by Tiongho Poh

Created on: May 05, 2010   Last Updated: June 16, 2010

During the dispensation of Dipenkara, a Buddha before Sakyamuni, Sakyamuni was known as Sumedha, a recluse, and he could have attained Arahanship to enjoy the bliss of Nibbana at that time. However, he chose to stay on and ventured into wilderness of samsara, because he wanted to save more troubled beings from birth, decay and other afflictions.

Buddhism was not derived from Hindusim and was not stereotyped as many anti-Asian people used to believe. This group of racists said the fire and brimstones hells mentioned in Buddhism were borrowed from Christianity, not realizing that Buddhism was prevalent over 500 years before Jesus was born.

Buddhists don't pray to the Buddha hoping that He would forgive them for the sins committed during the week and hoping that He would offer them rewards. Buddhists prostrate in front of the Buddha statue as a respect because the Buddha is a perfect human being. All over the world personnel from the fighting services and the police pay respect to their superior by standing straight and raising the right hand to the right side of the head to salute the senior. Is this a form of prayer?

Buddhism is not about accepting certain tenets or believing a set of claims or principle. It is about knowing, not believing, hoping or wishing. Buddhists don’t believe in reports, traditions, hearsay, or the authority of religious leaders, or texts. They don’t rely on logic, inference, appearance or speculation. They examine and see for themselves. Buddhism begins with facts, and Buddhists know that their suffering and the means to stop it lay within themselves. They don’t blame the Americans for all their problems.

Buddhism is about actual experience and investigating to release pain and vexation, once and for all. The deep-down ache of the heart doesn’t go away. It travels with us life after life. Bad times will come though we spend much time and energy trying to avoid them.

Despite the various insults and verbal attacks from non-Buddhists, especially from Asia, Buddhism remains as vital and penetrating as ever, because it doesn’t distinguish between nobles, peasants, learned, the illiterate, the moral and the base.

When we are awake, we will not speak or act in a way that can injure us or others. So when we meditate, the intention is to wake up, not to access any occult or supernatural powers. No person’s life, including that of the Buddha’s, is ever, or was ever free of difficulties. Buddhists know

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