In 1996, there were over 320 million Buddhists in the world. But this figure speaks only of the so-called “pure” Buddhists, who at the same time do not profess other religions (which is possible in Buddhism). If we take into account both “pure” and “impure”, then about 500 million people are Buddhists.
Buddhism originated in India in the 6th century. BC. The founder of Buddhism had four names. First: Gautama. His second name is Siddhartha. It is translated from Sanskrit as “fulfilled his purpose”. His third name is Shakyamuni (“Sage from the Shakya tribe”). And his fourth name: Buddha ("Enlightened by the highest knowledge"). Since later in Buddhism, the word "buddha" began to be used to denote a special group of gods and since the founder of Buddhism began to be revered as the first and highest god in this group, in so far as this god can be said to be a Buddha named Buddha. In the 1st century AD. the original Buddhism was divided into two minor religions - the Hinayana ("small chariot") and Mahayana ("large chariot"), which is also called "Theravada" ("the teaching of the elders").
The Hinayana supporters and the Mahayana supporters disagreed mainly in answer to the question: which of the people has the opportunity after life on earth to get to the highest paradise, called nirvana. Hinayana adherents have argued and assert that only monks and nuns can get into nirvana. And the Mahayana supporters are convinced that ordinary believers can get into nirvana. In the XI-XII centuries. Buddhism was driven out of India by Hinduism. Currently, Buddhists in the homeland of Buddhism are less than one percent of the total population. Buddhism moved from India to other countries in Asia. In the late XIV - early XV centuries. in Tibet, as a result of the breakaway from the Mahayana, a third major confession arose in Buddhism, which historians call Lamaism (from the Tibetan "lama" - "the highest"). The adherents of this confession themselves call it "Gelukpa" ("School of Virtue").
There are over 200 confessions in Buddhism. In particular, there are many denominations in Japan. Some of them number only a few tens of thousands of people. So, in the DZi denomination - 85 thousand, in the Kagon denomination - 70 thousand, in the Hosso denomination - 34 thousand, in the Ritsu denomination - 12 thousand followers. Currently, Buddhists prevail among believers in 8 countries around the world. Hinayana Buddhists make up such a majority in Kampuchea, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Sri Lanka; Mahayana Buddhists in Vietnam; Buddhist Lamaists - in Bhutan and Mongolia.
About 26 centuries ago, the Buddha's Teachings showed the path to happiness and inner peace for many millions of people in this sorrowful world. But who was he - Buddha Shakyamuni?
Buddha was born as a man in North India, the son of King Shuddhodana and Queen Maya. He was given the name Prince Siddhartha Gautama. At his birth, it was predicted that the prince would either become the world leader (world monarch) or Buddha (the Awakened One). It depended on whether or not he would come into contact with the vicissitudes of life - with gain and loss, praise and blame, glory and uncertainty, pleasure and pain. The implication was that after understanding the three characteristics of life, that is, disease (limitation), aging (decay) and death (the obligatory end of all composite things), he would be deeply excited about the consequences that exist in our life. For many years, King Shuddhodana made sure that the prince did not face this because he did not want him to question the true nature of life. Surrounded by daily pleasures and luxury, the prince was shielded from the unpleasant side of life. He married Princess Yashodhara, who bore him a son, Rahula.
Despite all the precautions of the king, he had no opportunity to shield the prince from seeing aging, illness and death. In accordance with the prediction at his birth, the prince met an old man, a sick man and a funeral procession. Then he met a beggar monk (samana). As a result of the first three meetings, the futility of life became clear to him, and the fourth meeting showed him the serenity (holiness) of one who renounced the world and who freed himself from its influence.
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At the age of 29, the prince (then still a bodhisattva) gave up worldly life and for six years undertook extremely strict ascetic practices. Eventually, he realized that the path of extreme self-denial and starvation was not the path, and then he discovered the Middle Way. Following this, at the age of 35, he attained Enlightenment and became a Buddha. This is what Buddha himself said about it: "I am called Buddha because I have understood the Four Noble Truths."
For forty-five years the Buddha preached the Dharma to all who "had ears to hear, eyes to see and mind to understand" - a Dharma that is beautiful in the beginning, beautiful in the middle, and beautiful in the end. He taught people that we ourselves must bring about Enlightenment in our own lives. At the age of 80, Buddha entered Mahaparinirvana, leaving the Teaching as his legacy.
Buddha is the Awakened One, the Enlightened One. This is not a name given to a person, but a state of mind. Buddha is the Universal Teacher, proclaiming and explaining the Four Noble Truths, so he is able to guide others on the path to achieving the same enlightenment. In the Canon, the Universal Teacher corresponds to Samma-Sambuddha, and his Enlightened Followers are called Arhats (Arhat-Buddhas).
