Buddhism is a philosophy and/or religion based on
the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit; in Pāli, Siddhattha Gotama), who lived between approximately 563 and 483 BCE. Originating in India, Buddhism gradually spread throughout Asia to Central
Asia, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, as well as the East Asian countries of China, Mongolia, Korea,
and Japan.
The aim of Buddhist practices is to become free of suffering (dukkha). Some schools
emphasize awakening the practitioner to the realization of anatta (egolessness, the
absence of a permanent or substantial self) and achieve enlightenment and Nirvana. Other Buddhist scriptures
(the "Tathagatagarbha" sutras) encourage the practitioner to cleanse
him/herself of the mental and moral defilements of the "worldly self" and thereby penetrate through to a perception of the
indwelling "Buddha-Principle" ("Buddha-nature"), also termed the "True
Self" (see "Mahayana Mahaparinirvana
Sutra"), and thus become transformed into a Buddha. Some other schools appeal to bodhisattvas for a favourable rebirth. Some others do none of these
things. Most, if not all, Buddhist schools also teach followers to perform good and wholesome actions, to avoid bad and harmful
actions. There can be very large differences between different Buddhist schools of thought.
Buddhist morality is underpinned by the principles of harmlessness and moderation. Mental training focuses on moral discipline
(sila), meditative concentration (samadhi), and wisdom (prajńā).
Buddhism, per se, neither confirms nor denies the existence of the supernatural (gods, demons, heavens, hells, etc.). Some
Buddhist schools do employ deities and celestial protectors in their practices, but these are generally considered to be
emanations of the meditator's own mind and thus not fundamentally real.
What is a Buddha?
Buddha is a word in the ancient Indian languages Pāli and Sanskrit which means "one who has become awake". It is
derived from the verbal root "√budh", meaning "to awaken or be enlightend."
The word "Buddha" denotes not just a single religious teacher who lived in a particular epoch, but a type of person, of which
there have been many instances in the course of cosmic time. (As an analogy, the term "American President" refers not just to one
man, but to everyone who has ever held the office of the American presidency.) The Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, then, is simply one
member in the spiritual lineage of Buddhas, which stretches back into the dim recesses of the past and forward into the distant
horizons of the future.
Gautama did not claim any divine status for himself, nor did he assert that he was inspired by a god or gods. He claimed not
to be a personal saviour, but a teacher to guide those who choose to listen. A Buddha is any human being who has fully awakened
to the true nature of existence, whose insight has totally transformed him or her beyond birth, death, and subsequent rebirth,
and who is enabled to help others achieve the same enlightenment.
The principles by which a person can be led to enlightenment are known as the Buddhadharma, or simply the Dharma. Dharma in this sense of the
rather complex term means, "law, doctrine, or truth." Anyone can attain what the Buddha attained regardless of age, gender, or caste. Indeed, Buddhists believe there have been
many solitary buddhas (Pāli pacceka-buddha; Sanskrit: pratyekabuddha) who achieved enlightenment on their own but did not go on to teach others. According to one
of the stories in the Sutta
Nipāta, the Buddha, too, was wondering about to teach humans because he despaired of their limited capacity for
understanding. The Vedic (early Hindu) god
Indra, however, interceded, and requested that he teach despite this. That the historical
Buddha did so is thus a mark of special compassion.
Origins
Legend has it that the Buddha to be, Siddhārtha
Gautama, was born around the 6th century BCE. His birthplace is
said to be Lumbini in the kingdom of Magadha, in what is now Nepal. His father was a king, and Siddhārtha
lived in luxury, being spared all hardship.
The legends say that a seer predicted that Siddhartha would become either a great king or a great holy man; because of this,
the king tried to make sure that Siddhartha never had any cause for dissatisfaction with his life, as that might drive him toward
a spiritual path. Nevertheless, at the age of 29, while being escorted by his attendant Channa, he came across what has become
known as the Four Passing Sights: an old crippled man, a sick
man, a decaying corpse, and finally a wandering holy man. These four sights, as they are called, led him to the
realization that birth, old age, sickness and death came to everyone, not only once but repeated for life after life in
succession for uncounted aeons. He decided to abandon his worldly life, leaving behind his wife and child, his privilege, rank,
caste, and to take up the life of a wandering holy man in search of the answer to the
problem of birth, old age, sickness, and death. It is said that he stole out of the house in the dead of night, pausing for one
last look at his family, and did not return there for a very long time.
