Create Time To Change Your Life

This is a great article written by Leo Babauta author and creator of the great Zen blog, Zenhabits (www.zenhabits.net). He speaks very simply on a variety of ways that you can make time, simplify and make a positive change in your life. I very much liked the article especially the first step: Make a Commitment....Enjoy the post...tell me what you think...

Namaste,

Bhodi

Create Time To Change Your Life

When I decided to change my life a little over 5 years ago, I had a very common problem: I didn’t have the time.

I wanted to exercise and find time for my family and eat healthier (instead of the fast-food junk I’d been eating) and read more and write and be more productive and increase my income.

Unfortunately there are only 24 hours in a day, and we sleep for about 8 of them. Subtract the hours we spend eating (3), showering and dressing and fixing up (1), cleaning and running errands (1), driving (2), working (8) … and you’re left with an hour or two at most. Often less.

Eventually I figured out how to do all the things I wanted to do. I’ve achieved all of that and more, and in fact I have more leisure time now than ever. But first I had to figure out the fundamental problem: how could I find the time to change my life?

I know many of you face the same problem — you’ve told me as much. So I thought I’d share some of what I did in the beginning, in hopes that it’ll help.

The First Step

You must make a commitment. You have to decide that you really want to make a change, and that it’s more important than almost anything else.

For me, only my family was more important — and in fact I was making these change for my family as well as for myself. So these changes I was making were really my top priority in life.

It has to be that urgent for you. Think of this not as “improving your life” but saving it. The changes I made saved my life — I am so much healthier, my marriage is better, my relationships with my kids have improved, I am happier rather than depressed.

If you don’t feel you’re saving your life then you won’t make the tough changes needed.

Next Steps

Once I made the mental commitment, I took small steps to give myself a little wiggle room to breathe and move:

• Cut out TV. I watched less TV than ever before (eventually I watched none, though now I watch a few shows a week over the Internet). For many people this one change will free up a couple hours or more.
• Read less junk. I used to read a lot of things on the Internet that were just entertainment. Same with magazines. I cut that stuff out early so I could focus on what was more important.
• Go out less. I used to go to a lot of movies and to dinner and drinking. I cut that out (mostly) for awhile, to make time.
• Wake earlier. Not everyone is going to do this but it was a good step for me. I found that I had more time exercising and working in the morning before anyone woke up — the world was quiet and at peace and without interruptions. (Read more.)

In general, find the things that eat up your time that are less important than the changes you want to make. That’s almost everything except the things you need to live — work and eating and stuff like that. Cut back on them where you can.

Simplify Commitments

I had a lot of commitments in my life — I coached soccer, was on the PTA board, served on a lot of committees at work, had social commitments as well, worked on a number of projects.

Slowly I cut them out. They seemed important but in truth none of them were as important as the life I wanted to create, the changes I wanted to make. Lots of things are important — but which are the absolute most important? Make a decision.

If you are having trouble making a decision, try an experiment. Cut out a commitment just for a little while. See whether you suffer from cutting it out, or whether you like the extra time.

If you’re worried about offending people, don’t. Send an email or make a phone call and explain that you’d love to keep doing the commitment but you just don’t have the time and don’t want to half-ass it. The person might try to talk you into staying but be firm — respect yourself and your time and the changes you’re trying to make.

Here’s a secret: the people and organizations you’ve been helping or working with will live. They will go on doing what they were doing without you, and (omg!) they will survive without you. Your departure will not cause the world to collapse. Let go of the guilt.

Streamline Your Life

Eventually I made many other changes, including:

• Making bills and savings and debt payments automatic. I set everything up online so that I wouldn’t have to run errands or spend time making payments. This put my debt reduction on automatic, and I got out of debt. (Read more.)
• Streamlining errands. I tried to cut as many errands out of my life as possible. Often that meant changing my life in some way but I adjusted and things became simpler. I cleaned as I went so I didn’t have a lot of cleaning to do on weekends. I did the few errands I had all at once to save running around.
• Work less. I would set limits to how much I could work, forcing myself to pick the important tasks and to get those tasks done on time. I learned which tasks needed to be done and which could be dropped. I became much more effective and worked less.
• Say no. When people asked me to do stuff that was important to them but not to me, I learned to politely decline. Instead I focused on what was important to me.

