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A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM
Life of the Buddha
Over 2,500 years ago, in the shadows of the snow-covered Himalayan Mountains, Siddhartha Gautama,
the future Buddha was born. He was born as the prince of the Sakya Kingdom. Soon after Siddhartha's
birth, his mother, Queen Maya, passed away, leaving his Aunt Prajapati and his father, King Suddhodana
to raise him. The prince was raised with tender-loving care.
From his birth, he was given an abundance of material luxuries. He was taught and trained by the best
educators of the time. In spite of the fact that Siddhartha 's material wants were fulfilled, the prince
became increasingly meditative and detached from his material surroundings. His sensitivity to life grew
and he became distressed by the paradox of existence itself.
However, it was when he saw four visions of an aged man in agony; a man infested with disease; a
corpse followed by weeping mourners; and a serene peaceful mendicant, that he resolved to leave the
comfort of his surroundings in search of Truth and Enlightenment. He was then twenty-nine years old.
On one moonlit night with his horse, Kanthaka, and his personal servant Channa, he slipped out of his
castle, leaving behind his wife Yasodhara, his son Rahula and his father's kingdom. He renounced his
princely position and all of his privileges and became a simple mendicant, a seeker in search of the True
Reality.
The scriptures tell us that Siddhartha travelled eastward seeking the guidance of two noted sages, Arada
Kalama and Udraka Ramaputra, in the hopes of finding deliverance through their guidance. However, he
found their knowledge and their teachings to be inadequate for the supreme enlightenment. He then
wandered onto a place called Uruvilva where, with five companions, he practiced rigorous self-
mortification in the hopes of emancipation from the world of Samsara [the cycle of death and rebirth]. For
six long years he diligently practised various forms of asceticism [denial of food and comfort for the body]
but to no avail. At the end, he found himself only in utter confusion and physical exhaustion.
Not discouraged by his failure in ascetic practices, he then resolved to follow his inner instinct by
meditating cross-legged under a tree which later became known as the Bodhi tree. He said "Though [my]
skin, sinew and bone may dry up as it will, my flesh and blood may dry in my body, but without attaining
complete enlightenment I will not leave this seat."
Many were the nights of torment by Mara, the inner temptations and doubts, but he pressed on,
overcoming Mara and its temptations. It is said that Siddhartha gradually entered into first, second, third
and the final jhāna [yogic trance state] until his consciousness merged into the ultimate consciousness of
True Reality. The revelation of the True Reality took place and he became the Perfectly Awakened One,
the Buddha.
With triumphant voice he cried out:
I ran my course unceasingly seeking the maker of the House painful in birth again and again.
House builder! I behold thee now, again a house thou shalt not build; all the rafters are broken
now, the ridge-pole also is destroyed. My mind, its elements dissolved.
He was then thirty-five years old.
For several days after his awakening, he contemplated at the foot of the Bodhi tree in deep meditation.
But soon, out of compassion for all sentient beings, he proclaimed the difficult task of revealing the
Buddha Dharma [the teachings]. At the deer park in Baranasi [now Sarnath], the Buddha delivered his
first instruction to his former friends, the five ascetics. He laid down to them the basic doctrine of the
middle way. This first address of the Buddha is called "The setting in motion of the wheel of truth."
For 45 years, the Enlightened One journeyed from place to place along the River Ganges, teaching many
paths to the ultimate emancipation from the world of Duhkha [suffering]. These teachings included his
instructions to his father, King Suddhodana, his wife Yasodhara, his son Rahula, and the rest of the Sakya
Kingdom. They all became the members of the Sangha , the Buddhist Order, the followers of the Buddha
Dharma.
The Sangha that began with five ascetics eventually grew into thousands. With the central theme of
seeing the universe "as it is," the Buddha encouraged his disciples to spread the Buddha Dharma in the
spirit of universal love and compassion. Today, about one-fifth of the world's population--more than a
billion people--follow the teachings of the Buddha.
