Philosophy of Buddhism Midterm

Philosophy 350 Midterm

PHILOSOPHY OF BUDDHISM

EVOLUTION OF CORE BUDDHIST CONCEPTS



Tammie Pryor
10/17/2009


 
Buddhism has been broadly interpreted since the day of Siddhartha Gotama’s enlightenment, and even more so in the almost 2500 years since his death. Many core Buddhist concepts have changed over the years due to this broad interpretation, and if one asked various Buddhists from around the world what any of these Buddhist concepts meant to them, one would receive a variety of answers. Despite the myriad different interpretations of core concepts, all Buddhists ultimately agree on two things: the phenomena that when a person becomes enlightened, all that person’s doubts are settled, they experience an awakening, and they are able to put into practice a new way of life that is catalyzed by that awakening; and that there are three jewels or treasures of Buddhism – the Buddha, the dharma, and the Sangha. (Bender 2009)
Westerners have been led to believe that Theravada Buddhism is the main form and the original form of Buddhism, but that is not necessarily the case. Dharma is conveyed in different ways because different teachers see things differently, and different students learn differently. Because of this, the method used to bring each student along in Buddhism has to be individualized. Just because Theravada was considered to be the most popular form of Buddhism earliest in history does not make it the original or correct form of Buddhism. (Bender 2009) In actuality, it seems as though this is the pattern most ideas follow in transmission from human to human – it is the bell-shaped curve. Given a variety of ideas introduced at the exact same time, some of those ideas will dominate in society because they resonate within the greatest number of people in that society at that time. That does not mean the ideas that do not resonate with the greatest number of people are wrong. It could mean that the less popular ideas were introduced by people that thought ahead of their time, or by people that were able to instantly grasp concepts that others were not ready for yet. The less popular ideas could also include those that were not advanced enough for the majority of that particular society at that particular time.
Theravada originally emerged as the most popular form of Buddhism because it was the “average” form of Buddhism. It contained step-by-step instructions, so it was easier to grasp and live by for some than the more complex concepts of compassion followed by Mahayaha Buddhism, and abolishment of ignorance followed by Vajrayaha Buddhism. For those who found other forms of Buddhism too difficult to follow, Pure Land Buddhism offered the ease of simply believing in a deity to reach enlightenment.
Dukkha
The very foundation of Buddhism is the concept of The Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble truths were revealed by the Buddha on the day of his enlightenment and revolve around the concept of dukkha and how to eliminate it. (Laumakis 50) The Sanskrit term “dukkha” is often translated into English to mean “suffering”, but it has a psychological as well as physical meaning. (Laumakis 267) The term “dukkha” embodies the feeling of “I’m empty, and I need something to fill me up”; it is the illusion that “something outside myself will solve my problems”. (Bender 2009) It is the feeling that nothing ever really lives up to our expectations. (Laumakis 267) People around us do not always do what we would like them to do, which creates suffering in our social relationships. (Bender 2009) Suffering is inevitable in the realm of non-permanence, the realm in which all that humans know resides. Suffering is also essential to happiness. In “The Heart of Buddha’s Teaching” by Thich Nhat Hanh, it is mentioned that without suffering we would not be able to appreciate happiness. For example, without becoming cold, we would not be able to appreciate warmth. (Nhat Hanh 78) Humans have the power to aggravate or alleviate suffering both within themselves and in all sentient beings in which they interact with in the world.
