YKK zippers: Why so many designers use them.
Why Do So Many Zippers Say YKK?
Why Do So Many Zippers Say YKK?
YKK zipper on blue jeans
Photograph by Chris 73/Wikimedia Commons.
The zipper is one of those inventions&along with the bicycle&that seems as though it should have occurred much earlier in history. How complicated could it be to assemble two wheels, two pedals, and a chain? Or to align two jagged strips of metal teeth and shuffle them together? There is no complicated chemistry here, no harnessing of invisible wavelengths. And yet the modern bicycle didn&t appear until the late 1800s, and the zipper didn&t really become the zipper until 1917 (when it was patented by a Swedish immigrant in Hoboken). The precision necessary to craft a working bicycle chain or a smoothly meshing zipper was simply beyond us for all those prior millennia.
More confounding still: Now that the zipper has been around for nearly a century, you&d think that something so simple might have been perfected&becoming a 100 percent reliable commodity. But that hasn&t happened. There are still tons of faulty zippers out there. Teeth that break. Pulls that pop. Herky-jerky sliding and irreparable lockups.
One zipper gone wrong can render an entire garment unwearable. Thus consistent quality is a must for reputable fashion brands. For decades now, apparel makers who can&t afford to gamble on cut-rate fasteners have overwhelmingly turned to a single manufacturer. , the Japanese zipper behemoth, makes roughly half of all the zippers on earth. More than 7 billion zippers each year. Those three capital letters are ubiquitous&no doubt you&ve seen them while zipping up your windbreaker or unzipping someone else&s jeans. How did YKK come to dominate this quirky corner of industry?
Advertisement
Founded by Tadao Yoshida in Tokyo in 1934, YKK stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha (which roughly translates as Yoshida Company Limited). The young Yoshida was a tinkerer who designed his own customized zipper machines when he wasn&t satisfied with existing production methods. One by one, Yoshida brought basically every stage of the zipper making process in house: A 1998 Los Angeles Times story reported that YKK &smelts its own brass, concocts its own polyester, spins and twists its own thread, weaves and color-dyes cloth for its zipper tapes, forges and molds its scooped zipper teeth && and on and on. YKK even makes the boxes it ships its zippers in. And of course it still manufactures its own zipper-manufacturing machines&which it carefully hides from the eyes of competitors. With every tiny detail handled under YKK&s roof, outside variables get eliminated and the company can assure consistent quality and speed of production. (When the Japanese earthquake hit last year many supply chains were shredded, but YKK kept rolling along.)
Yoshida also preached a management principle he termed &The Cycle of Goodness.& It holds that &no one prospers unless he renders benefit to others.& In practice, this boiled down to Yoshida striving to produce ever-higher quality with ever-lower costs. It seems intuitive, but it&s far from easy to do. And in the end, the secret to YKK&s success is equally uncomplicated but equally impressive: YKK makes incredibly dependable zippers, ships them on time without fail, offers a wide range of colors, materials, and styles, and never gets badly undercut on price. The feeling in the apparel industry is that you can&t go wrong with YKK.
&There have been quality problems in the past when we&ve used cheaper zippers,& says , who designs her own line of women&s contemporary sportswear. &Now we just stick with YKK. When the customer is buying $200 pants, they better have a good zipper. Because the customer will blame the maker of the whole garment even if the zipper was the part that failed.&
A typical 14-inch &invisible& YKK nylon zipper (the kind that disappears behind fabric when you zip up the back of a dress) costs about 32 cents. For an apparel maker designing a garment that will cost $40-$65 to manufacture, and will retail for three times that much or more, it&s simply not worth it to skimp. &The last thing we want to do is go with a competitor to save eight or nine cents per zipper and then have those zippers pop,& says Steve Clima, Turk&s senior production manager. &The cost difference just isn&t enough given the overall margins.&
Advertisement
There are hundreds of rival zipper manufacturers in China. They might be a tiny bit cheaper, or might be willing to produce custom novelty orders in a rush. But at least one apparel wholesaler told me that some European companies won&t even accept delivery of garments using Chinese zippers, for fear that the zippers might contain lead (a big no-no). More generally, competitors& zippers are often just not up to snuff. Multiple apparel designers I talked to recalled incidents in which batches of non-YKK zippers failed to meet their standards.
YKK isn&t the kind of brand that markets to consumers. (Or seeks any kind of publicity: They declined to speak to me for this story.) You don&t buy your jeans and jackets by looking for their letters on that pull. Likewise, you almost certainly wouldn&t nix a garment purchase because the zipper isn&t YKK.
But YKK is still a brand of sorts. It still has an image and a reputation. Its target demographic is trim buyers and production managers in the apparel industry. They&re the folks for whom &YKK& has real meaning.
There used to be a saying among corporate technology workers&or, as you might call them, I.T. guys&which held that &you&ll never get fired for using Microsoft.& Sure, you could take a risk on some upstart competitor and maybe save a little dough, or even get slightly better performance. But if anything goes wrong your boss will wonder why you didn&t opt for old reliable.
YKK, for decades now, has established itself as old reliable. &A zipper will never make a garment,& says Turk. &But it can break a garment.&Discovery Communications
show more details
show less details
Meet Dan Bucatinsky, Executive Producer of 'Who Do You Think You Are?'
