(Extract from talk of above title)
The Buddhist ascends to Nibbana through many stages of the Middle Way, the path of wisdom, morality, and control. There is not space enough here even to mention these phases or the various aspects of the regimen recommended by the Buddha in his vast scriptures; but it may be taken for granted that the life of the conscientious Buddhist is full and rich. Through the cycle of rebirths he ascends, he perfects himself, he conquers his cravings through wisdom and love. Slowly the kammic force ebbs away, the flame dies down.
At the root of man's trouble is his primal state of ignorance. From ignorance comes desire, which sets the kammic force in motion. Hence the way to Nibbana lies through knowledge, and we come again full circle to Dhamma, the Buddha's teachings. For in Dhamma, as truth, lies release from ignorance and desire and perpetual change. and the Buddha has shown us the way to truth
What, then, is the meaning of Buddhism? Ultimately Buddhism, although not strictly speaking a religion, is a systematic exercise in spirituality, certainly one of the greatest ever conceived. It offers the individual a means by which he may fulfil himself through understanding, reaching eventually the plane of the supraperson on which both the self and self-knowledge are no longer useful. Meister Eckhart, the Great Christian mystic, said: The kingdom of God is for none but the thoroughly dead'. The Buddhist would agree, though he would probably prefer a less grim way of saying it. Nibbana in life, the peace which passeth all understanding', is the conquest of life, the discovery of the permanent in its flux of psychophysical accidents and circumstances. The Buddhist believes that through meditation and good hard thought he can follow the Buddha through the successive stages of enlightenment and achieve at last the perfect wisdom which surmounts all need.
But by no means all Buddhists are monks or adepts. What does Buddhism mean for the ordinary person going about his work in the world? All through the Buddha's teaching, repeated stress is laid on self-reliance and resolution. Buddhism makes man stand on his own feet, it arouses his self-confidence and energy. The Buddha again and again reminded his followers that there is no one, either in a heaven or on earth, who can help them or free them from the results of their past evil deeds. The Buddhist knows that the powers of his own mind and spirit are enough to guide him in the present and shape his future and bring him eventually to the truth. He knows that he possesses a strength which is ultimately unsurpassable.
Moreover, Buddhism points unequivocally to the moral aspect of everyday life. Though Nibbana is amoral, in the sense that final peace transcends the conflict of good and evil, the path to wisdom is definitely a moral path. This follows logically from the doctrine of kamma. Every action must produce an effect, and one's own actions produce an effect in one's own life. Thus the kammic force which carries us inevitably onward can only be a force for good, that is, for our ultimate wisdom, if each action is a good action.
This doctrine finds its highest expression in metta, the Buddhist goal of universal and all-embracing love. Metta means much more than brotherly feeling or kindheartedness, though these are part of it. It is active benevolence, a love which is expressed and fulfilled in active ministry for the uplifting of fellow beings. Metta goes hand in hand with helpfulness and a willingness to forego self- interest in order to promote the welfare and happiness of mankind. It is metta which in Buddhism is the basis for social progress. Metta is, finally, the broadest and intensest conceivable degree of sympathy, expressed in the throes of suffering and change. The true Buddhist does his best to exercise metta toward every living being and identifies himself with all, making no distinctions whatsoever with regard to caste, colour, class or sex.
In addition, of course, the teachings of the Buddha are a prime cultural force in Oriental life, just as the Bible is the ultimate source of much Western art and thought. The Buddhist scriptures are larger and more detailed than the Christian Bible, however, and in translation would fill a dozen volumes. In Pali the language of the scriptures, the Buddha's teachings are calledTipitaka, which means 'The Three Baskets'.
Vinaya Pitaka, 'The Basket of Discipline', consists of five books which expound the rules of monastic life. Sutta Pitaka, 'The Basket of Discourses', is a collection of discussions, stories, poems, and proverbs, written in simple language, imparting all the precepts of practical Buddhism. The third basket, Abhidhamma Pitaka, or 'Basket of Ultimate Things', deals with epistemological, metaphysical and psychological matters and is of interest mainly to trained philosophers.
