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WorldShare Books

Buddha as Therapist:

Meditations

G.T. Maurits Kwee, Ph.D.

A Taos Institute Publication


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BUDDHA AS THERAPIST: MEDITATIONS

G.T. Maurits Kwee, Ph.D.

In Collaboration with Daniel M. Kwee M.Sc. & Marvin H. Shaub, Ph.D.

This book is dedicated to Emeritus Professor Dr. Yutaka Haruki of Waseda University

Japan, pioneer in researching and bridging psychology and Buddhism, who stimulated me

to explore the avenue of designing a concise Buddhist psychology and psychotherapy

during more than two decades.


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BUDDHA AS THERAPIST: MEDITATIONS

G.T. Maurits Kwee

Copyright ©2015 Taos Institute Publications/WorldShare Books

Cover picture is used by permission of David van Oost Visual Art.

All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by

any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing from

the publisher. In all cases, the editors and writers have made efforts to ensure that the text credits

are given to appropriate people and organizations. If any infringement has been made, the Taos

Institute Publications will be glad, upon receiving notification, to make appropriate

acknowledgement in future editions of the book. Inquiries should be addressed to Taos Institute

Publications at [email protected] or 1-440-338-6733.

Taos Institute Publications

A Division of the Taos Institute

Chagrin Falls, Ohio

USA

E-Book Format Only

ISBN: 978-1-938552-34-2 (e-book version)


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Taos Institute Publications

The Taos Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development of social

constructionist theory and practice for purposes of world benefit. Constructionist theory

and practice locate the source of meaning, value, and action in communicative relations

among people. Our major investment is in fostering relational processes that can enhance

the welfare of people and the world in which they live. Taos Institute Publications offers

contributions to cutting-edge theory and practice in social construction. Our books are

designed for scholars, practitioners, students, and the openly curious public. The Focus

Book Series provides brief introductions and overviews that illuminate theories, concepts,

and useful practices. The Tempo Book Series is especially dedicated to the general public

and to practitioners. The Books for Professionals Series provides in-depth works thatfocus on recent developments in theory and practice. WorldShare Books is an online

offering of books in PDF format for free download from our website. Our books are

particularly relevant to social scientists and to practitioners concerned with individual,

family, organizational, community, and societal change.

Kenneth J. Gergen

President, Board of Directors

The Taos Institute

Taos Institute Board of Directors

Harlene Anderson Mary Gergen

Ginny Belden-Charles Sheila McNameeRonald Chenail Sally St. George

David Cooperrider, Honorary Jane Watkins, Honorary

Robert Cottor Diana Whitney, Emerita

Kenneth Gergen Dan Wulff

WorldShare Books Senior Editors - Kenneth Gergen, Dan Wulff and Mary Gergen

Books for Professional Series Editor - Kenneth Gergen

Taos Institute Tempo Series Editor - Mary Gergen

Focus Book Series Editors - Harlene Anderson

Executive Director - Dawn Dole

For information about the Taos Institute and social constructionism visit:

www.taosinstitute.net

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Table of Contents Page

Foreword 1 Kenneth J.Gergen 6Foreword 2 David Brazier 8

Preface 10

Chapter One – The Buddha: Life and Legacy 14 The Buddha’s Life in the Iron Age 15 Growing Up in Splendour 16 Affluence-Ascetism and Betwixt 18 Awakening in Emptiness (MTN) 20 The 4-Ennobling Realities (4ER) 22 Forty-five Years of Mission 24 Spreading Buddhism 30

Chapter Two – Beating Ignorance 34 Ancient Greek Buddhism 34 Buddhism: A Sky-God Religion? 38 Philosophy and Psychology 41 Counseling: When Shit Happens 47 Relational Buddhism 59 Brain Porn and Sexy Genes 65 NeoZen: Lotus Out of Mud 68

Chapter Three – Don’t Worry, Be Happy 74 On Becoming a buddha 74

Psychology in Buddhism 77 Dependent Origination of Karma 79 Devoid of Substantial Self 82 Unravelling Scriptures 86 Inter-mind/Inter-being 90 Borobudur Buddhism 92

Chapter Four – Meditating: Beyond Therapy 95 Pristine Mindfulness: Introduction 95 Breathing and Heartfulness 102 Sensing Heartfulness 108 Death Contemplation 112 Loving-Kindness Contemplation 113 Compassion Contemplation 116 Laughing and Smiling-Singing Exercises 118

