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Asia/Philosophy 105 |
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| Countries currently practicing Theravada Buddhism |
Buddhism began in India, in North Bihar, which is where Jainism began, in current day Nepal. The form practiced by the Buddha is usually called Theravada (School of the Elders) by its followers. It is often called Hinayana by the followers of the Mahayana schools—more on this later. This school has died out in most places in the world, and is really only practiced in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Bali (where it combines with Hinduism), and one isolated area in Northern India. The current form of Theravada Buddhism has evolved quite a bit from the original. I will mostly be discussing the original form here.
Buddhism, like all religions, is a product of its times, and it bore some resemblance to Brahmanism and to early Hinduism. Many of the gods of Brahmanism and Hinduism appear in Buddhist stories. But for the most part, Buddhism rebelled against Brahmanism. In Brahmanism there were classes and only the Brahmans could gain moksha. The Buddha said that everyone could gain Enlightenment. The Buddhists also believed in transmigration, as did the Jains. It’s quite possible that Hinduism got the concept of transmigration from Buddhism or Jainism, as there is no evidence that Brahmanism had the theory before contact with Buddhism and Jainism. Buddhism also borrowed the concept of ahimsa from Jainism.
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| The Buddha has distinctive iconography. Here you can see his elongated ears, and hands held in a meditation mudra. Also, he is wearing a robe and top knot. He is accompanied by other Buddhas. |
The story of the Buddha’s life is not written down in the earliest Buddhist canon, the Tripitaka (meaning the “Three Baskets”), but has been passed down in other sources, such as one composed by Ashvaghosha, a 1st century Indian poet. Only part of this text was preserved in India, the rest comes from Tibetan sources. The story also appears in later sutras, the telling of which differs more in style than substance. The story I will tell you is the “bare bones” version, but they can get quite flowery.
The person we call the Buddha (which means the “Enlightened One”), was born a prince named Siddhartha Gautama. Some sources say that his mother conceived him while dreaming of a white elephant. She had none of the usual problems or pains of pregnancy, nor did she have pain during delivery. His mother gave birth to him while on en route on a visit to her parents. She leaned against a plum tree and gave birth from her left side. Some sources say the world became quiet and stood still, others that his birth was heralded by shooting stars or flowers falling from the sky. The baby had webbed hands and feet, and the imprint of wheels on his palms (symbolizing the “Wheel of Dharma” or samsara), and he had a tuft of hair between his eyebrows, and his testicles were drawn up inside of his body. He was said to have been born “aware” and even able to walk and talk; his face shone like the sun, and he took seven steps and declared, “For Enlightenment I was born, for the good of all lives. This is the last time that I have been born into this world of becoming.” Clearly, this was no ordinary child.
He was an only child, and his parents were very pleased to get an heir to the kingdom ruled by his father. As was normal in these cases, a seer (fortune teller) was called in to read the horoscope of the child, and make predictions about his destiny. Ashita (the seer) was overjoyed at the sight of the child, saying that he had been awaiting his birth, and lamenting only that he would not live to become his disciple. He then went on to explain, that this child was a long awaited teacher (or Bodhisattva, which means “Buddha to be”), who would help to bring Enlightenment to the world. Alternatively, he could become a great king who would unite all of India.
Naturally, his parents wanted him to become a king and not a religious ascetic (one who has given up worldly possessions, desires, attachments, and goals), and so asked the seer what they could do. He replied that the child would become an ascetic if he were to be exposed to old age, illness, death, and the life of a mendicant (wandering ascetic).
His parents treated him to all that their kingdom could afford. They built him three palaces, one for each season, and filled them with musicians, dancers, incense, and beautiful and charming playmates. When it became time for him to marry, they chose a beautiful and accomplished wife, who would bear him a son, who Siddhartha would name Rahula, or tether.
