World Religions

CHAPTER SIX:

Buddhism

Fundamental questions1. What is the human condition?• Buddhists believe humans are caught in samsara: the endless cycle of existence,

characterized by maya(illusion), tanha (craving) and hatred/aversion, leading to dukkha (suffering or unsatisfactoriness).

2. Where are we going?• To a favourable or unfavourable rebirth after death• To Enlightenment through entering nirvana/nibbana• To Buddhahood• To bodhisattvahood (Mahayana Buddhism)3. How do we get there?• acknowledging the Three Jewels: Buddha, dharma/dhamma, and sangha, by

joining the sangha• accepting the Four Noble Truths• following the Middle Way/the Noble Eightfold Path• following the precepts consistent with a lay or monastic way of life• following the path of the bodhisattva• developing wisdom and compassion.

Learning Objectives

1. Learn about the life of the Buddha.

2. Come to understand basic Buddhist teachings.

3. Understand the differences between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism.

4. Become familiar with the outlines of the history of Buddhism outside of India.

5. See how Buddhism can be a religion of peace but that Buddhists are not necessarily peaceful.

Key Names, Concepts, and Terms

Text• Buddha• Nirvana• Anatman• Sangha• Theravada• Arhat• Dharma• Mahayana• Bodhisattva 

IB• Dukkha/Dukha • Tanha/Trishna • Anicca/Anitya • Anatta/Anatman • Samsara • Kamma/Karma • Maya• Karuna• Panna/Prajna• Sila • Upaya

– c. 5th century BCE– c. 258 BCE

– c. 200 BCE-200 CE– c. 100 BCE-300 CE

– c. 80 BCE– c. 50 CE

– 1st century CE– c. 150-250

– c. 550– c. 609-650

– 845– 1222-1282

– c. 1200-1500– 1959-

Timeline– Life of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha– Ashoka spreads Buddhism outside India– Theravada develops– Perfection of Wisdom books develop– Pali Canon written down in Sri Lanka– Buddhism spreads to China, SE Asia– Mahayana develops– Life of Nagarjuna– Buddhism enters Japan– Songtsan establishes Tibetan Buddhism– Chinese persecute Buddhism– Life of Nichiren– Buddhism declines in India– China represses Tibetan Buddhism

I) Introduction: The Buddhist “Middle Way”

A. Origins in Sixth Century B.C.E. Indian Reaction against Mainstream Hinduism

B. Unlike Jainism, Buddhism Teaches Middle Way between Radical Asceticism and Worldliness

C. Buddhism Becomes Missionary Religion

in Asia and Diminishes in India

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II) The Life of Gautama

A. Early Life of Siddhartha Gautama (circa. 560-480 B.C.E.)1. The founder of Buddhism was Siddhartha, a man from the Gautama

clan2. He probably lived during the sixth century B.C.E. and was a

contemporary of Mahavira3. Son of a raja (chieftain/warrior)4. According to legend, before Siddhartha’s birth a soothsayer

predicted that he would become the Buddha (Enlightened One)5. Father shields Siddhartha from life’s ugliness and pain6. Gautama grew up surrounded by beauty and health, because his

father had been told that he would become a religious leader if he saw suffering or an ascetic monk

7. Siddhartha marries cousin at age nineteen, has son8. Around his thirtieth birthday, Gautama started to become aware of

the ugliness of the world

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II) The Life of Gautama

A. Early Life of Siddhartha Gautama (circa. 560-480 B.C.E.)9. Siddhartha discovers ugliness and pain of life, concludes that life is suffering

10. His left his family and began to live life as a beggar to search for the answers to life’s mysteries

11. Siddhartha runs away from home, wife, son to find answers to life’s miseries• Studies philosophy with guru, still unsatisfied• Practices severe monastic asceticism for six years• He lived a harsh life in an effort to seek enlightenment, but was unsuccessful

