Religion assignment(Written Reflection)
chenm5
christianviewofbuddha.docxBuddhist-Christian Studies 19.1 (1999) 113-120
Gautama the Buddha through Christian Eyes
Buddha Loves Me! This I Know, for the Dharma Tells Me So
Donald K. Swearer
I intend no disrespect to either the Buddha or the Christ by my rewrite of Anna Bartlett Warner's 1859 Sunday school song, "Jesus Loves Me." That one might construct the Buddha in the image of a loving Jesus may be more startling or offensive to Buddhists (and also to Christians) than the modern, apologetic view of the Buddha as a rational renouncer. Versions of both can be textually justified; however, each is a reification that reflects the bias of the interpreter. Both ignore the complexity of the figure of the Buddha within the varied and diverse traditions of Buddhism. My starting point in the following essay acknowledges this complexity as well as the inevitable limitations of my personal interpretation of the Buddha, necessarily conditioned by my experience. I propose to structure the essay around two polarities--universal/particular and wisdom/compassion--looking first at the Buddha and then briefly reflecting dialogically at the end of each section on the figure of the Christ.
Buddha: Universal and Particular
In my personal experience in Buddhist Asia, especially Thailand, and my studies of Buddhist traditions, in particular the Theravada, I have been impressed by the creative tension between the universal and particular dimensions of the figure of the[End Page 113] Buddha. Even the modern Western view of the Buddha evidences this tension. Typically the word Buddha evokes the story of Prince Siddhattha's renunciation of his royal status, subsequent quest for enlightenment, and eventual realization of nibbana. 1 In the hands of a comparative mythologist such as Joseph Campbell, the detailed embellishments of the Buddha's sacred biography are absorbed into the tripartite, monomyth structure of the hero's narrative--separation, attainment, return. For Campbell, the story of the historical Buddha, Siddhattha Gotama, represents a rite of passage, a deep psychological truth of self-discovery symbolized by other heroes in world mythology. Despite the antistructuralist critique by historical and textual scholars, as well as the feminist criticism that the heroic journey does not reflect women's experience, in one form or another the Buddha reified as an exemplar of the universal paradigm of the individual's journey of self-realization continues to capture the Western imagination.
A somewhat more sophisticated version of the universal hero motif is the Buddha as 'rational renouncer,' an interpretation favored by both Buddhists and scholars of Buddhism who portray the Buddha as an empiricist and pragmatist somewhat on the order of William James. In this view, Prince Siddhattha's quest was a rational response to the experience of suffering, and the truth he perceived on the night of his enlightenment was nothing more nor less than a direct perception of the universal law of cause and effect obscured to ordinary awareness. De-emphasizing both the ascetical and devotional aspects of the Buddha's sacred biography, the rational renouncer school of thought places its emphasis on epistemological transformation characterized in Buddhist texts as "seeing things as they really are."
The Buddha as universal hero and as rational renouncer can be critiqued as modernized, rationalized, westernized reifications of the Buddha, an example of the 'orientialist' distortion that characterized the colonial project. Charles Hallisey has pointed out that such reconstructions of the Buddha were not merely the products of Western scholars but owed much to Asian Buddhists as well. 2 But are we to assume that throughout the history of Buddhism, similar hermeneutical moves and debates over the nature of the Buddha did not exist? I find a tension in the Buddhist tradition between two contrasting images of the Buddha: as an exemplar of a universal truth, and as a being defined by the contingencies of human particularities.
Theravada Buddhists find strong support in the sutta for a humanistic interpretation of the Buddha. In particular, they argue that the Buddha of the early Buddhist canonical texts specifically denied that he was a god, and that he was a teacher of the truth he perceived at his enlightenment. They find support for this view in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, wherein the Buddha tells his followers that when he dies the teaching and the disciplinary rules he promulgated--the dharma and vinaya--will be his successor. They also point to the sutta passage where the Buddha says, "Whoever sees me sees the dharma; whoever sees the dharma sees me" 3 to support the position that the dharma overshadows the historical Buddha or that the teachings of the Buddha supersede his person.
Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, one of Thailand's most creative Buddhist thinkers, contends [End Page 114] that the statement, "Whoever sees me sees the dharma" has implications far beyond a portrayal of the Buddha as a historical person:
The Buddha in everyday language refers to the historical Enlightened being, Gotama Buddha. It refers to a physical man of flesh and bone who was born in India over two thousand years ago, died, and was cremated. This is the meaning of the Buddha in everyday language. Considered in terms of dharma language, however, the word Buddha refers to the Truth that the historical Buddha realized and taught, the dharma itself. Now the dharma is something intangible, it is not something physical, certainly not flesh and bones. Yet the Buddha said it is one and the same as the Enlightened One. Anyone who fails to see the dharma cannot be said to have seen the Enlightened One. The Buddha is one and the same as that truth by which he became the Buddha, and anyone who sees the truth can be said to have seen the true Buddha. 4
It is equally true that Pali texts support the view that the Buddha was highly revered not simply as a mirror of the dharma but as a being to be venerated, as a source of merit, and even to be worshiped. It is argued, for instance, that the titleBhagavant (Blessed One) was more than an honorific, and that following his death the Buddha as an object of devotion formed the basis for the cult of relics and images. To be more precise, one finds in the Buddhist sutta what can be characterized as a controversy between the philosophers and the devotees over the nature of the person of the Buddha: whether the Buddha should be seen as the mirror of the dharma or as the subject of devotion whose very body radiates supramundane power. The Sutta to Prince Bodhi (Bodhirajakumara Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya, no. 85) illustrates this controversy. The good prince invites the Blessed One to his palace in order to pay him homage. As the Buddha approaches the entrance, the prince says, "Venerable sir, let the Blessed One step on the cloth, let the Sublime One step on the cloth, that it may lead to my welfare and happiness for a long time." To this request made thrice, Ananda, the Buddha's chief disciple, replies, "Prince, let the cloth be removed. The Blessed One will not step on a strip of cloth; the Tathagata has regard for future generations." The text implies conflicting opinions concerning the person of the Buddha, giving precedence to the view that the body of the Buddha is not to be venerated as a source of merit."
The main point is that in Buddhist texts and Buddhist practice, I have found a tension between identifying the Buddha with a universal truth beyond form and image and the various ways of particularizing the person of the Buddha that range from apocryphal texts designed to promote Buddha bhakti (devotion) to veneration of the Buddha's bodily relics. Currently I am completing a study of the northern Thai ritual of Buddha image consecration. Attending several of these all-night ceremonies--a ritual reenactment of the night of the Buddha's enlightenment--has been among the most moving experiences of my life. I have been particularly impressed with the ritual's underlying meaning of making the Buddha present as the image effectively becomes the Buddha's surrogate. In doing so the image (bud [End Page 115] dharupa=form of the Buddha) makes the universal dharma present. In particularizing that which is universal, the Tathagata (a thus-gone-one in lineage of the Enlightened Buddha) becomes the Bhagavant--Blessed One. Through the chanting of sacred mantras, the recital of the story of the Buddha's enlightenment, the presence of holy monks, and a night devoted to meditation, the Buddha image consecration ritual transforms the Buddha image into a fusion of the universal dharma and the saint known as the Buddha.
In an earlier book on interreligious dialogue, I pointed to several ways in which my study of Buddhism provided insight into my understanding of Christianity; for example, how the Buddhist doctrine of not-self (anatta) enlarged my comprehension of Paul's claim, "It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me." 5 In a similar vein, my attempts to come to terms with the various ways Buddhists have viewed the Buddha through history and currently experience the Buddha in rituals such as the Buddha image consecration ceremony have enlarged my understanding of the paradox of the Incarnation, of God becoming Jesus the Christ, of the universal Logos becoming flesh, of the infinite becoming finite. Though seemingly worlds apart, participating in Buddha image consecration rituals in northern Thailand has given new meaning to Kierkegaard's subtle dialectic I studied nearly forty years earlier, the dialectic of the incarnate God overcoming the dualism of the finite and the infinite and in this fusion transforming the boundaries of ordinary logical thinking that incarcerate the religious imagination. In the expanse of Chiang Rai's Temple of the Emerald Buddha in the far north of Thailand, with the darkness illuminated by altar candles and the silence broken only by the rhythmic chanting of monks seated before newly consecrated Buddha images, it was as though I experienced in the fullness of time not only the instantiation of the universal dharma, but the enfleshment of the universal Logos.
