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General Buddhism => General Buddhism => Topic started by: KhedrubGyatso on June 05, 2012, 03:46:05 AM
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If we always blame Dharma, it is a sign we do not know what dharma really is.
In this context, I believe Dharma here to mean all the external things we attribute or blame when we encounter difficulties or when things go wrong. This also includes our practices .
Real dharma is about one's mind which is the mother source for everything we experience, happy or unhappy , right or wrong, pleasant or unpleasant.
When somebody scolds us, that person may be a contributing cause, but the experience of aversion or unpleasantness is happening within us. Since it is inside us, there is the possibility of controlling it and eventually removing it. If the source is coming from external , then we cannot have control. A fundamental reason we assign blame to externals is due to lack of knowledge which result in us adopting wrong views.
To know the real dharma, we need to look inside ourselves and understand our mind better. We need to know the operation of karma , develop conviction of past , present and future lives, recognize the impermanent nature of things.
If we put effort to study and practice, we will realize that the main object of blame is ourselves. It is we, who created the karma for us to suffer.
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Dharma is like a magnifying lens, an xray and often times what we see in us is really not that pleasant. Yes Dharma gives us the medicine to heal but very often, people do not want to go further and rather not see and experience the unpleasantness, the mess... so the quick fix is to blame the whole world, crying out "Why God, Why Me!
Will this fix the problem? Obviously not thus there is the saying "play the ostrich."
The question then is how do we skillfully help someone see that life is suffering - the 1st noble truth but to not shy away from it, hate the whole wide world but to accept that this is our own doing. This is extremely difficult to do.. that it all started with us.
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We do tend to blame everything or everyone apart from ourselves... such is the self cherishing mind. It is through this selfish attitude that most of our non virtuous actions spring from. Sometimes consciously, sometimes not and through habituations.
Hence it is not the Dharma that is to blame if something goes wrong or something bad happens... if we slip and carry on feeding the self cherishing mind we are actually creating the karma for negative things to happen to us. This is NOT created by the Dharma but our individual karma... karma knows no distinction. Karma does not treat a person with Dharma knowledge any different from someone without Dharma knowledge!
Blaming the Dharma is actually yet another manifestation of the self cherishing mind telling us, it is because of what we did not do or not do correctly while in the Dharma that is the cause of our suffering. The law of cause and effect will happen regardless, the difference is, with the Dharma we should realise and curb our negative actions completely as we aim to cut out suffering and not add on more!
So Dharma is actually the voice in our head that is saying do the right thing... all we have to do is listen!
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If we remain blaming everything that goes wrong including the Dharma, then why study and practice the Dharma? The Dharma practice is to cease the delusions, the three poisonous minds, which are the root of all suffering, as well as the self-centered mind (Ego)
Practicing Dharma is to watch our mind during our daily life and to try to free it from being controlled by delusions.
We blame and criticize others because we do not want suffering but if we don't like suffering then why are we harming others and creating disharmony? That it self makes us unhappy. That very action contradicts itself. What we want and what and what we are doing are the opposite.
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When things go wrong, we blame others, dharma or any external factors but not ourselves. We should not blame the dharma but should blame our own karma. When we have a self cherishing mind, we have a selfish attitude and this cause our own suffering.
When we have dharma, we should learn to control our mind, let go of attachments and have a selfless attitude so that we can be happier and have less suffering. All sufferings are self-inflicted and it is within us to get rid of this self inflictions.
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When things do not go the way we feel they should, we are very quick to point out the fault at others, forgetting that in pointing one finger out, we have the other fingers pointing inwards & back at ourselves. It is very easy to put the blame on others, be it Dharma or otherwise.
Some may blame it on karma; but if so, then why did not take stock of ourselves so that the karma does not open? We know and accept that what we are today is a result of yesterday.
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Strongly agree with DSFriend. Dharma will make us realize and see the real us!
Most of the time we see the ugly side of us and we either don’t how to accept it or don’t want to accept it and the easiest way out is to push all this ugly things to other as a blame.
