Religion assignment(Written Reflection)

OVERVIEW OF BUDDHISM

"Are you a god?" they asked. "No." "An angel?" "No." "A saint?" "No." "Then what are you?" Buddha answered, "I am awake." (Huston Smith, The World's Religions, 82).

Buddhism is a philosophy of life expounded by Gautama Buddha ("Buddha" means "Enlightened One" or "Awakened One"), who lived and taught in the 6th century B.C. The Buddha was not a god and the philosophy of Buddhism does not entail any theistic worldview. The teachings of Buddhism are aimed solely at liberating sentient beings from suffering.

THE BUDDHA'S LIFE

Siddhartha Gautama was born around 563 B.C. in what is now Nepal, near the Indian border. Gautama's father, King Suddhodana was the ruler of the tiny kingdom of the Sakyas. Naturally, he was delighted to have an heir who could follow him onto the throne. He was thus not very pleased when a wise man prophesied upon seeing the baby that if he did not become a world conqueror and ruler (the man who would unify India and become Universal King), he would become a great religious teacher and world redeemer. Suddhodana knew that it would be experience of the hard, and painful things of life that would turn Gautama's mind in the direction of religion, so he did everything in his power to keep them out of the young prince's life. Attendants were ordered to keep all ugliness from his life and to shield him from contact with sickness, decrepitude, and death. Gautama was thus brought up in a sealed world of security and luxury. He lived in beautiful palaces, wore clothes of the most splendid materials, ate only the finest foods, and was generally entertained and waited upon in the best style.

Gautama, at the age of sixteen, married a young princess, Yasodhara, who bore him a son, Rahula. But in his early twenties, a feeling of discontent settled over him. One day, he persuaded his attendant, Channa, to drive him down to the local village in his chariot, where he had not been until then. In all, he was to make four trips to the village that were to totally change his life.

The Four Sights: On the first trip he met an old man, decrepit, broken-toothed, gray-haired, crooked, bent of body, leaning on a staff, and trembling. That day, Gautama learned the fact of old age. Though the king extended his guard, on a second trip, Gautama encountered a body racked with disease, lying by the roadside. That day, Gautama learned the fact of sickness. On the third trip, he met a party of people carrying a corpse to the cremation ground. That day, Gautama learned the fact of death. Not having seen old age, sickness, and death before, he was naturally deeply shocked. Upon realization that this was the common fate of all humanity, palace life was no longer pleasant or even bearable for him. He became obsessed with the fact of suffering and with finding a way of ending it. On a fourth trip to the village, he came across an ascetic, a holy man: one who had given up everything to follow the religious life. Despite having no possessions, this man radiated a calmness that suggested to Gautama that he had somehow come to terms with the unpleasant fact of suffering.

The Great Renunciation: Gautama decided to follow the example of the ascetic. He slipped out of the palace late one night, exchanged his splendid silken robe for the simple orange one of a holy man, and cut off all his beautiful black hair. Then, carrying nothing but a begging bowl for people to put food in, he set off on his great quest, which moved through three phases.

Gautama began with two of the foremost Hindu masters of his day and was trained in the raja yoga tradition. In time, however, he concluded that the answer was not to be found with the yogis. Wondering if it was his body, his physical nature that was holding him back, he sought out a band of ascetics. In the process, he subjected his body to great hardship and torment. He lived in deep forests, burning in the midday heat and shivering in the night; he slept on beds of thorns; sometimes he lived in cemeteries; he starved himself until he became emaciated. But still he could not find an answer to his basic search, and realized that if he kept on that way he would probably die before finding the answer. Thus, he learned the futility of asceticism.

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Finally, after six years of the ascetic life, Gautama devoted the final phase of his quest to a combination of rigorous thought and mystical concentration along the lines of raja yoga. One evening, he sat himself under a tree, now known as the Bo Tree (short for bodhi or enlightenment) at a place now called Bodh Gaya. He was determined to sit there until he found the answer he sought, or died trying.

