RSS Feed
Twitter
More than 2500 years ago. A great Prince, dressed in the simplest
of saffron robes gained Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at
Buddha Gaya, India. His soft and melodious voice announced the
Ultimate Truth for the first time at Isiapatana Deer Park, Benaras.
On that momentous occasion there were only five disciples
privileged to listen to the voice of this Enlightened One. Yet,
today one fifth of the world’s population acknowledges the Truth
announced by this voice and many more admire and appreciate it.This was not the heavenly voice of a divine power, but a very human
voice which called on men to seek final emancipation through mental
purification and Enlightenment. Even Today, this voice echoes in
our ears and reminds us that we can understand the Truth revealed
by Him, if only we exercise our will and our concentration.The Voice of the Buddha is a message of hope, confidence and
courage. It tells us that hatred never ceases through hatred but
only by loving kindness. This Vibrant voice emanated from a great
personality, who was once a warrior, a royal prince, a yogi, a
mendicant and finally a Buddha.This holy man whose only possession was the bowl in this hand, was
designated the happiest and most contented person in the world. His
was the gentlest of all voices. Yet in the Truth that it
proclaimed, it was a lion’s roar, motivated by the confidence of
realizing the Absolute Truth. Kings, ministers and multimillionaires approached Him to pay their
homage and seek guidance. But He Himself used His persuasive voice
to enlighten sweepers, cobblers, thieves, gangster, murderers and
many others who were leading hard, wicked and immoral lives to mend
and lead noble lives.The Voice of the Buddha has comforted the bereaved and helped the
suffering poor. It has ennobled the lives of he deluded and
purified the corrupted lives of criminals. It has encouraged the
feeble, united the divided, enlightened the ignorant, elevated the
base and dignified the noble.Here is a voice that never tried to frighten people by taking about
hell fires to tempt them by promising everlasting heavenly bliss to
introduce a religion. It was a voice that never attempted to
convert people, but only to enlighten them to understand the facts
of life and the universal truth.Here was a radiant voice, calling on the weak and the desperate not
to run away from the battle of life but to face facts in a
realistic way.It was the Buddha’s voice that gave the world a new concept or
wider explanation of the universe. It gave a new vision of eternal
happiness, the achievement of perfection in Buddhahood. It pointed
the way to a permanent state beyond all impermanency, the way to
Nibbana, the final deliverance from the misery of existence. The
message is basically simple and meaningful. “To put an end to evil;
to do good; to purify the mind.”It revealed to us the law of cause and effect to which every
component thing is subjected. The purpose of life is to seek ways
and means to be free from this endless cycle of birth and death,
cause and effect. The teachings of the Buddha are the richest spiritual
resources of mankind because they lift human effort to a higher
level than mere dedication to man’s insatiable needs and appetites,
owing to its completeness, the Buddha’s vision of life has
attracted the attention of intellectuals who may have otherwise
exhausted themselves by studying meaningless theories and concepts.
However, the fruit of the Buddha’s vision is something more than
intellectual gymnastics of solace for the intellectually effete.
Buddhism is practical and offers a realistic view of life. Through the Buddha is no, longer in this world, the gentle
vibration of his voice has spread far and wide. Its balmy,
diffusing effect has calmed and soothed millions, Its genial
persuasion has heartened and cheered listeners in every region
where it has penetrated. The reason that his message has captured
millions of hearts is because it was spread not by the force of
weapons or political power or any other kind of worldly power but
by love and compassion. Buddhism wins by the warm hand of love, not
by the cold threat of terror. The voice carried the message that the Four Truths are
eternal and absolute. It said that a realization of these noble
Truths will help resolve human problems and unsatisfactoriness.
This was the voice which preached the Eightfold Noble path. It
exhorted men to lead a harmless, respectable, honest, peaceful and
noble life and to find out the purpose of life or its final goal. The Buddha’s voice admonished people not to harm any living
creature. Just imagine this gentle voice, taught compassion even to
poor defenceless animals. The humblest of creatures crawling under
ground came within the compass of his boundless love and kindness. The Buddha was the greatest conqueror the world has ever
seen. He conquered the world with His infallible weapons of
compassion and wisdom. His teaching illuminates the way for mankind
to cross from a world of darkness, hatred and suffering, to a new
world of light, love, happiness and security. During the 25 centuries since the voice of the
compassionate one was first heared, many changes have taken place
in this world. Although kingdoms have risen and fallen; nations
have prospered and perished, and today the world has forgotten many
great civilization, the Voice of the Buddha remains clear in the
minds of millions of people. The Noble way of life that He
enunciated is still strong and steady. Many of the temples,
pagodas, images and other religious symbols erected in His honour
have been destroyed, or fallen victims to the law of change. Yet
his Noble Teachings and his pristine message remain untainted and
His voice continues to be heared in new lands and among new people. The Buddha’s noble example was a source of inspiration to
all. His iron will, profound wisdom, universal love, boundless
compassion, selfless service, historic renunciation, perfect
purity, and magnetic personality have inspired people to respect
Him as a world-honoured supreme Teacher. By every test of what He said and of what He did and what
He was, the Buddha demonstrated that He was the pre-eminent man of
His day. He declared a faith of service, a ministry of sacrifice
and achievement. To great philosophers and unblased thinkers. He is a
Teacher who understood worldly conditions in their proper
perspective. To moralists He has the highest code of discipline and
He symbolizes perfection. To rationalists, he is the most liberal
minded religious teacher who understood the vexed human problems.