12. The turning point in Gautama’s life came when he fainted from deprivation and fell into a stream• When the cold water revived him, he realized that his asceticism was not achieving

enlightenment• He ate a meal and went to sit under a fig tree to mediate• Five of Gautama’s friends saw him eating and spurned him as a traitor

13. At last, after a long period of mediation, Gautama achieved enlightenment and became the Buddha (enlightened one)

• Vision shows him life is endless cycle of life and death because of tanha (desire, thirst, craving

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II) The Life of Gautama

B. The Buddha’s Religious Mission1. Finds former fellow monks in deer park, preaches middle way between

indulgence and asceticism

2. They became the first Sangha(Buddhist monastic order)

3. Buddha was about thirty-five when he achieved enlightenment, and he spent the rest of his life preaching what he had learned• Buddha teaches that all people irrespective of caste or gender can be enlightened• Serious followers shave heads, wear coarse yellow robes, possess only begging

bowl• Buddhist monks vow to:

– Abstain from killing– Abstain from taking what is not given– Abstain from lying, frivolous, slanderous, or harsh talk– Abstain from improper sexual conduct– Abstain from comfort and adornments– Abstain from dancing, singing, music, shows– Abstain from worldly commerce, errands– Abstain from injuring seeds or plants– Eat only one meal a day

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

II) The Life of Gautama

B. The Buddha’s Religious Mission4. Non-monastic (lay) Buddhists vow to abstain from:

• Killing• Stealing• Lying• Improper sexual conduct• Intoxicants

5. Death of Buddha at age 80 • Probable cause: eating spoiled pork curry• Followers organize new religion after Buddha’s death by

formalizing his critique of Hinduism

III The Teachings of the Buddha A. Buddha’s Mixed Critique of Hinduism

1. Accepted most Hindu religious categories and vocabulary

2. Taught enlightenment possible for all irrespective of caste

3. Opposed to Brahmin system of worship and sacrifice

4. Rejects religious authority of the Vedas

5. Believed people ought to find own enlightenment, not seek gods/goddesses as patrons

III) The Teachings of the Buddha

B. New Teachings of the Buddha (the Tathagata, Truth-Gatherer)1. Individual soul does not exist—people are in state of non-soulness

(anatman), the absence of enduring souls

2. The “soul” is actually a combination of five physical things: the body, feelings, understanding, will, and consciousness that constitute human personality/self

3. That combination is bound to an endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth

4. The Four Noble Truths:• Life is painful because of craving, grasping desire• Desire combined with pleasure and lust leads to a cycle of rebirths• Detachment from all desire—even the desire to exist—is the way to release from pain

and rebirth• The eightfold path leads to detachment

– Right views– Right intention– Right speech– Right action– Right livelihood– Right effort– Right mindfulness

–Ajahn Sumedho, Buddhist monk

“When you open your mind to the truth, then you realize there is nothing to fear. What arises passes away, what is born dies, and is not self--so that our sense of being caught in an identity with this human body fades out. We don’t see ourselves as some isolated, alienated entity lost in a mysterious and frightening universe. We don’t feel overwhelmed by it, trying to find a little piece of it that we can grasp and feel safe with, because we feel at peace with it. Then we have merged with the Truth.

– ©2011 PRENTICE HALL | Pearson Education, Inc. | Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

III) The Teachings of the Buddha

5. The person who follows the Eightfold Path will break the bonds of life and be released from the cycle– Nirvana is that release from the cycle of life

• The goal of basic Buddhist practice is to extinguish the connection to life

• Extinguishing desire, thirst, craving (tanha)• A saint (arhat) is one who reaches enlightenment

– The Wheel of Birth and Death• The concept of a cycle of birth and death in Buddhism

necessarily differs from the Hindu concept because Buddhism teaches that there is no eternal soul to be reborn.

• The Three Root Evils of greed, hate, and delusion fuel the wheel of birth and death. Cultivating the opposites of these evils helps one move towards escape.

