World Religions - Slides Unit: Buddhism

History and Religious Origins

Many religions, especially those with central “founding figures,” have
traditional biographies handed on.
 Biographies can be central parts of understanding a religion. But must
also understand what biographies are trying to accomplish.
Genre: category of composition marked by particular form, style, and
subject matter (e.g. hymnody, epic narrative).
 Cultures far removed in time and space from our own often utilized
genres different from our own (see Brodd “Life of Buddha” section).
o Contemporary expectation: “history,” including biography, to be
written with an objective, journalistic accuracy recording only
empirically verifiable details – minimize commentary and bias.
o For many other cultures, not a goal! Other genres often mix
“history,” praise, cultural idioms, and aim at communicating
doctrine. Not dishonest or even “false,” but a matter of genre.

Buddhism
Our treatment:
1. History
2. Doctrine: Theravada
3. Doctrine: Mahayana
4. Lotus Sutra
5. Ritual and Practice
6. Vipassana
 Like ‘Hinduism,’ Buddhism refers to a family of religious groups.
o Central to all: the teaching (dhamma) of the Buddha.
o Many Buddhist scriptures recorded in Pali, which is a mix of
Sanskrit and dialects from near Himalayas.

History: Life of the Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama (later: Shakyamuni, the Buddha)
 Born around 560 BCE in fertile area near foothills of the Himalayas.
 Father was a chieftain (thus Kshatriya) of the Shakya clan.
o Family quite wealthy (though tradition likely utilizes
hyperbole).
o Married at the age of 16 or 19; wife gives birth to a son
(Rahula) in his late 20s.
o Despite living in great comfort, Gautamadecides to renounce
his home life; leaves wife and child to become a wandering
monk. Why?
LEGEND OF THE FOUR SIGHTS
 Background: Soothsayer predicted that the infant Gautama would
become either king of India or a wandering monk. Dad liked former.
o So, Siddhartha has the most sheltered of sheltered childhoods.
No exposure to sorrows that lead people to turn to religion.
 When riding on chariot, Siddhartha observes...
1. Elderly person
2. Diseased person
3. A corpse
4. A wandering ascetic.
 At this point, he decides to go.
o “I also am subject to decay and am not free from the power of
old age, sickness and death. Is it right that I should feel horror,
repulsion and disgust when I see another in such plight? And
when I reflected thus, ... all the joy of life which there is in life
died within me.”
SEEKING: HOW TO OVERCOME SUFFERING?
 Hindu sages living in caves:
o Quickly found the philosophy and rituals of the brahmins
unconvincing. Questioned efficacy of vedic ritual and priesthood.
 Path of extreme asceticism: Why?
o Practiced extreme fasting for five years,nearly dying in the
process.
 Idea: The mindbecomes clearer as the body becomes
moredisciplined.
o 5 other ascetics join him.
 “It is just as if there were a green sappy stick in the water,
and a man came along with this drill-stick, set on lighting a
fire and making a blaze. Do you think he could succeed by
rubbing with his drill-stick that green sappy stick from the
water?”
 Eventually decided that path of self-mortification failed.
o Mind needs support of the body; took begging bowl and resumed
life of a wandering monk.
o Accepted rice and milk offering; other 5 ascetics are upset,
depart
 Sat in isolation under the Bodhi-tree(tree of knowledge) to meditate:
o Realized that all suffering stemsfrom tanha(desire, thirst,
craving)
o Managed to eliminate his desire, becoming the Buddha: the
awakened / enlightened one.
 o Has pure equanimity, neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction.
o Foretaste of Nirvana(extinction)
TEACHING OTHERS TO OVERCOME SUFFERING
 Having become an arhat (enlightened monk), had a choice:remain by
himself, entering nirvana at death, or preach the dhamma.
 Opted for latter. First students were 5 ascetics.
o They make up the first Sangha, the Buddhist monastic order.
o Quickly attracted many bhikkhus (monks), along with laypeople
who couldn’t become monks but still wanted to serve.
 Established ten precepts:
o Laypeople to obey first five (or even four out of the five).
1. No destruction of life
2. No stealing
3. No unchastity
4. No lying
5. No intoxicants
6. Eat moderately (not after noon)
7. No looking at dancing, singing, drama
8. No garlands, perfumes, ornaments
9. No high or broad beds
10. No gold or silver.

DEATH: DEFINITIVE CESSATION OF SUFFERING

 After 45 years of teaching and preaching, Shakyamuni Buddha
becomes mortally ill, perhaps from food poisoning.
 Parinirvana: moment of physical death and transition into Nirvana.

