Introduction
to Buddhism
By: Zen Master Seung Sahn
Have you ever wondered why do we exist in this world? We understand many things about this world, but we don't understand ourselves. So why do human beings come into this world? Why do we live in this world? For love? For money? For respect or fame? Do you live for your wife, husband, or children? Why do you live in this world? If someone asked you these questions, you might very well answer, "I live for my children. I live to earn enough money for them, or maybe just to have a good life." Most people think like this. They live only for their family, for some fleeting social respectability, perhaps to enjoy art or to get some powerful position. Everyone wants to have a good situation for themselves. But if you look at this world very closely, it's easy to see that most people eat sleep and live merely for their own happiness. Yet these things are not the real purpose of human beings' lives. They are just temporary means for living in the world. If human beings cannot find out who they are, how can they ever be truly happy?
The Buddha came from a royal family in India some
twenty-five hundred years ago. He was a
prince, named Siddhartha Gotama. He had
a very good situation. In the palace he
had everything he wanted: good food,
good clothes, beautiful women, a high seat, and a very good position. He would someday inherit a powerful
kingdom. That's wonderful! But inside, Siddhartha was very unhappy
because he could not understand who he was.
He could not understand life or death.
He was deeply saddened that all beings must eventually get sick, grow
old, and die. This gave him a big
question about his own nature and the nature of beings: "What am I? I don't know…." At
that time in India, the Brahman religion was followed nearly by everyone. But Brahmanism could not give the young
prince the correct to his burning question.
So he was even unhappier.
"Why do human beings come into this world? Why do we eat everyday? What am I?" He ate food without any taste.
He heard music without any pleasure.
The beautiful palace started to look like a prison.
One night, Siddhartha left the palace, his family, his
beautiful wife, and his infant child.
He cut off all his hair, and became a monk. He practiced very hard for six years: "What am I? Don't
know…." He courageously kept this
question with one-pointed determination.
Then one morning, while sitting in meditation under the Bodhi tree, he
saw the morning star in the eastern sky.
At he moment—BOOM!—Siddhartha and this star completely became one. He realized his true substance. He realized that his mind was the
universe—infinite in time and space—the whole universe was nothing other than
his own mine. He finally had the
answer! He saw that 
when ignorance
appears, mind appears. He attained
enlightenment!.
So Buddhism is very simple: just ask yourself, very deeply, "Who am I? Where did I come from? How can I attain my true self, and completely
attain truth and a correct life?"
These questions may sound very simple, but they are, in fact, cannot be
answered by our own ability. We must
practice till we reach enlightenment, just like the Buddha. We must wake up!
P.S. For more info on the life of the Buddha,
please refer to his story