Buddhism in India Rise of Buddhism in India and Its Context 6th-5th century BCE • Social and political context – Technological developments – Displacement of the kings, rulers, and warrior class • Religious and philosophical context – Problem of ritualism of Vedic religion • Collective and communal concerns addressed – Impetus for innovation and change • The Upanishads – Question of individual’s identity and its relation to the world/ultimate reality Rise of Buddhism in India and Its Context 6th-5th century BCE • The movement of the ascetics (shramanas or parivrājakas) – “Leaving home”—renouncing householder’s duties – Rejection of the authority of the Vedas – Heterodoxy and heteropraxis vs. orthodoxy and orthopraxis – Jainism as another case of ascetic movement • Contemporary with Buddhism Buddhism in India • Basic tenets and orientation in early phase – Realistic assessment of human existence and its cause: “Life is suffering” – Emphasis on renunciation – Strict self-responsibility for ending suffering • Application of the law of karma • Karma not to be deterministic ethical law but to focus on its soteriological significance Buddhism in India: an outline of historical developments • Early Buddhism/Theravada Buddhism (5th cent. BCE-) • Mahayana Buddhism (2nd century BCE-) – Positive assessment of human nature and existence – Soteriological inclusiveness • Renunciation as an option • Bodhisattva as spiritual assistant and transference of merit – Development of devotional Buddhism – Institutional and polemical impetus • Devotional Hinduism • Schools of Indian philosophy Spread of Buddhism out of India • Schism in Buddhist community (sangha) – 18 or 20 schools of Indian Buddhism • The spread of Buddhism – Southern transmission • South and Southeast Asia • Theravāda (teachings of elders) Buddhism – Northern transmission • Central Asia, East Asia, Vietnam, Tibet • Mahayana (greater vehicle) Buddhism prominent Life and Legends of the Buddha, Founder of Buddhism 6th-5th/5th-4th century BCE • • • • • Biography vs. hagiography (history vs. myth/sacred story) Consistency in the accounts in major textual sources Miraculous conception and the birth of Gautama Siddhartha Four signs and “leaving home” Dissatisfaction with the practice of severe asceticism – Adherence to the middle way – Enlightenment at Bodh-Gaya • Buddha’s life as a paradigm of ideal religious life • Major theme in Buddhist art Borobudur, Indonesia ca. 8th century Stone reliefs at Borobudur: life stories of the Buddha Borobudur, top level attainment of Buddhahood depicted SiddharthaBuddha, the “awakened one” Bodh-Gaya, Bihar Mahābodhi Temple and Niranjana River nearby Bodh-Gaya and the bodhi tree Bodh-Gaya and the “footprints” of the Buddha Parinirvāna (great decease) of the Buddha Sanchi Stupa, Madhya Pradesh 3rd-1st century BCE; original structure by King Ashoka Gate (torana) of Sanchi Stupa Pilgrims from Shri Lanka at SanchīiStupa The Beginning of Buddhism: Three Treasures • The Buddha • His teachings (dharma) – Codification after the death of the Buddha • Community (sangha) – Narrow definition: monks and nuns only – Broader definition: add lay men and lay women Theravada monks at Bodh-Gaya, Bihar Theravada novice monks in Thailand Theravada Buddhism • • • • South and Southeast Asia The only surviving one of early Indian Buddhist schools Textual source: Pali canon Organized in 3 categories – Teaching of the Buddha (Dharma) – Rules of conduct (Vinaya) – Philosophical elaborations (Abhidharma) • Dharma as the “word of the Buddha” and its historical reality Theravada Buddhism • • • • South and Southeast Asia The only surviving one of early Indian Buddhist schools Textual source: Pāli canon Organized in 3 categories – Teaching of the Buddha (Dharma) – Rules of conduct (Vinaya) – Philosophical elaborations (Abhidharma) • Dharma as the “word of the Buddha” and its historical reality Goal of Theravada Buddhism: Cessation of suffering, nirvana “Do not what is evil, Do what is good, Keep your mind pure; This is the teaching of the Buddha.” —Dhammapada, verse 183 Basic Teachings of Buddhism according to Pali canon of Theravāda tradition • Causality and conditionality • Karma and rebirth • Dependent origination • Three characteristics of existence • Four noble truths Causality and conditionality • Basic principle “When this is present, that comes to be; From the arising of this, that arises. When this is absent, that does not come to be; from the cessation of this, that ceases.” The scope of Buddhist conception of causality* • • • • Physical: organic or inorganic Psychological