Thus the Tipitaka offers cohesive guidance at every level of intellectual, ethical and spiritual activity. The Buddha's word is light, a lamp for Burma ---and for everyone.
WHAT BUDDHISM MEANS TO A BUDDHIST
( Lecture to the High Court Buddhist Association, Rangoon )
The title of my talk this afternoon is 'What Buddhism means to a Buddhist'. To a Buddhist, Buddhism is not a religion in the sense in which that word is commonly understood: but to him or to her Buddhism is a practical method of life --- to show how to live rightly thereby, happily and peacefully in spite of the unrest that is prevailing in the world.
Buddhism, we say, is not a religion because it is not a system of faith and worship. The word 'religion' usually means a system of faith and worship but Buddhism is a way of life, and it is also a way of understanding the conditions of life so that a Buddhist may be able to live in harmony with other people and also in harmony with the laws of righteousness.
Buddhism is founded on reason. Therefore it is a scientific explanation of the natural laws of life and not a set of dogmas laid down authoritatively; there are no dogmas in Buddhism. You know what a dogma means, a dogma is a rigid system laid down by authorities as representing the Truth; it is, so to speak, an arrogant declaration of one's own opinion. In Buddhism there are no such dogmas, but there are laid down a set of facts and principles for us to live by --- for us to follow.
Buddhism declares the laws of righteousness, the Universal law, the laws of cause and effect (Dhamma Niyama) proclaiming that man is the master of his own destiny. He can mould his own life according to his ideas as a Buddhist. Buddhism removes that fear of death which haunts every untrained mind. Buddhism is the right way of life which is neither optimistic nor pessimistic.
Many people in the West think that Buddhism is pessimistic. On the contrary, the Buddhist way of life is neither optimistic nor pessimistic. Many people in the world, especially the unthinking, carefree sort --- would like to have an optimistic view of life. Whenever such a man becomes depressed he is advised to be optimistic, but according to the Buddhist view this is not correct. Optimism, being an overestimated view of the condition of life, does not take the right view; nor is the pessimist's view, which underestimates the actual condition of life, the right view.
The right view of life is the Middle Way (Majjhima-patipadda) between these two extremes. Both these two extremes are futile for anyone to follow. So to a Buddhist, Buddhism means the right way of life --- a method by which a man can live happily, peacefully and with security for the present and security in the hereafter. In Great Britain people talk of future security but the security they speak of is very temporary. The Buddhist way of security is permanent, eternal and lasting.
The lives of men, and in fact the whole universe of living beings, are governed by unchanging, eternal laws, such as the laws of cause and effect, the laws of the mind or the laws of psychology (Citta-niyama). So the whole universe is governed by these eternal laws and not by any imaginary God.
For instance, sin, according to Buddhism, is not like the original sin mentioned in Christianity. Sin, Buddhism says, is the direct consequence of man's ignorance of these laws of righteous ness, these laws of justice. As you know, sin begets sorrow. These are ancient or eternal laws of life.
To anyone who believes that the world is not governed by the laws of righteousness but by a changing, continually changing, God, it seems one must try to persuade a supreme God to make it better. It means that one does not believe that God's will is always just, for God has wrath which has to be appeased, compassion to be aroused and partiality to be won. But to the Buddhist the laws of nature, the laws of righteousness which govern the universe, are always the same, the same for one and all. Therefore, a man's duty is not to break these rules of nature --- the laws of justice --- not to try to change these laws by means of any prayer and by guarding against them but to know, to understand these eternal, unchanging laws and live in harmony with these laws.
Right through the Teachings of the Buddha stress is laid on such attributes as self-reliance, self-confidence, resolution, energy, work, effort. Buddhism makes a man or woman stand on his or her own feet and be master or mistress of fate. Mindfulness is also emphasized greatly by the Buddha. For instance, in the Dhammapada ( re: Magga Vagga 276 )it is said: You yourself must make an effort; the Buddhas are only teachers. The thoughtful who enter the Way are freed from the bondage of sin.' Again, in the same book, 'Mindfulness is the path of immortality, sloth the path of death. Those who are strenuous do not die; those who are slothful are as if dead already.( re: Appamada Vagga 21 )
By deathlessness, the Buddha means Nibbana. All other conditions, all other lives are full of death --- continual, unending death.
