Master of Buddhism: Lesson 1

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As a practicing Buddhist, I thought that this lesson was well put together, if brief.  Would I have liked it to be more in-depth?  Sure, but I'm also an academic, and working on grad school at the moment.  I like to get into the meat of a subject, and always have.


Anyway, on to the questions.  

1.      Does the story of Siddhartha Guatama, particularly in the years before he became the Buddha, ring true? Is it legend or hearsay? Does it matter?

Simply put, the tale of Siddhartha's life has many elements of fantasy, which I would be hard pressed to accept as true on it's face.  Rather, for me, the tale, particularly of his birth and formative years, falls firmly in the realm of legend, but that doesn't make the essence any less "true" if we take it as allegorical instruction.  So, really, it doesn't matter if the tale is (unlikely) 100% fact, fact colored by allegory and metaphor, or 100% fancy.  The important thing is what we learn and feel from it.


2.      What does enlightenment mean to you?

Again, as a practicing Buddhist, enlightenment has a special meaning for me which may not necessarily reflect the experience or understanding of non-Buddhists.  In my understanding, enlightenment is the point at which a person realizes that he or she is intimately entwined with everything and everyone else in the Universe.  To crib a metaphor, if the Universe is similar to the human body, all beings are individual cells in that body.  What affects one affects all, though not necessarily at the same time or at the same level.  Enlightenment is the understanding and realization that doing harm to another will likely result in harm to ourselves as a consequence.  

3.      Do you believe that enlightenment is possible? Is there more than one way to be enlightened? If so, what?


Of course enlightenment is possible!  In our contemporary age, Mother Theresa was a prime example of an enlightened individual.  She recognized that it was a great benefit for her to help those who were less  fortunate than she was.  Similarly, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an enlightened individual, in my mind.  He sought to improve the lot of those who were the victims of injustice.

But is there more than one way to be enlightened?  As easy to ask if the grains of sand on the beach are the same.  What I mean is that there are certainly degrees and differences in forms of enlightenment, but it comes down to the same root element:  An understanding that we are all connected.