Dharma is the teaching of Buddha. The word "dharma" has many meanings, and the Buddha's teachings correspond to the Buddha-Dharma, the term that most Buddhists prefer to "Buddhism."
Four Noble Truths
Why are these Four Truths called noble? Because they are capable of making the practitioner noble. If practiced properly, the practitioner has a direct experience of freedom of the mind, and this makes him noble.
The noble truth of suffering
“Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering, grief and sorrow, pain and sorrow are suffering, coexistence with what is unpleasant is suffering, separation from a loved one is suffering, failure to fulfill desires is suffering, in a word, everything that makes up life is suffering. Both beautiful, pleasant and painful, unpleasant circumstances are fickle. These forms are a direct threat to human existence and therefore a source of anxiety, excitement, etc.
The Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering
The cause of suffering is desire or aspiration (tanha). Since we are in a state of conflict with the circumstances inside and outside of us, there is an unquenchable thirst for pleasant sensations. The basis for this is the illusion of the immutability of the soul, ego or personality. Thus, we find ourselves captive by ourselves, captive by the things around us, entangled in the web of suffering. Therefore, Buddha said, “Don't fall for the bait of the world,” because suffering is inevitable.
The noble truth of the cessation of suffering
One who overcomes ignorance, the illusion of selfhood, becomes free from desire. The fire of passion will go out if there is no fuel. Those obscurations that we have not yet overcome and which bind us to the Cycle of Rebirths serve as fuel for endless rebirths in samsara - conditioned, dependent existence.
The Noble Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering The
Noble Eightfold Path speaks of what leads to the cessation of suffering:
- Correct understanding is view and wisdom in accordance with the Truths.
- Correct thinking is to think without selfishness, anger and cruelty.
- Correct speech is to speak truthfully, not to gossip or slander, not to use harsh speech and not gossip.
- The correct action is not to kill or harm people and animals, not to steal directly or indirectly, not to give yourself pleasure to the detriment of others.
- The right livelihood is to have an honest and noble profession.
- Correct efforts are to promote the appearance and growth of the favorable, and to the decrease and termination of the unfavorable.
- Correct awareness is awareness of what arises here-and-now.
- Correct concentration is to be directed and concentrated on a favorable object, or to be able to here-and-now.
Three Qualities of Life
All composite things are impermanent (anicca), unsatisfactory (dukkha), and selfless (anatta). These three aspects are called Three Qualities or Three Signs of Life, because all composite things are governed by these three.
Anicca means temporary, impermanent, changeable. Everything that arises is subject to destruction. In fact, nothing stays that way for the next two moments. Everything is subject to non-stop change. The three phases of arising, existing and ending can be found in all composite things; everything tends to cease. That is why it is important to understand with the heart the Buddha's words: “Temporality is a conditional thing. Strive with diligence to achieve your goal."
Dukkha means suffering, dissatisfaction, dissatisfaction, that which is difficult to bear, etc. This happens because everything that is composite is changeable and ultimately brings suffering to those who are involved in it. Think about illness (as opposed to our idea of health), lost loved ones and loved ones or animals, or confronting the vicissitudes of fate. Nothing depending on the conditions is not worth clinging to, because by doing this we only bring unhappiness closer.
Anatta means selflessness, non-self, non-ego, etc. Anatta means the fact that neither in ourselves nor in anyone else, the essence in the center of the heart is not an essence (Sunnata) as such. At the same time, anatta means not only the absence of "I", although its understanding leads to this. Through the illusion of the existence of the “I” (soul or unchanging personality) and the inevitably accompanying idea of “I”, misconceptions arise, which are expressed in such aspects as pride, arrogance, greed, aggression, violence and enmity.
Although we say that this body and mind are ours, this is not true. We cannot keep the body healthy, young and attractive all the time. We cannot constantly give our thoughts a positive direction while our mind is in an unhappy or negative state (which in itself proves that thinking cannot be completely under our control).
If there is no permanent "I" or selfhood, then there are only physical and mental processes (nama-rupa), which in a complex relationship with conditioning and interdependence form our existence. All this forms the khandhas, or (five) groups, which the unenlightened person regards as feelings (vedana), six types of sensory sensations (sanna), volitional structures (sankharas) and other types of consciousness (vinnana).
Due to a lack of understanding of the interaction of these groups, a person thinks that there is an "I" or a soul, and he attributes the unknown to an unknown, otherworldly, unknown force, which he must also serve in order to ensure a safe existence for himself. As a result, an ignorant person is constantly in a tense state between his desires and passions, his ignorance and ideas about reality. One who understands that the idea of "I" is an illusion can free himself from suffering. This can be achieved by following the Noble Eightfold Path, which contributes to the moral, intellectual and spiritual development of the practitioner.
