The Principles
of Buddhism
The fundamentals of Buddhism collectively are known as The Dharma.
Dharma
has as its basis The
Four Noble Truths
but it also comprises the aspirations and techniques used to achieve the goal
which is enlightenment.
 The First
Turning of the Dharma Wheel
The four principles or truths are: The truth of suffering, the truth of
the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the
way to the end of suffering. Speaking metaphorically, we have a disease,
we know how we caught it, we know there is a cure and the treatment is tried and
true.
The first sermon given by the Buddha is also known as the First Turning of
the Wheel of the Law. It consisted of the teaching about moderation in
all things: The Middle Way. It
demonstrated the Four Noble Truths which include the 8-fold
Path. This path includes 5 elementary precepts. (Numbers
are used widely in Buddhism as devices to aid the memory.}
1. Existence is suffering [Pali: dukka]
: Whether we are talking about the acute pain of a wound or the
chronic pain of toothache; about the death or loss of a parent or the
abandonment by a lover; the passing of youth or the loss of income, there is no
question that to live is to suffer.
Traditionally, suffering is described as being of three
types:
-
acute suffering such as pain, war, homelessness, --
"the suffering of suffering."
-
loss and/or uncertainty: the suffering of impermanence or change,
-
pervasive suffering: awareness of the
condition of all beings and states.
Dissatisfaction or unsatisfactori-ness are also good
translations, and perhaps less dramatic than the word suffering.
The state of anxiety in anticipation of future disappointment is a great
source of suffering. The third kind of suffering (of existence itself) is due to impermanence [anicca,]
though we can suffer even more knowing that others are in pain.
Recognizing the truth of suffering is realistic
rather than pessimistic because of what follows:
2. Suffering is due to desire: We know why we suffer. We constantly
crave, or thirst (tanha) for something, or we desire some satisfaction. Our very
physiological systems are based on homeostasis, which is the constant
readjustment to achieve ideal levels or balance.
The desire for eternal life, or for enlightenment itself, is certainly
another of these thirsts. The ignorance, fear or anxiety that we are all subject
to increases these desires; so do feelings of ill-will towards others.
This thirst can also be thought of as attachment.
3. There is a way to put an end to suffering: The Buddha and
others have managed to achieve nirvana, the absolute end to this continual round
of misery. Therefore we know the objective is "do-able."
It is for this reason the Buddha is also known as Tathagatha, the One-
Who- Has- Gone- There. In older translations, The Thus-gone.
4. The way to accomplish the end of suffering is through
moderation: The Eightfold Path consists of right views or
understanding, right thoughts, right speech, right deeds in action and in
livelihood, and right effort, right concentration, and mindfulness including
right meditation. It emphasizes moderation and the pursuit of virtue in
all things.
Right action includes five precepts:
- Not taking a life
- Not taking what is not given, ie. stealing
- Not lying
- Not behaving sexually in an irresponsible fashion, and
- Not using
intoxicants.
This first public teaching referred to as
the Turning of the Wheel of the Law was given in Sarnath, the Deer Park
on the outskirts of the holy city of Varanasi (formerly known as Benares.)
The Buddha’s former associates were among those present at this sermon.
All Buddhists rely on this teaching.
The next discourse that the Buddha gave publicly on was at Vulture Peak
outside Bodhgaya. It was on the importance of compassion and on the
concept of Emptiness. The Prajnaparamita scriptures expound on
this. The view presented therein is encapsulated in the Heart Sutra a.k.a.
the Prajanaparamita Hridya. All Mahayana Buddhists rely on this
teaching.
The
Third Turning of the Wheel
This course of teachings focused on what is called
Buddha Nature. Sermons
were given at Vaishali and some other locales. The topic is treated in The
Maha-parinirvana Sutra, and is referred to in several other scriptures
including the Uttara-tantra Shastra.
The Fourth Turning of the Wheel.
