A voyage on the ship of modern Buddhism

Without an ultimate refuge from suffering, Buddhism’s cure for suffering, by default, is basically learn to accept suffering which implies that death is final (i.e., there is no nirvana).    

Of the many years I’ve spent in Buddhism visiting other Buddhists, reading and listening to what they have to say, it is my hunch that some of these Buddhists propose, in a round about way, that we should just accept suffering.  In their minds, no transcendence or ultimate refuge is necessary or even possible since death is the actual end.

When I think about this, I envision a great ship sailing on a stormy ocean.  It is believed by the captain and his crew that the ocean is without land.  Next, the passengers have been told that land will be found eventually.  In the meantime, they must have faith in the captain who knows where this land is, which will be a refuge from this frightening ocean.  

During the voyage, the duty of the crew is to help the passengers calm down.  The crew teaches the passengers how to meditate as an effective way to relax them.  What the crew doesn’t tell the passengers is they all will eventually drown in the waters of this raging, cold ocean.  But thankfully, they will never be reborn because death is final.

Modern Buddhists are not unlike these passengers who have a great deal of faith in the teachings of the Buddha and their modern teachers.  But what they don’t know is the teachers—many of them—have never reached the other shore, or remain skeptical that Buddhism has an actual other shore.  

As a consequence, modern Buddhists are never taught exactly how to transcend suffering; moreover, that deep within them, if they can cut through the veils of obstructing illusion, there lies the other shore, a place of eternal safety. 

Truth be known, many of their teachers are not unlike the captain of the aforementioned ship who, we come to learn, can’t read the maps he has.  In fact, he knows next to nothing about navigation.  He is just one of the passengers who decided that wearing the uniform of a captain might be exciting and earn him a lot of respect.