Buddha: Knowledge and Compassion
In my study of Buddhism I have encountered another major tension in the way Buddhists experience the Buddha, a polarity between knowledge (pañña) and compassion (karuna). The tension is represented at the very beginning of the legendary life of the Buddha. The well-known story of Siddhartha's renunciation of his family and princely status to search for the supreme knowledge (nibbana) that defined his Buddhahood (samma-sambuddha) is taken as the paradigm of Buddhism's valorization of knowledge as the supreme value. Ignorance drives the Wheel of Rebirth (samsaracakka). Only by overcoming ignorance and mental defilement (kilesa) does the Buddha or anyone else realize the wisdom-gone-beyond (gate gate paragate bodhi svaha).
One has only to read cursorily in the vast corpus of canonical and noncanonical Buddhist literature or observe Buddhist attitudes and behaviors regarding the Buddha to realize that the Tathagata represents much more than wisdom (pañña). For example, in the Jataka literature where the future Buddha appears in a variety [End Page 116] of human and animal guises, the Blessed One personifies a wide range of moral and spiritual values, not solely the paradigmatic value of wisdom. The last ten of the 547 Pali canonical tales and their appended commentary represent an amalgam of moral perfections (parami) that define the moral prerequisites for Buddhahood. In their various permutations, these virtues--ranging from renunciation and equanimity to patience and loving-kindness--play a major role in all Buddhist traditions. Perhaps best known to Western students of Buddhism are the Mahayana bodhisattva perfections delineated in such texts as Santideva'sBodhicaryavatara (Entering the Path of Enlightenment). Above all other characteristics, wisdom and compassion define bodhisattvahood.
Included in the final ten Pali Jataka is the story of Sama, the personification of loving-kindness (metta). 6 It is a tale of self-sacrificial, redemptive love. Sama lives a life of tender, caring devotion to his parents, Dukulaka and Parika, who, while living in the forest as ascetics, are blinded by a poisonous snake. One day King Piliyaka of Benares is hunting in the forest and observes Sama filling a water jar. Nearby, deer are drinking from the same pool, unafraid because Sama embodies loving-kindness toward all living creatures. Thinking that the youth must be a deva (god) or naga (a serpent divinity), the king wounds Sama with an arrow so that he will not escape. Sama falls dying to the ground but bears no grudge or hostility toward the king. When Piliyaka learns Sama's identity and that he is the only support for his blind parents, the king is filled with remorse. Vowing to protect and care for Sama's parents, the king goes to tell them of their son's death. The parents, like Sama himself, bear no malice toward the king and ask to be taken to see their son's body. There they make a solemn Act of Truth (sacca-kiriya) while praying by their son's side. As a consequence, the poison is released from Sama's body and he is restored to life. At the same time, through divine intervention, his parents regain their eyesight. Sama then teaches the marveling king the lesson of how deva protect those who care for others, in this case his parents, with loving-kindness(metta).
Although compassion and loving-kindness appear to complement wisdom as moral virtues prerequisite to Buddhahood and figure prominently in narrative literature associated with the future Buddha, one also encounters a tension in the tradition between wisdom and compassion. In the canonical story of the Buddha's nibbana, following his enlightenment the Blessed One debates whether or not to teach the dharma and share with others the supreme truth he discovered. His affirmative decision is celebrated as a prime example of the Buddha's great compassion (maha-karuna). 7
When he surveys the world following his enlightenment, the Buddha perceives that few people will be able to understand his teaching. Therefore, he deliberates:
Enough with teaching the Dharma That even I found hard to reach; For it will never be perceived By those who live in lust and hate. [End Page 117]
Those dyed in lust, wrapped in darkness Will never discern this abstruse Dharma Which goes against the worldly stream, Subtle, deep, and difficult to see.