Sometimes Shakyamuni Buddha's tantric transmission (eg. of the Guhyasamaya
and the Kalachakra)
are referred to as the fourth turning of the Wheel. Not all Buddhists
accept the historicity of the mysterious accounts of a fourth set of teachings
in which beings of other realms took part.
The Sangha
The Buddha taught for many years, using
various approaches to suit the variety of his listeners. He often used metaphors
and visual aids in his explanations. The group of original disciples is known as
the Noble Sangha, but the word sangha is used also to refer to all
followers of the Buddha, the world community of Buddhists, and also the monastic
orders that he established for both men and women. This religious order
was one of the first of its kind.
Bodhisattvas
A person who vows to forgo enlightenment and nirvana in order to help
others is called a bodhisattva. Therefore, before his determination
to teach, Shakyamuni is thought of as a bodhisattva.
It is said that Buddha Shakyamuni taught several methods of achieving
enlightenment, each suited to a certain type of person. For instance, at
the natural hot springs known as Rajagriha (Rajgiri), he one day described in
detail the land of bliss, Sukhavati, the Western paradise which is the domain of
Amitabha, Buddha of boundless light. Here are reborn those not entirely released
from the wheel of rebirth, but who, after a time of purification will dwell in a
state of bliss. They may choose to return to help others.
It is recounted how, before his death or parinirvana, the Buddha told
his disciples to spread out in small groups to all directions in order to
teach the dharma. He stressed that it should be taught in the various
languages of the listening public.
By the 5th century of the contemporary era, Buddhism had spread from India,
its place of origin, to the borders of the Persian Empire and east to China and
Japan. The great Indian ruler, Ashoka (3rd century BCE) decreed it the
state religion and posted its principles on lion-topped pillars throughout his
realm. Like Gold
The four truths are not to be treated like dogma, said the
Teacher.
Rely not upon the person, but upon the doctrine.
With respect to the doctrine, rely not on the words but on the meaning.
With regard to the meaning, rely not on the interpretable meaning, but on
the definitive meaning.
With regard to the definitive meaning, one should rely not upon
comprehension by an ordinary state of consciousness but upon an exalted wisdom
consciousness.
Because of this, the reliability of teachings cannot be determined by the
person who taught them but by investigating the teachings themselves.
From the Sutra on (Pure Realms) Spread Out in Dense Array:
Do not accept my Dharma merely out of respect for me, but analyze and check it the way a goldsmith analyzes gold, by rubbing, cutting and melting it. ~ Lord Buddha.
The Dalai Lama, among others, confirms that we ought to treat the words of the Buddha
like a piece of jewelry the seller claims is made of gold.
"Monks and scholars should accept my word not out of respect but upon
analyzing it as a goldsmith analyzes gold, through cutting, melting, scraping
and rubbing it. "
~ interview concluding John Avedon's
In Exile From the Land of
Snows.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Middle Way also refers to a predominant
philosophical standpoint of Buddhism in which physical reality is understood as
not real in any absolute sense, but also not non-existent. (This
view that is neither materialist nor nihilist was a revolutionary one for its
time and place, emphasizing as it does the idea that there is no eternal
unchanging soul. Besides being non-dual, it is also not monist. It
falls into a category of Indian philosophy called anatta in Pali or
anatman in Sanskrit.)
Pali vocabulary is used here since it was the one
introduced with the first English translation of The Dhammapada, a
scripture thought by many to be the actual words of Buddha. The Pali
terms, anicca, dukkha, became associated in the West with the
First Turning of the Wheel a.k.a. The First Sermon.
By the way, Sanskrit is a classical language whose
name actually means that it is reformed. In other words, it is a literary
language, and it is unlikely that any ancient group of people actually used it
for everyday discourse.
_________________________________________________________
 For some context, a Dharma
Talk by the late Ayya
Khema.
