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 Œuddhodana, 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
1 Google
online dictionary.
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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. 2 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
2
(http://www.buddhanet.net/cbp2_f4.htm)
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enlightenment.
The Buddha died at around 80 years of age in Kushinagar, India. 3
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”. 4
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.” 5
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,
3 Nidanakatha - biography of the Theravada sect in Sri
Lanka. Buddhagho.a. 5th century CE. 4 Carrithers,M. (1986) The Buddha, in the Oxford
University paperback Founders of Faith, p. 10. 5
(http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism1.htm)
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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 d...i (ditthi): viewing reality as it is, not just as it appears to
be, sa.kalpa (sankappa): intention of renunciation, freedom and harmlessness,
vac (vaca): speaking in a truthful and non-hurtful way, karman (kammanta):
acting in a non-harmful way, ajivana (ajiva): a non-harmful livelihood, vyayama
(vayama): making an effort to improve, sm.ti (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, samadhi (samadhi): 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.
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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.
In
Buddhism, 6 the ultimate goal is to break the cycle of rebirth and achieve
enlightenment or nirvana. Nirvana is a transcendental state in which there is
no suffering, desire, or sense of self. The Buddha however, did not give a
complete definition of nirvana. It is worth noting that the term Buddha most
commonly refers to the founder of Buddhism, Siddartha Gautama, however any
person who has achieved full enlightenment, or nirvana, may be referred to as a
Buddha. In most religious groups and traditions the key belief is the
acceptance of a Supreme Being, in other words, a Creator God. In all Buddhist
traditions however, the key belief is the importance of meditation. It is
considered the path to liberation – the end of human suffering. Buddhists do
not believe in either a creator or personal God, in fact Buddhism rejects such
a notion and considers God a response to human fright and frustration.
According to Buddhist ideology humans create the idea of God to console
themselves in a fear filled and hostile world.
Primitive
man lived in fear of wild animals and natural phenomena such as thunder and
lightning. Buddhists believe that the concept of God arose out of this fear;
they also consider that there is no evidence or research to prove that God
exists thus God
6 Please
refer to the footnotes of Article 1 and
(http://www.buddhist-tourism.com/buddhism/)
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is not
necessary for human beings to have a happy or meaningful life. After all,
Buddhists say, millions of people are, and have been happy without any belief
in gods or God. On the other hand, Muslims know with certainty that true
happiness is not achievable without submission to the will of God. Fear and
frustration, says Islam, can only be conquered by complete and total trust in
God. Although Buddhism has no one all powerful Creator God, Mahayana Buddhists
worship bodhisattvas. They are god-like people who have gained enlightenment
and could enter Nirvana but chose to stay in the world to help others. Some
Mahayana schools that flourished outside India do ascribe some degree of
divinity to a transcendent Buddha (anyone who has attained enlightenment),
however this is not comparable to the God of monotheistic religions such as
Islam. In some Buddhist sacred texts Buddha (Siddartha) refutes the claims of
one of these gods and shows him to be subject to Karmic law. The concept of
Karma existed before the advent of the Buddha (Siddartha) but he defined and
explained it. Put into plain words, the law of karma explains the inequalities
that exist between people. According to Buddhism, inequality is the result of
our own past actions and our own present doings. We ourselves are responsible
for our own happiness and misery. We create our own Heaven or Hell; we are in
fact the architects of our own fate. Buddhism tells us that nothing is fixed or
permanent, change is possible, and actions have consequences. A concept that
could be compared to the Christian theory of reaping what you sow or the verse
from Quran that states, “If you do good, you do good for your ownselves, and if
you do evil (you do it) against yourselves.” (Quran 17:7)
In direct
contrast to Buddhist belief Islam teaches that there is One, All Powerful
Creator God, Sustainer of the universe, all merciful and oft forgiving. He is
alone, without partners or associates.
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According
to many Buddhist web sites and books Buddhism is not about believing or not
believing in God, it is about recognizing that such a belief is not useful when
trying to attain enlightenment. Buddhism is not atheism it is essentially
nontheism. Why then, you may wonder, is it common to see people throughout Asia
praying to, or making devotional offerings to representations or iconography of
the Buddha? When a Buddhist makes offerings of flowers or food he is showing
respect to Buddha, he gives flowers and incense for the shrine and food for the
monks. When a Buddhist prostrates before an image, he acknowledges that the
Buddha attained perfect enlightenment. In contrast, when a Muslim prostrates
there are no images or iconography; the Muslim touches his forehead to the
ground declaring his complete submission to God, who is alone without partners,
offspring or intermediaries. In the 5th century BCE, after Siddartha supposedly
achieved enlightenment, the Buddha and his followers travelled widely
throughout India spreading the message. Buddhism, in its various forms, was
soon found across India and in Sri Lanka, South East Asia, China, Korea, Japan,
Tibet, Nepal and Mongolia. Even now, so many years later, Buddhism continues to
spread into the western world.
Source: islamhouse.com/
Source: islamhouse.com/
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