Download Introduction To Buddhism Films to watch: The Tibetan Lama The

Introduction To Buddhism
Films to watch:
The Tibetan Lama
The Buddha: Life of Siddhartha Gautama
The Life of Milarepa
- Issues of suffering, violence, attachment
- Revenge on uncle creates bad kharma
- Milarepa finds refuge in a cave with a Buddhist monk
= turning point
- Milarepa then embodies Buddhist tradition
- There is a blending between Buddhist teachings and the indigenous culture
(eg. Tibetan mysticism)
Buddhist Symbol: The Wheel
The Buddha "sets those teachings in motion"/ "Turning the wheel"
Bodhisattva of compassion
Depicted differently across the diverse regions
Buddhist Worlds
Hells vs. Pure Lands
Monastic Community
Historical Buddhist Thinkers
Current Buddhists, Figures, and Scholars
eg) Dalai Lama of Tibet
Four Important Holy Sites for Buddhists:
1. Lumbini (Kapilavastu)
2. Bodh-gaya
3. Sarnath
4. Kusinagara
Modern India
India once included some of the surrounding territory, such as Pakistan and
Bangladesh; see some important sites for Hinduism as well
Gods
The Gods are not denied nor sought out in Buddhism, but are acknowledged in the
Buddhist tradition in the legendary stories of the historical Buddha
Foundations of Hinduism/ Cultural Context of the Time
- Nomadic Aryans (Noble Ones) enter Indian subcontinent
- Brought Vedas - religious texts: originally oral
- Language is Sanskirt or cultured/perfected
- Intermingled with Dravidians, and Class/Caste system emerges
Hinduism - Early Beginnings
- 3300-1300 BCE: Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilization
- major city centers at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa
- Syncretism of Aryan, Dravidian, and tribal traditions
- "Syncretism" = mixing of different systems of cultural practice, etc.
- Samhitas: 4 hymn collections of awe and praise for various deities
- Other texts: develop Vedic thought
- Brahmanas: sacrificial ritual performance
- Aranyakas: meditative visualizations
- Upanishads: philosophical speculation
o Also called the "Vedanta," end of the Vedas
Hinduism: a collective name
Diverse Religious and Philosophical traditions (from India)
Share deities and basic presuppositions:
Basic Indian/Hindu World View
1) Samsara: Reincarnation
Directly translated means wandering, showing many worldly lives
2) Karma: "Cause and effect"
The engine that keeps reincarnation moving, influencing rebirth
3) Moksha: Release, enlightenment
The idea of achieving a higher level
- Social structures: Caste (a system of social structure)
- Core scriptures: Vedas
Caste: a socio-economic system of divisions with religious aspects
I.
Brahmins (priestly, educated class)
II.
Kshatriyas (kings, nobility, landlords)
III.
Vaishyas (commoners, merchants, artisans)
IV.
Shudras (servants, menial workers); not entitled to study Vedas and
owned little, if any, wealth or property
Non-Hindu Religions
- Early (6th and 5th centuries BCE):
o Jainism
o Buddhism
Historical Buddha lived 80 years, not sure which dates,
though
- exact dates unknown because not usually concerned with exact linear
chronology; influence from Hinduism
Sramanas and Indian "renouncer" tradition
- ascetic practices (austerities)
for example: fasting, personal deprivation, suffering, hardship
physical sacrifice in hope of spiritual reward or awakening
- meditation techniques (altered consciousness)
meditation (dhyana) and concentration (samadhi)
- philosophical views supporting practices and knowledge based on these
experiences
Buddhism in India
Shared Concepts with Indian world view, but also differences:
- Vedic sacrifice, caste system, ultimate goal of good karma for heavenly
rebirth, and Atman as enduring Self are Hinduist views not shared by
Buddhists
- Philosophical and sociological departure from tradition Indian world view
So now that we have the setting, let's begin the story of the Buddha
The Buddha: Story of Siddhartha Guatama
The Three Jewels/Refuges/Treasures/ "tiratna"
1. The Buddha
2. The Dharma
3. The Sangha
-
Although anyone striving for freedom from all illusions can be considered a
Buddhist,
Formal entry into Buddhism is marked by "taking refuge in the Three
Jewels."
The Buddha
-Sumedha who met Dipamkara Buddha
- Sumedha is seen as a striver, ascetic practitioner; able to gain supernatural
powers, meets a distant past Buddha, who inspires him to become a Buddha
himself in the future
- Sakyamuni Buddha also tells about future Makya Buddha
- We see that there is parallel omniscient, all-knowing passages
-Vessantara who perfected dana
- dana = giving or generosity
- sense of behaviour that did not fit the norm of greed; there is a time for
religious quest in Hindu society which is when you are old; Vessantara was a
selfless and generous king, who, like the Sakyamuni Buddha is not living life
according to the norm
-
Vessantara is the last of these births before being born into heaven (previous
to the life where he achieved Nirvana)
-Siddhartha Gautama, or Sakyamuni Buddha
- sense of "one who has achieved his goals"
Miraculous key points of story:
-Birth, Asita's prophecy, youth surrounded by luxury
Lotus Imagery
The lotus as a symbol is used to liken the blooming of the flower to the rising out of
the worldly suffering like the Buddha did
Lotus grows in water, but is also separate from the water
The flower is rooted in the muck of the earth, but rises through the water to above
the surface, with rising above the world
The Moon
Enlightenment is representative of enlightenment, and the Buddha is often depicted
as pointing to the moon or showing the way to enlightenment
Relationship between the state and Buddhism
Emperor Asoka sent missionaries out from India
Asoka fulfilled the other side of the Buddha's prophecy to become the great king of a
great empire
Four Sights
- old age
- disease
- death
- sramana (renunciation)
The Buddha's Great Renunciation
- Spiritual Teachers: Arada Kalama and Udraka Ramaputra
o The Buddha pursues studies with important teachers
o The Buddha learns everything the teachers have to teach
o The Buddha devoted himself entirely to the teachings, but once he is
asked to teach austerities he declines because he is still searching
o Teachers do not provide the Buddha with his goal
o After awakening, the Buddha decides to teach Udraka and Arada but
they are now dead, so first teach ascetic companions
- Asceticism
o With the five other ascetics they practice austerities
o Five others will be his first disciples
- The Middle Way
o Balance provides the Buddha with insight into the nature of things
- Awakening/Enlightenment and Nirvana
o 1st watch: saw his previous lives
o 2nd watch: rebirth of others (karma)
people are reborn due to hatred, greed (desire), and ignorance
people's karma determines where they will be reborn
o3rd watch: destroyed desires and ignorance
realized dependent arising and Four Noble Truths
Four Noble Truths are basic teachings that set the wheel in motion
The Buddha Defeats Mara's Army
- Earth Touching and Testifying
- Mara has vested interest in human desires so wants the Buddha to fail
- Mara asks what gives the Buddha the right to have awakening
- The Buddha says the Earth will testify for him
Great Pilgrimage sites:
- Born in Lumbini
- Bodhi Tree in Bodhgaya
- First teachings in Sarnath in the deer park
- Dies in Kushinagar
Buddha "sets the wheel in motion"
- by teaching the Dharma
- first lecture in Sarnath to five ascetic friends
The Four Noble Truths
1) There is suffering in the world
a. unsatisfaction in life is caused by one's mind
b. the cause = your own mind
2) The problem is desire
a. Be smart about your desire; desire to become enlightened
3) There is a way out of suffering
a. nirvana
4) There is a Noble Eight-fold Path
a. Set of possible ways to lead your own life to achieve enlightenment
Four Stages in Process of Life
See Lopez Introduction p 37 or xxxvii
However, the Gethin glossary is better for the terms in this section
The Buddha Post-Enlightenment
And Life After the Buddha
Post Enlightenment:
- The Buddha preached the First Sermon of Dharma
o In Sarnath to his 5 ascetic friends
-
Friends became the first members of his Sangha (Monastic Community)
This event is called:
o Turning the Wheel of the Dharma (his teachings)
-
Buddha preached from age 35 to 80 (his death and parinirvana)
Gathered some close disciples
o Sariputra, Maudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa
(1st two are both already religious seekers from higher castes; many
close disciples are coming from high castes, Brahmins and
warriors;
1st two are already good friends in the search for enlightenment;
Sariputra is wise from an early age; Maudgalyayana possesses
great
powers but does not abuse them; Sariputra is used in Mahayana
tradition to suggest that Mahayana is better when Sariputra doesn't
get it; Mahakasyapa assumes a certain leadership role after death of
