What is Buddhism? A new scientific interpretation of Buddhism for all mankind in the 21st century.

     So far, we have mainly focused on the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha since early Buddhism, but as the later period of the flourishing of Mahayana Buddhism approached, the word "emptiness" began to be frequently used, especially in the Prajnaparamita sutras. "Emptiness" means that fundamentally, everything in this world exists solely in relation to causes and conditions. Nothing has an independent essence or substance on its own, and everything exists merely as conceptualizations labeled and categorized based on various relationships existing in people's minds. Therefore, assigning any fixed meaning to these concepts does not imply their inherent existence or unchanging identity. For example, let's take the example of a chair. Upon closer examination, we find that there is nothing but a combination of sponge, fabric, iron, and plastic. We conveniently label the combination of these materials as a "chair," but the concept of a chair only exi...

     As explained in the Basics Part 8, "If one can attain a state of mind that is a perfect middle way, without setting oneself as a viewpoint and not lingering on any one point, then perhaps one can reach a state beyond all relative perspectives, just like light itself, where there is no time or space. The world of Buddha's enlightenment described in the Buddhist scriptures is a world that transcends even form and concept, much like the world seen from the perspective of light, which transcends time and space. If the Buddha's state of enlightenment is like light itself, without time or space, then just as light from 10,000 years ago can reach anywhere instantly from the view point of light , the Buddha's enlightenment can also reach anywhere instantly from its view point, meaning it is always present at anywhere at any time for those in the relative world. Just as light can reach anywhere instantly beyond time and space, the Buddha's world of enlightenment,...

     As we've seen earlier, both the path of Arhat and the path of Bodhisattva require considerable determination and faith, making it difficult to claim that anyone can pursue them. Incidentally, as time progressed, not only within Buddhism but also in a global religious trend, there emerged a flourishing faith in transcendent beings with the great intention of saving people, entrusting oneself entirely to them for salvation. While this faith takes various forms and cannot be uniformly described, the ultimate attitude involves thoroughly recognizing one's powerlessness, abandoning all arrogance that one can manage oneself, and solely entrusting oneself to the will of the transcendent savior, allowing the will of the transcendent to work within oneself. Eventually, one may find oneself in a state of mind where the illusion of "self" that one clung to so tightly is forgotten. Although no academic proof has yet been provided, it seems quite possible that these rel...

      As I mentioned earlier, like the Arhat, who focuses on their practice of entering Nirvana as quickly as possible, it can be said that this is fundamentally the most direct method to transcend the illusion of self.    That's why I think Shakyamuni taught such methods to his disciples from the beginning.    Also, if fundamentally the notion of self is a product of ignorance that doesn't know the true nature of things, then the existence of many others imagined in contrast to oneself is also only imagined and ultimately insubstantial.    Therefore, being attached to these insubstantial existences obstructs the practice of eradicating all attachments.    However, just as we cannot easily believe that our existence is merely an illusion without substance, many others also believe the same.    Even though enlightened individuals might see everyone struggling within illusions, until one ultimately realizes this fa...

     As explained in the previous basic section, to his five old friends, Shakyamuni taught the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths, and the Noble Eightfold Path, as methods for transcending the delusion of self. This method involved recognizing that the concept of "self" is fundamentally based on delusion without inherent existence. It involves acknowledging the situation where various attachments cling to the delusional self, and ultimately, through eliminating all attachments thoroughly, eradicating the delusion of self entirely. Eventually, all five old friends are said to have become Arhats. An Arhat refers to an individual (a person) who, through eradicating all attachments and delusions back to their root causes, thereby eliminating the causes of individual existence by tracing through the twelve stages of dependent origination. (Please refer to the Basics Part 5 for details) This leads to a state of nirvana where one no longer returns to the cycle of samsara. Ho...

     In the basic section, I provided an overview of the basic teachings expounded by Shakyamuni Buddha. From here on, I would like to explore how these fundamental teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha have been received and practiced subsequently. As explained towards the end of the basic section, those trapped in ignorance, unaware of the Middle Way, establish a single perspective of themselves. By setting up this perspective of self, they construct numerous others apart from themselves. Since all these others are fabricated by the delusion of self-other separation, they inherently entail division and conflict. Love and separation, hatred and friction are inevitable, and the suffering persists until the realization of the Middle Way. However, even if one were to say they do not know the middle way, aside from the Buddha who fully realized the middle way, neither humans nor any other living beings know the middle way. Therefore, the delusion of self-other separation due to...

     First of all, why do we say "impermanence of all phenomena"? When we examine the words more precisely, the original term of phenomenon or phenomena is the Sanskrit word "saṃskāra," and its original meaning is something like "potentiality for formation." In Buddhism, it is the second crucial element that comes after "Avidyā, (the first element meaning the primordial ignorance) mentioned in the Twelve Dependent Originations. Saṃskāra refers to the "function" of conceiving the world (through the delusion of self-other separation). In other words, it is the function of creating an imaginary self, based on the fundamental ignorance, Avidyā, which means not knowing the ultimate interconnectedness and oneness of all existence, and separating oneself from others, (creating a distinction between oneself and everything else), through delusion of self-other separation, thereby conceiving the whole world. "Saṃskāra" also refers to e...