The Winning Life

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The Winning Life

• An Introduction to Buddhist Practice

The Process
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The Process
We do not need to understand exactly how this
Buddhism works before we can make use of it to
our advantage. Though we cannot see the law of
gravity, we can attest to its existence.
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Eternity of Life
Some religions teach that we live only one
lifetime, and when we die, we go permanently to
heaven or hell.
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Eternity of Life
In Buddhism, ones life or essence has no
beginning or end. We live many lifetimes,
repeating the cycle of birth and death. Like
going to sleep at night, we refresh our bodies
and wake up anew.
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Eternity of Life
Everything weve done until this moment adds up
to who we are. This is the law of cause and
effect in action, this is Karma.
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Eternity of Life
Karma is like a bank for our thoughts, deeds, and
actions (causes) until, when our lives meet the
right environmental conditions, we experience the
results (effect).
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Eternity of Life
As we live our lives (making causes), effects
reside within us, and when we die, those effects
dictate the circumstances of our birth in the
next life.
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Eternity of Life
So when we are reborn, we still face the same
problems or karma from causes we have made. This
goes a long way to explaining why people are born
under such different circumstances -- in other
words, why people have different karma.
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Eternity of Life
This principle of cause and effect suggests we
can change our karma or destiny that we may have
thought unchangeable. This is the great hope and
promise offered by Buddhist practice.
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The Ten Worlds
One way that Buddhism explains life is through a
concept known as The Ten Worlds."
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The Ten Worlds
These are ten states, or conditions, of life that
we experience within ourselves and are then
manifested throughout all aspects of our lives.
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The Ten Worlds
6 paths or lower worlds
Of the Ten Worlds, the worlds of Hell, Hunger,
Animality, Anger, Tranquility and Rapture are
considered the 6 paths, or lower worlds.
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The Ten Worlds
6 paths or lower worlds
They are considered the lower worlds because the
emergence or disappearance of these life states
are governed by external circumstances.
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The Ten Worlds
6 paths or lower worlds
When we recognize that everything experienced in
the 6 lower worlds is impermanent, we begin to
seek some lasting truth.
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The Ten Worlds
4 noble paths or worlds
Unlike the 6 paths, which are passive reactions
to the environment, the four noble worlds of
Learning, Realization, Bodhisattva, and Buddahood
are achieved through deliberate effort.
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Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds
In Nichiren Daishonins Buddhism, all Ten Worlds
are viewed as conditions of life that all people
have the potential to experience.
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Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds
At any moment, one of the ten will manifest while
the other nine remain dormant, but there is
always the potential for change.
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Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds
All of us have particular worlds around which our
life-activities usually center and to which we
tend to revert when external stimuli arise.
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Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds
The purpose of Buddhist practice is to elevate
this basic life-tendency and eventually establish
Buddhahood as ones fundamental state of life.
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Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds
When our lives are based on the life-tendency of
Buddhahood, the other nine worlds will be
harmonized and function to benefit both ourselves
and those around us.
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The Oneness of Life and Its Environment
The principle of the oneness of life and its
environment describes the inseparable
relationship of the individual and their
surroundings.
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The Oneness of Life and Its Environment
The effects of ones karma, both good and bad,
manifest themselves both in ones self and in the
environment, because these are two integral
phases of the same entity.
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The Oneness of Life and Its Environment
From this standpoint, our life is not confined to
ourselves, but exerts an influence on our
families, communities, nations, and ultimately
all humanity.
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The Oneness of Life and Its Environment
Since both life and its environment are one,
whichever of the Ten Worlds an individual
manifests internally will be mirrored in his or
her environment.
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The Oneness of Life and Its Environment
A person in the state of hell will perceive the
environment to be hellish, while a person in the
world of animality will perceive the same
environment as a jungle where only the strong
survive.
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The Oneness of Life and Its Environment
Wherever we are, under whatever circumstances, we
can bring forth our innate Buddhahood through the
Buddhist practice, thus transforming our
experience of our environment into the Buddhas
land.
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