The Buddha taught us what?

 The Buddha taught us, what?

Janpha Thadphoothon

Recently, I went with old friends to visit five temples along the river in Thailand's central region. The trip was memorable and the coffee was great. There is a cafe called 'Agalogo' - laterally translated as 'timeless'. The coffee we ordered took a long time to get done. Indeed, it's time we are talking about.

The visits on a fine day in late June 2026 got me to think deeper again about Buddhism and the Buddha. We made merits and paid homage to the Buddha statues and listened to the monks' preaching. 

As I was waiting for coffee. I began to think about the teaching of the Buddha. One of my friends is an architect, telling a few other friends about his design and concepts of the design of a resort hotel for his clients. I know very little about architecture and can hardly draw anything. I was thinking of one phrase I used to hear people talking, maybe from the reading of a quotation (supposedly the words of Buddha). That saying is about the knowing of the architect (who constructs) us the illusions of the mundane world. 

Oh, I know, and I have seen you the architect!

The rest of the story is all about the dismantling of the illusions to get to the core of reality and the nature of life. This is one hint of the teaching of the Buddha - that everything is an illusion. We attach ourselves to things (we thought to be concrete) that are impermanent, transient, and this can create suffering. His teaching is thus to get is to seek the noble paths to reach the great wisdom - to end all sufferings and attain Nibbana ( I still do not know what it is).

When I was young, the adults would tell me to just remember and follow three maxims - supposed to be the summary of the Buddha teachings:

Do good things
Refrain from doing bad (evil) things
Make sure that your Mind is cheerful and peaceful

I thought it was simple and easy to do. I was wrong. It was a challenge if you think about it carefully. The teaching of the Buddha is both practical and theoretical,,, and it is flexible to one's level of wisdom and 'capacity'.

I guess on reflection that's all I know about the Buddha's teachings. Oh one more thing that I think I know is the nature of actions (behavior). There are three of them : words, thinking, and doing (actions). Thinking is also doing it. One motto i still remember well is ' Think, Say, and Do" good things.

Upon realizing this, my mind was wandering and was a bit annoyed waiting from my Americano at this forever-waiting cafe.

If I had to wait a few minutes longer, I guess I might have reached the enlightenment!

Sadly my Americano had arrived... and the taste was timeless.

Thank you.