Frequently Asked Questions

1.) How do I become a Buddhist?

Many times people ask, “How do I become a Buddhist?”. This question often comes from the mind seeking a label or category for what one is choosing to “become”. In actuality, in my opinion, Gotama Buddha himself was not a Buddhist. The term “Buddhist” did not originate until after Gotama Buddha’s death so we know he was not a Buddhist. He discovered and shared Teachings that lead to a better way of life, the awakened and Enlightened mind. I do not think labels or categorizing people in any way is beneficial. We are all human beings. I see the question of “How do I become a Buddhist?” as “How do I awaken the mind to Enlightenment?”. Let me answer this question “How do I awaken the mind to Enlightenment?” which is more beneficial than the previous question mentioned in the title of this question. To awaken the mind to Enlightenment a person needs to choose to learn and practice The Teachings of Gotama Buddha to progress on The Path to Enlightenment with the guidance of a Teacher. There is nothing formal one needs to do in order to learn and practice The Teachings other than to have dedication and commitment to learning and practicing The Teachings to awaken the mind to the Enlightened mind, have access to The Teachings, and access to a Teacher. To awaken the mind, each Practitioner will need a Teacher. It is impossible to awaken the mind to Enlightenment without the guidance of a Teacher. A Teacher will be able to provide you The Teachings and personal guidance along The Path to Enlightenment. The only person who would be able to awaken the mind to the Enlightened mind without Teachers is a Buddha. The last Buddha currently known by the world existed over 2,500 years ago. So, you and everyone else will need guidance from a Teacher.

Once you find a Teacher, they should have resources to assist you in learning and practicing The Teachings to independently acquire wisdom along The Path. As you learn and practice The Teachings, there is no aspect of The Teachings from Gotama Buddha that is based on belief. Belief will not liberate the mind to awaken to the Enlightened mind. A Student will need to gradually learn and practice The Teachings to independently observe the truth in The Teachings to acquire wisdom. It is this new found wisdom that will allow the mind to function through the Enlightened wisdom one acquires. In this way, the mind can gradually progress towards attaining a permanent mental state that is peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy - the Enlightened mind. Gotama Buddha did not share any Teachings that include rites, rituals, ceremonies, or worship. He taught that these things do not lead to Enlightenment so there is no rite, ritual, ceremony, or worship that is required in order to pursue The Path to Enlightenment. The Enlightened mind will not experience any discontentedness. All discontent feelings will be eliminated 100% to include the elimination of sadness, anger, frustration, irritation, annoyance, guilt, shame, fears, boredom, loneliness, shyness, jealousy, resentment, stress, anxiety, etc. The mind will reside permanently peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy. Are you on The Path to Enlightenment? Are you learning The Teachings and progressing along The Path? If not, you can be, and life is so much better as the mind gradually awakens to "true reality” - to Enlightenment.

2.) Do I need to give up all my possessions, occupation, and

relationships to attain Enlightenment? Absolutely not. While living a simple life can provide a lot of peace, the type of life you create for yourself and your existence is your personal choice.

These Teachings are not about eliminating possessions, occupations, and

relationships but rather training and purification of the mind. You need to eliminate how the mind relates to possessions, occupations, and relationships, etc. having these things while practicing non-attachment. The mind needs to eliminate The Ten Fetters, taints, or pollution of the mind, not

possessions, occupations, and relationships, while cultivating other beneficial qualities of the mind.

You can have possessions, an occupation, and relationships while practicing

non-attachment to attain Enlightenment.

3.) What is reincarnation and rebirth? Are they the same thing?

Reincarnation and rebirth are different. They are not the same. Reincarnation: the reemerging of a soul in a new body. Reincarnation typically relates to a new existence from a soul, spirit, or entity of a previously existed being. The new existence is seen as being the same as the previous being just in a new body. Reincarnation requires a permanent soul or entity that emerges repeatedly in new existences. Gotama Buddha did not share this as part of his Teachings. The concept of reincarnation conflicts with Gotama Buddha’s Teachings on The Universal Truth of Impermanence and The Universal Truth of Non-self, thus, was not taught by Gotama Buddha. In Gotama Buddha’s 45-years of teaching, his Teachings never contained any contradictions.