Theravada Buddhists believe that through meditation they can learn to recognize negative emotions before they arise, and can then stop them from arising, thereby eliminating dukkha. (Bender 2009) Theravada Buddhism puts a focus on the individual’s cessation of suffering, rather than the cessation of suffering for the collective. Traditionally one would renounce the rest of the world to travel along their own personal Theravadan path. Mahayana Buddhists, on the other hand, believe that the root cause of dukkha is the feeling of individuality, of not being interconnected with the rest of the universe. (Bender 2009) Therefore, making a mental shift from aloneness to interconnectedness (the realization of Indra’s net) produces the elimination of suffering. Mahayana Buddhism encourages sharing experiences with others on the path as a way to gain deeper insight into your own suffering. (Nhat Hanh 38) Vajrayana Buddhism has taken a more contemporary path. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in his book “The Universe in a Single Atom” calls for a co-mingling of science, ethics, and introspection in order to reduce suffering in the world. (Gyatso)
The historical Buddha and Buddha-nature
According to Theravada Buddhism, the Buddha was a human being named Siddharta Gotama. (Laumakis 266) Around the age of twenty-eight, he renounced his family, friends, and possessions in order to find answers to the “big questions” in life, such as “Why are we here?” and “What is the meaning of life?”. (Laumakis 7) He underwent a total spiritual transformation after spending six years diligently searching for truth, and then spent the rest of his life teaching others of his insights. (Laumakis 8) These insights consisted primarily of The Four Noble Truths, which outline that suffering is inevitable for all sentient beings, but it can be overcome by following a path called The Eightfold Path.
After Siddhartha Gotama’s death, the Sangha, which was the monastic order at that time, got together and wrote down their memories of the Buddha’s teachings. (Bender 2009) Unfortunately, the Buddha never wrote anything down, so his teachings suffered the degradation that is inevitable when stories are passed from one person to another orally. (Bender 2009) Who the historical Buddha “really” was cannot be known for certain. Many stories exist, but some of them seem implausible. There is a story of a “white elephant touching the Buddha’s mother on the abdomen to impregnate her” which defies the terms of biology. Also, it would be highly unlikely that he could live for approximately twenty-eight years without ever encountering anyone who was sick, elderly, or dead. (Bender 2009) Perhaps he did not literally see these people for the first time. Many people undergo a period of significant existential questioning at about the same age the Buddha was at this time. He may have realized and internalized what he was seeing for the first time, and for the first time, it deeply bothered him.
The Buddha broke all the traditional Hindu rules to become a sanyassin (one who denounces his/her former life, which include all prior familial relationships, and now practices asceticism while studying scriptures). (Bender 2009) He excelled at both asceticism and hedonism, but did not reach enlightenment until he followed a path in the middle of those two extremes. In doing whatever was necessary to achieve enlightenment, he forged his own path. The Buddha broke the caste system by teaching to anyone who wanted to learn, including women. (Bender 2009)
Buddha-nature is “the capacity to wake up and understand things as they are”. (Nhat Hanh 52) It is the potential of all sentient beings for the achievement of enlightenment. (Nhat Hanh 188) It can be likened to a seed within all of us. Practicing the eightfold path helps the seed of Buddha-nature grow. (Nhat Hanh 187)
The Sangha
The term sangha is used to describe those that follow the teachings of the Buddha or belong to the Buddhist community. (Laumakis 272) Because the Theravadan sangha preserved the Buddha’s teachings by creating written text, they had an advantage over those with different Buddhist views. (Laumakis 65)
Around the beginning of the common era, there was a crystallization of many alternate views of Buddhism. During this time, the people that held these alternative views came to realize that they were as much a part of the sangha as those who practiced Theravada Buddhism. (Bender 2009)
The sangha is important as it forms a support system for those following the Buddhist path. It serves to create a safe, nurturing environment with others who are sharing the same beliefs and struggles. Sanghas have helped to spread Buddhism and as a result they exist all over the world today.
What an enlightened being “is like”
