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Definition: A widespread Asian religion
or philosophy, founded by Siddartha Gautama in NE India in the 5th century BCE,
which teaches that enlightenment may be reached by elimination of earthly
desires and of the idea of the self.
._001.jpg) Buddhism is the religion
of more than 500 million people around the globe. The majority of those people
live in Asia but there are substantial Buddhist communities in other continents.
There are two main Buddhist traditions, Theravada (The School of the Elders)
and Mahayana (The Great Vehicle). Buddhism is not strictly a religion and is
often described a philosophy of life.
Who was the Buddha?
According to Theravada scripture
the Buddha (Siddartha Gautama) was born in
the 5th century BCE. He was the son of King Śuddhodana, the
ruler of a small kingdom in what is modern day Nepal. Shortly after his birth,
eight Brahmins were called upon to predict the child’s future. Seven Brahmins prophesised
that the young prince would either be a great ruler, or renounce worldly
pleasures and live the life of a holy man. One however, was sure the child would
be a holy man. The King had great worldly ambitions for his son therefore kept
the Prince within the confines of the royal palace. At age 29 the prince
escaped confinement and had several encounters with the outside world. These
encounters became known in scripture as the four sights.
When Siddartha saw an old man, a sick
person, a corpse and an aesthetic who had renounced all worldly goods he
resolved to embark on a spiritual quest. This quest was to find a permanent
end to the suffering he observed. He studied with the best religious teachers
but found they could not put a permanent end to suffering. He next practised
extreme aestheticism, believing that he could free the human spirit by denying
the flesh. Siddartha underwent prolonged fasting, breath-holding, exposure to
pain and almost starved himself to death before he realised that this was not
the way to put an end to human suffering.
Siddartha did not abandon his quest but
decided to trust his own inner feelings and practice meditation. He sat under
a fig tree, known as the Bodhi tree, in the town of Bodh Gaya, India, and vowed
not to rise before achieving enlightenment. After a
number of days he destroyed the restraints of his mind, liberating himself from the cycle of suffering and rebirth, thus becoming a fully
enlightened being.
It was through this meditation that Siddartha
discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way, a path of moderation between the
extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.Shortly
after enlightenment Buddha (the awakened one) previously known as Siddartha
formed a monastic order and spent the rest of his life travelling and teaching
the path to enlightenment. The Buddha died at around 80 years of age in
Kushinagar, India.
This account is according to the Theravada
school of thought and differs somewhat from other accounts. The historical
accuracy has also been called into question but according to author Michael
Carrithers, “the outline of the life must be true: birth, maturity,
renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death”.
Basic Buddhist Teachings
Buddhism is divided into two main
divisions and several sub divisions based on country and culture, however most
traditions share a fundamental set of beliefs. One fundamental belief of
Buddhism is often referred to as reincarnation however this is not strictly
correct. The Buddhist belief is rebirth rather than reincarnation. The
internet site Religious Tolerance explains it in the following way.
“In reincarnation, the individual may
recur repeatedly. In rebirth, a person does not necessarily return to Earth as
the same entity ever again. He compares it to a leaf growing on a tree. When
the withering leaf falls off, a new leaf will eventually replace it. It is
similar to the old leaf, but it is not identical to the original leaf.”
Other fundamental beliefs include the
three jewels, the four noble truths, the eightfold path and the five precepts.
The three jewels are the Buddha, the Dharma
(the teachings), and the Sangha (the community) and taking refuge in them is
the basis of Buddhist practice. The four noble truths are the
universality of suffering, the origin of suffering, the overcoming of suffering
and the way leading to the suppression of suffering.
The way or path is known as the eightfold
path and consists of dṛṣṭi (ditthi): viewing reality as it is, not just as it appears to be, saṃkalpa
(sankappa): intention of renunciation, freedom and harmlessness, vāc (vāca): speaking in a truthful and
non-hurtful way, karman (kammanta): acting in a non-harmful way, ājīvana (ājīva): a non-harmful livelihood, vyāyāma (vāyāma): making an effort to improve, smṛti (sati): awareness to see things for what they are with clear
consciousness, being aware of the present reality within oneself, without any
craving or aversion, samādhi (samādhi): correct meditation or
concentration.
The five precepts outline Buddhist
ethics. Do not kill, be kind to all creatures. Do not steal, give rather than
take. Do not lie, be honest and open. Do not misuse sex and do not consume
alcohol or use recreational drugs.
Just as the Hindu and Buddhist
explanations of reincarnation and rebirth differ so too does the use us the
term nirvana. In Hinduism it is union with the Supreme Being, to
aesthetic holy men in various Indian religions including Jainism, Hinduism and
Buddhism it is the state of being free from suffering and in Buddhism it takes
on its literal meaning of “blowing out” or extinguishing the fires of hatred,
greed and delusion. Nirvana is also characterized by transcendental knowledge
or bodhi a concept translated into English as ‘enlightenment’. The Buddha
himself never gave an exact definition of Nirvana. However there is no God in
Buddhism, rather, by breaking the cycle of rebirth and achieving enlightenment
Buddhists believe that they will reach the state of Nirvana – eternal being,
the end of suffering, a state where there are no desires and individual
consciousness has come to an end.
In the next article we will delve a little
deeper by discussing further the concept of God in Buddhism and comparing some
of the basic Buddhist beliefs with Islamic teachings.
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