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How do Buddha's teachings utilize the potential of our full being?
Through which practices may we experience mind as limitless space and bliss?
How can one use the daily joys and difficulties in one's job, family, or partnerships for spiritual growth?
After six anonymous years in the then still agreeable northern India, the young prince came to what is now called Bodhgaya. (Today it is a village full of local beggars and foreign temples situated two-thirds of the way from Delhi to Calcutta in the utterly overpopulated state of Bihar.) Upon arrival, this deep motivation to benefit beings awakened, and settling under a vast tree near a small river, he decided to meditate there and fully develop his mind. One week later, on the full moon of May, he reached his goal. The day he became a Buddha was his thirty-fifth birthday, and forty-five years later he died on that same full moon.
As enlightenment dissolved the last veils that covered his mind, the perceived separation between space and energy in and around him disappeared, and he became timeless, all-knowing awareness. Various traditions explain the process differently, but in the highest view, that of the Maha Anuttara Yoga Tantra, the all-pervading truth-nature manifesting as the Buddhas of past, present and future blessed him. They condensed their perfect wisdom into the form of Sarva Buddha Dakini, a white female Buddha, and through her union with him, their male and female energies merged into perfection as did all other dualities.
Through every atom of his body he knew everything and was all. Crossing the river from the place where he had reached his goal, the Buddha stayed for three weeks below the now famous tree at Bodhgaya. Then he gave refuge to several gods and trained his body to handle the intense flow of enlightened energies, but taught no human beings there.
His first teaching for humans was given four weeks later at the Deer Park near Sarnath, a village about halfway between Delhi and Calcutta. The neighboring town of Benares is very holy to the Hindus. They burn their dead at the banks of the Ganges and throw the remains into the river. A complete pilgrimage to the site includes such delicacies as bathing in the vast stream and drinking its water.
The five truth seekers who first came to him were not the most attractive of students. Being grumpy by nature, they had adored him while he practiced extreme austerities but were now disgusted at his radiant joy and health. Understanding such states to be "worldly" and thinking mainly of themselves, they were the very clients to quickly send somewhere else. When curiosity got the better of their fixed ideas, however, they could only ask: "Why do you shine like that? What happened to you?" His answer to them was the famous "Four Noble Truths" which today have slightly different wordings in various traditions. Buddha must have expressed them somewhat like this: Conditioned existence is suffering. Suffering has a cause. It has an end and there are ways leading to that end.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Introduction to Buddhism,
By Aaron Crook (La Crosse WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Way Things Are: A Living Approach to Buddhism for Today's World (Buddhism Today) (Paperback)
This book is the Bread and Butter of Buddhism. It contains the total essence of Buddhist thought and is a living transmision. It is possible for people to read this book, meet the author and become practitioners themselves. For this reason it is something quite special and rarely is is simply put back on the shelf. This book actualy transforms many who meet with it. It is very refreshing to see that there is a spiritual path which is based completely on common sence and encourages friends to be critical and make sure that things match with their lives. In this book Lama Ole writes that where Buddha's teaching would differ with science, Buddha wants us to tust science. This statement is very powerful. It makes things totaly transparent and one is realy able to become aware of the potential of these teachings when applied to everyday life. I highly recomend this book to anyone who excited by Buddhist thought and also anyone who would like a practical method for bringing benefit into the world.
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lama Ole Nydahl's wisdom shines.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Way Things Are: A Living Approach to Buddhism for Today's World (Buddhism Today) (Paperback)
In simple words, Lama Ole Nydahl shares his knowledge, gained as one of the first Western disciples, who for over 30 years studied Buddha's teachings from the highest Lamas of Tibet. This is truly a workbook for a living transmission of Buddha's deep wisdom, given by a Western Buddhist Master. Also through the four meditations included, the reader is experiencing the liberating and powerful methods of Tibetan Buddhism. I am immensely grateful for having found this book. After reading it, my whole point of view of "my" Universe was transformed to a higher level of understanding. I consider it as a key to the rest of my life and highly recommend the book. Great work by Great Master
19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Introduction to Dharma, and Comprehensive Overview,
By sonam gyaltsen (Dharamsala) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Way Things Are: A Living Approach to Buddhism for Today's World (Buddhism Today) (Paperback)
It is a great pleasure to know there is a book written in English that simplifies the buddhist path and goal without sacrificing the correct view. Ole Nydahl humorizes and generalizes the topics of the life of Buddha, Buddhas teachings in its totality, and the width and depth of Dharma teachings. I have not come across any other book that gives introductory and highest tantric teachings in such a concise humble manner. It is a suitable read for people new to Dharma and experienced practitioners.
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