Also the Buddha said, it is in many scriptures either directly or indirectly, that it was through his ceaseless efforts and unshaking perseverance that he attained Buddhahood, the highest state of perfection, that is, supreme enlightenment. Yet, the Buddha does not take a monopoly of his Buddhahood; instead the Buddha encouraged his followers to be as high as possible in the spiritual field, or if they try hard enough, even as high as himself. That is the chief characteristic of Buddhism. The Buddha is like a good father who looks after his son well and likes him to be his equal or even to be his better, if the son can; that is the beauty of Buddhism. And the Buddha shows the way to attain self- enlightenment. He again and again reminded his followers that they will have to rely on themselves, rely on their own efforts and that there is no one anywhere either in heaven or on earth to help them, to save them from the results of their own misdeeds. You will remember also the saying of the Buddha: 'Evil deeds are done only by yourself, not by your parents, friends, relatives or advisers. So you yourself will have to reap the painful results of these misdeeds.' So we are responsible for our own evil deeds. There is no one to save us from the results of these evil deeds.
Understanding that there is no one, no God, no big ceremony that can save us, that can give us spiritual salvation, the true Buddhist feels compelled to rely on himself and on his own efforts, and therefore he has confidence in his power and sense of responsibility. The tendency to rely on any God or any imaginary power outside oneself weakens one's own confidence and affects one's own sense of responsibility. The tendency to trust his own power strengthens his own confidence and sense of responsibility. Moral and mental progress is only possible where there is freedom of thought, without dogmas, without authorities. Where the dogmas come and fetter the mind there can be no spiritual progress; and reliance, trust in any outside authority, leads to spiritual stagnation.
I have lived many years among Christians. Some of my Christian friends, in a joking way perhaps, say their prayers like this: 'O God, if there be a God, save my soul, if I have a soul.'
Now, in any faith freedom of thought is important. In one of the six qualities of the Buddha Dhamma these words, as you all know, are mentioned 'Ehi Passiko' 'Come and see for yourself. The Buddha asked us not to believe in a blind way what is said by him. Of all religions Buddhism makes most demands on mental activity - mindfulness, earnestness, strenuousness etc. When the Buddha gave his famous exhortation to the Kalama Princes in the Kalama Sutta he said: 'Don't accept (views) from hearsay, from what you have been told, because it is mentioned in the scriptures, by reason of logic, in consideration of the reasoning (being plausible), by tolerating the views based on speculation, because of its appearance of possibility and because 'Our monk is venerable'. When you Kalamas realise by yourselves that these qualities are good, faultless, praised by the wise and that they lead to good and happiness when practised and observed, then Kalamas, you should abide in them after acquiring them.'
So the Buddha urged us not to believe what is said merely on authority. Also not to believe in anything because it is the traditional custom --- but at the same time it is better not to denounce such traditions very easily. You must try to experiment with it, examine it thoroughly and after such examination, if it is reasonable and conducive to your happiness and the happiness and welfare of others, then take it, live up to it. This could be said to be a very grand and one of the bravest and boldest declarations ever made by any religious teacher.
To understand the causes and the conditions of life, one of the doctrines taught by the Buddha is the doctrine of Kamma. It is always good to talk a little about the doctrine of Kamma because it helps us to understand Buddhism more and at the same time to understand our daily life better. Kamma is a Pali word meaning 'action'. Literally it means 'good and bad actions'. It covers all actions, be they mental, verbal or physical; in other words, thought, words and deeds. In its ultimate sense Kamma means volition --- mental volition. In the Anguttara Nikaya mental volition is defined. Having mental volition one acts by the mind, by words and by actions.
