A Journey of Self-Discovery

Book excerpt: "The Buddha never compelled anybody to have blind faith in Him. He just exhorted us to depend on our own wisdom. It is not because we are born as humans that we become wise or foolish. It is because we can bring our defilements under control that we become wise, and it is because we can’t bring our defilements under control that we become foolish. We all have both good and bad qualities. Snakes, chickens, and pigs are not created for you to eat. It is in such existences that you yourself have been born before. We can’t harm anybody without harming ourselves. We can’t disturb others without disturbing ourselves. Patience means accepting. Very beautiful! Accepting both the desirable and the undesirable is the perfection of patience. You make friends with the defilements all the time, but the defilements never treat you as a friend in return. They treat you as an enemy. The Buddha never says, 'Come and believe'. He says, ‘Come and see; the wise can know, the wise can see’. ‘One who sees the Dhamma, sees me. One who sees me, sees the Dhamma’." [From a book published by Pa-Auk Meditation Centre, a Centre of Theravāda Buddhist Tradition]