Opening of a New Chapter of the World History of Buddhism

 II. Opening of a New Chapter of the World History

of Buddhism

 

 

1. Lamentation over the Misleading Concept of 'Non-self':

the Primal Cause of the Decline of Buddhism

 

2. Opening of a New Chapter of the World History

of Buddhism

 

II. Opening of a New Chapter of the World History

of Buddhism

 

1. Lamentation over the 'Misleading Concept of Non-self':

the Principal Cause of the Decline of Buddhism

 

It is our duty to weight over and over the primal cause of the disappearance of Buddhism from India, its birthplace, because it might provide us with the reason why Buddhism could not spread far and wide in the world.

The situation has changed a great lot than when it was about 1,000 years before. However, who cannot dare say that no such thing, disappearing Buddhism, would happen again anywhere or in any country today. There must be something that will prevent such thing to happen again, no matter how the time and situation change. Such preventive measure must be found within Buddhism itself, and should not blame the foreign circumstances or conditions.

Most scholars point out three reasons for the disappearance of Buddhism from India. First is the invasion of Islam and destruction of big temples and killing so many monks which brought the downfall of Buddhism in India. Second is the absorption of Indian Buddhism to Hinduism through transformation of traditional Buddhism to Esoteric Buddhism. Third is its too profound and sometimes abstruse philosophical doctrines, which failed the Indian Buddhism to take root in the homeground.

In addition to these reasons, some scholars point out the problems of corruption and sectarianism within Buddhism itself. However, Buddhism survived more than 1,800 years as one of the two great pillars of culture and religion of India under the formidable influence of Hinduism. For this reason, it is somewhat unconvincing that the above mentioned causes were the primal reasons for the complete disappearance of Buddhism from India in such a short period of time. In the similar conditions of Buddhism, Hinduism as well as Jainism was under the same or sometimes more severe suppression than Buddhism, however they all survived. If so, there must be some other primal cause or reason for the disappearance of Buddhism from India. Now I am going to find that out.

 

Usually the longevity of a religion depends on how deeply a religion has put down its root into the hearts of the people and society. In order to do so, a religion must assume the beneficial works for the society with the penetration of its unique value into the hearts of common people. In this sense, we should reflect upon this matter how was the Buddhism of the time.

Did the Buddhism do its sacred duty faithfully for the people and society of the time? Did it win the hearts of the people and society with its unique and unsurpassed law of love and compassion? I think it failed to do so. It failed to explain the people and society how it is attractive with a complete understanding of the essence of the illustrious teachings of Buddha.

Of course, as I just mentioned, the beneficial work of a religion for the people and society is very important. But more important to take its root in the hearts of the people and society is "the essential value of its unique teaching."

 

If so, what is the essence of the unique value of Buddhism as a religion? It is, I think, "karmic action-transmigration and enlightenment, and salvation through the grace of Buddha" based on the law of causality, the Four Noble Truths, and Tri-dharma mudra, or the three universal truths. Of course, the first three except the last, "salvation through the grace of Buddha," were already existent in the tradition of Hinduism.

However, Buddhism has not only revealed in exquisite detail the truth of deeper meanings of 'karmic action and transmigration' than Hinduism could as yet reach, but it also showed graphically the 'realm of calm extinction of enlightenment.' Buddhism also has an unsurpassed system of doctrine that shows the extinction of karmic action that leads to the Buddha's 'cosmic power of salvation.' In other words, Buddhism could compete any doctrine of Hinduism on the higher level and make it distinct from Hinduism in its quality and value.

However, on the contrary, Buddhism, instead of revealing its 'unique essential values', tried to distinguish the misinterpretation of the essential doctrine of 'non-self' from the doctrine of atman of Hinduism, arguing that there is no subject of 'karmic action-transmigration and enlightenment', which only spread the wrong impression that Buddhism is the religion of pessimism. Buddhism also insisted that there is no substance of soul, and because of the ignorance of the great substance of almighty Buddha, they could not explain clearly the doctrine of salvation. This is the true fact of the mislead doctrine of the 'substance of non-self'.

 

No matter how bitter is the pain of life of transmigration, if there is no 'substance of self' and no 'substance of soul' to feel the bitter pain, how could anyone actually imagine such pain to be sure? All human beings wish for a long happy life. However, if there is no subject of happiness of life to enjoy forevermore and no subject of enlightenment, how could anyone imagine the Buddhism to be attractive and believe it with all their heart?

