Religion

The Sussex Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices

Published

Sikhism W. Owen Co le and Piara Sing Sambhi

H;,tdll;sm Jeaneane Fowler

The Jews Alan Unrerman

Forthcoming

Buddhism Christian Theology The Diversity of Christianity Today

Bhagavad Gila (a student'S commentary) CO"(lIcimlism Humanism

The A'lciellt Egyptians Islam jai"ism Taoism Zen

ZoroastriQ1fislII

This series is intended for students of religion, social sciences and history, and for the interested layperson. It is conce rn ed with the be liefs and practices of religions in their socia l, cultura l and historical scning.

Other religious tides of interest

Co"("cia,,ism and Christianity: A Compara ti/Jc Study of len and Agape Xinz hong YOlO

The Bible as Theatre Theatre and I-Ioly Spirit Shimon Levy

Jainism: The \Vor/d of COllqllerors (2 volumes) Natubhai Shah

The SlIpreme Doctrine: Psychological Srlldies in Zen Thoughr Hu bert Benoit, wi th Forewords by Aldous Huxley and Tim Barren

Hinduism: Perspectives of Reality Jcaneane Fowler

Glimpses of the Divilre: A Spirilltal Anthology for Use 011 Every Day of the Year Cyrit Bulley

World Religions AN INTRODUCTION FOR STUDENTS

Jeaneane Fowler, Merv Fowler. David Nordiffe, Nora Hill,

and Diane Watkins

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WHAT IS BUDDHISM?

250

This shall ye think of all [his Aecting world; a srar 31 dawn; a bubb le in a srream;

5

Buddhism jeallealle FOt(;/er

a flash of lighming in a summer cloud; a nickering lamp; a phantom of a dream.

D/Omond S,dra

Although we cannot avoid using the designation, there is nor really a single, identifiable phenomenon which cou ld be called "Budd hi sm". Whi le it is certainly true to say that there was, in the midd le of the first millennium BCE, a morral who seemed to have found answers ro the existential suffering of li fe, and who became known as the Buddha, the kaleidoscopic strands which emerged from the li fe and teaching of that one man are as innumerable as the leaves of a giant oak tree emerging from one acorn. To define Buddhism is impossible and it has been ap tl y said that Buddhism is "whatever Buddhist men a nd women have said, done, and held dear".' And Buddhist men and women have

-sQid very different things about what if is to be Buddhist, have adopted widely differenr practi ces associated with being Buddhist and have adapted traditions to their own spccific cultura l a nd pre-Buddhist heritages.

So Uuddhism is something of an "umbrella" term used to depic t a variety of different beliefs and pr:lctices of those who call themselves "Buddhists". In some of the branches of Buddhism there is still evident much of the earlier, o riginal thought, but in others there have been developmenrs which have made the resultant be li efs and practices very diffe rent from the Buddhism of the time of its founder. \VIe the refore need to be very careful about us in g the term "Buddhism" in a gener- alized sense since what may be relevant to one area of Buddhism may nor be for another. In particular there are twO major extanr strands of Buddhism, Tberavada and Mahaya"a, and a lthough there are simi-

~

larincs between some aspecrs of the tWO, Mahayana Uuddhism, being rhe later strand. is much more varied. And it is Mahayana Buddhism which has had the remarkable tendency (0 adapt readily to the envi- ronment in which it finds itSelf thus effecting the present diversicy of Buddhism. Theravada Buddhis m, however, being (he more conserva- ti,'c of the tWO suands, is less diverse in character, and its hisfOrically conservative nature allows some generalism concerning beliefs.

Particularly in association with the Theravadin school, it could be suggested that Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion. This is because in Theravada Buddhism there is no concept of any kind of onmi potenr, creator God who is responsible for the world, either an indescribable Absolute, or theistic or anthro pomorphic God . Thoug h there are gods theseare nothing more {han fe ll ow travellers in the cycle of many li ves of any individual. Theravada Buddhism has rwenry-six djfferent levels of such gods but they are all subject to ka",ma - the law of cause and effect - and to ItS related process of rebirth: though the gods of th ese realms arc sometimes used as the focus of prayers for earthly maners, rhey are of 110 use on the spiritua l quest-In Mahayana Buddhism, wc would have less of a problem for there are a number of elements which accept some sort of Absolute o r Ultimate Reality, though the theory is a contentious one. l But the tcrm '"'phi losophy" is not really a suitable one for many slTands of Buddhism, since it suggests a sys tem of belief which involves a greal dea l of theorizing and this is something which Buddhism, in genera l, does nor agree with. Buddhism is very much a n aC/~eligion, not one w hi ch you philos- ophize about but one which you acrually do. The Buddha, Siddharra Cotama (Sa nsk rit Siddh:mha Gaurama), did no t really advocate wasting time in end less debate about whether beliefs were tru e, o r would work. To usc an analogy of his, if a person is shot with a poisoned arrow, what would be the paine of not removing the arrow until he or she had discovered who had shot it, for what reason, from which position, and what was the nature of the poison on th e tip! If we get on with things, we sha ll soon find our whet her they work o r not. Much of Buddhism is t hus a way of action a nd it matters nOt to most whether there is an Ultimate Reality o r not: it is making Buddhism a living way of life which is important. Trevor Ling stressed this practical, existenrinl nature of Buddhism when he depicted it as a "theory of existence",:1 th eory which diilgnoses the exis tentia l co ndi - -<

SUDDI-IISM

tion of humankind and prescribes its active cure.J ~

The word buddha means "enligluened..one..:, "one who has inte ll ecrJ T~ LIFE OF knowledge", or "awakened one" and it is Ltiu~n to Sidd harra THE BUDDHA Cotama because he became "enlightened" The idea of becoming enlightened o r, in particular, awakening, is important, for to many, though nOt all, Buddhists, it suggests a n awakening to what has previ- ously been hidden or unknown, an enlightenment to the (rue nature

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of things, a waking up to what is already there. T he word bllddha, some Buddhists point our, IS a common nOUJ1, thus indicating that anyone can " wake up" to the rea li ry of w hat life is. But it IS specifi- ca ll y used (0 refer to Siddhana Gotama as th e o ne who "awakened " in this aeon and w ho left hi s Teac hin gs, hi s Dhamma.~ If we wanted to mainrain a stricrl y accuraTe historical ana lysis of the li fe of th e Buddha, very linle of his life srory wo ul d eme rge. Indeed it is well nigh Impos· sible to ext ract from th e reli gious cradirion, th e mo re sec ul a r hi sto rica l facts about hi s life. In any case, to do so would be to extinguish the flame of rhe beginnings of Buddhism and rob it o f its whole esse nce a nd meaning in the li ves of irs adherents: indeed, such a model would present a distorted picture of what iifJing Buddhism rea ll y is.

So any a nalysis of th e lifc of th e Buddha is beset by innumerab le difficulties. TQIh.c. earlY. Buddhists it was not th e life of the Buddha which was import:lnt but hi s teachi"g, th e Dhamma. It was a lmost ha lf a millenn ium later that th e ilfe of the Buddha was fCIr to be suffi- cicnd y signi fica nr to be recorded t n mlnme dera.i1, but by this time reco rds wcredepcndem main ly on oral tradit ions which had survived in a vanery of schools and ea rl y canonical writings which did not focus on his life. The larer the writing rhe mo re legend a ry th e aCCo unt, producing what has been described as "a fa bric of myth and literary in ve nnon" I In presenting an account of Ihe life o f the Buddha , th ere- fo re, I do not inrend to be pedantic abo ut the historical facts but to pOrtra y instead something of rhe sto ry of the Buddha in a way that would be acce ptable to ma ny Buddhi sts th emselves: and this means to incl ude the rexrual embellish ments a nd h3giographi cal co ntent which has become essenti31 to ma ny Buddhist traditions.

While being a H indu by birth (th o ugh HHinduism" was scarcely developed Ilt th e tim e), th e Buddha was probably hei r to less Hindu traditio n than most, for the Sa kya tribe to which he belonged was renowned for its ind epe ndent spirit and fo r its rejection of th e b ra h- manica l teachings of the Hindui sm of the time. Indeed , Siddharm ma y have been a sa mamw (Sanskrit sramalla) , o ne w ho search ed for the T ruth indepe nde ml y of orthod ox religion. He was born into a high class, prestigious and wea lth y, Hindu family in Nepa l about 560 years HC El> in the Lum bini ga rd en a t Kapil avan hu. The family was hi gh class Ksatrjya a nd would probably ha ve been in flu enced in some ways by the Vedic tradi ti o ns of ea rl y H md uism. According to man y teXTS, his father was a rala, a ruler of the area, th o ugh it is possible th at his fath er, Suddh odana , WilS a lead ing citizen of KapiJavaslU rath er than a raja." He may well ha ve bee n head of a council of household leaders in the Sakya tribe of the particular clan of Gom ma .' Many traditi ons, even early o nes, record portentous and mira cul ous events associated with Sidd hatta 's co ncep ti on a nd birth. His farh er, lik e all Indian fathers, wouJd have been proud 10 have a son, and like so ma ny fathers he would have expected his so n to follow in hi s own foots teps, one

day beco ming a ruler o r head official himself. H owever, when Siddhana was still yo un g, a Brahm;" sage prophesied lh:n he cou ld become an enlightened bei ng who would help othe rs to overcome their su ffering in life and eig hr Brahmms were soo n to co nfir m this of t he baby. Since the life o f a sage mea nr th e life of a mendi ca nt, n wandering beggar, dressed in only a loin cloth a nd destined to wander from place to place wit h no permanent home and no conn ectio ns with a ny family, th is seemed far removed from th e kind of life whic h Suddhodana had in mind for hi s son.

Anxious that Siddh:ma should not leave his wealt hy home, Sud dhodana did eve ryth ing in his power to ensu re th at his son was su rrounded by all which was pleasant and tha t he wou ld neve r know nnything o f suffering in th e world: without kn owing that th ere was suffering, how couJd o ne do a nyt hing about it? 50 5iddhana was bro ught up in a life of luxury. His wealthy fat her probably owned three residences, one fo r each of th e seaso ns - ra in y, winter and summer: this would have been th e custom for wealthy people at the time' and Siddhatta grew up in this kind o f environment in which he had everything he cou ld wish fo r.

Eventually, Siddhatra married and it seemed that he had everything good which life co uld offer and he had grow n to manhood without any expe ri ences of unpleasanmess. But th is was an extremc o f indul- gence and opulence, and life being what it is never allows such a perpetual and permanent imbalance. The earlier texts suggest that within himself Siddh atra began to rurn away from carefree luxury as a result o f gradu a l reflectiveness a bo l![ the na ture and meaning o f life. The later tex ts, howev er, prese nt a mo re drama tic picture of 3 Siddhatta who was curious about existence beyo nd th e con fines of hi s immediate environment. He was aware that th ere was a world beyond th e palace about w hi ch he knew nothing a nd so he begged his father to allow him to tra ve l ou tside. H is father reluctan tl y agreed , but before Siddharta cou ld vemure fonh , he made sure that any unpleasant sights were removed; and of th ese, there mu st ha ve bee n man y in the Ind ia o f hi s day.

At last, Siddh a tta rode o ur with his cha ri ot driver into the wo rld be yo nd hi s wealthy hom e for rhe ve ry first time. The later tex ts present rh e jo urney as a very ph ysica l one, lhe ea rl ier rexts being mo re sugges- ti ve of a journey into the self. Either way, th e res ult was the sa me in that Siddhana came to know in rh e ve ry co rc of hi s being the existen - rial fragility and imperman ence of a ll life. To the later tex ts thi s expe rience took the form of three signs, and a further fourth o ne that transfo rm ed hi s ex periences in a way which would redirecr Siddharta's life . On hi s first journey, whether in a vision o r whether in realiry, both Siddhatta and hi s chariot driver saw a very o ld man . O ld age was so mething of which Siddhatta had no expe rien ce and w hen hi s chari ot driver explained what it was and that everyo ne, including 5iddhana

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has ro ger o ld , he was shocked fa the ve ry roots of his bein g. Few human beings can cope with the co ncept of their pe rsonal dege nera- rion into old age an d it is a conce pt whic h dwe ll s more in the subco nscio us and unconscious aspectS of th e self for mOSt of rhe rime. Bur here was 5iddhana expe ri encin g it for the first tim e in all irs sr:lrk realiry. It was no r someth ing he cou ld subtly pus h inro hi s subcon- scious, it was so met hin g which he had to face Wi th full consciousness at tha t very moment. The effect on him was immeasurable and he return ed home aware, for th e first tim e, of th e su ffering which the ve ry faci o f getti ng o ld cnn bring.

Whether Siddhatta expe ri enced th e firs t three signs in JU St olle jo urne y as so me suggestIO o r on co nsec utive daysll is deba tabl e, but a second s ign emerged in th e form of a very sick person. The s ight of s uch was somet hing very terrible fO one who never knew thai a ny human being could become ill and s uffer. Again, when his chariot driver explained that sic kness is th e fate of all humaniry, Siddharra WAS faced fo r th e first time with the reality of the co ncep t that he, too, would become ill at some tim e in his own life. And once again. hi s psyche had nOI been cushioned agai nst the starkn ess o f th e rea lity of physical suffering in a ll life. However, it was t he third sign which caused th e greatest reaction - a dead man being car ried to the burning ghat. And in answer to Siddhana's incredul o us inquiries, the chari o t driver poimed o ut the inevirable fmc o f all humankind, including Siddhaua himself. We cannOt ove res rimate the eno rmity o f such a n expe rience o n one wh o has no co nceprion of death. This, the greatest fear o f humanki nd, was exposed to 5iddhatta in the space of a few momentS: its effect was devastating. Siddharta gazed af all around him and reali zed th at there was suffer in g in all life eve n though people laughed and tri ed to rurn their backs on the fa cts of o ld age, sickness a nd death, which are the common den o min a tors o f life itself. He remembered rh e weary oxen pulling the ploughs, th e farmers toi ling in the hot sun a nd the tin y insects turned over at th e foo t of rhe plough, and he was fill ed with th e view of rhe suffe ring of all life. When Siddhatta rerurned home, he was a different person.

Siddhana had ye t another excursion from his home. On thi s occa- sion he mer 3 mendi cant, a wandering beggar, one who had withdrawn from life to set himself o n th e path to Ultimate Rea lity. Thi s was t he ascetic path, and the mendicant explai ned th at by giving up all posses· sio ns and wordly comfo rts in th c search for enl igh tenment it wo uld be possible to ove rcome th e problems o f old age, sickn ess and death. It was th is final experience o n his vellrll rcs to the world outside which ca uscd Siddhana to leave his horn e and family entirely, a nd to sea rch for release through the path of th e ascetic; he, tOO, would become a ho mel ess wanderer. So, accordin g to so me trad itions, one night when all was quiet, Siddhatta left his home for th e last time, fO emba rk on a tota ll y new li fe.

For many years, Siddhana li ved the Life of an ascetic, probably as a samQlma, search ing for T ruth but not attachcd to any s pccific ascetic tradi ti on. Just as he had had an abundance of pleasure in his formcr life no w he experi enced the co mpl ete opposite and was the very best of ascetics. Over the years, he became so emaciated that he could hardly move. and whcn he did so, the hair fcll from his body. Such werc his effortS t hat he was grea d y adm ircd by five fellow asce tics. Bur despitc a ll hi s efforrs to renounce any physical comfort he foun d th at hc was no ncarer to any kind o f release fro m the exis tentia l problems of thc s ufferin g involvcd in o ld age, sick ness and death. He had not fo und ll ny answers in th e plellsures of life o r in ex trem e ascetici~m. Whi le he did nargivc up his sea rch fo r the means to ove rcome s uffe nng be rea li zed that a health y body was partly necessary in s uch a ca use and so he no urished his body with milky rice afte r many years of star- va ri o n and was a ba ndoncd by hi s disdainful and shocked ascetic associates. Yet, still resolved to find an anSwer, that night he sa t dow n under one of the ma ny, o ld assattha trees and vowed nor [0 move until hi s goa l was rea li ze d . And thcre he stayed in deep meditation, .rcach~ng th e point where he was doing neither t hi s nor that, [ota lly stili , qUIet, without any kind of striving, just bei"g.

And it was here, in thi s quiet and se rene st are , th at Siddharra found hi s anSwcr: he ach ieved enli ghtcnment, so met hing which Buddhists call lIibbana (Sa nskrit ,,;rlla11a). At thi s point he was free from the sufferi ng of fea rs of o ld age, sickness or death and he knew that th ese co uld not touch him . In the stillness, he had lost his ego: th ere was no longer a n ''('' which thought in terms of desires and aversions, of distinguishing between this and tha t. WithoUi an ego, an HI", th ere was nOlhin g to which kamma (Sanskrit karma) could be attached to ca use his rebirth; he had reac hed the end of sa msara, th e cycle of births and deaths fo r any indi vid ual. Everythin g was such as it was, and he saw himself as being at one with all in the un ive rse. He became a budd/la, an "en lightened , awakened onc". It is from this point on that we are able to ca ll Sid d harra tbe Buddba. As t he daw n broke so urces tell us that the blind co uld see, t he deaf hcar, and the lame cou ld walk; th ere was beaury a nd peace in a ll thc wo rld:

the heavens shone out Wi th the moon like a m:lIdcn with a sm il e. :m d a swcct -smelling shower of flowe rs fell down WCt WIth dew .... the different regions of the sky grew dear. the moon shone fonh ... >1

At thaI moment according to tradition "'no one anywhcre was angry, ill or sa d; no one did cvil, no ne was proud; the world became quite quict, as though it had reac hed full perfec ti o n " .u

The Buddha had discovered that neither extrem e pleasure nor ex treme asceticism could aid o ne on the path to IJibbaIJa. \'(fhat ..)Vas needed was a middle way, the middle pa th between pleasure an d

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BUDDHISM

THE TEACHING OF THE BUDDHA

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asc,ericism:.indeed. many aSJ?eC:lS-of BuddhisJQcan be-understood as a middle way, as (he equilibrium between aU opposites. the poim between th is and thar, rarher like rhecenrre balancingpoinr of a see- saw. And having discovered these answers to the problems of life, tradition states that after remaining severa l weeks under the tree of en li ghtenment, the bodbi (or Bo) tree, the Buddha began to rea ch others about the kind of balance and harmon y which tbey cou ld bring to their ow n lives through practising the "middle way". Importantly, no supramundane deiry of any kind had ass isted Siddharra in hi s enlightenmenti it was his own awake ning, and not the fusion in any way with some deiry or abstract Absolute. Likewise his reaching remained independent of reference to any divine emiry in rhe cosmos other than the early Hindu Vedic deities like Brahma who were conceived of as part of the cosmic backdrop and inferior to the fully en lightened one which Siddharra had become.

His experiences of the first three signs and his enlightenment raught Siddhatm that existence is bound up in suffe ring, a suffering which could be overcome with the right kind of beliefs 3ild practices. Compassion was elemental to his moral reaching and, indeed, to his teaching in general. It was the compassion of a human being who understood fully the very narure of humankind and the full extem of irs suffering and disharmony. And it was the compassion of a human being who set Out prescribed methods which would cure such suffering and disharmony. These were part of the Buddha's Dbamma, his teaching, which eclipsed enrirely in importance the man himself and the life he li ved, and is the " Buddhism" of many Buddhists. His first real teaching occurred at rhe Deer Park at Senares to the five ascetics he had known during hi s years of physical self-deprivation.

The Four Noble Trolbs The basis o f the Buddha's teaching is set out in what art called th e Four Noble Truths, which have been approp ri- ately cal led "rhe structural framework for all higher teaching" .14 They represent a diagnosis of the suffering of humanity, the cause o f that state, the solution to the problem. and the treatment - much the same as medical procedure of the da y. These FOllr Noble Truths arc as follows:

1 All life is sufferi" g The word "suffering" may seem rarher strong here to the Western mind, for we rend to equate suffering with pain, and, indeed, this is what [he Pali word for suffering, dllkkha (Sans krit duhkha) means. But the Buddha meant something wider than mere physical pain, when he used th e word. He saw so dearly the disharmo,ry and dis-ease in Li fe in terms of mental, physical, psychologica l, emotional, socia l, economic suffering, and the like - in shon. the disharmony which

stOpS us feeling the kind of equilibrium so much needed for a sense of well-being in life. But the problem which he saw so dearly in his expe- riences of old age, sickness and dearh for the first time, was the.ability of human beings to pretend that none of these common denominators o f all life existed! A modern analogy to this is given by Clive She rl ock:

we fend not to appreciate, nor reahse when we suffe r beca use we turn away from It . We blame something or someone else for how we fed. We look for an escape rOUle: for example. if we are feeling bored, what do we do? We rea ch for the television. the radio, the video or, if Ihey arc nOI available, we pick up a magal.ine, a book, something to d!S[ract us from our unpieaSo1nt sensations and feelings. And If we have none of these me .. ns of distraction there are always twO m-houSt: means of escape: we go, 111 OUf own thoughts, 10 the past, the future or lO an abstraction and most Imponantly, we are nOI aware of doing IhlS at the time.!!

Thus, part of (he teaching of the Buddha is involved with gcrting people to u"derstand life as it is, to recog nize the anxiety and unsat- isfactoriness which it involves. This is nor to suggest {hat (he Buddha meant humankind to be pessimistic abour life; indeed, happiness is not wrong as the Buddhist text, (he Dhammapada. positively asserts:

Let us live III lOY, ne\'er harmg those who hote us. Let us live in freedom, without hatred even among those who hate. Let us live III lOY, never falhng Sick lIke those who are sick. LeI us live in freedom WIthout disease even among thOS(' who are ill. Let us live in lOy, never allached among those who are selfishly att:lched. Let us live in frewom even among those who are bound by selfis h attachments. lei us live in lOY, ne\'er h03rdmg things among those who hoard. lei us 1I\'e m glowing 10)' like: the bright gods. I.

This emphasizes the Buddha's view of true happiness as something which lies in th e more certain equi libriu m which is beyond the tmn- sient happiness of daily existence. Bur while th e Buddha c~rtainl y. saw the more subtle aspects of the suffering and general unsa ti sfactOriness of life he s pecifically referred to birth, decay, death, so rrow,lamenta- tion, pain, grief and despair. In particular, the fact that all life is impermanent gives to it a certain depth of unsatisfactoriness, ?s. does clinging to the egoistic self. These last twO points are suffiCiently important to be given separat:e consideration below.

2 Tile calise of suffering is cra"mg If we cast our minds back to the image of the sec-saw, whenever we are nor at the point of equilibrium. th e middle point, then the see-saw is tilted one way or the orher, depending on either negative or positive attitudes. It is these negative and positive reactions to life which cause

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craving, tallha. It is ollr aversions to many thIn gs, like death for example, which make us ccave life and inunort:lliry, or our aversio ns to suffering whic h make us crave happiness. Since all li fe is. in any case, im pe rman ent, such craving is bound, ultimately, to end in frus. rration and unh:.tppin ess. lt is when we have these desires and aversio ns in life thar we crea te personal kamma which will bring :.tbout the kinds of resu lts III present or future lives which ca use suffering.

3 Cessatio ll of slIffering will occur with release from craving The only thing which can cause suffering is personal kamma. and if personal kamma is ca used by positive and negative thoughts and acti ons - desires a nd ave rsions which promote cravin g - then ge ttin g rid of the desires and ave rsio ns wil l pre vc nt the chain of reaction which leads to sufferin g. The Buddha was roughly contemporary with early H indu Upamsadlc thought whic h had developed the ideas of karma (pali kamma) the belief that positive and negative acrions result ed in similarly posi tive a nd nega ti ve fruits for cach individual. The co ncom i- ta nt belief in samsara, the end less cycle of reincarnation, " that which turns arou nd forever", as Robi nson and Jo hnso n graphically describe ir, 17 is intimately linked with the cause-effect, action-reaction co ncept o f th e doctrin e of karma. The Buddha acce pted borh conce pts but it would be incorrect to use th e term " reincarnation" In the context of Buddhism, though there are a rguably strong cases whic h could be pur forward fo r it in some nreas of Buddhism. I' The bencr term is reb"th and this is a reb irth of t he kammic residues, nor of a complete person. ality. This is in cOntf3St (Q th e Hindu idea of reincarnation which suggests a mu ch stronger link be twee n a personality in one life a nd the next. Bur for both Hindu a nd Buddhist concepts samsara ceases when th ere is no frui rive karma to be reaped in the next ex istence. And cessa- ti o n of craving was considered by the Buddha to be the means of preventing such komma: indeed, the word for cess.,tion, IZirodha, is sy non ymo us with "ibbfl1lO (Sa nskrit flirt/ana), t.he end of the cycle of samsara. But kamma, too, differed so mewhat from rhe co nventio nal Hindu co ncept of karma for th e Buddha infused into the concep r rhe nuance of mte"tiOll behind words, deeds and thoughts which reaped co rrespo ndin g neg:ui ve o r positive results in the furure. 'Q This places res ponsibility for actions firm ly o n the should ers o f the individual.

The Noble Eightfold Patl} The fourth and last of the Four Noble Truths sta tes that the cure - the release from suffering - CO mes from following the No ble Eightfo ld Path . The Noble EIghtfold Patb is the second ma jor teaching of the Buddha . It is a path for life, a guide or reaching, pa n o f the Dhamma in Buddhism. There are eight parts to this teaching but, a lthough it is ca lled a " path ", suggestin g th a t it should be undertaken o ne step at a time, this is nOt so, for its eight aspects are to be practised at the same time. The Buddha caught this

part of hi s Dhamma by df3wi ng a wheel o n th e grou nd and putting eig ht spo kes on the wheel, each represenring one aspect of the Eiglllfold Palh. So JUS t as a wht.-el does not function properly wit hout all its spo kes. so success on the Eightfold Path wi ll not come a bou t unless all aspecrs arc practised at once. The Nob le Eigh tfo ld Path is a guide for living which covers all aspects of li fe in eig ht areas, dealing with what one thinks as well as what one does and incorporating wisdom, understanding, conduct, morality, and aspects of inner concentration of th e mind. These are ca tegorii'.ed into three impo rtanr areas, sila which is mora li ty, samadhi which is concentra ti o n, a nd parllla (Sansk m prajna) which is wisdolll. zo However, by following th e eight strands of the Path suffering IS not so much :.t llnihilated any more than happiness is; it is rhc differen tiarion between th em that is tran- scended. The elements of th e Path are the following;

RIgh t understallding/view This suggests that one m.-eds to have a ce rra in und ersta nding about li fe and humankind. Three basic doctrines are important here. First, is th e acce ptance o f li fe as suffer in g and di sharmony and rh e way in which kamma creates Ihe kind o f result which will c:.t uSf' suffering in furnre lives. Secondly, under- sranding of th e nature of the self is imporrant. U/Ja"isadic Hindu ism taughl what was 10 become a major co ncept of H induism- that within the deepesl esse nce of everYlhmg is Ihe pe rm a nent, un chan gin g atma", the part of eve rythin g which IS the Absolute, Brahman. The Buddha disagreed with this theor y and sa id that there was no permanent se lf at a ll : this is the doctrine o f a"atta (Sa nsk rit allatman). If we tak e away ou r sense experiences there is nothing left, nothing which we could call o ur "sel f". This is what Gombrich ap tly terms "essencc-lessness".l ' Trying to create a real "self', when th is is impossi ble, ca uses suffering. The Buddha taught that a person is made up of fiv e aggregates ca ll ed kha"das (Sanskr it skandIJas), physical form, perception, mental constructions and ideas, vo licion and conscio usne ss - and these are all changing, transicnt. impermanent factors. To sec the Buddha's point it is necessary to ask what self remains if we take away all our senses a nd o ur consciousness: what then remains w hi ch we could call the "self"? A seco nd ce ntury BCE mo nk named Nagase na illustrated the point well with th e example of a chariot. A chariot, he said, cannot exis t separately from t he com ponents which constitut e it. Once yo u dissemble th e parts, you no longer have a chariot. Si milarl y with th e self; mke away th e five agg rega tes and yo u no longer ha ve a self, an " I".

The third basic doctrine which th e Buddha taught is that eve rything in life is impermanent a nd dependent on a ll so rt s of co nd itions for its existence. This is the important doctrine of al/icca (S:.t nsk rit anitya). Nothing ever is, but is always in a state of becoming. When we try to give permanence to thin gs in life then we arc doomed to suffer. Because

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we have erroneous conceptions of permanence, we cling [0 things, desire and pu rsue things - whether concrete material ones, or abstract goals of life. This subjects an individual to what the Buddha termed paticcasamppada, "dependent origination", rwclve causal links in a chain of incessa nt birth and death. These, eac h dependent on the previous one, are lack of right und ers tanding which is ignorance; Ihe build-up of vo litiona l imp ul ses; conscio usness; differentiation of forms; t he senses; contact of senses and objects; the possession of feel- ings; cra ving; grasping; becomi ng; rebirth; death. Breaking this end less cycle ca n only occ ur when the cycle itself is understood as promot ing life after life. Right view and und ersrandi ng of life, then, suggest a radical a lteration in th e way life is viewed and~ in particular, one's view of one's own self. Because everything is impermanent and changes from one moment to the next the aggregates which combine to for m what we know as a person are a lso different from moment to moment. So while th ere is a certain continuity be tw een one moment and th e next - the self in one moment and th e self in the next - there is never the Identity of moments to create a permanent self.

Right th ollght This suggests that there must be a ce rta in willingness in an individual [0 Ivallt to change, to want to a lter th e degree of disharmony in life by promoting the kind o f harmony suggested by the Buddha 's teachings. Bur in particular, thou ghts should be devoid o f desire, ave rsion, anger, covetous ness and foolishness - all kammi' prod ucing states of mind.

Right speech Ha ving dealt with aspects of the mind, the Buddh a went on to aspects o f conduct, the purting into p ractice of the teach- ings. Thus, right speech is important in hfe; indeed, the tO ngue is o ne of th e most di fficu lt aspects of the self to contro l! But if thoughts arc right, words often fo ll ow in cha racter.

Rigbt actio" Because actions, like thou ghts and words, produce ka",,,,i, affects, th ey must always be th e right kind of actions so that they do not result in suffering. Id eally anions should be performed without an y hint of ego, but this is very difficult to achieve, so at least the action shou ld be good, so that it produces good kam",a. The Buddha said: "That action on ly is 'well done' w hi ch bri ngs no sufferin g in its trai n".

Right livelihood If o ur profession or daily wo rk in vo lves aspects which au contra ry to th e othe r parts of the Nob le Eightfold Path th en we are spendin g most of o ur lives engaged in doing th e exaCt opposite o f what we believe in. This, too. wi ll result in the kind of kamma which wi ll involve suffe ring. So th e sa le of weapons, alcohol or poisons and engagi ng in slavery, soldiery, fis hing, fortune-telling or butchery are

not the kinds of occupations whic h are co ndu cive to the Buddhist way of life. A modern Buddhist might want fO consider whether wo rk ing in some aspect of an occupation which is involved witb vivisection or testing of substances on animals is agai nst this particular d ime nsion of the Eightfold Path.