Indian holy men (sādhus), in those days just as today, engaged in a variety of ascetic practices designed to "mortify" the flesh. It was thought that by enduring pain and suffering, the ātman (Sanskrit; Pāli: atta) or "soul" became
free from the round of rebirth into pain and sorrow. Siddhārtha proved adept at these practices, and was able to surpass his
teachers. However, he found no answer to his problem and, leaving behind his teachers, he and a small group of companions set out
to take their austerities even further. He became a skeleton covered with skin, surviving on a single grain of rice per day, and
practiced holding his breath. After nearly starving himself to death with no success (some sources claim that he nearly drowned),
Siddhārtha began to reconsider his path. Then he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father
start the season's plowing, and he had fallen into a naturally concentrated and focused state in which time seemed to stand
still, and which was blissful and refreshing. Perhaps this would provide an alternative to the dead end of
self-mortification?
Taking a little buttermilk from a passing goatherd, he found a large tree (now called the Bodhi tree) under which he would be shaded from the heat of the mid-summer sun, and set to meditating. This new way of practicing began to bear fruit. His mind became
concentrated and pure, and then, six years after he began his quest, he attained Enlightenment, and became a Buddha.
Historically speaking, there are questions about this story. First, there are other narrative versions of his life that do not
exactly match - one has it that the Buddha leaves home in the "prime of his youth", his parents weeping and wailing all the
while. Second, we know from other sources that the country of Magadha, where he was
born, was an oligarchic republic at
that time, so there was no royal family of which to speak. However, regardless of the details of his early life, the evidence
strongly indicates that the Buddha was indeed a historical person living in approximately the same time and place in which he is
traditionally placed.
It has also been advanced that the pervasive influence of Jain culture and philosophy in
ancient Bihar gave rise to Buddhism.
The Buddhists always maintained that by the time Buddha and Mahavira were alive, Jainism was already an ancient and deeply entrenched faith and culture in the region. Buddhist scriptures record
philosophical dialogues between the wandering seeker Buddha and Jain teachers such as Udaka Ramaputta. Early Buddhists
posited the existence of 24 previous Buddhas (Buddhas who walked the earth prior to Gautama Siddhartha) many of whose names are
identical to those of the 24 Jain Tirthankaras and other traditional Jain figures. Buddhist scriptures attest that many of
the first Buddhists were in fact Jains (Nirgranthas as they were then called, meaning "the unbonded ones"), whom Buddha
encouraged to maintain their Jain identity and practices such as giving alms to Jain monks and nuns. The famous ancient parable
of the blind men and the elephant illustrates the Jain science of Anekantavada, and is found in the Buddhist Pali text
called Udana. Like most splinter groups generally, writers of the Pali texts clearly rejoiced in criticizing (and at times
ridiculing) the Jains and celebrating the conversion of another Jain to Buddha's path. The texts show that Buddha vigorously
appealed to the Nirgranthas that his path was nothing different from that with which they were already familiar, simply
better.
The Buddhist formulation of the "Middle Way" was a post-Buddha response by the Buddhist monastic community to criticism by the
Jains (as seen in Jain texts such as the Sutrakritanga Sutra and Acharanga Sutra) that the Buddhist Bhikkhus
(mendicants) were lax and not living the rigorous life of a true ascetic or Shramana (Samana in Prakrit). In
defining the Middle Way, Buddhist scholars branded their faith with a unique identity that distanced itself from Jain tradition
by providing an alternative to "extreme asceticism" (i.e., Jainism) on one hand and Buddha's own princely hedonism on the other.
In describing Buddha's six-years of spiritual searching after leaving his family, Buddhist scriptures from the early post-Buddha
period detail certain fasts, penances and austerities which Buddha undertook whose descriptions are elsewhere found only in the
Jain tradition (for example, the penance by five fires and the consumption of food using only one's cupped hands). To this day,
many Buddhist teachings, principles and terms remain identical to Jain ones. In short, a large body of evidence suggests that
Buddhism is, in large measure, an offshoot of Jainism.
The Jain teacher Mahāvīra was a senior contemporary of the Buddha, however there is no evidence the two teachers
actually met.
(Note: If counterevidence exists to any of the above, it is requested that it be appended to the end.)
See also: Earliest Buddhism
Principles of Buddhism
The Three Jewels
Buddhists seek refuge in what are often referred to as the Three Jewels, Triple Gem or Triple Jewel.