How can that be true? We are who we are and all this negative quality or ugly things coming from ourselves even if it’s trigger by others but why it has to be us to experience it?
This is good enough to proof that all things happen around us is generated from us and by understanding karma or cause of effect we will understand better that it’s all from our previous action and created such cause.
We should also treat this as opportunity for self-reflection and change ourselves for good and able to be a great vessel to benefit others instead of blaming to cover ourself ego and selfishness.
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Don't blame Dharma, blame ourselves : this is the way is should be when something ugly happened with us, i think most of us are aware of it but when we facing the real situation due to our untrain mind so our delusion, anger, jealousy arise and become ignorant about what we have learned and what is should be therefore we feel unhappy and start to look for people fault and put the blame on it so we no need to think nor take responsibility about it as it was came from other people problem not our problem.. the easy way to cover, come out from problem..
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Whenever we do not like to hear something that were being said by another person and happens to be true, our pride and anger arises to protect and cover up our habitual self. Hence not accepting the fact instead blaming on others or the dharma. When one blames on dharma that shows the person do not have enough understanding and knowledge of what dharma is all about.
According to Shakyamuni Buddha: "If a person commits an act of good or evil, he himself becomes the heir to that action. This is because that action actually never disappears
Things do not happen to us, we make them happen. We act in a habitual way. When they do happen that leads us to habitual situations. We made what we are today and experiencing it, and we are at this moment making what we will be and experience in the future...KARMA. So to change karma means to change our lives right now; that is, the way we think, speak and do things. The best way to positively transform the effects of our past bad karma and create good karma for the future is to rehabituate our actions with conviction and wisdom. Thus, it is important to arrest our mind and reflect always whenever any uncalled for situation arises.
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I live in a country where Buddhism is not very strong, and in many cases, when people are doing Dharma and things does not work out (the "things" we talk about here are mostly samsaric stuffs, like not getting the desired money or relationship, etc), we blame that doing Dharma bring us "bad luck".
I have heard a Lama said before, "Don't blame Dharma. The problem you have already exist BEFORE you join Dharma. Whether you do Dharma or not, the problem is already coming your way." He went on to give some examples, "Some people complaint about the relationship with boyfriend or girlfriend did not 'improve' after doing Dharma; But they didn't study that we are supposed to be less attached, and have projections on how a relationship should be. They think Dharma will solve the problem for them; They didn't know they are supposed to transform their own mind.."
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Well, Dharma is a teaching to help us improve ourselves, and that definitely has to happen internally. Which is why people whom practices and contemplate deeply on the teachings find a change, or some sort of transformation within themselves... and these changes are associated with a feeling of peace.
We cannot blame others for the source of our troubles, after all, we have the karma to receive it... no point blaming others and create more bad karma out of it. So what we can do is change our perception towards how we view things, and take it as it is, without allowing our negative minds influencing us. It is always because of our negative emotions influencing us that causes us to react to a certain situation badly. When we change how we perceive things and react differently... then others around us will change too.
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Some people can naturally twisted the meaning of Dharma teaching, and it created wrong views and wrong understand for them, and when they went into the wrong path, wrong direction, they will end up being difficult, more obstacle, then they blame Dharma, they blame that they did not get blessing from learning dharma.
Because of their high ego, they couldn’t accept that they are wrong, they can’t face their real self, that’s why they pushes all these blames away. Their thought of being right is so strong that it even surpasses Dharma. It is indeed sad to see this. But many people out there are like that.
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The Dharma represents no fault, it is the ultimate truth, for until today, the Dharma, taught by Buddha is stil helping others. If it had no truth, it wouldn't have lasted 2,600 years, reincarnation of high lamas wouldn't take place as they are the ones spreading the Dharma to ten directions, and monasteries wouldn't still be flourishing. The mere fact that it is, shows that the Dharma, is correct.
So,yes, you can choose, to blame the Dharma, or to accept that the things coming to you are self-created, and thus you blame your own actions, but it doesn't mean that nothing can't be done. With every problem there is a solution, and that is the learning and application of the Dharma. What we choose is up to us, we can dwell, or we can blame ourselves, accept and move on. What's stopping us is our ownself and not wanting to do more to alleviate our own problems and sufferings.
