In life, we must go beyond what we can have in society for what we can have from society is of the world. What we need is not another of those things of the world for that which is of the world are impermanent, imperfect and insubstantial. This the Buddha Gotama did say.
Even the religion and culture he was born into did not give the answer and he gave up ascetic practice to the dismay of his first five followers. He decided to eat and not be ascetic as such. They were disappointed in him but what he did was against the current or flow and he became enlightened.
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| The Buddha as man was a non conformist. He went for the truth and not what others said or did |
The religion and sects that arose because of him have spread far and wide but they like the world are not exact and to the point. Why is this so? Well, they have to be popular and to be popular means to flow with the masses. Religion did not give him the answer and religion that arose because of him may not necessarily be the answer for the few who want more than of the world.
This is why he did not allow religion to bind him down to dogmas and norms of the masses - the ways of popularity. If he had allowed religion to bind him down then, he would not be the Buddha.
Thus it is not inconceivable that the religion and sects that arose as a result of his attaining Buddhahood too may not be the answer to the more discerning and astute in spirituality. Give this some thought. Do not flow with the crowd and we may have to go against the flow to the upper stream for clear water as also said by the good lord Lord Bo Tien
In 1969, the good lord Lord Bo Tien said that religion evolved from the original teaching of a prophet and over the centuries underwent elaboration, changes and what we have in a religion today is far more than what it was at the point of beginning.
He said that we need to go for the basic doctrine or inner truth and that invariably the inner truth is common to all religions and sects. But to reach out to the masses, it must be popular and to be popular it must take the forms of religions and sects. But popular ways, beliefs and practices do supersede the basic truth which is often swept and buried away sometimes to near obscurity.
Thus for better insight, men who pursue spirituality must go beyond religion or be stagnated by popular religion. Truth is simple. It has to do with Divinity - call this God or what you may. It has to do with inner peace come what may.
It is that simple but men expect more and get lost in the leaves of the forest that is religion. They see not the forest as a whole. They see not simplicity but complexity. They micro-manage rather than macro-manage and they end up lost though seeming to know allot.
