Religion

The world's

Religions

HUSTON SMITH

.. -HarperSanFrancisco A DnMw>I of f-bqxrCollinsPllbll.lhm

UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON ROESCH LIBRARY

11IE WORLD'S II.EI. ICl ONS : A Com1Jieteiy Revised and Updated Edition afThe Rc.lig ionsofMan . Copyright © 1991 by Hu ston Sm ith. Origi- nal copyright © 1958 by Hu stoll Smit h; copyright re neoNed in 1986 by Hu sto n Smith . All rig hts reserved. Printed in the Unit ed States of America. No part of Ibis book lII ay be used o r reproduced in any mann e r whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brie f qu otati ons e mbodied in c riti cal articles au d reviews . Fo r infor. mation address lI arpt: rColli ns Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York. NY 10022.

Library of Congress Cataloging·in·Pub li cation Data

Smith, Hu ston. The world 's re ligions I Hus to n Smith.

p. e m. Rev. and updated ed. of : T he re lig ions of mall . 1958. Includ es bibliogrtlphicaJ refe re nces and inde x. 1. Religi ons. I. Smith, Hu ston. Religio ns of lTlall .

BLSO.2.5B45 1991 291-dc20

ISBN 0·06·250799·0 ISBN 0· 06·250BU·3 (pbk.)

II . TI tl e.

90-56449 erp

91 92 93 9 '1 95 M-V 10 9 8 7 B 5 4 3 2

This edition is printed on acid -free paper th at meets th e Am e ri ca n National Standards In stitute Z39.48 Sta ndard..

III. Buddhism

TIo" Mall Wl,o Wok" Up

n~ddl~ism begins with a man . In his latcr years, w hen Ind ia wa~ afire w ith Ills message and kings th emselves were bowing before him pie ca me to him (.'Vcn as they were to come to J esus ask ing wh~ was. I lie:'"' many people have provoked th is questio n - llot "WllO UTe you?'" with resp ec t to name, o rigi n. or ances t ry. but *Wllat are yo ? \;ha~ order of being do you belo ng to? What species do you repr~ sent? Not Caesar. certainl y. Not Napo lco n, or t.."VC1I Socrates. O nl y two ; J es us and Buddha. Wh en th e people ca m "cd tl' e" I

I 1 d . If puzz e rn en l

ht~ I. I e ~ u dIm h UII se lf, th e a nswer he gave provided all id e ntity for IS enllre message. .. :-:re you a god?" tlley asked . "No." "An angel?" "No." "A sain t?" No. Then what urc you?"

Buddha answered. '" run a~'akc." His answer became his title,. for thi s is what Buddha means The

Sanskrit root buJh denotes bo th to wake u ) . nil' , th e n, mellns thgnlightened OnLll or the :Awakened On Whil~ the rest of the 'NOr d W'dS wrap---' " tI I d lnou In Ie worn ) a s eep, drea ming a

ream ki.lown Il.'i the waking state of hum un Ijfe, a nt! 'Of th eir num ber roused hIm self Buddh.is rn begin s with a man who shook 'Off th e daze. the

l d07.e, th e drea m· llke V"dgllries of 'Ord in ary aW'dfe ness. It begi ns

wit I a man who woke up.

Hi s life has Oet.'tllllt! encased in lOVing legen d . We nrc lolullial th e "url~s were fJooded with light at hi s birth . The blind so longed to SL'e Iu s glory th at thL")' rece ived th e ir siglll : th e deaf and dumb

..

8UDDIIISM 83

cOnversed in ecstasy 'Of th e things th ai were ta come. Crooked became straig ht; th e lame walked. Prisoners were freed from the ir chains and th e 6res o( hell were quenc hed. Even th e cries o( th e beasts were hu shed as peace e nc ircled the earth . On ly Mara, the Evil One. did not rejoice.

Th e historical (acts o( hi s Ii(e are ro ug hl y th ese: He was born around 563 B.c. in what is now Nepal, near th e Indian border. His (ull name W.lS Siddhartha Ca utam a of th e Sakyas. Siddhartha was hi s give n name. Cautama his sumaJlle, and Sakya the name of th e clan to wh ic h his famil y be longed. Hi s (ather was a king, but as th e re were the n many kingdams in th e subcontinent orTndi a., it would be mare acc urate ta th ink of him as a fe udal lord. By lhe standards a( the day his upbringing was luxuri ous. Ml wore ganne n ts o( silk and myatten· dants he ld a white umbrella over me. My ungue nts were always frolO Banaras." He appears to have het!n exceptianally handsome, for th ere are numerous references to .. th e perfection of his vis ibl e body." At sixt ee n he married a neighboring princess, Yasodhara, who bore a son whom they call ed Rahula.

lie wa.'i, in short, a man who seemed to have eve rything: (amily, .. the ve nerable Ca uta ma is well barn 011 both sides, of pure d escent "; appeara nce, "hand so me, inspiring trust, gifted with grea l beauty of co mpl ex ion, fair in color; fine in presence, state ly to behald"; wealth , Mhe had e lephants and silver ornaments for hi s e le phants." He had a model wire. "majestic as a quee n o( heave n, constant ever, c heerful night and day, (ull of dignity and exceedi ng grace," who bare him a beau tiful son . In add itio n , as he ir to hi s fath er's th ro ne. he was des- tined for fame and power;

Despite all lhi s th ere se ttled ove r him in his twenties a discon - tent. which was to lead 10 a co mplete break witll his worldly es tat e.

TIl e source 'Of hi s discontent is impounded in the legend 'Of TIl e Fou r Passing Sights, 'One of the mast ce le brated call s to adventure in all wo rld litera tu re. Wh e n Siddharth a was born , so til is story runs, his (atll e r su mm a ned (ortun e te Uers to find o ut what the future he ld for his he ir. All agreed thai this was no usual ch ild , His caree r, hQ\.\.ever, was c rossed with 'One basic ambiguity. [fh e remained with the wurld, he would unify India and became he r grea tes t conqu ero r, a Chakra- varti" 'O r Universal King . If. on tile ather hand, he forsook the wo rld, he would became not a world conqueror but a wo rld redeemer . Faced witll this option, his father detennincd to steer his son toward

84 TilE WORLD'S REI..ICIONS

the fonner destiny. No effort was spared to keep the prince attached to the world. TIlree palaces and 40,000 danci ng girls were placed at his disposal; stri ct orders were given that no ugliness intrude upon thecourtly pleasures. Speci fi cally. the prince was to be shielded from co ntact willI sickness, decrep itude, and death ; eve n when he wen t riding, runners were to clear Lhe roads of these sigh ts. One day, how- ever, an old man was overl ooked, or (as so me versio ns have it) miraculously incarnated by the gods to effect the needed lesso n; a man decrepit, broken-toothed, gray-haired, crooked and bent of body, lean ing on a staff, and trembling. nlBt day SiddlHlrtha lea rn ed the fact of old age. Though the king ex tended hi s guard. on a seco nd ride Siddhartha encou nte red a body rac ked wilh disease, lyi ng by the roadside; and on a third journey, a corpse. Fi nall y, on a fourth occa- sion he saw a monk with shaven head, ochre robe. and bowl, and on that day he learned of th e life of withd mwal from the \\.'Orld. It is a leg- e nd , Lhis story, but like aU legends it embodies an important truth . For the teachings of the Buddha show unmistakably that it was the body's inescapable invo lve me nt WitJl disea.~e, decrepitude. and deaLh that made him despair of finding fu lfillme nt on the physical plane. "Life is subject to age and dea th. Wh e re is the realm of life in whic h there is neiLhe r age nor death?'"

Once he had perceived th e inevitabilit y ofl>Odily pain and pas- sage, £I es hl y pleasures lost their charm. The singsong of the dancing girl s, th e lilt of lutes and cymbals, the sumptuous feasts and proces- sio ns, tJleeJabor.ate celebrnlloll offes li vals only mocked hi s brooding mind. Flowers nodding in the sunshine and snO\.\lS melt ing on the Hi ma layas cried louder of th e evanescence or wo rldl y things. He determined to quit th e snare of dis tractions his palace had become aJld roll ow th e cal l of a truth -seeker. One night in hi s ~'Cn ty-ninth year he made th e break. his Creal COing Forth . Making his way in th e post-midnight hours to where his wife and so n we re loc ked in sleep, lI e bade tJl em bo th a sil e nt goodbye. and th e n ordered the gate- keeper to bridle his great whi te horse. The two moun ted and rode off toward the forest. Beac hing its edge by daybreak. Gautama c hanged clothes wi th th e attenda nt who returned with tJle horse to break the news, whi le Ga ulama shaved Ilis head and, "c!O tJl ed in ragged raj- ment.~ plunged into the forest in searc h of e nlighte nment.

Six years fo ll owed, during which his full e nc 'l,ries were co ncen - trated to"NaTd this end. ""ow hard to li vc th e life ofille lonely fores t-

BUDDJIlSM .. dweller ... to rejoice in solitude. Veri ly. th e sileot groves bear heavily upon the monk who has not yet won to fixity of mindl~ The words bear poignant witness that his search was not easy. It appears to have 1II()\'eli through three phases. wilhou t record as to how long each lasted or how sharply th e three were divided. His first act was to seek ou l two of the foremost Hindu masters of tJle day and pick their mi nds for the wisdom in the ir vast tradition . He learned a great deal-abou t raja IJOfIl especially, but abou t ~-lind~ phi1o~phy as well. so mu ch in fact that Hindus came to chum lum as their own, hold'ing th at his criticisms of th e religion ofh.is day were in th e o~der of refonns all d we re less important tha n Iu s agreeme nts. In lime. hm 'ever, he concluded that he had learned al l th at these yogis couJd

teach him. . His nex t step was to join a band of asce ti cs and give thc lr way an

honest try. Was it his body that was holdi ng him back? lie wo~l d break its power and c ru sh its interfere nce. A man of enormo~ Will· power, the Buddha-to-be outdid hi s associates in every ~us tenty th~ proposed. He a te so IittJe - six grai ns of rice a day dunng one of Ius fasts - that "whe n (thought I wo uld touch th e skin of my stomach 1 actual ly took hold of my spine. ~ He would cle nch his teeth 8J~d ~ress his tongue to his palate until "sweat flowed from my ar~llp l ts .. He wou ld hold hi s breath until it felt "as if a slmp were helllg tWisted aTOUll d my head .'" In the e nd he grew so weak lha~ he fe ll into a fa int; and if compa nions had not bee n around to feed IHm so me wann ri ce gruel, he could eas il y have died. . .

Tilis expe ri ence taught him th e futility of ascetIcIsm. He ha? givcn th is experime nt all anyo ne could , and it .had not s~cceeded-It had not brought en lighte nm e nt. But negative expen me nts carry thei r own lesso ns, and in this case asceticis m's failure prQ\lid~ ~au­ tama wiUl the firs t cons tru ctive pl:U1k for his program : th e pnnClple of th e Middle Way be tween th e ext remes of asceticism, on th~ one hand , and indulge nce on tll e otJl e r. It is the concept o~ lh e rn~loned life. in whi ch the body is give n what it needs to functIon optimally.

bu t no more. Having turned his bac k on mortification. Cau lama devoted the

final phase of his quest to a com bination of rigorous lho~ght 3Jld mys- tic co nce ntrntion along th e liues of raja yoga. Due evelllng near Caya in northeast In dia, so uth of the present city of P:.ltua, he sa t down under a peepul tree th at has co me to be known as th e 80 Tree {s hort

86 THE WOflLlYS flELIC10NS

for bodhi or en lightenment). llle place was later named the Imm ov- able Spot, for tradition reports that the Buddha, sensing that a break- through ~ ne~. se~ted him self that epoch-making evening vowing not to anse until e nligh te nm e nt was his.

The records offer as the first event of the night a te mptation scene reminiscent of Jes us ' on th e eve of his ministry. T1te Evil One, realizing thai his antagonisfs success was imminent, rushed to the spot to disrupt his concentrations. He attacked first in the form of Kama., th e Cod of Desire, parading three voluptuous WQmen with their tempting retinues. Wh e n the Buddha-Io-be remained un - moved, tJ~e Tempter switched his guise to that of Mara, the Lord of Death. lhs powerful hosts assailed the aspirrult with hurri canes, tor- ~ntial. rains, and showers o fflaming rocks, but Cautama had so emp- bed himself of his finite self thai the weapons found 110 targe t 10 strike and turned into flower petaJs as they entered his field of con- centration. Whe n. in final d esperation , Mara challenged his right to do what he was doing, Gautama louched th e cartll with his righl fingertip. whereupon the earth responded. tJlUlldering MI bear you witn~s" with II hundred. a tJlOu5and , and a hund red th~usa.nd roars. Maras army fled in rout, and the gods of heave II descended ill rapture to tend the vic tor with garlands and perfumes.

Th ereafter. whi le the Bo Tree rained red blossoms tJlat full- mOOned May n~ght, Cautama's meditation d eepened through watch after watch until. as tJl e morning star glittered in tJle transparent sky of the eas t, his mind pierced at las l tJl e bubble o f the universe and shatt e red it to naught, on ly, YolOnder of ,",,'Onders, 10 find it miracu- ~ously restored witJl the effu lgence of true being. TIle Creat Awaken- IIIg bad arrived. Cautama's being was tmnsformed, and he e merged the Buddha. The evell t was of cosmic import. A1J created things fi ll ed th.e morning air with their rejoicings and th e earlIl quaked six ways Willi wonder. Ten tJlOu sand galaxies shuddered in awe as lotuses bloomed on ~~ tree. turning the e ntire universe into "a bouquet of flowers se t wlurhng through tJle air.M3 The b liss of this vast experi - e~ce kept the Buddha rooted to the spot for seven entire days. On tJm e ighth he tri ed to rise. but another wave of bliss broke over him . for a total of forty-nine days he was losl in mpture, after which his ~g l orl­ ous g lance" opened onto tJle YolOrld.

. ~ara was waiting for him with oue last temptation . He appealed tJus tim e to whal had always been Cautama's strong pOint, his reason.

" UD DIIIS'I 87

Maradid not argue th e burden of reente ring Ihe world witll its banal- ities and obsessions. He posed a deeper chal lenge. Who cou ld be expec ted to understal tiJrlhe-Buddha... la ai 10 d of? Il ow couJd speech-defying re\<elation be tmnslated into words, or visiolls that shatter definitions be caged In language? In short how show what can only be fOlllld , teach whal can o nl y be learned? Why botJle r to play the idiot before an uncomprehending audie nce? Why 1101 wash one's hands of the who le hot world - be doue with the body and slip al O ll ce into IIiroona? The argumen l .... 'as so persuasive that it almost carried the day. At length, ho ..... ever, th e Buddha answered, "There will be some who will und . II - and Mara was banished rom is ife forever.

Nearly half a ce ntury followed. during whic h the Buddha tmdgcd the dusty paths of India until his hair was while, step infi.rlll ' ~nd body no thing but a burst drum , preaching hi s ego-s hatten ng, IIfe- r(:deeming message. He founded an order of monks. cll3l1ellged th e deadness of bril/""ill society, and accepted in retum the rese ntment , qu eries, and bewilderment his stan ce provoked. Uis dail y ~ouHIIC was stagge ring. In addition to training monks and oversecUig ll~e affllirs of hi s order, he maintained all interminable schedule of public preaching and pri\l:l.te counseling, advising the perplexed. e ncourag- ing the faithful, and l!omforting the distressed. "To him ~ple cume right across th e coun try from di stant lands to ask questions, and he bids all welcome." Und erlying his response to these pressures and e nabling him 10 stand up under them was the pattem .of withdraw'~ and return 1Iiat is basic to aU creati vity. The Buddha Withdrew for SIX years. then returned for forty-fi ve. But each yea r was likewise di- vided: nine months in the .... .'orld, followed by a three-month retrea t with hi s monks during the rainy season. His daily cycle, too. ..... as pat- te mcd to this mold. His public hours were lo ng, but three limcs Ii day he withdrew, to re turn his attention (throug h meditation) to its

sacred source. After an arduous ministry of fort y- fi ve years, at the age of eigh ty

and around the year 483 B.C. , the Buddha died from dysentery after eati ng a meal of dried boar's flesh in the hom e of Cu ndn Ihe ~mi th . Even on hi s deathbed his mind moved toward others. In th e Imdst o f hi s pain, it occurred to him that Cunda might feci responsible for hi s dea th. Ills last request, therefore. was 1Iiat Cunda be informed that of all th e meals he had eal"en during hi s long life. only two stood ou l as

88 TilE WORLD'S IIELIGIONS

having blessed him cu,.'eptio nall y, One was the meal whose strength had e nah le<1 him to reach e nlighten me nt und er th e Bo Tree, and tJl e othe r the one that was opening to him the Gnal gates to lIirvollD. 111is is but one or the deathbed scenes that The Book of the Crr!at Decease has preserved. Together tJl ey presen t a picture of a man who passed into tJl e stnle in which "ideas and consciousness cease to be" without the slight'est resistance. T"'io se nte nces frolll hi s valedictory have echoed through the ages. "All compouudcd things decay. Work out YOUT own salva ti on with diligence."

Th e Silent Sage

To understand Buddhism it is of utmost importance to l.rain some sense of th e impac t of Buddha's life on tJlOse who came wi tJ Ji n il:!l orb it.

It is impossible to read th e acco unts of th at life withou t emerg. ing with th e impressio n th at one has been in tou ch with one of th e greatest personalities of all tim e. The obvio us veneration felt by almost all who knew him is co ntagious, and tJle reader is soo n caught up wi th his disci ples in th e sc nse of being in til e presence of some-- thing close to wisdom in carnate.

Perhaps the most striking thing abou t him was his com bination or a cool head and a warm heart , a blend tJl at shi elded him from se n. tim e ntal ity on th e one hand an d indiffere nce on the other. He was undoubtedly one of th e greates t r.a ti onruisl:!l of all times, rese mbling in tJlis respect no one as much as Socrates. Every problem th at came his way was au tomatically subjected to cool, dispassionate analysis. First, it ~'Ould be dissected into its co mpone nt parts, after whi ch these 'NOuld be reassem bl ed in logical, archi tec toni c ord e r with tJleir meaning an d impo rt laid hare. He was a mas te r of dialogue a nd d ialectic, an d cal ml y confiden t. !'hat in disputation with 3Jl}'One whosoever I co uld be thrown into co nrusion or e mbarrass me nl - th e re is no possi bility of suc h a thing."

The re markable rac t, however, was tJl e way this objec tive, critical co mpon e nt of his c harac ter was bru3Jlced by a Franciscan te nde rness so strong as to have ca used hi s message to be subtitled "a re ligion or infinite co mpassio n," Whether he actually risked his lire to rree a goa tlh al was snttgged on a precipituus mountainsid e may be histori. cally uncertain. but the ac t would certainl ), have bee n in charJcter,

BUDDH ISM 89

for hi s life was one con tinuous gift to tJle famished cf'O'lA.lds, Indeed, his self-giving so impressed his biographers that they co uld exp~ain it only in terms of a mom e ntum that had acquired its trajec:tory llI .the animal stages of his incarnations. TheJatakD ThIes have him sacnGc· iug himself fo r his herd when he was a stag, and hurling himself as a hare into a fire to feed a starvi ng brahmin. Dismiss these post facto aecou nts as legends if we must; there is no question but that in his ~ ife as the Buddha the springs of te nderness gushed abunda nt. WantlOg to draw th e arrows of sorrow from everyone he me t, he gave to each his sympathy, his enlighten me nt, and the strange power of sou,l, which. eve n when he did not speak a word, gripped the Il carts of his visitors and le rt th e m transformed.

Sociall y, the Buddha's royal lineage 3Jld upbringing we re of great advantage. "Fine in prese nce," he moved amo?g kil,lgS and pote~l l ~ tes with ease, for he had bee n oue of th em, Ye t Ius pOIse 3Jld sophlstlca· lio n see m not to have distan ced him from simple villagers. Surface di stin ctions of class and caste meant so little to him thai he often ap pears not eve n to have noti ced the m, Regardless of how far illdivid· ual s had fall e n or been rejected by society, th ey received from th e Buddha a respec t that ste mmed from th e si mpl e fact th~t th ey were fe ll ow human beings. Thus many an outcaste and derelic t, e nCQlln· te ring for the first time tJle expericnce of being unde.rstood alld accepted, found .self·respect e merging and gai ned status II~ the co m- mu nity, "The venerable Cautama bids everyo ne welco me, IS co ngen- ial , co nci li atory, not supercili ous, accessib le to all."~

There was indeed an amazing simpli city about this man berore who m kings bowed. Even when his reputation was at its highes t he 'NOu ld be see n, begging·bowl in han d. walking through streets and alleys wit h tJl e patience of one who knows th e illusion of time. Like vine and olive, two of the most symboli c plan ts th at grow from th e meagerest of soils., his phys ical needs YlCre minimal. Once at Alavi during the frosts of winter he was found res ting in meditation on a few leaves gatJl ered on a cattJe path . MRough is th e ground trodden by tJl e hoofs of ca ttl c; tJun is tJle co uch: light th e monk 's yell ow robe; sharp tJl e cu tting wind of winter," he admitted. "Ye t I li ve happil y with su blime uniformity."

II is perhaps in acc urate to speak of Buddha as a modest mnn. John I lay, who \00'3$ Preside nt Linco ln's sec retary, said i,t ~s absurd t~ call Lincoln modest, adding tJlat Moo great human belUg IS mod es t.

90 TilE WORLD'S RELIC IONS

CertainJy, the Buddha fe lt th at he had risen to a plane of understand- ing that was fa r above th at of 3n}'1)ne e lse in h is tim e. In this respect he simpl y accepted his supe ri ority and li ved in the self .. confide nce this acceptance beq ueathed .. But th is is differe nt fro m v.ln ity or humorless conceit.. At the final assem bl y of o ne o f his sangha's (order's) an nual retreats, the Exalted One looked round ove r th e sil e nt co mpany and said. · We ll. )Ie di sci ples. I summ on yo u to say whether you have any fauh to find with me, whe ther in word or in deed .. - And when a favori te pupil exclaimed. "S uch faith have I, Lord. thai me th inks there never was nor will be nor is now all Y o th er grea te r or wiser th an tb e Blessed One, - th e Budd ha admo nished:

"Of co urse, Sariputla, you hllve known all th e 8uddhas of the pa..~t.. .

"No, Lord .... "We ll then, }'1)1l kn ow those o f th e fu ture?" -No. Lorn'- "Th e n at lea..~ t }'1)U know me nnd have pene trated my mind th o r-

o ughl y?" "Not even that , Lord .. - "l1len why, Sariputta. are }'1) ur words so grand and bo ld ?" Notwithstan di ng his own objectivit y to\Wrd him se lf, there was

constant pressure d uring his life tim e to {'urn him int o a god .. lie reb uffed all th ese ca tegoricall y, insis ling th ai he was hum an ill every respec t .. He mnde no atte mpt to co ncenl his tem ptatio ns nnd weaknesses - how diffi cu lt it had been to a ttain e nl igh tenmen l. how nnrrow the margin by whic h he had wo n through, how fall ib le he stiU remai ned .. He co nfessed th a t if th ere had bee n anoth er drive as powerful as sex he wou ld neve r hnve mad e th e grade.. lie admitted that th e month s whe n he WdS first alon e in th e fores l had broug ht him to the brink o f mortal tel"l"Or. "As (Iarried there, a deer ca me by, a bird caused a twig to faU . and th e win d set al l the leaves whispcri ng; and I dlOlighl : 'Now it is co ming-that fear and le rror:- As Puul Dahlke re nl arks in his Buddhist Essays. ~One who thu s speaks ncc...>d not all ure wi dl hopes of heave nl y joy .. One who speaks like Utis o fllim self attracts by thnt powcr wi th which tJle Tru th a ltracts all who c nte r her domain ....