Get to know Dan Bucatinsky, Executive Producer of "Who Do You Think You Are?" In this video, the actor, author, dad and TV fanatic answers questions about his life and career.
From roots in the Deep South to the slums of New Jersey, "Who Do You Think You Are?" follows the journeys of some of the most well-known names in American popular culture. Watch as celebrities discover unknown details about themselves and their families while researching their ancestry with the help of historians and genealogical experts. Executive Producers Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky open doors to fascinating real-life stories and eye-opening, impactful revelations.
"I've never stopped hearing about how much people love 'Who Do You Think You Are?' and I've always known that we've had more great stories to share," says Lisa Kudrow. "TLC is a great home for the series, and we join our excited celebrity participants as we unearth some amazing background and surprising histories."
Who Do You Think You AreBuddhism for beginners
Buddhism for beginners
(and sceptical Westerners)
Introduction
Now that Buddhism is such a fast-growing religion
in the West, a lot of Westerners are attracted to its rational approach
and rejection of an all-powerful deity. But all too often we Westerners
quickly get stuck on the idea of rebirth and the various cultural
traditions that have become a part of Buddhism in Asia.
I've been there myself - wondering if rebirth is for real, if karma
is scientific, if Buddhism is rational, why I have to bow to a statue,
and so on - and I almost gave up at one point. I've noticed also that
some Westerners pop up on the Internet looking for others who've
converted to Buddhism, hoping they can discover the trick to becoming a
Buddhist despite a materialist upbringing.
So this page is a mixture of useful resources and my own personal
experiences in fully accepting Dharma as a way of life. I hope it will
be of some use to others on the same path.
If there's one place you should not start, it's
reincarnation/rebirth. Newcomers to Buddhism tend to open every book at
the section on rebirth because what happens to us after we die is
all-important in the monotheistic culture we come from.
But the Buddha wasn't teaching rebirth as the goal of life. He said
many times, "I teach suffering, and the way out of suffering." That was
his message, to make nirvana (Pali: nibbana) - the end of suffering -
the goal. So the place to start is with the basics, the Four Noble
Truths and a practice aimed at reducing suffering. If this seems
worthwhile to you, you're on your way.
In fact, the best way to start is by doing a lot of reading. You need
to know about the basic principles of Buddhism, its founder, its
history, the different traditions, and what it can do for you. Even
though there's a lot of stuff available free on the Internet, I still
think a well-written book is the best way to go. For all of the above,
try John Snelling's The
Buddhist Handbook : A Complete Guide to Buddhist Schools,
Teaching, Practice, and History or Gill Farrer-Halls' The
Illustrated Encyclopedia of Buddhist Wisdom (which is also a
handbook). These two books are both excellent primers to start off
with. There's also a short overview titled
from the Buddhist Society
of Western Australia.
For inspiring books written by Western monks who really understand
Westerners' problems, try Ajahn Sumedho's
The Mind and the Way : Buddhist Reflections of Life or Ajahn
Jagaro's True Freedom, which is available online:
Another book that's a must-read is Thich Nhat Hanh's little-known
masterpiece,
: Walking in the Footsteps of the
Buddha, a beautiful and easy-to-read story of the Buddha's life
drawn from accounts in the Pali Canon and illustrated with line
For a thorough explanation of the nuts and bolts of the teachings and
practice, check out Ayya Khema's
: Meditations on the Buddhist
Path (very good at showing how ego rules our lives) or Henepola
Gunaratana's
: Walking the Buddha's
There are a lot of
(Pali: Dhamma), but I'd
recommend starting of with the original Theravada Buddhism and checking
out the Mahayana traditions like Zen and Tibetan when you have a grasp
of the basics. What you read will depend on what particular problems
brought you to Buddhism in the first place. Some authors, the Dalai
Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh, for example, have written books on anger
management.
But it's important to practise too. In addition to following the Five
Precepts, try practising Right Speech, generosity, compassion, being
less self-centred, being less addicted to pleasures of the senses and
being less concerned with possessions. And once you have a good grasp
of the basic teachings and different traditions, it will be time to
start meditating.
Your situation in life may affect your practice and progress. If you
live near a temple or Buddhist group, you'll be able to
listen to Dharma talks, make Dharma friends and be with a
community of like-minded people. If you don't, there are always the
Internet and Buddhist forums such as .
I personally live in a Buddhist country where the majority of people
don't understand the deeper teachings of Buddhism, so their focus is on
making merit for a better rebirth and participating in ceremonies. So I
rely a lot on the Internet, on Amazon and a few friends. I rarely go to
The following article is from the website of the .
The author explains karma and rebirth in the traditionally accepted way
and is somewhat sceptical about the origins of the Mahayana sutras, but
otherwise it's an excellent overview of Buddhism.
Introduction
For more than 2,500 years, the religion we know today as Buddhism has
been the primary inspiration behind many successful civilizations, the
source of great cultural achievements and a lasting and meaningful
guide to the very purpose of life for millions of people. Today, large
numbers of men and women from diverse backgrounds throughout our world
are following the Teachings of the Buddha. So who was the Buddha and
what are His Teachings?
The Buddha
The man who was to become the Buddha was born Siddhattha Gotama around
2,600 years ago as a Prince of a small territory near what is now the
Indian-Nepalese border. Though he was raised in splendid comfort,
enjoying aristocratic status, no amount of material pleasure could
satisify the enquiring and philosophic nature of the young man. At the
age of 29 he left palace and family to search for a deeper meaning in
the secluded forests and remote mountains of North-East India. He
studied under the wisest religious teachers and philosophers of his
time, learning all they had to offer, but he found it was not enough.
