Not What to do but What to Know is the Question

We study in order to ascertain true reality. Our mind needs to be free from bias, unswayed by philosophical or religious views and ideas when studying. We must do our best to let go of our presumptions. It is okay initially to start with the mindset that you are studying Buddhism, but we can’t let that cloud our objectivity. The mindset of striving to discover the truth of reality must be our priority. What we discover is the ground, or fundamental reality; the first of three phases: the ground, the path and the result.

Once we have ascertained the actual nature of reality, it is only then that practice is introduced. It is the same for anything, one must know something first before it can be practised. So we first come to know the nature of reality, then we practise habituating our mind to that reality and out of our erroneous views of reality, until true reality becomes actualised. The process of actualisation is the phase of the path, the state of full actualisation is the result; awakening, buddhahood, enlightenment.

What we find on the phase of the path can seem quite bizarre or even sinister. Like the practices of doctors, for example. Modern medical procedures are familiar to us so they do not seem strange, but if no-one had ever been operated on before and our dear mother returned from seeing the doctor and told us the doctor said he was going to take a sharp knife, slice her open, chop a few bits off from inside and sew her back up, we’d report him to the police. We would think he was an evil maniac. Likewise if we were to see someone receiving acupuncture or any number of medical treatments for the first time without knowing what they were for, or the underlying view behind them.

The same is true for prostrating, offering incense, banging drums and so forth, without knowing the ‘why’ behind them, they are strange. The ‘why’ comes from understanding the phase of the ground and how it is to be actualised, made manifest.

Many of the forms of practice are common to most if not all religious traditions: practising patience, making offerings, praying and so on. While the forms of practice are mostly the same, they bring different results. Why? It depends on whether the practice is founded in an understanding of the ground or not. It is not the forms of practice that determine whether a religion is erroneous or not. It is how the religion views the fundamental view of reality; whether it has correctly ascertained true reality or not.

Many religious traditions encourage or even require blind faith. Buddhism is not like that. There are cultural Buddhists who adopt the practices of Buddhism without knowing the ‘why’, the reason behind the practices, who do act through blind faith. It is difficult, however, to call such individuals true Buddhists. If you were to ask them why they are offering incense they would probably struggle to give a cogent answer. They might say, “Because it generates merit and that allows one to become a buddha, an awakened one,” but ask them what an awakened one is or how merit facilitates awakening and they will soon become stuck.

Some people who are not fond of Buddhists or Buddhism criticise us saying that what we do is merely blind faith, and not rooted in reasoning. But for the most part, those who say that are speaking from their own blind faith, because their criticisms are based on merely having seen people prostrating, offering and praying and blindly presuming that the individual is blindly following the practices taught in the texts. If they had studied the Buddhist scriptures they would understand that the view has to be understood first and whether someone else has understood the view or not is not ascertainable from the outside.

In summary, as Buddhists, we shouldn’t initially be concerned with what we need to do, but what we need to know.

Macau – 26.08.25