The BUDDHA - Enlightenment

  

• Becoming the Buddha

• the four passing sights. When Siddhartha rebelled against his father and left the palace, he saw a sick person, and old person, a corpse, and a sannyasin (Hindu holy man). The first three made him question the meaning and purpose of life and whether there was an answer to all the suffering he saw. These sights set him on his path to enlightenment. NOTE: Suzuki – when asked by a student to summarize Buddhism in two words he said: NOTHING LASTS.

• rejection of asceticism. Siddhartha first tried asceticism, the path of the holy man. “Asceticism” means giving up the pleasures of life, often fasting, going without sleep, etc. in order to gain spiritual insight. Unfortunately, this path didn’t lead him to answers.

• the “middle way” – Buddha decided there must be a way in between the hedonism of his youth and extreme asceticism. That is the way he advocated.

• Awakening (Enlightenment = bodhi) – Siddhartha sat under a tree and meditated for many days. He finally had an experience of his own nature, the nature of reality, and the way to end suffering that Buddhists call enlightenment. Another way to translate Bodhi is “waking up.”

• gathering disciples, the sangha. After his enlightenment, the Buddha (the one who is awake) travelled, taught, and gathered a community of disciples (the sangha = the community of enlightened beings).

• When the Buddha was dying and his disciples were mourning, he essentially told them that they didn’t need him. His final instructions are an important key to Buddhist thought – “You must be your own lamps, be your own refuge….A monk becomes his own lamp and refuge by continually looking on his body, feelings, perceptions, moods, and ideas in such a manner that he conquers the cravings and depressions of ordinary men and is always strenuous, self-possessed, and collected in mind.” Since the Buddha taught that everyone can reach enlightenment, and that the only way to do it was to meditate and realize the truth for yourself, Buddha was telling his disciples that they didn’t need him.

• A Zen Buddhist teaching that reinforces these words is “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” If you are looking for something outside yourself, you’re looking in the wrong place. Buddhists especially emphasize the fact that the Buddha was a teacher, not a god.

• BASIC TEACHINGS OF BUDDHISM

• practical orientation, rejection of abstract speculation. The Buddha emphasized that his teaching was about how to end suffering and how to have a happy life. He discouraged philosophical and cosmological speculation. ARROW STORY.

• non-theistic. Buddhism is non-theistic. That means there are no personal gods (beings with will and reason). Buddhists see reality as a sacred whole. As we will see when we get into Mahayana and Vajrayana forms of Buddhism, this non-theism can be somewhat ambiguous, because there are spiritual beings and forces that are personified in supernatural form.

• The Four Noble Truths. These are the heart of Buddha’s teaching

1.      Life is suffering; life is unsatisfactory. No matter how fortunate a life someone has, they must eventually face loss, illness, and death. On a daily basis, we also tend to run into problems that cause us to be dissatisfied.

2.      Suffering is caused by desire (craving). Buddha taught that we suffer because we want things to be different from they are. This can be translated as desire/craving/attachment. He didn’t mean that we can’t enjoy and appreciate things, or that we can’t love things or people. His point is more that if we cling to things and don’t allow them to change – including our own lives and those we love – we suffer. He also didn’t mean that you can’t have plans and goals – just that if you’re attached to them being accomplished in a certain way, you may suffer.

3.      The way to end suffering is to end desire. If we can appreciate what is without demanding that it be different, if we can learn to love without attachment and desire, suffering ends.

4.      How? The Noble Eightfold Path. the purpose of all of them is to live a life of awareness of reality, compassion, and non-attachment.

• The Three Marks of Reality

1.      dukkha = suffering/unsatisfactoriness. (see First Noble truth)

2.      anicca = impermanence. The realization that nothing in the physical world is permanent. Everything is always changing. If we can’t accept that, we will suffer. If we do accept it, we can find joy in appreciating things as they are in the “Now.”

3.      anatman = no-self – no ‘atman’ or permanently existing, unchanging soul that is part of divine reality). Since everything is always changing, so are we. There is no permanent, eternal, unchanging part of us (like ‘soul’ in Christianity or ‘atman’ in Hinduism).

