Unity of Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia is now 14 years old
Our Encyclopedia recently received a wonderful opportunity for a major renewal on its 14th birthday . After many years of growing our Encyclopedia had become bit slow and sometimes even decided not to answer when people knocked on the door.
A very big thank you and blessings to Dmytro Rudiy (rudiy.nl) for his great work in upgrading the server, website and all of the infrastructure and helping make TBE fast and reliable again for everyone!
We kindly ask our readers to help us cover the cost of this important upgrade and also help with the ongoing costs of keeping the Encyclopedia alive and freely available.
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Every little donation helps and every one is deeply appreciated. 🙏🙏🙏
OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM 🙏🙏🙏
May blessings shower down on all of yous 🙏🙏🙏
To an outsider or someone not well-informed about Buddhism, its numerous school and traditions may appear to be so diverse as to have little or nothing in common. While it is true that some minor sects and cults identifying themselves as Buddhist are not really, all genuinely Buddhists traditions share and adhere to certain common features. In 1967, First Congress of the World Buddhist Sangha Council, representing Buddhists from 25 countries and made up of all the main Buddhist branches and traditions, drew up an ecumenical document called ‘The Basic Points Unifying the Theravada and the Mahayana’. This document is a concise formula of the unifying principles that all Buddhists adhered too and was unanimously approved by the participants of the Council. The statement reads -
The Buddha is our only Master (teacher and guide).
We take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha (the Three Jewels).
We do not believe that this world is created and ruled by a God.
We consider that the purpose of life is to develop compassion for all living beings without discrimination and to work for their good, happiness, and peace; and to develop wisdom (pañña) leading to the realization of Ultimate Truth
We accept the Four Noble Truths, namely dukkha, the arising of dukkha, the cessation of dukkha, and the path leading to the cessation of dukkha; and the law of cause and effect (paṭiccasamuppāda).
All conditioned things (saṃkhāra) are impermanent (anicca) and dukkha , and that all conditioned and unconditioned things (dhamma) are without self (anatta).
We accept the thirty-seven qualities conducive to enlightenment (bodhipakkhaya dhamma) as different aspects of the Path taught by the Buddha leading to Enlightenment.
There are three of attaining bodhi or Enlightenment: namely as a disciple (sāvaka), as a paccakabuddha and as a samma sambuddha (perfectly and fully enlightened Buddha). We accept it as the highest, noblest, and most heroic to follow the career of a Bodhisattva and to become a samma sambuddha in order to save others.
We admit that in different countries there are differences regarding Buddhist beliefs and practices. These external forms and expressions should not be confused with the essential teachings of the Buddha. (The Sanskrit for all doctrinal terms is used in the original).