RighI effort This advocates self-discipline: without this aspect - th e effort involved in pursuing the whole path - there can be little hope for change. Effort has to be made to prevent evi l arising, to abandon it o nce it has arisen, and to produce and increase [he good in life.

Right mindfulness alld right COlleentratio" The laSt two aspects of the Noble Eightfold Path are concerned with the k ind of co ncentm- ti o n and mindfulness which are part of Ih e processes of meditation in Buddhism, th e techni ques which help the individual to lose the se nse of ego an d yet to ope rate in th e world from th e point of equilibri um. rh e middle of [he see-saw. While such meditative a nd contemplari ve aspects are important dimensions for many Buddhists in many diffe renr schools, they are especia ll y relevant to the more orthodox li ves of monks. [n many ways, the $fages of meditation accep ted by the Buddha were those of traditional Indian teaching.

Thcpancba sila In addition to these basic teac hin gs, early Buddhism added a number o f other precepts. Of particular importance are the following five, known in Buddhism as the Pancha Sila, '"'the Five Moral Precepts". They are:

1 Not to har", living t!J i"gs This is much wider than the rule "you sh311 not kill" (or it extends to all living things. Man y Buddhisrs beli eve strongly in th e doctrine of abimsa, non-violence, and extend their respect fo r life to a ll a nimals and crea tures as well as hum ankind. Creatures are part of the samsar;c cycle and th ey, too, will evolve into human form. Many Buddhists, th erefo re, are vegeta ria ns, object to blood spOrts, and a re paci fi sts, though many are not. Because such Buddhists wis h to absrain fro m taking life, they need to chose their livelihoods cnrefu ll y so this pa rti c- ular precept is ve ry mu ch linked to th e right liveli hood aspect of the Eiglnfold Path. In praccical rerms man y Buddhists a re meat or fish eate rs because their cultures rely on these foods fo r protein. Ja panese Buddhists, for exa mple, rel y o n fi sh for their diet, as do Sri Lankan Buddhists, who also ear meat. Some Buddhists do not mind ea ting meat as long as they do not have to slaughter the animals themselves - a se rv ice which superm a rk ets and Muslims conve ni en tl y provide.

2 Not to take what is 1I0t givell Again, this is wider than a prohibition o n stea ling and 111 ea rl y

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Buddhism kept the monks dependent on the generosity of lay people for their existence whicb is sti ll the case for mOSt monks tOday. Traditiona ll y a Theravadin monk cannOt ask for so mething bUI mUSt be offered it; lay people are, however, only tOO eager to give [0 the monks in order to acquire good kamma. ll

3 Not to misuse the sellses This was a prohibition againsl sexual misco nduct.

4 No t to speak wro"gly This covered aspects of the third of the Noble Eightfold Path. Notably it can highlight not only unedifying speech but the kinds of body language which arc harmful ro another. We can, for example. portray a good deal with a facia l expression, an appropriately timed " Well'" or just raised eyebrows! These kinds of actions arc also dimen sio ns of wrong speech.

5 Not to use drugs or alcobol T his moral precept suggests that the usc of drugs clouds the mind so that it wou ld be difficult to make the right kinds of choices. thoughts and actions.

To (hese five precepts were added a further three, so making the Eigh t Precepts mainly applicable to the early monks. These extra three were: ro abstain from eating at the wrong times (whic h came to be considered as after midday); abstaining from dancing, singing, attending perfo rmances, wearing cosmetics and ornamentation; abstaining from using high seats or high beds (so mething a lways asso- ciated with the wealthier person). T hese cight precepts can also be divided so that they form nine, and with the addition of a further precepl not to accept silver or gold, are known as the Tetl Prece/llsY A great numbe r of othcr rules were added specifically for the monks of ea r ly Buddhism. Many Buddhists, partic ularly T heravadin Buddhists, still follow all the earlier precepts while other Buddh ists may have adapted the earlier rulcs or will be gUided by different precepts.

The dea th of th e Buddha for many years the Buddha taughr about the nature of life, about kamma, selfishness, moraliry, rhe nature of the self, nibbana and all the many aspects which constitute his Dhamma. But it was not only rhrough direc t teaching and discourse that he promulgated the Dhamma ir was also by active example in the daily life he led. Ar the age of eighty the Buddha died. at a very insignif- icant little place called Kusinara, in 486 8eE according to the Southern tradition, a hundred years later in thc Northern t radition. Though his mind was dear and unruffled by egoistic thought, he was physically

very weak. His last days and final death are recounted In the MabaparitlibbmUlSllua, the" Account of the Great Final Extinction". In this account it is recorded that he sa id to his faithful di sciple Ammda:

Ananda. I am now old. worn Out. ,·clle:rable. one: who has tra versed life's path. I have: reached the rerm of life, which IS elghry. JUSI as an old can IS made 10 go by being held togerher by straps. so Ihe Tathagara's body IS kept gomg by being strapped up. It IS only when Ihe Tathagat3 with· draws hIS anemion from olllward siglls. and by th e cessatio n o f ce rtam fl.>clmgs, tillers IntO the: slgJll css concentral lon of rhe mind, thai hiS hody knows comforr.J·

It is clear thal the Buddha was considered ro have suffered physically but throughout the Mahapari"ibbmlaslltta il is also clear (hat his mental energies were e.xceedingly alen and that his mind was a lways ca lm. His last words to his diSCIp les were: "Now, monks, I declare to you: all conditioned things are of a nature ro decay - s t rive on untir- ingly." :U He had taught that t he way to end the problems of old age, sickness and death - indeed all suffering in life -lay in the efforts of eac h ind ividual alone. Through self-reflection, self-discipline, self- effort, self-control, self-knowledge and self-enlightenment, the self would, in fact, ccase to exist at all, and there would be no self remaining to reap kamm/c results in tbe fmure: rhe cessation of samsara wou ld have been gained entirely by one's own cfforts.

following the Buddha's death there were numerous diSCiples who embraced rhe Dhamma, the teaching of tbe Buddha . and who taught it to others. In his lifetime he had taugh t many people and right from the time of his enlightenmenr followers had gathered around him in what became the Sangha, the Buddhist corporate body of monks. To be a discip le of the Buddha it was necessary to undergo the simple ordi- 11ation which m:trkecl the acceptance of the DI1amma - not only in theory, bur also in the sense [hat rhe disciple had reached the egoless state in the process of its acceptance. Such perfected. enlightened indi- viduals were called arabats (Sa nskrit arbat): rh ey were nOI enlightened in t he same sense as the Buddha and so were nOt buddhas acco rd ing to the more orthodox strands of Buddhis m, for it was believed that there could only be one Buddha for each aeon and thus, Siddharta Gotama was unique to this age. Ar their ordination the arahats shaved their heads and beards. squatted down in front of the asscmbled local Sangha, and recited three times what has become known as the Tbree Jewels or Tbree Refuges of Buddhism:

I go 10 the Buddha for refuge

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I go to the DI,amma for refuge I go to Ihe Sangha for refuge

As the Sangha grew, the Buddha could no longer ordain new monks himself and the arahats were sent Ollt ro reach and ordain new monks themselves. They also had the function of gathering alms from the local communities: this they did before midday, and it became estalr lished practice to eat in the morning and to devore the remainder of the day to more spiritual maners. Because this early Buddhism appealed to people so widely it became easy for (he monks to depend on lay support for their very basic necessities.

This dependencc of the monks on the lairy has remained a charac· teristicof the morcconservative srmnd of Buddhism. In return for food and the few possessions allowed rhem, the monks taught thc biry rhe Buddha's Dhamma, and it became widely accepted by the laity that their individual suppOrt for th e monks with food and gifts would bring good kamma - good merit for (he immediate future a nd in future livcs. Moreover, the monks became the se lfl ess role models represeming the ideal life~ and whi le many could nor enter the monastic life in this life· time, they believed thar with sufficient good merit they might do so in the next. The development of early Buddhism is thus characterized by mutual interdependence of Sallgha and lairy, an interdependence which has remained in Theravada Buddhism. Yet there was, and is, much to separate the monks and the laity: it is doubtful, for example, whether the laity were ever taught the same aspects of (he Dhamma as the members of the Sallgha .l" Moreover, the pursuit of wisdom (panlla) by the monks and the monastic emphasis on the practice of concentration and meditation, served {Q separate practice of the Dhamma into monastic and lay. And as more complex rules devel· oped for the li fe of the monk, the lay person became more disposed towards acquiring good merit, content with admiring the monastic li fe but not participating in it other than perhaps a brief retreat during the rainy season. As the Sangha grew rapidly in siz.e during the lifctime of the Buddha, and th e simplicity of its rul es developed a more sophisti. cated character, regu lar meetings at which the rules were recitcd became necessary.

The growt h of the Sangha in me ce nturi es following the Buddha's demise was not without its divisions. The Buddha had raught exten· sively but his DlJamma was nO{ committed to writing for a long period of rime. While a basic co re of oral tradition was defined as authorita· tive ar a n imporrant Council of the monks at Rajagaha (Sanskrit Rajagriha) in 483 BCE, and the monks were generally in agreement over the rules of discipline for the SOflgba known as the Patlimokkha, other aspects of t he Buddha's teaching were more open to interpreta· rion, particuJarly the Abhidhamma, with its intensive philosophy and analysis of the Buddha's words. Thus, about a century after the

Buddha ' s death a group of monks calling themselves the Mahasanghika, " the great Sangha parry", broke away from the main· stream Sallgha and , while they were by no means the only dissidents, they may have been the origin of the major element of Buddhism known today as the Mahayana. Mahayana Buddhists gave the name Hinayana to their conservative and orthodox opponents, a name meaning "small vehicle" and therefore something of a derogatory term, in conrrast to their own, MaIJayOfUl, meaning "'great vehicle". While there were many schools encompassed by the term Hinayana, the only onc to survive to the present day is thar of the Theravada, ..the way of the elders " .

While Buddhism was eventually destined to decline in India, its binhpl ace, ir spread far and wide in the cemuries which followed. The acceptance of Buddhism by th e Emperor Asoka (268-239 BCE) was an impo rrant factor in both the co nsolidation of Buddhism and its spread, fo r missionary activity rook the Buddha's Obamma well beyond the bo undari es of India. In the mid third century BeE, Buddhism had sp read so uth ro Sri L..-mka, and in th e firs( mi ll ennium CE it was [0 be found in Kashmir, norrhcrn Pakistan , nonhern Afghanistan and Chinese Turkestan, and evenrua ll y it reached C hina,Japan, South East Asia and Indonesia. The counrries which adopted Theravada Buddhism are Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka (though here with a some· what broken tradition ), Laos and Cambod ia, though political events in countries like the last rwo have seen the demise of Buddhist prac· tice. It was the Mahayana schools of Buddhism which were adopted elsewbere, mainly in Centra l Asia inciudingTibet. Mongolia, Sikkim, Bhutan, and in China and Japan, Korea and Viemam.

The way of th e monks 17 With its fundamental pillar of the acquisi· tion of pallna, "'wisdom", Theravada Buddhism is essentiall y in volved with monastic life and conside rs that it is only by becoming a monk thar llibbana can be realized. But while the corporate life of the monks, th e Sangba, is important, each individual has ( 0 to work out his own salvation. And this lasr starement is nOt imended to be sexis t, for there are no authentic nuns in Theravada Buddh.ism: since the rules for the monks stare that nuns shou ld be orda ined by both ordained monks, and then again by orda ined nun s, the fact that there is none of the latter has meant that there can be no real nuns in Theravada Buddhism. There are convents of lay nuns, bur their sratus is inferior [0 ordained monks. Bur even in early Buddhism nuns were bound by eXTra rules and had to respect as their sen ior any ma le monk however young he may have been. Neirhercould they ever criticize or admonish a monk, and they were unable to observe many special ceremonies independently of the monks. In today 's world, without legitimate o rdi· nation, they can only be classified as lay women, IIpasikas, and support is not as readily availab le for them from other lay people as it is for

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the monks. U T heravada Buddhism is therefore concerned with the enllghtcnmcnt of the male, and it is an elitist and disciplined pa th. Essentially, the individual monk has ro obey rhe many rules of the Vma)'a, the code of discipline, spend much time in meditation , and work out 11Is OWII sa lvation, his own pa th ro final rel ease fro m [he samsar;c cycle. While the first ordaincd monks were expected to be en lightened araiJals, roday's monk knows t hat he has to wor k dili. gently in the pursuit of spi ritua l prog rcss. And there is no concept of any kind of supra mundane divinity ro aid rhe monk on his path. As noted ea rlier, Theravada Buddhism docs not accep t theconcepi of a n)' omnipotent crea[Or deities who can assist human beings on their s pir- itua l path. While gods such as the Vedic deities of Hindu is m are accepted as ha vin g exis ten ce, th ey are see n as fe ll ow wa nd ere rs in the samsar;c cycle of existe nces JUSt like ordinary mortals. The only differ· ence is that th eir kamma is good eno ugh to place th em in a birth in a heave nl y, and not ea rthl y, realm. Howeve r, it mliSt be sa id that such min o r di vine beings o ften suppl y rh e foc us for pro piti:lfo ry requesrs fro m lay Theravada Buddhists at a uspicio us tim es in life a nd at times of need o r trouble, and fulfil a particularly anthropomorp hi c and perhaps theistic role in a religion devoid of an o mn ipotent creator God. The involvement of the lai ry with these deiries often finds expres- sio n in colo urful ceremony.

But th e rejection of an ovc rall co ncept of God or some kind of impersonal Absolute is cririca ll y importanr in Theravada Buddhism, se nin g it wel l apart from th e re ligio n of Hinduis m a nd making possible the fundamental doctrine of anatta, no·self. Thus, ",bba,ta is the freedom of an ind ivi du a l from fruitive kamma wh ich pre"~nts rebirth, but not t hat w hi ch allows the sou l to become one with rhe Ground o r Sourc~ of the univ~rse. N;bbana is si mpl y "ibba"a and has nothing to do with diviniry or a di vi ne being. So there is no one for rhe Theravadin monk to pray [0, to pra ise, to worship: the Buddha was not divinized in any way by the Theravad in monast ic t raditi o n. When th e Buddha passed into pari"ibbana a t hi s death, he ceased to exist; it was o nl y hi s Dhamma w hi ch rcmained and it is [he Dhamma which is the central focus o f the Thera vad in mo nk. Theravada Buddhism is thus a n athe· istic system of belief which rejects rh e kind of Absolute of brahma"icaf Hinduism in favour o f a fairly co nservative rea chin g abom the natu re of existcnce which has changed little despite its sp rea d outs ide India. Th oug h it wo uld be [flle to say that amongst t he lay people there was, and is, a tendency to \'enera te th e Buddha in a more ovenl y religious way, th e o rth odox monanic view is sraunchly atheis tic.

To the Mahayana Buddhjst, the Theravadin monk was treading a selfish path. sea rching for his own en li ghtcnmenr. He was primarily nOt to be co nce rn ed with society at large (though he did perform certain functio ns for t he laity, such as funeral ceremonies), apart from teac hing th em aspens of the Dha",,,,o. But the criticis m is somewhat

overstressed. Theravada doctrine is based on panna , which is wisdom (Sans krit prailla), but basic to Theravada Buddhism arc the brahma- lI.hora, four subl ime states - the suffusi ng of tbe wor ld with loving- kindness (metto). compassion (kartma ), sympathetic joy (mlldita), and equanimity (flpekkha ). A monk's concentra tion on spreading th ese four sublime sta l'es to th e whole world "upwards, downwards, across, eve ... ywherc, ... abun da nt, unbo unded, wi thout hate o r iII·wi!l" ,19 suggests that the monk is not so divorced fro m concem for th e we lfare of a ll humanity.

The life of the monk is one of renu ncia ti o n, though he is able to leave the mon:lstery and return to lay li fe at any time without any se nse of disg race. The monastic rules, rhe V;,zaya, a ll ow him onl y a few possessio ns - three robes. o ne cloak, one undergarment and one o uter g:l rm ent, a fan, a belr, a razor to shave his head, eye brows and beard, a smff, a toot hpick, a strai ner to strai n liquid before he drinks to avoid swa ll owin g (a nd th erefore ha rming ) livi ng orga ni sms, a needle fo r se wing rags together ro make hi s dothes, and th e traditional begging bowl. The traditional robe is usuall y yellow - considered to be rhe colour closest to o ld rags - bur Sri Lankan monks wear orange robes an d some Tibetan o rd ers, dark burgundy. It is th e la ity which suppli es (hese few possessions for the mo nk and it is by no means unu sual for so me lay people to get carried away in their enthusi asm to acq uire good merit so that t he monk may find himse lf in possession of a refridge raro r o r a car! As Gomb ri ch ra ther a musingl y points out, " It has often happened thar a monk senles dow n ro live in a fores t cave, to find the cave rapidl y eq uip ped by adm ir in g lairy with 'a ll mod. con."" !JO This rather hig hlights well the interdepend ence of monk and lay person, the monk nor a ll owing the indi vi dual to forget his or her spi ritual develop ment an d th e individual not a ll owing the mo nk to beco me over asceti c and tota ll y withdrawn - a neat working o ut of o ne dimension of th e Buddha 's " Middl e Way '" No rmall y, the monk should ea t o nl y one meal a day a nd thar before noon, ha vin g spe nt so me rime in the morning beggi ng for his food a mo ngst the la y com munity. The idea o f [he mendicaIH ho ly man to whom o ne gives food in o rd er to acquire merit is co mm o npl ace in the East, but ca n be difficult for mo nasteri es adopting th e Clistom in rhe West, th ough these latrer usu all y ha ve attendnnr sy mpathi ze rs who are prepared to provide the food for rhe monk s. In some cu ltures rh e monks arc allowed to have two mea ls a day, o ne very ea rl y in the morning and rh e other a t th e traditional time of before noon. In so me places mo nks may be invited to th e ho mes of lay peo ple for rh ei r meals so the tradi- tio nal morning begging is nOt by any means standard. Drinking at a ny time is not fo rbidden a nd neither is t he chewing of herelleaf, or even smoki ng for monks in Thailand!

The monks live in a vi110ra either singly o r co ll ecti vely, so a lIihara cou ld be a sim ple hut or a cave housing o ne or a few mon ks o r it may

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be large enough to be a wealthy monastery with considerable land appropriated to it. Strictly speaking the monks shou ld not work, but we have to remember that they were teachers of the Dhamma to a largely illiterate laity from the days of the Buddha on. Teaching was therefore a narural occupation until the arrival of state provision of education. Some became scholars or became involved in social work and, given the amount of land arrached to some of the l:lrger monas- teries, some became rillers of the soil, though somewhat against the disciplinary rules of the Vinaya, the part of the canon ica l scriptures dealing with regulations for the monks.

However, the life of the monk is devoted to fo ll owi ng the discipli- nary code of the Vinaya, which was important enough to be recited regularly and communa ll y, and to meditation - the pronounced feature of the monk's life which separates his practice from that of lay people. Each monk has to work out his own path to nibbana; each is his own island, his own refuge and his time in daily meditative retreat is essemial, as it is for those nuns who choose to ado pt the life of a conve nt. Etienne Lamorre commcnts of thc ideal of the monk:

The ruling which imprISons the monk in 3 nerwork of delailed prescrip- tions rends 10 make him a fully self·denymg person; gende and inoffensive, poor and humble, conrinem and perfectly rramed."

Bur while being required to spend long periods in meditation t he monk also has periods of memoriz.ing the scriptures, and of lively debate with the other monks gene rally as part of [he daily rourine; indeed, the word th era, while normally meaning "monk" , can have the nuance of meaning "view" or "debate".lr is in the rainy season that meditative practices are particularly emphasized and, when the roads and paths arc waterlogged by (he monsoon rains and it is difficulr to travel any distance, the laity also will join the monks for some shorr or long period, accepting the traditional Five Precepts in cnrering the monastery. Bur when not engaged in the immediate monastic duty, tb e monk is nOt divorced from the world outside. In his morning begging for food he comes into contact with the laity on a regular basis and he may also emba rk on a pilgrimage. But the disciplinary rules of the Dhamma forbid him to be alone with a woman or to exchan ge more than a few words with her, and while he may use public transport, he will nor sit next to a woman on the journey.

Puja While puja can mean "worship" it more genera ll y means "honour, respect", and rhis is the sense in which it is used in Theravada Buddhism. The Buddha, therefore, is nOt worshipped but his teaching is respected and honoured at shrines and temples. And because such pu;a is a source of merit, of good kamma for the lay Buddhist, visits to temples and shrines are frequent, with tradirional offerings of

nowers, candles and incense. Flowers or nower petals are symbolic of the fragility, transience and impermanence of all life, while light from the candles represents the light of enlightenment and the dispelling of [he darkness of ignorance. The fragrance of the incense symbolizes the spread of the Buddha's Dhamma to all comers of the world. Gratitude for the Dhamma of the Buddha is shown by bowing, kneeling and prostrating - the three often being combined together as if in one action. The palms of the hands are brought together during pu;a and may be raised to the forehead, then the mouth and back to the chest to symboliz.e that mind speech and body are combined in rh e action of honouring the Dhamma. imporrant would be the repetition three times of the Three Refuges. There is no prayer to, o r focus on, a supra- mundane enrity in such puja; it is fundamentally honour and gratitude which are exprt:ssed.

Meditation Meditation is a very natural thing to do in rh e East, particularly in the heat of the day. It is a central practice ofTheravada Buddhism and while it will be undertaken by many of the laity it is a dai ly requirement for the monk; indeed, th e picture of th e monk quietly seated in deep meditation is what springs to mind to most who recall something about Buddhism. It is through contemplation and meditation that the confines of ordinary thought and the sense stimu li which so attract our minds a re transcended so that the mind becomes quite quiet and tranquil. Most of us spend our lives in busy th ought and we rarely concentrate on a particular task in hand. Simple actions like cleaning one's teeth, peeling potatoes or driving the car become merely background occupations while [he mind concerns itself about this and that. The mind easily becomes out of control a nd mindless rather than mindful, mindfulness denoting the ability to concentr ate fully on the task in hand. And when we do concentrate on the task in hand movements become calmer, less rushed, and the mind and the body become correlated and harmonized. But even such simple prac- tices of meditation are hard to acco mplish without daily practice and pcrseverence. The meditative practices of the monks are highly devel- oped, and help [hem on the path to enlightenmenr. Concentrating on a particular aspect of the Brahma-vjbara such as ",etta, love, for example, promotes the kind of serenity of mind which is important for the monk, but it is also important to concemrare on the fragility of life, the empti ness of the self a nd the kinds of mind content which bring awareness of lhe finer teachings of the Buddha. Concentra tion and meditation are the twO final components of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path and serve to wean the mind away from its usual ways of thinking, and from the mental habits whic h constitute personality. And once these mental h:1bits are broken down then th e world a round can be seen as it really is, parricularly because the egoistic self which views it all is lessened or lost.

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The twO fundamental types of meditation are samatha and vipas~ sana. The former concentrates on mindfulness of body, feelings, mind and mental states and aims at detaching the mind from responses to sense stimuli through four stages until the level of pure consciousness of samadhi is achieved, then, beyond samadhi to four formless states where dualities cease to exist. Vipassana or "insight'" meditation is more psycho-analytically based, analyzing the nature of the self in the context of the fundamental tenets of Buddhism.

The scriptures of Ther3vada Buddhism The teachings of early Buddhism were handed down orally a nd as they sp read to many parts of India came to be preserved in local dialects. India is such a vas t country that there are many different dialects which would nor always be mutually understandable. Memorizing the Dhaml1la, and th erefo re preserving it, was an important role of the monks. They were required to recite much of the material, particularly the disciplinary code, but their task was often made easier by the repetitive nanlre of some of the material: nevertheless, it invo lved a considerabl e effort. An authorized Canon of this oral trad ition was es tablished at the First Buddhist Council shortly after the Buddha's death and was elaborated on at the S«x:ond Council about a century later. The first authoritative Canon was formulated by those monks who had memorized th e Buddha's teaching. They prefaced their repetition of the material with the words "Thus have I heard .... ", which is why these words appear in written accounts of the scriptures today. When eventually the oral Canon was committed ro writing, the collection of texts was handed down in "Three Baskets", Ti~pitaka (Sanskrit Tripitaka). The Theravada school came to record the Ti-pitaka in the language of I>ali and possessed the greatest amount of Indian Buddhist literature, the texts of many other schools of the Hina yana strand of Buddhism disap- pearing a long with their schools into the mists of time. However, because there were many different schools of Hinayana Buddhism there were many Canons of scripture. The Pali texts of the Theravada schoo l were written in southern India several centuries after the death of th e Buddha.

The Tipitaka were accepted by both Hina yana and Mahayana monastic traditions particularly the material of two of the " Baskets"', the ViTlaya a nd the SlItta. It was the third "Basket", what became the Thoravadin Pali Abhidhamma, and the Mahayana Sanskri t AblJidhanlla, ovcr which differences occurred. The Tipitaka, then, consti tuted the Buddha's DIJQl1Ima in early Buddhism: their three cate- gories arc;

The Vi,raya Pitaka The word vi"aya means "discipline" and thus [his pUaka contained the rules and regulations for the monks (bhikkJlS) a nd nuns (bhikkzmis). Not only was a code of cond uct established for

[he monks in the Vinaya - a conduct which covered all avenues of the monk's life - it also contained regulations for dealing with those monks who had committed offences, as weU as regulations for the settling of disputes. Surprisingly the Vi"ayas which have survived are fairly diverse and are anything but uniform despite, as Lamarre observes, "exploitin g a common basis". J2

The Sulfa Pitaka This is by far the largest and mOSt important of rhe Tipitaka and was recalled from the Buddha's teachings by his most faithful disciple Ananda. It is divided into five partS and collects wgether the Buddha's teachings in the form of dialogues each linked by a common "thread'" (Pali Sllfta, Sansk rit slttra), The Sutta Pitaka consists of five s«X:tions of dialogues, long ones first, the Digha Nikaya, [hen medium·lengrh discourses, the Ma;;hima Nikaya, the Samyutta Nikaya which are thematically grouped discourses, the AllgllUara Nikaya or " G radu al Sayings", and the small texts of th e Klmddaka Nikaya, which include the Dhammapada and the Jatakas. The Dham mapada is a well-known part of the SlIlIa Pitaka. Pada means "path" or "way" and elucidates the path of the Dhamma. th e path to enlig htenment. Its 423 verses give practical ad vice on how to live life, and e.xemplify well Buddhism as a way of action. So venerated is thjs teaching that even la y Bllddhists wou ld know much of it by heart and particular verses may be chanted in times of trouble, need, or for protection. Its contents epitOmize the proximate goa ls - refraining from evil, learning [Q do what is good and purifying the mind - so important for la y parricipants in Buddhism, but the SlItta Pitaka as a whole is also important to rhe lay person because of its inclusion of practical advice for daily li ving such as care of the family, rel ationships in marriage, the choice of friends. relationships between teachers and pupils and between employers and employees. Even advice about money, gambling, idleness or roaming the st reets late at night is to be found. JJ The Jatakas, literally "bi rth stories", arc the past lives of the Buddha in which he was to be found in animal as much as human form (thoug h never, it seems, in female form whether human or animal !). The legends are immensely attractive, the animal stories being remi- niscent of Aesop's fables. The sto ri es recount heroic deeds of the Buddha-to-be and acts of great self·sac rifi ce. While it is the moral of each Story which is important, lay people in particular find th e Jatakas immensely appealing. Embarrassing to the general doctrine of rebirth is the much stronger linkage between one life and the ne.xt which the Jatakas reflect, suggesting a more ready acceptance of Hindu concepts of reincarnation and a reincarnating self.

The Abhidbamma Pitaka This is an ana lysis of the Buddha's teach- ings divided infO seven sections, one of which is devoted to refuting rhe views of the Other Buddhist schools. As its name suggests, this is

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the "higher Dhamma" and rhe material which comprises it is open to much interpreration, enough (0 have engendered the variery of schools within the Hinayana nadirion in early Buddhism. If the SlIlIa Pitaka is suited to the lay person as much as the monk, then the Abhidhamma is definhcJy only for the scholarly monk.

Also called Bodhisatlllayana, Etienne L1motte says that Mahayana Buddhism is distinguished from Hinayana Buddhism "by a more ambitious religious ideal, a more complex Buddhology and, especially, more radical philosophical positions",JoI and indeed this is so. Such developments originale in the schisms which divided the early trodi- tion and which had surfaced by the time of the Second Council in about 383 Be E, but the origins of Mahayana Buddhism are somewhat obscure. It may h.we been the Mahasanghika group in particular, "The Great Sangha Parry" as they ca lied themselves, which introduced more progressive and less exclusive ideas. To begin with they had a more relaxed attitude to the Vil1aya and this may have meant that, without the strict emphasis on discipline, the bity could be morc widely included in belief and practice. Indeed, it was the extension of the Buddhisr Sangba ro include the layman and woman which was a significant factor in the whole flowering of resulting Mahayana Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism extended the Sa"gha to include householders, women and the less able as much as the gifted. With an emphasis on meditation rather than discipline, and a wider interpre- ration of buddha hood, it would no longer be necessary for an individual to enter a monastery to be a practising Buddhist: the Sa"gha would be extended to the home.

But the most "'ambitious religious ideal", as Lamorre phrases it, emerged in the concept of bodbisattllas. This, tOO, was made possible through the developing conceprion of the Buddha for, unlike the Hinayana view that the Buddha had ceased to be, Mahayana Buddhism favoured the view that the essence of the Buddha was ongoing as much as was his DlJamma. This belief laid the foundations for many dimensions of Mahayana Buddhism today. Hinayana Buddhists, as the later Theravada Buddhist tradition, held that the Buddha was in no way divine. He had a special status as being the only Buddha for this aeon and respect was paid to his Dhamma, but he was not a divine being who could be worshipped in any way and he was nor ongoingj he was nOt though I to be erernaUy presenr. Humankind, however, seems by nature {Q need some kind of ultimate essence or diviniry to make sense of life's situations. In the history and evolution of many religions we find periods of philosophical and metaphysical thought which contain no clements of theistic or anthropomorphic belief; bur this hardly suits the ordinary person in the village, street or rown, for whom such intellectualism supplies linle comfon. Mahayana Buddhism il could be said responded to such needs in a

variety of ways. It was probably such needs of the ordinary person which began the process of change in ideas which provided the origins of Mahayana. After the Buddha died, people set up st"pas or relic Illounds, small or large buildings which housed something belonging to the Buddha's person, perhaps some of his hair or a piece of bone. The ordinary lay Buddhist gained a greal deal from visiting such st"pas and it was a shan step from this kind of veneration of the Buddha's relics to veneration of the Buddha himself. And this is the major differ- ence between the Theravada and Mahayana schools of thought. In mOSt Mahayana strands of Buddhism the Buddha came to be regarded as being permanent in the cosmos, as being present before his birth on eanh and continuing after it for all eternity. In developing such a concept of the Buddha, this opened the way for a variety of interpre- tations and different expressions of the Buddha's Dhamma, which resulted in Mahayana Buddhism.

