We accept the Buddha as the perfect enlightened being. Buddhahood is the perfect state of enlightenment. All the beings in this universe have the potential to be enlightened. Self-labelling is giving us restrictions to think that only Buddhists can attain enlightenment. Buddha got enlightened not because he was a Buddhist, but because he realised the Truth. Enlightenment is beyond religion and beyond our mundane understanding. That’s the reason being known as a Buddhist, becomes a restriction—one has to go beyond who I am or who people think I am. Enlightenment is a process of working out your spiritual self. Everyone, who has experienced a deep relationship with God, will know that it is a searching, a yearning for the essential meaning of life. This is the Truth that enlightened beings talk about. Buddhism, like many other paths of spiritual growth, is merely the ladder to raise oneself to be able to see it. But equally valid are other forms of practices that help the seeker seek this Truth.
What is Dharma? Dharma is the universal truth; it is not the Truth belonging to Buddhism only, but the Truth belonging to the universe. Since people are so attached to the idea that Dharma is only a Buddhist term, I would rather call it universal spirituality, which means it is something that can be understood and practised by anyone. Why are people getting into arguments and angry discussions? I think it is mainly because we always believe ourselves to be superior and that we always think that we are right and others are wrong. We judge others so much that we always forget to look at ourselves. This is very sad and extremely unfortunate, because we lack the sense of spiritual understanding that all beings have the equal rights to be enlightened.
Suffering, enlightenment and spirituality have no gender and no religious labels. We are making our lives difficult and creating veils to block our understanding. We have built mountains of misunderstanding, therefore we cannot receive the universal message of love, compassion, kindness and wisdom, and because of this, we have no hope to be enlightened. I do not think that the Buddha’s teachings are religious or restricted to Buddh“ism”. Until we stop labelling ourselves and others, until we stop judging and until we develop a mirror to see our own nature, we will not get any reception. We are just wasting our life and our time, criticising others and making ourselves miserable.
We all wish to be happy, therefore we wish to be liberated from suffering and the only way to do so is to be enlightened. The Buddha has shown us the way, but we are the ones who have to walk the path. One wishes to become a Buddha, the perfectly enlightened one, not because he is a Buddhist but because he became enlightened for the benefit of all living beings and not for the benefit of only those beings who claim to be Buddhists and yet practising everything that has nothing to do with love, compassion, kindness and wisdom.
The Buddha said, “If you see me as a Buddha, you are not seeing Buddha. If you hear my teaching as the Dharma, you are not hearing Dharma.” Maybe I should contribute my share, “If you think you are a Buddhist, you are not Buddhist.” My best wishes to all of you, may you all be happy and finally attain true and universal enlightenment through the practice of true love, understanding, respect, appreciation, compassion and wisdom.
The author is the spiritual head of the 1,000-year-old Drukpa Order based in the Himalayas
How to Get Rid of Misery
essential slokas
“Duswapna, dusshakuna, durgathi, dhourmanasya, Durbiksha, duevyasana dussasha duryasamsi, Uthpatha thapa, visha bheethim asathkara karthim, Vyadheemscha nasayathu may jagathaam adheesa”
(Oh owner and lord of this universe, please destroy, Bad dreams, bad omens, bad fate, a sick mind, Famine, sorrow, unbearable pain, bad name, The growing sorrow, fear of poison and misery created by planets)