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Damien Keown: Buddhism, A Very Short Introduction
Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Buddhism and Elephants [1]
Ninian Smart’s Seven dimensions of religion, applied to Buddhism:
1. Practice and Ritual
Not as much in Buddhism as in, say, Judaism, because Buddhist monks have no
priestly role, and are not intermediaries between God and man, so have no
supernatural authority, but there are rituals of initiation.
2. Experiential and Emotional
Extremely important: the Buddha’s personal experience of enlightenment is the
bedrock of the entire Buddhist tradition, and the Buddha exhibited profound
compassion which motivated his teachings (Dharma). The religious life is
essentially a course in self-transformation, using, among other means meditation.
3. Narrative and Myth
If “myth” is a story that has compelling force because of its ability to work on several
different levels, then Buddhism has many (including one in which the Buddha does
battle with Māra, the Evil One.)
4. Doctrinal and Philosophical
There are core teachings, such as the Four Noble Truths, and the custody of texts
and interpretation is the responsibility of the Sangha (Order of Monks).
5. Ethical and Legal
Buddhism is particularly strong here: the central principle is ahimsā, the principle
of non-harming
6. Social and Institutional
The Buddha always denied that he was the leader of the community of his followers,
and there has never been a single head and central office like the Pope for
Catholicism, but there are many schools and leaders such as the Dalai Lama for
Tibet.
7. The Material Dimension
Buddhism has given the world numerous artworks and religious sites including the
ubiquitous stūpa, a dome-shaped monument.
Summary [13]
Like the elephant, Buddhism can be different things for different people. It can be:
• a rational philosophy free of religious superstition
• a quest for mystical experience
• a set of humanistic moral values.
Chapter 2: Chapter 2: The Buddha [15]
“Buddha” is a title meaning awakened one. THE Buddha’s name was Siddhattha
Gotama, and he lived around 566-486 BCE (conventionally, although recent research
suggests 410 BCE would be a more accurate date for his death).
The Life of the Buddha
1. Birth [18]
His mother dreamed of a baby white elephant, a symbol either of a great emperor or
great religious leader. On being born, he is said to have taken seven steps and
announced that he had been born for the last time.
2. The Four Signs [20]
The Buddha’s father tried to keep him from becoming a religious leader by
sheltering him, and ensuring that he never saw suffering. But finally, on successive
trips to the market, he is said to have seen the following, that revealed the truth
about the world:
a. an old man
1
b. a sick man
c. a corpse
d. a religious mendicant
3. Renunciations and Austerities [21]
Two teachers: Alāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta, who taught him (not that he
needed much teaching) the two highest Jhānas of meditation. After finding these
wonderful but transient, he tried experiments with breathing control and fasting,
that, while unsatisfactory, proved to him that enlightenment lay in moderation (the
‘Middle way’).
4. The Enlightenment [22]
First watch of the night: power to look back through previous existences
Second: clairvoyance, able to see death and rebirth of all types of beings in the
universe
Third: his spiritual defilements had been eliminated, he had attained nirvana.
5. First Sermon and Teaching Career [24]
In his first sermon (preserved as a discourse called Setting in Motion the Wheel of the
Dharma), the Buddha set out the Four Noble Truths, and converted five followers,
who were ordained as monks. On hearing his second sermon, all five achieved
enlightenment (or so they thought – see the Mahāyāna Parable of the Burning
House below) and became Arhats (saints) – a step down from Buddhas, who find
enlightenment for themselves. Over his life, the Buddha traveled on foot around an
area about 150 miles long, 250 miles wide, teaching and (occasionally) performing
miracles with his psychic powers (one of these miracles was walking on water –
sound familiar?).
6. Death of the Buddha [27]
The Buddha declined to name a successor, because he denied that he was a leader.
He said that the Dharma should be the guide after his death, and monks should
hold fast to this and the Vinaya, the code of rules for monastic life. Each person
should think for herself on matters of doctrine, cross-referencing with the
scriptures.
The Buddha died at 80, his last words being ‘Decay is inherent in all things: be sure
to strive with clarity of mind (for nirvana).’
Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Karma and Rebirth [29]
Samsāra (‘endless wandering’): repeated rebirth
The Buddhist Universe [30]
The universe comprises two categories – the physical and the life-forms within it. The
five elements of the physical world (including space) interact to form world-systems
(what we would call galaxies), which go through cycles of evolution and disintegration
over billions of years. There is some suggestion that the fate of the world-systems is
affected by the moral status of the beings within each. A Buddhist creation myth found
in the Aggañña Sutta describes how the inhabitants of a world-system which has been
destroyed are gradually reborn within a new one that is evolving. They start out seethrough and genderless, but as the new world-system becomes denser, the beings
become attracted to it and begin to consume it like food. Slowly they become more
material until they have physical bodies. Competition for food leads to quarrels, so the
people elect a king to keep the peace, thus founding social life. (Thus the origin of
human suffering is in desire, as we shall see in the First Noble Truth.)
