Choosing to Follow the Buddha-Dharma

Deciding to become a Buddhist means more than reading a book or two. It requires going to a temple occasionally. If you want to follow the Teachings of the Buddha, you must decide to live them. Having an intellectual understanding of them only makes you a student of the teachings, not a Buddhist. If you simply want to study the Teachings so you know what they are, then do so. However, if you want to be a Buddhist, even if only in the privacy of your own home, then you must live the Teachings when you walk out of your house and into your life.

Buddhism is not a passive religion as many believe. They confuse pacifism with passive. A Buddhist life is an active life. Living the wisdom of the Four Noble Truths, following the Noble Eightfold Path, striving to be mindful of each moment of your day, doing your best to be a source of love, kindness, compassion, happiness, and joy, maintaining equanimity in the face of life's challenges, recognizing the law of Karma Vipaka, focusing your life for the benefit of others, these demand a great deal, a great deal indeed, from you. They demand intention and action. They require a high degree of attention. This is an active life, not a passive one.

If you wish to be a Buddhist Practitioner you must become more active than perhaps you have ever been. Living the Buddhist live is an ever unfolding and ever evolving life.

Buddhism can be a refuge from the stress and anxiety of life. The Practice of Buddhism gives us three places to come for refuge. Most, if not all, Buddhist temples in the world begin their day with a taking of the Three Refuges.

The first refuge is in the Buddha. His life is the example we follow. He was selfless, tireless, and courageously compassionate. If we attempt to be like the Buddha, not only can we find a refuge for ourselves, but we can become a refuge for others.

The second refuge is in the Dharma, the Teachings of the Buddha. These Teachings provide safety and comfort from the stress of life. All of the Teachings point the way towards freedom from stress, anxiety, and suffering. The Teachings are a way of living with happiness, joy, love, kindness, and compassion.

The third refuge is in the Sangha, the community of Practitioners. When we enter this refuge we find support and encouragement as we live the Buddha-Dharma, the Buddha Way. Without the refuge of the Sangha we will not be able to have the full experience of what it means to be a Buddhist.