Who is “Buddha”?

Who is “Buddha”? The Awakened Ones who are enlightened and have the ability to guide others towards enlightenment – perfected in wisdom and conduct. Buddhas are the Omniscient Ones who are all-knowing of the past, present, and future with transcendental wisdom. Learning Buddhadharma is to acquire the prajna wisdom to eradicate afflictions, accumulate merits, brighten up our life, and to purify obscurations. Wise ones know how to work with afflictions and matters so they are less troubled. On the contrary, those who lack wisdom are caught in afflictions easily. As being distracted and trapped, one may end up with an unhappy life. Besides cultivating wisdom and parting from afflictions, practicing Buddhadharma is to understand and transcend living and dying. Lastly, one can be liberated from sufferings and attain the ultimate happiness.

We do not know our whereabouts after death, which is why we are fearful of dying. If we know about the afterlife, the fear is gone. The Buddha has told us the coming of life and the going after death. We learn that life does not limit in one but many lifetimes with causes and effects. Before we came across Dharma, we had no idea what it is and not knowing how to shape our future lives. Thus, we tend to waste our time. Now having to hear about Dharma, we can make changes for future lives and to optimize our time.

The most important key of Buddhadharma is the understanding of cause-and-effect. So now, we can adjust our motivation, actions properly and engage in virtuous activities – sowing the positive seeds in our consciousness. That way, our future lives will be fruitful. Next, knowing the benefits of Dharma, we should offer it to as many individuals as possible. By making this connection, there will be opportunities to receive Dharma teachings from others in future lifetimes. A life without Buddhadharma is like a car without gas that cannot be started. When our life tank is feuled, the vehicle starts running when we hit the gas. All we need to do is to hold on and steer the wheel heading to our destination – the luminous Other Shore.