10 Personal issues in Buddhism. To say "personality" is to follow a noun of the times. It should have been said in Buddhism "the issue of human status". Because, what is "personality"? We thought there was no need for complicated definitions; According to the understanding of the current majority, the person means "person", or more fully, "human dignity", or "person's position". It is universally recognized that of all living things on earth, man is a relatively more perfect creature both in terms of body organization as well as in terms of mental abilities. Human spiritual activities are richer than all things. Human consciousness, self-control, and judgment have elevated man above all things, and therefore, man has a special dignity, a unique position. Humans have the most conditions for evolution, the freedom to evolve, the freedom to develop to the end their own good abilities. If man lacks these conditions, he is no longer human, and he will be no better than all other species. Therefore, if man is hindered in his path of evolution, if man is deprived of his freedom of judgment, freedom of thought, freedom to decide, in short, he is deprived of his freedom to evolve, i.e. is the human person of human being despised and trampled on, because man now has nothing to say that he is "the ultimate spirit of all things". So, the question of the person is just a matter of human status, a question of freedom. How does Buddhism think about this issue? Buddhism holds that all living beings have Buddha nature, that is, have the potential to become Buddhas. Because sentient beings are immeasurable in number, but every species carries within itself the round element of the being. One day, ignorance will be eliminated, pure and clear nature will appear, and sentient beings can become Buddhas. From this point of view, that is, in the face of the Buddha-nature, all species are equal, absolutely equal, no species is superior, no species is inferior. There is a saying in the Mahayana Treatise: "From an ontological point of view, all dharmas from the past to the present, apart from the appearances of words, words, and imagination, are absolutely equal, without change. There is no corruption, sharing the same clear essence of one-pointedness, so it is called true likeness" (necessarily the Dharma, the original nature, the separation of speech, the separation of the self-identity, the separation of the predestined, the all-wings. equality, non-being, variation, indestructibility, only single-minded, established as true). However, from the point of view of karma, All sentient beings have a body that lives in a different environment. Depending on the karma, each living being feels a gross or subtle body of the five aggregates. In the lower animals, the organization of the body is not as sophisticated as that of the higher animals. The psychological effects (feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness) because of their less sophisticated body organization should be detected weakly, or rather, in a rudimentary way. Mental abilities can also be likened to electricity. Small and weak machines can only generate weak electricity. If the bulb is small, the light will be dim, if the bulb is large, the light will be brighter. The body faculty of a being is inherently one of the increasing conditions (conditions) for the discovery of such a psychological effect. In the human realm, we can also see this fact: a healthy mind can only be detected in a healthy body (but not always a healthy body can detect a healthy mind: the inversion theorem is not always true). A weak soul is often caused by a weak body. So thanks to a subtle body-organization, an abundant mental capacity stronger than any other species, man has the most conditions to evolve, to work to liberate himself. Man's unique position on this earth is due to man's previous karma, not because of the grace of a divine being, much less because man is the "image" of man. that divine being. Saying that people can become Buddhas is fine. But it is wrong to say that only humans can become Buddhas. Because it is not only humans who have Buddha nature. All species have Buddha nature, so all species will become Buddhas. Because people have many favorable conditions, they can become Buddhas faster. Not only humans have the "grace" of Buddha. Even more, it is not only humans who have spiritual effects, to have "souls". Why is it that, when one sees all the other species, with less sophisticated bodily organization, with less sharp mental effects, do people rush to assume they have no "soul"? (Here, we use the word soul to mean: transformative mental effects.) Why think that only humans have "reason", and how many other types live only with instinct? Who doesn't see that there are people with special brains, stupid, living with "instinct" better than some animals, and there are clever, nimble animals that live with more "consciousness" than some classes of people? Therefore, Buddhism only recognizes that humans are superior to all species thanks to many physiological and psychological conditions favorable for evolution, not only that humans can evolve into Buddhas. Confirming the favorable position of human beings, the Buddha once said in the Flower Adornment