Each of us finds ourselves on the great wheel of life, an endless cycle going round and round.  Is there a way out?  Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, found an answer.  In this unit, we will review the rise of Buddhism, its development in India, and Buddhism as a world religion.  This review relates especially to chapters 8-11 of Patrick S. Bresnan, Awakening:  An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought, 3rd edition  (Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Prentice Hall, 2007).  After this review, I'll take you briefly through key places for Hinduism and Buddhism in the subcontinent of India.  You'll need the map of Indian Religions at the end of your syllabus.  If you don't have that map, please stop now, and come back when you have it, so that you can follow along as we travel from place to place in our review.

LIFE OF THE BUDDHA 

    If you could have everything you wanted without even having to ask for it, how would you spend your time?  Lying around on the beach?  Hiking?  Listening to music on an iPod?  Water skiing or snow skiing?  Reading all the best novels ever written?  Eating gourmet food?  Playing basketball?  Taking religion courses?

    In the 500's B.C.E., there was an Indian prince known as  Siddhartha.   (He was also called Gautama, but for the sake of consistency I'll just refer to him as Siddhartha.)  As he was growing up, Siddhartha was given just about anything he wanted; he was allowed by his father to do any of the things above except taking religion courses!  You see, Dad was afraid that his son might take religion seriously and become an ascetic.  Remember the fourth stage of life in Hinduism.  If he renounced the world, he wouldn't be able to succeed his father someday as king.  So his father thought that if Siddhartha overloaded on kama, and prepared to achieve artha as he carried out his dharma, maybe he would never ask about moksha!  

    Siddhartha grew up in a part of northern India which is now the nation of Nepal.  His life was very sheltered.  He lived in blissful ignorance of anything bad until he was out for a ride around the palace grounds with his chauffeur and experienced Four Great Sights.  "Oh, no," you say -- "another Gang of Four?"  Yes, Indians group things in fours the way Hebrews group things in sevens and twelves!  You remember how they helped Siddhartha to confront the human condition and offered him a way out.  The Four Great Sights were:

1. An old person.  Siddhartha realized that one day he would grow old too.
2. A sick person.  Siddhartha realized that even though he was quite healthy, he too could be attacked by disease.
3. A corpse.  Siddhartha realized that even though he was young and strong, one day he too would die.
4. A monk.  Siddhartha realized that the monk was searching for answers to the basic questions of life.  Perhaps he too should escape from his life of luxury, put on the yellow robe of an ascetic, and begin his own religious quest.

    The Four Great Sights led Siddhartha to the realization that life is not a bowl of cherries.  It is characterized by aging, suffering, and death.  But Indian religion offered a way out:  through becoming a monk, one might move toward salvation.  At age twenty-nine, Siddhartha escaped from the pleasure palace in which he had lived all his life, and he joined a monastery.  There he practiced a strict ascetic discipline, but he failed to find salvation.

    Siddhartha learned that the answers to life's questions aren't to be found in either extreme -- the self-indulgence of his youth or the self-denial of his adulthood.  A Middle Path, or way of moderation, would lead him toward his goal.  Salvation would be attained through enlightenment.  Where would Siddhartha look for enlightenment?

    Appalachian Power?  An illuminating thought, with powerful implications that are truly shocking!  But Siddhartha came from the Himalayas, not the Appalachians.

    Wiley Hall?  No, Siddhartha didn't need to be wily in his pursuit of enlightenment.  He sat under a tree meditating for many hours, until he came to a full awareness of the truth about life.  He had attained bodhi, "enlightenment," so he could now be called the Buddha, the "Enlightened One."

    If you look closely at the Buddha's first sermon, the Deer Park Sermon, you will recognize that he had been reflecting on some of its basic truths for many years before his enlightenment.  We call the four points of his sermon the Four Noble Truths. The First Noble Truth is:  All life is suffering.  A glimpse of that reality was what caused Siddhartha to leave home in the first place.  You and I are often lulled into a false sense of security by periods of happiness.  But the transitory nature of existence has a way of breaking in on us, so that the experience of suffering causes despair and depression which threaten to overwhelm us.  The Buddha says that rather than living in illusion, we should admit that pain and sorrow are basic conditions of life, because all life is impermanent, constantly changing.