Nirvana or, nibbana, and its relation to Emptiness
Nirvana is Sanskrit for what is usually translated as extinction
or non-existence. The expression is most often found in
Theravada discussion. It means "gone" as in the
reply to, "Where is the flame when you blow out the candle? "
The corresponding term in the Mahayana tradition is more usually, Emptiness,
a somewhat misleading term for shunyata, a word that derives from
the Sanskrit for zero in its original sense of a neutral, yet perfect
state of neither being nor not-being. It is not a negative but the
"marker" between positive and negative.
The Geshe, Palden Dakpa said, in a teaching on Chenrezi:
"The real or main means to liberate beings from sufferings is, as the
great master of logical reasoning Dharmakirti has said in his Treatise
on Valid Cognition (Pramanavarttika):
'The view of emptiness liberates,
And the remaining meditations are means to achieve it.'
and
"Shantideva in Guide to the Bodhisattava’s Way of Life
(Bodhicharyavatara) says:
'Buddha has taught all those branches
For the attainment of wisdom'
and since, as Acharya Dharmatreya (slob-dpon-chos-skyob) reminds us .
. . :
Buddhas do not wash away sins with water,
Nor do they remove the sufferings of beings with their hands,
Neither do they transplant their own realization into others.
Teaching the truth of suchness they liberate (others).
The truth of suchness refers to the teaching by means of experience
and logic that the nature of existence is empty.
". . . suffering is rooted in the ignorant conception of self and thus it
is essential to teach disciples its antidote, the path of emptiness of inherent
existence. Here, Dharmakirti in Treatise on Valid Cognition, says:
'If one is ignorant of the arisen effect and its cause,
It is difficult to teach them (to others).'
"If one teaches emptiness in the very beginning, without investigating
the disciples well, [or] examining whether they are really qualified, the great
Nagarjuna has said in his Root (text on) Wisdom, Mulamadhyamaka,
'If one misconceives emptiness,
Persons with little wisdom will be ruined.
Just as a person who mishandles a snake
Or is unskillful with mantras will suffer.' "
(~ entire above discourse is at http://quietmountain.org/links/teachings/chenrezi.htm)
As we have already noted, the basis for the teaching of Emptiness is the Prajnaparamita
Sutra
often given in its encapsulated form as the Heart Sutra. Its
recitation serves as the daily practice for Buddhists of all types all over the
world.
It is very important that people interested in studying Buddhism have an
experienced teacher. Real harm can be done if the student gets the idea
that Emptiness means that nothing matters.
Enlightenment
Enlightenment was maybe a poor choice for translating the Sanskrit
word bodhi since it connotes a light from some source outside a
person. Awakening would be more accurate.
In the Japanese Rinzai Zen school, the objective (awakening) is said to occur in a
sudden flash. In Soto Zen, it is a gradual process. Either
way, and in all Buddhist schools, the word refers to a state of being totally
awake -- tuned into the state of consciousness with no preconceptions or
personal contamination.
The nature of the state is indescribable, except that it leads to no further
suffering. From one perspective it is called Nirvana or
"extinction." From another, it is called Emptiness, which some
schools describe as "consisting of" Buddha-nature. (However, since it cannot be said to consist of anything, nor is it a
state in the usual sense of the word, therefore here we have used quotation
marks.)
- John Powers' Introduction
to Buddhism: has a chapter on Buddhist doctrines with scriptural
references and quotations.
_______________________________________________________________________
Dharma: From an ancient word meaning
"support," as the armature or framework of a sculpture, for
example. It is generally used to refer to the cosmic order, but can also
mean the virtual basis for apparent forms of reality. Orthodox Hindus use
it to refer to the fundamental principles of their belief system[s] but Sanatana
Dharma is more exact, in this context. Buddhists use the word as a
short form for Buddha-dharma meaning the teachings of the Buddha or buddhas.
That is, the way to Awakening.
[ Back ] [ Home ] [ Up ] [ Next ] [Distinctions]
[ "Tantric" Means ] [ Meditation ] [ Views ] [ Vajrayana Menu ] [ Doctrine ] [ Yoga ] [ What is Zen? ]
| 