In Theravada Buddhism, an enlightened being is referred to as an Arahant. (Laumakis 66) The Arahant’s enlightenment consists of achieving wisdom. (Bender 2009) An enlightened being avoids suffering by detaching from all things that cause it.
In Madhyamaka, a form of Mahayana Buddhism, an enlightened being is referred to as a Boddhisattva and only achieves enlightenment through compassion. (Bender 2009) An enlightened being realizes there is no need to suffer because we are all deeply connected to everything else in the universe, and suffering and happiness are actually “two sides of the same coin”. (Bender 2009) In Pure Land Buddhism, another form of Mahayana Buddhism, an enlightened being is “saved” by the grace of the Buddha. They will become enlightened when they die because of their devotion to Buddha.
In Vajrayana Buddhism, an enlightened being is referred to as a Maddhasiddha and has both wisdom and compassion, embodying the tradition of the Vajrayana tradition. (Laumakis 66) A Maddhasiddha has developed special powers such as telepathy, clairvoyance, tumo (the ability to generate body heat), lung-gampa (the ability to run at extraordinary speed over rough terrain), and control over death. (Bender 2009) An enlightened being exists purely in the current moment.
In all of the various forms of Buddhism, enlightenment consists of a profound spiritual “awakening” and the cessation of suffering.
Interdependent arising, anatta(no-self), and shunyata(emptiness)
Interdependent arising refers to the concept that there are not “any metaphysically distinct and independently existing beings”. (Laumakis 129) This means that everything in the universe is related to everything else. This can be demonstrated by looking at a piece of paper. (Bender 2009) The paper is made from trees, which are made of cells, which are made of atoms, which form the basic structure of the universe. The tree that the paper grew from the nourishment it received from its roots in the ground. This nourishment consisted of small particles of matter which were most likely produced as a byproduct of animals, insects, and bacteria feeding on decomposing material, which may have been the dead body of a human or animal, or rotting vegetation. During its lifetime, that human, animal, or vegetation changed the course of history just by becoming alive. The paper will eventually degrade and go back into the earth, to be sucked up by another plant’s roots. That plant may become food for another human or animal. And so on goes the cycle of life and death, birth and rebirth. Nothing is permanent, and everything is interconnected in the universe in which we know.
Anatta is the concept of no-self. If one believes that they have a “self”, then it will most likely be very difficult for them to give up their “self.” However, there is no empirical evidence of a self. The belief in a permanent self is the greatest obstacle to obtaining enlightenment. The Buddha taught that humans were actually composed of five aggregates, which were form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. (Naht Hanh 176) The Buddha introduced the five aggregates purely as a way to cast doubt on a permanent self, to aide in detachment. (Bender 2009) However, casting doubt on a permanent self creates suffering. The Buddha considered the five aggregates as the primary source of dukkha. (Laumakis 132) Interdependent arising can be easily seen in the five aggregates. Form is the human body which is born and dies. Feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness are each affected by and affect those of other humans (and animals).
There are two types of emptiness in Buddhism. On one hand, emptiness is a cause of suffering. It is a craving, it is the feeling best described as “I’m empty and I need something to fill me up”. It is an illusion that “something outside myself will solve my problems”. (Bender 2009) However, this type of emptiness is not the emptiness described by the term shunyata. Shunyata is the concept that everything is empty because nothing exists permanently. The doctrine of the two truths is a Madhyamaka teaching about shunyata. The excerpt below embodies the concept of how shunyata leads to enlightenment in Mahayana practice:
“When we stop discussing things and begin to realize the teachings in our own life, a moment comes when we realize that our life is the path and we no longer rely merely on the forms of practice. Our action becomes ‘non-action,’ and our practice becomes ‘non-practice.’” (Nhat Hanh 122)