• The Five Precepts. This is sort of a code of ethics that started out as training rules for monks and nuns, but applies to all Buddhists). Think of them not so much as commandments (you ‘sin’ if you don’t do them) as advice about the kind of behavior that would keep people from reaching enlightenment and happiness. The person on the path to enlightenment will:

1.      abstain from taking life

2.      abstain from taking what is not given

3.      abstain from sexual misconduct

4.      abstain from false speech

5.      abstain from intoxicants

• RELATIONSHIP TO HINDU THOUGHT AND TRADITION

• Buddhism rejects:

• Vedic ritualism
• Brahmin priesthood
• asceticism
• caste system
• atman/soul
• traditional roles for women (to some extent – the reason I say this is because while Buddha made it clear that people are spiritually equal, and founded orders of both monks and nuns, some Buddhists societies at some times have discouraged women from being full participants in some Buddhist spiritual paths.)

• Buddhism has a different interpretation of:

• Reincarnation/rebirth – Buddha said reincarnation is like one candle being lit from another. The implication is that no ‘substance’ survives from one lifetime to another – only energy (in the form of either karma or desire) carried over.

Ø  If no ‘atman,’ what is reborn? Skandas (aggregates – the Sancrit word ‘skanda’ means skein, like a skein of yard – the idea is that we are sort of a loose, tangled bundle of attributes): Each person is made of of 5 skandas: form (your body), feelings, perceptions, volitions (will/desire), awareness (consciousness). We are bundles of energy in constant flux (change).

Ø  Each person is not an independent individual. Rather they are part of a web called dependent origination (we depend on intricate chains of cause and effect that resulted in our current existence and a complex web of interrelationships that sustain our current existence).

Ø  “There is a continuing series of processes which incessantly renews itself, and which is falsely called a living being.” (Vasubandhu, 4^th century C.E.)

• Karma. Buddhists do believe in karma as a chain of causes and effects, but it is much less ‘personal’ than in Hinduism.

• NIRVANA -- Moksha (liberation) in Hinduism is seen as the atman (individual ‘soul’ dissolving into Brahman – the sacred whole – sort of like a teaspoon of salt being dissolved in the ocean). In Buddhism, the idea of liberation– nirvana – is seen in a less positive metaphor. Buddha says when the flame of desire is extinguished, one reaches nirvana -- like a candle flame going out.

·                                  MAJOR DIVISIONS OF BUDDHISM

There are many types of Mahayana Buddhism, but we are going to focus on two of the major ones – Zen and Vajrayana.

o   Theravada - SE Asia including Thailand, Laos

Theravada Buddhism is known as the “way of the elders” because it tried to preserve the Buddha’s pure teaching and practice as reflected in the Pali cannon and other ancient scriptures.

Since it emphasizes the monastic life and intellectual study, it is often called the “little raft,” since this life does not appeal to the majority of people.

It emphasizes the path to liberation through meditation, study, insight, and wisdom. Salvation is achieved through one’s own efforts.

It holds up the arhat (the saint) as the ideal of life and sees Buddha as the example of the saintly life.

Theravada follows Buddha’s advice to avoid cosmological speculation and does not have anything that could be interpreted as deities or heaven/hell.

o    Mahayana - India, China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Tibet

Mahayana is called the “big raft” because it focuses on the lives and needs of ordinary people, has more popular devotional elements, and has a way of liberation in which a person can be helped by others.

It emphasizes compassion as the main virtue = empathy, sympathy, kindness. This is based on the belief in the interrelatedness of all beings. The goal is to prevent suffering and achieve liberation for all.

 Teaches that bodhisattvas can help people achieve nirvana. The ideal is the bodhisattva.

Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings. The bodhisattva vow, which many people in this branch of Buddhism take, is to continue to be reborn until all beings are liberated. These bodhisattvas verge on being treated like what we might call “gods” – but may be more like saints. People appeal to them for help.

There are heavenly bodhisattvas who live in other dimensions of reality – some once lived on earth. They can appear miraculously when needed in some branches of Mahayana. Examples: Guanyin (Kuan-yin = ‘hears cries’) is a popular Chinese saint. Buddha is considered a bodhisattva.

o    Zen Buddhism

Buddhism was transmitted from India to China about 50 C.E. and from there to Japan, Korea, and East Asian countries.

Zen is a Japanese form of Buddhism that developed in about the 5^th century C.E. The name comes from the Chinese word “ch’an” which means meditation, the focus of Zen Buddhism. In some ways it is a reform of Mahayana, cutting back on ritual and philosophy and emphasizing mind-to-mind Dharma transmission.

On its way through China, the Zen tradition was influenced by Chinese Daoism in its emphasis on Original Oneness and unity with nature.

