Londoniyyah - Part 34 - Buddhism | Mohammed Hijab (2022-04-29) #

0:00:08 welcome to another session of londoner
0:00:10 we have nearly drawn to an absolute
0:00:12 close of this series
0:00:14 and i'm sure
0:00:15 you as much as i have or hopefully even
0:00:18 more maybe
0:00:20 have benefited from this series we've
0:00:22 been through so many systems world
0:00:24 systems
0:00:25 uh which are very relevant today if you
0:00:28 have been through this series and
0:00:29 watched every single video until this
0:00:31 time
0:00:32 your cultural capital
0:00:34 should have really
0:00:36 gone up massively your understanding
0:00:39 foundational understanding of people's
0:00:40 beliefs would have gone up and to be
0:00:42 honest with you even if say you're a
0:00:44 non-muslim watching this
0:00:46 or someone from another
0:00:48 group or something like this
0:00:50 now you can make sense of what other
0:00:52 people make sense of in other words you
0:00:54 know what people believe in a way that
0:00:56 maybe wasn't the case beforehand so this
0:00:59 series i think has been
0:01:01 uh
0:01:02 exponential learning curve
0:01:04 as for me it has been anyway
0:01:06 and it will insha allah we hope
0:01:09 make history
0:01:10 and this might sound quite ambitious
0:01:12 but if we're not going to be ambitious
0:01:15 then
0:01:16 what are we going to be
0:01:18 in fact this series will be
0:01:21 made into s
0:01:26 it's already been made into a poem
0:01:28 in the arabic language which will be
0:01:30 published soon
0:01:33 and it will be translated in many
0:01:34 languages
0:01:35 and so
0:01:37 like in the past we've had many
0:01:39 different people from the islamic
0:01:40 tradition who would name
0:01:43 who would name the name of
0:01:45 the creedal books
0:01:47 according to the cities
0:01:49 that they lived in we too
0:01:51 name the name of this
0:01:53 particular series
0:01:54 in the name of the city that we live in
0:01:56 of course all of these
0:01:58 themes and ideologies that we've covered
0:02:01 are very
0:02:02 pertinent
0:02:03 to the london context which is one of
0:02:06 the world's largest cosmopolitan cities
0:02:10 uh out there now we're going to start in
0:02:11 charlotte today with buddhism we've
0:02:14 already covered two indic religions
0:02:17 we've already covered hinduism and
0:02:18 sikhism and so buddhism is
0:02:21 another indic religion
0:02:23 i'm going to start with the life of the
0:02:24 buddha
0:02:26 and i'm going to go
0:02:28 across the pond
0:02:30 and listen to ahmed our frequent terrain
0:02:32 guest who's been focusing on these
0:02:34 things and his studies and then we're
0:02:36 going to make this
0:02:38 more of an interactive session
0:02:40 and hopefully we can all benefit so
0:02:42 let's start with the life of the buddha
0:02:45 i'm going to play a small clip that he's
0:02:48 sent me and then we're going to open
0:02:51 this group okay
0:02:55 so looking at the life of the buddha
0:02:58 is extremely important in order to
0:03:00 understand buddhism and its philosophy
0:03:02 and principles the founder his name was
0:03:05 siddhartha gautama
0:03:07 he was originally a hindu but because
0:03:10 because of the caste system
0:03:12 he was deeply concerned of some of the
0:03:14 issues that were arising from it so
0:03:16 ultimately he left hinduism
0:03:19 early on in his life an angel appeared
0:03:21 before his father and the angel told
0:03:23 them
0:03:25 told him that your son would become one
0:03:27 of the world's greatest leaders or he
0:03:29 would become one of the world's great
0:03:31 sages
0:03:32 which is interesting and angel came it's
0:03:34 almost like
0:03:36 and so his father responded by creating
0:03:39 his father responded by trying to
0:03:41 protect his child he didn't want any
0:03:43 harm to come to him so in response to
0:03:46 that wahi
0:03:47 he created a walled city where there was
0:03:50 only perfect healthy human beings lived
0:03:53 where there was no suffering at all
0:03:56 because he didn't want to expose his son
0:03:58 to it he wanted to protect him and he
0:04:00 wanted him to fulfill his destiny
0:04:02 so for example when somebody would get
0:04:04 sick or they would become old or weak
0:04:07 his father would remove them from the
0:04:08 city and so the buddha grew up in this
0:04:11 kingdom and he was sheltered from all
0:04:13 harm
0:04:14 he was not exposed to an evil
0:04:17 which is important because one day he
0:04:19 was approached by a sick man and when
0:04:21 the buddha looked at him he became
0:04:23 disenchanted
0:04:25 he became shocked because he had never
0:04:27 seen a sick person in his life
0:04:29 and responds his response is he
0:04:31 ultimately runs back into the fortress
0:04:33 and he locks the door
0:04:35 and then another day he goes out and
0:04:37 again he sees another person out there
0:04:39 who's old who's weak and he becomes
0:04:41 appalled and shocked because it's not
0:04:43 something that he's used to he didn't
0:04:45 know the concept of death in his life he
0:04:48 never knew the concept of suffering
0:04:50 and so ultimately out of his shock he
0:04:52 abandons his home and he runs away um he
0:04:56 spends some time alone meditating he
0:04:59 almost starves himself to death but
0:05:01 after six years of meditation he
0:05:03 retrieved the state of nirvana which is
0:05:06 the state of enlightenment and then he
0:05:08 returns back to the world and he shares
0:05:10 his teachings uh his teachings were
0:05:12 taught to his his students his students
0:05:15 compiled his sutras which are like his
0:05:17 sayings his hadiths and they turned that
0:05:19 into a scripture which discusses topics
0:05:22 like meditation mindfulness and ethics
0:05:25 and
0:05:26 that's and
0:05:27 and so the scriptures today are really
0:05:29 just the sayings of buddha in the realms
0:05:31 of these things
0:05:33 but it's important to understand his
0:05:34 life in order to understand why some of
0:05:37 his principles such as suffering
0:05:39 are extremely important and crucial
0:05:42 okay
0:05:46 let's uh who else has covered the life
0:05:48 of the buddha
0:05:50 yes tell us something about that
0:05:54 yes you basically
0:05:55 said everything pretty much
0:05:57 i'm sure there's more to say um
0:06:09 so we know that he
0:06:11 uh
0:06:12 he lived
0:06:13 in between
0:06:14 some saved in the sixth and the fourth
0:06:17 century
0:06:18 bc and this this objection so what was
0:06:22 the exact
0:06:23 date of
0:06:24 birth and death
0:06:26 and
0:06:27 this
0:06:28 this pretty much historic proof that he
0:06:31 was actually a character i actually it
0:06:34 was a someone
0:06:38 i mean
0:06:39 his proper name is siddhartha
0:06:42 uh gautuma
0:06:44 and
0:06:45 so this proof that he was actually a
0:06:48 person
0:06:49 and
0:06:58 this is a lot of information sorry
0:07:03 so yeah he
0:07:04 uh
0:07:05 he was the only son
0:07:07 of of
0:07:09 sony son and and his mom passed away
0:07:12 uh just some days after
0:07:14 uh after giving birth
0:07:16 so um
0:07:18 this
0:07:20 this angel that he mentioned
0:07:22 from uh from what i read from about the
0:07:24 things i wrote
0:07:27 i understand he was someone a holy man
0:07:30 that came and
0:07:33 give this um
0:07:37 prophecies that he's gonna be
0:07:39 maybe
0:07:42 a great king or military leader
0:07:45 and then his father decided to
0:07:48 protect him from all what kind of
0:07:51 suffering
0:07:52 so
0:07:53 he stayed in this palace
0:07:56 for uh
0:07:58 until the age of 16 when he got married
0:08:01 then
0:08:02 he had a son
0:08:03 after that he stayed another 13 years in
0:08:06 the in the palace and then he decided to
0:08:08 go out
0:08:09 that's when he that's when he saw the
0:08:12 the
0:08:13 ill person
0:08:15 and
0:08:16 the story says that then he continued
0:08:18 the journey
0:08:19 then he saw
0:08:21 as the aesthetic of someone that was
0:08:24 basically
0:08:25 made it meditating
0:08:27 and
0:08:27 then he saw an old man
0:08:29 and a disease a body
0:08:32 and
0:08:33 that's that's where he
0:08:35 he got really really shocked
0:08:37 and he decided to
0:08:38 leave everything behind his
0:08:40 wife his son
0:08:41 and start
0:08:43 looking for answers
0:08:45 and basically start looking for a way to
0:08:47 to find a way basically to find a way to
0:08:51 get away from this
0:08:53 sufferings
0:08:54 so he the first thing he decides is to
0:08:57 do meditation
0:08:58 the same way that he found the guy
0:09:01 so he starts doing that by realizing
0:09:03 that
0:09:05 no he starts doing that and then
0:09:07 apparently a little girl comes and gives
0:09:10 him a
0:09:11 bowl of i think rice or milk or
0:09:14 something
0:09:15 and
0:09:16 after having that he realizes that this
0:09:18 is not the way
0:09:20 so
0:09:21 he finished and starts looking for
0:09:24 start looking for more answers start