Slowly I learned to simplify. I simplified my daily routines, my work, my social life, my possessions, my chores, my wardrobe. It took time but it has been more than worth the effort: life is so much better now that I’ve created the time to do what I want to do.

The fullness of the Dharma

I found this article to be so amazingly poignant and beautiful. The author, Raj Arumugam has put together what it is to be a Buddhist in very simple terms. If you are interested in following a wonderful path then read on!

Bhodi

The fullness of the Dharma

Raj Arumugam (Director, TTS – www.ttsworld.com.au)




Many Buddhist terms and ideas and the teachings of the Buddha, and these teachings as elucidated by contemporary teachers of Buddhism, have become quite widespread and common in popular culture.
So we hear often of compassion.
So we hear often of Buddhist meditation.
Or the Brahma viharas.
Or karuna.. Metta bhavanna.
And of so many other ideas and practices.
But Buddhism is not merely a collection of practices and ideas. For instance, Buddhism is not merely the ideas of karma and love.
These ideas are important but one must pursue each of these ideas to their full perfection. To hold each simply as an idea is merely an intellectual or academic exercise.
And pursuing each teaching to its fullness, one reaches the fullness of Buddhism.
And what is the fullness of Buddhism?





That is the question that one must ask in one’s exploration and pursuit of Buddhism.
One must endeavor to gain an understanding for oneself of what the fullness of Buddhism is. It is not an understanding someone passes on to us but an understanding each must develop and be willing to modify as one continues with one’s exploration of the dharma.
And one must do the same with each idea, through meditation, insight, study and enquiry. For each idea or teaching one must gain an understanding of its fullness.
Without that line of inquiry, without a constant asking of oneself of these questions – What is the fullness of Buddhism? What is the fullness of this teaching or dharma (say compassion or karma) that I am exploring?– one merely has an abstract idea, a teaching that makes no sense. One merely has another toy one plays with in the mind. A toy that satisfies one’s yearning for a while – but is never fully satisfactory.
Let us take the idea of karma, for example.
What is the fullness of the teaching of karma? Like all teachings in Buddhism, one gets to know what karma is over many explorations of the idea, not within a day. Sometimes it may take years, and dare I say, many births.
So again, what is the fullness of the teaching of karma?
Just to see karma as a law is not to see its fullness. Just to see it as cause and effect is not to see its fullness.
So again, what is the fullness of the teaching of karma?
Truly this question is best answered by the individual – but just to illustrate, I might say that the fullness of karma is to see that it relates to interdependence, to the origin of dhukka,and to see pure love and oneness – which in turn brings us to the fullness of Buddhism.


In this manner, if one contemplates on any teaching, fully and deeply, one will come to realize that the fullness of any teaching is the fullness of Buddhism.
So deep insight into karma in this instance is to see the fullness of Buddhism.
And again what is the fullness of Buddhism?
The fullness of Buddhism is completeness, of that stage when all things are done. There is nothing more to be done. The fullness of completeness is perfect knowledge. What is the fullness of perfect knowledge? It is fullness itself. It is completeness itself. This is nirvana. This is perfection. This is nirvana and, as the Buddha taught, there is no more striving beyond nirvana. There is no more beyond nirvana, for there is nothing beyond perfection.




So one can see the fullness of Buddhism through seeing the fullness of each idea and teaching.
To merely see each idea as an idea or as a technique or as a law is to merely see an abstraction that has no transformational power. It is merely a word that interests the mind. Like a new invention or a new form of entertainment that might interest one. To see the fullness of each teaching, however, is to see the fullness of Buddhism itself – which in itself is fullness and perfection.
There is nothing beyond fullness. One has arrived.
One must thus be constantly mindful of seeing the fullness, and this insight into the fullness of the teaching must come from within oneself. To have it pointed out to one and to merely read about it or to listen about it is simply exploring ideas. The teaching remains an uninspiring idea as when a student might learn in a classroom merely for an examination. And, to realize it for oneself, and to understand it oneself is to uphold the teaching of the Buddha. To merely repeat the words of the teacher or to merely accept the teaching of another is simply to follow without understanding. Following without understanding is not what the Buddha encouraged. The Buddha taught one to see the fullness of the dharma – which, in contemporary terms, is to see the fullness of Buddhism, to see perfection itself.