He then struggled alone with the path of self- mortification, taking
that practice to the extremes of asceticism, but still to no avail.
Then, at the age of 35, on the full moon night of May, he sat beneath
the branches of what is now known as the Bodhi Tree, in a secluded
grove by the banks of the river Neranjara, and developed his mind in
deep but luminous, tranquil meditation. Using the extraordinary clarity
of such a mind with its sharp penetrative power generated by states of
deep inner stillness, he turned his attention to investigate upon the
hidden meanings of mind, universe and life. Thus he gained the supreme
Enlightenment experience and from that time on he was known as the
Buddha. His Enlightenment consisted of the most profound and
all-embracing insight into the nature of mind and all phenomena. This
Enlightenment was not a revelation from some divine being, but a
discovery made by Himself and based on the deepest level of meditation
and the clearest experience of the mind. It meant that He was no longer
subject to craving, ill-will and delusion but was free from their
shackles, having attained the complete ending of all forms of inner
suffering and acquired unshakeable peace.
The Teachings of the Buddha
Having realized the goal of Perfect Enlightenment, the Buddha spent the
next 45 years teaching a Path which, when diligently followed, will
take anyone regardless of race, class or gender to that same Perfect
Enlightenment. The Teachings about this Path are called the Dhamma,
literally meaning "the nature of all things" or "the truth underlying
existence". It is beyond the scope of this pamphlet to present a
thorough description of all of these Teachings but the following 7
topics will give you an overview of what the Buddha taught:
1. The way of Inquiry
The Buddha warned strongly against blind faith and encouraged the way
of truthful inquiry. In one of His best known sermons, the Kalama
Sutta, the Buddha pointed out the danger in fashioning one's beliefs
merely on the following grounds: on hearsay, on tradition, because many
others say it is so, on the authority of ancient scriptures, on the
word of a supernatural being, or out of trust in one's teachers,
elders, or priests. Instead one maintains an open mind and thoroughly
investigates one's own experience of life. When one sees for oneself
that a particular view agrees with both experience and reason, and
leads to the happiness of one and all, then one should accept that view
and live up to it!
This principle, of course, applies to the Buddha's own Teachings. They
should be considered and inquired into using the clarity of mind born
of meditation. Only when one sees these Teachings for oneself in the
experience of insight, do these Teachings become one's Truth and give
blissful liberation.
The traveller on the way of inquiry needs the practice of tolerance.
Tolerance does not mean that one embraces every idea or view but means
one doesn't get angry at what one can't accept.
Further along the journey, what one once disagreed with might later be
seen to be true. So in the spirit of tolerant inquiry, here are some
more of the basic Teachings as the Buddha gave them.
2. The Four Noble Truths
The main Teaching of the Buddha focuses not on philosophical
speculations about a Creator God or the origin of the universe, or on a
heaven world ever after. The Teaching, instead, is centred on the
down-to-earth reality of human suffering and the urgent need to find
lasting relief from all forms of discontent. The Buddha gave the simile
of a man shot by a poison-tipped arrow who, before he would call a
doctor to treat him, demanded to know first who shot the arrow and
where the arrow was made and of what and by whom and when and where ...
this foolish man would surely die before his questions could be well
answered. In the same way, the Buddha said, the urgent need of our
existence is to find lasting relief from recurrent suffering, which
robs us of happiness and leaves us in strife.
Philosophical speculations are of secondary importance and, anyway,
they are best left until after one has well trained the mind in
meditation to the stage where one has the ability to examine the matter
clearly and find the Truth for oneself.
Thus, the central Teaching of the Buddha, around which all other
teachings revolve, is the Four Noble Truths:
That all forms of being, human and otherwise, are afflicted with
suffering.
That the cause of this suffering is Craving, born of the illusion
of a soul.
That this suffering has a lasting end in the Experience of
Enlightenment (Nibbana) which is the complete letting go of the
illusion of soul and all consequent desire and aversion.
That this peaceful and blissful Enlightenment is achieved through a
gradual training, a Path that is called the Middle Way or the
Eightfold Path.
It would be mistaken to label this Teaching as 'pessimistic' on the
grounds that it begins by centring on suffering. Rather, Buddhism is
'realistic' in that it unflinchingly faces up to the truth of life's
many sufferings and it is 'optimistic' in that it shows a final end of
the problem of suffering - Nibbana, Enlightenment in this very life!
Those who have achieved this ultimate peace are the inspiring examples
who demonstrate once and for all that Buddhism is far from pessimistic,
but it is a Path to true Happiness.
3. The Middle Way or Eightfold Path
The Way to end all suffering is called the Middle Way because it avoids
the two extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification. Only
when the body is in reasonable comfort but not over-indulged has the
mind the clarity and strength to meditate deeply and discover the
Truth. This Middle Way consists of the diligent cultivation of Virtue,
Meditation and Wisdom, which is explained in more detail as the Noble
Eightfold Path.
Right Understanding
Right Thought
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration
Right Speech, Action and Livelihood constitute the training in Virtue
or Morality. For a practising Buddhist it consists of maintaining the
five Buddhist Precepts, which are to refrain from:
Deliberately causing the death
Intentionally taking for one's own the
Sexual misconduct, in
Drinking alcohol or taking stupefying drugs which lead to lack of
mindfulness.