Buddha's lead ers hip was evi de nced no t onl y by Ul e size to which his ord e r grew, bUI eq uall y by th e perfection ori ts di sci pline. A king visiting o ne o f th e ir asse mblies, whi ch W.lS prolo nged int o a fu ll -

RUDDIIlSM 91

moo n night , burst o ut at last. '"You are playin g me no tri cks? How can "I be th at th ere should be no sound at all. no l a sneeze, nor a cough , :n so large an Assembly. among 1.250 of the Brethren?" Watching th e Assem bl y. seated as sile nt as a clear lake, he added. MWould that my

so n mighl have such calm .. - . Like otll er sp iritual geniuses-one thinks of Jesus spottll~g ~...ac.

c hae us in a tree- th e Buddha was b.; fted with prete maturalms,gh t into c haracter .. Abl e to size up, almos t at sighl, tile peop le who approac hed him . he see med neve r to be take~ in by frau~ and front bu t would move at o nce to what was auth e ntiC and ge~u11l e.. <?ne of the most beautiful instan ces o f this was hi s e ncounte r WIth SU llIta the nower-scavenger, a man so low in the social scale that th e o nly e mployme nt he co uld find W".&S pic king f1\Ie r discard~ bo~quets to find an occas ional blosso m tll at mighl be barte red to sh ll hIS hun~er .. Wh e n th e Buddha arrived one day at the place where .. he ,,~ ~rting throug h refu se, Sun ita's heart was filled with awe and JOY .. FlOdlllg no place to hide- for he was nn OU l'cas te- he stood as if stu ck to Ih~ wal l saluting with clasped hands .. The Buddha "marked til e co ndl- tion~ o f Arahatship (sainUl oo(l} in th e heart of Sun ita, shin ing .. like .. a lamp wi th in ajar," aud drew near. saying. ~Sunita, what to}'1)u IS thiS wretched mode o f livi ng? Can you e ndu re 10 leave the wo rl d?" Su n- ita. ~expericnciTlg the raptu re of on e who has been sprinkled with ambrosia, said. 'If such as I may become a monk of yours, may th e Exal ted One suffe r me to co me forthl'" He became a renowned

me mber of th e orde r .. ' .. .. The Buddha's e ntire life .... 'as saturated wit h th e cO llVl cbo n that

he had a cos mi c mi ss ion to perform .. Immediatel y aft er his e nlighl e n· me nl he saw in h is mind 's eye ~so\lls whose eyes we re scn rce ly dimmed by dusl and souls whose eyes were sorely dimmed ~y dusl"'- the wh ole world of humanity, mill ing. lost. despera telY .. 1Il

need of he lp and guidance.. He had no alte rn ati ve but to agree WIth hi s foll ()Yolers thai he had bee n "born 11110 th e world for th e good of th e many, for til e happiness of tlie many, for th e advantage, th e g~7' th .. e happiness of gods and men , ou t o f compass ion for th e world .. illS acceptance of this miss ion withou t regard for personal cost wo n Ind ia's heart as we ll as he r mind .. "Th e monk Cauta~a has .. gone ~o~th into the religio us life, givi ng up th e great cl an of his relahvcs. gIVing up mu ch mo ney and gold, treasure bo th b urit..-d and a~ groun~ .. lhtl y whil e he was still a yo ung man without gray hai r on h IS head , III

In T il E WOIILD'S RELIGIONS

the beauty of hi s early manhood he 'A."ent forth from th e househo ld life into the hom eless state. ".

Encomiums to the Buddha crowd th e texts, one reason undoubt - edJy being th at no description ever satisfied his disciples com ple tely. After words had done their best, there remained in their master the esse nce of mystery- unplumbed depths their language could not exp ress because thought could not fathom them. What they could understand they revered and loved, but there was more than they could hope to exll3ust. To th e e nd he remained halI light, half shadow, defying comple te inteUigibility. So th ey called him Sakyamuni, "s il e nt sage (m wli) of the Sakya clan," symbol of so me- thing beyo nd what cou ld be said and thought. And they called him Ththagata. the "TJlUs-co me," the "Truth -winner: the "Pcrfectly Enlightened One," for "he alone thoroughl y knows and sees. face to face, thi s univel"!ie. .... Deep is the Tathagata, unmeasurable, difficult to unde rstand , eve n like th e ocea n."11

The Rebel SainI

In movi ng from Buddha the lIlan to Buddhism the religion , it is imperative that the latter be seen agd.inst th e background of the lIinduism out of which it grew. Unlike Hi nduism, wh ich e merged by slow, largely impercep tibl e spiritual accretion, th e religion of th e Buddha appeared Cl'Ve might. fully formed. In large measure it ..... as a religion of reaction against Hindu perversions-an Indian pro- testal1tislll not on ly in th e origi nal meaning of that word. which emphasized witnessing for (testis "ro) something, bu t equally in its latter-day co nnotations., which emp hasi7..e protesting against some- thing. Buddhism drew its lifeblood from llinduis m, but aga in st its prevailing co rTuptions Buddhism reco iled like a whiplash and hit back-hard.

To understand the teachings of the Buddha, iJlen, we shallnccd a minimal pic ture of the ex.isting Hindu is m lhat p3l'tJy provoked it. And to lead into th is. seve ral observa ti ons about religion 3l'e in order.

Six aspects of religion surface so regularl y as to sugges t that th eir seeds are in the hum an make up. One of iJlese is authOrity. Leaving di vin e authority as id e and approaching the maHer in Illlmall terms on ly, th e point hegins wi iJl speCiali zation. Religi on is not less co mpli - ca ted than governme nt or medicine. It stand s to reasOI! , therefore.

BUDDIIISM 93

that talent and sustained aUen tion will lift some people above the average in matters of spi rit; their advice will be sought and th eir cou nsels generally followed. In addition, religion's institutional, organi7..ed side calls For admi nistrative bodies and Individuals who occupy positions of auth ority. wbose decisions carry weight.

A second !lonnal feature of religio n is ritual, which was actually religion's cradle, for anthropologists tell us th at people danced ou t their re ligi on before they thought it out. Religion arose ou t of cele- bratio n and its opposi te, be reavement, both of which cry out for col- lective expression. Wh en 'A."e are c rushed by loss or when we are exuberan t, we wan I not onl y to be with people; we want to interact with the m in ways that make th e interactions more than the su m of their parts- thiS reli eves our isolati on. The move is not limited to the human species. [n north ern Thailand. as the rising sun first tou ches the treetops., famili es of gibbons sing half-tone descending scales in unison as, hand ove r hand, th ey swoop across th e topmos t branches.

Religion may be~rjn in ritual. but explanation s are soo n called for, so spec ulation e nters as a third religious feature. When ce do we come, whither do we go, why are we he re?-people want answers to these questions.

A fourth constant in religion is tradition. In !luman beings it is tradition rather than instinct that conselVes whal past generations have lea m ed and bequeath to th e present as templates for actio n.

A fifiJl typica1 feature of religion is grace. the belief-onen difficult to sustain in th e face of facts- th at Reality is ultimately on ou r side. In last reso rt the uni verse is fri e ndl y: we can feel at home in it. MI\eligio n says that the best thin gs are the more e temal things., th e things in th e universe that throw th e las t stone. so to speak, and say th e final ,,"'Ord: IO

Finall y, religio n traffi cs in mystery. Being finil'e, the human mind ca nnot begi n to fathom th e Infinite it is drawn to.

Each of th ese six things-authority, ritual , speculatio n, tradi- tion , grace, an d mystery-contribu tes importantly to religion: but e<luall y each can clog its works. In the Hinduism of the Buddhas day they had done so, all six of tll em. Auth orit y, warranted al th e start, had beco me he reditary and exploitati ve 35 bml11nfns took 1'0 hoard- ing th eir religious secrets and charging exo rbitantl y for ministra- tions. Hituals became mec hanichal means for obtaining miracu lous results. Speculation had lost its expericutial base and devolved into

IU TilE WQ II LD'S HELI C IONS

~eaningless hair-splitting. Tradition had tumed into a dead weig hl , III one specific by in sisting that Sanskrit-uo longer understood by th e masSe$ - remain the language of religious discourse. Cod's grace ~ being misread in ways th at und erc ut human responsi bility, if Illdeed responsibi li ty an y longer had meaning wh ere knnlla, likewise misread, was co nfused with fatalism , Finally, mystery was co nfused with mys tery- mongering and mys tifi ca ti on-perveBe obsession wilh mLracles, the occult , and th e fantas ti c.

Onto this religio us scene-corrupt, degene rate, alld irrelevant. matted wi th superstitio n and burdened with worn-out rituals -came the Budd]la. de le nnined to clear th e grouud that truth mig ht find new life. The co nsequence was surprising. For what e me rged ~ (a t th e start) a re ligion almost entirely devo id of each of til e above- mentioned ingredic nts without whi ch we wo uld suppose that re li - gion could not take rool. This fac t is so striking that it warrants being documcntt!d,

I. Buddha preached a re ligion devoid of authOrit y. Hi s attack on authority had two prongs. On th e one hand he wanted to break th e monopolisti c g rip oflhe brohmin$ o n relig ious te achings, and a good part of his re form co nSis ted of no more than making generally acces- sible what had hitherto been the possession of a few. Contrasting his own openness witiltheguild secrecy of the brahmins, he poi nted out timt "there is no such thing as closed-listedness in the Buddha.- So important did he regard thi s difference that he returned to it on his deathbed 10 assure those about him: "I have not kepi anyth ing back -u But ifhis fi rs t a ttack o n authori ty was aimed at an institu. tion-th e bra/Inti" cas te- hi s second was directed toward indi- viduals. In a tim e whe n the multitud es were passivel y relying on brahmins to te ll the m whal to do, Buddha c hall e nged each individual to do his 0'¥VTl religi ous see king. - Do not accept what you hear by report, do 1I0t accept traditioll. do not accepl a statement because it is found in ou r books, nor beca use it is in accord with your belie f, 1I0r because it is the saying of your teache r. Be lam ps unto yoursc lves. Those who, e ither now or aft e r J am de ad. shall rely upon th e mselves onl y and nol look for ass is tance to anyone besides them selves., il is they who shall re ach th e topmost height.-II .. 2. Buddha preached a religion devoid of ritual. Repeatedl y, he nd~culed Ih e rigmarol e of BraJI11umic riles as superstitiouli petitions to me ffeetual gods. They were trappings- irrelC\laI1t 10 the hard.

8UDDIIISM 95

de manding job of ego- reducti on. Indeed. th(..'Y " 'ere worst! than irrelevan t. he argued that "beli c r in the e ffi cacy of ritcs nn d (''ere mo- nies" is OI:C of th e Tcn Fe tte rs that bind the hum an spirit. lI e re, as apparentl y everywhere. th e Buddha was ~onsis~cnt: Discounting Ilindu is m's forms, he resisted every te mptati on to III slll ute new o nes of hi s own. a fact tha t has led so me wrilers to c haracterize his leac h- ings (unfairly) as a rational moralism rather th an a reli~on. .

3 Buddha preached a re ligi on that skirted spee ulall on. 111ere IS ampl; evidence that he could have been one of the world's ~real metap hysicians ifhe had pul his mind to the task Instead: he sklrt~ - the th ic ke t of th eorizillg.- His sil e nce on th a i fron l did 11 01 pasS unnoticed. "Wllethe r the world is e te nml or 1101 e te ntal, whether til e wor ld is fInit e o r not , whether tile soul is th e same as th e body or whether til e so ul is oue thing and th e bod y anothe r, whether a Uud- dIm ex ists afte r deatil or does not exis t afte r dea th - these things: onc ofll is disci pl es observed, "th e Lord does not explain to me. And that he docs not explain them 10 me doe s nol please me. it does 1I 0 t suit me."'" There were many it did not suit. Yel des pite in cessa nl 1l(..>C<i ling. he mainlained hi s "nohl e sil e nce. - H is reaso n W.l.S si~ple. On ques ti ons of this sort. "greed for views . , , le nds not 10 ~Ifica­ lion."" Hi s practieaJ program W.iS exacting. and he was not gOlllg to let his di sci ples be diverted from th e hard road of practice into ficlds of fruitl ess spec ulation .

His famous parable of til e arrow smeared thi ckl y with poison puts th e point wilh precision.

It is as if a man 'lOd l>een wou nded by {HI arTOW thickly smeared with poison, and his Jriew./s and killSml!r1 were to f#t a surgoon to healllim and he were to say, I will 1I0t ha ve th is arrow pulled out until I k:WW by what mall I tOO$ wOtHliled, whether III! is of tlte warrior caste, or a brahmin , or of tIle agricultural or tlte lowest ca.de. Or if III! were to say, I will not Iw ve th is arrow pulled out until I know of what name of family the man is; -or wl, etller ',e is tall. or Sllorl , or of middle l!eight; or whether lie is Mack , or dark. or yellowish; or w /l ether he COlllet from such and suc h II v il- lage, or town . or ci ty; or until I know w ltether the bow with which I was WOImded was a chapa or (J kodanda, or until I know w/l etlll!r th e bOtl.>-string was of swa llow-won, or lJ(lIf,boo fiber, or sill(:w, or lie""" or of milk-sap tree, or "ntill know whether tile slwft was

96 TilE W'ORLO'S RELIC IONS

from (I wild or cuitiooled ,,[alii; or whether it wosfeathered from a ou[Iurn; wing or a IlerQII; 01' a IlQwk '&, 01' a lJeacock;; 01' whetller it waJ' wrapped round witli the "irleW of an or, 01' of a buffalo, or of a ruru-deer, or oj a mmlkey; 01' until I know wiletller it was arl ordinary arrow, or a rozor--arrow. 01' an iron anvw. or of a calf· too lll arrow. Before knowing all this, tlwt man woultl die.

Similariy. it is riot on the view that the world is etenwl. tllat it is finite. IIwl body and SOf.J are distinct, 01' that the Buddlia exisLt aJter death . lIwt a n!JIg/ous life dlqJerlds. \Vliet/ler these view.s 01' their opposites arn held. tl!ere is still rebirth. tllert is old age. there is death . and grief, lamentation. suffering, sorrow, and despair. ... Ilw ve rIOt spoken to these view.s because they do rIOt corlliuce to absence of passitm, or to tmnquillity and NinJana.

And what Iw ve 1 explained? Suffering have I ert,/aincd. the cause oj suffering, tile dut nlction of suffering. and the path thai leads 10 the destnu;tion oj suffering 'w ve I erpIair.oo. F01' this is useful. 15

4. Buddha preached a reUgion deYO id of tradition . He stood on top orthe past and its peaks extended his vision e normously, but he saw his contemporaries as large ly buried beneath those peaks. He ellcouraged his followers, therefore, 10 slip free from th e past's burden. "Do not go by what is handed down . nor on the authority of your tradi - Lional teachings. Wh en you know of yourselves: 'These teachings are nol good: these teac hings when followed oul and put in practice co n· duce to loss and suffe ring-then reject them." " His most importanl personal break with archaism lay in his decision -comparable to Mar- tin Luther's decision to t.r.mslate the Bible from Latin into Cennan- to quit Sanskrit an d teach in the vernacular of th e people.

5. Buddha preache d a religion of intense se lf-efforl. Wc have noted th e di sco uragem e nt and de feat that had settled over the Indi a of Buddha's day. Man y had come to accept th e round of birtb and rebirth as une nding. which was like resigning oneself to a nightmar- ish sent e nce to hard labor for eternity. Those wIlD still clung to th e hope of eventual release had reSigned them se lves to th e bmhmirl- spo nsored notion that th e process would take th ousan ds of life tim es, during which th ey would gnldually work th e ir way into tJl e bmhmin cas te as th e only one from which re lease " 'as possible.

BUDDHISM 97

Nothing st ru ck the Buddha as more pern ic ious th~n thi~ prevail- illg fatalism . He denies only one assertion , that of the fools who say there is no action . no deed, no power. " He re is a path to the .e nd of

" . ~ ad ,·tl" Moreover: everv individual must tread thIS path sUDen n g . He "}. ..' "Th h himself or herse lf, through self-arousal and Imtia~lve. ose w 0. re lying upon themse lves only, shall not loo k for assistance to ~ny o~~ besides themselves, it is they who shall reach th e topmost he l~hl. No god or gods cou ld be counted on, .not eve n the Buddha him self. When L am gone, h e told his followers 111 e ffect. ~o not bother to p-:ay to me; for when I am gone I will be reall y gone. Buddhas on~y pomt the way. Work ou l your salva tion with dilige nce "UI Th e noti~n tha t only brolimillS cou ld attain e nlighten me nt the Buddha co nSidered ridic ulous. Whatevc r your caste, he told his followers. you can make it in this very lifetime. "Let persons of intelligence c~me to me, h ones t, candid. straightforward; I will in struct them, and Irth ey prac- tice as th ey are taught. they will come to know for th e mselves and to reali".e that supreme religion and goal.

w

6. "Buddha preac hed a religioll devoid of the supernatu~1. I-Ie condemned all forms of divination. soo tJlsaying, and forecasting as low arts, and. though he concluded from his 0Wl1 expe rience that the human mind was capable of powers now refen:cd to as parano~al, he refused to allow his monks to play around With Ihose powe~. By this you shall know that a man is not my disciple- that ~e tries t~ work a miracl e." For all appeal to the supematural and rehan~ on II amounted . h e felt. to looking for shortcuts, easy answers, and Simple solutions that could only divert attention from the hard. pracll~al task of self-advance. ~It is because I perceive dange r in th e practice of mystic wonders that I strongly discourage it." . .

Wh e ther th e Buddha's religion-without authonty, ntual , th eol- ogy, tmdilioll , grace. and the supernatural-was also a rel~gion with· out Cod will be reserved for later consideration. Arter ~ dea~h . all the accoutrements that th e Buddha labored to protec t hiS reilg lon from came tumbling into it. but as long as h e lived he ~epl thel~ at bay As a conSC<luence original Buddhism presents us With a version of ~lih'ion that is unique and there fore hi stori cally i~lValuable, for every insight into tJ\e forms that rel~gi.on can ta~e m~~ases ou~ understanding of what ill essence religIOn real ly IS. Ongmal Bud dhism can be charac terized in the followi ng terms:

98 TilE WORLD'S RELI C IONS

I. It ~ e mpirical. Never li as a religion presented its case with such un e quIvocal appeal to direc t validation . On every qu es tion pe r+ so ual ~peri~nce was the final tesl of truth . "D o nol go by reaso ning, Il?r by mfernng, nor by argument.~" A true disci ple mus l ~know for lumsel(-

2 . II was sC ie ntifi c. It made the qualit y of li ved experi e nce its final .Ies t. ~,nd di rected its attention 10 d iscove ring ca use-a nd-eff(.-'C I re lahonshlps thaI aff~led that e xperience. ~That being prese nt , Ihis become s; t~lat not be lllg presenl , thi s does not become. "20 Th e re is no effect WIthout its cause.

?' .It ~ p:.J.gmalic -a Irm 5Ce nde niai pragmatis m if one wishes, to diSIIll~lsh It from Lh e k.ind thai foc uses 011 prac ti cal proble ms in everyday hfe, but pr.J.gmatlC all the sa me in being concerned with ~roblem solving. llefusing to be sidetruc ked by spcc ulali ve qu es+ lions, Buddha kept hi s attention ri veted 011 predicaments thul demanded solutio n. Unless his teachings " 'ere useful lOllis, Lhey had no valu e what soever. li e like ned them to mfts j they help peo ple cross stre am s, but are of no furth e r vJ..!ue once til e further shore is reached.

4. I~ ~s therapeutic. Pasteur's wo rds, ~ I do not ask )'OU either your opllllOns Or )'Our religion; but what is )'Our suffering?" could ~(Iually h ave been hi s. ~One thing I teach ,~ said the Iluddllll: "suffer+ Ing an~ tl~e end of suffering. It is just 11/ and the cea.~ing of III thai I proclaim . 11

5. It ."'3.5 p sycho logical. l11e word is used he re in co nt rast to me taphYSi cal. In stead of beginning wiUI the universe a nd mOVing to tl~e place of hum an beings within it, the Buddha iUV'dJ'"iab ly began With the human lot, its probl e ms, and til e d ynamics o f coping with them .

6. It. WdS egalitarian. With a breadUI of view unllarJ..! le lcd in his agc. 3Jld mfrequen t ill a ny, ll e inSisted that womcn were as capable of ~nllghtenm~nt as men . And he rejec led the cas te sys tem's assump.- hon thai. n(>lIt~des were here ditary. Born a kslilltriya ("".mor, ruler) yet ~ndlll~ him self te mperame ntally a brahmin, he broke ca.~ te, openmg Iu s order to all regardless of socia l status.

. 7. I.t was directed to individuals. Buddha "~dS Il Ot blind to th e SOC ial Side of human natu re; he 1101 onl y founded a religious arc! ('tlngha)- he insisted 011 its importance in reinforcing individu:~

BUDDIIISM "

resolves. Yet in th e e nd his appeal was 10 th e individual, th ai each should proceed toward enlightenment through confronting his or hc r indi vidual situation and predicame nts.

71Jerejore, 0 Anorllla, be laml" unto yourselves. &take yourselou to no extenlal refuge. 110M fast as a refuge to the Trut/l . \\brk out your own saivatiorl wilh diligence. U

The Four Nob!" Troths

Wh e n th e Buddha finall y managed to break through the spe ll of rup.- ture thai rooled him 10 the Immovab le SPOI for Ule forty+nin e days of hi s e nlig hte nm e nt , he arose and began a walk of O\Ier one hundred miles toward India's hol y city of Banarns. Six mil es short of lhal cily, in a dee r Jlark at Sarnath, he stopped to preac h his firsl sennOIl. 11le congreg-.ltion WolS small-only fi ve ascetics who had shared his severc austerities but had broken with him in anger when he renounced that approach , on ly to have now become his first disciples. Hi s sub-- jeC! was th e Four Noble Truths. His firsl fonnal di sco urse after his awakeni ng, it was Ii declaration of th e key discoveries that had come to him as the climax ofhis six+)'eaJ'" quest.

Asked 10 list in propositional form the ir four most considered convictions abo ut life. most peop le wou ld probably stammer. l11 e Four Noble Truths consti tute Buddha's answer to that request. Toge the r they stand as the axioms of his system. th e postulates from which th e rest of his teachings logical ly derive.

The First Noble Truul is that life is dukJdlO. usuall y tmnslatcd Ms uffering ." Though far from its total meaning. suffering is an impo r. laut pari of that meaning and should be brought to focus before proceeding to o ther connotations.

Contrary to the view of ear ly Western inlerpreters, th e Buddha's philosophy was not pessimistic. A rcport of the human sce ne Call be asgrirr: as one pleases; the qu estion of pess imism does not arise until we are I'o ld wheUler it can be improved . Because the Buddha was ce rtain thai it could be, hi s outlook falls within He inrich Zimmer's observution tJlat keverything in Indian thoug ht supports Ihe basic insight that , fundame ntall y, all is well. A supreme optimism prevails everyw he re. ~ But the Buddha saw clearly that life as typically li ved is unfulfilling and filled witJI insecurity.

100 TilE WOIlLD'S REWCIONS

He did not doubt that it is possible to have a good time and that having a good tim e is e nj oya bl e, but two questions obtruded. First, how mu ch oflife is thus e nj oyable And seco nd. at what level of our being does suc h e njoym e nt proceed. Buddha thought th e level was superfi cial , suffi cie nt perhaps for animaJs but leaving deep regions of the human psyche e mpty and wanting. By this understand ing eve n pleas ure is gilded pain. "Earth's swee test joy is but disguised pain," William Drummond wrote, while Shelley speaks of .. tJlat unrest which me n miscaJl de light." Beneath th e neo n dazzle is darkness; at th e core- not of reaJity but of unrege ne rated hum an life- is th e "qui e t desperation" Thorea u saw in mos t peoples' lives. That is why we seek distrac tion s, for distrac tions di vert us from what lies beneath th e surface. Some may be able to di strac t the mselves for long peri- ods, but th e darkn ess is unre li eved.

