Buddhism

Lecture Objectives: After learning this material you will be able to:
1. Outline the traditional life and essential teaching of the Buddha.
2. Discuss the major schools of Buddhism and how they spread to various parts of Asia.
3. Present the importance of practice, especially meditation, in Buddhism.
4. Talk about why Buddhism can be thought of as a particularly psychological religion.
5. Discuss the role of and attitudes toward women in the major schools of Buddhism.
6. Discuss Buddhisms impact on the American religious landscape.
7. Interpret Buddhism in terms of the three forms of religious expression.
8. Show through what forms a religion ultimately focused on individual liberation also functions as a religion for
society.
9. Explain basic Buddhist teaching: the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, No Self, and
Nirvana.

Introduction

Buddhism is based on the life of the historical Buddha, which we will study below. But it is also the result of
many influences from many cultures. As Buddhism has traveled to different countries it has taken on many local
aspects and customs so that the Buddhist world can look very simple and serene in certain settings, such as a Zen
monastery, and elaborate and almost tribal in other contexts, such as in the Tibetan culture . Buddhism is not rooted
in a single culture or area, as is Hinduism, but is an international religion, a movement introduced in historical time
into every society where it is now at home. It has deeply pervaded these cultures and deeply identified with them
(Robert S. Ellwood and Barbara A. McGraw, Many Peoples, Many Faiths: Women and Men in the World Religions,
Seventh Edition, [Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002], p. 122. Hereafter referred to in the lectures
as MPMF.) But always it returns for inspiration to the basically simple and straightforward teaching of Siddhartha
Gautama, the historical Buddha.

My own interest in Buddhism goes back to my early interest in meditation. For if Buddhism is about anything, it is
about meditation. And while all religions have a meditative aspect to one degree or another, with Buddhism
meditation will take the primary place as the single most important thing a person can learn. There are many different
types of Buddhist meditation taught and if meditation is something that really interests you then you might want to
check out a Buddhist practice for your final exam project.

Buddhism emerged in Northern India, but for a variety of reasons it did not remain a strong movement in its native
land. Buddhism has a somewhat different atmosphere than the Hindu context out of which it emerged. Buddhism
always combines something of the Indian spiritual tradition with very different cultures. However, instead of the rich,
heavy biological flavor of Hinduism, Buddhism has a more psychological thrust (MPMF, p. 122.) It is no surprise
that many people who are involved in psychology in one fashion or another are often attracted to Buddhism. When
you realize the important place meditation plays, you see that Buddhism looks inward. In the process of this inner
examination, Buddhist philosophy developed some profound insights into the nature of the human psyche and how it
works.

This psychological orientation can even be seen in Buddhist art and symbols. What is distinctive about Buddhist altars
is that, instead of portraying the archetypal hero, mother, or cosmic pillar, as do Hindu altars, the image
communicates a unified psychological state - profound meditation, warm compassion, or even unambiguous fury
against illusion. Buddhist practices, too, are focused on strong and clear states of unified consciousness. Either they
produce clear states, or they draw power from beings who have achieved unfettered clarity (MPMF, p. 122.) This
peaceful and clear state of consciousness is often seen in the simple and clean design of meditation centers.
Everything has its place and there is no clutter. As we will see, meditation includes the process of letting go of the
clutter in the mind and emotions.

Given the fact that Buddhism is so psychological and meditative one might easily wonder if Buddhism is not the
religion of solitaries only. But this is not true. Buddhism is also about the samgha, that is, the Buddhist community.
Buddhists realize as well as everyone else that we need each other. It is difficult to practice alone and it can even be
dangerous to practice without receiving feedback and guidance from others. The goal of Buddhism might be said to be
enlightenment, but as we will see, enlightenment is not a static state of blissing out, but a state that is dynamic and
demands expression in service and compassion. In other words, the more enlightened someone is the more loving he
or she will be. And it is not so easy to be loving, to express love, on your own. Enlightenment must be shared.

There are many ways to share this enlightened perspective. As Buddhism has spread around the world it has taken on
many new forms and incorporated them into itself. For example, as Buddhism entered China it found the Taoist
religion and what emerged was a Taoist version of Buddhism that we now know as Zen. Buddhist practice is
immensely varied. But it centers around three foci: the imaged ideal of the Buddha, the transformation of
consciousness, and the transformation of karma or practical destiny. The Buddha is revered and presented to the
world as the fully realized being who teaches and epitomizes the true nature of all other beings. He attained
realization through profound psychological self-analysis and self-control. Buddhist practice for transformation of
consciousness works in the same way and so is most fully expressed in meditation, but it also includes chanting and
ritual. Interaction with the Buddha, with his symbols, with the samgha, and following the ordinary moral teachings
exposes even people not yet ready for full enlightenment to karma that shapes destiny for good; theirs may be
equanimity here and a better rebirth later as a king or god (MPMF, p. 123.) And part of the idea of a better birth has
to do with having a birth where you are more likely to have the time and health to practice! Being born as a human
being is a rare and precious opportunity to wake up.

While Buddhism begins with a very simple teaching it has led to an immense amount of philosophical speculation.
Once you connect with the idea that the truth can be found within, then you start to think about how this inner truth
relates to the very nature of reality. Buddhist theoretical expression is concerned with the meaning of the Buddha,
how consciousness is transformed, and karma. Above all it is psychological in point of departure, for it is concerned
with the analysis of human perception and experience (MPMF, p. 123.)

Buddhist thought is not a vague diffuse mysticism but a sharp precise intellectualism that delights in hard logic, and
numerical lists of categories. It holds that ordinary life is unsatisfactory, for it is based on ignorance and desire,
resulting in the inability to realize that there is no self. All entities within the universe, including human beings, are
impermanent compounds that come together and come apart. The answer is a different kind of mind, a wisdom
mind, which finds the middle way between all attachments, uniting all opposites - being, like the Buddha, free of
partiality toward any segment of the cosmos - and is therefore, in its unclouded clarity, open to all omniscience, all
skill, and all compassion (MPMF, p. 123.) With that brief introduction it is now time to start at the beginning with the
life of the Buddha. But keep in mind what we studied about Hinduism, because the Buddha was born into a Hindu
world.

The Life of the Buddha

The Buddha was born in the north of India in what is now Nepal in about the year 563 B.C.E. and lived for about 80
years until 483 B.C.E. His father was the king of a small community and named his son Siddhartha Gautama. Legend
has it that the Buddhas father was told in a prophecy that his son would be either a great religious teacher or a great
world ruler. Being of a worldly mind the Buddhas father wanted a great ruler for a son, not a religious leader.

In order to have his way the father decided to do everything he could to seduce the Buddha into loving this world and
find no interest in the spiritual world. To facilitate this he built the Buddha a pleasure palace that had all of the things
a young prince could want. The Buddha was never allowed to see anything that would cause him unhappiness or
suffering, nothing that would cause him to wonder about the meaning of the world. In the process, Siddhartha
virtually became a prisoner.

However, the Buddha decided to sneak out with a servant whenever he could so that he could see whatever else was
going on. Perhaps he had it so good that he became bored. Legend tells us that he escaped four times and each time
he saw something that would cause him to rethink his view of the world. These are called the Four Passing Sights. The
first time he went out he saw a very sick man. He had not been allowed to see anyone who was ill and he had to ask
his servant what was wrong with the man and his servant told him that the man had a disease. The Buddha was even
more shocked to realize that anyone could catch a disease and so could he. Well this painted a different picture of his
future than what he had come to expect and he returned to his pleasure palace deeply disturbed.

The next time he went out he came across a very old, bent, and wrinkled man. The Buddha again had to ask his
servant what he was seeing because he had not been allowed to see older people as he was growing up. Only the
young and the beautiful had surrounded him. Needless to say, the Buddha was shocked to learn about aging, to
realize that this old person had once been young and healthy and the crisis that was beginning only got worse when
he was told that he too would get old one day (if he didnt get sick even earlier!). Despite these heavy blows the
Buddha was still interested in escaping from his father and seeing a bit of the world.

The next time out the Buddha saw a dead man being carried to the river to be cremated. And this was the final blow.
The Buddha realized that he could get sick, that he would grow old and that eventually he would die. And of course
this meant that everyone he loved and cared about would also be lost, many of them before he went. And so the full
existential crisis was on. This is something we all have to face. This is the humanism and the psychology of the
Buddha already showing up in these first stories. This is not some exotic teaching, but simply the reality of everyday
life. So the Buddha was deeply disturbed and having trouble sleeping when he once again went out with his servant
and saw the fourth sight.

The fourth sight was a Hindu wandering holy man. A yogi of some school, but of which path we dont know. When he
asked his servant who this man was his servant had to explain that this man was seeking liberation. Liberation from
what asked the Buddha? Liberation from the wheel of death and rebirth, liberation from suffering. At this the Buddha
was stunned. You mean that not only is there all of this suffering, leading only unto death, but there is also a path, a
way for a human to be liberated from all of this trauma? Once this was confirmed the Buddha decided that he would
dedicate his life to the pursuit of this liberation.

The Buddha made his final escape one night, leaving his wealth, position, and family behind him forever. He wandered
the country for several years, stopping to receive training from the various holy teachers he would meet and travel to
see. This was the time when he essentially practiced the forms of Hinduism that were available to him at the time.
And of course we must remember that 2500 years ago Hinduism did not have the variety and depth of practices it has
today. In fact, many of the improvements of Hinduism were a direct result of Hinduism incorporating some of the
Buddhas basic insights into their own way of understanding the world and spiritual practice. One of the ways the
Buddha took very seriously was the practice of a very strict asceticism. In this way of understanding, the body was a
problem. The more you could do to deny it and discipline it the better off you were. At one point the Buddha fasted so
much that he nearly died of starvation.

But as the years went by and the Buddha made some spiritual headway in his journey, he also sensed that he was
stuck. Something was preventing the final breakthrough. Hindu philosophy and practices were not the final door he
needed to walk through. Much to the disgust of some of the companions he had practiced with the Buddha decided to
strike out on his own.

Awakening

The traditional story continues: Then, late one afternoon, as he wandered not far from the banks of a river, he felt
that the time had come. Purchasing a pallet of straw from a farmer, he seated himself on it under a huge fig tree. He
placed his hand firmly to the ground and swore by the good earth itself that he would not stir from that spot until he
attained complete and final enlightenment. All night he remained there, sunk in deeper and deeper meditation. Mara,
an old god, buffeted him with furious storms and sweet temptations, but a wave of the Blessed Ones [Buddhas] hand
was enough to dispel them. His consciousness refined itself by moving through the four stages of trance, beginning
with the calmness of the passions that concentration brings and ending with transcendence of all opposites (MPMF, p.
124.) The Hindu holy men he had met along the way taught these first stages to him. But now he went pass what he
had been taught and discovered something new.