The Great Enlightenment: During the night, Gautama passed into deep meditation and gained various kinds of knowledge. He recalled his previous lives; he also saw how karma works; he was tempted by the Evil One with Kama, the God of Desire and Mara, the God of Death. But he would not be moved and in doing so saw how to overcome desire, attachment to existence, and clinging to false views. Finally, as the morning star rose, he attained Enlightenment and declared: "Birth is ended, the Holy Life has been fulfilled, what was to be done has been done, there is no more to come." He was Gautama no longer but rather The Buddha--"The Enlightened One" or "The Awakened One." Sometimes he is spoken of as having attained Nirvana, the extinction of greed, the extinction of hate, and the extinction of delusion, a state of peace and tranquility characterized by wisdom and compassion.

The Buddha is not a god, or a prophet, or any sort of spirit He is a unique being that arises only in certain conditions to proclaim the Dhamma ("the path to absolute knowledge" or "the word of the Buddha") that sets humanity free from the bonds of pain and suffering.

The First Sermon, The Sermon at Benares: At first, the Buddha was reluctant to tell other people about what he had discovered. He felt that they would not be able to understand, because of their nature as conditioned beings (see below). However, he was persuaded that there were "beings with little dust in their eyes" that he would be able to help. He therefore went to Benares at Isipatana in the Deer Park where he delivered his first sermon to five of his previous companions, The Sermon at Benares (see reading packet). The Buddha spent the next 45 years of his life, until his death at the age of 80, crossing the plains of Northern India, awakening the seeds of Enlightenment in others. He soon collected followers and they became the original Sangha (the Order of Monks) and all became Enlightened teachers of the Dhamma.

BUDDHIST THOUGHT, BELIEFS, AND PRACTICES

The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path

Under the bo tree, the Buddha became aware of a concept which he considered to be the central truth of human existence: only by extinguishing all selfish desires can a person ever hope to overcome suffering and find happiness. Indeed, all of the Buddha's teaching was geared to address the issue of human suffering and how it could be alleviated. Toward this end, he offered both a diagnosis and a prescription: The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. The Buddha pointed out Four Noble Truths as follows:

The First Noble Truth: All life is suffering (dukkha).

The Second Noble Truth: The cause of suffering (samudaya) is the attachment to "desire" or "craving" (tanha).

The Third Noble Truth: The cessation of suffering (nirodha) is non-attachment, or letting go of desire or craving. Those who have extinguished all desire are called "Arhat" (the holy one) and are said to have reached "nirvana."

The Fourth Noble Truth: The path to the cessation of suffering (magga) is the Noble Eightfold Path or The Middle Way

Right Understanding (samma ditthi)

Right Thoughts (samma sankappa)

Right Speech (samma vaca)

Right Action (samma kammanta)

Right Livelihood (samma ajiva)

Right Effort (samma vayama)

Right Mindfulness (samma sati)

Right Concentration (samma samadhi)

These steps of the path are undertaken by those who would perfect themselves in the way to Enlightenment propounded by the Buddha. The steps are often divided into three sections dealing respectively with Wisdom, Morality, and Concentration.

Wisdom (panna): To attain Right Understanding and Right Thought, comprising the section in Wisdom, means to attain knowledge and insight into the Buddha's teachings through the actual experiencing of their truth for oneself. Belief has little value. When there is wisdom, allied with concentration, the defilements that pollute and cloud the mind can be slowly cleared away. This is not an intellectual exercise but one that totally transforms the mind to an Enlightened state.

Morality (sila): The practice of Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood derive much of their meaning from the Five Moral Precepts that Buddhist practitioners undertake (monks and nuns undertake many more). They are:

Refrain from killing (Reverence for Life)

Refrain from stealing (Generosity)

Refrain from sexual misconduct (Sexual Responsibility)

Refrain from lying (Deep Listening and Loving Speech)

Refrain from ingesting intoxicants (Mindful Consumption)

Thus, Right Speech not only entails telling the truth but also avoiding frivolous, harsh and vain talk. Much better to keep a noble silence than to hurt another with one's speech, said the Buddha. Right Action aims at honorable, moral, and peaceful conduct. Included in it is the abstention from taking any form of life, from dishonest acts like stealing, cheating, corruption, and sexual promiscuity; and from taking liquor and drugs, both of which confuse the mind and causes much misery in family life. Right Livelihood implies that one should earn one's living by honorable means. Work that involves killing living creatures, including the trade of weapons and poisons, is discouraged. If anyone suffers as a direct result of one's work, then it is not Right Livelihood.

