The above phrase originates from Zen Buddhism and is not to be taken literally. It means that enlightenment is not something to achieve; it is always present as universally aware energy. To “kill the Buddha” is metaphorical to dissolve the illusion of seeking and instead be mindful through aware, conscious energy, existentially moment to moment in the now.

The most contradictory aspect of Buddhism is that the Buddha was strictly against all religions, statues of deities, rituals, and dogmas. His philosophy was born from this fundamental principle: his teachings have no connection to religion. Today, it is the fourth-largest religion in the world.

Furthermore, Buddha never spoke about God, the soul, reincarnation, etc. He would remain silent on these issues. He was firmly against all religious beliefs in general. According to him, there was no self, soul, or everlasting essence in any form. He restricted his teachings to resolving people’s suffering, which highly disturbed him.

We read that there were no images of Buddha for nearly 300 after his death. As time passed, the monks who followed his teachings sought attention and wished to personify and illustrate them effectively, supporting their teachings with various external forms.

Initially, in Theravada Buddhism, they avoided images. They presented symbols of the Bodhi tree, Dharma wheel, and empty throne, representing his formless presence. Later, with the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama was depicted in statues with various postures, often featuring Indo-Greek influences, and was revered as the enlightened Buddha.

As told by many, he was the 28th Buddha, yet he was the founder of Buddhism. He belonged to a family following Vedic thoughts and died as a Hindu. In Hindu traditions, he was considered by some to be the ninth avatar of Vishnu. Over time, Hindu traditions diverged from Vedic philosophy, embracing the ideologies of a human God, religious rituals, unquestioning beliefs, and reincarnation. However, his belief remained different from any such dogmatic teachings.

Gautama Buddha’s Four Noble Truths exemplify his profound influence on humankind, where he proclaimed that life is fundamentally about suffering. The cause of suffering is desire; to end this is possible through Nirvana, the shedding of all desires through mindfulness. This state of Nirvana is also achieved through Nishkam Karma, both leading toward the same direction of selfless action without identifying or attaching to the fruits of one’s actions.

What is surprising is the irony behind the great Buddha, who preached Anatta (no-self) and became idolised by his followers in the form of self. The spiritual icon who discouraged all rituals became a symbol of ritualistic practices. Today, the Buddha, often depicted as walking barefoot with minimal clothing, is usually portrayed in golden statues. However, his greatness lies not in religious temples and rituals but in the philosophical wisdom of attaining bliss through mindfulness, leaving a lasting legacy for all time.

Siddharth Gautama Buddha repeatedly emphasised that the experience of selfless love and truth can only come from the experiential aspects of one’s mind. For this reason, he was probably silent and did not discuss metaphysical subjects, such as God, the soul, consciousness, or Brahman. Even then, for that matter, the mind, which entirely depends upon consciousness to make it awake and alive within the brain, is, for all purposes, meta or non-physical.

The same story applies to Hinduism, even though the meaning of Hinduism is Sanatan Dharma – the eternal order – a fundamental statement embracing concepts related to the basic principles of life, based on Advaita Vedanta (not two is the end of knowledge). Instead, modern Hinduism today places a strong emphasis on religious gods, idol worship, dogma, and rituals. It has gradually drawn away from the prime ancient Vedic philosophy that all that exists is not two. The creator and creation, meaning God and you, are also not two, remaining as nothing in the nothingness of this universe.

Today, besides experiential living in the now, understanding the tenets of spiritualism, and transforming, our essential truth in life depends upon what we see, read, believe, and listen to. Both intellectual knowledge and thoughts are from external perception, relying on the past, from which we project our future. Our cognitive minds handle our situations and circumstances based on beliefs that have been conditioned in us over generations, from our parents to preachers. Any belief tends to cling to its past and change according to circumstance. In short, we become what we believe, so we must doubt and be very sure of what we believe. Doubt is necessary to enhance our intelligence.

The Advaita Vedanta’s metaphysical claim that all that exists is only Brahman (expand and grow) coincides today with what quantum physics claims as energy. Similarly, Advaita’s philosophy proves authentic in all three cases, as exemplified by the laws of thermodynamics, which are repeatedly illustrated in this book.

Even though religion and spiritualism merge as one in their final stages, both remain separated as long as religion stresses belief, rituals, caste, creed, and traditional cultures to worship a separate God out of fear and unquestioning faith.

Even spiritual gurus of today have started narrating the mystical and mythological stories underlying religion, for it is much easier to convince and draw larger crowds through the medium of separateness rather than making efforts to unify all faiths as not two. It means that all that exists is also not one but rather a presence in an interconnected quantum field of waves of energy in unity and continuity, represented as nothing (Shunya). It is a common statement in both philosophy and science, where Shunya does not mean empty in its nothingness, but rather as the substrate of a unified force that creates a field from which everything arises to appear and disappear.

To experience truth, you need to be fearless. To be courageous, you must be free from all such bondages of unquestioning beliefs and traditions. These only make you imitate, think, and speak others’ knowledge and experience. To love, pray, be righteous, and be truthful, all you need is to be unconditionally free from all dogmas.

A reader might think I am against religion, but I believe religion should encompass all humanity in truthfulness, humility, and compassion, in unconditional love for all. Religion has three aspects: rituals, cultural, and spiritual, where spiritualism in its true sense is mostly absent.

Moreover, no philosophical system can deny this fact, or even if we try our best to change our lifestyle in isolation, we cannot escape the collective association of unity in continuity. Religion, science, or technology have not been able to fill this gap, creating a world of disaster where we are destroying land, sea, and air, eventually causing the extinction of Planet Earth. We desperately need to learn and practice to inculcate a spiritual attitude to fill this void. It is made possible through collective common sense and inner truth. Kill those blind beliefs to awaken that Buddha within, mindful enlightenment in that total awareness of who and what you are to exist in that unification to which you belong.

Spiritualism unfolds in three aspects: how to make your mind conscious of countering those stagnating, unquestioning beliefs. How can we awaken from the past and the future to connect in the present moment through mindfulness, from one moment to the next? And how to experience and realise the presence of that togetherness, in that wholeness, in fulfilment with total awareness, which we all are. I know it’s tough to understand, so this book is thick and has many pages.

It is why Buddha insisted on living a ‘Middle Way,’ avoiding extreme indulgence with self-discipline. This act of “killing the Buddha” is about freeing oneself from theoretical constructs to realise the true nature of reality. Our outer personality and inner individuality evolve not through reading, writing, or listening to spiritual discourses but rather through a gradual transformation in practising, experiencing, and realising, where the presence of awareness becomes the awareness of that presence of who you are.

NAMASTE