The Sakyamuni says that one must not have desire and attachment, and that desire (craving) is the root cause of all suffering.
Below is my interpretation:
Desire can interpreted as selfish desire (selfish craving) that will cause suffering of others to achieve your desires.
This could be to get rich at any cost, to grab from or harm another to achieve personal satisfaction.
I do not think it is a desire to achieve greater common good or a passion to excel in something you like to do.
I think passion to excel is very important in ones life.
To do what you love is what will drive you to excel in that area.
However if you want to make a decent living you must work at developing your talents, not just your passions.
I have already mentioned the importance of developing your talents instead of your passions in the article about the things I have figured out.
Desire and passion can lead to attachment and this could lead to suffering when there is a loss.
You cannot achieve Nirvana without first undergoing loss or suffering.
Anybody who claims to have achieved Nirvana without overcoming suffering first is a liar or ignorant fool.
Only those who have lost or suffered and then overcame their suffering can achieve true Nirvana.
Those who claim to achieve Nirvana without overcoming suffering first is like a woman who has never given birth to children giving pregnancy tips or a carpenter giving surgery tips.
Unless you know what suffering is, how can you overcome it?
The Sakyamuni did not think much of Anarya (fools) .
It is better to spend time with and learn from people who are wiser than you.
Just ignore and stay away from the Anarya (fools).
The Sakyamuni also said that birth does not make one a Brahmin.
Even though it is said that the Sakyamuni actually created Buddhism as a rebellion and rejection of the Sanathan Dharma, he did not actually do that.
He did rebel against what the Brahmins had perverted the Vedas into just the Karma Kanda portion, but he did not rebel again the actual essence of the Sanathan Dharma.
If you do a close study of the actual essence of the Sanathan Dharma, the Sakyamuni was again reiterating and enforcing the basic concepts of the actual Vedas – the Jnana Kanda portion or Vedanta:
- Constant adherence to Dharma
- Detachment and renunciation
- ध्यान (Dhyan) which the Buddhists call Zen.
- Moksha which he called Nirvana. Both mean the same thing – Shunyata or freedom from Vasanas.
The ultimate aim of a Buddhist is to become a Buddha:
One who has achieved Nirvana.
The ultimate embodiment of truth in Buddhism is the Buddha.
While the ultimate embodiment of truth in Maha Kavya (Grand Pronouncement) of the Sanathan Dharma is:
तत् त्वम् असि Tat Tvam Asi – That is the Truth, That is the Self, That You Are.
According to S Radhakrishnan, the two chief works of Mahayana Buddhism, Mahayanasraddhotpatti (The Awakening of the Faith in the Mahayana) and Saddharmapundarika (The Lotus of the True Law) are deeply indebted to the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita.
The Dhammapada is a superb and concise distillation of the life’s teaching of the Sakyamuni.
Every verse of it is so simple to understand and enlightening, like a light coming on in your head
Even a two year old child can understand these truths outlined in the Dhammapada, but each verse if so profound if you really sit down to think about them.
The Dhammapada can be read just to attain sublime spiritual mastery.
There is no “religion in it with dogma and rules for Identity and Morality that today’s “religions” preach.
The Dhammapada has this wonderful insight:
Health is the supreme possession. Contentment is the supreme wealth. Trust is the supreme relation. Nirvana is the supreme happiness.
Hatred is, indeed, never appeased by hatred in this world. It is appeased only by loving-kindness. This is an ancient law.
Here is a wonderful interpretation of the Dhammapada.
The teachings of the Sakyamuni have completely declined in Bharat.
Thanks to Bodhidharma and Huanzang at least they have flourished in East Asia and China.
Here is a wonderful movie about Huanzang and how he learned about the teachings of the Sakyamuni from the greatest university of those times, Nalanda and then returned to China to spread and revive the teachings of the Sakyamuni.
XUAN ZANG: Chinese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film｜Huang Xiaoming, Xu Zheng 大唐玄奘【Huashi TV】