He also passed through several stages of awareness. First, he saw all of his previous existences. Then, he saw the
previous lives, the interlocking deaths and rebirths, of all beings, and he grasped at the karmic forces at work; the
universe became like a mirror to him. Finally, he saw with full understanding what principles underlay this web and
how extrication from it is possible. He saw the mutual interdependence of all things and how egocentric ignorance
leads sentient beings inevitably through desire to suffering, death, and unhappy rebirth. The Four Noble Truths
appeared in his mind: All life is suffering; suffering is caused by desire; there can be an end to desire; the way is in
the Eightfold Path (MPMF, pp. 124-125.)

Of course we dont know if it happened exactly like this, but the story shows the intended point that the Buddha
passed through everything Hinduism could teach him and he went on until he found the final gate that would release
him from suffering. More importantly for the world, the Buddha was not simply liberated, but he was able to trace
back how this happened and therefore able to pass this teaching on so that we still know today the steps that must be
taken if someone is interested in testing the Buddhas way.

The story tells us that as dawn broke the Buddha realized the truth about himself and all of reality. And in that
moment the whole world became silent as for a brief moment everything recognized the significance of what had just
occurred. Siddhartha Gautama was now a Buddha, an Enlightened One, or One who is awake. He is also called
the Tathagata, an expression difficult to translate, meaning something like He who has come thus and gone thus,
in the sense of He who passed beyond all bounds; one cannot say where he came from or where he is but can only
point in the direction he went, referring to his overcoming of all conditioned reality in his enlightenment to become
universalized. He was one with the universe itself and not any particular part of it in principle. And after death and
entry into Nirvana, he no longer continued to have a physical body (MPMF, p. 125.)

After the Buddha stabilized this new awareness he started traveling. He soon ran into his companions, the ones who
had given him a difficult time for leaving the path they had all been practicing together. But to their credit, they
realized that the Buddha had found what they were all looking for. They became his first disciples and he taught them
the Middle Way, the path between the indulgence of his youth and the strict asceticism of his earlier practice. The
Buddhas way was to be a way between extremes.

Within a short time the Buddha had sixty disciples and it became necessary to organize things. And once that
happened, we have the religion that has become known as Buddhism. At first Buddhism was strictly a monastic order
for men only. Eventually a monastic order for women was founded and then there were also practices accepted for lay
people to follow. And this has continued until this day where there continue to be Buddhist monastic orders and there
is also a strong lay movement of people who are married, with children and working in the world, while practicing
Buddhist precepts and meditation as part of their regular lives.
These first disciples took three simple vows that are still taken today. The Three Refuges or Three Jewels refers to
three fundamental points of orientation in Buddhism, three things that a Buddhist affirms. They are expressed in the
form of these assertions: I take refuge in the Buddha; I take refuge in the dharma; I take refuge in the samgha. The
dharma here means the Buddhas teaching; the samgha is the order of monks (MPMF, p. 125.) Taking refuge in the
Buddha means to have faith that within yourself you can realize your own Buddha nature. Taking refuge in the
dharma means that you will follow the Eightfold Path and the steps laid out by the Buddha so that you too can wake
up. Taking refuge in the community, the samgha, means that you realize your mutual dependence on others and will
help them just as they help you. The Buddha would spend more than forty years after his initial enlightenment
traveling around and teaching the people. This will prove important for any number of reasons, but it also serves to
show that enlightenment always leads to service if it is true to itself.

The Buddha died when he was about eighty from food poisoning. His last words were Work out your own salvation
with diligence. This has always been taken as final proof of what the Buddha taught all along, namely that he was not
divine. The Buddha was always clear that he was not to be worshipped or looked to for salvation. He was human and
had found the way. He was only a teacher. Any one interested in the Buddhas way needed not faith but rather
determination to practice and seek enlightenment on his or her own. Now it is time to look more closely at some of
the basic Buddhist teachings.

Basic Buddhist Teaching

The Middle Way

In his first sermon to the ascetics who had ridiculed him the Buddha explained why those extreme austerities had
been not only unnecessary, but actually a block to the enlightenment they all sought. Those foolish people who
torment themselves, as well as those who have become attached to the domains of the senses, both these should be
viewed as faulty in their method, because they are not on the way to deathlessness. These so-called austerities but
confuse the mind which is overpowered by the bodys exhaustion. In the resulting stupor one can no longer
understand the ordinary things of life, how much less the way to the Truth which lies beyond the senses. The minds
of those, on the other hand, who are attached to the worthless sense-objects, are overwhelmed by passion and
darkening delusion. They lose even the ability to understand the doctrinal treatises, still less can they understand the
method which by suppressing the passions leads to dispassion. So I have given up both these extremes, and have
found another path, a middle way. It leads to the appeasing of all ill, and yet it is free from happiness and joy
(MPMF, p. 127.)

It is easy to at least get a sense of this by an example as simple as how much we eat. If we dont eat enough and are
feeling really hungry we can become obsessed with food. It is all we think about. We might also find our blood sugar
level drops and we become upset and irritable. On the other hand, if we eat too much we become slow and sleepy and
maybe our stomach aches. Either way the body brings grief. But if we feed our bodies just the right amount then the
body will cease to draw attention to itself and let us try something like meditation, without distracting us so much with
its desires and needs.

But the Middle Way is not concerned with only how we treat the body. It is a condition of how we think about
everything. The Middle Way becomes on its deepest levels an attitude that seeks to find the delicate, infinitely subtle
point of absolute equilibrium between all extremes and polarities, from the obvious balancing off of asceticism and
self-indulgence, to the recondite metaphysical reaches of eschewing attachment either to life or death, to desire for
being or desire for nonbeing. Everything comes in pairs of opposites, the Buddha taught, in our world of partialities,
multiplicity, and conditioned reality. The senses, the desires, the unexamined life get hung up on one side or the
other in these pairs of opposites, thinking one side or the other is better. The way of wisdom is to find a balance in
the totality that includes them both - and so have the permanence and invincibility of the totality. The person of
wisdom is stable like the sky, not like clouds now blown this way, now that, and finally dissipated (MPMF, pp. 127-
128.)

Another way to look at this is to use the metaphor of an athlete. An athlete might really push his or her body to do
something difficult such as running a marathon. But in order to do this extreme thing, they need to really watch
things like their diet and their sleep. They need to drink enough water, but not too much. Well, seeking enlightenment
is kind of like this. It will take an extreme effort and a deep commitment, but in order to do this we must keep
everything else in balance so that the meditative journey is properly supported. The Middle Way supports the
encounter with the Buddhas basic insights into the nature of why we experience the world the way we do. This
insight, on which so much philosophy has been written, is called the Four Noble Truths.

The Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths teach both a diagnosis and prescribe a cure for the human condition. What is the problem?
Why do we experience so much suffering? Many of us experience a great deal of pain. And yet if we are lucky enough
to be free of suffering there is still a subtle suffering in that we know everything and everyone we love is passing
away. Nothing will stay the same. The Buddha faces this directly by stating: All life is suffering (or ill, or pain, or
anxiety, or bitter frustration). Suffering is caused by desire (or craving, or attachment) (MPMF, p. 128.) Those are
the first two truths.

What did the Buddha mean by suffering? Obviously he knew life was not always painful. It seems he was talking more
about the human condition itself. The first Noble Truth - that all life is suffering - tells us that there is something
unsatisfactory, something anxious, frustrating, incomplete about all life as it is ordinarily lived. It does not mean that
all life is excruciating pain or that there are no pleasant moments. The Buddha, who supposedly lived his first 29 years
in a round of extravagant pleasure, could hardly have said that. But what he does say is that there is something
frustrating and unsatisfactory in life, and it can get worse and worse (MPMF, p. 129.) Everything is impermanent. Our
pleasures last only for a while and then we look for another pleasure. It is difficult to be content in the moment
because we are looking toward the future with fear and anticipation.

We suffer, but we may not realize why. The Buddha says the cause of our suffering is desire. So we need to spend
some time with this word. What did the Buddha mean by desire. It seems that what he was really talking about was
our attachments. We are attached to people, places, and things. We are attached to having things go our way, to
looking the way we wish, to having other people behave the way we think they should.

We are attached to material things, but we can also be attached to spiritual things like certain ideas, practices, and
symbols. We want things we dont have and we are afraid of losing the things we do have, especially the people we
love and care about. All of this craving to have our own way and wishes is what the Buddha means by the word
desire. And it is not so much that wanting these things is wrong in a moralistic fashion. It is just that they dont
work. We might think they do, but the Buddha will teach that we will ultimately be disappointed. People and things
will let us down.

If all of this doesnt make sense to you then Buddhism will not be very appealing. But if you are at the point in your
life when you can say that this is your experience of the world then you become interested. O.K., so my life is full of
suffering. Is that it? Is there no hope? But the Buddha does not just give a pessimistic view of things.

After he describes what he perceives of the human condition he goes on to give us the third and fourth of his truths.
There can be an end to desire. The way out is the Eightfold Path (MPMF, p. 128.) We dont have to be stuck in our
attachments is the good part. But it will not be easy to get rid of them. That is the tough part of the story. We have
our work cut out for us and that work consists in taking up the path of the Buddha.

Some people are taken aback by the early focus on suffering, thinking it is too negative. But this teaching is really
only trying to come to terms with the human condition. All of the religions we study have to deal with this in one way
or another. Hinduism called our ordinary experience of the world samsara and Buddhism calls it being stuck in the
state of desire.

The idea is that we have to see something clearly and know what is wrong before we can fix it. Buddhism is
sometimes thought of as a pessimistic religion, but that is so only in its assessment of the ordinary life governed by
the suffering and desire of the first two Noble Truths. Buddhism is one of the most optimistic of religions in its vision
of the ultimate potential of humankind once that syndrome is broken. For the third of the Noble Truths says suffering
can be ended by the stopping of craving; at this point the vicious circle can be halted. One can throw sand in its
gears and pull the plug on its turbulence (MPMF, pp. 128-129.) Buddhism would be pessimistic if it stopped with
suffering. But it does not. Let us look at this desire a little more closely.

Desire is something that is two-edged. It arises on its own. That is part of the human condition. We find desires just
arriving in us. That is one part of the equation. But the other part of the equation is that we feed our desires and thus
they increase. Craving, or desire, the Buddha said, is like a fire, and any fire requires fuel. If fuel is taken away, the
fire must die down. The many things to which the senses are attached fuel the fire of desire.

