[ebook.nsO] [buddhism] Handbook for Mandkind - Buddhadasa Bhikkhu [www.NorthShare.tk].pdf

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E-mail: bdea@buddhanet.net

Web site: www.buddhanet.net

Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc.

Buddhadasa, Bhikkhu

Handbook for Mandkind

The Handbook for Mankind

Contents:

Foreword

About the translator

Looking at Buddhism

II.

The true nature of things

III.

Three universal characteri

stics

IV.

Grasping and clinging

The threefold training

VI.

The things we cling to

VII.

Insight by the nature method

VIII.

Insight by organized training

The seven purifications, etc

IX.

Eman

cipation from the world

114

Foreword

In 1956, the Venerable Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu gave a

series of lectures to a group of prospective judges,

which were subsequently edited and arranged into

what became

The Handbook for Mankind

Since then, the success o

f this small book has been

astounding. Well over 100,000 copies have been

printed in Thai, and the book still enjoys widespread

popularity, more than three decades after the original

talks. The reason for

The Handbook

’s endurance is

clear: that the Venerab

le Buddhadāsa offers fresh

insights into a timeless Truth (Dhamma), in the direct

and simple manner that characterizes all his teaching.

The clarity of his insight brings the Dhamma to life, so

that today, a new generation of readers, not yet born at

the t

ime of these talks, can find meaning in his words.

As a guide for newcomers to the Buddha Dhamma

(the Truth which the Buddha awakened to and

subsequently taught), this book is an invaluable guide.

In it are contained the essential teachings of

Buddhism.

e Handbook

is especially useful for

those who approach the Buddha’s teaching, not as a

subject for scholarly study, but as a means to

understand and ennoble their lives.

The Handbook for Mankind

was originally published

in English by the Sublime Life Missi

on, but has long

been out of print. With their permission, we have

reprinted this book, making some corrections where

necessary, but leaving the text otherwise intact. Our

thanks are due to Mr. Pun Chongprasoed, who first put

this book together in Thai, an

d to all the people whose

effort has made possible the reprinting of this book.

About the Translator

Rod Bucknell first became seriously interested in

Buddhism in the mid

1960’s, when, during a visit to

Thailand, he was introduced to the techniques of

sight meditation. After spending a year in various

Thai meditation centers and monasteries, he took

ordination as a bhikkhu (monk) under the guidance of

Ajahn Pannananda of Wat Cholapratan Rangsarit. He

soon became interested also in the teachings of Ajahn

Buddhadāsa, and, recognizing their potential value to

westerners, began translating some of the Ajahn’s

more important works into English. During the four

years he spent in the Sangha, he translated altogether

six works of varying length, usually in close

consultation with the Ajahn in order to ensure

accuracy in the rendering of key concepts. Despite his

return to lay life, he maintains a close interest – both

scholarly and practical – in Ajahn Buddhadāsa’s

teachings, and has published several related art

icles in

religious studies journals. He is currently a lecturer in

the Department of Studies in Religion at the

University of Queensland, Australia.

Looking at Buddhism

If we open any recent book on the origins of religion,

we find that there is one p

oint on which all authors are

in agreement. They all agree in saying that religion

arose in the world out of fear. Primitive forest

dwelling man feared thunder and lightning, darkness

and storms, and various things about him that he was

unable to understan

d or control. His method of

avoiding the danger he saw in these phenomena was to

demonstrate either humility and submission or homage

and reverence, depending on which he felt was most

appropriate. Later, as man’s knowledge and

understanding developed, thi

s fear of the forces of

nature changed into a fear of phenomena more

difficult to apprehend. Religions based on deference to

objects of fear such as natural phenomena, spirits and

celestial beings, came to be looked down upon as

unreasonable and ridiculous

. And then man’s fear

became still more refined into a fear of suffering,

suffering of the sort that cannot be alleviated by any

material means. He came to fear the suffering inherent

in birth, ageing, pain and death, the disappointment

and hopelessness wh

ich arise out of desire, anger and

stupidity, which no amount of power or wealth can

relieve. Long ago in India, a country well provided

with thinkers and investigators, intelligent people

dispensed with all paying of homage to supernatural

beings and star

ted seeking instead the means of

conquering birth, ageing, pain and death, the means of

eliminating greed, hatred and delusion. Out of this

search arose Buddhism, a higher religion based on

insight, a means of conquering birth, ageing, pain and

death, a me

thod for destroying the mental defilements.

Buddhism has its origins in fear of this last kind, just

as do all religions based on intelligence. The Buddha

discovered how to conquer absolutely what man fears:

he discovered a practical method, now called

Bud

dhism, for eliminating suffering.

“Buddhism” means “the Teaching of the Enlightened

One”. A Buddha is an enlightened individual, one who

knows the truth about all things, one who knows just

what is what, and so is capable of behaving

appropriately with res

pect to all things. Buddhism is a

religion based on intelligence, science and knowledge,

whose purpose is the destruction of suffering and the

source of suffering. All paying of homage to sacred

objects by means of performing rites and rituals,

making offe

rings or praying is not Buddhism. The

Buddha rejected all of this as foolish, ridiculous and

unsound. He also rejected the celestial beings, then

considered by certain groups to be the creators of

things, and the deities supposed to dwell, one in each

star

in the sky. Thus we find that the Buddha made

such statements as these:

“Knowledge, skill and ability are conducive to success

and benefit and are auspicious omens, good in their

own right regardless of the movements of the heavenly

bodies. With the benef

its gained from these qualities,

one will completely outstrip those foolish people who

just sit making their astrological calculations.” And:

“If the water in rivers (such as the Ganges) could

really wash away sins and suffering, then the turtles,

crabs, f

ish and shellfish living in those sacred rivers

ought by now to be freed of their sins and sufferings

too.” And: “If a man could eliminate suffering by

making offerings, paying homage and praying, there

would be no one subject to suffering left in the worl

because anyone at all can pay homage and pray. But

since people are still subject to suffering while in the

very act of making obeisances, paying homage and

performing rites, this is clearly not the way to gain

liberation.”

