The Madhyama Marg (Majjhima Patipada) that Buddha preached was the
middle path, which was neither the path of pleasure nor the path of
self-mortification. This was exactly as per the teachings of Krishna who
denounced sanyas (by which was meant renunciation of all actions and
leading a life of a heretic) and worldly actions like being engaged in
entertainment and performing ritual sacrifices merely as an action and not as a tool for self-attainment. Said he:
“Only when the self in ye has been conquered that ye are free from lust; ye will then not desire worldly pleasures, and the satisfaction of your natural wants will not defile ye. Let ye eat and drink according to the needs of your body.”
We invite you to read Gita. Is not Krishna saying the same? Is it not apparent that both teachings had same origin? It is apparent from Buddha’s talk on the need to satisfy the needs of life and to keep the body in good health that he wanted his disciples to live in the society.
* * * * *
All the evils that were prevailing were either in connection with man’s relationship to God or man’s relationship with his self and self’s relation with the Manifest Self [Paramatma]. There were stories prevailing about God and many of these were false myths. As regards to self, people committed all kinds of sins and then performed ritual sacrifices in hope that this would take their self on path of elevation. There was another section which performed rituals in love for life after death. Humanity and doing good to others as a way of life was forgotten. Humane concerns were lost, which is evident from several narrations about the lives of priests and other so-called dignitaries. Therefore Buddha saying that his teachings have nothing to do with God does not mean that there is no God. Buddha emphasized on human relationship with other humans and left other things as they were already being practiced to the limit of excess. As Buddha said:
“The centre of his Dhamma is man and the relation of man to man in his life on earth.”
This he said was his first postulate.
His second postulate was that men are living in sorrow, in misery and poverty. The world is full of suffering and that how to remove this suffering from the world is the only purpose of Dhamma. Nothing else is Dhamma.”
The recognition of the existence of suffering and to show the way to remove suffering is the foundation and basis of his Dhamma.”
Surely, there is no denying the fact that entire Buddha’s teachings are centred on recognizing and removing suffering from this world. If we see Gita, stress is more on purity of self and attaining salvation. But if you read Gita with us, through our commentary, you will agree that the eventual focus is on trying to make each human a better person so that all the sufferings and evils of this mortal world are removed. There is no explanation for Krishna indulging in the war with Kauravas but that there was a need to fight the forces of evil, eventual purpose being to make this world a better place. Just as the consequence of such good acts is salvation in the case of Krishna, it is nirvana (salvation) in the case of Buddha.
Unfortunately, neither did the self-confessed followers adhere to Krishna’s teachings nor Buddha’s teachings. People understood the meaning of Self wrongly and devised rituals for the Self. Rest of the life, outside of rituals, they continued to live as before. The illusion of the self even contributed to people becoming more self-centred. Buddha’s teachings tried to do away with the evils which had crept in and we have to see them from this point.
We invite you to ponder at a very interesting point. In all the civilizations, teachings have been slowly upgraded. The first stage we witness all through the world is the attempt to identify the devas in the scheme of God’s things. Unfortunately, be it India, be it China, Egypt, Mesopotamia or Greece, or even Latin America, these devas began to be worshipped as gods. Then the teachings reached the second stage where the presence of self inside us, its relation with the Divine Self or Paramatma and consequently with God is emphasized upon. Preachers talking about human values and interrelationship between creations succeeded this. This was followed by the completion of teachings, which incorporated all the earlier teachings in a comprehensive package.
The same upward gradation of teachings, and in the same manner, is visible not only in India but also in the rest of the civilizations; including Chinese, Greek, Mesopotamian and Egyptian. When there was Krishna talking of self in India, there was a preacher talking on the same subject in Greece or China. Those who are called gods, and who were actually God’s own manifest form – the devas of the Vedas – were introduced in nearly all civilizations.
Likewise, you will find a striking similarity between the teachings of Buddha on human relationship and those of Jesus, who came about 500 years later. Unless we conclude that there was superhuman force working, it won’t be possible for us to understand why similar pattern of teachings is visible all around the world and around the same periods. So much so that the lands that were not discovered till then, like America or Australia too show the same pattern. Though, the similarity is more starkly visible in the case of five centres of civilization, viz. India, China, Mesopotamia, Greece and Egypt.
* * * * *
Were not Krishna or Rama too teaching about the Path of Purity; the Path of Righteousness and the Path of Virtue? Was not Moses or Jesus doing the same? This being the most difficult of the path to tread, it was not easy to understand. Therefore avatar (prophet) after avatar tried to develop the teachings.
