Purity—the Path to Liberation

Buddha Poornima, which was celebrated for the first time in Prasanthi Nilayam in 1996, has become an annual event.  In the following discourse, Bhagavan Baba emphasizes to the need to imbibe the teachings of the Buddha—purity in thought, word, and deed—as the royal way to enlightenment.

Embodiments of Love! Knowledge (jnana) does not mean mere acquaintance with books; nor is it worldly knowledge. Only the person who has recognized the oneness of the individual spirit (jivatma) and the universal spirit is a real jnani (one who possesses the supreme wisdom). True wisdom consists in the awareness of the unity between the individual and the whole.

Good vision

How can a man who is not aware of his humanness recognize the divinity within him? Hence the first requisite in the path to divinity is recognizing one’s human essence. Based on this truth, Buddha declared that everyone should cultivate at the outset samyak-drishti [a pure vision]. It is only when man has pure vision that he can get rid of impurities in his body, speech, and mind. It is this purity that can protect man from invasion of impurities through the eyes and ears. Hence the first requirement for every man is samyak-drishti.

The second quality that is needed is samyak-sankalpam [pure thoughts]. Everyone should   cultivate pure thoughts. Only the person who has developed purity of vision can gain purity in thoughts.

The third requirement for every man, along with purity in vision and thought, is samyak-karma (purity in deeds). Everyone should perform pure deeds. Through pure deeds, man is able to recognize the essence of humanness.

Man is not just an embodied being. By developing good vision, entertaining good thoughts, and performing good deeds, he can transform humanness into divinity.

A fourth requirement for man is samyak-shruti (listening to sacred words). When one listens to unsacred words, one has only unsacred thoughts.

The fifth quality prescribed by Buddha is samyak-jivanam (living a pure life). What is meant by “living”? It is not leading a worldly life, attached to worldly pursuits. True living is about making one’s life meaningful through ideal actions. Idealism in action must govern man’s life.

Next, Buddha declared that everyone should aim at samyak-sadhanam (achievement of the highest good). Sadhana [spiritual exercise] eliminates evil tendencies in man, and facilitates good and sacred qualities. Indeed, true sadhana helps eradicate all evil in a man. Study of sacred texts, meditation, and penance do not comprise by themselves the fullness of sadhana. Real sadhana involves cleansing all the impurities from the mind.

After this comes what Buddha called samyak-samadhi or nirvana (pure realization or liberation). What is meant by samadhi? It means treating pleasure and pain, gain and loss alike. Samadhi, equal-mindedness, is samadhi. To view light and darkness, pleasure and pain, profit and loss, fame and censure alike is samadhi. Buddha called this equal-mindedness “nirvana”.

To be truly human, one has to incorporate sacredness in the use of one’s senses. At the very outset, one has to keep the tongue pure. This was referred to as samyak-vaak (purity in speech). The tongue has to be sanctified by refraining from falsehood, slander, and abusive speech. Next is samyak-darshanam [seeing only things that are holy]. You must see only that which please your conscience. Looking at worldly things indiscriminately is not proper seeing.

Buddha emphasized seeing good, thinking good, speaking good, and doing good. The eyes should be used for seeing only what is pure, what is holy, and what is edifying.

Although all avatars [divine incarnations] have been preaching good principles, men today are content to observe their [avatars’] birthdays without following their precepts. Buddha did not attach any importance to yajnas and yagas [ceremonial worship] and other religious rituals. He felt that it was more important to ensure that the five sense organs were pure to begin with.

Buddha sought to find out why the mind gets disturbed. He could not bear to see anyone suffering. He was deeply grieved at the sight of persons afflicted with old age. He was intrigued at the sight of a dead body. These natural happenings robbed him of peace of mind. Buddha considered the movements of the planets and the sun and the stars as natural phenomena. He undertook many spiritual exercises to find out what transcended these natural phenomena. Failing to find the answers by these exercises, he approached many great elders to find the answers. None could give him satisfactory replies. Ultimately, he reached Gaya [a sacred city in India] where he retired under a banyan tree to meditate on the problems that worried him.

Because Buddha did not interest himself in the study of the Vedas or in the performance of ceremonial worship, he was dubbed an atheist. This is utterly wrong. Buddha was a pure-hearted person. When he was born, a renowned astrologer had predicted that he would either be a great king or a great renunciant. On knowing this, Buddha’s father, Suddhodhana, arranged to keep all unseemly worldly happenings out of his son’s sight. Even as a child, Buddha could not bear the sight of anyone in pain. He was saddened at the sight of the old ill-treating the young, of men in authority harassing the common people, and the big fish swallowing the small ones. He realized that it was wrong for anyone to cause harm to others.

Hence he declared: Ahimsa paramodharmah (non-violence is the supreme dharma or righteous act). He believed that no one should hurt others through speech, action, or in any other way. According to him true righteousness (dharma) consists in refraining from causing harm to anyone in thought, word, or deed. He believed that truth is God and, hence, people should adhere to truth and uphold it.

Among Buddha’s teachings the foremost were: sathya (truth) and dharma (Righteousness). These two are the teachings of the Vedas as well: Speak the truth (sathyam vada), practice righteousness (dharmam chara).

The name given to Buddha at the time of birth was sarvartha siddha [a person endowed with  all spiritual powers]. Suddhodhana got his son married to Yasodhara, daughter of his brother-in-law, Suddabuddha. He feared that his son might become a recluse and turn away from the world if he was left to himself. But Buddha did not feel that a married life was the proper thing for him. Buddha felt that man was bound by various attachments in worldly life. Friends and relations were the cause of this bondage. Various human relationships are the cause of sorrow in the world. So he declared: sarvam dukham dukham (all is sorrow.) He also declared: sarvam kshanikam kshanikam (everything is momentary) and sarvam nasyam nasyam (everything is perishable).

