The Buddhist Catechism Part 6

A. The knowledge of the "Four n.o.ble Truths," as the Buddha called them.

121. Q. _Name these Four n.o.ble Truths?_

A. 1. The miseries of evolutionary existence resulting in births and deaths, life after life.

2. The cause productive of misery, which is the selfish desire, ever renewed, of satisfying one's self, without being able ever to secure that end.

3. The destruction of that desire, or the estranging of one's self from it.

4. The means of obtaining this destruction of desire.

122. Q. _Tell me some things that cause sorrow?_

A. Birth, decay, illness, death, separation from objects we love, a.s.sociation with those who are repugnant, craving for what cannot be obtained.

123. Q. _Do these differ with each individual?_

A. Yes: but all men suffer from them in degree.

124. Q. _How can we escape the sufferings which result from unsatisfied desires and ignorant cravings?_

A. By complete conquest over, and destruction of, this eager thirst for life and its pleasures, which causes sorrow.

125. Q. _How may we gain such a conquest?_

A. By following the n.o.ble Eight-fold Path which the Buddha discovered and pointed out.

126. Q. _What do you mean by that word: what is this n.o.ble Eight-fold Path?_ (For the Pali name see Q. 79.)

A. The eight parts of this path are called _angas_. They are: 1.

Right Belief (as to the law of Causation, or Karma); 2. Right Thought; 3. Right Speech; 4. Right Action; 5. Right Means of Livelihood; 6.

Right Exertion; 7. Right Remembrance and Self-discipline; 8. Right Concentration of Thought. The man who keeps these _angas_ in mind and follows them will be free from sorrow and ultimately reach salvation.

127. Q. _Can you give a better word for salvation?_

A. Yes, emanc.i.p.ation.

128. Q. _Emanc.i.p.ation, then, from what?_

A. Emanc.i.p.ation from the miseries of earthly existence and of rebirths, all of which are due to ignorance and impure l.u.s.ts and cravings.

129. Q. _And when this salvation or emanc.i.p.ation is attained, what do we reach?_

A. NIRVANA.

130. Q. _What is Nirvana?_

A. A condition of total cessation of changes, of perfect rest, of the absence of desire and illusion and sorrow, of the total obliteration of everything that goes to make up the physical man. Before reaching Nirvana man is constantly being reborn; when he reaches Nirvana he is born no more.

131. Q. _Where can be found a learned discussion of the word Nirvana and a list of the other names by which the old Pali writers attempt to define it?_

A. In the famous Dictionary of the Pali Language, by the late Mr. B. O. Childers, is a complete list.[1]

132. Q. _But some people imagine that Nirvana is some sort of heavenly place, a Paradise. Does Buddhism teach that?_

A. No. When Kutadanta asked the Buddha "Where is Nirvana," he replied that it was "wherever the precepts are obeyed".

133. Q. _What causes us to be reborn?_

A. The unsatisfied selfish desire (Skt., _trshna_; Pali, tanha) for things that belong to the state of personal existence in the material world. This unquenched thirst for physical existence (_bhava_) is a force, and has a creative power in itself so strong that it draws the being back into mundane life.

134. Q. _Are our rebirths in any way affected by the nature of our unsatisfied desires?_

A. Yes, and by our individual merits or demerits.

135. Q. _Does our merit or demerit control the state, condition or form in which we shall be re-born?_

A. It does. The broad rule is that if we have an excess of merit we shall be well and happily born the next time; if an excess of demerit, our next birth will be wretched and full of suffering.

136. Q. _One chief pillar of Buddhistic doctrine is, then, the idea that every effect is the result of an actual cause, is it not?_

A. It is; of a cause either immediate or remote.

137. Q. _What do we call this causation?_

A. Applied to individuals, it is Karma, that is, action. It means that our own actions or deeds bring upon us whatever of joy or misery we experience.

138. Q. _Can a bad man escape from the outworkings of his Karma?_

A. The _Dhammapada_ says: "There exists no spot on the earth, or in the sky, or in the sea, neither is there any in the mountain-clefts, where an (evil) deed does not bring trouble (to the doer)."

139. Q. _Can a good man escape?_

A. As the result of deeds of peculiar merit, a man may attain certain advantages of place, body, environment and teaching in his next stage of progress, which ward off the effects of bad Karma and help his higher evolution.

140. _What are they called?_

A. _Gati Sampatti_, _Upadhi Sampatti_, _Kala Sampatti_ and _Payoga Sampatti_.

141. Q. _Is that consistent or inconsistent with common sense and the teachings of modern science?_

A. Perfectly consistent: there can be no doubt of it.

142. Q. _May all men become Buddhas?_

A. It is not in the nature of every man to become a Buddha; for a Buddha is developed only at long intervals of time, and seemingly, when the state of humanity absolutely requires such a teacher to show it the forgotten Path to Nirvana. But every being may equally reach Nirvana, by conquering Ignorance and gaining Wisdom.

143. Q. _Does Buddhism teach that man is reborn only upon our earth?_