Buddhism

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One of the great world religions, which originated in India in the 5th century BC. It derives from the teaching of the Buddha, who is regarded as one of a series of such enlightened beings. The chief doctrine is that all phenomena share three characteristics: they are impermanent, unsatisfactory, and lack a permanent essence (such as a soul). All beings, including gods, are subject to these characteristics, but can achieve freedom through enlightenment. The main forms of Buddhism are Theravada (or Hinayana) in Southeast Asia and Mahayana in North and East Asia; Lamaism in Tibet and Zen in Japan are among the many Mahayana forms of Buddhism. There are over 350 million Buddhists worldwide (2000).

Scriptures
The only surviving complete canon of the Buddhist scriptures is that of the Sinhalese (Sri Lanka) Buddhists, in Pali, but other schools have essentially the same canon in Sanskrit. The scriptures are divided into three groups, known as the Tripitaka (‘three baskets’): Vinaya-pitaka (discipline), listing offences and rules of life; the Sutra-pitaka (discourse), or dharma (doctrine), the exposition of Buddhism by the Buddha and his disciples; and the Abhidharma-pitaka (further doctrine), later discussions on doctrine.

Beliefs
The self is not regarded as permanent, as it is subject to change and decay. It is attachment to the things that are essentially impermanent that causes delusion, suffering, greed, and aversion, and reinforces the sense of self. Actions that incline towards selflessness are called ‘skilful’ and constitute the path leading to enlightenment. In the Four Noble Truths the Buddha acknowledged the existence and source of suffering and showed the way of deliverance from it through the Eightfold Path. The aim of following the Eightfold Path is to attain nirvana (‘blowing out’) – the eradication of all desires. Supreme reverence is accorded to the historical Buddha (Sakyamuni, or, when referred to by his clan name, Siddartha Gautama), who is seen as one in a long and ongoing line of Buddhas, the next one (Maitreya) being due around AD 3000.

Theravada Buddhism, the School of the Elders, also known as Hinayana or Lesser Vehicle, prevails in Southeast Asia (Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar), and emphasizes the mendicant, meditative life as the way to break the cycle of samsara, or death and rebirth. Its three possible goals are arahat: one who, under the guidance of a Buddha, has gained insight into the true nature of things; paccekabuddha: an enlightened one who lives alone and does not teach; and fully awakened Buddha. Its scriptures are written in Pali, an Indo-Aryan language with its roots in northern India. In India itself, Buddhism had virtually died out by the 13th century, under pressure from Islam and Hinduism. However, it has 5 million devotees in the 20th century, and is growing.

Mahayana Buddhism, or Greater Vehicle, arose at the beginning of the Christian era. It exhorts the individual not merely to attain personal nirvana, but to become a trainee Buddha, or bodhisattva, and so save others. Cults of various Buddhas and bodhisattvas arose. Mahayana Buddhism also emphasizes sunyata, or the experiential understanding of the emptiness of all things, even Buddhist doctrine.

Mahayana Buddhism prevails in China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet. In the 6th century AD Mahayana spread to China with the teachings of Bodhidharma and formed Ch'an, which became established in Japan from the 12th century as Zen Buddhism. Zen emphasizes silent meditation with sudden interruptions from a master to encourage awakening of the mind. Japan also has the lay organization Soka Gakkai (Value Creation Society), founded in 1930, which equates absolute faith with immediate material benefit; by the 1980s it was followed by more than 7 million households.

Esoteric, Tantric, or Diamond Buddhism became popular in Tibet and Japan, and holds that enlightenment is already within the disciple, and with the proper guidance (that is, privately passed on by a master) can be realized.

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