How does one pull back the senses from these attachments? By concentration or meditation, the last and culminating
point of the Eightfold Path, which focuses ones awareness on something other than objects of desire and so lets the
senses quiet down from burning for things they can never really have (MPMF, p. 129.) So while desires arise in us
unbidden, we can learn to work with them by first not feeding them, and then learning how to let them pass through
us just like clouds floating through the sky. We do not need to become attached to them. But this is a long and
difficult path even though what Buddhists are attempting is pretty simple.

No Self

Before we go further into the Four Noble Truths we need to have an understanding of the Buddhas teaching about
what it means to have (or not to have) a self. Remember that in Hinduism the Buddha would have been taught that
the inner self was the Atman. One of the fundamental points of Buddhist psychology, and a key to understanding the
whole system on a deep level, is Anatman - No Self. This Buddhist teaching can be compared to the Upanishadic
doctrine that the Atman, the innermost self or soul, is really identical with Brahman. The Buddhist negative
expression Anatman, or No Self, is a difference of emphasis rather than a contradiction, for if the Self is simply the
one universal Brahman, it is also No Self in any individualistic sense. But the difference points to the Buddhist
tendency to psychological analysis rather than ontological statement (that is, a statement about reality) (MPMF, p.
129.) The psychological emphasis is seen by simply trying the experiment of looking for yourself. Literally see if you
can find yourself. The Buddha said that when we do this we tend to see things like a stream of thoughts and
emotions, but no actual self.

How does this tie in with the truth that desire is the culprit in terms of being the cause of our suffering? Reflection on
the idea of No Self provides a line of insight into the meaning of the Four Noble Truths, the Middle Way, and the
Buddhist experience. This is because the fundamental craving, or desire, that keeps us in the suffering-desire
syndrome, ultimately, is the desire to be a separate individual self (MPMF, p. 129.) Our fear of death, for example, is
a result of not wanting to go extinct. We have a real sensation of being someone and we dont want that to just
disappear. Likewise we dont want anyone we love to disappear. But the Buddhist concept of the Anatman is like our
concept of a river. We call something like the American River a river like it is a stable thing. Closer analysis reveals
however that you can never step into the same river twice. The water will always be different.

Because the water that moves on is always replaced by water coming downstream we have the sensory experience of
their being a river. In reality it is simply a flow of moving water. When the water empties into the sea the water
becomes one with the ocean, but the river does not end. The river keeps going. This is the Buddhist metaphor for the
self. We are a stream of thoughts and emotions and sensations, but in ourselves we have no lasting identity. We are
simply made up of droplets of water, all of which have the same chemical make up, H2O.

If desire is the problem, then the person who has desire must be worked with. This is where the teaching on no self
becomes fascinating. If there is no self then who is suffering? According to Buddhism, the false premise that
underlies all other delusion, suffering, and grasping is that one is a separate, independent, individual self - rather than
a transitory compound of several elements that is completely interdependent with the whole universe (MPMF, p.
129.) Three of these independent compounds are the sensations, thoughts and emotions I was speaking of above.
Some Buddhist meditations will spend a great deal of time helping people relax into the greater awareness that is not
identified with these passing emotions, thoughts, and sensations but can watch them just as you can watch a cloud
pass through the sky.

I mention three parts because it is simpler and easier to remember, but in official Buddhist psychology there are five
parts of us that taken together are considered ourselves. The five parts that make up a human being are called
skandhas; the word skandha means bundle and reminds us that these constituents themselves are collocations
of dharmas, the pointlike primary particles that flash out of the void. The human skandhas are the form (the physical
shape), the feelings, the perceptions (the picture the mind forms out of data transmitted by the sense organs), the
inherent impulses (karmic dispositions), and the background consciousness (MPMF, p. 130.)

To use the water metaphor again, a Buddhist would emphasize that the water has no inherent self. It is made up of
oxygen and hydrogen. Take away one or the other and you have no water. Keep them together and you have some
water. So if you take away the parts of a human being that we normally think of as ourselves, such as our body,
emotions, or thoughts, is there an underlying self? No matter how you answer this, I bet you can agree that it is an
intriguing question! Lets look closely at the first skandha, the body.

The body gives us our most tangible sense of ourselves because even though the body is always changing we dont
see these changes easily. It is only when we see pictures of ourselves taken over periods of time that we can start to
see the changes. Or if we havent seen someone in a few years, we will notice changes. But this sense of the body
being stable and permanent is an illusion; it is a faulty perception. The body is undergoing all sorts of changes all of
the time. And because our bodies are experienced as separate from other bodies it is easy to assume that the
separation is real and necessary. But even this everyday truth is not really true, for even the physical body is in
continual and necessary interaction with the environment in the course of breathing and eating. It is only a certain
perspective that makes me include the stomach when I say myself, but not the field that grows the food it digests or
the sun that makes that food grow (MPMF, p. 130.)

In other words, we have conventions of thought that reinforce our perceptions of ourselves as separate bodies
moving around in space. But the Buddhists teach that while this is our everyday experience of the world, it is a faulty
perceptual experience not based on the truth of how things really are. Hindus, as we saw, say something very similar
to this.

The second skandha is our feelings. It is very easy for us to identify with our feelings. We say things such as I am
mad. But what does that mean? It means I am experiencing certain emotions. But if I can look carefully, I will see
that these emotions come and go all day long. They are fleeting. They are not me. They are simply like waves of
energy that move through me. But these feelings are not a self - they are just something that comes and goes like
billowing waves in response to data fed in by the senses, interpreted by the perception, and probably conditioned by
the karma of patterns of behavior toward that person, or similar persons, carried over from the past along with much
else) (MPMF, p. 130.)

A meditation I will give in the conclusion to this class as an experiment for those who want to try consists of saying
things to yourself such as I have emotions, but I am not my emotions. I could write on and on about this subject,
but sometimes saying more does not necessarily help this make more sense. This Buddhist teaching is very subtle and
it is not so much understood by the mind as it is intuited in a flash of insight.

Even after all of this it might still be easy for a disciple of the Buddha to say that I may not be my emotions, but
what about the very awareness of the emotions. I must be that awareness. But the human capacity for self-
consciousness is not itself a self. It is just the skandha of consciousness that accompanies physical form, feeling,
perceptions, and impulses - for it can neither generate nor erase the latter four; it is only a mirror in which they
reflect as they act and react (MPMF, p. 130.)

Now if you were to persist and say that you actually were that awareness, the Buddha might agree, but he would
argue that analysis of that awareness would show that it is not individual and personal, but much more objective and
transpersonal. Then it would be more in line with Hinduism that Atman is Brahman. But when the Hindus say that,
they are also aware that the individual self with all of its petty concerns and selfishness is not Atman. It simply
participates, or is a part of, Atman. Sometimes we refer to this small, often petty self, in the modern psychological
term ego. When we say that someone has a large ego we often mean it in the negative sense that they are too
caught up in themselves, too selfish.

So if the Buddha is correct and we are not a stable individual self, that is, if we are more like a river, then what keeps
the river moving? If there is no self, then what keeps the stream of skandhas together? After all, eventually these five
skandhas will fall apart as does everything else. The Buddha taught that it is the energy of karma that holds us
together. Just as when we studied Hinduism we saw that karma was like the waves in water after a stone was
dropped into a pond, so we are like the waves. We come together for a while as a wave due to the karma of
whatever stones have been dropped in the past, but as the karma is burned up so will we disappear just as when the
energy is used up in the waves on the surface of a pond, the pond once again becomes still.

Karma is the force of universal action and reaction that keeps everything moving and changing. Your activities,
mental images, and thoughts, even your desire to perpetuate yourself as a separate individual self, set up waves in
the cosmos around you as you try to gain this object or fulfill that dream. No energy is lost, and sooner or later the
waves based on the false premise will come back to afflict and finally shatter the compound (MPMF, p. 131.) The
teaching on no self brings up some other interesting problems.

One of these problems concerns reincarnation. If there is no self then what or who reincarnates? In one sense, of
course, the answer is nothing. But karma also means that you get what you want; or rather, you continue to be what
you think you are. Every cause, including the illusion of being a separate individual Self, has an exactly
corresponding effect. The illusion then becomes self-perpetuating, life after life (MPMF, p. 131.)

Essentially the Buddha taught that you dont have to keep reincarnating. Once you wake up you will no longer be
susceptible to that dream. You will be awake and aware that what had been your experience is like the reality of a
dream. It seems real while we are asleep and then when we wake up in the morning we all of a sudden realize Oh,
that was just a dream. So one day we will wake up from our ordinary life and see that everything we took so
seriously and thought was so real was, in fact, not the way we thought it was.

Another metaphor (because sometimes metaphors help us get to the heart of this material easier than straight
discourse): Think of a forest fire. As the fire moves along, kept burning by the karma of wind and dry material, do
the individual flames last? Where do they go? And even though individual flames burn up and disappear, the fire
itself goes on burning until there is no more material, that is, until all of the fire karma is used up. So what
reincarnates as new flames is the fire itself. But the individual flames come together for a short time and then
disperse. So it is with humans. We have a moment where we experience ourselves as separate flames, but we are
really just aspects of the fire, never separate, but never the whole of all fire itself.

If this doesnt make a whole lot of sense to you dont worry about it too much! These are very deep and profound
teachings. To really get it takes a long time we are told. These teachings come out as the fruit of the Buddhas
awakening and as long as we are asleep they will never make complete sense. But the Buddha does not ask us to
believe him. He starts us off with the Four Noble Truths. And that is what we have been looking at. These truths end
with a path, and it is the following of that path that will allow us to verify whether what the Buddha taught was true or
not.

The Eightfold Path

The Eightfold Path could be a whole lecture in itself, but I will not spend much time on it except to point out that
Buddhism tries to be practical. It is a training program. If you want what the Buddha is offering then there are steps
you have to take. The eight steps are right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right
effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. While these steps are eight in number they are not hierarchical.
That is you dont complete one step successfully and then move on to the next. They are all working together and in
this way they are a support to one another. A Buddhist will be practicing all of the steps at the same time.

Right view is the beginning and end of the path. It simply means to see things truly, to not be caught up in the
illusions and ignorance that are the hallmarks of a sleeping human being. Learning to see things as they are is both
a matter of study and practice.

Right intention talks about our being committed to the process. If you want to learn something well such as playing
the piano then you need to practice for a minimum amount of time everyday. And you practice more when you can.
The only way to sustain this is by being committed.

Right speech is the beginning of Buddhist ethics. This step and a few others like it refer to moral discipline. Many
people think Buddhism is only about meditation. But this is not true. The Buddha taught that the path of meditation is
not going to be worthwhile if you are not at the same time trying to live a good life. The Buddha taught that how we
speak says something important about where we are in our spiritual journey. The Buddha meant that we are not to
lie, of course, but he also meant that we are to speak with kindness and mindfulness. That is we are not to use our
words to hurt others through such things as gossip.