The doctrine of Kamma is not fatalism nor is it a doctrine of predetermination. Kamma is one of the 24 causes mentioned by the Buddha in the Patthana which govern the whole universe. Kamma is one of the 12 causes which constitute the wheel of life and death taught by the Buddha in the Vibhanga. Kamma is also one of the four causes mentioned in the Abhidhamma and also in the Suttas. Kamma is not of the past only; the past merely influences the present but does not fully dominate it because Kamma is not only the past but also the present. The past forms only a background against which the present life works for the moment. The past combined with the present influences the future which is to come. Only the present moment exists and can be said to be within management, and the responsibility of using this present moment lies with each individual either for good or for evil. Every action produces its effect. It is the action or the cause that comes first and then the effect. Therefore we speak of Kamma as the Universal Law of Cause and Effect.
Let me give you a very common example which has been given many times. For instance, throwing a stone is action, which is a cause. This stone strikes a glass window and breaks the pane. The throwing of a stone is action, a cause, but the stone strikes the window pane and breaks it; that is the effect. The act of throwing a stone at the window is the cause of the breaking of the window and the broken window is the effect. This effect in its turn becomes a cause for further trouble, or effect; for instance, the wasting of money to replace the broken glass. Because you have to replace the window pane and waste your money, the effect on your mind will be disappointment. Then you become irritable. When you are irritable your anger can easily be aroused. Your anger is the result (or effect) but it also becomes a cause again; because of your anger you may say or do something unpleasant; and this something said or done in an unpleasant manner may hurt something or someone and so on.
In Christian terminology because you throw a stone and break the window and you have to pay money to buy a new window pane. the whole series of causes and effects leading to the final result is regarded by them as a punishment of God. In Buddhism there is no room for God who would come and punish you. So, to continue with my example, when you get angry you may say something unpleasant to somebody who may reply by saying something equally unpleasant to you. After that, if you are not careful, this may lead the two of you to a furious quarrel. For two persons this may lead to a fight. Between two nations this sort of thing may lead to a war. All this shows us clearly the existence of the laws of Cause and Effect.
If properly understood, the doctrine of Kamma teaches us to be careful with our thoughts, words and actions in daily life so that, as time goes on, it makes us better human beings, willing to perform better and nobler actions towards all and live more harmoniously with our fellow human beings. This is just one example.
There is a common question asked by people in other countries: 'Sometimes we try to do good, thinking the effect will be good, but in some cases the result or the effect turned out to be just the opposite. The effect is bad. In our locality a cunning, grasping man is called a 'shrewd' person; the more shrewd, the more wicked, the more greedy he is, the more is he praised as a successful hero in society. Again, among the dogs, the strongest and the fiercest dog gets the best bone. So where is the working of your laws of Cause and Effect? Where is the justice of this doctrine of Kamma?'
Well, as for that not only in Australia, for the questioner was an Australian, but in other parts of the world as well, cunning, greedy people are generally praised as if they are the conquering heroes in society. So, you too may ask,' When shall we get good results for the good that we have done or are trying to do? The good we have done seems to be very slow in bearing fruit'. Then, there was another man who told me that while he was engaged in saying his prayers aloud to God - somebody - his neighbor - came and told him that he was making a lot of noise over it. So he said to me. I was trying to perform a good act in good faith but the immediate effect is bad, very bad. So your law of Kamma does not work out well for us.
I said to him: Though you may be worshipping God for a good purpose at that moment, in order to know why the man came and insulted you. you will have to think over what you did or said to him either that morning or the day before or some time in the past. Then, you may be able to find some cause why he came to insult you.' People are apt to forget what they have done to other people. so when the result come, they think it comes suddenly or that they are taken by surprise. It is not always sudden or that they are caught by surprise. It may be that you do not remember what you have done and the cause may be entirely misunderstood.
Therefore whatever comes to us is always just and must be accepted in the right spirit. If something very pleasant happens to us we should not be proud of it. It just shows that our good Kamma has come back to us bearing good fruit. If anything unpleasant occurs to us we should not be angry, depressed or disappointed but we should keep calm realizing that our bad Kamma has come back to us to remind us of our past mistakes. Whenever something comes to upset us let us try to be good, and let us never be worried, excited or angry. Let us make a firm resolve within ourselves to live rightly by trying to understand the working of these Laws of Cause and Effect - called the Law of Kamma in Buddhism.