Mahayana Buddhism refused to accept the exclusiveness of the en lightenment and buddha hood ofSiddhartha Gautama and extended the potential for buddha hood to all. Since all people could become buddhas it was natural to assume [hat many had done so already and that many would do so in the future. There were, indeed, many great teachers and people who had followed the Buddha 's Dharma who had realized 1tirvo"a too, and like the Buddha, Siddhartha Gaurama, they too were felt to be continually present in the cosmos and in world systems other than the immediate one. Coupled with this idea is another very important one and [his is [he concept of mahakartt1ta. Theravada Buddhism believed, and continues to do so, that once a person reached nibballa he became an arabaf, a perfected being, but not a Buddha - there could only be one Buddha in each aeon. Mahayana Buddhism saw no point to this, no point to someone real- izing nirt/af/a and then having no morc involvement with those still struggling on the path to it. The Buddha, after ali, helped countless people to find nirllana tOO by Staying in the world to teach the Dharma and was a being noted for his considerable compassion for humaniry. It is this idea of compassio1l which became so important in Mahayana Buddhism.

BodlJisattvm; Compassion in Sanskrit is kartma and MahaY'lIla Buddhism believes that when an individual achieves 1Iirllana he or she stays in the world to help others to achieve 1Iirllalla too. Such people do this because of their great compassion for all suffering humanity and it is this concept of mahakarmla, "great compassion", which is one imponanr pillar of Mahayana Buddhism, the other being prajlla, wisdom. Mahayana Buddhists see no sense in the attainment of f/irllalla, or the achievement of buddhahood, unless it is of some value [0 the rest of humaniry, so out of mahakanma those who achieve nirlla"a do nOt pass on to parh,irvalla, supreme I/irllana, but remain

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in th e universe or become reborn In some form III o rder to help humankind. These beings, who have reached enlightenment bur who are dedicated to helping all O(hers to do the same, are called bodhisattvas. 111eir aim, enlightenment for a ll, is the "ambitio us reli· gious ideal" of which Lamorte writes, and it is this aim which is the im po rtant chara cteri sti c o f bodbisattvlls. the gradual achievement of which stores up vast amo unts o f karmic merit available to all beings. Thus the bodhisattva nO( only epito mi zes wisdom, but th e immense co mpassion he or she has for a ll beings.

It is with thi s concept of bodhisallvas t ha t we are a t the hea rt o f Maha yana Buddhi sm. There a re countl ess bodhisattvas, who have vowed to help a ll others to the ultimate goa l o f enlightenment. And it is because of this concept of man y buddhas and boddbisaltvas t hat th ere are so many different strands of Maha ya na Buddhism, for so me gro up s will favour o ne o r mo re buddha or bodhisattva, while others will prefer a nother. This brings about the great diversiry of Maha yana Buddhi sm, diversity which is s uffi cient sometimes to make one parric- ular gro up fairly ignora nt of th e beliefs of another, yet all s uch groups would call th emselves Buddhi sts.

Although th ere a re man y bodhisaltvas t hey were originally all co nn ected to the Buddha himself and on visiting Buddhist temples it would be usual to see the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, alongs ide other budd has a nd bodhisattvas. M ost Mahayana Buddhists refer to Siddha rt ha Gautama as Sakya muIJ/ Buddha, the Buddha who was the Sak ya sage, Sakya being the nam e of the tribe from which the Buddha came. In man y ways. Sakyamuni Buddha remains the link between all buddha s and bodd"isattvas even though, in so me sec ts of Maha yana Buddhis m, a different buddha may be predominant. Some Maha yan a sec ts envisage man y universes, each presided ove r by a buddha a nd accompanying bodhisaltllas. Bodhisat1tl(ls practise six perfections - generosity, moraliry, patience, vigour, meditation and wisdom; th ese must be perfected for enlightenment to be ach ieved and rraditionally there arc ten sta ges on the path of a bodJusott/Ja before he or she can become onc with all the Buddhas. The Illerit inco rporated by just o ne bodhisattva on such a path is immense.

In ge neral Mahayana Buddhism denies that a nything can have svab- hava "own·being". This is to say that nothing at all can ha ve any permanence and therefore can really exist: every thin g rea ll y is empty, SIlI1)'a. $0 thin gs can nei ther be no r not be, th ey a re Void - a meta- physical analysis of the " Middle Way" be twee n being a nd non -bein g. And because this Voidness or Emptiness (termed the docrrine of stm)'a/a in Mahayana Buddhism) applies to all things, it applies to bodhisal/vas as much as hum ans, a nd to IIirvana as much as sam sarLJ. So th ere is no difference between a human being and a bodJlIsattva or between "irva na and sa ll/sa ra , th ey are ultimately the sa me, ultimately empty of svabhava, and are therefore unreal. But sin ce we live in an

"unreal" world, a nd conrin ue to di fferemiate between this and that through o ur ignorance and ego·bound personalities, bodJJlsoltvas provide an ideal at which to aim, a sou rce of help, support, and trans- fe ra ble meri t, and nirvana remains an ul tim ate goal in a n ignorant samsaric world, in th e rea lm of relati ve but no t absolute reality. Bodhzsattt1as, thou gh ultimately as unreal as a human being, arc the means by which th ose on th e Buddhist path ca n learn to pass from the unrea lity of life to the realiry of en li ghtenm ent in nirva na. Bodhisattvas also ful fil th e rol e o f coumeractin g ev il in th e wo rld and may be po rtrayed in fe rocious (orms like the Ta nrri c dei t ies of Hinduism. This is a feature paticularly of some Tibetan bodJmatlvas.

Buddha-llature O ne of the major developmems of Mahayana Buddhis t thought was the concept of buddha-lla/ure which was to characterizc th e Buddhi sm o f th e Far East in particular. Buddha· lIature ca me to be envisage d as th c tru c nature of all thin gs and th e true nature o f th e individual. While th e se lf is still accepted as co mpletely changing and imperman ent, o nce the egoistic self is lost what rema ins is buddha-nature, which is identi ca l to th e Dharma of the Buddha and, in some aspects of Buddhism. is identified with Sakyamuni as th e Absolute.

The importance of this co ncept of buddha· nature in Mahaya na Buddhism ca nnot be overes timated because if eve rythin g a nd eve ryone has buddha -natu re within, and thi s bllddha·"atllre is iden ti cal to th e Absolute Buddha, then t>veryo"e contai ns buddhahood and every0 1le really is a buddha: the way to know this is to realize the bllddba-"ature within th e self. lr was this concept of blldd"a-"afltre and the co ncept of th e potential buddhahood fo r all people which ope ned up Buddhis m fo r ordinary (>Cople. The older Hina yana a nd s ubseque nt Theravada Buddhism was th e way of the monk, the thera. The only cha nce yo u co uld have of reac hing mrva"a and of endin g th e cycle of samsara would be by being o rd a ined as a mo nk: lay people co uld never hope to achieve thi s. At bes t, by spe ndin g some time in a mo nastery with the o rdain ed mo nk s, they could hope to be bo rn in their ne xt existence in such a position that the y, too, co uld enter a mon:lsrery as an ordained mon k. But with thi s co nce pt o f buddba- IIatllre came the logical conclusion lhat th e potenrial for buddha hood was as much in the o rdin ary perso n as in the monk, in th e foo li sh as much as the wise and in women as much as men . There was no need for th e la y person to enter the monaste ry to strive for "irvana; it was as much ob ta inable in everyday life as it was in th e mon as tery.

In recogmzi ng the o ngoi ng essence of the Buddha and the identica l buddha hood in a ll beings it is possible to s ugges t so me kind o f perma· nent. indesc ribabl e, un changi ng Absolute which exists in all things. Sc holars va ry in th e degree to which they acce pt sllch a th eory bur th e co nce pts of buddhahood and bllddha -IIalllre go far to suppo rr s uch a

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concept of an underlying Realiry which, like the Tao of Taoism, IS the common denominator of all, even if this common denominator is void- ness or emptiness. Some Mahayana schools of thought term this the Oharmakaya, that which is manifest in the many budd has and bod~hisat~vas in what is called sambhogakaya form, and in earthly mam~estatlons such as Sakyamum Buddha in mrma"akaya form, 3 doctrme known as the TrikayQ. or "three bodies" of the Buddha. Far- eastern Buddhism especially rends to incorporate such ideas. While many scholars deny that there is such a thing 3S an .. Absolute" in (he sense of a totally transcendcnr un ifying principle in Buddhism there is much evidence fa rhe conrrary. One e.'(ample can be found'in the words of H. W. Schumann, who has statcd:

Th~ Dharmaka ya IS Ih~ self<~ntr~d Immanenr as well :IS transcend~", truth or reality of all beings and ap~ar:lnces: .he Indeslrucrible. rim~­ tess Absolute, [h e one essence In and behind all th,lI was, IS, :lnd will be. It is the bearcr and rhe object of enhghlconmcnr or Buddhahood. u

The problem with this kind of statement of the existence of some kind of Absolute for Buddhism is th3t there arc too many similarities with the Hindu concept of a Ground of all being, Brahman. Yet, even if this is so, there would be differences, for there is no conception in Buddhism of an abso lute Oharmaka)'a 3S a principle and ground state from wh ich all is manifested. And yet, should such a concept of 3 ~har~Jakaya ~ accepted, rhe char3cteristic of it as a unifying prin- CIple 111 the ulllverse, suggesting overt monism, would have to be accepted. Again, Schumann makes this clear:

The Dh::armakay:a IS Ih:at oncof Ihe Three Bodies whlch:all Buddh:a5 h::av~ in common. Whereas there cxist'cd and eX ISI IIlnumerable Earthly Buddhas. Ihcr~ is only one Dharm:ak::aya . .u

!his s~gges{S that ultimate reality is a unit)'. and that a permanem, mtranSlcm Absolute, can be cquatcd with "jn,'OIIO. But while rhe ~h~Tmakaya as an i.ndescribable Absolute is beyond the conceptual- Iz:ltIon of humankllld, the sambhogakaya manifestations of rhe Dharmakaya are nor on ly describable but are also 3ble to be relarcd to in a more tangible way as the m3ny budd has and bodhisattvas.

With the presence of so m3n), budd has and bodbisattvas who had vowed to help rhe rest of the universe fa reach enlightenment it came to be believed rh3t they could be appealcd ro for help in times of need and that they would intercede for humankind if 3sked. It is here that we can see how many aspects of Mahayana Buddhism have adopted practices which arc very simi lar, if nOt identical in many cases (0 theistic practices involving belief in a personaJ God, Goddess or G~ds and Goddesses. Again, we can see that humankind often prefers this

kind of theistic approach to the divine and IS content to approach a malllfest aspect of divinity rather than try to comprehend so methmg which is indescribable and beyond mortal conception. So nOt only is tbe bodhisattva an example of rhe kind of person one shou ld want co be but he or she is a lso the medium for help and comfort or for praise and adoration. Thus, Kshitigarbha looks after the dead, Vajrapani conquers evil, Avalokitesvara bestows help 3nd grace and Tara epito- IniZes motherly care. Im3ges or rllpas of the buddhas and bodhisallvas arc extremely popu lar, even in Themvada Buddhism where they supply 3 focus for meditation and a reminder of the Obamma of the Buddha for rhe Theravada Buddh ist, and a means of assistance, 3 focus for worship, praise and prayer for the Mahayana Buddhist. In the rIlpas we have rhe anthropomorphic representation of the indescrib- able and rhls, again, seems to fulfil an inherent need of humankind.

Pilla and meditation in the Mahayana traditions of Buddhism vary enormously, but, considering the proliferation of bodhisattlJas it is easy to see how these would be approached, praised and propiti3tcd in a somewha t theistic manner, even if there are those who deny that there can be any theism in Mahayana Buddhism at all Perhaps this is th e caSt in theory, but in practice it is difficult ro see how such a theory can be mainrained. Puia ro the many bodbisattvas and buddhas is more elabor3te in Mah3yana Buddhism and the colourful shrines portray many rupas. Offerings are more numerous than the tradition31 three of flowers, light and incense, characteristic of the Thcravadin tradition.

The scriptures of Ma haya na Buddhism The tradhional Hinayana Buddhism and subsequent Thcravada recognized only [he scriptures of the Ti-pitaka as authentic. Mahayana Buddhism, on the other hand, has a much wider viewpoinr and hence a 13rge nu m ber of other scrip- tures which are considered to be important and aUlhenrk: a selection only can be outlined here. Hinarana and Thcravada Buddhist scrip- tures are wrirren in Pali, bur because Mah3yana Buddhism was less conserv3tive it accepted many mher writings in its canon of literature, which came to be recorded in Sanskrit. Although there are differences between the twO languages it is often not toO difficult to sec the link between words in both. For example, the Pal; for trUtll or teaching is dbamma, while the S3nskrit is dharma. \'Vhen dealing with Theravad3 Buddhism, Pali terms have been used throughout thjs chapter, and Sanskrit terms have been used for Mah3yan3. The mOSt complete collections of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures exist as transl3tions in Tibetan and Chinese sources, probably 31/ being originally Indian.

Wisdom sutras In the early period of Mahayana Buddhism perfec- tion of wisdom, that is to S3Y having the kind of wisdom which led to a cessation of the ego self, of desires and aversions, and an under-

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standing of the impermanence of life - in short, the DhamlQ of the Buddha - was the means to "irvo"a. So OIl this early rime, there were a number of teachings or sutras on the "pcrfection of wisdom", praj- ttaparaf1111a (prajna "wisdom" and paramita "perfection, supre me, highest") whic h originally came to be written down in the first century seE, but were expanded and extracted from during the next century. The most important of such literature is the Mahapraj"aparamita SUlra "The Great Perfection of Wisdom Teaching". Many prajtta- paramita texts arc rca ll y extracts from this main one, two such examples being the Diamond Sutra and the Heart SUlra. They were both composed in the ea rl y centuries CE. A copy of the Dlamottd SUlra dating to the ninth century is ho used in the British Museum and thi; copy is said to be the oldest printed book in th e wor ld . The Sutra describes the stages in the life of a bodhisattva, that is to say, the processes by which praj"a. wisdom, is achieved.

The wisdom which much of rhis literature elucidates is the principle of stU/yata , the "empti ness" of all things as devoid of svabhava. The Diamo"d Sulra especia ll y states this of a bodhisattva: "if a Bodhisattva has any notion of a being, a person, or a self, he could not be called a Bodhisattva. There is no actual person on the Bodhisattva path !'J7 This is to say that th e bodhisattva is not only devoid of a self b~t is ultimately unreal. The SUlra emphasizes that "a ll things are without self, without being, without soul, without personality"u.

The ProJlIaparamita SlItras thus StrCSS that all life is unreal or ma),a. Ir has no rea liry because it is constantly chan ging and therefore imper- manent. If I go back to the image of the sec-saw used earlier, it is as if the see-saw is consta ntl y moving because we are either one side of it or thc o th er, we arc this or that but we arc never in th e centre never sti ll. The point at th e centre is the point of equilibrium, the point' where this a nd that are not there: it is the point of slIch"ess or empti1less in that it is empty of dualitiesi it is the point where all dualities meel. And because a ll life is imper manent and transient nothing can be sa id to ha ~e any per~,anenr esse nce or "own-being", svabbava. Everything is VOid, Emptiness, sl",.)'ota. This is the major teaching of the PrajIJaparamita SlItras.

Other slltras arc more devoted to th e practice of meditation as a means to lIirvalla or ro the teachings about karma and samsara, while some slllras concentrate o n a particular buddha. An example of this last are the Pure Land sllfras, which depict the heavenly realm or buddha-field of a particular Buddha, Amida, who is highly popular. Some of these Sltfras describe the exquisite land of Amida, the land to which those who have faith in him may go after death, while other slltras are directions for meditations on Amida.

One very influe ntial sutra is the Lotlls Sutra, the Saddharmapundorika Sutra, "The lotus of the True law". The Lotus SUlra is written as a kind of drama in which human beings, budd has

- d bodlJisattvas interact. It stresses the idea thar all arc potential ~n ddhas and by faith In the Buddha and following his teachings the

u I state for all humankind is buddha hood. In the Lotus Slara, natura 1 " B ddh h Sakyamuni Buddha is presented as the etcrna ,.cosmlc u a w 0

e to earth in human form to save humank1l1d and promote the cam1"ghtenmenr of countless beings. He was already enlightened before en I . ' bib he came to earth for, hemg the cosmIC Buddha, he was A .so me, ut h enl through the drama of being one on the path to enhghtenmcnt . e :;der to help o th ers on the same path. The Surra also expl~ins that ~~ere are many strands of teaching in the Buddha's DI)QT1~JQ: It wou ld have been impossible for the Buddha to have tallght the highest truths " nlediate1y (0< people would not have been ready for them, so he had ,m " d ("

prepare the ground and build up his teachings over a peno 0 flme. ~ut the LotllS Surra is believed to unite all teachings or the Buddha into one, essential and supreme teaching.

The spread of Ma hayana Buddhism Because ~aha~ana Buddhism was more liberal in its outlook than the conservative Hmayana school, it was more cond ucive to spreading outside India. Strict adherence to the rules of the Vi"a)'a of Hinayana Buddhism was nOI always neces- sary for Mahayana Buddhism was much mo~e adaptabl~. For example, J 3pan relies on fish for its dietary prOtem and to {hl~ day, Japanese Buddhists sti ll eat fish. The Vil/aya would have forbidden this bur rhe more liberal Mahayana views were able to accommodate sud~ divergences and therefore allowed the spread of B~~dhism well outside India. Conze points our that the Vi"aya prohibited mo~ks being practitioners of medicine, bur the experience of the Mahayan~sts on their missionary journeys showed them only too clearly that heahng people in the physical sense was a much surer way to gain co~verfS and so they cited the doctrine of mahakanma and held that thiS ~~as more important than any set of rules. It was this kind of adaptablhry which ensured the spread of Buddhism.l9 .

It was Mahayana Buddhism which reached China somewhere In the first century BeE. and 31though it was about five hundred years be.fore Buddhism cou ld be said to be a major force in China, it has remall1ed highly innuenrial in Chinese religion ove r rhe centuries. Here we sec, roo, the ability of Mahayana Buddhism ro adapt to the host cou~'try and ro allow the kind of syncretism which has produced the umque blend of three systems of belief - Taoism, Co nfucianism and Buddhism _ which in form s Chinese religion. Buddhism gave to Chin ese religion, among other things, a belier in reincarnation and the concept of an inner essence of buddba-"ature.

Ln India itself, Mahayana ideas spread northwards to Tibet and here there was an acceptance of ideas which arc known as Tanrric, often given the designation Vajrayana to distinguish it from Theravada or Mahayana Buddhism. While remaining under [he umbrella term or

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Mahayana Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism was a much more esoreric type of Buddhism, suggesting thar buddha hood cou ld be obtained through passing through 5[ages of training under a gllm. Each Tantric school has irs own secret initiations and reachings as a means to buddh ahood and a wealth of divine forces and bodh;sottvas to aid the process. Tamric Buddhism also gained ground in Nepa l and Kashmir. Mahayana Buddhism also spread ro Korea and from there to japan, where it is prominent today. So although Hinayana Buddhism was not without some missionary success, it was the more adaptable and liberal Mahayana school of thought which made the greatest impact on Buddhism outside India.

Religious symbols are phenomena which express in word, sign and pictorial form some profound underlying concept, often pointing to concepts which are deeper than humankind can describe. Buddhism is panicularly rich in sy mbols and images and the iconography of the Buddha is particularly expressive of symbo li c meaning.

Immediately on looking at the Buddha it is possible to see the symbo li c distinguishing marks of his buddha hood. To begin with, the head is not a normal shape but has a considerable bump on the top. This is ca ll ed the us"iso and is symbolic of the specia l spirituality of the Buddha and the great mind which he had - aU-knowing and enlightened. The IIS";50 will va ry from one image to another, some- times being more obvious, but on others appearing more in the form of a headdress, rarher like names from a fire. Between the Buddha's eyes is rh e lima, the third eye, whi ch symbolizes his spiritua l insight. To look at it ir is no more than a small SpOt and looks nothing like an eye, but in E.'lstern thought, this place between the twO eyes is often t houghr ro be the seat of intuitive knowledge. The grear yogi"s of Hinduism concentrate their thoughts on this spot in the head whi le in deep meditation, and at death, the yogi" brings his focus on this point in order to contain his spiritual energy and kccp it rooted in olman. The rings of hair on the Buddha's head are also symbolic of his super- human character. They are always coiled in a clockwise direction, t hough this may not be as evident on somc images as others. Very char- acteristic of the images arc the long ear lobes, whi ch are a symbol of respectability and nobility. Indian women have always thought it essential ro have long, noble. ear lobes and will often wear very weighty earrings in order ro stretch (heir lobes a little. Thus the natural nobility of the Buddha is symbolized by his long ear lobes.

These characteristic symbols of the Buddha 's person are usually clearly visible on (he Buddha images but there are others which may not be quite so readily seen. Altogether, there are said to be thirty-two signs of his buddha hood, but most of these would not be visible on Buddha rupa5. On some images, it is possible to see that the Buddha's fingers arc all the same length as, also, are his toes. On th e palms of

:-s hands, or the soles of his feer, are the ~arks of th.e Wheel of the Law, Itself an important symbol which Will be exammed separately below. Sometimes this Wheel of the Law can be found on other parts f tbe Buddha image. Often conspICUOUS, tOO, are some of the other ~ ns of his spiritual buddhahood, in the wrinkles on his neck, his ,g fh ' k' webbed fingers and the go ld colour 0 IS s Ill.

Not only are these distinguishing marks symbolic of rhe spi rituality nd omniscience of the Buddha bur the whole image itself is also a ~mbol. To begin with the very pos[Ure of the Buddha has symbolic meaning as, also, his expression. In relation to the laner, the usual expression is one of se renity and calm, with the eyes . balf closed to symbolize medimrion. Regarding the former, thret: parncu lar po~tures are evident, sitting - in the traditionallorus posture of th e med itator _ standing, and reclining. The mOSt frequent of these is the seated pose of the Buddha with the feet crossed over on rop of the opposite thigh ill the lotlls position. The lotus itself is a very importanr symbol in Buddhism: ir is a Rower which grows in the filthiest of waters in the East. Irs leaves are spread out flat on the surfuce of the muddy waters, JUSt like the knees are spread Rat when ~irring . in the l~rus posit~on. The muddy waters symbolize the world With all ItS suffenng and tribu- lations and the leaves symbolize humankind. But from the heart of the green leaves ourspread on me waters comes the most exquisite of flowers - the lotus flower - and this symbolizes the b"ddha-IIalJlre of the individual, rising in consciousness to the point of nirvarJO. Moreover, rhe lotus Rower has the unusual phenomenon of bearing the flower and the fruit at the same time. This, for some Buddhists, symbolizes the idea of karma by which, any action prod.uces at th e same time the cause and the latent effect: once you act m mmd or body you must have a result to follow, whether no~ or i.n the.djsrant fur.ure: latent results are therefore prescnt in all actions, lUSt hke the frUit of the lorus flower exists at the same time as the Rower wh.ich causes it. Many images of the Buddha show him seated on a lotus and for some Mahayana Buddhists the lotus has the additional symbolism of each petal representing a whole world system.

Whcn the Buddha is fcatured in this seated posture, the position of his hands is always highly symbolic. Somc of these scated images show the Buddha with one hand touching the ground. This represents the time when he was in the process of becoming en li ghtened and was challenged by the enemy of enlightenment, called Mara. Mara is rather like the Christian concept of Satan and symbolizes the force which operates against the Dhamma. As Siddhatt3 was about to achieve enlightenment, Mara sent all SOrtS of temptations to discourage him and when these failed, then he scm all his hosts of evil forces. But as he did this, Siddharra pur his hand down to the ground a~d called the earth itself to witness that rhis moment was one he had flscn to after a long process as a bodhisattva, and that enlightenme nt was therefore

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right for him. In response, the whole eanh ttembled with earthquakes and thunder and the hosts of Mara were defeated. So Buddha images which depict the Buddha wirh one hand pointing to the ground symbolize his "'calling the earth to witness" at the time of his enlight~ enment.

The traditional meditati\le position of the hands in Buddhism is also to be seen on some Buddha images. Here, the hands are brought together in the lap with the fingers lined up with each other, back to back, and the thumbs gently tOuching on top of the fingers. This creates a kind of circuit and is the standard symbolic hand position for nearly all Buddhism. though the position of the fingers may vary. When in this position, the hands are showing the gesture of concen- tration and therefore symbolize the concentrarion needed in order to rid oneself of desire and ego, as the Buddha himself did. Another symbolic gesture of the hands is that of "turning the Wheel of the Law". I shall return ro this particular symbol, the wheel, below but here, in lht" cotHext of Buddhist iconography, it ser\les to represent the teaching. the Dhamma of the Buddha. To show this, the forefinger and thumb on each hand are brought together to form a circle or wheel and the fWO hands arc brought together to touch just where the fingers and thumbs unite. These hand positions are called fI1l1dras and are a distinct feature of bmh Buddhism and Hinduism.

Apart from seared Buddha figures there are also standing figures and reclining ones. Standing postures very often show the Buddha's hands in the mlldra of "amaskar, the traditional Indian greeting which means "I honour )'ou" or " I bow to you". Here, the palms of the hands arc brought IOgether, chesr high. Other standing postures may have the right hand raised in blessing with the palm facing outward while the. le.ft hand is lowe~, p~lm upwards and fingers ounvard, as if giving. ThiS IS a mudra, which IS particularly widespread in religiolls iconog- raphy. Apart from signifying the L.1W, or Dbamma, of the Buddha this mlldra is sometimes known as the gesture of fearlessness becau~ of the Buddha's u~ of it in cerrain contexts. The Buddha had a cousin called Devadana, who was quite the opposite of the Buddha in nature and something of a malevolent personality. On a number of occasions he tried ro have the Buddha killed and on o ne of these sent 11 sram~ peding elephant in the Buddha's direction. The Buddha however being in a state of equilibrium, could feel no fear and merel~ raised hi~ hand to quieten and still the e1ephalll. Similarly, those who follow the Buddha's Dham",a will also acquire the fearlessness which a state of equilibrium brings.

In addition to seated and standing images of the Buddha, are those which show him in a reclining position. The reclining figures show the Bu~dha Iyin~ o~ ~is right side with an expression of great serenity. ThiS last POll1t IS Important~ for not only do the images rhemsel\les contain symbolism in terms of the mlldras and distinguishing Buddha

- ks but the very face of the Buddha epitomizes the calm serenity of mar, · ff ' d ' th ne who is beyond dualities, one who IS ree rom cravlllg. e5lrcs d °aversions, and therefore from ego. His face has the expression of

," vCo is released from suffering, indeed, of one who is released, and Olle\ II I ' f . hiS eyes are half closed suggesting the deep contemp atlon 0 one 111 meditation who is withdrawn from the world and, at death, from

samsara . Theravada Buddhism, 35 we have seen, accepted only one Buddha

. _v,s aeon Siddhana Gorama, so here, there would only be found In UI , I fl' . nography associated with the Buddha. The fact that peop e e t It ~~cssary to have images of the Buddha on which they cou ld focus their anemion, albeit in termS of honour and respect rather than worship. suggestS that humankind needs this kind of visual represen· tarion in religion. In Mahayana Buddhism with its wealth of budd has and bodhisattflas, such iconography abounds. Some of these i~ages are exquisitely beautifu l and, like tha i of thc. Buddha Sakyamulll, a~e often highl)· symbolic. The Buddha Ava l okl~es\lara, for . example, ~s often portrayed with eleven heads arranged III a pyramid above h iS shoulders to show (hat his compassion extends in all directions. Or he may appear with four. six, eight or more arms to show that he has the power to extend his help to all. Each hand will show a m"dra symbol· izing other aspects of this popular Buddha.

The Wh ee l o f Life an d th e Wh eel o f th e Law When Sakyamuni Buddha became enlightened he immediately set about the task of teaching others about the Dbamma, the truths abour the nature of existence which he had awakened to at his nibbana. He taught his first sermon at a deer park to a very small group of monks, those who had been with him during his years of asceticism. In order to explain his teachings, he drew a wheel on the ground. Th is idea of the whee l h?s become a symbol for many basic teachings in Buddhism. To begm with, the Noble Eightfold I'atll is often presented as a wheel with eight spokes. This reflectS that the aspectS of the EiglJtfold Path are some· thing ro be pursued simuilaneously, not ont: by one, for the wheel symbolizes balance and an equal emphasis on all partS. If onc of these aspects is neglected, then the approach to life is unbalanced, in the same way lhat imbalance is caused in a wheel whic h has a broken spoke. . .

The wheel in Buddhism is also associated with the Wheel of Life, the cominucd cycle of somsara, the never-ending cycle of life, death and rebirth. The Buddha also used the symbol of the wheel to explain why individuals are chained to the cycle of samsara. Clinging to the whee l, that is to say, to life, ensures that you sra)' on it, that you are rcborn. This time, he divided the wheel into twelve conditions, or stages of life, each of which was dependent on the on~ befo.re and affected the onc after, rather like twelve links of a cham whIch arc

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bound into a circle. This is the concept of "dependent origination" which was nared above in rhe context of (he EIghtfold Path. He showed how human beings could break the chain at ce rtain points in order to overcome th e samsar;c cycle. The Wheel of Life a lso symbol ~ izes the law of cause and effect, the law of kamma which is w hat keeps each individual bound lO the Wheel of Life. By gettin g rid of the desires and aversions which cause kamma, the cycle of effects is ceased and so there is no need to be reborn fO experience the results of the kamma one has accumu lated: the wheel is effectively slOpped. If is in this sense that the Wheel of Life is often referred lO as the Wheel of the Law.

The Wheel of Life is particularly represented in Tibetan Buddhism as a complicated symbol with six spokes separati ng the six possible areas into which human beings may be born after death. The ou ter rim of the wheel is divided up into the rwelve stages of life conditions w hi ch cause the cycles of life, and th e inner hub of the wheel contains a cockerel, a snake and a pig. The cockerel symbolizes greed an d passion, anger and loss of control. The snake symbolizes hatred, and rhe pig delusion and ignorance. The whole Wheel of Life is held in the mouth of Yama, the God of the Underworld.

I'rayer wheels In Tibetan Buddhism it is be li eved mal mantras, which are symbolic sounds and words, have a particularly vibrant effect on individuals a nd on the world at large. Mantras are an impor- rant aspect of meditation but Tibetan Buddhism has raken certain mantras and has caused their sounds to be more widely broadcast by the use of prayer wheels, sometimes called man; wheels. Prayer wheels will range from quite sma ll hand ones to very large ones housed in public places. Inside them arc usually ma1lfras or slttras or parts of stllras, and on the outside of them a shorter mantra or decoration. These prayer wheels are TlOt shaped like wheels bur like cylinders and they are rorated in th e hand or by passing the hand across them if they are brge ones. Ofren there may be several in a row so thar many may be set in motion at o nce. ot only does this vibrate the malllra into the environment so that it can spread to all {he world, bur it a lso symbolizes the sp reading of {he Buddha 's Dhamma throughout humankind. The usual mantra to be found in these prayer wheels is 0", mall; padme. 1111111, " !-fail to th e jewel in the Lorus".