Right action is similar to right speech. In this step we are to follow the basic moral guidelines taught by all the worlds
faiths. That is, we are to try and be a good person. We are not only to stop hurting others, but we must try to be a
positive blessing in their life as well.

Right livelihood means that what we do for a living impacts our spiritual practice. This step makes a lot of sense to me
and I like its practicality. I dont see the same emphasis in other religions placed on the importance of what we do for
a living. But when you think about how much time we spend at work we realize that it takes up a whole lot of our life!
Therefore the Buddha wants us to work jobs where what we do does not prevent us from spiritual practice. Some
work is prohibited outright. Employment as a drug dealer or a weapons dealer falls under the Buddhas ban.
Traditionally, the job of being a monk is the best work a person can do. Usually, however, the vast majority of jobs
are neutral and it is what we bring to them and how we do them that really matters.

Right effort means not only being committed, but also being committed in the right way. It means learning to use our
energy in a good and appropriate way. For example, we are told that we have all of the energy we need to not only
meet all the demands of our daily life, but also for spiritual practice. If this is true then why are so many people too
busy and too tired for spiritual practice? Because, according to the Buddha, we waste our energy, especially on
negative emotions. It is these things that tire us out. Right effort means we learn how to use our energy and not
waste it in the wrong areas.

Right mindfulness means learning to use the mind rather than having the mind use us! It just takes a little attempt to
meditate to see very clearly how unruly the mind is. Right mindfulness has much to do with learning to see things as
they are without having to have a constant commentary going on, especially negative judgments. It is the practice of
awareness.

Right concentration refers to the development of meditative states of concentration. Right concentration is using the
various meditative techniques to help the mind focus its energy like a laser beam on the task at hand rather than flit
around all over the place in useless and often negative thoughts and emotions.

Buddhists make a lifetime study of these steps, but hopefully you will see the point I wanted to make. Namely, the
Eightfold Path is the Buddhist spiritual path and way of life. While monks have many other rules they need to follow,
all people, monks and lay people, must follow the Eightfold Path if they are serious about their Buddhist practice. Lets
look at one other major Buddhist term before we look at the development of Buddhism throughout history.

Nirvana

A Buddhist is working toward what is called enlightenment. Sometimes it is referred to as waking up. But the Buddhist
word for this state is Nirvana. Nirvana [is] the state absolutely transcending all pairs of opposites, and so all
conditioned reality, by the blowing out of all flames of attachment. In Nirvana, all conditioning and, therefore,
attachment including the notion of being a separate individual self, is gone utterly beyond (MPMF, p. 132.) This state
cannot really be described.

Sometimes it is easier to state what it isnt rather than what it is. It must not be supposed that Nirvana is simply a
state hardly distinguishable from annihilation. It is rather the opposite - universalization, the falling away of all
barriers so that the mind becomes undifferentiated from horizonless infinity. The full, attractive, positive nature of
Nirvana must be stressed. The word Nirvana is said to mean extinguish or blow out, like blowing out a flame,
yet it does not mean disappearance in a negative sense, but rather the blowing out of all the fires of desire that
constrict us (MPMF, p. 132.)

It does not mean extinction of consciousness but extinction of desires that cage and enslave consciousness. Our
present consciousnesses are usually bound up with relishing sensory input and the accompanying mind-fogging
cravings and self-delusions. It is virtually impossible for us now to know what Nirvanic consciousness, genuinely free
of all this, would be like. Nirvana is truly the opposite of life, as we know it. But for all that, or rather because of that,
in Buddhist literature it is portrayed as the Otherness that is utterly desirable, a sparkling and golden light, calm
beyond all imagining (MPMF, p. 132.) The Buddha would rarely say anything directly about his experience except to
say it was bliss. That sounds pretty good!

The problem with describing this state is due to the constraints of our language. If our language is based on the
perception of a fundamental duality, then how do we describe a state of unity? All language comes out of making
distinctions and so is bound up with the pairs of opposites that rack the conditioned world (MPMF, p. 132.) If we
experience a state where we know that we are not separate from other people, how do we describe this? Once you
encounter this problem you then recognize why so many attempts have been made to communicate what this
experience is like. Paradox is often the chosen expression.

Sometimes people think that the state of Nirvana must be passive and uninvolved. After all, if you see through all the
conditionings of life why would you bother to get involved? But this is not the way the Buddha understands this state
nor is it the way he lived his life. Once you are free from selfishness and a state of sleep then you are for the first
time truly ready to live. For, freed from the shackles of self, one can live purely on the level of universal compassion
and oneness with the joy of all beings (MPMF, p. 132.) We waste a tremendous amount of energy on negative
emotions such as fear, guilt, and worry. Imagine what you could if this energy was not dissipated but was free instead
to be used in creative and compassionate ways!

When we see the difficulty the mind runs into when it tries to describe the experience of unity we will begin to grasp
the importance of meditation. In meditation you are not using the mind to study the experience of unity, you are
opening the mind to the experience of unity itself. So the method of meditation leading to Nirvana does not involve
the mind trying to comprehend through the senses and reason, but the awareness breaking through their finitude
(MPMF, p. 132.) This becomes simpler to grasp if you realize that there is a part of you that can watch yourself
thinking. This part is not thinking. It is simply watching, that is, it is just seeing. What is this part of us that can just
see without getting caught up in what we see? Meditation is suppose to help us find this awareness and relax into it so
that we are less concerned with what we see and more interested in the experience that we see!

The Buddha existed in his state of enlightenment for more than forty years. But he was able to live in such a way that
he created no more bad karma for himself and he served people even in his dying, because it is believed that his
death also set in motion forces that can be helpful to us. According to Buddhist belief, when the Buddha died, or
rather attained Nirvana absolutely, an effect occurred that can only be called an implosion on the spiritual level. An
implosion is the opposite of an explosion; it is what happens when a vacuum is suddenly created and all surrounding
molecules of matter rush in to fill the void. The Buddha made no karmic waves, as we do trying to grasp at things to
fulfill desires. But his passing was like an implosion in the karmic field - suddenly there was nothing there - and a
stream of karmic force (good karma) is still rushing in, striving to enter the gateless gate through which he had
passed (MPMF, p. 133.)

I sometimes look at this using a sports metaphor. Lets take some amazing feat like climbing Mount Everest. People
wanted to climb this mountain for maybe thousands of years, possibly ever since humans first looked upon it. Finally,
after many failures someone does it! And once they do it somehow becomes easier for the next person to do so and
before you know it many people have done so. There is a sense in which the Buddha opened a way for others to
follow and this sense of help given by the Buddha rather than simply his teaching will lead to further developments
and refinements of Buddhist philosophy. So lets look at some of these developments and, in the process, we will look
at some Buddhist history as well. The first Buddhists were not so concerned with what the Buddha did (and its
possible significance for others) as they were with what he taught.

Theravada Buddhism

The oldest form of Buddhism is Theravada Buddhism The Buddhist world is now divided into two great traditions.
Theravada (Path of the Elders) Buddhism is found in the nations of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), Myanmar (formerly
Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. Mahayana (Great Vessel) Buddhism has spread throughout China, Korea,
Japan, Tibet, Mongolia, Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam, and corners of India and Russia (MPMF, p. 133.) Most Westerners
are more familiar with Mahayana Buddhism because it is the Buddhism of Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, the most
popular forms of Buddhism in the United States and Europe. But historically we must start with Theravada Buddhism.
Any time you have a religious teaching there will be some confusion as to what the teacher meant when he or she
said any given thing. As long as you have the master alive and present you can ask questions and try to figure things
out. But once the teacher is gone, and especially when you are relying mostly on an oral tradition, it becomes
necessary to figure out what the core teaching really is. You can even see this in a political metaphor. In the United
States the core teaching is the constitution. All of the courts and laws are all about trying to figure out how to put
the constitution to practical use. In other words, the concern is how to live out the principles of what this core
document has to say.

Well, in religion it is no different. Theravada Buddhism grew out of a perceived need in approximately the third
century B.C.E. (more than 200 years after the death of the Buddha) to reassert an authoritative Buddhist teaching in
the face of growing divergences in the movement (MPMF, p. 134.) Theravada Buddhism was so successful at this
process that we dont know a whole lot about the other versions of Buddhism that were floating about. This is similar
to Christianity. Shortly after the time of Christ there were different understandings about what Jesus meant. Over
time and after a number of church councils the core message was codified and presented in a creed as the dogma of
believing Christians. Concepts like the Incarnation and the Trinity needed to be defined once and for all according to
most theologians. And this is the process that happened with Theravada Buddhism.

This impulse to get things right is a noble impulse of protection. It is all too easy for false teachings and stories to
enter a tradition. It is not surprising that people want to be sure about what the Buddha taught and then preserve it
for all time. The Buddhas teachings had been transmitted throughout the centuries by oral tradition, and they
continued to be so even after this development for another 200 years when, sometime during the first century B.C.E.,
they were compiled as what has been known as the Tripitaka or Three Baskets. The Tripitaka, written in the Pali
language (a variation of Sanskrit) held to be the language in which the Buddha taught, deals with the Buddhas life
and his basic teaching in three parts: the rules of monastic conduct, the Buddhas discourses, and doctrinal principles
(MPMF, p. 134.)

One of the first things you will notice about Theravada Buddhism is that it is monastic Buddhism. The Buddha, after
all, was a monk and set up communities of monks, the samgha. Mahayana Buddhism would be more open to lay
people being serious about their Buddhist practice, but in Theravada Buddhism it was felt that the monastic way was
the supreme way.

Monasticism was so important to Theravada Buddhists that until recently every young man was expected to spend at
least a part of his life as a monk. For women it was more of an option as there were far fewer women monks for
reasons that will be explained below. Most of the monks are young, for in all the Theravada countries except Sri
Lanka it is a custom (not always observed today) for every young man, from prince to peasant, to spend a year of his
life as a monk. This experience serves to stabilize ones religious life and is an initiation into manhood. A youth will
not marry until after he has served as a monk, and his closest lifelong friends are likely to be those with whom he
shared this experience. But the great majority of men, of course, do not remain in the cloister. However, among the
morning mendicants will be a few gentle old veterans of the monastic path, and they are afforded great respect
(MPMF, p. 135.)

This idea is not usually practiced in Western religions, but you see something like it among Mormons who are
expected to give a year or two of their youth to missionary work for their church. Recently, some Roman Catholic
monasteries are encouraging younger people to try the life for a while without necessarily taking final vows to stay
forever.