Reincarnation is dependent on a permanent soul or spirit transcending

multiple existences. Gotama Buddha left The Teaching concerning a soul as “undeclared” having never taught the concept of a permanent soul or a permanent self that transcends multiple existences. The concept of reincarnation conflicts with three specific aspects of Gotama Buddha’s Teachings. Reincarnation conflicts with 1.) The Universal Truth of Impermanence, 2.) The Universal Truth of Non-self, and 3.) Gotama Buddha left The Teachings on the soul as an “undeclared” Teaching, thus, Gotama Buddha never taught reincarnation. Rebirth: a new being that has come into existence through The Cycle of Rebirth based on a previous being’s craving and Kamma. Gotama Buddha taught rebirth through The Cycle of Rebirth. Rebirth is a new existence of a new being that has been reborn based on a previous being’s craving. Craving is the fuel that causes rebirth. If there is craving at the time of death, there will be rebirth into a new existence. If Enlightenment has been attained (i.e. all craving, anger, and ignorance are fully extinguished), there will be no rebirth.

The new being may or may not have residual memories of previous existences in its new consciousness that may be recalled over time during the new being’s life. Rebirth is not based on a permanent soul or spirit of any kind but instead is caused by the craving of the previous being which produces a new birth into a new existence. Each new birth is a new existence or new life. In reality, this should be shared and discussed as The Cycle of New Existence because there is nothing that is actually being reborn. Kamma of the previous being will determine the destination and life situation of the new being. Kamma of the previous being determines in which realm the new being will be reborn, Hell, Animal, Afflicted Spirits, Human, or the Heavenly realm. Kamma from the previous being also determines the quality of life of the new being. For example, the family and life situation (poverty vs. wealth) one is born into, the appearance of the new being, and the condition of the new being’s body and mind are all determined based on the Kamma of the previous being. If the previous being generated significant amounts of wholesome Kamma to be reborn into the human realm, the new being is reborn into a favorable destination within a wealthy family, beautiful appearance, and/or with a healthy body and mind.

If the previous being generated significant amounts of unwholesome

Kamma, the new being is reborn into an unfavorable destination of the lower realms (Hell, Animal, or Afflicted Spirits Realm) or if reborn into the human realm, the being will be reborn into difficult circumstances in the new existence based on the previous being’s Kamma.

Difficult circumstances that result from the previous being’s Kamma would

include in what realm the new being is reborn, what part of the world, the type of family, the amount of wealth, ability to acquire necessities to sustain life, appearance, and the health of the body and the mind. Craving determines if there is rebirth while Kamma determines in what realm, what situation, and the condition of the new being upon rebirth.

4.) Can I be a Buddhist without believing in rebirth?

Yes, one does not need to understand, believe, or know the truth regarding rebirth to learn and practice The Teachings of Gotama Buddha. Let’s explore this topic further to provide you additional information for a deeper understanding. Considering a person Buddhist or not is only a label. Labels of being a Buddhist or not will not determine whether you are or are not learning and practicing these Teachings closely. There is nothing to determine whether you are or are not a Buddhist. In fact, Gotama Buddha himself was not a Buddhist. This label did not exist during his lifetime. The Teachings and practices Gotama Buddha shared were offered to humanity as a “life practice” that would improve the condition of the mind through awakening it to true reality, Enlightenment. There are many people who have advanced in their practice to the point of observing past lives. It is through these observations that people, including Gotama Buddha, know that rebirth is the truth. You may or may not ever observe past lives as part of your pursuit to attaining Enlightenment. The good news is that you do not need to observe past lives in order to attain Enlightenment. What transpired in the past is in the past and has no impact on whether you attain Enlightenment in this very life. Part of this good news is that your Kamma in your previous lives was wholesome enough that you were able to obtain the human state for this rebirth and now you have an opportunity to attain Enlightenment in this very life. What happened in the past or may happen in the future is not important to attain Enlightenment in this very life. The mind needs to reside in the present moment learning and practicing The Teachings that lead to good wholesome decisions to attain Enlightenment. Additionally, there are no Teachings in this practice that one should merely “believe”. Belief does not allow you to attain the wisdom that would ultimately liberate the mind. It is only when you learn The Teachings putting them into practice that you will be able to independently verify the truth in The Teachings that will ultimately liberate the mind to attain Enlightenment. You should never believe anything in these Teachings but instead, work to learn and practice The Teachings so that you can independently verify the truth for yourself. This will ensure you are gaining wisdom to liberate the mind.

For more details on how rare it is for one to obtain the human state, see Gotama Buddha’s simile “Rare That One Obtains the Human State” available in this book in the Chapter titled “Why Study Gotama Buddha’s Teachings?” (Chapter 2).

5.) What does it mean to take refuge in The Buddha, The Dhamma, and

The Sangha and is there a ceremony to do this? Refuge: Shelter or protection from danger or distress. A place that provides shelter or protection. Something to which one can receive help in difficulty. Buddha: A being who has attained Enlightenment on their own without the assistance of Teachers to independently discover Teachings that lead to their own Enlightenment, with the ability to share their independently discovered

Teachings that lead countless others to Enlightenment during their lifetime

and after their death. The last Buddha currently known to the world existed 2,500 years ago, whom I refer to as Master Teacher Gotama Buddha or Gotama Buddha. (You will see other ways people refer to him.) Dhamma: The Teachings of Gotama Buddha based on The Natural Laws of Existence that lead to awakening of the mind, Enlightenment.