 Raj Arumugam (Director–TTS www.ttsworld.com.au)
(picture from BurningWell.org)

Our True Nature

Recently I watched a documentary on the oneness of mankind. Dozens of people from many different faiths (or absence of), walks of life, colors and viewpoints, came together to share their views on some of life's deepest questions...What is the meaning of life? What does God look like? What do you wish for the world? While listening to various responses I was struck with a startling realization. It was all about my true nature....our true nature.

You see, I realized that I have spent much of my life in denial. Denial of who I truly am. What my nature is. Then it occurred to me that man is the only animal that does this. It is quite remarkable. Think of any other living thing...a deer, a dog, a butterfly, a fish or a snake... Any living thing. Does a deer try to be something it is not? Does a dolphin say to itself "Gosh, I wish I could be more like a shark!" The answer is clearly "NO."

Animals simply be. Other living things do not deny what they are. They are perfect in their acceptance of their true nature. They don't even question it.

So why do we, with all our intellect and spiritual growth, wisdom and enlightenment do this? Is it fear? Is it blindness caused by what we were told as children? Is it striving for something that we perceive to be a better existence?

In my limited thinking I have come to the realization that I believed I was doing the right thing. Seeking growth, knowledge...having goals and aspirations. Now don't get me wrong. I do not believe broadening the mind or aspiring to achieve is denying my true nature. What I do believe is that somewhere along life's journey we get caught up in what we THINK these goals SHOULD be. We get confused by the very aspirations we thought were great and worthy of all our efforts.

The result of all of this is often anxiety, confusion, a sense of failure or a cloudy view of our actual self...our true nature. To define our true nature one need only look at what we are not. We are not what we do, that is, we are not our jobs. We are not our goals. We are not our fears. We are not our pain or our joy or our suffering. We are not what we possess and we certainly are not defined by our actions or even what we believe or have faith in.

My true nature is simply the basic understanding that I am one with all life. I possess truth, love, Spirit and all answers and always have. I have told myself and have been told my entire life that I am not perfect. I am not whole. I am not "there yet." I must kick, fight, climb and suffer, if need be, to achieve these things.

The truth is I am perfect. I am whole. Being unified with God, the Divine or Eternal Mind is not something I acquire or learn. I have always had Divine nature. I have always had love as my core. If I can find ways to still my mind and be present I will have clarity and understanding of the Ultimate Mind that I am one with. I can rest in the vast, infinite space that possesses all knowledge, peace and truth. My Spirit is the Spirit of the Divine. We are One. Father Richard Keating, the leading figure in Christian contemplative thinking, states that if one truly comes to an understanding of a Higher Power or God or Other (with a capital O) he will realize that the Other does not exist alone. The Other exists in unison with each and every one of us. The Other, God, is my Eternal Living Existence. All I need do is learn to take the blinders off. Believe and accept the fact that I already have Buddha Nature. We all have Heaven within us.

Is it easy to take the blinders off? To come to this understanding and convince the ego or our self that we are not limited, that our nature is infinite and in perfect oneness with the Divine? Well...yes. Meditate. Pause. Find the Still Point. Allow yourself to rest in the breath, the clarity of thought. Do not struggle or work the mind. Simply be. You will find that you have always possessed the answers...the true nature of the Spirit of the Universe.

We can learn so much from animals. A fish isn't confused by the current that carries it along a stream. It naturally accepts the flow of the precious life force it is part of. They are one. No one taught the fish how to swim or told them there is a better way to get around in the water.

We all share Nirvana.

I bow to the Divine in all of you.

When someone is dying how can I help?