These are the Buddha, the Dharma (or Dhamma), and the "noble" (Sanskrit: arya) Sangha or community of monks and nuns who have become enlightened. While it is impossible to escape one's karma or the effects caused by previous thoughts, words and deeds, it is possible to avoid the
suffering that comes from it by becoming enlightened. In this way, dharma offers a
refuge. Dharma, used in the sense of the Buddha's teachings, provides a raft and is
thus a temporary refuge while entering and crossing the river. However, the real refuge is on the other side of the river.
To one who is seeking to become enlightened, taking refuge constitutes a continuing commitment to pursuing enlightenment and
following in the footsteps of the people who have followed the path to enlightenment before. It contains an element of confidence
that enlightenment is in fact a refuge, a supreme resort. Many Buddhists take the refuges each day, sometimes more than once in
order to remind themselves of what they are doing and to direct their resolve inwardly towards liberation.
In most-- if not all-- forms of Buddhism, the Three Jewels are taken before the Sangha for the first time, as a part of the conversion ritual.
Although Buddhists concur that taking refuge should be undertaken with proper motivation (complete liberation) and an
understanding of the objects of refuge, the Indian scholar Atisha identified that in
practice there are many different motives found for taking refuge. His idea was to use these differing motivations as a key to
resolving any apparent conflicts between all the Buddha's teachings without depending upon some form of syncresis that would
cause as much confusion as it attempted to alleviate.
It is extremely important to note that in Buddhism, the word "refuge" should not be taken in the English sense of "hiding" or
"escape;" instead, many scholars have said, it ought be thought of as a homecoming, or place of healing, much as a parent's home
might be a refuge for someone. This simple misunderstanding has led some Western scholars to conclude that Buddhism is "a
religion for sticking one's head in the sand," when most Buddhists would assert quite the opposite.
In the 11th century, Lamp for the Path by Atisha,
and in the subsequent Lamrim tradition as elaborated by Tsongkhapa, the several motives for refuge are enumerated as follows, typically introduced using the
concept of the "scope" (level of motivation) of a practitioner:
- Worldly scope is taking refuge to improve the lot of this life
- Low scope is taking refuge to gain high rebirth and avoid the low realms
- Middle scope is taking refuge to achieve Nirvana
- High scope is taking refuge to achieve Buddhahood
- Highest scope is also sometimes included, which is taking refuge to achieve Buddhahood in this life.
See also: Three Jewels
The Four Noble Truths
The Buddha taught that life was dissatisfactory because of craving, but that this condition was curable by following the
eightfold path. This teaching is called the four noble
truths:
- Dukkha: All worldly life is unsatisfactory, disjointed, containing
suffering.
- Samudaya: There is a cause of
suffering, which is attachment or desire (tanha) rooted in ignorance.
- Nirodha: There is an end of
suffering, which is Nirvana.
- Marga: There is a path that leads out
of suffering, known as the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Noble Eightfold Path
Main article: Noble Eightfold Path
In order to fully understand the noble truths and investigate whether they were in fact true, Buddha recommended that a
certain lifestyle or path be followed which consists of:
- Right Understanding
- Right Thought
- Right Speech
- Right Action
- Right Livelihood
- Right Effort
- Right Mindfulness
- Right Concentration
Sometimes in the Pāli Canon the Eightfold Path is spoken of as being a
progressive series of stages which the practitioner moves through, the culmination of one leading to the beginning of another,
but it is more usual to view the stages of the 'Path' as requiring simultaneous development.
The Eightfold Path essentially consists of meditation, following the precepts, and cultivating the positive converse of the
precepts (e.g. benefiting living beings is the converse of the first precept of harmlessness). The Path may also be thought of as
a the way of developing śīla, meaning mental and moral discipline.
The Five Precepts
Buddhists undertake certain precepts as aids on the path to coming into contact with ultimate reality. Laypeople generally
undertake five precepts. The five precepts are:
- I undertake the precept to refrain from harming living creatures (killing).
- I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that which is not freely given (stealing).
- I undertake the precept to refrain from sexual
misconduct.
- I undertake the precept to refrain from incorrect speech (lying, harsh language, slander, idle chit-chat).
- I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness.
In some schools of Buddhism, serious lay people or aspiring monks take an additional three to five ethical precepts, and some
of the five precepts are strengthened. For example, the precept pertaining to sexual misconduct becomes a precept of celibacy; the fourth precept, which pertains to incorrect speech,
is expanded to four: lying, harsh language, slander, and idle chit-chat. Monks and nuns in most countries also vow to follow the
227 patimokkha rules.