Appendix: Buddha as Therapist: Conversations and Meditations 124Biosketches 141


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Foreword by Kenneth J. Gergen, Ph.D.(Senior Research Professor, Swarthmore College; President, the Taos Institute)

As I read further in the manuscript, I felt I had to write something… I have had the great pleasureof Maurits Kwee’s dialogic companionship for almost a decade. This is no small matter. We

entered these dialogues from quite disparate worlds of theory, practice, and culture. Even ourcomparative heights suggested that we might have little to share! I brought with me anintellectual history in which I had fought strongly against foundational claims to knowledge, andchampioned the social processes by which people together negotiate their realities, rationalities,and moralities. Much of this work was represented in the social constructionist movement in thesocial sciences, of which I was, and am, very much a part. Emerging from a far different cultural background, Maurits was steeped in Buddhist history, engaged in contemporary debates onBuddhist teachings and implications, served as a personal mentor to many, and was a practicingtherapist. By all odds, we were ships passing in the night.

Fortunately, however, in 2005 we were introduced to each other through a mutual friend,Michael Mahoney, at an international cognitive therapy conference in Gothenburg, Sweden. We

were both very fond of Mike, so we were open to the possibilities of what might emerge in ourconversations. The potentials were quickly apparent, for the Dalai Lama was giving a keynoteaddress at the conference. Discussion was heated; controversy reigned. Maurits and I began torealize that we shared an affinity well worth exploring. Cognitive therapists were eager to foldthe Buddhist tradition into their own, treating meditation as simply one more technique in thecognitive therapy storehouse. Maurits and I were adamantly opposed to this kind ofreductionism; and on the other side, we didn’t wish to see the Buddhist tradition reduced to a

religion. We were both passionate in our seeing the tradition as far too rich and far too promisingin its potentials to be colonized in these ways. Thus began a lively, inspiring, informative, andultimately creative series of conversations. And dare I say mirthful!

The conversations also bore fruit. In 2006 Maurits and I joined Fusako Koshikawa in

editing a 28-chapter volume, Horizons in Buddhist Psychology. Four years later, Mauritsexpanded this effort and published the New Horizons in Buddhist Psychology. These volumes brought together scholars and therapists from around the world, in exploring and expanding onthe implications – both theoretical and practical – of a Buddhist orientation to human well-being.During these explorations, I was also humbled and gratified to find that Maurits was able toweave our seemingly disparate ideas into new and engaging amalgams. First, he found ways tointegrate a social constructionist meta-theory into Buddhist thought. As the dialogues movedforward, one could begin to see that to remove the foundations from Buddhism was, in fact,deeply congenial with the teaching themselves. To declare Buddhism to be The Truth, was toundermine one of its greatest sources of strength. And, as the conversations continued, one couldalso see that meditation functioned as a deconstructive device, that is, removing all ontological

claims. I had also begun to write extensively about ways of moving beyond the assumption of bounded objects or entities, and understanding the world in terms of co-constitution: there are noentities in themselves, but a relational process out of which we come to understand the world interms of entities. There was in this work (2009; Relational Being: Beyond Self and Community – www.taosinstitute.net/kenneth-j-gergen-phd) a deep valuing of our relations with each other andour planet. Maurits immediately saw the parallels in these ideas to the Buddhist concept of inter- being. He pressed further. At that point, all I could do was to stand back in awe as Maurits went

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on to expand and enrich the world through his elaboration of a Relational Buddhism. Many ofhis thoughts grace the pages of this volume.

The present volume not only meditates further on these various developments. It alsoopens new vistas of discussion. New topics are brought into view, new ideas abound, and allwith keen attention to the implications for action – both in terms of professional interventions,

and in the way we live our lives together. This is indeed a rich feast, and we are all invited. This work is exquisite… thanks for the privilege of adding some words.


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Foreword by Dr. David Brazier, OAB, Ph.D.(Dharmavidya of the Order of Amida Buddha; Doctor of Philosophy; President of the

International Zen Therapy Institute)

As for a forward, for the work as it stands I could offer the following: Buddhism can, with some

justice, claim to be the most psychological of religions. Its contemplative disciplines have givenrise to a wealth of literature on the nature and workings of the mind and its modes oftransformation. Personal encounters with the Buddha transformed the lives of many individuals.Many of these cases were recorded. Later, disciples attempted to unravel and elucidate theBuddha's principles and methodology and a large literature was generated expounding thefundamentals (the Dharma) and its analysis ( Abhidharma). Different schools developed andmade their own commentaries. The process is still continuing, now restimulated by the encounter between Buddhism and modernism. This material is a treasure trove for contemporary psychologists as well as for scholars of religion and culture.