states, emotions, thoughts Social and moral order Spiritual life “He who perceives the conditioned nature of things perceives the dharma.” *Causality as shorthand of “causality and conditionality” Soteriological import of causality • Cultivation of specific causes to produce spiritual results • Counter-acting causes of the obstacles to spiritual development • Rejects determinism – Buddhist contribution to existing karma doctrine Basic Teachings of Buddhism according to Pali canon of Theravada tradition • Causality and conditionality • Karma and rebirth • Dependent origination • Three characteristics of existence • Four noble truths Karma and rebirth • Karma literary means “action” – Three modes of action: physical, verbal, mental • An application of causality to moral sphere • Basics of karma doctrine in Buddhism – Action is mental volition or intention “Having intended, one acts.” – Action produces a corresponding retributive fruit – The fruit belongs to the actor only and no one else – Comparison with “desireless action” of the Bhagavadgita Krishna’s advice to Arjuna: to kill or not to kill Multiple choice question? A. Perform one’s duty without attachment to the fruit of one’s action B. Drop your weapon and run to the nearest monastery C. Depends on what belief system Krishna represents Karma and rebirth, continued • Types of fruit of action – Morally wholesome • Conducive to spiritual development • Right speech, etc. (see eightfold path in Four Noble Truths) – Morally unwholesome • Obstacle to spiritual development – Karmicaly neutral • “Fruitless” fruit of action • Involuntary or unintentional action; action of arhat Karma and rebirth, continued • Six Realms of rebirth – Hell – Hungry ghost – Animal – Demi-god (asura) – Human – God (deva) • Soteriological meaning of the realms • Skillful means (pedagogically effective method of teaching) • States of meditation Realm of Hungry ghost (Japanese rendition, Picture Scroll of Hungry Ghost, 12th century) Karma in Buddhist scripture • “Actions do not perish, even after hundreds of millions of kalpas (‘eons’). When the complex of conditions and the appropriate time for their fruition comes together, those actions will bear fruit for their perpetrator.” Basic Teachings of Buddhism according to Pali canon • Causality and conditionality • Karma and rebirth • Dependent origination • Three characteristics of existence • Four noble truths Dependent origination: a middle path • Meaning and function – Application of causation to the process of rebirth – Who is born? vs. what is rebirth caused by? – Who feels? vs. what is feeling conditioned by? • The twelve chain of causation: soteriological chain – Ignorance  – old age and death – intermediate state – Rebirth The Wheel of Life in Tibetan painting: iconographic representations of causality • Axle: pig (ignorance), cock (greed), snake (hatred) – three “poisons” • Heaven and hell • 6 realms of rebirth • 12 chain of causation • Yama (the lord of death) holding the wheel Dependent origination • There is nothing that does not depend on something else to come into existence • Rejection of independent ‘something’ that perpetuates its existence • Buddhist examples: everything Basic Teachings of Buddhism according to Pāli canon • Causality and conditionality • Karma and rebirth • Dependent origination • Three characteristics of existence • Four noble truths Three characteristics of existence • Impermanence • Suffering • Non-self (anatman: an+atman) – What goals are they intended to serve? • Goal of liberation (soteriological import) Characteristics of existence #1: Impermanence Impermanence • Causality/conditionality leads inexorably to the doctrine of impermanence – Reason: • Whatever arises through causes and conditions will come to an end when those causes and conditions that sustain existence come to an end or removed – Examples • Everything Characteristics of existence #2: Suffering • Other applicable terms – Pain, unsatisfactoriness, frustration, etc. • Basic points – Whatever is impermanent is unsuitable as something to rely on – Attachment/clinging/grasping necessarily brings suffering “The Scream” by Edvard Munch Three characteristics of existence • Impermanence • Suffering • Non-self (anatman: an+atman) – What goals are they intended to serve? • Goal of liberation (soteriological import) Suffering • Types of suffering – Physical – Psychological – Inherent suffering of existence • Birth, death, and in-between Suffering in Buddhist Scripture • “Birth is suffering, decay is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering. To be conjoined with what