Lol as the wind is, so is l1wr1allife: i\ moon , (l sigh , a sob, a stornl, a strife. Z3

That such all es timate oflife's usual condition is prompted more by re aJis m tJlan by morbidity is suggested by th e e xtent to which thinkers of every stripe have shared it. Existentialists desc ribe life as a "useless pass ion ,H "absurd," "too mu ch (de trop)." Bertrnnd Ru ssell, a scie ntifi c humanis t, found it difficult to see why people should take unhappi ly t'o news thatlh e uni verse is running down , inasmuch as '" do not sre how an unpleasant process can be made less so [by bei ng] inde fin ite ly repeated," Poe try. aJways a se nsitive barometer, speaks of "tJl e pitiful co nfu sio n oflife" and "tim e's slow contraction on the most hopeful heart." Th e Buddha lIever ..... 'Cllt furtJler than Robert Penn Warren :

Oh . it if real. It if the only real tiling. Pain. So let us nam e tJl e tnttll , like rllfm . We an: born to joy fllal joy may become paitL \\~ am bonl to 11O,>e lllOt hope may become pain. \\-e are bom 10 love tllOt love may become pain. H-e are born If) ,Jaill that paill may become more PaiTl , and from lhat inexhaus tible Sfl,>erjlru: We may gioe otllet'$ paill as our prime d efinitio n. 24

Even Albert Sc hwe itzer, who co nside red India pessimistic, ec hoed the Buddha's appraisal almost to idiom wh e n he wrote, "Only at quite

BUDDIUSM 101

rare momen ts have I felt really glad to be alive. I could not but feel witJI a sympa thy full of regret all tJl e pain that I saw around me, 1I0t onl y that of me n, but of th e who le c reation."

Dulcklw., lhen, names the pain th at to so me degree colors all finite exis te nce. The word's constructive implications co me to light whe n we diSCO'ller that it was used in Pali to refe r to wheels whose ax les ",'Creofi'-center, or bones th at had slipped from their sockets. (A mod e rn me taphor might be a shopping cart we try to stcc r from th e wrong e nd.) The exac t meaning oflhe First Noble Truth is th.is: Ufe (In the condition it has got itself into) is disl oca ted. Som~lllln~ has go ne wrong. It is out of joint. As its pi vo t is not true, fric tion (mte r- personaJ conOid) is e xcessive, move ment (crea tivity) is blocked , and it hurt s.

l'laving an analyticru mind, the Buddha was not co nte nt to leave thi s First Truth in tJlis ge ne raHzed form . He went on to pinpoint six momc nts when life's dis location becomes glari ngly appare nt. Rich or poo r, averdge or gifted. all human beings experience:

L. Th e trauma of hirth. Psychoanalysts have in our time made a great de aJ of this point. nlOugh Freud came to de ny lliat t.he bir~1 trauma was the source of alliatcr rulx.ic ty, to thc end he conSid e red It anxiety's prototype. The birth experie nce "involves just such a co n- cate nation of painful feelings. of discharges and exci tation, and of bodily se nsation s, as have become a prototype for all occasions on which li fe is e ndange red. ever aft e r to be reproduced again in us as th e dread of 'anxi e ty' condition s."u

2. TIl e patJlology of sic kness.

3. The morbidity of decrepi tude. In llie early years shee r physi- cal vitality joins willi life's nove lty to render life almost automatical ly good. In later years the fean arri ve: fea r offinrulcial depe nde nce; fear of being unl oved and unwanted; fear of prot racted illness and pai n; fear of bei ng ph ys ic aJl y repul sive and de pendent on othe rs; fear of seeing one's life as a failure in so me impo rtant respec t.

4. Th e phobia of death. On th e bas is of years of clinical practice, Carl Jung reported that he found deatJI to be tJl e deepest terror in every patie nt he had anal y .. .ed who had passed th e age of fort y. Existentialists joill him in calling attention to th e ex te nt to which th e fear of death mars healthy li vin g.

100 Til E \\IORI-D'S REUC IONS

He d id not d o ubt tha t it is poss ibl e to have a good tim e and that having a good lim e is e nj oyabl e, bu t two q ues ti o ns obtruded. Fi rs t, how mu ch ofUfe is thus e njoyable. And second, at wh at level of ou r bei ng does suc h e nj oyme nt proceed. Buddha th o ught th e leve l was s upe rfi cial, s uffi cie nt perh aps fo r anim als but leaving deep regio ns of the h uman psyche e mp1y and wanti ng. By this understanding eve n pl easure is gi ld ed pa in. MEarth's swee tes t joy is b ut d isgu ised pai n,M William Drummond wrote, wh ile She lley speaks of "th at un rest w hich me n miscall de lig ht. " Be neath th e neo n d azzle is darkness; a t the core- ll o t of reality but o f un rege ne rated human life- is th e Mqui e t d espera tion" Thoreau saw in mos t peopl es' lives. Th at is w hy we see k distrac ti ons. for di strac ti ons di vert us from w hat lies bene ath th e surface. So me may be abl e to di strac t the mselves for long pe ri - ods, but th e da rkn ess is unrelieved.

La/ as tile wi1l11 Lt. so Lt mo rtal life: A " UNm , a sigb . a sol), a stonlt, a s trife. l3

Th ai s uc h an es timate o r life's us ual condi{jOIl is prompted mo re by reali sm than by morbidit y is s uggested by th e exte nt to w hi c h thinkers o f eve ry stri pe have shared it. Existe ntialists d esc ri be life as a "useless p assio n," Ma bs urd," "too muc h (de tro" r Bertrand Russell , a scie ntific IlunHm is t, fo und it diffi cult to see wh y peopl e sho uld take unhappil y to ncws th at the uni verse is running down , in as mu c h as " I do not s6e how a n unpl easant p rocess can be made less so (by being j ind e lillite ly repea ted." Poetry, a1w.J.}'S a sensiti ve baromete r. s pea ks of - the p itiful con fu sion o fli fe" and "tim e's slow contractio n onlh e mos t hopeful h eart." Th e Buddha never we nt furth er than Ho bert Pe nn \Varre n :

Oil, it Lt real. It is tile only real thing. Pain. So let us name the Inltl! , l i!c£ mell. n~ are bonl to joy tllat joy may become " ain. We are born to " 01>e that Iwpe may become pa in. We a re IXJn I to loVf! that love may become tmin . We are born to 1Xl i" that pai,. may become more Paill, alld f rom tll6t i,lexha us tible Sl. I,JerjlUX m~ may bti ve others IXlin as oUr",Jrime definition.!4

Eve n Albert Sc hwe itze r, w ho conside red India pe SSimistic, ec hoed th e Buddha's appr.J. isnl alm os t to idi om wh e n he wrote, MOnl y at quit e

BUDD III SM 101

rare mo me n ts have 1 fe lt reall y glad to be aJive. I cou ld no t b ut feel wi th a sym p athy full of regret all th e p ai n th at 1 saw aro und me, no t onl y tli at of me n , b ut of the who le crea ti on ."

Dukkha, the n. nam es the pain that to so me d egree colors all lillite exis te nce. TIl e word's constru cti ve impli catio n s co me to light whe n we d iSCO'ller that it was used in Pali to refe r to wh eels w hose ax les were off-ce nter. or bon es th at Iiad slipped from th e ir soc ke ts. (A mode m me taph or mig bt be a sh opping cart we try to stee r from the wro ng e nd .) The exac t me aning of the First Nobl e Truth is th is: Life (in Ihe co nd iti on it h as go t itself into) is d is located. SO.I11~th i n~ has go ne wrong. It is oul of jo int. As its pi vo t is 11 0 1 tru e, fnc tlo n (mte r- perso nal conflict) is e xcess ive. move me nl (creativity) is bl ocked. and

it hurts. Havin g an analytical mind , th e Buddha was not contc nt to leave

thi s Fi rs t Truth in tliis gene ralized form . He wenl on to pinpoint six: mo me nt s wh e lllifc's di slocation becomes g laring ly apparent. Ri ch or p oo r, averJ.ge or g irted, all human beings expe rie nce:

1. Th e tmuma of birth . Psychoanal ys ts have in o ur tim e made a gre at de al of thi s point. Th ough Fre ud came to de ny th at t.he bir~1 trauma was th e source of all late r anxie ly, to th e e nd h e co nSid e red It anxiety's prototype. The birth experi e nce "invo lves just suc h a co n- cate nati o n of pain ful feelings. of disch arges a nd excit ati on , and of bodil y sensatio ns, as have become a prototype fo r all occasions o n w hich life is endangered , eve r afte r 10 be reprodu ced Bbrain in us as Ihe d read of'an xiety' cond iti o ns. MIS

2. Th e patho logy of sickn ess.

3. Th e morbid ity of d ec re pitud e. In th e earl y years s hee r phys i- cal vitality joins wi th life's novelty to ren d e r life alm os t a utom aticall y good. I n later years th e fears arri ve: fear o flin an cial d epe ndence; fear of be ing unl oved and unwanted ; fear of pro tracted ill ness and p ain ; fc ar of be ing physicall y re pulsive and d epend e nt o n o th ers; fear of see ing o ne's life as a fai lure in som e impo rta nt respect.

4 . The ph obi a o f de ath . O n tlle bas is o f years of c lini cal prac ti ce. Carl Jun g reportc..>d tllat h e found d eath to be th e d ee pes t te rro r in every pati e nt he had anal yzed wh o had p assed the age o f fo rty. Existe ntiali sts j oin him in calling atte ntion 10 th e ex te nt to w hic h tll e fcar of death mars he althy li vin g.

lot TIlE WORl.D'S RELI GIONS

5. To be tied to what one di slikes. Sometimes it is possible to break away, but not always. An in curabl e disease, a stubborn charac- te r de fect- for be tte r o r for worse there are martyrdom s to which people are chained for life.

6. To be se parated from what one loves.

No o ne de ni es that the shoe o f life pinches in th ese six places. TIle First Noble Truth pulls th e m toge the r by concluding th a t tll e fi ve skandal (life co mpon e nts) aTe painful. As th ese skandas are body. sensations, thoughts, feelings, and consciousness-in short, the sum o f what we gene rall y coll side r life to be-the statement amounts to the assertion thai th e whol e of human life (agai n, as usuall y live d ) is suffe ring . Somehow life has become estranged from reaHty, and tlli s es tr,mge me nl prec ludes real happin ess unttl it is overcome.

For th e rift to be healed we need to know its cause, and th e Second Nob le Tmtll identifies it. The cause of lifc's dislocation is tallha. A~rain imprecisions of translations - all aTe t.o some degree dishone st - make it wi se to stay close to tll e original \\.'Ord. ThIiJIll is usually tran slated as "d es ire. M There Is some truth in this - the kind we e ncounte r in Heartbreak House when Ceorge Be rnard Shaw has Ellie exclaim, - ) fccl now as if there was notlling I could not do, because I want nothing ," whi c h assertion moves Captain Shotover to h is one e nthu siasm in the play: MTImt's the on ly real strength . l1tat's genius. That's better than rum ." But if we try to make des ire ta"ha s equivalent, we run into diffi c ulties. To begin with , tll e equivalence would make this Second Truth unhe lpful, for to shut down desires, all desires. in our p resen t stat e would be to di e, and to di e is not to so lve life's proble m. But beyond being unhelpfu l, the claim of e<luivale nce would be "ally wrong, for thcre are some d esires tll e Buddha explicitl y ad voca ted -the deSire for liberatio n, for exampl e, or for tlle happin ess of o th ers.

Tan/ia is a spec ifi c kind of des ire. th e des ire for private fulfill - me nt. Wh e n we a re selfl ess we arc free. but that is prec ise ly th e diffi c ulty- to maintain thai state. TUllha is th e force that ruptures it , pulling us back from tll C freedom orthe all to seek fulfillment in our egos, whic h ooze like secret so res. Tanlw consiSlsof all Mlhose inclina- tions whi c h tend to co ntinu e or in c rease separateness, the separdte existence of tJle subjec t of desire; in fact , all forms of selfi shn ess, tll C esse nce of which is d esire for se lf at tll e expense. if necessary. of all

BUDD IIi SM 103

othe r forms of life. Life bei ng one, al l tilat tends to separ.lte one aspec l from another must ca use su fferi ng to the u nit which eve n unconscious ly works against the Law. Our duty to ou r fellows is to unders tand the m as extensio ns, olhe r aspects, of ou rse lves-fe ll ow facets of the same Reality.w lIII

This is so me d istance from the way people normally u nd ersta nd thei r neighbors. The cus tomary human outlook li es a good half",'ay toward Ibse n's d eSCriptio n of a luna ti c asylum in whieh Meach shuts himselfin a cask of self, th e eas k stopped with a bung of self and sea- so ned in a well o f self." Civen a gro up photograph , whose face d oes o ne sca n for first ? It is a small but te lling sympt om o f the devouring ca nce r that ca uses so rrow. \Vh e re is th e man who is as concerne d that no o ne go hungry as that his own childre n be fed? Whe re is the woman who is as co ncerned thai th e standard of livi ng for the entire world rise, as that her own salary be rdi sed? Here, said th e Buddha, is where th e trouble lies; this is why we suffe r. Instead of linking our faitll and love and destiny to the whole, we IlCrsist ill strdpping th ese 10 til e pUIlY burros of ou r separate selves, whic h are certain to stUIll - ble and give out eventuall y. Coddling our individual id e ntities, we lock ourselves inside ~our skin -enca psulat ed egos" (Alill' Watts), and st.:.ek fulfillm e nt through their inte nsi fi cati on and expanse. Fools to suppose that impriso nm e nt ca n bring releasel Can we not see that Mtis the seUby whic h \\.'C suffe r"? FaT from bei ng th e d oor to abulldillit life, th e ego is a strang ulated he mia. The more it swells, th e tig hter it shuts off the free-flowing circulation 011 which health depe nds, and the more pain increases.

TIle Third Noble Truth foll ows l o~rjcally from the Second. If the ca use of life's di slocation is selfish c ravi ng, its c ure lies in th e over- co ming o f suc h c raving. If we could be released frolll the narrow lim- its o f self-interes t into the vast expanse of universal life. we wou ld be re lil..>ve<i of o ur torm e nt. The Fourth Noble Truth prescri bes how tll e cure call he accomplished. Th e O\'Crcoming of t(Juli(J , the way ou t of o ur capti vit y, is through the Eightfold "'''dth .

The Eightfold Path Th e Buddha's approach to th e problem Qf life ill th e Four Noble Truths was esse ntiall y that of a physician. He bega n by exa mining care full y lhe symptoms that provoke co ncern . If l..'Vcrything were

IG-t TilE WORLD'S Rt-:LlCIONS

going smoothly. so smoothly that we noticed ourselves as little as we nonnally notice our digestion. there would be nothing to 'A-'Orry about and we ~'Ould have to a tt end no furth e r to our way of life. But this is not the case. There is less creativity. more con Oict. and more pain than we fee l there shou ld be. TIlese symptoms the Buddha sum- mari .. .ed in !.he First Noble Truth . with the declaration that life is duJcklla. or out of joint. The next step was diagnosis. Tllrowing rites and faith to the wi nds, he asked, practically, what is causi ng these ab nonnal symptoms? Where is th e seat of the infection? What is always prescill when suffe ring is present , and absent when su freri ng is abse nt ? TIle answer was given in th e Second Nob le Truth : the ca use ofHfe's dislocation is tan/UJ , or the drive for priwte fulfillment. Whal. th e n. of the prognosis? The Third Noble Truth is hopeful: the disease can be cured by overco ming the egoistic drive for separate existe nce. This brings us 10 prescription; how is this ove rcomi ng to be acco mplished? TIle Fourth Noble Truth provides the answer. The way to th e overco ming of self-see king is through the Eightfold Path.

The Eightfold Path, th e n, is a course of treat me lit. But it is nol an ex tern al treatm e nl, to be accepted passively by tlle patie nt as com ing from without. It is not treatme nt by pills. or rituals. or grace. Instead, it is treatment by training. People ro utin ely train for sports and their professions, but with notable exceptions like Benjamin Franklin, th ey are inclined to assume tllat one can not train for life ilself. The Buddha disagreed . lie distinguished two W"dYS of living. One-a mn- dom, unreOec tive way, in which th e subject is pushed and pulled by impulse and circum stan ce like a twig in a storm drain - he caUed "wandering about." The seco nd , th e way of intentional li vi ng, he called the Path. What he proposed was a se ri es of c hanges designed to re lease the individual from ignorance, unwitting impulse. and tanha. II maps II co mpl e te course; slecpgrades and dangerous c urves are posted, and rest spots indicated. By 10llg and patie nt di sci pline. tll e Eightfold Putl) intends nothing less tllan to pic k one up where one is and sel one down as a differe nt hum an being, one who has been c ured of cri ppling disabilities. "Happiness he who seeks may win; th e Buddha said, "iIhe practice."

Wh at is this practice the Buddha is talking about? He breaks it down into eight steps. They are preceded, however. by a preliminary he does not include in his list, but refers toso often elsewhe re thai we may assume that he was presupposing it he re. This preliminary step

BUDDIIISM lOS

is right association. No one has recognized more clearly than the Buddha the exten t to which we are social animals. inOuenced at e\lery tum by the "companioned example" of our associates. whose attitu des and valu es aifecl us profoundly. Asked how one attains illu- minatio n. th e Buddha began : "An arouser of faith appears in th e wo rld . One associates oneself with such a perso n." Othe r Injunctions fo ll ow, bu t right associati on is so basic that it warrants another paragraph .

When a wild elep han t is to be tamed and trained, the bes t way to begi n is by yoki ng it to olle th at has already bee n through the process. By co ntact, th e wi ld one comes to see th at th e co ndition It is being led toward is not wholly incompatible with being an elephan t - tllat what is expected of it does no t co ntrad ic t its nature categoricall y and heralds a co nditi on that, though startlingly differen t. is viable. The cons ta nt, immediate. and contagiOUS example of its yoke- fell ow can teach it as nothing else can. Training for the Life of the spirit is not diffe re nt. The tmn sform atio n facing the untmined is neithe r small e r than th e ele phant's nor less demanding. WiUlout visible evide nce that success is possi bl e. without a continuous transfu sion of courage. discouragement is boUild to set in . If (as scie ntific studi es have now shown ) anxieties are abso rbed from one's assoc iates. may not persis- tence be assi mil ated equall y? Robert Ingersoll once remarked that had he been Cod he "'Ould have made health co ntagious instead of disease; to which an Indian conte mporary responded : "When shall we co me to recogni ze that health is 0..-; co ntagious as di sease. virtue as contagio us as vice. c heerfuln ess as contagious as morose ness?" One of the th ree thin gs for which we should give thanks every day. accord- ing to Shankara., is th e com pany of th e holy; fo r as bees ca nnot make honey unless together, human beings cann ot make progress on th e Way unless th ey are support ed by a field of confid e nce and con~rn that Truthwinners generate. TIle Buddha agrees. We should asSOCiate with Truthwinners, converse with the m, serve th e m. observe their ways, and imbibe by osmosis their spirit of love a nd compassio n. ,

With tllis preliminary ste p in place we may proceed to th e Paths eight ste ps Prol)Cr.

1. Right View.. A way ofHre always involves more th an beliefs. but it can never bypass th e m compl e tely. for in addition to being social animals, as was just noted. human beings are also rational

106 11IE \\IOKL.O'S K[L.lCIONS

animals, Not e ntirel y. to be sure-the Buddha would have been quick to acknowl edge th is. But lire needs some blu eprint , some map the mind can tnlst ir we are to direct our energies purposively. To re turn 10 the ele phant ror illustration, however grea t th e dange r in whi ch il finds itselr. it will make no move to escape until il has 6rst ass ured itselrthat the trac k it mu st tread will bear its ~'Cighl. Without th is conviction it will re main trumpeting in agony in a burning wagon ruther than risk a rall. Reason's mOli! vocirerous de tractors must admit that il plays at leasl this mu ch ora ro le in hwnan lire. Whether or not it has the power 10 lu re, it clearl y holds powe r or ve to. Until reason is sati sfied, an indi- vidual carum! proceed in any direction whole heartedly.

Some inte ll ec tual ori e ntati on, th ererore. is needed ir one is to se t out other than hap hazardl y. 111e Four Noble Tmths p rovide this orientation. Suffering abou nds, it is occasio ned by the drive ror pri- vate rulfillment,that drive can be tempered. a nd th e way to te mper it is by traveling the Eightfold P..l.th .

2. Right Intent. Whereas the fi rs t step summoned us 10 make up our minds as to what Iire's problem basically is. th e second advises us to make up our hearts as to whal we really W'.tlli. Is it really e nlighte nm e nt. or do our affections swing this VoIay and that, dipping like kites with every curre nt or dis traction? If we are to make appreciable headway, persiste nce is indispe nsabl e. People who achieve greatness arc alm os t invariabl y passionately invested in some one thing. Tht!}' do a thousand things eac h day, but behind th ese stands th e one thing they co unt supre me. Wh e n people sC,..>e k liberation with single- mindedn ess or tflu order, t.hey may expect th eir steps to tum rrom sliding sandbank scram bles into gro und - gripping strides.

3. Right S,reec/l. In the next three ste ps we take hold or th e switch es that co ntrol our li ves, beginning with attention to language. Our first task is to beeo me aware or our speech and whal it revea ls abo ut our char.tcter. Instead or starting wilh a reso lve to speak lIoth - ing but th e truth -one Ihal is likely to prove ineffecti\'e at the outset beca use it is too advanced-we will do well to start rurth e r back, with a resolve to notice how man y tim es during th e day we deviate rrom th e truth , and to rollow thi s up by as kin g why we did so. Similarly wit h ull charitable sl>eec h. Begin not by resolving ncve r to speak an

BUDDHISM 101

unkind word. but by watching one's speech to become aware or th e motives that prompt unkindness.

Arte r this first ste p has been reasonabl y mastered, we will be ready to try some c hanges. 11m ground will have been prepared, ror once we become aware orhow we do talk , the need ror changes will beco me evid e nt. In whal directions should th e chwiges proceed? First. toward veraci ty. The Buddha approached truth more on~ol~­ call y than morall y; he conside red deceit more roolish than CVlI. ~t IS rooli sh beca use it reduces one's being. For why do we deceive? Be hind the rationali7.ation s, the motive is almost a1Vo1aYS rear or reveal- ing to oth ers or to ourselves what we reall y are. Eacl~ time we give in to this MprotecUve tanff," the wa lls or our egos thIc ken to rurthe r imprison us. To expect that ~'C can dispe nse with our de re nses. at a stroke would be unrea1istic. but it is possible to become progress Ively aware or the m and recognize the W.lYS in whic h they he m us in.

The second direction in which our speech should move is toward charity. False witness. idle chatt e r, gossip, slander, and abuse are to be avo ided, nol onl y in th eir obvious ronns but also in their cove rt ones. The covert ronns-subtle belittling, -accide ntw" tactl ess ness, barbed wit -are orten more vicio us because the ir animus is ve iled.

4. Right Collduct. Here. too. th e admonition (as th e Buddh~ de tailed it in his later discourses) invol ves a call to unders tand ones be havior more objectively berore trying to improve it. The tr.un cc is to ren ee t on actions with an eye to the motives that prompted th e m. How mu ch generosity was invo lved. a nd how mu ch sel r-see king? ~s ror the direc ti on in wh ich change should proceed. the coun sel IS again toward se lO ess ness and charity. These general di rectives are detailed in th e Five Prece pts, th e Buddhist vers ion or th e second or e thical hair or th e Te n Co mmandm e nts;

Do riot kill. Strict Buddhists e xte nd this prosc ripti on to animals and are vege tarians.

Do not I teal.

Do not I ~. Do 1I0 t be unciws te. For monks and th e unmarried. thi s means co ntinen ce. For the mllJ'ri ed il means restraint in proportion to one's interes ts in , and distan ce along, the Path .

108 11I E WORLD'S RELIGIONS

Do not drink intoricanu. It is repo rted th at an early Ru ssian Czar. faced with the d ecision as to whe th e r to choose Chris- tianity, Islam , or Buddhis m for his peopl e, rejected the latter two because both included th is 6fth prosc riptio n.

5. Right Livelihood. The word "occupation" is well devised. for o ur "'1)rk d oes indeed occupy most o f o ur waki ng atten ti on. Buddha co nsidered spiri tu al p rogress to be imposs ible if th e b ulk of o ne's dOings pull agrunst it: "The hand of the d yer is subdued by th e dye in whi ch it works." Ch ristianity has agreed. Whil e explici tJ y including the hangm an as a rol e socie ty regre ttably requ ires, Martin Luth e r disallowed us urers and spec ulators.

