Since the early seventies, many Westerners have been interested in Buddhism.

A "religion without God", the concept was new for them and very attractive.

Some of them therefore turned to Tibet, others like me, to Japan.

However, most still misunderstand its nature.

Some people think it is a wellness technique, a method to "stay Zen", and this term has become so fashionable that it is found everywhere.

Bank cards have become "Zen", cars are "Zen", insurance is "Zen", many things in everyday life have become "Zen".

Others think they are already Buddhists, even Buddhas because they are nice,

others still, think that Buddhist mantras are a kind of incantatory formula to obtain immediate benefits: health, money, social position, love...

Values as futile as they are illusory, which the Buddha possessed before reaching enlightenment and which he rejected in order to seek the truth.

And even if this were the case, Buddhism would then be just another religion, a religion among others, a technique somewhat similar to Yoga and, in the end, of no more interest than that.

Buddhism is called the "inner way" (Naidō), while other religions, ideologies and philosophies are called the "outer way" (Gedō).

Comparing the inner path and the outer path (which in Japanese is called Naige sōtai) and making the distinction, is of extreme importance, because the confusion of the two makes one speak of Buddhism giving it the same content as the outer path, or even worse if one studies or practices it, because a treatise states: "Men who act in this way are dishonored, because they study Buddhism but belong to the outer path".

Not knowing the difference between the inner and outer paths is like a patient suffering from cholesterol without knowing it, to whom a doctor administers a treatment to fight cholesterol without telling him that he has cholesterol. The patient would then take his medication, while continuing to eat deli meats, sweets and other foods that are contraindicated when you have cholesterol. It would be of no use at all.

In fact, Buddhism is the exact opposite of all other religions, ideologies and philosophies, insofar as it proposes a vision of oneself, of others, of things, of visible and invisible phenomena, grouped together under the appellation "dharmas", which is completely different, because it is right.

What is this difference?

We, the ordinary human beings, are unable to perceive the reality that surrounds us. Neuroscience has determined that our brains create their own reality, their own world, which is distorted mainly due to the characteristics of the visual system, which allows us to act on reality.

In a series of documentaries entitled "What is Reality?" Dr. David Eagleman takes viewers on an extraordinary journey, exploring how the brain, locked in silence and darkness, without direct access to the outside world, constructs a multisensory reality and evokes the rich and beautiful world we all take for granted.

Heinz Penzlin, professor emeritus of general zoology and animal physiology at the Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena, states in the journal Cerveau & Psycho n° 101 of March 2003:

"For most people, the fact is obvious: the world exists as a raw, objective fact, no matter how you look at it. The sky is blue, the snow is cold, the rose in my hand has a sweet scent, and the nightingale's song is enchanting. However, experiments in neuroscience reveal that the brain does not provide a photograph of the outside world: its vision is a construction. The human being, like other animals, lives in a world of his own, that of his partial perceptions. Where is reality? There are probably as many realities as there are animal species and modes of perception" (according to HEINZ PENZLIN| BRAIN & PSYCHO N° 101 March 2003).

What neuroscientists have understood and proven after long research, but which still remains at the level of scientific theory, Shakyamuni Buddha experienced, lived, physically and spiritually.

By achieving enlightenment (Buddhahood), Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, who is called the Buddha (the enlightened one), had a unique experience.

He experienced the absolute.

Instantly, he was rid of all dualities, of all the illusory notions that we ordinary beings take for reality and therefore of all the suffering inherent in the cycle of life and death.

Once he had achieved enlightenment, the Buddha had only one objective, to make sure that everyone would achieve it in turn. This is what he says clearly in the sixteenth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, The Longevity of the Thus-Being:

"Each time I make this reflection: how to lead beings to enter the Way without superiority and quickly realize the body of the Buddha".

Now, this awakening of the Buddha, in other words the vision of the true aspect of things, is not at all easy to apprehend. He says so himself in the second chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the Means:

"What the Buddha led to the fulfillment is the primordial and rare Law, difficult to understand. Only a Buddha can with another Buddha perfectly scrutinize the true aspect of the dharmas.

Throughout these videos, we will discuss the content of the Buddha's awakening, the process through which we, ordinary humans, apprehend the external world and distort it, which causes all our suffering, how we too can awaken to the true aspect of things and see the true reality, i.e. become Buddha.