Buddhism
Introduction
Buddhism was founded 2,500 years ago or during the 6th century BCE by Siddhartha Gautama. The latter was also known as the Gautama Buddha or the historical Buddha who established the Sramana movement in India. The Sramana (Indian religious movement) created a group known as sangha whose leader was Siddhartha Gautama. Thus, the leader of the sect or the Buddha taught dharma (Buddhism doctrine) and the teachings were the core of Buddhism. Buddhism originated in Indian but during the 20th and 21st century, it spread to other Asian parts. Richard Gombrich, a scholar of Buddhism studies said that Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) was a brilliant and an original thinker and his ideas should be incorporated in daily life in order to build a civilized world. Focusing on the Buddhism religion, Buddhism is a religion that its main feature is devotion to the Buddha or in other words the religion's central practice is having emotional engagement and the latter is empowered by beliefs, practices, and rituals. Another important point about the Buddhism religion is that the Buddha means ‘Awakened One". The latter means that individuals should be faultless and free from factors that cause mental hindrances. When someone is ‘Awakened', he is enlightened and he has a pure mind and thus, it is easier to view the world and understand things logically. One cannot deceive himself and he is free from disappointments and despair, and thus, one enjoys immense benefits including physical and spiritual growth. Buddhism is a religion based on the Buddha teachings and the teachings state that to free from suffering, internal conflict, achieve peace of mind, and understand the ultimate reality, people should detach themselves from worldly things such as passions and needs of life.
Buddhist origins and the early history
Before discussing the history of Buddhism, it is important to understand that early Indian philosophy was represented by various philosophers such as Hiranyagarbha, Brahmanaspati, Aghamarsana, and others (Kalupahana, 15). These thinkers were influenced by Brahmans who was concerned with nature and humankind. The different thinkers came up with a variety of philosophical ideas such as ideas concerning the ultimate objectivity, skepticism, among other philosophical areas (Kalupahana, 15). In general, the thinkers provided a foundation for theological concepts and other philosophical concepts that were known as Brahmanism. The problem with these thinkers is that they did not offer a detailed philosophical discussion but they assumed the existence of things (Kalupahana, 16). Mahavira was also determined in researching the ultimate objectivity but his problem is that he did not offer an empirical analysis. Generally, philosophical traditions such as the Brahmanism, Jainism, Materialism, and others did not offer a clear explanation concerning human knowledge. The traditional thinkers did not make a positive statement to their thoughts especially thoughts on the ultimate reality (Kalupahana, 17). Since the thinkers failed to make positive pronouncements, Buddha had the knowledge, skills, and willingness to study the ultimate reality. Thus, Buddha offered a clear explanation of the ultimate objectivity and human existence while focusing on historical facts and ignoring myths and legends.
Siddhartha (Buddha) studied traditional academic disciplines such as the study of the Vedas, phonetics, ritual, astronomy, and other studies (Kalupahana, 22). While studying the Vedas, he criticized the Vedas especially the teaching of rites and rituals. Since Buddha was enlightened and he had adequate knowledge of human life and existence, he offered a deeper analysis of moral conceptions and the nature of language. During this period, there were six heretical teachers who were against the Vedas and all were ascetics or in other words, they detached themselves from worldly things and sensual pleasures (Kalupahana, 22). These teachers were committed to exploring the nature of human life and human existence. Siddhartha was inspired by these teachers and he was motivated to be an ascetic. His wife, Yasodhara supported his decision and willingness to study the riddle of existence. Buddha left his country and moved in Central India where he met Kalama and Ramaputta who guided Buddha in learning meditation techniques (Kalupahana, 24). However, he was dissatisfied with their meditation techniques and joined other ascetics such as Bhaddiya, Assaji, Kondanna and others who practice self-mortification in sixth century BCE. Unfortunately, the practice of self-mortification affected his well-being to a point of death since he reduced weight to a mere skeleton. He abandoned the self-mortification and returned to meditational practices where he learned practices that helped him understand the nature of reality (Kalupahana, 25). He became so committed to the meditation practices and shown an interest in understanding human existence and the flexibility of mind. During this period, he developed a cognitive capacity and learned that the life of human beings is conditioned by a number of factors such as parents, environment, behaviors, among other factors. Focusing on human behavior, he learned that that human beings have intentional and non-intentional behaviors and these behaviors can lead to unfortunate and evil actions (Kalupahana, 26). Since behaviors are the path for freedom, he asserted that to achieve freedom, one should appease dispositional tendencies and prevent the dispositional from being attached to worldly things such as greed and lust. Thus, the appeasement of the dispositions allowed him to eliminate obstacles thus, he gained enlightenment and freedom (Kalupahana, 26). The later elements transformed his life in terms of personality and cognitive. As a result, he was able to view the world and understand the reality of things.
