion".
"If Buddha is considered beyond human—meaning supernatural—and if the 'Buddha-hood' cannot be attained through human intellect, then Buddha is useless to the world. Those who consider him supernatural or a deity might actually be opponents of the Buddha, not his supporters or followers. Therefore, he fearlessly says—do not believe in God, do not consider the soul to be eternal, do not accept anything as permanent, do not accept any scripture as eternal evidence; only believe in the 'fruit' (the legitimate results that come from one's actions)".
English Translation: Page 36
"...Buddha has advised us to take lessons even from grass, soil, stones, animals, birds, and insects. It is not just because it is his advice; we humans must take these lessons because he is a human being. Therefore, regarding the words of the Sages, Munis, Nigantha Nataputta (Jain Guru), Sariputta, Maha Moggallana, Chanakya, Emperor Ashoka, Nagasena, Valmiki, Vasubandhu, Buddhaghosa, Ashvaghosa, Jesus Christ, Nagarjuna, Dharmakirti, Kalidasa, Bhargava, Confucius, Socrates, Prophet Muhammad, Prophet Moses, Emperor Ohu Chen Lepo, Shankaracharya, Bhartrihari, Saint Paul, Shakespeare, Fayette, Aristotle, Martin Luther, Darwin, Kabir, Nanak, Karl Marx, Engels, Kropotkin, Tolstoy, Gorky, Lenin, Vivekananda, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Gandhiji, Laski, Bernard Shaw, Stalin, Adhamraj Kama, Govind (German), Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong, M.N. Roy, Rahul Sankrityayan, and so on—including my own words—it would be so good if they were only accepted after being tested on the touchstone of pure or independent intellect, just as Buddha said.
The main point is that one must not be blindly biased. Without abandoning reality, a human must be able to stay away from sectarian feelings. Buddha did not establish any sectarian religion, nor did he let anyone suffer while claiming he would save them from sin. He said, "Tumhe hikkichei atappam akkhataro tathagata," which means: you yourself must do the work; I am only the one who shows the path. Therefore, there is not even a hint of sectarian sentiment touching this sentence of the Buddha. Straightforward and simple..."
English Translation: Page 27
"...[It] has meaning. That is to say, those who do no evil deeds, perform good deeds, and keep their minds pure are truly 'Buddhists.' Wherever one may live, and to whichever caste (varna) one may belong—truthfully speaking—any person who observes these three things can be called a Buddhist, whether they be Muslim, Christian, Parsi, Vaishnav, Shakta, or Shaiv. To be a Buddhist, one must primarily avoid wearing the spectacles of blind faith. Instead, for the heart and the mind, there is a need for the 'telescope of logic'; and one must never abandon the thought of 'Bahujan Hitaya, Bahujan Sukhaya' (the welfare and happiness of the many).
Most of the world's battles and massacres arise from sectarian, political, and economic inequalities. Some are slitting the throats of their own friends while saying 'Khuddarpan Bismillah' (offering to God), while others are killing in the name of 'Krishnarpan' (offering to Krishna). After cunning, selfish exploiters have sucked the blood of the simple masses and filled their own bellies by making 'offerings' to various gods, why should the people spare those exploiters? Why not make an 'offering to their own bellies' instead? It is with the declaration that 'they shall not be spared' that the Socialists and Communists are growing. Understand the spirit of the age (Yuga Dharma); do not be selfish or narrow-minded. It is the narrow sectarian mindset—the one that insists 'even if another’s religion is good, and mine is bad, I must not leave mine'—that has trapped our intellect and hasn't allowed us even a moment’s escape from our wretched condition."
English Translation: Page 38
"...One must fight against the four things of the world's four oppressors: the sectarian divisions of the blind devotees (Shyamas), the color/varna divisions of those who kill the common people (Bahujans), the caste divisions of those who destroy society, and the economic divisions of the slaves of wealth.