the Buddha; Mahakasyapa is important in Zen Buddhism tracing of
teachers from previous Zen masters and received wordless
teaching
from the Buddha directly)
o Upali, Ananda, kings and merchants [Jeta Monastery]
(Ananda is understood to be a close assistant with an amazing
memory for what the Buddha says; Upali is an expert on monastic
rules and is actually from a lower caste which shows that the system
itself has been thrown out; many lay people support the Buddhist
monks, providing lands and food; merchants and kings also improve
the spreading of the word)
-
women and the early sangha
o Mahaprajapati
(the Buddha's stepmother and aunt; the first nun; at first the Buddha
seems reluctant about this; talks to Ananda who asks the Buddha if
women can achieve enlightenment; the Buddha says he will admit
nuns but has greater restrictions for them)
o The early sangha
-
Devadatta and schism
o Devadatta is a cousin and brother-in-law who sometimes tries to kill
the Buddha and is depicted as evil
o Devadatta enrages an elephant to charge at the Buddha
o Devadatta tries to split up the sangha (from rolling a boulder down
the hill to crush them; to saying let's become more ascetic and
abandon this luxery in the sangha)
Teaching Style
The Buddha was renowned for teaching parables in unusual ways
- prime focus on sorrow and its ending,
-
-
not on metaphysics or how the universe began; its not that the
Buddha doesn't know the answers, it is that it doesn't matter
Parable of the Poisoned Arrow
A man shot with a poisoned should not be concerned about who shot
him, what the wood is made of etc
Received some royal patronage during his lifetime
The Buddha's Death
- on deathbed, reemphasized that all is impermanent and the importance of
the Dharma, Sangha, and self-reliance on the quest
-
Cunda and food poisoning
o Kind of food is "pig" where it brings into the idea of vegetarianism; if
he did not endorse the the slaughter, he still accepts the food; or
perhaps it could have been truffle uprooted by a pig
o Buddha's insight to knowing before that the food is bad; does not
want to offend host
o Compassion where Buddha will not let others eat the spoiled food
o Caste system debunked; Buddha eats with a poor caste
-
On his deathbed, asked the Sangha if his teachings were understood
"All the conditioned things of the world are passing. Attain your liberation
with diligence"
o see Gethin page 26-27 analogy of an old cart barely held together;
then Ananda and his sorrow but Buddha says we all must pass
-
dying as teaching opportunity: reemphasized that all is impermanent and the
importance of the Dharma, Sangha and self-reliance on the quest
o importance of what was left behind:
o self reliance with Dharma and Sangha to guide you
-
nevertheless he was already being venerated by people during his lifetime;
then relics and stupas
The Buddha's physical passing is called parinirvana ("further nirvana")
- translated into a blowing out or extinguishing of fires of hatred, delusion,
greed, and desire; causing the Buddha to finally be entirely free of the world
Kusinagara
- At age 80, the Buddha left his physical body and entered parinirvana
- images of this event depict him lying on his right side; head to the north, face
to the west; monks, gods, flower petals
- dies in a simple place but has a certain grandeur amount it
Emperor Asoka
-
redivided the relics into a much larger number; physical spead of Buddhism
along with the parts of his body
Realms of Rebirth
- karmic fruition of intentional acts (wholesome vs. unwholesome)
- motivated by 3 Root Evils: greed, hate, and delusion
Images: Wheel of Life
- Pig, snake, cock: more typically, 3 poisons are greed, hatred, and delusion or
ignorance or even lust
- Realms: Moon (symbolic of liberation), gods, ashuras, humans, animals,
hungry ghosts, beings in hell, and around the edge the 12 links of dependent
origination
6 Realms
- Deva Realm:
o Gods and deities
- Asuras
o Quarrelsome lower gods
o Demigods have a better life but are less likely to reach nirvana
- Humans
o Good rebirth in a time when you can learn Buddhist teachings
- Animals
- Hungry ghosts
- Hell realms
Word of the Buddha:
Buddhist Scriptures and Schools (Gethin Ch. 2)
- Dharma (way things are and then way to act); descriptive and prescriptive
o Buddha diagnoses suffering but offers medication of 8-fold path
-
Knowledge as skill, rather than information
o Experiential learning process
o Listening, reflection, and spiritual practice to refine skills of
knowledge and then acting on this to eventually gain enlightenment
-
Teacher embodies and transmits
-
Sangha as a thread of tradition:
o holds Buddhism together; monks pass on information to those who
want to learn; the Sangha provides link between historical Buddha
and the here-and-now; acts as the present teacher/transmits
-
Monk as scholar vs. monk as realized practitioner
-
Chan/Zen "special tradition outside the scriptures"
o See Gethin page 38
o The Buddha transmits something to Mahakasyapa
-
Dharma as textual tradition and practice and realization
-
First recitation of scriptures (3 months after death)
o Buddhist "council" at Rajagaha with 500 arhats
o Council sets the tradition
o Sutras (4 Nikayas/Agamas) and Vinaya (monastic discipline)
o 3 "canons" of Buddhist scripture (Pali/Theravada, Chinese, Tibetan;
see Gethin pages 40-45)
Sutra, Abhidharma, Textual authenticity
- utterance of Buddha vs. commentary
Tripitaka (3 baskets):
Sutra Pitaka
Vinaya Pitaka
Monastic rules
Abhidharma Pitaka
Commentary
Ancient Buddhist Schools
- less schism, heresy, or doctrinal divisions than practice
- more focus on practice differences
- orthopraxy/practice more than orthodoxy/belief
Ordination and pratimoksa (orthopraxy)
Pratimoksa is recitation of rules
- gathering every two weeks to check in with everyone
- positive peer pressure, holding yourself accountable
- clarity, alert and aware of problems you are coming across
Ordination
- a monk needs the sangha
Mahayana
- shift to Mahayana the "Great Vehicle" or "Greater Raft"
- this is seen as a doctrinal divide and gives rise to a sense of schism
- see Gethin: however, Gethin says it is not actually a huge division
- Mahayana views the Theravada as the Hiniyana or lesser
Three Characteristics or Marks of Existence
Duhka
o Suffering Samsara or dissatisfaction and unsatisfied cravings
o For example: loss, grief, delusion of the material, lack of purpose;
craving something and getting it, will find you still don't have what
you want
Anitya
o Impermanence
o Everything is in flux; underlying cause for dissatisfaction
o Rebirth vs. reincarnation: sense of cloud of interactions, none alone
are permanent or enduring, more like compilation of thoughts and
karma; lighting many candles from a single candle; many snapshots
together could make a story or film; a cart does not have a single
central "cartpiece" but it has wheels and boards and related parts
Anatman
o No-self
o A name for a hurricane is an abstraction; there is no single soul or self
that is "Katrina," but people do not realize their own identities are a
similar abstraction
o However it cannot be misunderstood that what a person does one
second does not relate to who they are the next
o The "Atman" doctrine in Hinduism follows the understanding that
there is a continuing self; however the ultimate goal in this competing
view is still the same as escaping
Dharma: The Teachings
Four Noble Truths
1) Duhka - there is suffering and disease
2) Cause - there is ignorance + craving or thirst (tanha/trisna)
3) Cure/Cessation - there is a way to release the nature of the reality and that is
the attainment of enlightenment
4) 8-fold path - the way to finding nirvana; guidance of this is what works for
one person; if you follow this path it will be easier to cease ignorance
The First Sermon: The Four Noble Truths
The Buddha's teachings are known as the Dharma
A simple rendition of these teachings are associated with the First
Sermon
1. The inevitability of sorrow and suffering (Duhka) for sentient beings
2. Duhka has a cause;
o grounded in our ignorance (avidya) about reality/impermanence
o we desire/cling/thirst after (trsna) illusions
3. Duhka can end
o If we end our illusion-based desires
o This is nirvana
4. The Noble Eight-fold Path (or Middle Way)
o is prescribed method
The Noble Eight-fold Path
*these need to be developed simultaneously
*build on each other
*guidance for lay people and monks with underlying Buddhist values/teachings
See Page 81 in Gethin and page 71
Proper View: (wisdom = "prajna)
Knowledge of true nature of human condition; "right" = skillful or helpful
1. Right View (understanding, sight, worldview, religio-philosophical outlook):
Clear knowledge and insight of Buddha Dharma, of reality
2. Right Intention (thought, commitment, resolve, motivation, aspiration):
Have sincere, pure determination to find Truth
Proper Conduct (morality = "sila")
