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Buddhism II:
The branches of modern Buddhism
Introduction to World Religions Fall 2007 Dr. Hannah Schell
Agenda for class meeting
• Review
• The main branches of modern
Buddhism:
– Mahayana Buddhism
– Theravada Buddhism
– Vajrayana Buddhism
• Video segment: The chanting of Tibetan
Buddhist monks.
• Discussion
The three marks of human existence
What is true of everything in the natural order?
1. Suffering (dukkha) is pervasive
2. There is no such thing as a permanent
soul (the doctrine of anatta or
anatman).
3. Impermanence - All is impermanent,
transitory (anicca).
The Buddha’s last words
“And now, O
priests, I take my
leave of you; all the
constituents of the
world are
transitory; work
out your salvation
with diligence.”
Theravada Buddhism
• Theravada: “the Way of the Elders”
• Form of Buddhism predominant in Sri Lanka,
Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos.
• Emphasis on attaining nirvana through selfeffort, through meditation; process of perfection
through purification
• Emphasis on the virtue of wisdom
• Ideal of the Arhat
• Buddha seen as a supreme teacher (saint),
inspiration for others to attain nirvana
• Only for a select few
(the monastic community of monks and nuns)
Theravadin Texts
• The Tipitaka (Sanskrit: Tripitaka):
“The Threefold collection” (the Pali
canon) – Book of history, discipline
and regulations; the teachings of the
Buddha; the “Higher Teachings” (the
Dharma).
• The Dhammapada (anthology of
Buddha’s sayings; source of guidance)
• The Jataka Tales (collection of tales
retelling the Buddha’s previous lives;
describes ten perfections).
The ideal of the Arhat
• Arhat (Arhant): a “worthy one”; a
Perfect Being – one who has
completed the Path of Purification
• One who follows the path of a
Buddha
• One who has “passed beyond the
fetters of samsaric existence”
• One in whom the “outflows” (sense
desire, becoming, ignorance, wrong
views) have dried up
• At death, one will receive “nirvana
without remainder.”
The arhat
“Ah, happy indeed are the Arhants! In them no
craving’s found. The ‘I am’ conceit is rooted
out; confusion’s net is burst. Lust-free they
have attained; translucent is the mind of
them. Unspotted in the world are they ,… with
outflows none.. They roar the lion’s roar:
‘Incomparable are Buddhas in the world.’”
- Samyutta Nikaya; included in The World’s Wisdom (76).
Concentration
“Concentration is… a profitable singlepointedness of the mind.. It is the state,
in virtue of which, consciousness and its
many factors remain evenly and rightly
on a single object undistracted and
unscattered.” -Buddhaghosa, quoted by Mitchell, 78.
Examples:
•Meditation to increase
mindfulness of body and
breathing.
•The Four Divine Abodes
(see next slide)
The Four Divine Abodes (or Virtues)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Loving kindness – the attitude of pure good will
toward self and others that always seeks the welfare
and happiness of all beings.
Compassion – the attitude of pity or empathy for
oneself and others who are suffering, the hope to
free all beings from pain
Sympathetic joy – an attitude of joyful affirmation of
the dignity and value of oneself and others; the
ability to extend joyful sympathy to all living beings
Equanimity – the breaking down of barriers
between oneself and others and the development of
an attitude of universal embracing of all beings.
- Adopted from Mitchell’s discussion, Buddhism (79-80).
Mahayana Buddhism
• Form of Buddhism
predominant in China,
Japan and Korea
• Emphasis on the
compassion of the Buddha
for all creatures
• Ideal of the bodihisattva
• Emphasis on “the buddha
nature”
Historical development of
Mahayana Buddhism
• Based on the development of the new
“turning of the wheel of the Dharma”;
said to be teachings of the Buddha kept
secret until the sangha was mature and
capable of understanding the deeper
message.
• New “sutras” written anonymously
(mainly in Sanskrit) from around first
century C.E. until the 8th century.
Mahayana Texts
• Sanskrit canon
• Authority of the teachings is based on
mythological connections to the Buddha
• “The Lotus of the True Law” (c. 200 c.e.)
– represents the Buddha as an eternal
reality whose earthly manifestation was
merely a device to lead people to
salvation.
• “Teachings of Perfect Wisdom” sutra. (c.
2nd century) – elaborated doctrine of
emptiness.
• The Lotus Sutra – the final teaching of
the Buddha; emphasizes idea of “skillful
means” – the different teachings of the
Buddha, relevant to a particular
audience.
Ideal of the bodhisattva
Bodhisattva: “wisdom-being”; a
being whose essence is bent on
attaining enlightenment; a
person who, out of compassion,
renounces his or her own entry
into nirvana in order to be
reborn repeatedly to undertake
the infinite work of saving all
sentient beings. This is
accomplished through the
transference of merit and by
taking on the burden of other’s
sufferings.
The Bodhisattva’s vow
“I take upon myself the burden of all suffering… I do
not turn or run away, do not tremble, am not
terrified,.. To not turn back or despond.
And why?... I have made the vow to save all beings…
The whole world of living beings I must rescue, from
the terrors of birth-and-death, from the jungle of
false views.. My endeavors do not merely aim at my
own deliverance. I must rescue all these beings from
the stream of Samsara.. And I must not cheat beings
out of my store of merit. I am resolved to abide in
each single state of woe for numberless aeons; and
so I will help all beings to freedom, in all the states
of woe that may be found in any world system
whatsoever.
And why? Because it is surely better that I alone
should be in pain than that all these beings should
fall into stages of woe.
From The World’s Wisdom, 81.
The “buddha nature”
• Eternal Buddha-nature; absolute truth
and reality.
• Wisdom, pure compassion, pure
enlightenment.
• Present within everything that exists.
Therefore, every person is a potential
Buddha!
On “The Buddha Nature”
“The Buddha appears in the world
Only for this One Reality…
The Buddha himself abides in the Great
Vehicle
and in accordance with the Law he has
attained
By meditation and wisdom and the effort
and ornament of virtue,
He saves all beings…
“Any among the living beings,
Who have come into contact with former
Buddhas,
Have learned the Law and practiced charity,
Or have undergone discipline and endured
forbearance and humiliation,
Or have made serious efforts at
concentration and understanding, etc.,
And cultivated various kinds of blessing and
wisdom–
All of these people,
Have reached the level of
Buddhahood.
Those who, for the sake of the
Buddha,
Installed images,/Or have them
carved,
Heave reached the level of
Buddhahood.
Those who with a happy frame of
mind
Have sung the glory of the
Buddha,
Even with a very small sound,
Or have worshiped,
Or have merely folded their
hands,
Or have uttered one “Namo”
[Praise be..],
All have reached the level of
Buddhahood.
- From the Lotus Sutra; The Buddhist Tradition,
ed. De Bary, 158-159
.
Some examples of
Mahayana Buddhism
• Zen Buddhism (Japan)
• Pure Land Buddhism
• Devotees of Kuan Yin
The Zen koan
What is the sound of one hand clapping?
What was the appearance of your face before your
ancestors were born?
Does a dog have a
Buddha nature?
(From Smith, 88).
Vajrayana Buddhism
The “Diamond/Thunderbolt” Path aka Tibetan
Buddhism aka Tantric Buddhism
• Use of Ritual objects
• Use of meditative visualization
• Mandalas – sacred designs
• Mantras – sacred chants
• Prayer wheels
• Rosaries, prayer wheels
See video clip on
Huston Smith and
the Tibetan monks.