Studying this literature over many years and working on the ways that it can beinterpreted to a modern audience and operationalised to help people in distress in the

contemporary complex social world, I have come to see how the Buddhist system anticipates allof the major modalities of modern psychotherapy. In our modern terms we can say that Buddhist psychology has a cognitive-behavioural aspect, an existential-humanistic aspect, a depth analyticaspect, and an action-artistic aspect. All are found within the frame of Buddhism as part of asingle soteriological endeavour. Furthermore, in the Buddhist schema these aspects form a singlewhole whereas in Western psychology they tend to appear as distinct elements, sometimes even be at odds with one another. Buddhist psychology did not evolve as a composite of these parts, but as a single system. The divisions within Buddhism are rather, on the one hand, cultural, and,on the other, the result of differing needs of different types of personality. Some need morediscipline, some more kindness, some need more clarity of principle, some more intuitiveattunement and so on.

Over the centuries the Buddhist system evolved further and developed different emphasesin different Asian cultures. Here, Maurits Kwee outlines some of these developments in the preliminary setting out of his thesis. A particularly interesting aspect is his observations on theimpact that Greek thinking had on the evolution of Buddhism in North Western India in theaftermath of the invasion by Alexander the Great. These historical observations, however, areonly the framework within which the main thesis of this book is set. This thesis is the idea thatanybody can become a buddha (with a lower case "b") by following a particular programme oftherapeutic development that includes elements drawn from both eastern and western paradigms.As Buddhist psychology includes the different dimensions of psychotherapeutic theory in asingle whole system it provides a particularly good matrix within which to develop integrativeapproaches.

At an earlier stage in his development, Kwee profited from an important collaborationwith Albert Ellis, the creator of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy. Going on from that beginning and drawing heavily on Buddhist sources he has now developed his own methodunder the heading Karma Transformation. This is an approach to psychotherapy which combinesthe Buddhist qualities of love, compassion joy and equanimity with cognitive-behaviouraltechniques and Buddhist meditation. In Western terms, we can say it is an integration ofhumanistic and cognitive therapy. In Buddhist terms it is the application of Buddhist meditationmethod in an inter-personal context.


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In recent years there has been an up-surge in interest in mindfulness and this has led to a varietyof integrations of methodology. Kwee's work can be seen as taking this development further.He shows how the ideas of East and West parallel each other in important ways and develops theidea of a "Relational Buddhism" as a container for the fusion of the two currents. Here he is verymuch under the influence of K.J. Gergen, the author of Relational Being and pioneer of social

constructionism. The book is organised into four essays which alternately advance views ofBuddhism and views of psychotherapy, weaving the whole into a vision of applied Dharma forthe contemporary age. Well done. It is no small thing to write a book and everything thatadvances the study of Buddhism psychology is much to be welcomed. I hope to soon see it in print.


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PREFACE

This book is part of a set of four books (all published at Taos Institute Publications) andfoundational for Buddhism 4.0 which is a secular Buddhism as a psychology and a method thatdeals with negative emotions. Psychotherapy is the direction Buddhism is developing toward

after The Buddha’s first teachings as a liberation quest (Buddhism 1.0) and its subsequentdevelopments as a religious movement (Buddhism 2.0) and philosophical inquiry (Buddhism3.0). The first book of this quadrilogy ( Horizons in Buddhist Psychology) came about after aconference and is based on the content of eight symposia held in Göteborg, Sweden, in 2005 at a joint conference of the International Conference of Cognitive Therapy and the Society ofConstructivism in the Human Sciences. A historical event took place during this conference.Two giants, the 14th Dalai Lama and Dr. A.T. Beck, founder of Cognitive Therapy, held adialogue on the similarities and difference of Buddhism and Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Thismeeting was historical because it marks a formal beginning of Buddhist psychology and therapy.It took place 76 years later after William James’ prediction that “this is the psychologyeverybody will be studying 25 years from now.” It seems that the “mindfulness revolution”

which is sweeping the field of health and mental health in the past two decades has helped the“religionless religiosity” of Buddhism slip in through a backdoor as it begins to enter mainstream psychology as method to heal and promote health and mental health. The second book (New Horizons in Buddhist Psychology) is a further elaboration of the basic theme with chapters by pioneers and authorities in the field).