Recently a dear friend of mine, a strong, beautiful woman, deeply spiritual and giving, contacted many of her friends and told us that her "Granny" was in her last moments on earth. She was dying. My friend was going back and forth to the hospital. She, like many people who experiencing the death of a loved one, explained to us how wonderful Granny was...How funny, how strong. She then asked if we would keep her Granny in our thoughts, our prayers, our meditations.

So that leads me to a very important question...a point if you will. How often have you wondered just what you can do to relieve the suffering of someone who is dying or ease the pain of the loved ones and family members left behind? I would guess most, if not, all of you. In the Western world the movement is to get as far away from dying as possible. Because of that we are at a loss when someone dies and we desperately try to help, to ease, to love those involved. Traditional help comes in the form of some sort of prayer. Or you might just be there for the people, attend the funeral, bring food to the house, donate to an organization that focuses on the cause of death be it heart disease, cancer...AIDS.

Well here is another thing you can do. Mind you, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO THIS AT ALL! This is something that I found in meditation that works for me. You may apply this and if it helps then my heart is moved. This can be done by believers, atheists, agnostics and just plain people of peace. The biggest point is that you are truly doing something active.

Set aside a half hour or an hour of your time...if you can only manage 15 or 20 minutes that is fine. Close your eyes and simply breathe at first. Just breathe and clear your mind. Focus your attention on the sounds around you or the inhalation and exhalation of your breath...or soothing music. Anything that will settle your mind just for a few minutes. Then picture the person who is dying, suffering or has died. Genuinely think of who they are. If you don't know them, be it someone who a friend has asked you to pray for or keep them in your thoughts, or someone you heard about, just think of who they are or the situation they are, or were, in. Bring to mind all the happiness and joy they experienced all through their lives. Even a person with the most wretched existence has had some sort of happiness at one time or another. Know that they were loved that they felt wonder and awe. Know that they have love in their hearts even if it was clouded over by emotional pain. They accomplished things and they failed. They laughed and cried. Now think of their suffering and how they are dying or how they died. The situation surrounding them. Know that they are not the only ones who have died and suffered that way. Knowing that the person who is dying or died is climbing the same mountain eases the mind and puts the person in good company. If they are really in pain and suffering or suffered much before death, think on that. Feel their pain...empathize.

Now know beyond a shadow of doubt that you have tremendous love in your heart. Think about the joy you have and have had in your life. Think of what you are grateful for. Do this just a little bit. You don't have to do this for hours. Know that there is a Light in you, Energy...the Divine...your breath...whatever. Know that all of your accomplishments, your happiness, joy, peace, love fellowship...all of that is one big ball of light in you. Now picture the person that has died or is dying. Give them that ball. See that light flow all over them. Shower all your goodness and light and picture it completely cover them. Let them absorb it. Say this out loud or in your mind:

"May they be peaceful and happy
May they be filled with joy and love
May there be an end to all their suffering"

Say it over and over in your mind. Picture the words as they go through your mind. Know that your Spirit is washing over them...even if they are dead. After you have said this a number of times know and truly feel in your heart that you did something active, alive, concrete. You acted out of love. That is the greatest gift you can give.

Pause for a few minutes again. Settle your mind and breathe. You don't have to think of anything. Rest.

You can do this for the family members, friends or the whole group of people affected by the individual's death or pain. Above all else realize that your empathy joins you. Everyone has felt joy and love about this person and you ALL feel pain. That pain also connects you with what is real. It connects you to their hearts. You can do this once or as many times as you want.

I hope this helps. Oh, if want to really experience change do this for someone who is suffering or died that you don't like. Maybe someone you have a resentment towards...any enemy. They might not change but you will!

I wish you happiness. May you experience ease of well being.

Bhodi

This is taken from "Metta: The Philosophy and Practice of Universal Love" by Acharya Buddharakkhita. It is excellent and covers the history, meaning and application of Metta, the practice of Loving Kindness. It has nothing to do with religion or doctrine and everything to do with softening one's heart and loving the world. You can read the entire piece by going to this link: Metta


I found section 5, "The Psychology of Metta" to be wonderful. If this broadens your understanding of Metta or if you know nothing of the practice but gain some insight into it from this posting that fills my heart! May you all be safe and protected. May you be peaceful and happy. May you be healthy and strong. May you experience ease of well being and except all the conditions of the world with wonder and joy.