0:09:26 looking um
0:09:28 and then
0:09:35 he goes on and he finds a another five
0:09:39 monks
0:09:40 called monks
0:09:42 on
0:09:43 his
0:09:44 ascetics
0:09:46 aesthetics
0:09:48 and he starts preaching he starts
0:09:50 basically doing the same meditating with
0:09:52 them
0:09:53 and after some time he also realizes
0:09:55 that this is another way
0:09:56 so he leaves them
0:09:58 and now he goes to uh
0:10:00 to this tree
0:10:02 and it just sits underneath and starts
0:10:04 meditating meditating
0:10:06 and
0:10:08 this is his decision is decisive like
0:10:11 he's a
0:10:12 very
0:10:13 only that i'm gonna find the answer
0:10:16 for whatever is it whatever it is i'm
0:10:18 gonna find the answer
0:10:19 so after 49 days he gets to this
0:10:24 nirvana state dimensions and like
0:10:26 enlightenment
0:10:27 and
0:10:28 like all of the sudden he finds answers
0:10:31 before that obviously
0:10:32 when they say that there's some kind of
0:10:33 demons that come to him
0:10:35 try to
0:10:36 trying to
0:10:37 persuade pursuit
0:10:39 against
0:10:40 and uh time to
0:10:43 take him away from this meditation but
0:10:46 for
0:10:47 some reason or
0:10:49 which i don't know after 49 days he
0:10:51 finds the answers
0:10:53 and at the beginning is
0:10:56 he decides not to teach you anybody
0:11:00 but then after
0:11:02 after
0:11:04 sometimes he goes back to the five
0:11:07 monks typhoon and they become
0:11:10 his first
0:11:13 disciples
0:11:14 and from there on you know starts uh
0:11:17 that one like he mentioned that one that
0:11:20 wrote the you know his by his life and
0:11:24 so basically that's
0:11:26 well so you said you didn't have
0:11:27 anything to say but you had a lot more
0:11:29 to say than you said
0:11:31 a lot there's more information about it
0:11:33 go ahead we have a better time to
0:11:35 summarize it yeah somebody had to give
0:11:36 me some time too you know that's fine oh
0:11:38 you want some more time before we come
0:11:39 back to you yeah
0:11:41 all right well that's good thank you
0:11:42 very much for that that was very
0:11:43 informative is anyone else that has
0:11:44 anything
0:11:45 they want to say about the buddha's life
0:11:47 himself
0:11:49 yes yeah i think
0:11:50 obviously it was already mentioned but i
0:11:52 think um
0:11:54 the fact that he was born into a hindu
0:11:55 family and he was actually one of the
0:11:57 teachers
0:11:58 of you know the hinduism tradition uh
0:12:01 and he was actually one of the teachers
0:12:02 of the older scripture hindus which was
0:12:03 the vedas so i think this is like very
0:12:05 important point to mention just because
0:12:07 you know there are you know we can
0:12:08 clearly see that there are a lot of
0:12:10 influences from hinduism into buddhism
0:12:12 and in fact the dalai lama he even says
0:12:14 uh you know that hinduism is the mother
0:12:17 of you know of buddhism and there's
0:12:19 something that you know that's well
0:12:20 accepted and you know that they
0:12:22 um okay good point but the but then um
0:12:27 kind of his aim and you know this might
0:12:29 be i'm not sure if this is a accepted
0:12:31 view in buddhism it might be in my own
0:12:33 interview but his aim supposedly was
0:12:36 that he wanted to reform kind of
0:12:38 tradition so he wasn't happy with how
0:12:40 things were you know currently so for
0:12:41 example this idea of uh sacrificing
0:12:43 things um this is something that he
0:12:46 thought was you know beneath humans and
0:12:48 something that he shouldn't do so his
0:12:50 aim was to basically kind of reform the
0:12:51 reform
0:12:52 uh
0:12:53 uh
0:12:54 uh
0:12:55 hinduism and for this reason actually a
0:12:58 lot of hindus uh they do believe that
0:13:00 buddha he's a reincarnation of a deity
0:13:02 that is a reincarnation of one of the
0:13:03 gods as well so yeah as i mentioned
0:13:06 there's a lot of overlap between
0:13:07 hinduism and buddhism on that point i
0:13:08 think what we should do before you come
0:13:10 you want to say something before yeah
0:13:11 yeah going back to the same point you
0:13:13 know he does buddhism
0:13:15 i was saying that he decided to
0:13:18 start teaching
0:13:19 so he says that it was actually brahma
0:13:22 one of the gods one of the hindu gods
0:13:24 that convinced him to uh
0:13:26 to you know to start teaching
0:13:29 and then
0:13:30 he goes away from
0:13:32 he travels for a hundred miles or
0:13:33 something like that and then then he's
0:13:35 when he finds these five monks again
0:13:37 five aesthetics
0:13:39 and
0:13:42 he encourages them encourages them to
0:13:45 follow a middle a balanced path
0:13:47 basically
0:13:48 a part of like no being
0:13:51 in a fully meditating
0:13:53 uh
0:13:55 way like
0:13:56 i'm not eating i'm not nothing i'm just
0:13:57 gonna be
0:13:59 and who told them that
0:14:01 this
0:14:02 buddha siddhartha
0:14:05 and
0:14:06 also not going to like fully
0:14:07 materialistic life so a middle path uh
0:14:10 halfway past we need a bit of uh
0:14:14 dunya
0:14:24 so
0:14:26 yeah that's
0:14:28 then this five monks they're the one
0:14:30 that formed the foundations of sangha or
0:14:32 the community community of monks
0:14:36 yeah so that's
0:14:37 that's it
0:14:38 fantastic anything else for
0:14:41 all right the first question we want is
0:14:43 what are the significant because you
0:14:44 mentioned already
0:14:46 you've touched upon it but we want to
0:14:48 have a little bit more
0:14:50 continuities here what are some of
0:14:53 the main
0:14:54 similarities
0:14:56 and differences
0:14:57 of hinduism and buddhism so i need to
0:15:00 speak to the person next to you or
0:15:02 indeed you can speak to each other
0:15:04 that's fine as a full group
0:15:06 we can you can talk to each other i'll
0:15:08 give you five minutes and then we'll
0:15:09 come back that'll be the first question
0:15:10 we asked
0:15:17 that was fantastic
0:15:19 it was very good
0:15:21 all right so what are some of the
0:15:22 similarities and differences
0:15:25 with buddhism and hinduism
0:15:32 i think um yeah one of the main
0:15:34 similarities is the idea of
0:15:37 idols so obviously um you know hindus
0:15:39 they believe in angels and you know many
0:15:41 deities and you know worship these
0:15:42 deities sacrifice for them you know pay
0:15:45 arms towards them is all um and in
0:15:47 buddhism how do they pay our children
0:15:49 how do you
0:15:50 i couldn't tell you okay because i'm
0:15:52 sure the idol is not taking the money
0:15:56 yeah
0:15:58 for the
0:15:59 statues okay yeah yeah yeah okay okay
0:16:02 they're cute
0:16:03 yeah
0:16:04 yeah um in buddhism they do have
0:16:06 something similar right um you know
0:16:08 where some buddhists they do um believe
0:16:11 that you know these idols they do have
0:16:12 creative powers whereas other buddhists
0:16:13 they believe that these idols don't have
0:16:14 crazy powers and they're just saints
0:16:16 um but nonetheless like they do you know
0:16:18 some of them do offer sacrifices towards
0:16:20 them and you know pay arms towards the
0:16:21 resort um whereas others do not um and
0:16:25 also um some of these idols um you know
0:16:28 they do they have greater powers as i
0:16:29 mentioned
0:16:30 um but even even um kind of more than
0:16:32 that is
0:16:33 um this idea of nirvana which was
0:16:35 briefly mentioned yeah um so some
0:16:37 buddhists they do believe in ancestor
0:16:38 worship
0:16:39 so um the idea can you can you uh tell
0:16:42 us what nirvana is one more time just in
0:16:44 case the viewers are uh
0:16:45 nirvana is basically enlightenment so
0:16:47 it's right it's reaching kind of the
0:16:49 final abode
0:16:50 uh of life
0:16:52 um and it's like after you you know
0:16:53 maybe we'll go into something we've
0:16:55 touched on the main concepts but you
0:16:56 know after you do the eight paths of
0:16:58 buddhism and you you meet all these
0:17:00 criterias then you will attain
0:17:02 enlightenment and you reach nirvana
0:17:04 um and yeah this is yeah and if you
0:17:07 don't reach nirvana within your own
0:17:08 lifetime then you'll be reincarnated so
0:17:10 you go for his continuous life and cycle
0:17:12 death life and death cycle until you
0:17:14 reach nirvana basically um so you know
0:17:16 those ancestors who have basically you
0:17:18 know gone on
0:17:20 to the hereafter or nirvana they believe
0:17:22 that they are actually in need and so as
0:17:23 a result they need to sacrifice things
0:17:25 for them and they need to worship them
0:17:26 as such
0:17:29 thank you for that
0:17:30 yeah they don't believe that
0:17:33 so hindus believe that you
0:17:35 you get to
0:17:36 enlightenment when you die yep they
0:17:39 don't believe they believe you can't get
0:17:40 to nirvana while you're still alive
0:17:43 that's one difference from them well in