He was 80 years of age when he passed into Parinirvana. Surrounded by his beloved disciples and
friends, he laid himself at the sal grove of Malla at Kusinagara and gave his final instruction:
My disciples, my last moment has come, but do not forget that death is only the end of the
physical body. The body was born from parents and was nourished by food; just as inevitable are
sickness and death. But the true Buddha is not a human body, it is Enlightenment. A human body
must die, but the wisdom of Enlightenment will exist forever in the truth of the Dharma, and in the
practice of the Dharma. He who sees merely my body does not truly see me. Only he who
accepts my teaching truly sees me. After my death, the Dharma shall be your teacher. Follow the
Dharma and you will be true to me. My dear disciples, this is the end. In a moment I shall be
passing into Nirvana; make my teachings your light. Work out your salvation with diligence. This
is my instruction.
Thus, after 45 years of enlightened life, the Perfectly Awakened One, the Sage of Sakya Kingdom,
peacefully entered into the realm beyond our understanding, the realm of Dharmakaya. Soon after the
Buddha's four councils were held to preserve the teachings of the Buddha in purest form. Recorded in
Pali and Sanskrit languages, the teachings were preserved in voluminous compilation of writings called
Tripitaka [The Three Baskets] which consisted of 100 volumes of 1000 pages each.
As the term Tripitaka suggests, it consists of three component parts called Sutra Pitaka, Vinaya Pitaka
and the Abhidharma Pitaka. The Sutra Pitaka contains the actual words of the Buddha instructing ways
and means for his disciplines to attain Buddhahood. The Vinaya Pitaka contains rules and regulations for
monks and nuns, as well as lay members of Sangha. The Abhidharma Pitaka contains commentaries and
metaphysical explanations in details of what the Buddha's teachings meant.
The Teachings
Based on the spiritual experiences of Siddhartha Gautama, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the teachings
of Buddha-Dharma was founded. At Baranasi, the Buddha delivered his famous first discourse to five
ascetics revealing the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.
The Four Noble Truths state:
1. Duhkha : suffering--illness, pain, anguish, dissatisfaction, conflict, friction and other forms of disharmony
—is everywhere.
2. Samudaya : the cause of suffering is attributable to craving or "thirst" and illusions created by self-
centeredness.
3. Nirodha : the cessation of suffering occurs when the causes and conditions of suffering are removed.
This state is
called Nirvana, the state of True Reality.
4. Marga: the path that leads to the cessation of suffering. This path is popularly called the Eightfold Path
which consists of eight steps:
Right View
Right Livelihood
Right Thought
Right Effort
Third is the way of mysticism. By the prescribed mystical rituals of body (mudra), speech (dharani4) and
thought (yoga), seekers try to realize unification with True Reality. This method is represented by esoteric
Buddhism in the West.
Fourth is the way of the Other Power. By recognizing the nature of the True Reality to be infinite
compassion and wisdom, this path finds release from bondage of self-centeredness by complete
surrendering of self to the True Reality, which is identified as Amida Buddha. The path, furthermore,
considers the entire process of surrendering as well as unification to Amida Buddha as the absolute
working of the Buddha. Hence, the term Other Power is used. This path is very popular among the lay
people of Asian countries, particularly in China and Japan. In North America this path is represented by
the True Pure Land sects.
Teachings of the Buddha which began 2500 years ago with five mendicants at Baranasi eventually
became the foundation for established orders called The Buddhist Sangha which attracted thousands of
people. As Buddhism flourished eastward with the spirit of universal love and compassion, it brought
peace and comfort to the people of many countries. Without coercion or force of arms, the gentle
teachings of the Buddha expanded into many countries, until today the estimated members of the
Sangha number well over one-fifth of the world's population.
I go to the Buddha for guidance.
I go to the Dharma for guidance.
I go to the Sangha for guidance.
May this short article bring a better understanding of the Buddha's teachings to the readers.