See also: Pancasila and Buddha Statues of Bamiyan
The three marks of conditioned existence
According to the Buddhist tradition all phenomena (dharmas) are marked by three characteristics, sometimes referred to as the Dharma Seals:
- Anatta (Pāli; Sanskrit: anātman): In Indian philosophy, the concept of a
self is called ātman (that is, "soul" or metaphysical self), which
refers to an unchanging, permanent essence conceived by virtue of existence. This concept and the related concept of Brahman, the Vedantic monistic ideal, which was
regarded as an ultimate ātman for all beings, were indispensable for mainstream
Indian metaphysics, logic, and science; for all apparent things there had to be an underlying and persistent reality, akin to a
Platonic form. The Buddha rejected all concepts of ātman,
emphasizing not permanence but changeability. He taught that all concepts of a substantial self were incorrect and formed in the
realm of ignorance.
According to some thinkers both in the East and the West, this may imply that Buddhism is a form of nihilism or something similar. However, as thinkers like Nagarjuna have pointed out, Buddhism is not simply a rejection of the concept of existence (or of meaning, etc.)
but of the hard and fast distinction between existence and nonexistence, or rather between being and nothingness.
Buddhism thus has more in common with Western empiricism, pragmatism, and anti-foundationalism than it does with nihilism per se.
- Anicca (Pāli; Sanskrit: anitya): All things and experiences are inconstant,
unsteady, and impermanent. Everything is made up of parts, and is dependent on the right conditions for its existence. Everything
is in flux, and so conditions are constantly changing. Things are constantly coming into being, and ceasing to be. Nothing
lasts.
- Dukkha (Pāli; Sanskrit: duḥkha): Because we fail to truly grasp the
first two conditions, we suffer. We desire a lasting satisfaction, but look for it amongst constantly changing phenomena. We
perceive a self, and act to enhance that self by pursuing pleasure, and seek to prolong pleasure when it too is fleeting.
It is by realizing (not merely understanding intellectually, but making real in one's experience) the three marks of
conditioned existence that one develops Prajńā, which is the antidote to the
ignorance that lies at the root of all suffering.
See also: three marks of existence
Other principles and practices
- Meditation or dhyāna of some
form is a common practice in most if not all schools of Buddhism, for the clergy if not the laity.
- Central to Buddhist doctrine and practice is the law of karma and vipaka; action and its fruition, which happens within the dynamic of dependent origination (pratītya-samutpāda).
Actions which result in positive retribution (happiness) are defined as skillful or good, while actions that produce negative
results (suffering) are called unskillful or bad actions. These actions are expressed by the way of mind, body or speech. Some
actions bring instant retribution while the results of other actions may not appear until a future lifetime. Most teachers are,
however, quick to point out that though it may be a result of someone's past-life karma that they suffer, this should not be used as an excuse to treat them poorly; indeed, all should help them
and help to alleviate their suffering, leading to them working to alleviate their own suffering.
- Rebirth, which is closely related to the law of karma.
An action in this life may not give fruit or reaction until the next life time. This being said, action in a past life takes
effect in this one, making a chain of existence. The full realization of the absence of an eternal self or soul (the doctrine of
anatta (Pāli; Sanskrit: anātman)) breaks this cycle of birth and death (samsara).
Vegetarianism
The first lay precept in Buddhism prohibits killing. Many see this as implying
that Buddhists should not eat the meat of animals. However, this is not necessarily the case. The Buddha made distinction between
killing an animal and consumption of meat, stressing that it is immoral conduct that makes one impure, not the food one eats.
Monks in ancient India were expected to receive all of their food by begging and to have little or no control over their diet.
During the Buddha's time, there was no general rule requiring monks to refrain from eating meat. In fact, at one point the Buddha
specifically refused to institute vegetarianism and the Pali Canon records the
Buddha himself eating meat on several occasions. There were, however, rules prohibiting certain types of meat, such as human,
leopard or elephant meat. Monks are also prohibited from consuming meat if the monk witnessed the animal's death or knows that it
was killed specifically for him. This rule was not applied to commercial purchase of meat in the case of a general who sent a
servant to purchase meat specifically to feed the Buddha. Therefore, eating commercially purchased meat is not prohibited.
