25 January 2003, 12:15am IST
Suresh Jindal, TNN.
Suresh Jindal, TNN.
One takes refuge in the Buddha's path because it allows the freedom to modulate it to one's self-awareness, provided one takes responsibility of one's own suffering. Buddhism's view of dependent origination and the inherent emptiness of all phenomena is a profound and radical one. It dispenses with the existence of a Creator God or a Superior Being. The view is taught not as an article of faith or an exclusive revelation to a messiah or prophet, but is one that can be ascer-tained by study, debate, and direct experience. The methodology of investigation is as thorough and rational as that of physics or mathematics. Like science, it can only be studied under a qualified and experienced teacher. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said that crucial to the hermeneutic approach is the Mahayana principle of the four relian-ces. These are ' reliance on the teaching and not the teacher, on meaning and not on words, on the definitive meaning and not the provisional meaning, and on the transcendent wisdom of experience, not mere knowledge. A Mahayana guru must have ten qualities. These include ethical self-control, serenity and meditation stabilisation, mental peace derived from nature of ultimate reality. He should also have more knowledge than the disciple, enthusiasm in practice, richness of scriptural learning, realisation of reality, skill in teaching, loving concern and compassion for disciples and no discouragement for them. The disciple also needs to possess some qualities. He should be honest, intelligent, sensitive to the distinction between good and bad, and interested in learning. The Buddhist view is taught with three methods of teaching ' debate and reflection, direct experience, and meditation. There are profound and deep methods of practical education that can lead the student into direct experience of ultimate reality. The uniqueness of Mahayana Tantra practice is that it can enable realisation in one lifetime. This can be obtained only through direct transmission by a realised master who him- self has travelled the path. The teachings include oral instructions and initiation into tantra and its practices. A lama is not ordained or nominated by a church or counsel. He is accepted when disciples feel he has the qualities for being a teacher. All monks have to undergo rigorous training from an early age. It can take up to 20 years to attain the highest degree of 'Geshe', doctor of divinity. Since there is no blind belief and the Buddhist view has to be taught by logic and reason, the preservation of the teachings depends on the teachers and the monasteries that educate them. The Buddha's teachings have always been transmitted through the guru- shishya parampara. Taxila, Nalanda and Vikramshila, till their destruction in the 13th century, were premier Buddhist universities. The resident monks-yogis-scho-lars held all the major lineages of Buddhist teachings. Fortunately, eight century CE onwards, a vigorous exchange of pundits from India and yogis from Tibet had started. So all major lineages had been safely transported to the Land of Snows. The dharma kings of Tibet not only restructured their language but also their society to preserve and propagate the teachings. It is believed that at any time, 20-25 per cent of the population of Tibet was in monasteries and nunneries. Based on the model and methods of the famous Indian monastic universities, the Tibetan universities of Sera, Drepung and Ganden were built to nurture and preserve the teachings and their lineages. Sheltered on the roof of the world, the dharma flourished for over a thousand years. Not only were the teachings preserved but also enhanced and honed by realisations of a steady stream of outstanding wisdom beings.