Four sublime states of mind The
four sublime states of mind - brahmavihara in Pali (the language in which the Buddha spoke and in which his teachings are recorded) - are four qualities of the heart that, when developed to perfection, raise a person to the highest spiritual level. They are:
Metta, which can be translated as loving kindness, all-embracing love, benevolence, selfless universal and unlimited love. Metta indicates the quality of the mind, which has the goal of making others happy. The direct consequences of metta are: virtue, freedom from irritability and agitation, peace within us and in relations with the world around us. For this, metta should be developed for all living beings, including the smallest. Metta should not be confused with sensual and selective love, although metta has much in common with a mother's love for her only child.
Karuna, which means compassion. The quality of karuna is the desire to free others from suffering. In this sense, compassion is something completely different from pity. It leads to generosity and a desire to help with another word and action. Karuna plays an important role in the Buddha's Teaching, which is also called the Teaching of Wisdom and Compassion. It was the deep compassion of the Buddha that led him to the decision to clarify the Dharma to all sentient beings. Love and Compassion are the two cornerstones of Dharma practice, which is why Buddhism is sometimes called the religion of peace.
Mudita is the compassionate joy that we feel when we see or hear about the happiness and well-being of others, it is the joy of the success of others without a tinge of envy. Through compassionate joy, we develop such heart qualities as happiness and morality.
Upekkha or equanimity indicates a calm, steady and stable state of mind. It is especially evident when faced with unhappiness and failure. Some face any situation with equanimity with the same courage, without worry or despair. If they find out about someone's failure, they feel neither regret nor joy. Calmly and impartially, they treat everyone equally, in any situation. Regular reflection on actions (karma) and their results (vipaka) destroys bias and selectivity, leading to the realization that everyone is the owner and heir of their actions. Thus, an understanding of what is good and what is bad, what is good and what is bad, arises, and ultimately our actions will become controlled, leading to good and further to the highest degree of liberating wisdom. Daily meditation to develop these Four Higher States of Mind will make them habitual and thus lead to inner stability and the elimination of hindrances and obstacles.
In any religious, philosophical or ideological system, there are ethical norms that cannot be violated by its followers or adherents. In most religious systems, these ethical norms are combined into laws that are attributed and established by God or by a supernatural force outside of man. The teachings of the Buddha are a psychological and ethical system in which ethical norms are determined by the psychological background and motivation of our actions. For those who operate outside of pure motivations such as detachment, friendliness, and understanding (wisdom), achieving happiness will be something obvious, only their own problems will never go away. But those who operate outside of negative motivations such as attachment, ill will, and misunderstanding (ignorance) will avoid suffering.
The Noble Eightfold Path includes ethical standards, namely, Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood. The minimum rules are offered to the follower in the form of five rules (panchasila): I will refrain from killing and violence … from taking what is not given … from sensual misconduct … from false speech … from taking intoxicants and intoxicants.
In Buddhism, there is no place for orders and prohibitions. There is no place for a guilt complex either. Rather, it is approval of good deeds and refraining from unworthy deception, violence, and intoxication of the mind. The Right Livelihood means that our activities should not involve violence against other living things, for example, trading in living or dead (due to slaughter) creatures, poisons, weapons or intoxicants. When choosing a profession, we should lean towards the factors of benevolence and usefulness on the one hand, and compassion and wisdom on the other.
Followers can follow the eight rules on free days, or once or twice a month. In this way, they learn to control their minds for the benefit of themselves and others. These eight rules are: I will refrain from killing … from taking what is not given … from false speech … from intoxicants … from eating until 6 o'clock (morning) and after noon … from body decoration and entertainment … from using beds and chairs that encourage laziness. Similar to these rules, Buddha taught how we can live without causing suffering to others, and how we can be creators of our own happiness in this and subsequent existence, and unconditional freedom from all suffering. Within this framework, moral behavior is conditioned by compassion for all living beings. These moral principles are universal laws that do not depend on the individual. Therefore,ideas such as “commandments prescribed by God” are unknown in Buddhism. We ourselves are responsible for our actions and their results. Everyone can decide for himself what rules and to what extent he wants to follow them. Morality (sila) is not a goal in itself, it is a means of achieving the spiritual development of wisdom, in order to 1) teach the control of opposing forces, 2) develop favorable qualities, and 3) create a basis for further development of the mind, with the ultimate goal of complete liberation of the mind from suffering.in order to 1) teach the control of opposing forces, 2) develop favorable qualities, and 3) create a basis for further development of the mind, with the ultimate goal of completely freeing the mind from suffering.in order to 1) teach the control of opposing forces, 2) develop favorable qualities, and 3) create a basis for further development of the mind, with the ultimate goal of completely freeing the mind from suffering.