Fortunately, Brahma Sahampati intercedes on behalf of the world by pleading with the Buddha: "The world will be lost, the world will perish, since the mind of the Tathagata, accomplished and fully enlightened, inclines to inaction rather than teaching the Dharma." Upon hearing Brahma's plea, the Blessed One "out of compassion for all beings surveyed the world with the eye of a Buddha" and decided to teach the supreme truth he had attained in his enlightenment. The story demonstrates that although priority is given to the wisdom of enlightenment, the most complete expression of Buddhahood includes the compassion that motivates the Buddha to teach the dharma to a suffering humanity. The Tathagata's stated mission, that he came to teach the cause of suffering and the way to its cessation, takes on the meaning of an act of cosmic compassion. This story can be seen as an anticipation of the cosmic dimensions of the compassion of the Amida Buddha in the Japanese Pure Land tradition.
The compassion of the Buddha bears a family resemblance to other moral qualities--in particular, empathy (anukampa), 8 the ability to identify with the suffering of others (samvega), 9 the detachment from self-interest that allows one to delight in the joy of another solely for the sake of the other (mudita), and to love others nonpreferentially (upekkha). Because these qualities are often associated with both healing and the feminine, it is not surprising that the Buddha assumes both healing and feminine properties. In the Lotus Sutra, for example, the Teacher of the dharma is equated with spiritual healing, and other Mahayana sutras celebrate healing Buddhas and bodhisattvas, in particular. 10 In the Tantrayana tradition of Tibet, wisdom and compassion are feminized in the form, of Prajñaparamita and Tara and other female divinities often depicted with male counterparts. 11
From the standpoint of devotional belief and practice, the Buddha's compassion is often understood not only as the power of the Blessed One to release the devotee from the ontological condition of suffering (dukkha), but also to protect and intercede directly on behalf of one's welfare or the welfare of others in mundane, practical ways. When a young college student from Chiang Mai visits the Flower Garden Monastery (Wat Suan Dok) before her final exam, purchases a small square of gold leaf and kneeling in prayer applies it to the forehead of one of the Buddha images, she is motivated less by honoring the Buddha than the hope the act will improve her chances of doing well on the exam. In other words, she hopes that the Buddha acting out of enlightened compassion will intercede on her behalf.
Virtually all Buddhist ceremonies have as part of their underlying meaning the purpose of protecting those gathered together for a particular occasion, be it an ordination, funeral, or Sabbath meeting, as well as protecting those not present or deceased. Throughout Theravada Asia--Sri Lanka and mainland Southeast Asia--the primary texts recited at all meritorious (puñña) rituals are found in a handbook [End Page 118] compiled in Sri Lanka called Paritta, meaning "protection." One example included in the collection is the Angulimala Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya, #86). At the Buddha's request, the monk Angulimala vows an Act of Truth that the Blessed One assures the holy monk will guarantee the birth of a healthy child.
The traditional conclusion of merit-making ceremonies in northern Thailand ends with the following recitation by the monks assembled for the meeting:
May all living beings who suffer be free from suffering; Those who meet with danger be free from danger; Those who are sorrowful be free from Sorrow. May all divine beings (deva) approve Of the merit we have accumulated; So that by their power we may gain wealth. Give generously, observe the precepts faithfully, Meditate continuously. May I be protected by the powers of the Buddha, The paccekabuddhas, and the arahants.
The words suggest that the compassion of the Buddha refers not only to his teaching about the cause of suffering and the way to its cessation, but also the hope that the Buddha's Act of Truth--an act that defeated the powerful forces of Mara at the Tree of Enlightenment--will protect me and my loved ones in all kinds of circumstances and situations. Indeed, as a sign of that hope, devotees may wear a neck chain from which a Buddha amulet is suspended.
