Namo Amitabha!Last May 8 the Tuesday Inner Work Circle had another wonderful Open Evening experience at The Peacemakers’ Circle with a Buddhist speaker from the Universal Wisdom Foundation. Inc. (UWFI) Buddhist resource center.
Mr. Sam Salter came in on behalf of UWFI president and Peacemakers’ board member, Prof. Carlos Aureus, to share about the basic teachings of Buddhism and the celebration called Wesak/Vesak.
Mr. Sam said that May is Wesak month and every full moon of May is the Wesak Day. This one day marks the birth, enlightenment, and Parinirvana (complete liberation from the cycles of physical incarnation) of Guatama Buddha. This celebration is so significant for the Buddhists all over the world such that on March 2001--through the initiative of the UWFI—the President of the Philippines (GMA) signed a presidential proclamation declaring the full moon day in May every year as Wesak Day.
The sharing went on from the Wesak celebration to the basic tenets of Buddhism and the universality of its wisdom. As Mr. Sam pointed out, one need not become or call him/herself a Buddhist in order to follow the teachings of the Buddha which is meant for anyone and everyone regardless of race, gender, or belief system (one does not even have to believe in God!). According to him, the Buddha just simply wanted to teach everyone a way—which he has proven himself-- to end human suffering. Suffering which is a universal human experience (“There is no such thing as a Buddhist suffering that is different from a Christian suffering, a Muslim suffering or a Hindu suffering—all humans simply experience it”). Buddha and his prescribed way to end suffering is not only for Buddhists but for everyone—just as Christ’s teachings are not only for Christians nor Islamic wisdom only for Muslims.
Mr. Sam further elaborated that the cause of conflict is when one sees him/herself as different from the other or is attached to the physical self—when in fact, as Buddhism teaches, ALL are ONE.
Another insight which the speaker pointed out, and was so often highlighted throughout his sharing, is the significance of INNERWORK. He praised how the Peacemakers’ Circle has been promoting Inner Work, which is in essence also a Buddhist teaching.
Summing up, he shared that the greatest and unique contribution of Buddhism as one of the world’s main religion is its emphasis on the human MIND as the forerunner of all human experience. Buddha’s teachings are centered around how each person should master and cleanse the mind of defilements and ignorance so as to attain liberation from suffering.
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