After gaining the enlightenment and freedom, Buddha taught a number of disciplines about his teaching and after his death, the disciples practiced Buddha's teachings and established sangha (a community that practiced dharma-Buddhism doctrine) (Fogelin, 2). The members of the sangha were ascetics who practiced meditation but later, other Buddhists who were not members of the Sangha practices pilgrimage. Over the centuries, the monk and nuns who were members of the sangha were willing to provide freedom and enlightenment to the laity. Thus, they provided them with financial support but unfortunately, the monks and nuns could not meet the obligations demanded by the lay followers and they were forced to adopt the practices of Buddhist laity (Fogelin, 2). By mid-first millennium CE, there was a lack of pure ascetic tradition since the majority of the Buddhists followed the scholastic Buddhism that was characterized by the study of texts. Later, Buddhist laity abandoned Buddhism and followed Hinduism and Islam and the members of the sangha abandoned India and moved to China, Southeast, and other regions (Fogelin, 3). During the 15th century CE, there were few Buddhism religious sects and ritual practices in India.
Maguire (75) says that the average estimate of Buddhists is 400 million people. In addition, Buddhism is the fifth populous religion and it has existed for 2,500 years. Even though it is the fifth religion, it is the oldest religion in the world. Maguire (75) says that Buddhism is a religion which its vision is fundamental truths. The core Buddhism beliefs are that people are defined by their thoughts, s actions, speech, behaviors, and all characters are constructed by the thoughts and finally, person's thoughts whether positive or negative make the world (Maguire, 75). Like any other religion, Buddhism has its own beliefs and practices. For example, Christian's believe that church is a communion of the saint, they believe in sacraments, baptism, confirmation, and other rites. On the other hand, Muslims do not have sacraments but they believe in daily prayers, fasting, pilgrimage to Mecca and more. In the Buddhist religion, Buddhists do not have any patterns of observance like other religions, and, most believers do not visit temple or monastery though they have places of worship (Maguire, 76). Another important point about the Buddhism religion is that only the western world use the term Buddhist and Buddhism. Buddhists in other regions use the word Buddha-dharma-which means the enlightenment. Therefore, Buddhists are the followers of the truth or rather the Buddha's teachings and they not only follow the teachings but they also practice the teachings (Maguire, 76). However, it is important to understand that the essential element in Buddhism is not practicing but believing in the teachings.
In order to understand how Buddhists practice their faith or Buddha-dharma, it is important to understand what enlightenment is and how Buddhists achieve it. Enlightenment is beyond the philosophical cosmology or the scientific knowledge that explains the universe and things in it such as time and space (Maguire, 77). Thus, enlightenment means that a person needs to go beyond the nature of the universe and focus on spiritual oneness or in other words, cultivate a mindset and by so doing, one gains a liberation from suffering and attains happiness. Once a person is enlightened, the believers should achieve the value of enlightenment and experience it. In other words, believers should show love and commitment to the four noble vows namely: teaching the dharma to other sentient beings in order to help them free from affliction (Maguire, 77). The second vow is believers should eradicate all afflictions in order to experience peace and achieve liberation. The third vow is the dharma teachings are infinite and believers should study extensively and learn them all in order to gain skills and knowledge. The skills will help believers gain freedom and liberate other sentient beings. The last vow is that it is hard to attain Buddhahood due to many hardships along the way but believers should attempt to attain it for the good of oneself and other sentient beings (Maguire, 77). Generally, after accepting these vows, believers should apply the teaching in life in order to gain freedom and peace. In addition, believers should strive to maintain these truths despite setbacks and contrary teaching.