B.B.C. Talk
(Reprinted from The Listener, April 15th 1948)
Buddha is one who has attained bodhi; by bodhi is meant wisdom - an ideal state of intellectual and ethical perfection, which can be attained by man through purely human means. The term 'Buddha' literally means 'enlightened one' - 'a knower' - and it is the name of honour bestowed upon the Indian sage Gotama after obtaining enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Buddhagaya in India. Gotama was born as the son of an Indian king on the border of modern Nepal. about 623 years before Christ. To mark the spot as the birthplace of the greatest teacher of mankind and as a token of his reverence for him, theEmperor Asoka erected in 239 B.C., a pillar bearing the inscription., ' Here was the Enlightened One born'. Gotama spent his early years in ease, luxury and culture. His father, the King. tried his best not to let him see anything unpleasant and ugly. In his twenty-ninth year. however. when Gotama went to the royal park, he saw on his way an old man, a sick man and a dead man, and he realized that all, without exception. were subject to birth, old age and death, and that all worldly pleasures were only a prelude to pain. Comprehending thus the universality of sorrow, he had a strong desire to find a remedy for this universal sickness of humanity.
BUDDHA'S SEARCH FOR PEACE
On the night after his return from the park the Prince thought that if he remained as a ruler he would have to spend precious time in kingly duties to maintain his royal position, and not in searching for the remedy whereby to attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana the complete cessation of all sorrow. He accordingly gave up his kingdom and severed all worldly ties. He then lived an ascetic life and wandered as a seeker after real peace. He approached many a distinguished teacher of his day, but nobody was competent to give him what he earnestly sought. He strenuously practised all forms of severe austerities and made a superhuman effort for six long years. Eventually his delicate body was reduced almost to a skeleton. The more he tormented his body the farther he was away from his goal. Having realized the futility of self-mortification, he finally decided to follow a different course, avoiding the extremes of self-mortification and self-indulgence.
The new path which he discovered was the Middle Way. the Eightfold Path, which subsequently became one of the salient characteristics of his teachings. By following this Path his wisdom grew into its fullest power and he discovered the Four Great Truths, understood things as they truly are, and finally attained full enlightenment. As a man Prince Gotama, by his own will. effort, wisdom and love, attained Buddhahood that highest possible state of perfection - and he revealed to mankind the only straight path that leads thereto. A special characteristic of Buddhism is that anybody may aspire even to the state of the Buddha himself if he makes the necessary exertion. It is a sort of evolutionary process and it is achieved by one's own effort.
The Buddha laid stress on human dignity and taught the worth of the human being. He painted for us the perfect picture of a human being striving and struggling from life to life in the quest for moral perfection - Bodhisatta, man as Buddha in the making. As a Bodhisatta, through countless births he suffered all, sacrificed all and fulfilled every perfection, so that on some distant day he might achieve this unique goal, the goal of winning, not only for himself, but for all beings, deliverance from the heavy burdens of birth, old age, disease and death. The Buddha himself tells us of his origin, and how it started with an inflexible aspiring resolve. He tells us of the gradual perfection of the flux that made that aspiration and how, finally, he won full enlightenment. Instead of disheartening his followers and reserving that exalted state only to himself, the Buddha encourages and induces them to follow his noble example.
Is Buddhism a religion? It is not a religion in the sense in which the word is commonly understood, for it is not a system of faith and worship. Though we may 'take refuge in the Buddha', as runs the Buddhist phrase in the simple ceremony of pledging ourselves to live a religious life, it must not be with any blind faith that he can save us. Here mere belief is dethroned and replaced by confidence based on knowledge of the truth. A Buddhist who has confidence in the Buddha follows the Buddha's instructions to gain deliverance. Because we keep a statue of the Buddha to which we pay respect, we are not in any sense idol worshippers. The image is there to remind us of the perfect personality of the Master, who out of compassion for us left behind his teaching for our benefit. We do not seek our salvation from an image of the Buddha. How can a statue save us? 'Work out your salvation yourself; the Buddhas are only teachers', says the Buddha. Each one is his own refuge and none should expect to be saved by another.