0:17:44 this story of course would have achieved
0:17:46 it himself
0:17:49 as well
0:17:52 the state of enlightenment yeah
0:17:54 right
0:17:55 what other things do we uh have we have
0:17:57 we've seen our similarities the word
0:17:58 itself nirvana is common in uh
0:18:02 practically all indic religions but
0:18:03 specifically now we're talking about
0:18:05 hinduism and
0:18:06 buddhism
0:18:09 what other concepts are we're going to
0:18:11 touch the key key concepts in later
0:18:14 later on but one of the things are
0:18:16 similar
0:18:18 so far that we've seen
0:18:19 i found something very in terms of
0:18:21 because
0:18:23 i was talking like it's very it's very
0:18:24 hard to understand what they believe in
0:18:26 if they believe in gods or no because
0:18:27 there's a story that this um
0:18:31 there's a man
0:18:33 that believes in god that goes to buddha
0:18:36 and like he's like i've been believing
0:18:38 in god all my life but
0:18:40 i just want to confirm if there's really
0:18:43 a good
0:18:44 and he's like uh
0:18:46 no there's no god
0:18:48 and then and in the evening there's
0:18:51 another guy
0:18:53 another man that comes and he's like
0:18:54 i've been atheists all my life and i've
0:18:56 been debating people
0:18:57 taking them away so maybe richard
0:18:58 dawkins went on a time machine
0:19:00 yeah
0:19:01 so each other
0:19:03 and came in the evening like i've been
0:19:04 preaching all my life with you soon yeah
0:19:06 and then
0:19:07 i just want to confirm that there's no
0:19:09 god
0:19:10 it's like this this god
0:19:12 and and this one of the disciples is
0:19:15 looking like that so that both the
0:19:17 scenes in the morning and the in the
0:19:19 evening it's like why do you say the
0:19:21 things to
0:19:22 differently for each of the persons
0:19:24 and he's like
0:19:26 because
0:19:27 the first person he was
0:19:30 settling his life
0:19:32 believing that there is
0:19:34 this god
0:19:35 so by me telling him that there is no
0:19:38 i'm basically
0:19:39 making making him to look for answers
0:19:43 yeah and so he will find enlightenment
0:19:46 and the second
0:19:47 person the same he was
0:19:49 set in his life with the belief of that
0:19:51 there's no god and by me telling him
0:19:54 that telling him this
0:19:55 not you it will make him
0:19:58 go and you know look for answers and
0:20:00 look for
0:20:01 so he will gain light as well
0:20:03 interesting which is very interesting
0:20:05 okay um now the next thing we're going
0:20:07 to look at very very briefly although
0:20:10 not not in any considerable depth
0:20:12 is something to do with the scriptures
0:20:14 we haven't said that for today but if
0:20:17 anyone knows anything they can add the
0:20:19 brother from america has said something
0:20:21 or sent something over for that so we
0:20:23 are going to um just listen to that
0:20:25 right now
0:20:28 um the scripture is known as the
0:20:30 the tree pitaka which is known as the
0:20:32 three baskets of wisdoms and these are
0:20:34 really the sayings of the buddha
0:20:37 that were initially passed down orally
0:20:40 and then later written down
0:20:41 they're broken down into three parts the
0:20:44 first one which is called the vinaya
0:20:45 pitaka the disciple basket and this is
0:20:48 kind of like a rule book
0:20:50 for monks and nuns um kind of like a
0:20:53 shariah almost
0:20:55 a system of ethics
0:20:57 the second section is called the suta
0:20:59 pitaka which is a teaching basket and
0:21:01 these are like the actual experiences in
0:21:03 the life of the buddha so this is akin
0:21:05 to something like the seerah
0:21:07 and the third part which is called the
0:21:09 abhidhamma pitaka this is or in english
0:21:12 what's called the higher doctrine basket
0:21:14 this is an explanation of the teachings
0:21:16 of the buddha uh of what are called his
0:21:18 sutras and these are kind of like hadith
0:21:21 so these are the three aspects of the
0:21:23 scripture that are involved um in terms
0:21:25 of their ibadah
0:21:27 they largely chant from their scriptures
0:21:30 similar to how hindus do it you know i
0:21:32 mean you find this really in all
0:21:33 religions that they really sing or they
0:21:35 chant their scriptures
0:21:37 um they also have vicar as well so they
0:21:40 keep beads with them and they do their
0:21:41 remembrance on it
0:21:43 i'm not exactly sure what they say but i
0:21:45 believe they recite certain portions of
0:21:47 the sripataka
0:21:49 of the sutras of the saying of the
0:21:51 buddha
0:21:52 bowing is also a part of their ibaad
0:21:54 they say it's a sign of respect
0:21:57 but i also find that interesting
0:21:59 and their meditation philosophy is
0:22:01 really at the heart of buddhism which
0:22:03 we'll we'll get into later inshallah
0:22:07 okay anyone
0:22:08 want to add anything to that
0:22:12 the scriptures and the baskets of wisdom
0:22:16 anything you want to add to that all
0:22:18 right we'll go to his next
0:22:20 uh recording
0:22:23 now getting into the theology and
0:22:24 philosophy
0:22:26 when it comes to theology buddhism is
0:22:28 not really considered a religion because
0:22:31 the vast majority of strands within
0:22:33 buddhism don't really have a supreme
0:22:35 deity that they worship there is really
0:22:36 no god
0:22:38 some of the strands you find are
0:22:40 polytheistic um some do believe in god
0:22:43 uh some of them are monotheistic um but
0:22:47 but god was not really a central part of
0:22:49 this philosophy as far as i'm aware of
0:22:51 buddhist usually they see him as being
0:22:54 divine some see him as being divine but
0:22:56 the majority don't the majority just see
0:22:58 him as a very revered figure
0:23:01 someone who should be
0:23:03 someone who should be
0:23:04 imitated who should be copied
0:23:06 some of them believe in an afterlife in
0:23:08 heaven or hell uh but most strands are
0:23:10 atheistic they don't really have a
0:23:12 concept of that especially because they
0:23:14 believe
0:23:14 in karma and reincarnation
0:23:17 which is which which is derived from
0:23:19 hinduism but the appeal to buddhism is
0:23:22 that you don't have to abandon your
0:23:24 faith system or your ideology to become
0:23:26 a buddhist
0:23:28 so you'll find many there there are many
0:23:29 hindu buddhists there are many christian
0:23:31 buddhists
0:23:32 atheist buddhists like sam harris
0:23:35 some people who are only buddhists
0:23:38 and so that's why it's really appealing
0:23:39 you don't have to abandon your faith
0:23:41 it's just merely a philosophy
0:23:43 now coming to the philosophy of buddhism
0:23:45 this is the most important point in
0:23:47 trying to understand buddhism is that
0:23:49 they surround what's called the four
0:23:51 noble truths
0:23:53 these are the main teachings of the
0:23:55 buddha
0:23:56 in order to acquire nirvana
0:23:59 and so all four of these noble truths
0:24:02 they revolve around the topic of
0:24:04 suffering which is why it's so important
0:24:06 to study his life so you understand why
0:24:09 suffering was such a big part of it the
0:24:11 the first principle he calls is the
0:24:13 truth of suffering which is the first
0:24:15 principle is to recognize that suffering
0:24:17 exists it's part of the world and it
0:24:20 will always be there so people have to
0:24:22 just first understand that you cannot
0:24:24 completely eliminate all suffering
0:24:26 the second one is what's called the
0:24:28 truth of the origin of suffering which
0:24:30 is that our suffering is caused by our
0:24:32 desires
0:24:33 um and so he quotes his saying
0:24:35 attachment is the root of all suffering
0:24:38 so he understands that you know the
0:24:40 attachment to the dunya
0:24:42 the the enslavement of our desires these
0:24:45 are things that cause us suffering and
0:24:47 we need to combat that so that's the
0:24:48 second principle
0:24:50 the third principle is that there is a
0:24:52 cure are you guys writing this down the
0:24:53 principles yeah
0:24:55 so i don't need to pause it right
0:24:58 so what's the first principle
0:24:59 someone tried
0:25:00 huh
0:25:02 the truth of suffering and what's what
0:25:04 did they say about that
0:25:05 um
0:25:07 right that yeah um basically that uh
0:25:09 suffering exists and it always will
0:25:10 exist okay and the second principle is
0:25:13 the truth of the origin of suffering
0:25:15 okay fantastic and once
0:25:16 caused by desires the quote was i think
0:25:18 attachment is the root of all suffering
0:25:19 excellent okay so we're going to three
0:25:21 and four now
0:25:26 you are for suffering is that there is a
0:25:28 way that we can we can conquer our
0:25:30 desires
0:25:31 and he says famously that we must change
0:25:33 our outlook
0:25:35 not our circumstances and if we if we
0:25:38 first understand that you cannot