Happy New Year!


Bhodi

The Psychology of Metta

The Pali commentaries explain:

 One loves all beings:

 (a) by the non-harassment of all beings and thus avoids harassment;

(b) by being inoffensive (to all beings) and thus avoids offensiveness;

(c) by not torturing (all beings) and thus avoids torturing;

(d) by the non-destruction (of all life) and thus avoids destructiveness;

(e) by being non-vexing (to all beings) and thus avoids vexing;

(f) by projecting the thought, "May all beings be friendly and not hostile";

(g) by projecting the thought," May all beings be happy and not unhappy";

(h) by projecting the thought, "May all beings enjoy well-being and not be distressed."

In these eight ways one loves all beings; therefore, it is called universal love. And since one conceives (within) this quality (of love), it is of the mind. And since this mind is free from all thoughts of ill-will, the aggregate of love, mind and freedom is defined asuniversal love leading to freedom of mind.

From the above passage it will be seen that metta implies the "outgrowing" of negative traits by actively putting into practice the correlative positive virtues. It is only when one actively practices non-harassment towards all beings that one can outgrow the tendency to harass others. Similarly, it is with the other qualities of inoffensiveness, non-tormenting, non-destroying and non-vexing in deed, word and thought that one can outgrow the negative traits of being offensive, of tormenting others, of destructiveness and of vexatiousness. Over and above such positive conduct and principled way of life, one further cultivates the mind through that specific technique of meditation called metta-bhavana, which generates powerful thoughts of spiritualized love that grow boundless, making consciousness itself infinite and universal.

Thoughts that wish all beings to be friendly and never hostile, happy and never unhappy, to enjoy well-being and never be distressed, imply not only sublimity and boundlessness, but also utter freedom of mind. Hence the appropriateness of the expression "universal love leading to freedom of mind."

As for the meanings of the five aspects opposed by metta, harassment is the desire to oppress or damage; offensiveness is the tendency to hurt or injure; torturing is a synonym of the sadistic tendency to torment, subjecting others to pain or misery; destructiveness is to put an end to or to finish, the trait of the extremist and the iconoclast; vexing is to tax, trouble or cause others worry and strain. Each of these tendencies is rooted in antipathy and malevolence, and provides a contrast with metta, both as a mode of conduct and as a psychological state or attitude of mind.

The substitution of a negative trait by the opposed positive course implies a very developed and mature approach to life. The ability to remain non-harassing, inoffensive, non-torturing, non-destructive and non-vexing means a very refined, beautiful and loving mode of behavior in a world where interaction between human beings creates so much tension and misery.

According to the Visuddhimagga, metta is a "solvent" that "melts" not only one's own psychic pollutants of anger, resentment and offensiveness, but also those of others. Since it takes the approach of friendship, even the hostile one turns into a friend.

Metta is characterized as that which "promotes welfare." Its function is to "prefer well-being" rather than ill. It manifests as a force that "removes annoyance" and its proximate cause is the tendency to see the good side of things and beings and never the faults. Metta succeeds when it loves, and it fails when it degenerates into worldly affection.

It will be clear from this analysis that only when one tends to see the good in people, and prefers the welfare of others, and accordingly is inoffensive (to remove any annoyance or hurt) and actively promotes well-being, does metta function as a solvent. It is said that the ultimate purpose of metta is to attain transcendental insight, and if that is not possible, it will at least effect a rebirth in the sublime sphere of the Brahma world, apart from bringing inner peace and a healthy state of mind here and now. Hence the Buddha's assurance in theMetta Sutta:

 Holding no more to wrong beliefs,
With virtue and vision of the ultimate,
And having overcome all sensual desire,
Never in a womb is he born again.

Love wards off ill-will, which is the most damaging of emotions. Hence it is said: "For this is the escape from ill-will, friends, that is to say, the freedom of mind wrought by universal love" (Digha Nikaya, III. 234).