On the other hand, certain Mahayana sutras make a stronger argument
against eating meat. In the Mahayana
Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha states that "the eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion", adding that all
and every kind of meat and fish consumption (even of animals already found dead) is prohibited by him. The Buddha also predicts
in this sutra that later monks will "hold spurious writings to be the authentic Dharma" and will concoct their own sutras and
mendaciously claim that the Buddha allows the eating of meat, whereas in fact (he says) he does not. A long passage in the
Lankavatara Sutra shows the Buddha weighing strongly in favor of
vegetarianism, since the eating of the flesh of fellow sentient beings is said by him to be incompatible with the compassion
which a Bodhisattva should strive to cultivate. Several other Mahayana sutras also emphatically prohibit the consumption of
meat.
In the modern world, attitudes toward vegetarianism vary by location. In the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia and Sri
Lanka, monks are bound by the vinaya to accept almost any food that is offered to them, often including meat, while in China and
Vietnam, monks are expected to eat no meat. In Japan and Korea, some monks practice vegetarianism, and most will do so at least
when training at a monastery, but otherwise they typically do eat meat. In Tibet, where vegetable nutrition was historically very scarce, and the adopted
vinaya was the Nikaya Sarvāstivāda, vegetarianism is very rare, although the Dalai Lama has recently made several comments encouraging its adoption. In the West, of course, a wide variety
of practices are followed. Lay Buddhists generally follow dietary rules less rigorously than monks.
The three main branches of Buddhism
Buddhism has evolved into myriad schools that can be roughly grouped into three types: Nikaya, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Of the
Nikaya schools, only the Theravada survives. Each branch sees itself as representing a true, original teachings of the Buddha,
and some schools believe that the dialectic nature of Buddhism allows its format, terminology, and techniques to adapt over time
in response to changing circumstances, thus validating dharmic approaches different from their own.
The Theravada school, whose name means "Doctrine of the Elders", bases its
practice and doctrine exclusively on the Pali Canon. This is considered to be
the oldest of the surviving Buddhist canons, and its sutras are accepted as
authentic in every branch of Buddhism. Theravada is the only surviving
representative of the historical Nikaya branch. Nikaya Buddhism and
consequently Theravada are sometimes referred to as Hinayana or "lesser vehicle",
although this is considered by some to be impolite. Native Theravada is practiced today in Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Thailand,
Cambodia and portions of Vietnam and Malaysia.
The Mahāyāna, or exoteric branch, literally means "Great Vehicle" and
emphasizes universal compassion and the selfless ideal of the bodhisattva. In
addition to the Nikaya scriptures, Mahāyāna schools recognize all or part of
a genre of scriptures that were first put in writing around 1 CE. These later scriptures
were written in Sanskrit and are concerned with the purpose of achieving Buddhahood by following the path of the bodhisattva over
the course of what is often described as countless eons of time. Because of this immense
timeframe, many Mahāyāna schools accept the idea of working towards rebirth in a Pure Land, which is not enlightenment in itself but which is a highly conducive environment for working toward
enlightenment. Native Mahāyāna Buddhism is practiced today in China, Japan, Korea, and most of Vietnam.
The Vajrayāna or "Diamond Vehicle" (also referred to as Mantrayana,
Tantrayana, Tantric or esoteric Buddhism) shares many of the basic concepts of
Mahāyāna, but also includes a vast array of spiritual techniques designed to enhance Buddhist practice. One component
of the Vajrayāna is harnessing psycho-physical energy as a means of developing profoundly powerful states of concentration
and awareness. These profound states are in turn to be used as an efficient path to Buddhahood. Using these techniques, it is
claimed that a practitioner can achieve Buddhahood in one lifetime, or as little as three years. In addition to the Theravada and
Mahāyāna scriptures, Vajrayāna Buddhists recognise a large body of texts that include the Buddhist Tantras. Native
Vajrayana is practiced today mainly in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia, Kalmykia,
areas of India, and, to a limited extent, in China and Japan.
At the present time the teachings of all three branches of Buddhism have spread throughout the world and are now easily
available in the developed countries, and increasingly translated into the local language.
Buddhism after the Buddha
Buddhism spread slowly in India until the powerful Mauryan emperor Asoka converted to it and actively supported it. His promotion led to construction of Buddhist
religious sites and missionary efforts that spread the faith into the countries listed at the beginning of the article.
After about 500 CE, Buddhism showed signs of waning in India, becoming nearly extinct after about 1200 CE. This was partially due to Muslim invasions and partially due to
Hinduism's revival movements such as Advaita and the rise of the bhakti movement.