    Yet that's not the end of the Deer Park Sermon.  We can do something about suffering, but we must first identify its cause. The Second Noble Truth identifies what makes us suffer.  That identification may make you think of "------ Under the Elms" and "A Streetcar Named ------."  Yes, tanha, desire or craving, is the cause of suffering.  So the Third Noble Truth suggests that if we can stop craving, we'll be rid of suffering!  Then we will attain Nirvana, total liberation from suffering, similar to the way in which Hindus seek moksha, liberation from the endless cycle of rebirths.  But how can we abolish craving?  The Fourth Noble Truth has the answer:  we can stop craving through following the Noble Eightfold Path.  Like the Ten Commandments, the Noble Eightfold Path has some overlapping to reinforce its key principles:

1. right understanding:  awareness that everything is in a constant process of change
2. right resolve:  wisdom to keep us from being fooled by illusion
3. right speech:  no lying, gossip, or cursing
4. right action:  no killing, stealing, or sexual immorality
5. right livelihood:  no job in which you must kill or practice superstition
6. right effort:  compassion which is effective rather than idealistic
7. right mindfulness:  moving toward awareness
8. right concentration:  practicing meditation

    For the next forty-five years, the Buddha went around India teaching others what he had learned.  He did not impose on his followers a rigid code of morals or beliefs.  Rather, he gave them guidance to find their own enlightenment.  One of his final teachings was, "Work out your salvation with diligence!"  By the time of his death in the 400's B.C.E., Buddhism was a fully developed religion.

TEACHINGS OF THE BUDDHA

    Like many other founders of religions, the Buddha did not write down his teachings but gave them in an oral form which could be easily memorized.  It was not until a couple of centuries later that the oral traditions were written on palm leaf manuscripts and collected in three baskets.  The Sanskrit word for "basket" was pitaka, and the word for "three" was tri in Sanskrit, (as in the Tri-Cities).  The earliest Buddhist canon was preserved in Pali, and it is called the Tripitaka, "Three Baskets":

• The Basket of Discipline,
• The Basket of Discourses, and
• The Basket of Ultimate Things.

    These are the basic scriptures for all Buddhists.  Various additional writings are considered sacred by particular Buddhist groups. 

    You remember from your study of Hinduism how important one's ego or self is.  In fact, if you want to grasp Ultimate Reality (Brahman), you must understand the self (atman).  In the Three Baskets, however, the one word that best describes the self is anatman, "no-self"!  (The Sanskrit prefix an- is placed in front of a word to negate it, like the English words anemia, "no blood," anarchy, "no ruling order," or anesthesia, "no feeling.")  In Buddhism, everything is in a constant process of change; there is no such thing as a permanent self! 

    What we perceive to be our unchanging self is really a transitory combination of physical and mental characteristics.  Buddhists identify five such constituents (physical form, feelings, perceptions, volitions, and consciousness) which come together at our birth and dissolve at our death.  But it's awfully difficult to believe that nothing at all of our very self will be preserved.  Thus many Buddhists contend that our consciousness will survive our death, even though the body and its feelings and perceptions won't exist any longer.

    The Buddhist doctrine of anatman, "no-self," is therefore a tough one!  When it is linked with karma, it changes that concept from its Hindu meaning.  Rather than karma's representing the rebirth of an individual self, karma describes the consequences of our actions on all future lives.  That is, we have a profound moral responsibility to future generations.  

    There is an interesting contrast to the Hindu view of the ultimate goal of life as release of the self from the cycle of rebirth.  Since in Buddhism there is no self to be released, the ultimate goal of life is "nothingness"!  Actually, the Sanskrit Nirvana might better be translated "no-thingness."  Literally, this term means the blowing out of a candle or a flame.  However, it doesn't indicate mere extinction, ceasing to exist, but also existence in the very fullest sense. 