LATER EVENTS
 250 BCE: Buddhism spread throughout India by King Ashoka
 200 BCE: Theravada Buddhism (Southeast Asia)
 30 BCE: Pali scriptures begin to be recorded
 0-100 CE: Mahayana Buddhism; spread to China
 500-600 CE: Chan school emerges in China
 1200 CE: Chan school spreads to Japan: Zen.

Dhamma (teaching) of the Buddha

Nontheism/Transtheism
 The Buddha seems to have rejected bhakti as a way of salvation.
Believed that the world had non-human gods, goddesses, demons,
etc., but all are finite. Did not espouse ritual sacrifice and prayer.
  The teaching of the Buddha focused not on other-worldly phenomenon
(powerful deities, cosmic creation, eschatology, etc.) Rather, it focused
on human suffering (a “symptom”), specifically:
o Analyzing its causes
o Proposing its remedyoApplication
 Ultimate goal: Nirvana, the state of pure equanimity, unmoved bliss
o Shares some attributes with the God of theists: ineffability,
simplicity, reality, peacefulness, boundlessness, transcendence.
o No “personal” attributes; not One who communicates or enters
relationships, but a state devoid of suffering and self.

Four Noble Truths

1. 1Life is filled with suffering (dukkha)
2. The cause of suffering is craving (tanha), coming from ignorance
3. Eliminating craving will eliminate suffering
4. The Eightfold Path leads to just this elimination

Eightfold Path
1. Right view
2. Right intention
3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right concentration
1 - Wisdom: Understand & Accept the Three Marks:
 Annica (impermanence)
 Dukkha
 Anatta
2-3 - Cultivate ethical conduct
5-7 – Samadhi

Doctrines retained from Hindu worldview... modified

 Law of Karma
o Old way (the one with tanha): consequences of bad actions must
be fulfilled in this lifetime or the next (cycle of rebirth)
o New way (the arhat devoid of desire): total transformation, old
karma has been exhausted, regardless of caste or past, no
rebirth.
  Doctrine of Rebirth
o Indeed, the Buddha spoke of his own previous lifetimes.
o Important modification: doctrine of anatta (Sanskrit: anatman)
 No soul or self to transmigrate! So how can rebirth occur?
 Any permanent “self” is an illusion; one’s “self” is really a
combination of impermanent components, the skandhas:
1. Body
2. Perception
3. Feelings
4. Predispositions
5. Reasoning
Theravada Buddhism
 Literally, “the way of the elders.” Older, more “conservative” of two
main branches.
o Mahayana (“Great Vehicle”) Buddhists sometimes use the
derogatory title, “Hinayana” (“Small Vehicle”) for Theravadins.
 Monastic life in the Sangha is central to Theravada
o Monks not isolated: interact via alms, teaching, temporary vows
 High esteem for techniques of meditation, which leads to the
realization of anatta (no-self)and anicca (impermanence).
Traditionally, minimal emphasis on devotion/bhakti for the Buddha.Having
entered Nirvana, he no longer has an active, personal influence. But his
teaching remains, and so he’s venerated.

Life as a Monk: Daily Routine

 Wake, wash & clean, fetch water.
 Light a candle before a Buddha image, chant and meditate.
 Takes to the street with begging bowl; returns for breakfast.
 Group chants and instruction, followed by meal before noon.
 Afternoon of meditation and studying / copying scriptures.
 Sundown assembly; counsel with superior.

Scriptural Authority
 Pali Canon, or Tipitaka(“three baskets”)
o Suttas: Dhamma teachings from the Buddha’s sermons (&
Jataka)
o Abhidhamma (3rd c. BCE): learned discourse, doctrinal
interpretation
o Vinaya: rules of monastic discipline
  Scholars debate about how much material placed on the Buddha’s lips
goes back to Siddhartha Gautama himself.

Cosmology
 Siddhartha Gautama one of several (7 or 25, depending on text)
Buddhas to appear.
o Lived so meritoriously through many lives that he became a
heavenly being, who then incarnated as human to teach and
give an example.
o A bodhisattva (Buddha in the making) named Maitreya will, at
the right time, incarnate to become the Buddha for the next age.
(Budai)
Theravada Goal: arhat/arahant
 Achieve Nirvana

The Lotus Sutra

 Setting: One of the final sermons delivered in the Buddha’s lifetime, in
which he reveals the greatest truths which he’s saved for the end.
 Terms, people
o sravaka – “voice-hearer,” another term for a Theravadin seeking
Nirvana
o Shariputra: important male disciple of Gautama Buddha
o Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi: Unsurpassed, supreme
enlightenment (beyond even Nirvana)
o 3 Buddhist “paths”: the voice-hearer, “pratyekabuddha,” &
bodhisattva.