Concentration (samadhi): This section of the path--Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration--is an indispensable part in Buddhist mental training. Right Effort is aimed at preventing the arising of unwholesome states of mind and encouraging wholesome states of mind. Right Mindfulness is practiced to see all states of mind and body as they arise and evolve. It is useful as a check against the proliferation of unskillful and useless mental and physical activity. Mindfulness is, in fact, the key to understanding the whole teaching of the Buddha. If mindfulness is present during one's meditation then there is the opportunity to realize in oneself the three characteristics mentioned below and to see Reality. Finally in this section, there is Right Concentration. The mind is likened to a wild monkey, jumping from one attraction to another, ever seeking new delights. Concentration, necessary in daily activities, is also most essential in meditation.

The Sangha: Those who wish to pursue the path with total dedication may be ordained as monks. In Buddhist countries, the monks are easily recognizable by their shaven heads and saffron colored robes. They may initially enter a monastery for a trial period, and if they decide that the life is right for them, they may commit themselves more definitely by being ordained. They are given a new name and a robe and commit themselves to live according to a specified set of precepts. As a community, they are called the Sangha.

Nirvana or Enlightenment: Life's goal, for Buddhism. Literally means "to blow out" or "to extinguish," not actively but using the image of a fire that goes out because it runs out of fuel. Nirvana is a state of non-suffering, an interior realm of bliss wherein there is a complete absence of egocentricity. It is a ground of total selflessness and compassion, compassion for the poor and powerless as well as for animals and nature.

The Three Marks of Existence: dukkha, anicca, and anatta

Dukkha: "Suffering" -- There are three kinds of suffering:

(I) Ordinary suffering, includes, (1) the trauma of birth; (2) the pathology of sickness; (3) the morbidity of decrepitude; (4) the phobia of death; (5) to be tied to what one dislikes; and (6) to be separated from what one loves.

(II) Suffering produced by change, when pleasant or happy feelings change, because they are never permanent.

(III) Suffering as conditioned states: An "individual," an "I" or a "self" is a combination of ever-changing mental and physical forces which can be divided into five groups or "aggregates" ("pancakkhanda"). Suffering as conditioned states is produced by attachment to these "five aggregates": matter, sensations, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness.

Anicca: "Impermanence" -- Everything that has a cause has a beginning and an end; conditioned phenomena are transitory. But conditioned phenomena are also what the "self" attaches to and when there is attachment to impermanent objects there will always be suffering.

Anatta: "No self" -- for Buddhism, there is no enduring self and no enduring soul. Buddhism rejects the notion of the soul as (1) a spiritual substance that (2) retains its separate identity forever. There is no self or soul which carries on after death. Remember the image of the candle flame (class discussion). Rather, all phenomena are conditioned--have a beginning and an end--so there is nothing to which they can attach. Suffering arises from the illusion that impermanent conditioned states are permanent and can be possessed by a "self." Suffering arises from the illusion that impermanent conditioned states.

The Law of Karma:

For every event that occurs, there will follow another event whose existence was caused by the first, and this second event will be pleasant or unpleasant according as its cause was skillful or unskillful. A skillful event is one that is not accompanied by craving, resistance or delusions; an unskillful event is one that is accompanied by any one of those things. There is a chain of causation threading each life to those that have led up to it and to those that will follow. Each life is in its present condition because of the way the lives that led up to it were lived. Throughout this causal sequence, the will remains free. The present state is the product of prior acts, but within the present the will is influenced but not controlled. People remain at liberty to shape their destinies. While life is causally connected, there is no soul-like "substance" transmitted.

SCHOOLS AND BRANCHES OF BUDDHISM

Relatively early on, Buddhism splits into two schools. Both called themselves yanas, rafts or ferries, for both claimed to carry people across life's sea to the shores of enlightenment. The second school, however, considered itself to be a way open to more people and therefore the larger of the two "rafts." Thus, it took for itself the name Mahayana, the Big Raft (maha means "great"). As this name caught on, the other group came to be known as Hinayana, or the Little Raft. Not liking its name, the Hinayanists have preferred to call their Buddhism Theravada, the Way of the Elders. Theravada Buddhism is found primarily in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand. Mahayana Buddhism is found primarily in China, Indo-China, Korea, Japan. The differences between the schools that have evolved over time are as follows:

Theravada Mahayana

Enlightenment is up to individual, The fate of the individual is linked to all of life.

self-effort, without supernatural aid.