The Buddha can point out the way, and tell us of its difficulties and of the beauties which we shall find as we tread the way, but he cannot tread it for us. We must tread it ourselves. In order to help us to tread the way to our goal. the Buddha has mapped out a practical method of life which has to be lived. It is only by living in accordance with the principles of the teaching that one can realize the true significance of it. The great ideal is Nibbana. the final release from suffering. This is a state to be attained by following the method of life which leads to self-enlightenment. The Buddha's way of life is the middle way which is neither optimistic nor pessimistic. Optimism tends to over-estimate the conditions of life, whereas pessimism tends to under-estimate them. The path is a middle way between the pairs of opposites. and the doctrine of the 'Way' may only be grasped by an understanding of the correlation and interdependence of the two. All extremes beget their opposites and both are alike unprofitable. For all people the middle way of a good life lived in the world is best and safest.
Buddhism consists of three aspects; doctrinal, practical and mystical.( Realizable ). The doctrinal aspect is preserved in the Scriptures called Three Pitakas or baskets of the Canon which contain the words of the Buddha. It has been estimated by English translators of the Pitakas to be eleven times the size of the Christian Bible.
All the teachings of the Buddha can be summed up in one verse:
To refrain from all evil,
To do what is good,
To purify the mind,
This is the teachings of the Buddhas.
This verse embodies the three stages of the Grand Highway that leads to enlightenment: morality, concentration and wisdom. Morality regulates word and deed, concentration controls the mind, but it is wisdom, the final stage, that enables the spiritual man to annihilate completely, the passions which are ever creating a turmoil within him.
THE POWER OF WISDOM
Wisdom is the power of seeing what things truly are and how to act rightly when the problems of life come before us. The seeds of wisdom have lain latent in us, and when our hearts are soft and warm with love they grow into their powers. When a man has stilled the raging torrents of greed, anger and delusion, he becomes conscientious, full of sympathy, and he is anxious for the welfare of all living beings. He abstains from stealing and is upright and honest in all his dealings. He abstains from sexual misconduct and is pure, chaste. He abstains from tale-bearing. What he has heard in one place he does not repeat in another so as to cause dissension. He unites those who are divided, and encourages those who are united. He abstains from harsh language. He speaks such words as are gentle. soothing to the ear and which go to the heart. He abstains from vain talk. He speaks what is useful at the right time according to the facts. It is when his mind is pure and his heart is soft by being equipped with this morality that the divine seed, wisdom, grows. Knowledge of the properties of the magnetic needle enables the mariner to see the right direction in the ocean in the darkest night when there are no stars visible. In the same way wisdom enables a man to see things as they truly are, and perceive the right way to peace. It is this wisdom which will enable us to unite with all beings in one immense ocean of tenderness and love.
On the spot where the Buddha passed away, innumerable princes, brahmans, traders and suddas, as well as devas, assembled to attend the funeral ceremony. There were also seven hundred thousand monks of whom Maha Kassapa was at that time the chief, and under whose direction the funeral obsequies over the body and sacred relics of the Buddha were performed. Having heard of the foolish remarks of the monk Subhadda, who declared that the Buddhas teachings as well as the rules and regulations for the Order of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis were to be observed only in the lifetime of the founder, the head thera had a great desire to perpetuate the doctrines of the supreme teacher. On the seventh day, therefore, after the Buddha had passed away, the head thera for the purpose of holding a convocation on religion arranged to convene five hundred principal theras who had overcome the dominion of the passions, were of great celebrity, perfect in every religious attribute, and who were versed in doctrinal knowledge. They then held a great council at Rajagaha under the patronage of King Ajatasattu, collecting the Buddhist canon and repeating it in chants. This convocation was terminated in seven months.
The Buddhist canon consists of three aspects, the doctrinal (pariyatti), the practical (patipatti) and the realizable (pativedha), all of which are interdependent and interrelated.