To attain liberation, we firs

t have to examine things

closely in order to come to know and understand their

true nature. Then we have to behave in a way appro

priate to that true nature. This is the Buddhist teach

ing; this we must know and bear in mind. Buddhism

has nothing to do wit

h prostrating oneself and deferr

ing to awesome things. It sets no store by rites and

ceremonies such as making libations of holy water, or

any externals whatsoever, spirits and celest

ial beings

included. On the contrary, it depends on reason and

insight.

Buddhism does not demand con

jecture or

supposition; it demands that we act in accordance with

what our own insight reveals and not take anyone

else’s word for anything. If someone comes and tells

us something, we must not believe him without

question. We

must listen to his statement and examine

it. Then if we find it reasonable, we may accept it

provisionally and set about trying to verify it for

ourselves. This is a key feature of Buddhism, which

distinguishes it sharply from other world religions.

Now a

religion is a many

sided thing. Seen from one

angle it has a certain appearance; seen from another

angle, it has another. Many people look at religion

from the wrong angle, and Buddhism is no exception.

Different individuals looking at Buddhism with

diffe

rent mental attitudes are bound to get different

views of it. Because each of us naturally has

confidence in his own opinions, the truth for each of

us coincides with our own particular understanding

and point of view.

Consequently, “the Truth” is not quit

e the same thing

for different people. They all penetrate questions to

varying depths by varying methods, and with varying

degrees of intelligence. A person does not recognize as

true, according to his own ideas of the Truth, anything

that lies beyond his

own intelligence, knowledge and

understanding. And even though he may outwardly go

along with other people’s ideas as to what is the truth,

he knows in himself that it is not the truth as he

himself sees it. Each person’s conception of the truth

may change

and develop with the day

day increase

in his degree of intelligence, knowledge and

understanding, until such time as he arrives at the

ultimate truth; and each of us has different ways of

examining and testing before believing.

So if Buddhism is viewe

d with differing degrees of

intelligence, differing pictures of it will be seen,

simply because it can be viewed from any aspect. As

we have said, Buddhism is a practical method for

liberating oneself from suffering by means of coming

to realize as did the

Buddha himself, the true nature of

things. Now any religious text is bound to contain

material which later people have found occasion to

add to, and our Tipitaka is no exception. People in

later ages have added sections based on then current

ideas, either

in order to boost people’s confidence or

out of excessive religious zeal. Regrettably even the

rites and rituals which have developed and become

mixed in with the religion are now accepted and

recognized as Buddhism proper. Ceremonies, such as

setting up

trays of sweets and fruit as offerings to the

“soul” of the Buddha in the same way as alms food is

offered to a monk just do not fit in with Buddhist

principles. Yet some groups consider this to be

genuine Buddhist practice, teaching it as such and

keeping

to it very strictly.

Rites and ceremonies of this kind have become so

numerous that they now completely obscure the real

Buddhism and its original purpose. Take for example

the procedure of becoming ordained a monk. There

has come into existence the cerem

ony of making gifts

to the newly ordained bhikkhu. Guests are invited to

bring food and to watch proceedings, and as a result,

there is much drunkenness and noise. Ceremonies are

performed both at the temple and in the home. The

new bhikkhu later leaves th

e Order again only a few

days after having been ordained, and may become an

even stronger temple

hater than he was before. It must

be borne in mind that there was none of this at the

time of the Buddha. It is a later development.

Ordination at the time of

the Buddha meant simply,

that some individual, who had obtained his parent’s

consent, renounced home and family. He was a person

who was able to close accounts at home and go off to

join the Buddha and the Order of bhikkhus. On some

convenient occasion he

would go and be ordained, and

perhaps not see his parents or family again for the rest

of his life. Though some bhikkhus might go back to

visit their parents again on suitable occasions, this was

rare. There does exist a rule permitting a bhikkhu to go

hom

e when there is a good reason for doing so, but at

the time of the Buddha this was not the done thing.

Bhikkhus did not receive ordination with their parents

in attendance nor did they celebrate the event as a

great occasion, only to leave the Sangha again

after

just a few days, no better off than at first, as

commonly happens in the present day.

All this presenting of gifts to newly ordained

bhikkhus, this performing of ceremonies, including all

sorts of celebration – this we are foolish enough to call

Bud

dhism! Furthermore we choose to make much of

it, thinking nothing of spending all our own money, or

other people’s on account of it. This “Neo

Buddhism”

is so widespread as to be almost universal. The

Dhamma, the genuine teaching that once was

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eBUDDHANET'SBOOKLIBRARYE-mail:bdea@buddhanet.netWebsite:www.buddhanet.netBuddhaDharmaEducationAssociationInc.Buddhadasa,BhikkhuHandbookforMandkindHandbookforMandkind2TheHandbookforMankindContents:Foreword3Aboutthetranslator4I.LookingatBuddhism5II.Thetruenatureofthings20III.Threeuniversalcharacterist...

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