Religion 101 (22 page)

The Eight Hooks

The Buddha warns about the eight worldly things to avoid. These four pairs of opposites are:

1. Taking delight in money, material possessions; feeling distress when separated from these things.
   
2. Taking delight in praise and things that boost the ego; feeling distress when receiving criticism or disapproval.
   
3. Taking delight in maintaining a good reputation or personal image; feeling distress when image and reputation are diminished.
   
4. Taking delight when making contact with pleasurable things; feeling distress when making contact with unpleasurable things.
   

These are eight attitudes that make you vulnerable to
dukkha
(suffering; pervasive dissatisfaction, and so forth). The Buddha is not encouraging you to become zombie-like with no self-preserving instincts. Rather, he is cautioning against basing your self-worth, happiness, and well-being on their occurrence.

In other words, beware of contingent self-worth. All things mentioned here are either not in your direct control (that is, it is something someone else does to us) or they cannot be controlled because they are always changing (that is, the fundamental truth of impermanence).

Right Resolve

Right resolve involves intentions. The spirit in which you approach everything — a spirit of kindness, compassion, and harmlessness to your fellow beings — is essential to right resolve. The goal is to move away from the ego-related concerns of “me” and “mine,” toward a lifestyle of service where your motivations are not ego-driven but more selfless.

A Noble Process

The Noble Eightfold Path is a process. Don’t worry about getting it perfectly at every moment. The Path provides the methods to rid the believer of negative emotions and replace suffering with acceptance.

THE THREE JEWELS

The Spiritual Heart of Buddhism

You might call yourself a Buddhist if you practice the Five Precepts and if you take refuge in the Three Jewels. But what is meant by the Three Jewels of Buddhism? The Three Jewels are the basic components of Buddhist belief. They are:

• The
  Buddha
  
• The
  Dharma
  
• The
  Sangha
  

Buddha means the Awakened One. The Enlightened One. For the
buddha
jewel you take the
buddha
as your refuge-not the person of that Buddha but the possibility for awakening. The Buddha taught that everyone has
buddhanature
, that is, the capacity to awaken. You are
buddha
, and it is to this realization that refuge is taken.

Dharma
has multiple meanings.
Dharma
is the collection of the Buddha’s teachings. In the Buddha’s time wandering ascetics would meet each other and ask, “Whose
dharma
do you follow?” They would then provide the name of their teacher. The Buddha was unique in that he did not follow another teacher’s
dharma
but had figured things out for himself under the pipal tree.
Dharma
also refers to the deeper truths that the Buddha’s teachings point to. It refers to the truth of
dukkha
and the possibility of
nirvana
.
Dharma
is also translated as “natural law”; seeing clearly into the reality of things.

Equally important is the community, the
sangha
. The early
sangha
was comprised of the Buddha and his followers. This included his five formerly ascetic friends and the proliferation of people that followed including common people and kings. People joined the community through their wish to end suffering and upon hearing the wisdom of the Buddha. You could become a monastic or be part of the community as a lay practitioner.

Twenty-five hundred years later, these choices are still available and the
sangha
is one of humanity’s oldest continuous institutions.

Yet, it is not a formal community. It has no central authority, holds no annual conference, and has no membership roster. It is a loosely collected group of like-minded individuals who practice living the Four Noble Truths and other Buddhist teachings, practices, and rituals that have developed over the centuries. The
sangha
is the worldwide collection of Buddhist practitioners as well as the small group of people with whom you meet to meditate together on a regular basis in your community. Even individuals who practice on their own are part of the
sangha
.

When we say, “I take refuge in the Buddha,” we should also understand that “The Buddha takes refuge in me,” because without the second part the first part is not complete. The Buddha needs us for awakening, understanding, and love to be real things and not just concepts. They must be real things that have real effects on life. Whenever I say, “I take refuge in the Buddha,” I hear “Buddha takes refuge in me.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh,
Being Peace

Monks and Nuns

In the East, there is a long tradition of monastic orders or monks (
bikkhu
) and nuns (
bhikkunis
). To become a monk or nun is to devote yourself to spiritual life and the Three Jewels. A child is old enough to become a monk when he can “scare the crows away,” which usually means about seven or eight years old. Life for a monk is simple. Monks and nuns are expected to shave their heads and live a life of celibacy.

Monasteries can be quite elaborate and large social institutions. For example, the Abhayagiri monastery in fifth-century Sri Lanka had 5,000 monks. Prior to China’s invasion of Tibet in 1959, the Drepung monastery housed 10,000 monks.

The First Jewel: The Buddha

The Buddha was both a man and a symbol. When you take refuge in the Buddha you bow in respect to what this man accomplished in his lifetime. When you take refuge in the Buddha you also bow to what he represents-your awakened nature.

Some people, especially in traditional Buddhist cultures, may look to Buddha as a source of salvation. In Tibet he is referred to as Lord Buddha. In the West, however, he is more the hero of an epic story of sacrifice and deliverance from greed, hatred, and delusion. He had everything, then nothing before finding the Middle Way. Through his voluminous teaching over a long career he has left a detailed path that any interested party can follow. He left a repertoire of methods that can lead to liberation. He was a great yogi and represents the potential for radical transformation, from a life of suffering to a life of liberation.

Buddhanature-the Buddha within everyone-is not created but rather revealed. It is present now, but perhaps obscured by your stories of desire and aversion. Buddhanature is not made; it is not a destination. It is here right now. The Buddha showed humanity this potential.

The Fat “Buddha”

The fat and happy “Buddha” you’ve seen in Chinese restaurants is not Siddhartha Gautama, Shakyamuni Buddha. He is Budai in China or Hotei in Japan. He is often depicted smiling and laughing. He is more of a folklore figure, but is often mistaken for the historical Buddha.

