The Buddha
& a Buddha
Born an Indian prince lavished in luxury, Gautama became deeply
unsatisfied with worldly life. Upon being escorted by his attenant
Channa, he came across four sights: an old crippled man, diseased
man, a decaying corpse, and finally a mendicant (austere monk). At
the age of 29, with the disgust of knowing his fate was in the
first three sights, he chose the robes of a mendicant monk and
headed for the forests of ancient India for spiritual discipline.
During 6 years of various intensive practices that almost brought
his death, Siddhartha found the Middle Way, a path of
moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and
self-mortification. Through this Way, he meditated under
the Bodhi tree, vowing not to
leave the position until he found Truth. At 35, he
attained Enlightenment and became known
asGautama Buddha,
or simply "The Buddha". For 45 years, he would teach the doctrine
and discipline now known as Buddhism. He emphasized that he was not
a God but that the position of
Buddhahood is reserved for the human, who possesses the greatest
potential for Enlightenment. Explained by Gautama Buddha, he also
stated that there is no intermediary between mankind and the
divine; distant gods and God are subjected to karmathemselves in decaying heavens.
The Buddha is solely a guide and teacher for those sentient beings
who must tread the path themselves, attain spiritual Awakening, and
see truth and reality as it is. The Buddhist system of insight,
thought and meditation practice was
not divinely-revealed, but rather, the understanding of the true
nature of the human mind which could be rediscovered
by anyone for themselves. Penetration of this reality accompanies
the shocking truth that ignorance can be eliminated.
A Buddha, (lit. fully
Enlightened one, Awakened one) must be
understood as an appellative and exemplar. This being, by this own
will, is responsible for rediscovering and disclosing
the Dharma (i.e., Truth, the nature
of reality, of the mind, of the affliction of the human condition
and the correct "path" to liberation). Gautama stated that the
Awakening bliss of Enlightenment that he attained
under the Bodhi tree is available
for all beings. Man has the ability -- not after death, but in this
very lifetime -- to achieve Nirvana, a blissful state beyond
pain and pleasure where one is never again to be reborn in the
repeated cycle of birth, sickness, old age, and death.
Principles of Buddhism
The foundation of Buddhist teaching is the Four Noble
Truths. Liberation from suffering, the fundamental practice of
Buddhism, is described in theNoble
Eightfold Path, which consists of three categories: wisdom,
morality and concentration. Buddhism faith is centered around three
precious jewels called the Triple Gem. They are the
Buddha (teacher), the Dhamma (teachings) and the Sangha (taught).
What makes an individual Buddhist is taking
refuge in this triad, but also willingly
undertaking Panca-Sila, the Five
Precepts.
The Four Noble
Truths
The Noble
Eightfold Path
The Five Precepts
Schools
Theravada ("Way of the
Elders") emphasizes firstly the way of the Arahant. Sometimes erronesously
called Hinayana (The "Small
Group" or "-Vehicle";hina is "small" as opposite to
"great" -- "small" as opposite to "big" is culla),
though that name is not only pejorative, but in this case also
historically wrong. This school is most common in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia,Laos and Indochina.
Mahayana ("Great Vehicle")
emphasizes firstly the way of the Bodhisattvaideal. It is
found in China, Japan, Korea, and. Zen is one of the better-known
Mahayana subdivisions. The most popular subdivision of Mahayana is
the various Pure Land sects, though
it has received little attention in the West so far. When some
early Mahayanists polemized against "Hinayana", they didn't mean
the Pali based Theravada, with which they had no contact at the
time; they meant some early, non-Mahayana but Sanskrit based and
now long since extinct schools, such as the Sarvastivada.
Vajrayana or Tantrayana consists of
four major schools, Sakya, Kagyu,Nyingma and Geluk, and is sometimes listed as a
third branch of Buddhism. This form is practiced in Tibet, Mongolia, Bhutan, etc.
Different branches of Buddhism emphasize different scriptures, but all
recognize one of the Tripitakas as fundamental
(the Pali Tipitaka for Theravada; for Mahayana, the Chinese or
Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit Tripitaka). Mahayana Buddhism
has a large number of additional scriptures,
called sutras, which sects may emphasize
differently according to their chosen practice.
History of Schools
Three months after the passing of Gautama, The First
Council was held by the Sangha. At this point, no
conflict about what the Buddha taught occurred so the teachings
were divided into various parts and assigned to an elder and his
pupils to commit to memory. These groups of people often cross
checked with each other to ensure that no omissions or additions
were made.
