the word ‘spiritual’ I mean basic human good qualities. These are: human affection, a sense of involvement, honesty, discipline and human intelligence properly guided by good motivation. We have all these things from birth; they do not come to us later in our lives. Religious faith, however, comes later. In this regard, I believe that there are two levels to the various religious teachings. On one level, religious teachings talk about God or the Almighty, or, in Buddhism, about Nirvana and the next life. Yet on a different level, all religious teachings and traditions teach us to be good human beings, to be warm-hearted people. These religious teachings simply strengthen the basic human good qualities which we have from birth.
As humans, we all have the same human potential, unless there is some sort of retarded brain function. The wonderful human brain is the source of our strength and the source of our future, provided we utilize it in the right direction. If we use the brilliant human mind in the wrong way, it is really a disaster. I think human beings are the superior sentient beings on this planet. Humans have the potential not only to create happy lives for themselves, but also to help other beings. We have a natural creative quality and it is very important to realize this.
It is my belief that the human brain and basic human compassion are by nature in some kind of balance. Sometimes, when we grow up, we may neglect human affection and simply concentrate on the human brain, thus losing the balance. It is then that disasters and unwelcome things happen. If we look at different species of mammals, we will see that nature is very important and that it is a forceful factor that creates some sort of balanced way.
With the realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world. According to my own experience, self-confidence is very important. That sort of confidence is not a blind one; it is an awareness of one’s own potential. On that basis, human beings can transform themselves by increasing the good qualities and reducing the negative qualities. Transformation does not mean 100 per cent change. Without a basis of something to aim for, how do we develop good things? Buddhists call this potential ‘Buddha Nature’, which is also the fundamental Clear Light nature of the mind.
The fundamental teaching of the Buddha is his teaching on the Four Noble Truths: 1) That there is suffering; 2) that suffering has cause; 3) that there is cessation of suffering; and, finally, that there is a path to such freedom. The underlying principle of this teaching is the universal principle of causality. What becomes important in the understanding of this basic teaching is a genuine awareness of one’s own potentials and the need to utilize them to their fullest. Seen in this light, every human action becomes significant.
For example, the smile is a very important feature of the human face. But because of human intelligence, even that good part of human nature can be used in the wrong way, such as sarcastic smiles or diplomatic smiles, which only serve to create suspicion. I feel that a genuine, affectionate smile is very important in our day-to-day lives. How one creates that smile largely depends on one’s own attitude. It is illogical to expect smiles from others if one does not smile oneself. Therefore, one can see that many things depend on one’s own behaviour.
Now we should talk about our motivation and mental attitude. As I mentioned earlier, the facility which can provide positive things also has the potential for negative things. The important thing is to use human intelligence and judgement, and to be mindful of the benefits for long-term and short-term happiness. Up to a certain point, the body itself is a good indicator. For instance, if some sort of food causes you discomfort one day, then later you will not want to consume that type of food. It seems that at a certain stage the body itself can tell us what is suitable for our well-being and happiness and what is not. For example, on certain days we tend to have a greater wish to eat green salads and certain vegetables, while on other days we may wish to have something else. In a way, these are bodily indications pointing out what is conducive to our constitution and what is not.
While it is very clear, for instance, that when our bodies need more liquid we develop thirst, sometimes our bodies’ indications may be confusing. In those instances it is the responsibility of human intelligence to judge what is best. Sometimes your intelligence may oppose your immediate desire because it knows the long-term consequences. Thus, the role of intelligence is to determine the positive and negative potential of an event or factor which could have both positive and negative results. It is the role of intelligence, with the full awareness that is provided by education, to judge and accordingly utilize the potential for one’s own benefit or wellbeing.
If we examine our mental world, we find that there are various mental factors which have both positive and negative aspects. For instance, we can look at two types of mental factors which are quite similar: one is self-confidence and the other is conceit or pride. Both of them are similar in that they are uplifting states of mind which give you a certain degree of confidence and boldness. But conceit and pride tend to lead to more negative consequences, whereas self-confidence tends to lead to more positive consequences. I usually make a distinction between different types of ego. One type of ego is self-cherishing in order to get some benefit for itself, disregarding the rights of others and even taking advantage of others with acts such as killing, stealing and so on. This is the negative ego. Another ego says, ‘I must be a good human being. I must serve. I must take full responsibility.’ That kind of strong feeling of ‘I’ or self opposes some of our negative emotions. Unless you have a strong feeling of self-confidence based on a strong self, it is very difficult to do battle with these negative emotions. So there are two types of ego, and wisdom or intelligence makes a distinction. Similarly, we must be able to distinguish between genuine humility and a lack of confidence. One may mistake the two because both of these are sort of slightly humbling mental functions, but one is positive and the other is negative.
Another example of this may be seen if we examine loving kindness and compassion on the one hand, and strong attachment on the other. While both are concerned with an object of endearment, strong attachment tends to lead to negative consequences, whereas love and compassion lead to more positive consequences. Thus two states of mind which show the same basic characteristics can have differing negative and positive results.
Desire is the same. There is both positive and negative desire. I think generally that desire which has proper reasons is positive, whereas desire which has no proper reasons is negative and can lead to problems. Desire is the prime mover in achieving happiness now and for the future. From the Buddhist viewpoint, the attainment of Buddhahood can be achieved only through a certain type of desire. For instance, the Mahayana Buddhist literature mentions two desires or two aspirations. One is the aspiration to be of benefit to all sentient beings and the other is the aspiration to attain fully the Enlightened state for that purpose. Without these two types of aspiration, the attainment of full Enlightenment is not possible. But there are also negative things which result from desire. The antidote to this negative desire is contentment. There are always extremes, but the middle way is the proper way. So if desire pushes you towards the extreme, then your intelligence has the responsibility to check that course and return you to the centre.
The sense of contentment is a key factor for attaining happiness. Bodily health, material wealth and companions and friends are three factors for happiness. Contentment is the key that will determine the outcome of your relations with all three of these factors.
First, with regard to the body, one can see that too much attachment to one’s own body sometimes leads to problems. For that reason, Buddhist training looks at the body from a different angle and tries to analyse the nature of the body. To me, thinking along these lines is very useful. I think about the source of my body and the very nature of blood, bones and flesh. The body is not something pure. Even the act of birth is bloody. Also, no matter how beautiful or polished your body appears on the outside, inside there are still a lot of dirty things. With the covering of skin, the human body sometimes looks very beautiful. But if you look more closely, then this body is really quite horrible! Even though we consume good food, with a nice colour, taste and smell, the food is transformed into dirty things. Yet if we try to remove these dirty aspects of the body we cannot survive. And this is the case not only for other people’s bodies, but one’s own body too. Most importantly, it is because of our bodies that we have illness, old age, pain and death. Yet despite these faults, the body is very precious because of intelligence, which we can use