Buddhism beliefs and practices
Buddhism beliefs and practices are tied into an experimental system. Buddhists do not focus on faith but rather they focus on practice. This is because, for believers to know the truth, they have to experience it, not through reading or listening but through practices (Morgan, 65). The Buddha himself said that believers should not rely on the traditions or scriptures but they should rely on oneself and personal experience. The purpose of relying on oneself is to learn and distinguish between profitable and unprofitable practices (Morgan, 66). As a result, one will choose profitable practices and abide in them and abandon unprofitable practices that lead to suffering. It is also important to understand that in Buddhism religion, there is no sacred scripture like other religions such as Christianity (Bible), or Muslims (Quran). Rather, Buddhism has an unprecedented path, rules, texts and teachers that guide the believers.
Wisdom and compassion
Focusing on Buddhism beliefs and practices, it is important to understand that believers need wisdom and compassion for them to gain awareness and live a fearless life. The purpose of wisdom (gained from experience) is to help the believers solve problems and more important help one achieve enlightenment (Morgan, 66). The purpose of compassion is to heal the suffering of sentient beings. Both virtues go hand in hand in that when one gains wisdom about the nature of human beings, and the suffering they encounter, the believers will be compassionate and provide the needs with love and kindness (Morgan, 66). In general, Buddhism beliefs and practices are that believers must understand other people's situation and show compassion. A point to understand in wisdom and compassion is that these virtues are not possessed but they are in active state. In other words, both virtues are natural powerful impulse and believers must have these natural qualities and extend them to sentient beings including one' enemies (Morgan, 66). Another interesting point is that plants should also be treated ‘kindly' since animals and human beings feed on these plants.
Generosity (Dana)
Buddha teachings stressed the importance of generosity in order to help the poor and decrease the poverty level. The common sense behind being generous is that when capable people fail to help the poor, stealing abounds and a result, people obtain weapons to engage in theft and the end result is killing (Morgan, 67). In addition to decrease poverty, being generous is a way of helping the sentient being gain enlightenment. For example, King Chandraprabha, whose religion was the ancient Indian religion, asserted that the Buddha should show generosity through giving jewels, crowns, and even his head (Morgan, 67). Thus, Buddhists should be generous not only in providing basic needs but also in sharing Buddha teachings.
Meditation (Dhyana)
Buddhists believe in meditation since it provides enlightenment, a calm state of mind, and a generous spirit. The purpose of meditation is not to increase relaxation but rather, Buddhists believe that meditation allows them to experience the essential nature, awake the mind, eliminate harmful thoughts, gain peace and happiness, and more important achieve enlightenment (Morgan, 68). During meditation, believers create a sharp concentration on the object of meditation both physically and mentally and detach themselves from ordinary habits. The meditation posture is either half lotus or full lotus. Other postures are lying down or walking but in most cases, these techniques are not used since one can lie down and fall asleep and one can walk and get distracted (Morgan, 68). During meditation, Buddhists practice mindfulness meditation- this means that believers are mindful of the things they are doing whether walking, standing, sitting, reclining, and more. It is also important to note that meditation has staged such as Sattipatthana Sutta (counting breaths) - this involves breathing in and out mindfully.
The Buddhist world view
Buddhists believe that the universe is eternal and the existence is endless. The Buddha teachings assert that the ‘seven suns' will consume and destroy the universe (Morgan, 72. After the destruction, there will be no life or existence in the universe. Buddha also explains the source of suffering by stating that the universe was not created or rather it has no beginning or end. The luminous gods were born on the earth. They lived in the earth for 80, 000 years and during these years, they could fly and explore the earth (Morgan, 72). They desired the beauty of nature and everything that was in it. They ate rich foods that grew in the earth and the more they ate and the harder it was for the food to digest in their bodies. They were forced to generate organs to remove foods from their bodies and they could even have intercourse and construct houses (Morgan, 71). As a result of mingling, they developed a desire for owning properties and the society was not in order since everyone wanted to grab a portion. Human beings suffered from poverty and the life span was reduced to a hundred years.