By the Second Council, one hundred years later, the
teachings were not in question but the Vinaya[?] rules of
monks were. Some sought to amend or modify minor rules, an action
permissible by the Buddha. The orthodox monks, later known as of
the Theravada, said that nothing
should be changed (in order to prevent anarchy and to maintain the
pristine form) while others insisted on modifying some rules. The
seemingly trivial dispute was over the Ten Points,
which include the storing of salt in a horn, the use of rugs of
improper size, and the use of gold and silver. Finally, a group of
monks called the Vajjians, left the Council and
formed the Mahasanghika -- the Great Community,
and made the the modifications. Between the 1st century
BC to the 1st century AD, the
terms Mahayana and Hinayanaappeared (in
the Sutra of the Lotus of the Good Law) and by
the 2nd century
AD[?], Mahayana, formally an offshoot of
the Mahasanghika, became clearly defined with the
works of Nagarjuna, Asanga and
Vasubandhu.
In the 3rd century
BC the Third Council occurred, where
small sects came to question the Vinaya[?], and now, the
teachings. President of the Council, Moggaliputta Tissa, compiled a
book called the Kathavatthu refuting the
heretical, false views and theories held by some sects. The
teaching approved and accepted by this Council was known
as Theravada. The Abhidhamma
Pitaka was included at this Council and the Tipitaka was thus
brought to Sri Lanka by the son
of Asoka, Ven. Mahinda. It would be this
tradition to first put the dhamma into print.
Around this time, Buddhism spread from India through successive
waves of merchants and pilgrims. It reached as far as Arabia to the
west, and eastward to southeast Asia (where the first records of
Buddhism date from around 400AD), as well as China,
Mongolia, Japan and Korea.
Vajrayana (the way
of Tantra) also evolved at this
stage, climbing from Indiain to Tibet around 600 AD, where it
initially coexisted with native belief systems (see B�n) but later came to largely supplant
or absorb them.
At one time, the northern fringe of East
Turkestan (modern Xinjiang in
western China) adhered to the Theravada school, however
Buddhists in the region were supplanted by the rise
of Islam around 1000AD.
See also: Timeline of
Buddhism
Scripture
The Tipitaka:
Important Mahayana sutras include:
Relations with other
faiths
In Hinduism, Gautama is recognized
as the 9th incarnation of Vishnu and in the religion
of Shintoism, he is seen as
a Kami. The religion of Baha'i Faithstates
he is a manifestation of God. In Christianity, Gautama is
thought to have been sanctified as Saint Josaphat.
Buddhism Then
& Now
According to statistics from
adherents.com(http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents),
estimates of the number of Buddhists vary between 230 and 500
million, with most around 350 million.
The rise, expansion, spread and decline of Buddhism in
India... (to be written)
In Northern Asia, Mahayana remains dominant
in China, Japan, Korea,Mongolia and Vietnam. Theravada dominates Southeast Asia,
includingBurma, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Vietnam is the only
Southeast Asian nation to remain Mahayana dominated, due
largely to the proximity and cultural influence of China (see also: Confucianism).
Officially, in 1899, the first Westerner (by the name
of Gordon
Douglas[?]) was ordained in the Theravada tradition of
Buddhism in Myanmar.
In the later half of the 1800s, Buddhism came to be known in the
West. Great European colonial empires brought ancient cultures of
India and China to the attention of Europeans. Subsequently, on the
East coast of America, intellectuals would soon read about Buddhism
by the books of those Europeans. Henry
Thoreau[?] would translate a French copy of a Buddhist
Sutra into English. The first Buddhists to arrive in
the United
States of America were the Chinese immigrants. Proving to
be cheap labor for the railroads and other expanding industries,
they later established temples along the rail lines. Scholars began
to learn Asian languages and translate Asian texts. Religious
enthusiasts enjoyed the exotic and mystical tone of the Asian
traditions.
By unsatisfactoriness, the Hippie generation in the
late 1960s and early1970s would stumble upon
Buddhism. When the excitment of recreational drugs like marijuana
and LSD wore off, hippies became naturally open to the idea of the
lasting high of Nirvana. Celebrities soon
traveled to the East in pursuit of this foreign philosophy and the
trend and interest grew; popularizing Buddhism and other Eastern
philosophies back home in America.
In the 1990s, Buddhism became the fastest growing religion in
Australia, in contrast to the steady decline of traditional western
beliefs (seeChristianity).
Buddhism and
Science Buddhism has been lauded by scientists
such asAlbert
Einstein, who stated that "Buddhism has the characteristics of
what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It
transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers
both the natural and the spiritual, and it is based on a religious
sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and
spiritual, as a meaningful unity".
Modern scientific theories, such as those of Rogerian Pyschology, show
strong parallels with Buddhist thought.
See also: Bodh
Gaya -- Buddhism in
China -- Buddhist
philosophy -- Buddhist
Sculpture[?] -- Dalai Lama-- Eastern
philosophy -- List of
Buddhists -- List o