Being a monk is not simply a rite of passage. The goal must always be kept in mind and the goal is enlightenment.
Upheld by the Three Jewels, the monk knows he is to emulate the silent image of the Buddha in the temple, with its
serene and inward gaze. He is to explore and know through meditation the inward realm, and finally he is to break
through it into the Unconditioned - Nirvana. He is to become an arhant, a perfected and enlightened one who has
attained Nirvanic consciousness (MPMF, p. 136.) And whether the person remains a monk or not, he or she needs to
always remember the importance of practice and try to find time to meditate even in a busy lifestyle consisting of
family and work obligations.

But it is understood that lay people will not have the kind of time to spend in meditation as monks will. And therefore
other practices have been developed as well. Theravada laity do not generally expect to make formal meditations in
the manner of monks. Rather, for them the tableau of the Buddhist map of the invisible world - its temples,
pilgrimage places, and cosmic lore - become ways they can align themselves with streams of good karmic force set in
motion by the implosion of the Buddhas Great Departure. Buddhism, for them, comes as a noble instrument for
making merit, which will transform destiny to bring good things in this and future lives (MPMF, p. 137.) Buddhism
plays more the role traditionally found in other religions. It provides for peoples social and ritual needs and serves as
a locus of meaning.

Every religion provides directions on how one should live. Buddhism is no different in this regard. Monks have many
rules, or precepts, to follow. But due to the nature of their lives, lay people cannot follow so many rules. Nevertheless,
they are expected to follow certain basic principles. The layperson tries to follow, as well as possible, the five
precepts: not to take life, steal, engage in sexual misconduct, lie, or take intoxicants. He or she tries also to exemplify
the four unlimited virtues: unlimited friendliness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and even-mindedness. Through the
four unlimited virtues, one can be reborn in a divine heaven (MPMF, p. 138.) In addition to this, lay people provide
much of the material support for the monks. This is considered good karma and helps one to build merit. In Hinduism
it was also considered good karma to help and feed the holy wandering monks. This tradition continues in Buddhism.

The monks and the lay people provide help to each other and mutual support. The monks serve as teachers and
examples, and the lay people serve in any way they can. Both sides are believed to benefit greatly. The monks and
monastic life are like a reservoir of merit. The Buddha, the teaching, the order and the laity are like concentric circles
going around the absolute center, Nirvanic consciousness. Every ring profits through interaction with its neighbors
especially the one next in (MPMF, p. 139.) Theravada Buddhism provided a rich understanding of the Buddhas
teaching, but due to its stress on the monastic life, it was only a matter of time until a broader form of Buddhism
would emerge and it is to that that we must now turn.

Mahayana Buddhism

Mahayana Buddhism is almost as old, but it tends to be less conservative and more open to adaptation then the Way
of the Elders. The northern tier of Buddhist countries, including the great and distinctive Buddhist cultures of Tibet,
China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, are in the Mahayana tradition (MPMF, p. 140.) These Buddhists wanted to be
more open to lay people and they wanted to be able to incorporate some of the teachings that surrounded them, such
as Taoism in China and the native Bon religion in Tibet. These Mahayana Buddhists also tended to see the Buddha as
a supramundane and perfect being, moving in the direction of making the Buddha into a divine being.

But even though there were different emphases and practices between the two kinds of Buddhism the defining
difference is really a textual one. The Mahayana Buddhists accept more literature as scripture. They accepted not
only the Tripitaka, but also a growing body of Sanskrit scriptures called sutras. Acceptance of the body of sutra
literature, rather than any particular doctrine, is the formal test of a Mahayanist (MPMF, p. 141.)

Even though we now understand the sutras to have been written over several hundred years, it was believed that the
historical Buddha spoke these words. It was even said that some of the Buddhas words were hidden on purpose until
people were ready for them. This belief that a master would have a private and personal teaching for his closest
disciples that was different from the public teaching for the masses is not unusual. Some of the Gnostic Christians, for
example, believed the same thing about Jesus.

What makes these sutras so interesting? These scriptures start from a universal rather than a historical perspective,
holding that there is a universal true reality everywhere - known variously as the Void, Nirvana, Buddha-nature,
dharmakaya - that is capable of being realized by anyone. Gautama Buddha realized it at the moment of his
enlightenment, and so he manifests it and comes from it - but there are an infinite number of other Buddhas, too, and
in a deeper sense everyone is actually an unrealized Buddha. Any means of attaining this realization is acceptable
insofar as it works; the gradated practice of Theravada may be dispensed with, and techniques of devotion, chanting,
even quasi-magic, brought in from bhakti, Tantrism, and folk religion, can be employed (MPMF, p. 141.) So you can
see that this type of Buddhism is pretty universal and accommodating to new and different practices.

One of the most profound changes happened in regards to what is called a bodhisattva. In Theravada Buddhism, the
goal was on reaching enlightenment. And with the emphasis on monasticism the focus would often be on the
individual becoming enlightened and there was not so much emphasis on how this might influence others or be part of
a compassionate plan for service.

In other words, if there was no check on the system some people might accuse Theravada Buddhists of being selfish
and only concerned with their own enlightenment and not concerned about the world and all of the suffering that was
in it. Mahayana Buddhists wanted to correct this tendency. In all of this the key figure is the bodhisattva, who
becomes for Mahayana the ideal in place of the Theravadin arhant, and in many ways sums up the Mahayana vision.
The bodhisattva is on the way to Buddhahood but holds back at its very threshold out of compassion for the countless
beings still in ignorance and suffering; the bodhisattva dwells both in Nirvana and in the phenomenal world, having
the power and reality of both. As a borderline figure, he or she also imparts grace and receives devotion (MPMF, p.
141.) And this idea of grace brings Mahayana Buddhism more in line with other world teachings that state that help
(grace) is available to those of us who reach out for it.

How did Mahayana Buddhists justify this teaching? They did it by understanding where the Buddha was coming from.
That is, after enough disciples of the Buddha were able to realize enlightenment for themselves they were able to
understand his teaching from the inside so to speak. And what they discovered can be described as awareness,
mindfulness, wakefulness or consciousness. All of Buddhism is built on the Buddhas experience of infinite
consciousness at the moment of his enlightenment. Buddhism is all the various methods of getting at the way he saw
the universe at that moment, which is the way it really is (MPMF, p. 141.) The focus moves from the historical
Buddha to a state of consciousness and what we can do to facilitate this greater awareness. In Theravada, this
means entering the stream left by the historical Buddha.

In Mahayana, there is more emphasis that the world perceived by the Buddha at enlightenment is the true reality
everywhere present at all times, and so it can be apprehended directly by a number of different means and through a
number of mediators (MPMF, p. 141.) In other words, if something helps you find enlightenment then it is good, if it
holds you back from enlightenment then it is, obviously, more of a problem. The Buddha is understood to have lived
at a certain time and place and if other ways not taught by the Buddha are seen to be helpful then it is assumed that
the Buddha would approve.

The Buddha himself was willing to break away from the traditional paths that he was taught under the Hinduism
available in his day. This then becomes the model. Do not let traditions, even from the Buddha himself, trap you into
not exploring and trying things. This reflects that Mahayana is, in effect, a multimedia way to Buddhahood. The
turning of the head needful to see ones true Buddha-nature is not something that must be done only one way.
Because it relates to the ungraspable, it cannot be put into a box. Thus, Mahayana has many methods, some very
complex and some so simple as to seem insulting until one realizes that the simplicity is the point. Mahayana disdains
none of the senses and no level of religion - from peasant folk faith to the most advanced metaphysical system
(MPMF, p. 142.) The Buddha is a model of openness and the Mahayana Buddhists want us to remember that.

One of these Buddhist scriptures makes this perspective very clear. The Lotus Sutra, one of the most important of all
Mahayana texts, tells us that a simple offering of flowers or of a tiny clay pagoda, presented by a child to a Buddha, is
of far more worth than all the proud efforts of an aspiring arhant. For any distance we can advance toward
Buddhahood by our own self-centered efforts would be only as an inch to a thousand miles, but if one just forgets
oneself in a childlike sense of wonder and giving, one is already there, for in that moment ones high walls of ego have
vanished away (MPMF, p. 142.)

There is an inbuilt relativism that says if it works use it and if doesnt work let it go. This calls for discernment and
flexibility. For example, you may find that something works for you and this is great only to find that it stops working
after a while. Then you have to be willing to let it go. And this is not so easy because we can become attached to not
only obvious things like money and people and our health, but also to spiritual practices.

This relativism can be very disconcerting. And it can get out of hand. People can keep changing a system to the point
where it has nothing in common with the original and important teachings of the Buddha. That is why you need
conservatives. You need the people who want us to be cautious about change and who want to preserve what is good
and holy. But then you also need the progressives because they are the ones who will challenge a religion to make
itself relevant to the current times and not to become so rigid that it becomes a fossil and breaks. Neither side has all
of the answers but hopefully they manage to balance each other enough so that Buddhism is able to maintain its own
Middle Way through these two tendencies that we now know as Mahayana Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism. It is
now time to look at some of the further development undergone by Buddhism.

Nagarjunas Two Basic Principles

One of the worlds most important philosophers, even though he is not well known in the Western world, is Nagarjuna.
The greatest philosophical force in the emergence of Mahayana was the teaching of Nagarjuna (c. 150-350 c.e.). His
two basic principles are that samsara (the phenomenal world) and Nirvana are not different, and that the most
adequate expression for this totality is Void (MPMF, p. 143.) Sometimes this word Void is described as
emptiness.

Emptiness, like Nirvana, is not a negative word, but it is hard to describe. The main focus is on relationship. Things
and people receive their meaning from their relationships rather than from their own independent existence. Think of
something simple such as a beach. It is a beach because of the ocean meeting the land, not because it is a beach in
and of itself, nor because it is the ocean or the land all by itself. It is relationship and the context it provides that
becomes the focus in a teaching on emptiness.

Nagarjuna also changed the focus on what it means to be a seeker. The seeker is often seen as the person looking for
enlightenment, looking for Nirvana. But that very search implies that the seeker does not have enlightenment yet. It
is somewhere off in the future. I am not enlightened now, but I will be some day (in the future). Nagarjuna said this
understanding was wrong. That samsara is Nirvana and Nirvana is samsara means that one does not go anywhere
to enter Nirvana. It is here and now; we are all in it all the time, and so we are all Buddhas. Experiencing getting
up, walking down the street, or washing dishes as Nirvana rather than as samsara is simply a matter of how it is
seen (MPMF, p. 143.)

It is very ironic because there is a paradox here. On the one hand, there is nothing to search for. It is already
happening here and now. And yet it takes a long search to discover this for yourself! And ultimately, from a Buddhist
perspective, you are not supposed to believe this. You are supposed to check it out and verify it for yourself. This is
where it is important to keep your sense of humor!

