<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Buddhism is often misunderstood from different perspectives. In general philosophy departments of universities, it is simply interpreted as a \u201cphilosophy of life\u201d or \u201cphilosophy of emptiness,\u201d explaining the attribute of things as \u201cempty\u201d based on their impermanence. Among the general public, it is often interpreted as promoting a \u201cspiritual chicken soup\u201d that advocates \u201crewarding good and punishing evil.\u201d Doing good will bring good karma, while doing bad will result in retribution. Doing good will allow one to be reborn in a wealthy family in the next life, while doing bad will result in disability in the next life. In the Mahayana Buddhist system, there is constant promotion of a paradise called the \u201cPure Land,\u201d which encourages practices such as releasing captive animals and giving donations. In Southeast Asian countries, the Theravada Buddhism also includes a system of \u201cwitchcraft,\u201d which can be used to help people attract wealth and find love or even curse others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The main reason for the widespread misunderstanding of Buddhism is due to \u201cauthority,\u201d such as well-known figures like Master Hsing Yun and Venerable Miaolian. Many university professors teach based on the \u201cteachings\u201d of these masters, influenced by their \u201cacademic authority,\u201d without truly understanding Buddhism. Furthermore, many masters continuously use vague or profound Buddhist terms to explain many Buddhist concepts, many of which are misunderstandings. This is because Buddhism has a very, very important principle that many so-called masters and professors overlook, which is that Buddhism is not used to explain objective phenomena in the physical world or social relationships, but rather to explain various subjective feelings within the human mind and provide some behavior aimed at consciousness (such as meditation, mindfulness, and focus on the present moment) to eliminate psychological dependency and burdens caused by emotions, desires, and subconsciousness. This is the basic principle of correctly understanding Buddhism.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Common Misconceptions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What is \u201cdependent origination\u201d? Dependent origination means that many conditions come together to present and complete something. What is \u201cemptiness\u201d? It means that since all things are a combination of conditions, they do not have their own nature, personality, permanence, or autonomy. That\u2019s all there is to it. When someone talks about \u201cdependent origination and emptiness,\u201d they often encounter a problem, which is \u201ceven if I know that all things are dependent origination and emptiness without independent self-nature, what difference does it make?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Correct Concepts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In Buddhism, there is a concept called the \u2018Twelve Nidanas\u2019 (or Twelve Links of Dependent Origination), which include ignorance, volitional activities, consciousness, name and form, the six sense bases, contact, feeling, craving, grasping, becoming, birth, and aging and death. All of these \u2018links\u2019 are subjective feelings that arise in the human mind. The term \u2018nidana\u2019 actually means attachment. During our lifetime, we accumulate a lot of \u2018junk\u2019 in our subconscious, such as childhood trauma and unpleasant memories. When we receive certain messages at a certain moment, it will stimulate our subconscious to attach to our conscious mind, thereby producing emotional feelings, desires, and even illusions, making us believe them to be true. All emotions and desires are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dependent origination has nothing to do with whether the nature of things themselves is \u2019emptiness\u2019, and using it to explain the so-called \u2018impermanent feeling\u2019 that arises as things change over time is a serious misunderstanding.<\/strong> When we understand how these \u2018Twelve Nidanas\u2019 work in our minds, we can observe them in a targeted way, and then realize that they are just illusions created by our minds. We can then be vigilant and avoid being influenced by these feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Common Misconceptions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Buddhist view of cause and effect is not just about \u201ckarmic consequences,\u201d but also includes the concept of \u201ckarmic force.\u201d \u201cKarmic force\u201d refers to the accumulation of one\u2019s past actions, thoughts, and emotions, which will affect one\u2019s future experiences and influence one\u2019s present state of mind. Therefore, the Buddhist view of cause and effect emphasizes the importance of cultivating good karma and purifying negative karma, not only for the sake of future karmic consequences but also for the present state of mind and well-being. Furthermore, the Buddhist view of cause and effect is not deterministic, meaning that one\u2019s actions and intentions in the present can influence future karmic consequences, and one can change the course of one\u2019s future by making positive changes in one\u2019s thoughts, speech, and actions. Therefore, the Buddhist view of cause and effect is not fatalistic, but rather empowering, as it provides a path for one to take responsibility for one\u2019s own actions and create a positive future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Correct Concepts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n From the previous example, it can be seen that \u201cdependence\u201d has never been a generalized explanation for all phenomena in the world. Therefore, \u201ccause and effect\u201d and \u201ckarmic force\u201d are often interpreted by people from different cultural backgrounds as a basic logical relationship and applied to all laws of the world. For example, it is believed that a person will receive karmic consequences after doing evil, or that one\u2019s family or descendants will be affected by one\u2019s bad karma, and one might even be haunted by ghosts, become disabled, or die young in the next life. Based on my observations, almost everyone\u2019s understanding of \u201ccause and effect\u201d and \u201ckarmic force\u201d is a forced interpretation of the true meaning of these concepts through the lens of Chinese religious beliefs. In fact, these concepts come from the original Buddhist concept of consciousness, and have nothing to do with your good or bad deeds. In the cultural and contextual context of that time, the so-called \u201cevil deeds\u201d actually referred to \u201call actions that lead people away from peace and tranquility,\u201d while \u201cgood deeds\u201d referred to \u201call actions that lead people towards peace and tranquility.