Elements of Buddhism have remained within India to the current day: the Bauls of Bengal have a syncretic set of practices with strong emphasis on many Buddhist tantric and philosophic concepts.
Other areas of India have never parted from Buddhism, including Ladakh and other areas
bordering the Tibetan, Nepali and Bhutanese borders.
Buddhism also remained in the rest of the world although in Central Asia and later Indonesia it was mostly replaced by Islam.
In China and Japan, it adopted aspects of the native beliefs of Confucianism, Taoism and Shinto respectively. In Tibet, the Tantric Vajrayana lineage was preserved
after it disappeared in India.
History of the schools
Three months after the passing of Gautama Buddha, The First Council was held at Rajagaha by his immediate disciples who
had attained Arahantship (Enlightenment). Maha Kassapa, the most respected and elderly monk, presided at the Council. Only two sections the
Dhamma and the Vinaya were recited at the First Council. All Arahants
unanimously agree that no disciplinary rule laid down by the Buddha should be changed, and no new ones should be introduced. At
this point, no conflict about what the Buddha taught is known to have occurred, so the teachings were divided into various parts
and each was 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.
At the Second Council, one hundred years later, it was not the dharma that was called into question but the monks' code
of rules or vinaya. This resulted in the formation of the Sthaviravādin and Mahāsanghika schools. Opinions
differ on the cause of the split: the Sthaviravādins described their opponents as lax monks who had ceased to follow all the
vinaya rules, while the Mahāsanghikas argued that the Buddha had never intended a rigid adherence to all the minor rules.
After this initial division, more were to follow. Schism in early Buddhism was typically not on points of doctrine (orthodoxy),
but in the area of practice (orthopraxy). So if two schools shared a vinaya, but were in dispute over doctrinal matters, it was
likely that they would continue to practice together. However, if one group disputed the vinaya of another, this would often
prevent common practice.
In the 3rd century BCE the Third Council was convened under
the patronage of Emperor Ashoka, primarily for the purpose of establishing an official
orthodoxy. At the council, small groups raised questions about the specifics of the vinaya and the interpretation of doctrine.
The chairman of the council, Moggaliputta Tissa, compiled a book called the Kathavatthu, which was meant to refute these arguments. The council sided with Moggaliputta and his version
of Buddhism as orthodox; it was then adopted by Emperor Ashoka as his empire's official
religion. This school of thought was termed Vibhajjavada (Pali), literally "Teaching of Analysis". The version of the scriptures that had been established at
the Third Council, including the vinaya, sutta and the abhidhamma commentaries
(collectively known as Tripitaka), was taken to Sri Lanka by Emperor Ashoka's son, the Venerable Mahinda. There it was
eventually committed to writing in the Pali
language. The Pali Canon remains the only complete set of Nikaya scriptures to survive, although fragments of other versions exist.
Between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE, the terms Mahayana and Hinayana were first used in writing, in, for example, the Lotus Sutra.
The Fourth Council was convened by the Kushan emperor Kanishka, around 100 CE at Jalandhar or in Kashmir, and is usually associated with the formal rise of Mahayana Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism does not recognize the authenticity of this council, and it is sometimes
called the “council of heretical monks”.
It is said that Kanishka gathered 500 Bhikkhus, headed by Vasumitra, to edit the
Tripitaka and make references and remarks. A set of new scriptures were approved,
as well as fundamental principles of Mahayana doctrine. The new scriptures, usually in the Gandhari vernacular and the Kharosthi script, were rewritten in
the classical language of Sanskrit, to many scholars a turning point in the
propagation of Buddhist thought.
During and after the 2nd century, versions of the Mahayana vision became
clearly defined in the works of Nagarjuna, Asanga, Shantideva, Ashvagosha, and Vasubandhu.
Around the 1st century, 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 400. Mahayana Buddhism established a major
regional center in what is today Afghanistan, and from there it spread to
China, Korea, Mongolia, and Japan. In 475, the Indian monk Bodhidharma travelled to China and established the Chan (Chinese; Japanese: Zen), school. During the first millennium, monks from China such as Yijing and Xuanzang made pilgrimages to India.
At one time, different Turkic and Tocharian groups along the northern fringe of East
Turkestan (modern Xinjiang in western China) adhered to Nikaya Buddhism. However, Buddhism there was supplanted by the introduction
of Islam around 1000.