3. Right Speech (communication):
Don't deceive, slander, gossip, use harsh words
The question "do these jeans make" could be answered with silence
4. Right Action
Actually do what is necessary and appropriate; also five precepts
Not to kill, steal, commit sexual misconduct, lie
Do not partake of intoxicating drinks or drugs - could be open to
cultural interpretation
5. Right Livelihood:
Choose you occupation wisely to not harm others or your own
progress on the path
Proper Practice (concentration = "Samadhi")
6. Right Effort:
Persevere in your practice; cultivate wholesome states of mind
7. Right Mindfulness (Attentiveness):
Right kinds of meditation for keen awareness
8. Right Concentration (meditation, contemplative absorption = "Samadhi"):
Find potent insights/realizations to awakening
Undetermined Questions: see Gethin page 66
- questions the Buddha did not address; the point is about suffering and the end of
suffering; creation of the universe and metaphysical questions are not helpful
Suffering as:
o Pain (mental or physical)
o Change
o Conditions - awareness of impermanence can bring suffering itself
Noble Eight-Fold Path
See Gethin Page 81
- Wisdom (prajna): right view and intention
- Conduct, morality (sila): right speech, action, livelihood
- Practice, meditation, concentration (samadhi): effort, mindfulness, focus
Meditation and concentration as a Buddhist practice with two related aspects:
1. Stilling the Mind
- Tranquility (samatha) meditation
o Quiet, pacify, and purify mind and emotions
De-attachment is useful in Buddhism for insight
o Image of cleaning a mirror in order to see more clearly
However, this is not the only way and not the true goal
o Allows for deeper insight into nature of reality
2. Focusing the Mind
- Insight (vipassana) meditation
o Insight into reality including the dependent origination from which
duhkha arises and ceases
o Most closely replicates the awakening in the Buddha's meditation
The Eight steps reinforce each other
- Practice of the 8-fold path at different levels
- The 8-fold path leads to Buddhahood, the goal of all Buddhists
Nirvana
"Blowing out;" "Extinguishing"
- Absence of craving; cessation of ignorance
- Detachment (though still compassion and loving kindness); no longer drawn
in by defilements of greed, hatred, and delusion do not arise
- Freedom from duhkha, karma, and rebirth
see also Gethin page 75
Nirvana as
- a particular event
o what happens at moment of awakening
o without defilement (greed, hatred, desire/delusion), aware of
unconditioned realm (unlike samsara)
- the content of an experience
o what mind knows at moment of awakening
o acting with non-attachment, loving kindness, and wisdom
-
the state or condition enjoyed by buddhas and arhats after death
(parinirvana)
see Gethin page 76 for definition of the unconditioned realm
The Sangha
4. Buddhist Community
Origin of Buddhist order:
- Indian renouncer tradition and model of Buddha's life
- Renunciation of household life (homeless wanderer)
- Dependence on generosity of lay supporters
o See Ch 4 of Gethin
- Four assemblies:
o Monks, nuns, male and female lay followers
When looking at the Buddhist community, we wonder what the original sangha was
like? Buddhism came out of the Indian renouncer tradition, which models the
Buddha's life. There is a dependence on laity by monastic community. The four fold
community is like the four legs of a chair.
Ordination and monastic ideal (arhat "worthy one")
- "going forth" from household life (lay person)
- to novice (age 8, along with no killing/harming, stealing, sex, lying,
intoxicants that cause heedlessness, five additional precepts: eating after
midday, events, ornaments, beds, money)
- ordination as monk or nun (bhiksu/bhikkhu or bhiksuni/bhikkuni), age 20;
later an elder
- limited resources and possessions
-
variations (robe), consistency (shaved head)
o shedding old life and identity
-
offences involving defeat
o sex, stealing, killing, false claim to spiritual attainment (foundation of
celibacy + reliance on lay support), see page 89
-
note on nuns
o 8 special rules (protect vs. subordinate)
o Theravada order dies out (11th C. Sri Lanka?)
o Thriving order of nuns in East Asia
Precepts: Vinaya's Code of Discipline
- pratimoksa recited on:
posadha days (new and full moon)
• relation between monastic and lay Buddhists
• making and sharing merit
• Practice of meritorious action
• merit (punya), good karma_ , wholesome deeds
• monk as field of merit_ for laity
• underlying concerns of the Vinaya:
• unity of Sangha, spiritual life, dependence_ on wider community,
appearance of Sangha in eyes of that community
• wandering (forest) vs. settled (town)
• both from early to today
• irony; not fixed characteristics (p.99 story; inversion of ideas)
• meditation and/or scholarship
• Sangha and the state
Spiro's schema & critique
• 3 forms of Buddhist practice concerned w/ aspects:
• apotropaic (protection, current conditions)
• chants, amulets
• kammatic (merit & better rebirth)
• generosity, ethical conduct
• nibbanic (nirvana, release from samsara)
• meditation (is this for monks and 1&2 for laity?)
Critique: are these distinct? Are they incompatible? Spiro says they are separate but
compatible aspects in domains of monks and lay people. Gethin says otherwise,
they
may not mostly be in one domain of either monk or nun. This class says reasonable
scheme to understanding practice.
The Development and Spread of Buddhism
• The Buddha received some royal patronage during his lifetime.
• for some centuries it primarily circulated in the Ganges river kingdoms.
• co-existed with other rival religious philosophies (e.g. Jainism).
Asoka and Indian Buddhism
• c. 250 BCE, the emperor Asoka developed a vast Mauryan empire in India.
• conversion to non-violence; patron of Buddhism, who helped establish it
throughout his empire.
• sent missionaries to adjoining countries.
• Called the third Council
Emperor Asoka's Pillar in Lumbini announces Buddha's birthplace as
pilgrimage site and religious place
The Three Vehicles
• Theravada (Hinayana)
• (Theravada was 1 among "mainstream" Buddhist schools - only surviving)
• Mahayana - dominant in East Asia calls itself the Great Vehicle
• Vajrayana - Diamond Vehicle develops out of Mahayana, using Tantric ideas
Theravada Buddhism
• Only one non-Mahayana (i.e. Hinayana) Buddhist school survives.
• It is called the Theravada
• (Doctrine/Teaching of the Elders)
• it is the dominant form of Buddhism in:
• Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar) & Thailand + others Cambodia, Laos
• it is more conservative, such as female views and reluctant to change, and regards
the Tripitaka as its primary canon.
Read p 373 - insight purifies practice; practice promotes insight
Everything reinforces each other
Are certain people unreachable? You need textual side in part to be able to teach
others; you teach in different ways to different people so perhaps those
"unreachable" ones are not a lost cause if you know how to teach them
Buddhist Cosmos
• Analysis of all possible conditions and circumstances of existence
• Analysis of duhkha from 2 angles:
o psychological (states of mind a being might experience)
o cosmological (circumstances in which a being can be born, exist, and die)
comes out of the idea of impermanence
Space and Time
• samsara's beginning in time is inconceivable
• mother's milk drunk in all lives > water in oceans
• simile for aeon, 7-mile solid mountain decays before a whole aeon (see p.113)
• no spatial limit to the extent of world-systems
• Buddhaghosa says Great Brahmas (living 16,000 aeons) will not reach the
end
traveling at a speed of 100,000 world-systems per fraction of a second
Buddhaghosa is from ~C.5th AD
Realms of Rebirth
See Table 2 in Gethin, pp. 116-117
• karmic fruition of intentional acts (wholesome vs. unwholesome)
• motivated by 3 Root Evils: greed, hate, and delusion
• 4 Lower Realms (Descents)
• Asuras -- quarrelsome/jealous lower gods (trapped by their greed)
• Animals
• Hungry Ghosts -- greed never satisfied
Thin neck; bloated stomach; they only have undesirable food available
People can help out pitiable creatures in Buddhist festivals
• Hell realms
• karmic fruition of intentional acts (wholesome vs. unwholesome)
• motivated by non-attachment, friendliness, wisdom
• 2 or 7 higher Realms are happy destinies -- nirvana is possible:
• Gods (lower gods like humans; higher gods move from gross [physical] to
subtle [fewer senses with less embody and more consciousness])
• Humans
Human can try to model the higher states of consciousness like the Gods
Image:
Mount Meru - Mandala
Sense of center of this cosmos where Gods and protective spirits live; can be
understood symbolically but Mound Meru comes up frequently
This cosmology does not line up with modern science; but the infinite space
and time of the universe does.