Fo r th ose wh o are inte nt e noug h 0 11 liberation to give th e ir e nti re lives to th e projec t, right li velih ood re qui res joining the mona.~tic o rd e r ilnd subscribing to its disci pline. f o r th e larperso n it calls for e ngagi ng in occ upa ti ons thai promote life instead o f des troy- ing it. Again th e Budd ha was 11 0 t conte nt with ge nerali zi ng. He nam ed Ilames- th e profess ions of hi s day he co nsid ered in co mpati - bl e with spiritual seri ousncss. Some ofUl ese are obviou s: !,aison ped - dl e r, slave trod e r, prostitut e. Others ir adopted worldwide would be revolutio nary: butche r, brewe r, anns maker. tax coll ec tor (profiteer- ing was th e n rou tin e). O ne of the n umber co ntin ues to be pU 7.zli ng. Why did th e Buddha (.'o nde mn the occ upati on or caravan trader?

While th e Buddha's explicit teachings abou t wo rk .... 'Cre aimed a t he lpi ng h is co ntemporari es d ec ide between occ upatio ns that ..... ere condu c ive to sp iritu al p rogress and o nes that impeded it, there are Buddhists who suggest tJl at if he .... 'C re teach ing today he would be less co nce m ed ..... ith speci fi cs than with the danger that peop le rorge t th at eam ing a li ving is Iirc's means, not lire's e nd.

6. Right Effort. Th e Buddha laid trem e ndo us stress 0 11 th e wi ll. Reaching the goa l re<luires imme nse exe rtio n; th e re are vi rtues to be d e\le lopcd, pass io ns to be c urbed , and des tru c ti ve mind states to be ex punged so co mpassion and de tachm e nt can have a c hance. ''' lI e robbe d me, he beat me, he abused mE?- in th e minds of th ose who thin k li ke th is, ha Ire d w illlle\lcr cease. H But th e o nl y way sll ch c rip - pling se ntim e nts ca n be dispel led , indeed th e o nly way to shake off re tters o r any sort. is by what Willi am Jam es called wth e slow dull heave of the will ." ~Those who rollow th e Way," said Buddha, ~migllt

BUD OIIISM , .. well fol1~ UI C exam ple of an ox that marches through th e deep mire carryi ng a heavy load. He is tired , but his stead y gaze. looki ng for- ...... .u-d, wi ll neve r relax uotiJ he comes out or th e mi re. and it is o nl y tJl e n he takes a respite. 0 monks, re me mber that passion and si n are more than th e filthy mire, and th at you can escape mi sery o nl y by ear- nes tl y and stead il y thin ki ng or Ul e Way."n Ve ll ei ly- a low level or voliti on, a mere wish not accompanied by e ffort or action to obtain it-won't do.

In di scussi ng right e ffo rt , the Buddha later added some after- tho ughts aoout timing. Inexperi e nced climbers. o ut to conqu e r th eir firs t major peak, are ofte n impatient with UI C see mingly absurd saun- ter a t whie h tJl eir veteran gu id e sets out. but be rore UI C day is ove r his stayi ng pace is vi ndica ted. Th e Buddha had more co nfidence in th e steady pull th an in th e qu.i ck sp urt. Stre tched too ta ut , a string will snap; a plane th at asce nds too sharpl ywiU crnsh . In China th e auth or ortll e Tao Te C/lin g made tJle point with a dHfe re nt im age: WIl e who takes the lo nges t strides d ocs not walk farthest."

Because th e West has found the last two ste ps in th e Eig htfold Path of special impo rtance for the understanding oftJl e hum an mind and its workings - th ere are seve ra] meditation ce nters in th e United States, ca teri ng disproportionate ly to me ntal hcaltJl profess ionals, that are dedi ca ted exclusivel y to th e ir praclice- tJl C5e wi ll be di s- cussed at grea te r le ngth.

7, RighI Mindfulnus. No teache r has cred ited th e mind with more inOuence over lire than d id the Buddha. Th e best laved o r all Buddhis t tex ts, th e Dhommapada , opens with th e words, "A.II we a re is the res ult of what ..... e have thought.

w A.nd respecti ng tJ)e fU lu re. it

assu res uS that "all things can be mastered by mindruln ess. W "

Among Weste rn phi losop hers, Spin 07..a stands closes t to tJl e Budd ha o n Ul e mind 's potential . Spin07.a's di ctum - Wto unders tan d some thing is to be de livered or itW-comes close to summari7.ing hi s e nti re e th ic. Th e Buddha wo uld have agreed. Ir we co,uld real ly und erstand life, if we co uld reall y understand ourse lves, we would find ne ithe r a problem. Hum anisti c psychol ogy proceeds o n th e s3 meass umpti on. Whe n "awarene ss or e xperien ce is rull yopcraling,- Carl I\ogers write s, Mhum an behavior i ~ to be trusted, ror in these moments th e hum IDI org'd.nism becomes aware o r il s d c li cU(.',), IDld te nd e rn ess tOW'.lrds o th e rs.- nle Iluddh a saw ignoran ce, 1I0t si n, as

110 T UE WORLD'S RELIG IONS

th e offe nde r. More p recisely, insofar as si n is our fault. it is pro mpted by a more fundame ntal ignorance- mos l specificall y. the ig nora nce o f o ur tru e natu re.

l o graduaJl y overco me this ignorance, th e Buddha counse ls suc h co ntinu ous self-examin ati on as to make us wilt (alm os t) at tIl e pros- pect, bUI he tho ug ht il necessary beca use he believed lhat freedom - li bera tion from un conscious. robot-li ke existc nce- is achieved by se lf- awareness. To this e nd he insisted that we seek to unde rstand o urselves in d eptll, seeing everything minut e ly. Mas it reall y is." If we maintain II s ~ca~y a tte ntion to our th oughts and feelings, ,,"'C pe rceive th at th ey sWim III a nd out of o ur aware ness, and are in no way perm ane nt parts of us. We should witness aU things nOIHeactively, especiall y o ur moods an.d e motio ns, ne ithe r conde mning so me no r holding 0 11 to o th e rs. A miscellany of o th e r prac tices are reco mm e nded , som e o f whi ch are these: The asp irant is to keep th e mind in control of th e se nses and i~pulses, rath e r th~n being dri~n by lhe m. Fearful and di sgusting Sigh ts are t~ be medltuted on until one no longe r expcri e nces aversi on toward the m . Th e e ntire world should be pervaded with tho ug hts of lOVing- kindn ess.

Out of the semi -ru e rtn ess th a t co mprises th e consci ousness o f the average human be ing. this seve nth ste p summ o ns the see ke r to stead y awareness of every acti on th at is take n, and every cn nte nt that turn s up in one's stream of consciousness. Th e ade pt beco lll es aware of th e moment wh e n sleep takes ove r, and wll eth e r bre ath was co m- ing ~I~ o r goin g o ut at thai mom e nt. Obvi ously. this takes practice. In additi on to working al it co ntinuo usly to some exte nt , speciru times sho uld be allotted fo r undi stracted introspectio n. Peri ods of L'Om - ple te withdrawal fo r th e purpose mu st ruso be built int o o ne's schedul e.

Here is a Wes te rn observe r's d esCriptio n of mo nks in Th ailand pra ctic ing this st."'ve nth step :

One of the m s,Jenda MlIrs each day slowly walking aboot the grQUndr of t/~ wa t in absolute concen trotion upon t/~ minutest ~rnct~ o! even) action COfmected with each , tep. Tile I"ucedu re l$ canied mto every single physical act of da ily life until, t"rom i. cally, the conscious mind can follow every step that gou into the genemticm of a f eeling, percqJtion or tlllmght. A fifty -year-old "WnJC meditates jn a sm.all gra veyard adjoining hu wat , because

8 UDD IIISM I II

he's urnlistu rlx:d t here. lie seau himself, cross,legJ!l!ti and immo-- bile btlt witilit is eyes ope:n,for hOll rs on end- th rough tile d rivi ng ra in at mid'l ight or tile blistering hea t of fl otmda y. His usual lengtll of sta y is two or tlwee IlOurs. H

T h.roug h th is practice o ne arri ves at a nu mbe r o f ins ig hts: (1) Every e mo ti o n, th o ug ht , o r im agc is accom pa ni ed by a body scnsa· tio n, and vice vcrsa. (2) O ne d iscems obsess ive patterns in wh at arises in one's mind a nd how th ese patte rns cons titute our mi sery (clukkha). For some it is a nu rsi ng o f old grievances; oth ers find lhe m - se lves preocc upi ed with lo ng ings a nd self-pit )', a nd still o th c rs simpl y fee l at sc a. With co ntin uing p mc tice the ob sess ive g rip oflh ese p at· Lems loosens. (3) Every me n tal and p hysical state is in flu x; no ne is solid and e ndu ring. E ven phys ical pain is a se ri es of d iscrete sensa· lio ns tha t can sudd e nl y change. (4) 11le meditator reru izes h ow lilli e control we have ove r o ur minds and o ur physical se nsati o ns, and h ow littl e awareness .. ve no rmall y have of our re action s. (5) Most im po r- tant , one begi ns to re ruize th a t th ere is nobody behind th e me n- taUph ys icru eve nt s, o rchestra ting th e m . Wh e n the capacity fo r mi c roscopi c atte ntio n is refin ed, it becomes appare nt that co n- sciousness itself is no t con tinuous. Like th e lig hl from a ligh t bull>. the on/ofT is so rapid th ai co nscio usness see ms to be stead y, whereas in fac t it is not. WitJ, th ese in sig hts.. the beli e f in a se p:trate self- ex iste nt sclf begin s to disso lve.

8. Hight Concenlmtion. '111 is involves substuntiall y tlle tec h- ni q ues .... 'C have alread y e nco unte red in Hinduism's raj a yoga and leads to substan tiall y th e sa me goal .

In hi s latc r years th e Buddha to ld h is discipl es th a t his linit i.l1ti· mations of de li veran ce cam e to him befo re he le ft horn e wh e n, still a boy and s itting on e day in th e cool shade of an apl>lc tree in dee p thoug ht , he found him self caught up in lo wh at he late r ide ntifi ed as Ihe fi rst level o f th e absorpti ons. II was hi s 6 rs t faint fore tas te o f deli v. c ran ce, and he sai d to himself. "1111s is th e way 10 e nligh tenm c nt." It ..... as nos talgia fo r the return a nd d eepe ning of th is experie nce. as muc h as h is disillusio nm e nt with the usual rewards o f ..... o rldl y life, th ai led him to hi s decision to d evote hi s life compl e tel y to spiritual ad venture. 11le res ult, as we havc secn , was no t simpl y a new phi - loso phy of life. It W.l.S rege ne rati on: c han ge into u difre re nt kind of

112 TilE 'YOKLD'S REUCIONS

crea ture, who experienced the wo rld In a new Woly. Un less we see this. we shall be une<luipped to fathom the power of Budd hi sm in human history. Somethi ng happened to th e Buddha under that Bo Tree, and so meUling has happened to every Budd hi st si nce who has persevered to Ul e fin al step oflh e Eightfold llalh. Like n came ra, the mind had been Jloorly focused , but the adjus tm e nt h ilS now OC-ell made. With the "extirpation of delusion, cravi ng, and hostili ty," the Ul ree poisons, we see thai th inw; were not as we had supposed. Ind eed, su ppos itions of wha tsoeve r so rt have vanished, to be re- placed by direct pe rceptio n. The mind reposes in its true cond iti on.

Basic Buddhist Concepts

Th e Buddha's total outl oo k o n life is as diffi cult to be certain o r as that of a ny personage in history. Part of th e problem ste ms from the fact th at, like most anc ie nt teachers, he wrote no th ing. Th ere is a godp of almost a century and a haJfbetwee n his spo ke n words and th e fi rst wri tte n records. and th oug h me mory in th ose times appears to have been in credibl y faithful , a godp of that le ng th is certain to raise ques· tio ns. A seco nd proble m arises from the we alth of material in th e texts the mselves. Buddha taug ht fo r forty· fi ve years, and a stagge ring corpus has co me down to us in one fonn o r a no th er. While the ne t resu lt is do ubtl ess a blessi ng. th e sheer q uantity of mate rial s is bewil· de ring; for though his teac hings remained remarkab ly consiste nt Oller the years, it was imposs ible to say things for many minds and ill many ways wi th out creating proble ms of interpre tatioll. Th ese in te rpretations co nstitute the third barrie r. By th e time texts began to appear, partisan schools had sprung up. so me inten t o n minimi z· ing the Buddha's break with Brahmanic Hinduism, oth ers inte nt on sharpe ning il. This makes scholars wond e r how mu ch in what th ey are read ing Is th e Buddha's ac tual tho ught and how mu ch is partisan inte rpolati on.

Undoubtedly, the mos t seriOLIS obstacle to th e recovery of the Buddha's rounded philosoph y, however, is his own sil e nce al c rucial po ints. We have see n that hi s burn ing coll cerns we re Pl"d CtiCal and ul e rapeuti c. not speculative a nd th eore ti cal. I.n stead of de bati ng cos· mologies, he wanted to introduce people to a different kind ofHfe. It would be wrong to say that th eory did not inte res t him . H is dialogues show that he anal yt.ed certain abstract problems me tic ul ously; th at

BUDDIilSM 113

he l>Ossessed, indeed, a brilliant metaphYSical'~ind. It was on p~l~ci" pic that he resisted philosophy, as ~omeone Wllh a sense of miSSion might shun hobbies as a "''3Ste of time.

Il is decision makes so muc h sense that it may seem a betrayal to . sert a scction like this one, which tries forthrightly to identify-and ~n some extent define-certBil1 kt..'Y notions ill Ule Buddha's outlook. I~ the end, however, the task is unavoidable for the simple re~n that metaphysics is unavoidabl e. Everyone Lar~rs some l~OllOIlS about ultimate questio ns, and these notions affect mterpretall o~ls. ~f

bsidiary issues. The Buddha was no exception. He refused to mill· :~e philosophical discussions, and on ly occasionall y did he let h,il1l' self be pried from his~noble sil e nce" to e n!,-age in tI.lem , but. certaml y he had views. No o ne who wishes to unders truld hl1n ca n escape the hazardous task of trying to di scover what Ul ey we re.

We may begin with ninxmll, til e word the Buddha used to nam e life's goal as he saw it. Etymologically it means "to blow out,w. or "to extingu ish," not tran sitively. but as a fire CClISCS to d ra,;. Depnv.ed of fuel. the fire goes out. and thi s is nirvana. From suc h lln~ery It .has been widely sUPpoSt.acl that th e extinction 10 whic h Buddhism po rnt s is com ple te. total an nihil ation. (fthis were so there would ~ ~~unds for th e accusation that Buddhism is life-dc nyi ng a nd pesslmlstrc. As it is, scholars of til e last half·century have exploded this view. Nir:oo".ll is th e highest destiny of the human spirit and its lite~ m~lUlig IS extinc tion , but we must be precise as to what is to be extmgulsh~L It is the boundaries of the fi ni te self It does not follow that what IS le ft wi ll be nothing. Negatively, ni rvana is the state in whic h th e faggots of privnl'e desire have been com pletely co nsumed ?nd ~e'!thing tllal restri cts th e boundless life has died. Affinnatlvely. It IS .tl~at bound less life itself. Buddha parried every reques t for a I>OS ltr ve description of th e Ull co nd itiollt..'Ci, insisti ng UUlt it .... "as "incomprel~el~' sible, indescribable, incollceivnble. unutterable"; for after we e lI1IU ' nate every aspect of th e on ly consciousncss we have known, how can ....'e speak of what is leftfOO O ne of Buddha's heirs, N~rasen~, ~rc­ serves this poi nt in the fo UOYo'illg dialogu e. Asked whot IllrotIno IS hke, Nagase na cou ntered wi th a question of his own:

"Is u\ere such a thing as wind?" "Yes. revered sir. W wPl ease, sir, show the wind by its color or con llgura tion or as thin

or th ick o r long or short.~

11-4 TI l t-: WO ltLD'S RELIGIONS

~8ut it is not poss ible. reYCred Nagasena, fo r th e wind to be shown; for th e wind callnol be grasped ill th e han d or touched; ye l wind exis ls. ~

~l f, sir. il is nOll)()5s ible for the win d to be shown , well tJl en. there is no wind.~

MI . revered Nagnsena. know tJJalth ere is wi nd; I alii cO llvi nced of it, but I am nol able to show the wind."

- EvclI so. sir, nirv.rna ex ists; but it is no t possible to show nirvana.~31

Our final ig norance is to imagine tha i our final desti ny is con· ceiw bl c. All we can know is that it is a co nditi on tJla t is heyond- beyo nd the limitatio ns of mind, though ts. feelings. and will , all tJl ese (llot to me ntion bodi ly things) bein g co nfin e me nts. The 8uddha wou ld ve nture o nl y one afllmHl.ti ve c harncte ri7.ation. MBlis~ yes bliss, my frie nds. is ni rvana . _

Is "Irvana Cod? Wh e n a nswered ill the negative, th is ques ti on has led to opposite conclu sio ns. So me co nclud e that si nce Buddhism professes no Cod, it ca nuol be a re ligion; oth ers. that si nce 8uddhism obviously is a religion , re ligion does n't require Cod. Th e d is pute re<lu ires thai we lake a qui ck look a l wha t th e word HCod" means.

Its mea ning is no t single. mu c h less simple. Two meanings mu sl be di sting ui shed for its place in Buddhism to be und erstood.

O ne meaning of Cod is that of a personal being wh o crealed th e ulliverse by de liberate des igll. De fined in this sense, nirvana is not God. The Buddha did nol co nside r it perso nal because perso nal ity req ui res de finition , wllich rl irva ,1tJ excl ud es. And while he did not expressly de ny crea ti on . he clearl y exe mpted nin)lUlu from respo nsi- bilit y for it. If abscnce of a personal Creator·God is ath e ism, 8ud- dhism is atheis tic

Th ere is a s(.'co nd me:lI1ing of God, I,owever, whic h (to di stin - guish it from the first ) has bee n called th e God head. Th e idea of pe r· so nality is not part of thi s co ncept. which appears in mys ti cal trdditio ns throu gho ut the wor ld. Wh e n tJl e Buddha dec lared. ~TllCre is. 0 monk s. an Un born, ne ither beco me nor c re ated lIor fornu_od .... We re th ere no t, the re would be no deli verance rrom th e formed , th e made, tJle cO lllpound cd," 32 he see med to be speaking in lhis tradi- ti o n. Impressed by similarities belwee n nirvana and th e God head , Edward Co n .. ,e has co mpile d from Buddhist texts a series or a ttri - butes Ihat appl y to both . We arc told

8UDDIII SM '" Ilwt Niroo na is perowraent, stable. imperishable, im rrwooble, age- less, death/en. unborn , and unbecome, tlUlt it is ,)OWer', bliss arid Iw,'pineas, the secu re refuge. tile shelter, orad tI~ place of unassail- able safety; that it is the tl!lJl Trot/. and tile .rupl"l'fne Reality; tha! it is tile Good, tlu! .rupreme fPlJ / and the one and o nty COtlSUrri"llI- tion of our life. tile eternal , I.idden arad incomprelie nsible Pea«.:t:I

We may conclude with Com',e that nirvana is no t God de fined as per· sonal crea to r, but thai it stands suffi Cie ntl y close 10 til e co nce pt of Cod as Codhead to warrant the nanl e in that se nse).l

Th e most startlin g thi ng tJl e Buddha said abo ut ti le hum an selris Ihat it ha... .. no sou l. 111is anaHa (no soul) doctrin e has again caused Budd hism to see m re ligiously pecu li ar. But Bb'llin lhe .... ,o rd must be exa mined. What was th e atta (Pali for the Sanskri t Almall o r soul) that th e Buddha de nied? At tJ1 C lime it had come to sig nify (3) a spiri- tual substance th at, in keeping WitJl th e du alistic position in Hindu - ism, (b) re tains its separate id e ntit y forever.

Buddha de nie d both tJl cse fe ature s. I-lis de ni al of spiritual sub-- stance- th e soul as homun culu s, aghos tl y wraith with in the bod y that animates tJ, e body and ou tJasts il - appears to have been tJle chi ef poillt tJmt di still!,FJ.lished his concept of transmigration from prevailing 11i,.du interp retations. Au tJl e ntic child of Indi a, th e Buddha did no t do ubt that rein carn atiun was in some sense a fact . but he was openl y c ritical of lhe way his Bm/mwnic co ntemporaries interpreted th e co nce pl.l1le c ru x of his c riticism may be gatll e red from tJle clearest descriptio n he !,"UVe of his own vif.:'IN on tll e subject. lI e used the imDf,'eof a fl ame bei ng passed from ca ndl e to ca ndl e. As it is diffi cult to th ink ofill e flame o n the final candl e as bei ng the original fl ame, th e connectio n ,",,'Ould sccm to be a ca usal one, in whi ch influe nce was transmill'ed by chai n reac- t ion but witJlOut a perduri ng substance.

Wh e n to this image of the flame we add th e 8uddha's accc pl:a m::e of kanna . we have the gis t of what he sa id aOO llt transmigra li on. A su mmary of his »OSition would run some th ing li ke this: ( I) There is a c hai n of ca usation threading e ac h li fe to th ose thai have led up to it, and to those that will follow. Eac h lire is in its present condition beca use of tJl e way th e li ves thai led up to il were li vt..>d. (2) 11lrough· o ut thi s ca usal sequ e nce the will re main s free. Th e lawruln ess of t hings makes the prese nt state th e produc t of prior acts. but within t he prese nt th e will is influenced but not controlled. People remai n

116 T HE WORLD·S REI.IGIONS

at li berty to shape th e ir destinies. (3) The two preceding points affirnl th e causaJ connectedn ess of life, but they do not e ntail th at a substan ce of some so rt be transmitted. Ideas, imp ress ions, foo lings, streams of consciousness. prese nt mo me nts- tJl ese arc aJl th at we fiud. no spiri tu al substrate. Hume Dnd James were right : If th ere is an enduring self. subject aJways, never o bject, it neve r shows itse lf

An anaJogy can sugges t th e Buddha's views of /wn1lO an d reincar- nation in a supporting way. ( I) The desires and disUkes that innue nce tJle conte nts of my mind -wha t I pay attention to and what I ignore- have no t appeared by accident; th ey have de finit e lin eages. In add itio n to altitudes thai I have taken over from my c ultu re. I have fo nned mental habi ts. Th ese include cravi llgs of vario us sorts, te n- de nc ies to co mpare myself with others in pride or e nvy, and dispos i- tio ns toward co nte ntm e nt and its opposite. aversion. (2) Although habitual reac ti ons te nd to become fi xed. I am not bound by my per- sonal his tory; I can have new ideas a nd changes of heart. (3) Nei the r th e co ntinuit y nor the freedom th ese two pOints affirm rC<lui res thai tho ug hts or fee lings be co nsidered e ntities- things, or me nial sub- stan ces tJl at are tran spo rted from mind to mind, or from momenl to mom e nL Acq uiring a concern fo r j ustice from my pare nts did no t mean tJl3l a su bstan ce. however ethereaJ and g hos tlike. lea pt from their heads into mi ne.

This de nial of sp iritual substance W.lS o nl y an aspt.'C t of Buddha's wid e r denial of substance of every sort. Substance carries both a ge ne r.u and a speci fi c co nno tati o n. Cene rall y, it refers to so me thing relati vely permanent that wJderlies surface changes in the thin g in question; specificall y, tJlis more basic some thing is tJlought to be ma tte r. TIle psychologis t in Buddha rebelled llb'3.inst tile latter no tion , for to him mind was more basic thal1 mailer. TIle e mpiricis t in him , for its part, chall enged the imp li ca ti ons of a general i ... .ed noti on of sub stu nee It is imposs ib le to read muc h Budd hist lit'eralure without ca tching its sense of the tran silo riness (aPllcca) of eve rything finite. its fCCOb'llition of th e perpeluaJ pe ri shing of every natural object. II is this tha t gives Buddhist descriptions of til e natur.u world tJl e ir poig nancy. MThe waves follow one afte r anothe r in a n e te maJ pursuit." Or,

Life is a j{)unwy. Death is a return to tlU! earth .

8 UODl II SM JI7

TIU! universe i.J like all inA. Tile passi,lg years art!' like dust .

