The Crux of Mahayana Spirit / Teachings

Compassion, loving-kindness and wisdom (i.e. doing the right things).

"Everyone knows they're going to die
But (the 'truth') is nobody believes it.
If we did, we would do things differently."
... "Tuesdays With Morris" by Mitch Albom,
a book that topped the New York Times Non-Fiction Bestsellers of 2000

The talk of Dr Richard Teo, a real achiever (40 yrs old, married) selflessly shared
his experience with dental surgeon interns on 19-1-2012.

Excerpts of his sharing:

I'd just begin to say that I'm a typical product of today's society. From young, I've always been under the influence and impression that to be happy, is to be successful. And to be successful, is to be wealthy. So I led my life according to this motto.

Coming from a poor average family, back in those days, I was highly competitive, whether in sports, studies, leadership. I wanted it all. I’ve been there, done that. But at the end of the day, it’s still about money.

The truth is, nobody makes heroes out of the average GP in the neighbourhood. They don't. They make heroes out of rich celebrities, politicians, rich and famous people. So I wanted to be one of these.

I dived straight into aesthetic medicine. People were not willing to pay when I was doing locum back in those days. Anything more than $30, they would complain that "Wah, this doctorvery expensive". They made noise and they were not happy. But the same people were willing to pay $10 000 for a liposuction. So I said, "Well, let’s stop healing the sick, I’m gonna become a beautician; a medically-trained beautician."

Around some time in February last year, I said, "OK, I have so much spare cash, it's time to get my first Ferrari. So there I was, getting ready for the deposit. OK! There comes my first Ferrari! I was looking for land, to share with some of my friends. I have a banker friend who makes $5 million a year. So I thought, "Come, let's come together. Let's buy some land and build our houses."

In March 2011, out of the blue -- I was still running around, 'cause I'm a gym freak and I always go to the gym training, running, swimming 6 days a week. I had some backache, and that's all I had, but it was persistent. And so I went for an MRI to exclude prolapsed disc. And the day before I had my scan, I was still in the gym, lifting heavy weights, doing my squats. And the next day, they found that half my spine had bone marrow replacement. I said, "Wow, sorry, what’s that?"

We had a PET scan the next day, and they diagnosed that I had terminal lung cancer, stage 4B. It had spread to the brain, half the spine, whole of my lungs were filled with tumour, liver, adrenals…

The irony is that a lot of times,
only when we learn how to die
then we learn how to live.

Don't let society tell you how to live.
Don't let the media tell you what you are supposed to do.
Because that was what happened to me.
You have to decide whether you want to serve yourself
Or whether you want to make a difference in somebody else's life.
Because true happiness does not come from serving yourself.
I thought that was but it didn't turn out that way.

... (Dr Richard Teo passed away on 18-10-2012)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6oSDyMUigQ&feature=player_embedded

The Crux of Mahayana Spirit / Teachings

1. Compassion (heart) = key foundation.
2. Genuine compassion = wisdom, skillful means + loving-kindness.
3. To help others, one needs to understand nature of suffering = wisdom.
4. To experience deep compassion and empathy = loving-kindness needed.

We can't have one without the other because all are tied in by the paramount
Vow of Bodhicitta (i.e. to awaken oneself in order to awaken all others).

Who Is A Bodhisattva?

One who is able:

To take a hand of another
To touch his/her heart and
To open his/her mind

By using the 4 Embracing Virtues -- Master Yinshun in Chinese:
成熟眾生道 佛說以四攝
布施及愛語 利行與同事

Translated as:

"The way to transform all sentient beings
Is through the four all-embracing virtues taught by the Buddha:

1) giving 2) affectionate speech 3) beneficial conduct, and 4) working together"

Dharma-Wisdom
If one breaks the following 3 hindrances, 'Enlightenment' is attainable:
1) Concept of space: arbitrary divisions -- My nation, my country, my race, my ethnicity, my home etc. That's how conflicts and the two world wars started.
2) Concept of time: past and future -- Bondage of time, burdened by worries. Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. Can we worry our way to enlightenment?
3) Concept of self, 'I', 'mine', 'my' -- There is no entity, no someone or some permanent being behind this stream of experiences; it is no other than a flow of process only. All processes need no "self" or "I" to be involved.If there is a permanent entity involved, it will be anti-processing.

Recurring Questions
1) Without a self, who experiences the result of karma?
2) If there is no self, what travels from life to life?

Answers

Tell the questioners that:

1) There is no independent existence of "I" or "self" to receive the karma of rebirth.
2) Fruition is not contingent upon an independent existence of "I" or "self" to receive it.

 
Don’t believe what Rene Descartes says:
"I think, therefore I am."
Instead listen to what the Buddha says: "There is no I doing the thinking, and there is no thinking done. All is nothing but an experiential flow of the process of mind-body."

Conclusion

For non-Buddhists:

'Rebirth is impossible without an Atman (I).'

For Buddhists:

The Anatman (No inherent I) theory is what makes rebirth and liberation possible."

Food for thought :)
bro yick kh