Bishop Kyojo S. Ikuta is the current Bishop of the Buddhist Churches of Canada.
http://www.bcc.ca/Images/Buddhismintro.pdf
The Gospel of Buddha
Compiled from ancient records by Paul Carus, 1894 http://www.magna.com.au/~prfbrown/buddha/carus_00.htm
Enlightenment
The Bodhisatta, having put Mara to flight, gave himself up to meditation. All the miseries of the world, the evils produced by evil deeds and the sufferings arising therefrom, passed before his mental eye, and he thought: [1] "Surely if living creatures saw the results of all their evil deeds, they would turn away from them in disgust. But selfhood blinds them, and they cling to their obnoxious desires. [2] "They crave pleasure for themselves and they cause pain to others; when death destroys their individuality, they find no peace; their thirst for existence abides and their selfhood reappears in new births. [3] "Thus they continue to move in the coil and can find no escape from the hell of their own making. And how empty are their pleasures, how vain are their endeavours! Hollow like the plantain-tree and without contents like the bubble. [4] "The world is full of evil and sorrow, because it is full of lust. Men go astray because they think that delusion is better than truth.
Rather than truth they follow error, which is pleasant to look at in the beginning but in the end causes anxiety, tribulation, and misery." [5] And the Bodhisatta began to expound the Dharma. The Dharma is the truth. The Dharma is the sacred law. The Dharma is religion. The Dharma alone can deliver us from error, from wrong and from sorrow. [6] Pondering on the origin of birth and death, the Enlightened One recognized that ignorance was the root of all evil; and these are the links in the development of life, called the twelve nidanas : [7] In the beginning there is existence blind and without knowledge; and in this sea of ignorance there are stirrings, formative and organizing. From stirrings, formative and organizing, rises awareness or feelings. Feelings beget organisms that live as individual beings. These organisms develop the six fields, that is, the five senses and the mind. The six fields come in contact with things. Contact begets sensation. Sensation creates the thirst of individualized being. The thirst of being creates a cleaving to things. The cleaving produces the growth and continuation of selfhood. Selfhood continues in renewed births. The renewed births of selfhood are the cause of suffering, old age, sickness, and death. They produce lamentation, anxiety, and dispair. [8] The cause of all sorrow lies at the very beginning; it is hidden in the ignorance from which life grows. Remove ignorance and you will destroy the wrong appetences that rise from ignorance; destroy these appetences and you will wipe out the wrong perception that rises from them. Destroy wrong perception and there is an end of errors in individualized beings. Destroy the error in individualized beings and the illusions of the six fields will disappear. Destroy illusions and the contact with things will cease to beget misconception. Destroy misconception and you do away with thirst. Destroy thirst and you will be free of all morbid cleaving. Remove the cleaving and you destroy the selfishness of selfhood. If the selfishness of selfhood is destroyed you will be above birth, old age, disease, and death, and you will escape all suffering. [9] The enlightened One saw the four noble truths which point out the path that leads to Nirvana or the extinction of self: [10] The first noble truth is the existence of sorrow. [11] The second noble truth is the cause of suffering. [12] The third noble truth is cessation of sorrow. [13] The fourth noble truth is the eightfold path that leads to the cessation of sorrow. [14] This is the Dharma. This is the truth. This is religion. And the Enlightened One uttered this stanza: [15]
"The Tathagata," the Buddha continued, "does not seek salvation in austerities, but neither does he for that reason indulge in worldly pleasures, nor live in abudance. The Tathagata has found the middle path. [4] "There are two extremes, O bhikkhus, which the man who has given up the world ought not follow - the habitual practice, on the one hand, of self-indulgence which is unworthy, vain and fit only for the worldly-minded - and the habitual practice, on the other hand, of self-mortification, which is painful, useless and unprofitable. [5] "Neither abstinance from fish or flesh, nor going naked, nor shaving the head, nor wearing matted hair, nor dressing in a rough garment, nor covering oneself with dirt, nor sacrificing to Agni, will cleanse a man who is not free from delusions. [6] "Reading the Vedas, making offering to priests, or sacrifices