Sangha: The entire Community of Practitioners to include Ordained

Practitioners and anyone who has attained one (1) of The Four Stages of Enlightenment, this includes Household Practitioners. These are the

Teachers who can guide others to attain Enlightenment through The

Teachings of Gotama Buddha. When we say, take refuge in The Buddha, The Dhamma, and The Sangha we are saying that one’s mind can be protected through having confidence in The Buddha, through learning The Dhamma, and through seeking guidance from The Sangha. One would need to take refuge in all three, not just one. This is also referred to as the Triple Gem or the Triple Jewel.

When one learns and practices these Teachings with guidance from

Teachers, the mind can reside permanently peaceful, calm, serene, and

content with joy. The mind is unshakable because on this path you will know the “truth” and have deep wisdom. The mind will be unshakable meaning nothing and no one can ever cause the mind to be angry, frustrated, irritated, annoyed, or have even the slightest stress or discontentedness.

The mind will be protected from these and all other discontent feelings like boredom, loneliness, guilt, shame, fear, shyness, jealousy, resentment, anxiety, etc. Absolutely nothing will ever negatively affect the mind once it is experiencing Enlightenment. The Enlightened mind is fully protected. If one seeks refuge in The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community, the mind will be permanently protected through your own learning and practice to attain Enlightenment as you are guided by the Teachers of The Community. The mind will be unshakable. People throughout time have come up with rites, rituals, ceremonies, or worship that they say are an acknowledgment of taking refuge in The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community. However, these were not taught by Gotama Buddha and is only something that people developed along the way. There is no benefit to a ceremony. A ceremony does not have the power to change anything about the mind. It is only through learning and practicing The Teachings that the mind can develop and improve its condition to experience Enlightenment. One of the aspects of the mind Gotama Buddha taught to eliminate in order to attain Enlightenment is: Wrong behavior and observances (Elimination of the mind’s belief that rites, rituals, ceremonies, and worship will help a Practitioner to attain Enlightenment. Well developed practice of The Eight Fold Path.) One needs to eliminate this fetter, or pollution, from their mind to even attain the first Stage of Enlightenment. This is one of The Ten Fetters. All Ten Fetters need to be eliminated to attain Enlightenment. If the mind thinks that rites, rituals, ceremonies, or worship is going to improve the condition of the mind and progress a Practitioner to Enlightenment, the mind still has the pollution of “Wrong behavior and observances”. Therefore, the Practitioner’s mind is not Enlightened and will not be Enlightened until this pollution, or “wrong view”, is removed from the mind. Taking refuge to Gotama Buddha would be to learn and practice The Teachings. In this way, the more you learn and practice the more and more protected the mind will become. A ceremony cannot do that for you. It is only through your own dedication and commitment to learning and practicing that will allow one to have protection of the mind taking refuge in The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community.

All human beings can take refuge in The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community. All human beings should take refuge in The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community. This is the only way for the entire world to experience “worldwide peace”.

6.) What is our purpose in life? What is the purpose of our human

existence? This is a common question some ask of themselves and we sometimes ask of Spiritual Teachers. Various answers to these questions have been provided by various Spiritual Teachers around the world. Let’s explore this question and the nature of this question arising in the mind. The human mind contains the human ego. These types of questions are asked from the human ego. It is our ego that has a craving or desire to have importance and a purpose in this life. The ego craves for there to be a special purpose or higher calling for human existence on this planet. The human ego is always looking for significance, purpose, and importance so the question of “what is our purpose in life?” could surely arise in the mind. The short answer is: There is no purpose to life. There is nothing here and there is no point or significance in life. This could be considered a pessimistic view but let’s examine it more closely. If humans completely vanished from the earth in the snap of a finger, would there be grieving or sadness? Who would grieve or be sad? Would the monkeys, whales, or birds grieve that humans have vanished? Would the world’s seas have dismay that humans have vanished? Would the sun and moon still rise and set if humans instantaneously disappeared? If you answer these questions honestly, you would come to the conclusion that the monkeys, whales, nor birds would grieve the vanishing of humanity.