Th e Buddha li sted impennanellce (auicea) as the first of his Three Marks of Existence-charac te ristics tJ13t apply 10 everything in tJle nalural ord e r - th e other two being suffcring (dukkha) and the absenccof permanent identilyor a soul (ana tta). NOtJlillg in nature is ide ntical with what it was the mo me nt before; in tJli s tJl e Buddha was close 10 modem science. wh ich has discovered thai tJ\e re latively sta- ble objec ts of tJl e macro-wo rld de rive from particles tJ,al bare ly exist. 10 underscore life's flee tingness the Buddha caJled the co mpon e nts of the human self ska nda.s -skeins that hang toge tJl e r as loosely as yam-and tJl e body a Mhea p. M itstde me nts no more solidl y assembled than grai ns in a sandpile. But why did tJ1C Buddha belabor a point that may see m obvio us? Because, he be li eved, we are freed from tJl C pain of clutching fo r pennanence only iftJle aCCCIJtance of continu al c11a nge is dri ve n into our very marrow. Foll owers oftJlC Buddha know well his advice;

Rega rd this pliarltmn wo,.1t! As a sta ,. at dawn, a bubble ill a stn!om, A jla.s" of lightning in a summer cloud, A flickering la mp -a ,,1101110 111 - and a dn!om.35

Given th is se nse of the radical imperman e nce of all thin gs finite. wc mighl expt.'C t the Buddha's answer to tJl e q ues ti on "Do hum an be ings survive bodily deatJt?" to be a lIatll o, but ac tu all y his answer .... ~dS eqllivocaJ . Ordinary people when tJl CY die leave strands of6nite desire tJla! can only be reali .... ed in o th e r incarnatio ns; in lhis seose at least th ese persOIlS li ve on.38 But what abou t th e Arhat, tJl e holy ooe who has ex ting uished aJl sllc h desires; does such a o ne co ntinue to ex ist? When a wandering ascetic putlhis qu es tio n, th e Buddha said:

-Th e word reborn does not apply to him ." MTh c n he is not rebom?H "Th e term no t-reborn docs no t appl y to him ." MTo each WI d all of my qu estio ns, Cotama, yo u have replied in tJl e

negative. I Rm at a loss WId bewildered. " "'You ought to be al u loss and bewilde red , Vaccha. For this doc·

tri ne is profound , recondite, hard to comprehend, rare, excell e nt, beyond diaJ ec ti c, subtl e, o nl y to be understood by th e wise. Le t me

118 TIl E '\'O lt LD'S II E LI C IONS

th erefore qu esti on you . If th e re were a fi re bl azillg ill frOll t o f yo u, would yo u kn ow it ?"'

" Yes. Cota ma. R "If th e fi re went ou t. wo uld you kn ow it h ad gone ou l?'" "Yes." "If now you we re asked in w hal di rt:Ctio n the 6 re had gone,

whe tlle r to eas t, ~'e5 t , north , Dr south , could yo u give an answer?"' "11,e <Iues li on is not rig htl y put. Colam a." Wh ereupo ll Buddha

broug ht th e d iscuss ion to a cl ose by po inting o ut th at "i n jus t tl,e sa me way th e asce ti c had no t rightl y put his ques tio n . " Feelings, perce p- tions, forces, co nscio us ncss- eve rything by whic h th e ArllUt mig ht be d e noted has passed away fo r him . Profo und , measurel ess. unfatJlOm - abl e. is til e Arhat eve n as th e mig hty ocean ; re born does not appl y to him nor not-reborn, nor any combination of su c h te rnl s. - :17

It contribut es to th e unders tn nding of thi s conversati on 10 know tlml the Indian s ofillal day thuug ht that expiring Oames do no l rea ll y go oul bUI re lurn to th e pu re, in visibl e conditio n of fire th ey sh ared be fore th ey visibl y appt.wed . !lut th e real force of the dial ogue li es e lse- wh ere. In asking w here th e fire. conceded to have gone o ut , had go ne, th e Buddha was calling alte nti Ol1 to th e f. .. c t thai some probl e ms are IJOsed so cl um s il y by o ur langu age as to p reclude soluti on by the ir very fOmlulalio n. The qu estion of the illumined soul's existe nce after death is such a case. If tJl C Iluddha had said. "Yes, it does live 011 ," his lis te ners would have ass um(.od tile persis ten ce of our present mode of expe ri e nc- ing, whi ch th e Buddha did not i nte nd . 011 th e oth e r haud , ifhc had sai d , Ml1,e e nlig h le u(.-d soul ceases to exis t: his hearers .... 'Q uld have ass um ed that he was consib'lli ng it to total ex tinc ti on, w hic h too he d id no t int e nd. O n tile bas is o f th is rejection o f extre mes we cann ot say much with certainty, bu t wecau ventu re so me th ing. The ultim ate des- tiny of th e hum a n sp iri t is a co ndit io n in whi ch all id e ntifi catio n with the his torical experie nce o f th e !lnlte self will di sap pear. whil e expe- ri e nce as such not onl y remai ns but is heightened beyond recogniti on . As an inconseq ue ntial d ream vanis hes comple tel y o n awake ni ng, as the s tars go out in d e fe ren ce to th e m o rn ing sun . so individual awaren ess will be eclipsed in th e bl azing light ofto lal awaren ess. Som e suy, "TIle de.....'tIrop slips inlo th e shinin g sea. R Oth ers pre fe r to th ink of th e d ew- drop as ope ning 10 receive the se a itscl(

If we t ry to form a more d e tailed pi c ture of th e state of tlinJQlla. we shall have to proceed without th e Buddha's he lp. no l onl y because

MUDDI1I5M "' he rea1i".ed al mos t to desp air how fa r th e co nditio n transce nds th e )OYo-Xl r of words. b ut also because he refu sed to w heed le his hearers ~Hh previews of coming att ractio ns. Even so, it is I>ossi bi e to ronn some notio n oflh e logical goa.! toward w hi ch his Pa th po in ts. We have see n lh at the Buddha regard ed th e world as one o r lawfu l order in which C"It: n ts are gove rned by th e pervading law o f ca use and e ffec t. Th e life of th e Arh at. h(l'\\.'e\fcr, is one of increasi ng in d epende nce fro m ti le causal o rde r of nat u re. It does nol vio late thut o rde r. but the Ar/Ult 'ss pirit b'TOWS in aut ono my as th e world 's ho ld decreases. In tlli s sense th e Arhat is increas ingl y free no t o nl y from t he pass ions and worries or th e wo rld but a150 from it's happe nings in ge ne ral. With every growth of inwardn e ss. peace and freedo m re pl ae.! t!. e turbu - le nt bond age o f those w hose li ves are prey 10 circum stan ce. As long as spirit remain s lied to body, its freedom from th e partic ular, th e te mporal. and th e c hallging canno t be compl e te. Uut Selo'er this con - nec ti on witJllh e Arlwt s final de ath , and freed om from th e finite will be compl e te. We cannot imagin e what t!.e slat e ",'O uld be like. but t he tr'dj ec tory toward it is disce rnible.

Spiritual freedonl brings large ness oflife. Th e Buddha's di sc ipl es se nsec:llhat he e mbodied immeasurabl y mo re of re alit y-and in thai se nse was more real - than anyone e lse th ey kn ew; and till .. " tes tifi ed frolll th c ir owll experi e nce th at ad van ce along his puth c nl arged th e ir lives as ..... t:II . 11le irwo rlds see med to expand, and with each s tc p tl leY fe lt th e mselves mo re alive than tJl ey had bee n befo re. As long as they were limite d by th e ir bodi es, there were limits beyo nd whi ch th ey co uld not go; but if all ti es we re loosed. mig ht not th ey be co mpl e te ly free? Once more, we cann ot co ncre tel y imagi ne s uch a sta te. bul the logic or th e progressio n see ms cl ear. Lr in c reased freedo m brings increased bei ng. tota1 freedom sho uld be being itse lf.

A tlw lIsaTlll questio ns rcma ill , but the Buddha is silerll. Others abide ou t'" questions. TJwu are free. \\~ ask and ask; tllOti sm ilest and art still.3IS

Big Raft and Littw Thu s far we have been looking al Buddhism as it appe ars fro m its e arli est record s. We tum now to Buddhis t hi story and th e reco rd it provid es o f th e variations that can e nt e r II tradition as it see ks to

120 TilE WOULO'S RELIGIONS

min ister to the need s o f masses of people and m ulti p le personali ty types.

Wh e n " 'e ap p roach Buddhis t h is tory wi lh this interest. what strikes us imml.'Ci iate ly is that it spli ts. Religio ns invaria bl y spli t. In the Wes t th e h\-'C lve He b rew tri bes spl it into [srae J an d Judah. Ch ri ste ndo m split int o th e Eas te n! a nd Weste n! c hurch es, th e Wes t· em c hu rc h sp lit into Ro man Cath olicism and Pro tes tanlism , a nd Pro tes tantism splinte rs. ,111: salli e hap pens in Buddhis m. Th e Bud· dh ad ies, a nd befo re th e ce ntury is ou t lh e seeds of schis m have bee n sow n. O ne a pp roach to th e qu es ti o n of why Buddhism split wo uld be th ro ug h anal y.d ng th e t.'YC nts, perso nalities. a nd e nviro nm e n ts the re ligio n becanl e impl ica ted wi th in its ea rl y ce nturi es. We can cut throug h all th at, however. by sayi ng, simpl y. th at Buddhis m di vided ove r th e qu estio ns that have always di vided peopl e.

lIow man y suc h qu es ti o ns are th ere? How ma ny qu e st ions will divide almos t every assembl age of peopl e whetll e r in India. New York , or Madrid ? Th ree co me to lIIind.

First. there is th e qu estiull uf wh e the r peopl e a re inde pende nt or inte rde pe nd e nt. Some peopl e are mos t aware of th e ir indi vidu al· it y; for th e m . tll e ir freedom and iuitiati ve is more important than the ir bondings. TIl e o bvio us co rollary is that th ey see peopl e as mak· illg th ei r own Wd )'S tllI'O ug h life: what eac h achi eves will be large ly of his o r he r OWn d oing. ~I WolS oorn in the slum s. my fatll e r was an alco- holic, all o f my siblings \\-'ent to th e d ogs- do n't talk to me about h eredj ty o r e nvi ronm e nt. I go t to where I am by myse lW This is one attitude On the othe r sid e of the fe nce are those for wh om life's iuter' co nnected ness p rew.il s. To th e m th e sep arate ness of peo ple seems te nuou s; Lh ey see th e rn sd ves as supported and vectored by social fields th at are as stro ng as those of ph ysics. Hum an bodies are of co urse sepa rate. bul 0 11 a d cel)Cr level we are j oi ned like icebergs in a co mm on noe. "Send not to as k fo r who m th e be ll to lls. it to ll s for th ee. ~

A seco nd qu es ti o n conce rn s th e rel atio n in wh ich h uman be ings stand . not this tim e to th eir fe ll ows. but to th e un iverse. Is the uni - vcrse fri e ndly- he lpful o n th e wh ole toward creatures? Or is it indiffe re nt , if not hos til e? Opinio ns diffe r. On books to re shel vcs we find volum es with titl es like AJali Starl(u Alol/e, alld nex t to tll e m Mall Does not Star.d Alonc lind Mall Is Not A/olle. Some peopl e see h is tory as II tllOro ug hl y hum an project in which hum anity raises ilselfby its

BUDDll tSM ". oWll bootstraps or progress d oes n't hap pe n. For o th ers it is powered by ~a hig he r powe r th at makes for good."

A th ird di vi d ing ques ti on is: Wh at is the bes t part of th e hum an self. its head or its heart? A po pu lar parlo r game used to revolve around the questio n. ~lf yo u had to c hoose. wo uld yo u ra th e r be loved or respec ted?" It is the same po int wi th a diffe re nt twist. Classic ists Min k thoug llts above feeling s; ro mantics d o th e opposi te. Th e fi rs t see k wisdo m; the second. if th ey h ad to c hoose. pre fe r co mpass ion. 11le d is tinctio n probably also re lates to Willi am James's cont rast bet,,""Ce1i th e tough. minded and th e te nde r· minded.

Il ere are th ree q ues ti ons tha t have p robabl y di vi ded peop le as long as they have been human and co nti nue to di vide th e m today. Th ey d ivided th e e arl y Buddhists. O ne gro up loo k as its mo tto th e Buddha's val ed icto ry. ~Be lamps unto yo urselves; wo rk o ut )'O urw va· Lio ll with diligence. ~ Wh atever prog ress those in thisgro up make will be th e fruit of wi sdom - in sig ht int o tile ca li se of suffe ring as gaine d thro ugh meditation . Th e o th e r group he ld that compass ion is th e more important feature of e nlighte nm e nt. arguing th a t to seek e nlig hte nm e nt by oneself and for onese lf is n co ntradi c ti on in te rm s. for the m , human bein gs are more sociallhan indi vidual. and love is th e greates t thing in the world.

O th e r diffe re nces ga th e re d around these fundrun Cl ltal ones. l1le firs t group insisted that Buddhis m was a full · Um e job; th ose who mad e lIirva lia th ei r central objec t ,,"'Ould have to g ive up til e world and beco me monks. Th e seco nd group. perh aps because it did not res t all its hopes on self-effort . was less de manding. It held that its outl oo k was as relevant for th e laype rson as for th e profesS ional; tha t in its own way it was as a pplica ble in the world as in th e mo nas tery. This difference len its imprint on the nam es of th e two outl oo ks. Botll call ed th e m· selves yanDa, rafts or fe rries. fo r both claim ed to carry peopl e ac ross life's sea to th e sho res o f e nlighte nme nt. Th e set.'O nd gro up. h ov.'CVC r, po in ting to its doctrine of cos mic he lp (grace) and its a mple r regard ror laypeopl e. cl ai med to be -Buddhism fo r th e peopl e" a nd th e reby the large r o f the two veh icl es. Acco rdingl y it pree ml>ted til e na me Mahaymw , th e Big Raft, malta meanin g ~greal .~ as in Mah atma (th e C reat Souled ) C andhi . As tltis na me c aught o n. the oth e r group cam e to be known . by defa ult, as lIi,wyulla , or th e Littl e Raft .

No t exac tl y pl eased witll thi s invidi ous d es ignati o n. th e Il ina- ya nis ts have pre fe rre d to call th eir Buddhism Tlwraooda . th e Way of

IU Tilt: WOIILO'S REI.JC IQNS

the Elde-:s,. ln doing so th ey regained the initiative by claiming to rep- resent onglll al Buddhjsm, the Budd hism taught byCaulama him se l( TIle claim is justified if we confine ou rselves to th e explic it teachings oflh e BuddJla as they are recorded in the earlies l texts, the J>u!i Cano fo~ on th e w ho le th ose texts do support t1I C TherdV'dda pos H ion . 8:Jl~ this ~a~t has not discoumged th e Mahayan ists from theircou ntcrclaim that II IS t111::y w ho rt.1lre5e111 the true lille of succession. For, they atgue, the Buddha taughl more e loq ue ntl y and profou ndl y by hi s life an d exampl e th an by t1l e ,"'Ords til e Pali Canon records. Th e decisive fact about his life is Lha l he did not re main in lIiroana afler hi s e nl ighte n- me nt bUI rctum ed to devote hi s life to others. Because he did nol belabor this fnct , 111erd'.'ad ins (a tte nding too narrowly 10 his initial spo- ~en ,"'O rds, the MalHty.lnists contend) O\!erlook the importance of his grea t renunciatio n .

R

and t1lis causes thcm to read hi s missio n too narrowly.311

.We can leave to th e t\l,'O schools t1l ei r dispute O\!er apostolic suc- ceSS IOJl; our Con cern is not to judge but to understand th e posi tio ns th~ c mbody. TIl e dilferencx.'S that have come ou t thus far may be Su m- marized by Ill e following pairs of cont r.1Sis, if we keep in mind Illat tJl ey a re not a bsolute but den ote differe nces in e mph asis.

. I. For Th e-:avada Buddhism progress is up to the ind ividual ; It de~ends on hi S o r he r understanding and resolute appli clllion o f t1I C .WlII. For Mah ayan ists th e fate of tile indi vi dual is linked to th a t of ~11~f: and they are ultimately undiVided . Two lin es from Jo hn Whit- llers The Mee ting" sumnHari ze th e latter o utlook:

lie jiruJeth nol who seeks his Own The soul £$ 10$1 that s saved aione.

2. Theravada holds t1131 hum ani ty is on its own in the uni verse No gods exis t 10 he lp us m'er th e humps, so self- re li ance is our on l; recourse.

By ourselves is evil dOlle, By ourselves we ,mill endll ro,

By ou~'elve8 we ccllsefmm Wrollg. By ourselIJt!8 IJeCO"U! we pure.

No one saves '''' but Oflrselves. No mle ca ll allli 110 olle may;

8UDDII I S~t 123

\\~ Oflrselves must tread tile Path: Buddh as orlly sllOw tile woy.

For Mahayana, in con trast, grace is a fac t. We can be at peace be- c:.ause a bou ndl ess powt:r draws-or if)1>u I>refe r. propels-cvcry- ti,ing to its appoi nted goal. In the words of a famous Mahayana tex t, -Th ere is a Buddha in every grai n o f sand.w

3. In Th ernvada Buddhis m th e prime attribute of en lightenme nt is wisd om (IJO(lhi), meaning profound insig ht into tile natu re of real- ity. the causes o f anxie ty and s uffe rin g, and th e absence o f a separa te co re of se lfh ood. Fro m these real izatio ns flow automatically th e Four Nobl e Virtues: lovin g- kin dn ess, com pass ion , equ animit y, and joy in the happiness and wellbei ng of others. From the Mah ayana perspec- ti ve kan.llla (comp assio ll ) ca nn o t be coun led on 10 be an automatic fruit. F rom the begi nning co mpassio n must be g iven priority over wisdom. Meditation yie ld .. a personal power th at ca n be destructive if a perso n h as not delibe rate ly culti vated co mpassionate cOllce n! for others as th e mo ti ve for arduous discipline. ~A guard I wou ld be to them w ho have no protection," ru ns a typical Mahayana invocation : "a guide 10 the yo)~d.8er, a ship, a well , a sp ring, a bridge for the see ker of tll e othe r shore." The them e has been beautifully e labora ted by Shantidcva, a poet-saint who has been called t11 e Thomasa Kempis of Buddhism;

May 1 be a balm '0 'li e sick, their lu:aler Dnd servitOr until sickness com e 'lever ogllin;

May 1 fl lierlCh witll ruins offOlXI fwd drink the anguisl, of lIunger and thirst;

May 1 be in tile fami ne of tile age's end tllirir drink arid mea t; Ma y I become all urifa ilillg store for the poor, and scroo tlli:m

with manifold thingsfor their need. My oum being and my "Leasu res. all my rightoou.mes~' ill the

(HJS I. "r-earnt alldfuture. 1 surrender irulij[enmtly, Tlwt all crea tures may will til rough to their tmd. 10

4 . Th esallgha (Buddhis t monasti c order) is at the heart ofTh e r- :tvada Buddhism . Monas teries (and to a lesser ex ten t nunneries) are th e s pi ritual dynamos in lands where il predominates, remind ing everyo ne of a hig he r truth behind visible rea lily. Mon ks and IIUIIS- onl y partial ly isolnt ed from society because they are dependent o n

1Z4 TilE ",'ORLD'S RELIGIONS

local people to put into th e ir begging bowls Ih e ir one daily meaJ- are accorded grea l respect. 111is ve nera ti on is exte nd ed to people who assume monastic \lOWS for limited pe riods (a no t uncom mun practice) in order to practice mindfuln ess meditation inte nsively. In Burma Mtaking the robe~ for a three- mon th monastic re trea t has vir- tuall y marked th e passage into mal e adulthood, Mah ayana Bud- dhis m, un til e co ntmry. is primaril y a religion for laypeopl e. Eve n its priests usuaJly marry, aJld th ey are expected to make service 10 tile laity their primary co ncern.

s. It follows frum tll ese differences tllal tile ideal tYJ)e as projected by the two sellools will diffe r appreciably. For th e llleravaclills th e ideal was tile Admt, tile perfected disci ple who. wolndering like the lo ne rhi- noceros, strikes o ut alone fo r nirvarlO and. with prodigious co ncentrol- tio n, proceeds unswervi ngly toward thai goal . nle Mahayana ideal, on the COlltr.uy, was the lxxldh isa ttva, Mo ne whose esse nce (sa ttoo ) is per- fected wisdom (IJOdJu,--a being who. havi ng reached the brink of ni,..- vtma, voluntarily re nounces thnt prize and returns to the world to make nirvana avai lab le to oth ers. Th e boddhi~atloo deliberate ly se nte nces himself-or herself: th e beslloved of aU boddhisattOO!J is the Coddess of Mercy (Awl oketasv-drol in Ind ia, KWoln Yin in C hina)- to age- long servitude in order thai o th ers. drawing Yicarious ly on th e merit thu s accumulated, may e nter nirvalla first.

Th e differe nce betweenlhe 1,,"'0 types is illustrated in Ihe sto ry of four me n who. journeying across an imme nse desert, co me upon a compound surrounded with high walls. One of the four detennines to find out what is inside. He scaJes the wall, and on reaching th e lop brives a whoo l) of de li ght and jumps over. Th e second and third do likewise. Wh en th e fourth man gets to th e top of th e wollI , he sees below him an e nchanted ga.rdell with sparkling st reams, pleasan t groves, and luscious fruit. Th oug h longing toj ump over, he resists th e temptation, l\eme mberi ng other wayfa.rers who are trudbti ng the bunliog dese rts. he climbs bac k down and devotes him self to direct- ing the m to the oasis. The firslthree me n wcre Arlwts; th e lasl was a boddhisattva , one who vows not 10 desert this world Munti l the grass itself be e nlig hte netl. -

6. TIlis differe nce in ideaJ nat urall y floods bac k to color the two scllools' estim ates of th e Uuddha himse lf. For one he was esse ntiall y

8UODHISM 11$

a saini . for the olher a savior. 11leravadins reve re him as a supreme sage, who thro ugh his own e fforts awake ned to th e truth and became

"ocomparnbl e teache r who laid o ul a path for th e m to follow, A an I I Th d"" mall among me n. hi s very humanness is the basis fort Ie Cr.wol Ins faith that they. too, have the po te ntiaJ for enli~hlen.ment. B~t tlte Buddh a's di rect perso nal influence ceased Wltli Ius lXJm'"rva~ (en trance into nirvana at death ). He knows nothing more of tillS

rid of becoming and is at perfect peace. Th e reverence fe lt by :: Mahayan ists could nOI be satisfied with this hum ann ess - ex- tnlordinary, to be sure. but human none th eless. For them the Budd~la was II world sayior who con tinu es 10 draw aU crealures lowd.rd lum "by the rays of his jCI,O,'e1 hands. - Th e bound, th e shack led. til e suffe r- ing on every !llaJle of ex isten ce, braJaxy beyond gaJax.y, wo:l~s be~nd worlds, all are drolwn tOW-Md liberation by the glono us gift rays of

til e Lo rd.

These differences are th e central ones, but several others ~nllY be me ntione d to piece oul tile pic lure. Whe reas th e Thera\la~hns .rol - 1()I,O,'ed th ci r fo und e r in considering spec ulati on a useless dn1erslon. MaJl aya na spawned e laborate cos mologies re ple te wi th maIly- leveled heavens and he lls. The onl y kind of praye r til e Th eravadins co un - tenanced was meditation and invocations 10 deepen faith an d lovlng- kindness. whereas th e Mallayallists added supplication , petitiOI,I, and calling on the nam e of th e Buddha for spirituaJ strength . Filiall y, whe reas Th erdY3da re mained co nserva tive to the point of aJI aJlIlOSt fundalll e ntalisti c adherence 10 th e early Pali texts, Mallayana was liberal in aJmost every respect . It accepted late r lex ts as C<luall y authoritatiye, was less strict in interpreting di sci plinary rul es, and had a high e r opinion of th e spiritual possibilities of women and th e

laity in ge ne ral. . . TIms, in til e end , til e wheel comes full c ircle. The rellglOlI that

bega n as a revolt agai nst rites, speculation , grac~ and the supernatu- ral e nds with all of them back in fu ll fo rce and Its founder (who was an 'atheist as far as a personal Cod was concerned) transformed, i~lto such a Cod him self. We can schemalize tile differences Iha.t dlV~de the two gTeal bnl.llches of Buddhism as fo ll ows. if YIe bear III milld that the difI"e relH.:es are 001 absolute:

126 Tilt: WORLD'S RELIGIONS

TtIEIlAVADA

Human helngs are emancipated by selr-clJort, wilhout supernatural aid.