to the gods, self-mortification by heat or cold, and many such penances performed for the sake of immortality, these do not cleanse the man who is not free from delusions. [7] "Anger, drunkenness, obstinacy, bigotry, deception, envy, self-praise, disparaging others, superciliousness and evil intentions constitute uncleanness; not verily the eating of flesh. [8] "A middle path, O bhikkhus, avoiding the two extremes, discovered by the Tathagata - a path which opens the eyes, and bestowes understanding, which leads to peace of mind, to the higher wisdom, to full enlightenment, to Nirvana! [9] "What is that middle path, O bhikkhus, avoiding these two extremes, discovered by the Tathagata - that path which opens the eyes, and bestows understanding, which leads to peace of mind, to the higher wisdom, to full enlightenment, to Nirvana? [10] "Let me teach you, O bhikkhus, the middle path, which keeps aloof from both extremes. By suffering, the emanciated devotee produces confusion and sickly thoughts in his mind. Mortification is not condusive even to worldly knowledge; how much less to a triumph over the senses! [11] "He who fills the lamp with water will not dispel the darkness, and he who tries to light a fire with rotten wood will fail. And how can any one be free from self by leading a wretched life, if he does not succeed in quenching the fires of lust, if he still hankers after either worldly or heavenly pleasures. But he in whom self has become extinct is free from lust; he will desire neither worldly nor heavenly pleasures, and the satisfaction of his natural wants will not defile him. However, let him be moderate, let him eat and drink according to the needs of the body. [12] "Sensuality is enervating; the self-indulgent man is a slave to his passions, and pleasure-seeking is degrading and vulgar. [13] "But to satisfy the necessities of life is not evil. To keep the body in good health is a duty, for otherwise we shall not be able to trim the lamp of wisdom, and keep our mind strong and clear. Water surrounds the lotus-flower, but does not wet its petals. [14]
"This is the middle path, O bhikkhus, that keeps aloof from both extremes." [15] And the Blessed One spoke kindly to his disciples, pitying them for their errors, and pointing out the uselessness of their endeavours, and the ice of ill-will that chilled their hearts melted away under the gentle warmth of the Master's persuasion. [16] Now the Blessed One set the wheel of the most excellent law rolling, and he began to preach to the five bhikkhus, opening to them the gate of immortality, and showing them the bliss of Nirvana. [17] The Buddha said: [18] "The spokes of the wheel are the rules of pure conduct: justice is the uniformity of their length; wisdom is the tire; modesty and thoughtfulness are the hub in which the immovable axle of truth is fixed. [19] "He who recognizes the existence of suffering, its cause, its remedy, and its cessation has fathomed the four noble truths. He will walk in the right path. [20] "Right views will be the torch to light his way. Right aspirations will be his guide. Right speech will be his dwelling-place on the road. His gait will be straight, for it is right behaviour. His refreshments will be the right way of earning his livelihood. Right efforts will be his steps; right thoughts his breath; and right contemplation will give him the peace that follows in his footprints. [21] "Now, this, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning suffering: [22] "Birth is attended with pain, decay is painful, disease is painful, death is painful. Union with the unpleasant is painful, painful is separation from the pleasant, and any craving that is unsatisfied, that too is painful. In brief, bodily conditions which spring from attachment are painful. [23] "This, then, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning suffering. [24] "Now this, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning the origin of suffering: [25] "Verily, it is that craving which causes the renewal of existences, accompanied by sensual delight, seeking satisfaction now here, now there, the craving for the gratifiaction of the passions, the craving for a future life, and the craving for happiness in this life. [26] "This, then, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning the origin of suffering. [27] "Now this, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning the destruction of suffering: [28] "Verily, it is the destruction, in which no passion remains, of this very thirst; it is the laying aside of, the being free from, the dwelling no longer upon this thirst. [29] "This, then, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning the destruction of suffering. [30]