If one is not sure of his salvation through almighty Buddha and the doctrine of salvation, and if there is no one to rely on, how could anyone believe Buddhism? Above all, such doctrine will be a good target of challenge against Buddhism for Hinduism and the Outside Ways.

Buddhism has been fettered by Hinduism and the Outside Ways for almost 2,000 years while Buddhism itself has been wandering in the dark bound by its own illogical doctrines of 'non-self' and no 'substance of soul'. If it is true, how could we expect to spread our unsurpassed Buddhism to the whole world?

The greatness of Buddhism lies on the clear-cut system of truth and enlightenment through realization of that truth which leads to karmic action-transmigration and enlightenment based on the law of causality, Tri-dharma mudra and the Four Noble Truth. However, the most important part is Buddha's cosmic power of salvation. In other words. there are sentient beings, the subjects of their karmic action, transmigration and enlightenment, and then Buddha's cosmic power of salvation which removes the karmic obstruction, which is actually the core of mahakaruna, or the great loving kindness and compassion.

However, a truly deplorable fact is that the misleading concept of 'non-self' offers the logic of denying both the substance of sentient beings and the subsistence of Buddha. They left only an empty bag extracting the two essential seeds of Buddhism. It is a kind of miracle and grace to have preserved Buddhism so far in Asia with such an empty bag of Buddhism, which is a failing grade of less than a half of its original substance. In other words, it is a kind of counter-evidence of the greatness of Buddhism to have survived.

The greatness of Buddhism comes from almighty Buddha's unsurpassed illustrious teaching. Therefore, if we can only show the original face of the illustrious teachings of our Lord Buddha, there is no need of long explanation for spreading the Buddha's teaching to the world far and wide.

I repeat that the prime offender is the misleading doctrine of 'non-self'. I truly regret it's consequences. I really do. I wish I could give it a hard blow. I even wish to stamp on it laying it on the ground if I could. This is what I feel towards it.

Of course, "One should not kill." is the first precept of Buddhism, and all I could do is perhaps send it to the King of Hades so that he can send it to the screaming bottommost eternal hell of interminable suffering (無間地獄). However, there are still countless followers of this detestable misleading doctrine of 'non-self' around us.

Almighty Buddha, please help us! I do not know what to do about these innocent followers of the misleading doctrine of the detestable term of 'non-self'. Venerable Buddha, what if I earnestly pray, "The most eminent Buddhist scholars of the world, please reflect upon the mistaken logic you have made in the past and stop at once the supporter of the misleading doctrine of 'non-self'.

The most venerable masters of learning and enlightened masters! Please take a sit and enter into samadhi of deep quietude and rumination and then quit the follower of the misleading doctrine of 'non-self' and then spread the orthodox dharma of Buddha to the sentient beings!

The loving and venerable fourfold retinue (四部大衆) of the whole world! If you have become a prisoner of the misleading doctrine of 'non-self' unawares in the long passage of life of a Buddhist, please awaken at once and listen to the orthodox dharma of Buddha's illustrious teaching!"

"It is a great crime to teach the misleading law instead of the orthodox dharma." This is the words of the almighty Buddha. Please think over the discreet meaning of the expression of Buddha I have mentioned above.

 

 

2. Opening of a New Chapter of the World History of Buddhism

 

It was truly too grateful for the majestic Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, who have sent two loving disciples, the Great Master Gwangmyeong Mandeok, Venerable Kasyapa, and the Great Master Jajae Manhyeon, Veneraqble Ananda, to this land of Republic of Korea to open a new world of orthodox dharma through the Yeongsan Buddhism to expound the true meaning of the doctrine of 'non-self'. The World-honored Buddha! I prostrate with all the five parts of my body and pay my gratitude.

Due to the misleading doctrine of 'non-self', the problems of 'non-self and transmigration' played like an Achilles tendon for some 2,000 years in the province of Buddhism, but fortunately the Great Master Jajae Manhyeon of Hyeonjisa Temple of the Yeongsan Buddhism gave, on April 2010 on BBS (Buddhist Broadcasting System) TV, a lion's roar like cutting Gordian knot that 'no-self (非我)' is the nucleus or the main body of transmigration.