Mount Kailash will come up as Mount Meru (for example in Life of Milarepa)
Hindus believe the same cosmology where God Shiva lives at cosmic
center
Cosmology & Psychology:
Macrocosm & Microcosm
• realms of existence relate to states of mind
• unwholesome action: bodily, speech, mental (p. 120)
Unwholesome Bodily Action: sex, killing, and stealing; same as precepts
Unwholesome Speech: falsehood, hurtful, frivolous, or devicive speech
Unwholesome Mental Action: ill will--hatred, wrong view--delusion, greed
• full intention and full awareness
karma comes from intentional acts and will associate evils with lower realms
• greed >>> hungry ghost
• hatred >>> hell realm
• ignorance >>> animal realm
• wholesome action, practice of Buddhist path:
dana (generosity), sila (ethical conduct), bhavana (meditation)
Cosmology, folk religion, modern science
• equivalence between psycholgoy and cosmology
does not mean only thought of as symbols for mental states (in past or today)
both mental and spatial interpretations of realms
• For many Buddhists, beings and realms are understood to be real
(both in present and past)
• Yet, more naïve and more sophisticated views
• Psychological and symbolic coexist with literal interpretations
• Buddhist cosmology is a flexible framework; accommodates folk religion
Image: Shapeshifting combinations of animal and God (in Hindu and Buddhist
thought), which are also seen as protectors of Buddhism
Garuda - partial bird
Naga - multiple headed snake
Tengu - a Shinto half human/bird creature with sword to cut illusion
Lions flanking the entrance to a building
Wrathful Guardians
Yamantaka (Manjushurie is a bodhisattva that shows up often as yamantaka)
Deva Kings (look fierce against delusions)
Vajrapani: demon who threatens people who crave, grasp, and believe in
substances. He transforms hatred into wisdom
Chinese Buddhism
- did not like idea of monks being idle
- work can be meditative
- when living in nature, survival skills first
Divine Beings:
• There is a mistake in West to assume spirits and gods are incompatible with
Buddhism and karma
• experiences are result of karma, but responses to experiences are new
actions,
which will bear fruit in the future
• divine beings can be called on for help, but can't solve ultimate problem or grant
nirvana; also possible to meditate on qualities of gods
• Yet, more naïve and more sophisticated views
• Psychological and symbolic coexist with literal interpretations
• Buddhist cosmology is a flexible framework; accommodates folk religion
• "Pure" Buddhism without "mythic" elements is a theoretical and scholarly
abstraction
(modernizing Buddhism downplays these mythical elements because of
contradiction to scientific belief. The search for "pure" Buddhism can even lead
to a new creation of Buddhism = different interpretation)
• contrast Indian cosmology with cosmology in West
• perceived affinity between Indian cosmology and modern astronomy and physics
can be misleading
• Age and size of universe + no creator God, does not = anticipating modern
scientific theories
Western scholars were excited when studying Indian cosmology due to its accurate
description of things so tiny they cannot be seen, and there are things so vast in the
universe they are difficult to comprehend.
Example: the Tao of Physics published in 1975 with many points about modern
science and Indian cosmology. Perhaps misleading sense that the affinity between
them is stronger than it really is.
1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago attended by 30 million peoples:
World Fairs were an opportunity to show off cultural and technological
advancements. A Japanese Buddhist showed a paper at this fair that Buddhism
is
consistent with contemporary science.
University of Emory - Tibet Partnership
- Scholarly initiative to bridge Tibetan science of mind (medicine, philosophy)
with Western modern science.
- Integrating separate world views while still acknowledging differences
Buddhist Meditation and Nirvanic Insight
- Buddhists developed many types of meditative practices over the centuries
- In mindfulness practice one carefully observes (without judgement) the body
and mind processes.
- As mindfulness develops and is refined, one will have a powerful insight
(nirvanic) into a common process occurring in human consciousness
- This process is known as Pratitya-samutpada (Dependent Origination)
Pratitya-samutpada
- reveals the origin of our sense of "self"
- it depends in part on our perceptions, our ignorance, and our desires.
- twelve links of dependent arising
o ignorance > formations> consciousness > mind and body >six senses >
sense-contact > feeling/sensation > craving/desire >
grasping/attachment > becoming > birth > old age and death/ whole
mass of duhkha
- each created self is dependent on a vast array of related phenomena
- all of these are impermanent
- so are our many psychologically created selves
- as these "grow old and die" we experience suffering (duhkha)
The Anatman Doctrine in Buddhism
-
insight into pratitya-samutpada reveals not only how "selves" are created
it reveals there is no permanent independently existing self (eg. Atman)
this is known as the Anatman Doctrine
neither nihilism not eternalism it is the middle way of self
Five Aggregates/Heaps (Skandhas)
- things that in combination give the impression of a self
1. physical form: body is made up of impermanent material elements
2. feeling/sensation: pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral felt experiences
3. recognition/perception: of physical objects and mental phenomena
4. volitional formations/other mental forces:
a. desires, wishes, tendencies, attitudes and dispositions that form
character (willful doing of good and bad --> karma)
5. self-consciousness/awareness of self:
a. mental awareness and discrimination; this arises when any of the six
sense faculties engages its object; not a permanent Self
The Five Skandhas
- The Five Aggregates are constantly changing metal or physical states or
processes. None is a permanent Self
- Each bears the three marks of existence of impermanence, suffering, and noself
- Nonetheless, one or more is often mistaken for a soul or permanent Self
- The "individual" is a process of their interaction
- The temporary self is the current aggregation of the five Skandhas and their
interaction
Rebirth (re-becoming or repeated death)
- Buddhists accepts the principles of karma and rebirth but in distinct ways
- Karma: principle of cause and effect (natural law);
o Emphasis on "intentional acts"
-
If there is no soul/self what is reborn?
o Answer: nothing permanent, karma makes this jump due to 12 chains
of causation, consciousness lingering sense that last life's skandhas
makes transition and has some influence on new skandhas of new
temporary self
-
The person is like a candle flame;
o It appears to be a separate entity
o Actually it is a manifestation of a complex highly-interconnected
process
o Rebirth is like one candle flame igniting another
o Not entirely the same or different
Movie:
In the same way that a flower is made up of non-flower elements (sunshine, water
from clouds, minerals, fibres, pollen etc); so the person "I" is made up of "non-I"
things so that a person is not eternal
Recall: No self ideas will cycle back to other concepts we have learned including
karma and rebirth; hatred, ignorance, and delusion drive the wheel;
see Gethin p158-159 for further discussion of symbols such as:
A blind man - ignorance
A couple embracing - sense contact
Man carrying a corpse - old age and death
Interdependent Origination
- Nagarjuna and Middle Way
Nagarjuna is a Mahayana philosopher who speaks on emptiness
Zen Buddhism: Buddha - Makashapa -  - Nagarjuna - 
Nagarjuna is also an important in other Mahayana schools other than Zen
o Madhyamika School
The Middle Way School
o Emptiness (sunyata)
Empty of nihilism; empty of eternalism; the concepts in
Buddhism are empty; words and language have a sense of
permanence which is misleading because they are empty;
Nagarjuna says that reality is characterized by emptiness
o Nirvana and samsara
Are concepts that are essentially empty
Ultimately together are not separate but are not the same
o Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) Sutras
Heart Sutra, form and emptiness
Form is emptiness and emptiness is form; usefulness of what
seems useless; everything is dynamically connected and always
changing, emptiness is seen in the different formations around us;
non-dualism - neither monotism and neither dualism
o People use language and concepts in ways that produce a false view of
the world
o Field of emptiness and two realities in how this is
experience/perceived: samsara vs. Nirvana
People are "in" samsara because they perceive the reality they
are in as suffered; Nirvana is the other empty perspective in
the same physical reality that a monk can awaken to; this is
mutual dependence
Ch'an
(Dhyana/Chan/Zen = meditation)
Zen is " a special tradition outside the scriptures  a direct pointing into the mind"
-- attributed to Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma:
- understood to have come from India to China
- viewed "foreignness" which is an obstacle to Chinese culture; however, in
this case is seen as a form of authenticity that he came from India
- 520 CE when Buddhism had been in China a few centuries; the current
Emperor was a devout Buddhist who had done many things to gain merit;
Bodhidharma says the Emperor gained nothing in merit from building
statues and donating, Bodhidharma goes to a cave to meditate for years,
shows that practice is important for the redirection of focus
- many monks came to Bodhidharma to learn but he remained still in his
meditation; one disciple is so dedicated he cuts off his arm to give that to
Bodhidharma which finally gains his attention (while this is not the Middle
Way, this story is a Zen story about how the Chinese disciple was worthy of
the transmission from elder Indian Zen master)
- wakefulness is important
- practice and focus now in this moment
- cultivation of tea; caffeinated properties to keep awake; it is said to keep
awake, Bodhidharma cuts off his eyelids and throws them out the cave and
they sprout into tea leaf plants
Huineng (638-713 CE)
Platform Sutra
- not traditional sutra because not from the historical Buddha's time
- was illiterate; was not a scholar; was not getting his wisdom from scripture
- wanted to train under the fifth patriarch of the Zen tradition but runs into
resistance; the Zen master wants a competition, and asks whoever wants to
succeed him should write a verse of their understanding. The head monk was
the obvious successor but then it was Huineng who actually had the deeper
understanding and was worthy.