Sutra: "Human vision is supreme" (Human is the best). In many sutras, he always repeats this sentence to advise his disciples to take advantage of the favorable conditions that people have available to advance quickly on the path of liberation: "One of the seven lives, ten thousand kalpas of hardship. "(Once you lose your body, it's hard to come back for a lifetime). And: "The human body is difficult to obtain, the Buddha Dharma is difficult to read". (It is difficult to achieve a human body, and it is also difficult to listen to the Buddhadharma.) There is a sentence in Ton Luan Luan Di Department: “All the good results of enlightenment are done by humans.” Thus, man is more capable than any other species. Again in the Uposatha Sutra there is also a verse praising the favorable circumstances of man: "Of all species, human beings are more qualified, such as in terms of wisdom. Moreover, the human condition is not as miserable as hell, not as joyful as heaven, and not as stupid as the animals." However, all that praise is just for people to be aware of their abilities and their values, not for people to proudly show themselves that they are the best. Are not! if people do not know how to use their available abilities to evolve to Truth and Beauty, if people keep running after lowly lusts, making their body and spirit more and more exhausted, stupid, bankrupt, that's it. It is man who brings himself down to the level of animals. Not only that, one day bad karma will bring people to the real status of animals. So, even if a person still lives with a human body, it is no longer worthy to be called a person, because man has killed his personality and does not want to sit in his "position" anymore. With his supreme position, man must: Do not destroy the good possibilities available; Develop those good abilities; Believe in your own abilities and don't rely on aimless outside forces; Use those good abilities to advance on the path of liberation; 1.- Don't ruin the good abilities that are available.– These abilities that are discovered are due to the good karma of people from the past. They are precious means by which people can progress. They are necessary for human liberation as well as capital for merchants, oil for machinery, and colors for painters. Losing them is losing everything. To lose them is to return to the same level as all other animals, to lose human status, to lose all that man can boast of as "the ultimate god of all things". The condition to preserve it is to keep the human body forever. But to keep the human body forever (in all the meanings of the word) there is no better means than to keep the dignity forever. People are not allowed to indulge in the five desires (money, lust, vanity, gluttony, and sleep). Those five things lower man, drag him down to the level of all species and sometimes worse than all other species. Those five things are the poisonous cause of human bankruptcy. My body, because of alcohol, because of lust, for the sake of fame and gain, because gluttony and sleep will become dull, dull, dark, heavy. Our spirit also becomes vile, lowly, delusional, hysterical because of these things. In order for our people not to go bankrupt, we must avoid lust. In the sutras, the Buddha taught that "If you want to keep the human body, you need to practice the five precepts and the ten good karmas". So what are the five precepts and the ten good karmas? The Five Precepts are the Five Commandments: Do not take life. Do not steal from others. No adultery, polygamy. Do not binge drink. Don't lie, cheat, double-tongued, or fabricate. What is the ten good deeds? There are ten good karmas, including three types: actions, words, and thoughts: There are three good karmas for actions: Not killing. No theft. No adultery. In terms of language, there are four good karmas: Not lying. Not saying embroidery. Do not speak double-tongued. Don't say ferocious. In terms of thought, There are three good karmas: No thoughts of jealousy, hatred. No thoughts of anger or hatred. No dark thoughts, delusions. Those are the strongest ropes to bind people not to fall to the level of beasts, hells, and hungry ghosts. Keeping the human body can preserve the good human abilities forever, the abilities that can bring people up the ladder of liberation and progress. Upholding human values, the Buddha just wanted people to see those precious abilities and not destroy those abilities. 2.- Develop those good abilities.– Having not destroyed them, people still have to make them develop. With methods of physical training and spiritual cultivation, people can develop them to a very good level. Thanks to that, those abilities can help humans evolve quickly, easy. A new life of freedom can give people a good environment for self-formation. In a life where man has to act like a machine and think in a certain way, the good human abilities are easily prevented and can be destroyed. Living in a society without freedom, people will be barren. Because an authoritarian society always forces people to speak and act in a certain direction. Any acts and languages ​​that are contrary to the current guidelines will be banned, and the active people of such acts and language will be punished and destroyed. It was not