If all things are known by their relationships more than by their own inherent worth this says something important
about the nature of reality. The nirvanic vision, then, is to see all things, including (and this is perhaps the most
difficult angle to get) oneself, the observer, equally and as an endless series of interdependencies and
interrelationships. This universe neither starts nor stops anywhere. In it all things are continually rising and falling
and moving in an out of each other, and nothing is stable except the totality itself, the framework in which this
frameless and endless moving picture is situated (MPMF, p. 143.) We can even see some of these ideas in the way
we picture physical reality.

Reality appears hard and made up of things. But when we explore we see that reality itself is made up of mostly
space. The atoms are mostly space moving at a very fast speed and when something dies it does not simply go out of
existence; rather it changes forms. Energy is never lost; it just changes. The atoms that make up all of our bodies as
well as the computers we are working with in this class all came from some distant star. It is truly amazing how much
our picture of reality is changing as we learn more about it.

To grasp this with the rational mind is not so easy. It is more of an intuitive insight that is needed. Nagarjuna called
this prajna. The secret is the insight-wisdom called prajna. It is able to see things as they are without being attached
at the same time to any structure of thought or theoretical concept. Theories try to make it possible to see things by
interpreting them, but the use of such tools also twists them out of shape (MPMF, p. 143.) Our mind is useful for so
many things. But that does not mean it is useful for everything.

This gets back to my first lecture where I wrote about the prerational, the rational, and the transrational. The
transrational is not stupid. It is not asking us to not think. It is saying there is something on the other side of the
rational and to get there the mind can sometimes be a problem just as not using the mind is so often a problem.

Mahayana Buddhists talk about six paramitas or areas where one can practice and find Buddhist perfection. One of
these is the path of wisdom or insight. This is like Jnana Yoga in Hinduism. The supreme paramita [of Buddhist
perfection] is prajnaparamita: It must be built on the foundation of perfection in the other paramitas. But it is prajna
that gives the lightning flash of final insight uniting one firmly, invincibly through every corner of ones subjectivity
with the marvelous Void itself, and so makes one as secure as it. This is prajna-paramita, the wisdom that has gone
beyond or the perfection of wisdom. The earliest distinctive Mahayana literature deals with it. Indeed, in
devotional Mahayana, prajnaparamita (like wisdom in the biblical Book of Proverbs) came to be personified as an
initiating maiden greatly to be desired (MPMF, p. 145.)

If we are seeking wisdom, where might we turn? There are the teachings; that is for sure. But it is also good to find a
teacher. And the best teacher of all is a bodhisattva. So I want to return to this concept and take a closer look at it.

The Bodhisattva

The bodhisattva is to Buddhism what the avatars and gurus are to Hinduism. That is, they are a living example of
everything we wish for. They show us it is possible and therefore they offer not only teachings and practices, but hope
as well. The great key figure in Mahayana thought is the bodhisattva (enlightenment being) (MPMF, p. 145.) They
are almost like savior figures to a certain extent, because if you remember, these are the great enlightened beings
who could disappear into Nirvana but who decide to stay and help. They refuse to fully enter Nirvana until everyone
else goes in ahead of them. In this sense they are great symbols of compassion.

As a result of this, the bodhisattva is the central element of Mahayana Buddhism. In fact, this is so much so that most
Buddhists of this persuasion take a bodhisattva vow. This means they dedicate the fruit of their practice and their own
enlightenment to the welfare of other beings. Virtually everything that is distinctive and of general interest in
Mahayana is related to the bodhisattva and the bodhisattvas path. To understand this class of being, his or her
meaning and methods, is to have the surest key to understanding Mahayana teaching, symbols, and practices
(MPMF, p. 145.) The nature of Buddhist focus becomes compassion rather than enlightenment, service rather than
wisdom. But it is only a change in emphasis. It is not that enlightenment and wisdom are no longer of extreme values,
for they are. But the perspective has changed.

The bodhisattva teaches by example the importance of the reality of emptiness. First, the bodhisattva epitomizes the
ideal of samsara and Nirvana being not different, for the bodhisattva lives in both simultaneously. The bodhisattva is
in the world, but without attachments, and therefore is able to see everything as it really is and to work with all
power. Thus, the bodhisattva lives on the level of Void-consciousness (MPMF, p. 145.) The bodhisattva shows us that
it is possible to live a life of compassion and joy while at the same time continually letting go of everything. The
paradox of caring deeply about everything while understanding nothing matters is brought to life. The paradox of
trying to end suffering with all of ones being while at the same time understanding that suffering is an illusion
becomes the teaching. These things are almost too hard to grasp and that is why we need bodhisattvas to
demonstrate this truth to us.

The bodhisattvas also teach that meditation is not the only way to enlightenment, and that meditation without
compassion might just be the ego disguised as a holy person. Mahayana lore tells us that the bodhisattva is one who
has taken a great vow to attain supreme and final enlightenment, however long it takes and at whatever cost, but at
the same time to practice unlimited compassion toward all sentient beings, remaining active in this world without
passing into absolute Buddhahood until all other beings are brought to enlightenment. Its fulfillment requires great
sacrifice and suffering on his or her part. The Lotus Sutra portrays the bodhisattvas as superior to the Theravada
arhants and private Buddhas, who allegedly attain enlightenment for themselves only, falling short of the ideal of
universal compassion (MPMF, p. 145.) Enormous energy is freed up when you are able to turn the focus from
yourself to another. It is the energy of realizing interrelationship, the true nature of reality.

When you realize the value of interrelationship you realize that to work for others is to work for oneself because there
is no self separate from the one reality - emptiness- that is the suchness of everything. In the bodhisattvas work in
the world for liberation of other beings, the bodhisattva is activated by two principles, skill-in-means and compassion.
Both of these derive from unconditioned awareness of the total interrelatedness of all things. Compassion is the
ethical consequence of this knowledge; it is merely stating the fundamental Buddhist realization of dependent
coorigination in ethical terms (MPMF, p. 145.)

If you take away nothing else from this lecture, I hope you will remember with gratitude all of the many thousands of
people who have taken bodhisattva vows. In doing so they are dedicating their lives and practices to the welfare of all
of us. The concept of the bodhisattva, whose beauty has moved hundreds of millions, is the supreme achievement of
Mahayana Buddhism. It superbly exemplifies the ultimate meaning of the Middle Way by dwelling at once in samsara
and Nirvana (MPMF, p. 146.) To live in two worlds seems to be part of the human mystery. All religions teach in one
way or another that we are both animal and spirit and that is our problem, but it is also our glory. There was a further
development on the thought of Nagarjuna known as Yogacara, and it is to that we now turn.

Mind Only (Yogacara)

Some philosophers felt that to call the world empty was not helpful. They thought there must be a better way and
their search led them to see reality not as physical in the typical sense, but as consciousness manifesting in the
multiple ways we can see with our senses. But beyond, above, and behind these appearances there lays the ground
reality and this is consciousness.

A new tradition, found in the Avatamsaka and Lankavatara Sutras and the thinkers Asangua and Vasubandhu (c.
fourth century c.e.) said that what Nagarjuna had called Emptiness or Void is more like mind, like pure consciousness
in which particular forms or thoughts rise and fall (MPMF, p. 147.) If you think of anything physical like an airplane or
a building you must realize that this thing first existed in the mind of the designer. So all of reality springs form
consciousness according to the Yogacara School. The goal is for us not to get stuck in appearances, but to break
through to the underlying reality.

This way of thinking had a profound influence and it is the underlying philosophy to both Zen and Tibetan Buddhism,
which as I mentioned above, are the most popular forms of Buddhism in the Western world today. Mind Only holds
that fundamentally only one clear mind or field of consciousness exists, the Buddha-nature or Nirvana. It is the basis
of each persons own existence - we are therefore all Buddhas. But we do not realize this because we each project
an apparent world of many different things which we think we see outside of us but which actually is in our heads. It
is really like an illusion made by the preconceptions and habitual but false modes of perception in which our individual
karmas have bound us up and blinded us (MPMF, p. 147.)

What is ultimately real are not the things we are aware of, but the awareness itself. The things we are aware of
(people, places, and things) are always changing. They are born and die. Nothing stays the same. Except awareness.
Awareness, according to the Mind Only school, is always already there. And therefore practicing awareness is the most
important thing. Normally we are so distracted by what we see that we forget to ask fundamental questions such as
who is seeing?

Buddhist psychology plays an important role in making this clear. On the surface, it appears that our illusions are
real. After all, I can say, do you see that person over there? And if you say yes, then it is obvious that I am not
making it up, because we are both seeing it. But going past the surface, looking deeper might tell us a different
story. One might ask why, if each of us projects an individual movie, we all seem to see the same world. Actually,
this is not strictly the case; the world appears different to a child and to an adult, to people of different language and
culture, and in subtle ways even to brothers and sisters. Yet admittedly there is general consensus about the lay of
the land. Mind Only philosophy says that this is because we carry over shared past impressions from collective as
well as individual experience. This is called store consciousness. Perhaps it would not be too much amiss to translate
the concept by saying that the way we see the world is formed basically by human and community input, such as
the common experiences of birth and having parents, language, education, and culture. What is added by individual
karma is only like frosting - although it may be very important for individual destiny (MPMF, p. 147.)

We are back to the idea of interrelationship! Nothing is as separate as it appears to us in our ordinary minds. Various
Buddhist practices teach us that these types of statements about mind only or interrelationship are not to be
believed as dogmas, but experienced and verified for ourselves. Mind Only, like most Eastern philosophies, is not just
a theory. It is also a practice, as it is a path to transformation of consciousness (MPMF, p. 147.) One can study
various practices and then work with them to increase our ability to relax into this mind only awareness.

There are many different meditation and mindfulness practices from quiet sitting and watching to intense visualization
exercises. One method, developed by Chan or Zen, is found simply through still meditation - sitting quietly, doing
nothing - settling down until one lives beneath the coverings and projections (MPMF, p. 147.) This is usually our
image of the Buddhist, sitting quietly in meditation. But there are other ways starting to be better known. Another
method, developed by Vajrayana, is a kind of experiential shock therapy where one experiments with different reels
of film by putting in one after another. This is the role of the psychic experiments and the visualizations of Buddhas
and bodhisattvas, characteristic of the Tantric-influenced esoteric tradition in Mahayana (MPMF, p. 147.) If you ever
have a chance to visit a Tibetan service or even to watch a film about Tibetans you will see this rich variety of
practices and realize that there are many sophisticated ways to study consciousness and practice awareness.

Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism practices a form of Mahayana Buddhism called Vajrayana. Vajrayana [means] the Thunderbolt
Vessel or Diamond Vessel. Today this is the Buddhism of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and Mongolia, and it has much
affected some schools in China and Japan. But like so much else, it originated in old India. It stems from a confluence
of Mind Only Buddhism with the same forces that went into Hindu Tantrism, and it can be thought of as Buddhist
Tantrism (MPMF, pp. 149-150.) In order to facilitate this way, Buddhists had to be very open to challenging the
mores and customs of the day. Due to disapproval and misunderstanding they often kept these ways secret.