In fact, they would probably be pleased and see humanities disappearance as beneficial. The world’s seas would not have dismay if humans vanished and again, would probably benefit enormously from our disappearance. The sun and moon would still rise and set based on the same cycles that have always existed and human disappearance would have no effect or change to these natural cycles. Who is going to even remember you and your existence on this planet a few hundred or a few thousand years from now? If you answer this question honestly, no one will remember you or care that you existed. So, who would truly grieve, have sadness or dismay at the disappearance of all of humanity? Only humans, right? We have such a strong craving to exist that we continue to exist on this planet and oftentimes search for meaning or purpose in life. This outward searching and seeking importance is just the human ego seeking significance. In this way, we crave possessions, wealth, relationships, job titles, or self image, all products of the mind seeking importance. Similarly, it is the human ego that holds, grasps, and clings to the idea that humanity must and shall always continue. In the world as it existed during prehistoric times with massive creatures roaming the earth, I suspect that the human ego was practically non- existent. If we lived during those times and ventured out from our cave, we knew that there were massive creatures that were much more powerful and significant in the world than us humans. Prehistoric humans most likely were very aware of their presence and the presence of creatures that were much more dominant and powerful than humans. These more dominant creatures could eliminate a human’s life practically instantaneously with their power and might. I suspect the prehistoric human mind understood humans are not powerful and that other creatures ruled this planet.

It is only in modern society, that humans have developed an ego that is unbalanced and unchecked. We have created technology and advances in transportation, energy, weaponry, and other fields that have made us the supreme being on this planet. If a lion or other beast killed a human, we would most likely seek out the beast and kill it with our advances in intelligence and weaponry to track and kill the beast. The modern human ego would find it necessary to exert our dominance over any beast that exists today that killed a human and “got away with it”. This allows the modern human ego to retain our false sense or craving for dominance and control of the world around us. Conversely, if a human was killed by another creature during prehistoric times, and there were many creatures to do the killing at that time, humans would have just accepted it and moved on knowing that humans are not the dominant force on this planet. There would not be an attempt to kill all the creatures by prehistoric humans because that objective would be impossible.

Throughout history, humans have evolved significant intelligence and ability

to dominant or control the world around us and through that ability to exert our control or will, the human ego has evolved and is firmly rooted in the human mind. But if we strip away the modern human ego to eliminate seeking importance and significance refocusing on the prehistoric mind, what we would most likely find is that prehistoric human beings had no such desire or interest to understand their “significance” or “importance” on this planet because all they cared about is “existing”. They only cared about “survival”. They depended on the land and the resources it provided. I propose, the only interest among prehistoric human beings was to exist and co-exist peacefully among all the creatures that resided here on this planet. If they did not seek a peaceful co-existence with all creatures on the planet and live in harmony with earth’s resources, humans would not have existed. They hunted and gathered to provide food. They created shelters and clothing. They looked for ways to create a better or more comfortable existence with each other. They did not seek importance or significance of why they existed, they just sought a better existence - to live and stay alive.

It is only in modern civilizations that we have created jobs, possessions, titles, hobbies, sporting activities and other activities that we pursue to pacify or occupy our time in this existence to create some sort of importance or purpose the human ego can latch onto to feel important. As various Teachers have been asked these same questions over the years, various answers have been provided. The mind of the seekers and Teachers have an overwhelming desire for an answer and to provide an answer. As a Teacher, it does not make me feel more important, significant, or wiser to provide an answer to the questions of “what is our purpose in life?” or “what is the purpose for our existence?”. Can a Teacher and, thus, the Student just be content with the answer “there is no purpose, we just exist”? It is the human mind and human ego that is constantly trying to create purpose for this existence that we continue to exist and continue to add more and more obligations and relevance to our existence. We are the dominant and controlling creature on this planet, so the ego expects and craves the answer that there must be some sort of significance or importance to our existence. I can be content to share “there is no purpose for human existence and there is no purpose for humans on this earth”, I have no interest to please an ego to sound wiser if I provided a definitive answer to this question. Can the mind be content with the answer “there is no purpose for human existence and there is no purpose for humans on this earth” or do you still have a craving or desire for a purpose? Does your ego still crave and desire an answer to “what is your purpose in this life”? Is the ego still seeking importance and significance?

If so, here is the answer I will provide you…

Your purpose is to attain Enlightenment, which includes dissolving of

the ego so that once you dissolve the ego, you will see that there is no purpose to the human existence. Upon attaining Enlightenment, you will have escaped “The Cycle of Rebirth” and, thus, you will not be reborn into a new existence of nothing or no purpose.

Sustain your life through the daily activities that are required to sustain life, attempting to do no harm to other beings or the planet. Seek Enlightenment in this life. Dissolve the ego and realize there is nothing that exists here for you in this world and we do not need to continue human existence. Elimination of the craving for importance and significance in this life is to eliminate and dissolve the ego that craves an answer to this question.