The teacher
All three main traditions of Buddhism use the Sanskrit term guru. Guru means dispeller of darkness. (Bender 2009) The role of a guru in Buddhism is to teach you to go deeper and deeper inside yourself until you reach atman. (Bender 2009) As mentioned before, different teachers bring different students along in different ways, as we all learn differently. In Theravada Buddhism, the guru is the meditation instructor. (Bender 2009) In Mahayana Buddhism, the guru is a spiritual teacher that also uses physical force to move the student along the path to enlightenment. (Bender 2009) In Vajrayana, the guru is called a “siddha” and can violate all the rules of conventionality, as required, to bring the student towards enlightenment. (Bender 2009) A guru is necessary not only to disseminate knowledge, but to keep the student focused along the path.
Karma and rebirth
Karma and rebirth were concepts carried over from Hinduism. The Buddha was a Hindu by birth, so he inherited many Hindu ideas. Later on in the history of Buddhism, Hinduism concepts were re-introduced through the intermingling of ideas and oral traditions being passed along the Silk Road. Hinduism began with an agrarian culture called Harrapa. Because the Harrapas were agrarian, they saw the cyclical aspect of nature (life/death, seasons, crops, etc.) and so it was natural and comforting to believe that they would be reborn. The Harrapan culture was invaded by a group called the Aryans. The Aryans brought with them the concept of the masculine gods of Persia, Greece, and Rome. They were a conquer-and-command culture who probably felt that their bad deeds would be punished by the gods. With the marriage of these two cultures due to the Aryan invasion, the concept of karma was born. In Hinduism, karma affects how one will be born in the next life. (Bender 2008) In Buddhism, karma is an action that will produce consequences (good or bad) in the universe because of our interconnectedness. Rebirth in Buddhism continues until one becomes enlightened – at that point they are freed from the cycle of death and rebirth.
Samsara and nirvana
Samsara is the endless cycle of suffering caused by reincarnation. The Hindu Upanishads tell us that we will be released from the cycle of reincarnation. (Bender 2009) As discussed in the previous section, many Hindu ideas emanate through Buddhism. Nirvana means enlightenment. It is the cessation of Samsara.
In Theravada Buddhism, the goal is to go from samsara to nirvana. The concepts of samsara and nirvana are taken literally.
In Mahayana Buddhism, samsara and nirvana are the same. (Bender 2009) The typical human mind thinks dualistically, however, if it were to think non-dualistically it would see that each burden is also a gift. (Bender 2009) In other words, each of us has already achieved nirvana, we just do not realize it because we are only looking at samsara. (Bender 2009) A shift in perspective is all that is needed to achieve enlightenment. This shift in perspective is all that is needed in Pure Land Buddhism as well, but the shift is from non-belief to belief in and devotion to the Buddha.
In Vajrayana Buddhism, reincarnation is symbolic. Nirvana is an awakening from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth of each of the five aggregates. It is the instant realization that the five aggregates are not permanent, and that’s okay because the five aggregates are just a small part of the universal whole. Nirvana is living in the current moment. It is just being, and at the same time being fully aware.
How enlightenment is best achieved
In Theravada, the way to enlightenment is through detachment. In meditation, a Theravada Buddhist has the ability to see thought formations arise and then put them aside quickly. (Bender 2009) Non-attachment is such a fundamental concept in Theravada Buddhism, that there comes a time in one’s path where Buddhism becomes an attachment, and one is expected to detach from Buddhism also. (Bender 2009)
In Mahayana, the way to enlightenment is through compassion. (Bender 2009) Mahayana Buddhists believe that the root error of thinking is egocentrism. This thought process leads to the assumption that individual human beings are separate from one another and from every other thing in the universe. (Bender 2009) Those who follow Mahayana Buddhism take the Boddhisattva vow as early as the age of nine. This vow states, “I vow to postpone my entry into nirvana until all sentient beings have been saved”. (Bender 2009)
In Pure Land Buddhism the way to enlightenment is by praying to Amitabha. (Bender 2009) This devotional path is the easiest path to take – anyone can do it. Very few people want to do hard work, and the other forms of Buddhism require diligent mental work. (Bender 2009)
In Vajrayana Buddhism, “crazy wisdom” is practiced by Siddha (?). This is the practice of using radical measures, including inflicting harm upon others, to teach a lesson. Such a practice would be considered a clear violation of Theravada Buddhism. (Bender 2009) Vajrayana Buddhism also uses tantric practices, which are attempts to harness the energy of desire and channel it into spiritual insights. (Bender 2009) During meditation there is the recitation of mantras with 108 mala beads on a strand, and the mudras are greatly accentuated. Rather than having just hand positions, the mudras in Vajrayana consist of full-body positions. Vajrayana Buddhism also uses mandalas and different colored meditation rooms to accentuate meditation practice. (Bender 2009)
What a human person is
In all forms of Buddhism, a human person is a sentient being comprised of five aggregates.
Ethical action on the Buddhist Path
Ethical action on the Buddhist Path means considering the consequences of one’s actions on a universal scale. It means meditating to learn more about yourself and the world. It also means the active pursuit of knowledge – knowledge of how one’s food is obtained and what all really goes into the production of one apple at a grocery store, knowledge of how one’s parenting style will affect their children and their children’s children, knowledge of what happens when one buys something – the knowledge of how one affects and is affected by everything.
Regardless of all of the differences between the different forms of Buddhism, the cessation of suffering is the ultimate goal. The different methods used to achieve this goal and all the different interpretations of what the Buddha actually taught don’t really matter that much. All people have different learning styles. The most important thing for each individual Buddhist is for them to walk on a path towards enlightenment.



Works Cited

Bender, Frederic L. Philosophy 310 Lectures. Colorado Springs: UCCS, 2008.
Bender, Frederic L. Philosophy 350 Lectures. Colorado Springs: UCCS, 2009.
Gyatso, Tenzin, Fourteenth Dalai Lama. The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality, New York: Morgan Road Books.
Laumakis, Stephen J. An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Nhat Hanh, Thich. The Hearth of Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation. New York: Broadway Books, 1999. Print.