Mobile VersionMeditationMeditation for PeaceYoung People and the Lord BuddhaThe Lord Buddha’s life is documented.History has clearly recorded His life story including the lives of His parents.In recent years, a new generation of young people has started to wonder why Buddhists highly regard the Lord Buddha to be the greatest sanctuary, although he was only human. To respond to this doubt, there was an examination of this issue and a simple explanation conducive to young people by a senior monk was found.A true Buddhist has to be a logical person. He is nto gullible or easily deluded. So when a person is deciding whom he should choose to be his respected mentor, he should make the attempt to know the history of that person in the following ways:1. The mentor should have an unambiguous biography. There must be proof of his life history; it can not be vague and unreliable.2. He must be extremely intelligent, exceptionally virtuous, exceedingly knowledgeable of the truths about life, which is known as enlightenment; and all his knowledge must be acquired through his own endeavors. He will not plagiarize these insights from someone else.3. All of his teachings, when adhered to, will be beneficial and produce happiness. If not, then these instructions are useless since nobody can benefit from them.All of his teachings, when adhered to, will be beneficial and produce happiness.Based on these criteria, one can see why Buddhists highly regard the Lord Buddha to be the greatest refuge of humankind.1. The Lord Buddha’s life is documented. History has clearly recorded His life story including the lives of His parents. He was a prince in a city which still appeared on the map up to modern times.2. The Lord Buddha toiled to find the truths of life by Himself until He was enlightened. All of His teachings derived from His enlightenment. He did not claim others’ teachings as his own, or that He received them from a heavenly being. The Lord Buddha made it clear that he attained enlightenment by Himself. Most of all, He never forced anyone to believe in His teachings.3. All of the Lord Buddha’s damma are universal truths are therefore timeless. If a person practices dhamma that the Lord Buddha prescribed, that person will certainly benefit from them. And conversely, if that person commits acts proscribed by Him, s/he will certainly receive dire consequences. His Dhamma are timeless. They were true when He first spoke them; they are still true today. They are not subject to change over time.In the attempt to enable humankind to benefit from His Dhamma, the Lord Buddha endured numerous hardships such as extreme physical exertion, and attempts upon His life. However, they had no effect on his determination. Furthermore, the Lord Buddha was not doing this for personal gain; when offered with valuables, He would emphasize that the merits derived from the offering of valuables were less than putting His dhamma into practice. This only shows His limitless compassion.And those who practice His Dhamma conscientiously, whether they are monks or laypeople, can also rid themselves of defilements and attain Nibbana, the immortal happiness, like the Lord Buddha Himself. This is a testament to the Lord Buddha’s purity and undefiled quality. His teachings are rightful, exact and beneficial, and accessible by followers of all religions. Those who adhere to them will obtain the exact same benefits He obtained, and there have been millions of His followers who have experienced these benefits.We highly regard the Lord Buddha to be our ultimate refuge without reservation – with the knowledge that He was only human-because of His extreme wisdom, His understanding of how to eliminate the defilements, his superb purity in being able to achieve Nibbana, and His compassion in selflessly devoting His life to showing human beings how to achieve what He achieved. We follow His teachings without hesitation, so that one day we will be able to rid ourselves of all defilements and follow Him into Nibbana.
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