I do not mean to imply that in practice Buddhists in Thailand always resolve the tension between wisdom and compassion on the side of compassion reduced to the Buddha's power to protect or guarantee material success. I have been impressed by the high regard with which Thai Buddhists hold meditation not only in theory but also in practice. To be sure, I know Buddhists who meditate with the same apotropaic intention that informs their merit-making rituals; however, I have observed devotees in village temples meditating with a dedication and quiet intensity that suggests a higher purpose, a quest for the Buddha's 'wisdom-gone-beyond.'
What about Christianity? Is there a tension between the Christ of wisdom and the Jesus of love? Does the Gospel of John exhibit a tension between the creative power of wisdom set from the beginning of time and the redemptive power of God's love in time and space? And does Paul suggest that true knowledge--not seeing-through-a-glass-darkly knowledge--and universal compassion or agapic love are mutually complimentary, much as are the Buddha's enlightenment and his great compassion? Am I reading the polarity of wisdom and compassion that I see in Buddhism into John and Paul and, by extension, the Christian theological tradition more broadly from Augustine to Sallie McFague? If so, am I Buddhasizing my tradition, or is it rather that my experience of Buddhism has opened up for me new insights and interpretations as I wrestle for personal meaning in my dialogical faith betwixt-and-between Christianity and Buddhism? [End Page 119]
I attended a funeral at my home church yesterday. What I heard in scripture and sermon and saw on the faces and in the tears of family and friends was not only the wisdom and love of the universal Christ, but the particular assurance and protection seen in the figure of Jesus surrounded by children framed in the stained glass window by the pulpit. "Jesus loves me! This I know. . . ."
Notes
1. Since my primary referent is to Theravada Buddhism, I have chosen to use Pali rather than Sanskrit spellings, such as nibbana instead of nirvana, unless a reference is specifically to Mahayana traditions.
2. Charles Hallisey, "Roads Taken and Not Taken in the Study of Theravada Buddhism," in Curators of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism under Colonialism, ed. Donald S. Lopez Jr. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), pp. 31-61. For an essay on the Western construction of Indian Buddhism, see Gregory Schopen, "Archaeology and Protestant Presuppositions in the Study of Indian Buddhism," in Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks: Collected Papers on the Archaeology, Epigraphy and Texts of Monastic Buddhism in India (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997), pp. 1-22.
3. Presumably the Christian version of the Buddha's claim would be, "Whosoever sees me [Jesus] sees God [the Father]."
4. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, Me and Mine: Selected Essays of Bhikkhu Buddhadasa, ed. Donald K. Swearer (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), pp. 127-128. For a fuller discussion of Buddhadasa's interpretation of the Buddha, see Donald K. Swearer, "Bhikkhu Buddhadasa's Interpretation of the Buddha," Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 64 no. 2 (Fall 1996), pp. 134-154.
5. Donald K. Swearer, Dialogue: The Key to Understanding Other Religions (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1977).
6. For a summary of the last ten Jataka, see Elizabeth Wray et. al, The Ten Lives of the Buddha (New York: Weatherhill, 1972). Included in the volume are color plates of Thai temple murals of the tales. This summary is adapted from Elizabeth Lyons, The Tosachat in Thai Painting, Thailand Culture, New Series, no. 22 (Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, 1963), pp. 9-11.
7. Ariyapariyesana Sutta (The Noble Search). Majjhima Nikaya, no. 26. See The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, trans. Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi (Boston: Wisdom, 1995), pp. 253-268.
8. As the Buddha taught the dharma for the benefit of humankind, so should monks be motivated by empathy for the world. Sangiti Sutta, Digha Nikaya iii, p. 213.
9. For the linkage of samvega and acting on behalf of others, see Sangiti sutta, Digha Nikaya iii, p. 214.
10. See Raoul Birnbaum, The Healing Buddha (Boulder: Shambala, 1979).
11. See Robert A. F. Thurman, Wisdom and Means: The Sacred Art of Tibet (New York: Tibet House), 1991.