In the practice of metta it is important to understand the emotions which nullify metta either by being similar or being dissimilar. The Visuddhimagga calls them "the two enemies — the near and the remote." Greed, lust, worldly affection, sensuality — all these are said to be the "near enemies" because they are similar in tendencies. The lustful also sees the "good side" or "beauty," and therefore gets involved. Love should be protected from it lest the masquerades of these emotions deceive the meditator.

Ill-will, anger and hatred, being dissimilar emotions, therefore constitute the "remote enemy." The remote enemy can easily be distinguished so one need not be afraid of it, but one should overcome it by projecting a higher force, that of love. But one has to be wary of the near enemy because it creates self-deception, which is the worst thing that can happen to an individual.

It is said that metta begins only when there is zeal in the form of a desire to act. Having commenced through earnest effort, it can be continued only when the five mental hindrances — sensual desire, ill-will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and doubt — are put down. Metta reaches consummation with the attainment of absorption (jhana).

The Power of We

Today was a beautiful, crisp winter day and I decided to go for a run. As many of you know from this column I usually combine some type of mantra or chant with my running, making it kind of a running meditation, in line with walking meditation. I will usually focus on either the breath or a chant/mantra "Namo Amituofo" or "Om Mani Padme Hum" or "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo." You get the picture. As I ran, I felt the wonderful cold air pass through my lips and fill my lungs...while meditating I was filled with Life...My goal, you see, was not to be filled with anything but it just happened...A new perfect mantra or chant appeared in my mind...WE..."We" you ask? Yup! "We!" We came naturally into my Soul, my Psyche, my Spirit, my Breathing...


Meister Eckhart said "The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love." 



Whether you believe in God or not is not the point...I believe in Life, Spirit....I call it the Divine. In Buddhism we say in greeting one another "Namaste" which means, "I bow to the Divine in you." I try to do that all the time because Divine IS IN YOU. If you have life in you, you have Divine in you. The Divine has been present in you BEFORE you were born. All life, everything has Divine in it. Love, peace, pain, emptiness, joy, sadness, growth are all part of the Divine. Because I am in the heart of the Ultimate Mind, the Divine, the Power, the Great Spirit, the Breath, Thought...whatever you want to call It, the Divine naturally is in my heart. If you are alive, conscious, breathing, you are part of real Life...the Divine. You are part of It and It is part of you. I am part of It, It is part of me. We are all related! "The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love." All life is Divine, trees, animals, the Buddha (all Buddhas), all spiritual masters, Jesus, my mother who passed away when I was a child....WE...


"We" kept repeating over and over in my head...through my heart. "We" is the Light that filled my being as I ran, it was the air that I breathed, it was the sun on my face....it was everyone that passed me in cars as I ran, birds flying above...You see, "We" encompasses everything. God is We. You are We, Life is We, I am We. I bow to the Divine in you because we share the Divine...we are Divine together. You are as much a part of me as my breath, my soul. "We" unites everything and makes it possible to understand how simple it is to love one another, how to appreciate how very precious life is...We is...Everything! I am comforted saying it over and over in my mind....I feel you, I feel Life, I feel Love...We are We!

Do Buddhists Believe in God?

This is a fantastic talk given by Kusala Bhikshu to students at a high school in Los Angeles. Bhikshu explains in a simple way and dispels sone common beliefs....

Do Buddhists Believe in God?
by Kusala Bhikshu

Why is it... The Buddha never talked about the One God of the desert, the Judeo-Christian God? Does this mean that all Buddhists are atheists and don’t believe in God? Did the Buddha believe in God?

These are some of the questions I would like to try and answer today.

The Buddha was born 500 years before Christ, in what is now Nepal. His dad was a king, his mom was a queen, and his dad wanted him to take over the family business (the kingdom) when he got older.

The kind of world the Buddha was born into was magical. Everything seemed to be alive. The trees, mountains, lakes, and sky were living and breathing with a variety of gods in charge. If you needed rain you asked one god, if you needed it to stop raining you asked another. The priests of India did all the religious work, and got paid for it.