Right Effort, Mindfulness and Concentration refer to the practice of
Meditation, which purifies the mind through the experience of blissful
states of inner stillness and empowers the mind to penetrate the
meaning of life through profound moments of insight.
Right Understanding and Thought are the manifestation of Buddha-Wisdom
which ends all suffering, transforms the personality and produces
unshakeable serenity and tireless compassion.
According to the Buddha, without perfecting the practice of Virtue it
is impossible to perfect Meditation, and without perfecting Meditation
it is impossible to arrive at Enlightenment Wisdom. Thus the Buddhist
Path is a Gradual Path, a Middle Way consisting of Virtue, Meditation
and Wisdom as explained in the Noble Eightfold Path leading to
happiness and liberation.
Kamma means 'action'. The Law of Kamma means that there are inescapable
results of our actions. There are deeds of body, speech or mind that
lead to others' harm, one's own harm, or to the harm of both. Such
deeds are called bad (or 'unwholesome') kamma. They are usually
motivated by greed, hatred or delusion. Because they bring painful
results, they should not be done.
There are also deeds of body, speech or mind that lead to others' well
being, one's own well being, or to the well being of both. Such deeds
are called good (or 'wholesome') kamma. They are usually motivated by
generosity, compassion or wisdom. Because they bring happy results,
they should be done as often as possible.
Thus much of what one experiences is the result of one's own previous
kamma. When misfortune occurs, instead of blaming someone else, one can
look for any fault in one's own past conduct. If a fault is found, the
experience of its consequences will make one more careful in the
future. When happiness occurs, instead of taking it for granted, one
can look to see if it is the result of good kamma. If so, the
experience of its pleasant results will encourage more good kamma in
the future.
The Buddha pointed out that no being whatsoever, divine or otherwise,
has any power to stop the consequences of good and bad kamma. The fact
that one reaps just what one sows gives to the Buddhist a greater
incentive to avoid all forms of bad kamma while doing as much good
kamma as possible.
Though one cannot escape the results of bad kamma, one can lessen their
effect. A spoon of salt mixed in a glass of pure water makes the whole
very salty, whereas the same spoon of salt mixed in a freshwater lake
hardly changes the taste of the water. Similarly, the result of a bad
kamma in a person habitually doing only a small amount of good kamma is
painful indeed, whereas the result of the same bad kamma in a person
habitually doing a great deal of good kamma is only mildly felt.
This natural Law of Kamma becomes the force behind, and reason for, the
practice of morality and compassion in our society.
5. Rebirth
The Buddha remembered clearly many of His past lives. Even today, many
Buddhist monks, nuns and others also remember their past lives. Such a
strong memory is a result of deep meditation. For those who remember
their past life, Rebirth is an established fact which puts this life in
a meaningful perspective.
The Law of Kamma can only be understood in the framework of many
lifetimes, because it sometimes takes this long for Kamma to bear its
fruit. Thus Kamma and Rebirth offer a plausible explanation to the
obvious i why some are born into great wealth
whereas others are born i why some children enter
this world healthy and full-limbed whereas others enter deformed and
diseased... The fruits of bad Kamma are not regarded as a punishment
for evil deeds but as lessons from which to learn, for example, how
much better to learn about the need for generosity than to be reborn
among the poor!
Rebirth takes place not only within this human realm. The Buddha
pointed out that the realm of human beings is but one among many. There
are many separate heavenly realms and grim lower realms, too, realms of
the animals and realms of the ghosts. Not only can human beings go to
any of these realms in the next life, but we can come from any of these
realms into our present life. This explains a common objection against
Rebirth that argues "How can there be Rebirth when there are ten times
as many people alive today than there were 50 years ago?" The answer is
that people alive today have come from many different realms.
Understanding that we can come and go between these different realms,
gives us more respect and compassion for the beings in these realms. It
is unlikely, for example, that one would exploit animals when one has
seen the link of Rebirth that connects them with us.
6. No Creator God
The Buddha pointed out that no God or priest nor any other kind of
being has the power to interfere in the working out of someone else's
Kamma. Buddhism, therefore, teaches the individual to take full
responsibility for themselves. For example, if you want to be wealthy
then be trustworthy, diligent and frugal, or if you want to live in a
heaven realm then always be kind to others. There is no God to ask
favours from, or to put it another way there is no corruption possible
in the workings of Kamma.
Do Buddhists believe that a Supreme Being created the universe?
Buddhists would first ask which universe do you mean? This present
universe, from the moment of the 'big bang' up to now, is but one among
countless millions in Buddhist cosmology. The Buddha gave an estimate
of the age of a single universe-cycle of around 37,000 million years,
which is quite plausible when compared to modern astrophysics. After
one universe- cycle ends another begins, again and again, according to
impersonal law. A Creator God is redundant in this scheme.
No being is a Supreme Saviour, according to the Buddha, because whether
God, human, animal or whatever, all are subject to the Law of Kamma.
Even the Buddha had no power to save. He could only point out the Truth
so that the wise could see it for themselves. Everyone must take
responsibility for their own future well-being, and it is dangerous to
give that responsibility to another.