allowed to say, not to do, but people still have the right to think. But thinking without being able to speak and follow one's thoughts is a painful thing for people. Therefore, people will be very afraid of the thinking life, the introverted life, and have to find distraction, in a crowded place, in a coffee shop, at a meeting, for example. People will not tolerate an introverted spiritual life and gradually become afraid of solitude. Man finds himself in the middle of society and turns himself into an inanimate wheel in that whole inanimate machine. And so, the good human abilities are suppressed, destroyed. So people need to live freely. This freedom does not mean freedom to shirk obligations, freedom to follow the five desires, but freedom to think and act in the direction of truth and beauty, freedom to develop and further enhance the true values ​​that we have. achievable by humans. 3.- Believe in your own good ability and don't rely on the outside forces.- The Buddha once taught: "Light your own torch and go". Such, Buddhism affirms that man has enough ability to reach liberation, no need to rely on anything anymore. Must strongly believe in their own good abilities; If we still rely on outside forces, that means we deny those abilities, that is, we don't recognize our human status (personality). In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha told the story "with the death of the treasure jewel" as follows: A man passed away, leaving a precious jewel in his son's torn shirt. The child did not know, he kept asking for help from familiar relatives, but then no one helped. After knowing that he had a pearl in his shirt, that child became rich and happy, no need to ask anyone anymore. That example shows us that people have to exploit the available capabilities themselves, not looking for outside solutions. Buddha taught that man is the creator who created him, he causes karma, he receives karma, the power to create and change completely in himself. This concept confirms the absolute value of all species and especially of humans: because in humans, the ability to create and transform changes is somewhat stronger. Man must completely rely on self-reliance to free himself. On his own, man must work to transform "separate karma" and together with many other "humans", he must work in community to transform "karma". So, failure, success, failure are all due to human. Becoming a Buddha or retreating to the position of beasts is also due to people. Good or bad society is made by people. Human destiny and human social destiny are held by "people". Man must be confident that the very thought, Only actions and words can build happiness and liberation. Do not believe in good words that often deceive people. Independence, freedom, peace, support the weak, save humanity! How valuable those nouns are, don't rush to believe in them, people just need to believe in their own actions. Don't trust science. Science is too sharp a blade that humans are not capable of using right now. People should not think that science will free them. No, man must liberate himself by holding firmly to the direction of science, taking advantage of science. Don't believe in ideologies and parties, things that people make up and get stuck in. Socialism and partisanship cannot liberate man, if man does not act worthy of his own emancipation. Don't believe in good organizational principles. The principle of good organization cannot be achieved without human efforts. A constitution, a democratic government does not guarantee the happiness of a nation. It is the efforts of the whole people to implement that constitution and implement that government that will bring practical benefits to everyone. And lastly, don't trust supernatural forces. According to the true law of cause and effect, man is self-sufficient. The supernatural force can only be a medicine to comfort people. There is no god who holds the right to reward and punish. Cause and Effect. Humans cannot rely on a supernatural force to free them. Humans are not scum, powerless, passive. Man is responsible for self-liberation; shirk that responsibility, attributing that responsibility to a supernatural force, that is, man has denied his worth and capacity, and thus has denied his "personhood". In short, people must believe in themselves so that they can not hurt the person. 4.- Use those good abilities to advance strongly on the path of liberation.- Trust is to act. Humans already believe in their own abilities, but still have to use those abilities to advance on the path of liberation for themselves and for humanity. Action is the driving force that moves people forward. In short, the human status in Buddhism is enhanced. And more than anyone else, Buddhists are aware of their roles, abilities and duties. Not idly superstitious about external forces, nor complacent with meager conditions, .END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA .(3 TIMES ).WORLD VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST ORDER=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THE WOMEN OF THE SAKYA CLAN CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.15/3/2023.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THE WOMEN OF THE SAKYA CLAN CHAN TANH.