World Religions, Sixth Edition Warren Matthews

World Religions, Sixth Edition Warren Matthews

• Chapter Four:
• Buddhism

Centers of Early Buddhism

Theravada Buddhists hold a humanistic view of the Buddha

• Theravada Buddhists hold a humanistic view of the Buddha

• Mahayana Buddhists hold a divine and cosmic view of the Buddha

• Contemporary historians grapple with how to adjudicate among these accounts when forming their own presentation of the Buddha’s life

Life of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha

• Born as Siddhartha Gautama at Lumbini Grove in India, 563 BCE

• Born into a royal family, lived and practiced as a Vedic Hindu
• Married princess Yashodhara when he was nineteen
• Was shielded by his family from difficulties of life outside the court
• In excursions, saw four things that surprised and disturbed him – an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a wandering ascetic

• Became disturbed by the existence of suffering

• Left the court, left his wife and son, and became an ascetic
• Searched Hindu solutions, practicing extreme asceticism
• Studied under two Brahmin yogins
• Joined five ascetics in fasting, breath holding, odd body positions

Enlightenment of Siddhartha Guatama, the Buddha

• Finally gave up on Hindu solutions

• Sat under a tree at Bodhgaya with resolve to understand the nature of suffering while demons assailed and tempted him

• Gained insight into the nature of suffering and how to escape rebirth
• Realized that destroying desire would eliminate suffering, leaving him free, awake, and enlightened
• Became the Buddha, the enlightened one

Bodhgaya Stupa, Site of the Buddha’s Enlightenment

Life of Siddhartha Guatama, the Buddha

• With his new insight, the Buddha set out to instruct others

• Delivered his first sermon Deer Park of Sarnath
• His friends, Brahmins, and his family join him
• Sangha – Buddhist community
• Dharma – law or teachings
• Spent forty-five years as a teacher

The First Sermon of the Newly Enlightened Buddha

The Four Noble Truths

• All life is dukkha, or suffering

• The origin of suffering is tanha, or attachment

• Suffering is ended by dispassion

• Suffering is overcome by using the Eightfold Path

The Eightfold Path

• Wisdom 1) Right view

• 2) Right intention

• Ethical conduct 3) Right speech

• 4) Right action

• 5) Right livelihood

• Mental development 6) Right effort

• 7) Right mindfulness

• 8) Right concentration

Right view: correct insight into the nature of suffering

• Right view: correct insight into the nature of suffering

• Right aim: correct resolve in overcoming suffering

• Right speech: truthful speech that reflects Buddhist knowledge

• Right action: livelihood according to with Buddhist ethics

• Right effort: disciplining the mind

• Right living: putting away wrong livelihood

• Right effort: applying the force of the mind

• Right mindfulness: understanding self and suffering

• Right concentration: progression through the stages of insight

Buddhist Teaching

• The self is not permanent

• There is no ego, no soul, only a temporary gathering of skandhas

• Matter – physical bodies/sense organs
• Sensations – the process of feeling
• Perceptions – the mind receives the feelings
• Mental activity – impulses to react to feelings
• Consciousness – accompanies the feelings and response he

• Self is the aggregation of all these temporary psychological activities

• In death, the aggregation comes apart

Buddhist Teaching

• Tanha (passion or craving)

• The desire to make permanent that which is impermanent
• All of nature (including ourselves) is impermanent, transitory
• The wheel of becoming fuels suffering (dukkha)
• Suffering occurs as long as we ignorantly assume we are “selves” that are independent of the processes

Buddhist Teaching

• Nirodha (dispassion)

• Seeing clearly the nature of a person
• Understanding that there is no permanent self
• Helping bring an end to passion (suffering)
• Letting go is the end of suffering

Buddhist Teaching

• Eightfold Path (the Middle Path)

• The extremes as Buddha saw them:
• Ritual – too occupied with the world
• Asceticism – too occupied with denial
• The middle path avoids these extremes by following all elements of the Eightfold Path simultaneously
• The end of the Eightfold Path is enlightenment

Buddhist Teaching

• Samsara (Buddha agreed with the Hindu gurus that samsara, reincarnation, occurs, but he did not see the individual “re-occurring”)

• He did not want to return through rebirth instead of bringing release
• No one must wait for rebirth to attain release
• But anyone may achieve release in this life through following the Four Noble Truths

The Buddha on Samsara and Karma

• Samsara – the idea that birth follows death

• Karma – the law that a person’s thoughts and deeds are followed by deserved pleasure or pain

• Through their karma, people are anchored in their physical nature, preventing release and carrying over to rebirth

• In Hinduism, karma is an explanation for caste
• In Jainism, karma is understood in primarily physical terms
• In Buddhism, karma is mainly psychological, not physical

The Buddha and Metaphysics

• Branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the nature of the world

• Addresses questions such as:

• What is the nature of reality?
• Is there a God?
• What is man's place in the universe?