Karma or volitional activity is an important concept in the Teachings of Buddha and it means the law of Cause and Effect. In this life we encounter different people. One is born among the aristocrats, the other among the slums; one rascal, the other noble; one lives long, the other short; someone is susceptible to disease, another has enviable health; there are doomed losers, there are amazing lucky ones. This is not "divine providence", but the result of their own previous actions. Everyone creates their own conditions. That is why the Law of Karma is not the law of punishment and reward, but exclusively the law of cause and effect, action and reaction to this action. Therefore, we cannot blame anyone else for our misfortunes. In most cases, another factor contributes to their occurrence. We ourselves are creators who create conditions for ourselves,both pleasant and unpleasant. We should not look for "mercy" anywhere but in our own mind.
That is why Buddha points out to both the poor and the rich that they themselves caused their conditions, and the same is happening to them at the present time. That is why the rich are encouraged to do charity work to lift the poor out of poverty, and the poor to improve their situation, rather than passively living in poverty. Good and bad actions are determined by their psychological background, motivation. If a person is driven by greed, hatred and delusion, then naturally this action will cause suffering, while the absence of these three Roots of Suffering will bring happiness and harmony.
In accordance with personal actions, the stream of life that now forms our existence, after death, tends to a new incarnation, and thus a new birth takes place. If ignorance and thirst for life are eliminated, then there is no new birth. In accordance with the Teachings of Buddha, there is no soul passing or reborn from one life to another, since there is no - as we have just seen - a permanent soul or self. Our life can be compared to movement and motive energy that is fueled and directed by our actions. Just as there is no identity or essence of "electricity" necessary for the movement of current in the wires, so there is no soul or "I" necessary for rebirth.
As long as there is karmic energy, there is rebirth, just as the wick of a lamp continues to burn as long as there is oil. In order to stop this energy and free ourselves from suffering, we must make efforts that lead to the destruction of the latent tendencies operating in our hearts. They are: belief in self, belief that ceremonies and rituals will lead to liberation, skeptical distrust, attachment, ill will, vanity, excitement and ignorance. The correct direction for this is the practice of the Noble Eightfold Path, which means the development of Morality, Concentration and Wisdom.
In recent years, Buddhism has become known to the general public, and those interested can study various Buddhist schools and traditions. An outside observer may be confused by the multitude of currents and the external difference in the forms in which Buddhism manifests itself. Some are unable to see the Dharma behind these currents. They may be put off by the fact that they were looking for unity in the world, divided by sects and confessions. Misled by a sect's assertion like "my school is better and higher than your school," they may not notice the value of the Dharma. Buddha teaches different paths leading to enlightenment (bodhi), and each of them is equal, otherwise Buddha would not teach them. We can call it the Buddha Chariot (Buddhayana). The important qualities in the Teaching are Loving Kindness (metta), Compassion (karuna), and Wisdom (panya). They are central to any school of Buddhism.
Since the time of the First Teachings of the Buddha, which is about 26 centuries, Buddhism has spread throughout Asia. Before the victory of communism in China, about a third of the world's population professed Buddhism. Each country has developed its own particular shape. The main Buddhist countries are Cambodia, Japan, South Korea, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Tibet. There are also Buddhists in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Nepal and Vietnam.
Among the many different schools we can distinguish the following: Theravada: Early Buddhism, mainly practiced in Myanmar (Burma), Sri Lanka and Thailand - this school uses early Pali texts. The emphasis is on the Arhat-Buddha path, but the Samma-Sambuddha path is also practiced. There are far fewer rituals here than in most other schools.
Mahayana: New Schools Called:
Tibetan Buddhism: In Tibetan Buddhism, the emphasis is on the Samma-Sambuddha path. They divide their system into Hinayana (Small Vehicle), Mahayana (Great Vehicle) and Vajrayana (Diamond or Supreme Vehicle). The Buddha's teachings are in Tibetan. Although the Dalai Lama is sometimes regarded as the head of all Buddhists, he is exclusively only the head of Tibetan Buddhism.
Zen: This form of Buddhism has developed Samadhi meditation aimed at attaining dhyan (in Chinese Chan), and is especially popular in Japan. The teachings of Zen Masters play an important role. The teachings of the Buddha himself play, as a rule, a secondary role.
Chinese Buddhism: Along with the texts (in Chinese and Sanskrit), the sayings of the Patriarchs play an important role. As in other schools of the Mahayana, there is a strong connection with the ideal of the Bodhisattva, i.e. working for the benefit of all sentient beings and postponing one's own enlightenment until all beings can achieve the same enlightenment. The main role is played by Kuan Ying (in Tibetan Buddhism Chenresig or Avalokiteshvara).
Each country has its own Buddhist culture, but the essence of the Buddha's Teachings is the same everywhere. My call to Buddhists around the world is that they continue to unite as followers of one Master, and together we will help to shine the light of Wisdom and Compassion in the world.