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The Buddha and His Background
Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D.
REL 260
Buddhism
Berea College
Spring 2004
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INDIA IN GEOGRAPHICAL
CONTEXT
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ANCIENT INDIA
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1.
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2.
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4.
Ancient Indian society =
fusion of:
aboriginal (Indus) peoples (c.
2500 BCE)
“invading” (Aryan) peoples
(c. 1500 BCE)
Indo-Aryan (“Vedic”) religion
= synthesis of Indus and
Aryan traditions:
Patriarchal (with matriarchal
elements)
Polytheistic
Orthoprax
Organized around oral (later
textual) transmission of liturgical
traditions (Veda = “knowledge”) 3
VEDIC SOCIETY
•
•
Divided into 4 hereditary
occupational divisions (varņa
= color) and innumerable
subdivisions (jati = caste):
1. Brāhman (priest)
2. Kşatriya/Rājanya (warrior)
3. Vaiśya (merchant/artisan)
4. Śūdra (peasant)
On margins of fourfold society
are Dalits (so-called
“untouchables”), who perform
menial and polluting tasks:
1. Corpse handlers
2. Executioners
3. Hunters and fishermen
4. Leatherworkers
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TRANSCENDING THE VEDAS
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Later Vedic texts (c. 1000-800
BCE) show interest in inner
truth underlying outer ritual
Contemplation of Brahman
(omnipresent, immaterial,
ineffable source of all)
supersedes sacrifices to
deities
Concept of samsara (circle of
rebirth) replaces earlier idea
of afterlife as reunion with
ancestors
Primary goals: eliminate
avidya (ignorance) and gain
jñana (knowledge)
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JÑANAMARGA: THE WAY OF
KNOWLEDGE
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Overcome maya (illusion,
especially the illusion of
separation between ātman,
one’s essential self, and
Brahman)
Realize unity of Brahman and
ātman: “That is the Real: That
is the Self: That you are!”
Avoid actions (karma) that
promote selfishness
Maximize selflessness
Through knowledge of one’s
true self and positive karma,
attain mokşa (liberation from
samsara and full union with
Brahman)
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GAUTAMA SIDDHARTHA
(480-400 BCE?)
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Born in 6th or 5th century BCE
(“Axial Age”) in northeastern
India to kşatriya family
Renounces family and varna
in young adulthood
Develops “middle way”
(moderated asceticism) and
achieved nirvāna (complete
awareness of true nature of
reality)
As Şakyamuni (“Sage of the
Shakya Clan”) and Buddha
(“Awakened One”), teaches
disciples from both genders
and all classes; dies at age 80
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THE BUDDHA’S PATH TO
ENLIGHTENMENT
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Early life of luxury renders
him incapable of critical
perception of reality
“Four Sights” lead to 4 lifechanging realizations:
Seeing an elderly person
(everything decays)
Seeing an invalid (everything
suffers)
Seeing a corpse (everything
perishes)
Seeing a renunciant (detachment
is possible)
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1.
2.
3.
Subsequently, he adopts
practice of severe asceticism
– but this too renders him
incapable of thinking clearly
about the nature of things
After abandoning both
seductive luxury and grinding
poverty, he attains clarity of
mind in solitary meditation
Meditation culminates in 3
crucial insights:
Anitya (impermanence)
Duhkha (dissastisfaction)
Anātman (no permanent self)
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF
BUDDHIST INSTITUTIONS
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1.
2.
3.
Early Indian Buddhism
tremendously diverse in
doctrines and practices
Oral canon of authoritative
teachings first compiled
within a few years of
Şakyamuni’s death, but not
recorded in writing until 1st
century BCE – Tripitaka
(“Three Baskets”):
Sūtra (discourses of the Buddha)
Vinaya (monastic regulations)
Abhidharma (philosophical and
psychological commentaries)
• Şakyamuni regarded as fully
human, non-divine, now absent
being
• At same time, relics of
Şakyamuni jealously guarded
and piously regarded among
early Buddhist communities
• Sangha (community of
Buddha’s disciples) develops
threefold division:
1. Bhikşu / bhikşuni (men and women
in settled monastic communities)
2. Forest monks and nuns (peripatetic)
3. Householders (lay followers)
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