Modern Buddhism Also by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

The world is in a horrible mess right now. There are, at present, two wars raging that are threatening to engulf both a continent and a subcontinent. Reactionary and authoritarian political movements are alive and well and gaining dominance in previously democratic countries. Strident and unapologetic racism is returning. The planet is warming. And this is, of course, just the tip of the iceberg. We can find our way out of this mess by recognizing that its causes lie within the mind. There is something about the human mind that causes humanity to constantly get itself into trouble. Buddhist mind science tells us how we have created this predicament for ourselves, and how we can find our way out of it.

2016

Many of major problems facing us are human-caused. While social/global injustices, inter-group conflict, any form of violence to name a few are our targets to tackle to achieve more peaceful and humane future, they are in reality caused and sustained through our own thoughts. Though external causes or factors must not be omitted, equally crucial problem confronting us is an epistemological one – our way of knowing and understanding the world. As the shape of the global conditions relies on our mind-set, both individual and collective, it is imperative to make a critical analysis of mindset that causes troubles since the world changes when our thoughts and perspectives on the world change. This paper engages in a Buddhist philosophical analysis of human mind for a sustainable and peaceful future. Buddhism, since its foundation by the Buddha, Gautama, has deepened the analysis of how human mind itself turns into a root cause of conflict and violence and how it can be overcome. And this research explores how this analysis of human mind contributes to realizing a sustainable and peaceful future.

2006

The mind is neither within nor without, nor is it to be apprehended between the two. Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra (30). The ways in which the relationship between mind and world have been considered for the last few hundred years in Western thought and science are being radically reconceived and ideas from a wide variety of sources are now being taken more seriously than ever. Philosophical perspectives from the Buddhist traditions of India are of particular interest because they have long addressed issues that are currently in contention: if we are not Cartesian subjects essentially alienated from our bodies and the material world, as many have previously accepted, then who and what are we? And what then is the status of the " world " we purportedly stood against? Or our perceptions of it? Or the consequences of actions within it? And if the line between self and world is not nearly as clear or hard and fast as we have assumed, where or what is it? We propose to address such...

Simon Oliver: The Oxford Handbook of Creation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, forthcoming., 2021

Buddhism does not assume the existence of a creator god, and so it might seem as if the question of creation, of how and why the world came into existence was not of great interest for Buddhist thinkers. Nevertheless, questions of the origin of the world become important in the Buddhist context, not so much when investigating how the world came into existence, but when investigating how it can be brought out of existence, i.e. how one can escape from the circle of birth and death that constitutes cyclic existence in order to become enlightened. If the aim of the Buddhist path is the dissolution of the world of rebirth in which we live, some account must be given of what keeps this world in existence, so that a way of removing whatever this is can be found. In the context of this discussion we will discuss how some key Buddhist concepts (such as causation, karma, dependent origination, ontological anti-foundationalism, and the storehouse consciousness) relate to the origin of the world, and what role they play in its eventual dissolution when enlightenment is obtained.

NUTA Journal

The mind (nāma) and matter (rūpa) are the two great constituents of the beings. Nāma refers to the mental phenomena of the four aggregates vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra and vijññān. The mind is a formless, shapeless, non-physical field that functions to store, perceive, and analyze information. It originates when the six senses; eye, ear, nose, tongue, skin and the mind get contact with their corresponding objects; form, sound, smell, taste, touch and mental constituents respectively. The mind and the brain are completely different entities. The mind is an agent that carries the seed to have the next life. The rūpa is a physical phenomenon. It is the material form of the body and of the eternal world. Earth (prithivi dhātu), water (apo dhātu), fire (tejo dhātu) and wind (vayo dhātu) element are the four fundamental elements in our body and the outer world. Mental phenomenon and physical phenomenon are different but dependents on each other. The objective of this article is to examine t...

Buddhism did not start to explore the metaphysical question of a purpose of life or of the Universe. Like Bertrand Russell, the Buddha himself recognized the point of fear and said, “Gripped by fear men go to the sacred mountains, sacred groves, sacred trees and shrines.” Buddhism started to take men away from fear to freedom and to find a solution to end the sufferings of humanity. It started from an experience of the human condition with an aspiration to transcend it. Buddhism does not believe in the concept that there is an operator called God who is turning the switches off and on to run the Universe and controlling our fete. So instead of praising an imaginary God, the Buddha exemplified the human virtues such as wisdom, compassion, courage, equanimity, selflessness, etc. as well as the right path of living that human should take. Instead of urging people to love and worship God, the Buddha urged people to love and serve the fellow men. He advised his disciplines with these memorable words, “Go ye, O Bhikkhus, and wander forth for the gain of many, for the welfare of the many, (Bahujana sukhaya bahujana hitaya cha) in compassion for the world, for the good, for the gain, for the welfare of gods and men.” In the process Buddhism showed how one can be enlightened and lead a happy life. According to Buddhism the world has neither a beginning nor an end; nor Buddhism believes in the Big Bang theory or a first cause. According to Buddhism the world systems always appear and disappear in the universe.