It is one thing to believe that the Mind Only school is accurate in its assessment of reality; it is a whole other thing to
put it into practice! Buddhist Tantrists took very seriously the dictum that samsara is Nirvana. To them this meant
that nothing in the samsaric world is intrinsically evil and that everything can be used as a means to liberation. Above
all, this is true of the passions, and the most potent among them is clearly the sexual. Rather than seeking to
circumvent the passions, which only leaves them lurking behind in ones psyche as potential depth charges, adherents
to Vajrayana hold that one should wrestle with them, master them, and then deliberately arouse and direct their
energy as dynamos of force for the breakthrough to the ultimate goal (MPMF, p. 150.) Needless to say, if people
were not both mature and ready for this kind of program they could easily get lost in it.

Eventually, however, Buddhists found ways to work with these energies that was also conducive to other aspects of
Buddhism such as its ethical stances on various issues. By the early Middle Ages, Buddhist Tantra, as Vajrayana, had
attained a literature and scholastic exponent. It became the prevailing form of Buddhism is some areas. Inevitably the
rough edges were smoothed off; practices that violated conventional Buddhist morality were (because mind is all)
translated into subjective meditations, restricted to marriage, or otherwise legitimatized, save in fringe groups. But it
never quite lost its wildness either. Tantric adepts have always tended to be fierce, vivid, shamanlike characters,
given to heroic spiritual strife deep in mountains or jungles, shunning the more staid academic and religious circles,
and leaving behind beguiling tales of wizardry (MPMF, p. 150.)

In fact, the stories are as intense as any you will hear about the far out exploits of some Hindu yogis who can
supposedly sit in the snow naked and stay warm and other amazing feats demonstrating the power of the mind over
the body. But the true goal is enlightenment--realizing that all is mind--all gods, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas, and all
souls and phenomena, arise out of mind and sink back into it (MPMF, p. 151.) If a Buddhist were to get all caught up
in psychic powers and phenomenon and forget his or her purpose then they would just be falling for another illusion.
Buddhists teach that there is a spiritual materialism just as insidious, if not far more so, than regular monetary
materialism

Because of the fame of the Dalai Lama and the problems between Tibet and China, you may be familiar with Tibetan
Buddhism. Tibet has always held a fascination for people because it has been isolated at the top of the world for most
of human history. The unique Tibetan spiritual culture was essentially a combination of indigenous shamanism with
Tantric Vajrayana Buddhism imported from India and allowed, by the unusual degree of isolation Tibets geography
afforded, to develop in its own way (MPMF, p. 153.)

From shamanism came the desire of the adept of power to undergo initiation, demonstrate courage and vision,
explore the infinite new worlds of the psychic plane, and manifest accomplishments through preternatural talents.
From Buddhism came a sophisticated philosophical framework by which to explain these things. One has acquired
unlimited full power because one has become one with the universal, invincible void; one travels to strange realms
because one is realizing that one creates all one sees out of the karma-twisted mills of ones own mind (MPMF, p.
153.) If you ever get the chance to see the movie Kundun I would highly recommend it. It is about the Dalai Lama
when he was young and still living in Tibet. It is beautiful in many ways, and it brings Buddhism and Shamanism
together in a way where you can really see how they mix and interpenetrate.

Another thing you may have heard of is the Tibetan Book of the Dead. It is another brilliant combination of
Shamanism and Buddhism. The Tibetan Book of the Dead is Tibets most famous contribution to the worlds religious
thought. The Tibetan Book of the Dead is essentially an account of the experience of a deceased person between
death and, if destined by karma to be born again, the next entry into a womb. In it all levels of the Mahayana
Buddhist cosmos are touched. The deep Vajrayana teaching that we create our lives, and our own heavens and hells,
out of Mind Only is expressed (MPMF, p. 153.) Not surprisingly, this book is especially helpful when you are dying.
It talks you through the process and allows you to work with your conscious awareness at a very important time.
You are about to go through the ultimate letting go and Buddhist believe this is the supreme moment to practice deep
mindfulness.

The goal is to not identify with the body. You are not your body or your thoughts or your emotions. But most of the
time we forget this. We have a strong belief in a fundamental dualism that I am this but not that. This is the final
illusion. But because of this it also holds the key to the final breakthrough. Death in this sense is our greatest
opportunity. And sex is probably our next greatest opportunity. These are the things that really trip us up. For the
greatest power comes from the union of all opposites. And, psychologically the deepest polarity that needs to be
rejoined is our partiality toward the male and the female (MPMF, p. 154.) By not shying away and instead working
with both our sexual interests (and fears and problems) and our fear of death, Tibetan Buddhism plunges us right into
the fire of awareness.

There is a great modern commentary on this important Tibetan text called The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying that
is very popular in the hospice movement among other things. I would highly recommend this book as well as the film
Kundun if you were interested in these things. This account [in the Tibetan Book of the Dead] of the experience
after death really expresses what Buddhism is about, for in the end all of its language, symbols, and practices are
expressions of the union of opposites, the reconciliation of all polarities. From the Buddhas delicate balance between
indulgence and asceticism, life and death, being and nonbeing, to the Tibetan vision of coupled father-mother gods in
the Bardo sky, we have met with pointers to an experience of oneness. That experience makes one aware that it is a
self-made shell of ego encrustations that keeps one from full consciousness; out of this egg one has to break with a
shout of awakening (MPMF, p. 154.) The goal is always the same as with the historical Buddha and that is to wake
up. But we have traveled far from the original setting. But there is still one more version of Buddhism I want to
mention before we move on and this is Chan or Zen Buddhism.

Chan or Zen Buddhism

If Buddhism combined with Shamanism in Tibet to form Vajrayana Buddhism, then what would happen if it moved to
China and combined with Taoism? Out would pop Chan Buddhism! Chan is better known under its Japanese name,
Zen. It comes from the Hindu word for meditation, dhyana. For Chan and Zen, enlightenment arises unexpectedly,
often suddenly, in the course of sitting quietly, doing nothing in meditation, or perhaps in response to the
unconventional teaching gesture by a master. This is the Chan or Zen expression of Mind Only philosophy where ones
goal is to embrace the Void that is the Really Real underlying all projections (MPMF, p. 155.) Zen is also the form of
Buddhism you are most likely to think of if you picture a person sitting in the lotus posture on their cushion
meditating.

One of the interesting things about Zen is that it relies least on the scriptures. What it wants is a direct seeing into
the nature of reality and to facilitate this intuitive leap into nonduality you need a master to help you. Often the
master uses humor to get you to have this breakthrough. A Chan master was once asked what the First Principle is.
He replied, If I told you, it would become the Second Principle! (MPMF, p. 155.) Sometimes they use koans, which
are puzzling questions used to frustrate the ordinary mind to the point where it will finally break open and allow this
direct awareness, this pure seeing to shine forth.

This work with a master is traced back to the Buddha himself who is said once to have held up a flower and smile.
Only one monk of many who were there smiled back because in that moment he got it. What did he get? The whole
teaching! Everything all at once. Chan traces itself back to that moment. The Buddhas giving the monk the flower
and smile conveyed a universe of wisdom indefinable by any words or books (MPMF, p. 155.)

Of course there is an irony here. On the one hand the enlightenment is sudden, but on the other hand there is a
good chance that the monk experiencing sudden enlightenment has been practicing Buddhism and meditation for
many years. But part of the suddenness is that the experience, we are told, is like waking up in the morning. One
moment you are dreaming vividly and all caught up in it and it seems so real and the next moment you are awake
and the dream is gone. Does anyone teach you to awake? No, you just do it.
Chan Buddhism is very wary of words. Words can be deceiving because we might think we understand simply if we
can repeat the words. That is how supposed spiritual masters can set themselves up when they are only charlatans.
Once again, the truth prior to words, which Chan and Zen radiate, is that one is the Buddha and in Nirvana now, in
the unborn mind before thought, and that this realization is attained not by effort but by doing nothing and seeing
who one is when one is not oriented toward doing anything (MPMF, pp. 155-156.) Thus one learns to sit and breathe
and watch and let go of the need to comment, evaluate and judge everything that goes on. Instead one just is. In the
freedom of that moment a breakthrough is possible simply because we are not standing in the way.

Sitting in meditation works the same as sitting with koans in some ways. It is a technique to help the mind let go of
its ordinary activity. The real point is that such conundrums [koans] bring the ordinary, rational monkey mind to a
stop. They stop its perpetual chatter by feeding it something it cannot handle in its usual way. Perhaps, Chan says, if
the relentless mental process can be quashed for a just a moment, the mind will have a chance to see what it is when
it is not chattering and chewing (MPMF, p. 157.) Once again we are back at the heart of Buddhism, especially the
Mind Only School. And that is to see that the true nature of things can only emerge when we let go and allow reality
in.

There are other developments of Buddhism, such as Pure Land Buddhism, that I wont be going into in this lecture but
encourage you to see what you think about it when you read about it in our text. It has an interesting correspondence
to Christianity in that the Buddha comes across as a savior figure in some ways. The hope is that by chanting the
Buddhas name one will acquire a state of mind and consciousness through the grace of the Buddha so that in ones
next life you will be born in the pure land where enlightenment is virtually guaranteed. And we could talk about
some modern interpretations of Buddhism, but we have to draw the line somewhere and I now want to look at some
modern issues before I finish this lecture.

Women in Buddhism

People often assume because Buddhism is so sophisticated psychologically that it must have avoided the patriarchy
that has blighted so many of the religions of the world. But, alas, this is not so. If we keep things in context we will
see that Buddhism did do some remarkable things for its time, but that it is also playing catch up now as well.

Not only psychologically, but philosophically as well, there is no justification for the suppression of women in
Buddhism. Arguably, Buddhist philosophy supports a more egalitarian role for women than previously had been
known in Hinduism. The concepts of no-self, codependent origination, and the illusory nature of distinctions and
polarities provide a fundamental basis upon which to argue that maleness and femaleness are illusory categories.
To contend otherwise is to be ego-attached - valuing one over the other. Still, the practical and sociological
manifestations of Buddhism over the centuries have perpetuated feminine stereotypes to greater and lesser degrees,
making true equality as yet unachieved (MPMF, p. 158.) The scriptures make many things possible and we are now
seeing more and more women embrace Buddhism with love and change it in the process. Many famous Buddhist
teachers are now women.

