Jason Chen was invited to give a lecture on "Introduction to Buddhism" in General Class on July 8, 2000. The following is an abstract of his speech.

Buddha attained enlightenment and talked 49 years about how to attain that state. When we look at why he decided to sit under the Bodhi tree and what he was trying to say, we can see there is only one thing that he is really talking about. To tell us to turn away from suffering, and "be happy".

We can see and experience suffering in our daily life. In the cycle of life, suffering can be grouped into suffering from birth, old age, sickness, death, not being able to obtain what one wish, meeting what one hates, leaving the beloved, and from the five skandhas.

So where are all these cause from? Externally, it is caused by impermanence. All beings live in Samsara, Sanskrit word that means "imperfect, flawed". So why is it flawed? Because it is impermanent in nature. And when we analyze it, we can see impermanence is due to interdependent nature of all phenomenons. And when we see the inner cause of impermanence, we can see it arises from our own afflicted emotions. In the Buddhist tradition, we call them "five poisons". They are greed, hatred, ignorance, pride, and jealousy. And when you find the true cause to all five, the real enemy is ignorance. When we find out the true nature internally and externally, we will wish for a way out because all beings have one common nature, to try to be happy and not suffer.

To renunciate from suffering, one will want to find a source that they believe can protect them and lead them away from fear. So this is why one takes refuge in the three gems. So how do we know the three gems are our ultimate refuge? We have to come here and listen to a lot of teachings, contemplate about the things we learn, analyze it, and using unbiased logic, look at what was taught. And by constantly analyzing and practicing the philosophy taught, one can gain unshakable and true faith in the triple gem. This will be the ultimate refuge. So why is it good to take refuge? Taking refuge means you are actually making up your mind to get away from suffering and want to be your own "ruler" instead of having ignorance leading you astray all the time.

Through the rite of taking initiation such as receiving Tao, one will generate wisdom and merit. What is the ground of this statement? By renunciating from samsara, one is making an effort to eradicate ignorance. And this is an act of a wise man. By trying to make oneself turning away from samsara, one will abide the rule of karma, or the cause and effect of the nature. This will lead one to generate merit. With merit, wisdom, and special connection made by receiving Tao, one can then ultimately sever the root of suffering externally and internally.