In India at the time of the Buddha you became a priest if you were born into the right family, and not because of the school you went to, or the grades you got.

There were other kinds of religious people as well.

Mendicants were men who left their family, friends, and jobs to find the answers to life. They did not live in homes or apartments, but lived under trees and in caves, and would practice meditation all day long. They wanted to really be uncomfortable, so they could understand what suffering was all about.

Many kinds of meditation were practiced by these mendicants. In Tranquility Meditation for instance, you think about just one thing, like looking at a candle or saying a word over and over. When the mind becomes focused in oneness, you experience a great peacefulness.

Even if the mendicants were sitting in the rain on a cold day, they were still content. They found in their meditation practice the essence of happiness.

Renunciation is when you give up all the things that make your life pleasant. Sometimes the people with money and power in India would buy a lot of stuff to make themselves happy and their lives more comfortable, thinking that happiness and comfort depended on what they owned.

When the mendicants could see their own suffering clearly, after many years of renunciation, they understood that happiness was not dependent on the things they owned, but the kind of life they lived.

Even all the gods in India could not end the suffering of one human being.

At the age of 29, the Buddha stopped praying to the gods to end his suffering and the suffering of others. He left his family and friends, went to the edge of the forest, took off all his clothes and jewelry, covered his naked body with rags of cloth, cut off his hair and started to meditate.

He became a mendicant, and It took him six years of hard work and much suffering, but in the end he was able to stop his suffering forever (Nirvana) and help others stop their suffering as well.

Did the Buddha believe in God, the One God of the desert, the God of the Christians, Jews and Muslims?

Well... No... He didn't... Monotheism (only one God) was a foreign concept to the Buddha, his world was filled with many gods. The creator god Brahma being the most important one.

At the time of the Buddha, the only people practicing the religion of the One God of the desert, were the Jews. Remember, it was still 500 years before Christ came into the world.

The Buddha never left India. The Buddha walked from village to village... In his entire lifetime he never went any further than 200 miles from his birthplace.

The Buddha never met a Jew... And because of this, he never said anything about the One God of the desert.

There is also nothing in the teachings of the Buddha that suggest how to find God or worship the god's of India, although the Buddha himself was a theist (believed in gods), his teachings are non-theistic.

The Buddha was more concerned with the human condition: Birth, Sickness, Old age, and Death. The Buddhist path is about coming to a place of acceptance with these painful aspects of life, and not suffering through them.

Please be clear on this point... The Buddha is not thought of as a god in Buddhism and is not prayed to. He is looked up to and respected as a great teacher, in the same way we respect Abraham Lincoln as a great president.

He was a human being who found his perfection in Nirvana. Because of his Nirvana, the Buddha was perfectly moral, perfectly ethical, and ended his suffering forever.

Does that mean that every Buddhist in the world is an atheist?

No!!! I have met a lot of Buddhists who believe in God. I have met a lot of Buddhists who don’t believe in God... And a lot of Buddhists just don’t know.

All three points of view are OK if you’re Buddhist because suffering is more important than God in Buddhism.

Sometimes a student will ask me how everything in this world got started... "If you don’t have God in Buddhism then who or what caused the universe?"

When the Buddha was asked how the world started, he kept silent. In the religion of Buddhism we don’t have a first cause, instead we have a never ending circle of birth and death. In this world and in all worlds, there are many beginnings and ends. The model of life used in Buddhism has no starting place... It just keeps going and going.

Now having said that... If you’re a Buddhist it’s OK to believe God was the first cause... It really doesn't go against the teachings of the Buddha, his focus was on suffering... It's also OK to believe science has the answer… Like the big bang theory, etc... Some Buddhist’s don’t even care how it all started, and that’s fine too. Knowing how the world started is not going to end your suffering, it’s just going to give you more stuff to think about.

I hope you can see that God is not what Buddhism is about... Suffering is... And if you want to believe in God, as some Buddhists do, I suppose it's OK. But, Buddhist's don't believe God can end suffering. Only the teaching's of the Buddha can help us end suffering through wisdom and the activity of compassion.

In his whole life and in all his teachings the Buddha never said anything about the One God of the desert.