Why is the mind the key to Buddhism?

Question

I've been looking EVERYWHERE for this answer. Any online sources? I'd very much appreciate it.

Answer 1

Why is the mind the key to Buddhism?
because everything becomes clear....

http://www.geocities.com/breath1life/heartmind.html << AJAHN CHAH, a respected buddhist monk

Ta-chu Hui-hai- The Zen Teaching of Instantaneous Awakening:
Dwelling upon nothing means that the mind is not fixed upon good or evil, being or nonbeing, inside or outside, or somewhere between the two, void or nonvoid, concentration or distraction. This dwelling upon nothing is the state in which it should dwell; those who attain to it are said to have nondwelling minds - in other words, they have Buddha-minds!

Mind has no colour, such as green or yellow, red or white; it is not long or short; it does not vanish or appear; it is free from purity and impurity alike; and its duration is eternal. It is utter stillness. Such, then, is the form and shape of our original mind.

We may liken it to a bright mirror which, though it contains no forms, can nevertheless ‘perceive’ all forms. Why? just because it is free from mental activity. if you students of the Way had minds unstained," they would not give rise to falsehood and their attachment to the subjective ego and to objective externals would vanish; then purity would arise of itself and you would thereby be capable of such perception. The Dharmapada Sutra says: ‘To establish ourselves amid perfect voidness in a single flash is excellent wisdom indeed!’

Answer 2

Not sure where exactly this concept you are asking about actually comes from.
I can only give you my understanding based on my own studies, observations and actually experience. I am not a Buddhist but have followed the path of it's original purpose and
philosophy.
Guatama Buddha , attained the state of enlightenment called "bodhi" on his own. He researched and tried other methods that existed in his time and basically came up with his own.
There have been many "buddha's" in the past and probably many since.A buddha is simply one who has attained the state of "bodhi". Spiritual and intellectual enlightenment.
The philosophy we call Buddhism in the West has it's roots in much earlier philosophies that were part of what Guatama Buddha studied and applied.
He added his own discoveries. He also was a teacher and brought the civilizing hope of enlightenment to many, at a time when it was kept a mystery by monks and priests.

To answer your question. It is a separation from the "mind" that is necessary to enlightenment. This is really just an awareness of oneself as seperate from mind and body and an ability to actually BE seperate , and maintain that state.
To help clarify this here are some actual definitions which should help you.

The Spirit or Soul
This is described as having no mass, no wave-length,no energy and no time or location in space except by consideration or postulate.
The spirit is not a "thing". It is the "creator" of things.
The usual residence of the soul, (spirit, awareness of awareness unit....YOU) is in the skull or near the body.
The soul can be in one of four conditions.
1. Entirely separate from a body or bodies.
2. Near a body and knowingly controlling the body.
3. In the body (the skull).
4. An inverted condition, compulsively away from the body and unable to approach it.

There are degrees of each of the above 4 conditions.
The most optimum of these from the standpoint of man, is the second.

The Mind
This is a communication and control system between the spirit and it's (his) environment.
The mind is a network of communications and pictures, energies and masses, which are brought into being by the activities and interactions of the spirit with the Physical Universe and other spirits/individuals.
These activities include the operating of a body and the solving
of problems related to survival and existence.
The mind has 2 Parts:
The Analytical Mind. The keynote of this mind is awareness. One knows what one is concluding and knows what one is doing.
The Reactive Mind. This is a stimulus response mechanism.
This mind acts below the level of consciousness. It never stops operating unlike the Analytical Mind which can be less aware or even completely unconscious.

The Body
A carbon/oxygen (biological/ cell based) engine. This can best be studied in such books as "Grey's Anatomy" and other anatomical texts.

Guatama Buddha wrote in Dharma-Parda:
"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. It is founded upon our thoughts. It is made up of our thoughts."

Thought is senior to matter, energy,space and time.