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, \u201ccause and effect\u201d refers to the internal changes in a person\u2019s mind caused by external environmental information. For example, childhood traumatic experiences can lead to behavioral deviations in adulthood, or past insults and humiliations can become future obsessions. These experiences can be triggered by information received at a certain moment in the future, and even emotional reactions can be so strong that they can destroy objective rational cognition and deny facts. The internal changes in the mind are based on external environmental changes and are uncontrollable.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Human cognition is imperfect and limited, and we can only understand others\u2019 statements based on our own understanding. When the speaker expresses something beyond the listener\u2019s comprehension, the listener will interpret the speaker\u2019s meaning based on their own understanding and cognition. Therefore, the reason why \u201ccause and effect\u201d in Buddhism is distorted is that external cognitive structures are used to understand Buddhism. What we need to break is not the cause or the effect, but the \u201ckarmic force.\u201d \u201cKarmic force\u201d is the connection in \u201ccause and effect.\u201d For example, if you have a fear of cockroaches, if the \u201ckarmic force\u201d is strong, it means that the fear is strong, and some people may even experience physical symptoms such as fainting and dizziness. Our ego is bound by \u201ckarmic force,\u201d<\/strong> and meditation is a means of breaking it. However, not all \u201ckarmic forces\u201d need to be eliminated. For example, there are so-called \u201cgood karmic forces\u201d that link individual \u201ccause and effect\u201d and can make one\u2019s mental state healthier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Common Misconceptions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Buddhism believes that everything in the world arises from causes and conditions, and human relationships are no exception. The so-called \u201cgood karma\u201d usually refers to those relationships that have positive effects on our lives, learning, and work. These relationships can occur between parents and children, as well as between teachers and students, spouses, friends, and colleagues, where both parties can love each other and live in harmony. From the perspective of Buddhism, true good karma goes beyond this and refers to those relationships that can elevate the quality of life, such as the karma of hearing the Dharma and depending on good spiritual friends. Since there is good karma, there will naturally be \u201cbad karma\u201d that directly causes us suffering. This may be the torment of family members in the home, or the exclusion of colleagues in the workplace, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In some Theravada Buddhism traditions in Southeast Asia, \u201cmonks\u201d can use magic to help their followers \u201cabsorb\u201d wealth and resources, enabling them to have unlimited assistance in social relationships. Those who try to manipulate their followers will inevitably have a bad ending.Correct Concepts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Buddhism is not intended to explain and deal with social relationships between people. The most important aspect of Buddhist practice has always been meditation, which involves observing and experiencing various illusory emotions arising from our subconsciousness through introspection, training our awareness and equanimity, and attaining \u201cself-awareness.\u201d It is an absolute personal behavior. Therefore, the highest level in Buddhism is the attainment of \u201cSupreme Enlightenment\u201d (Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi), which enables one to be aware of changes in one\u2019s emotions, manifest consciousness, and subconsciousness at any time. After becoming aware, one can detach oneself from these external information and subconscious influences and observe them from a third-person perspective, regardless of how uncomfortable or terrifying the feeling, how hateful the memory, how real the illusion, or how pleasant the mood. This is called \u201cRight Awareness\u201d (Samma-sati) and \u201cRight Equanimity\u201d (Samma-upekkha). \u201cSupreme\u201d refers to the state of practicing Right Awareness and Right Equanimity to the ultimate level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for some Theravada Buddhism traditions in Southeast Asia that use magic and shamanic rituals to enhance social relationships, these practices were essentially influenced by the mixture of Buddhism and local shamanic culture at that time. They bring witchcraft and shamanic rituals into Buddhism and claim that they can use magic to help people have good relationships, wealth, romance, and avoid harm from enemies. These witchcraft practices are not advocated by Buddhism and can even lead people to become more attached to the material world and lose themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Common Misconceptions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Buddhism refers to all things as \u201cDharma\u201d (\u6cd5). The phrases \u201call Dharma\u201d and \u201call phenomena\u201d commonly found in Buddhist scriptures mean \u201call things\u201d or \u201ceverything in the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is the meaning of \u201cdependent origination and emptiness\u201d?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
What is the meaning of \u201ckarma and its consequences\u201d and \u201ckarmic force\u201d?<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Is Buddhism related to social relationships between people?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is the concept of \u2018Dharma\u2019 in original Buddhism\u00a0?<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n