Robert Korczynski holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan with Majors in Psychology and Sociology, and Minors in Philosophy and Religions. He is a minister in the Universal Life Church. The following is an excerpt from his book, Buddha's Big Foot, which is an academic investigation into the influence of King Ashoka's Buddhist Missionaries within the religions of the ancient world.
In this online version, red italic letters are used for any text attributed to the Buddha or Jesus, regardless of the source. The common term, "the Lord" is used interchangeably to refer to both, as the teachings of Jesus have been shown to come directly from the teachings of the Buddha through ancient number-based forms of translation. (See the revolutionary work of the Danish linguist Dr. Christian Lindtner.) The following is copyrighted material.
_______________________________________________________
The age in which we live could be called the, “Age of Distraction;” it is even more important to maintain focus on the path with all the distractions available in the modern world. If you want, there are now dozens of things available to distract you from your purpose in life: we have TV, Movies, Ipods, Radio, MySpace and more feeding the clutter that already makes up the content of the average mind.
The problem for most modern Americans, and I think most people in general, is that they cannot accept that any Anger and Hatred that they experience are the only Hell that will ever exist. John Lennon said, “War is over, if you want it.” The same holds true for all Samsara, the created world of attachment, suffering, stress, and dissatisfaction.
The world around us is a constantly changing place; everything forms up into “things” or “people,” dissolves, reforms in a new way, and again, decays and dies. From the first moment of birth, or the moment of the creation of a “thing,” everything is constantly dissolving into its constituent parts. All “things” are just temporary composite heaps of energy, bound together into a form or shape, having no independent existence. They will eventually dissolve back, in time, to the background or “non-form,” from which form arises.
Seeing this sets you free. Free from grasping as things dissolve. Free from desires for wealth, fame and property. Free from hatred and anger, since you can see the forces and circumstances that brought the person to act selfishly, or egotistically, you can only feel compassion for the fact that they are stubbornly living in their own self-created hell. (...)
If you recognise the dependant existence of all things, you will see that what is infront of you exists only because it is a combined thing, time and matter combined momentarily to created it, and it will, over time, dissolve back into the background energy of the Universe, “things,” are only “waves,” that arise from the “ocean.”
Again, I am not a Buddha-dharma teacher, but this is the teaching of “Shunyata,” of Emptiness and Existence. Dharma-kaya is the Ocean, Samboka-kaya is the energy moving thru the water, and Nirmana-kaya is the atoms of water in the wave, the substance, the wave or form. All are Ocean, all are Dharma-kaya, the background energy of the Universe. The things in front of you, the cup, the table, this book, all you see, are just waves in the background energy of the Universe, they arise, and like a wave they will fall back, as everything does someday.
As recorded in the authenticated Gospel According to Mary, this appears to be a teaching on Shunyata (Form and Emptiness), attributed to “Jesus:”
21) [Text missing] “. . . Will matter then be destroyed or not?”
22) The Savior said, “All nature, all formations, all creatures exist in and with one another, and they will be resolved again into their own roots.”
23) “For the nature of matter is resolved into the roots of its own nature alone.”
24) “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
25) Peter said to him, “Since you have explained everything to us, tell us this also: What is the sin of the world?”
26) The Savior said, “There is no sin, but it is you who make sin when you do the things that are like the nature of adultery, which is called sin.
27) That is why the Good came into your midst, to the essence of every nature in order to restore it to its root.”
28) Then He continued and said, “That is why you become sick and die, for you are deprived of the one who can heal you.”
29) “He who has a mind to understand, let him understand.”
30) “Matter gave birth to a passion that has no equal, which proceeded from something contrary to nature. Then there arises a disturbance in its whole body.”
31) “That is why I said to you, Be of good courage, and if you are discouraged be encouraged in the presence of the different forms of nature.”
32) “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Compare saying 30 above, to the second noble truth, a few pages back:
Where “…arises a disturbance in its whole body….”
Is an echo of “…arising of suffering: that craving which leads to rebirth….”
And “…a passion that has no equal….”
Is an echo of “…longing and lust for this and that- craving for sensual pleasure, craving for rebirth, craving for cessation of birth….”
If you want to know more about the teachings of the Buddha, go to a source, find a “Buddhist” Sangha near you, and ask them about their lineage, an unbroken lineage, straight back to the Buddha is essential for enlightenment to be passed on.
Anyone who tells you that just one mantra, or just one school within Buddha-dharma is all that is necessary for all people is probably not following a path taught by the Buddha, as he established a variety of paths, or schools, and he taught a variety of mantras. (...)
-Excerpt taken from chapter 6 of Buddha's Big Foot.
International customers can purchase a copy through the publisher's secure server. U.S. customers can get it on Amazon and on Amazon Kindle.