Buddha needs to be saluted surely for his greatness. But his teachings for not meant to be transformed into a religion because if Buddhism is a religion, not Buddha alone, but also Rama and Krishna and several other avatars or enlightened persons that came in the Indian subcontinent contributed to it. Similar is the case of Hinduism; this is aptly reflected in the state of Hindus in India prior to Buddha commencing his teachings.
* * * * *
Likewise, wisdom and need to use one’s intellect too has always been the subject of discussion by most Messengers. Man is invited to use his wisdom. Anything that does not appeal to wisdom cannot be true religion. Only knowledge can give wisdom. Otherwise we often see people on TV shows like Big Fight who applause on a view presented by a person and again applause on the counter view presented by other. All believe they are wise but very few are able to use their wisdom; instead knowingly or unknowingly they keep following the views and/or dictates of others. At times, it is Satan or the Force of Darkness which is silently dictating its agenda without we realizing it.
Krishna has devoted an entire chapter to wisdom in Gita. Now see how Buddha describes it:
“Mind is the only instrument through which light can come to man.
“But the mind of these dungeon-dwellers is by no means a perfect instrument for the purpose.
“It lets through only a little light, just enough to show to those with sight that there is such a thing as darkness.
“Thus defective in its nature, such understanding as this is.
“But know, ye Parivrajas! The case of the prisoner is not as hopeless at it appears.
“For there is in man a thing called will. When the appropriate motives arise the will can be awakened and set in motion.
“With the coming of just enough light to see in what directions to guide the motions of the will, man may so guide them that they shall lead to liberty.
“Thus though no man is bound, yet he may be free, he may at any moment begin to take the first steps that will ultimately bring him to freedom.
“This is because it is possible to train the mind in whatever directions one chooses. It is mind that makes us to be prisoners in the house of life, and it is mind that keeps us so.
“But what mind has done, that mind can do. If it has brought man to thralldom, it can also, when rightly directed, bring him to liberty.”
This is Samma Ditti, which leads to destruction of Avijja (Nescience)” [Avidya of Krishna).
Buddha’s words here are extremely important and should not be taken lightly. Come, we invite all in the name of Buddha, Krishna and Mohammad to use their minds so as to do away with ignorance and attain the knowledge of the true path. As Buddha said: “The Path of Virtue must, therefore, be subject to test of Prajna which is another name for understanding and intelligence.”
“Only when the self in ye has been conquered that ye are free from lust; ye will then not desire worldly pleasures, and the satisfaction of your natural wants will not defile ye. Let ye eat and drink according to the needs of your body.”
We invite you to read Gita. Is not Krishna saying the same? Is it not apparent that both teachings had same origin? It is apparent from Buddha’s talk on the need to satisfy the needs of life and to keep the body in good health that he wanted his disciples to live in the society.
* * * * *
All the evils that were prevailing were either in connection with man’s relationship to God or man’s relationship with his self and self’s relation with the Manifest Self [Paramatma]. There were stories prevailing about God and many of these were false myths. As regards to self, people committed all kinds of sins and then performed ritual sacrifices in hope that this would take their self on path of elevation. There was another section which performed rituals in love for life after death. Humanity and doing good to others as a way of life was forgotten. Humane concerns were lost, which is evident from several narrations about the lives of priests and other so-called dignitaries. Therefore Buddha saying that his teachings have nothing to do with God does not mean that there is no God. Buddha emphasized on human relationship with other humans and left other things as they were already being practiced to the limit of excess. As Buddha said:
“The centre of his Dhamma is man and the relation of man to man in his life on earth.”
This he said was his first postulate.
His second postulate was that men are living in sorrow, in misery and poverty. The world is full of suffering and that how to remove this suffering from the world is the only purpose of Dhamma. Nothing else is Dhamma.”
The recognition of the existence of suffering and to show the way to remove suffering is the foundation and basis of his Dhamma.”
Surely, there is no denying the fact that entire Buddha’s teachings are centred on recognizing and removing suffering from this world. If we see Gita, stress is more on purity of self and attaining salvation. But if you read Gita with us, through our commentary, you will agree that the eventual focus is on trying to make each human a better person so that all the sufferings and evils of this mortal world are removed. There is no explanation for Krishna indulging in the war with Kauravas but that there was a need to fight the forces of evil, eventual purpose being to make this world a better place. Just as the consequence of such good acts is salvation in the case of Krishna, it is nirvana (salvation) in the case of Buddha.
