Misunderstanding Buddhism

Buddhism is not a religion or a philosophy; its essence is scientific compassion – concern and understanding of troubled minds through empathetic observation.

Having said that, for some it is a religion, a philosophy, a style of life, a culture.

Buddhism is about that which looks down the microscope – the arbiter of observation. Through training, we refine judgement.
Arbiter: from Latin – judge, supreme ruler.

It is a matter of understanding the nature of reality of the universe, our minds, and consciousness. The word ‘karma’ means that if we do this, then that will happen – cause and effect. This is the law of the infinite universe.

It’s a big subject, and one which gets ignored.

Humans have made such enquiry into a religion, turning it into symbolism to be ‘interpreted’. This is like worshipping a fruit tree, and never tasting the fruit. It’s what the garden of Eden was all about – knowing what is good (beneficial / positive) and what is evil (does harm / negative).

Evil isn’t what we see in horror films;
that’s what evil wants us to think, to obscure reasoning.

Buddhism goes further as the observation of negativity is positive. Simple put, it is the light that sees in the dark. Not many people understand this, precisely because of the levels of indoctrination into form being seen as more important than essence.

Our reality is pure seeing, which is spontaneous direct experience that does not rely on memories, programming or doctrine. Through this understanding, we acquire empathetic compassion for those who are ill at ease, and those who assume they’re happy.

There are various levels of suffering
which create the various levels of understanding.

Suffering is being uncomfortable with our self, our imagined being. The release from suffering is the realisation that we don’t have to suffer, or believe in a permanent state. The teaching is the recognition that we do suffer through causes, and it is thereby possible to eliminate it by not being captivated our circling thoughts, and realising our true reality of pure consciousness.

There is an awful lot of misunderstanding which does harm
– that is to say, maintains evil.

So why is religion so weird? Humans make a big deal about whatever they think they know, and this creates elaboration, confusion, misunderstanding … and volumes of words. This blog has over 100,000 of them 🙂

Do not believe any of them.

The term ‘Buddhism’ cannot define Buddhism, as there are many traditions which can contradict one another. Some avoid negative emotions, while others realise that those negative emotions are the ultimate teaching, alerting and brightening consciousness. It’s all about the level of individual understanding, and the personal ability to comprehend.

When we start asking genuine questions – rather than those intellectual questions that we hope make us sound accomplished – what we think we know does not actually satisfy. This means we are moving up a level.

Don’t just accept – dissect.