All organisms seek to persist; they want not to perish. Homo Sapiens are no different than any other organism in this regard. They are different, however, in two important ways; they possess self awareness and the capacity for abstract thought. In combination, these two capabilities have, in addition to many positive manifestations, served to manifest within humans two deeply-rooted psychological needs: self-preservation and self-protection. For self- preservation, humans have created the notion of a soul, something with permanence that will continue to exist after the death of the body. Buddhism stands unique in the history of human thought in that it denies the existence of a soul. According to the teaching of the Buddha, the idea of a soul is rooted in the false notion that the mortal self has some permanence and that it is not what it truly is, an aggregate of atoms; where the atoms have permanence, but the aggregate does not. This false belief in a permanent self produces harmful thoughts of me, mine, selfishness, desire, craving, attachment, hatred, ill-will, conceit, pride, egoism and other defilements, impurities and problems. It is the source of all the troubles in the world, from personal conflicts to wars between nations. In short, to this false view can be traced all the evil in the world.
For self-protection and out of the necessary conjugate of the concept of a permanent self, humans created the notion of God, an entity to adjudicate the disposition of this imaginary permanent self and to therefore, instill in humans a subjugational role to an imaginary entity in the living of their Lives. For these humans, the imaginary protection provided by this imaginary entity of their imaginary permanent self after the death of their bodies is worth subjugating the truth of their impermanence and the joy that comes from that truth in order to not be afraid in Life. Truth is traded for a feeling of safety; a safety from a threat that doesn’t exist. Homo Sapiens, then, are again unique among organisms: due their capacities for self awareness and abstract thought they can be afraid outside of the presence of an actual threat. No other organism has this unfortunate capacity. It is upon this human capacity to be afraid for the disposition of one’s imaginary permanent self that all religions are founded and all of the delusion and mental enslavement that they proffer is empowered.
What the Buddha realized was the truth of impermanence of all organisms, Homo Sapiens included, and through that realization, he realized liberation from baseless, irrational and imaginary fear. This is the essence of his enlightenment. This same enlightenment is available to all Homo Sapiens. The beautiful thing about such enlightenment is that the same capacity for abstract thought that serves to enslave the human mind with irrational fear over the disposition of one’s imaginary permanent self becomes the means of it’s emancipation through knowledge of the truth of one’s impermanence; and in that enlightenment, the mind that was previously one’s jailor becomes one’s liberator.
Having stated all of that, I offer to you the words of the Buddha on the subject of religious belief: “If religious belief inspires righteous conduct in one, then it is good for the individual and good for the community within which the individual lives, therefore it should be encouraged.” He also said: “Not all are ready in their current human life to comprehend truth.”
However, if one is ready to comprehend the truth of impermanence, one must also necessarily also recognizes that religions have no basis in reality; they are merely human constructs, designed to offer succor to those who find the truth of impermance even more fearsome than the truth of death.