IV The Development of Buddhism

A. A Religion for Self-Disciplined, Intelligent Individuals1. Like many religions, before Buddha had been dead for

very long his followers began to debate the meaning of his teachings

2. Those debates created schisms in the faith

B. Sectarian Infighting Begins Early after Buddha’s Death1. First council of Buddhists gather one year after

Buddha’s death to determine true meaning of teachings

2. Second council of Buddhists (390 B.C.E) controlled by conservative minority declares most Buddhists heretical• Conservative minority: exclusive way (Hinayana)• Liberal majority: expansive way (Mahayana)

IV The Development of Buddhism

C. Indian Emperor Asoka Converts to Buddhism1. The “Constantine” of Buddhism rules 268-232 B.C.E

2. Asoka uses imperial throne to support Indian Buddhists

3. Asoka sends Buddhist missionaries to world• Sent son Mahinda to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) on successful missionary project• Sent missionaries as far as Burma, Syria, Greece

4. Asoka calls third council of Buddhism (247 B.C.E.) to determine authoritative list of Buddhist scriptures

5. Asoka’s efforts guarantee survival of Buddhism after it virtually ceases to exist in India• Hinduism absorbs Buddhism by teaching Siddhartha Gautama an avatar

of Vishnu• Presence of Islam in India further erodes Buddhist presence

V) Theravada Buddhism

A. Theravada Buddhism is the more conservative form of the religion

B. Dominant Sect among Conservative Minority Hinayana 1. Considers itself closer to original teachings of Buddha

2. Dominant in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos

C. Teachings and Practices of Theravada Buddhism1. People must achieve enlightenment for themselves without reliance on

gods or any external forces

2. Detached, begging monk is ideal Buddhist, most likely to attain Nirvana

3. If one cannot become a monk, then they can be a layperson who supports the monks and hopes to be able to be a monk in the next life

4. Lay Buddhists ought to support monks, sometimes join monastic life temporarily

5. The goals of religion are reached through mediation and the efforts and achievements of the individual• Offering food to monks is a common way for laypeople to “make merit”

V) Theravada Buddhism

C. Teachings and Practices of Theravada Buddhism6. Ritual/ceremony based on veneration of Buddha’s relics

7. Believe many Buddhas before and after Siddhartha

8. The Jataka tales of Siddhartha’s many prior lives before enlightenment released him provide common themes in Theravada art, preaching, writings

9. The Theravada wat: a complex of religious buildings• The bot or vihara is hall for teaching, preaching, and meditation• The stupas or pagodas: originate as relic mounds, used today as worship and

festival centers– Focus not worship of Buddha or saint, but respect ideas of Buddhahood– Places to meditate

10. Types of Theravada meditation • Sammatta: intense concentration to attain spiritual state, the open path to

enlightenment• Vipassana: effort to gain sudden, intuitive realization of Buddhist truths, as

Siddhartha had under the bo tree

VI) Mahayana BuddhismA. The Principles of Mahayana

1. The Mahayana Buddhists believe that Buddha had additional secret teachings that he bestowed on his followers

2. Claim that Buddha taught secret principles to select few serves as warrant for expansive interpretations of basic Buddhist concepts

3. Between third century B.C.E. and first century C.E. Mahayana sects teach Buddha was more than human, a compassionate godlike being incarnate as a man

4. Siddhartha Gautama not only Buddha to whom people can appeal, but only one of many incarnations of the eternal Buddha • The rise of a new type of veneration and worship• Cultic systems develop for many eternal Buddhas• Missionary Buddhists adapt native cultic practices to worship of eternal Buddha• The rise of veneration of Buddhist saints (Bodhisattvas) who postpone Nirvana to

spend time compassionately aiding the living• Bodhisattvas (future Buddhas)

– A class of beings who could provide help for humans struggling with the problems of life– The bodhisattvas took vows to become bodhisattvas and achieve merit– The bodhisattvas postponed Nirvana after death until all living beings can attain it

–Tiantai Zhiyi–The 4 Great Bodhisattva

Vows

Beings are infinite in number, I vow to save them all;

The obstructive passions are endless in number, I vow to end them all;

The teachings for saving others are countless, I vow to learn them all;

Buddhahood is the supreme achievement, I vow to attain it.