7. The Illusion of Soul
The Buddha taught that there is no soul, no essential and permanent
core to a living being. Instead, that which we call a 'living being',
human or other, can be seen to be but a temporary coming together of
many activities and parts - when complete it is called a 'living
being', but after the parts separate and the activities cease it is not
called a 'living being' anymore. Like an advanced computer assembled of
many parts and activities, only when it is complete and performs
coherent tasks is it called a 'computer', but after the parts are
disconnected and the activities cease it is no longer called a
'computer'. No essential permanent core can be found which we can truly
call 'the computer', just so, no essential permanent core can be found
which we can call 'the soul'.
Yet Rebirth still occurs without a soul. Consider this simile: on a
Buddhist shrine one candle, burnt low, is about to expire. A monk takes
a new candle and lights it from the old. The old candle dies, the new
candle burns bright. What went across from the old candle to the new?
There was a causal link but no thing went across! In the same way,
there was a causal link between your previous life and your present
life, but no soul has gone across.
Indeed, the illusion of a soul is said by the Buddha to be the root
cause of all human suffering. The illusion of 'soul' manifests as the
'Ego'. The natural unstoppable function of the Ego is to control. Big
Egos want to control the world, average Egos try to control their
immediate surroundings of home, family and workplace, and almost all
Egos strive to control what they take to be their own body and mind.
Such control manifests as desire and aversion, it results in a lack of
both inner peace and outer harmony. It is this Ego that seeks to
acquire possessions, manipulate others and exploit the environment. Its
aim is its own happiness but it invariably produces suffering. It
craves for satisfaction but it experiences discontent. Such deep-
rooted suffering cannot come to an end until one sees, through deep and
powerful meditation, that the idea 'me and mine' is no more than a
These seven topics are a sample of what the Buddha taught. Now, to
complete this brief sketch of Buddhism, let's look at how these
Teachings are practised today.
Types of Buddhism
One could say that there is only one type of Buddhism and that is the
huge collection of Teachings that were spoken by the Buddha. The
original Teachings are found in the 'Pali Canon', the ancient scripture
of Theravada Buddhism, which is widely accepted as the oldest reliable
record of the Buddha's words. Theravada Buddhism is the dominant
religion in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.
Between 100 to 200 years after the passing away of the Buddha, the
Sangha (the monastic community) split over the political question of
'Who runs the Sangha?' A controversy over some monastic rules was
decided by a committee of Arahats (fully Enlightened monks or nuns)
against the views of the majority of monks. The disgruntled majority
resented what they saw as the excessive influence of the small number
of Arahats in monastery affairs. From then on, over a period of several
decades, the disaffected majority partially succeeded in lowering the
exalted status of the Arahat and raising in its place the ideal of the
Bodhisattva (an unenlightened being training to be a Buddha).
Previously unknown scriptures, supposedly spoken by the Buddha and
hidden in the dragon world, then appeared giving a philosophical
justification for the superiority of the Bodhisattva over the allegedly
'selfish' Arahat. This group of monks and nuns were first known as the
'Maha Sangha', meaning 'the great (part) of the monastic community'.
Later, after impressive development, they called themselves the
'Mahayana', the 'Greater Vehicle' while quite disparagingly calling the
older Theravada 'Hinayana', the 'Inferior Vehicle'. Mahayana still
retains most of the original teachings of the Buddha (in the Chinese
scriptures these are known as the 'Agama' and in the Tibetan version as
the 'Kangyur') but these core teachings were mostly overwhelmed by
layers of expansive interpretations and wholly new ideas. The Mahayana
of China, still vibrant in Taiwan, reflects an earlier phase of this
development, the Mahayana of Vietnam, Korea and Japan (mostly Zen) is a
later development, and the Mahayana of Tibet and Mongolia is a much
later development still.
Buddhism's relevance to the world today
Today, Buddhism continues to gain ever wider acceptance in many lands
far beyond its original home. Here in Australia, many Australians
through their own careful choice are adopting Buddhism's peaceful,
compassionate and responsible ways.
The Buddhist Teaching of the Law of Kamma offers our society a just and
incorruptible foundation and reason for the practice of a moral life.
It is easy to see how a wider embracing of the Law of Kamma would lead
any country towards a stronger, more caring and virtuous society.
The Teaching of Rebirth places this present short lifetime of ours in a
broader perspective, giving more meaning to the vital events of birth
and death. The understanding of Rebirth removes so much of the tragedy
and grief surrounding death and turns one's attention to the quality of
a lifetime, rather than its mere length.
From the very beginning, the practice of meditation has been at the
very heart of the Buddhist Way. Today, meditation grows increasingly
popular as the proven benefits to both mental and physical well being
become more widely known. When stress is shown to be such a major cause
of human suffering, the quieting practice of meditation becomes ever
more valued.
Today's world is too small and vulnerable to live angry and alone, thus
the need for tolerance, love and compassion is so very important. These
qualities of mind, essential for happiness are formally developed in
Buddhist meditation and then diligently put into practice in everyday
Forgiveness and gentle tolerance, harmlessness and peaceful compassion
are well known trademarks of Buddhism, they are given freely and
broadly to all kinds of beings, including animals of course, and also,
most importantly, to oneself. There is no place for dwelling in guilt
or self-hatred in Buddhism, not even a place for feeling guilty about
feeling guilty!
Teachings and practices such as these are what bring about qualities of
gentle kindness and unshakeable serenity, identified with the Buddhist
religion for 25 centuries and sorely needed in today's world. In all
its long history, no war has ever been fought in the name of Buddhism.