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I know people who have been practicing Dharma for so many years yet they are the same. They blame the surroundings, people and every little thing. How can that be? Before any of us come across Dharma, we already have our existing problems. Everyone around us going through samsaric activities day in and day out. Learning and practicing Dharma is to help us solve our problems. How can it possibly make it worse? I see young people and old people who are unhappy because they spent so much time to survive and they lost out on all the precious time that they could have done something more meaningful. I read this from Master Cheng Yen's teachings and I find it is really easy to understand.
We're very blessed for being able to learn Buddhism. Nevertheless, because we often do not realize this we don't really cherish having the opportunity to learn the Buddha's teachings.
Dharma can help us understand ourselves better, what habits we have, how we conduct ourselves, and the manner of our speech. When we learn the Buddha's teachings, we'll come to know what habits are good and what habits are bad, what kind of conduct is better, and how we should talk to others. Following the teachings can help us improve ourselves.
Yet when an opportunity comes for us to listen to Dharma talks or read Dharma books, we often let the opportunity slip by as we may feel that we already know the teachings because we have read or heard them before. It seems there is nothing new; therefore, we don't make the effort to learn the Dharma.
http://www.tw.tzuchi.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=786%3Acherishing-the-opportunity-to-learn-the-dharma&catid=115%3Aspiritual-practice&Itemid=323&lang=en (http://www.tw.tzuchi.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=786%3Acherishing-the-opportunity-to-learn-the-dharma&catid=115%3Aspiritual-practice&Itemid=323&lang=en)
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It is not right to blame Dharma for when things go wrong. There are practitioners who are still stuck in their old stubborn ways and refuse to change, choosing to remain quiet and at times acting as if nothing is wrong, not realising that people around them are affected. Or maybe they know the effects on people around them, they just pretend not to be affected. How selfish. Where is their practise? Is this to be blamed on Dharma?
No, the blame lies on us for not accepting change when it is for our own good.
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Dharma is the practice that leads us to achieving both wisdom and compassion. How can we ever blame wisdom and compassion when things do not go well as we expect? If we do, then we're saying that having more wisdom and compassion are not good for us. This is illogical.
It's easier to blame other people, situations, places and so on. This is just as bad because we are not taking responsibility of our actions. We can deceive everybody including ourselves, but we can never deceive our karma. To have a better understanding of what karma is please click on this [url]http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=1964.0/url].
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These problems we all experience arises from causes.The source of these problems is within ourselves.This is a big insight and not easy for most people to accept.This is because most of us tend to place the blame for our problems on other people or external situations.We have to work on ourselves.No matter what situation we need to realize that we're not the only one with problems.We can try to get other people to change but it is easiest to change ourselves.
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I like what you stated, khendrup. Indeed whatever it is we are going thru, sufferings on daily basis, are our own creation. The saddest part this is, most of us do not know that the 'normal' life we are taught to lead is a form of suffering. Since we do not realize this pain, there is no chance of us doing anything to change the situation.
It is precisely this wrongly view that we, all sentient beings, are caught deep in the samsara. The Chinese's way of describing samsara is 'sea of sufferings' is so true! Going thru life the normal way is a waste of our human form. What's the point of working hard for things that would become meaningless upon death?
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Due to the lack of understanding on the workings of our mind, we will naturally react to the external conditions that affect our mind. We develop attachment to objects the give us pleasant feelings. We are averse to objects that give us unpleasant feelings. We are indifferent to neutral objects. Through Dharma, we practise awareness and mindfulness of these reactions. When we are able to control our mind and remain still and not caught up with the conditions that affect our mind, we achieve peace of mind. We will accept instead of blaming dharmas.
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Many people actually do not understand the Dharma at all though they proclaim as a Buddhist. Recently at a conversation with a friend, we were discussing about Buddhism. friend of mine has been diligently going to a temple since she was very young. She went for the classes, did prayers, etc.