You have made yourself constantly busy and occupied with tasks,

objectives, goals, and responsibilities that are pleasing to the mind and to the ego. The mind and, thus, the ego feels important and significant. However, there is no purpose for humanity to exist and until we realize that the mind and, thus, the ego has us on a never ending pursuit to feel important and significant, then we will continue to have craving for existence. If there is craving at the time of death, we will be reborn through The Cycle of Rebirth eventually returning to a new human life of constant pursuit of importance and significance. Craving is the fuel that leads to rebirth. To eliminate rebirth, one needs to extinguish craving. It is not until we fully dissolve the ego, along with other realizations on this Path, that we attain Enlightenment so that we will not return to a new existence with a purpose of…..“nothing”.

7.) Can I exercise the physical body and still attain Enlightenment?

Yes, you can. The Path to Enlightenment involves training of the mind, not training of the body. To sustain this life, you need the body and the mind to reside together. Without the body, you have no ability to train the mind. So, you should exercise the physical body, if you like, and maintain its health in prudent ways. There is less effort for the body and the mind when the body is healthy. An unhealthily body will put strain on the body’s systems and also the mind.

Proper hygiene, proper food supply, proper sleep, physical fitness, and

medical check ups are helpful to ensure you are maintaining the body’s physical health. The mind can also become attached to having excessive hygiene, proper food supply, physical fitness, and extensive worry about poor health causing

discontentedness so it’s important that you maintain your health without craving/desire/attachment. For example, if you plan to workout each day at 8:00AM and that is your permanent schedule, it will be impossible for you to maintain this schedule permanently because of The Universal Truth of Impermanence. It will be impossible to maintain a fixed, steady, or permanent schedule. Just because you missed a workout at 8:00AM, can the mind still be content? Missing a workout does not give you permission to be grumpy, upset, or angry to those around you. You also should not show arrogance that you are a superior athlete who looks down on all those who choose not to implement a fitness plan. You should also not rush through daily activities just to get to your workout. Take things at a calm steady pace and workout when you have the time and ability, if you choose. You will find that having regular physical activity of some type will improve the condition of the physical body and clarity of mind.

8.) Is medicine and medical procedures for the body a craving/desire/

attachment? Determining if something is or is not a craving/desire/attachment is based on how the mind relates to the person, object, or situation. If there is a mental longing with strong eagerness, that is a craving/desire/attachment. There are many health conditions that can be improved by medications. Pain relief medicine is helpful in certain situations. In life, you may experience headaches and other pains in the body. This is normal and pain relief medication can be helpful to temporarily relieve various pains in the body. Once you attain Enlightenment, the body and the mind will be tranquil, light, and peaceful. If you are experiencing pain in the body, it is challenging to train the mind. Temporarily relieving the body of its pain through medication can be helpful but you must ensure that you do not become dependent or addicted to medications that influence the mind. If a Practitioner is taking medicines without understanding the root cause of the medical concern to solve the health issue, then one is perhaps going to never find the solution to the problems they face. For example, if a

Practitioner is experiencing ongoing headaches and just continues to always

seek medicine without investigating the root cause, then they will not eliminate what is causing the headaches and be relegated to the expense and harmful side effects due to continuous use of chemically based medicines. There is most likely a non-biological cause to something like a headache such as poor diet, lack of sleep, lack of water, difficulty addressing stressful situations, and other external causes. A wise Practitioner would look to solve the root cause of the headaches rather than continue to always revert to medicines. While medicines can provide a temporary solution, a wise Practitioner will look for the root cause and address that through wise decision making which may or may not involve medical intervention. Headaches and other medical issues are a way to tell the mind that unwise decisions are being made and through identifying those and through implementing wiser decision making, a Practitioner can completely resolve their medical issues that lead to such things as headaches, stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and a whole range of other symptoms that are remedied through a well trained mind based on these Teachings but may be falsely understood as a biological medical problem. Discuss medications and the use of them with your Doctors ensuring you have selected Doctors and medical professionals who have eliminated craving for wealth and are dedicated to providing respectful beneficial patient care with no other motivations. Medications that are prescribed for mental health can be a craving/desire/ attachment as described in a previous Chapter. There are no medications that will permanently eliminate emotions, feelings, past traumas, or expectations you place on yourself that cause a discontent mind.

Mental health medications will suppress the unwelcome emotions and

feelings but they will not eliminate them. Medications and medical interventions are only temporary solutions or perhaps only providing minimal improvements while one works to develop their life practice in these Teachings to completely eliminate unwelcome emotions and feelings. The only permanent solution to attain a peaceful, calm, serene, and content mind with joy is Enlightenment.