This present book is a sequel to Psychotherapy by Karma Transformation (2013;www.taosinstitute.net/psychotherapy-kwee) which had been downloaded in 51 countries (countsummer 2014). While the former guidebook deals with psychotherapy in a conversational form,this volume is another guidebook covering eight selected meditations “as psychotherapy.” Meditation comprises various exercises centered in mindfulness, called “heartfulness” here, andmight mean awareness, attention, concentration, contemplation, and visualization. These

exercises, as far as they are meant at calming and tranquillizing, are a way of balancing to prepare for awakening and enlightening. Once daring to look with heartfulness at what ishappening inside, emotionally and cognitively, with unconditional acceptance and loving-kindness, the odds of therapy success increase. Psychotherapy as conversation is an activity,which advisably precedes an embarking on a process of awakening/enlightenment. However both processes of speech and self-speech in therapy and meditation are intertwined as they sharethe basic idea that no one can change another and that one has to transform oneself. In any case,the effort is to be made by oneself.

On first glance the four chapters of the present guide can be read as separate essays, butas one takes a better look and sees through some overlap, the psychological method whichinheres in the selected meditations, which help to awaken, becomes apparent. Viewed from the

perspective of a therapist, counselor, or coach, the extensive section on meditation integrateswith the non-specific factors and Rogerian practices and with the idea of specific factors like incognitive-behavioral therapy. The discrete meditation exercises are specific techniques to beapplied on oneself after being taught and modeled. The two main threads of this book are KarmaTransformation as meditation/therapy and Buddhism as a psychology, the backdrop. As I havegone into detail, in the previous book, clarifying what Karma Transformation is and how itworks in the conversational mode, what is left here is illuminating meditation as therapy. Ineffect Karma Transformation boils down to three components: (1) necessary but insufficient non-

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publications approaching the two disciplines and bridging their relevancies. Due to its survivingthe ravages of time, Buddhism seems to be the most potent way to heal the mind and seems to bean unquestionable “clinical discipline.” This guidebook is a psychological account of Buddhismfor the general public wishing to be informed from scratch about becoming a buddha oneself.Because it deals with psychology, it is of necessity secular and apt for people of any or no

religious background. The goal is to provide a comprehensive and easy to understand practicalguide covering most of what people would need to get to the point of being informed about thiswisdom tradition. The most important reason for writing this guide is that everyone can becomea buddha himself/herself. The epithet The Buddha is a title understood as referring to a historicalfigure who started all of this. By diligently moving forward in The Buddha’s footsteps, anyonecan become a buddha and attain nirvana like The Buddha long ago. This is because of the fairassumption that humans have an innate “ buddhanature” which opens the possibility to transformfrom one evolutionary state to the next: from animal to buddha. The concept of nirvana is usedhere to denote the state or trait which is empty of self but full of experience; it is the serenesilence of arousal extinction after gaining numerous AHAs of insight into life’s mystery and thevagaries of human conduct. Nirvana is a “re-setting” of mind or a “re-booting” of

body/speech/mind. AHA is the groundwork for HAHA, roars of a lion’s laughter, expressedcourageously whenever shit happens. Buddhism is therefore not for the faint-hearted. Byongoing AHA ignorance is countered and by ongoing HAHA a life of contentment and delightcan be secured. This is an inoculation-immunization against stress and a safeguard againstunwholesome karma, our own intentional actions.

Notes on reading: In the text I use the terms The Buddha in a double meaning. It mightrefer to the historical Buddha Gautama (the awakened one) and to the Buddhist teachings(Dharma). This is inspired by The Buddha’s own words when he stated: "Whoever sees theDhamma, sees me" (Vakkali Sutta). Furthermore, both Sankrit and Pali terminology are usedwhen appropriate to denote things as they are known in the literature of origin. The scripturescan all be googled and read on the website of choice. In the text I have used abbreviations likeMT for empty and MTN for emptiness to denote an experiential flavor. Also I use BCE, BeforeCommon Era, to indicate the time before the year 0. Furthermore, I use abbreviations like the4ER to indicate the 4-Ennobling Realities and the 8FBP to indicate the 8-Fold BalancingPractice. Other abbreviations that I use are deciphered in the text. Lastly, sometimes the I-form isused to get more variation in linguistic style.

