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Buddhism, Buddhism

At least one authority regards Buddhism as a family of religions rather than a single religion: Robinson et al. , Buddhist Religions , 5th ed., Wadsworth, 2004, p. xxi and is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" (the Awakened One), who was born in what is today Nepal.

UNESCO, Lumbini is the birthplace of the Lord Buddha , Gethin Foundations, p. 19, which states that in the mid-3rd century BCE the Emperor Ashoka determined that Lumbini was the Buddha's birthplace and thus installed a pillar there with the inscription: "... this is where the Buddha, sage of the kyas, was born." For instance, Gethin Foundations, p. 14, states: "The earliest Buddhist sources state that the future Buddha was born Siddhrtha Gautama (Pali Siddhattha Gotama), the son of a local chieftaina rjan in Kapilavastu (Pali Kapilavatthu) what is now the Indian-Nepalese border." However, Professor Gombrich ( Theravada Buddhism , p. 1) and the old but specialized study by Edwerard Thomas, The Life of the Buddha , ascribe the name Siattha/fitta to later sources.

As such, "suffering" is too narrow a translation with "negative emotional connotations" (Jeffrey Po), Jeffrey Po, Is Buddhism a Pessimistic Way of Life? which can give the impression that the Buddhist view is one of pessimism, but Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic, but realistic. Thus in English-language Buddhist literature dukkha is often left untranslated, so as to encompass its full range of meaning.

In the tathagatagarbha sutras the Buddha is portrayed proclaiming that the teaching of the tathagatagarbha constitutes the "absolutely final culmination" of his Dharma—the highest presentation of Truth (other stras make similar statements about other teachings). This has traditionally been regarded as the highest teaching in East Asian Buddhism. However, in modern China all doctrines are regarded as equally valid. Welch, Practice of Chinese Buddhism , Harvard, 1967, p. 395 The Mahayana can also on occasion communicate a vision of the Buddha or Dharma which amounts to mysticism and gives expression to a form of mentalist panentheism (God in Buddhism).

The Tantra entitled the "All-Creating King" (Kunjed Gyalpo Tantra, a scripture of Tibetan Buddhism) also emphasizes how Buddhist truth lies beyond the range of discursive/verbal thought and is ultimately mysterious. The Supreme Buddha, Samantabhadra, states there: "The mind of perfect purity ... is beyond thinking and inexplicable ...." The Sovereign All-Creating Mind tr. by E.K. Neumaier-Dargyay, pp. 111112.

He thus attains bodhi and becomes a buddha. In Theravada Buddhism, bodhi and nirvana carry the same meaning, that of being freed from greed, hate and delusion.

Pure Land Buddhism is a very widespread and perhaps the most faith-orientated manifestation of Buddhism and centres upon the conviction that faith in Amitabha Buddha and the chanting of homage to his name will liberate one at death into the "happy land" () or "pure land" () of Amitabha Buddha. This Buddhic realm is variously construed as a foretaste of Nirvana, or as essentially Nirvana itself. The great vow of Amitabha Buddha to rescue all beings from samsaric suffering is viewed within Pure Land Buddhism as universally efficacious, if only one has faith in the power of that vow or chants his name.

Kogen Mizuno, Essentials of Buddhism , Shunju-sha, 1972, English translation, Kosei, Tokyo, 1996, p. 57 A Theravada commentary says that Buddhas arise one at a time in this world element, and not at all in others.

Harvey, p. 170 Devotional practices include bowing, offerings, pilgrimage, chanting. In Pure Land Buddhism, devotion to the Buddha Amitabha is the main practice. In Nichiren Buddhism, devotion to the Lotus Sutra is the main practice.

Nanamoli, rev. Bodhi, Wisdom Publications, 1995, pp. 708f in the Majjhima Nikaya, recognized by most scholars as an early text (cf. Infant baptism). Tibetan Buddhism sometimes adds a fourth refuge, in the lama . In Mahayana, the person who chooses the bodhisattva path makes a vow or pledge, considered the ultimate expression of compassion.

There is nothing improper or un-Buddhist about limiting one's aims to this level of attainment. Stewart McFarlane in Peter Harvey, ed., Buddhism.

On the other hand, the rules themselves are designed to assure a satisfying life, and provide a perfect springboard for the higher attainments. Monastics are instructed by the Buddha to live as "islands unto themselves". In this sense, living life as the vinaya prescribes it is, as one scholar puts it: "more than merely a means to an end: it is very nearly the end in itself." Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo.

Welch, Practice of Chinese Buddhism , Harvard, 1967, p. 396 According to Peter Harvey, whenever Buddhism has been healthy, not only monks, nuns, and married lamas, but also more committed lay people have practiced meditation. Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism.

Speaking of Zen in general, Buddhist scholar Stephen Hodge writes ( Zen Masterclass , Godsfield Press, 2002, pp. 12–13): "... practitioners of Zen believe that Enlightenment, the awakening of the Buddha-mind or Buddha-nature, is our natural state, but has been covered over by layers of negative emotions and distorted thoughts. According to this view, Enlightenment is not something that we must acquire a bit at a time, but a state that can occur instantly when we cut through the dense veil of mental and emotional obscurations." Zen Buddhist teaching is often full of paradox, in order to loosen the grip of the ego and to facilitate the penetration into the realm of the True Self or Formless Self, which is equated with the Buddha himself. ( Critical Sermons on the Zen Tradition , Hisamatsu Shin'ichi, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2002, passim ) Commenting on Rinzai Zen and its Chinese founder, Linji, Hisamatsu states: "Linji indicates our true way of being in such direct expressions as 'True Person' and 'True Self'. It is independent of words or letters and transmitted apart from scriptural teaching. Buddhism doesn't really need scriptures. It is just our direct awakening to Self ..." (Hisamatsu, op. cit., p. 46).

