* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download The Great Lion`s Roar
Phra Pathommachedi wikipedia , lookup
Persecution of Buddhists wikipedia , lookup
Early Buddhist schools wikipedia , lookup
Silk Road transmission of Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
Mogao Caves wikipedia , lookup
Noble Eightfold Path wikipedia , lookup
Buddhist art wikipedia , lookup
Triratna Buddhist Community wikipedia , lookup
Longmen Grottoes wikipedia , lookup
Buddhism and sexual orientation wikipedia , lookup
Buddhas of Bamiyan wikipedia , lookup
Buddhist texts wikipedia , lookup
Buddhist cosmology wikipedia , lookup
History of Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
Buddhism and psychology wikipedia , lookup
Four Noble Truths wikipedia , lookup
Faith in Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
Buddhism and Western philosophy wikipedia , lookup
Buddhist ethics wikipedia , lookup
Buddhist meditation wikipedia , lookup
Buddhist cosmology of the Theravada school wikipedia , lookup
Buddhism in Myanmar wikipedia , lookup
Greco-Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
Relics associated with Buddha wikipedia , lookup
Buddha-nature wikipedia , lookup
Pre-sectarian Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
Buddhist philosophy wikipedia , lookup
Women in Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
Dhyāna in Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
Wat Phra Kaew wikipedia , lookup
Enlightenment in Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
REL355 – First Paper - Wilcox 1 On The Buddha's Adaptation of Asceticism and Brahminism The Buddha presents a new way of understanding who is a true ascetic or Brahmin1, relating these terms not to radical austerities but to the perfection of certain qualities through practice. The Buddha espouses the difference between a practitioner of self-mortification and an ascetic. Kassapa, an ascetic, goes to the Buddha and asks whether the Buddha disapproves of an ascetic's life of self-mortification. Kassapa describes all of the things which an ascetic gives up on the path to enlightenment, and indirectly asks what is wrong with these things. The Buddha responds: “Kassapa, a practiser of self-mortification may do all these things, but if his morality, his heart, and his wisdom are not developed and brought to realisation, then indeed he is still far from being an ascetic or a Brahmin,” (para 15). Here the Buddha addresses Kassapa's inquiry by saying that a practitioner of self-mortification who has not developed these qualities is not an ascetic. This is an alteration of how asceticism and Brahminism have been defined elsewhere – the Buddha himself chose not to follow these paths in their mainstream form. Since the Buddha specifically does not relate the ascetic to radical practices he creates a new measurement of who is a true ascetic or Brahmin and who is not a true ascetic. This measurement, as defined above, is based on the cultivation of these qualities instead of the ascetic practices themselves. This is part of the Buddhist idea that there are many ways to cultivate a quality, and that it is the ultimate attainment of a trait which matters. By dispelling the previously common definition of an ascetic as one who practices self-mortification and replacing it with this cultivation-through-ascetic practices the Buddha is bringing Kassapa and all the ascetics into his philosophy without forcing them to give up their existing practices altogether. In Paragraph 16, Kassapa suggests that doing all sorts of ascetic practices, such as barely eating or having no possessions or clothes, makes being an ascetic a difficult task. Kassapa wants to point out how hard it is to be an ascetic, seemingly an attempt at defending the practice. Buddha counters that doing all of those things is not what makes being an ascetic difficult, but rather developing non-enmity, non-ill-will and a heart full of loving kindness. Again the Buddha states that only through the cultivation of these qualities can a monk be called an ascetic. The Buddha is challenging the ascetic to an even more difficult task than the ascetic is already working to attain. The Buddha turns the tasks of an ascetic into the path of a Buddhist. Kassapa interrogates the Buddha on what exactly is meant by the development 1 For the remainder of the paper “ascetic” may generally be read “ascetic or Brahmin.” I have shortened to just “ascetic” both to eliminate redundancy and because asceticism is more central to the theme of the piece. REL355 – First Paper - Wilcox 2 of morality, of the heart, and of wisdom, to which the Buddha responds with a long discourse on these three attributes. Anticipating the question of whether there might be other attributes which are more important to cultivate, the Buddha says that “There is nothing further or more perfect than the perfection of morality, of the heart, and of wisdom,” (para 20). In his exposition of these terms it is clear that they are based on the basic tenets of Buddhism. The final defense of ascetic practices is that there are already ascetic teachers who preach morality, austerity, wisdom, and liberation. The Buddha brings this point up himself and immediately dismisses the notion. In regard to each of these things the Buddha says “I do not see any who have surpassed me in this,” (para 21). The Buddha considers himself supreme in all of these regards, and thus it does not matter if other teachers preach similar ideas since they cannot possibly be as refined, precise, and true as the Buddha's. Through all of these arguments the Buddha describes a new description of who is a true ascetic or Brahmin, and he describes them to be the perfecting of certain qualities through practice and does not focus on radical austerities. This way of presenting asceticism and Brahminism is very effective since it essentially adopts their practices and turns them toward Buddhist beliefs. REL355 – First Paper - Wilcox 3 Works Cited Walshe, M. Mahasihanada Sutta: The Great Lion's Roar, Wisdom Publ. 1987. Citations based on paragraph numbers.