Mandalas Closely connected with the symbolism of the wheel in Buddhism arc mandalas. The word mandala means "circle" and refers to a geomerric design which revo lves around a centre. Though partic- ularly associated with both !-fjnduism and Buddhism, malldalas are rcally COrmllOn to many religions, indeed, the psychoanalyst Jun g believed {hat mandala patterns are common to the arc hetypa l imagery of the subconscious of each human being. There is much {hat is mystical about the mandala; indeed, it is something of the ultimate in

- bois for It prolects the mind beyond the gross ro the depths of the ~ru . d df bract. They are deSigned fO represent the cosmos an are use or ~:tpurposes of meditation. The meditator uses them in a way which internalizes them in his or her own body, so that he o r she becomes identified with rhe cosmos. The very centre ?f the mandala represen~s rhe ultimate reality, the goal of life, and enlightenment, and a guru IS needed in order to help an individual through the labyrinth which the malldala presents. The journey through the mandala represents th.e 'o urney of the mind from rhe microcosm to the macrocosm and ulu - ~atelY to Reality a t the centre. On some. there a re representations of deiti es or bod/mattvas, while others are complex geometrica l patterns. But always, the journey is from o ne of the four points of entry on the exterior, (0 the very centre of the malldala. Every single part of the mandala has symbolic meanmg.

Mal/dalas are used in the more esoteri c, [antric sects of Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism, in particular, is associated with Tanrrism, so it is here where we sho uld expect to find mandalas being used consider- ably. The Japanese schoo l of Buddhism knowl~ as Shingon~ ~ I so, has tWO important malldalas, one of which con tams 1,4 6 1 deities to be encountered on the way to the macrocosmic Ultimate.

Prayer beads Prayer beads are cal led malas and contai n the magical, mystical number of 108. They often consist of bone or wood, t~o~gh they may be hand-made by their owners. They arc used, as Similar objects in other religions, to aid conce ntrati o n o r meditation and to indicate when prostrations shou ld be done. Sometimes the 108 beads are reduced to 27 for easier use and beads I , 7 a nd 21 are usually in a differenr colou r o r are larger than the others in o rder to remind the Buddhisr of th e Three jewels, or Three Refuges - rhe Buddha, the Dhamma and rhe Sa llgha . As rhe Buddhists turn the circle of beads through their fingers, they are reminded of the Wheel of the Law, the Dham",a of the Buddha. JUSt like the prayer wheels were felt to sp read the Buddha's Dhamma, so moving the beads through th e fingers is felt [Q sy mbolize the spread of loving-kindness to all partS of the world. Monks have rh e large r number of beads ( 108) divided imo (wo halves, representing the stages - said to be S4 - of becoming a bodhisattva. The large bead in the middle of the twO halves represems [he Buddha. When walking, the beads arc held in the left hand but are wrapped around the hands to symbo li ze the holding of the hand of [he Buddha.

Architeclure a nd art When the Buddha di ed his bones were distrib· uted to some of the important cities, and mounds were built ove r them. These relic mounds increased with the number of relics found. The most famous relic is perhaps the sacred tooth of the Buddha, which is said to have been brought out of India sec retly, hidden in the hair of a princess, bur also famous is th e grear Shwe Dagon Pagoda in

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Rangoon which, it is said, contains hairs o f the Buddha, a sanda l of t he Buddha and robes of previous buddhas. Wha t is important abo Ut these reli cs is thar rhey sy mbolize the Buddha's Dhamma and in Ma haya na Buddhism, the prese nce of t he Buddha in t he universe. Eve n cuttin gs from the original tree und er which th e Buddha sa t when he sought en li ghtenm ent have been used to sym bolize his eterna l teaching.

The buildings the mselves are ca ll ed swpas in India and they are shaped like inverted bell s, wit h rh e relic of t he Buddha housed in a casket in the centre base. Elsewhere, they are ca ll ed differentl y; in Sri Lanka, dagobas, which a rc a lso bell+s haped but very large (fo r example about 300 feet high ); in japan they are called lJagodas, w hi ch are more elabo rate in shape. These pagodas, in particular, s)fm bo lize th e five elements of earth, water, fire, ai r and void or ether in their structure, ea rth being the base of rh e pagoda , water the next level o f the building, and so on, until void o r ether is represented at the top.

In a rt, tOO, th ere is much sy mbolism, particularly wit h colours which are th ough t to represent the differenr parts o f th e mind . Shape in art is a lso sy m bo li c and in man y aspects of Buddhism artis tic exp ressio n is geared towards th e utmost simplici ty, with not h ing bur a few brush strokes producing a finished effect sy mbolic of t he ca lmness and se renity of the mind which is still.

Fa r Eastern Buddhism is characterized by a nu mber o f di fferent schools in the M ahayana tr aditio n. Some of the most impo rtant of these are extant in the j ap an ese traditi ons of Ze n, Pu re Land Buddhi sm, Shin gon Buddhism a nd Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism a nd th ese are si ngled out here for further examina tion. '

The origins o f Zen Buddhism firsl reached Ch ina in the first century CE. but it was not umil rhe sixth 10 nimh cenruries that it really now+ ered. C hin ese Buddhism is ve ry mu ch a sy ncreti sric mixture of Buddhism, Taoism a nd Confucia ni sm but, like Tibetan Buddhis m Chinese co mmunism was to bring about its demise after the Cul rurai Revolution of the 1960s. But when Chinese Budd hism flouris hed the influ en ce o f o ne parricular branch, Ch'an, was destined to take ~oor

' J In abou t 520 CE, a Buddhist from southern India called In apan. h' h I f Bodh ·dharma arrived in Chma and founded the C an sc 00 0 Budd~ism th ere. The word Ch'a n me~n s " medita ti on", sy nony mo us

. h he Indian word dIJ)'Q1w, and till S was the ha llmark of rh e type :rBu~dhism which Bodhidharma ra~ghr, a .kil~d a.f Buddhism which

' n some ways diffe rent from the Ideas wlth lll either Theravada or was I f Mahayana Buddhism. Ch'an Buddhis m str~ses .the sar.ne need or

. dom as other Strands of Buddhism , but thiS WIsdom IS no r some· ~~ng gradually achieved, it is so merhing 10 be spo~taneously re,a li zed outSide normal tradition and sc riptural foundanon. Such wl sdo[~1 brings expe rience of the non·dual nature of a ll and ther~fore th~ u.ltl - mate unity of all mind co~sciousness - o~c~ a ll the ~Iffetennat.lon co mmon 10 th e ordi nary mmd has been anmh ll ated. Ch an Buddl~ls~l was simple, devoid of scriptural stud y and rirual, btl( tough and diSCI-

rned. In contrast to o th er mo nastic traditions w hi ch esc hewed ~~nual wo rk through co nfo rm ity 10 rh e old Viuaya, e h'a n Buddhism stressed its importance, and monaste ries became self+s ufficienr throu gh the effo rts of the monks themselves. While th ere were about five different Ch'a n sectS, twO - Lin chi and Ts'ao rung (Ja pa nese RinZ31 and Sora respecr ive lyl- we re destined to hav e the most impact.

Although so me ideas o f Buddhism filtered thro ugh to j apan from China from a n ea rli er period, it was eventually in the twelfth ce ntury th at a Buddhist monk from Chin a , ca ll ed Eisai, undertook a missionary journ ey to japan a nd established C h'a n Buddhism there. The j apa nese wo rd fo r C h'a n is Ze n. Since japanese Zen Budd~ism originated in Chi na . and Chinese religi on ,is a bl~nd, o~ Bud~h,sm, Co nfucianism an d Taoism, we find ma ny Ideas wlthm It whICh are influ enced by Taoist thought, and per haps a lso by Confucianism. Eisai took with h im to japan, no r on ly Buddhist teachings but th e habit of rea drinking, and the o rder a nd co rr ectness of so me of the tea-drinking ce remonies in japan may reflect some of rhe Co nfu cian sense of orde r.

The two major forms of Zen Eisai belonged to th e Lin chi school of Ch'a n Buddh ism and raugh t t he j apanese th e teachings of his Master Lin chi whose n:1me in japanese is Rinzai: t his nAme is now that given to one school o f Ze n Buddhism. Rim'~1i Zen stresses inruitive knowl - edge as th e means to enlightenment a nd teaches that only intuiti ve knowledge can be true knowledge. Kn owledge about things is no r know ledge of th ei r essence, their reality. Deep intuiu ve rea lization of the true nature o f things comes about, in this school of thou ght, as the result of sudden insight, sudden intuition, but to ex peri ence such insigh t it is necessary to break down all the usua l barriers of ~he mind and the logical processes of thinkin g. Thi s may be accomp li shed by suc h va ri ed methods as rapid questioning a nd answe rin g by the Ze n Mas ter and his pupil. o r even by a sharp wha ck with a stick ! Anyth in g which b reaks down the coml11on patterns of thinking of th e mind

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would be in order. The other school of Zen Buddhism is So[O Zen . • was introduced infO Japan by a Japanese disciple of Eisai, ca lled Dogen, and originated in the Ts' ao rung branch of Ch'an in China.

Rinzai Zen Rinzai Zen believes that it is intuitive knowledge wh ich leads to enlightenment; thiS en lightenment is experience of the buddha-nature within which is the essence of all things, Because of the emphasis on intuitive knowledge to achieve enlightenment, no-one else can achieve this for an individual, no one can produce such an intuitive insight for another. There is thus a considerable emphasis On ;iriki, self·effon, These ideas of personal effort and intuitive know l- edge combine in Rinzai Zen [0 form a kind of religion which is not dependent on the usual ceremonies, rituals, prescribed doctrines or even scriptu res. Lnruirive knowledge of the real essence of things wi li nor come from reading massive numbers of books or from logica l thinking: buddha-"atltre is beyond a ll thi s. Scriptures would be useful up to a point bur would be better on a fire in a cold room (as would a wooden image of the Buddha) than being maintained as the on ly necessary path to cn li ghtenmem, while religious ceremonies and the like arc nothing but symbols and cannot produce the inSight necessary for the realization of buddha-nature.

Rinzai Zen nor only eschews all the established ceremonies and rituals of religion but also conventional intellectualism. Zen Masters (Japanese roshis) try to break down all the traditional, convemiona l ways of thinking. This may be done in odd ways to a Westerner. A visitor to a Zen monastery, for exampl~ may be kept waiting ou tside all d3y and all night! Such actions are designed to apply a blow to [he mind and Zen teachers m3Y a lso apply one to [he body of a pupi l from time to time! In japan, this kind of teaching was th o ught to be thor- oughl)' refreshing; conventional religions supported [he idea th at sense is acquired through the Jaws of thought and the result of reasoning 3nd logic, bur since buddha-,ta/llfe is beyond this, Zen tries to go beyond sense roo, to non-logical sense. In Zen Buddhism, the indi - vidua l is taken to th e limits of thought, but not through dogmas, codes of echics, or oth er such formulae. All the obiects of the senses and emotions, philosophies and isms of any SOrt are overthrown and caSt aside, so that the individual canner be trapped in set parterns or be a sl3ve to th e kind of knowledge which is know ledge aboul, factu31 knowledge. Thoughts must be pushed, as it were, to the borders of a precipice 3nd [hen beyond . Convemiona l thought and adhera nce to orthodox concepts only serve to prevent the intuitive understanding of rhe buddha-"a/ure within.

Zazen : medi l31ion All Zen Buddhism is characterized by an emph3sis on meditation as a means to inruiriveiy discover the buddha- nature within, It is a means of causing an awakening to what is alread)'

-- think of [he term meditation we usually 3s~iat~ it there. w~e~ we t least of the physical self, but Rim.ai Zen meditation with pasSJ\liry, a , d ' nvolves fiercely intense effort to reach the . essentially dynamiC an d

l ., L _ on paradoxes called kOlllJs.

IS __ .I . h' n So me nation mn y uc ' buddh3h~ Wit I" be ui[e absurd but are designed to counter?ct sotTle of which see?, to d ~ produce the kind of sudden insight wh\C~ Intellectual r~ason;"3:en Meditation is normally done in the lotus pOSI - reve3ls pure no

we r· long hours at a stretch. Yet even here, d someumes or I · h· II rlon an A r ad,tional Zen srory cxp nms [ IS we , . 's only a means. r ,. H ·

Oledltaoon I 'I h r .11 day in the lorus posloon. IS fa Zen pUpl w 053.. . d h

III the account ~ed him what he was doing and the pupil replte t at Zen teach~r as become a buddha. The teacher picked up a Stone and he waS trymg to '1 h '1 ked what he was doing. The teacher began polishing It uno ~ . ~~utit a~nril it became a mirror. The pupil replied that ~e w~s po I~ ~nwould never make a mirror out of a stone ~~n:~~ ~e~~~e~\~t~;;~~ ;~at the pupil would never become a buddha by sitting c~oss-leSfie~~rce meditation since [he Taoist concepT of WII-

But Zen IS not a " " " in of Zen, into J apanese weI has found its way, ~ 1: .The C::hnl~es~no~~~ sense of "going with"

B ddh ' sm WII-wel mactlO , . h . Zen u I ' " . R· , • . , Zen where [here IS an emp <'ISIS d rf is Important In III .

nalure an I e. " h' h rem from concentration on the action on naturalness of actions w IC s , \I d y long in the lotus position in hand. Zen Buddhis~ d:, nO[ Sit ~n ;uddhisfS h3ve to work in the doing nothing bur ,meditating: most" ts of dail life. Effort has fields and engage III the I~ore phr,ca l ~s~ as into ~edi(3tion in the to be put int.o .these mun ane {as n~ta: conscious striving of the self to templ e, but It ISI~ ~~rufal ~~fo;~inzai Zen means [he 3cquisition of rh e get rid of the sc. tHvet 111 .' f r it There would th ere- goal of enlightenment without re~~IY allm;;ul~r ';istence and a sacred fore be no distinct~On oc.t\:eenro~{~~~~~St" can be gained as much ~~~o~~ha p~:~~~~1 a:~f::;y a:n[~~ough inten~ive meditaTion on a koan.

. d Mondo KoatlS, are paradoxes, but Koons (C1un cse bmg 0,, 1 an

ld document. koatlS are used to

~e~p~~~~i~~:~ I~~~~~:e3~f~":~%;'~'::/llreh~~e~~~~ s~~:; ~a~hd~~~ ical riddles, or sligh,tty lon~c::i~o~;~~r ~~oice is made, the outcome ~[\~~n twO ~Iterna(lves, an t of intellectual thought can solve a koeHl, IS sullllnposSI.ble: N~ a~ou~ h' h a lso cannot be solved intellectu- for the koan IS hk~ life Itserf ww:~1 0 beyond words and order~d ally for the solunon to leg rhe deeper purposes of life

I"· S"nce [he answers to co nceptua Izatlons. I . .' I h h a flash of insighT koalls are can only be discov~red IIltuI~lV~ Yh~~;~tgin 'order to a ll ow tt~at insight. designed to break own oglca fr rly , ',red one is "What is the

. I k d the most requcn , A ryplCa oon . adn I . )" Another is: "If you meet someone along sound of o ne han c apptng.

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the road who ha s realized the truth, ),OU may nOI walk past the pe"",", in sile nce, nor speaking. So how s hould )'o u meet thi s perso n ?" there are srori es used as kOOIlS, like the man who kept 3 goose in a bonle which grew large r a nd larger until it co uldn 't get out of bonle a n)' mo re. Without breaking the bo rrl e, or harming the gOOSe. how did he get it out? Such koans, of which th cre a re about se ven hundred in Japa nese Rin za i Zen, are nor meant to have any meaning fo r th e ordin3 ry m in d. Thinking about them pushes the mind beyond all logic and inrcllectuali sm , produci ng a tension which brings one to the limits o f th o ught. All rh e riddles arose from the teachings o f Zen Masters to their pupils and rh e reco rds of inte rc hanges between them we re g3 thc red and formul3ted inro onc co ll ecti on . The rc is no one answer to th e riddles, ind ividual spon t3n eity is expec ted and non- ve rbal a nswers a re encouraged.

The story or "case" o f some koa"s, as well as oth e r material , wi ll be the s ubject of ver ba l interch3nge be twce n Maste r and pupil in the form o f rapid question and a nswer - rh e c h3ra ctcrisri c moudo of Rin za i Zen. H e re, th e speed of thought is normall y ex pec ted to be so rapid that it is even ru a ll y tra nsce nded , 3nd intu it iv e know ledge Roods th e mind. In o th e r cases exc h3nge need not always be rapid as long as instant intuitive knowledge is gained by th e pupil. So, like othe r aspects o( Rin za i Zen, th e moudo is designed to change norma l thinking and knowing in th e empirical se nse, to a direct expe rie nce o f intuitive knowledge in the deepest possi ble se nse, a nd in so doing, bring ex pe rien ce o( rhe bllddha-"afure within.

Sa tori Theoretica ll y satori is en lighte nme nt, the ultim3ce goal o f Ze n and the indesc ribabl e state that lies beyond t he intellect and any co ncep tu:l 1 thou ght. Ir is th e point o ( equi libriu m betwecn a ll oPPO- sires, the po int where everyth ing comes ro rest. It is somethin g which is a lread y the re in each individual which just needs waking up roo It is Ultimate Rca liry :lnd Trurh, which is greater than th e idea of it and the person wh o seeks it. Waking up thro ugh intuilive re:l li za tion to rhe bllddha- ,talllre within is wakin g up to th e fact that, as all Buddhism teac hes, th e " I " , th e egoisric se lf, is unreal . TI1 C state o( enlightenme nt is o ne in which th ere is freedom from arrachmcm to all th ings a nd all ideas, and in which there is a n unde rst3ndin g that eve rythin g in rhc cosmos is buddha-"atllre. Yet in practical term s, satori is ra th er like the Indian sa madhi whi c h is achieved at the height o f meditation and yet is no t romlly indicative of e nligh lcnm enr. Some Zen Buddhists co nsider that th ey ca n have experience of safori but that full buddha- hood is beyond it.

The cultural in Ou cnce o f Rin za i Ze n It was from C hina that Jap anese c ulture ga in ed some o f its now f3mous cultural :lnd aesthetic artistic charact e ri stics as in a rc hitecturc , g:l rd ening, wa te r-colour

--- . a nd ceram ics. The ma rtia l arts from Chi na wcre painting, hrcratllre »Iura; warriors of Ja pan, and Rinza.i :zen t~ught attraCflVC to t.he Sa Id engage in wa r fare and still parflclpate III th~ that the ",:,arnora~: the t WO were, in reality, one. The ma~ial artS 0 5pIClniai hfel:~ ale a rcher y a nd fencing were engaged III from t.he !';do. kllf,g ,Il, ( ar , i action rooted in inacti on, a nd from the pOlilt pamt o.f view a ,~;~,:e :lot s im ply the mastery o f skill s . . In archery, for of Innlltl ye know g, . to hit rh e target, but ro bnng the deeper

I here was no a im . d (Q e"a~~ e ( . led e into the action, to let th e sel f di sap pear, an Inrultl Ve know . g 40 The Co nfu cian o rde rlin ess and properness may ... gowith~~~~c:~:nfaillous Tea Cere mo ny, which is a re l igio~~ an~ be ~n . emon used at gro up meditations. Here, e.ye ryt .lIlg IS rltuahstlc cer ~ d . h he utmOSt concentration, sLicnce,

d a nd ca m e out Wit t . h prepare . an act o( meditatio n lust to W:l[C . gracefulness a nd se reblll ty ' .f I cssions of Rinzai Zen is its Haiku

f t he most eaun u cxpr I One 0 .k confined to a mere seve nteen sy \lab es, express

poetry. ~a l · u Pocms:,kind with nature :lnd have something of .the the ~ffiOlty hof bhUl;l~hcm in their litter si mpli city and ye t par~doxlcadl T aOist tOUC a OU . d spontaneity suc hness of th ings an d h They express qUietn ess an , a~P;le~lent of mystery. Some exa mples fo llow:

In Ihe dark forcsi A berry drops

The sound of water <I

A fallen flower Returmng 10 the branch?

II was a butterfly"

The thief Leh il behi nd The moon at Ihe window'!

The great Japan ese following:~

Basho ( 1644-94 ), co mposed the Maste r,

Spring rain - under [tees

a crysta l srrea lll .

Wake, butte rfly- it's late, we·ve miles !O glllOgether.

Spider. arc you crying. - o r

If I'd the knack I'd sing like

cherry Oakes falhng.

Come. sec rea l flowers

of this painful world.

the autumn wmd? . . J b di sciple of Eisai

SotO Zen Soto Zen was introduced IIlto . a pan ya k th e less

d D ( 1200-53). After visiting C hina he brougbt bac

nam e ogen . , which became Japanese volatil e a nd simpler Buddhism o fTs aOd~~I~r~n is central ro all forms 5 Ze The practice of zazen, o r me I a , 11> OtO n . . z. . he si ngl e most impo rtant f3 CtOr. e re of Ze n, but III Sora en tt IS t

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- are no interchanges with Zen Masters or meditating on koans, for It is simply sittiflg, termed shika" faUl , which is the sole practice. It is nor even necessary to stud y the scriptures or [0 understand rhe reach. ings of th e Buddha. The method of meditation is perhaps rhe mOSt natural of all forms of meditation for there is no need ro use mantraj or to focus the a ttention on mandalas. The SOto Zen Buddhist sim ply sits on his or her chair or low stool or o n the floor, with a straight back and facing a blank wa ll. The eyes remain opcn but focused down, following rhe line of the nose to a point on rhe wall a foot or so above the floor. When thoughts a rrive in the mind, they a re simply brushed aside and passed away withour allowing them to develop. So as the sounds of the immediare environment filter into the mind, th e mind does not react to them. Or, when rhe events of rhe day or previous day, or the concerns fo r the remainder of the day come into the mind, rhe mind does not react to rhem bur sofrly brus hes them aside. The mind, then , is not allowed to think; thoughts are nor a ll owed to develop. In this case, the mind is able to become tranquil 3nd [he buddho-notllre, which is beneath the ordinary levels of conscio usness and mind processes, is allowed ro surface. Sora Zen is a si mple, quiet and natural form of Buddhism, even when walking meditation or kill hill is inte r- spersed with "sitting". lr accepts [hat the experience of buddhahood will gradually be awakened to, for buddha hood is a lready there in eac h being waiting ro be experie nced. None of the sudden and dramatic insight of Rinzai Zen is necessary here.

Zen belief Generally Zen accepts the non-dualiry of all things and therefore their tocal monistic idenrity. Nirllana therefore is samsara and all beings possess buddhahood as the ultimate Reality and are equal to each other. This is beautifully illustrated when in Soto Zen initiation of la y people into the seet, the abbot bows to the lay person who is being initiated, symbolizing the inner equality between the two beings. Having buddha hood within means that one has to awaken to it - instantly in Rinzai Zen, grad uall y in SOtO Zen - bur both accept that each person is already a buddha, JUSt as evety animate and inan- imare object down to a grain of du st. Buddhahood in all means ultimatel y the inte rconnectedness o f all within the cosmos and that th e cosmos i£self is contai ned in each bei ng and in every grain of dust.

Zen is not isolated from life, it is life; it is working, eating, cooking, gardening as much as medi tatin g o r engaging in s piritual activity, and working meditation is an importanr dimension of both Rinzai and Sora Zen. As a Soto Buddhist friend intimated concern in g his being assigned to the working meditation of cleaning the temple during one of his stays at Throssel Hole Abbey in Norrhumbria. Britain:

In cleanmg the templ e I ca me to realize that you an: not cleaning the temple, the temp le is cleanmg you. And ultimately the temple is pure,

_ h .. ~ , Ieamng, bUi I had 10 dean It w realize Lt . ou' neLt er J)ec:uS • t to

and so are: Y . ' d r-arion Ihere IS a formal cognitive comrnLtmen In suck workmghm~ L mes an CXpl!rience of the realizarion of Ihings as h'

task after w LC co , .. they rtoll), are.

. d f a stor of so meone raking the gravel of a Such words remm I me 0 d

Y 7~n garden It rook three months . I rce y ornamente , LA.' d

very s~m~ e. sea on the d3y rhat person gOI it right, there was ~o nee ,0 gct It fight , but. d d Hu bert Benoit cites a Zen dialogue

. ' . ' ns lghtha occurre . d ·ff (0 do It agam, I d k hieh illustrates well th e I erence

a Master an a mon w d h kOng berween k' world of the ordinary person an t e wor I bcr. ... een the wor mg meditation of the mo nk:

o I ' A Most..: In o rder to work in th e Tao is there a Spec ll:l way. TilE MAST£Il: Yes. there IS one.

" " Which is it? .' h TH~. " OSK. . h .." he ealS' when one IS IIn~d e THE M AST£R: When o ne IS ung'l' •

slrep5. h body docs' is their way then ,he same THf M O NK: Th:Jt IS W at every ,

as yours? THE MAS11'R: It 15 not the same. Tll f MONK: Why nm ? h ve all

. ' .' When they eat they do not only cal. t ey we.a TUf (MAS1I~. When they sleep they do not only sleep they gIVe free

:;;1~01;:~1~:::~~ idle thoughts . That;s why their way 15 not my way .... . . h IImark of mu ch Buddhist [[adition,

This kind of ~mdfulness IS a a Soro Zen "sitting": underpinning from the practices ~f Therav~da ro d to still {he mind from karma - it is th e egole.ss mmd ~nd t e n~e s and [he diffe rentiation of things producing deSires, averSions, c~avmg, .

in life w hich give.a d.i~torte~ Plct~nO~;~=~~:;tiOn based at Throssel Britain has a Slglllhcantoodlo f B ddhist Co ntemplati ves. Irs

H I Abbey called the r er 0 u . . J o e . vas th e firs t woman to tram m apan Reve rend Ma ster,JIYu Kennett , \ . Sh ' Abbey in California in the f h . I f Masrer She set up asm d or t e tit e 0 I . . . h he Buddhist slltras to music an United Scates. As a mUSICian, s e set ~ . ' is ite to hear. the resultant effect of ~hantin~ in plal~songr:uqu~~:~~ arc particu- 1n this order, cetmollla l bowlIlgs dutlng g h ' P f {he old C hinese

::~~,P:~:~~:;: :r~~~~~ii~~iS:~~c;h~o;:t~~~te~inningS of Zen. d f M h na Buddhism today is Purc

One of the most pop~lar stra ll s 0 ad aya particular Buddha called Land Buddhism, whlc~ ce nt.res aroun ~ne "Infinite Li ht", and also in C hina by the ~ans~n~ Am'jabha ~ea ~;:~lIed Amida~ and it is thi s Amiryus, ~ I~filllte ~lfe . . In m:~~~l~ l~:cn to thi s particular branch of name, Amldlsm, wh ldchS"d'Odh' or ~midism is nor the name of one Buddhism. Pure Lan u Ism, '

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pa rti cular sect of Buddhism bur is rather a collective ter m for anum o f diffe rent SOC[S. all of which focus meir atte ntion on Amitabha Amida and believe in th e exis tcnce o f hi s Pure Land. or

Buddhism, as indeed H induism, has a cos mi c perspective of Ih u~iverse a nd recognizes the ex istence of many planes a nd ex tra -terre:. trlal realms beyo nd the world in which we li ve. Some of rhese cxr~a-ter~estrial rea h~ls are the. abodes of the buddh as, each budd ha hav mg hiS ow n particular region. Because of me incredible kan", merit of th ese grear buddhas, w hi ch had bee n buih up as bodiJisallVas

c

the cn.v!ronment of their rea lms is exq ui si tel y bea utiful , blissfu l an d pa radlslca l. The realm of Amirabha is called Chin g-f'u in China an d Sukhavati, " Land of Bliss", in Japan an d what is so special about Sukhavati is that Amira bha is believed to have made a vow that he wou ld save a ll people and that anyone who believes in him and surren_ ders th e self ro him, will be born in Sukha vati and will remain the re unril they reach nirvana.

What we hav e here is the id ca of Amit.lbha as a saviour a former bodhi~ltva a.nd now a Buddha who was, a nd is, dedicated' to saving all se nti ent belllgs and whose grace is s ufficie n t fa reward a ll those who believe in him with a n exis tence beyond death in paradise. There is mu ch here which is si mi la r ro rh e Western co nce pt of belief in Heaven and, indeed, Pure Land Buddhi sm is so far re mo ved from th e ge nera l Mahayana Buddhism of India that some scholars consider it to have origin ated from regions whi ch were influ enced by Zoroas trianism a reli gio n which teaches doc trin es o f good a nd evil and of Heaven a~d Hell.

Traditiona ll y, Amitabha is believed to have exis ted many aeo ns ago as Dharmakara . a mo nk . Dharma kara took forry-eight vows, and said th at he would nor ente r full buddha hood until th ese vows were fulfill ed . Throughout his co untl ess li ves in successive aeons Dharma ka ra accumulated th e kind of karmic merit in fulfilling rhes~ vows. which enabl ed him to se t up a buddha-world; indeed the ts tab- Ii shm enl of s uch a world had been one of his fo rry-eig ht vows. It is this buddha-wo rld which is the pa radisica l Pure L1nd of Amimbha. It is ? pen t::> a ll people except the most ev il , providing tha t people believe In Am ltab ha to th e extent that they hav e faith in his savi ng a bi li ty. To those who have thi s faith, Amitabha will ap pea r at death and ca rry the so ul of the individu a l to Sukhavati. Once the soul a rrives at Sukhavati it will be reborn fro m the bud of a s upernatura l lot us into a new bod; and will expe ri ence spiritual bl iss. In this pa radi se, th e individual will hear th e teachings of Amitabha and will eventually pass on to lIirva lla.

This tradition was currem in written form in a bout rhe third ce mury CEo and by the sixm century Pure Land Buddhism had become a di stin ct and impo rtant branch of Maha ya na Buddhis m. To those Buddhists ~vho felt th e impossibility of accumulating th e kind of good karma which would place them in the position ro lose all karma and

--- I rhe uhimate goa l of nirvalla, this form of Buddhism h by rea rle d h ·d f · d · r ere s Ii 'ht rel ief. Pure Land Buddhism replace r ei ea 0 In 1-

came a ff g ieh (he concept of fa ith, fai th in a bodinsalllla who had dual e o rr w . . h·· h " I I each pe rson by giV ing away IS ment o r grace t o t e

vowed to Ie p devout believer.

d (Chitlg·rll ) Buddhism in Chin a Devotion to Anm abha Pure Lan ula r in China in the seventh cent ury. It was not diffi cult became pop . I· . h· f h ee

h Ch ·nese to acce pt thiS new re IglOUS tcac mg o r t ere w r

fo r t el , ·1 T b · . h 5 kh . f Taoismw hich we re ra ther slm l a r. a egln wlt, u ava n aspects 0 I·k h T . .