The doctrine is preserved in the Tipitaka. This Tipitaka, which contains the word of the Buddha is estimated to be about eleven times the size of the Christian bible. It comprises eighty-four thousand discourses, and Professor Rhys Davids estimated the total number of words of the whole text of the Tipitaka to be 1,752,800. As the word itself implies, the Tipitaka consists of three baskets, namely, the Basket of Discipline (Vinaya Pitaka), the Basket of Discourses (Sutta Pitaka) and the Basket of Ultimate Things (Abhidhamma Pitaka).
The Vinaya Pitaka, which is divided into five books, deals with the rules and regulations of the Order of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis, and gives a detailed account of the life and ministry of the Buddha. The Sutta Pitaka, divided into twenty-six books, consists of discourses preached by the Buddha and, in some cases, his chief disciples. It is rather like a book of prescriptions, for the sermons were propounded to suit the occasion and the temperament of individuals. The Abhidhamma Pitaka is the most important and the most interesting, as it elaborates the four ultimate things: consciousness (citta). mental properties (mental concomitants,cetasika). matter (material qualities, rupa) and Nibbana.
The convocation which was held by the principal theras, having Maha Kassapa for their chief, is called Theriya Safigiti. During the first century after the death of the Buddha, there was only one schism among Buddhists, but at the end of that century during the reign of King Kalasoka a community of monks, resident in the city of Vesali. attempted to introduce ten new indulgences into the discipline of the Buddhist Order, pronouncing them to be allowable to the Order. To suppress this heresy twelve hundred thousand monks, whose leader was Revata, assembled in Vesali. Thereupon their senior, for the purpose of securing the permanency of the doctrines of the supreme teacher, selected seven hundred theras who were gifted with the quality of sanctity and were repositories of the doctrines contained in the three Pitakas. With Revata as their chief, and protected by King Kalasoka. all these theras held the second convocation of religion at Vesali. where the council was conducted in precisely the same manner as the previous one and brought to a close in eight months.
Towards the end of the second century after the death of the Buddha. however, the pupils of those sinful monks, who had been degraded by the theras who held the second convocation, originated the schism called theMahasangika heresy which was gradually sub-divided into various sects. These persons set up a doctrine of their own, although professing it to be the doctrine of the Buddha, and if there was any religious performance they performed it according to their own wishes without reference to the Buddhistic rules. In consequence of numerical preponderance and the schisms of these monks, the good bhikkhus were incapable of regulating their conduct according to the rules of the original faith therefore the bhikkhus in all the Buddhist temples in India were incapable of observing the rites of sanctification (uposatha) for seven years, as none but good bhikkhus could be admitted to these rites.
The Buddha passed away in 543 B.C. 220 years after the Buddha's decease (323 B.C.), Asoka, the emperor of India, became the defender of the Buddhist faith and conferred the royal protection on the Sangha. causing all those heretical monks to be expelled from the Order. The whole of the monks thus degraded numbered sixty thousand, and the Order was then restored to unanimity of communion and upheld the rules of sanctification. For the purpose of holding a further convocation the chief monk at that time,Tissa, selected a thousand monks of sanctified character, perfect in religious knowledge and versed in the Tipitaka. Under the auspices of the Emperor Asoka they held the third council at Patana according to the methods used by Maha Kassapa and Revata, who led the first and second convocations respectively, and that council was brought to a close in nine months.
The Emperor Asoka gave his beloved son, Mahinda, also his daughter.Sanghamitta, to the Order, and sent them to Ceylon to introduce the religion there. His monks taught it throughout the whole of India and carried it to fourteen Indian nations outside its boundaries, also to five Greek kings, his allies, with whom he made treaties to admit his religious preachers. The names of the five kings mentioned in the edicts of the Emperor Asoka, and inscribed by him on stone pillars, are Antiochus of Syria, Ptolemy of Egypt, Antigonus of Macedon, Magas of Cyrene and Alexander of Epirus. Five of Asoka's monks were sent to the five divisions of China in the third century B.C., from whence Buddhism reached Korea in 372 A.D. and Japan in 552 A.D. In the fourth and fifth centuries A.D., it spread to Cochin China, Mongolia and other Asiatic countries, and from Kashmir it spread to Nepal and Tibet. Sona and Uttara, two of Asoka's monks, introduced Buddhism into Burma, and thence gradually it spread to Arakan and Cambodia. In the seventh century, A.D.638, it spread from Ceylon to Siam where it became the state religion, even as it still is today.