9.) What significance can I apply to dreams?

The mind can produce various thoughts and experiences including dreams. There are always questions about how to interpret dreams. The person who experiences the dreams can oftentimes look to others for the meaning and

purpose of a dream to help guide them in life. This practice can oftentimes be misleading at best. The potential subject matter of dreams and how they are interpreted are countless. For every dream one experiences, there can be any multitude of explanations that one may gather from others. Who is to say what is accurate or inaccurate with the various interpretations and methods used to acquire such information? When you experience a dream, it’s best to not be attached to its meaning or needing an explanation. Whatever is produced during sleep and what that means does not make a dream a reality. It is best to stay focused on reality and truth in life experiences learning and practicing these Teachings. You may notice as you near Enlightenment and attain Enlightenment that dreams become less frequent or are actually eliminated 100%. While there are some who put a lot of belief and superstition into dreams and dream interpretation, it is best that as you remember dreams to just move past it, remaining unattached to acquiring the meaning of a dream. Consider a dream in the past while focusing on what you need to do in the present moment to continue your progress on this path. Being attached to the past or past experiences can only burden the mind and leave one craving answers to past experiences when one of the goals of these Teachings is to bring the mind into the present moment without concern of what has happened in the past or what may happen in the future.

10.) Why is Enlightenment permanent?

Gotama Buddha taught that “all conditioned thoughts and feelings” that arise are impermanent. He did not teach “everything is impermanent”. What is a conditioned thought or feeling? A conditioned thought or feeling is an arisen thought or feeling that is dependent on an impermanent source or object. It is a thought or feeling that can be observed to arise, change, and then ceases to exist. A conditioned thought or feeling is impermanent or in other words, temporary. For example, “I am happy because I got a new car”. The “new car” is the condition that is causing the happiness. The happiness has arisen in the mind due to the condition of the new car.

The feeling of happiness arises based on an impermanent condition, the feeling changes over time, and then the happiness eventually ceases to exist. The conditioned feeling of happiness is impermanent or temporary. Since the happiness was based on an impermanent condition of the new car, the happiness experienced is impermanent. The thought or feeling of happiness that has arisen, changed, and ceased to exist as all conditioned feelings are impermanent. Another example, “I am sad because my pet animal died”. The “pet animal” is the condition that is causing the sadness. The sadness has arisen in the mind due to the impermanent condition of the pet animal. The animal is not permanent and due to the mind craving it to be permanent, it is causing itself to be sad or discontent. The feeling of sadness arises based on an impermanent condition of the pet. The feeling changes over time and then the sadness eventually ceases to exist. The conditioned feeling of sadness is impermanent or temporary. Since the sadness was based on an impermanent condition of the pet, the sadness experienced is impermanent. The thought or feeling of sadness has arisen, changed, and ceased to exist as all conditioned feelings are impermanent. This is what is experienced in the unEnlightened mind. The unEnlightened mind bases its internal feelings on impermanent conditions. The unEnlightened mind craves/desires/attaches to impermanent conditions, has a mental longing with a strong eagerness for something holding on to it tightly. When the condition changes due to impermanence, the mind produces thoughts or feelings such as, happiness or sadness, for example.

Then, the unEnlightened mind is not comfortable when impermanence is

experienced because it is not trained to understand impermanence. The unEnlightened mind experiences discontentedness (pleasant feelings, painful feelings, and feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant) and the suffering these feelings cause due to craving/desire/attachment for permanence when all conditioned objects are impermanent. This is not how an Enlightened mind functions.

An Enlightened mind has been liberated from the constant craving/desire/

attachment to impermanent conditions that cause internal feelings. The

Enlightened mind has eliminated craving/desire/attachment, all mental

longing with a strong eagerness for permanence has ceased to exist, therefore, it no longer bases its internal feelings on impermanent conditions. An Enlightened mind will have been trained to extinguish the primary problem discovered by Gotama Buddha which is craving/desire/attachment to impermanent conditions. The Enlightened mind no longer craves permanence. Having eliminated the mind’s mental longing with a strong eagerness for permanence, (i.e. craving/desire/attachment), the mind no longer grasps, longs, or seeks fulfillment (pleasant feelings) in impermanent conditions. An

Enlightened mind knows that the conditioned thoughts and feelings are

impermanent, (i.e. temporary), and therefore has been trained not to seek fulfillment (pleasant feelings) based on impermanent conditions.