I red in th e far west a nd was nOt un let e aO lst co nception

was oca d · h . - T th of the realms of the Immortals, also locate III [ e w~st: L..dO ZII, e eat Taoist philosopher, had disappeared i.nro th e: mI sts of lhe west-

IV to the Tao ist w hi ch suggested hiS demise to the rea lms o f Imagery, ' . . bh . Immortality. Additionally, worship of Amna a :equlres co ncentra -

d meditarion o n th e name of th e bodlnsattva, usuall y the tion an .. . r,·[·,on of hi s nam e hundreds of nmes, af (he sa me nIll e trying to "pc k· d f . . , I·" e him in hi s paradisicalland. These m so pracn ces were nor

VISU., . d ' hr · f unro mi li ar to Taoists and so were eaS il y accept~ III t e r~ Iglon ~ ChiM . Yet it would also be true to say that TaOIst an~ Chmese rell-

mfluenced Pure Land Buddhism by encourag mg a bost of ::~~rate pracri ces and rituals much beloved by me Chin ese. ~inc~, 100 Chmese religion is by nature syncretisti c, Pure La.nd BuddlllSm I,n Chi'na tended to be mixed with Ch'an (Ze n ) Budd~usl~ and. Tantnc Buddhism, so th at the bra.nches of Pu.re Land Buddhls~l m C~ma were somew hat var iable. Despite suc h vane~, howeve r,. Chm~e I ure Land Buddhism sees all o th er Buddhist practice and belief ~s lIladequ~ fe.

The idea of Sukhavati was particularly po pula r With [he ordmary person who no longer need ed to think of co untle ss l.if~timcs ?f accu - mulating good merit and auempting to lose the egOlsw: sel f I.n order to achieve sa lva ti on , Co nsiderin g the a mou nt of war In Chllla , th e pove rty, natura l disasters and th e physical and mental wea kness o f people, it seemed [hat humankind co uld only be saved br some ex tra- word ly, Buddha like Amitabha. This was a much easier P?th and, naru rall y, a n a ttra ctive one, hut we sho uld not make the ml~[ake ?f seeing it as a complete depa rture from ea.r1i er Ma ~aya na Ideas ~n Budd hi sm. There is ce rta inly an emphaSIS o n losmg th e self III surre nd er co Amirabha . And rhis would be done by pros trating oneself befo re Amjmbha and by co ncentratin g o ne's whole mind o~ bei ng bo rn into his Pure Land. hi s Chillg- t'lI; singing praises to Amuabha; maki ng vows 10 be bo rn into his Pure Land; visuali1.ing Amirabha. and his Pure La nd and vowi ng to be a bodhi511IlVa onesel f when enlight- enment was r~ached. All th ese actions a re ph ysical and mental ~neans of lessening t he egoistic se lf. Reci tatio n of rhe na me of ~muabh:1 remains the most prevalent practice bu~, a t a more merap h,yslcallevel, there is liule difference in the abstract Ideas taught by Ch an Masters

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and Pure bnd philosoph b h and non-duali co ers; Ot accepr the ultimare formlessn Ch ' ry mmon to most Buddhism. Pure Land B ddh

o "

Ina came to accept rh " I ' U Ism ill of consciousness, so whc;~::~r:rr~: I~ractlc~s a;e d~~ndenr on levels name is the only recourse to reb ' th . west .eve recltlllg the Buddha's highest level, the equilibrium or In An~lta~ha's Pure Land, at th~ ordinary Buddhist in China h non-duality IS experienced. For th~ remains the means to .,.,1 • . owever, chanting rhe name of Amirabha

...... vatlon and the popula ' f h be 0 echoed by the fact that i[ is (his h . my 0 suc lief is all rhe Buddhist temples i Ch' c an de which would be heard in nearly

n lila fO ay.

IJure Land (jodo) Buddhism in) A "d O and fa Japan and was p 0 a

l pal n ml Ism spread to both Korea

afrlcu ar y popul O ) b elevenrh and rwelfth cenro' J ~r . 1n ap:m y abour the of two men. Honen (113~~'1~ranes~Amldlsm arose from rhe ideas reach enlightenmenr. One w - taug r ~.h~t . t~ere were two ways to (or those who were n~onks a~~rh~p~th dOf~tT/t" 1" Own effon'" the path in meditarion and spiritual ur~i~' 1a tea I Ity ~o spend long hours which is reciting the name o~ A 'd' t~e orhe! way IS called "emb"tslI, on the strength of anothe ( h mI. a, a ong With tariki, which is relying was the easier path for the

r a t/t IS to say, on Amida). This laner way

easy path, all (hat was neces; Inary per~on. :onen taughr that, on the Amida himself would do th ary was ro IIlV~ .~ che name of Amida and that although ir was the ea:t

esr th~o~lgh hiS Immeasurable merit, and By reciting the name of A :r pat , It was c~e superior one to ;iriki. Amida Buddha ), the individ:~1~~0~7~"tI Amtda Btltsu . (A.dor~rion co natur~ of Amida's grace and would th~o~e fO have .an IO slght IOto the born IOtO his Pure Land 4- So save rhe faith necessary to be would only have ro be u'nd m~ even ca~e to believe that lIembutsu the Pure Land. erta en once 10 order to ensure rebirth in

!hc ideas of Honen were com lem d . . Shlllran (1173-1261 ) what h Ph enre by those of hIS diSCiple, that rhe individual h;d to s;u

g ~t a~ .lIembutSIl was nor enough, and faith: neither tariki n~r jiriki c~e,~ er (filS or her self to Amida in rotal Whereas Honen taught rhat u bSU Ice, only total surrender in faith. h· lIem IItS/I would lead to ( . h ' A 0 IIlran taught that faith in A 'd alt 10 mlda,

simply the expression of this fa7~ ~:;:h ~ece~sary ~r5t; nemblltstl was the resu lt of rhe infinite grace of Amida I~!alth, ~hl~ r?n bclicv~d, was nor somerhjng the 0 dO °d I , t the IOdlvldual. Falrh was

10 IVI ua summoned ' d "embmslI, ir was something wh ' h A 'd h' In or er fa practise would nOt even bring good k IC . ml a :mself granted. NemblltslI b anna' If was Simply f dl a andoning of the self to A 'd' . ,y~[, pro Oun y, an

himself had beStowed Wh . fTlJ a,. to hiS grace - 10 faith which he ings of Shinran is that'he s~~~ ~1r~lcu~1r~~~POrtanr abour the teach- religion. He himself had realize~ ~ .a t U • Ism could be a household was compelled to live the life f t tS at a time when ~e was exiled and

a a ayman. He marned, had a family,

B UDDH ISM -----------------------------~~~

d came (Q rea lize that the religious life is JU St as possible in everyday, :ial activities as in rhe monaStery: religious and secular life were to be seen as one. He also ate meat, something which other Buddhist sects n japan rdrained from. Modern·day japan is still a meat-eating ~atiOn as a resuh of the massive influence of this sect. The Buddha, Siddhartha Gaurama, had taught that there would come a time when hIS teachings would no longer be heard and when society would degen- erate and become decadent. japanese Buddhisrs call this period mappo. Shiman came to believe that any amount of practice of Buddhisc precepts in the age of mappo in which he lived could not bring enlightenment; the times themselves militared against this. Something beyond humankind was nceded, and Shinran believed (hat thjs was the Buddha Amida. Only through Amida's grace and his lmmeasurable amount of good karma, acquired by fuliiHing rhe forry- eight vows he had taken aeons ago, could humankind hope to reach IIIrValla.

It is (his idea of the grace of Amida which is the important key to the understanding of jodo Shinshu Buddhism. Honen taught rhat the individual had {O choose to have faith in Amida, whereas hinran taught that it was Amida himself who chose to save humankind . All the individual really had to do was believe and accept this and the effects of karma would be wiped away by the grace and divine power of Amida. I-fase Shoto comments on this poinr:

whar effccruales Amid:l's salvific power is the power of his Original Vow ro save aU bemgs as embodied in rhe Nembursu. By participating in and allowing one~lf 10 be: ~rme:lted by (hiS power, one transcends Ihe world of cauS:l] necessity (karmanl.··

Importanr to nOte in these words is the concept of losing karma by being transparent to the grace of the Buddha. Thus, ego is losl in line with aU Buddhist thought. But, as ShotO points o ut it was more than the vasr accumulaled merir of Amida as a former bodhisattva whch had salvific powers, it was also the divine power of the Buddha Amida which "transcends his individual personhood, breaking through the limited framework of time and space to embrace aI/living beings eter- nally and without limitation ".~'

It is easy ro see why this form of Buddhism was so popular {O the ordinary person. Today in Japan there are as many as ten different sectS of Jodo Shinshu (True Pure Land Sect) Buddhism, making if the most popular form of Buddhism th ere, with some twenty million adherents. jodoshu, the sect founded by Honen, a lso continues to thrive in japan, though with less followers than Jodo Shinshu. "Shin" Buddhists tend to accept the Pure Land of Amida as the fhJai goal, as n;rva,Ja and buddha hood itse/£ and not just a stage prior to final nirvaJJa. Ocher budd has and bodJnsattvas are generally disregarded in

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favour of tOtal focus on Amida. Even Sakyamum Buddha is sec blu an eanhly manifestation of Amida. 11

Nemb,.,tsli. Nemblltsu , as noted, is rhe practice of reciting rhe of ~mlda In japanese Pure Land Buddhist sects. In China, the Amltabha would be recited. However, it is import:lnt to '~:~!:~:7.e:th~ it is nOt the recitation of the name o( Amitabha or Amida causes rebinh in the Pure Land of Ihis Buddha' rather it is the <'ow, .. Amirabha/Amida which make this possible. I: is the boundless ?n~ ~race of thi.s .bodhisattva which can bring about salvation (or individual. Reciting the name, for example, Namu Amida BlllslI ' japanese (Namo·Amito·(o in Chinese),'" bow to Amida Buddha" a means of reaching out to the bodMsattua in a condition of faith. faith is in AmitabhalAmida, rather than being faith in the ' chamed, as if they were some kind of magical formula. N"v,,,,I,eJ,';;-; repeat~ng the name of. the Buddha Amirabha in China is thought result In excellent merit, good karma, and at its less conscious level some ad~ercnts may ev~n keep a record of the nllmber of times the; have reclt~d ~he name In order to assess the merit due to them. In j?~an. reClta~lon o~ the name o( Amida is not linked at all to the acqu i. Sltlon ~f mem but IS seen more as a means of access to the saving grace of Amlda. NembutslI, as any chanting, however, has a somewha t malltric effect which is likely to alter consciousness to some extent.

If Pure Land Buddhism can be seen as a somewhat straightfonvard path ~o s?lvarion for the ordinary, everyday person, Shingon Buddhism IS an example of the orher end of the sca le. II is what we would call. esoteric, that is t~ say that it is beyond the undersranding of the ordmary person and IS understood on ly by a minority of initio ates. h was founded in japan by a monk called Kukai (7 74-835). Shingon Buddhism belongs to what we would call TamTic Buddhism mystical ~uddhism, the w~rd shillgolJ meaning "mle word" and bein~ a translation of the Sanskm word mantra. Because ir is a more mystica l form of Buddhism, Shingon does nOt focus on the earthly Siddhanha Gautama but on the cosmic nmure of the Buddha, o n the tO tally tran. scendcnr absolute stare of the Buddha which, a lthough inexpressible, pervades the whole of the cosmos. This transcendent cosmic Buddha is called Mahavairocana. Mahavairocana means "Great Luminous One" or " Great Illuminator" , and has some con nections with the cOI.lcepr of a solar de ity. just as the sun itself is the centre point of our un~verse and is the source of light, life and energy for the who le unlv~rse, so Mahavairocana is the Ultimate Reality, or Dham,akaya, the life a~ld s~urce of t~e who le cosmos. And JUSt as the rays of the sun are manIfest In rhe universe a~d shine on rich and poor alike, on o ld a~d young and good and eVil, so the essence o( Mahavairocana is within eve rything ill the Cosmos, However, although the essence of

-- na is in all things Mahavairocana is greater thall every· I haV:uroca ' .. H ' h d ~ a . h cosmos in a panenrhelsflc sense. e IS t e creator an

rhlllg In t f the universe but is also its o riginator. All buddhas and stamer 0 " f r h' t SU S are merel y expressions, or mall! cst aspects, 0 ( IS grea

bo lIusatfl'a . .. ' . . I' r , , B ddha and every IIldlVldual IS a microcosmiC rep Ica 0 l,.'Osrn

lC . ~ana : every individual has within him or her part of the

/1.lnh ava

B" ddha' the seed of enlightenment, bodhicitta or buddha· S!1UC u .• • 'd ' I ' h h co So human consciousness is in its real state, I entlca Wit t c

Of /Ire. . , ' h b d ' 'd " . onscious ness of Mahavalrocana and the uman 0 y IS I en· cosmiC c h '

d vilh the cosmic body of Ma avalrocana, tifi~..:~rience of Mahavairocana is brought about through ritualistic

r lo"dalas or "cosmograms". elaborate symbols of the cosmos. useo,1 III" d las in some form or ocher, are perhaps common to a re IglOns. Mall a , h " I" f I The Tower of Babel in thejudeo·C rlstlan re Igl~n, ~r eX:lmp e, was

b blya ziggurat. a labyrinthine complex whJCh, If reduced to an pro ~ plan from directly above would appear JUSt like a "'dlldala. ::nnst s . . ' ,_ h I· d h' h Earl)' Buddhist malldalas were, In lact stu pas, t ere IC moun s w IC . built to house the bones and other relics of the Buddha; when

,,_ere d from above these were really rhree·dimensional mandalas. vlewe " , . I Right at (he ceorre of the stllpa wou ld be the Buddha s rehc or, ,atcr, the Image of [he Buddha in a temple. Just so, ar the centre of a palored mandala, the ultimate Buddha would be placed.

There are tWO mandalas in Shingon Buddhism. the \yom,b.Ma,,~ala d [he Diamond Mandala. The Womb Mandala IS diVided IIlto

,n elve courtS the very cenrre one containing the Buddha N , h' l Mahavairocana with four budd has and bodh;sattvas, w I e .many other buddhas and bodlJisattvas (414 in all) a~e to be f~und Ill. the other courts, All symbolize aspects of the cosmic Buddha In nl?l1Ifest form. The Diamond Mandala represeors nine halls, eig~t of whl.ch a re symbolic of a level of consciousness of the human mmd, ,whi le the nimh symbolizes Mahavairocana. The [\ .... 0 mandalllS are like map~, mnps of the truth and the means to the truth, but ~ca~se of their complexities, realization of the buddba·muure with III through contemplation on these mandalas c~n only be ~rought about, by careful instruction. In addition. the Sh ln gon Buddhist would conS id er m"dras or body posi tions, manfras or symbolic sounds an~ phrases, and yoga. which is concentration or meditation. to be Imp~rt~nt aspects of daily practice in order to realize b"ddha-"aftlr~ wtrhlll. These three aspects of ",,,dras, malltras, a nd yoga ~re consl~ered to be rhe "Three Mysteries" , and once they result In experience of bllddba.,mture or bodlnellta, then the Buddhist is capable of super-

human powers. . . . ' . Characte ri stic of Shingon Buddhism IS an II1ternaltzmg process of

awakening to the buddha·"atuTe within and an e.xrernalizing process by which one is involved in the world by ~howll1~ compassion and mora liry and also strenuous effort. The mtegranon of these twO

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processes is 3n importanr concept, illustrating that th e world Ulrim,ne Reality are nor sepa rate dua lities but are one an d the This will only be seen in a State of equi li brium, a State of 'tatuTe. All ljfe has thIs buddha.lIatuTe, so all life has to be hono,,"; fo r jt is a U a n expression of the DhaTwakaya, Maha vairocana. added ingredient in 5hin go ll Buddhism is the idea of faith. faith in pOwer of the "Three M ysteries", for example, to enab le rh e I;ndl;v;d .. to realize b"ddha·"atuTe. ThIS is the advocating of a kind of which results in loss of the ego by the lesse ning of the asse rtive, personality. Essentiall y, because buddha.llatuTe is in all things and t he real essence of a U t hin gs, 5hingon Buddhism sees it as <S!~nt;" d"'; activity in the world takes piace. 50 a ltho ugh Shingon Budd hislll . eso teric and mys tical, it is also worldly. The wh ole of reality is expressio n of the DbaTmakaya, Mahavairocana, a nd therefore it rea l, it is, in its essence, truth. By engaging in esoteric rituals, t his ca n be experie nced a nd then the individual will be a li vin g <X P",ss;OI1 of the Dlumllakaya. When this happens th e Buddha enters th e « ' f and the self enters rhe Buddha.

Tamric Buddhism, of which Shingon is th e Japanese expression,'l cha ra cte rized by considerable magical practices. The idea of the use of spe Us is a ve ry ancient one in India; the Hindu AthaTva Veda, for exa mpl e, co nra ined incantations and spells for a U kinds of situations. In Tantric Buddhism it came to be believed that the repetitio n of certa in sy ll ables Or magica l words co uld promote rh e experience of buddha-nature a nd, hence, enlightenment. E.1ch dei t y, buddha or bod"isauva will have irs Own specia l magical mantra which, when repeated, wi ll raise the conscious ness of the adherent. So impo rmlll are m alltras in Tanrric Buddhism thar it is so meti mes ca lled Maltlrayal1a instead of Ma haya na Buddhism. A mantra is not so muc h a prayer as a means for th e mind to Co me into COntact with the Absolute Rea lity; and in the case of Shingon Buddhism, with Mahavairocana. The essence of th e buddh3 o r bodhisattva is believed to be actually presenr in th e mantra.

Wh en 5hin go n Buddhists use th ese mag ica l formulae in conjunction with the mandalas, they have a means to raise their levels of co nscio us_ ness to bring aware ness of buddha-natuTe closet. When the Shingo

n Buddhist co nce nrrates a nd meditates On th e mandala, he or she focuses on a particular buddha or bodhisattva and tries to become th at divine bein g. Despite its complexities, the mandala is a means to bring abs tract, Ultimate Reality, the Dharmakaya, inro accessible co mmu. ni cation with humankind . So th emal1dala acts as a kind of bridge, as do the buddhas and bodhisattvas which are portrayed o n it, between th e wordly level and th e level of an Absolute Reality. It unites th e mi crocosm and the macrocosm, manifesr divinity an d unman ifest di vinity: it is, in fact, the mid-poin t of th e see·saw, th e point a t which a ll dualities and opposites become one.

-- h· has its ho me in J apan a nd, alo ngs ide Pure , hiren Shoshu ~udd Ism he most influential sects of Buddhism. It

1'IC d Buddhism, IS on~ ~f ~dha was one who solved the fou r funda- L~;p[S th:u Sakya~:llIh u d li fe o ld age sickness and death and tha t al. raj problems 0 Ir~ ~~ , t he La~ as th e reac her and leader n~~~n' he di ed he left 1m }a~m;~ths of thiS Law which Sakyamu ni :f all Buddhists. It. w:so~o h~s een lighten mem. He had realized. wha t

kened at the [1111 f ' ·f h·ch permeates the umverse., awa . s"the Law o l ewl h" I(lrl

lllUra depIcts a b ' and all or her pheno mena".JO Everyt ms. m

nature, rh e hum an is el~~; of t hi s Law: it was nOt someth in? whl.ch rhe universe then p methin which he expe rienced. In (me w1t h Sa kyamUIlI created bu, tN'O h· gShos hu Buddhism acce ptS that rh e

. . 'cnera IC Iren b h t BuddhJsm 1I1 g .. r ansirory and imperm:lI1em, lit t a psrcb~logical ~:~~:~Il~~~~~h i: ~art of this fu nda mental a nd absolute there IS a pa rr ~nd because (his Law always exists • . then a~y~n~ can cosmi C Lab\v·ddha by living thei r lives solely in relanon to It; II IS n~t become au . rson H owever. nor many peop e a L.1W which is excl usive . to one pe ·,·z'" full buddhahood, bur

I 1 f conSCIousness to rea I .... h ha\'e . the eve a Buddhis m accepts that (his age wi.tncssed ~)Ile w 0 Nichlren Shoshu . h· D· hon in who was born m 1222 m Japan. Buddha - NIC Ircn als , \Vasa

.. D · ho nin was born Ze nn ic hi-Maro, Nichiren D3is honi."S ,N'dchd"Sen "aJHs .. was raised as 3 Buddhist and

·ng • p en I un. .. h II name meam in Buddhist scriptures. But he came to t e spenr ma ny yea rs stud y . g f h B"ddhisf sc riptures was the . h h osr Ilnporranr 0 t e concl USIon r at [ em h " I f the Lotus SlItra _ Myoho-reltge-kyo LotllS SlItra .a~d thar t e fit e 0 h. S which Sakyamun i had given -conrained In Its essence a l.1 th~f t~:c f 1Il~ the title with the hon orific and, indeed, buddha hood Itse . r~ a~~came th e centra l ac ti vity of Nom, the chant ':'Iam-myoho-re~I~~ k) o f Nichiren Daishonin. Buddhist practice for the °h owe~st, of Buddhism Nic hiren

. - I f a ll ot er s ... c , Ou tspokenly cnnca o . "I d n th e blea k island of Sado where, Daishonin was for some tim e eX I e . 0 d th e ter'riblc winters. Success ful supported by his fo ll owe rs, he: surv ive tually won him su ffi cient

predictions of fu~re even~s III ~:~I:~ ;;f:~e he died he wro te the tirle favour ( 0 ensu re hIS rerurn ~~m Chinese charac ters and this, ca ll~d the of the LOlliS Sutra on a s~ro I~ . I beco me th e focus o f wo rshIp for Oat Goho1tzolt, and rep hcas 0 It, l as all Nichiren Shosh u Buddhists.

d "k S t ) Cru cia l to the beliefs The Lotlls S"tra (SaddlJamz~pllfl art ~ II TO rk

of rh e' sixth cenr ury

of .Nichiren Sh.os hu , "Bu~~h.ls~h~~:~ t;ie~~'ai Buddhism repres~nrs Chmese Buddhist, T I.en t al . f the differcnr teachings of BuddhIsm an ane mpt (Q synthesIZe Il1

I , n

f y C o, . . g S,kyamuni Buddha's teach-

. f· d m o f be Ie aSS I fylll h into a um Ie sys te . ·h hill he demon strated th at t e . . fi "ods a nd elg t teac gs, h. mgs IntO Ive p~n , . ry in na ture: that is to say, IS Buddha's teachmgs were evo utl ona

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earlier reaching was of an easIer nature reflecting the so m" Wb un evolved levels of conscious ness of th e people a f [he rim e. But as proceeded, rh e Buddha 's teachings according [ 0 rien-r'ai mo re powerful, culmi nating in t he ultimate teac hin g of th e U"", SUI in t he last of the five periods. The Chinese rien-t'ai sc hoo l Buddhism rhus considers th e LOlliS Sf/Ira to be th e perfect ' '''ching Sa kya muni Buddha, transcen din g a ll other reachings and ye t th em all. It is, indeed, one of the mos t popular of Ma haya na Earlier teachin gs of Sakyamuni we re si mpl y co nsidered to be Rausa/ya o r "skilfu l means" to bring about greater awareness people umil they were read y to receive [his supreme reachin g. Eve n birrh, dea th and en li ghrenment of Sak)'amuni Buddha 3re p""c,n' ed. lIpaya katlsa/ya in rh e L OlliS SUlra. Bur th e I..olus Su tra P'''i ,cu llor~ emphasizes the o n-going na ture of Sakyamu ni Buddha th e ria l for buddha hood in all people in that everyo ne posse"" buddha hood - he or she just has ro reveal it.

It was thi s eleva rion o f th e 1..0/115 SUlra to pre-eminence by r'oi Buddhism which was rhe most imporranc fa cror influe nci ng subseque nt founding of the Nichire n Shoshu secr. The chantin g of o f chapter two (emitled H oben) of th e L OlliS Siltra and th e whole th e sixteenth (e mitl ed '"ryO) - a practice which rakes a bo ut , hi"" . min utes and which is ca lled gOltKYO - form s rhe dail y religio us p rac- ti ce of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhists, along with the chanting of Nam -m yoho-re1Jge-kyo, which is ca lled daimokll. For N ichiren sects o f Buddhism rhe Lotlls Su tra inco rpora tes all teaching of th e Budd ha and yet surpasses it. M oreover, th e Lo tlls SUlra is deemed to be not JU St a sulra to be understood and taken to hea rt, it is also one to be rran slated inro practiC(J/living, and rh e action of daimokll ensures this. As the head of Nichiren Da is ho nin Buddhism and SokOl Gakkai International, Daisa ku Ikeda stares:

if one ca nnOI apply the leachings of thr leXI in onc's daily life and ('ra ns- larc them into pra cl ical an d conc rele terms in aCTion, (h cn onr's understanding of (he su rra is val ueless. "

It is daimoku particularly which trans la res rh e power o f the Lo tlls SlItra into the activity and dynamism of life.

Nam-myobo-re"ge_kyo The riri e of th e Lotlls SUlra expresses all the phi losop hy o f Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism and volumes co uld be written o n each of its compo nents. Nam is really a n honorifi c fit le, suggestin g (hat one respects and honours what foll ows. It is a Sanskri t word which is often prefixe d [0 the names of deiti es or budd has suggesting o ne's dedica tion to, a nd following of, t he named di viniry.Jl M yoho means" M yst ic law" which, accordin g to Gusto n "expresses [he relatio nship between [he life inherent in the uni ve rse and the

~ h" l"f P'"'''''''' itself"' .H Myo is [he very -- yst ISleex~ .. .. -rind different ~a be ond human understanding: it IS rh e un01al1l -

rn!enc~ of life an.d ~s" f~rms a ll life but which is beyond words o r fest subtlety whlc " ~~ which is the manifest aspect of myo; the ~s~ct

rehens lon . It I ~ d d I ined because it is mal1lfest 111 hfc. ,-'OI1lP be experie nce an exp a be' th 0 is which can . the diffe rence between the tWO as II1g ar ,~,y (;Juston e.x pla.'~s f buddh a hood while ho is where we are conce.l;ab~ the full porentla o. the former is unmanifesl, while 110 is. m~l1I .. est. oJ' at thiS mome~r.1 of ca use a nd effecr. IlS literal mean ll1 g IS lorus Rtngt refers 10 I e flaw • we have secn, IS unusual in thar it flow~rs flower". The lotus ow~r 'easreminiscent of the Nichiren hos hu belief nnrl seeds al t he sa ~l;e~~~ inhere ill th eir ca uses _ so met hin g which bout karma - tha .' detail below . Kyo mea ns slit ra, a

, 11 d to exa nllne to more h h " wt sha nee A d h (he budd has taught was t at t ere IS

" f a buddha. n w at " . ' bl be vak-feachlO~ 0 d wi thin th e cos mos to which It IS 'p0SSI e ro a \ II somelhmg ecp .. nd si nce this inner mysti cal Law pervades a tned - [he m.yol ~fvlt~lyn~ ~ th e thread which links each phenomeno n to phenomena In I e,

"" . k d ol1g)'o are condu cted before a

The Gohotlzo tl Dam~o. ~' a~ in~o the ichiren Shos hu seCt of Goho1Jzotl , for th ose ~11It1at\ don e without the presence of the Buddhism, though bor h e'C

n I e I docs is to prov ide a foc us in

B It what re O JOnz01 h" d GohO',101I. I h" "d the self but to somet mg ee p

h",p not ro somet tog OUlS l e , wars , wtlhin:

. f h NichirclI movement is not a god, but Thc most Important oblt.'Ct 0 f' ' h f h, worship~' qualities of his

b h" h draws on rom t r -rather an 0 ltel W IC h Iready wuhlll the mdividua1. Buddha nature: it is hdd to present w at IS a n g the buddhahood Thus, " IS often said that it is like a mirror, re ectm wnhm."

" than just a focu s of worship This suggest~ th31 rh e <?oho~tz~; ~u~;~~h~ within eac h i ndividll~ 1 bur, rather, IS a reflect /Oil O . [" ve sitive action, for It adherent. The practice of ta~~~:;r I~v~~~~ aare ~:St to th e blldd~Ja­ penetrates to th e areas 0 t f h ' d",y",dual So by pe rformIng

I " h ' h ' r essence a te In . . nature w lIe IS t e mn: d d hus posi tive karma musr " k . . nergles arc crern e an , r • . datlno 1/ positive e . h es ults of positive action, ensue: the indi vidual begms to ~ea~s~t i:erkanlla is something whi ch thought and speech. More~~er, th s p lifetime 3S mu ch as in future can be rea~d .in [he i~tIl~ mtc, pr~en~s itive a~tions of daimokH a nd lifetimes. 1 he II1teractlon etwc~n t . e p . o rrant issue. As the immed iacy of the life-si ruauondls thcrkefo.rSebe'nl",e'~C~ "to affect both

" D bbel oi nt o ut am lo ' /I I . Wi lson and a aere p . ' f th believer and rhe objective the subjective state of consc lousn~s 0 I " e

h h I" es" "

f th "ronment 111 w llC e IV • circ umstan ces 0 e envi

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The Ten Worlds Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism accepts thar any vidual has within him or her ten potential conditions. These are hunger, animality, anger, tranqui ll iry and rapture (termed the lower worlds) and learning, realization (or absorption), bo,da'hi,'at,~ and buddha hood (t he four high er worlds). The life of anyo ne viduaJ is spent mainly in the lower six worlds, from th e situation of perhaps being in a job, marriage or frustrating ,';" u,,:~ one really despises - conditions of considerable suffering _ to raptures experienced by one who has won the nationa l ", St,,,. Ion" Hun ger represents desire, perhaps for recognition in life, for st:nus, food, sex, pleasure - a ll the things which represent the o r craving, which Sakyamuni Buddha said were the cause of,uffed. Animaliry is the instincts of an individual, the fight for surviva l emerges so often in the characteristics of the realm of anger - ,;el,r.sh ness, egocemriciry, supe riority and competi tiveness. The worlds tranquilliry and rapture are more harmonious, though ;m'penr" ""l11 and all these lower six worlds arc sense orientated : they are the one finds oneself in dependent on the immediate circumstances of environmen t.