Towards the end of the first century of the Christian era, the Buddhists in India were divided into two schools, one of which taught that all the individual had to do was follow out the pure doctrine of the Buddha and seek Nibbana; this was named Hinayana, or the Little Vehicle. Ceylon. Burma. Siam, Cambodia and Laos are said to belong to this school. The other taught special doctrines about the Buddha and some new metaphysical theories; this was styled the Mahayana, or the Great Vehicle. However, the terms Hinayana and Mahayana are not mentioned in the texts, but they have become common among Western writers owing to their usage by Chinese pilgrims. One of the best known philosophers of the Mahayana school wasNagarjuna, who founded and expounded theMadhyamika philosophy. The end and aim of his philosophy was to bring about a compromise, as it were, between the Buddhists and the Brahmins, and to find a mid-point where the adherents of these two could meet and shake hands with one another. Since his time the Brahmins began to regard the Mahayana Buddhists as their brothers in religion, and the Mahayana school had the predominant voice.
In the closing years of the eleventh century, however, India was overrun by the Mohammedans who destroyed the Buddhist monasteries, appropriated the monastic lands for the use of soldiers, massacred monks by the thousand and burned libraries wherever found. Many monks fled across the borders into Tibet and other safe places of refuge, carrying their books with them, and so Hinayana was practically stamped out from India, while Mahayana lingered in nooks and corners for two more centuries before it was lost altogether.
THE BASIC PHILOSOPHY OF BUDDHISM
Buddhism is based upon the fact that ignorance is the cause of all worldly misery, and that only self-realization of the truth can combat this ignorance. The Buddha taught that out of ignorance is born evil and iniquity, and that if the human race could see clearly, everyone would do right. So right view is absolutely necessary for intelligent living and true spirituality.
Men in their blind ignorance produce the evil things (sins) and sorrows of the world, therefore the first of the four Noble Truths is the truth of suffering. We can see around us every day the result of people wanting things they cannot have, and the result of their trying to avoid the responsibilities which they should assume. We know that in the majority of cases man's wants and appetites are his undoing. and the Buddha taught that man's sense of possession is his greatest enemy, because the desire for accumulation steals from him his reason and his intelligence. We come, therefore, to the second of the four Noble Truths, namely, the cause of suffering. The great cause of misery is the desire to possess and the desire to preserve things possessed.
To be attached to a thing is to be sad at the loss of it. To despise or hate a thing is to be unhappy at the approach of it. The Buddha taught that selfish desire for a worldly material object results in sacrificing spiritual treasure in order to secure the desired object which is probably of little value. Therefore selfish desire destroys the sense of value, for selfish desire places worldly possessions above wisdom, and personalities above principles.
The third Noble Truth is freedom from suffering, which is attained by the annihilation of all selfish desire.
In line with this we see that attachment is the basis of the fear of death, and that when an individual is not attached to his possessions, their coming and going will leave him unmoved. While he is attached to them he will weep with their passing, and if he hates them he will weep at their approach. While his eyes are capable of tears he is incapable of wisdom. The middle way is the way of the Buddha, and in order to tread the middle way we must understand the Eightfold Path, i.e.. right view, right thought, right speech. right action, right livelihood, right effort. right mindful ness and right concentration: the fourth Noble Truth.
There is a magnificent philosophy underlying all these things which is based upon the four ultimate things, namely, conscious ness, mental properties. matter and Nibbana. But Buddhism is not a subject to be studied only from an historical and literary point of view; on the contrary, it is to be learned and put into practice in the course of one's daily life, for without actual practice one cannot appreciate the truth. Buddhism should be studied, also practised, but above all the Buddha's Teaching should be realized. Self-realization is the ultimate goal, and never have we needed the Buddha's Teaching more than now. It is the way which shows that happiness comes only with wisdom, which alone is the result of right living, and that only.