in a few sentences... by the Monk Dhamma Sāmi

Before all, we should know that this bhikkhu Gotama's teaching (alias Buddha) is totally contradictory with all our spiritual fantasies and that it is not always pleasant to hear. But let us make up our mind well about what we actually want; do effective medicines always have a pleasant taste? En tout cas, le dhamma est une chose totalement incolore, inodore, dépourvue de goût, insonore et intactile. Which purpose does it serve? Buddha's teaching has only one goal and the whole of that which constitutes it are only elements which lead to this point: Leading one's fellow beings to the ultimate aim by inciting them to perform what ought to be performed so that they understand by themselves the benefits yielded by this path while explaining them how to follow and handle it. In pali language, the ultimate goal is named: nibbāna. As Buddha has imparted his teachings in pāḷi language, let us use this dialect whose words sometimes have very different definitions from the Sanskrit ones supposedly corresponding to them as their equivalents. For instance, the use of the word "nirvana" calls for a definition that some other schools ascribe to it, which is in contradiction with the meaning conveyed by the word nibbāna. All that which is known now a day under the name " Buddhism ", is a mere huge salad into which anyone adds his or her own ingredients. This is done to the uttermost extent that we totally forget at last what has to be done in order to everlastingly put an end to all sorrow, to reach the understanding of reality, mental peace or else at the worst even: We are not aware that something has to be fulfilled. These are the four questions that everybody can ask as follows: Does life give us a perfect, unswerving and endless happiness? Why do we inevitably come across problems, dissatisfaction or any other hassles? Does an alternative to suffering exist, hence means to irreversibly emancipate ourselves from it? What should be done in order to escape from this hellish circle, of an unsteady and endless nature, which entangles the life of each of us? What is the practice that leads to the final eradication of all sorrows and all defilement (impurities). Answering to these questions is the raison d'être of Buddha's teaching. In the big salad of Buddhism and religions, some so-called great masters will assert that to succeed in dressing the choicest salad, one must pour a very large quantity of tomatoes. Hence, their disciples will strive to put in their salad as many tomatoes as they can, without even knowing the reason why they are doing it. Moreover, the master with whom we presently deal doesn't himself know why he advised so. In order to concoct the perfect salad, others will claim that we should emphasize on large quantities of olives and onions. For some others too, the success of the concoction will lie in pouring into the salad bowl everything that is at reach of our hands. On the other hand, others will stress out the importance of pouring into it a strict minimum of food in order to enhance its quality. Whereas another fellow will explain that the perfect salad is obtained owing to having put into it all the ingredients in their fairest proportional quantities. However, according to Buddha, the contents of the salad ... do not have the slightest importance. The only worthy thing is to know it, while observing it mindfully in order to find out and understand what it is made of, whatever its nature may be. No matter if it is small, nourishing, fresh, shrivelled, soft, spicy, varied, tasteless, light, fat... There is no perfect salad. Only our skill to take the highest benefit from its concoction is essential, and this former can be of a high or low range. The best thing we could do is to utilize all the groundwork we have at disposal, without ceaselessly trying to modify everything. The one who goes around in circles, if he speeds up the pace, if he changes the direction or if he transforms his outlook, will nevertheless always keep on going around in circles. Let's well understand that by adding some lettuce leaves in order to conceal the ingredients whose sights displease us, we won't solve the problem.