The four higher worlds a re whar are called the "oble paths and those which reflect rhe spiritual development of an i Learning and realization, o r absorption, are sim ilar realms in that both involve the seek ing a nd discovery of the trulh s about life, 'h""1 111 a nd the whole nature of existence. The highest tWO realms - those of bodhisattlJa and buddha hood - arc th e goal of the Nichi ren Shos hu BuddhisL The world of bodhisattlJa is that in which the individual devotes his or her life in altruis tic and compassionate service to others, though such service may not be enti rel y devoid of egoce ntri c motiva- tion. It is buddhahood which reveals the true condition of an individua l, "the Slate of true, indestructible happiness, a condition of perfect and absolute freedom, characterized by boundless wisdo m, coura ge, compassion and life force ".17

Ichillen smlu" rien-t'ai had a lso formulated the th oory of ichi"en stU,un and this has become an imporr;)flt basic doctrine of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism. It is a principle which propounds that eve ry moment of life contai ns " three thousand realms", a statement tanta- mount to expressing that eac h li fe moment of any individual is inseparably bound to the rest of the cosmos; indeed it contains rhe who le cosmos. The interplay, then, berween any individua l and the reS{ of the universe is taking place in every moment of li fe, only to change in rhe next moment, and the next, and th e next _ to infinity. Nichiren Shoshll Buddhism does not acce pt that there is a final nirva"a which ends th e cycle of rebinh when the egoistic self is fina ll y lost. In many ways this is in line with the general concept of bodhisaftlJQS who reaUy will never reach tha t state of Buddha because the re will always

--- . world to encourage on the spiritual path: their vow to be beIngs In th~ tel for the enlightenment of all cannot fully mate- trlve compasslohna I' Y , _ as those of any future bodl,;sattlJos - must S. d so t elf lve rlBhze, an , . be Infinite. . Ie for no end to the cycle of rebirth in N ,ch lren

But tbe r~t~~na is somewhat different. Because each of the Ten Shoshu Bud . Ismh potentiality of the othe r worlds a lso, there can be Worlds conta lnds ~ ~uddhahood _ without the lower worlds ~f ~ell, no tellth /Vorl . Th ' f to' and th e whole thoory of Ichmen . !try etc .IS ac • hunger, amma . I' k of all mom ents in life co the cosmos s a permanent 1I1 . , h Sillrze" ensur~ h rf -moment is different from the next.There IS r us _even thoug eac 1 Ih: in a unity and a mutual rciation berween all both a fUSion of ,a I h' '"Wgs Id of buddha hood the potentiality for the

Soevenmle or ' . h hI Ihlngs. . Worlds still exists. the only difference IS t at t. cower olh er OIne fI d th ough the World of buddha hood. Thus, the conditions are I tere. r fo med through the condition of buddha- condition of hunger I~ crans r . th e world fo r buddha ho od to be hoOd intO a hunger ?r peace e

l ; is trans for:n ed by the condit ion of

experienced by all betn~s: ang assion for the liberation of all ddh hood to a passlonatc comp f

bu ~.. h f dam of the Tenth World. And, 0 course, eve.n humamry mto t. ~ ree temial for t hat of buddhahood IS in Ihe life-condttlol1 of heU, thl:fP~ ctcrnal for the Nichiren Shoshu I rese nr In any event, I e IS b ' h a ways p . .. ssim istica ll y as it would em muc

~nud~~~i:~~:~:r~I~~St :~tti~~~:~~~Y ~11 that e,'ec~,n, i;oY ro:~:rs~~:l:~~~~ ddh h d nd the opportUnity [Q U

of bu a 00 a l f I'fe is reflected by the evergreen plants to rhers The eterna nature 0 I d h ' h h scs the of' d N ',chiren Shoshu shri ne or blltstl all, w Ie ou be oun on a Gohonzon.

Ca use and effect The law of ~a~;~~linn~~~ir:~ ~~~~~ ~ a~~!~h~:ni~ distinctly one of cause - ~he p y f Buddhism inheres in its cause. That effect, and the effect for thiS secr 0 . . dertaken the late"t . h t the very moment an action IS un , bl IS ::~:s~a::d~ Like the ripples which result whe n one throw.s a pcb it~ :tf; pond , the pr;ndple of ichin.n ,an"~ '~~~r:~:~ afr~~c:~:n c:::n;c effect in rhe universe: actions c~nn:r Sits which they aCCTUe _ be moment in which th.er arose an

h { e re~~ for fruition. The effects

they neg~tive or po~~~v~I-\:::~s :;'~:~;:~~~o"o-re"ge-kYo _ wo.rds of chanting the po ood h h h· h ultimately transcend It - which embo~y buddhah., ,t ~u~s ;;0; which only good fruitive create the kmds of posItive act ~d karma inheres in the very action kanna can come; and that fut ur e g h h B ddhist then the act of of chanting itself .. To ,a ~hi;.en ~ ~~e u

1ife u of an; indi~idual and,

chanting must brmg ItS ~lel ~tS benefit to the universe at because of the principle of " m ien sal/zen. large.

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While Buddhism, particularly in its Theravadin form taugh d . . , t eSlre IS wrong and must be overcome in order fa reach an

state, Nichiren Shoshu Buddhi sm believes that desire is no" ""o,::~ essential in life, for without it there can be no drive towards ful~lment. There is rhen, no real emphasis on egoless acrion, which cannot accrue any kanno. Rather there is the opposite

h "" ( k " on t e acqulflng 0 good arma through positive and desires which seek to promote spiritual evolution. In the Ten Worlds the ability fO change lower desires to desires . ~rom wisdom is achieved, but there is no suggestion that desire I Itself wrong, o r that kanl1a must cease through a desire less lnd~ed, it is .considered that the earlier teachings ofSakyamuni agamst desire were meant to be discarded in favour of the teaching.

Soka Gakkai Intern ationa l The re were many sects which em"'1,ed. a result of the tea chi ngs of Nichiren Daishonin. Most of these were priesrly orientated, bur ollrsranding in the present time is the organization called Sob Gakkai International (SC I). Soka means "Value Creating Society", the name given to a movement be~an .with only a few members in the early nventieth ce ntury which IS n.ow larger than all the other Nichiren sects put ,o"e,he,; ~'''b members .m. most countri es throughour the world totalling in ex,e.ss aI nventy million. The President ofSG I is now Daisaku Ikeda and it he who founded SCI in January 1975, bringing together the lay and women who practised Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism into one wide cOOlp?site movem.en~. One of the overriding aims of this lay movement I ~ the estab li shmg of world-wide peace and Mr Ikeda's efforrs to thiS end secured him the United Nations I'eace Award IR 1983. Tensions bcnveen SGI and the priestly-orientated Nichiren Sh~shu Budd~ist sect in which it was placed have resulted in a recent schls.m by whlc~ S~ I has now separared itself entirely from the pries tly domlllance wh ich It so resemed, and this powerful movement now prefers irs independence to be reflected by the sepa rate designation Nich iren Daishonin Buddhism.

Nichire n Dais~onin Buddhism has become extremely popular. As a mov~menr essentially for lay people it is easy to practisc, requi ring o nly ~hc tlln~ ro chant twice a day. Since a ll irs philosophy is concentra ted I~ the r~tle of rh7 LOlliS SlItra no extensive study of scriptures is esse n- tial .to ItS practice, though study groups are encouraged. Its goa l is stT:lIghtforward - rhe bringing out of the buddha hood within the sel f and the living of one's life in this state of buddhahood (or the benefit o.f hum~nity a.nd the harmonious existence of all individuals side by Side. NtTV{ma IS nor so me remote inner experience endless lifetimes in the future but is life on earch - the experience of living life in revealed buddha hood. But it is im portant to have (atlb in the Goho"z.olJ to

-----;. tS worship and in the damlOkll of Nam-myoho-re,,~e­ "hl,h one lrec .t "", changes in one's life and in the universe to which

effec l paSI I y • h<O to ,ely connected.

In(lma It I) II their country rhe Land of Snow and, indeed, the picture

Ti~an~~a\'(1est has of Tibet is of magnifi~ent, sno~-c~vcred moun- one In es and breath-taking scenery, (he: like of whl~h IS barely to be 1210 ranlg h ,. in the world. Tibet is also a land which seems myste-

de:sewe .. h faun b tract concept lent to the co untry perhaps because It IS ere (lOUs, an a S people so mething in the self is fulfilled in attempts to h for some . . ( t a~. ve: what is almost impossible in the phYSical sense - the ascent 0

Jehle. h ,mounrains in the world, where so few have been. The hehlges .. I d " r " . 011 of monastenes 111 the country has a so suggesre It as a Proll1eratl ( "" I "

h e O ne goes to witness the highes t 0 splfltua atrall1mem [00.

lace w er b Ch" " p d Tiber is a land whi ch has been swa ll owed up y ma, Its But to ay. d hlul

"es once condemned now tOlerated un er a warc eye, Olonasten , • .. . T "b

h lany were obliterated when Ch in a brought rehglon m I et thollg nnd in 1959. Before 1959 Tibet had been mainly Buddhist, to ane .. I " d " h h nor exclusively so. Tibetan Buddhism IS a so practISe 10 ~i~~i~, Bhutan, north-west India and Nepal, and Tibetan Buddhism Itself is kept alive by e~i l es. . . .

Tibetan Buddhism IS a fas.clOan~g p.h~n?menon because. while fa " I traditional in its composite beliefS, It IS mformed by not one but " r " " (ddh" H " three traditional yanas or " vehicles . a Bu IS~ - I.nayana, Maha yana and Vajrayana. It was the Hm.a!ana tmd.I(I~n which ga~e

Tibetan Buddhism irs mo nastic tradition and It IS wonhwhl.le ~~membering that the tradition of mo nastic life is just as im~onan~ m Tibet 11S in Theravada Buddhism, despite Tibetan Buddhism Iymg firmly in the Mahayana traditi o n which is ge ncrally not labe.lIed as a religion of the monks. There are a number of different monastl~ orde rs that come under the general term Tibetan Buddhism but while r~ere are cradirional differences in ritual and practice, they do not differ from each other in fundamental issues. While rhe Hina yana influence is thus evident the Mahayana belief in bodhisattlJas and its emphasis on mahakaru:ra " grear co mpassion" is sufficiently dominant for Tibetan Buddhism to be acceptcd as Mahayana rather than Theravada. Maha yana Buddhism a lso a ll owed for a mor~ ove~t syncretism in Tiber, faci litating the absorpti~n of prc.-~uddh .. s ~ re~l­ gious belief and practice into what became Tibetan religIOn, glvmg It, at the sa me time, somethin g very distinct and meaningfu l to lay ~erson and monk alike. But it is the third )'al1a which makes Tibetan Buddhism really distinct. The Vajrayana incorporates esoteric ~I; efs and practices which are part of the Tantric tradition of BuddhISm - mys tical, magical, supernatural a nd occultist. . .

Tibeta n Buddhism then has many strands: while accepnng , , " k"

Theravadin monasticism, the FOllr Noble Truths and three ma.r s

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of existence, fo r exa mple, it a lso accep ts th e Mahayana dOC""in •• the Trikoyo and slm ya to as well as specifically Tantric beliefs a nd rices and a belief in the potentialiry fo r buddha hood in a U pe.oplc" s ha ll examine th ese innuences on Tibetan Buddhism in some belo w, but befo re doing so it is imporrant to recog nize that Buddl" irselfhas been o nl y o ne of three stra nd s wh ich compose what is as Tibetan religion. Alongside Buddhis m in Tibet is also a which is ca lled Son . Thi s Bon religion pre·dates Tibetan a nd, s in ce its rootS are deeper, it has rem a ined embedded in reli gious culture of the people. In addition to these nyo beliefs and practices of village and town life which make up wha t be call ed po pular reli gio n. Eac h of th ese three strand s - B",ddlh i!~ Bon and " popu lar " reli gio n - has a sepa rate identity, yet the re is mutual interchange in practices a nd beliefs. Per Kvaerne hi ghlights level of syncretism which ra kes place between the three when hca pp", priatcly Sta tes rhat "bel iefs th at do nO( derive from tluddh"'m s ha red by monks and JaypcopJe alike".J ' indeed, ir would be in man y cases to di se ntangle rh e three strands.

The o ri gins o f Budd his m in Ti bet Buddhism was to be fo und Tibet in the seve nth ce ntury but was nOt fu ll y establis hed there the eighth ce ntury. At this time, Tiber was a powerful co untry needed a State religio n and it was Buddhism which it chose; by eleventh century it had become the dominant re ligio n. It was Buddhism which won the day ove r C hinese C h'an Buddhism, the characteristics of monas tic ism and Tantrism to Buddhism in While Mahayana Buddhism is normally charac tcri zed by &i « ,"si ry, that which rea ched Tibet had been clearly formulated by only one Indi a n Buddhist traditio n and thi s acco un ts for th e considerable uni ty which chara cte rizes the mona stic o rders o f T ibeta n Buddh ism to this day.H The importance of mo nastic orde rs, in particular, has rema ined because of rhe pract ice o f th e leading monk o r lama of a sect reinca r- nating after dcath ro continue his leade rship of his monks and fo llo wers. So importa nl is the ro le of the lama in Tibetan Budd hi sm that th e religion is somctim es called Lamaism, though it is nOt a te rm acceptable to Tibetan Buddh istS th emselves. Throughout the history of Buddhism in Tibet, the mo nk s, in aU th c sc hoo ls of th o ught, have bee n renowned for their learning and crudition; indeed, the path of a mo nk is nOt a n easy o ne and involves a la rge parr o f one's life being devo tcd to stud y. Yet we should nOt gain a picture of the Ti be tanl1lo nk bein g a recluse, po urin g ove r endless tex ts without any visio n o f the ourside world. Buddhis t monks in monasteries throughout thc world have a lways had a profou nd interaction with the laity, and this is particularly so in Tibetan Buddhism. Mutual support between th e twO has been one of the reaso ns fo r the s uccess of Buddhism in the past but in Tibet th e div is io n between religious an d sec ul ar, th e monk assa-

"d ____ d the laity with t he latter, has been conSI .

cd ,oJlth thc former an . The monas tic orders took on cilt I blurred over .th e cen~urles·iet became wealthy landowne rs crab r I and economiC roles \0 SOC

I y', of this kind of backg round

nll\Ltlca ' f in rhe state. twaS ou Th· ~··Id powerful o rces bined religious a nd political r,ul er aros~. IS alar th e concept ~f a com whi ch developed with the II1troductlon ~f th not somcthUlg new f d"" k"ngship had been a pre-Buddhist waS. f the concept a IVllle I BuddhIsm, or

henomenon. . P I The religious leaders of the rn o nasn c jibe-tan ~on~s and a~l:;;'ism are callcd lamas. Therc a rc four major ;;:i~~:~:itl:::::,nr~: Nyi ngm ap.a sec~~ed ~:~y~a:~~~~~ ~c~~r::r~; manY Tantric and m3g~cal pracnce;~e tS in particular the idea that sOmewh at politicall~' orlc~ta te~t b~ng ~he fruit of buddha hood. si nce pursuing rhe BUldldhl~t :~~dl~~~:ood lth e fruit) are ide nti cal. Th~n .th~re pursuit {me pa t 1 Ian I which emphasizes celi bate monasri~ diSCipline is th e Gelugpa sc 100 hol ast ic mo nk s. In thi s school, wh,le ~uddha­ and lughly eduC:Hcd. sc h. h ·ch everyone ha s and lus t has hood is accepted it i~ .n~t. som~; r~~~i:d'Only graduall y through disci- 10 revcal, but th:H w .IC 'S to • therefore bring instant insigh t to

P hne. Tantras for th,s sec t do nOd" d sch'olars This sect is distin-

1 f the most a va nce ,. most, and are on y or ed hats worn by other sects . .a guishcd by ye\1o w, ."s oppo.s:d t~ r ader ~f th e Yellow H ats. The word

The Dalai L.'l ma IS the spmtul~ . e. d h of knowledge, a nd lama . _ '" symbo IZIng ept .. I

Oahu means ~ean d blama mealllng " reli gious tcacher . n comes from a Tibetan war I th e reli 10US rul er but, for ove r Tibet, the Dalai La m a w;sars: ~e~ th e pol~tiCal ruler. Thc pre~nr three hundred yea rs, ha h . r of reincarnations o f the fIrst D:1lai Lama is the fou~teent I~ .~e~n~f reinca:nared lamas did not Dalai 1-'1rna, th o ugh t e ac[ua I h nrur'y The concep t of rein·

. d ·1 th e fourteent ce· b really gam groun Untl mOS I Indian reli giOUS thought, ut

" " f ourse co mm on [ 0 .. , . carnation IS, 0 C , . ..·d fa spir itual leader being In car- Tibetan Buddhism is ~llIque ~n I~S I dea Oaf his monastic orde r: all rh e oared agai n and again. as t e ea e

h ," d trinc a nd it is onc which

" h I of T,bet acccpt t IS oc . d" "d I monastiC sc 00 s . .. h bel" f d practices of lhe In \VI ua . blhry III t e IC san cnsures a ce rtam sta . h" If believed to rein ca rnat e

I . h Dalal Lama IIllse d order. So not on y IS t e, 1 d' lamas toO arc thought to 0 ago'1in as the samc leader. o th er ea

h '"DS I ", La'ma dies or any leading

I . hat when tea a • , the same. T liS means t d f th at pe rson in his new form as a lama a searc h has to be ma e o r youn~ baby o r sma ll chi ld.. d la,,/O is a complex business.

II I· ' for a reill carna te Natu ra y, searc ling d. d ·11 . e some indicatio ns of where or Usually, the lama who has IC I WI SSIV c lamas wo uld ha vc visions of whcn his rebirr h wou ld takc r ~ce: ~.md· ng the o ld tama. Blit within the new birth which w~uld ~~:d~t~n o~ [hc death of anothe r leading nine months of th c Dalal Lam. "

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3\0

lama, reportS would come to li ght of a child who was su m,,, .. unus ua l [ 0 draw to it the anention of the monks. If they a re that the child has the kind of qualities w hi ch suggest the I its being a reincarnated lama then the child would be subjected number of tests. For exa mpl e, recogni z.in g some of hi s own objects &om his past li fe in th e midst of many others be method. The child wou ld also be familiar with religio us ritua l would be a ble to recog ni ze and be a t ease with th e monks he known before he died. O nce the monks co uld satisfy themselves the child was th e reincarnation of thei r leader, he would be taken th em for a long pe riod of traini ng and teachi ng.

The present Dalai Lama was bo rn in 1935 and although there rwo orner children who were a lso likely reinca rn at io ns of the cesso r, the prese nt Da lai Lama passed all the necessa ry tests emhro ned a t Lhasa in 1940. Wh en in the 1950s th e Chi nese im"d" Tibet an d enfo rced Commu nism, the young Dala i L'lma had to He was a ll owed to rerum for a while, but in 1959, the Tibetan revo lted against th ei r Chinese oppressors in Lhasa an d th e Cllin"" government ended Tibetan rule en tirely. The Dalal Lama fled [0 where he has remained in exile to thi s day.

The Dalai Lama and a ll those who preceded him a re ultimately the same reincarnated person. Howeve r, additiona ll y, the Dalai Lama is a lso the embod iment of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara - incarnations in human form of thi s bodhisatt va of co mpassion. Other leade rs of mo nasci c tradi t ions are also considered to be inca rn ations on ea rth of bodhisatlvas or budd has. The Grand Lama of Bkra-sis-I hun -po, for example, is belie ved to be th e in ca rnati o n o f the Buddha Amitab ha. As incarnations of imponanr buddhas and bodhisattvas Tibeta ns accept th eir lamas as divine, and th eir right to politica l rule IS com men- surate with s uch diviniry. It is thjs combination which has ca used Westerners sometimes to refe r to the Dalai Lama as the God-K;"g, th o ugh it is not a term which is really acceptab le to Buddhists.

While (he Dalai Lama is an internati o na l figure. hecan also be fou nd at the s malle r centres for Tibetan Buddhism. In May 1993 he was in Britain and as pan of his itinerary visited the Buddhist Ce ntre o f Lam Rim at Ragl an in Monmouthshire. Here, a new shrin e had bee n built and {he Dalai Lama undert oo k [Q dedicate a nd bless the s hrine and to sec his friend there, th e Venerable Ges he Da mcho Yomen. Geshe Damcho Yomen now lives perma nently at Lam Rim with so me Britis h Buddhists. Ar th e age of six he went to th e University o f Drepung in T ibet an d studi ed there for rwenry-three years. When the Chinese in va ded T ibe t be escaped and co ntinued his stud ies in Indja and Ladakh, earning the title Geshe, as a meas ure of hi s lea rning, In 1976 he came to the West an d se t up t he teaching cemre at Raglan in 1978. H ere, the on ly regul ations required by the many visitors a re the obser- van ce o f th e Five Precepts.

..-------:-;: . Buddhism acceptS a variety of and bodhisartvas Tibetan h legacy of Mahayana

Buddhas :\nd bodJnsattt!as: these are. t e rtant is Avalokltesvara

blld~~~:m' to Tibet. On.e . of';~ mos~u~~~sm ) . the bodhisattva of Bod ed to as Che nrez l 111 ' h tan be the national bodlnsattva of \rc fer:ssion, im~rtant enouS

ar :~sewhere. (In hina, for. example,

~~ though he IS also. POP~ ' s often depicted in female form). H~s h

i IS known as KW3 r n-Y1l1 an d~ avafokita possibly meaning "what IS

, compOsed 0 {WO wor • d ' g "Lord" H is name thus me IS 5 k 't war meallln . .

oa .. and isv.;Jr.:t, a ,ans n., ~ Lord who looks down", sugges t1l1 g set~n~ ~Lord of what IS seen ,~r he whole of the world and the one me [ he IS both the surveyor 0 t acts in relation to what he sees. He th~ost: compaSSion is such tha~ he

ds symboli c of hiS ability to see a U,

W often depicted with devc~rea f'his ability to help 111 any kind of " d a thousand arms, syn~ h'c o . se He is a bodhisattva who has an I celOt eUllIver . " difficulty and 10 any ~ a d he is prepared (Q be reborn 10 any sl~ua- unbounded compassl~n an r (Q hel all creatures and human bc1l1gs [lOll and in any fo rm 111 orde ' f he h:s to suffer in one of the Buddhist 10 reach enlightenmenl~ even ~ concept of a divine ruler wh~ had Hells The pre-Buddhist So . fleered in the reincarnation of . h f m heaven IS re descended to eart ro I ' La a illustrating the complementatry Avaloknesvara as the Da al . m both spi ritu al and temporal rulcr. role of t~e head .of a t:un(~~~~~~la~n Tibet, considerable ~litical and In fact, III [he fi SC 0 .' f ,he various monastIC orders. It

' s cha racrensnc 0 . bo h a economiC actiVity I , f D I . LAmas in Tibet who, as t was the fifth in succeSSion 0 ,0 a~ a lso to be a reincarnation or a political and religious r~ler. clalll~~nce his time. all subsequent Dalai mamfestacio n of Avalokltesbeva"'h' bodime nt of this bodhisattva and

I bel' edto t ecm Lamas are a so ICV • s ruler and state ruler. their role has becomc one of re~,g,ou of Tantnc Buddhism is its

O ne of the cha ra cteristiC eartuhres d

, 'ne as much as th e male. This f I nl'ctSO [e IVI f h emphasis on the ema e ~r-- of the deities in Hinduism. O ne ° t e

is comparable to th e saldl fo~~e~odlJ/sattvaS is Tara, the female ~oun.­ most important of th e fema h k ' f the Buddha Amoghaslddhl. terpart of A,'alokitesvara . ~nd t e ~ t,' 0 diSI'ress and is much beloved Tara is responsible for savlllg r?p ~ In ssence of lo vi ng-devotion, th e by the Tibetans also because ~ ~ IS t e ~Iess of their good or evil stat es. deitv who loves all of humanklll reg~r pO-lIt part of ritual pilla in

'/ ' I avs an 1m ,... • . Meditation on Tara IS a w. 1 -one emanations of Tara bu t III Tibetan Buddhism. There are twe'h'Y s green or as white; the gree n

h ft nappearselt er a , ' h I r I pictOnal for~ s eo e . whil e the white o ne symbolizes e P u - form symbolizes p rospenty, . ber of forms. Although the

h nl'ar In a nllm .' '

ness though s e can apr--' d f I asnM'tS of the d,vllle IS ' . the male an ema e r--- f h' '

BUDDHISM

relationship bcrwcen T ' " ddh ',srn there is little 0 t IS III • _ --I II in aotrlC pU. '

usually deplct~ sexua y Avalokites va ra and Tara, though ther~ IS a the re lat io nship be rw,een ' . h r rm of a monkey, and Tara III the tradi tion that Avalok ltesvara III t eo 3 11

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form of a rock goddess produced monkey offspring who were the inarors of the Tibemn people. Some forms of Tara resemble the ferociou s sakti female Goddesses like Durga. Iconographica ll)" often appears with four of the five major Tanrric Amoghasiddhi, Ramasambhava, Amitabha and Aksobhya nor with Vairocana ).'1

Anothe r important bodbisattua is Manjusri, whose name "Gentle Glory" . He is not yet a Buddha and is something of a bodhisattva, being associated with teaching, learning and wisdom. is a youthful, golden-complexioned, princc-like bodhisattua depicted with a five -peaked crown. He holds a sword in his right which symbolizes the kind of discrimination which cuts through i ranee (0 reveal the truth, while in his left hand he holds Praj"aparamita Sulra, the Scripture of Supreme Wisdom. He is times pictured sitting on a lion, the roar of the lion being symbolic the sound of truth. He represents the purity of the truth and Buddhist teaching. He can become manifest in any parr of the un;v,,,,. though he sits in perpetual meditation. He is believed to have been founder of Nepa l, having cur a huge opening in the mountains in {Q drain a g re:lI lake so that Nepal could ri se up in thc va lley Katmandu.

Tantrism It is rh e Tantric aspect of Tibetan Buddhism which gives it its definitive characteristic, enough so to warrant the separare term of Vajra)'a"a Buddhism, a longside the Mahayana and Theravada traditions. Ta"fra means "'oom", "'doctrine

M

or "groundwork'" meanings expanded by Guenther, for one, to suggest "'living one's possibilities " .'2 And indeed, this is a good extension of the meaning of Tantra for il suggests the infinite possibilities which can be ope ned up in the self by mysrical and esoteric practices which serve to release the ego a nd sense-bound self to experience the more subtle possibilities of reality. Alex Wayman commentS that Tibet "'became an extraordinary center for Tanrrism as wel l as the major srorehouse of Tantric litera- ture", j and it is easy to sec from such a sratemenr why Tibetan Buddhism is a distinct branch of Buddhism in itS own right. Tantric beliefs and practices often reflect some of the oldest strands in relig ion, and in Tibet the magical and supernatu ral elemenrs of pre-Buddhist religion provided a ready ethos in which Tanrrism could develop. Each school of Tibetan Buddhism has its own practices and T anttic texts - all claimed to be the words of Sakyamuni Buddha, though they were not firs t evide nt until a thousand years aftcr hi s death. Such texts were believed 10 have been hidden until the rime was right for them to be revealed, especia ll y since they we re hi ghly potent texts - far more so than (he Sanskrit Slltras. And it was the potency of [he Tantric texts, th eir extraordinary power, which made buddhahood rea li zable in one lifetime for the initiated and dedicated. Unlike the Mahayana [radi-

~ . ffers a faster route ro buddha hood. h e

fore, Tantnsm 0 . de"rood phenomenon perhaps t er what nusun d

tlon~. IS a some . I £ the texts often enyaccess 1"alltnsm . d m),stlca namre 0 . d h'l

the esoteriC an .1 n to misinterpretation. An W Ie bc'JIlSC . iriated and are easl )' ope rV"C"tS ofTantrism which incor-

he onln h re arc man)' as 1' __ . I co t il), the case, t e . the Western eye - ntua sex, nol gen:;:mingl y unpleasa~t pra~lCsest~Oname a few. Tantrism cmpha- rotate c phenomena, hornfi~ del[l(: dom principle in the universe, the t.lemo;~e feminine as t~e ~asslv;sw~e union of the twO brings about Sl~ ~5 the active, skIll rn me~," . . (ual plI;tJ sexual intercourse may

:: :"pel dr~;~~ ~r:ei;~~n~ya;boI17z~1 rhiShacqe~~it~~npe~s w~:d~~·d~~~~ be IOC U • crate o n t e v ., • d TaO(nC e...xpresslons c~n~e~ sex wine meat-eating. To understan \vhlch are usuall)' p.rohlblt~ b~lief ~nd p;actice we have to tur": to the che phIlosoph), ~hmfd ~uc Middle Wa )' and remember tbat enhghtThen.

ddha's teachmg 0 t e .." int between them. e 6u nl ;5 devoid of d.ua lities; it is r~e em~~to ~ell craving and desires ""ndency in Buddhism generally .IS to se

But of what use is it for a monk

te leer (he averSions. . f ) He and perhaps to neg . I to develop an averSIOn or sex. to quell his sexual ener~les on ~se of dualities. However, if he cou '~ would be no oearer losmg ~ se he will have transcended such duah- treat sex as th~ sahlll e as ~o ~~hiSt perspective, sex and no-se."1( are one

After all, III t e trUe u n~· . . I . ,' and the sa me dllng. . that we have? Man)' BuddhistS WI

And what of the other ave rsions . [0 it regarding it as abhorrent h d elop an averS ion. . " B [ not eat meat; t ey ev . d ' of .bimsa "" nOll-Violence . u

, h . . st the QCtrlne . . and one whlc IS aga lll . b d ve\oping an averSIOn, a reactton ~h15 again, gets rid of a deslte . Y f \ it would be better (0 treat the 10 the stimulus of. meat, when lOb ae d dualities and therefore of nO meat as neither thiS nor that, as eY~Thn e same could be said for any

'I ·· rtaken or not. . ·11 ' consequence I It IS. pa nd some ascetic Tantrlc secrs WI mix other aversions which we have a , and udne And the more o ne

I food with excremen . . . If I£·L (and eat) norma h senee of the egoIstiC se! Ule fjod s this repugnant, the gre~te~ t e pr~ the point of non-existence of Middle Way in its meraphYSlca sen~e ~crement are one and (he same all dualities, then strawberry (art an

thing! . e not the mainstay of Tibetan But such TanHic practices ar orne o rders as me)' are (Q

Buddhism and would be as repugnha"'h,o/'g;c behind the practices is S ff ·{tosa)'t art e a d £ Western readers. u Ice I . d d ' ["ve concentration instea 0

. fme to me ua . sensible and, were It con . d. tive of balance. Far more 1m per- ritual practice, would be more I~ . \Ca, Tan"ism Tara being the most

, f he femm me ,"' f ' tant is tbe expreSSion 0 t . h een The space for the emi-

I fthls as we ave s . b conspicuous e ement a 'I d ' oncept of worship of the mot er , h the older n laoc . . h h [ mne reflects per aps .. f Indian tradition t roug ou

goddess which has been character~o~:ha would have been anathema time. The thought of 3 female as au'

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to the Buddha, as well as to hi s immediate Theravadin ,uc«"'OO", I Tibetan Buddhism maintains a healthy balance between the n1<l1 ... female cosmic energies.

The distinctive ch:uacteristics of Tibetan Buddhism, rhen, r.n"" often depicted as a third vehicle of Buddhism - VairayalZa. means "adamantine" or "unsplirrablc" . onze points out rha l, later Buddhist philosophy the word is used to dcnotc a kind of natural substancc which is hard as a diamond, as clear as as irresistible as a thunderbolt".'" He sees Va;ra as an All",I"" Ultimate Reality equatable with the diamo"d·"alure of a ll indesrructible ("unsplinable") and subtle. Importantly, however, concept of anal matt is maintained: vaira is nOt to be equated with concept like the Hindu alma". As a vehicle to buddha hood a 'p,iritual master would be essential in Vajrayana Buddhism and only could fulfil this role. The goal is wisdom, the wisdom of en ligh ten. mem, and the stages into which the adherent is imitiated to reach this goal are carefully managed.