0:25:40 completely eliminate all suffering
0:25:42 the second one is what's called the
0:25:43 truth of the origin of suffering which
0:25:45 is that our suffering is caused by our
0:25:47 desires
0:25:49 and so he quotes his saying attachment
0:25:51 is the root of all suffering
0:25:54 so he understands that you know the
0:25:55 attachment to the dunya um the the
0:25:58 enslavement of our desires these are
0:26:01 things that cause us suffering and we
0:26:03 need to combat that so that's the second
0:26:04 principle
0:26:06 the third principle is that there is a
0:26:07 cure for suffering is that there is a
0:26:10 way that we can we can conquer our
0:26:12 desires
0:26:13 and he says famously that we must change
0:26:15 our outlook
0:26:16 not our circumstances and if we if we
0:26:19 were to change our outlook um
0:26:22 we would be in the same state however we
0:26:25 wouldn't really
0:26:26 uh
0:26:26 if we change our mindset you know we
0:26:28 wouldn't really be suffering kind of
0:26:30 like how muslims um mention the hadith
0:26:32 of you know anytime they're in a pain
0:26:35 even the prick of a thorn that cuts them
0:26:37 removes their sins so for buddhism
0:26:41 especially in the third principle it's
0:26:42 important to understand that and then
0:26:44 the last principle is called the remedy
0:26:46 to suffering
0:26:47 which is that there we can remove our
0:26:50 suffering there is a process for that
0:26:52 and that is through what's called the
0:26:54 eightfold path
0:26:55 um and the eightfold path is really just
0:26:58 you know testing naps i'm just trying to
0:27:00 purify oneself of trying to have good ah
0:27:03 good character so for example they say
0:27:05 that you shouldn't lie you shouldn't
0:27:07 cheat you should always have the correct
0:27:09 nia you should detach yourself from the
0:27:12 world you shouldn't use harsh speech
0:27:15 um you should you shouldn't you know you
0:27:17 shouldn't sell weapons of war you
0:27:19 shouldn't sell slaves and toxicants you
0:27:21 shouldn't harm other people
0:27:23 so the eightfold path is what they
0:27:25 believe is the solution
0:27:27 to removing you know your own suffering
0:27:30 and to reaching that state of nirvana
0:27:32 that stage of enlightenment
0:27:34 so um similar to and the state of
0:27:37 nirvana's i think if we had to give an
0:27:39 analogy from the islamic tradition we'd
0:27:41 probably say that
0:27:44 so
0:27:45 it's uh it's buddhism is really a
0:27:47 religion about this yet enough so i'm
0:27:49 really just purifying oneself
0:27:51 um
0:27:53 and so the last the last section is just
0:27:55 looking at a common ground between
0:27:56 buddhism and hinduism okay
0:28:02 um
0:28:03 good what was number three and number
0:28:04 four
0:28:07 so
0:28:08 number three was that there is a cure
0:28:09 for suffering which is that
0:28:12 so the cure was in there
0:28:14 number three is just the belief that
0:28:16 there's a cure for suffering okay so
0:28:17 that we must change our outlook and our
0:28:19 circumstances yeah um
0:28:21 and then the number four which is the
0:28:22 remedy remedy to suffering which is
0:28:24 through this um the eightfold path which
0:28:26 i think has been spoken about previously
0:28:28 um
0:28:29 which uh he the brother said that it was
0:28:30 a sort of type of purification of the
0:28:32 self principles like no lying cheating
0:28:34 harsh speech selling slaves intoxicants
0:28:36 weapons of war that type of thing
0:28:38 so it's a path towards self-correction
0:28:41 and this is really really powerful stuff
0:28:43 and it's very difficult to disagree with
0:28:45 any of it um it's especially relating to
0:28:47 the human experience
0:28:49 especially considering that
0:28:52 you know um
0:28:53 it's something which
0:28:56 everyone
0:28:57 practically has learned something i
0:28:59 wanted to actually read out to you it's
0:29:00 not hinduism and it's not buddhism
0:29:03 but it's uh
0:29:04 a viktor frankl
0:29:07 it's a quote i actually came across
0:29:08 which is very similar to this idea of
0:29:10 change your outlook not your
0:29:11 circumstances i think that's a very
0:29:13 beautiful thing to say and to be honest
0:29:14 i think very powerful
0:29:17 viktor frankl says when we are no longer
0:29:19 able to change a situation
0:29:21 we are challenged to change ourselves
0:29:25 very powerful stuff right when you are
0:29:27 no longer able to change
0:29:29 the situation we are challenged to to
0:29:32 change ourselves
0:29:35 now
0:29:35 um any comments on these on these kinds
0:29:38 of principles of these philosophies
0:29:45 yes jerry
0:29:48 what was the first
0:29:49 of the four noble truths suffering
0:29:52 cannot be removed correct
0:29:54 so what's the fourth noble truth
0:29:58 the remedy to suffer okay so allah says
0:30:01 in his book
0:30:02 that if it was from any other than allah
0:30:04 you would find many contradictions
0:30:06 you have to go 30 seconds from the first
0:30:08 noble truth in buddhism to find a major
0:30:11 contradiction
0:30:12 so i think this shows us the importance
0:30:14 of
0:30:15 having a dean with an absolutely fixed
0:30:17 latina
0:30:18 because he shot himself in the fort
0:30:20 already if we take those statements on
0:30:21 face value
0:30:23 exactly obviously let's assume that they
0:30:25 have some way of reconciling those uh
0:30:27 that's what they say yeah
0:30:29 you face value yeah yeah you're right
0:30:31 there does seem to be a tension
0:30:33 with
0:30:34 with
0:30:35 with recognizing there's no solution to
0:30:37 recognizing that there is one uh but
0:30:40 maybe they have a way of
0:30:42 yeah we will see we'll have to see if
0:30:44 they do have
0:30:45 yeah
0:30:46 is there any does anyone know if they
0:30:47 have a way of reconciling those two
0:30:48 things no no but just kind of uh playing
0:30:51 them
0:30:52 it's a good point though yeah because
0:30:53 they say that all life involves
0:30:54 suffering
0:30:55 and
0:30:56 yeah the third noble truth was there is
0:30:58 a way to overcome suffering and the
0:30:59 fourth is that it's through this eight
0:31:00 past right so i think if i spend that
0:31:02 was advocate um it would probably be
0:31:05 that um you know once you reach this
0:31:07 state of nirvana
0:31:08 like uh this is no longer considered
0:31:10 life like i don't know that's the best i
0:31:12 could think of right now but
0:31:13 oh okay yeah okay well i would say look
0:31:16 he's hit some some real truths
0:31:19 this guy
0:31:20 about the state of suffering
0:31:23 and the quran actually agrees if we're
0:31:25 going to compare with islam now we've
0:31:26 done a bit of comparison with
0:31:28 with hinduism
0:31:30 the quran agrees that a human being is
0:31:33 uh will undergo suffering there's two or
0:31:35 three things i would like to
0:31:37 put your attention
0:31:40 the first thing is that allah subhanahu
0:31:41 wa tala mentions in sort of balad
0:31:43 chapter 90 of the quran
0:31:47 we have created the human being in a
0:31:49 state of toil
0:31:50 toil is that you're always doing
0:31:52 something
0:31:55 it's another verse actually although
0:31:57 here could be going back to allah could
0:31:58 we go back to the person he's always
0:32:00 engaging in some activity
0:32:02 but then you've got
0:32:05 the allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in surat
0:32:11 what do you call it ballad as well that
0:32:14 we have sent them the two niger dane
0:32:17 there's two nudged nudged is a place in
0:32:19 saudi arabia
0:32:20 but it also means an uphill path
0:32:23 we have given the human being
0:32:26 the path
0:32:27 of two
0:32:29 uphill paths
0:32:31 why are the two uphill paths because
0:32:33 whether you're a believer
0:32:34 or a disbeliever
0:32:36 life is going to be hard for you
0:32:39 whatever path you decide it's going to
0:32:41 be hard
0:32:42 what we believe though as muslims is
0:32:44 that if you're a believer it will be
0:32:45 hard but in the might
0:32:47 as the quran states in two two chapters
0:32:49 later
0:32:50 which is that certainly with hardship
0:32:52 becomes ease
0:32:55 but life is hard nonetheless for
0:32:57 everyone
0:32:58 this dunya
0:33:01 he mentions
0:33:04 one of his interesting books
0:33:06 and i'm kind of paraphrasing here not
0:33:08 exactly what he's saying but it's kind
0:33:09 of like a combination
0:33:11 of heaven and hell
0:33:13 like it doesn't have it's not a pure
0:33:15 suffering
0:33:16 and it's not a pure
0:33:18 it's not purely desirous
0:33:21 and relaxing
0:33:22 so there is comfort and discomfort there
0:33:25 is good and there is bad
0:33:26 it's the battleground it's a testing
0:33:28 ground
0:33:30 so that's why human beings are put in a
0:33:32 state of toil
0:33:34 the human condition therefore
0:33:36 is in this dunya one where you'll never
0:33:39 be satiated fully