An Enlightened mind has removed, eliminated, eradicated, and extinguished

all craving/desire/attachment and, therefore, no longer has mental longing with a strong eagerness, being inwardly peaceful and content no longer basing its internal feelings on impermanent conditions. The mind has been liberated, has attained Enlightenment, and is Enlightened. The mental state of Enlightenment is unshakable and permanent. Once a mind has been trained to eliminate craving/desire/attachment, it will not ever go back to seeking fulfillment (pleasant feelings) from impermanent conditions. The mind has acquired the wisdom that seeking fulfillment (pleasant feelings) from an impermanent condition only welcomes and brings sadness, anger, or worse and, thus, no longer has an interest or desire to seek fulfillment (pleasant feelings) from impermanent conditions. Once one acquires this wisdom and has been trained, the mind will not unlearn this wisdom and, thus, it is permanently trained based on this wisdom to reside peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy. The Enlightened mind is permanently peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy not based on any impermanent conditions. All conditions have been removed and, thus, the mind resides in the natural Enlightened mental state that is permanent described as an unconditioned mind. One who has attained Enlightenment will have a permanent mental state of joy. Having attained Enlightenment, the joy experienced is without conditions, or unconditioned, and not based on an impermanent situation, object, or experience and, therefore, is permanent.

The unEnlightened mind is affected by the impermanent nature of impermanent conditions while an Enlightened mind has been trained and liberated through wisdom to no longer be affected by impermanence. Gotama Buddha’s Teachings provide guidance to train the mind to attain a permanent place to reside unaffected by the impermanent nature of conditioned thoughts and feelings.

This is the Enlightened mind, completely pure and without conditioned

thoughts or feelings.

An Enlightened mind is permanently peaceful, calm, serene, and content

with joy not based on any conditions. All conditions are eliminated and the mind is unconditioned. The mind has been purified with all fetters, taints, or pollution of mind removed and eliminated. An Enlightened mind is liberated from the outward seeking and searching for satisfaction based on impermanent conditions and is inwardly peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy - permanently.

11.) Why are donations of support for Teachers of Gotama Buddha’s

Teachings so important? There are two primary reasons why donations of support are important as it relates to Gotama Buddha’s Teachings.

Let’s explore those reasons…

Continuation of Gotama Buddha’s Teachings

Gotama Buddha’s Teachings have existed on this earth for over 2,500 years only because people have offered support for their continued growth and expansion. There is no centralized organization responsible to collect and distribute Gotama Buddha’s Teachings and, thus, it is up to individuals like you and me to continue the support and growth of these Teachings worldwide. For over 2,500 years, people have provided food, water, clothing, shelter, medical supplies and financial donations to support those who are sharing The Teachings of Gotama Buddha. In this way, the Teachers are able to focus their time on practicing The Teachings to gain experience and on sharing The Teachings of Gotama Buddha for the benefit of others. Teachers receive no inherent benefit for themselves in sharing The Teachings but what you will find is that people deeply practicing The Teachings will

oftentimes make the decision to share their experiences through formal teaching for your benefit. Legitimate Teachers will openly and freely share The Teachings with any and all beings without reservation. They will accept any and all Students who respectfully choose to learn and progress in their practice of these Teachings. While they may freely offer The Teachings for Students to learn and progress, it is not free for Teachers to offer The Teachings. There are many resources needed to support a Teacher’s ability to exist in this life and share The Teachings openly and freely. Teachers will setup their life in such a way that requires only basic support of food, water, clothing, shelter, medical supplies and financial support. A dedicated Teacher will not be interested in anything other than basic support and supplies to sustain their life.

Without continuous donations to support Teachers, the Teachers would not

be able to exist in the world to offer The Teachings for Practitioners to learn and progress on The Path to Enlightenment. The Teachings would not have reached you in this life had countless people prior to you not offered donations of support so that Teachers could continue to learn, practice, and offer The Teachings openly and freely to all beings. It is the people before you that have provided regular donations of support to allow The Teachings to continue and ultimately reach you for your benefit. It is your donations of support that will help you and people after you to learn and practice these Teachings.

Generosity Leads to Enlightenment

The primary problem that Gotama Buddha discovered in the mind is “craving/desire/attachment”. The unEnlightened mind experiences discontent feelings because it “holds on” with a mental longing and strong eagerness. This is referred to as “craving/desire/attachment”. The mind causes itself to be discontent because with craving/desire/ attachment it “holds on” and, therefore, the mind experiences sadness, anger, frustration, irritation, annoyance, guilt, shame, fears, boredom, loneliness, shyness, jealousy, resentment, stress, anxiety, etc.

To learn and progress in the practice of these Teachings, a Student can completely and entirely eliminate discontentedness in the mind and all discontent feelings are eradicated to attain the Enlightened mind. Craving/desire/attachment is the cause of the discontent mind and eliminating this unwholesome quality will eliminate discontent feelings from the mind. There are two remedies that Gotama Buddha shared to train the mind to eliminate craving/desire/attachment.

