To be a Buddhist 1b Venerable Thích Trí thủ

19) Q: Can you tell me some of the benefits of having righteous faith in the Buddha?
A: The Sutras say, "The Buddhas of the ten directions love and miss sentient beings as a mother loves and misses her child." When a son responds to his mother's boundless love, putting all his trust in his mother's immeasurable position of wisdom, like a Buddha; it is like a person walking in the dark with a torch to light the way through dangerous places and will not worry or fear.

20) Q: What are the benefits of righteous faith in the Dharma?
A: The Buddha taught that when you create good causes, you will get good results; if you create bad causes, you will suffer bad results. The law of cause and effect is a valid law. Buddha also taught that "all sentient beings are Buddhas to be," which means that everyone has the potential to become a Buddha. So, if you accept and do exactly what the Buddha taught, you will undoubtedly be rid of delusion, achieve enlightenment, and be happy.

21) Q: Is the Buddha's teaching only so much?
A: There are many other Buddhist teachings, but in general, they are not outside the law of cause and effect.

22) Q: What are the benefits of righteous faith in the Sangha?
A: The Sangha are individuals who represent the Buddha and carry on the mission of teaching in the same way that the Buddha did before entering Nirvana. Having represented the Buddha, the Sangha is the Buddha. The benefits of righteous faith in the Buddha are the same as the benefits of righteous faith in the Sangha in terms of creating merit and virtue.

23) Q: When you have started a righteous faith, what else do you do?
A: You have to take refuge in the Three Jewels.

24) Q: What does it mean to take refuge?
A: Taking refuge means turning back to depend on. Because of their delusions, sentient beings are drawn to lust and drowned and floated endlessly in the sea of samsara's sorrow, like a wild youngster engaged in the call of wandering wanderers, rolling in the dusty breeze, tasting all kinds of sour and spicy sensations. Now the wandering son awakens, wishes to end his wandering existence, and wishes to return to his hometown in peace to seek refuge – this is known as taking refuge.

25) Q: What does it mean to take refuge in the Buddha?
A: That means turning to take refuge in the Buddha, worshiping the Buddha as a teacher, and vowing for the rest of one's life not to worship gods, spirits, demons, or animals.

26) Q: What does it mean to take refuge in the Dharma?
A: That is, to take refuge in the Buddha's teachings, to use them as a torch to light the way, and to promise never to succumb to the lures of evil spirits and other faiths to promote false doctrines.

27) Q: What does it mean to take refuge in the Sangha?
A: That is, to return to relying on the Sangha, to recognize the Sangha as the living Buddha, to set an example worthy of following, and to promise not to associate with wicked companions or evil gangs for the rest of your life.

28) Q: It is stated that there are numerous Buddhas in each of the world's ten directions; therefore, which Buddha should be venerated more?
A: Having been the same fully enlightened being, every Buddha has the same perfect wisdom and equal compassion for all sentient beings. However, depending on which Buddha they believe has a more predetermined relationship with sentient beings, they will worship that Buddha, much as Pure Land practitioners worship Amitabha Buddha and Tantric practitioners worship Đai Nhật Buddha. Worshiping the Buddha Shakyamuni, on the other hand, is the most fitting because he is the master of our samsara realm in the present.

29) Q: Is Buddha a real historical character or just a myth?
A: Buddha is a historical character who was born more than 2500 years ago as Siddhartha Gautama, the son of King Suddhodana and Queen Maya in Northern India's Kapilavastu region (now Nepal). He left home at the age of 19 to seek the path to enlightenment, just as he was ready to take over his father's crown. Shakyamuni Buddha acquired Perfect Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at the age of 30. After reaching Buddhahood, he preached throughout India, relieving the suffering of innumerable sentient beings. He passed away at the age of 80 in the Sala Forest on the boundaries of the kingdom of Kushinagar. His life was practiced as he preached his beliefs.

30) Q: Are the Buddha's teachings still complete today?
A: The Buddha's teachings, comprising the three canons of Sutra, Vinaya, and Abhidhamma, are still intact and have been translated into numerous languages. For a long time, the Buddhist Canon has been fully translated into Chinese, known as the Chinese Tripitaka. The Buddhists in Vietnam have just started translating many texts. That teaching is known as Dharma in Sanskrit and Pháp in Chinese (and Vietnamese).