0:33:42 and there's truth in the fact
0:33:44 that a life
0:33:47 filled with pleasures
0:33:49 as some scholars say
0:33:51 is a life with which is
0:33:53 most uncomfortable
0:33:56 it's like tracing your own tail
0:33:58 or chasing a shadow
0:34:00 this dunya this world is like a shadow
0:34:02 according to islam
0:34:04 the more you go towards it the more it
0:34:06 moves away from you
0:34:08 that's why
0:34:09 one part of the quran
0:34:11 uses the word dunya itself which means
0:34:13 the world
0:34:14 it comes from the arabic rule word
0:34:16 meaning lo
0:34:18 and there's in one verse
0:34:20 it's been referred to as al-adna
0:34:23 the lowest
0:34:25 because it's very low it's you will not
0:34:27 get what you want from this world
0:34:30 you will not get what you want from this
0:34:32 world
0:34:34 before we get to solutions this is the
0:34:37 islamic picture
0:34:39 there are some
0:34:40 real and we're going back to buddhism
0:34:42 now there's some real
0:34:44 interesting and important psychological
0:34:47 discoveries that human beings have made
0:34:50 about the human condition before
0:34:52 psychology western psychology took off
0:34:55 in the 20th century i think whoever made
0:34:58 this religion up
0:35:00 whether it has parts of al-wahi in it or
0:35:02 it doesn't from previous dispensations
0:35:04 or not
0:35:05 uh there's some truth you can easily see
0:35:07 in this
0:35:09 uh you know and i don't see buddhism as
0:35:11 a competitor to islam
0:35:14 but with it i say something i say that
0:35:19 when giving now dawah
0:35:21 to non-muslims whether it is
0:35:24 christians jews or whatever
0:35:27 looking at buddhism
0:35:28 and especially the
0:35:31 robust focus on virtues
0:35:34 and so on
0:35:35 makes me
0:35:37 not prefer an approach which is being
0:35:39 mentioned many many times by some
0:35:42 brothers and i must say clearly more so
0:35:44 from the sufi inclination some brothers
0:35:46 not all sufi sadis
0:35:47 which is that the best way to show islam
0:35:49 is through the spiritual side
0:35:52 because if you do if you just mention
0:35:53 okay well the prophet mentioned in the
0:35:56 mobile
0:35:59 have been sent to perfect good character
0:36:02 and all of these things no problem there
0:36:04 are other religions which also have that
0:36:06 focus
0:36:07 you have given your religion no usp
0:36:10 so why should they choose islam over
0:36:12 buddhism
0:36:13 with buddhism they can still live their
0:36:15 life and believe he couldn't practically
0:36:17 be an atheist and still believe in those
0:36:19 precepts or a lot of those precepts
0:36:22 if if the person just wanted to polish
0:36:24 their character
0:36:26 and restrict themselves because they
0:36:28 realize that the human conditions are
0:36:30 suffering
0:36:31 and so on then they could easily take a
0:36:33 path of buddhism
0:36:36 so in order to
0:36:37 offer people i mean
0:36:39 what the prophets did when they came to
0:36:41 the people is not tell them
0:36:43 or just show them good character
0:36:46 and show them you know our religions
0:36:48 about perfecting you and all of that is
0:36:49 true
0:36:51 all of that is true our religion is
0:36:52 about perfecting good character our
0:36:54 religion is about being virtuous our
0:36:56 religion is about restricting yourself
0:36:58 from desires our religion is pursuing
0:37:01 the middle path in all those things but
0:37:03 that's not all our religion is
0:37:06 because if it was all of our religion is
0:37:08 it wouldn't be the the full truth
0:37:10 the main thing about religion is
0:37:13 which is monotheism
0:37:15 that god
0:37:16 is worthy of worship
0:37:18 if we don't da'wah only starts when you
0:37:22 mention to hate
0:37:24 without tawhid you might as well be
0:37:26 calling to buddhism
0:37:30 some say we have to stress the spiritual
0:37:32 aspects of islam
0:37:34 buddhism has many spiritual aspects
0:37:36 some of some people will find the
0:37:38 spiritual aspects of buddhism as more
0:37:41 desirable than the spiritual aspects of
0:37:43 islam
0:37:44 some people will find that why leave it
0:37:46 to the subjective decision-making
0:37:49 of the end user
0:37:51 if it was all about what it's it's like
0:37:53 a plata food and uh here's a bit of
0:37:56 buddhism here's a bit of islam and his
0:37:57 no
0:37:58 we believe our religion is truth
0:38:01 because god is worthy of worship
0:38:04 and once you understand that god is
0:38:06 worthy of worship then all of these
0:38:08 realities which the ancient ones
0:38:10 and the contemporary ones and all those
0:38:12 in between have realized
0:38:14 will be shown to you in the religion of
0:38:15 islam
0:38:16 so i wanted to make this point very
0:38:18 clear the point that
0:38:20 uh a strict focus on taheed
0:38:23 if you if it's eliminated from the
0:38:25 public's fear in dawa then you have
0:38:27 eliminated the doubt there is no dour
0:38:31 one one particular scholars with he was
0:38:33 maybe sufi inclined
0:38:34 and he was saying the best kind of dawah
0:38:36 i completely rejected what he said the
0:38:38 best kind of dawah is you know to be
0:38:41 there for the neighbor and so on okay
0:38:43 many christians are the best neighbors
0:38:45 you can't even compete with them
0:38:47 many buddhists are the best neighbors
0:38:48 you can't compete with them
0:38:51 and by the way i think the muslim
0:38:52 community as found sounds rude but i
0:38:54 think that they are actually lagging in
0:38:56 these in some areas
0:39:00 let's be honest about it like you know
0:39:01 the muslim community is lagging in some
0:39:03 areas that you know you can't even
0:39:05 compete
0:39:06 you're not even professional
0:39:08 asian muslim community in britain
0:39:10 particularly not even professional
0:39:13 you don't even get them to work on time
0:39:15 you're talking about good character
0:39:17 that's a prerequisite it's not a
0:39:19 it's unnecessary it's not a sufficient
0:39:21 condition
0:39:24 you have not done dollar with any of
0:39:25 that nonsense sorry to say and it's not
0:39:27 nonsense in the face this is being a
0:39:29 human
0:39:30 you can yeah
0:39:32 you can get this without the
0:39:34 it's how it's how deep it is
0:39:37 you can come to this realization without
0:39:38 being
0:39:40 only with your natural predisposition
0:39:42 you can come to that
0:39:45 so i say that you know
0:39:47 the reason why i stopped and made these
0:39:48 points is because
0:39:51 some people they want to hijack
0:39:53 tawa and make it into
0:39:55 good behavior
0:39:58 good behavior is not dour
0:40:00 good behavior is good behavior
0:40:03 perfecting your character it had even
0:40:05 neffs and all these taskers as the
0:40:06 brother said
0:40:08 very all well and good i know one
0:40:10 scholar i was sitting with one time and
0:40:12 he was he's from india
0:40:14 he said they used to have something in
0:40:16 in there called the chanukahs
0:40:18 which is basically i don't know you know
0:40:20 what that means but it's a place where
0:40:22 like the sufis would like they do their
0:40:24 thing
0:40:26 and he said that he said this and i was
0:40:28 so surprised he said the sufis and the
0:40:30 hindus would go to the same place
0:40:33 to serve the purpose of perfecting their
0:40:35 characters
0:40:37 this has become now it's become like a
0:40:39 gym but a spiritual gym you go in he
0:40:42 tells you what to do don't do this lower
0:40:44 your gaze fast a couple of days do
0:40:46 whatever it is he tells you to do
0:40:48 if it doesn't start with tahiti it's
0:40:50 just you're doing it for it's like
0:40:51 you're doing it for yourself it's like
0:40:52 going to the gym
0:40:54 you know and so it's not this idea
0:40:58 of virtuous character
0:41:00 that's
0:41:02 that is a prerequisite for dawah
0:41:06 but if if tahiti is not there then
0:41:08 nothing is there there's no doubt it
0:41:10 doesn't involve it doesn't include
0:41:11 there's nothing there if you don't want
0:41:13 to say
0:41:13 the moment
0:41:15 if you don't say melakum in illah
0:41:17 as all the prophets did
0:41:20 what other god do you have other than
0:41:22 god
0:41:24 then you don't you're not you're not
0:41:25 doing that you're doing it you can call
0:41:26 it whatever you like to call it
0:41:28 there's no doubt involved in that oh
0:41:30 they let them see that muslims are good
0:41:32 what the hell okay many buddhists are
0:41:34 good let them see that muslims are
0:41:36 peaceful
0:41:37 many buddhists are peaceful maybe many
0:41:39 are not to be fair just like many
0:41:40 muslims are not either so what
0:41:42 it doesn't get it doesn't get anywhere
0:41:45 all right we'll go for the um sorry on
0:41:47 the main concept
0:41:48 let's open it to the floor
0:41:57 um yeah i think one thing you mentioned
0:41:59 about the main concept is obviously um
0:42:02 because you mentioned the idea about you