The Six Realms of Rebirth [32]
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Hell
The animal realm
The realm of ghosts
the level of the Titans
the human world
the mansions of the gods (levels 6-31)
levels 23-27 are the pure abodes – only attained by non-returners
The Three Spheres of Existence [35]
1. Sphere of sense-desires (kāmāvacara)
2. Sphere of pure form (rūpāvacara)
3. Sphere of formlessness (arūpāvacara
Merit [40]
Chapter 4: Chapter 4: The Four Noble Truths [44]
Is there a conflict between karma and nirvana?
No, nirvana includes both virtue (sila) and wisdom (panna)
The Four Noble Truths:
1. Life is suffering.
2. Suffering is caused by craving.
3. Suffering can have an end.
4. There is a path that leads to the end of suffering.
Medical analogy: the Buddha as doctor – first, he diagnoses the disease, second,
explains its cause, third, determines that a cause exists, and fourth, sets out the
treatment.
Noble Truth 1: The Truth of Suffering (Dukkha) [46]
The suffering is not so much pain as unsatisfactoriness: “not to get what one wants is
suffering”
In his second sermon the Buddha analyzes human nature into 5 factors:
1. the physical body (rūpa)
2. sensations and feelings (vedanā)
3. cognitions (saññā)
4. character traits and dispositions (sankhāra)
5. sentiency (viññāna)
(There is no immortal soul to bind these things together, unlike in Hinduism (atman))
So what is it that is reborn continually? Answer, a person’s moral identity.
However, suffering is inevitable, given the makeup of humans, because just as a car will
breakdown, eventually the combination of these five factors will rearrange and decay,
causing suffering.
The Buddha said that the first noble truth was the hardest to grasp: akin to admitting
that one has a serious disease, but until you recognize this there can be no hope of a
cure.
Noble Truth 2: The Truth of Arising (Samudāya) [49]
In the Fire Sermon, the Buddha spoke of all human experience as being ‘ablaze’ with
desire, an apt metaphor, because fire consumes what it feeds on without being
satisfied, spreads rapidly, becomes attached to new objects and “burns with the pain of
unassuaged longing.” Desire is like the fuel of the car (not to mix metaphors or
anything) mentioned above: desire binds us to life and causes rebirth.
3 types of tanhā (a narrower term than desire, connoting desire that has been somehow
perverted) which are the three roots of evil:
1. thirst for sensual pleasure (sights, sounds, tastes, et. al.) (greed)
2. thirst for existence (delusion)
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3. desire to destroy (low self-esteem is this desire attached to the self) (hatred)
Positive versus negative desires:
tanhā: the desire for another cigarette
chanda: the desire to give up smoking (good because it breaks the cyclic pattern of a
compulsive negative habit)
The three roots of evil are represented in Buddhist art as a cock, a pig and a snake
chasing each other with their tails in each other’s mouths, representing the cycle of
rebirth. How this comes about is explained in a teaching called paticca-samuppāda
(origination-in-dependence) [note: this notion is really developed by the Mahāyāna
philosopher Nāgājuna (see pp. 66-7]. This is a twelve-stage process, but can be boiled
down to the idea that nothing exists for itself, uncaused, but only comes into being as
part of a network of causes: everything depends on something else. Everything that
comes into being has three ‘marks’:
1. unsatisfactoriness (dukkha)
2. impermanence (anicca)
3. the absence of self-essence (anattā).
These are interrelated: unsatisfactory because impermanent because lacking selfessence.
In sum: the Buddhist universe is characterized by cyclic change:
Psychological level: craving and gratification
Personal level: death and rebirth
Cosmic level: creation and destruction of galaxies
Noble Truth 3: The Truth of Cessation (Nirodha) [52]
Craving (and thus suffering) can be removed by attaining nirvana. There are two kinds
of nirvana:
nirvana-in-this-life – this the Buddha attained at age 35 by reaching enlightenment
final nirvana – this the Buddha achieved in dying, by escaping the cycle of life and
rebirth.
Nirvana means ‘quenching’ or ‘blowing out’ and what is extinguished are the three roots
of evil which lead to rebirth. Without them, after nirvana-in-this-life, one has a
transformed state of personality, characterized by peace, deep spiritual joy, compassion,
and a refined and subtle awareness.