Of course, the Great Master already had proclaimed to the province of Buddhism in the whole world about the true subsistence of Buddha and transmigration of the substance of soul in his books the Buddha's Message of the 21st Century I-II. The Great Maser's dharma discourse was a Copernican evolution, a turning point of historical event in the field of religion like Copernican evolution of the geocentric system from the solar system in the field of science that opened a new page in the history of civilization by revealing the truth to the whole world.

Perhaps this proclamation will surely bring a great tumult in the Buddhist sector in the world and in the field of Buddhist scholarship. So many texts and tracts on 'non-self' and 'substance of transmigration' are all doomed to become waste papers.

 

Yeongsan Buddhism sincerely wishes that our Buddhist circle to be truly open minded in dealing this grave matter of historical event. This astounding proclamation of "the main body of transmigration is the substance of soul of 'no-self'" will bring a great controversy in the fields of scholarship and religion who believed and strongly claimed the misleading theory of 'non-self' for long, especially in the field of Buddhism. Let's attend to it as birth pangs of the orthodox dharma that we must overcome.

However, we must think of the future of our Buddhism first, and what would be the best way to spread the Buddha's unsurpassed teachings to the world far and wide. Even the greatest disputants Nagarjuna,1 Asanga2 and Vasubandhu3 could not comprehend it clearly.

 

1Nagarjuna: (c. 1st Century B.C.E. to the lst Century C.E.): Saint, scholar, and the founder of the Madhyamika, or the Middle Path School, which is based on the Prajnaparamita teachings, which he is said to have received from the Dragon King under the sea. He is sometimes called a second Skyamuni Buddha.

2Asanga (290-360 C.E.): An Indian Buddhist monk. It is believed that he received a series of teachings from Maitreya, which became the basis of the Yogacara School or the Consciousness-only School, which he co-founded with his younger brother Vasubandhu. The commentary on the Diamond Sutra is regarded as one of his best writings.

3Vasubandhu (316-398): The younger brother of Asanga. After his conversion from Savastivaddins, or the Existence School, to Mahayana, he wrote a number of seminal treatises that became the foundation of the Yogacara School, of which the thirty Verses on Consciousness-only is the most important.

 

In fact, one must be at least at the higher level of Bodhisattva to get the idea of the doctrine of the substance of 'non-self', the true nature of 'soul'. To understand it completely and attain the actual experience of its profound doctrine, one must be equal to the level of Buddha. It means there is a limit for the Buddhist scholars to get to the bottom of its profound meaning.

The main reason that the misleading concept of the doctrine of 'non-self' could not have been rectified for more than 2,000 years was due to such problems. Even so, there is no doubt that the misleading concept of the doctrine of 'non-self' is indeed a sore spot of Buddhism.

However, the most eminent enlightened master of this age Jajae Manhyeon was born and had an honor of audience of Buddha and received a prediction of enlightenment to realize the fact that our Buddhism has been mislead both ideologically and in the actual practice.

He then established a new Buddhist order called Yeongsan the Buddhism to restore the Buddhism of the time when the World-honored Buddha expounded to the great congregation on the Vulture Peak Mountain near Rajagriha. The Great Master's purpose was to rectify our mislead Buddhism to open the new age of orthodox dharma

He saw the fundamental theme is to rectify the doctrine of 'mislead non-self or ego', and then he proclaimed the lion's roar of the orthodox dharma to the Buddhism of the whole world. The Master's proclamation will surely be a kind of Copernican religious evolution of the world and will open a turning point in the religious history of the world. It will also be the great historical proclamation to open a new horizon of Buddhism in the Buddhist history.

The doctrine of 'non-self' must be set right to bring forth the true subsistence of Buddha in a natural manner and then understand the true doctrine of Trikaya, or 'the triple body' of the Buddha, that is, the three different forms in which the universal Buddha essence subsists: the ultimate body (Dharmakaya 法身), the body of bliss (Sambhogakaya 報身), and the incarnation body (Nirmanakaya 化身). The true understanding of the doctrine of Trikaya will also bring forth the true belief in Buddha--the Master of Gods and Man (天人師).

This will also lead to Buddha chanting of invoking the name of Amidabha Buddha for the empowerment of the Lord and eventually lead the sentient beings to join the congregation of Buddha's unsurpassed discourse which will help one set his foot on the straight path of enlightenment beyond life and death.

Lastly I wish to inform you all that the congregation of Buddha's unsurpassed discourse is always open at Hyeonjisa Temple in Chuncheon, Kangwon Province. I hope to meet you all there if our affinity is favorable.