Mudra s, matttras, and mandalas The three dimensions of a hurnaa being - body, speech and mind - arc expressed by three aspccts of rim31, mlldras, mantras and mattdalas respectively. Mudras are rhe ritualistic body gestures, with the hands. Buddha mpas, the images of the Buddha were discussed earlier. Malllras depict the magical pOwer of sound. the potency of rhe spoken word. Less obvious in roday's cultures, at one time the spoken word in terms of blessings and cu r was considered highly potent, and in Tiberan Buddhism thc sou nd of certain rirualistic and meditative sy ll ables is equitable with the ir forms . This link between sou nd and form is important in the vis uali za tion and summoning of the deities and bodhisattflas dur in g meditation. Mantras are passed from teacher to disciple, appropri:ne to the stage of spiritual developmcnt of the disciple. Most are sec ret, but the mOSt commonly known is that associated with AV3lokitesvara, Om mam padmelJllm, " Ha il to thc jewel in the lotus" and this would have been found everywhere in Tibct, on buildin gs, rooftops, flagstones and on rhe many prayer wheels. It is also to be found printcd on prayer flags, these flags being a feature of most Tibetan temples and shrines.

Mandalas are an im portam feature of Tantric Buddhism and t hcy are designed to promotc the journey of the mind to realization of enlightenment. They are highly symbolic 3nd complex, and are used as meditation aids for thc devotee. Thcy originatcd from the medica· tive experiences of the great lamas of the past, who visua lized them and put them into the figurative forms we see today so that they could help others on the p:Hh to enlightclUn cm by mcdirating on them. Thcy are usually associ3ted with a particular buddha or bodhisattva or have different budd has at different points. Such mandalas are prescriptively painted; every itcm must conform (Q the strictcst traditions of colour

. . rhc s iritual symbolism. At a Tibetan in order to mallll

all1 Pld adorn (he waUs. There is an

Jilt! §h~tcmple, m~ny of th;;I;~~~e word means "circle" (though ~hI'10C't . of chought tn ~ mOl: OJ ~nd the mind is drawn into them c:!Crfl l ) square or tnangu ar. L L l. Y con lain They are what

are . . les Wnlcn tnC ,. ~~(1l:"h the concenrncd clrc

lm ... 1 at the hcart of which is a whole

li'fO ~ lis "a sacrc rea powers ca Id d buddha hood. buddha-wor an .' .

o fT°be Buddhism arc dlvldcd 111[0 twO, ~ ptures 0 I tan d O l d h

o lures I ue sen l. ' L ' k own as Kalljur an II1C u cs t e ScnP B ddha wnlcn IS n· II Ihe word of rhe u number of Mahayana slltras as we. as non- \'JII.r,-a, Talttras and a hilosophical and erudi te commentan~s known

I •• yanastltras,andp . I' in panicular, a rc difficult to

l\ 311. f the Tan{r1C rex , II as Tertlur. Many 0 d be obscure and mystical, they are acma Y understand. Ocsigne ~o k n literally. They can only be understood ~coded" and canno t . ta cd higher Icvel of consciousness of a monk through the in{erpreta~lon a~ M scriptures are considered to be who has spcnt years In Stll y. )a~!xts which had been hidden and whal 3re called ternWs (~ter 1110, 'fious times when it was believed d~overed by trance m~dlUms at pr?p" of their content would be of . t hidden meaniOg . . I- thai the appropna c .' fT ' be n Buddhism has lent It a nCnness benefit. This charactenstlC 0 I ra and yet a complexity.

o 0 0 T,°betan temple or shrin e, o B ddh ' m In vlsmng a L

puia in Tibetan u IS onsidc rabl e number of buddna it would be noticeable that ~here ar~f~re which people will prostrate and bodlnsattva rllllas or Imagbe'lo fILe Three Refuges, before

L . es symolCO 1\ • I~ themselves fllrce tim ' . ' d bly but chanting IS usun . I li e

. . p 'a vanes co nSI era , . l. comOlencll1gpu/a. Ill . dO 0 I . " d lends somethmg to tne

b h t IS tra mona . .

very deep asC c an h t ·n of mantras would be an Impor· symbolism of the sounds. T.he c

l . an ~ Sbuddha or bodl1isattva. Striking

to Vlsua Ize lne' L . laOI feature as a means . L bright colours of th e s unne

I nd shrlncs are tile . at Tibetan temp e~ a b r Offerings at a sh rine represcnt sacrt· room, which are highly sym °d/": I 5 and as in many aspectS of

b dd h and bo J/saf va, . . l. fice to the u as .' h ted to particular ones. VISitS to me Mahayana Bu~d.hism, prals~l~s~:t flowers, incense, wate r, food and temples, rhe glvlOg of. offen g and pilgrimage, are th e impor- whire scarves for ,hc Images, pray~r, • TL monks in return oHer

Of . of lay practice. lie 10 ° tant maOl esmtlons I forces and expcrt re IglOUS

. . from supe.rnatura, d education. protection . . . d by drums, gongs, bclls an riwal. Community pI/fa IS accompaOle

trumpets. f the Chinese in Tibet has made reli- Today,of course,lhe presenc~1 °d TObel.n, who have moved to the

° dOff' It bur ext e I . L . gious practi ce I ICU, . I" L 're There is much whlCn IS

Oil . the ir relglon tnC . Himalayas, Sri pra~tlSe r' f r Tibetans accept that there are shamanistic about Tlbe~anfl re Igloll'do.n o,n,ate all things in life. This

f h · L 10 uence an •

spiritual orces w !ell

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element in rhe religion srems from pre-Buddhist rimes a nd is larly mainrained by the folk rraditlons. Yet shamanistic pnl<r;co. ; a lso a parr of th e official culric religious pracrices, exp ressed In presence in rh e reli gion of priests respons ible for o racles, magic and healing. Shamanism is also eviden t in th e prolific of spirirs connected wirh the land, rhe atmosphere and also the wo rl d, rhe Hell s. Buddhism, however, accep ts many different of existence, and these spirits, demons, gods, and the like, a re I oth er creatures li ving on other planes of existence but subject also th e samsarIC cycle in th e samc way as huma nkind.

The shaman istic elemenr is very evident at rh e New Year when a mo nk who is known as the o racle monk, and who is a m.,d;um is dressed ceremonio usly a nd is bro ught before rhe Dalai L.1ma in vicw of the people. For this ceremony a burter and flou r starue IS a nd th e or:lcle monk, while in a state of rrance, shoots an a rrow at hea rt of th e statue, sy mbolically destroying alt rh e ev il forces of previous year. Afrer this th e statu e is bur n! wit h grea t i Whi le in his trance th e medium, as the mouthpi(,.'Ce of Avalokitesva ra.. blesses the people and th e state.

The reli gious ceorre of Tiber in th e past was Lhasa (now co mro llcd by th e Chinese) and it is here tha t a grear pa lace exisred, in honou r of Avalokitesvara. It is cal led the Pota la Pa la ce and was built in the seven- (ce nth cent ury. Buih as a grear three-dimensiona l ma"dala, it was the seat of religious a nd politica l govern mcnt in Tibet since th e Dalai Lama became th e religious and politica l ruler of Tibet unri l the Chin~ in vasio n. This grea t pa lace, then, acts as a tcmple, a monastery and a palace a nd is at the same time a ritualistic ma"dala , ar rhe very centre of which is considered to be th e heave n o n earth of the bodhisattlJa Avalokitesvara. So impo rta nt is th e Porala Palace that most Tibetan shrines would have a picture of it. Pilgrimage ro this Palace as, indeed. to Lhasa itself, would be a mea ns for the ordinary person to gain th e kind of good karma whIch would pro mote a better birth in rh e nex t life. I)ilgrims will circumambulate Lhasa itself, or th e Palace, ma ny tim es in order to increase chis merit, and during their circumambu la- tion they would repeatedly prostrate themselves. As th ey walk, the)' focus their minds on the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara in th e very ce ntre of th e Palace, just as th ey would try ro visualize the inner section of a mandala. This kind of vis ual iza rion is a very imporranr aspect of T ibe tan, a nd indeed Tantric, Budd hism as a wholc.

Traditio nall y, there are two paths to enlightenment in Tibe[41n Buddhism, wisdom and merit, but it is the la rrer w hi ch is more im per· tant ro the lay person who does no t have th e time to stud y th e complexities of some scriptures. Good-meriting actions, it is believed, will do much to override evi l actions and th eir subseq uent adverse karma in the present a nd future li ves. Yet rhere is always a close inrer- action between the monastic clement an d the la iry, an d the sup pon of

I · d , uld be a no ther means of aCcum u atlng g~ onks by th e lalry wo Tibetan Buddhist would have guardian

the!Tl J

Withlil th e hom~d ~ ad of the he arth _ an a re a of th e home

~~: d~;~~~ ::e~:~~~;,~~:~:~~e c;:~~ :~ ;ed~a7;:~~ ~~~e~ed~~I: deifY. \here :~uwhom are responsible for being in chargeo~ld ta~ deiTIes, both or female perso na ges in th e home. There w . his

::~~~~e~l~~ 'h~~o~~;e~::;~~;.~,::~ e~~~:e g:i,;;oh:u~:~~d " nanle. is respons~ :d th e sea are th e klu, spiritS who, If annoyed by « 'i{bm the gro un . a I by disturbing th e ground or the water, ~~" humankInd o r alllm~~rems and diseases for people and animals. e c, uSC' all sortS of pr d · ." of Tibetan Buddhism a re, however,

ad oddcsscs an splrl h I f fl1any g ~,g b'ect to th e sa me wanderings through t e cyc e 0 karmiC belilgs, su .1 StJ",sara as humanltY'

1 . r ' f gods in th e immediate environment,

Apart from rh e mu tip IClty O . h body of each individual. These . I Iy impo rtant In t e • ' bl f

1, ... 0 are parucu ar d bl k d mon both of whom are responsl e ~r nrt a white god an a aC

b de kem:,a respectively. These deitie~ Will

record ing t.he .g~ ~ nd aro fiate scores in the scales of iu~nce at weigh the .tndlv~~:~ sfr~~ r:C white god representin g each Iten:t of death, white pe f m th e demon represenring bad actions good merit and ~Iack o~~ .r; f ood and evil ma y have originated and th oughtS. ~hls dhuahs~lc I e:~eng from Taoist theories of yin and from Zo roasrnan t o ug t, or

),ang. ' f ' of the forces in life but ulti- Deities are proli~ic as mam estatlo~~ slJabIJava, "own-being'" and,

mately they are ~heved to be emp~ II aspectS o f Tibetan life and therefore, of reality. Yet th ey I perva e

h • e dedicated to the spiritual

Th ks themse ves as t as reli gion. e mo~ . he bUddhas or bodhisatllJas as a means to Path U~ the deities, t . d·, , ·Io n They visualize and , f foryoglcme , a. . enlighrenment, as a ~us . "imin' for full idenrification With conceptualize th ese dl vlIle beings, 'h gditators' whole being. Thus, th em so that their essence ~COl11es t e

f me mple identity with his

. . A lokltesva ra or exa. . by meditation on va . , ' h· d Ultimately there IS no

d mpasslo n IS ac leve . , d· wisdom an great co. d tal so to concentrate in me ua· difference between a deity an amoUr . Il y Ihe practitioner will be

d ·' become one. sua , tion o n a el~ IS to . . . suir his or her particular person- assigned a partIcular d, Vine be.1~g to d d·I"'·lon arc as important as

k elltratlon an me • . f ality. For th e mon ,c?nc Th . t'ce ai ms at the transce nding 0 in Theravada Buddhism ., ~Ir prda c I experience nP rfcction in the

. I·f d perception 10 or er to 1' - n ord inary I e an II d ~ H i ghest Yoga Tamras . self and th e unive rs~ throu~h \~~~ are c:e~ain co nuol over th eir own Those who can achieve th iS WI ave a

rei ncarnatio n process. I t· . n They r an be male or rfi· pu ar re IglO . ... Mediums are pro I c IO

f po . f ommunicating reli gio us ideas

female and will se rve the unction 0 c

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318

from the buddhas or bodhisfltwas and even revealing new sacred aturc. They ma y also be consuhed b)' the lay people at rimes when is needed or when decisions have to be made, or they may reci te exploirs of a famous wa rrior from the past, or visit the He ll s to people whar wiJI happen (0 [hem if they do nor mend their ways. provide a very colo urful aspect of Tibetan religion, o ne w hich thought to aid individual kanfJfl because of thc countless I forces which can be appealed (0. and one which fulfi ls the dcepe r older a rchetypa l beliefs of this ancient people.

Ceremonies, especially those which mark important occasions birth, marriage and death. are an integral part of most religions cu ltures. For many people they are occasions in which religious tice is shared collectively and are important enough (0 ",,".,,, ,d normal routine of dai ly life or religious practice. It wou ld be . sible to pOrtray the vas t ro nge of such events in the many Bu, ddih;, traditions for they vary enormously and have becn, in many innuenced by pre·Budddhist traditions. Bur generally Buddhism is conce rned with the elaborate rites of passage which characterize religio ns and whe n they occur they a re secular rather thaD religi'",,1 events. Nich ire n Shoshu or Nic hi ren Daishonin Buddhism, example, has very few ceremonial occasions, the main one being celebration of the birth of Nichiren Daishonin, bu t no special , ilual' O accompany this o r any other celebration." Yet even here Sob C'l kkai members come together frequently for communa l study meetings a nd for cultura l events which include dance. music and poetry recital. for example. The annual general meeting has a festival atmosphere, bUI ritua l is absent from the proceedings. Other Buddhist traditions by way of contraSt enjoy very elaborate ceremonia l and festivals, as LA much Tibetan rradition.

Initiatio n Initiation is :1Il import ant feature of the monastic tradi- tions such as Theravada a nd Tibetan Buddhism and if birth rites a re minimaJ and secu lar, initiation and ordina tion make up for this in the life of t he chi ld. Initiation is into me Buddhist tradition. and into the monas tic life for a few hams or days. with the hope that eventua l rebirth will be into the ki nd of existence wh ich would facilitate life as a monk. The age at which this rakes place varies from about eight (Q twenty and is mainly confined to males. The mostel:tbora re form o f this ce remony invo lves the young boy - so metimes as young as fo ur yea rs old in T ibetan tradition - being dressed in clothes s uitable fo r royalty and sym bolizing the life lived by Siddharrha in his wealthy pa laces. The child is t hen taken to the loca l monaste ry, sometimes on a small pony, and there his cl othes are changed for the saffron robe of the monk. His head is shaved, and he is given a begging bowl. The n follows a short spell in the mOmlsrery- perhaps one night, se ve ral days

_____ .' Ot usually any ordeal for th e yo un g boy since \'en longer. '1\1~ IS n d with thc lai ty that th ey would be well

or e monkS a rc so Involt d to the boy himself. His short time spe nt the \\' 0 to the local pcoP

ld e

an be ,ubl·eet to man y restrictions, and a ,no y wou no t k h' .

he monaster . . bl The ceremony mar s IS comlllg n I \I ' qUite permLssa e. . I ... r of footba IS f b hood and is important cnough m so me va,,, . ·ng rom oy , . I 'f g' hiS passl , I amongst the ceremomes a ma e o a • be pre·em men • .

laces like Bur~la ~o e in Burma. there is much celebration ov~r P

II undertake m hfe. Her . k Id be supplied. Some boys remam

WI d ' f forthemon swou h heeventan gl [5 'ods and would be educated [ ere as a

:n the monasterr for l~ngc;:r~~1 ordination. Junc is th e popular ti~le novice monk With a ~ Ie~ monastery since it is just before the ralllY for thai boys to enr:r ~r: able to smy then for about four ~onths.lf st'aSOn srnrtS ~nd rh y B ddh ',t p,ecep[5 and so accumulaflng ment.

. h (3klllg more u I tne), WIS. , ·· n coming·of-age status. ,,If-dISClpline. and acqu.ln g d ' . ,ectS like Nichi ren Shoshu or

. h onas[!C tr a I[\o n OutSide t e m. ' . ard as very important the ceremony

Nicni ren Daisho~1Il Buddtlsn: r~~ a replica of the Da; Gohonzoll first of Goil/ka; at ~hl:h a Go .]~, .. ~t _ is given to the member of the sect, mSCribed by NlChlren Dal~ om~er re·cction of othe r paths and dedi· and rn e initiate deelares ~ I sh 'o, elment Thc replica of the origi nal

h ·cular Nlc Iren mov· .' h cauon to t e partl N " h' Da '" hon"ll wh ich IS given to t c . ' bed by IC Iren. . DJ; GOhO',ZOIlIllSC n . . t If possible it is housed III

I ber IS gIVen great respec . h' h initiated a y mem t 'h The blltsudml is an alta r \V IC d . he adherent s omc. h a bllts" a n III .t . II des; .ned for the Goho"zon so that w en

contains a cablllct specla f ~ ;. t can be respectfu ll y closed on the

not cnanting the doors ote;3 Inc T plow Cou rt in Be rksh ire, the Gohon zotl. The main bllts'~fiall at

bl a

k laque red Japanese blltslldan

f SCI U K . a maglll Icent ac· ..

centre 0 , IS . d I k pecracular when ht up on ItS witn gold o rnamentation, an 00 s s

raIsed pla~form. , d when rhe abbot touches the head Symbohc shavlllg of the hefa . •. . . ,'ntO the Soto Zen O rde r of

. . h terisric 0 IIlltlanon . . f tnree nmes. IS c arac . f '.·· n is indicative of ordmatlon or Buddhi st Contemplauvcs. o r IIdl~tlat~O ,a lay minister o r as a full

h B ddh · though or lIlanon a

sw: la)' 1I IStS, h I B ddhist takes the T e" Precepts at monk: is more elaborate, ~ e ay u time in retreat before the mitiationlordination, havlll~ spe nt some. ,and gende about the

. th ing vcry graclou occasion. There IS some d h . I movements of Sota Zen. and

. h' I gongs an [e ntua . I boWlIlgs, t e signa d· an order me ti culous Y set a sense of order pervades the proc:e~ Ings

f I-he buddhahood in all and

. . I· .. The recognition 0 d down III Its Ittlfgy· I" bet\veen one person an tn erefore the total identity of, ~I~d chqua. I~mambul ;tion of the abbot anotner, is beautifully portraye IIld

t . c cl

d ' ," 1 in rhe place whe re the

I h'ch the or lIlan s • around the a tar all w I II b The abbOt then bows - not main Buddha image ~voli id nbo rma ~ ~uddhahood in the ordinand, 10 the usual Buddha Image, ut to t e

expressi ng th e words:

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Buddha rtcognL~5 Buddha and Buddha bows to Buddha. Go around Mount Sum('ru, go a round Ih(' Buddha, r.9

The words and {he action of t he abbot express the 1101l~d uaJjty things and the interconnectedness of a ll li fe,

Ordination In Theravada traditions it is al the age of onwards th at a man may decide to become fully o rda ined as a bur in Tibetan Buddhism it is possible for a bo y o f eleven to em·" ,01. monastery fo r life. But genera ll y a monk's vows are nOt fo r life, at any time he ca n return his vo ws, marry and undertake rhe life house ho lder, Howeve r, while a monk he must remain celibate divorce himself from family li fe, and certai nl y from any sexuaJ cravi"" In the Theravadin tradition ir is only a monk who can rea lize enligbt.. en ment, so it is im portant for all ro spend at least some time in the monaster y, This may be done at the initiation stage of one's tife., "- also at t he ra iny season, Vassa, when it is expedie nt to rema in seden. tary because of the monsoon ra ins, In Tibet, o rdinatio n is geared to th e bodhisattva idcal- vowing to save all people, to end a ll delusions, to explo re a ll the Dbormo of th e Buddha, and to ana in enlightenme nt.

In the Theravadin tradition permissio n mu S{ be: gained from parents, wife an d employer before some one is fully ordained, A preliminary o rdina ti o n as a nov ice, a samotlero will precede full ordi- nation as a bhikklm, Ordination is an impo rtant occasion a nd the ritu a l fo r it contains basic elements but diffe rs s lightl y from place to place, The o rdin and , hav in g bathed, with head shavcd and dressed in white will proceed to the monastery accompanied by fri ends and rela· tives: music and da ncin g may so metimes be included as pan of the celebrations, When the Buddha orda ined new monks, th e process was very simple, and, despite the ex traneo us celebra tio ns, the rite itself remins such si mplici ty, Bowing to rhe monks an d req ues ting o rdina· ti on, the o rdinand undergoes so me careful questioning by them and th ere must be at least five monks prese nt, He then changes into hIS ye llow robc, recites the Three Refuges three rimes, takes the necessary vows o( the Vil1aya, gives gi ffs ro his now fellow monks, a nd becomes fully o rd ained.

The Thai ordina t io n ce remony is particulary elabora te a nd is exte nded over a number of days , The o rdinand will be dressed in fine clothes, symbo li zi ng Siddh a rtha 's roya l life befo re his enli ghtenment and the monks will come to [he hom e to give him stren gth by chanting, The spirit or k lllvall of th e ordinand, which is believcd to accompany all living bei ngs, is strength ened in a ceremony in which o fferings a re arranged in a (fee~like co ni ca l stru cture, and th e o rdinand 's wrists are tied rogerher to bind the k lllvo" to him, In Tha iland dancing, (cas ting a nd s in gi ng will take place befo re th e li vely procession to the monas tery on the fo ll owing day. Af ter ten years a mo nk is given t he

___ d f 'nty yea rs the tide mol1athcra I '"elde r" a n a rer (W' th

utle of I :ra~ Monk s' arc usually well edu ca ted and hav e e oppor· ~~1110r e ,er'

h h a sound edu catio nal system, ,

o fiSC' [ roug , f 0 Zen there IS a ruflln' ( 0 der of Buddhist ContemplatlVes 0 o r f· ' d·

, the r 'd be: mo nk The Ina or In a- 11 . d o( rraining fo r any WOlI - , " ' ' I

length y peno , called "transmission" a nd It IS at t~IS s~ecla 11 0 11 ceremony IS monk binds himself to his Master, accep nn g him or ceremollY th~tf the , f the Buddha It is a ccremony not to be taken

maOl estanon 0 ' I I't of wo men her as a '" Order wh ich accepts the tota eq ua I Y h hghdy, Thl~ l~e~l~ th e founder of the Order as a woma n su~e~ts t a~ WIth men _Ill b ~herwise so women are orda incd here Wit eq ua It could not eo,

Sf:t ru S, Those who a re not o rdain ed bur who are i nitia~ed

~cnewal of vows , 'Ish to renew th eir initiation by spcnd lll g B ddhism sometim es w , p S'I five 11110 u , II at Vossa , The norma alleo I a or

sOme time III rerreat'dusuad~ , c extended whil e in retreat and the f he Thera va a tra mon at f h d · d \'oWS 0 t • d h somethin g 0 [e o r allle

lay people ~edi~~~' ~~~~n~:f ~a;:: is marked by a special f~stival O1onk'~ ro uune 0 I~' ali and it is a time, again, fo r bestOWIll~ on InvolvlOg the whol e oc ry ' ft h ' h they are pe rmitted to receIVe. th e monks all thde, nece~,a~y gl a: ~o:~d at the ourset, is large ly male

The Therava III tra In o n, , d ' longer being possible, G irls d I 'ti m::tte fema e or ers no '

orienL.1te ; egl k'nd of initiation cere mon y in the monastiC O1 ore rarely undergo any I h . ·m·,lar to those of the boys are

, ' f B ddhi sm thoug ntes Sl • , h traditions au' h h to become ordai ned In t e sometim~ fOll~~. , Wh~I~~/ ;~s~ n:~:sariIY attach th emselves to a Therava dln ~ra m a n , h th e same st atuS as a monastery, convent, whIch ca n never ave

" I b d with the same emph asis as in many Birth rites BIrth IS not ce e r

H · " t .dition an d loca l custo m,

'

religions oweve r, r. , other cu [urcs or . ,'. ' n tend to mark the occasio n III some sometimes pre~Buddhls r In o n gl " d ·t·,ons of Buddhism, monk s

h b t ' n the monastiC [T a I , way or ot er, . ~ I h ma be asked to give a bleSSIng to wou ld not participate. though [ ey y b Thus ce remoni es whi ch th e child, and so metimes thO nam,.' ,Ihe b

d • o

Yw· ·,th B~ddhism itsel f. Such b ' h t ' mes ave ttl e to

celebrate In some I , Th ' I d where newl y~born baby bo ys arc pe rhaps is [he custom In a~ ahn, cil s and books whil e baby

, d ' dIe o r basket wtt tOO S, pe n " h p ace In a cra , ' h dies and co nons, BurYing t e girls would be placed In one wtt nee " n important rite in Thai

.,. , d ' n ea rthenw a re vesse IS a • ' h· umbl Ica co r 111 a h I' down of someone, III r IS birth cus tom; it generally marks t e ~t~I~~ custo m is th e belief in an case, th e ne",:, ~aby, Import~~t;'c~o~~~;\I s ;ithin the body and artcnds attenda nt splnr, a klJlvall" L d w·,th threads to welcome

th b b' (lStS are lastene • to its welfare: e a y s w ' f m evil spi rits the baby is not the klllvall, T o protect ~ewf babies r°

fter its birth, presumably when

given iUJ actual name until a ew yea rs a

BUODIIiSM

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322

the ~ood SPirit,. the khwafl, is well established. A chubby, O",I, llY, l?Okm~ baby might be given an uncharacteristic name involving te like "httle" or Mtiny" in order (0. deceive the evil spirits and \I IS:: unusual for a person (0 have reramed these names throughou t I,"

' h h - I~~ to retain IS or er rwo names. Wh il e such customs are impo rra local level, it is gene rall y the rite of initiation which is given preced

nt at

I ' I b' h ' eo« over p l ys lca Irt In term s of religious significance.

Marriage Marriage in Buddhism is genera ll y cOllSidered to bt secu lar ~casion and therefore would nO[ in volve the monks. The Id • of marrrage as a sacred institution would genera ll y be opposed [ tot monastic tradition in which it is possible for men to leave their fa

O ,

r d ' d h • !nl· les - as I t e Buddha - for the li fe of a monk. Mo reover to sugg h " f • '" ~ a~ marrrage IS a source 0 happiness, or that two people shou ld be

indissolubl y bound to one a no ther, is a li en to the ge neral impressio o f Buddl~ism \~hich. advcx:are loss of the egoistic self and non -cravi~ for happilless III a life ~llIch ca n only be impermanent and transie nt. To .suggest .r ~13t ma rn age can bring lasting happiness is there fort a.gamsr (tadlnonal be li efs: Th.us, wedding ceremonies arc usually quitt Simple. ~or many BuddhiSts It would be important to ens ure that tht prospective couple had compatible horoscopes and (hat the martlage t~k~ place at a favourab le astrological t ime. The Indian t raditio n of ~lndlllg the couple together sy.mbolically ohen OCcurs as, for exa mple, III th e BU r?lCSe ~ustom of tying th e hands of t he bride and groom together wit h a silk s~a rf, o r th e Sri Lankan cus tom of tying th e thumbs togeth er. Burm~se mes a lso have rhe CUStom of holding [he co uple's hands togeth er m a bowl o f water, symbolizing that their union should be as in di visible as water. ~he c~ lebra~ion of marriage in Nich iren Daishonin Buddhism

begms. wah Dall1lokll, the chantin g of Nam-myoho-renge·kyo , before th e bflde a~d. groo m enter in order to join the assembled guests (or gOftgyo. T hiS IS followed by what is called sail san k"do a rite in w hi ch sake is. given ~o th e bride and groom who eac h takes ;hree sips from three mcreaslllgly la rge r cups. This symbolizes the wish for rhe growi ng unity of th e couple, their increasing co mm itm ent to eac h other, and rh e increasing effect of their Own happiness on the eo vi· r~nl1lenr arou nd them. Thus th e meaning of sa" sa" kudo is 3 x 3 = 9. RlIlgs a re exchanged .a?d. th e ma rri~ge register is signed, fo ll owed by an address by rh e OfflCl3tmg Buddhi st. In Tibet it sometim es happens th at a number of brorhers ~" ill marry one woman. Such polyandry may serve the purpose of keepmg the popu lation in check in areas where a ra ble land is scarce.1O

Death T h.e acceptance of ~antsara means t hat deat h is bur a passage from o ne li fe to the next In the same way th.u life consisrs of t he passage from o ne moment to th e next, eac h consecutive.momenl being

----:t about by similar, but not identical, factors. But the passage broug h death to :l new life is dictated by the accu mula ted konnas of rhr~~~ividual. Buddhism accepts many world systems and thirry-one rhe f existence ranging from a high ly subtle, form less realm to Pla nCSo . I dd d " f ,"'Sible humans anima ls, demons, hcl s an ea SpiritS. those 0 ' . . fh

dent on the karmas wh ich make up the first mo ments 0 t e next Depen "f' f l I Th 'f 'ndlvidual could filld hiS or her sci 11l any 0 t lese rea ms. us, he,ail l . .. d ' h

h 'l other rites of passage may be mllllnllzed, t hose concern e Wit

w Ie. . d' , h death are considered to be very Im portant. In monasnc tra mons t e

ks would attend (he funera l and conduct part of the ceremony. mon . th I Th casket contain ing t he deceased IS often caken to e temp e

e unded with gifts fo r the monks, a nd with Rowers. The monks SUfro .' I d will chant appropriate parts of Buddhist scfl ptures, perhaps re a tc to komta, to rebirth, and will emph asize the c~ le~r~tory na~re of a

rson passing (rom o ne life to the nex(. While It IS recogmzed th.at :mfort and consolation need to be give n to rhe bereaved, Buddhist funerals are not t he sad occasions whic h they a re in so me cultur es. There may be festive music, children playing, a nd feasting to cele brate the passing through the door of death to a new li fe beyond it.

In both Ther3vada and Mahayana traditio ns - especia ll ), the latte r _ there is often an emphasis on ancestor wo rsh ip. In such cases it would be important to comfo rt the spirit of t he deceased so that it does not aggravate those who are still living. Indian religion has had a tendency to consider the acquisit ion and work ing off of karma to take place as much w hen one is deceased as when ~ne is alive. - the e~i~­ tence of heavens and hells bei ng th e usual medIUms for thiS - but It IS believed that t he li ving can a id th e dead by pass in g ove r as much spir- itual mer it as possible. So in monastic sects gifts to the mo nks would be particu larly important at this time with the hope of effecting good kanlta for th e li ving, and for helping to sto re up good karma for the deceased in o rd er to pro mo te a particularly favourab le rebirth. This somewhat detracts from the fu ndame nta l teaching of the Buddha that each indi vidual needs to wo rk out hi s or her ow n salva ti o n and th at the karma one accr ues is one's own a nd provides th e continu ity fo r the next life of any individua l. Passi ng karma to the deceased, howeve r, is as im po rtant in Theravada Buddhism as most sc hoo ls of M aha ya na .

The emp hasis on the venera ti on of ancestors has led to rh e custo m of buria l in Maha yana Buddh is m, while Theravada Buddhists ge ner- ali)' cremate the body as th e genera l Indian custo m. Such is th e importance of the ro le of ancesto rs in the former th at there are festi- vals for th e dead such as the Chinese "Festival o f Hun gry Ghosts" when offe rings a re made for the dea d and lighted candles pla~ed in paper boats in o rd er to guide their spirits. At t he Japa nese festival of Higan, w hi ch occu rs at the equinox es, prayers and gifts fOf the d.e~d are offe red' while the Japan ese Bon fes tiva l is a time when rhe SplfltS of the dead' return to their homes and so li cit help from their relatives.