Vajrayana also evolved at this stage carried from India to Tibet around 800
by teachers such as Padmasambhava and Atisha. There it initially coexisted with native belief systems such as Bön,
but later came to largely supplant or absorb them. An early form of esoteric Vajrayana known as Shingon was also transmitted by the priest Kūkai to Japan, where it continues to be practiced.
There is still an active debate as to whether or not Tantrism was initially
developed within Buddhism or Hinduism. Buddhist literature tends to predate the later puranic Tantras, and there is some evidence
to suggest that the basic structure of tantra depends upon the Mahayana Buddhist philosophical schools. However, it is thought by
others that meditative Shiva sects seem
to have existed from pre-Vedic times; also, from scriptural citations and study of the
Vedas, some say Tantra saw its philosophical basis in the mystical rites and mantras of
the Atharva Veda (and later the Hindu Upanishads and Mahayana school of Buddhism).
See also: History of Buddhism and Timeline of Buddhism
Scriptures
The Buddhist canon of scripture is known in Sanskrit as the Tripiṭaka and in Pāli as the Tipiṭaka. These terms literally mean "three baskets" and refers to the three main
divisions of the canon, which are:
- The Vināya Piṭaka, containing disciplinary rules for the Sāṅgha of Buddhist monks and nuns, as well as a range of other texts which explain why and how rules were instituted, supporting
material, and doctrinal clarification.
- The Sutta Piṭaka (Pāli; Sanskrit: Sutra
Piṭaka), containing discourses of the Buddha.
- The Abhidhamma or commentary Piṭaka, containing a
philosophical systematization of the Buddha's teaching, including a detailed analysis of Buddhist psychology.
During the first few centuries after Gautama Buddha, his teachings
were transmitted orally, but around the 1st Century CE they began to be written down. A given school of Buddhism will generally have its
own distinctive canon of texts, which will partially overlap with those of other schools. The most notable set of texts from the
early period is the Pali Canon, which was preserved in Sri Lanka by the Theravāda school.
The sutras it contains are also part of the canon of every other Buddhist sect. Full versions of the original text[1] (http://jbe.gold.ac.uk/palicanon.html) and partial English translations[2] (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/) are now readily available on the internet.
The appearance of the Mahāyāna tradition brought with it a collection
of new texts, composed in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit,
many of which were also described as actual sermons of the Buddha. These include the
Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, the Avataṃsaka, the Lotus
Sutra, the Vimalakīrti Sutra, and the ṇirvana Sutra. Many of the Mahayana sutras were translated into Tibetan and
classical Chinese and are also now read in the West.
The Mahāyāna canon further expanded after Buddhism was transmitted to China, where the existing texts were
translated, and new texts were composed for the purpose of adapting the Indian tradition to the East Asian philosophical mindset.
Many of these works are considered by modern scholars to be spurious. Other new texts, such as the Platform Sutra and the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment did not pretend to be of Indian origin, but were widely
accepted as valid scriptures on their own merits. Later writings include the Linji Lu of Chan master Linji. In the course of the development of Korean Buddhism and Japanese Buddhism, further important texts were composed. These included, for example, in Korea, some of
the writings of Jinul, and in Japan, works such as Dogen's Shobogenzo.
Arguably the most thorough compilation of Mahayana sutras is found in the Tibetan canon. This is split into those texts
attributed to be authored by the Buddha (Kanjur), and those texts which are understood to be commentaries by Indian practitioners
(Tenjur). Vajrayāna practitioners also study distinctive texts such as the
Buddhist tantras.
Recently an important archaeological discovery was made, consisting of the earliest known Buddhist manuscripts, recovered from
somewhere near ancient Gandhara in northwest Pakistan. These fragments, written on birch
bark, are dated to the 1st century and have been compared to the Dead Sea scrolls in importance. Donated to the British Library in 1994, they are now
are being studied in a joint project at the University of Washington[3] (http://depts.washington.edu/ebmp/).
Relations with other faiths
Some Hindus (primarily in the northern regions of India) believe that Gautama is
the 9th incarnation (see avatar) of Vishnu;
there are accounts of the Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu that are pro- and anti-Buddhist (i.e., either Vishnu "really meant"
what he said while incarnated as Buddha or he was just messing with the Nastikas). This is not a majority view, however.