The Buddha does not ask you to believe in him or to pray to him. Any peace of mind that comes to you comes from your own effort and not divine intervention. He shows us a path that we are free to take all on our own.

The Second Jewel: The Dharma

The second of the Three Jewels is the
dharma
. The
dharma
is the entire collection of Buddhist scripture and thought, including all modern Buddhist teachings, as well as the traditional, original teachings, such as the
sutras
in the Pali Canon. The
dharma
is all the spoken word and written text passed down through the generations.

Today there are many sources for the
dharma
: books, DVDs, MP3s, streaming Internet video, and recorded
dharma
talks. There are also practice centers and monasteries. The proliferation of Buddhism in the West in conjunction with modern communication technologies has created an unprecedented availability of the
dharma
.

There are two types of
dharma
: that which can be read or heard — transmitted from person to person — and that which is realized.
Realized dharma
is
dharma
experienced through the practice of the Four Noble Truths — the realization of the Truth, or awakening.

The Third Jewel: The Sangha

The Buddha’s first followers were his five formerly ascetic colleagues. Soon, though, he went from teaching men who were already renunciants to lay people. A wealthy young man named Yashas became a follower and attained enlightenment under the Buddha’s tutelage. Yashas’s father also became a follower but as a lay practitioner (
upsaka
). Lay followers did not follow monastic rules, but practiced the teaching by taking the Triple Refuge: Buddha,
Dharma
,
Sangha
. Yashas’s mother also took refuge in the Triple Jewel and became the first female lay follower. Friends of Yashas came, and friends of friends. Word spread. The Buddha sent the first sixty enlightened ones out to spread the teachings.

Religion 101 Question

Can the average person attain enlightenment?

Vacchagotta approached the Buddha and asked him if there were lay followers practicing the Buddha’s principles who achieved “high spiritual states.” The Buddha told Vacchagotta that yes, there were “not one or two, not a hundred or two hundred or five hundred but many more” who did.

Despite the Buddha’s repudiation of the caste system, not everyone was welcome in the
sangha
. If you were a debtor, a criminal, runaway slave, or other person shunned by society, you were not welcome. The Buddha likely made such rules mindful of not offending his wealthy patrons upon whose generosity the
sangha
depended. In this way, he was a skilled politician and not detached from the practical realities of life. The
sangha
depended upon the patronage of kings and the wealthy. To this end accommodations were made. The most controversial issue where the Buddha did depart from social norms was allowing women to be ordained as nuns (
bikkhunis
). It took some repeated pleading, however, from his Aunt Prajapati.

Generosity

Dana
(donation) is a key Buddhist practice throughout the world. Giving generates a sense of generosity that is an antidote to the poison of greed. Giving also helps the practitioner to cultivate a sense of compassion for others and to overcome selfishness and the notion of an enduring self.

There would be no Buddhism today without the generosity of kings, merchants, and common people at the time of the Buddha and beyond. Giving results in merit, but the giving cannot be calculated solely to attain merit; giving should be done with serene joy.

Merit can also be transferred to others, such that your generous acts could be offered for the benefit of all humanity. In Tibet, for instance, family members of the deceased will offer merit to assist in a favorable rebirth. Even kings took this seriously. For example, Sri Lankan kings would keep “merit books” of all their good deeds and have these read back to them on their deathbeds to put their minds at ease.

THERAVADA, MAHAYANA, AND VAJRAYANA BUDDHISM

The Jewel Has Many Facets

There is no one Buddhism; no essential Buddhism that can be taken apart from its tradition. In fact, the term
Buddhism
is a relatively recent invention, first coined by scholars in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Prior to this Buddhists were called “followers of the Buddha.”

There are three different vehicles, or schools, of Buddhist teachings, and virtually all sects of Buddhism fall into one of these three schools. Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism grew out of the early councils as differences arose in practice and philosophy. The three vehicles of Buddhism are:

1. Theravada
   
2. Mahayana
   
3. Vajrayana
   

These vehicles, while overlapping, can be considered distinct religions.

What’s It Mean?

The word
vehicle
comes from the Sanskrit word
vada
, meaning “ferryboat.” Think of the image of the river crosser and his raft; these vehicles can ferry you across the river of samsara to nirvana.

There is no one authority on Buddhism — there is no pope, no president, no leader of the Buddhist people. There is no central office, no definitive source. Buddhism is alive in many forms, with many voices today. Within the three vehicles there are Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Pure Land, Yogacara, and more. But all these forms can fit within the three vehicles, and some would agree that they could even fit within the two main vehicles — Theravada and Mahayana.

Theravada Versus Mahayana

Mahayana Buddhism emerged as a reaction to early Buddhist orthodoxies in the first century, although the term
Mahayana
does not appear until the sixth century. Mahayana took root in northern India and made its way east and north to Tibet, Mongolia, China, and Japan. Mahayana diverges philosophically with Theravada and claims to be based on texts attributable to the Buddha that are not in the Pali Canon and were not discovered until centuries after the death of the Buddha.

On the one hand, Mahayana offers the possibility of becoming a buddha to everyone and on the other hand elevates the Buddha from a compassionate teacher to a celestial guru. Such “buddha realms” or “pure lands” may be taken literally or metaphorically to represent certain states of being. Devotion to your teacher is also a key feature of Mahayana traditions such as Zen and Vajrayana, where your teacher is seen as the living embodiment of Buddha, providing you with the opportunity to become Buddha, too. Consequently, there is more emphasis on lineage.