Key virtue: wisdoln.

Attainment retluires constant commit me nt , and 15 primari ly ror monks IIl1d nllns.

Ideal: tlie Arlwt who remai ns ill nil'umIJ afier death

Buddha a 5a inl . supreme teacher, and inspirer.

Minimi1.eS mctapll y5 ics.

Minimi7.cs ritual.

Practice cen lcn .. -O 0 11 rn etlil:ltioll ,

MAHAYANA

I-Iuman aspirations are supported by dh'i.le powers and the grace they bestow.

Key vi rtue: compassion."

Religious practice is relevant to lire i'l the world, and thererore to laypeople.

Ideal: the IloddhUattoo,

Buddh a a savior.

fo: lltoorates me iliphysics.

l~mphlt$iZCli ritual .

J ncludcs petitionary prolyer,

Wh ich one wins? Inwardly, the re is no meas ure (or better, no such thing as wi nning); but outw'.trdl y (in Ienns of numbe rs), th e answer is Mahayan a, Part of th e reason may li e in th e fact that it con· verted olle of the grea tes t ki ngs th e world has known. In th e hjs tory of ancien t royalty the figure of Asoka (c. 272-232 8.c.) stands out like a Himalayan peak, clear and resple nd e nt against a sunlit sky. If .... oe are uot all Buddhists- Mahayana Buddhists-today it was not Asoka's fault . No t content to board the Big Raft him self and com- me nd it 10 hi s subjects- his Buddhist wheel of the law waves o n Ind ia's fl ag today- he strove to ex te nd it over th ree cont inents. Find- ing Buddhism an Indi an sec t, he le n it a ..... o rld re ligion.

It would be going too far, however, to suppose that a single his tor- ical personage mad e Buddhism cos mopolitan, and th e differe nt w.tys As ia heard th e Buddha's message and took it to heart provides a final touc hstone for di stingui shing TIl er.w.:lda from Mallayan a. The differ- e nces that have occupied us thus far have been doc trinal, but th ere is an importa nt socio-political diffe re nce be twee n th e m as wc11..2

Thcravada soug ht 10 incarnate a fea tu re of th e Buddha's teach- ings Ihat has 1Iot thu s far bee n me nti oned: his vision of all e ntire

BUDDHISM 12'

socict)'-a civilization if you will- th at was found (..>d like a tripod 0 11 Illonarchy, lhe monastic commu nity (sangha ). and th e laity, each wit h respo nsibilities to the other two and me riting services rrom them in re turn . Sou th Asian coun tri es that remai n to thi s day Th er.lVadin -Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, and Ca mbod ia-took this )oliti cal si de of th e Buddha's message seriousl y, and re mn ants of hi s

:nodel are discernib le in those lands right down to today, C hin a's in te res t in Buddhism (whi ch she transmitted to th e o th e r lands that we re to beco me Mahayanis t: Korea, Japan, and Tibe t) bypassed its soc ial dimensions., which included ed uca ti on as we ll as politics. In East Asian lands Buddhism appears as so me thin g or Ii graft. Buddhist mi ss ionaries pers uaded Ill e C hi nese Ilmt th ey possessed psychologi- cal an d metap hysical profunditi es th e Chin ese sages had not sounded, but Co nfucius had Ill oug ht a lot about th e social o rde r. a nd the Chinese were no t about to be lectu red to o n th ai subj ect by aliens. So China discou nte d th e political proposals of the Buddha and too k from his co rpu s its psycho-.spiritwJ co mpullcnls wit h thei r cos mic ove rt ones. The wo rld still awaits a history of Buddhism th at tells the story of th e TheravadalMaha)~.lIla divide in terms of the way in whi ch (for geographical and hi sto ri cal reasons) Th eravuda re mained faithful to its round e r's visioll or a Buddhist civilb.a ti on, whereas Mah ayana beco mes Buddhism trimm ed to its re ligious core: a module Ill at could be graficd o nto c ivi lizations whose social foull- dations were securely in place.

The doctrinal differences be tween Theravada and Mahayana appear to hilVe softe ned as the centuri es have ~'One by, Following World War II two you ng Ge nnans who ..... ere disillusioned wi th Europe went to Sri Lanka to ded icate their li ves to the Buddha's peaceable way. Bolli became Theravada monks. One. his name changed to N)'lmaponika Thera, continue d 011 that path; but the other, while o n a sightseei ng trip to no rth Indi a. me t some Tibetans and switched 10 the ir trad iti on. becoming known in Ille Wcs t as Lama Govi nda. Tow'.trd th e close of Nyanaponika's lire a visitor as ked hilll about the different Buddhls ms the two rrie nds had espoused. Willi greal sere nit y an d sweetn ess the aging Th eraV'.tclin re plied: "'M y friend ci ted th e BodhisattVll V(NI as Ih.c reaso n for hi s switch to Mal13yana, but I could nut see the force ofili s arg um e nt. For if o ne were to transcend self-cent e redness compl e tely, as the i \ r lillt see ks to d o, what wou ld be le n but co mpassiu n?R

128 TilE WOHLD'S HEUCtONS

The Secret of the Flower ~3

Afi e r Buddhism sp li t into Therawda a nd Mahayana, TIleravada co n- tinued as a fairly un ified tradition, whereas Mah ayana divided into a number of denomillHtiolis or schools. T he most popu lar of these, the Pure La nd Sect, resembles th e Pauline Slnlnd in C hri stiani ty in re ly- ing on faith - in its case faith in the ~othcr power~ of one of the Buddhas - to carry devott.'Cs to the Pu re Land of th e Wes te rn Para- dise. In its popular reading this paradise bears man y resemb lances to th e C hri stian heave n. though both admit of sub tl e r interpretatio ns in which paradise is regarded as an experiential state rath er than a geogr.lphi cal p lace. Another important Mah ayana school (Tietl Tai in C h inese; Tendo; in j apanese) introduced into Buddhism the Confu- cia n pred il ec ti ons for learning and soc ial harmo ny. It sought to find a pl ace for a1l the Buddhi st schools in a c ulminating treatise, The Lotu.! Sutro.. We sh al l no t go into tll ese and smalle r sects of Mahayan a Buddhism; we shall reserve our space fo r, first . th e Bud dhis m Ihal lhoism profo undl y influ e nced, name ly ell a,. (Zer. in j apanese), a nd seco nd , th e Budd hi sm lhat evolved in Tibet. The se lec tion is partl y detcnnined by th e fac t that tll ese are the bran ches o f Buddhis m that have altruc te d th e most att e ntio n in the Wes t, but th ere is the add(.><i advantage that th ey will take li S to two quite differe nt lands in whic h Buddhism has flourished.

Because the Co mmun is t takeover of C h ina disrupted its reli- g ious life, we shall pursu e th e C h'anrle u sect in its j apan ese guise. Like o ther Mahaya ni st sects, this one claims to trace its perspective back to Cautama himself. Il is teachi ngs tha t found th e irway into the ?ali Ca non, it holds, "''ere th ose the masses seized upon . Hi s mo re perceptive foll owers heard in his message a hig he r, su btler teac hing. TIl e classic instance of th is is reported in th e Buddha's Flowe r Se r- mon. Sta nding on a mountai n with h is di sc ipl es around Ilim, th e Bud- dha did not o n this occas ion reso rt to words. He si mpl y he ld alo n a go ld e n lotu s. No one u nders tood the mean ing o f thi s e loque n t ges- ture save Mah akasya pa, wh ose quie t smil e, indi cating Ihal he had goHe n the paint . ca used tllC Buddha to d es ignate him as hi s succes- sor. Th e in sight thai prompted the smil e was transmitted in Ind ia through twenty-eig ht patri archs and carried to C hina in A.D. 520 by Bodhidhann a. Spreading from tllere to j apan in th e twe lfth ce ntu ry, it co ntai ns the sec re t of len.

BUDDItISM It.

E nte ri ng Zen is like stepping through Alice's looking glass. Qne finds oneself in a topsy-turvy wo nderland where everything seems quite mad-charmingly mad for the most part, but mad a1l the sa~e. It is a \\-'Orld cfbew lldering dialogues. obsc ure COll undru~ s, stu nlllng par.ldoxes, fl agrant conlnldictions, and .:abrupt non SeqUl~Urs, ~l car- ried offin the most urbane, c heerful, and innocent style IInagmable

Here are so me examp les: A mas te r, Cutei , whenever he was asked the meani ng of Ze~,

li fted his index finger. Thai was al l. Another kicked a ball. Sull 3110the r slapped the inqu ire r.

A novice who makes a respec tful allu sion to til e Buddha is ordered to rinse his mouth out and never utter lh at dirty word agai n.

Someone claiming to und erstand Buddhism writes th e following

stanza:

Tlte body is tile Bodhi-'ll-ee; Tile mi,ul is like tlte mirro,. brig"t. Take Il eed to keep it always clean, A,.d let no dust collect "IJOtI it.

He is at once co rrected by an opposi te quatrain , wlli ch beco mes

accepted as tile true Zen )>os ition:

Bodh i (True \V"JMlom) is ,wI a t ree; Tile mind is not a mirro,. sllinjrlg. As there is notllingJrom til e first , wilY talk oj u""j'lg off tile dust? A monk approac hes a master saying, ~ I have just co me to thi s

monastery. Would yo u kindl y give me so me ins truc tion?" Th e mas te r asks, ~ J lave you ea te n your breakfast yet?" " I have." ~Then go wash your bowls.~ Th e inquirer acquired tll e unders tanding he was seek- ing through this exchange.

A gro up o f Ze n masters., gatllered for conve~tion , have ~ grea l time decl aring that the re is no such thing as Buddillsm, or E nhg hte ll - me nt. or anything even re motel y resem blin g ni nHlna . :rhey set n:aps for o ne another. trying to tric k someo ne into an assertIon tha t mlghl impl y th e con trary. Practiced as th ey are, th e)' alwa~ artr~lIy elud~ traps ruld pitfalls. whereupon th e e nti re company bursts IIlto glon-

ous, roo m-shaking laughter.

13{I TilE WORLD'S REI.ICIONS

Wh at goes 011 here? Is it possib le 10 make any se nse o ut of what at fi rs t blush looks like Olympian hoo:ep lay, if not a direct put-on? Can th ey possibly be serio us in this kind of spiri tual doubletalk, or are tll ey simpl y pulling our legs?

The answer is th at th ey are compl etely serious, th oug h it is true that th ey are rarely solemn, And th oug h we canll o l hope to co nvey their perspective comp letely, it being of Zen's essence that it can not be impounded in wo rds, we can give so me hint as to what they arc up to.

Let us admit at the oulset thaI eve n thi s is go ing to be diffi cult. for we shall have to use words to lalk about a pos ition that is acutely aware of their limitations. Words occ upy an ambiguous place in life. Th ey are indispensable to our humanit y. for without the m we would be but howling yahoos. But th ey can also deceive, or at leas t mislead. fabri cating a virtual reali ty that fro nts fo r th e one that actual ly exis ts. A parent can be fooled into thinkin g it loves its c hild because it addresses the c hild in en deari ng tc nns. A nation can ass um e tllal th e phrase "und e r Cod" in its Pledge of All egiance shows that its citizens beli eve in Cod when all it rea ll y shows is that th ey be li eve in believing in Cod. With all th ei r admitted uses, words have tll.fce limitations. At wors t they co nstru ct an artificia l ",'Orld wh ere in our ac tual feelings arc ca mollflag(.'<i and people are reduced to stereotypes. Second. eve ll when th eir description s are reaso nabl y accurate, descripti ons are not the things described - me nu s are not th e meal. Finall y, as mystics em phas ize, our hig hes t experi e nces elud e words almost e ntirel y.

Every religion tllat has deve loped even a modic um o r seman ti c SO phistica ti on recognizes to some ex te nt th e way words and reason fall short of real ity when tile}' do not actuall y di stort it. However mu ch th e rati o nali st may begrudge th e ract. paradox and tile trans- rational are religion's life blood, and th at of art as we ll. Mys ti cs in every faith report co ntacts with a world that startles and transfonn s them with its dill".zling darkness. Ze n stands squarel y in thi s camp, its onlyuniquencss being that it makes bre aking th e language harri er ils central co ncern .

Only if we keep thi s fact in mind have \o\'C a chan ce or und e r- standing thi s outlook, which in ways is tJl e stranges t expreSS ion or mature re ligion. It was th e Buddha him se lf, according to Zen tradi - tion, who first made tJl e pOint by refU Sing (in tile Flower Senno n we

BUDDIIISM '31

have already allud ed to) to equate hi s expe rien tial discovery wilh any verbal express ion . Bodhidharma continued in this tmdition by de fin - ing the treasu re he was bringing to C hin a as ~a special transmissioll outside th e scriptures. W This seems so ou t of kee ping with re ligion as usually understood as to sound he re ti cal. Think or Ilinduism witll its Vedas, Co nfu cia ni sm witll its Classics. Ju daism with its Torah , Chris - tianity with its Bible, Isl am witJI its Koran . All wou ld happil y de Sne themselves as special tran smi ssions throu/!JI th e ir scrip tures. Ze n, t()(), has its texts; they are intoned in its monasteri es morning and eve- ning. In addition to tJl e Sut.ras. whi c h it shares witJl oth er branches of Buddhism. it has its own te xts: the lIekigan Roku. til e Mumonkan , and oth ers. But o ne g lance at th ese distin c tive texts will reveal how unlike other sc riptures tll ey are. Alm os t e ntire ly they are give n to press ing hom e the fact that Zen can not be equated with any verbal fonnula whatsoever: Acco unt after account will depi ct di sci ples ioterrog'dting their masters about Zen, onl y to rece ive a roared "H oI" for answer. For the master sees that through such qu es tio ns, seekers are trying to fill the lack in Lh e iT lives witJl word s and co ncepts instead of realizations. Indeed. stude nts will be lucky if tJley get o ff with ve rbal rebuffs. Often a rain of blows will be tJl e re tort as th e mas- te r. utte rl y uninte res ted in th e d isci pl e. .. • phys ical comfort. resorts to til e most forceful way he can th in k of to pry the questioner o ut of hi s mental rut .

As we mig ht expect. tltis unique stancc toward scripture is dupli - ca ted in Zen's attitude toward c reeds.. III co ntras t to most re lig ion s, whic h pivot around a creed of some sort, Zen refuses to lock itself into a ve rbal cas ing; it is ~not founded on written wo rds, a nd [is] out- side the es tablished teachings," to re turn to BodhidhaTma's putting of th e point. Signposts arc not th e des tination , maps are not th e te rrain . Life is too ri ch and textured to be Sued intu pigeonholes, le t alone e quated with th e m. No affiTmation is more tJ13n a finger pointing to th e moo n. And. lest attention turn t"O the finger, Zen will point. Duly to withdraw its finge r a t once. Other faiths regard blasp hemy and di s· respect for Cod's word as sins. but Zen masters may order their disci- ples to rip th e ir scriptures to shreds and avo id words like Buddha or IlinJ(lrlQ as if they were smut . Th ey inte nd no di srcspec t. H Wh al tlley are doing is slrainiug by every means th ey can think of to bl as t tJleir novi ces out of solutions that are onl y ve rbal. "Not everyOne who says to me. 'Lord. Lord; will e nte r th e kingdom ofhe ave n"( Matthew

132 TIlE Vi'ORl..O'S RELIGIONS

7:21}. Zen is not interested in theories about e nlighte nm e nt; it wants the reaJ thing. So it sho uts, and buffets, and reprimands, without iIJ- will e nte ring in the slightes t. All it want s to do is force th e studen t to cras h th e word -barrie r. Minds must be sprung from their vt: rbal bonds into a new mode o f appre he nding.

Every point can be oversta ted, so we should not infer from what has been said that Zen forgoes reason and words en ti rely. oil

To be sure. it is no more impressed with the mind's attempts to mirror ultimate real it y th an was Kie rkegaard with Hegel's meta- physiCS: no amount of polishing can enable a bri ck to reflt!Clthe sun . But it d oes not fo ll ow that reason is worlhless. Obviousl y, it he lps us ma ke our way in th e everyday world, a ract that le ads Zennists in the main to be stauncll advocates of education. But more Working in special ways. reason can actually he lp awareness toward its goal. If the way that it is e mployed to do this see ms at tim es like usi ng a tho rn to remove a tho rn , we should add that reason can al so pl ay an interpretive ro le, se rving as a bridge to joill a newl y di scove red world to th e world or common sense For th e re is 1I 0t a Zen proble m whose an swer, o nce di scovered, d oes 1I0t make good sense within its own frame of re rere nce; the re is no expe ri e nce th at th e mas ters are unwilling to try to d escribe or expla in, give n the proper circ um - sta nce. The point re&rardillg Zen's re latio n to reason is simpl y a dou- ble one First, Zell logic and descriptiou make se nse only frolll all ex perie ntial perspective radical ly diffe rc nt from the ordinary. Sec- o nd , Zen masters are dete nnined that th e ir students attain the expe- rience itself, not allow talk to take its place.

Nowhere is Zen's d e te ml illation o n this latte r point more evi d e nt than in the me thod it adopted for its own perpetuation. Wh ereas on th c tricky matter of success io n other religions turned to institution- a1i 7.(.-'d mandat es, papal successio n, or cret.-'dal di c ta, Zen trusted its future to a spec ifi c state of co nsciousn css that was to be tran smitted directl y from one mind to another, like flame pass(..o rrom candl e to cand le, or water poured from c up to c up. It is this ~trallsmission or Buddha-mind to Buddha- mind" that co nstitutes th e Mspecial trans- mission- Bodhidharma ci ted as Zen's esse nce. For a number of centu - ries tlli s inward transmission was symboli7.ed by the handing down of the Buddha's robe and bow l from patriarc h to patriarch, but in the Eighth Ce ntury the Sixtll Patriarch in China concluded that (.'\Ien

BUOD III SM .33

this simple ges ture was a s tep toward confounding rorm wi tll essence and o rde red it discontinued. So here is a tradition th at ce nters ill a succession of tcachers. each of whom has in principle inherited from his master a mind -s tate analogous to th e one Cautama awakened in Mahakas yapa.. Practice falls short or til is princ iple, but th e rollowing figures sugges t the steps tha t are take n to keep it in place. Th e maste r of the teache r under whom tJl e auth o r orthis book stud ied estimated that he had given persona) instru c tion to some ninc hundred proba- tioners. Of th ese. thirt een co mpl e ted tJle ir Zen training. and four we re given th e irlka -which is to say, they were confirme d as roslli.s run mast ers) and autJ\orized to teach.

And what is the training by which aspirants are broug ht toward the Buddha-mind that has bee n tJllIS preserved? We ca n approach it by way or th ree key terms: .;;azen, koan , and san.:en.

Zazen Iitemlly means Msea ted meditation." TIle bulk of Zen training takes place in a large meditatio n hall . Vi si tors to th ese are struc k by the seemingly endles.~ hours tJle monk.'i devote to sitting Silentl y on two long, r.tised platforms tJ\a t extend the le ngth or the hall on e ith e r sid e, th eir faces toward tJl e cen te r (or to the walls, depe nding on whi ch of the two main lin eages orun th e mo nastery is attached to).oM Tb ei r posi tion is th e lotus posture, adopted from lndia.. Th ei r eyes are half closed as th eir gaze falls unfocused on the tawny straw mats they are si tting on.

l11U s th ey sit, hour afte r hour, day after day, year afte r year,41 seeking 10 waken tJl C Buddha-mind so th ey may late r relate it to their daily lives. Th e mos t intriguing feature of th e process is tJle use th ey make of one or tJl e strangest devi ces for spiritual training anywhere to be encou nt ered - th e koatl.

In a ge ne ral way koon mcans proble m, but th e problems Zen d evises are fantasti c. At first glance they look like nothing so lIIu c h as a c ross bct\\.'een a riddle and a shaggy dog story. For example:

A master, Wu nu, says, MLet me take an ilius tmtiof1 from a fable. A cow passu by a wi,ldow. it.! head, /wnu, and tIle fou,-Ie~ all pa.u by. Why did not the tail pa.u byr

Or again: \Vllat was tile apl1eamnce of 1J0f.j'- face before you,- atluston were bom?

134 TIlE WORLD'S III':UCIONS

Another: \\'I? are all famiikJr with the sound of two hamu clapping. \Vllat it Ole sound of D11e haml clapping? (If you protest lhat one hand can' t clap. you go to th e foot of th e class,)

One more: Li-ku , a high-ranking officer ill the rang dynasty. asked a famous CMm master: i\ long time ago a man ke,lt a tpOSe itl a bottle. It gnw largera,uJ larger until it cxmld rll) t get out of tile bottle any more. lie did 'lOt WIJtlt to break the bottle. IIOf' did he wish to llann the goose. Ilow would you get it out?

1'IIe master W(l.1 -tilent for a few mOl/let.ts, tllerl shouted, -0 Officerl·

'1'e.1. - -it 'S outr

Our impu lse is to dismiss these puzzles as absurd, but th e Ze n practi tioner is not permitted to do this. lie or she is ordered to direct the full force of the mind upon them, sometim es loc king logic wi Ul them , so metimes dropping th e m inlo the mind 's deep inte rior to wai t ull an acceptabl e answe r e rup ts, a project Ulat 011 a si ngle /.:00'1 may take as long as a doctora1 dissertation .

During this tim e the mind is intently at wo rk , but it is working in a veryspccial way. We in the Wes t rely on reaso n so fully thai we must re mind ourselves Ul at in Zen we are de aling wi Lh a perspec tive thai is co nvinced th at reason is limited and mu st be supp le me nt ed by anoth er mode of knowing.

For Zen, if reaso n is not a ball and chain, a nchoring mind to earth. it is at least a ladde r too sho rt to reach to truth's full heights. It must , therefore. be surpassed, and it isjust this surpassi ng that /coons are designed to assist. If th ey look scandalo us to reaso n, we must re membe r that Zen is not trying to placa te the mundan e mind. It intends Ul e opposite: to upse t the mind - unba]ance it and eventually provo ke revolt abrainst th e cano ns that imprison it. But thi s puts th e mailer 100 mildly. By forcing rea.~on to wres tl e with what from its normal poi nt of view is fl at absurdity; by compelling it to conjoin things Ul a! are ordi naril y incom pati bl e. Ze n tries to drive the mind to a state of agitation wherein it hurls itse lf agai nst its logical cage wiUI Ul e desperdtioll of a com ered rat. By I)aradox and non seq ui tu r 'Zen provokes, exci tes, exasperates. and eve ntuall y exhau sts th e mind until it sees tha t thinking is neve r more than thinking abo"t, or fee l· iug more than feeling for. The n, having gotte n Ul e ra ti onal mind

RUDDIIISM '" where iI wants it-reduced to an impasse-it counts on a flash of sudden insight 1'0 bridge tlle gap between secondhand and firsthand life.

Light iJn:tlks 011 seCn!1 lou . . .. When: logics die The.recret grows through the eYI!.tJ

Before .... 'C dismi ss Ulis strange meuuxl as co mpl e tel y foreign , it is "-ell to remember that Ki e rk egua rd regarded m(.-'<i itatioll on Ul e paradox of UIt! In ca m ati o n - the logical absurd it y of the Infinite becoming finit e. Cod becoming Ill an -as the most rewarding of all C hristian exercises. Th e /.:0011 appears illogical because reaso n pro- ceeds within structured perimeters. Outside those pe rim e ters th e koan is not inconsiste nt; it has its own logic, a - Reimann ian" logic ,",'C might say. O nce the men tal barrier has been bro ke n, it becomes intelli gible. Like an alann clock. it is set to awaken the mind from its dream of rationality. A higher lucid it y is a t han d .