Buddha felt that nothing was truly lasting. Parents were subjecting their children to various kinds of bonds and making their lives miserable. As soon as the children come of age, the parents are keen to get them married. They do not know what kind of happiness one can get from married life. What happiness have they derived from their own married life—physically, mentally, or otherwise? No person, however intelligent, thinks about this matter. Even eminent scholars do not care to examine whether it is worthwhile pursuing sensuous pleasures instead of seeking what is beyond the senses. Buddha felt intensely unhappy that his parents and others committed him to the bondage of married life.

One day, at midnight, Buddha left the palace, giving up his wife and young son, Rahul. He abandoned everything out of this conviction: “There is no mother or father, no kinsman or friend, no home or wealth. Awaken yourself!” He resolved to find that which transcends all worldly relationships and pleasures.

Buddha introspected: “What is this life? Birth is misery. Old age is misery. Wife is a cause of sorrow. There is misery at the end of life. Therefore, be alert and awake.”

Happiness is not to be found in any of the worldly things. Everything is fleeting. Man is wasting his life in the pursuit of petty ephemeral pleasures. Nirvana (enlightenment) is the only truth. It is oneness and identification with all life. He concluded that to turn the mind toward that which is permanent is nirvana.

Buddha’s mother Maya Devi passed away on the seventh day after his birth. Suddhodhana’s second wife, Gautami, brought up the child. Because he was brought up by Gautami, he was named Gautama Buddha. At the age of 28, he gave up everything and turned a renunciant. What is the significance of this step? Buddha declared: Sangham sharanam gachchaami [Hands in the society, head in the forest]. He renounced everything to think about promoting the welfare of society.

He also declared: Dharmam sharanam gachchaami [What is this Dharma?] Ahimsa paramodharmaha [Dharma means causing no harm to anyone].

Basing his teachings on these two declarations, Buddha went about preaching his message. His message spread to many countries including Tibet, China, Ceylon, Burma, Thailand and Japan.

However, in course of time, schisms developed causing the decline of Buddhism.

Buddha’s emphasis was entirely on purity in every aspect of daily life: Purity in vision, purity in thought, purity in speech, and purity in action. He considered the spirit of sacrifice as true worship. Sacrifice is the means for attaining nirvana (freedom from the bondage of mundane existence). Buddha was totally opposed to anyone being forced to lead a worldly life against his will.

A lesson for his father

When Buddha was going around begging for alms as a mendicant, his father, Suddhodhana, called him and said: “Son! Why are you going about as a beggar? I am a king and you are leading the life of a beggar. This is not proper at all.” Buddha gave him a fitting reply. “Sire, you are Brahmam and I am Brahmam. You are not father and I am not son. Both of us are Brahmam. In the phenomenal world, you belong to the lineage of rulers. I belong to the lineage of renunciants. All those who follow my ideals are all renunciants. Your lineage is based on attachment (raga). My lineage is based on renunciation (viraga). To those who have attachment, it becomes a disease (roga). To the renunciants, detachment becomes the means to nirvana (liberation from bondage).” This way, Buddha taught his message to his father, wife, and son.

The Buddhist prayer must be properly understood.  The real meaning of the Buddhist prayer, Buddham sharanam gachchaami; Dharmam sharanam gachchaami; Sangham sharanam gachchaami is: You must divert your mind (buddhi) towards dharma. And the right conduct should aim at serving society. When this is done, society gets purified.

It is not enough to read the lives of avatars and messiahs. Their teachings should be put into practice as much as possible. People must gradually outgrow their material attachments and develop divine love.

Suddhodhana tried to shelter his son from all external worldly influences by keeping him inside the palace and even keeping him from school. But, ultimately, what happened? Buddha decided to renounce everything in quest of the truth about human existence, and he declared nonviolence (ahimsa) as the supreme good.

What is it that people need today? They need three things: A heart that is pure and white like the moon; speech that is soft and sweet like butter; and, a face that is loving and kind. These are lacking in the world today. The entire atmosphere is frightening. There is harshness in speech. There is no softness in the heart. The heart should be pure and soft like butter. Today, on the contrary, people are hard-hearted. Fill your hearts with compassion. Let your speech be sweet and truthful. You will then be truly human.

Ahimsa the supreme virtue

Buddha taught one great truth to the world. He declared that it is not what the Vedas and scriptures say that constitutes truth. People should bear in mind that non-harming is the supreme virtue. Do not cause harm to anyone by thought, word, or deed. The tongue is given to you to utter truth. Jayadeva exhorted his tongue to manifest its sweetness by chanting the names of the Lord: Govinda, Damodara, and Madhava.

Whatever the number of religions, their goal is one and the same. (Swami sang a song pointing out how faiths may be many but God is one only). To carry on daily life in the world, people pursue many vocations. But does all this constitute real living? Can a life led without remembering God be called life at all? What kind of life is it where there is no purity, no morality, and no spirituality? Morality and integrity alone can lead to nirvana. Today these two are absent. People must strive to base their lives on morality and integrity. They should become, as Jesus said, messengers of God.

Embodiments of love! We are celebrating today Buddha Poornima or Buddha Jayanti. What does poornima (full moon) signify? It signifies wholeness. When the mind is filled with love, it achieves fullness. As long as the mind is filled with darkness (evil thoughts), there is no meaning in celebrating Buddha Poornima. Get rid of this darkness. Without the light of love in the heart, what use is there in having illuminations outside? Light the lamp of the Divine in your minds. Banish hatred and envy from your hearts. Man is the victim of two evil planets: attachment and hatred. To escape from their grip, the only way is to cultivate love.

Source: Sanathana Sarathi, June 1997