Buddhism For Beginners 2

2. Universality

Another of the Buddhist characteristics is that it is universally applicable; both theoretically and practically. In theory, the teaching is a universal truth not depending on person, group, race etc. but depending solely on the truth. The Buddha himself taught that whoever killed or harmed living beings, stole others’ belongings, committed sexual misconduct, lied or gossiped, or who took intoxicants, was performing evil actions. This is obviously a universal teaching delivered to all living beings, not specific to anyone. The Buddha taught people equally, as he said, “Think of others as yourself, then you will not kill or harm others.”

The universal reality is that, basically, all living beings want to avoid suffering and seek happiness. With this as a base the Buddhist should try to practice loving kindness, compassion, and generosity to all living beings. They should not be treated differently or divided from each other. Concerning the universal truth, Buddhism has never forced anyone to follow it; there is no punishment if he does not follow it, there is no material reward if he follows it, but it depends on his own practice, as is demonstrated by the law of kamma.