What Discrimination Feels Like... When You're A Buddhist

by Sophie Dishman, Marie Claire (UK), 2 Feb 2016

London, UK -- I’m a woman - of faith. I am a Buddhist. Yes, I’m one of those people that follows the teachings of the “big, fat, laughing man who, when you rub his belly, gives you good luck” - supposedly. (In case you don’t know who he is, he’s called Buddha.)

But in the past few months, I’ve had some shocking comments thrust towards me, simply because of my religion or my way of life as I prefer to call it.

In the past few days alone I’ve had comments like - 'You’re a Buddha aren’t you?' and 'they are tree huggers!'. But for me, the one I’ve found to be the most offensive is, 'I should be a Buddhist, things don’t make me happy.' As if it was that simple.

Spiritual Fair

Our discontent is due to wrong view

"The Buddha once saw a jackal, a wild dog, run out of the forest where he was staying. It stood still for a while, then it ran into the underbrush, and them out again. Then it ran into a tree hollow, then out again. Then it went into a cave, only to run out again. One minute it stood, the next it ran, then it lay down, then it jumped up... That jackal had mange. When it stood the mange would eat into its skin, so it would run. Running it was still uncomfortable, so it would lie down. Then it would jump up again, running into the underbrush, the tree hollow, never staying still.

Nidhi Kanda — The Reserve Fund (From the Khuddakapatha, The Khuddaka Nikaya )

A person stashes a fund away,
deep underground, at the water line:
"When a need or duty arises,
this will provide for my needs,
for my release if I'm denounced by the king,
molested by thieves,
in case of debt, famine, or accidents."
With aims like this in the world
a reserve fund is stashed away.

Buddha Statues, Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar

Viriya Iddhipada

"You are born at a good time and in a good form of existence. Now then, emulate the wise students of the Buddha and put forth effort as strong as theirs, so that you may attain to the awakening to which you aspired.

"What the Buddha taught is the way out of suffering. You don't have to know a vast amount. If you practice one meditation technique properly with strong and steadfast effort, you will come to know for yourselves that you are people of great strength. You will not have to ask others about the Dhamma teachings, and you will not even have to tell others that you are practicing.

"Once you have established effort, you will not only know what good teachers told you, but you will clearly know for yourselves how the viriya iddhipada (viriya - effort, iddhipada - a factor needed for enlightenment) arises in a split-second.

"... When [my] increase effort, then the viriya iddhipada factor will increase also. ... As effort increases the viriya iddhipada factor becomes stronger. ... Work continuously. If you develop continuously, you will become happier and happier.

"You will understand that the degree you come out of suffering depends on how much effort you put in and on how strongly the viriya iddhipada factor arises out of this effort." ~ Webu Sayadaw

What are you?

“…You are the mind. The mind is not the body. The mind comes into possession of the body at the time of conception in the womb of the mother. After nine months, the body and the mind come to this world. So you have to understand that the body is your temporary possession.

One day it will have to get sick. One day it will have to get old. One day the body will have to die. But the mind is not the body, and the mind doesn’t get old, doesn’t get sick or die with the body.