- The conventional approach to enlightenment, expressed by the obvious
successor to the lineage, was:
The body is the Bodhi-tree,
The mind is like a bright mirror standing.
Take care to wipe it diligently,
Keep it free from all dust.
Critique of Poem
Did not successfully convey teachings; if you focus too much on cleaning the mirror
and not enough on looking then you are missing the point
There is a problem with sense of permanence and dualism/separation of objects
It will not steer you wrong but it is not under the full awakening
- Then Huineng said:
Bodhi originally has no tree,
The bright mirror is nowhere standing.
Buddha-nature is forever clear and pure,
Where can there be any dust?
- Huineng was the next successor in the Zen tradition
Dogen (1200-1253)
- Left Mt. Hiei in Japan to pursue question
- 1223- to China
Dogen went to China in pursuit of a question: idea that everyone has
Buddha-nature, so why do we need to practice so hard? Dogen asks a
cook if he is envious that he must work because he cannot practice
like the monks. The cook says you can practice through cooking, my
cooking is my practice. Dogen realizes that his original question was
wrong because he was separating the practice and attainment.
-
-
Brought Soto (Caodong) Zen to Japan
Soto Zen is just sitting meditation Zen like Bodhidharma did
Shikan-taza "just sitting"
However this cannot be mislead; he is sitting in a lotus pose like the
Buddha did in order to grant chance to be enlightened; sitting
quietens the mind so that awakening will slowly come
Analogy: instant awakening is like a bucket of water in the face;
whereas shikan-taza would be like walking through a dewy field, then
realizing that your clothes have slowly become soaked through
Practice/attainment
To study the Buddha's Way is to study oneself. To study oneself is to forget
oneself. To forget oneself is to be enlightened by all things. . . . .
*There is a dropping away of the body and mind
In its place, the Buddhist terms and concepts are articulated by this
verse (Pratipatya-samad, dependent arising, emptiness)
Thich Naht Hang
(born 1926)
An important Buddhist figure in modern day; was nominated for a Nobel Prize;
Lived through Vietnamese War; went to the middle of a busy intersection, doused in
gasoline, and lit himself on fire to gain the attention of people to try to bring about a
peaceful resolution; did not align with either north or south Vietnam and so was
mistrusted by both sides that he was exiled.
Thich Naht Hang
- Engaged Buddhism
- Peace Activism
- Mindfulness
- Order of Interbeing
- Fourteen Precepts
In the Fourteen Precepts, the ideas of No Self are important to other ideas; there is a
fluidity between boundaries and deeper connections
Animal Release
- for example Lobster release in Cape Breton
- see Lopez Ch 44 - see
Lopez P 374
- calling on the three Jewels
- calling on Sakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, and Guanyne
Bodhisattva
of Compassion
- addresses what seems to be a problem in that animals' cognitive state is less
able because of their karma; they ask for the power to be passed on to the
animals to gain better insight
Bodhisattva of Compassion
- most ready to help out
- Guanyne
- Is listening for the cries of distress, the one people turn to because is a more
available Buddha
Devotionalism
- The Buddha begins to be worshipped as divine (by many groups) even while
alive and shortly after his death
Symbols of Buddha
-
-
Early depictions of him do not portray him at all
o He is represented by symbols
He is represented by the Dharma-Cakra (wheel of the Buddhist teachings), a
Lotus, a Footprint, or as invisible
o Eg) only the seat of the Buddha is visible under the Bodhi Tree
o Departure (invisible) on a horse
Worship of the Buddha as a Dharma Cakra
o Wheel stands in place of Buddha
Depicted often sitting touching earth (awakening) or lying on his right side
(parinirvana)
Faith
- The faith in Buddhism plays a prominent role
- Not in the same way that Western Belief has when taken in context, faith can
rather be apart of the eightfold path; sense of practition and emotional
response to devotional aspects
Current Events
- Japan
- Dalai Lama retiring from his political position
Tolkhus
- high teacher/lama who can reincarnate multiple times
- for example the Dalai ("Great Sea") Lama
Dalai Lama is also connected to the Panchu Lama
- When current Dalai Lama named the Panchu Lama, the Chinese government
kidnapped the boy who disappeared in 1995 and Chinese government named a
new Panchum Lama
- The Panchum Lama has the ability to name the next incarnation of the Dalai
Lama
- Now that the Dalai Lama has stepped down from political role is to help take
away from Chinese control over Tibetan Buddhism
Gethin p 179
"Meditation" can be classified in many different forms
Certain forms of Buddhist schools focus on meditation in different levels of
importance
Meditation can be understood widely, in many different types/definitions
Lopez: Against Animal sacrifice
Pushes for vegetarianism
- however, vegetarianism wasn't always the norm
- vegetarianism isn't as important in Tibetan Buddhism
Killing animals can incur bad karma
- at one level, eating an animal doesn't make sense in that animals would not kill
each other to eat as a usual occurrence
- animals have families, too
P409: whatever is sentient has a shared consciousness
- argument against killing as customary practice
Read the Sutra for Long Life
- considered a teaching containing words of power
Lay Master of Meditation
Polymics: jockeying for position among tradition
Dialogue between lay person and a Jain "naked ascetic" monk
- Both come to agree that the lay Buddhist has accomplished more
- Buddhism must be better than Jainism
- Lay person of Buddhism does better than a monk of another tradition
Nuns Triumph over Evil
- Buddha had female followers
- Stepmother, princesses, wives of men who had left them to become monks,
Kisagotami - woman whose infant son dies; couldn't accept son's death; had
sense of attachment to the impermanent life of her son; Buddha says he will
bring the woman's son back if she finds a seed from a house that has not known
death; comes to conclusion that suffering is everywhere; she becomes a nun
- Mara will says something to the nun to make her distracted: there is no escaping
the world so enjoy the sensual pleasures of life
- Nuns quickly understand Mara is trying to show temptation; Nuns say that they
do not desire what Mara says is desirable
Movie
Buddhaghosa
- 5th Century CE. Theravada monk in Sri Lanka
- great systematizer
- wrote the Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga)
-
order of the eight-fold path:
a. morality (speech, action, livelihood),
first morality can apply to anyone to be in a better position to
become a good Buddhist
b. concentration (mindfulness, effort, concentration),
as a moral person, you can then calm your mind to set yourself
up for better insight later
c. wisdom (understanding, thought)
Development to Extinction of Buddhism in India
- rise of Mahayana
- monasteries evolve into universities
Nalanda in NE India from 2nd C CE
libraries, lecture halls, logic, missionaries
- rise of Tantra (Hinduism then Buddhism)
re-absorption into Hinduism (devotional)
- desertion and destruction of monasteries
Muslim invasions; Nalanda destroyed in 1198
Mahayana Buddhism
- Mahayana Buddhism spread to China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, and
Vietnam
- marked by adaptability
- characteristics: Bodhisattva Path begins with bodhicitta
A good bodhisattva wants to stick around in many lives to bring all
other sentient beings to enlightenment
- distinct forms developed in various countries
Example: Tantric Buddhism in Tibet
Devotional Buddhism in China and Japan
- Mahayana canon is huge
- includes later texts credited to the Buddha
Prajnaparamita Sutras (Perfection of Wisdom) eg. Heart Sutra and
its
mantra
Perfections
- The Six Perfections in Buddhism are:
Giving/Generosity
Morality/Good conduct
Patience
Vigor
Meditation (Dhyana)
Wisdom (prajna)
- Four additional Perfections in Mahayana:
Skillful means (upaya)
-
The Buddha used skillful means to reach many different people
at their own level
Explains differences in Buddhist teaching
Vows/Determination
Power/Strength
Omniscient Knowledge
Ten Stages correspond to these perfections
See Gethin
Tathagata and Trikaya
- Tathagata: "Thus Come"/"Thus Gone" One
- In Mahayana, becomes a title for all Buddhas
- Three Bodies of the Buddha (trikaya):
a. Manifestation Body (Nirmanakaya)
i. Emanating physical form uses upaya
b. Enjoyment Body (Sambhogakaya)
i. For example, Amitabha, Vairocana
c. Dharma Body (Dharmakaya) essential nature of the Buddha and
suchness of all existence
Three Jewels (triratna) Mahayana emphasis:
- Buddha
o In Mahayana, more emphasis on other Buddhas not historical
- Dharma
Many scriptures and sutras
- Sangha
Could expand out to all humans
De-emphasize need to be a monk but focusses on lay people
and
stretches the community out to even ecompass all sentient beings in
the entire universe
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
- Buddhas:
Sakyamuni - the hisorical Buddha
Vairocana
Amitabha (J. Amida)
Pure Land
-
Bodhisattvas (motivated by the bodhicitta ideal)
Avolokitesvara/ Guanyin (Kuan-yin)/ Kannon
The Bodhisattva of compassion is always listening/ready to help
Manjusri
Full of wisdom; complementary to compassion
Maitreya
Is the next Buddha; is the Buddha in training; connected to lovingkindness like the laughing Buddha is
Vimalakirti