According to Zen tradition, the true nature of reality is “Original Oneness” (the sacred reality that gives rise to everything moment by moment is non-dual – no ‘this’ or ‘that,’ no male/female, no good/evil, no you/me, no divisions of space or time. This Oneness is also referred to as the “Void” or “Universal Emptiness.” That sounds scary, but I think what Zen thinkers are getting at when they call it “void” is that it is empty of our perceptions, conceptions, and language. Our perceptions and our language works by making distinctions – so insight into the true nature of reality cannot be transmitted by scripture, images, or words. Language works by making distinctions – I can identify objects because they differ from one another. “Black” and “white” have meaning because of difference. 

   In meditation, a person can realize his own reality as Buddha-nature. Since reality is oneness with no distinctions, our true nature is oneness, Buddha-nature. This also means there is nothing special about “the Buddha.” “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him” – everything is Buddha-nature, so there is nothing special to be ‘worshiped.’ If you focus on anything outside your own true nature and experience moment-by-moment, you are reinforcing a false dualism.

   Zen masters are people who have had their own direct experience of enlightenment and who have received “dharma transmission” from their own master. Although they do teach “about” the tradition, they make it clear that what anyone can learn “about” Zen is limited.

“When a finger is pointing at the moon, do not look at the finger.” Famous Zen saying indicating that one should not look to teachers or teaching – anyone seeking enlightenment should look within at the “moon” (Buddha-nature, Original Oneness). The way to enlightenment is through zazen (sitting meditation). This is a typical zendo where people sit in silence, often for hours at a time. People follow their breathing  or “just sit” and let “monkey mind” gradually subside. Thoughts and sensations come and go – if we learn not to attach to them, the flow of experience “just is.”  The something in us, apart from thought and sensation, can be experienced as Original Oneness.

A koan is a tool for getting beyond the rational mind (concepts, language, judgment) and to glimpse Oneness. If you a studying zen with a master, he may assign you a koan and you report to him periodically to give him your “answer.” There are, of course, no rational “answers” because any real insight couldn’t be expressed in words. Many of the arts in Japan have been influenced by Zen practice and ideas as well as by  the love of nature that comes to Zen through Daoism. The arts try to express an appreciation for the fact that every artistic creation arises from Original Oneness and expresses it.

o   VAJRAYANA

Vajrayana is a form of Buddhism that developed in Tibet. It is a “syncretism” [a blending of different religious traditions which creates a new tradition with its own unique characteristics]. It is a blending of Trantric Buddhism and Bon (and indigenous shamanistic religion). Trantric Buddhism was brought by missionaries from India to Tibet. It also has Hindu influences in its rituals. Shamans are common in tribal cultures. They have a special connection with the world of spirits and act as intermediaries between the sacred realm and the ordinary world. They often act as healers and prophets.

Tantra is a tradition in both Hinduism and Buddhism in which the body and its energies are used to achieve enlightenment. This tradition emphasizes sexual imagery and, sometimes, actual sexual practices. These practices reflect Hindu beliefs about Shakti (female power) and reality as the union of male and female forces. The goal is to experience ultimate oneness by focusing on symbols and practices that unite opposites.

You can see tantric symbolism in some common objects used in Tibetan ritual: the vajra and bell. These objects are what are known as “root” symbols – ancient objects found in several different religious traditions: Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain. The bell symbolizes female energies and wisdom.  The vajra is where Vajrayana gets its name. It is associated with lightning bolts, firmness of spirit, spiritual power, and compassion. During the ritual, one is held in each hand, symbolizing the attempt to unite compassion and wisdom, male and female.

Tibetan Buddhism is highly ritualistic, drawing both on ancient Hindu influences and its shamanic heritage. Music and dance play an important role. Rituals invoke the deities and bring power and protection to those involved in the ritual.

Tibetan Buddhism has deities and demons, but most scholars interpret these as manifestations of the energies of the universe. Their forms are important in Tibetan religion, but are recognized as “illusory” (no permanent existence, ‘moon’s image on water’). The images are often used in dance and in meditation. Lamas (or llamas) are venerated spiritual masters and/or heads of monasteries.

The Dalai Lama -- Born 1935 in a small village in Tibet; recognized at age 2 as reincarnation of the 13^th Dalai Lama and incarnation of the Buddha of Compassion; enthroned as Dalai Lama in 1940. The Communist Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950; years of demonstrations by the Tibetan people          attempting to reassert their independence. Tibetan uprising crushed by Chinese army; His Holiness escaped to India with many of his followers in 1959. Today there are more than 120,000 Tibetans in exile. His Holiness still lives in exile, teaching compassion and the Buddhist way, working for Tibetan independence, and writing. He regularly visits Atlanta because of his ties to Emory University.