Bahasa IndonesiaWHICH IS THE TEACHING OF BUDDHA
Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhasa
“Now, if it occurs to any of you — ‘The teaching has lost its authority; we are without a Teacher’ — do not view it in that way. Whatever Dhamma & Vinaya I have pointed out & formulated for you, that will be your Teacher when I am gone.”
(Mahaparinibbana Sutta, Digha Nikaya 16)
These days, many of us are confused by the presence of groups that teach doctrine in the name of Buddhism. A lot of questions were asked, such as : Is this group is one stream of Buddhism? Is this stream a cult? Is this doctrine is the doctrine taught by Buddha? And a lot more.
From those confusion, arise a question : How do we distinguish which doctrine is taught by Buddha and which is not? Has Buddha ever gave any instructions to deal with this problem? The answer is yes, Buddha has given instructions to deal with this problem.
In this earth, there is no other Guru like Buddha. Buddha is a teacher full of rigor, has the precision and broad views of the future. In the moments before Parnibbana, before he entered Parinibbana, he has prepared, and ensure proper readiness, the integrity of what he has found and he pioneered, namely the existence of Dhamma, Vinaya, and Sangha. He said that who will substitute him after he had gone will not be one of his main student and not Y.A Supreme Kasappa who was skilled in exercises, not Y.A Upali who was an expert in Vinaya, nor Ananda who was the Treasurer of the Dhamma. But who replaced him as the Master for his disciples is Dhamma (teachings) and Vinaya (discipline). In addition to avoid disputes, it is set also to avoid the cult of the individual in the future that will cause a person’s attachment to him/her self, and this would interfere with the achievement of a person.
Thus, after Buddha entered Parinibbana until now there is no substitute of himself apart from Dhamma and Vinaya.
Furthermore someone may ask, “How do we know and ensure that the Dhamma and Vinaya which we learned today is the Dhamma and Vinaya taught by Buddha?” This critical question is very important because it will dismiss blind trust in a doctrine.
Long before the Buddha entered Parinibbana, he also gave restrictions on what is included in Dhamma and Vinaya. It is useful to distinguish which is the teachings of the Buddha and which are not, which is Dhamma and which is Vinaya.
In Gotami Sutta (Anguttara Nikaya VIII. 53) , Buddha explained to Y.A. Mahapajapati Gotami:
“Gotami, the qualities of which you may know, ‘These qualities lead to passion, not to dispassion; to being fettered, not to being unfettered; to accumulating, not to shedding; to self-aggrandizement, not to modesty; to discontent, not to contentment; to entanglement, not to seclusion; to laziness, not to aroused persistence; to being burdensome, not to being unburdensome’: You may categorically hold, ‘This is not the Dhamma, this is not the Vinaya, this is not the Teacher’s instruction.”
“As for the qualities of which you may know, ‘These qualities lead to dispassion, not to passion; to being unfettered, not to being fettered; to shedding, not to accumulating; to modesty, not to self-aggrandizement; to contentment, not to discontent; to seclusion, not to entanglement; to aroused persistence, not to laziness; to being unburdensome, not to being burdensome’: You may categorically hold, ‘This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher’s instruction.'”
Likewise, in Satthu Sasana Sutta (Anguttara Nikaya VII. 80) , Buddha explained to Y.A. Upali :
“Upali, the qualities of which you may know, ‘These qualities do not lead to utter disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, nor to Unbinding’: You may definitely hold, ‘This is not the Dhamma, this is not the Vinaya, this is not the Teacher’s instruction.’
“As for the qualities of which you may know, ‘These qualities lead to utter disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding’: You may definitely hold, ‘This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher’s instruction.'”
From the Buddha’s instruction in the form of the criteria of Dhamma and Vinaya in Gotami Sutta and SatthuSasana Sutta we can see, analyze, and examine carefully the various teachings that we meet today, so that we can see which is not the teachings of Buddha (which deviate from Buddha’s teachings), which are not. For example, when we find a doctrine that teaches to kill for some reason, we can use Buddha’s explanation of what is Dhamma and Vinaya as a guide. After we analyze it, we can know that killing leads to lust and do not lead to the release, then the doctrine that teaches to kill is not a Dhamma and Vinaya, not the teachings of Buddha. And we need to avoid it.
From what was said above, hopefully our confusion of distinguishing what is the teaching of the Buddha and which is not, which is the Dhamma and Vinaya and which is not, and which is the stream of Buddhism and which is not, can be known and understood.
May all beings be free from suffering.
Arranged by: Bhagavant.com
Originally posted by Iva on December 7, 2011 at 7:35 AM in webs.kusalayani.com
* Picture is taken from source