Buddhism in the Modern World
McMahan (1) assert that in Southeast Asia, Buddhists are trying to practice historical and cultural ways of the religion. It is important to note that there is cultural diversity due to the local cultures of modernity that follow modern Buddhist reforms. Also, Southeast Asia has various religious groups such as Christians, Muslim, Hindu, and others. Despite the existence of these religious group, Buddhism has dominated Southeast Asia since it is the oldest religion in the region. The archeological records indicate that Buddhism has lived in this region since the fifth century CE (McMahan, 1). Thus, Buddhist practices have shaped cultures in Southeast Asia and its countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, and others. However, it is important to understand that due to the development of worldviews and European colonization, Southeast Asia has been influenced by colonial regimes such as Dutch, Japan, French, and others to change the culture and Buddhist practices. Thus, colonial rule reshaped Buddhism practices, traditional values, traditional institutes, and traditional Buddhist kingship (McMahan, 1). The transformation has allowed Buddhists to practice a hybrid culture. An interesting point about the transformation of the traditional practices is that the Buddhist reform was made in accordance to the Buddhist worldview, practices, and institution and indicates a centralized reform or in other words, B Buddhists had the authority to make reforms. Buddhists standardized the monastic education, and behavior, and they demythologized the Buddhist practices. Due to these reforms, modern scholars call the Buddhism religion ‘Buddhist Modernism' since there are salient features that were developed from the 19th century (McMahan, 1). Today, Buddhist modernism adhere to rationalist elements such as Buddhism teachings. An important point to note is that the traditional teachings of Buddha and modern science are identical. They are made equal because the traditional cosmology has been eliminated and the objective of Buddhism has been reinterpreted. In addition, Buddhism modernism has a lay religious organization whose role is to bridge the gap between traditional and modern practices and more important, create social reform (McMahan, 1). Another interesting point is that Buddhism modernism has imitated the features of Protestant Christianity. As a result, Buddhist do not only rely on traditional rituals but they have adopted Protestants' ethical values.
Conclusion
From the research, Buddhism was started by Siddhartha Gautama in 6th century B.C.E in India. Buddhism religion differs from other religions since in this religion, there is no relation with high god but rather, it focuses on personal spiritual development. In other words, the religion is connected with a humanistic way of life and the goal is to develop wisdom, alleviate sufferings, live a moral life, and more important attain enlightenment. The research has also shown that the path to freedom and enlightenment is right understanding, right mindfulness, right concentration, right thought, and more. In addition, believers must understand the noble truths that suffering exists, suffering comes due to attachment to desire, one can alleviate suffering through being detached from desires, and that the eightfold paths can lead to freedom and enlightenment. The research has shown that today, there is a sense of difficult with the Buddhist religion due to the inevitable and radical challenges the religion has undergone. In the 19th century, the industrial revolution led to scientism and rationalism, secularization, the rise in technology, the rise of ideologies, societal developments, cultural forces, and new religious movement. These factors have affected the Buddhist religion by altering the way of life. Buddhists have struggled to preserve their traditional ideas and practices but they have been in the midst of conflict since the modern world has influenced the change of traditional religious structures. However, despite the changes, Buddhists have maintained the traditional purity by practicing the Buddha teachings and performing other practices such as rites, repentance, and engaging in welfare social programs to show compassion, love, and kindness.
Work cited
Fogelin, Lars. An Archaeological History of Indian Buddhism. , 2015. Oxford University Press
Kalupahana, David J. A History of Buddhist Philosophy: Continuities and Discontinuities. Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 1992. Print.
Maguire Jack. Essential Buddhism: A Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice. 2013. Simon and
Schuster
McMahan L. David. Buddhism in the Modern World. 2012, Routledge,
Morgan, Diane. Essential Buddhism: A Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice. , 2010. ABC-CLIO