And so they kept him happy, sheltered, protected, but unknowing of the world around him. Naturally, as he matured, he
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| The lotus is an important symbol in Buddhism because though it grows in the mud, it floats on the water, and its petals remain pristine. It is also one of the few flowers to bloom and set seeds at the same time. |
became discontent with his lack of knowledge of the outside world. He began to ask to go out to the town. In a panic, his father ordered his men to go out and prepare the town. They cleaned, painted, and repaired the streets and buildings. They hung streamers and burned incense. They hired musicians to play and women to dance. The hid away all of the old, the sick, and the poor. When Siddhartha arrived there was great fanfare.
This happened twice, but the Bodhisattva was not fooled. He sneaked out one night and visited the town without his father’s knowledge, accompanied only by his charioteer. While there he learned the truth about life. He saw sick people, old people, and a corpse in the road. He asked his charioteer to explain. He did so by saying that these were natural processes. Siddhartha was disillusioned that life was not as he thought it was, and he needed to understand. He saw his life as empty and realized that the pleasures he had enjoyed were fleeting, and would be destroyed by old age and death. Conveniently he saw a religious mendicant, who explained to him that life was merely a cycle of birth, illness, old age, and death, and that being an ascetic was the only path to take to escape this fate. They switched robes, and the Bodhisattva returned home to tell his parents and his wife that he was leaving them.
He lived in the wilderness for six years, living most of that time with a group of ascetics who practiced various austerities like starvation, self-flagellation (hitting yourself), and nakedness. He weaned himself off of food, and was only eating one sesame seed, one grain of rice, and one jujube (a tropical fruit the size of an apricot that tastes like apples and honey) a day. Though he felt that his psychic powers increased, he felt that his physical body was weakening to the point of death.
He wandered into the woods to die, and a shepherdess found him and offered him a bowl of rice and milk, which he ate. Immediately his mind cleared and he sat under a tree and began to meditate. He sat under the tree and stayed until he gained Enlightenment. Part of this Enlightenment was that the true path was a Middle Way (the name the Buddha and his followers used to refer to his system), and not a life of extremes. He had lived a life of luxury that only led to disillusionment, and he had lived a life of depravation that only led to illness, and nearly death. He outlined his teaching at his first sermon, delivered at Deer Park.
This Buddha, Gautama, is the only Buddha of the current era, or kalpa, but there have been other Buddhas in the past, and there will be Buddhas in the future. Each Buddha reigns over the kalpa into which he (or later she) gains Enlightenment. The former Buddha was called Visvabhu and the future Buddha (who is undergoing lifetimes of rebirths in preparation) is called Maitreya. A kalpa is the time it would take a dove standing on a mountaintop brushing its wing on the top to wear the mountain down. In other words, a really long time (about 30,000 years).
There are a number of beliefs that we associate with Indian Buddhism. The most important of them are discussed below.
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| An early form of Buddhist temple Stupa at Sarnath, built by Ashoka. These stupas house relics. |
Flux--the Buddha said “all of life is a stream of becoming.” This is
called “dynamic phenomenalism” Everything changes all of the time, even us. We hate that. We want stability--we cannot have it no matter how much we want it! This craving for permanence where permanence cannot be found is not only misguided, but brings sorrow. All things (even people) are composite or aggregate--all things are made up of parts, and this explains why nothing is permanent, because the composition of things always changes. Even people are like this:
Five Skandhas or aggregates:
Karma--action or residue from a former life (this is what transmigrates). Karma creates a residue--just like footprints are created in sand. The creator of the prints is gone, but the prints remain. The prints are the karmic residue. The law of the cosmos demands that karma is embodied; that’s why new people are born. The karma needs the chance to work itself out, so a new body is provided. Hence transmigration--no self!
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| Here we see the form of a Theravada temple today in Thailand. |
Nirvana--extinction--or blowing out of a candle--of karma. Also is said to be freedom from ignorance, selfishness, and suffering. It also means the attainment of wisdom and compassion--in this case it is during this life and often called “Enlightenment.” One attains this not through an intellectual understanding, but one must realize this on an intuitive or visceral level. This is done through meditation or yoga.
