The Buddhist idea I find most difficult to understand is the belief that we have no souls. As a human being who spends a lot of time studying our psychological make-up I am initially inclined to balk at the absence of a life-force that transcends all barriers, ethereal and material. However, when I reflect upon the similarities between ancient symbols across the world that have been drawn, painted, carved, and built to express mythological and religious inclinations I remember how alike human beings are to one another. In totally different parts of the planet, spirals manifest themselves through the hearts and minds of Celts, Native Americans, and Africans. South America, Egypt, and North America all share fantastic monuments and pyramids built to worship the solar system and its benevolent gods. Northern Europe is littered with thousand year old megaliths whose significance archaeologists are still speculating upon. It is the fact that human kind is collectively driven regardless of geography, mythology, biology, psychology, typography, or chronology to express a belief in a higher power that I can fathom the idea that there is not a soul in each of us but instead one soul that flows through us. For me, only in our devotion to something greater than ourselves can I comprehend the idea of no soul and I think this higher purpose is what Buddhism is all about.
The Buddhists explain that rather than a soul reincarnating instead the emotional residue and effects from one's actions, karma, lives on after we die until we reach a permanent state of withdrawal from the ego- nirvana. In order to attain this goal one is taught that the point of existence is to discover one's true buddha nature which is the state of limitlessness within the mind. By taking the middle path in life and remaining centered between the extremes of passion and suffering, both of which cause emotional chaos and delusion, each person, according to the Buddhists, is capable of finding peace. In the West we tend to associate money, glamour, success, and love as the things which bring us happiness, yet the joy they bring is often fleeting leaving us longing for their return. Buddhism ascertains that by relieving our minds of expectation and greed we can be free to live life rather than be overwhelmed by it.
I think that on the bodhisattva's Bodhi Path a person can see a glimpse of the Buddhist concept of universal oneness because it focuses the mind outward rather than allowing it to become entangled in a whirling confusion about its own existence. On the Bodhi path one spends their life learning about how to cope with the outside world so they can use the wisdom they've gained to help others achieve enlightenment. Through selfless generosity, discipline, patience, joyful energy, meditation, and knowledge a bodhisattva acts as a harbinger of good will and hope for all living creatures. By advocating the positive in each person, a bodhisattva inherently enriches him/herself along with the universal "soul". For example, Entering the Stream discusses the bodhi concepts of unlimited friendliness and exchanging oneself for others both of which call for ignoring the ego in favor of another person's well being. Based upon the Buddhist tenet "thoughts are things", these bodhi behaviors "generate waves" of positive karma that eventually come to shore washing away negativity and suffering.
Because the Buddhists believe there is no soul and no god, the responsibility of the cosmos rests upon the shoulders of each person. For me this is simultaneously terrifying and liberating. It is terrifying because if one agrees with these ideas then we cannot rely upon a supernatural savior to forgive, nurture, protect, or give meaning to our lives. Instead, one must take on the role of god however each of us defines it and accept the consequences of his/her karma without the promise of redemption or awakening from an outside hand. On the other hand, if one releases the grip of fear and looks into the void left from the eradication of centuries old societal and religious melodrama there is an intuitive awareness of a deeper connecting power. It is this connecting force which penetrates dogma and commandment while magically infusing each person with holy significance.
The above concepts of no soul, karma, nirvana, suffering, detachment, selflessness, and godlessness combine to liberate us by confirming what our intuitive nature senses: we are all united on our rotation around the cosmic wheel by our "hearts". Not the heart examined by technology but the heart expressed through poetry, painting, dancing, singing, loving, crying, yearning, aching, and needing. The gentle understanding employed within Buddhism about our collective vulnerability caused from emotion is what provides the potential for personal liberation. Once a person understands that he/she experiences the same fears, joys, hopes, and traumas that another does, although manifested in a myriad of ways, the true Buddha nature of compassion can shine through.
© Copyright Paula Vaughan
Entering the Stream, An Introduction to the Buddha and His Teachings
by Samuel Bercholz
Through class discussion regarding Buddhism and the text, Entering the Stream, An Introduction to the Buddha and His Teachings
by Samuel Bercholz, twenty-some people became aware of a spiritual path that promises everyone can be removed from suffering if they discard ignorance and realize that they themselves are Buddhas. To me this is a powerful assertion to make but after studying the tenets of this ancient philosophy, I can begin to faintly see my own enlightenment on the horizon. The Buddhist concepts are so profound that when discussed the air becomes electrified and you can feel your ego fighting to overcome your intuitive pull toward abandoning it. Although my own ego is not ready to accept certain Buddhist philosophies, I am intrigued and want to comprehend a portion of what my whole life has been spent in opposition to.
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References
Resources for further study
The Buddha explained that behind the cloud cover of thoughts-
including very heavy clouds of emotionally charged thoughts backed up by entrenched habitual patterns- there is continual warm, bright, loving intelligence constantly shining.
- Samuel Bercholz, Entering the Stream, An Introduction to the Buddha and His Teachings