2017

While violence and conflict are the main problems that must be tackled for a peaceful world, they are caused and sustained through our own thoughts. Though external causes must not be ignored, the most fundamental problem is an epistemological one – our way of knowing and understanding the world. Since its beginning, Buddhism has deepened its analysis of the dynamics of human mind, both as a root cause of suffering and as a source of harmony. This paper explores how Buddhism's analysis of human mind can be applied to conflict dynamics, conflict resolution, and building a sustainable peace.

Philosophy Study, 2017

While addressing global problems including conflict and violence is a common human agenda, they are human-caused: They are created and sustained through our thoughts. Though external causes and conditions cannot be ignored, the most fundamental problem is an epistemological one-our way of knowing and viewing the world. As the shape of the global conditions relies on our thoughts or ways of thinking, it is imperative to make a critical analysis of our mind. This paper explores how the Buddhist philosophy of human mind develops a model of global mind to achieve a peaceful future. Firstly, the analysis offers the concept of "the conditioned mind"-mind shaped by socially constructed frame of reference and examines how it becomes a cause of trouble. Secondly, it proposes the concept of "the unconditioned mind"-mind-state transcendent of an attachment to any form of frame of reference as an antidote to the potential danger of the conditioned state. Then, global mind is explored. It is characterized as the mixture of the conditioned and the unconditioned mind with the practice of multiple functions of mind-mindful practice, dialectical philosophical contemplation, and compassionate mind. The appreciation and enacting of both the conditioned mind and the unconditioned mind underpinned by the multiple functions of mind empowers us to touch universal humanity and inherent dignity of all human beings and to co-create new values, norms, and visions with those having different frames of reference to embody interdependent and interconnected human relationships.

In the Buddha's teachings, the opening of the awareness of the Original Mind and interbeing of life occurs when the non-dualistic cognitive based subject/object separation and alienation ceases. This enlightened awareness of life is fundamentally different from observing, fixating, contemplating and comprehending the objectification of standing apart. To become aware means to transform one's cognitive structures to regain and repose within the oneness of the original unity of life. Instead, the untransformed, normal cognitive consciousness distorts and veils the original reality because of the separation that is created through the dualistic manufacturing by the subject/object dichotomization. The dualistic thought patterns veil the Original Mind by the entrenchment through which one orientates to life, by trying to manacle life, even though life is always metamorphosing – frustration and suffering naturally follow. The unthinkable letting go of dualism and the belief in the substantial 'I' begins when one understands the deceptions created by one's habitual patterns of thought and consciousness. Only through the transformation and transcendence of these cognitive patterns will the fruitfulness of the Original Mind, also referred to as Buddha Mind, consciousness pattern become unveiled. The focus of all spiritual practice transformation becomes lifting this inner state of mind, which is normally relegated to the background of human experience, out of a secondary role and give it the rightful primary role. Only when this veiled consciousness is rediscovered, accepted and lived through can the process of becoming aware of the primal unity of life operate. This becoming aware of the source is created by letting go of all the distorting cognitive constructions in which we are usually infatuated and tightly cling to. This includes letting go of the 'I', which only clings and tries to preserve itself, never letting go and refusing to completely trust. Once this is accomplished, the alienation in which our ignorance has led us can never fully return. The Buddha Mind quietly and unconsciously urges our transformation, which allows us to live life not through our self concepts but through understanding non-self. By opening and accepting oneself to this urging, a new obliging awareness develops and transforms the way we live in accordance with the new insights. This maturing towards the Buddha Mind requires a seeking and accepting of transformation. One must lose one's self' to find the Original Mind. The conscious spiritual training to achieve the Original Mind cannot be subverted into ego and skill training for worldly success, mastery and reputation. For example, often yoga body training practices have little to do with the original intent of inner healing and integrating work, but become only methods to increase one's relaxation, health and willpower. There is little to gain for one's inner development and transformation from the exercise of the body, which perceives from an objective distance the physique as an object to manipulate, ignoring one's awareness of the whole person. Instead, inner development can be achieved when one does not treat the body in an objective way, but as a sensitive, responding life-providing organism. Then one acquires a foundational routine to follow the true meaning of practice, beginning when the practitioner learns, by means of breathing, to exercise holistically the mind/body and not just the body.