beyond RELIGION InBuddhism people believe that if they worship the Buddha, bow toHis statue, light some incense, and offer some fruit and flowers,then they are safe and are taking refuge in the Buddha. I thinkthat this is the most mistaken concept, because there is no doubtthat the statues represent the past Buddha, but not the present.And the past Buddha cannot help us in any way except that He leftbehind some theory for us to follow and to examine. And some ofus go to the church, get baptised, and get some cake, and we thinkthat we are safe from the hell fires! Anyhow, I am glad that peopledo that because the symbolism of truth at least is well kept.Why am I glad? Because it shows how innocent people are, how easyto believe, how naive. We are so innocent, so pure of heart.
So I am glad that the Buddhist people go tothe temple and offer fruit to wooden statues, and I am glad thatthe Catholic believers go to church and repeat some of the ancientexperiences thinking that they are safe. At least they show theirpurity and innocence. But innocence and purity cannot help usmuch if in this lifetime, we cannot see the Buddha or experienceGod ourselves. It is like someone just installed a telephone inyour house without wire connections, and told you 'here is yourphone, it looks like everyone else's telephone and that is it.'But what happens! You are just talking to yourself only. The connectionis not there and the other end cannot receive anything. If webelieve that in talking on one end of the phone, with no answeron the other side, that it is alright, if we get no response fromHim, then it is even more innocent.
Before, I was that innocent. Every day I wentto church or temple and believed that this was all there was toit. But then after some time, I grew up and felt empty, and Ithought that God doesn't respond to anything and doesn't careif I pour my heart out. The Buddha doesn't dry my tears and answermy sincerest prayers and questions. He just sits there and smiles,every day like this. I cried, bowed and threw myself at His feetand He didn't move one inch! So then I became frustrated and thenI became angry. (laughter) I thought how can you be so impolite!But it wasn't the Buddha that was so impolite, it was me who wasso naive.
So after some time, I realised that maybe thedead Buddha couldn't help me much, and I had to find a livingone, a living Buddha inside me. Therefore, I started to look forMasters, methods and a real way to find enlightenment, not justbowing to a lifeless statue. So one day I found it after a lotof struggle, discipline, and effort. I have found what the Buddhahad found. I have found what Jesus had found, what Lao-tzu, Confucius,Plato and Socrates had found. And these things I am willing togive to you free of any conditions or bondage. It is all freeof charge, because what I discovered you already have. It is yours,not mine. It is not that I will give you anything. I will onlyhelp you to open it and show you where it is. Then you will findhappiness and all sorrow will disappear. It is just like the Biblesays:
"Seek ye first the kingdomof God and all other things shall be added unto you'' All the scriptures emphasise that we find ourown enlightenment, and all our sins will be washed away. It isas simple as the sun coming out and dispelling all the darkness.Otherwise, we have what the Bible calls the sins from our ownancestors, or what in Buddhism is called endless karma from previouslives, and we can never wash it off by our own mind efforts. Wecould not do it by charity or good deeds alone, or by bowing tothe statue of Jesus or Buddha. We must do it in the correct way,using the light of God, the inborn heaven to dispel hell's darkness.Jesus also said, Whatever I do today you will do even greaterin the future. This means that He and we are equal. He didn'tsay, 'I alone can do all these miracles. You will never ever beable to do it.' No, He said, 'Whatever I can do you can do also.'That is a great liberal attitude, and Buddha also said, I havebecome Buddha and you will also become Buddha. If we followthe correct method, just like with a scientific method, everyonedoes the same thing and gets the same result.