What happened to the Buddha after death? (i.e., what is the nature of final nirvana)?
Apparently neither annihilation nor immortality. The Buddha discouraged queries
about its nature, comparing the questioner to someone struck with a poisoned arrow
(analogous to the fact of the cycle of rebirth) who, instead of just pulling it out, proceeds
to ask a string of questions about the person who shot it.
Noble Truth 4: The Truth of the Path (Magga) [54]
The highest form of life is one which leads to the development of virtue and knowledge,
and the Eightfold Path sets out a way to live to achieve those.
The Eightfold Path (AKA the Middle Way
1. Right Understanding
acceptance of Buddhist teachings
1. Right Resolve
committing to developing right attitudes
2. Right Speech
telling the truth, speaking in a thoughtful
and sensitive way
4
}
} Wisdom
} (Paññā)
}
}
}
}
3. Right Action
} Morality
avoiding wrongs like killing, stealing
} (Sīla)
4. Right Livelihood
}
not engaging in an occupation that causes }
harm to others
}
5. Right Effort
}
gaining control of one’s thoughts and culti- }
vating positive states of mind
} Meditation
6. Right Mindfulness
} (Samādhi)
cultivating constant awareness
}
7. Right Meditation
}
Chapter 5: Chapter 5: The Mahāyāna [57]
The Great Schism [57]
Around a century after the death of the Buddha, a disagreement developed between the
‘Elders’ (Sthaviras) and the ‘Universal Assembly (Mahāsanghikas). This led to the
“Great Schism” between two main groups, which themselves splintered. The only
remaining descendent of the Elder school is the Theravāda and a new movement called
the Mahāyāna (“the Great Vehicle”), whose main innovation was the idea that one
should not simply seek one’s own salvation, but instead work to save others. The ideal
is the bodhisattva, someone who takes a vow to work tirelessly over countless lifetimes
to lead others to nirvana.
New Ideas about the Buddha [59]
With the bodhisattva now representing the earthly ideal, the Buddha began to be seen
as more otherworldly and sublime. Followers of the Mahāyāna reasoned that a being as
compassionate as he would not cut himself off from his followers and must still be ‘out
there’ somewhere. This led eventually to a new ‘Buddhology’ whereby the Buddha is
seen to have three bodies (trikāya):
1. Earthly (nirmānakāya): the human body he had on earth.
2. Heavenly (sambhogakāya): located in a “blissful realm somewhere ‘upstream’
from our world”
3. Transcendent (dharmakāya): the Buddha as identical with ultimate truth.
Furthermore, there will be a second coming, where a Buddha called Maitreya will
appear and usher in a utopian era in which multitudes will gain enlightenment.
Mahāyāna Sūtras [61]
The major Mayāhāna Sūtras (whose authors are unknown), like the Lotus Sūtra
(around 200 CE) drastically re-envision Buddhist history: the Buddha is now seen as
having always been enlightened, and only appeared to be a mortal for our sake. His
early teachings are not taken to be definitive, but instead simple crude intros to the
much more sophisticated Mahāyāna teachings. To avoid confusing his early followers,
he used “skilful means (upāya-kausalya) to put the truth before them in a simplified
form. This is depicted in the Parable of the Burning House of the Lotus Sūtra: a
father saves his children from a burning house (samsāra) by telling them there are toys
outside.
Bodhisattvas who reach the higher stages of their careers become very close to
Buddhas, and two who took on celestial form were Avalokitesvara (The Lord who Looks
Down), who epitomizes compassion (karunā), and of whom the Dalai Lamas are said to
be incarnations, and Mañjusri (Gentle Glory), who epitomizes wisdom (prajñā).
Philosophical Developments [66]
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The most famous of the philosophers who attempted to give a theoretical underpinning
to the new sūtras was Nāgārjuna (around 150 CE), who founded the ‘Middle School’
(Madhyamaka). In the Theravāda scholastic tradition, the building-blocks of the
universe were “dharmas” which, though impermanent, were real, continually being
created in accordance with origination-in-dependence. According to Nāgārjuna,
however, dharmas were “empty of any real being” – the true status of phenomena is
somewhere midway between being and non-being (hence, middle way). This had the
radical implication that there is no difference between samsāra and nirvana (because
there is no ‘being’ to either). Achieving nirvana, on this view, is a matter of achieving
correct and purified vision: the removal of spiritual ignorance (avidyā) and the
realization that things are empty destroys the fear/craving we have for them. This is
Nāgārjuna’s Doctrine of Emptiness (sūnyavāda).
