Looking for a Method?

July 2018 edition

Looking for a Method?

Article summary

These days many practitioners are looking for a method rather than the Dhamma which they actually never touched. Let’s find out what this actually means through this month editorial.

It’s natural we are looking for the method or the path of achieving the final result of something we are interest of.   But is it the same for the Dhamma.  Is it applicable to Dhamma?  Answer is actually, NO!

Let me explain the reason even though you may not accept it.  Most of the time what we do is we learn Buddhism as a subject.  And then we are even learning the path of achieving the final result as a subject.  Then we put them in to practice as we do the practical and then yes, we are happy with whatever we achieve. 

We learn theory, then practice them with the teacher and then in to the practice in day to day life.  This is the normal method of learning & achieving something. So, we believe this is same for the Buddhism too.  Unfortunately, it is not.  It is not that simple and it is not that easy.

Have you ever notice the order of four noble truths?

  1. The noble truth of suffering - (the effect)
  2. The noble truth of the origin of suffering – (the cause)
  3. The noble truth of the cessation of suffering – (the attainment)
  4. The noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering – (the method / the path for experience the complete realization / the attainment)

The final attainment is in the third place.  These are not just a written order.  These are the realization and how it works.  Many are misunderstood this is a learning subject.  They study & learn the first two truths and they understand ok the third truth we should attain. Then we need to find or understand the path to do that.  This is totally misleading and keep one away from the true teaching of Buddhism.

When one listens to the cause & effect explanation, which is not those theory of course with the wordings, in another words when you listen to the Dhamma… if the Dhamma is pure and express correctly you will realize what the cause & effect means.  The theory of everything.  As soon as you realize it, not later in a day or month… it’s just the same moment you realize the cease of effect by ceasing the cause… and that’s the nirvana… that’s the enlightenment… that’s the attainment… then that moment onward that one knows what to do for the complete attainment.  That’s how it works.

It cannot be study or learn… or taught by someone else.  It’s not something we practice unknowingly or blindly.  There is one method and that’s the realization itself.  For that one should give more opportunities of listening to Dhamma and that’s also with an empty mind. 

The more you are looking for the path… the more you are trapped with the duplicate versions of Buddhism and its teachers who shows you path to enlightenment.  A good teacher doesn’t show you the path.  A good teacher shows you how to find the path and that’s what Samma Sambuddha did.  Words are always misleading.  So, be wise to understand beyond the words. Coz at the end of the day “it only words, words are all we have to show us how to find the path”.  There is always something deep hidden beneath the words.  Keep on tracking them my dear Dhamma friends. 

Have a blessed time!

Rajitha Viduransi | Kelaniya, Sri Lanka