To free-thinkers, he is religious teacher who encouraged people to
think freely without depending on religious dogmas. To agnostics,
He is a very intelligent, kind, understanding and peace loving man.
To Hindus, He is one of the incarnations of their God. To
socialists, He is a social reformer To religious devotees. He is
holy man. The benign Voice of the Buddha wafted gently over time and
space without any form of violence. Not a single drop of blood was
ever shed in its cause. He advised people to lead a gentle life in
order to be religious. The Voice of the compassionate One is still with us, and
will continue to be with us, consoling, enlightening, soothing and
calming the human heart. The Voice of the Buddha is the most powerful voice that has
been heard in human history in support of the dignity of man and of
the principle that man is the maker of his own destiny and that man
is not for religion but that religion must serve man. That means;
without becoming a slave to any religion, man must try to make use
of religion for his betterment and liberation. Instead of placing man’s destiny under the arbitrary
control of an unknown external agency and making him subservient to
such a supreme power, the Dhamma preached by this voice raised the
status of mankind and accorded man the credit due to him for his
intelligence. Alone among the many voices of other religious
teachers this voice taught man how to cultivate the hitherto
submerged human potential. Thanks to this voice, ordinary people are able to develop
their faith and confidence, educated people have food for thought,
and intellectuals have enriched their vision. Those who were
misguided had their views corrected. Those whi relied on blind
faith have received a clear vision of the Truth. Sceptics were
persuaded and won over by the voice of reason Devotees gained
confidence, understanding and liberation from suffering. This is the “Voice of Buddhism”.
of saffron robes gained Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at
Buddha Gaya, India. His soft and melodious voice announced the
Ultimate Truth for the first time at Isiapatana Deer Park, Benaras.
On that momentous occasion there were only five disciples
privileged to listen to the voice of this Enlightened One. Yet,
today one fifth of the world’s population acknowledges the Truth
announced by this voice and many more admire and appreciate it.This was not the heavenly voice of a divine power, but a very human
voice which called on men to seek final emancipation through mental
purification and Enlightenment. Even Today, this voice echoes in
our ears and reminds us that we can understand the Truth revealed
by Him, if only we exercise our will and our concentration.The Voice of the Buddha is a message of hope, confidence and
courage. It tells us that hatred never ceases through hatred but
only by loving kindness. This Vibrant voice emanated from a great
personality, who was once a warrior, a royal prince, a yogi, a
mendicant and finally a Buddha.This holy man whose only possession was the bowl in this hand, was
designated the happiest and most contented person in the world. His
was the gentlest of all voices. Yet in the Truth that it
proclaimed, it was a lion’s roar, motivated by the confidence of
realizing the Absolute Truth. Kings, ministers and multimillionaires approached Him to pay their
homage and seek guidance. But He Himself used His persuasive voice
to enlighten sweepers, cobblers, thieves, gangster, murderers and
many others who were leading hard, wicked and immoral lives to mend
and lead noble lives.The Voice of the Buddha has comforted the bereaved and helped the
suffering poor. It has ennobled the lives of he deluded and
purified the corrupted lives of criminals. It has encouraged the
feeble, united the divided, enlightened the ignorant, elevated the
base and dignified the noble.Here is a voice that never tried to frighten people by taking about
hell fires to tempt them by promising everlasting heavenly bliss to
introduce a religion. It was a voice that never attempted to
convert people, but only to enlighten them to understand the facts
of life and the universal truth.Here was a radiant voice, calling on the weak and the desperate not
to run away from the battle of life but to face facts in a
realistic way.It was the Buddha’s voice that gave the world a new concept or
wider explanation of the universe. It gave a new vision of eternal
happiness, the achievement of perfection in Buddhahood. It pointed
the way to a permanent state beyond all impermanency, the way to
Nibbana, the final deliverance from the misery of existence. The
message is basically simple and meaningful. “To put an end to evil;
to do good; to purify the mind.”It revealed to us the law of cause and effect to which every
component thing is subjected. The purpose of life is to seek ways
and means to be free from this endless cycle of birth and death,
cause and effect. The teachings of the Buddha are the richest spiritual
resources of mankind because they lift human effort to a higher
level than mere dedication to man’s insatiable needs and appetites,
owing to its completeness, the Buddha’s vision of life has
attracted the attention of intellectuals who may have otherwise
exhausted themselves by studying meaningless theories and concepts.