BUDDH I SM

323

324

BUDOIIISM

Many Mahayana rradirions have ceremonies that are held in of the deceased and these will vary in frequency from weekly for chose recently deceased to much longer periods as the becomes more distanr. hinese and Japanese Pure Land sects thar at death one is able to enrer the paradisical realrn Amirabha/Amida if One has total fai th in this Buddha. Here. "'''''''r;, is by faith rather than loss of karma or the accumulation of

exces " "

good karma.

In Tibetan Buddhism rhe body of the deceased is dismembered exposed to the elements - practical measures in a COuntry wirh i soil and little firewood in its mountainous land. Lamps are kep I for sevcn weeks to light rhe spirit of the deceased to its new state in next Life. Mosl Buddhists view death positively. Nichiren Daisho

nlll Buddhists try to express to families and friends ae funeral ce remonier the on·going nature of life beyond death. Parr of Ihe address they gi", at ceremonies in the United Kingdom inc/udes the following words:

Buddhism tcaches fhat r.r~ and de-alh are- bur two consl~lndy rttuning phases of life. In other words. life is erernal and mdestructible _ fore\'e r eXlstmg. When we are In the Mliv;ng " stare we are :lcnvdy contribUting to the 11ft' of (he whole Ulllverse _ 10 Our family and others. Death IS hUI a State of lalenq - an mterval like a nlght's sleep. Dearh is when we regenerate enough life- force to take on a fresh new physical (orlll so (hal we can COntinue to comribute to rhe wdl . being of the grear universe, fO Our f:l11111y and others.7!

The funeral ceremony is simple, and pOSitive, and includes tht chaming of daimokll and gOllKYo either fully Or in part.

Death rites in the Soro Zen Order of Buddhist Concemplarives art actually an o rdination ce remollY, ordaining the deceased person into rhe Buddhisr Order as a lay person. This takes rhe form of symbolic shaving of rh e head, just as a monk would do before entry to the Sangha. In SOme cases the head may actually be physically shaved in the coffin. Such o rdin arion of rhe deceased illustrates the belief that there is no birth Or dcath, onlyconrinuity. lf a funeral is held at a major temple of the Order, tht body is laid in from of rhe altar (or on it if a senior monk). A strip of doth is placed around the hands, possibly to keep rhc hands in thegassho mudra, the bowing pOSition, and a rosary is placed around them. A deceased monk will have part of his robe- the kesa - placed round his neck, a Jay person a Ulagcsa, a black stri p of dorh symbolic of the robe of the monk.

In generallife·cycle rires, as in mostculrures. reflect some of me vc ry oldest folk CUStOms and deeply ingrained traditions. In many respeccs, :1 good deal of syncretism has OCcurred berween indigenous CUStoms and Buddhist ideas as in the case of Japanest traditions. for example. Of the life-cycle ritcs, however, death is the most important one and

. . tOuch with rhe tenets of rhe respective --:;-whiCh . rema~nhs II~ emphasis on rebirth as :1 posi tive step on the dltton Wit a Buddhlsf tr rsonal evolution.

p:lIh 0 pc . ,he d d ro suit the cultures of different counmes B ddhlsm has ~'~ka I a~~ehave irs own distinctive festiv~ls. Even New

U ,",ch couwy" , e y different times, Festivals pr~v,de ,'~ oppo~ ~ If criebrano ns occur at t ke an active part in their relig loll, an )C'lt' for the lay pe~ple to ad ~casions (or enjoyment as we ll as.a lUll ?de shared expcnences an . (rfe They also reinforce the reh- pra

VI d change from the rourllle 0 I.. . and cul rure. The

pronfoUg~ving tangible eXPhre'lsionc tOle'ntsda~I~~~~,any Buddhist festi. 1:'10 , • b cd on t e unar a f II Buddhist year IS .as f h full moon. While the time of the u molon

[s occur at the time 0 [e h lain phases of the moon are a so ,'"iI especially importan.r,. t.he or era: visirs to rhe temples to offer gifts "mes for religious aCtiVities, sfuclh B ddha But the full moon is mOSt n f h Dhamma 0 t1e u.. . h d h m honour 0 t e .. II he Buddha became enlig rene at s~c ,

'ficant in thar tradmona y t ft t the full moon to remllld sIgn d ' nks 0 en mer a 'me and wan enng mo h e a re differences between :a~h other of Sangha rules. dNev~fh~'eys:~: ~nd Vajrayana (Tibetan)

festlva I times of Thcrava a, a a Buddhism.

, I ' Theravada Buddhism are oftcn a d F t' ,'als Fesnva Sin. . . 0 Therava a es. I k to 'o in together III a monaStery r time for the laity and the ~IO~/ firs: day and the fifteenth days arc temple. In the lunar montsa't:a means "entering to Stay" because .on called "posalta days. Upo d . . h monks in fast in g, devonon these days rhe laity is expecre (01 10Inoot"e"s new and full. The weeks ... eswhen tlem . llnd meditation at tim I' hrly less important "pasatta

' h d full moons are s Ig h followlIlg renew an . h f B ddhism such days were t e occa. rimes. While in rh e earlter p ascho v,u hey I.:tter became occasions

. . tion of t e maya. [ . . h sian for monasnc reclta Id 'oin in monastic life. Consldenng t e in which the lay peo~l~ ~ou f'ood merit for the lay person, and the emphaSIS on the acqUIsition °I'f8. h. position that entry into the

bebo . he next lemsuc h I desire to rn III r k Id be possible such periods w en ay monastery as a full m~n wou . l'f are eOI~sidered essentia l. Thus, people can participate III monastl~ . I e of rhe monks. lay Buddhists .part from listening to the teae dings d 't.r,'on a nd would reaffi rm . . . h 1t' ng a n me I , • would partiCIpate III c ~ I Ip pIS o r even Eight Precepts. their acceptance of the Fwe rece ,

f ' I f r 7l This is an important rhree-day estlva 0 Vesak or Buddha Day . b' h Birth Enlightenmelll and Theravada Buddhists for It cele r~r~s th e namt' of the month which Death of rhe Buddha in one. ves; ~s ~e:rival coincides with the full co rresponds (0 Ollr MaY/~~ne ~~ ~ heonoured wirh li ght, flowers and moon. Images of [he Bud k

a . WI f called a festival of lights si nce so ' .- Sri Lanka Vcsa IS 0 ten • 1I1cense. UI

BUDDIIISM

BUDDHIST FESTIVALS

325

BUDDHISM

326

Illany are lit. This characteristic of light is an Important o ne it symbolizes the Enlightenmenr of the Buddha - arguab ly the important aspect of the festival. Thus, temples and homes a re lit, "'bodbj" trees are surrounded with lights and make I Vesak cards are sent and these porrTay the Birth, Death of the Buddha and are onen decorated with a bodh. lotus. Houses and streets are decorated for Vesak and gihs are to the monks and the poor as an expression of generosity - an i tam Buddhist practice at all times, but especially at this f .. tov,~ , Thailand, houses are cleaned and garlands of flowers where. The temple courtyard is spread with clean sand, Bu,ddlh, ''''~ in the temp le are cleaned and polished and at night the largest statues is put on a platform outside and surrounded with lights. throwing scented water on r.he statue, the people encircle the i with lighted lamps so that it is surrounded by moving lights. Budd hists circumambu late the local monastery three ti mes symbolize the Three Refuges. It is a time particu larly for pr,c,;,. <I the doctrine of ahimsa, "non-violence" - even, as Erricker poi ms our. to [he extent of abstaining from agricultural work which might hat1l li ving things.~l Vesak ho nours the memory and teachings o f the: Buddha and the flowers which are a feature of the festiva l rem ind the Buddhist of the destruction and shortness of all life.

Yassa Called Asala in some Buddhist countries, Yassa is the rainy season from July onwards. At this time it is not easy ro travel aro und, so monks spend time in swdy, meditation and st ricter religio us life. Specia l offerings are given to the monks at this time and no wedd ings or fes tivals take place. If was said [0 be the time when the Buddha rose to heaven, where he preached the Dhamma to the gods. His reru rn to ea rth at the end of [he rainy season marks the end of Yassa whic h 15 ce leb ra ted with many lights which s)'mbo lically illumine his pa th down to earth, as in the Burmese CU§fom of placing lante rns throughout homes. on shrines and on rrees. It is during this period that initiation, ordination and renewal of vows take place and many lay Buddh ists spend time in the monastery until the end of the rai ny season.

_ ew Year festivals As in most cu ltures, New Year celebrations are often times for more li vely and less religious celebration. It is 3 ti me when families and friends can get together. In Sri Lanka and Thaila nd water is sprayed indiscriminately over friends and strangers. Cars a nd noars are decora ted and Buddha images are washed. Apart from being a time of great merry-making it is also a time w hen basic activities suc h as cooking, eating, starting work and bathi ng a re given religious signif- icance. Emphasis on water is not only confined to sp rink ling peop le and washing Buddha images. Bowls of cool water are offered to

BUDDIiISM

hasls on water is probably connec.ted d BuddhistS an,d thiS emp the beginning of a new year. It IS a

htlOO\11't f purification before . d d B ddhists mke the Tllree h ideas 0 d the thlr ay u ., ' d b ~'II festival, an on, ,ht tOO, that ment IS achieve Y

Ihrec-O ay

nd FIVe "recepts . . It IS t~o~.g d ' Kite flying is a special feature 1tt{llges a aprive animals, fish a~ I~ Sci puppetS and rraditional rclt3Slnr~tival as also ~I~ys W,I: ~f\~W New Ye;r celebrations is "I the \he more religiOUS Sl e

B ddh ' manes in both temple and

113nong. t paid to the u a I • I:> k h own In the rcl,P& 01--- on the images for the mon ·s.

~ dbypacmg r ~ honte, an be

that takes place in Octobe rlNovc~ , r. I

· a This is a ceremony h k henl for keeping the religion /W"'" , h onksro t an t ~I h" I, rake g,fls to t e m be for ka tlJilla means cor reOp' ' II ·fts of new ro s, . I b '

I . hUI espccla y gl h' h ' . made). One spCC\3 (0 e IS a

" I~e, h frame on w IC It IS Ipartlcularly t e . I b t which Erricker commen ts:

of the fcstlva ,a ou ',ature I' • b sewmg d ' ceremollHli prescriplIOn, Y

Thle robe is made accor IIlg to d 10 imitate the patchwork of the h · cha way as IS S31 -p3.tches toget er III SII h I monks on their trnv!el s .•

plddy fields famlhar 10 I e ear Y

. d b the monks themselves and is given by

The robe is somentnes ma e y fe ' II return it. In some places, 1 fo r them to 0 1\Cla y be A them to the lay peop e . f h eighbo urhood make the ro . s ho,vever, the young girls 0 ( . e n f the finished doth illustrates very

[tricker points out, the bestowldOg 0 f loy and monas tic commuOl- d ' d'pen ence 0 •• • , well the continue Inter C I d talk about Kalhjna as a [tme

. " The monks bless the lay peop e ~n . A prerequisite of the lies. . vhich brings ment. I O f kindness and generosity,' r: monks who have correct y

. h ve present live . festival is that It must a h t h"ve done so 111 the same

d f oft em mus .. 1 observed Yassa an our . d h K'ng is rowed Ouf to the Temp e temple. In Bangkok, in Thallan '~ e ~nks with a Karhma doth. of Dawn (Wat Arlin) to present t em

, The Buddha's cremated remains were Ksala perallera (Sri Lanka) dh ' Id and housed in stllpas. In divided thr~ughout the B~d 1St I~~,:"a in which is housed a tooth Kandy in Sn Lank~, there IS a ~~ brought frolll India in the fou rt h of the Buddha. sa~d . to hav~3ced at Anuradhapura. In the mont,h of cemury. It was ongmally ~ h £ 10 perabera (Esala proceSSion), Esala Uuly/August ) there IS t e ~sa, htS from the new mOon to the which is a festival lasting for fift~en 11Ig,S carried on a royal elcphanr full moon. tn this festival, a rehquar~ I ,('p"abera) are held at night

d The proceSSion f h which is finely decorate . h' oceeds At the end 0 [ e

I b teastetllllepr . . I and become more e a ora ma be featured in the proceSSIOn a ong festival a hundred elephants . ,Y fireworks and important people.

d ers muSICians. . d ' 0 with dancers, rumm ' . onve cd in the reliquary or ret~\lne I Whethe r the actual tooth .IS c y, The fes tival also features four

' h pie remams uncertalll. caskets If'I t e tem 327

BUDDHISM

328

guardian spiri ts of Sri Lanka who are very akin to rh e o ld . Peraheras are a particular fearure of Sr' . ffindu

pr~essions, when relics a re processed t~ La~kan festivals and pamme nr of mu ch joyous celeb ' o ug towns to the religious yea r, s uch as at POSOI:a t:~lic~CU{ bat o ther tim~ of Buddhism is th o ught to have arri~ed in S ~~ ~at~s the t!me Emperor Asoka. n n a m th e time of

Other festival s A Ih p . . the giving of th e f sa a flfa 'bs a Thera vad in festival which ce leb,o ...

1m se rm o n y rhe Buddh d h ,~ turning of th e Wh eel o f th La h ' a - an ( erc,ore (he

B e w - to t e five asce tics in (h 0 ne~r cnares. It is kn own as Chok hor in T"be P . e etr sc nptures written on long wooden blocks Wi f . roc~slOns - the fes tival · they sym bolO h . e re a partic ular feature DJ ' Ize r e carrymg a nd sp d f h

Jamma to all places. Magha p,, 'a is a f~1I rea ~ t e Buddha bra tes th e selectio n of two h~ f d ' . Imoon festiva l which ceJo. es tablishing of th e Viffaya b c h ~\ ~5CIP es by rh e Buddha, rht a nnounce me nt by rh e Buddh : rh

w 'h c

t e mldonks s hould live, and the be r < at e WOu die in (hree h • ra re an au di ence o f 1150 d· . I mo m s time. ca ndles are lit in memor- of t~~IP es. In som~ eas tern temples 1250 Some parts of Thailand ~s ° d'ast beev~nr. It IS a festival of lights ia

, Jr use to 111 Laos.

Mahayana festivals: anniversaries of th e , . Buddhist festivals vary considerabl Bud~ha s Me Mahayana pre-Buddh ist CUstoms Sine y and o ften II1corporate tradi tional f . e a nces tor veneration ' . I o ma ny Maha yana B ddh ' . IS a part/cu ar fearull'

Buddhis t traditions, ma~y fes~~~a~~Ue~tne~ an~ ha s its roots in pre.- Buddhis t ritual with s ll c h bel" fA ' pecla lly I~ the Far East, co mbine man y festivals of MahaY311~e BUd~~;npr~hens l ve ex~mjn3 tion of the number a re highlighted from th e Ja s m IS no t po~slble he re, bur a M a hayana Buddhism. panese a nd Tibetan strands of

Japanese festi vals Unlike th e Th d · .. and Enlig htenment of the Bud~~~:va In trad Itio n, the Birth, Death Maha yana Buddhism Th J are cele brated separately in in the fes ti val of Hall~ MaC, a p.a nehsehcclebra t~ th e Birth o f the Buddha

SUrf w IC occurs In A ·1 d ° suggests, is a flower festi val. It is the m . pn an ,as Its name flower festivals in Ja pan . Models of fI OSt Important o f rh e many placed in courTVa rds and te I ? wer gardens arc made an d

. " • mp es to remlOd Buddh · f h gardens where rhe Buddh b T ISt S 0 t e Lumbini f a was om rad '!" h ro m his moth er 's right s id d ' I Ion Sta tes t at he was born stand upright immediately a~'d an t as so enlightened thar he co uld the use of delicately pe rfum ed (;00 se~en. steps. Th~ festival includes provided perfumed water for th e ~ ~~n,dl~g B~ddhlS ts that th e gods ove r Buddha images in rh e tern I u . a s Irst . a th .The tea is poured cia red with rhe tim e when Pt:' Smce a whIte elepha~t was asso-

e Buddha was conceIVed, la rge

--;;achC white elephants are ~ome(imes made ro gua rd the model ~Ph Lumbini flower garden. White elephants are sym bo ls o f royalry ordl e hen (h e Buddha's mother co nceived, he r dream of a white 'ow d ° lbo h han l hera Id e spec13 1ft . t.ItPodo_e is the Japa nese festival which co mme morates the _ { heenme nt of th e Buddha a nd occurs in December. The Buddha

En lfenearh what ca me ro be ca ll ed th e bodln o r bo tre e until he ~~jeved en light~",l1cn.t and in. Zc:n Buddhism thi s is co":,mem?r~red

." h a period of mre ns lve meditation called rohatsu. Dunng thiS time ~ 1~ Buddhists meditate all day and night, and are nor allowed to lie de wn , although food is brought to them, Nahall-e is th e japanese f~tival. held in Febr uary , which c~ l ebrares the death of S~kyamuni, hiS porimrllalla . In Zen temples, lights are turned ou t whil e monks meditate a nd c ha nt special scrip tures before ligh ts are turned o n again. This is symbolic o f the hope that th e li ght whic h th e Buddha brought mlO the world will continue for as long as Buddhi sts practi se hi s teach·

mgs· Orher festivals reflect so me of th e older trad itio ns of japan, partic-

ularl y ancestor worship_ The festival of OOOn is a good example. Tradition states th a t o ne o f th e Buddha 's discipl es had the ability to IIlsit the heave ns and hell s (o r o ther planes of existence) to find o ur what hap pe ned to people who had di ed. On seei ng the suffering of his mother in hell, he asked th e Buddha for her release. Through the Buddha's compassio n rhis was done. So at Obon, everyone goes home much the sa me as people do for M o th eri ng Sunday in the West. During the festival, offerings are mad e to Buddha images, and people p ray that th eir a ncestors will have good rebi rths and realize "irvana . So the festival is a family reuni o n when people return to their native vi llages. Here the re are fetes, side-shows, circular dancing and musi c. The (estivollasts four days, beginning on 13 jul y. Graves are cleaned and decorated with flowers, in cense lit and the spir its o f ancesto rs arc invi ted ro return home. The people burn hemp reeds, w hi ch are thought to light th e wa y of the spirits, guiding th e m ho me. At hom e, people decorate th e famil y altar and prepare food for th e spirits, so me- times actually talkin g to them, for rh e presence of th e ancesto rs is felt to be vc ry rea l. When th e festiva l ends, lanterns, bearing rhe names of th e deceased, are floared on riv ers or lakes, taking th e spi rits away again. For this reason, the festi va l is often ca ll ed th e Festival of Lanterns or The Joyful Ce rem ony; it is also kn own as Uraboll, o r just 8 0n. The fes ti va l is a good exa mple of the way in which Buddhism has been adapted ro the c ustoms - in thi s case ancestor worship - o f a particular co untry.

Jo)'a no Kane is th e japanese '"'Eve ning Bells Ce remony". which sees th e o ld yea r o u( o n 3 1 Decembe r. T c mple bells are struc k 108 time s, this being a magi c number of ancient tradition originating in India and is the number o f beads on a Buddhist malo o r rosary. Higall is the name

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given to the two festivals wh ich celebrate the Spring and equinoxes (2 1 March and 23 September). At the heart of the is harmo ny, or "naturalness" exp ressed in the hope for th e tranquilli ry of nirvana in each person and in nature. At Buddhisfs visit th e tem ples as we ll as the gra ves of their where th ey give merit [ 0 the deceased by pouring water ove r the stones £rom wooden ladl es. The six traditiona l "perfections"

bodhisattvas - ge nerosity, non-violence, patiencee"r:':lf~f:o~rt~;, s:::::;~:~ an d wisdom -are remembered. These perfections a en lightenment o r "The Other Sho re" can be reached. Higa n also brates th e change in nafure, the cha nge in season, th e h"rm,~ between o ne season and th e next - like the harmony as one spiri tuall y from the world of samsara (t his sho re) to l1irv"a: :,;,,~:::,~:,~~: shore) . These festivals refl ect a ce rtain Chinese il equi no xes being the time when yin and ya ng were in perfect before th e assertion o f one over th e other fo r half of th e yea r.

Setsubo" is a festival which occurs in Feb ruar y when the J~~:::: spring begins. The head of each ho usehold putS a wooden rice I co ntain ing beans o n th e family shrine. As it begins to ge t dark he sea .. ters the bea ns at a ll th e entrances to th e house and in da rk co rners th e house, at th e same time shouting "' Dev il s out", "Good luc k in!- The festival, th erefore, is one which drives out ev il spirits and whea they have been driven o ur, a lirrle charm is put ove r each eorrance SO th a t the y cannot sneak back in again!

Tibetan festiva ls: Losar Losar is th e Tibetan New Year Festiva l and occ urs in February. It is a criticall y im po rrant time when a ll the ev il of th e paSt yea r is di spelled, and ex tends into a number of different festI- vals and celebrations to this end. It is preceded by a festival ca lled C Ulor in which houses a re thoroughly clean ed and whitewashed. A little of th e dirt of the house is reta ined and later thrown awa y at places where spi rits are th o ug ht to dwell, such as ar cro ssroads. At CU/or, kitchens must be scrupul o usly clean a nd a special dish called gu thok containing nine stuffed dumplings is prepared. Each dumplin g is made with a different ingredie nt inside- a pro phecy o f th e nature of the yen r a head for whoever partakes of it. One has a piece of charcoa l in it, indica tion a " black" heart for th e person who eats it. Just before Losar begins [he last day of th e o ld yea r is o ne in whi ch ev il spirits mUSt be chased away, o ften b)' mo nks in grotesqu e masks who rake part in a ritual dance showing the victOry of good ove r evil. Sometimes people go throu gh their homes with li ghted rerches, fi rewo rks and guns to cha se away ev il spirits. Signs dr awn in flour ma y be fou nd ro und t he houses as good luck charms and houses are decorated with special decorations made o f paper or clOth .

The first day of the ew Year begi ns rhe festival of Losar. Peop le get up ea rl y and wash at th e nearest well o r stream a nd put on new

h k Pse "cakes", . d . h l.. osar suc as a . . 1 food is aSSOCl3te ~It . ' and has extra ingredl -

SnI"Cl3 . d · k hlch IS wa rm . d 1(llhtS. 1"'-- a\coholtc nn w Boxes of gram an ~ h"g aO . d sweet potatoes. . ·d

",lid c tded to it such as ~IC~ ~ndried cars of corn and arc placedd IIlSI ~ Cf1Co J n ur ate deCorate Wit f nUly ce ntred on the fi rst ayan bJ,rlcY 0 festival is a happy o~c, a s hOllses.1be (fed o n th e folloWLl1& tWO day . festival of Motllam ntlghbour f~~rth day of Losar is {h.e great pr:r::med by Sakyamuni

on [he hich celeb rates the miracles pc ks to sit their exa mina- O(tl"'O w d was the traditional day ~or mho\. hest award of gcsbe, Buddha, ah~ her d--rees, particularly or t I: . Ig of Tibet. Monlam

for 1& "D . the re IglOIl . 1 uons d ys when Buddhism was d one of th e majo r fesn va s he a . . .. an was . In I means "Great AsplfaUOn f leb ratio ns for Buddhists dlttlltlO ·th Lhasa being the ce ntre 0 . ce elves 1t is an old In Tibet \~~t as well as Tibeta n BuddhiSts the~:ssociated with the oiltsid~ Trli ginating frolll the fifteenth ~entl1~a~~y ;he most important fes uva : school.~" MOil /am Chen,"? I.S b:~ieved that not o nl y d~ it c;l~~~he Tibetan festiva ls. beca~se ;t IS rea tes ve ry powerful pos\tl ve o a erring rid of eVi l but It a so c 11 ive co mmunity . fOCUS °::O~h for individuals and for th~CO eC~e monks don elabo rate ka~: the fourtce nth day of the ~~~v fo: a;, :pectacular sacred d~nce

[Umes and masks and com . \I the evil forces of the prevIous cos. is also designed to ex~rclse ~ . at th e full moon, on the which When the religio n nOUri shed til Tibet., in of the Tibetan year,

t~~;~nth day of the long festivities F~:~:a~~;:rre~, when ~ug~ statues the well-known Butter Sculp~ur~h · Butter Sc ulpture Festival mvolves of butter and Oour .were m~ . e. ~s Ie sculptures taking man y months elaborate preparations, th e Incre~dlb t th c festival after just a few hours

1 Iy [0 be destroye :\ .

to comp ete - on I co mmenrs on thi S: of public display. powe rs apt y

. fa hic renlLnder of the Buddh~st ThIs provided the audlence :" ~hteaa:h:thal all mundane human 3Ctl~­

oncept of impermanence. w IC. h d Those who rccogmz.c t e ~t1es pasS away, Ie::avmg nothm l1.

l r ~~t~tand the uil;mate futility. of

implic3lions of thiS prinCIple shh oU se~\.e5 to rdigious activities, which

..... oddly PUrsUItS and .... devote t em bnng lasting benefits.

BUDDHIS~

"lam Cl1e",1I0 and the festivals and The whole emp ha siS of Losar, Mfio th of the Tibetan New Year, celebrations which occur ~ the. llr~\~eO~ld year an d this will be done is on the expelling of all t e eV I 0 nd ·,n th e communi ty -the latter

. th e home a .. rtic- with all sorts of customs m n Circumambulation IS a pol wi th much ritual,colour a~d cere mO ~i three times to represen~ th e ular fea ture of Tibetan n~ual - c%~~l y done ent irely by prostr~tlons. Three Refuges, and somhe.tll~es a a Bud~hist city, many would clrcum- Whe n Lhasa in Ti bet t n ve as 331

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332

ambulate the city or the monastery in order to achieve good Such circumambulation is also a speciaJ feature of the Tibetan bration of the Birth, Enlightenment and Death of the Buddha In which is a more religious occasion, characterized by 3bscinene~ meat eating, or even by fasting and long periods of silcnce.

Tibetan festivals are perhaps the most colourful and fase;;n" ",. the festivals of Mahayana Buddhism because of the many which inform their practices. Powers comments on this un;i q" ... and the particular blend of religion with secular fcstivity following rath er apt statement about them:

Ti~l:ln ftlllvais have a multifaceted character and exhibn a curious bltnd of tht religious and Ihe mundane, of ~nous Budhisl rituals and humorous skits, sacred music and secular entenalOments, all mixed logether. The~ communal gatherings are Importani elemenrs in the development of a senSt' of shared values and tradHlons: people gather together from a wide area to celebrate their religion and culrure, to mw new people and old friends, and 10 drive out negative influences and ensure a brighter future.'

Although pilgrimage is nor required in Buddhism, it is still a popul~: 1 act of homage. Because Buddhism has a hisrorical founder in lhe Buddha, places attached to his life history have become importanr Sites of pilgrimage in India. Similarly in other countries, places I important relics attract pilgrims. The Lumbini Grove is the place where the Buddha was born. It is situated near Kapilav3sru in Nepal In the third century IKE the Emperor Asoka placed a pillar the re to mark the birth place. To visit the Grove. as other places of pilgrimage. brings merit to the pilgrim. Bodh Gaya is near Gaya in Bihar an d is the most importam Buddhisl pilgrimage site since it is the place where the Buddha achieved enlightenment. A descendant of the bod"; trtt (called bo tree for sho rt ) still stands marking the SpOt where the Buddha sat beneath the bo ttee until he became en lighlened. Thus il is believed to be a place of great spiritual significance and expe rience. Pilgrims circumambulate the tree in a clockwise direction, medita te beneath ir and hang colourful nags on it. Beside the tree stands the Mahabodhi (great enlightenment) Temple, where offerings are made. Also fea lu red at Bodh Gaya beneath rh e bo rree is a footprinr, said to be that of the Buddha. For Tibetan Buddhists Bodh Gay .. is the mOst sacred site of a ll and is considered to be the spiritua l centre of the lI1uversc.

Sarnath, now a large city ca ll ed Varanasi (Senares), and being easy to reach, is a popular place of pilgrimage. It was here at t he Deer Park that the Buddha preached his first sermon to the five mendicant holy men. The Emperor Asoka built a large slIIpa there as a monument. The site of the Buddha's death at Kusinara is marked by a temple and

~ ddh ' f om other countries. . 1110113Srerie5 ~ff :~'igh ~~u~tain in Sri L.1n.ka there is a foot':~~~:~~:~

r\phetOP B ddha 's There is no eVidence that the B ddh d to be the u : k B ddhist5 believe that the Su a

IS ').11 0 Sri Lanka but Sri Lan an . u nd on the third occasion rhe tilt I Y on three occaSions, a . . S p d

" Sired the countrd The Buddhist name for the mountam IS rl aha, VI rillt was ma c'. " . I called Adam's Peak because t e toot~our;\ble foOtpnnrf ; but.'t IS ~ ~oAdam while the Hindus consider -ho 1-' aSSOCiate the ootprlnt wI[ H" d' God The more effort it \luS I." • f S· the greal 111 U· .

be (he footprint 0 Iva., (2243 m) the more merit is obtalllcd. :~~~ to climb (he m~:::~~ntain at night and when the ~awn breaks Pilgrimsoftenascend. . thought to be symbolic of enhghtenmenr. [he btau(y o! (he sunn~~~sbodhi tree have been plaOled all round t~e

Stnce cuttings frolll d bodhi trees I Some stupas contam world, there are m~ny v.en~rat~e reat Rang~n stllpa called Shwe reliCS such as a hair reh~ I~ ( I~ce old leaf to honour the Uuddha Da,,~n. On this pagoda, p,l&b"d

ms ~ J .~a ",s a massive fifteenth century '0 • . AtBero u urtO a. .' h

;and acquire ment. terraces contain scenes deplCttOg t e

' ,,,po built in [erraces. The lowl:r b nd [he mote empry the terraces

B ddha but as one c 1m s, a h "d life of the u • . . d d of Buddhist teaching that ( e mm become, the ~ore on~ I~eml~f ;he stimuli which attract it to tb~ tr.an- needs to be snlled an e pty d thaI all is ultimately empty. ThIS tS a Slelll phenomenal world, ~~ I evolution of any individual and each swpa which reflects the sPtrhltu~ I f the srllpa which suits his or her person will be anracted to t e eve 0

ConSCIOusness. f the Buddha to be found b ddl pas statues 0 ' . There are many II JaTil dd'h" ne are huge such as at Sites

" h' h b ce Bu 15111. 0 1 ' . n 10 COuntrieS w IC em r.a f f ' I" timage and for qUiet re ce-

" k Th prOVide a ocus or pi D • • 10 Sn Lan a. ey f h B ddha But Buddhism IS not,

h I dserenefaceso t e u . . h" h non on t e ca III an .' It is an inward tourney w IC ultimalely, an externah7.ed 10llr"t

y . ' stence and of the self and, as a

seeks to understand the nature 0 eXI d phenomenal existenc e to h d ding to transeen . h result of suC un e.rst~n , d ' the faint smile portrayed by t e

that point of equanullIry exp resse to Buddha's face - nirvana.

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