    A Buddhist would say that we can't use ordinary language to portray the ultimate goal of life; we can only say what it is not.  The Buddha attained Nirvana in this life, and we can too.  His experience of complete freedom from all earthly attachments to "things" can show us how to escape suffering.  We will be one with the universe.

    As a religion, Buddhism has not only doctrines, like anatman and Nirvana, but also devotional practices.  Just as Christians recite the Lord's Prayer and Jews recite the Shema, Buddhists recite the Triple Refuge:

    "I take refuge in the Buddha.
     I take refuge in the dharma ('teaching').
     I take refuge in the sangha ('monastic community')."

    Monks chant the Triple Refuge and other prayers at morning and evening devotions.  Every other week, at the time of the new moon and full moon, the monks are joined by lay Buddhists for worship services.  Throughout Asia are pagodas, shrines, and monasteries.  Most of these do not have institutionalized structures like administrative councils or boards of deacons.  Rather, they provide focal points for individuals to worship whenever they wish.

    Moral principles apply to lay Buddhists as well as monks.  These principles are summarized in a collection known as the Five Precepts.  Can you guess which one of these prohibitions is not one of the Five Precepts?

• no killing
• no stealing
• no sexual immorality
• no telling lies
• no eating pork
• no drinking alcohol

    You may have been aware that eating pork is prohibited for Jews and Muslims.  But it is not specifically prohibited for Buddhists.  Many Buddhists interpret the prohibition of killing to apply to animal life as well as to human life.  So they practice vegetarianism.  But a non-vegetarian Buddhist does not make distinctions among various kinds of meat.  He or she still holds all life in reverence.

THERAVADA, MAHAYANA, VAJRAYANA

    The Buddhist religion has evolved into two major groups.  Theravada Buddhism is predominant in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia (Myanmar [Burma], Cambodia, and Thailand).  Mahayana Buddhism flourishes in East Asia (China, Japan, and Korea).  While they share many basic beliefs and practices, each tradition has distinctive elements which have characterized it for centuries. 

    The saint in Theravada Buddhism, called an arhat, is one who has attained this status after long, arduous self-discipline.  In Mahayana Buddhism, a saint is a bodhisattva, a person who has attained enlightenment (bodhi).  When Mahayana saints are enlightened, they are so filled with compassion that they vow not to enter Nirvana until they have helped all other living beings to become enlightened.  Mahayana scriptures, or sutras, describe the ways in which many bodhisattvas and Buddhas are constantly seeking ways to bring salvation to everyone.

    We will deal with Chinese and Japanese Buddhism in later units.  Korean Mahayana traditions are quite similar to those of China and Japan.  But we should mention one culture in which Buddhism fused with earlier religious traditions to form something quite different from Mahayana or Theravada.  It is called Vajrayana, or Tantric Buddhism. 

    Do you remember the culture in which Vajrayana is especially important?  Here's a hint:  think of the lamas (monks) that live high in the Himalayas, not the llamas that live high in the Andes.  Yes:  Tibet!  Although Tibet has been forcibly annexed by China, it actually represents a unique culture.  The Tibetan religious leader is known as the Dalai Lama.

    Tibetan monks and lay persons learn at an early age a chant which helps them to focus inwardly and find a feeling of peace:  "om...mani...padme...hum..."  Such a chant is called a mantra.  In addition to sacred chants, Tibetan Buddhists also use mudras (ritual hand gestures) and mandalas (mystic circles) in their worship.  Like a rosary, a mantra, mudra, or mandala may serve as a way to meditate, transforming ordinary space and time into sacred space and time.