Humanity is on its own in the universe. Grace is a fact. A boundless power draws--or propels--everything to its appointed goal.

The prime attribute of enlightenment Compassion (karuna) is the greatest attribute of

is wisdom (bodhi), meaning profound Enlightenment and must be given priority over

insight into the nature of reality, wisdom.

the causes of suffering and anatta.

The sangha is at the heart. Enligh- Religious practice is relevant to life in the world

tenment requires constant commitment and therefore to lay people.

and is primarily for monks and nuns.

The ideal type of person is the Arhat. The ideal type of person is the boddhisattva, a being who, having reached the brink of nirvana, voluntarily renounces it and returns to the world to make nirvana available to others.

The Buddha was a saint, a holy sage, The Buddha was a savior, continuing, even in his

whose personal influence ended with his death, to draw all creatures toward himself.

death.

Eschewed speculation. Spawned elaborate cosmologies.

Practice centered on meditation. Practice supplication and petitionary prayer in addition to meditation.

Adhere closely to early Pali texts. Accept a wide range of texts.

Two Branches of Mahayana Buddhism: Zen Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism

Zen Buddhism: Influenced by Taoism. Practice of meditation aimed at crashing through mental barriers created by verbal constructions. Training has three components: zazen, koan, and sanzen. Zazen literally means "seated meditation." Zen practitioners sit silently, for endless hours, in the lotus posture, meditating, seeking to awaken the Buddha-mind. In their meditations they focus on koans. A koan is, generally, a problem or a riddle. The purpose of the koan is to upset the mind, to unbalance it and eventually provoke revolt against the canons that imprison it. Once the mental barrier that makes the koan look illogical has been broken, it becomes intelligible. Twice a day, on average, the monk confronts the Zen master in a private "consultation concerning meditation" called sanzen (or dokusan). In these brief meetings, the master evaluates the monk's progress in solving the koan. This training of zazen, koan, and sanzen seek to lead the monk to an intuitive experience called kensho or satori. Reaching this experience generally takes many years. Satori is the Zen version of a mystical experience.

Tibetan Buddhism: In Tibet, a third school of Buddhism has emerged, influenced by Indian traditions: Vajrayana (the Diamond Way). Tibetan Buddhism is, at its heart, Tantric Buddhism. Tantra, which emerged in medieval Hinduism, connotes the images of weaving and interpenetration. The Tantras are texts that focus on the interrelatedness of things. Tibetan Buddhism has a number of distinguishing features. First, one can reach nirvana in a single lifetime. Second, there is a strong emphasis on sex as an epiphany of the divine, not sex for its own sake but sex joined to deep love. As opposed to the stillness and silence of Zen practice, in Tibetan practice, the body is ritually engaged, always moving. Rather than distracting the mind, the Tibetans believe that these practices help reduce distractions. The pioneers of Tantra discovered upayas (skillful means) for channeling physical energies into currents that carry the spirit forward instead of derailing it. The most prominent of these are three and all begin with the letter "m." Mantras convert noise into sound and distracting chatter into holy formulas. Mudras choreograph hand gestures, turning them into pantomime and sacred dance. Mandalas are visual icons whose holy beauty draws the mind of the beholder in the direction of the truth they depict. For Tibetans, the characteristic practice is the practice of chant. The most decisive feature of their practice is, however, internal. Through the exercise the monks visualize the deities they are invoking--visualize them with such intensity that they are able to see the deities as if they were physically present. Ultimately, the monks experientially merge with the gods they have conjured to better appropriate their powers and virtues. The main figure in Tibetan Buddhism is the Dalai Lama (known in Tibet as Chenrezig), the (currently) fourteenth incarnation of the boddhisattva known as Avalokiteshvara, Kwan Yin, or Kannon. The Dalai Lamas principal function is that of "an activity of presence," a presence of spiritual influence and compassion.[footnoteRef:1] [1: Compiled from Huston Smith, The World's Religion. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1991; The Buddha and his Dhamma: An Introduction to the Buddha and His Teachings. Malaysia: The Assaji Fund, 1992; Paul McKenna, "Understanding Buddhism," Scarboro Missions, April 1991: 12-15; and internet sources.]