The Buddha is a human being. Therefore, he did not and does not give or show teachings that are anything other than what a human needs as a human. His primary teachings—the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and many other instructions, along with the history of his disciples' teachings and the events of that time—are found today in the Pali language under the name Tripitaka. These have now been translated into all the major languages of the world. It was for the very purpose of translating and bringing this Tripitaka into the Chinese language that the invention of paper and the printing press was first made in China.
Seeing the extensive development of the Buddha’s intellect, those who could not tolerate it tried to kill him many times. However, he went on to achieve, without hindrance, intellectual, religious, and social reforms for the world, along with some political and economic reforms. Later, the hypocrites who could not tolerate him (referring to followers of Ramchandra) even called him 'the Buddha, the Thief.' The traditionalists (Puranic-panthis) also defamed him by calling him an avatar of Vishnu who came only to delude demons, monsters, or 'Mlechas.' If, as written in the Puranas of those hypocrites, the Buddha had come to delude demons, then all the Buddhists in the world would turn out to be demons. But be that as it may, the world is like a mirror. There is no surprise in them seeing a Buddhist as a demon [since they see their own reflection]. The great surprise..."
English Translation: Page 36
"The sorrowful matter is this—the Buddha’s own disciples became hypocrites and frauds, conceiving various ghosts, spirits, and deities against his own Dharma, and turned the Buddha himself into a god. From the moment they stopped recognizing the Buddha as a human and began worshipping him as a deity, the path to intellectual development for many Buddhists was locked away.
The Buddha is a person of human society. He is nothing other than a human being. Therefore, he does not perform the act of dropping humans into the mysterious pit of 'existence and non-existence'; instead, he happily offers the advice (Dharma teachings) to rise above it. We are told we have an eternal, immutable, ageless, and immortal soul that remains unaffected even by fire. It is said that we (our senses, etc.) are merely the toys of that soul. He is not one who makes people act without regard for sin or virtue by claiming that no matter what we do, the soul will remain pure. Rather, we are made of mind; if we do good, we become good, and if we do evil, we become evil—meaning if we commit sin, we become a sinful soul, and if we perform virtue, we become a virtuous soul. For that reason, he gives teachings to move toward the good by performing pure and righteous deeds. He is also not one who threatens with tall tales of hell, saying one must follow the rules and regulations mentioned in some religious text, scripture, or Purana, or that one must follow what someone said or even what the Buddha himself said, or else 'this' or 'that' will happen. He gives the counsel to save oneself from such things and to 'rise through the power of one’s own intellect'. However many counsels, teachings, or Dharmas—that is, paths—he has, they are called the Mahayana, meaning the Great..."
English Translation: Page 40
"...They call it the path. Walking this very 'Mahayana' (Great Path) himself for 45 years and guiding others along it, the 'Buddha-Light' finally went out in Kushinagar, the land of the Mallas, at the age of 80; that is to say, he attained Parinirvana.
Today, although we no longer possess the conscious physical body of the Buddha in this world, we have received the 'Mahayana' (the Great Path) that he taught. Through this path, we can move forward and engage with any progressive ideology in the world. Buddhism does not hinder the world’s progress; instead, it has done much to provide courage and assistance in advancing the world's movement and will always remain a helper.
Therefore, it is a self-evident truth that Karma is not spiritualism, nor is it a personality-centered religion. Buddhism is a thought-oriented, dynamic materialism (Dharma) that upholds 'Anatmavad' (non-soul), opposes unskillful deeds, supports skillful deeds, and purifies the mind."
तपाईंले उपलब्ध गराउनुभएको अन्तिम छवि (प्रकाशन सम्बन्धी विवरण) को नेपाली प्रतिलिपि (transcription) यहाँ प्रस्तुत छ:
प्रथम संस्करण — ४००
प्रकाशक — प्रगतिशील पुस्तक भण्डार
असन कमलाक्षी,
काठमाण्डु,
नेपाल ।
मुद्रक — सरस्वती प्रेस महाबौद्ध, मासंगल्ली नेपाल ।