When I heard about that, I was so happy because I finally found someone who I can talk about Dharma with. So I started talking and talking only to realize she did not understand what I was talking about AT ALL. It was nothing deep but stuff like the four noble truth, karma, applying Dharma in our every day lives.
I wonder, is it the structure of what was taught at fault? I had no formal lessons before but I still have some Dharma knowledge as I do read and learn from friends. For the basics, I do not think it is that hard to understand. I am not boasting of my knowledge here but trying to understand why a person who has been diligently going to a temple and studying the Dharma do not know anything at all?
Is it because they're ignorant? Or the classes were not effective? Or other reasons?
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Many people actually do not understand the Dharma at all though they proclaim as a Buddhist. Recently at a conversation with a friend, we were discussing about Buddhism. friend of mine has been diligently going to a temple since she was very young. She went for the classes, did prayers, etc.
When I heard about that, I was so happy because I finally found someone who I can talk about Dharma with. So I started talking and talking only to realize she did not understand what I was talking about AT ALL. It was nothing deep but stuff like the four noble truth, karma, applying Dharma in our every day lives.
I wonder, is it the structure of what was taught at fault? I had no formal lessons before but I still have some Dharma knowledge as I do read and learn from friends. For the basics, I do not think it is that hard to understand. I am not boasting of my knowledge here but trying to understand why a person who has been diligently going to a temple and studying the Dharma do not know anything at all?
Is it because they're ignorant? Or the classes were not effective? Or other reasons?
I think there are varying reasons. For example, if you drag a thirsty horse to the trough and he refuses to drink the water, what can you do? Similarly, you can have the best teacher to teach but the student goes to class like a cup that is turned upside down, does that mean the teacher is ineffective or the student is like the stubborn thirsty horse? Lack of merits is the cause. It is likened to having a pot of gold in front of you and not having the karma to see its value.
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Look at this article:
http://www.aboutdharma.org/what-is-dharma.php (http://www.aboutdharma.org/what-is-dharma.php)
What is Dharma? by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
“Dharma” means “protection”. By practising Buddha’s teachings we protect ourself from suffering and problems. All the problems we experience during daily life originate in ignorance, and the method for eliminating ignorance is to practise Dharma.
Practising Dharma is the supreme method for improving the quality of our human life. The quality of life depends not upon external development or material progress, but upon the inner development of peace and happiness. For example, in the past many Buddhists lived in poor and underdeveloped countries, but they were able to find pure, lasting happiness by practising what Buddha had taught.
If we integrate Buddha’s teachings into our daily life, we will be able to solve all our inner problems and attain a truly peaceful mind. Without inner peace, outer peace is impossible. If we first establish peace within our minds by training in spiritual paths, outer peace will come naturally; but if we do not, world peace will never be achieved, no matter how many people campaign for it.
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Therefore, if this is the explanation of Dharma, only an ignorant fool will blame Dharma. Need more be said...
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Many people actually do not understand the Dharma at all though they proclaim as a Buddhist. Recently at a conversation with a friend, we were discussing about Buddhism. friend of mine has been diligently going to a temple since she was very young. She went for the classes, did prayers, etc.
When I heard about that, I was so happy because I finally found someone who I can talk about Dharma with. So I started talking and talking only to realize she did not understand what I was talking about AT ALL. It was nothing deep but stuff like the four noble truth, karma, applying Dharma in our every day lives.
I wonder, is it the structure of what was taught at fault? I had no formal lessons before but I still have some Dharma knowledge as I do read and learn from friends. For the basics, I do not think it is that hard to understand. I am not boasting of my knowledge here but trying to understand why a person who has been diligently going to a temple and studying the Dharma do not know anything at all?
Is it because they're ignorant? Or the classes were not effective? Or other reasons?