one dislikes is suffering, and to be separated from what one likes is suffering. Not to get what one wants is suffering. In short, grasping at the five constituents [aggregates] of personality is suffering.” Five aggregates: Buddhist conception of personality (skandha) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Matter/form Sensation/feeling: sense impressions Perception: formation of mental images and evaluation in terms of oneself Impulses/volition: initiates action Consciousness: mind and mental faculty Characteristics of existence # 3: Non-self (anatman) • Historical significance – Principle contribution of Buddhism to religious thought (Edward Conze) • Meaning and function – Counter ‘self’ (atman) doctrine in Indian ‘Hindu’ thought • There is self – Not an ontological statement • There is no self – Soteriological function • Create a change in conduct: non-attachment Buddhist critique of ‘self’ • ‘Self’ as a deluded fiction imposed on conditioned, causal process • Belief in unchanging ‘self’ (=eternalism) – Consequences • ‘I’ (self) leads to ‘mine’ • ‘Mine’ leads to suffering Self (atman) is: – Product of ignorance, of longing for permanence – Figment of imagination • Flower in the sky • Rabbit’s horn • Tortoise’ hair Non-self, continued • Function of “self” rejected by Buddhists – Unifying factor in personality • Empirically unproven – Initiates action • There is only action/volition, no agent – Subject that cognizes • Consciousness is conditionally arisen – That which distinguishes me from others • Accept a stream of consciousness but false to impute eternality to that stream Utility of ‘self’ limited • Useful only as conventional designation • Has no ultimate reality • Example 1 – Chariot: pole, axle, wheels, yoke, etc. • Example 2 – Gross national product • All goods and services produced • A convenient referent Non-self and self-identity Who are we then? Constituent elements of personality: five aggregates (skandha) 1. Matter/form 2. Sensation/feeling: sense impressions 3. Perception: formation of mental images and evaluation in terms of oneself 4. Impulses/volition: initiates action 5. Consciousness: mind and mental faculty Five aggregates R us! • Subject to the law of causality and conditionality • Use of “I” or “mine” in common parlance – Case of “mistaken identity” – Only facilitates communication • Avoid the notions of “I” and “mine” – Most insidious objects of attachment Non-self and karma/rebirth • Which of the following questions is appropriate? – Who is it that is reborn? – What is rebirth caused and conditioned by? Basic Teachings of Buddhism according to Pāli canon • Causality and conditionality • Karma and rebirth • Dependent origination • Three characteristics of existence • Four noble truths Basic Teachings of Buddhism according to Pāli canon • Causality and conditionality • Karma and rebirth • Three characteristics of existence • Dependent origination • Four noble truths – Systematization of all of the above Four Noble Truths Analogy of physician and medicine 1. Suffering: symptom 2. Origination of suffering: diagnosis 3. Cessation of suffering (nirvāna): recovery, health 4. Path to cessation of suffering: treatment 2nd truth: Origination of suffering • Ignorance – Causality and conditionality – Karma and rebirth – Three characteristics of existence – Dependent origination • Others – Negative states of mind 3rd truth: Cessation of suffering Nirvana (‘extinction’) • Extinction of causes and conditions of suffering – 3 ‘poisons’ • Ignorance/delusion • Greed • Hatred/anger – Analogy of a flame Nirvāna in Buddhist Scripture • Apophatically defined: “There is that plane where there is…no coming or going, no staying, passing away or arising. It is not something fixed, it moves not on, it is not based on anything. This verily, is the very end of suffering.” – Suttanipāta Brahman: The nature of ultimate reality in the Upanishads • Brahman/Ātman/Self as general all encompassing cosmic principle, framework • Conceptualized as an impersonal absolute • Ineffable nature of Brahman – “Neti neti” (not this, not this) • unborn, uncreated, etc. • Both transcendent and immanent – “This in truth is That” (Katha Upanishad) • Identity between Brahman and individual self (atman) • Idea of non-duality emphasized in Shankara’s philosophy of non-duality (advaitavedanta) in the eighth century Nirvāna in Buddhist Scripture • Cataphatically defined: “For a disciple rightly delivered, whose thought is calm, there is nothing to be added to what has been done, and naught more remains for him to do. Just as a rock of one solid mass