It is this peace and this tolerance, growing out of a profound yet
reasonable philosophy, which makes Buddhism so vitally relevant to
today's world.
Is rebirth for real - either as a human or in one of the other realms?
This is the question most Westerners ask as soon as they become
interested in Buddhism. Karma (Pali: Kamma) - the law of cause and
effect - operates across multiple lifetimes, but where's the proof that
there is any life other than the current one?
It's a complex subject and each tradition has its own explanation. It
isn't uncommon for different teachers in the same tradition to have a
different take on rebirth. One thing's for sure, there is no scientific
proof of rebirth (yet). There are rational explanations, but they all
rest on unprovable assumptions.
One way to approach the question of rebirth is suggested by Thanissaro
Bhikkhu, who says, "You don't have to believe in rebirth, you
just have to take it as a working hypothesis." Other teachers, such as
Ajahn Summedho, have a similar view, that since we can never know what
will happen after death, it makes sense to practise Dharma (Pali:
Dhamma) and live this life in the best way possible.
Some well-known monks, Ajahn Brahm and P.A. Payutto among them, say
that when meditators reach the third or fourth jhana (level of
absorbtion) they are able to "read their past lives" as the Buddha did
and experience the truth of rebirth. But this ability is by no means
universal, even among meditation masters.
Another explanation championed by Buddhadasa, Thailand's most revered
monk, is that rebirth in a series of physical bodies is "conventional
talk" to make the subject understandable for the masses, but in "Dharma
talk" what the Buddha really meant was that each life was the arising
of the ego in the mind. So we experience "death" and "rebirth" (of the
ego) many times each day.
Similarly, the six realms of existence all correspond to states of
mind. In the same way, the cause and effect of karma can be observed in
our own mental states - when we do good deeds it results in a wholesome
mental state, when we do bad deeds, we experience unwholesome mental
This rational explanation of rebirth and karma doesn't necessarily
exclude the traditional view. It augments it. What works for me is to
take both of them as working hypotheses and practise accordingly.
Recalling the Buddha's story about the man shot with a poisoned arrow,
if we need to have every detail of the teaching proved to us at the
outset, we'll be dead before we start practising.
The traditional answer to this is that our purpose is to attain nirvana
and stop the endless cycle of rebirths and suffering. But the idea
of a general purpose for mankind suggests that someone or something
created that purpose, which in turn suggests an omnipotent deity.
The way I think of it is that we have no pre-ordained purpose. We
evolved, and here we are. Because we also evolved language and
conceptual thinking, we got stuck with this concept of a self, an ego
that makes us feel separate from everything else. The ego needs
constant reassurance of its importance, which is why we cling to our
views and defend them fanatically, and why we are constantly
criticizing others. Our ego rules our lives. It is terrified of being
snuffed out.
We handle this in different ways. Some of us have lots of kids so we
can feel that a part of us lives on forever through our descendants.
Some of us perform heroic deeds so that our names will live on in
history forever. Some of us get onto Ripley's Believe It Or Not with
the world's longest moustache or beating the world record for smashing
melons with our head, or some such nonsense, so that we'll achieve
digital immortality. Some of us cling to the idea that a god will give
us eternal life in some form after death.
For those of us who don't find this pseudo-immortality or unguaranteed
immortality satisfying, there's a need to create our own purpose in
life. This is where Buddhism fits the bill nicely. Instead of being
ruled by the ego and its fears, get rid of it! Being rid of the ego and
the suffering it brings is what Ajahn Jagaro called "True Freedom" - a
very appealing idea for all of us.
If we don't achieve true freedom in this life, we should get another
chance in a future life. But simply diminishing the ego and increasing
freedom in this life seems like a worthwhile purpose to me.
To preserve the monastic order, the Buddha set down 227 rules for a
bhikkhu (monk) to observe and 311 for a bhikkhuni (nun).
Before his death (known as parinirvana) he said that some minor
rules could be changed.
Within a short time of his passing away there was disagreement over
what could be changed and different sects emerged. The more reformist
sects later called themselves Mahayana (greater vehicle) and referred
to the conservative sects as Hinayana (lesser vehicle). The only
conservative sect remaining today is Theravada, which is prevalent in
Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand. Theravada recognises the Pali Canon as
its scriptures and a variety of ancient Theravadin commentaries.
Whereas Theravada spread to the south and east, Mahayana moved to the
northwest through what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan and then across
Central Asia to China, Tibet, Vietnam, Korea and Japan. For historical
reasons, the language of Mahayana scriptures was Sanskrit and that of
Theravada was Pali. Hence the difference in spelling of some common
Buddhist terms: Nirvana/Nibbana, Sutra/Sutta, Karma/Kamma,
Dharma/Damma, etc. Westerners are more familiar with Mahayana Sanskrit
Mahayana also has its own scriptures in addition to the Pali Canon, the
most important of which is the Lotus Sutra. These sutras are purported
to be the Buddha's secret "higher" teachings, which were handed down
only to those who were ready for them - an idea emphasised at the
beginning of the Lotus Sutra.