The Buddha himself had to deal with many issues concerning women and he had to do it in the context in which he
lived. It is important to recall that early Buddhism developed in India at a time when Indian women led lives that
were severely restricted by the dictates of Hindu religious law and custom. Women were focused on (and in many
cases bound to) the home and generally were uneducated. Consequently, when the Buddha decided to include women
in the samgha, it was nothing less than radical. Although the Buddhas dharma supported an egalitarian view toward
women and men, these ideas were in conflict with an existing cultural bias in favor of female subjugation to male
authority. The tension between the dharma and socio-cultural attitudes toward women was, therefore, present from
the beginning (MPMF, p. 159.) So we know the Buddha included women much more than Hinduism did at the time,
but it also made those women have to exist under the authority of men. There were more rules for them to follow. So
there were issues, but we always have to keep in mind the progress.

Women had it best in Vajrayana Buddhism because this kind of Tantric Buddhism was open to the body and this
world. Whenever spirituality has seen this physical world as a problem it has demonized both the body and women.
Accordingly, unlike in many other religions (including other forms of Buddhism) where the human body is eschewed
as an obstacle to spiritual perfection, in Vajrayana Buddhism the body is celebrated as the vehicle through which one
may realize Nirvana in this lifetime, and this results in praise for the female body (MPMF, p. 164.) We must
remember, however, whenever women were a part of Tantric activities there was always the possibility of abuse.

Another important sign of change is that women are now being ordained and this means that they do not need to be
under the authority of men. Significantly, the Dalai Lama has ordained nuns and thus supports nuns ordination in the
Tibetan tradition (MPMF, p. 168.) Because of the Dalai Lamas influence, this will probably have a domino influence
on other Buddhists who might be more patriarchal.

Some of the slowness in trying to change things is actually because of Buddhist philosophy in an ironical way. Part of
the problem in restructuring Buddhism (or, as some would say, reviving the original intentions of Buddhist thought) is
that Buddhism has tended to be focused on spiritual advancement and not on the social problems of this world,
including the relative status of women. Hence, women arguing for equal rights can be criticized as being attached.
The result is that their efforts to better their lot in life can be maligned as evidence of ignorance of the Ultimate
Reality, which knows no such distinctions (MPMF, p. 168.) The focus on the spiritual can and often does lead to
neglect of the physical and natural world because it is not considered important enough. Thankfully, many modern
Buddhists today are trying to find this new Middle Way of honoring the world of conditioned reality as well as the
world of unconditioned reality. After all, they are equally manifestations of emptiness.

Buddhism in America

Buddhism is a fairly new religion in the United States, but it is having a profound influence on American culture.
Buddhism was first brought to the United States by Chinese laborers during the California Gold Rush of 1849. And the
same interest in Indian literature that influenced American intellectuals also sparked an interest in Chinese and
Japanese philosophy, much of which was Buddhist. But it wasnt really until the second half of the Twentieth Century
that Buddhism really made a large impact on America, especially through Zen.

Zen Buddhism first influenced popular culture through the Beat writers, for example, Jack Kerouac and Gary Snyder.
During the 1960s a number of Western Zen centers were organized in the United States. Another form of Japanese
Buddhism, the Nichiren Shoshu school, then promoted by Soka Gakkai, also became widely popular among non-Asian
Americans in the 1960s and after. Other styles of Buddhism also reached American shores in mid-century and after.
The devastation of Tibet by Chinese Communists sent many Tibetans, including learned lamas, into exile. Some
taught in American universities, some established centers where Tibetan Buddhism was presented to the general
public. Helped by the immense prestige of Tibets spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhism,
seen as a difficult but rewarding spiritual path by many Westerners, became popular in the second half of the
twentieth century (MPMF, p. 169.) You can find Buddhist temples from many different schools in most American cities
at this point. And there are often Buddhist retreat centers located in the countryside outside of the cities.

When the Dalai Lama comes to the United States to teach he is known to say that he will teach Tibetan Buddhism if
Americans will teach him American Buddhism! This is a profound statement because it is reminding those interested in
Buddhism that Buddhism has been changed as it has entered other cultures just as it has changed them. What will
American Buddhism look like? What new philosophies might emerge? Certainly American love of democracy and
freedom will have some influence, but the focus on Buddhist inner life and meditation will counter American
materialism and the focus on outer success. It will certainly be an interesting phenomenon to watch!

The Negative Side of Buddhism

Buddhism has many positive things going for it. For example, it is probably the least violent of all the worlds great
religions. But it is also made up of people and that means that there will be problems as long as some of us are
unenlightened and not free from our egoistic issues. As we just saw, Buddhism emerged during patriarchal times and
so it too has some baggage regarding the history of how it has treated women.

Related to how women are treated is how every social issue has been treated. And that is that there is a tendency to
ignore problems. Just as in India great suffering was accepted because it was seen as being perhaps the persons fault
and their suffering needed to be accepted as part of their karma, Buddhism also failed to adequately address certain
social problems. It is difficult to take problems of ecology or poverty seriously if you think it does not make any
difference whether the earth survives or not. This is where the philosophy of compassion has a corrective role to play.

Another problem was the disregard for the lay people in many cases. Even with many efforts at correction Buddhism
remained a monastic tradition. The focus, again, was not on this world and its problems, but on waking up and
reaching enlightenment. Monasteries acquired great wealth and property, beautiful art and libraries, while lay people
might live in great poverty while still giving the little they had to the monks who they were expected to support.

Religious scholar Andrew Harvey writes about Buddhism with great love, but he has also made some important
critiques as someone who has intensely studied the sacred feminine in the worlds traditions. He writes: I came to
understand how rooted in his own autobiographical experience the Buddhas teachings were. They reflected and
enshrined as law the circumstances of his own awakening, which took the form of a very masculine rejection of
home, marriage, sexuality, and householder responsibility in favor of a heroic search beyond the confines of
relationship or society. I became conscious of what I call an addiction to transcendence--and a kind of unconscious
dualism that resulted from it, even in mystical philosophies that seemed to celebrate the unity of reality. How could a
philosophy that rejected much of earth life and a great deal of the feminine authentically reflect divine unity?
(Andrew Harvey, A Walk with Four Spiritual Guides, [Woodstock, Vermont: Skylight Paths Publishing, 2003] pp. 49-
50. Hereafter referred to in the lectures as Harvey.) Harvey is making the point that not only were women not given
the same opportunities and status as men politically, but that there were fundamental philosophical problems with
putting life in this world into a negative context.
Harvey continues: Explaining away important issues surrounding the denial or denigration of the sacred Feminine in
the Dhammapada [an early Buddhist scripture]--and by implication in the whole range of the Buddhas teachings--
does not serve either the interest of truth or the Buddhas own realization. Didnt the Awakened One enjoin us to take
nothing on trust, even from him, and to test his statements in the crucible of our own experience? Didnt the Buddha
say on several occasions that his teachings were to be used as a raft to get to the other shore, to be discarded or
modified when the truth had been reached? (Harvey, p. 50). Even though the Buddha went out of his way to have
people not look up to him too much and make of his teaching a rigid orthodoxy, there is always just this tendency. In
an effort to preserve the authentic teaching of the Buddha there is also a tendency to make it rigid and unchangeable.
This seems to be part of the human condition and something we have to be aware of in all of the traditions we study.

Summary

We have come a long way in forty pages. As usual I hope it only wets your appetite to go out and read some of the
great Buddhist books and do some exploring on your own. It will be interesting to see how many of you choose a
Buddhist center to do your final. Buddhism began in India, but it has spread around the world and has a growing
influence in America. Buddhism can be thought of as a religion with a psychological emphasis. It teaches the
transformation of consciousness from attachment to ego, suffering, and objects of craving to the unattached bliss of
Nirvana. Its fundamental teaching is that the Buddha, through his enlightenment, showed the way out of the wheel of
rebirth or conditioned reality created by ignorance and attachment; its fundamental practice is meditation and
comparable methods of transcending attachment; its fundamental sociological expression is the samgha, or order of
monks in the succession of the Buddhas disciples (MPMF, p. 170.) In the process of covering all of this information
we studied the life of the Buddha, learned the Four Noble Truths, studied the Middle Way, the Eightfold Path, and
learned about the concept of No Self.

We also studied the two main branches of Buddhism, Theravada and Mahayana, and some of the branches of
Mahayana Buddhism such as the Zen and Tibetan schools. In doing this we looked at important concepts such as the
Void or emptiness and especially at the important Mahayana insight concerning the bodhisattva. With the bodhisattva
we saw a new emphasis enter Buddhism where the focus was not so much on enlightenment as it was on compassion
and the ending of suffering.

Finally we looked at the role of women in Buddhism and saw how Buddhism has had its own struggles with patriarchy
but how at the same time it has been and continues to be a liberating force. We studied the negative side of
Buddhism and saw how it, like many Eastern philosophies, can so put down life in this world and life in a body that it
can undermine the basic goodness of earth, family, and sexuality. Tantric Buddhism serves a corrective in this area.
And finally, we saw how Buddhism is a growing influence in the United States.

Summary Based on Joachim Wachs Three Forms of Religious Expression: MPMF, p. 134

Fundamental features of Buddhism

THEORETICAL

Basic Worldview Reality is an indescribable unity. Humans find themselves in a realm of

suffering governed by karma.

God or Ultimate Reality Unconditioned reality beyond all opposites: Nirvana, the Void.

Origin of the World/ While the cosmos may go through

Destiny of the World cycles, it has no known beginning or end.

Origin of Humans An individual is a process of cause and effect rather than a self; to this there is
no beginning.

Destiny of Humans Unending lifetimes in this and other worlds, good or bad according to karma
and merit. One then breaks through to attain the Nirvana state.

Revelation or Mediation Through the Buddha, who attained full

Between the Ultimate enlightenment, and the scriptures
and The Human. attributed to him.

PRACTICAL

What Is Expected of To do good. Religious and moral

Humans: Worship, works that gain good rebirth. To
Practices, Behavior seek Nirvana by meditation or
 related practices.

SOCIOLOGICAL

Major Social Institutions. Temples; the samgha, or order of monks.

We will now stay with Asian religions as we continue to head east and study the philosophies of China next week!

Bibliography:

Robert S. Ellwood and Barbara A. McGraw, Many Peoples, Many Faiths: Women and Men in the World Religions,
Seventh Edition, [Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002]

Mary Pat Fisher, Living Religions: A Brief Introduction, [Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002]

Andrew Harvey, A Walk with Four Spiritual Guides, [Woodstock, Vermont: Skylight Paths Publishing, 2003]

Lewis M. Hopfe and Mark R. Woodward, Religions of the World, Eighth Edition, [Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:
Prentice Hall, 2001]

Huston Smith, The Illustrated Worlds Religion: A Guide to our Wisdom Traditions, [New York, New York: HarperCollins
Publishers, 1994]