What I really took away with this is that Buddha ...
does not really focus on the unknown, the future (other than a little bit of reincarnation which I think stems from the time of Buddha).
admits that what we know in total and as individuals in comparison to the universe is just a tiny speck.
the unknown is generally feared by man. Man creates the unknown (i.e. gods) to help conquer their fear. These gods then become responsible for the good and the bad in the world by the unlightened man. In other words, man puts all his problems on the gods. Remember, this was written a few thousand years ago, in India. Buddha likely had little knowledge of Judaism, and Christianity was not invented yet.
But, the Buddha does not really focus on the unknown or the future. He concerns himself with the known, and gets to the root of the wickedness. Greed, etc. He tries to change the root of the tree (the bad desire) that leads to the wickedness. Buddha is for good desire, but not bad desire . . . desire that causes human and world suffering.
does not think he is a diety, God, or even claim to be God inspired. Buddha is just a man who did alot of thinking and came to an understanding of the present. He encouraged his followers at the time to think for themselves on what he said. Both he and the Dahai Lama (interviewed on this documentary) clearly state that Buddhists are not obligated to follow any teaching of Buddha that they don't agree with. It is all about individual enlightenment.
does not rely on the unknown to save humankind from our present suffering.
teaches that only each of us, together, can solve the miseries of this world. To change the world, we must each change ourselves.
You can be any walk of life and follow Buddha. You don't have to be a monk.
The monks are only to beg for their daily lunch from the townspeople. They are not to be given the next day's meal. That way, if the monk no longer serves the people, they can immediately cut him off. .... (Wouldn't this be good for our own priests, elders, politicians, etc!)