0:42:03 know it not being a a religion and some
0:42:06 would consider it a philosophy
0:42:07 um so i think and you know he mentioned
0:42:09 that some of them are polytheistic some
0:42:10 of them are monotheistic some of them
0:42:12 are atheistic as well um
0:42:15 so i think um i know that's quite
0:42:16 interesting to that you know like there
0:42:18 is no kind of unity of conformity within
0:42:20 buddhist beliefs even though they do
0:42:22 kind of do have this hierarchy you know
0:42:24 like the dalai lama is seen as the
0:42:25 highest spiritual leader um in buddhism
0:42:28 so it's quite interesting that there is
0:42:29 no like conformity or beliefs
0:42:31 um
0:42:32 yeah
0:42:33 and yeah i would say like obviously you
0:42:35 know the usual criticisms for polytheism
0:42:37 would apply to buddhism
0:42:39 um you know uh for you know the ones are
0:42:41 polytheistic uh you know uh if you're
0:42:44 you know
0:42:45 seeking protection from a deity or you
0:42:47 know you're sacrificing for an ancestor
0:42:49 to gain some benefit like you know how
0:42:51 can you know whatever you're sacrificing
0:42:53 for this idol this thing that you
0:42:54 created with your hands how can it
0:42:55 benefit you so i think you know these
0:42:57 are the same kind of arguments that
0:42:59 would be relevant yeah and you mentioned
0:43:02 that
0:43:04 how is the dalai lama
0:43:06 kind of elected you know do you have any
0:43:08 ideas on that
0:43:10 um
0:43:11 there's two types of llamas i think
0:43:13 there's the panchayan llama and the
0:43:15 dalai lama right
0:43:18 and uh they're chosen in infancy
0:43:21 and um
0:43:22 from what i think is the um
0:43:25 the panchi lama has
0:43:27 objects put in front of him
0:43:30 and they have to select there's some
0:43:32 false objects and there's some objects
0:43:35 that belong to the previous one
0:43:37 and they have to choose
0:43:39 and if they choose correctly then that
0:43:41 child
0:43:42 who has been brought forward is then um
0:43:46 he's revealed to the world as the pancha
0:43:48 llama how do they choose the original
0:43:50 children
0:43:52 i
0:43:57 spectacles and pens and and just little
0:44:00 things like that in front of him and he
0:44:02 will choose
0:44:03 the objects the little kid and if he
0:44:06 chooses correctly then he's viewed as
0:44:08 the the next punch in llama it's not a
0:44:10 hereditary succession oh okay these are
0:44:13 spiritual successions
0:44:15 and uh they search out parties from
0:44:18 across tibet
0:44:19 uh looking for children who are special
0:44:21 and born within a year of their dalai
0:44:23 lama's death oh okay so that's how they
0:44:25 get them exactly and according to an
0:44:28 expert in
0:44:29 tibetan religion
0:44:31 uh yeah there's a heavy responsibility
0:44:33 on those people to get it right aha yeah
0:44:37 and uh one of the um controversies is
0:44:40 unfortunately
0:44:41 the chinese government has um
0:44:44 to put its one way abducted
0:44:47 the the punch and llama well they know
0:44:50 all about that then they're experts
0:44:52 yeah so and they've put forward a
0:44:54 counterfeit
0:44:55 panchayat
0:44:57 and he's going to be choosing the next
0:44:59 dalai lama so but if in effect
0:45:03 um i'm not sure about this but it's like
0:45:06 it's as if they got the future of
0:45:08 buddhism in their hands now
0:45:10 because they can't the panchayat llama
0:45:12 is the one put forward by the chinese
0:45:14 government he's going to be the one
0:45:16 who's going to be choosing the next
0:45:18 dalai lama i think
0:45:20 right so and he's like he's a fraud
0:45:23 that's right so we've got
0:45:27 and the original kid that was chosen
0:45:30 nobody knows where he is he's like
0:45:32 disappeared off the face of the earth
0:45:35 so the whole fate of the world's
0:45:36 religion is hanging in the
0:45:38 you know in the balance basically
0:45:40 well that's where the chinese get their
0:45:42 confidence i mean that
0:45:44 they think they can do to
0:45:46 to muslims what they've done to buddhism
0:45:47 and just put it in their fist and do
0:45:49 what they want with it exactly
0:45:52 well that's interesting go ahead do you
0:45:54 wanna and the other thing i'm kind of
0:45:55 opposite to policies and like you know
0:45:57 one interesting point which was raised
0:45:59 was you know the idea that atheists can
0:46:01 be buddhist which i think is quite
0:46:02 strange because um like you believe in
0:46:04 this idea of reincarnation well
0:46:06 especially if you're atheist you know um
0:46:08 you know uh if you're a naturalistic
0:46:10 atheist then you you believe in only
0:46:12 material things like how does this idea
0:46:14 of reincarnation
0:46:15 how can you you know believe in that you
0:46:17 know after you die in your your bones um
0:46:20 you know rot away how do you become a
0:46:21 new life like you know doesn't make
0:46:23 sense to me um
0:46:25 and yeah even the idea of um
0:46:28 you know what um just mentioned about
0:46:31 you know you're you're you're allowing
0:46:32 your belief system
0:46:34 to be in you know in the hands of a
0:46:36 child choosing between two objects
0:46:39 like i don't know like it seems very
0:46:41 difficult and it seems like quite
0:46:42 compartmentalized that you're i don't
0:46:44 know you're like you have so much faith
0:46:46 in like this system you know you might
0:46:48 believe reincarnation you know you might
0:46:50 accept the the dalai lama things like
0:46:51 that but at the same time you're in
0:46:53 you're an atheist who only believes in
0:46:55 you know naturalistic material i see i
0:46:57 see yeah yeah yeah yeah
0:46:59 it is quite different yeah to believe in
0:47:01 all this stuff i'm sure they probably
0:47:02 just believe in the meditative practices
0:47:04 or they
0:47:06 maybe or they'll they'll eliminate what
0:47:07 they don't like i mean surely
0:47:09 otherwise
0:47:11 it's going to be difficult for them to
0:47:13 remain atheist i guess yep
0:47:15 um
0:47:16 sort of follow my phone said also we're
0:47:18 just talking about regarding the dawah
0:47:20 uh i know the way i've just listened to
0:47:22 what people have been saying it seems
0:47:24 that and potentially you have i guess
0:47:25 two types of buddhism so you have one
0:47:27 which is i guess more theologically
0:47:28 rigid where you're compelled to believe
0:47:30 in certain things and that that might be
0:47:31 the one that
0:47:32 you know if you're trying to give out to
0:47:33 that type of person then arguments
0:47:35 against polytheism
0:47:38 up being quite useful
0:47:39 um and then this other type which is i
0:47:41 guess the more i guess you could say
0:47:43 even a more liberal
0:47:44 type of buddhism
0:47:46 uh and it's interesting because like
0:47:48 this is the type of buddhism that i feel
0:47:49 like i'm starting to encounter more and
0:47:51 more or even just generally in terms of
0:47:53 indic religions
0:47:54 that's very philosophical it's very
0:47:56 focused on the meditative meditative and
0:47:57 spiritual aspects
0:47:59 and especially now in this recent trend
0:48:00 where you know like you know dmt and all
0:48:02 these other drugs that people are taking
0:48:03 now
0:48:04 they they sort of get off i'll get off
0:48:06 on these experiences and i'm i'm seeing
0:48:07 all these things and life is just about
0:48:09 you know having those type of
0:48:10 experiences and sometimes it's stripped
0:48:12 away from the
0:48:13 uh the theological baggage of like you
0:48:16 know talking about nirvana all that type
0:48:17 of stuff but there is still the remnants
0:48:19 of you know i'm taking this and i'm
0:48:20 traveling to a different place quite
0:48:22 higher consciousness this adaptive
0:48:24 spirituality that people like sam harris
0:48:25 have come forward with
0:48:27 uh
0:48:28 and so i think it is important i guess
0:48:29 from without standpoint to focus on this
0:48:30 for a while for a bit like to kind of
0:48:32 get yeah i agree responses and answers
0:48:34 because i'm starting to encounter this
0:48:35 more and more this type of you know i'll
0:48:36 just be spiritual girl and have a good
0:48:37 time kind of thing and i think that you
0:48:39 know
0:48:40 what it is is that
0:48:41 a lot of people a lot of the reason why
0:48:43 buddhism in some of its forms at least
0:48:46 will become popular to western audiences
0:48:47 is because westernism you know western
0:48:49 ideology
0:48:51 and culture in many ways is antithetical
0:48:54 to this kind of understanding i mean
0:48:56 look at just like the mcdonald's
0:48:58 mcdonaldization of the
0:49:00 world now because of the american
0:49:02 culture
0:49:03 versus buddhism this is like polar
0:49:06 opposites
0:49:07 if you go in one direction
0:49:09 of excess
0:49:11 and materialism and so on
0:49:13 sometimes you feel like you need to go