No-self or no-soul--We want a soul--it is the thing that we are most attached to. We most want a sense of identity, of importance, of individuality. But the Buddhists say that this is the greatest illusion, and the greatest attachment. It is the attachment of which we most need to let go. Once we do this we attain the state of Enlightenment or Nirvana. Some sects toy with the idea of a “quasi-soul,” but it is rejected by most.
Arhat (or Arhant)--a non-returner. Become important leaders and saints--Lohan in Chinese. Bodhisattvas (Buddha’s to be) become important in later Buddhism (Mahayana).
Chain of Causation or Dependent Origination--The root cause of birth, death, and rebirth is ignorance. People have the illusion that individuality and permanence exist, when in fact they do not. But people want to believe in the self and in permanence and so they desire it. People crave love, sex, and material things, and they cling to life. This causes the accumulation of karma, which results in rebirth. Circumvent this through knowledge (enlightenment).
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| The wheel is used as a symbol of Buddhism, signifying both samsara and Dharma. |
Samsara--cycle of transmigration--not a good thing.
Heavens and Hells--are realms of the senses, so one cannot attain nirvana there. Must be born into the human realm.
Buddhists, like a lot of pre-literate peoples, used lists to remember important things. These are the things make you a Buddhist:
You respect, honor, and protect the:
The Three Treasures
You acknowledge the truth of what the Buddha realized under the Bodhi Tree, and the nature of his Enlightenment:
The Four Noble Truths
You accept his solution to leading one’s life and hopefully finding Enlightenment. He called it The Middle Way or The Eight Fold Path; we call it Buddhism.
The Eight Fold Path
Right:
You follow the:
Five Precepts
Abstain from:
Meditation is the central practice of most Buddhists, though it comes in many forms: seated meditation, walking meditation, yoga, visualization, mindfulness, and chanting to name a few. The Buddha himself meditated under the Bodhi tree until he realized the nature of humans and the cosmos.
Meditation takes the practitioner away from this world and into another internal world. It is in some ways more real than the world we call real. Meditation is not escapism. When done correctly it can make the practitioner more aware and in touch with this world, not less.
There are many different styles of meditation. Seated meditation was practiced by the Buddha. Quiet sitting and observing the breath is the most basic meditation technique. One can use props such as mandalas, visualization, sound, and mantras (special words/phrases). Meditation is often tailored to the student by the teacher. One important aspect of meditation is control of the mind. The mind is viewed by Buddhists as the sixth sense, and indeed the most powerful of all the senses. It is with the mind that attachments arise. You may see a shiny new car, but it’s your mind that wants it, not your eyes. Meditation helps the practitioner to realize that a car is nothing but a tool, and is in many cases unnecessary to daily life, and indeed, plays no role in the quest for Enlightenment.
Another important style of meditation is called mindfulness. In this form, one focuses on one thing only. Do not do two (or more) things at once. When you eat, eat. When you do the dishes, do the dishes. When you walk, feel the soles of your feet on the ground. When you meditate, feel the cushion beneath you. Remain conscious of everything around you. Don’t think about anything else. Don’t live in the past, or the future. There is only now (more on this when we discuss Zen).
Yoga, meaning yoke or union, is a form of moving meditation. The yogis recommend that yoga be done in preparation for meditation. The Buddha practiced yoga.
Theravada Buddhism is basically a monastic system--it does have lay people, but the emphasis is on monks, and to a lesser extent nuns.
Why become a monk? Being a monk or nun is like the fast track to Enlightenment. Monks are not hoping to become
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| Burmese monks begging. |
Buddha, there is only one per kalpa, they are hoping to attain Enlightenment and never be reborn. This is the state of the “non-returner” or arhat.