    What does Buddhism offer to people of the twenty-first century?  A recognition that the true meaning of life is not to be found in social status, money, political power, or physical pleasure.  Nor is it discovered through giving up all enjoyment.  The Middle Path will allow a person to reach an awareness of the beauty which can be found in a great star system or a tiny blade of grass.  We will acknowledge our kinship with all living things.  Death will lose its power to terrify us, because we will see it as part of life.  That doesn't mean that we will necessarily call ourselves Buddhists.  But the Buddha may smile and say, "You are enlightened.  Hold fast to the truth!" 

MAP REVIEW

    Now you need to hold fast to your seat in a Humvee, while we take a quick trip through India and Pakistan, reviewing key places for Hinduism and Buddhism.  We'll go roughly from west to east.  Please follow along in your map of Indian Religions in the back of your syllabus, so you can imprint each place and its significance on your memory.

    Our journey begins in two of the Indus Valley cities, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, which were great cities at the same time as the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt, around 3,000 B.C.E.  Archaeologists have found bodies here which were buried with elaborate ceremonial preparations, so that the people would be ready for the next life.  They have also found objects which were apparently religious, such as figurines of fertility goddesses and bulls.  Some Indus Valley seals also show people in yoga postures.  So we can get a few glimpses of the earliest forms of Indian religion right here in the river area that gave India its name.

    Let's move on to another river valley:  the Jumna is not a major river, but it has two areas very important for our story.  One of those areas is the North Indian kingdom which is the key topic in the great epic of the Mahabharata.  On your syllabus map, I've designated it as the territory of the Kauravas and Pandavas, because these were the two major groups which were fighting for the right to rule over the kingdom.  Let me turn off the Humvee, and let's listen.  You can almost hear the echoes of the great battles, Arjuna talking with his charioteer Krishna, and Duryodhana planning with his commanding officers!   

    On down the Jumna River we find Vrindavan.  You remember that here is where Krishna grew up in an area with lots of cows -- like the pastureland between E&H and the Interstate.  Long before he got his chariot-driving license, Krishna charmed beautiful gopis ("cowgirls") with his magic flute.  He could dance as well as the cloggers at the Carter Fold, and he had a way of making each young woman feel that he was dancing only with her all evening.  Of course, we can see in that an image of the very personal relationship that the deity has to each of his worshipers.  I think I hear Krishna's flute now; it sounds like Mozart's "Magic Flute"!

    That's a beautiful farewell tune to leave on, as we drive on down to Seven Mile Ford, where we can ford the Jumna and reach the holiest river in India:  Mother Ganges.  According to ancient traditions, the source of the Ganges is up in the heavenly realm, flowing from the mythical Mount Meru.  It is such a powerful river that if it came straight down to earth it would flood the whole planet.  But Shiva allowed the river to flow through his hair, breaking the fall.  If anyone bathes in the waters of the Ganges, his or her sins are forgiven, and great virtue is created.  Bath, anyone?  No -- then let's go on to our next destination:  the center of the other great Indian epic:  the Ramayana.

    Ah, here we are in beautiful downtown Ayodhya.  Look at that majestic couple strolling together, holding hands, down State Street.  Who are they?  Richard Gere and Julia Roberts?  George and Laura Bush?  Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall?  No, they are more magnificent than any of those couples.  They must be Rama and Sita!  Of course -- Rama grew up here and had lots of adventures in this area.  I'll bet you remember the stories so well that you could tell them in the Jonesborough Storytelling Festival.  Look:  Rama and Sita are fading from our view as they reenter the eternal realm.  We may have experienced an avatara of Vishnu, intervening at a time of crisis in human history.  I wonder what happened...

    It's not far from Ayodhya to the area of the Shakyas, in the southern highlands of the Himalayas, today known as Nepal. According to ancient tradition, the gods chose to have the future Buddha born among the Shakya clan because, unlike most races in India, it was non-Aryan, highly virtuous, and valiant. 