Apart from a modified monastic code which made monasticism possible in
harsh environments such as Tibet, Mahayana emphasises the Bodhisattva
Ideal, where a man vows not to achieve final enlightenment until all
sentient beings have been saved. So anyone helping others to achieve
enlightenment can be considered a bodhisattva. In Theravada, the term
bodhisattva usually refers only to the historical Buddha in his
previous lives. Historically, some Mahayanists consider Theravadins
to be selfish for seeking enlightenment only for themselves, while
some Theravadins consider Mahayanists to have deviated from what the
Buddha taught.
The various sutras and sects of Mahayana reflect different ways of
reaching enlightenment appropriate for different people with different
levels of ability. Because of this, a number of "mythical" buddhas and
bodhisattvas are revered and used as objects of meditation.
Theravadins revere only the historical Buddha and only his image is
seen in temples.
Mahayana tends to emphasise the concept of sunyata (void-ness)
in its teachings and tends to have a more specific idea of what passes
from rebirth to rebirth (consciousness, comprising awareness and
Personally, I found that the more I read about Mahayana and the Tibetan
tradition known as Vajrayana, the more I accepted that all sects are
going in the same direction and there is no point in considering any
one of them better than another.
I suggest reading about Theravada first and then investigating the
other traditions to see which suits you best. Your decision may also
depend on your Buddhist friends and what is available where you
As far as I know, the main traditions known in the West are Theravada,
Tibetan, Zen, Pure Land and Nichiren. One myth that seems to have grown
up over the years is that with Mahayana one can reach enlightenment in
one lifetime whereas with Theravada it takes aeons. This notion seems
to have been pushed by the Chinese Zen patriarchs, in particular Huang
Po, as illustrated in . In modern times the idea has
been spread by influential author-scholar John Blofeld, who translated
Huang Po's works into English and wrote several excellent books on
Buddhism. But it all seems pretty ridiculous because how could anyone
know how many lives ago any particular person started consciously
working towards enlightenment?
Blofeld followed Zen and then Tibetan Buddhist Tantrism, describing
both as the "Short Path." However, it isn't difficult to see that
any tradition that emphasises meditation - as the Buddha did -
will be a short path. In the past century, the Thai Forest Tradition is
a good example of a Theravadin tradition that produced a number of
enlightened masters.
According to Blofeld, Mahayana and Tibetan Buddhism in particular offer
ways of practice to suit people at every level. After all, not everyone
has an aptitude for meditation. A lot of people prefer something
simpler, such as praying, chanting, various forms of devotion and
pilgrimages. He describes Zen and Theravada as "formless," meaning the
practice is mostly just you and your mind. But in fact there's a lot
more to both than just meditation.
Tibetan Buddhism seems to attract Westerners because there are
now a lot of Tibetan lamas and monasteries in the West, because of the
charisma of the Dalai Lama, because it can be a "Short Path," because
of its reputation for developing psychic powers and because of its many
varied methods of practice. However, Tibetan Buddhism has absorbed
much of the ancient, shamanistic Bon religion of Tibet, so it's wise
to read up on Tibet thoroughly before committing to it.
Zen attracts Westerners because it's something of a "back to
basics" tradition with an emphasis on meditation and very little
ritual. Sakyamuni, the historical Buddha, is revered rather than the
other mythical buddhas and bodhisattvas of the Mahayana sutras.
Although it originated in China, the type of Zen practised in the West
is mostly Japanese.
Theravada attracts Western practicioners because it is seen as
the oldest and purest form of Buddhism, one that reveres only
Sakyamuni and in theory concentrates on meditation. The Thai Forest
Tradition which developed in the late 1800s was an effort to practise
exactly as the Buddha did, wandering in the jungle and meditating in
caves. Although the jungle is largely gone now, a number of Westerners
joined Ajahn Chah's international monastery in the 1970s and later
spread the practice in other countries: Ajahn Jagaro and Ajahn Brahm in
Australia, Thanissaro Bhikkhu in the USA and Ajahn Sumedho in the UK.
For a brief look at the origins of this tradition, see Thanissaro
Bhikkhu's . For a more detailed treatment, read
Forest Recollections.
Pure Land was once widespread in China and is still practised
among Chinese around the world. A refined form of Pure Land (Jodo and
Shin Jodo) developed in Japan and has spread to the West. Pure Land
involves purifying the mind by chanting the name of the Amitabha
(Amida) Buddha to gain help in reaching a realm after death from where
it is easy to reach enlightenment. On a deeper level, Pure Land equals
pure mind and Amitabha represents our own qualities rather than an
external saviour. Pure Land is sometimes combined with Zen practice.
Nichiren is a homegrown Japanese tradition advocating chanting
of a phrase hailing the Lotus Sutra. An offshoot of Nichiren is the lay
organisation, Soka Gakkai International.
There are a few Buddhist sects and organisations that are
controversial in some way, usually because of their founder/leader or
his particular beliefs. Before getting involved with Soka Gakkai (SGI),
the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO), Shugden or Diamond
Way (Karma Kagyu), you might want to google for information about their
background.
Although there is a ceremony of taking the Three Refuges (the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha), there isn't any
"conversion" involved and you aren't required to renounce any other religion or beliefs. In fact, it seems to be more of
a social statement to show others that you have become a Buddhist.
In my opinion, once you accept the Buddha's teachings as a way of life and try to follow the Five Precepts for lay
people, you're a Buddhist. For me, this involved a lot of reading Dharma and listening to Dharma talks on the Internet.