Struggling wi lh hi s koo n. ul e Ze n monk is not alo ne. Books will not av-.rn . and koaliS that are bei ng worked o n are not discussed with fe llow monks, for this could only produce seco ndh and answers. Twice a day, though. 0 11 average, Ule monk co nfronts Ule master in private -co nsu hat ion concerni ng lIleditation~sall.:erl in Rin ;r.ai and dol.. .. uson in the Soto sccl. Th ese meetings are invariably brie[ The trai nee stat es the koan in question an d foll ows it with his or he r answe r to date. The role of the mas te r is then threefold. in Ul t: bappy eve nt tha t th e answer is correct, he vali dates it. but this is his least important role, fo r a rig ht answer usual ly comes with a force that is self-validating. A grea ter service is rendered in rejccting illade<lu ate answers, for nothing so helps the stude nt to put these permanentl y to one sid e as Ihe mas te r's ca tegori cal rejectio n of them . l1lis aspect of s(J llzen is fittingly described in th e ninth -ce ntu ry Rilles of IJyakujo as affording ~the oppo rtunity for th e teac he r to make a close perso nal examination of the studen t, to arouse him from hi s immatu rity, to bea t down hi s false co nceptio ns and to rid him of his prejudices,just as th e smelter remO'lies Ul e lead an d quicksilver fro m the go ld in th e sme ltin g-pol. and as th e jade-cutter, in po lishing the jade, discards every possible flaw. -~y Th e maste r's o the r service is, li ke that of any exactillg exa min e r, to keep th e student e nergized and determined during the loug years the training requires.

136 TH E WORLD'S REUC IONS

And to what does this zazen, koo" tmining. and simzerl lead? Tb e 6rst important breakthrough is an intu itive experie nce called kensho or sa tori. T hough its prepamtio n may take years, the experi e nce itse lf comes in a nash , exploding like a sil e nt roc ke t d eep wi thin th e sub- j ect and throwing everything int o a new perspective. Fea rful of being sed uced by words, Zennists waste littl e bre ath in des cri bing sa toris, but occasio nall y acco unts appear.

ZIt! I entered. I lost the I)(JUndary of my IJhysictll lxxly. I had my ski'l , of course, but I felt I was sltlnding in the center of the COS1IIOS. 1 saw peoJJle com ing towa rd me, but all were the sa me mall . All were myself Iliad never kl'lOWl'l this world before. 1 had believed that I was createt/, but now I must challge my 011ill.on: 1 was never created; 1 was the cosm os. No individual exisWA.&o

From this an d similar d escripti ons "-'e can infe r that salo ri is Zen's vers ion of the mystical exp e ri e nce. which , wherever it appears. brin gs joy, at-one-m e nt , and a se nse o f reality that de6 es ordinary lang uage. But whcrea.~ th e tende ncy is to relate suc h expe ri ences to tile zenith of th e relibtious que st, Zen pl aces them close to th e point of departure. In a very real sense Zen training begins with sotori. For one thing, th e re must be further salOns as tile trainee learns to move with greate r freedonl in til is realm .51 But th e important point is that Zen , drawing half its inspiration from th e prac ti cal, co mmon -seuse, this-worldl y orientation of the Chinese to balance the mys ti cal o ther- worldl y halfit de rived fro m Lndi a, refuses to permit th e human spirit to withdmw-shall we say retreat?- into th e myst ical sta te co m- pl e te ly. Once we ac hi eve satori, we must

get out of the stk:ky ,oorass in wlJidl we Iw oo been .fI.mmdering. and return to the urifetter-ed freedom of the open fields. Some pe~ pie 'lUIy say : "If 1 have [ach ieved sato ri! tiwl is enQt,g)I. WIlY should I go furtherr TIle old masters lashed out at such persmls, calling tllem -eart/uoonns living in the slime of self-accreditecl enlig)llemner.t. "'S2

Th e ge nius of Zen li es in til e fact that it ne ither leaves th e wo rld in the less- than -ideal state in whi ch it finds it, nor withdraws from th e world in aloofness or in differe nce. Zen's object is to infuse th e tem- poral with tll e e te rnal - to wide n th e doors o f perception so that th e wonder of th e 80tOri expe rie nce can Oood the everyday world.

J BUDDIIISM 137

"What . ~ as ks the student. -is the mea ning of Bodhidhanna's coming from th e Westr Th e mas te r answers. "Th e cypress tree standing in the gardell: Bei ng's amazingness must be direc tl y realized, and so lari is its first discernm e nt. But until - th rough recognizing the interpenetration and conve rtability of all phenome na- it s wonder sp reads to objec ts as common as th e tree in your b~ckyard and yo.u ca n perfo rm your dail )' duties witll tll e understandlOg that each IS equal l)' a manifes tati on of th e infinite, Zeu's business h as not bee n

6.nished. With th e possible exception of th e Buddha him self, in 110 one is

that business ever co mpl e tely fini shed. Ye t by extmpo lating hin ts ill Ih e Ze n corpu s we can form so me idea o f what th e co nditio n of ~tlle man who hIlS no tlling furth e r to do~ would be like.

First, it is a condition in which life seems distin c tl )' good. Asked what Zen tmi ning leads to, a Wes te rn student who had been practic- ing fo r seve n }'Cars in Kyoto answered. -No paranormal expe ri e nces tll at J can de tect. Rut yo u wake up in tl, e morning and th e world see ms so beautiful you can hardl y stan d it.

R

Along with thi s se nse oflife's goodness the re co mes, secD ndl y, an objective o utlook o n one's re la tio n to othe rs; thei r we lfare impresses one as heing as important as o ne's own. Looking at a d ollar bill, one's gaze may be possessive; looking at a su nset, it cann ot be. Zen attain- me nt is like looking at th e su nset. Requ iring (as it d oes) awareness to the full , issues like Mwhose awareness?" or "awareness of what?" do not arise. Dualisms dissolve. As th ey do th e re comes ove r o ne a feel- ing of gra titude to tll e past and responsibility to tllings present and

future. Third. th e life of Ze n (as we have so ug ht to empha. .. ize) d oes not

dmw one away from the world; it retu rns one to th e world - th e world robed ill new Iigh l. We are not called to worldl y indi fference, as if life's object we re to spring soul from bod y as pis to n from syringe. Th e cal l is to discover th e sat isfac tio n of full awareness even in its bodil y setting. MWhat is the mos t mimcul ous of all mimcles?'" "That I sit qu ie tl y by myself. " Si mpl y to see things as they are, as th ey trul y are in themselves. is life e nough . It is true that Zen valu es unity, but it is a unity that is simultaneously e mpty (because it emses lin es that d ivide) and fu ll (beca use it replaces those lin es with o nes that con- nect). Stated in the form of a Zen algorithm , -All is on e, one is none. non e is al l." Zen wears the air o f divin e ordinarilless: ~Have yo u

118 T If E WOR L Il'S REUG IONS

~aten? Then was h you r bowls.~ If you can not find th e mea ning o rlire III an act as si mpl e as th at or d oi ng the d ishes, yo u will no t fi nd it anywhere.

My daily acti vit ies are not different, Duly I am I'Ultu rnlly in harmo ny u;iO. ll.em. Taking nothing. t'f!tWlI ncing ' IOIIl ing, 111 ~ circum.\'tance '10 lIi,mrance, '10 conflict . .. Dro wlng woter; carryiflg jirewood, This is $I11H!nlatllrol IJOWer. this tile ma rvelous activity. 53

With thi s percepti o n o r the infinite in th e finite th e re co mes, finall y: ~n at~i~lId~ or ge nerali zed ag reeabl e ness. MYcsterday was rair, today It IS nunlng ; th~ e~riellcer has passed beyond th e opposites or p~ererence and reJec tloll . As both pulls a re needed to kee p th e relau ve world turning, e ac h is wel com e d in its prope r lurn .

There is a poem by Se ng Tsan 011 "Trust in th e lleart,~ that stands as th e pures t express ion or thi s ide al or total acceptance.

TIle Iwrfect way knQws '10 diffic ulties ExC6J}t alii' it refuses to make I'roferotlces; O"ly when f reed from hate and lOOI! Does it nroeal itself fully (lnd without disguise; A tlmt}1 of arl inc/I S diffenmce, And heavell arm earth are set a part . If fJOO wisll to see it before your OWn eye3 Ha ve 110 jixe(1 thoughts d iller f or or agains t it .

To set "I) what you like against what you d islike- That is the d isease of the mimL TIle Way if perfect like Ullto vast S7)(1ce, With ,lOthing wolin,,/!.. fIOlhin g sfllJeTjlu OIlS. It if dlle to making choices That its S"c:lml!Ss i.t lost sight of.

TIle One is '101Ie other tho" the All. tile All IIone other thall the One

'lake your stand Oil th is, and the red will follol(} of its OWII accord:

I have spoke" , IJUt ill vaifl .Jur what can words telJ Of thi,lgs tllat ha ve '10 yesterday, IO"ION'OW, or today?1l4

8UDO lii SM 139

Even truth and ral sit y look differe nt. "1)0 no t seek afte r truth. Me rel y cease to hold opinions:

Firth, as the di chotomi es be tween se lf and oth e r, An ite and in- fin ite, acceptance and rej ec tion a re transcended, even the d ichoto my bet ween lire and de ath disappears.

Wilen thif reaiiw tion is completely Ocll icved , never aga in CO li one feel tllat Otle8 individual death brings an elld to life. One Ims lived f rom all endless lJU8t and will live into an endless futu re. At th is venJ mo ment aile 1JOrtakes of Eternal Life -Missfid, '''mi- IWI"', Im fl'.55

As we leave Zen tu its futu re we may no te tha t its inOu e nce o n th e c ultural lire or j apruJ has bee n e norm ou s. Th o ugh its g reatest inOue nce has bee n on pe rvas ive lire attitud es, rour ingredi e nts orj ap- anere c ulture c arry its imprint inde libl y, tn $um ie or blac k ink land - scape painting, Zen mon ks, livi ng th e ir simpl e lives cl ose to th e earth . have rivaled th e skill a nd d epth or reeling ur the ir C hin e se mas te rs. Ln hlildscape garde ning Ze n te mpl es surpassed their C hi - nese counte rpa rts and raised th e art to unri valed l>erf'ec tio n, Fl owe r arrangem e nt began in noml offe rings to th e Buddha, but develope d into an art that until rece ntl y was a part or th e trainin g o r every refin ed j apa nese gi rl. Filiall y, th ere is th e celeb rated tea ce re mony, ill whi c h an a ustere bul beautirul setting, a few fin e pi eces o f old I>ot- tery, a slow, gracerul ritual , a nd a sp irit uf utte r trd.n q uili tyco mbin e to epitomi ze th e harm ony, res pec t, cl ari ty, and calm th a t c ha rac te rize Ze n at its bes t.

The Diamond Thunderbolt

We have spoke n uft\\,'O yarlOso r paths in Buddhism , but we lIlust now add a third . If Hinayana Lite rall y meall s the Littl e Way and Mah ay.ma the C reat Way, Vaj rayana is th e Diamo nd Way.

Vaj ro wa.~ o rig in all y th e thund e rbolt of Indra , th e Indian l1lUn - der Cod who is orte n me nti oned in the earl y, Pal i Buddhist texts; but whe n Mah aya na turn ed th e Buddha into a co smic fig u re, Indra's thund e rbolt .... ~.lS tr.m sformed into th e Buddha's diamond scepte r. We see here a te lling inst'ance o r Buddhism's capac ity 10 acco mmod ate itse lr 10 local ideas whil e reva luing them by c hang ing the spiritual cente r o rgravity; for th e di amond trJ.nsrorm s the thunde rbo lt , symbol

'40 Til E WORLD'S REU C IONS

of natu re's powe r, inlo an e mbl e m of spiritual sup remacy, while retaining Ul e conn otatio ns of power th ai the thunderbolt possessed. The d iamond is th e hardest stone-one hundred tim es harde r than its closes t rival - and at th e same tim e th e mos t transpa re nt slo ne. This mak es tbe Vnjr.tYJ.na th e \\Itly of stre ng th and lU cidity-stre ng th to realize th e Buddha's vision oflurnin ous compass ion.5I!

We just no ted th at the roots of the Vaj rayana can be traced bac k to India, and it co ntinu es to survi ve in Japan as Shingo n Buddhism; but il was th e Tibetans who perfec ted thi s third Buddhist path. Fo r TI be tan Buddhism is not not just Buddhism with TIbet's pre- Buddhis t Bon de ities in co rporated. No r is it e noug h to charac te ri ze it as Indian Buddhism in its e ighth. and ninth .oeentu ry heyday. moved northward to be prese rved again st its collapse in India. To catc h Its di stin cti ve ness we must see it as th e third majo r Buddhist yaM , whil e adding immed iatel y that th e essencc of the Vajrayana is Tantra. TIbetan Buddhism. th e Buddhis m here und e r review, is at heart Tan. tric Buddhism,

Buddhists have no mono pol y o n Tallira, whi ch firsl showed itself in med ieval HindUis m wh ere th e wo rd had t .... ,o Sanskrit roo ts. One of th ese is "ex te nsion." In this meaning Thntra de notes tex ts. mauyo f the m eso te ri c and secre t in nature, th ai were added to th e Hindu co rpus to ex te nd its runge. This g ives us onl ), th e forma! meaning of th e word , h<M'eVC r. For th e co ntc nt of those exte nded texts we shou ld look to th e seco nd e tymological mea ning of Tantra, wlli ch de rives from th e weaving c raft and de no les inte rpc ne tra ti on. In weaving th e thre ads ofw.arp a nd woof inte rtwine repeated ly. Th e "PJ. ntras are te xis that focus o n th e inte rrela ted ness of things. llinduism pionee red such texts, but it ..... as Buddhism, partic ul arly Ti be ttm Bud dhis m, th at gave th e m pride of place.

Th e Ti betans say that th e ir re ligion is nowi se di stin c ti ve in it s goal. Wh al distinguishes th e ir prac ti ce is th at it e nabl es one to re ach nirvana in a sing le Iife time.lI7 This is a major claim. How do tJl e TIbetans de fe nd it ?

Th ey say that tJl e sl:teed· up is e ffec ted by ulili zing all of th e e ne r. gi es lale nt in th e human make· up. tJlOse of th e bod y c mphaticall y included, and impressing tJl e mall into the scrvice of the spiritual qu est.

Th e e ne rgy thai interests th e West most is sex, so it is not surpris- ing lh at 'fiultra's reputation abroad has bee n built on its sacram e ntal

BUDDH ISM

useofthis drive. H . G. We lls o ll(.'e said thai C od and sex were th e o nl y two thi ngs th at reall y inte rested him. II we can have bo th - not be forced to c hoose between the m as in mo nas ti cism and celibacy- this is mu sic to modem ears, so muc h so tJl at in the popular Weste n! mind Tantra and sex are almost e(IU a1OO . This is unfortunate. Not onl y does it obscure th e large r world ofThntru; it distorts its sex ual teaci lings by rem ovi ng th e m from that world.

With in that world Tantra's teac hings about sex are nei th e r titil· lating nor bi7.arre: they are universal . Se x is so important - aft e r all .. it keeps life gOing- th at it must be linked quite directl y with Cod. II is the divine Eros or J lesiod, cele brated in Plato's Phaedms and in some way by every people. Even this. though , is 1."00 mild. Sex it the d ivi ne in its most availabl e e piphany. But with this proviso: It is suc h wh e n joined to love. Wh e n two people who arc passionatel y. even madly- Pla to's di vin e madn ess - in love; whe n eac h wants most to receive what the oth e r mos t wants to give; - at the mo me nl of th e ir mutu al cli max il is imposs ibl e to say wh e th e r th e e xperi e nce is mo re phys ical or spiritual , or ..... he tJl c r Ul ey sense th e mselves as two or as on e. Th e mo me nt is ecs tati c becau se a t that mo me nt th ey stand outside - ex, out; stasi.!, standing- them se lves in th e me lded one ness of tJl e Absolute.

Nothin g thus f.'lr is uniqu ely Tautric; from Ule Hebrew Song of Songs to th e explic it sexual symbolism in mys tical marri ages 10 Christ, tJle principles jus t me ntio ned tum up in alJ traditi ons. Wh at di stingui shes Tantra is th e way it wh oleh ea rtedl y e spo uses sex as a spiritual all y, working with it ex plicitly and inle nti onall y. Beyond squeamishn ess and titillati on, both. th e Tanlrics keep the phys ical and spiritual compon e nts of th e love·sex splice in stri ct conjun ction -tJlrDugh their art (which sh ows co uples in coital e mb race), in th e ir fantasies (the abilit y to vis ualize should be acti ve ly culti vated). 3Jld in overt sexual e ngagement, for onl y one of th e rour Tibetan pries tl y o rde rs is celi bate. Beyo nd th ese ge ne ralizatio ns it is no t easy to go. so ...... e shall leave th e matte r with a covering obse rvati on. Thntri c sex uru practi ce is pursued, no t as a law-breaking rC\.'tl:l, but und e r the ca u· li ous supervision of a gunj, in til e co ntroll ed context of a non...duali st outl oo k. and as the c ulminating festival of a long seque nce of spiri. turu di sciplines prac ti ced through many li ves. Th e spiritual emotio n that is worked for is ecstati c, egoless. beatific bliss in tJle realizatio n oftransce ndelll ide ntity. But it is not self·contained, for the ultimate

142 TilE WORI-D'S REI.IC IONS

goa l or the pmctice is to descend rrom the non-duaJ eq>erience bet- ter efluipped to experience the multiplicity or the world without es trange me nt .

With TUlltra's sexual side thus addressed, we ca n move on to more general rea tures or its practice. We have already seen that these are distinctive in the ex te nt to which they are body-based. and the physical e nergies the llmtrics "''O rk with most regularly nrc the ones that are invo lved with speech, vision, an d gestUJ'cs.

To appreciate the differe nce in a religious practice that engages these rac ulties actively, it is userul to think back to the raja yoga or Hinduism alJd Zen ill Buddhism . Both of these meditation programs se t out to immobilize the body so that ror practical purposes the mind mig ht rise abrn.-e it. A s napshot co uld capture the body in those practices, whereas with the Tibetans a motion picture camera would be needed, and o ne that is wired for so und. For, ritualistically cn~raged , the TIbetans' bodies are always moving. The lamas pros- trate th e mselves, weave styli;r.ed hand ges tures, pronounce sac red syllables, and intone deep-throated c hants. Audiully wld vis ually, something is always going on.

Th e rationale they invoke for e ngaging th ei r bodies in their spiri- tun! pursuits is str.ughtforward. Sounds, sights, Wld motion can dis- tract, they admit. but it does not follow that they must do so. It was the genius or the &Teat pioneers orTantrd to discover 1I,X1ya.s (s killful means) ror chann e ling physical e nergies inlo currents that carry the Sl)iril forward instead or derailing it. TIle most prominent or th ese curre nts relate to the so und , s ight. and move me nt we have rererred to, and th e nam es ror them all begin with the letter"m ." M (mtrus con- vert noise into sound and distracting cha tte r into bol y formulas. Mu(./nu c horeograph hand gestures, turning th em into pWltomime and sacred dance MUlldai(M' treat the eyes 10 icons whose hol y beauty draws th e beholder in their directio n.

If we try to expe ri e nce our way into th e liturgy by which the Tibetans put tllI •. 'SC lhntric devices into practice. til e .scene thai emerges is sometlling like this. Sealed in long. paraJlel rows; wearing headgear that ranges from crCJ\.VllS to wild shamWlic hats; garbed in maroon robes, which they periodically smother in sumptuous ves t· ments or silver. scarlet, Iludgold, gleaming metaphors for inner sta tes of consciousness, the monks begin 10 chanl. They bq,Tin in a deep. guttural, metric monotone. bnt as the mood deepens tllose mono-

8UDDiliSM 143

!les splay out into harmonics that sound like ruU -tllroaled c hords, ~~Ot1gh actual ly the monks are not singing in parts: harmo ny (a West- erll discovery) is unknown to the m. By a vocal dcvl~ fo~nd nowhere else in tlle world. they reshape their vocnl C3V1 tl CS 111 wa~ that tunplify overton es to the point where they can be heard as dlsc,re te tones in their own right..M Meanwhil e. their hands perfonn .styll'zed gestures tllat killl •. >stlie ti cally augment the states or conscIOusness

that are being accessed. A final , decisive reature of this practice would be lost on ob-

servers because it is totall y internal . Throughout the exercise the monks visuali ze th e deities they a rc invoking-visualize them with stich intensily b·-ears of practice are re<luircd to mas~er th e t~h­ niquc) that. initiall y with closed eyes but eventuall y W1t1~ eyes WIde open, they are able to see the deities as ir they were pl.IYSlcall y p-:s- en l. This goes a loug way toward making them real, but In the me<ilt'3- tion's climax , th e monks go rurther. They seek expcrieuti all~ to merge with th e gods they have conjured, the better to appropna.'e th e ir powers and their virtues. An extraordinary assemblage or artis- tic ronus are orchestrated here, but not for art's sake. Th ey co nstitute a technology, designed to modulate th e human spirit to the wave- lengths o r th e tutelary deities that are invoked.

To compl e te this profile o rTibetan Buddhism's distinctiveness, we must add to this sum maryorits Tantric prac ti ce a unique institution. When in 1989 the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. that institution jumped to worldwide attention.

The Dalai Lama is not accurately like ned to the pope. ror it is not his prerogative to define doct'Tine. Even more misleading is ~Ie designation Cod-King, for though temporal and sp.irit uaJ a~tllOnty do converge in him . neitllcr orlhese powers define hiS essenti al runc- tion. That function is to in carnate on earth the celeslia1 pril1ciple of which compassion or mercy is the de fining fcature. The Dalai Lama is the bodliisath)(J who in India WolS kn own as Avalokiteslwara, in China a.~ the Goddess of Mercy Kwan Yin. an d in Japan as Kannon. N. Chcnrez.i.g (his Tibetan nam e) he has ror the last several. centuries incarnated him selr for tile empowenuent and regenerahon of th e Tibetan tradition. 111roug h his person -a single person who has tllUS rar assumed fourteen successive incarnations-there news an unin - ternlpted current of sp iritual influence. characteristically co mpas· siOllate in its flavor. Thus in relation to th e world generally, and to

144 TilE WORLD'S KEI.I C IONS

Tibet in particular. the office of the Dalai Lama is c hi e fl y neither one of udm illislmtio n nor of teaching but an ~actiYity of presence

R

thai is operative independently of anything he may, as an individual, c hoose to do or not do. The Dalai Lama is a rt.."Cciving sl'ati on toward which the compassion-pri nciple of Buddhism in all its cosmic ampli tude is continuously ch anneled, to radiate thence to the Tibetan people most directly, but by extension to all sen ti e nt beings.

Whether the Dalai Lama will reincarnate himself agai n alter his present body is spen t is uncertain, for at presen t th e Chin ese inwden; are detcrmined that there wiJI be no distinct people for him to SCrvt!. If there arc not , something imllortallt will have withdrawn from hi story_ For as rain forests are to the earth·s atmosp here, some- one has sa id, so are th e Tibetan people to the human spiril ill this time of its planetary ordeal .

Tile Image of til e Crossing

We have looked at three modes of tr,msport in Buddhism: th e Little Ran,; the Big Raft , with speciaJ attention to Zen; and , though it sounds odd in the co nl'ex t of a Ootilla.the Diamond Ran. These vehi. cles are so differe nt that we must as k in closing whcther. on any grounds other than historical lineage, they deserve to be co nsidered aspects of a single religion .

The re are two respects in whi cll tlwy should be so regarded. They all revere u single founder from whom th ey claim their teach· ings derive. And all three call be subsumed und e r a single metaphor. This is the image of th e crossing. the si mpl e everyday expe ri e nce of crossing a river on a ferryboat.

10 appreciate the force of this image " 'e must remember the ro le the fe rry played in trdditional Asian li fe. In lands laced by ri ven; and canals, alm ost e\'ery considerable journey required a ferry. -nlis rou- tine fncL underli es and inspires every school of Buddhism. as the use of the word yOrio by all of tllem allests. Buddllis m is a voyage across life's river, a transport from th e co mmon·sense shore of ignorance, gr.a.sping, and death. to the furthel bank of wisdom and en lighten· me nt. Compared with thi s settled fact, th e differences within Bud- dhism are no more than variations in tile kind of vehicle one boards, or th e stage one has reached on th e journey.

What are these st'.ages?

