Q&A (2021/07/25)
In the article entitled: Saving Vacchagotta the author states:
In refusing to answer Vacchagotta’s questions, the Buddha reveals himself as the self-help guru of them all, in the most literal sense. He is telling us: don’t mess with anything that won’t help you get to release; focus only on what can lead to your ultimate well-being and happiness. The implication of his silence on the issue of whether or not the self exists, which he explains later in the sutta to Ananda and elsewhere in the canon, is a signpost for his entire teaching on anatta, or not-self.
Is there a literal self help program or progression of sutras that can be categorized as such?
~> The teachings of Buddhism are actually centered on the concept of "help".
~> The Three General Aspects of Buddhist Practice — Moral discipline, Meditative Concentration and Study of Buddhist Doctrines to gain Wisdom, are tend to "self-help". In the process of learning, we will improve our virtue, inner stability and wisdom.
~> The Six Pāramitās, the six practices that ferry one beyond the sea of mortality to nirvana — generosity, precepts, patience, diligence, meditation, wisdom — are developed from the level of "self-help" to "helping others."
~> Whether it is "self-help" or "helping others," Buddhism takes "eliminating affliction" as a clear learning goal.
~> It is "self-help" to reduce one's worries through practice; in the same way, if it reduces the suffering of others, it is "helping others".
~> In the process of practicing, they are called "Improving Oneself and Bringing Benefits to Others"（自利利人）; in the aspect of achieving enlightenment and liberation, they are called "To Enlighten Oneself and Enlighten Others"（自覺覺他）.