A further Mayāhānan doctrine is the teaching of ‘Mind Only’ (cittamātra) – idealism,
the idea that there is no matter, only consciousness.
Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Buddhism in Asia [70]
Theravāda Buddhism is popular throughout Southern Asia (Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Laos,
Thailand, Cambodia)
Mayāhāna has spread in the North (China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, Bhutan, and south to
Vietnam)
China [75]
Buddhism reached China in the middle of the first century CE, and was received
suspiciously, because it challenged both Confucian ideals of family loyalty and the
power structure of the emperor. However, in time, it was seen to complement
Confucianism, which has nothing to say about the supernatural.
Buddhism was similar to Taoism, a form of nature-mysticism founded by Lao-tzu (b.
604 BC), and from this interaction came Ch’an Buddhism, which became Zen
Buddhism when it reached Japan.
Japan [77]
Three main forms of Buddhism in Japan:
1. The Pure Land school – based on devotion to the Buddha Amida
2. Nichiren (1222-82)’s school, which made the Lotus Sūtra central
3. Zen, which frowns on the study of texts, advocating achieving enlightenment
through the mundane. Comes in two varieties:
a. the Sōtō school
b. Rinzai Zen (from which we get kō-ans, unanswerable riddles, like “what
is the sound of one hand clapping?”)
Tibet [80]
Buddhism reached Tibet in the eighth century, and flourished in the form of Tantra,
whose teachings are the Tantras, which are obscure and written in a mysterious
‘twilight language’ only taught by a lama. Symbols, spells and charms play a role, and,
taking up the idea that nirvana and samsāra are not different, Tantra holds that
passions are not wicked, but just energy, and sexual energy in particular can be a
potent force for spiritual development. However, in the most influential Tibetan school,
the Gelug-pa, the monks (which include the Dalai Lamas) hold strictly to the Monastic
Rule, which insists (among other things) on celibacy.
Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Meditation [84]
The Jhānas or Levels of Trance [89]
Forms of ‘calming meditation’ (samatha) are divided into 8 Jhānas. Nirvana is achieved
beyond the eighth.
6
Sphere of Formlessness (Jhānas 5-8):
8:
Neither perception nor non-perception (what the Buddha learnt from his second
teacher)
7:
Nothingness (what the Buddha learnt from his first teacher)
6:
Infinite consciousness
5:
Infinite Space
Sphere of Pure Form (Jhānas 1-4):
4:
Concentration, Equanimity, ‘Beyond pleasure and pain’ [Psychic powers attained
at this stage]
3:
Concentration, Equanimity
2:
Concentration, Rapture, Joy
1:
Discursive thought, Detachment, Rapture, Joy
Insight Mediation (Vipassanā) [93]
If meditation is such a powerful technique, why did the Buddha turn his back on his
teachers? Because, like everything else in samsāra, meditative states are impermanent.
The Buddha thus developed a new kind of meditation, vipassanā (insight meditation),
whereby one can critically analyze every aspect of one’s subjective experience, observing
without becoming involved.
Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Ethics [97]
Dharma [97]
‘Dharma’ has many meanings, but the central idea is of a universal law that governs
both the physical and moral law of the universe.
Sets of precepts in Buddhism
1. The Five Precepts (pañcasila) – for laymen. Forbid
a. killing
b. stealing
c. sexual immorality
d. lying
e. taking intoxicants
2. The Eight Precepts (atthangasila)
3. The Ten Precepts (dasasila)
4. The Ten Good Paths of Action (dasakusalakammapatha)
5. The Monastic Disciplinary Code (pātimokkha)
Virtues [99]
Three “Cardinal Virtues” (the counterparts to the three roots of evil)
• Non-attachment (arāga)
• Benevolence (adosa)
• Understanding (amoha)
Ahimsā, or the Inviolability of Life [100]
The Buddhists were influenced by the Jains, who go to great lengths to avoid even
breathing in tiny creatures, and outlawed all animal sacrifice.
Abortion [101]
Ahimsā means that abortion is wrong, especially because Buddhism has always taught
that life begins at conception. However, Buddhism is renowned for its toleration, and in
Japan, where abortion is very common, the wrongness of abortion is counteracted by a
special mizuko kuyō memorial service for aborted infants.
Skilful Means [107]
7
Recall that the Mahāyāna taught that the Buddha’s teachings were not to be
understood literally, but were simplified teachings that would “reach” the
unenlightened. This doctrine of ‘skilful means’ allows great play in the interpretation of
moral rules, because each of them can be interpreted as provisional and not final. This
is a ‘situational’ ethics.
Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Buddhism in the West [110]
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