Unfortunately, neither did the self-confessed followers adhere to Krishna’s teachings nor Buddha’s teachings. People understood the meaning of Self wrongly and devised rituals for the Self. Rest of the life, outside of rituals, they continued to live as before. The illusion of the self even contributed to people becoming more self-centred. Buddha’s teachings tried to do away with the evils which had crept in and we have to see them from this point.
We invite you to ponder at a very interesting point. In all the civilizations, teachings have been slowly upgraded. The first stage we witness all through the world is the attempt to identify the devas in the scheme of God’s things. Unfortunately, be it India, be it China, Egypt, Mesopotamia or Greece, or even Latin America, these devas began to be worshipped as gods. Then the teachings reached the second stage where the presence of self inside us, its relation with the Divine Self or Paramatma and consequently with God is emphasized upon. Preachers talking about human values and interrelationship between creations succeeded this. This was followed by the completion of teachings, which incorporated all the earlier teachings in a comprehensive package.
The same upward gradation of teachings, and in the same manner, is visible not only in India but also in the rest of the civilizations; including Chinese, Greek, Mesopotamian and Egyptian. When there was Krishna talking of self in India, there was a preacher talking on the same subject in Greece or China. Those who are called gods, and who were actually God’s own manifest form – the devas of the Vedas – were introduced in nearly all civilizations.
Likewise, you will find a striking similarity between the teachings of Buddha on human relationship and those of Jesus, who came about 500 years later. Unless we conclude that there was superhuman force working, it won’t be possible for us to understand why similar pattern of teachings is visible all around the world and around the same periods. So much so that the lands that were not discovered till then, like America or Australia too show the same pattern. Though, the similarity is more starkly visible in the case of five centres of civilization, viz. India, China, Mesopotamia, Greece and Egypt.
* * * * *
Were not Krishna or Rama too teaching about the Path of Purity; the Path of Righteousness and the Path of Virtue? Was not Moses or Jesus doing the same? This being the most difficult of the path to tread, it was not easy to understand. Therefore avatar (prophet) after avatar tried to develop the teachings.
Buddha needs to be saluted surely for his greatness. But his teachings for not meant to be transformed into a religion because if Buddhism is a religion, not Buddha alone, but also Rama and Krishna and several other avatars or enlightened persons that came in the Indian subcontinent contributed to it. Similar is the case of Hinduism; this is aptly reflected in the state of Hindus in India prior to Buddha commencing his teachings.
* * * * *
Likewise, wisdom and need to use one’s intellect too has always been the subject of discussion by most Messengers. Man is invited to use his wisdom. Anything that does not appeal to wisdom cannot be true religion. Only knowledge can give wisdom. Otherwise we often see people on TV shows like Big Fight who applause on a view presented by a person and again applause on the counter view presented by other. All believe they are wise but very few are able to use their wisdom; instead knowingly or unknowingly they keep following the views and/or dictates of others. At times, it is Satan or the Force of Darkness which is silently dictating its agenda without we realizing it.
Krishna has devoted an entire chapter to wisdom in Gita. Now see how Buddha describes it:
“Mind is the only instrument through which light can come to man.
“But the mind of these dungeon-dwellers is by no means a perfect instrument for the purpose.
“It lets through only a little light, just enough to show to those with sight that there is such a thing as darkness.
“Thus defective in its nature, such understanding as this is.
“But know, ye Parivrajas! The case of the prisoner is not as hopeless at it appears.
“For there is in man a thing called will. When the appropriate motives arise the will can be awakened and set in motion.
“With the coming of just enough light to see in what directions to guide the motions of the will, man may so guide them that they shall lead to liberty.
“Thus though no man is bound, yet he may be free, he may at any moment begin to take the first steps that will ultimately bring him to freedom.
“This is because it is possible to train the mind in whatever directions one chooses. It is mind that makes us to be prisoners in the house of life, and it is mind that keeps us so.
“But what mind has done, that mind can do. If it has brought man to thralldom, it can also, when rightly directed, bring him to liberty.”
This is Samma Ditti, which leads to destruction of Avijja (Nescience)” [Avidya of Krishna).
Buddha’s words here are extremely important and should not be taken lightly. Come, we invite all in the name of Buddha, Krishna and Mohammad to use their minds so as to do away with ignorance and attain the knowledge of the true path. As Buddha said: “The Path of Virtue must, therefore, be subject to test of Prajna which is another name for understanding and intelligence.”
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