Truth for the Family: Lessons from the Buddha : หน้า 121/216

Part Five: Truth for the Family 2. Ideally, he/she should be extremely intelligent, exceptionally virtuous, exceedingly knowledgeable of the truths about life (be enlightened), and all his knowledge must be acquired through his own experience. Thus, he will not plagiarize these insights from someone else. The man whom we call the Buddha gave up being the crowned prince of his kingdom to meet with hardship and toil in order to find the truths of life so that he may become enlightened. All of His teachings derive from His enlightenment. He did not claim the teaching of others as His own, nor did He say that He received them from a heavenly being. The Buddha made it clear that He attained enlightenment by Himself. Most of all, and most importantly, He never forced or persuaded anyone to believe in His teachings. 3. All of the mentor's teachings, when adhered to, will be beneficial and produce happiness. If not, then those instructions are useless. All of the Dhamma are universal truths and are therefore timeless. If a person practices true Dhamma, that person will gain great benefit. Adversely, if that person acts against the Dhamma, s/he will receive calamitous consequences. Dhamma is timeless. It was true when discovered and expounded by a man who became the Buddha more than 2500 years ago and they are still true today. They are not subject to change over time. In the attempt to enable humankind to benefit from Dhamma, the man whom we call the Buddha endured numerous hardships such as extreme physical exertion and Family Day By Day 119 A True Mentor