Monks had left lay life, and wandered around India, following the Buddha and learning and teaching. The first monasteries were created shortly after the Buddha’s death, ostensibly so that the monks wouldn’t step on worms and snails that come out when it rains. Instead, during the rainy season, they should live in a monastery, no more wandering as they had done. With so many monks living together, rules had to be formulated, and a lifestyle developed.
There are the four rules, that if broken, could get one expelled from the monks’ sangha:
There are 13 offenses that can get one temporarily suspended (74-75 of your reader pages on Rules for Monks). To get reinstated you need to do penance and undergo a special reinstatement ceremony.
Monks are removed from lay life. They give up their class/caste, career, property, and possessions. Family is renounced completely because it’s a dangerous attachment that can prevent Enlightenment.
Monks go live among other monks. They depend on members of the community to support them. Lay followers build temples and retreats, provide clothes and other supplies, and even feed the monks. The monks in turn protect the Dharma, and teach it to the lay community.
Monks rise early and go out into the community to beg for food; the faithful prepare mild vegetarian dishes for the monks. The monks use the offerings for breakfast (and lunch in some sects), and then don’t eat in the afternoon. They spend the rest of the day in meditation and teaching. They often meditate late into the night.
Monks have very few possessions. No money or valuable items are allowed. Monks are allowed one begging bowl, one saffron or ochre robe, one staff, and in some sects, a pair of sandals and an umbrella.
The head is shaven, which symbolizes the renunciation of the material world. Good health is considered very important, and that includes good hygiene.
According to legend, the Buddha was not planning to establish an order for nuns. His aunt, is foster mother, persuaded him that he should. He consented, but said that nuns would have to follow more rules than monks, and would have to accept the authority of the monks. Women could not attain Enlightenment, but could only hope to gain enough merit to be reborn as a man. Having women living a monastic life would also decrease the amount of time that Buddhism would be at its peak power, from 1000 to 500 years.
The regular people of the community follow the five precepts, try to live moral lives, eat vegetarian foods, and support the sangha. They are the providers for the monastic community, donating money and goods when needed. Lay people don’t give up their lives, customs, families, or businesses, but serve the monks, accumulate merit, and hope for higher rebirths. Some do give up luxuries like jewels, perfumes, beautiful clothing, music, and dancing. Some even become monks or nuns later in life, or spend significant time in retreat at a monastery. By doing all of this, they can expect rewards in this life, and happy rebirths. Maybe in their next life, they too will become a monk and then an arhat.
The canon of Indian Buddhism is written in Pali, a language closely related to Sanskrit. It is divided into three categories and so it is called the “Three Baskets” or the Tripitika.
560 BCE Birth of the Siddhartha (“he who has achieved his goal” ) Gautama (clan name)
483 BCE First Council held in Rajagrha soon after the death of Gautama.
383 BCE Second Council held in Vaisali, beginning of schism. Around 6 sub-sects emerged.
3rd century BCE Buddhism spreads to Central Asian oasis towns along the Silk Road.
260 BCE Ashoka became a Buddhist.
250 BCE Council of Pataliputra, another split in the Theravada
200 BCE canon written down
100 BCE-100 CE Rise of Mahayana (Greater Vehicle)
1st century CE Amitabha sect begins
1st century CE Buddhism arrives in China
200 CE Lotus Sutra appears--clearly defines a difference between the two branches.
4th century CE Buddhism arrives in Korea
6th century CE Tantra rises in NW India
6th century CE Buddhism arrives in Japan
6th century CE Xiongnu destroy major Buddhist temple of Gandhara
7th century CE Buddhism arrives in Tibet
7th/8th century beginnings of decline in India and Central Asia
10th & 11th century invasions by Muslims in Central Asia find remains of Buddhism
1198 CE Temple at Nalanda destroyed by Muslim invaders--Buddhism mostly dead in India
19th century Buddhism arrives in Europe and America
1956 CE 600,000 Untouchables converted to Buddhism