Fully awakened but chose to continue as a lay person
Mahayana Sutras
- Lotus Sutra
Parable of Burning House and Upaya (expedient means)
A rich man comes home and sees his house is on fire; sees his
sons
upstairs, not playing and notices that they will not understand the fire
is dangerous; he calls that he will give them beautiful carts as a
wonderful toy if they come running out; illustrates skillful means for
getting attention of individuals; gives his sons all one big ox cart
which is metaphor for the great Mahayana vehicle which is better
than any other cart that might look more attractive
- Vimalakirti Sutra
The man who achieved highest level but remained a lay person;
important in China because shows you can be a good Buddhist
without leaving the family behind
- Lankavatara Sutra
Storehouse-consciousness and non-dualism
- Land of Bliss (Pure Land) Sutra
Amitabha's vow
Vimalakirti
- Fully awakened but chose to continue as a lay person
- Depicted as with lavish surroundings because he has not left the household
and has not renounced householder life
- Teaching opportunity: Pretends to be sick so that people will come visit him
and teach in non-obvious ways
Avalokitesvara
- Boddhisattva of compassion
- India and Tibet represent as male or androgenous with many heads and
many arms for helping many people at once
- China represent as feminine
Tarah
- protector of Tibetan Buddhism; connected to compassion
- goddess of many perfections; women achieving enlightenment as women
Manjusri
- Complementary counterpart to compassion, Majusri is wisdom
- Upaya: skillful means of teaching (insight)
- Representation of prajna (wisdom insight into enlightenment)
- Zen Buddhism leans towards Manjusri; looking for insight
- Holds a flaming sword
Powerful Figures in society can be connected to bodhisattvas
Dalai Lama seen as an incarnation of bodhisattva of compassion
Pu-Tai (Budai)
- "Laughing Buddha," connected to loving kindness
- emanation of Maitreya, the next major teaching Buddha
Amitabha Buddha
- connected to compassion in that is a teacher of the bodhisattva of
compassion
- created the Pure Land for devotees
- Paradise in the West is a pure land for attaining enlightenment
Kamakura, Japan
- was a capital city for a century about 800 years ago, is south of Tokyo
- has a great Amitabha Buddha sculpture in a seated position
Vairocana Buddha
- at Todaiji in Nara, Japan
- cosmic Buddha
- central to "true word" Buddhism, a tantric form of Buddhism focussed on
chanting and cosmology where Vairocana is at center of universe
- Tathagata Thus Come Thus Gone
- Great Sun Buddha; cosmic Buddha radiating Dharma light through universe
- Vairocana in the middle of the Womb Manadala; a mandala is a mural
Sakyamuni, near Po Lin Monastery on Lan Tau Island, Hong Kong
- while is most of eastern Asia, the historical Buddha is not a big of an
influence, he is still present just not as often
Mahayana Schools and Sutras
- Tathagata-garbha (womb/embryo) Lit.
o Nature of consciousness, awakening and Buddhahood (influence
in
east Asia)
-
Yogacara (Practice of Yoga)
o aka the consciousness only school of Buddhism
o positive representation of enlightenment
o storehouse consciousness
cultivate pure seeds
Movie: The Bodhisattva Ideal
Buddist Spread to East Asia
- Major shift in the Buddhist tradition is when Buddhism reaches China
- See slide for map
- Nalanda (Buddhsit university in Northeast India) Pakistan Afghanistan
enters China via silk roads from the West
Buddhism in East Asia
- Buddhism entered China via the Silk Roads in the 1st century CE
(Kusana
Empire in C.A.).
- initially encountered resistance due to Confucian values (this-worldly)
o resist monastic leaving of family and not having children
- grew popular after the fall of the Han Dynasty (c. 200 BCE - 200 CE).
- gained power and popularity during the T'ang Dynasty (618-906 CE).
Aids to spread (story of Emperor Ming (58-75 CE)
- Literature, power, ideas, bodhisattva (ideal lessens the "selfishness" of leaving
family), Daoism (Taoist ideas can be close to Buddhist ones)
Obstacles: (Foreign tradition)
- Daoism (can also distort Buddhist teachings)
- Monastic life itself (vs. arguments of filial piety - being a good son/daughter)
- Leaving the family & ancestors
- Concern of a drain on society
- Selective: meditation, mindfulness, breathing practices (Daoist influence)
o many texts focussed on this selective area
People Important to Spread:
• Dharmaraksa (b. 230), comes from Dunhuang (Tun-huang see map) native
o knows Chinese and Sanskirt languages; at crossroads of different
cultures on silk road trade routes
o important translator
• Kumarajiva (344-413)
o some translations are so good they are still used today
• Faxian c. 400
o first of main pilgrims
o to transfer merit and pursue bodhisattva ideal
• Xuanzhao, 7th C see Lopez 80-83
o like xuanzang is an important early pilgrim
• Xuanzang (7th C) {Hsuan Tsang}
o Tripitaka in Monkey or Journey to the West Chinese schools of
Buddhism
o Buddhist monk on pilgrimage; monkey being a daoist trouble maker as
companion, along with piggie and other man
Chinese schools of Buddhism
• mofa/J. mappo
o Latter Days of the Dharma
• T'ien-t'ai/J.Tendai (Heavenly Terrace, mtn)
• Hua-yen (Wreath, Flower Garland)
• Ch'an (Dhyana/Chan/J. Zen =meditation)
• practice and study (north and south)
• Pure Land (Land of Bliss)
o J. nembutsu ("Namu Amida Butsu")
o Invoking the name of the buddha Amitabha
Vajrayana (Diamond Vehicle) (Thunderbolt Vehicle)
aka Mantrayana
an indestructible vehicle that cannot be split up
gives ability to achieve enlightenment in this life in this body
mantras or chants are very important
Tantra absorbed into Buddhism
Movie: Amongst White Clouds
Tibetan Religion
- indigenous religion came to be called Bon
- initially hostile to Buddhism
- has been largely shaped by both indigenous mystical and Buddhist traditions
- animistic, abounding in deities/spirits both benevolent and malevolent
- Padmasambhava, a Tantric Buddhist master, said to have "converted" the
Tibetan deities (now divine bodhisattvas) and subdued the land
1st Dissemination of Buddhism
- King Songtsen Gampo (7th C)
o Nepalese and Chinese Buddhist wives
o Built first temple; Tibetan alphabet
- King Trisong Detsen (8th C)
o Invited Santaraksita from Nalanda U; then Padmasambhava, the
Tantric master
o 1st monastery (Samye in 775) and Sangha
o major translation project
Chinese Schools of Buddhism
Mahayana -> extensions through East Asian Buddhism
-> Vahayana -> Tibetan Buddhism
T'ien-t'ai
"Heavenly Mountain School"
- Zhiyi/ Chih-I was main figure and systemized school, many writings
- Lotus Sutra's idea One Vehicle
The Journey into Buddism Movie: The Pilgrimage Trilogy
Vajra = thunderbolt, power of truth
Fear not the dead or death
Tibetan Book of the Dead
Lopez Ch 48 little more modern scripture on death;
- turning death into enlightenment;
- using the cycle of samsara for positive attainment;
- Vajrayana has many techniques which are different means of powering self
beyond so that samsara can be used as a means to get out of samsara;
- speaks about cosmology and pays attention to bright white light/ sights and
experiences of death, seeming that you go backwards from birth, a
dissolution of conception and birth
- this "dissolving" in central to the constant flux concepts in Buddhism, and
with the anatman sense of no-self; energy moving through chakras and
parting like the wind
- State in between is the Bardo
Practicing Death
- practice while living how you would take control of the state of death by
avoiding fear
- fear is a type of attachment, so fear will cause another rebirth for
continuation in samsara
- when death itself truly comes one can face it skillfully and use it as passage to
nirvana and parinirvana simultaneously
-
Bardo state is an opportunity for awakening, however they are not
necessarily easily understood
In the sense of the Dalai Lama,
- the Bardo state allows Lama to take control of next rebirth
Tibetan Schools
- Kadam School (Bound to Commands)
o Founded by disciple of Atisa
- Sakya School with Indian and Chinese teachings
o same vinaya
o "path and fruit" - journey and gold are same; this concept is very
Chinese or Zenlike in origin
- Kagyu (Teaching Lineage), synthesis
o Marpa (under Naropa was the translator or teacher), and Milarepa
(recall first movie of year, learned under monk Marpa)
- Nyingma (Ancient School)
o Older Tantric tradition
o dzogchen "Great Perfection" sudden (East Asian influence)
o terma or "hidden treasures," and tertons or "treasure seekers"
built in modes for renewal that some teachings are discovered
later as time goes on
- Bon, and Bon/Buddhist hybrids
Tson Khapa and Geluk School
- Tsong Khapa (1457 - 1419)
- Atisa's Kadam system
- The Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path expresses synthesis among
all
types of Buddhism
o Must be understood in stages
o If fully grasp compassionate Bodhissattva ideal is putting person in
place ready for wisdom
- School that Tsong Khapa calls "New Kadam" becomes "Geluk" (Order of
Virtue)
- Rigorous standards of discipline, celibacy scholarship and practice
o 3 facets: renunciation, bodhicitta (mind committed to bodhissatva
ideal) and right view (wisdom or insight into nature of reality)
- many monasteries constructed
- School of the Dalai Lama
Major Developments
- Tibetan Buddhist Canon
o Translations of Teaching (Kanjur) - Indian origin
o Treatises (Tanjur/Tenjur) - Tibetan scholastic/monastic
commentaries
- Patron-priest relationship
o For example: Sakya Pandita and Mongolian Khan
Mongolian Khan invites a Tibetan Buddhist priest,