Mahayana Buddhism
Mahayana: literally, the “Great Vehicle”; a school of thought which
encompasses a variety of Buddhist traditions. Emphasizes the goal of being
a Buddha, liberating all living beings from suffering.

Scriptural Authority
 Pali Canon, or Tipitaka(“three baskets”)
 Additionally, other texts composed in Sanskrit and translated into
Chinese, other Asian languages
o E.g. Heart Sutra, Lotus Sutra, Diamond Sutra, Ugrapariprccha
Sutra
o Recorded later than Pali texts: in Sanskrit, perhaps even
Chinese.
 o Mahayana claim: these sutras go back to the words of
Shakyamuni himself, passed down orally and recorded much
later.
 Theravadin opinion: invented by Mahayanist monks, not
canon.
 Broad scholarly assessment: either agnostic or non-
historical (i.e., not the literal teachings from the lips of
Shakyamuni himself).

Origins of Mahayana School

OLD THEORY
 Reverence and veneration for to the Buddha (centering on Buddha
images, stupas containing his relics, etc.) became exaggerated by lay
Buddhists, who rehabilitated the bhakti path centering on Shakyamuni
(despite his originally discouraging it).
 This school competed alongside earlier, “purer” Buddhism as a rival.
ONE PRESENT THEORY (Jan Nattier, A Few Good Men)
 Early texts use “Mahayana” without indicating any doctrinal difference.
 “Mahayana” was a specific path for particularly rigorous monks in the
community who sought profound imitation of Shakyamuni.
 Different paths with the same “school.” Later split.

Distinguishing Elements
GOAL
 Unlike Theravadin shravakas (“voice hearers”), who seek the goal of
arhatship (enlightenment followed, upon death, by nirvana), followers
of the Mahayana seek to delay nirvana in order to be bodhisattvas, or
future Buddhas.
o In other words, the Mahayana goal is to charitably remain within
the cycle of samsara until, accruing great merit and wisdom,
they become Buddhas who can teach and liberate other sentient
beings.
DOCTRINE
 Three “bodies” of the Buddha (p. 160-2/170-2)
 Universal Buddha-nature (which all will eventually achieve)
 Shunyata (“emptiness”). Nagarjuna’s (early 200s C.E.) teaching that
all compounded things have no independent existence or eternal
reality.
CHAN AND ZEN
 Foundation not scripture or imitation, but direct insight into one’s own
mind, achieved through zazen (sitting meditation). Individual.
 Markers:
1. Transmission / training from master to disciple
2. No dependence on authority of words / letters
3. Direct attention to one’s inner nature
4. Attaining Buddhahood by seeing one’s true nature
 Chan: Origins 5th century C.E. (legendary figure Bodhidharma)
o Emphasis on meditation, insight.
o Wild success in China
 Zen: Extension of Chan in Japan (dating back to c. 1200 C.E.)
o Key insight: I and not-I are non-dual; satori (flash of insight).
o Mature members sometimes “break rules” b/c of nondualism.
o koan: puzzle intended to stymie the mind, bring new insight.

Pure Land (Jodo) Buddhism

 Popular form of Buddhism placing emphasis on grace and devotion to
Amitabha Buddha (“The Buddha of Boundless Light”).
 Salvation: Escape from samsaric cycle here and entry into the
Buddha’s “Pure Land,” a heavenly paradise of happiness
(enlightenment easier).
o Stands in stark contrast to the Buddhalogy and soteriology of
Theravada Buddhism.
 Texts: Pure Land Sutras (circa 100s C.E., contemporary with late Lotus
Sutra composition).

VAJRAYANA (TIBETAN)
 “Diamond Vehicle,” final stage (after Sravaka and Mahayana paths)
 Origins in India (c. 500 C.E.), spread to Tibet (Songsten, c. 750 C.E.)
o Previous shamanistic religion, Bön (demonology, animal
sacrifice)
 Involves tantric practices, invokes aid of celestial Buddhas (♂ & ♀)
o For some: sexual union realizes nonduality; erasure of
male/female
o “Passion can be exhausted by passion,” rise above it while doing
it.
 Lamas (“ones who are superior): teachers of Vajrayana, tantra
o Historically, most lamas had spouses; abbots passed office to
sons.
 o Reform c. 1350, “Yellow Church”: more prayer, reintroduce
celibacy, led by Dalai Lama. No heredity office; reincarnation of
head lamas.
 Deity yoga: meditate on oneself as a Buddha; embody qualities
 Famed for political clashes w/ communist China, which destroyed
many of the 6,000 monasteries that had been established in Tibet.