0:49:15 in the complete opposite direction
0:49:18 you know you've done so much to yourself
0:49:19 you've had so much sex you've eaten so
0:49:21 much food you've
0:49:23 you've gone to too many clubs you've had
0:49:25 so much drugs
0:49:26 now you feel like you want to detox so
0:49:29 you'll find like youtube videos with
0:49:30 this term detox have got
0:49:33 viral views because people have just had
0:49:34 they've
0:49:35 worn out their bodies
0:49:37 their private parts their stomachs
0:49:39 you know their tongues have just been
0:49:41 honestly it's just
0:49:43 it's been used and abused uh you know to
0:49:46 and they feel like they want to clean it
0:49:47 out
0:49:48 just like if you had a car
0:49:50 and you drove it all the way and you
0:49:51 like a rally car and you went through
0:49:53 the mud and all these kind of things and
0:49:54 the tires are now spent
0:49:56 and you feel like you want to get a
0:49:58 proper mot done
0:50:00 it's just a very it's just a very
0:50:02 natural feeling
0:50:03 and so that they think buddhism is the
0:50:05 answer because they just want to wash
0:50:06 off this and then go out and do it again
0:50:08 and then the cycle continues but it's no
0:50:10 birth and rebirth uh cycle you're gonna
0:50:12 say yeah just um just talking about i
0:50:14 think
0:50:14 with all of this stuff about values and
0:50:16 ethics and as you're saying regarding
0:50:18 these eight what eight paths
0:50:20 that plays quite a central role if
0:50:22 somebody who's because i'm just thinking
0:50:23 about arguments you could use right yeah
0:50:24 that first type which is more
0:50:25 theologically rigid you've got all the
0:50:26 arguments again polytheism is quite easy
0:50:28 yeah
0:50:29 this second type though uh the law of
0:50:31 the arguments that we discussed earlier
0:50:32 on in the course with like you know
0:50:33 again certain type of liberal ethics
0:50:35 those kind of questions can be applied
0:50:37 here right yeah like what's objectively
0:50:39 good about me being good to my neighbor
0:50:41 if i want to throw my ball over and you
0:50:43 know put my dog's uh
0:50:45 business in the neighbor's garden all
0:50:47 that kind of stuff i don't want to do
0:50:48 that
0:50:49 what's wrong with doing that like where
0:50:50 are you getting these values and ethics
0:50:51 from
0:50:52 why is that and then it big and then
0:50:53 eventually you can i think with that
0:50:54 you'll get back to
0:50:56 a conversation it's very much centered
0:50:57 on the nation itself and it's very
0:50:59 self-serving
0:51:00 and that's yeah that's you know uh
0:51:01 taking your your nephes as a lord beside
0:51:04 allah beautiful and i think that people
0:51:06 don't realize that from our perspective
0:51:08 and i think this is probably the biggest
0:51:10 difference
0:51:12 that islam
0:51:14 is islam considers anything that is not
0:51:17 done for the sake of allah
0:51:19 to be a kind of
0:51:21 waste of time
0:51:29 you know and then the air continues but
0:51:31 this
0:51:32 that surely that this world is like
0:51:35 play and amusement
0:51:38 and uh competition amongst you and
0:51:40 children and
0:51:42 and and money
0:51:45 but even buddhism because think about it
0:51:47 right
0:51:49 from from the islamic perspective
0:51:51 if someone were to strip away their
0:51:54 nephs and detach themselves from the
0:51:55 world and all those kind of things
0:51:57 for us that's just stage one there's
0:51:58 stage two just like empty the cup fill
0:52:01 the cup
0:52:02 empty the cup get purify yourself yeah
0:52:06 from all of these negative things
0:52:09 emotions and what we call the diseases
0:52:11 of the heart we have this idea spiritual
0:52:14 idea of the disease of the heart
0:52:15 diseases like like
0:52:18 envy jealousy anger
0:52:21 resentment all of those things which are
0:52:23 negative now
0:52:25 you have to first empty your heart from
0:52:27 these diseases and then fill it up with
0:52:30 love of allah you know
0:52:32 love of uh
0:52:38 that one of you doesn't believe until he
0:52:40 loves for his brother what he does for
0:52:41 himself
0:52:42 that you know these kinds of notions
0:52:44 uh
0:52:49 whoever believes in allah in the last
0:52:51 day then let him
0:52:52 you know be good to his neighbor and so
0:52:54 on and so forth all these good things
0:52:56 now generosity karam
0:52:59 forgiveness so you empty your heart from
0:53:01 all the bad things you fill up with all
0:53:03 the good things but there's something
0:53:05 which is required which is a
0:53:07 prerequisite which is to do it all for
0:53:09 the sake of allah because if you're not
0:53:10 doing it here's the question if you're
0:53:12 not doing it to serve allah for the sake
0:53:14 of allah then
0:53:16 who are you doing it for
0:53:17 it ends up being for yourself and we go
0:53:19 back to ethical egoism so it becomes a
0:53:21 very ironic situation
0:53:23 where you're doing all this purification
0:53:26 you're purifying yourself and so on but
0:53:28 you're doing it for yourself and for
0:53:30 from an islamic perspective that would
0:53:32 be considered
0:53:33 an ani would be considered a kind of
0:53:35 narcissism a kind of self-worship
0:53:38 which means you could from the islamic
0:53:40 perspective if you don't put the
0:53:42 dimension of a tawhid or monotheism
0:53:45 doing it for the sake of allah not
0:53:46 because you if you don't if you don't do
0:53:48 it you're going to be put in heaven in
0:53:49 hell although that you can have that
0:53:51 belief but it's a secondary kind of
0:53:53 belief but because allah deserves to be
0:53:55 worshipped
0:53:56 that's why
0:53:58 you're doing you worship allah because
0:54:00 allah deserves to be worship if you're
0:54:02 not doing it for that reason
0:54:04 then it eventually is
0:54:08 have you not seen the one who makes his
0:54:10 own self as a god you're doing it for
0:54:11 yourself
0:54:12 you're just a sophisticated narcissist
0:54:17 a buddhist who doesn't believe in a
0:54:19 tahit
0:54:20 is a sophisticated selfish person
0:54:25 that their selfishness is not
0:54:27 brash
0:54:28 it's not it seems seemingly altruistic
0:54:31 but in from an islamic perspective
0:54:33 unless you're doing it for allah first
0:54:36 and foremost
0:54:37 then then you have not fulfilled the
0:54:39 basic human function it's really as
0:54:42 simple as that
0:54:44 and with that
0:54:45 i think unless there's something else
0:54:47 that should be said or could be said
0:54:49 we
0:54:50 will conclude here i think it's been a
0:54:52 very informative lesson i think
0:54:55 thank everyone for coming in and
0:54:57 giving their two cents
0:54:59 and i will i end with this we in islam
0:55:02 do have something called taskia to nafs
0:55:04 which is purification of oneself
0:55:08 and nafs or refining oneself these are
0:55:11 all concepts which we
0:55:13 agree with and i would say
0:55:15 going back to your point uh it's not
0:55:17 always a matter of argumentation if we
0:55:18 find people who are buddhists
0:55:21 and who are inclined to this way of
0:55:22 thinking about cleaning themselves up
0:55:24 and
0:55:24 you know
0:55:25 being purified
0:55:28 it's
0:55:29 we have to remember one of the main
0:55:30 things that prophets did
0:55:32 is not make arguments let's just call
0:55:34 people
0:55:35 to purification higher order
0:55:37 purification
0:55:39 you know
0:55:40 as in sutra
0:55:44 where allah
0:55:55 how did you know that this person might
0:55:57 have attained purification
0:55:59 and when one torah before it moses told
0:56:04 pharaoh
0:56:05 that
0:56:06 to come to purification
0:56:08 because it's such an intrinsically
0:56:11 appealing
0:56:13 human
0:56:15 instinct to be purified spiritually that
0:56:18 sometimes it requires no argument at all
0:56:24 but then if you are going to be purified
0:56:26 the question is
0:56:28 who is the purifier
0:56:30 and we believe that the purifier is the
0:56:32 pure one
0:56:34 the one who is able to be
0:56:36 to purify everything or everyone
0:56:39 the good one who is allah subhanahu what
0:56:42 allah
0:56:44 we didn't do worship
0:56:46 oh have you got something for worship
0:56:47 yeah
0:56:48 okay let's do this before we end of
0:56:50 course yeah the um the way the buddhists
0:56:52 worship they they call it puja okay and
0:56:55 um they have a series of of things that
0:56:58 they do
0:56:59 which include meditation
0:57:02 um mantras which is uh
0:57:04 chanting repetitively
0:57:06 and that's a form of meditation
0:57:09 they sing scriptures as you know in form
0:57:12 of chanting
0:57:13 and they use string beads to help them
0:57:15 focus which is uh like our tasbih
0:57:19 samala called the mala
0:57:21 meditation they used to open up
0:57:24 themselves to a higher state of
0:57:25 awareness
0:57:27 and it's that's a central aspect of