Please enjoy this book as a virtual trip which is a roadmap to speed – in serene silence – on a highway that once began as a slow pathway walked by a single person. Please sit back,enjoy, and luxuriate in the insights and understanding provided to make you, the reader, aninformed “buddhify-ing” person and wake up your appetite to realize your buddha within. This book might therefore also cater to the needs of participants of my presentations (lectures,seminars, workshops, classes, courses) and to those of my interns. It happens that I have justworked out a new template for internship with me in a private setting with students similar to“Karate Kid” of the same name movie. In this template my students will get to know the ins andouts of practice and theory of "internal karate" from Mr. Miyakwee as their teacher based on theteachings as written in the previous and present books. These books are a beginning, not the lastword as I consider myself an eternal student who stays in agnosia. Last but not least: specialappreciation goes to Kenneth J. Gergen and David Brazier for their Forewords and to VenerableJnanamati Williams for his cogent and constructive criticisms, cordial thanks go to Padmassiri deSilva for his blurb, Mary M. Gergen for her blurb and for wiring me typos, to my collaborators


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Marvin H. Shaub and my son Daniel M. Kwee. Special thanks go to David van Oost for his permission to use the cover picture. Finally, complementary information can be obtained bylogging on to http://relationalbuddhism.org and by emailing [email protected]. Thosewho want to befriend me, log on to: Linkedin @Dr. G T Maurits Kwee, PhD, Facebook: @MauritsKwee, @Relational Buddhism, and Twitter: @MauritsKweePhD, @relationalbuddh.

Maurits Kwee

Hon. Prof. Emeritus Dr. G.T. Maurits Kwee, Ph.D.www.speakersacademy.nl/speakers/maurits-kwee


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Chapter 1 – THE BUDDHA: LIFE AND LEGACY

Chapter One deals with the life and times of the historical Buddha Gautama (ca. 563-483 BCE)and describes his journey from birth to youth, to a life in abundance, to ascetism, to finding amiddle way, to awakening, to starting mission, to building a following, to thriving and peaking,

and to passing away.With a few exceptions (Sukhamala Sutta), The Buddha did not talk much about himselfand little or nothing was written down in his lifetime. What he taught was passed down by anoral tradition until the point where writing on palm leaves (done in Sri Lanka as from the year 29BCE) permitted institutionalization of the Buddhist teachings. What is presented here is a secularand metaphorical interpretation of an inner search based on both on the Sankrit sutras of theGreat Teachings (Mahayana) and the Pali suttas, known as the Teachings of the Elders(Theravada) which is the only extant school of Early Buddhism (out of 18). This is doneconsequently and coherently which is not a luxury, considering that translations had beenqualified by contemporary Buddhist authorities as “bad” (by Gombrich) and “deplorable” (byGriffiths) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%81li_Canon). This negative stance is not

unrealistic considering the following story, told by the advertising man David Ogilvy. It seemsthat in WWI, a British leader at the front lines, finding himself in need of more troops, turned tohis subordinate and said to pass on the following message: “Send up reinforcements we aregoing to advance.” The message, passed from person to person many times and finally arrivingat headquarters reads: “Send up three and four pence, we are going to a dance.” The moral of thestory is that one needs to bypass the danger of relying on the letter. Understanding Buddhism inthe spirit of an inner quest and a psychology, which is necessarily secular, by a coherent andconsequent interpretation of the scriptures is adjusting Buddhism to the trying times of the present era.

Born some hundred generations ago as a member of the royal Shakya tribe or clan,Shakya is also the name of the nation (shakya means kind as well as ability or capability), The

Buddha (awakened one) can be designated as a prince. Named Siddhartha (he-who-has-reached-his-aims/had-all-his-wishes-fulfilled or he who-has-attained-all-of-his-goals) at birth (until hisquest), he is called by his family name Gautama (most victorious on earth) until awakening. TheBuddha also called himself Tathagatha which means “thus come, thus gone” which refers to hisability to transform mental states in an eye-blink because of being non-attached to anything.Another name he used to give to himself is “kammavadin” meaning an expert in kamma/karmaand its vicissitudes, actions’ motivation and logic. In the Mahayana lore of East Asia TheBuddha is called Shakyamuni which denotes a quality of sageness and charitable stillness (muni).