    The Shakyas were ruled by King Shuddhodhana and Queen Maya, who had their capital in Kapilavastu.  It was there that their son Siddhartha was born in 563 B.C.E., in a park area known as Lumbini.  You've heard the traditional account of Siddhartha's birth and growth into a young adult, written by Asvaghosa.  As we stand here in Lumbini Park, it's intriguing to imagine what it would be like to have a child who you feel is destined for greatness.  Well, don't we all hope for that for our children?  Yes, but what if you felt your baby was destined to bring enlightenment to millions of people?  That's overwhelming!  One day Shuddhodhana and Maya's little boy would be nicknamed Shakyamuni, the great ascetic of the Shakyas.

    Now we're going to put our Humvee to the test.  Can it take us all the way up into the mountains of Tibet, so that we can see the holy city of Lhasa?  When you were a child, did your Mom and Dad ever read to you The Little Engine That Could, with its chant of "I think I can, I think I can..."  Well, now it's time to chant, "Hummmm-veeee, Hummmm-veeee..."  Hooray!  With that mantra, we've climbed the mountains, and we're here at the Potala.  Your textbook has a picture on page 316 of this magnificent thirteen-story center of Tibetan Buddhism built in the 1600's by the fifth Dalai Lama.  You just can't help calling out, "Hello, Dalai!"  But a voice responds, "Dalai has left the building."  After Chinese military and political forces took over Tibet in the 1950's, the fourteenth Dalai Lama fled to India and has lived in exile ever since.  Lhasa still has tremendous symbolic meaning for the Tibetan people.

    We can leave the mountains and return to the great river which is so significant in Indian religion.  Let's go down the Ganges to a place which is considered by many to be the holiest city in the whole world:  Varanasi, also known as Benares or Kasi.  Varanasi is the center of Shiva worship, because Shiva performed many austerities here.  The city has a thousand five hundred temples, including one temple dedicated to Shiva with a famous linga image.  Pilgrims often make a six-day walk on a road which encircles the sacred area.  It is believed that anyone who dies in the holy city goes straight to paradise, so many Hindus come to Varanasi when they are about to die. 

    In our study, Varanasi is also important because in the nearby town of Sarnath, the newly enlightened Buddha preached his very first sermon, at the Deer Park.  I'm sure that you remember the four main points of the Deer Park Sermon; if you've forgotten them, please go back to the early part of this review.  If you remember the sermon, let's continue our journey.

    Just a little south of the Ganges is the city of Rajagriha  (Sanskrit for "Vulture Peak" or "Buzzard Roost").  There the Buddha shared many of his teachings in a retreat center for monks and for non-ascetics who would spend time during the rainy season at the monastery.  At Rajagriha the first great Buddhist council was held, soon after the death of the Buddha.  The council spent several months compiling basic teachings of the Buddha and developing a monastic code which would provide a firm foundation for the future.  

    Not far from Rajagriha is the most famous tree in the world.  No, not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil -- that was in the Garden of Eden!  I'm talking about the tree of enlightenment, which in Sanskrit is bodhi, so it's called the bodhi tree or bo-tree for short.  If you come to my office in Wiley Hall and sit in the black chair, you'll be sitting under a leaf from a modern descendant of that tree, a pipal tree or ficus religiosus.  You'll see an inscription under the leaf, with these words from the Buddha:  "Hold fast to the truth as a lamp."  At the time that Siddhartha sat under the tree and attained enlightenment, it was out in the middle of nowhere.  But of course today it is a place of pilgrimage, known as Bodh-Gaya.

    When you think of India, naturally one of the cities that pops into your mind is Calcutta.  The main temple (ghat in Sanskrit) for the goddess Kali is called Kali-ghata, which we've anglicized as Calcutta.  Kali is one of the manifestations of shakti, the feminine power of Shiva.  In Calcutta, she is also worshiped under the name Durga.  Both aspects of the goddess represent some of the terrifying aspects of life as well as closeness to her followers.  Brrr ... let's get out of here!   