Originally, these schisms were caused by disputes over vinaya, and monks following different schools of thought seem to have lived happily together in the same monasteries, but eventually, by about 100 CE if not earlier, schisms were being caused by doctrinal disagreements too. Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism , p. 74 Following (or leading up to) the schisms, each Sagha started to accumulate an Abhidharma, a detailed scholastic reworking of doctrinal material appearing in the Suttas, according to schematic classifications. These Abhidharma texts do not contain systematic philosophical treatises, but summaries or numerical lists. Scholars generally date these texts to around the 3rd century BCE, 100 to 200 years after the death of the Buddha. Therefore the seven Abhidharma works are generally claimed not to represent the words of the Buddha himself, but those of disciples and great scholars. "Abhidhamma Pitaka." Encyclopdia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopdia Britannica, 2008.

Peter Harvey, "An Introduction to Buddhism." Cambridge University Press, 1993, page 95.

The support of Aoka and his descendants led to the construction of more stpas (Buddhist religious memorials) and to efforts to spread Buddhism throughout the enlarged Maurya empire and even into neighboring lands particularly to the Iranian-speaking regions of Afghanistan and Central Asia, beyond the Mauryas' northwest border, and to the island of Sri Lanka south of India. These two missions, in opposite directions, would ultimately lead, in the first case to the spread of Buddhism into China, and in the second case, to the emergence of Theravda Buddhism and its spread from Sri Lanka to the coastal lands of Southeast Asia.

This led, a century later, to the emergence of Greek-speaking Buddhist monarchs in the Indo-Greek Kingdom, and to the development of the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhra. During this period Buddhism was exposed to a variety of influences, from Persian and Greek civilization, and from changing trends in non-Buddhist Indian religions themselves influenced by Buddhism. It is a matter of disagreement among scholars whether or not these emissaries were accompanied by Buddhist missionaries. Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism , Routledge, 2nd ed, 2006, page 135 The Theravada school spread south from India in the 3rd century BC, to Sri Lanka and Thailand and Burma and later also Indonesia. The Dharmagupta school spread (also in 3rd century BC) north to Kashmir, Gandhara and Bactria (Afghanistan). In the 2nd century AD, Mahayana Sutras spread from that general area to China, and then to Korea and Japan, and were translated into Chinese. During the Indian period of Esoteric Buddhism (from 8th century onwards), Buddhism spread from India to Tibet and Mongolia.

While, in the West, Buddhism is often seen as exotic and progressive, in the East, Buddhism is regarded as familiar and traditional. Buddhists in Asia are frequently well organized and well funded. In a number of countries, it is recognized as an official religion and receives state support. In the West, Buddhism is recognized as one of the growing spiritual influences.

It is relatively conservative, and generally closest to early Buddhism. Gethin, Foundations , page 1 This school is derived from the Vibhajjavda grouping which emerged amongst the older Sthavira group at the time of the Third Buddhist Council (c. 250 BCE). This school gradually declined on the Indian subcontinent, but its branch in Sri Lanka and South East Asia continues to survive.

It is also one of the first Buddhist schools to commit the complete set of its canon into writing. The Sutta collections and Vinaya texts of the Pli Canon (and the corresponding texts in other versions of the Tripitaka), are generally considered by modern scholars to be the earliest Buddhist literature, and they are accepted as authentic in every branch of Buddhism.

China generally received Indian transmission up to the 11th century including tantric practice, while a vast amount of what is considered to be Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayna) stems from the late (9th–12th century) Nland tradition.

With the fall of the Gupta dynasty, in an increasingly fractious political environment, institutional Buddhism had difficulty attracting patronage, and the folk movement led by siddhas became more prominent. After perhaps two hundred years, it had begun to get integrated into the monastic establishment.

However, some scholars have referred to the Vinaya Pitaka and the first four Nikayas of the Sutta Pitaka as the common core of all Buddhist traditions. A.K. Warder, Indian Buddhism, 3rd edition (2000) However, this could be considered misleading, as Mahyna considers these merely a preliminary, and not a core, teaching, the Tibetan Buddhists have not even translated most of the gamas, though theoretically they recognize them, and they play no part in the religious life of either clergy or laity in China and Japan. Eliot, Japanese Buddhism , Edward Arnold, London, 1935, page 16 Other scholars say there is no universally accepted common core. Gethin, Sayings of the Buddha , Oxford University Press, 2008, page xiv The size and complexity of the Buddhist canons have been seen by some (including Buddhist social reformer Babasaheb Ambedkar) as presenting barriers to the wider understanding of Buddhist philosophy.

We have portions of the Tipitakas of the Srvstivda, Dharmaguptaka, Sammitya, Mahsaghika, Kyapya, and Mahsaka schools, most of which survive in Chinese translation only. According to some sources, some early schools of Buddhism had five or seven pitakas.

In addition, East Asian Buddhism recognizes some sutras regarded by scholars to be of Chinese rather than Indian origin.

Source: Wikipedia > Buddhism