Traditionally, there has been a sharp distinction between Buddhism and what is today called "Hinduism"; this distinction is more accurately between Astika and Nastika
philosophies, that is, philosophies in India which either affirmed the Vedas as divinely
revealed scriptures or else regarded them as fallible human inventions. Thus Buddhism is essentially a heresy vis ŕ vis orthodox
Indian philosophy, though there are many syncretic or ecumenical tendencies within either group which are accepting of the beliefs and
practices of the other.
In the Japanese religion of Shintoism Buddha
is seen as a Kami (god). The Bahá'í
Faith states he was an independent Manifestation of God. Siddhartha Gautama is thought to have been sanctified by the
Roman Catholic Church as Saint Josaphat based on a mistaken account of his conversion to Christianity. Some Muslims believe that Gautama Buddha is Dhul-Kifl, one of the
prophets mentioned in the Qur'an.
Jainism is an ancient religion and school of thought that predates Buddhism. One
of its two most recent teachers, Mahāvīra (599 - 527 BC), was a senior
contemporary of the Buddha whose philosophy, sometimes described as dynamism or
vitalism, was a blend of the earlier Jain teacher Pārśvanātha's order and the
reforms instituted by Mahavira himself. Dialogues between the Buddha's disciples and Mahāvīra are recorded in Jain
texts, and dialogues between Mahāvīra's disciples and the Buddha are included in Buddhist texts.
Buddhism in the modern world
Estimates of the number of Buddhists vary between 230 and 500 million, with 350 million as the most commonly cited figure.
[4] (http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html)
Modern Asia
In northern Asia, Mahāyāna remains the most common form of Buddhism in
China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Singapore. Theravāda predominates in most of Southeast Asia, including Burma,
Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, as well as Sri Lanka. Vajrayāna is predominant in Tibet, Mongolia, portions of Siberia and portions of India, especially those areas bordering Tibet. Kalmykia, while geographically located in Europe,
is culturally closely related to Mongolia and thus its Buddhism is more properly grouped with Asian than with Western
Buddhism.
While in the West Buddhism is often seen as exotic and progressive, in the East Buddhism is regarded as familiar and part of
the establishment. Buddhist organizations in Asia frequently are well-funded and enjoy support from the wealthy and influential.
In some cases, this has led critics to charge that certain monks and organizations are too closely associated with the powerful
and are neglecting their duties to the poor.
Buddhism and the West
In the latter half of the 19th century, Buddhism (along with many other
of the world's religions and philosophies) came to the attention of Western intellectuals. These included the pessimistic German
philosopher Schopenhauer and the American philosopher
Henry David Thoreau, who translated a Buddhist sutra from
French into English. German writer Hermann Hesse also showed great interest in the eastern religion, even writing a book entitled
Siddhartha. Spiritual enthusiasts enjoyed what they saw as the exotic and mystical tone of the Asian traditions. At first
Western Buddhology was hampered by poor translations (often translations of translations), but soon Western scholars began to
learn Asian languages and translate Asian texts. In 1880 J.R. de Silva and Henry Steel Olcott designed the International Buddhist flag to celebrate the revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Its stripes symbolise universal compassion, the middle path, blessings, purity and liberation,
wisdom, and the conglomeration of these. The flag was accepted as the International Buddhist Flag by the 1952 World Buddhist Congress.
In 1899 Gordon Douglas became
the first Westerner to be ordained as a Buddhist monk.
The first Buddhists to arrive in the United States were Chinese. Hired
as cheap labor for the railroads and other expanding industries, they established
temples in their settlements along the rail lines. See the article on Buddhism in America for further information.
The Buddhist Society, London was founded by
Christmas Humphreys in 1924.
The cultural re-evaluations of the hippie generation in the late 1960s and early 1970s led to a re-discovery of Buddhism,
which seemed to promise a natural path to awareness and enlightenment. Many people, including celebrities, traveled to Asia in
pursuit of gurus and ancient wisdom. Buddhism had become the fastest-growing religion in Australia and many other Western nations
by the 1990s, in contrast to the steady decline of traditional western beliefs (see Christianity).
A distinctive feature of Buddhism has been the continuous evolution of the practice as it was transmitted from one country to
another. This dynamic aspect is particularly evident today in the West. Chögyam Trungpa, the founder of the Shambhala meditiaton
movment, claimed in his teachings that his intention was to strip the ethnic baggage away form traditional methods of working
with the mind and to deliver the essence of those teachings to his western students. Another example of an school evolving new
idioms for the transmission of the dharma is the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, founded by Sangharakshita.
Related systems
External links
|