• Buddhism does not seek to answer metaphysical questions

• The Buddha concentrated on suffering, its nature, cause, and cure

Buddhist Scriptures

• Pali collection, the Buddha's language (3 collections, 5 volumes)

• Originally kept in memory of disciples
• Written in Pali on palm leaves
• Gathered in separate baskets, or pitakas

• Chinese collection (61 volumes)

• Tibetan collection

• Kanjur (100+ volumes)
• Tanjur (225 volumes)

Buddhist Scriptures

• The Tripitaka (three-fold basket)

• Vinaya Pitaka – rules for Buddhist monks (the Buddha's language)
• Sutta Pitaka – stories, poems and songs about the Buddha and his former lives
• Abhidhamma Pitaka – systematic development of ideas found in the Sutta Pitaka

The First Buddhist Councils

• First Council – soon after Buddha’s death

• Affirmed authority of the religious community, purity of monks
• Established official scriptures (Tripitaka)

• Second Council – 100 years later at Vaisali

• Tensions between monks and laity
• Unofficial council 50 years later begins official split

• Third Council – 247 BC

• King Ashoka rejects heretical Buddhism

Two Ways to Experience the Buddha: Theravadin and Mahayana

• Theravadin Buddhism – small vehicle

• Buddha as an exemplary human being
• Buddha as a model for ultimate religious transformation through self-application
• Devotees focus on monastic life
• Maitreya, the Buddha to come
• Salvation is through dedicated self-effort rather than intervention of deity

Two Ways to Experience the Buddha: Theravadin and Mahayana

• Mahayana Buddhism – great vehicle

• Buddha as cosmic and god-like
• Salvation is not solely a matter of personal discipline but is assisted by various deities
• Human beings aided in their spiritual development
• Bodhisattvas, beings who, though capable of Nirvana, remain active in the world out of compassion for the suffering of others

Schools of Buddhist Philosophy

• Madhyamika

• Formulated by Nagarjuna in the second century
• All existing things are empty of reality
• Doctrine of pratitya-samutpada, dependent origination

• Yogacara

• Formulated by Asanga in the fourth century
• All things as well as ideas are not real

Buddhism in India

• Ashoka

• In 273 AD Ashoka comes to the throne and controls nearly all India
• Became guilty over the suffering his conquests caused
• Instituted a set of ruling principles set in stone:
• 1) Admitted his guilt in causing suffering
• 2) Prohibited killing animals
• 3) Set rules for community, family, school
• 4) Allowed civil servants to teach dharma
• 5) Promoted Buddhism with international missionaries

Buddhism in China

• Tian Tai – based on the Lotus Sutra, that all beings can actualize their Buddha nature and become Buddhas

• Hua-Yen – based on the Avatamsaka Sutra, says that all phenomena interpenetrate one other, a holistic view of Buddha nature and the universe

• Jingtu – based on the Sukhavativyuha Sutra, says that one is saved by faith, not by works

• Chan – based on the Lankavatara Sutra, says that meditation, not expounding scriptures, leads to the Truth

Schools of Chinese Buddhism

• Lotus – Buddha nature

• Flower Garland – interpenetration of all things

• Pure Land – humans beings saved by calling on bodhisattva Amitabha

• Meditation – brought by Bodhidharma, emphasizes meditation alone

Buddhism in Japan

• Buddhism transmitted to Japan from Korea in the sixth century CE

• Tendai

• Brought by Dengyo Daishi from China, ninth century CE
• In harmony with Shinto, Amida is common figure of honor

• Shingon

• Brought by Kobo Daishi from China, ninth century CE
• Mysterious and magical
• Mantra (a phrase), mudra (posture), mandala (sacred picture)

• Jodo

• First devotees were Ryonin and later Genku
• Teaches salvation through the grace of Amida

Buddhism in Japan

• Shinran

• Disciple of Genku who ate meat
• Established the Jodo-Shin sect of Buddhism in Japan

• Zen (Chan)

• Koans – illogical puzzles that provide insight
• Satori – the enlightenment experience
• Soto – gradual enlightenment by sitting in meditation

• Nichiren

• Recitation of the name of the Lotus Sutra

Buddhism in Tibet

• In seventh century CE, Tibetan ruler Srong Tsan Gampo married two Buddhist wives from abroad, brought Buddhism into Tibet for the first time

• In the following century, Indian Buddhist teacher Shantarakshita brought Buddhism to Tibet in a more systematic fashion

Buddhism in Tibet

• Occult and tantric forms

• Nyingmapa – Red Buddhism
• Embraced Hinduism tantric practices
• Ate meat and drank alcohol
• Gelugpa – wore yellow
• Advocated celibacy and vegetarianism
• Passed on their lineage through reincarnation
• The Dalai Lama is from the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism

Tenzin Gyatso, the Current Dalai Lama

Buddhism in the West

• Waves of Asian migration to the U.S. beginning in the nineteenth century brought Buddhism to the West

• Non-Asians have also taken an interest in Buddhism, particularly during the 1960s

• Nichiren Shoshu Sokagakkai is an example of organized forays by Buddhists into America

• Similar to its Japanese counterpart, it advocated salvation through chanting

• Today, a wide range of Buddhist traditions that developed throughout Asia are evidenced in the American landscape

Buddhist Worldview

• Theravadins deny deity while Mahayanists believe deities are essential

• Human suffering is produced by ignorance of impermanence

• Alleviation of suffering by detachment from the world

• Solution to suffering is knowledge using the Four Noble Truths

• No life after death

• Lack of a strong concern for an end-time of history

Buddhist Worldview

• Community ethics

• Symbiotic relationship between monastics and laity
• Karmic responsibility, karuna, compassion
• Abstinence from theft, intoxication, inappropriate speech, injury

• Laity recite a vow of refuge in three things:

• the Buddha – the enlightened one
• the Dharma – the Buddhist teachings
• the Sangha – the community of Buddhists

Buddhist Worldview

• In some parts of Asia, young laymen take on the role of a Buddhist monk for a finite period of time

• Coexistence with other forms of religious practice

• Interest in active dialogue and engagement

• Although Mahayana Buddhism allows for the ordination of women nuns, they hold second-class status relative to monks

• Non-Asian women converts to Buddhism have introduced innovations in the possible roles for women leaders in Buddhism

Buddhist Nun in Syracuse, New York