This is the general problem that we have during this day and age where people who think that they can be buddhist after reading a few new age books about Buddhism and that nobody can judge them, they're empowered. there are in fact, many buddhists out there who thought that they found their inner teacher and think that they no longer need to study any more teachings because they think they understood Buddhism but fail to show any form of results whatsoever and when challenged, get very insecure about their own practice and lose their cool. They also avoid lamas and dharma texts that challenge their misunderstandings and make them think deeper. It is not that they went wrong, it is because the source that they learnt the Dharma from is also probably a lay practitioner that does not do much Dharma practice and spreaded their own views and lack of practice/knowledge to the student.
I have attended the talk of one of these people before. He is from the theravardan background, and he likes to make fun of christianity as the main reason for that particular buddhist society to exist is to prevent too many buddhist youths from converting to christianity. Another speaker from the same center told everyone that chenrenzig is a hindu creation and that mahayana and vajrayana are not pure because they were polluted by hinduism. I wanted to challenge that at that time but the speaker conveniently shut me off and moved on to other topics. Also, that particular center only skirts around the basic topics of Buddhism but are unable to explain any of the deeper topics.
With these things going on, it's pretty clear that many "Buddhists" today are not really Buddhist after all...they just happen to be people interested in the subject on a very scholarly level and not on actual dharma practice and they refuse to because it requires them to step out of their comfort zones. They're content with just listening to pleasant words...
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Many people blame Dharma for anything that they face, whenever problem arises, Dharma is to be blame, they are so use to it based on what they have cultivated in their mind.
Happiness comes from me and fault comes from the others.
Whenever there are problems, when they went through any sufferings, it is very natural that the index finger will start to point out, so why they find Dharma so difficult and always not in favour with them is because Dharma teaches us
Happiness comes from others and fault comes from myself.
There’s where it clashes with our practice since young, so to really do what Dharma teach us, we have to come out from our comfort zone, be focus and do it all the way.
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When operating with the self cherishing mind, it is "natural" to blame outside "influences", to pin the blame on everything and everyone apart from the root cause, which is us. It is through this selfish attitude that most of our non virtuous actions spring from. Sometimes it is conscious and sometimes it is not, but very often it is through habituations.
Hence, blaming the Dharma is actually a another manifestation of the self cherishing mind telling us, it is because of what we did not do or not do correctly while in the Dharma that is the cause of our suffering. However, we fail to understand or perceive that the law of cause and effect will happen regardless, the difference is, with the Dharma we should be able to realize and curb our negative actions completely as we aim to cut out suffering and not add on more! Hence if anything, it further emphasizes that Dharma is actually helping and not the problem.
If we continue to slip and carry on feeding the self cherishing mind we are actually creating the karma for more negative things to happen to us. This is NOT created by the Dharma but our individual karma... karma knows no distinction. Karma does not treat a person with Dharma knowledge any different from someone without Dharma knowledge!
Just think of the Dharma as the voice of reason in our heads and all we have to do is listen!
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Most Buddhists dont really blame Dharma but they blame it on other things that are based on their Dharma but also shows their complete lack of understanding as well. There are many Buddhists who claim that it is their karma to cause them to suffer so much and they do nothing about it...oh i suffer due to my karma and there is nothing i can do about it....nothing can be done...I dont have affinity with this teacher or tradition, therefore i shall not even visit or study or learn about it...karma can be purified, something can be done and all it takes is a little effort, study and understanding. Affinity can be created. Suffering does not mean the exhaustion of negative karma although many Buddhists love to tell themselves that and then they have this poor me routine that follows. All of these can be corrected with a little Dharma knowledge and some study but it seems that people are more attached to their misconceptions than to clear them off these days. One very classic one is when some people claim that only the actual words of the Buddha can benefit them and they do not want "diluted" teachings from Nagajurna etc....if they could, it would have a long time ago but you're still around...!
It is just the many misconceptions that many people have about the Dharma that causes them to stagnate and become a bad example for other Buddhists and people who observe them. What are the other misconceptions that you have heard of?
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i agree with what KENDRUB GYATSO has said if we encounter difficulties we should not blame the dharma or the buddhas. we should blame ourself because lied and cheated and that did not please the buddhas and bodhisattvas and we did not do enough good deeds so whenever we have obstacles do not blame the dharma its because of ourself.