– ©2011 PRENTICE HALL | Pearson Education, Inc. | Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

VI) Mahayana BuddhismA. The Principles of Mahayana

5. One of the most fascinating and challenging philosophical concepts in Mahayana thought is sunyata (“voidness” or “emptiness”).

• Building on the basic Buddhist idea that all things are dependent upon something else (whether physical objects or concepts), having no independent origin, and no eternal reality, Mahayana thinkers argued that the world of death and rebirth is empty of inherent existence.

• Even the Four Noble Truths are empty; nirvana, too is empty insofar as it is a thought construct, though it is not dependent on conditions.

• Teachings on emptiness do not mean we do nothing, but that we do not become attached to results.

• Instead, the focus of emptiness is on compassion, skillful means, and the wish to benefit all living beings.

B. The Spread of Mahayana Buddhism1. Third century C.E. Mahayana spreads in China from India

2. From China Mahayana spreads to Korea (fourth century C.E.) and Japan (sixth century C.E.)

3. Mahayana spreads to Bali, Sumatra, Java, Mongolia, Tibet

4. Buddhism suffered from absorption into Hinduism in India, while it spread successfully in the rest of Asia

VI) Mahayana BuddhismC. Mahayanist Sects

1. The Pure Land Sect (Ching-t’u, Jodo)• Most popular and widespread• Goal is life after death in land of bliss• Cosmic Bodhisattvas, such as Dhyani Buddhas, preside over heavenlike Buddha-lands• Amitabha: popular pure land Bodhisattva who presides over a paradise called the “pure land,”

object of worship in pure land “churches”• Deviation from the historical Buddha’s doctrine?

2. The Intuitive Sects (Ch’an, Zen)• Recall that Buddha failed to attain enlightenment while studying philosophy under a guru• Enlightenment comes suddenly, intuitively• Monk Bodhidharma found meditative sects in fifth century C.E. • In China Bodhidharma’s meditative (vipassana) form of Buddhism is known as “Ch’an” and in

Japan it is known as “Zen”• Basic principles of Ch’an, Zen

– Enlightenment is sudden flash (satori) – Enlightenment is individual matter and thus other people or institutions or gods cannot aid

the process– Reason distrusted because cannot lead to enlightenment – Zen koans: riddles to confuse reason and make enlightenment possible – Zen Buddhism flourished in Japan, shaped much of its culture, architecture, and aesthetics

VI) Mahayana Buddhism

C.Mahayanist Sects3. The Rationalist Sect (T’ien-t’ai, Tendai)

• Originates in sixth century C.E. China• Use reason and study of Buddhist scriptures to attain

enlightenment• Founded by monk Chih-I• Known as T’ien-t’ai in China, Tendai in Japan

4. The Sociopolitical Sect (Nichiren)• Japanese founder Nichiren (Sun Lotus) lived in thirteenth century

C.E.• Nichiren begins as Tendai monk, but decides all current Japanese

versions of Buddhism are perverting Buddha’s true teachings• Nichiren emphasizes priority of Lotus Sutra• Nichiren and Soka Gakkai sects challenge Japan to purify its

Buddhist beliefs and practices

VI) Mahayana BuddhismD. Tibetan Buddhism

1. Buddhism introduced to Tibet in seventh century C.E. by king Srong-brtsan-sgam-po and his Indian and Chinese Buddhist wives

2. Unique attributes of Tibetan Buddhism• Belief in magical words and formulas as means to achieve goals deeply

influences Tibetan Buddhism– The most important feature is the concern for magic as a means of coping with

problems of life– Native Tibetan religion relied on incantations and spells to protect people from dark

spirits– Bon: folk Buddhism in Tibet based more on native Tibetan religion than Buddha’s

doctrine of enlightenment– Tantric Buddhism: Tibetan Buddhist manuals (tantras) teaching magical words and

spells– The sexual-hedonistic development and excesses of Tantric Buddhism

• Prayer to bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, patron of Tibetan people• The prayer wheel