BUDDlIlSM ,<5

While we are on tile flnt bank it is in effect til e world for us. Its earth underfoot is solid and reassuri ng. The rewards and disappoint· rIlents of jts social life are vivid and compelli ng. TIle opposite shore is barely visible an d has no impact on our dealings. .

If, however, something prompts us to see what the other side IS like. we may decide to attemp t a cross ing. If we are of in depe nden t be nt, we may decide to make it on ourown . In this case .... 'e are Ther- aV'ddi ns;"'e foll ow th e Buddha's design for a sturdy craft. but we build ours oursel( Most ofns, however. have neither til e time nor the talent for a project of such proportions. We are Mahayani sts and move down th e hank to where a ready- made ferryboat is expected . As th e gro up of exploren; clamber aboard at th e landing tllere is an air of excite- ment. Attention is focused on the distant bank. sti ll indistinct, but the voyagen; are sti ll very mu ch like citizens of tllis side of the river.

The ferry pushes 0 0' and moves across til e water. The bank we are leaving behind is los ing its substan ce. 11le shops and streets and ant -like figures are ble nding toge the r and releasing tlleir hold on us. Mea nwhile, the shore toward which we are headed is not in focus eit her; it seems alm ost as far away as it ever was. The re is an inte rvaJ in the c rossi ng when th e only tangib le realities are tile water, with its treacherous c urrents. and th e ooat, which is stoutl y but precariously con te nding with th e m. This is the mome nt for Buddhism's Three vows: I take refuge in the Buddlla , the fact tlla! the re WolS an ex plore r who made this trip and proved to us that it can succeed. I take refuge in th e dharma , the vehicl e of tran sport, this boat to which we have co mmitted our lives in th e conviction that it is seaworthy. I take re (- uge ill the sangha . th e order. the crew that is navigating this ship. in whom we have co nfide nce. The shoreline of tile world has been left behind. Until we set foot on th e furth e r bank. these are th e only things in which ~'e can trust.

The furthe r shore draws near, becomes real . The emIt jolts onto the sand and we ste p onto solid ground. The land, which had been misty and un substantial as a dream, is now fact. And til e shore that " .. e left behind. which .... '35 so palpable and real, is now only a sle nder horizon tal line, a visual patch, a me mory without substance.

Impatient to expiore our new surroundings. we nevertlleless remembe r our grntiLude for th e sple ndid ship and c rew who have brought us safely to what promises to be a rewarding l un~. It will not be gratitude, however, to insist on pac king the bout With us as we

146 TilE \\-'O RLO'S l\ ELlG IONS

plunge into the woods. "Would he be a clever man ," the Buddha as ked, ~if out of gralilude for the raflthat has carried him across the stream to safe ty h e. havi ng reached th e o lhe r sh ore. sho uld cling to it, take it o n his back, and walk about wilh the weigbt o f it ? Wo uld not the cl ever man be the olle wh o le ft lh e roUt, no longe r o f use to him , 10 th e c urre nt of th e stream and walked ahead witho ut turning back to look a t it? Is it no t simpl y a tool to be cas t away and forsaXen once it has served the purpose for which it was made? In the same way tlle ve hicl e o f tlle d oct rin e is to be cas t away a nd forsaken o nce th e oth e r shore of Enlightenment has bee n attained.""

He re we co me to the Projnaparomita or Perfection oj Wisdom sutras. which are wide ly consid e red to be the c ulminating te xls of Buddhism. 111C Fi ve Prece pts and the Eightfold Mth; th e tec hni cal le nninology of dukkha . kanno. niroano, and tlleir like; th e commit- ted order and th e person of tllC Buddh a him self - al l these are vitally important to th e indi vidua l in tll e act of making th e crOSSi ng. Th ey losc th e ir re levance for those who have arrived. Indeed , to th e traveler who has not onl y reachetlthe promised shore hut who keeps moving into its interior, there comes a tim e whe n Bot onl y th e run but the rive r itself drops from view. Wh e n such a one turns around to look for the land tllat has been left be hind , what appears? What of that land COli appear to one who has c rossed a hori zon beyond whic h th e ri ver di viding thi s shore from that shore has van ished ? One looks, and there is no o the r shore. Th e re is no separating ri ver. 111ere is no rnfi, no ferryma n. Th ese things are lIot a part of tlle new world.

Before the river WJ.S crossed th e two sh ores. human and divine. had to appear dis tin c t from each othe r, differe nt as life and d ea th , as day and night. Hut ollce the crossing has been made. 110 d ichotomy re mains. TIle realm o f the gods is not a distin ct p lace. It is whe re the trave le r stands; and if that stance happens to be in this world, the world itself is trans muted. II is in this sense th at we are to read the avowals in 1'he Perfection oj \VlSdom that "this our wo rldl y life is an activity of Nirvana itse lf: no t th e slig htest di stinction ex ists betweell them ."eo Introspection havi ng led to a condition de.~cribed posi - tivelyas nirvana and negatively as Emptiness because it transce nds all form s, the "stream·willner~ now finds in th e world itselfthis same Emptiness lliat he discovered within. "Form is emptiness. emptine ss is form . Emptiness is !lol diffe re nt from form , form is not different from e mp tiness: Th e noi sy disjunction between acce ptance and

BUODIIISM '47

rejec ti o n havi ng been stilled. every fil a me nt is affirmed for what it actual ly is. It is Ind ra's cos mi c ne t, laced witll j cYlels al every junc- ture. Each jcYlel re fl ects the others, together with all the renecti o ns jn th e others. III suc h a vision th e categories of good and evil disap- pear. ~Thal which issi n is also Wisdom" v.'e read ; a nd once again. "tlle real m of Becoming is Niroano."

Th is ea rth on which we stand is tile promised Lotus Land,

And til Ls very body is tlie body oj the Buddha.1II

This new- found shore th.r~ light on th e Ixxlhisattoo's vow no t 10 e nte r nirvalltl ~unlil the !,rra5S itse lfbe e nlig hte ned ." As grass kee ps co ming, does tllis mean that tlle bodhisaNva will nC\ler be e lllightem,-'d? Not exactl y. It means, rath e r, th at he (o r she) has ris e n to th e poillt whe re the distin ction between time and eternity has los t Its force. 11mt distinction , drawn by the rational mind , is dissol ved inlhe lightning- a.nd -thund e r insig ht thai annihilates o pposit e5. Tim e and e t'c rnil'y arc now two USI>eCls of the same experi e ntial whole, t ...... ,o si de s o f th e same coin. "Th e j ewel of e le rni ty is in the lotu s of birth and cleath .~

From the standpoint of 1I0nnaJ, worldly co nscious ness there mu st alW'J.YS re mai n an inconsistency between this c limac ti c in sig ht an d worldl y prudence. This, though, should not surprise us, for it v.'Ou ld he fl atl y co ntradic tory if the world loo ked exac tl y the sa me to tllOse who have crossed th e ri ver of ignorance. Only tlley can dissolve the v.'Orld's d istinc ti olls-or, perhaps we should say, take th em in tll e ir stride, for th e di sti nctio ns persist. but now without diffe re nce. Wh ere to eag le vis ion the ri ver can sti ll be seen, it is see n as conn ec ting th e tv.'O banks mth e r tlla.n di viding th e m.

The Confluence of Buddhism and l1induism in India

Among th e surface paradoxes of Buddhism - thi s religion that begun by rejecting ritual , speculation , grace, mystery, and a personal C od and e nde d by bringing th e m all bac k into th e pi c ture- there is u final one. lbday Buddhists abound in every Asian land exce pt India; o nl y rt..'Ce ntiy, aft er a thou sand·year absence, are tlley beginning ill sm:LlI

148 THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS

numbers to reappear. Buddhism triumphs in the world at large, o nl y (it would seem) to rorfeit the land or its birth .

This surface appearance is deceptive. The deeper fact is that in lndia Buddhism was not so much defeated by Hindu ism as accom- modated within it. Up to around the year 1000. Buddhism persisted in Indi a as a distinct re ligion. 10 say lhat th e Muslim invaders then wiped it o ut will no t do. ror Hinduism survived. The fact is that in the courseofits 1,500 years in Indi a. Buddhism's differences with lI indu- ism softe ned . Hindu s admitted th e legi timacy o f many of the Buddha's reronns, and in imitatio n o r th e Buddhist sangha orders o f Hindu sadlui!J (wandering ascetics) came into existence. From the other sid e, Buddhist teachings came to soun d in creas ing ly like Hindu ones as Buddhism opened into the Mahayana, u nti l in the end Buddhism sank back into the source fro m which it Ilad spru ng.

O nl y if one ass um es that Buddhist principles left no mark 0 11 SubsC<luent lli nduism can the merger be considered a Buddhist defea t. Actually, rumost all of Buddhism's affirmative d octri nes found th e ir place or paraJ[el. Its cont ribution s. accepted by Hindu s in prin- ciple if not always prac tice, included its renewed emp hasis on kind- ness to all li ving things. on non-k illing of animals, on th e eliminatio n of cas Ie barriers in muHe rs religious and their reduction in maUers socinJ. and its strong ethica l emphasis general ly. The bodhjsattua id eal seems to have left its mark in prolyers like the followi llg by San ti Dev'ol in the great Hindu devotional class ic. the 81wgaootOln:

I desire 1101 of the Lord the grm tllcss which COllIeS by flU! attain- me,.t of the eightfold lJOtvers, nor do I" my him that I may riot be bonl again; my one IJrnyerto him is flwt I mayfeelthe pain of otl.- er:t, (J.J if II~ residing wit /lin their bodies, and that I may have tI.e power of relieving t/leirlHl in and making them /Wl)PY'

AU io all , the Buddha was reclaimed as "a rebe l c hild of Hind u - ism

8

; he was L'Ven raised to the status of a divine incarnation . The goal of Tllerolvada Buddhism W'dS acknowledged to Ue substantially that of non-<iual Hinduism , and even t he Pmjn"IJOrnmita's conten- tion th aI eternity is not oth er than the present moment found its Hindu co unterpart:

This Den) world is a monsion of mirth; lIere I cor. ea t, Illtm drink arid mllke merry, (Ramakrishna)

BUODJIISM '49

Especially in lli ndu 11ultric sch ools. disciples wer~ brought to the poi nt wh ere they could see meat , wi ll e, and sex- tll1ng~ ~tat had , I ---, as 'he most rorrnidable barri ers to the dlVlIlC -as lorffler yappean=u , I but varying ronns of Cod. "Th e Mothe r is present III every 1O~ Need I break the news as one breaks all earthen pot on the Roor.

Suggestions fa,. Further Reading

Although written in the 1920s. J . B. Pratt's The Pilgrimage ofl:~)­ ell ism and a Buddlii.s1 Pilgrimage (New York: AMS Press. re:nains a co mp rehe nsive. readable accou nl or this religion. ~ore

d -bl - Richard Robinson and Willard Johnso n s The

recent an access l e IS 982) Buddllist Religion (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth ~ublishing a:a-. I .

Edwolrd Co n'l.e's Buddhist Scriptures (Brutlmo re: PengUIn Books, 1959) selects wisely rrom origi nal texts.

Vi,xusa rla • the insighl meditation practice of Theravada Bud- dhism, is nicely introduced to Westerners through Joseph Cold- stei n's T/.e Experience of Insi ght (Bos ton, MA: Shambala, 1981).

Two very different books o n Zen that c.omplement each othe~ beautiru1l y are Philip Kapleau's 1'/le T/.ree P.llars a/Zen (N~ Yor~. Anch or Booles. 1989) and Shunryu Suzuki's 7 . .e" Mind.. Begmners Milld (New York: John Weatherhill. (970). . . k

Lama Anagarikn CO\Iinda's Fotmdatforl$ ofitbetan M~~&CSSf1l (Yor Beach. M 1;:: Samuel Weiser, 1969) presents the theory or rlbetan Bud- dhism, wh il e Marco I>aUis's Peaks and Lama.! (Lo ndon: The ~Vobun1 Prt;:ss. (974) is o ne or the finest spi ritual travelO~lles ~r ":ntte~\. a

My hrur-h our videotape on Tibetan ~uddh.lSm , ReqUle-:n or

F- -,I - kes available the audiovisual rumenslons or tile VaJrayana aJ I , rna " ' f,h - I '0< as described in "The Diamond Thunderbolt sectio n ? IS C lap . 11 can be secured from The Hartl ey Film Foundat.lon. C~t Rock Bood, Cos Cob, cr 06807, a nd TI~e Institute of Noetic Studi es, 475 Cate Five l\oad , Suite 300, Sausabto. CA 94965.

Notes I . The word in the case or Jesus was different , but the direction or the ques-

tion .... 'lIS the same. .' Com .uion 2. Cr. Cilln!llce H . I-I llmiiton. Bluhlhum: A Rr./igwn of 1nfilllte PfI '

1952. Reprint _ (New York: 11le Uheral Arts Preu. L954), 14-15.

,so TilE WORLD'S RJ::I.IC IONS

3. Cf. lIamilton. Buddni.rm, 3-04 . 4. Quoted from Oigha NiJulya in J. 8 . I'rall, TIUf Pilgrimag1l of B,,Jdhi8m and a

B'llhlhi.rt PilgrimaWJ (Nt.'W York; AMS Press, 1928), 10. S. Related in Prall. The Pilgrimaw; 12 . 6. Quoted in Pratt , TM Pilgrima,;e. 8. 7. Quoted in PI1IU, The PilgrinulllJl!, 9. 8. Quoted In "0111 , Tht! PilgrimolJ!. 10. 9 . Maijh/ma LXXII. Quoted In I'ratt, T}WJ Pilgrimage, 13.

10. Willi am J amC5, TM \'ar/dlel o!lkfigiou& ,.:z,~)U ( New York : Macmill an, 1961 ).

II . Quoted in 8. L Suzulci, MohafllJllo Buddhwn , 1948. Rev. ed, ( London! Allell 6: Unwin, 1981).2.

12. E. A Burtt , T}~ Thtu:hingr 0/ 11 .. eom/HUlKnwte B,M1dha (New York : Me ntor Hook s. 1955), 49-50.

13. Burtt , Teochinp. 18. I .. . See. for example. Burtt, TetJchinp. 32. 15. I have pani.pluucd sl ig htJ y the diSCQurse as it appean III Majjhimll Nilwyo,

Sulta 63. as trallslated by E. J. Thom u in f:arty BudJhi.rt Scri,JtuTU (New YorK: AMS Press, 1935).64-67.

J 6. Quoted ill F. l.. Woodward , Som.e Soyirlg of filii H.ltMlw (London : Cordon Press. 1939),283.

17. Quoted in BlirH. Thtu:hingl. SO.

18. Quoted in C hris tmas lIumph reys. Buddhinn (Ifannondswurth. England: Pelican Books, 1951). 120.

19. Quoted in Woodward , Sorn.e Soying.t, 283. 20. Quoted in A. Coomaraswall1Y, llindubm alld Buddh i.J:m (Nt..'W York: The

Philosop liiclll Ubrary, 1943), 62 . 2 1. Woodward , Sorn.e SGyirrg. 294 . 22. Burtt . Teodlinp. 49. 23. Sir Edwin Arnold. The tighf of tUia, 1879. Reprint . ( Los Angeles:

Theosop hy Co. , 1977). 24 . ~bert Pe nn Warren, Brollu.", 10 DrofIJfl$(Ncw York: Ratldom H ouse, 1979). 25. S!pllund Freud, ~llnlroduction UJ P,ychoo,lDlym (New York: Li..-er.

wright. 1935), 344. 26. Ilumph Te)'l. Buddhism. 91. 27. Quoted ill l'raH. Th.e Pilgrimog.e. 40. 28. Arrgultoro Nlkoyo, 8:83.

29. Lew Ayres. Alto", of,1III &ut (Carden City, NY: Doubleduy, 1956). 9Q-9L Slightlyadllpted.

30. Precisely this indescribable c1laracter or nlroonD caused later BuddbistJ to speak orit as , hunyata or em ptilless. It is void, but lIot in tile aiJSolutesen.se. Rather, it iJ devoid oi'finitc, JI>ecifi ahie rcaturcs. in something o rlh c "'3y tJle J uprasonic is lac king in sou lids our ears Clln register.

3 1. Quoted in Burll , Teaching;" Us.

BUDOIIISM '51

32. I,i·vu UIlka. 43 : Udarw VII I, 3. C( I'nlt! , TN! Pilgrimal!lt, 88-89, and Burtt, Teochill/p, U3.

33 Ed ..... "nI Coll7A B.uldhinn: Itt Euenc#I allll Deuelopmcl' , 1951 . Hellrint . (N ew Vark: Uarper &- How).

34. Compare. ror eEample. its relation to Paul TIllic h's ~God above Cod~ in T/Je Courol§t to Be (New I laven, cr: The ' lile University Press, 1952), 1B6-190.

35. \'airacchedika ,32. 36. 11115, in passing, WIlS anc orthe WII)'S in which the Uuddl1l15 understanding

or reillcarnation differed rrom thllt or lIIost li indlls of his dllY. nle stalldanl Ilindu doctrine atlributt.-d rebirth 10 karma, the oonscquc nces of action s sel in molion during prevwuJ lives. As these actions were innumerable, innu merable 1i Ye5 were aMumed to be needed to work off these oonse· qncnces. C hanlClerisliclllly, the Buddha took II more psychological view. I\t:birlh, he maintained. " -as: due not to karma but to lallha. As long as the wi sh to be a seplll'lltc se]( persisted , that wish would be granted. It follows that since desire is the key, it is ponihle to step pennanently oul ortlle qcle of rebirth wheneYer o ne wishes wholeheartedly to do so.

37. Quoted in Pratt . TN! Pilgri11l6gr. 86. 38. Quott.-d ill Pratt . 11I.e PilgriJrwgA 91 . 39. 111c TIbetan version Iioids that the Buddha elfplicilly preac hed th e Maha ·

ya na doctrines but in his -glOrified body" (wl/lbogakaya), which only the mosl advanced disciples could perceive.

40. to"rom til e BodhichDyooolara or ShallUdcva. 41 . Thoug ll Mahayana honors wi§dolll III conducing to CO IIII)3Ssion. 42. Ir It seems like milfing politics and religiou to say this. ,,~ should rea117.e II

point that this book. focusing as It docs on metaphysics. psychology. uud ethics, does not go into; namely, tIlal the greal religions entered history. not so much as religions in Ihe narrow m eaning orthat word , but rather as civi· lizations. Each staked out for its adherenl$ an e nlire ....... y or lire-a lire- world that encomplUK-d not only things that we now COluider dilliincli..-ely religious. but abo regions of lire thai the mode rn world divides into t.'OO- nomi cs, po liliCll, ethics, hlw. art. philosophy, and t..'tlncation .

43 . This St."Ction. bt.·gull under the illiluc nce of Dr. D. T. Suzuki's writings alld person , received lis lina! shape from six weeks orZcn training ill Kyoto duro ing the summer or 1951- weeks that included daily ."".un (consultation concerning meditation) with the emillent Zen master Coto Rosh!; celebra· tion or Cematm ().Su .. /Jin (eight days or looking into milld and heart) wilh monks in the monastery or MyoshlnJi (Thmple or the Man·elous Mind), IIoCCCSJ to the rnanuscripl5 or tile Kyoto branch of the Firsl Zen Insti tute o r Ameri,-"¥.; and a number of important conversations with il$ tben dirt..'(:tor. Ruth Fuller Sasaki.

44 . A Wes tern prordSOr, wishing 10 show that he had grasped Zen's determina- tion to trall5CClld rOrm5. e,1: (lressed surprise whell th e abbot or the templ e he ..... .u visiting bowed reverentl y to images or the Buddha as th ey passed

IS' TIlE \\IOIU.D'S IIt:Ll G IONS

lhe m. ~ I tilought )'011 were beyond such thillgs. - he said, adding, - I lim: I.,by I would just IL5 soon 511lt on these images. - ·Very well. - said the abbot in his not (Illite perfect English . - You spits. I bow.-

45 Because orlhee.lenl to whic h reflSOn was interfering with Ihis authors Zen practice. his 1t'lICher. ColO Hoshi , dill&nosed him with having contr.u;:ted -111Il philosopher's diseaJe.. - Immedlalely. though, he retncted. acknowl- edging thai there WIlS nothillg wrung with philosophy as such: he himself had III master's degree in philosopll)' from one mlhe better Jllp<tn~ univer_ sities. - il owever. - he contiuued, -reaso n can only work with the experience thai is a .... ilable 10 it. lon obviously know how 10 reason. What )'011 laele is the experience to reason wi!ely from . for these weeks put reason aside lind work Cor experience. -

46. TIle two are Solo, Itemmi llg from Dogen. who importl"<i the niwotrmg school of eh'a n rrum China: and Rinzof, Lhe Japanese Y'ersion orlhe Lf'H:hf school, which Eisa! introd uced to Japan. The rO~llIe~ considers enlighten, ment a gradual l)rocess. whereas the latter conle"ds that it is sudden,

47. I was to ld that the shortest time all re(:Ord ill which a koo" (see the lIext sen. lence orlhe lext) was solved ",.s overnight . and the longest time was twelve years.

48. Dylan TI.omll$, ~Lighl B~ellks Where No SUII Shines. M Koo/ls are actually or d lrrerent t)'Pe1. gea red to the stages in tl.e slu'

dents' progress.. As the mind must \\lUrk dirrereutly according 10 the kind or koall II Is asSigned. a phenomellOllological description or the e ntire ~~'eep or 10011 study would be colnplex. What I have said here applies to early koons. Miura Roshi lind Hulh Fuller Sasaki's Zm Ow, (Nt-ow York: Ilarcourl, Brace 6: World. 1967) presents II comprehellsh-e account or kooll training .

49 . Quoted in Ca,:. la WII (New York : The First Zelilnstituteor America. 19'I1). 32.

SO. Quoted in Zm Notu (New York : The Fint7..en Institute or America [vol. I, '10. 51), I.

51 . A great master, Dal Osho. reported, MI lutve experienced Creat SGtori eigh. teen timel, and lost counl or the nomber or Ima.ll.oror;. 1 have had. ~

52. Sasaki, Zm Owl.

53. From ThfJ So",,,,, of IhfJ La" Dilciple Ho. Nol published in English . S4. Abridged rrom O. T. Suzuki's tnmJlation in Edward Conze, ed., Buddhisl

Scri,J'uru (Baltimore: J'enguin Books, 1973). 171-75. 55. From un - A Religion , M WI unpubliJhed cua)' by Ruth Fulle r SasakI. 56. The word the TibetallS used to transl(lte the Sanskrit word oojnJ was dorje.

which lilerally mcant ehier stone (dory. stoneje. chid'). 57. For Ii dlsclIssiOIl or this point, see Jcffrey Hopkin s. ThfJ Thra'ric Di.rtinclion,

A" Inlroduction to Tibeloll Buddhi,ffll (Londou : Wisdom Books. 1984). 148-49.

58. I am describing the rituals of Cyu me and Cyuto. ti,e two highest Thntrlc coll eges in Tibet , now in cxiltl in india. For particulars relating to their

BUODlII SM 153

eJceptional c hanlillg . see Hlistoll Smith. ~Can One Voice Sing a C llordr TIM! 801101' Globe Oanuary 26, 1969): with Kenn e th StClo .... ns, ~Uni{IUe Vocal Ability or Certain Tibetan Lamll5,M Afllericcm Anthropologist 69 (April 1967): 2: (lnd with K. Stevens aud R. Tomlinson. ~On all Unusual Mod e of C hanU,.g by Certain TIbetan Lamal,· )oornol of t~ NXQU$Iicl!1 Societ" of Arnericll 41 (May 1967): 5.

59. MlljjhimQ·Nikrl!la. 3.2.22.135. 60. C( EdW,lrd Conze, Buddhism: fl.f E.:uence 11/1(1 Drot:w,nnenl. n..d. Reprint.

(New York: H arper 6: Row, 1959), 136. 61. n,ese lines, rrom lI akuin's MSong in Praise or7..:ucn,- do nol come direetly

rWIIl the ProjnDpommito Sutnu but clcul)' echo its theme. 62. fb.mpnl5lld. Quoted in II. Zimmer, The Philowphinojilidill . 1951 . Reprint.

(Princeton. NJ: Princeton Uni\'ersity Presl, 1969).602.