S.Pandita
Khan converts to Buddhism
Khan makes Sakya Pandita political regent of Tibet
o Political rule by Tibetan monks
= groundwork for reincarnated Lama system
- Vajrayana developed the tradition of reincarnating lamas (teachers)
o Some renowned/powerful lamas could control their next rebirth
(tulkus)
- The Dalai Lama (Ocean of Wisdom Lama)
o became a political leader
- Altan Khan gives this title to Sonam Gyatso, who is considered the 3rd Dalai
Lama
- The Potala in Lhasa
- Current Dalai Lama considered the 14th incarnation
o In political exile
o Won Nobel Peace Prize
Common Tibetan Buddhist Figures
- Tara is a general name
o Saviouress
o Green Tara is linked to meditation
o White Tara is linked to compassion and health
- Yamantaka
o Brings death to an end
o Appears scary, but not a bad figure
- Vajrapani
o Wrathful protector
o Demon who threatens people who crave, grasp, and believe in
substances
o Transforms hate into wisdom
o Think Manjusri's sword which cuts dillusion to bring wisdom
- Wrathful Heruka
o Coupled with female to show Tantric aspects
Lopez readings
- Tantric ideas are of interest in the West
- Visualizing seemingly opposites come together
- Tantric practitioner can use sex for awakening if skillful in concentration;
using nature of reality and non-duality (male-female metaphor) for religious
breakthroughs
Study Guide Final
Buddhist Cosmos
• all possible conditions and circumstances of existence
• Analysis of duhkha from psychological (states of mind a being might experience)
and cosmological (circumstances in which a being can be born, exist, and die)
No spatial or temporal limit to extent of universe
Mount Meru - Mandala
Sense of center of this cosmos where Gods and protective spirits live; can be
understood symbolically but Mound Meru comes up frequently
Realms of Rebirth
Higher Realms:
- Gods
- Humans
Lower Realms:
- Demi Gods
- Animals
- Hungry Ghosts
- Hell Realms
• karmic fruition of intentional acts (wholesome vs. unwholesome)
• unwholesome: motivated by 3 Root Evils: greed, hate, and delusion
• wholesome: motivated by non-attachment, friendliness, wisdom
• realms of existence relate to states of mind
• full intention and full awareness
karma comes from intentional acts and will associate evils with lower realms
• greed >>> hungry ghost
• hatred >>> hell realm
• ignorance >>> animal realm
• wholesome action, practice of Buddhist path:
dana (generosity), sila (ethical conduct), bhavana (meditation)
Meditation and Nirvanic Insight
- Many types of meditative practices
Dependent Origination: Pratitya-samutpada
- In mindfulness practice one carefully observes (without judgement) the body
and mind processes.
-
-
As mindfulness develops and is refined, one will have a powerful insight
(nirvanic) into a common process occurring in human consciousness
This process is known as Pratitya-samutpada (Dependent Origination)
reveals the origin of our sense of "self"
it depends in part on our perceptions, our ignorance, and our desires.
twelve links of dependent arising
o ignorance > formations> consciousness > mind and body >six senses >
sense-contact > feeling/sensation > craving/desire >
grasping/attachment > becoming > birth > old age and death/ whole
mass of duhkha
each created self is dependent on a vast array of related phenomena
all of these are impermanent
so are our many psychologically created selves
as these "grow old and die" we experience suffering (duhkha)
The Anatman Doctrine in Buddhism
- insight into pratitya-samutpada reveals not only how "selves" are created, it
reveals there is no permanent independently existing self (eg. Atman)
- neither nihilistic nor eternalistic, it is the middle way of self
Skandhas
Five Aggregates/Heaps are things that in combination give the impression of a self
6. physical form: body is made up of impermanent material elements
7. feeling/sensation: pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral felt experiences
8. recognition/perception: of physical objects and mental phenomena
9. volitional formations/other mental forces:
a. desires, wishes, tendencies, attitudes and dispositions that form
character (willful doing of good and bad --> karma)
10. self-consciousness/awareness of self:
a. mental awareness and discrimination; this arises when any of the six
sense faculties engages its object; not a permanent Self
The Five Skandhas
- The Five Aggregates are constantly changing metal or physical states or
processes. None is a permanent Self
- Each bears the three marks of existence of impermanence, suffering, and noself
- Nonetheless, one or more is often mistaken for a soul or permanent Self
- The "individual" is a process of their interaction
- The temporary self is the current aggregation of the five Skandhas and their
interaction
Interdependent Origination
- Nagarjuna and Middle Way (Mahayana philosopher on emptiness)
o Emptiness (sunyata)
Empty of nihilism; empty of eternalism; the concepts in
Buddhism are empty; words and language have a sense of
permanence which is misleading because they are empty;
Nagarjuna says that reality is characterized by emptiness
o Nirvana and samsara
Are concepts that are essentially empty
Ultimately together are not separate but are not the same
o Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) Sutras
Heart Sutra, form and emptiness
Form is emptiness and emptiness is form; usefulness of what
seems useless; everything is dynamically connected and always
changing, emptiness is seen in the different formations around us;
non-dualism - neither monotism and neither dualism
o People use language and concepts in ways that produce a false view of
the world
o Field of emptiness and two realities in how this is
experienced/perceived: samsara vs. Nirvana
People are "in" samsara because they perceive the reality they
are in as suffered; Nirvana is the other empty perspective in
the same physical reality that a monk can awaken to; this is
mutual dependence
Dhyana/Chan/Zen = meditation
Zen is " a special tradition outside the scriptures  a direct pointing into the mind"
-- attributed to Bodhidharma
see "Bodhidharma" notes
Release
- Animal release as example of compassion
- addresses what seems to be a problem in that animals' cognitive state is less
able because of their karma; they ask for the power to be passed on to the
animals to gain better insight
Mahayana Buddhism
- Mahayana Buddhism spread to China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, and Vietnam
- marked by adaptability
- characteristics: Bodhisattva Path begins with bodhicitta
A good bodhisattva wants to live many lives to bring all other sentient
beings to enlightenment
-
distinct forms developed in various countries
Example: Tantric Buddhism in Tibet
Devotional Buddhism in China and Japan
Zen Buddhism in China and Japan
Perfections
- The Six Perfections in Buddhism are:
Giving/Generosity
Morality/Good conduct
Patience
Vigor
Meditation (Dhyana)
Wisdom (prajna)
- Four additional Perfections in Mahayana:
Skillful means (upaya)
The Buddha used skillful means to reach many different
people
at their own level
Explains differences in Buddhist teaching
Vows/Determination
Power/Strength
Omniscient Knowledge
- Ten Stages correspond to these perfections
Tathagata and Trikaya
- Tathagata: "Thus Come"/ "Thus Gone" One
- In Mahayana, becomes a title for all Buddhas
- Three Bodies of the Buddha (trikaya):
d. Manifestation Body (Nirmanakaya)
i. Emanating physical form uses upaya
e. Enjoyment Body (Sambhogakaya)
i. For example, Amitabha, Vairocana
f. Dharma Body (Dharmakaya) essential nature of the Buddha and
suchness of all existence
Three Jewels (triratna) Mahayana emphasis:
- Buddha
o In Mahayana, more emphasis on other Buddhas not historical
- Dharma
Many scriptures and sutras
- Sangha
Could expand out to all humans
De-emphasize need to be a monk but focusses on lay people
and
stretches the community out to even ecompass all sentient beings in
the entire universe
Mahayana Sutras
- Lotus Sutra
Parable of Burning House and Upaya (expedient means)
A rich man comes home and sees his house is on fire; sees his
sons
upstairs playing and notices that they will not understand the fire is
dangerous; he calls that he will give them beautiful carts as a
wonderful toy if they come running out; illustrates skillful means for
getting attention of individuals; gives his sons all one big ox cart
which is metaphor for the great Mahayana vehicle which is better
than any other cart that might look more attractive
- Vimalakirti Sutra
The man who achieved highest level but remained a lay person;
important in China because shows you can be a good Buddhist
without leaving the family behind
- Lankavatara Sutra
Storehouse-consciousness and non-dualism
- Land of Bliss (Pure Land) Sutra
Amitabha's vow
Kamakura, Japan
- was a capital city for a century about 800 years ago, is south of Tokyo
- has a great Amitabha Buddha sculpture in a seated position
Vairocana Buddha
- at Todaiji in Nara, Japan
- cosmic Buddha
- central to "true word" Buddhism, a tantric form of Buddhism focussed on
chanting and cosmology where Vairocana is at center of universe
- Tathagata Thus Come Thus Gone
- Great Sun Buddha; cosmic Buddha radiating Dharma light through universe
- Vairocana in the middle of the Womb Manadala; a mandala is a mural
Sakyamuni, near Po Lin Monastery on Lan Tau Island, Hong Kong
- while is most of eastern Asia, the historical Buddha is not a big of an
influence, he is still present just not as often
Mahayana Schools and Sutras
- Tathagata-garbha (womb/embryo) Lit.
