Chapter 1: Universal Teachings: Love, No Harm, Good Morals

Chapter 1

Universal Teachings:
Love, No Harm, Good Morals

These Teachings are developed around three core concepts that directly relate to these Teachings and tend to be universal in The Teachings of many other traditions.

There are several traditions of Teachings that have emerged and been practiced over the years. These traditions are often labeled as “religions”. However, the original Teachers of each of these traditions never claimed that they were starting an organized religion. Teachers such as Gotama Buddha, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed, and others came into this world and sought to teach us a better existence and a better way of life; a more Enlightened way.

It was after they died that others gathered The Teachings, labeled them as religion, and assigned rites, rituals, ceremonies, and/or worship that were required to be practiced. Each tradition that exists today has its own unique Teachings and practices that are taught and/or practiced.

Now, the various groups have assembled, organized, and sometimes fight over who is right and who is wrong.

Due to the fighting, religious obligations, and the actions of select “religious leaders” within a tradition, the word “religion”, for some, elicits painful and hurtful feelings. This is due to human actions not because The Teachings themselves are not helpful to humankind.

If we removed the labels of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and all other “religious” labels assigned, we can easily see that these primary “Teachings” as taught by the original “Teachers” could all be summarized into these three core and fundamental Teachings.

1.) Universal Love for All Beings
2.) Do No Harm
3.) Be a Good Moral Person

In review of all worldly traditions, the original Teachers of the world’s traditions and those without an identified founder have advised, encouraged, and taught Teachings that lead humanity towards these three goals.

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Each tradition of Teachings that have existed and exist today are mostly motivating and encouraging human beings to become better human beings. While each tradition has its own unique way of explaining their Teachings and sharing how one might look at the world around us, each tradition and the original Teachers were looking to help people to become a better person through practicing these Universal Teachings.

How each tradition explains their Teachings and the clarity of their Teachings is different from one tradition to the next. Some Teachings require interpretation which can be different from one person to the next which makes it difficult for us to have a unified understanding or get in touch with the original Teacher’s Teachings.

Since the death of the original Teachers, The Teachings of each tradition have been affected by “impermanence”. The fact is that The Teachings shared during the lifetime of the original Teachers have not stayed the same and are not permanent. Everything that exists in the world is constantly changing and never remains permanent. Impermanence has eroded The Teachings of all the original Teachers and all traditions that exist today and, consequently, our global civilization has eroded as well.

So too, the condition of the human mind and the condition of the planet have deteriorated. Our available resources, and our interactions with each other have also deteriorated with craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) very much pervasive throughout humanity. Humans are starting to realize that our human existence has drastically affected the environment and the life we have created on earth has become more miserable. Even though we attempt to look at the positive side of life on a daily basis, a wise and observant individual can clearly see the craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) that is pervasive throughout the world. (Craving, anger, and ignorance are referred to as The Three Poisons, The Three Unwholesome Roots, or The Three Fires and will be shared in detail in the Chapter titled “The Three Poisons: Craving, Anger, and Ignorance” (Chapter 8).

It is humans that took The Teachings of Gotama Buddha, Jesus Christ and others and turned them into a religion. Religion categorizes us into different groups and causes us to feel that we should not get along or agree with one another. But I know we can agree that it is important to have “universal love for all beings”, “do no harm”, and “be a good moral person”. We are here to get along, be well, and be peaceful with all beings. Living healthy and contently with all beings is the only way to find a peaceful existence on this earth.

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We cannot destroy our earth, have unwholesome relationships, treat others poorly, have craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) and ego while expecting to have a perfect life. We must first learn to have peacefulness, contentedness, and love for all beings.

The time has come for humans to wake up to the realization that no one is coming to save us and that if we are interested in a better, more peaceful existence, we need to create this for ourselves.

As a species, we need to evolve to a Higher Consciousness. The human mind and all of humankind cannot maintain the extensive amount of craving, anger, and ignorance that exists in the world today. It’s unsustainable!

There has been war, fighting, and destruction in the past and this continues in the present and, we can expect the same in the future if we do not look to resolve the internal conflict that exists within each human mind. Each individual needs to apply effort and energy to attain Enlightenment and to rid the planet of craving, anger, and ignorance from within their own mind.

The time has come for the evolution of our species beyond our current state of existence through the pursuit of Enlightenment, resulting in a Higher Consciousness for all humans. To sustain life on this planet, we must all evolve to a Higher Consciousness and eliminate craving, anger, and ignorance. The time is now.

This book and book series will provide you Teachings that lead you and those around you to a better existence. An existence where people can have love, care, compassion, and generosity. We must learn to be pleased with others' successes, through a peaceful, calm, and content mind.

Our entire worldwide civilization, has been in the process of self-destruction due to the unwholesome intentions, speech, and actions of all individuals and our society as a whole.

We have massive amounts of warring, terrorism, disease, famine, mass shootings, drug addiction, sexual abuse, sexual promiscuity, rape, murders, pregnancy outside of committed relationships, poor working conditions, obesity, destruction of our planet and its resources, suicide, harm to animals, human trafficking, orphans, childhood deaths, financial disasters, corrupt politics and much more.

We are effectively creating “hell” on earth.

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These are the results of countless generations of unwholesome decisions. We are experiencing the results of our individual and collective decisions. This is Kamma, the results of our decisions. (More on “Kamma” later in this book.)

Our current civilization has been born out of craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) through constant and never-ending craving of “the mind” while attempting to satisfy our desire to build or maintain ego and a protection of the self. This book provides you Teachings that you can learn and practice to see the truth for yourself. You can gain wisdom how to abandon craving, anger, and ignorance while eliminating desires and dissolving the ego and realizing non-self.

This book series provides you Teachings for a “life practice”, not a religion, that when implemented will lead you to a Higher Consciousness, to Enlightenment.

This book will lead you to a life practice to attain the three core Teachings listed below and where you will experience a better existence and a better way of life.

1.) Universal Love for All Beings
2.) Do No Harm
3.) Be a Good Moral Person

You will need to learn and practice these Teachings to obtain the results of an improved existence for you, those close to you, and all of humanity. You will need Teachers and guides to assist you along “The Path”.

No matter what your existing faith and/or practice might be, these Teachings will help you to practice the most important aspects of your current faith tradition, Teachings that were intended by all the “original Teachers” and all the wholesome traditions that exist in the world today.

Learning and practicing The Teachings of Gotama Buddha is to receive even more clarity on how to become an improved individual on this “path of life” as a continuation of what you have already been working on your entire life no matter what tradition of Teachings you grew up with or if you had no Teachings from any tradition at all.

These Teachings can be practiced within any religious tradition or without any religion at all. A belief in God is not required and will not hinder your progress.

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In the practice of these Teachings, there is no one to worship or give praise. There are no “rites, rituals, ceremonies, or worship” associated with these Teachings. There is no centralized organization that places requirements on you as an individual.

You will notice The Teachings in this book, in many cases, reflect traditions you may have been previously taught or even basic Teachings shared with you by your primary caregivers as you developed from childhood into adult life. However, the more you learn and practice these Teachings you will observe the clarity and concise approach to Gotama Buddha’s Teachings to train the mind. Gotama Buddha’s Teachings provide a path to “a better way of life” that is straight forward yet profound in its effect at improving the quality of the mind and your life.

These Teachings can be shared with family members and assist you in developing deeper relationships in all your various roles within society.

This is “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment”.

It’s a better existence, a better way to relate to the world around you, and a way that everyone in society can learn to be accepting, caring, compassionate, trusting, and without fear or other negative emotions.

It’s a way that we can better care for ourselves, each other, and our planet.

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