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The Buddha - Dhamma does not consider that man is a sinner as is
alleged elsewhere as the result of the original sin of Adam and
Eve; nor does the Buddha - Dhamma consider that man is too weak
(mental energy) to free himself from sin. On the contrary, the Buddha
- Dhamma has been a source of inspiration to the vilest criminal,
the bloody murderer and the despised courtesan to gain the highest
summit of mental perfection and liberation from suffering.
The Buddha - Dhamma does not subscribe to the view of a vicarious
salvation by sacrificing one's life in order to redeem sinners.
On the contrary, in no unmistakable terms it states:-
In the Pali language
Attanava Katam papam Attana sankilissati
Attana akatam papam Attanava visujjhati Suddhi asuddhi paccattam
Nannamanno visodhaye
- Dhammapada, verse 165
English translation
"By oneself alone is evil done,
by oneself is one defiled, By oneself is evil avoided, by oneself
is one purified Purity and impurity depend on oneself. No one can
purify another."
This vicarious salvation from sin(as stated in Christianity) has
not helped man to stop committing sin. ("sin" is taught
in Christianity. In Theravada Buddhism there is no concept of "sin")
Wars, in which millions are massacred are fought in the name of
the Supreme Being to stop wars.in our own times Hiroshima and Nagasaki
were entirely devastated by two atom bombs, and the few who survived
are suffering with loss of memory and physical disabilities to tell
the world of the dire consequences of thermo-nuclearweapons. The
original sin still persists, and man in his weakness expects yet
another divine incarnation to redeem himself from sin. Wars can
never prevent wars. Those who think so. Take to heart these words
of the Buddha:- "Victory brings hatred, for the conquered sleep
in sorrow".
I mentioned earlier of a vicarious salvation. This is the belief
that God appeared on this earth in human flesh as Christ, and sacrificed
his life to redeem all sinners. It implies mass salvation. The Buddha-Dhamma
unequivocally states that so long as the urge to live or the craving
for existence (bhava thanha) persists in man, there will be individual
existence with its consequent suffering. It is by individual effort
that craving can be uprooted each one by himself for himself, which
then is the cessation of becoming (bhava-nirodha). Remember the
word of the Buddha: "Work out your deliverance with needfulness".
Each being must work out his own salvation.
The Buddhas only show the way. Gotama Buddha did not attempt to
do the impossible, namely salvation en masse; for He saw that the
cosmic process of arising and passing away of all cosmic properties
will continue ad infinitum. As long as beings desire to be in this
cosmic process so long will they roam being born and dying the good
as well as the bad. The evil-doer cannot escape the consequences
of his evil deeds, for his actions will turn upon him and punish
him. The doer of good will be rewarded by his good actions. This
is the natural law of cause and effect. Punishment or reward is
his own seeking and is not dealt out by a mighty divine potentate
who is also subject to this inexorable law which is woven into the
very texture of the universe. How revealingly true are the words:
'what thou sowest the same thou shall reap'. In passing the kinship
of theistic religions is seen in that this belief in a vicarious
salvation exists in the Hindu faith. Lord Krishna, it is said took
human shape and lived among men, died for sinners.
Whosoever that understand the Law of Causality pursues the Path
oi Purity (purity of body, purity of consciousness and purity of
super-consciousness) to understand himself as he really is; when
he realizes by his own efforts what he truly and really is, he is
overcome with an aversion for existence. Then he gets will for Deliverance.
Once this will gets possession of him, no power on earth or in heaven,
can stop him from going beyond the cosmos of change, suffering and
insubstantiality. His mind gradually mellows to Maturity knowledge
(gotrabhu-nama). At this moment his consciousness transcends the
world of sense-desires to the extraworldly (lokuttara) consciousness.
Then he graduates through the Four Paths of Holiness together with
their immediate Fruitions (phala) and with the total extinguishing
of the fires of greed, hatred and delusion he attains Nibbana. From
his supramundane heights, the Arahant suffuses the universe,which
he had transcended, with loving-kindness. He also surveys with compassion
all those standing below him who are being consumed with the fires
of greed, hatred and delusion. This is individual salvation which
has been interpreted by our Mahayana brethren as selfish. Next>>
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