Breathing Mindfulness Meditation and generosity are the two practices

Gotama Buddha shared to eliminate the unwholesome quality of craving/ desire/attachment.

Through practicing Breathing Mindfulness Meditation with guidance of

Teachers and practicing generosity, the mind is trained to “let go”. Without practicing Breathing Mindfulness Meditation and generosity, among other Teachings, a Practitioner would not be able to attain Enlightenment. Through practicing generosity (i.e. giving and sharing) the mind is gradually trained to “let go” and practice selflessness. The mind has a tendency to “hold on” and accumulate “things” with selfish desires, but through generosity, the mind can be trained to recognize the interconnectivity of all beings through giving and sharing without expectation of anything in return. Teachers who are openly and freely sharing these Teachings are practicing generosity of their time, effort, energy and resources with loving-kindness and compassion for all beings. Gotama Buddha’s Teachings are designed to guide a Practitioner in cultivating these qualities of mind so any legitimate Teacher would openly and freely share The Teachings with all beings, without expectation of compensation or setting a price for sharing their Teachings. But they will need and do accept donations of support to exist in the world and to offer The Teachings. With that said, it is up to the Students to regularly support their Teachers.

While a Teacher is practicing generosity to openly and freely share The Teachings with Students, if the Students are not also practicing generosity, there is not support for the Teacher to continue their work to help Students attain Enlightenment. Essentially, if a Teacher is openly and freely sharing with you, this tradition of Teachings only “works” if Students are also openly and freely sharing resources with their Teacher on a regular basis. It is common for Students to share food, water, clothing, shelter, medical supplies and financial support, along with time, effort, and energy to help their Teacher to openly and freely share The Teachings of Gotama Buddha. Without this generosity, a Student would not be able to train the mind to practice non-craving, non-desire, or non-attachment, therefore, a Student would be unable to attain Enlightenment. Without generosity, this tradition that leads to awakening of the mind, to liberation, to Enlightenment will not continue for the benefit of all beings to attain a peaceful, calm, serene, and content mind with joy. While a legitimate Teacher is not interested to openly request donations from their Students, for Students who deeply understand these Teachings and who are practicing these Teachings to eliminate discontentedness in the mind, they would freely make offerings of donations and supplies to help their Teacher without a need for the Teacher to request support. Students will need to openly, freely, and continually make offerings to their Teachers to support the continuation of The Teachings, to train their mind to “let go”, and to make progress on The Path to Enlightenment. The entire Buddhist tradition and The Teachings of The Buddha shared with the world is based on loving-kindness, compassion, and generosity of all beings. The foundation and continuation of this tradition is based on

Teachers openly and freely sharing The Teachings with loving-kindness,

compassion, and generosity. And, the foundation and continuation of this tradition is based on Students making offerings with loving-kindness, compassion, and generosity.

Cultivating loving-kindness, compassion, and generosity throughout

humanity is highly beneficial for all beings to create a kinder, more peaceful and loving society.

If we enjoy and expect Teachers not to set a price to offer and share Gotama Buddha’s Teachings, then Students need to take the initiative to openly and freely make offerings to support the Teachers and The Teachings they share for the benefit of all beings. To learn more about developing a practice of generosity, see the book titled “Generosity” (Volume 13) of this same book series. You can support our efforts to share The Teachings of Gotama Buddha with you and worldwide for all people using this link.

https://www.buddhadailywisdom.com/supportbuddha

If Beings Knew the Results of Giving and Sharing

Monks, if beings knew, as I know, the results of giving and sharing, they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain of selfishness obsess them and take root in their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared it, if there were someone to share it with. But because beings do not know, as I know, the results of giving and sharing, they eat without having given, and the stain of selfishness obsesses them and takes root in their minds. (Gotama Buddha) (Reference: ITI 26)

Learning Resources for Further Exploration

Audiobook

(Audiobook) - (Volume 1 - Chapter FAQ) - Frequently Asked Questions

(Read & Listen)

https://youtu.be/_RNHzgnzwYs

(Audiobook) - (Volume 1 - About) - About Author, Glossary & Closing Credits (Read & Listen)

https://youtu.be/O8ODUvITOwA

Ep. 525 - (Audiobook) - (Volume 1 - Chapter FAQ) - Frequently Asked Questions

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/buddhadailywisdom/episodes/Ep--525---Audiobook---

Volume-1---Chapter-FAQ---Frequently-Asked-Questions-e272v3c

Ep. 526 - (Audiobook) - (Volume 1 - About) - About Author, Glossary & Closing

Credits