    We come to the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Magadha, founded by one of the greatest Buddhist rulers of all time, Ashoka.  He was a very powerful king over a large territory which he was continually expanding, until he was struck by the realization of the tremendous loss of life which he was causing in his wars of territorial expansion.  Ashoka became an ascetic!  He built a rock pillar at Lumbini, with quotations from Buddhist sutras, and then he had more and more of them carved, all over Magadha.  We can still read his rock edicts today.  They tell about his own conversion to Buddhism and his basic philosophy.  The rock edicts proclaim toleration and devotion to righteousness as ideals not only for Ashoka but for all people.

    One of Ashoka's rock edicts is at Konarak, whose name reminds us of the town of Konnarock, over near White Top Mountain in Virginia.  Konarak is also a significant place for Hindus.  The sun has been known and worshipped throughout the world by many names, over the years.  Here in Konarak, people in ancient times built a great temple dedicated to the divine sun, called Surya.  We've read a beautiful poem to Surya in the Rig Veda.

    Our journey now takes us to the large island of Sri Lanka, off the southern tip of the subcontinent in the Indian Ocean.  Excuse me a minute, while I arrange for us to get the Humvee onto a ferryboat which can carry us to the island.  Here's a pilot:  his name is Han Solo, and he has a large vehicle (a mahayana) called the "Millennium Falcon."  He's got a cute little crooked grin and intriguing eyes, but can we trust him?  Hmmm... I think we should trust another Han:  Hanuman.  His small vehicle (hinayana) is called the "Monkey Business," and he says that he's made the trip to Sri Lanka many times.  In fact, Hanuman once helped Prince Rama to defeat the evil ruler of the island, Ravana, who had captured Rama's wife Sita.  When we tell Hanuman that we saw a vision of Rama and Sita back in Ayodhya, he goes bananas!

    We arrive at Anuradhapura, a city which many centuries ago was the capital of Sri Lanka.  It's most famous for the Pali Canon.  No, don't go looking for one of those big guns that you'll find at Civil War sites around Virginia!  In 80 B.C.E., long after the first great Buddhist councils, monks and scholars met to establish formally a canon.  A canon is a collection of sacred writings (such as the Bible or the Qur'an) which has been formally adopted by a religion.  Theravada Buddhism adopted at Anuradhapura a canon written in Pali, a language which derived from Sanskrit and probably the language which the Buddha himself spoke.  So this was a very important council!

    The southernmost point on our journey is Kandy, which is known for the Temple of the Tooth, enshrining a tooth which is said to be from the Buddha himself.  As we visit it, you are reminded of some of the relics of saints which you have seen in Christian cathedrals in Europe.  But you also remember that the Buddha wanted us to focus on meditation and enlightenment rather than on physical aspects which are in a constant process of change.  When Hanuman suggests that you honor this tooth by placing sweets in front of it, you say "Oh No!"   He misunderstands you and thinks you have said "U Nu."  So he takes us down to his ferry for the final lap of our voyage:  the homeland of U Nu, which is known by the names Myanmar and Burma.

    When you arrive in Myanmar, you learn that U Nu was a deeply spiritual Theravada Buddhist government leader.  In his own life and in his government policies, he wanted to set an example of spirituality for people throughout the world.  A half century ago, with U Nu's leadership, a great world council of Theravada Buddhist leaders was held in Burma to celebrate the 2,500th anniversary of the birth of the Buddha and to express the ancient truths in today's language.

    Your syllabus map ends here.  In the next unit, we'll see how Buddhism moved from its homeland into China, Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia.  I hope that this "trip" has helped you to review some of the key places in the foundational stories of Hinduism and Buddhism.  At the end of your journey, you have completed this review program; you should be sufficiently enlightened for now.  If you like, you can send me e-mail: fkellogg@ehc.edu

To look at one of my other syllabi, go to my Home Page.

To review a different unit in this course, go directly to one of the following:

    Unit 1, Hinduism
    Unit 3, China
    Unit 4, Japan

If you prefer, you may return to the Emory & Henry College Home Page.

Last updated:  March 03, 2008