Buddhism

by: Leland Ackerson

Have you been traveling around Korea visiting various Buddhist temples and wondering what this mysterious religion is all about? If so, here are some great general ideas to help you begin your investigation.

The term Buddha means, "enlightened one". The original Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, was the prince of a regional tribe just north of Benares, India and lived from approximately 563 to 483 BC. When he was 29 he left the luxuries of court life to discover the deeper meaning of existence. He started his spiritual journey as an ascetic practicing extreme self-abnegation.

After several years of meditation he discovered the "Middle Path", which lies between self-indulgence and self-denial as a means to achieve enlightenment. For the next 45 years he wandered India shating his ideas about the way to spiritual liberation, the sum of which is now called Buddhism.

The subject of the Buddha's first sermon after enlightenment, and indeed the focus of his philosophy, is the Four Noble Truths. The Buddha stated these Truths much in the same way as a doctor arrives at a treatment for a sick patient. He diagnosed the problem, identified its source, proposed its solution, and then delineated the menas to arrive at the solution. The Four Noble Truths are:

1. Dukkha (suffering)

2. Samudaya, the origin of dukkha (which is craving)

3. Nirodha, the cessation of dukkha (which is nirvana)

4. Magga, the way leading to the cessation of dukkha (the practices and modes of conduct which could bring one to nirvana).

Dukkha is often translated as "suffering", but can also mean conflict, dissatisfaction, insubstantiality or emptiness. The Buddha was not claiming that life was all misery and pain, devoid of happiness. But that sometimes we experience pain that seems overwhelming.

The Third Noble Truth, nirodha, states that if life has suffering which is caused by desire, we should eliminate desire. Here the Buddha was in agreement with the Hindu teachers of the day. Like them, he said that people are reborn after death due to their desire for continued existence. The cycle of death, rebirth and suffering continues endlessly until a person attains nirvana.

Nirvana is Sanskrit for "extinction". It is, however, a difficult concept to grasp and the bare translation doesn't help much. Some Buddhists say that describing nirvana to a person who has not experienced it is like describing dry land to fish. It's difficult to find vocabulary for it. But one way to desribe dry land is that it's not wet. So Buddhists often resort to negative statements to describe nirvana: it is not existence, not non-existence, not desire, not sensation. Nirvana is not a place; you can't "reach" nirvana. However, Buddhists are all in agreement that nirvana is supremely desirable.

The Fourth Noble Truth is magga, the path to nirvana. In it the Buddha outlined the way in which people should live in order to attain nirvana. It is also called the Middle Path, which avoids the extremes of self-indulgence and self-denial. Westerners might liken it to Aristotle's Golden Mean. It is also called the Noble Eight fold Path.

These tenets are not meant to be practiced sequentially, but rather developmented simultaneously. They are:

1. Right Understanding

2. Right Thought

3. Right Speech

4. Right Action

5. Right Livlihood

6. Right Effort

7. Right Mindfulness

8. Right Concentration

In categories three, four and five, the Buddha describes ethical conduct. This includes honesty, politeness, nonviolence, sobriety, and a livlihood which does not hurt anybody. The Buddha prohibited all forms of killing or warfare, and many devout Buddhists are vegetarians.

In categories six, seven and eight the Buddha outlines mental discipline. These tenets sdmonish followers to be diligently aware of their mental states, and focus on discarding unwholesome thoughts and cultivating thoughts of joy and tranquility.

Tenet one and two constitute wisdom. These instruct Buddhists to understand existence as it truly is and to develop selfless detachment. Buddhism states that people have responded to the needs of self-protection and self- preservation by creating the concepts of God and soul. Buddhists don't believe these are necessary concepts. In fact, a major part of the path to enlightenment is destroying the concepts of soul and self.

Western philosophers have spent a lot of time discussing the concept of free will. Most arguments are linked to God, soul, justice and consequences. In denying the existence of these concepts, most Buddhists feel that free will is at best a moot point and truly free will does not really exist.

Buddhists do have a concept of karma, however. Karma is the sum of volitional action. In a nutshell, doing good deeds brings you good karma, doing bad deeds brings you bad karma. Rather than a system of justice in which a judge doles out the punishments and rewards, karma is a natural law. No one gives you karma, it just accumulates. The goal is to destroy the concept of self in order to stop accumulating karma and attain nirvana.

In some senses, Buddhism can be seen as a "reform" of Hinduism, just as Christianity is a "reform" of Judaism, or Protestantism of Catholicism. Buddha took the basic premises of reincarnation and nirvana and stripped away all the tradition and ceremony surrounding it. He discarded all the things he felt couldn't be supported by logic: the Hindu gods, the caste system, and the inequality of the sexes. From this emerged a remarkable new philosophy based on equality, morality per

Throughout his life the Buddha stressed the equal importance of compassion and wisdom. To him, a hard-hearted sage was the same as a warm-hearted fool. Nevertheless, after his death, Buddhism split into two major factions, Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. The Theravada sect is considered more orthodox. It's principles are that only a few people who make a complete commitment to the tenets of Buddhism can achieve enlightenment. This sect is more popular in the countries of Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka. The Mahayama sect is more liberal and stresses compassion over wisdom. It offers salvation to everyone and introduced the concept of the Bodhisattva, a savior who though at the edge of enlightenment turns back to help others find their way. More popular as a proselytizing religion, the Mahayama has spread throughout China, Korea, Japan and Tibet.