0:57:30 buddhism the meditative state
0:57:32 and there's two types of meditation
0:57:34 there's one called samantha buddhism
0:57:36 which is the one that you were
0:57:38 possibly the more secular type which is
0:57:42 um
0:57:44 it's calming meditation
0:57:46 and they believe it leads to deeper
0:57:47 concentration
0:57:49 and uh there's a vespana meditation
0:57:52 which is um insight meditation which is
0:57:56 uh
0:57:57 they believe that they can see things as
0:57:59 they how they really are when they're in
0:58:00 the state of uh
0:58:02 this particular type of meditation and
0:58:04 it allows them to gain realization and
0:58:07 understanding of the impermanence of
0:58:10 things and the nature of reality
0:58:12 and um there are other types as well
0:58:15 that they um
0:58:16 they
0:58:17 basically do
0:58:19 offerings at places of worship
0:58:22 and they have special festivals and
0:58:24 retreats
0:58:25 and there's also specifics on death and
0:58:28 mourning so they have specific
0:58:31 types of worship practices that they do
0:58:34 for death and etc
0:58:37 and uh yeah i can go into some specifics
0:58:41 of chanting if you want why they chant
0:58:42 yeah it's basically
0:58:44 uh it was a early way of kind of
0:58:46 remembering buddhist scriptures
0:58:49 so they like our when we do our
0:58:52 recitation of the quran this
0:58:54 and they the monks would chant the
0:58:56 spiritual texts in order to memorize
0:58:58 them and better understanding the
0:59:01 teachings of the buddha
0:59:03 it was a good way of spreading the
0:59:04 teachings and passing them through the
0:59:07 ages
0:59:08 and the chanting
0:59:09 as well as the sign of devotion and
0:59:11 commitment to the buddha
0:59:13 and it's an excellent way for buddhists
0:59:15 to help calm and concentrate the mind so
0:59:17 the mind's kind of focusing and
0:59:19 concentrating the mind is is a central
0:59:21 aspect of buddhism
0:59:23 and
0:59:25 that's about it really fantastic
0:59:27 beautiful and
0:59:28 you know i i myself
0:59:30 at one time stage especially when life
0:59:32 gets stressful looked into meditation
0:59:36 and see what it's all about i'm not
0:59:38 against you know
0:59:39 people breathing and meditating and
0:59:42 concentrating all the kind of things but
0:59:44 then it just
0:59:46 i then i thought to myself really why am
0:59:48 i doing this because
0:59:51 i realized that most of the things
0:59:54 is in the package of islam anyway we
0:59:56 believe in
0:59:58 one of one of the central
1:00:00 things in the prayer which we believe in
1:00:02 is the idea of deep concentration in
1:00:05 prayer
1:00:06 and i feel like this is such if if we
1:00:09 actually even just focus on
1:00:11 just by itself
1:00:12 where we are literally when we're
1:00:14 especially in fact when reciting surat
1:00:16 al-fatiha
1:00:18 we are concentrating on each line that
1:00:20 we are reading
1:00:24 okay praise all praise be to god lord of
1:00:27 the worlds
1:00:29 you know
1:00:30 the the all
1:00:32 the all gracious all merciful
1:00:35 rahma comes from the word
1:00:37 the womb of the mother because just like
1:00:39 the womb engulfs the baby from all sides
1:00:43 so too does the mercy of god engulf us
1:00:45 from all sides you know
1:00:47 uh mele kyo medin or malik
1:00:50 the owner the king of the day of
1:00:51 judgment so we've been introduced to you
1:00:53 know the mercy of god
1:00:55 and now we're being introduced to
1:00:58 the majesty of god you know the the
1:01:01 the justice of god that he's the owner
1:01:03 of the devil there are consequences to
1:01:05 your actions therefore
1:01:06 be mindful
1:01:08 if you want to put it in this language
1:01:10 you know
1:01:12 which is basically the whole religion
1:01:14 you alone we worship you alone we ask
1:01:16 for help
1:01:17 yeah you know guide us to the straight
1:01:19 path
1:01:22 think about us why is it not just me
1:01:24 because islam is not a selfish religion
1:01:27 it's a religion that especially when
1:01:29 someone is reciting as the prayer people
1:01:32 are behind him he's not just making guy
1:01:34 he's not asking for himself only he's
1:01:35 asking for everyone behind him
1:01:37 and he's asking for all of the people
1:01:39 just like when you're doing
1:01:41 about allah
1:01:43 the same idea of collective
1:01:45 where we are
1:01:46 hopefully altruists from that
1:01:48 perspective for so you know
1:01:54 the path of those who you have favored
1:01:56 and the other verse tells us who they
1:01:57 are and you're thinking about who are
1:01:58 those people
1:02:00 allah
1:02:08 tells you who they are
1:02:09 the the prophets and so we have
1:02:11 templates we have guidance
1:02:13 you know we're thinking about we want to
1:02:14 be with those who are god has put at the
1:02:17 highest level
1:02:18 the high caliber ones spiritual ones
1:02:21 you know
1:02:25 you know
1:02:25 not the ones who have earned your anger
1:02:28 in fact this word
1:02:30 is not just the anger of allah
1:02:34 so it could be the anger of the angels
1:02:36 or the anger of the believers
1:02:38 the anger you know these people who have
1:02:39 earned anger of the people
1:02:42 who are those
1:02:43 i thought like like the old
1:02:45 the ancient jews in fact
1:02:48 the prophet told us who had a lot of
1:02:51 a lot of knowledge
1:02:52 but did not have that much uh
1:02:54 actions
1:02:56 some of them
1:03:00 even now uh they are being accused of
1:03:03 that in israel
1:03:05 because they
1:03:06 they don't want to join the army they
1:03:08 say no we'll just we'll just pray for
1:03:09 you in the
1:03:10 in the synagogues they said you don't
1:03:13 you guys are just all talk basically
1:03:15 this is the exact same thing that's
1:03:17 being said so we don't want to just have
1:03:19 theoretical knowledge and be just like a
1:03:20 book on the shelf
1:03:22 okay you've got a lot of knowledge but
1:03:24 are you
1:03:25 are you spreading it
1:03:27 when the prophet saw him he said this we
1:03:29 are like the nakhla
1:03:31 like the the tree the the the palm tree
1:03:34 because we have good in us and we are
1:03:36 the muslim has good in it by also
1:03:40 drops
1:03:41 off good
1:03:43 nourishment which is the day
1:03:45 so it's not just and the prophet saws
1:03:57 the ones who are most beloved to allah
1:03:59 the ones who are most useful to the
1:04:00 people didn't even just say to the
1:04:02 muslims to all the people you're a
1:04:03 useful person
1:04:05 you're not secluding yourself in a
1:04:06 monastery
1:04:08 and pretending you're
1:04:10 you can do that for once in a while but
1:04:11 that's not the islamic message
1:04:13 to seclude yourself no
1:04:15 it's to be out there and to and to
1:04:17 benefit the people
1:04:18 well of darlene on the other hand not
1:04:20 the ones who are lost
1:04:23 that's what's
1:04:24 this if just one someone just does
1:04:28 in the prayer
1:04:30 and thinks about that
1:04:32 this is the deepest and most impressive
1:04:34 and most virtuous
1:04:36 and most impeccable type of
1:04:38 spirituality and meditation
1:04:42 there's nothing better than that in the
1:04:43 world
1:04:44 there's no
1:04:46 guided breathing head space
1:04:48 uh this one that one i've tried all of
1:04:50 them myself to put me to sleep
1:04:53 the man is like saying you say a couple
1:04:54 of words and he says like you know and
1:04:56 then he just stays quiet
1:04:58 and when he says choir
1:04:59 and he says something and sometimes he
1:05:00 wakes me up
1:05:02 so you may you know well he's you know
1:05:04 i'm not saying it's bad use it no
1:05:06 problem but it's nothing compared to
1:05:08 this
1:05:09 and so we have it all the package of
1:05:11 islam does not
1:05:14 negate these things or does not
1:05:16 forego these things
1:05:17 it's not missing these things
1:05:19 it has all of these things
1:05:21 the spiritual package if you just focus
1:05:23 on the prayer the fasting
1:05:26 fasting is not just the month of ramadan
1:05:28 you can do on mondays and thursdays
1:05:30 that is one of the best ways
1:05:32 to get your body primed
1:05:36 for gratitude your mind and your body
1:05:39 you know
1:05:41 fasting hajj it's a difficult thing to
1:05:43 do if you've done it you know you go
1:05:45 around and listen i'm walking long
1:05:47 distance very difficult
1:05:48 you know the five pillars of islam
1:05:50 basically
1:05:51 you know and we have at the cafe we have
1:05:53 the idea of going to a masjid and being
1:05:56 a seclusion we have
1:05:57 we have the idea of seclusion just like
1:05:59 the prophet
1:06:01 you know
1:06:02 so we have all of our stuff in there
1:06:03 religion but it's all for a higher aim
1:06:06 and objective and purpose which is to
1:06:07 worship one god
1:06:09 worthy of worship
1:06:11 with that
1:06:12 i conclude wassalamualaikum
1:06:15 warahmatullahi