Rather than read the scriptures (which are often difficult), I chose books by monks and nuns who already had a deep
knowledge of Dharma through study and practice, and who had a talent for explaining it. I looked at how Buddhism
developed over the millennia and decided to start off with Theravada, which is the original form of Buddhism based on the
Pali Canon. Later, I investigated the various Mahayana traditions too.
It was obvious to me that reducing the power of the ego to control our
lives was a foundation of Buddhism. For my practice, I concentrated on
Right Speech (a component of the Noble Eightfold Path) because I
thought it would give the fastest results. I expected if I started
being nice to people, eventually they'd be nicer to me. That happened,
but much more than that. I found myself examining my intentions every
time I felt like defending my views, arguing with someone,
contradicting them, criticizing them, comparing myself with them or
judging them in any way at all.
Pretty soon it was obvious that much of what I said or did was designed
to boost my sense of self-worth and that "true freedom" was to escape
this tyranny of the ego.
Later I started meditating, since this is the only way to experience
the truth of the teaching rather than just understanding them
intellectually. Even though the majority of people born into Buddhism
may not meditate, it's essential for the serious Buddhist.
Some Westerners have a problem with whether they are or aren't a
Buddhist, usually because they still have some belief in god or because
they haven't come to believe in rebirth. The following talk by Ajahn
Jagaro, a Western monk of the Thai Forest Tradition, will be helpful
for anyone asking himself, "Am I a Buddhist?"
Am I a Buddhist?
by Ajahn Jagaro
Teaching people who have only recently encountered Buddhism I am often
asked the question "How do you become a Buddhist?" or "How do you know
when you are a Buddhist?" This type of enquiry is indeed healthy and to
be encouraged not only amongst those new to Buddhism but also for
people born and raised as Buddhists. So go ahead and ask yourself: "Am
I a Buddhist?"
I expect that there will be many who will answer "Yes" and those who
say "No", but I wonder how many will be thinking "Oh ... Ahm,.. I don't
know." So let us contemplate this business of being a Buddhist a bit
To begin our enquiry it may be worthwhile to know what the Buddha said
on the matter. The following episode is taken from the Buddhist
scriptures (Anguttara Nikaya, Vol IV):
"Once, the Lord dwelt amongst the Sakyans in the Banyan Tree Monastery
at Kapilavatthu, and while there, Mahanama the Sakyan came to him and
"How, Lord, does one become a lay disciple?"
"When one has taken refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha,
then one is a lay disciple".
"How, Lord, is a lay disciple virtuous?"
"When a lay disciple abstains from killing, stealing, sexual
misconduct, lying and drinking intoxicants, then he is virtuous."
Here the Buddha clearly states that by taking refuge in the Buddha,
Dhamma and Sangha one becomes a disciple or, in modern terminology, a
Buddhist. The classical formula of going for refuge, which has been
passed down from the time of the B
Buddham Saranam Gacchami (I go for refuge to the Buddha)
Dhammam Saranam Gacchami (I go for refuge to the Dhamma)
Sangham Saranam Gacchami (I go for refuge to the Sangha)
However one does not become a Buddhist through the mere repetition of
these words nor by the performance of any other ceremony ritual or
initiation. On the other hand, though one has not performed any
ceremony or ritual, one may still be a Buddhist. Put simply, this means
that no one can make you a Buddhist nor can anyone stop you from being
a Buddhist. It is a volitional choice that one makes when one has
sufficient confidence in the Teacher and the Teaching. In the
commentaries to the scriptures it explains this as, "It is an act of
consciousness devoid of defilements, motivated by confidence in and
reverence for the Triple Gem"...
Here I would like to relate something of my own experience to help
explain this point. When I first came in contact with Buddhism I did
not consider myself a religious person. If anything, I thought of
myself as an atheist and felt that religion had little relevance to
real life. However, I did find the Buddha's Teachings and in particular
the practice of meditation very appealing. I had a desire to find out
more about it and this lead me into a monastery where I was eventually
ordained as a monk.
One day a young Thai student, wanting to practise his English, casually
asked me "Are you a Buddhist?" But in my mind I wondered whether or not
I was a Buddhist. I must confess that it was a strange position to be
in - a Buddhist monk who doesn't know whether he is a Buddhist! Yet
that situation persisted for over a year before the meaning of both the
question and the answer became clear to me.
During that year as I continued to study and practise the Dhamma I
began to feel very comfortable with the teaching and increasingly
confident that this was the way for me. With this came the conscious
recognition that I had chosen the Buddha as my Teacher and considered
him as the embodiment of the spiritual ideals of peace and liberation.
I had also chosen to follow the path contained in his Teaching (the
Dhamma) being confident that it would lead to liberation. And while on
this path I would seek the guidance and try to emulate the example of
all the noble disciples who constitute the Sangha. It was indeed
wonderful to discover that I was a Buddhist and not just a Buddhist
Now becoming a Buddhist does not mean that one has to either agree with
or believe in everything that is taught or practised by all the
countless Buddhist sects and groups throughout the world. Nor do we
have to believe that it is the only way and that all the other
religions are no good. It simply means that having looked at and probed
into this teaching of the Buddha, having tried it and having seen that
it does work, one has confidence in it and chooses to take refuge in
the Buddha, the Dhamma, and Sangha.
However if you are still unsure as to whether you are a Buddhist or you
are not, don't worry about it, just keep on practising.
If you found this page useful or have any comments you can contact me at}