However, the fruit of the Buddha’s vision is something more than
intellectual gymnastics of solace for the intellectually effete.
Buddhism is practical and offers a realistic view of life. Through the Buddha is no, longer in this world, the gentle
vibration of his voice has spread far and wide. Its balmy,
diffusing effect has calmed and soothed millions, Its genial
persuasion has heartened and cheered listeners in every region
where it has penetrated. The reason that his message has captured
millions of hearts is because it was spread not by the force of
weapons or political power or any other kind of worldly power but
by love and compassion. Buddhism wins by the warm hand of love, not
by the cold threat of terror. The voice carried the message that the Four Truths are
eternal and absolute. It said that a realization of these noble
Truths will help resolve human problems and unsatisfactoriness.
This was the voice which preached the Eightfold Noble path. It
exhorted men to lead a harmless, respectable, honest, peaceful and
noble life and to find out the purpose of life or its final goal. The Buddha’s voice admonished people not to harm any living
creature. Just imagine this gentle voice, taught compassion even to
poor defenceless animals. The humblest of creatures crawling under
ground came within the compass of his boundless love and kindness. The Buddha was the greatest conqueror the world has ever
seen. He conquered the world with His infallible weapons of
compassion and wisdom. His teaching illuminates the way for mankind
to cross from a world of darkness, hatred and suffering, to a new
world of light, love, happiness and security. During the 25 centuries since the voice of the
compassionate one was first heared, many changes have taken place
in this world. Although kingdoms have risen and fallen; nations
have prospered and perished, and today the world has forgotten many
great civilization, the Voice of the Buddha remains clear in the
minds of millions of people. The Noble way of life that He
enunciated is still strong and steady. Many of the temples,
pagodas, images and other religious symbols erected in His honour
have been destroyed, or fallen victims to the law of change. Yet
his Noble Teachings and his pristine message remain untainted and
His voice continues to be heared in new lands and among new people. The Buddha’s noble example was a source of inspiration to
all. His iron will, profound wisdom, universal love, boundless
compassion, selfless service, historic renunciation, perfect
purity, and magnetic personality have inspired people to respect
Him as a world-honoured supreme Teacher. By every test of what He said and of what He did and what
He was, the Buddha demonstrated that He was the pre-eminent man of
His day. He declared a faith of service, a ministry of sacrifice
and achievement. To great philosophers and unblased thinkers. He is a
Teacher who understood worldly conditions in their proper
perspective. To moralists He has the highest code of discipline and
He symbolizes perfection. To rationalists, he is the most liberal
minded religious teacher who understood the vexed human problems.
To free-thinkers, he is religious teacher who encouraged people to
think freely without depending on religious dogmas. To agnostics,
He is a very intelligent, kind, understanding and peace loving man.
To Hindus, He is one of the incarnations of their God. To
socialists, He is a social reformer To religious devotees. He is
holy man. The benign Voice of the Buddha wafted gently over time and
space without any form of violence. Not a single drop of blood was
ever shed in its cause. He advised people to lead a gentle life in
order to be religious. The Voice of the compassionate One is still with us, and
will continue to be with us, consoling, enlightening, soothing and
calming the human heart. The Voice of the Buddha is the most powerful voice that has
been heard in human history in support of the dignity of man and of
the principle that man is the maker of his own destiny and that man
is not for religion but that religion must serve man. That means;
without becoming a slave to any religion, man must try to make use
of religion for his betterment and liberation. Instead of placing man’s destiny under the arbitrary
control of an unknown external agency and making him subservient to
such a supreme power, the Dhamma preached by this voice raised the
status of mankind and accorded man the credit due to him for his
intelligence. Alone among the many voices of other religious
teachers this voice taught man how to cultivate the hitherto
submerged human potential. Thanks to this voice, ordinary people are able to develop
their faith and confidence, educated people have food for thought,
and intellectuals have enriched their vision. Those who were
misguided had their views corrected. Those whi relied on blind
faith have received a clear vision of the Truth. Sceptics were
persuaded and won over by the voice of reason Devotees gained
confidence, understanding and liberation from suffering. This is the “Voice of Buddhism”.
0 comments:
Post a Comment