PERFORMANCE VIEWPOINTS. II. BUDDHA IS ONLY THE guru Up to now, Buddhism is known to everyone in the form of a "religion". In fact, the word religion contains the meaning of "mystical", that is, acknowledging and promoting the power of the leader. Seen from this perspective, Buddhism is not a religion, because the Buddha denied the ultimate authority of the creator of the religion or any other god, whether he or she is called the Buddha or the Supreme Being. emperor, and even himself. We can say that Buddhism is a religion with a clear education system, with the motto of creating conditions to help people see the truth for themselves, to achieve a peaceful and happy life right in life. this and the future. The Buddha was the founder of Buddhism, but he denied his own theocratic side. Leading living beings on the path to liberation and enlightenment, he compared himself to a guru [9], someone who shows the way, so that sentient beings can rely on it to reach enlightenment, not someone who has full power to bless anyone. Similarly in this sense, in another sutta the Buddha likened himself to a Healer [10]. What is a physician? The Buddha described four characteristics of a physician as follows: 1- Identify the disease 2-Know the cause of the disease 3- Know how to treat the disease 4- Once the treatment is over, there will be no recurrence. These are the four characteristics of a physician, or in other words, this is the duty and responsibility of the doctor. However, there is one thing we need to understand that, no matter how talented a doctor is, no matter how accurate the diagnosis, but the patient does not want to be treated, or did not follow the doctor's advice, the doctor also had to give up before the disease. In the same way, the Buddha likened himself to a physician, with such a meaning, he identified his role and responsibility in saving sentient beings from the sea of ​​sufferings of samsara, as just a monk. 'Teacher' or 'Medicine' only; he denied the attitude of relying on the divine power of beings, letting people decide their own happy or miserable life. The duty and responsibility of the Buddha to show everyone that life is inherently suffering, the cause of suffering; at the same time, he also showed us that, in addition to that miserable life, there is a peaceful and happy life, and that the way to this peaceful and happy realm is his duty and responsibility. What are the duties and responsibilities of sentient beings? It is the study of the law and the practice of law. It means that sentient beings who want to get rid of those sufferings, in order to live a peaceful and happy life, must know his teachings well, practice by themselves according to the method taught by the Buddha, in order to cut themselves off. except for the afflictions in our minds, it is not that we sit there waiting, or beg him to grant a miracle, eliminating the sufferings and afflictions of sentient beings. That's why the Buddha said: "O Ananda! Make your own island, and rely on yourself. Take Dharma [11] as an island, a refuge, do not take any other place as a refuge, an island, do not take refuge anywhere else. This teaching gives us a very clear sense of the Buddha's role in saving sentient beings. The Buddha is only the one who shows us the way to enlightenment, is the one who gives the principle of life so that everyone can rely on it to practice to achieve happiness and peace, that is the role and responsibility of the Buddha. Whether or not we achieve this liberation depends on the efforts of each individual and each being to study and practice the Dharma. To practice or not to practice the Buddha's teachings is the duty and responsibility of each person, not the responsibility of the Buddha. This is the spirit of freedom and equality in Buddhism, a characteristic feature of Theravada Buddhism, which not only upholds the duties and responsibilities of each individual, but also speaks to the spirit of freedom of thought and respect. Respecting each person's freedom of choice, the Buddha never forced anyone to believe and follow what he taught [13]. Therefore, the matter of liberation and enlightenment belongs to the individual duty of each sentient being. is not the responsibility of the Buddha. It is the free spirit of Buddhism that is highly respected and respected in the world today. Through this passage, it suggests to us a very profound meaning, the position of the Buddha as only a Teacher or a Healer. It is the responsibility of the Teacher to show us which way is the way to liberation and which is the way to suffering; The responsibility of a physician is to correctly diagnose the disease and give the remedy to cure the disease, which the Buddha has fulfilled his responsibility. The rest is up to us, which means that if we consider ourselves lost, we must follow the Guru's instructions to get out of that dangerous path; if we think we're sick, then what we need to do is follow the doctor's instructions to cure our own illness. The instruction of a guru or a physician, an example of the Buddha's teaching, we want to know what the Buddha taught, we need to learn the Buddhadharma, not stop at belief. blind.END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN ZEN BUDDHIST MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THE WOMEN OF THE SAKYA CLAN CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.15/5/2023.