remains unshaken by the wind, even so forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and contacts of any kind, no desired or undesired dharmas, can agitate such a one. Steadfast is his thought, gained is deliverance.” – Anguttara-nikāya 3rd truth: Cessation of suffering Enlightenment (‘awakening’, bodhi) dynamic aspect of nirvāna • Enlightened mind is – Non-manifesting • No projection of ego into perceptual process • End of dualistic thinking (I and mine) – Infinite • Freed from limitations placed on it by conceptual process • Experience all phenomena in all their diversity – Lustrous and bright • All objects and concepts become transparent • Concepts still used but one sees through them 4th truth: Path (practice) to cessation of suffering “Do not what is evil, Do what is good, Keep your mind pure; This is the teaching of the Buddha.” —Dhammapada, verse 183 Path to cessation of suffering Eight-fold path: Buddhist curriculum for transformation • Morality: Ethical precepts – Right speech – Right conduct – Right livelihood – Right effort • Meditation – Right mindfulness – Right concentration • Wisdom – Right view – Right intention Morality: ethical precepts • Right speech: abstain from – Falsehood, slander, harsh words, idle gossip, etc. • Right conduct: abstain from – Transgression of five precepts • Taking life, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, taking intoxicating drinks or drugs • Right livelihood: abstain from – A living that harms or causes suffering/injustice to others • Right effort – Prevent and/or abandon unwholesome mental states – Cultivate wholesome mental states Path to cessation of suffering Eight-fold path: Buddhist curriculum for transformation • Morality: Ethical precepts – Right speech – Right conduct – Right livelihood – Right effort • Meditation – Right mindfulness – Right concentration • Wisdom – Right view – Right intention Meditation • Right mindfulness – “Bare attention and clear comprehension” – Cultivation of awareness of • Sensations, feelings, thoughts, impulses • The true nature of things as – Impermanent – dissatisfactory (suffering) – Non-substantial (non-self) -Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta (The Miracle of Mindfulness, 111-128) Meditation • Right concentration – Cultivation of calmness/tranquility (shamatha) • Metaphor of mirror and dust – Cultivation of insight (vipassana) • Seeing how things really are, reality as it is, suchness – Progressive states of meditation (dhyana) • Mental absorption from coarse to refined • Pacification/cessation of the processes of thought – One-pointedness of mind (samadhi) The Forest Hermitage, Kandy, Shri Lanka Purpose of Meditation • Liberation from the round of samsara • Knowledge/insight as the catalyst that produces liberation – Meditation reveals true nature of existence • Three characteristics of existence • Mental wellbeing; psychic health – Calmness; compassion and openness to others • Forces of social change • Ease fear of death Path to cessation of suffering Eight-fold path: Buddhist curriculum for transformation • Morality: Ethical precepts – Right speech – Right conduct – Right livelihood – Right effort • Meditation – Right mindfulness – Right concentration • Wisdom – Right view – Right intention Wisdom • Right view: gain clarity of – Three characteristics of existence – How things really are, thusness, suchness • Right intention – Compassionate aspiration for the well-being of all – Cessation of suffering for all Primacy of soteriology in Buddhism: Silence of the Buddha & unanswered questions • The extent and duration of the world – Is the universe eternal, non-eternal, both, neither? • The nature of personal identity – Is the soul identical to or different from the body? • Life after death – Does the Buddha survive death, does not, both, neither? (translation: what happens to a person after attaining nirvana?) —Majjhima-nikāya Primacy of soteriology in Buddhism: unanswered questions Buddha asked Vaccha: “…if someone were to ask you—’Regarding that fire that was in front of you and that has been put out, in which direction has the fire gone from here: to the east, west, north, or south’—what would you reply to this question, Vaccha?” —Majjhima-nikāya Primacy of soteriology in Buddhism: analogy of poisonous arrow Analogy of raft Recommendation: Run as fast as you can away from this person. UW Mindfulness Project https://www.facebook.com/uwmindfulness/ Documentary: Buddhism: Footprint of the Buddha • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9Hw71jXbCU – 50 min.
Purchase answer to see full attachment