VI) Mahayana BuddhismD. Tibetan Buddhism

2. Unique attributes of Tibetan Buddhism• The Tibetan clergy: the Lamas (Superior Ones)

– Originate in ninth century C.E. as wealthy and powerful monastic leaders– The Lamas displace kings, rule theocratic Tibet by fourteenth century C.E.– The Yellow Hat School

» Led by Dalai Lama» Dalai Lama is reincarnation of previous Dalai Lamas» Dalai Lama was theocratic ruler of Tibet until China’s 1950 invasion

– The Red Hat School » Scriptural book: Tibetan book of the dead (Bardo Thodol)» The Bardo: near-death and/or post-death state in which one either

moves on to Nirvana or is reborn» Ritual practices designed to help dying move through Bardo to

Nirvana

VII) Buddhist Festivals and Holy Days

A. New Year1. Theravada Buddhists celebrate in April2. Characterized by carnival atmosphere 

B. Buddha’s Birthday1. Celebrated on April 8th in China and Japan2. Celebrated on last day of May in Southeast Asia3. Celebrated with flower festivals and processions4. Washing of infant Buddha statues common5. Children dress up like little Buddha

VII) Buddhist Festivals and Holy Days

C. The Festival of Souls (Ullambana)– July (Japan) or August (China)– Purgatory opened and souls of dead wander Earth– Families leave gifts of food and offerings for wandering spirits– Priests perform rituals to provide souls of the dead comfort and

release from purgatory

D. The Robe Offering– November in Theravada Buddhism– Celebration of Emperor Asoka’s sending of first Buddhist missionaries– Laity present new yellow robes to monks– Public feast and display of robes on a wishing tree make up the

ceremony– Season ends with the making and presentation of great robe

(mahakathina), which is made in a single day, to commemorate act of Buddha’s mother weaving him a mendicant robe in one night

VIII) Buddhism Today

A. Buddhism Quiescent After Missionary Period until Twentieth Century Revival

B. Buddhism has experienced a revival in the twentieth century, because:1. Christian missionaries entered Buddhist countries and became

exposed to the religion

2. Christian missionaries translate Buddhist texts, some convert, and cause fascination with Buddhism in the West

3. The rise of Asian nationalism made many Asians take pride in being Buddhist

4. The rise of Asian nationalism leads to rise of Theravada Buddhism• Asian Buddhism more compatible with science than Christianity• Asian Buddhism is generally more peaceful and tolerant than secular or

Christian West, but obviously not immune to violence as current events in Sri Lanka (civil war) and Myanmar (military dictatorship) show

VIII) Buddhism Today

C. Renewal of Buddhist Missionary Societies

D. Renewed Interest in Post-Maoist China and America

E. Mahayana Remains Living Force in Lives of Many Japanese and Koreans

F. Currently 324 Million Buddhists in the World

G. Buddha’s message of peace and tolerance seems to fit the modern age

Fundamental questions1. What is the human condition?• Buddhists believe humans are caught in samsara: the endless cycle of existence,

characterized by maya(illusion), tanha (craving) and hatred/aversion, leading to dukkha (suffering or unsatisfactoriness).

2. Where are we going?• To a favourable or unfavourable rebirth after death• To Enlightenment through entering nirvana/nibbana• To Buddhahood• To bodhisattvahood (Mahayana Buddhism)3. How do we get there?• acknowledging the Three Jewels: Buddha, dharma/dhamma, and sangha, by joining

the sangha• accepting the Four Noble Truths• following the Middle Way/the Noble Eightfold Path• following the precepts consistent with a lay or monastic way of life• following the path of the bodhisattva• developing wisdom and compassion.