Mahayana Buddhism Goal: Buddha

 Trikaya

Mahayana Denominations
 Chan & Zen <- “dyana” (Sanskrit: meditiation)
 Pure Land
 Vajrayana/Tibetan

Background: Lotus Sutra

Composition:
 3 “layers,” oldest of which is chapters 2-9 (~100 B.C.E. – 100 C.E.)
o Themes in this layer:
 Ekayana: the “one vehicle”
 Upaya: “expedient means” (also “skillful means,”
“expedient devices”)
Setting:
 Claim: Culminating discourse delivered at the end of Shakyamuni’s
life.
Groundbreaking and Unique Ideas / Characteristics
 Eternality of the Buddha
 Shakyamuni’s choice to remain in samsara to teach the Dhamma.
 Extremely self-referential.
Three Kinds of Buddhists
1. Shravaka (“voice-hearer”) - path of the arhat seeking
nirvana(Theravada)
2. Pratyeka (“solitary”) – achieves same insight without a teacher.
(Shadowy)
3. Bodhisattva – aspiring to become a future Buddha, liberate all
beings.

Allegory
 Father – Buddha
 Children – Us, Disciples
  House – World
 Fire – Desire, Suffering
 Carts
1. Goat – Theravada – Voice-hearers
2. Deer – Pratyeka – solitary
3. Ox – Mahayana – Great Vehicle – Bodhisattva path
4. Best cart – Ekayana (Mahayana)
 White Ox
 Jewels
 Gold
 What are expedient (skillful) means?
o Way to wisdom.
o Trick/ruse (lie?)
o Practical
 Accommodates
o Three expedient means
 The first category is known as “adaptations of the Law
expedient means” ( hōyū-hōben), the teachings that
were preached in accordance with the people’s capacities.
 The second is called “expedient means that can lead one
in” (nōtsū-hōben), indicating the teachings the Buddha
preached as a gateway to the true teaching.
 he third category, or “secret and wonderful expedient
means” (himyō-hōben), is the teaching that contains the
truth.

Buddhist Ritual & Ceremony

THERAVADA
 Lay people visit monasteries for instruction, meditation – in Thailand &
Burma, expected that every male stay for 3 months (marriageable).
 Also take part of group chanting, street processions, public festivals
with which monks cooperate.
 Pious activities border on “devotion” to Buddha to increase merit, but
more an expression of dedication to religious goals than seeking aid.

VAJRAYANA
 Public ceremonies have four components:
1. Mandala (“frame”): picture form depicting celestial deities
2. Mantras: verses uttered (“Om! The jewel is in the lotus, hum!”)
3. Puja (“offering”) of prayers, confessions of sin, or sacrifices
(flowers, lights, incense, perfumes, ointments)
 4. Mudras: hand positions believed to channel contact with deities
 Also wards of evil spirits, demons

GENERAL FESTIVALS
 Vesak: most important Buddhist festival
o For Theravadins, marks the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, &
death
o For Mahayanists, marks the Buddha’s enlightenment
o Gather at temples or monasteries early to hear stories, wash
Buddha images, and make offerings. Slaughterhouses, liquor
stores close.
 Magha Puja Day (“Sangha Day”)
o Celebrates preaching in Rajagaha after the Deer Park sermon;
many convert and king donated a large bamboo grove for the
Sangha’s use.
 Festival of the Tooth (Sri Lanka)

Vipassana Meditation
 Roots: Ancient practice, strongly associated with Theravada.
o Famous instructor: Goenka
 General Technique:
1. Breath observation
2. Concentration on sensation.

 Discussion
1. What is the “goal” of undertaking this technique? What’s gained
by such intense observation and concentration?
2. Malkovsky notes that Vipassana courses are shorter than they
used to be (due to the modern, busy mind) (p. 108). He also
notes that several people audibly mocked the course he took at
its conclusion (pp. 119-120). Is Vipassana in danger of
becoming ineffective? Is it more needed than ever?
3. Does Vipassana seem particularly “Buddhist”? Do you think its
practice by non-Buddhists something to be encouraged or
discouraged? Why? (cf. pp. 104, 123-124)
Goal/Payoff of Vipassana
 Realize your impermanence
o Physical Sensations
o Emotions/Ego
 Liberate yourself from to-do list of desires.
Connection to Buddhist Doctrine
 Anicca
 Suffering, desire