o Nature of consciousness, awakening and Buddhahood (influence
in
east Asia)
- Yogacara (Practice of Yoga)
o aka the consciousness only school of Buddhism
o positive representation of enlightenment
o storehouse consciousness
cultivate pure seeds
Figures and People
Vajrapani: demon who threatens people who crave, grasp, and believe in
substances. He transforms hatred into wisdom
Buddhaghosa says Great Brahmas (living 16,000 aeons) will not reach the end
traveling at a speed of 100,000 world-systems per fraction of a second
- 5th Century CE. Theravada monk in Sri Lanka
- great systematizer
- wrote the Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga)
- order of the eight-fold path:
d. morality (speech, action, livelihood),
first morality can apply to anyone to be in a better position to
become a good Buddhist
e. concentration (mindfulness, effort, concentration),
as a moral person, you can then calm your mind to set yourself
up for better insight later
f. wisdom (understanding, thought)
Nagarjuna is a Mahayana philosopher who speaks on emptiness and the Middle
Way
Zen/Cha'an Buddhism
Bodhidharma:
- understood to have come from India to China
- viewed "foreignness" which is an obstacle to Chinese culture; however, in
this case is seen as a form of authenticity that he came from India
- Bodhidharma goes to a cave to meditate for years, shows that practice is
important for the redirection of focus many monks came to Bodhidharma to
learn but he remained still in his meditation; one disciple is so dedicated he
cuts off his arm to give that to Bodhidharma which finally gains his attention
(while this is not the Middle Way, this story is a Zen story about how the
Chinese disciple was worthy of the transmission from elder Indian Zen
master)
- wakefulness is important
- practice and focus now in this moment
- cultivation of tea; caffeinated properties to keep awake; it is said to keep
awake, Bodhidharma cuts off his eyelids and throws them out the cave and
they sprout into tea leaf plants
Huineng (638-713 CE)
Platform Sutra
- not traditional sutra because not from the historical Buddha's time
-
was illiterate; was not a scholar; was not getting his wisdom from scripture
wanted to train under the fifth patriarch of the Zen tradition but runs into
resistance; the Zen master wants a competition, and asks whoever wants to
succeed him should write a verse of their understanding. The head monk was
the obvious successor but then it was Huineng who actually had the deeper
understanding and was worthy.
- The conventional approach to enlightenment, expressed by the obvious
successor to the lineage, was:
The body is the Bodhi-tree,
The mind is like a bright mirror standing.
Take care to wipe it diligently,
Keep it free from all dust.
Critique of Poem
Did not successfully convey teachings; if you focus too much on cleaning the mirror
and not enough on looking then you are missing the point
There is a problem with sense of permanence and dualism/separation of objects
It will not steer you wrong but it is not under the full awakening
- Then Huineng said:
Bodhi originally has no tree,
The bright mirror is nowhere standing.
Buddha-nature is forever clear and pure,
Where can there be any dust?
- Huineng was the next successor in the Zen tradition
Dogen (1200-1253)
- Left Mt. Hiei in Japan to pursue question
- 1223- to China
Dogen went to China in pursuit of a question: idea that everyone has
Buddha-nature, so why do we need to practice so hard? Dogen asks a
cook if he is envious that he must work because he cannot practice
like the monks. The cook says you can practice through cooking, my
cooking is my practice. Dogen realizes that his original question was
wrong because he was separating the practice and attainment.
-
Brought Soto (Caodong) Zen to Japan
Soto Zen is just sitting meditation Zen like Bodhidharma did
Shikan-taza "just sitting"
However this cannot be mislead; he is sitting in a lotus pose like the
Buddha did in order to grant chance to be enlightened; sitting
quietens the mind so that awakening will slowly come
Analogy: instant awakening is like a bucket of water in the face;
whereas shikan-taza would be like walking through a dewy field, then
realizing that your clothes have slowly become soaked through
-
Practice/attainment
To study the Buddha's Way is to study oneself. To study oneself is to forget
oneself. To forget oneself is to be enlightened by all things. . . . .
*There is a dropping away of the body and mind
In its place, the Buddhist terms and concepts are articulated by this
verse (Pratipatya-samad, dependent arising, emptiness)
Thich Naht Hang
(born 1926)
An important Buddhist figure in modern day; was nominated for a Nobel Prize;
Lived through Vietnamese War; went to the middle of a busy intersection, doused in
gasoline, and lit himself on fire to gain the attention of people to try to bring about a
peaceful resolution; did not align with either north or south Vietnam and so was
mistrusted by both sides that he was exiled.
Thich Naht Hang
- Engaged Buddhism
- Peace Activism
- Mindfulness
- Order of Interbeing
- Fourteen Precepts
In the Fourteen Precepts, the ideas of No Self are important to other ideas; there is a
fluidity between boundaries and deeper connections
Bodhisattva of Compassion
- most ready to help out
- Guanyne
- Is listening for the cries of distress, the one people turn to because is a more
available Buddha
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
- Buddhas:
Sakyamuni - the hisorical Buddha
Vairocana
Amitabha (J. Amida)
Pure Land
-
Bodhisattvas (motivated by the bodhicitta ideal)
Avolokitesvara/ Guanyin (Kuan-yin)/ Kannon
The Bodhisattva of compassion is always listening/ready to help
Manjusri
Full of wisdom; complementary to compassion
Maitreya
Is the next Buddha; is the Buddha in training; connected to lovingkindness like the laughing Buddha is
Vimalakirti
Fully awakened but chose to continue as a lay person
Vimalakirti
- Fully awakened but chose to continue as a lay person
- Depicted as with lavish surroundings because he has not left the household
and has not renounced householder life
- Teaching opportunity: Pretends to be sick so that people will come visit him
and teach in non-obvious ways
Avalokitesvara
- Boddhisattva of compassion
- India and Tibet represent as male or androgenous with many heads and
many arms for helping many people at once
- China represent as feminine
Tarah
- protector of Tibetan Buddhism; connected to compassion
- goddess of many perfections; women achieving enlightenment as women
Manjusri
- Complementary counterpart to compassion, Majusri is wisdom
- Upaya: skillful means of teaching (insight)
- Representation of prajna (wisdom insight into enlightenment)
- Zen Buddhism leans towards Manjusri; looking for insight
- Holds a flaming sword
Powerful Figures in society can be connected to bodhisattvas
Dalai Lama seen as an incarnation of bodhisattva of compassion
Pu-Tai (Budai)
- "Laughing Buddha," connected to loving kindness
- emanation of Maitreya, the next major teaching Buddha
Amitabha Buddha
- connected to compassion in that is a teacher of the bodhisattva of
compassion
-
created the Pure Land for devotees
Paradise in the West is a pure land for attaining enlightenment