Buddhism is a DIY Religion

Not even the Buddha can tap you on the head and enlighten you.

There’s a lot of Buddhist teachers out there with all sorts of titles and ranks given to them by other teachers. Despite these teachers laudable efforts to guide and advise, none of them can do it for you either. If they could the whole world would be enlightened by now.

You have to do it yourself.

Most other religions are much easier. Like Peter Pan, you just have to believe and have faith. If you believe you can fly, then you can fly.

Buddhism isn’t like that. You actually have to learn to fly. Fortunately, because of the laws of cause & effect, this is possible. It takes diligent effort and study, but a person can work to set up the causes and conditions to have a direct realization of the true nature of objects, persons, and phenomena.

People often ask me, “What am I really supposed to realize to become enlightened?”

It comes down to one thing really.

It’s that things don’t ultimately exist in the way we think they do. Because of seeing things incorrectly, all sorts of problems arise for us.

You can see this for yourself by studying this passage from the Dalai Lama’s “Library of Wisdom” Book 3 “Searching for the Self”. (Credit to Thubten Chodron as co-writer)

“Objects, persons and phenomena are simultaneously empty of inherent existence and dependently existent. The fact that these two are mutually supportive does not mean things switch back and forth between being empty of inherent existence and existing dependently. A sweater arises dependent on its substantial cause - wool - and conditions such as the people who made it and the implements they used to do so. Being created in this way, the sweater does not exist under its own power; nor does it have an independent nature of “sweaterness” - there isn’t a sweater in the wool, the people, or the implements. The sweater came into being because of the functioning of many things that are not sweaters. Because it arose dependent on other factors, it is empty of having its own independent nature. Because a conditioned phenomenon such as a sweater is empty, it will disintegrate and one day become a rag. If it were not empty, it would be static and nothing could influence it, in which case it could neither arise or cease, or exist for that matter.”

All things are like this, including ourselves.

When you start to understand how objects, persons and phenomena really exist then you are on the right track. Life will start to make more sense and you will develop equanimity and spiritual virtue. After that, we have to actualize this further by meditating on the deep implications of this truth and letting it sink in all the way which leads to a direct realization. Do it yourself!