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How Buddhism Has Changed Albert Einstein once said, “Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural & spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. ” I though this quote was an interesting beginning into seeing how this ancient religion changed over the course of its existence.
I feel that Buddhism has changed over time but has maintained that core teaching that it had with the early Indians and with the Theravada teachings. Mahayana just happens to be the more loose teachings of the Buddha. The term used in our book, The Foundations of Buddhism, defines it as the “non-canonical” sutras. This paper will hopefully give you an understanding of the teachings of the Buddha as well as see how the Theravada and the Mahayana teachings have similarities along with some differences. Buddhism, one of the major religions of the world, was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, who lived in northern India from 560 to 480 B.
C. The time of the Buddha was one of social and religious change, marked by the further advance of Aryan civilization into the Ganges Plain, the development of trade and cities, the breakdown of old tribal structures, and the rise of a whole spectrum of new religious movements that responded to the demands of the times (Conze). These movements were derived from the Brahmanic tradition of Hinduism but were also reactions against it. Of the new sects, Buddhism was the most successful and eventually spread throughout India and most of Asia. Buddhism, like many religions and philosophies, offers methods for people to attain spiritual goals.
Today it is common to divide Buddhism into two main branches. The Theravada, or “Doctrine of the Elders,” is the more conservative of the two. It is dominant in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand (Robinson and Johnson). This is the school of Buddhism that draws from the Tipitaka or Pali Canon. This is thought to be the earliest surviving records of the Buddha’s teachings. The Mahayana, or “Great Vehicle,” is more diverse and liberal; it is found mainly in Taiwan, Korea, and Japan, and among Tibetan peoples, where it is distinguished by its emphasis on the Buddhist Tantras (Robinson and Johnson).
The Mahayanists feel that the Theravada emphasis on arahantship or sainthood. This is seen as winning nibbana for oneself and that is a narrow or selfish goal. In recent times both branches, as well as Tibetan Buddhism, have gained followers in the West. It is virtually impossible to tell what the Buddhist population of the world is today; statistics are difficult to obtain because persons might have Buddhist beliefs and engage in Buddhist rites while maintaining folk or other religions such as Shinto, Confucian, Taoist, and Hindu (Conze).
Such persons might or might not call themselves or be counted as Buddhists. Nevertheless, the number of Buddhists worldwide is frequently estimated at more than 300 million (Conze). Just how the original teaching of the Buddha is taught is now a matter of some debate. Even though the Theravada and the Mahayana are somewhat different they both still may be said to have centered on certain basic doctrines. They both teach the Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path. The first of the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha held, is suffering, or duhkha.
By this, he meant not only that human existence is occasionally painful but that all beings; humans, animals, ghosts, hell-beings, even the gods in the heavens; are caught up in samsara, a cycle of rebirth, a maze of suffering in which their actions, or karma, keep them wandering (Robinson and Johnson). Samsara and karma are not doctrines specific to Buddhism. The Buddha, however, specified that samsara is characterized by three marks: suffering, impermanence, and no-self, or anatman.
Individuals not only suffer in a constantly changing world, but what appears to be the self, the soul, has no independent reality apart from its many separable elements (Pye). The second Noble Truth is that suffering itself has a cause. At the simplest level, this may be said to be desire; but the theory was fully worked out in the complex doctrine of “dependent origination,” or pratityasamutpada, which explains the interrelationship of all reality in terms of an unbroken chain of causation (Conze). The third Noble Truth, however, is that this chain can be broken, that suffering can cease.
The Buddhists called this end of suffering nirvana and conceived of it as a cessation of rebirth, an escape from samsara. Finally, the fourth Noble Truth is that a way exists through which this cessation can be brought about: the practice of the noble Eightfold Path. This combines ethical and disciplinary practices, training in concentration and meditation, and the development of enlightened wisdom, all thought to be necessary. if practiced diligently, it would lead to enlightenment. The first of the Eightfold Path is right understanding (also known as the right view).
The actual word ‘understanding’ is not suppose to mean just an intellectual or a conceptual comprehension but an understanding that is developed over time through experience. The second is the right thought or the right intention. Here the Buddha advises us to rid our thoughts of three things, lust, ill-will and cruelty. By ridding ourselves of these things we will be spared dissatisfaction and suffering. The absence of these can lead to happiness. Right though is a purifying state that removes all the negative emotions. The third is right speech.
The Buddha knew the power of speech and saw that it had the ability to do good or to harm others. He advises that one should stay away from the four unwholesome activities: lying, telling tales, harsh language and frivolous talk. If one can abstain from these things then good results will be rewarded. These include respect and trust from others because you have a social cohesiveness and unity to those around you. Right action is the fourth in the Eightfold Path. This consists of abstaining from killing, abstaining from stealing and abstaining from unlawful sexual intercourse.
This means killing no animals, insects or people. There is nothing to be gained from it. It is a respect for life. Stealing just leads to the suffering of others as well as oneself. You must have respect for those things around you. Faithfulness and respect for the feelings of others are important features of the Buddhist approach to sexual relationships. The fifth action is right to livelihood. This is one of the more complicated of the eight because we have to be able to take care of our families. The Buddha considered that the right and wrong livelihood can be broadly divided according to the following criteria.
The right one brings a true benefit to oneself or their family. The wrong is to the detriment of the others. Karma plays a part in this path. What you sow will come back to you be it good or bad. One must choose his or her career wisely. You may pay for your bad decision later. The Buddha give ethical guidelines to make things easier when choosing the profession of ones choice. Right effort brings us to the sixth one. Four elements make up this path: the effort to avoid, the effort to overcome, the effort to develop and the effort to maintain. To avoid is to avoid the arising of evil.
One must turn their attention away so that evil does not intrude. To overcome is your attempt at getting past whatever is trying to get to you. There are many ways at obtaining this. The effort to develop wholesome says benevolence and kindness is like inviting a welcome friend to your house. To maintain is to make these wholesome states habitual to the mind or it’s like asking the welcome guest to stay permanently. The seventh is right mindfulness. This teaches us something outlined in the Satipatthana Sutta, The Four Foundations of Mindfulness.
According to the text, mindfulness is ‘the direct path to the attainment of purity, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the end of pain and grief… for the realization of Nibbana. This can be seen as bear attention or a clear comprehension. You want to practice this to see things clearly. This will help you to become unswayed. The four categories from within which mindfulness can be approached are: 1. contemplation of the body 2. contemplation of feelings 3. contemplation of the mind 4. contemplation of mental objects. The eighth and final one is right concentration.
This is a special form called Samadhi. This is when the mind reaches complete one pointedness. When you are in this state nothing can distract you from the object of contemplation. Meditation is practiced in many forms to gain this sort of insight. This is also practiced for many years if ever obtained. These are teachings of the Buddha that are seen even though there are many ways to teach his work now. Just because there happen to be a few different styles that does not mean that the teachings of the Buddha are changed. All of these acts of offering are intimately involved in the concept of merit-making.
By performing them, individuals, through the working of karma, can seek to assure themselves rebirth in one of the heavens or a better station in life, from which they may be able to attain the goal of enlightenment. Bibliography 1. Conze, Edward, Buddhist Scriptures (Hardmondsworth, 1959) 2. Conze, Edward, Buddhist Thought in India (London, 1962) 3. Gethin, Rupert, The Foundations of Buddhism (Oxford, 1998) 4. Pye, Michael, Skilful Means (London, 1978) 5. Robinson, R. H. and Johnson, W. L. , Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction (fifth edition) (Wadsworth, 2005