Siddhartha Gautama The Buddha was a mortal, thus fallible, human being, who lived inluxury at the foothills of the Himalayas in the Iron Age until the age of twenty-nine when he lefthome and family to seek how to end human existential/psychological/emotional suffering. Livingcomfortably, like many urban citizens nowadays, Siddhartha was eager to uncover life's meaningafter observing duhkha: suffering due to the human predicament of birth, illness, aging, anddeath. Historically, his teaching (called Dhamma in Pali or Dharma in Sanskrit) counteredBrahmanism (better known by its Eurocentric denotation Hinduism) by contending "neithertheism nor atheism"; this includes “neither gnosticism nor agnosticism” as Buddhism is after alla teaching of emptiness (from here on displayed as MTN). The Buddha's way was explaineddown the ages as religious system, metaphysics, ethics, and during the past century it is alsoviewed as a psychology. These various explanations are possible due to the principle of upaya or

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“skilful method" enabling the Dharma to adapt to changing times and cultures which has led toits survival up until today.

The Buddha’s Life in the Iron Age

Northern India in the 6

th

century BCE was changing in several important ways, perhaps adding asense of fluidity to the environment in which The Buddha would live and teach. First there was atechnological transition going on from what is known as the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. TheBronze Age had developed after the Stone Age and allowed for more and easier shaping of someutensils for everyday life. Bronze had the disadvantage of being a relatively soft metal. It proveddifficult to fabricate items such as arms, carts, and cooking utensils that would keep their shapesfrom bronze, although the people did the best they could. Falling meteors containing melted ironore led scientists of the day to the conclusion that iron could be melted given man-made heat andshaped into forms which, when hardened, would be much more durable than bronze. TheBuddha was born and grew up in the Iron Age.

A second major change was the development of religion. For the thousand years

preceding The Buddha’s time the prevailing religion in the Indian subcontinent (called then:Jambudvipa) was Vedism. This is a belief system codified in four scriptures that are still studied by devout Indians even today. The Vedic Scriptures, as they are called, inscribe ancientknowledge dealing to a great degree with the physical world such as air, earth, fire, water, etc.,and their connections to God-like counterparts. So, one can find in ancient Vedic lore the God ofthe Day, the God of the Night, the Gods of Rain, Rivers, and different parts of the Body, etc.totalling over 3,000 at one point. Also there are places in Vedism where followers can pray forhuman success such as a long life filled with many children and a life after death pursued inheaven with ancestors. The Vedic Gods are not connected to each other in any kind of networkor hierarchy. Each is separate and has jurisdiction over an individual sphere of experience.

The Vedic Scriptures were and are recited diligently by Vedic priests who are originally pious individuals. As time went on, they became more and more corrupt as parishioners tried tointervene in their own future. The most important Vedic God to emerge was the God of Thunderand Destruction. Vedism features sacrificing animals and humans. According to ancient Indiantradition the world began with the God Brahma, who has a great deal of power. Those favored byhim rose also to positions of power and wealth. Many consider this the beginnings of the Indiancaste system which, while somewhat weakened, can still be found in India today, particularly inrural areas. The Buddha belonged to the warrior caste (kshatrias), the next level down from theBrahmins who are from the highest caste. Women, even from the Brahmin caste, are devaluedunder the system and therefore they mostly had a fairly difficult time. The resistance of womenand lower caste people quite probably provided a fertile audience for The Buddha’s teachings,which emphasize self-determination and equality for all.

Eventually, the Indian people grew dissatisfied with the corruption of the Vedic priests,the attitudinal superiority of the Brahmins and the sacrifices the religion demanded. This gaverise to the Hinduism (a colonial name for Brahmanism) that we see in India today, which is moreconcerned with ethics, morality, doing what is believed to be right for self and others, andhelping the poor. Also the Hindu concept of life after death is different from that of Vedism,featuring a return to earth in a form driven by actions and beliefs in the previous life rather thandwelling permanently in heaven. Many of these concepts are similar to what The Buddha wouldteach but their meaning differ diametrically; e.g . while self (atman) is emphasized as part of


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was to erect a barrier between Siddhartha and any condition which could conceivably lead to thewandering life of an ascetic. The estate grounds were kept immaculately clean so that Siddharthadid not see any dirt or disarray. There were ponds where colored lotuses and freshly pickedflowers were displayed everywhere. Even language was controlled with the forbidding of suchnegative terms as death or grief – a difficult regime to attain and implement, and quite complex

when the reality of his mother’s early death is taken into consideration. Nevertheless Siddharthalived this kind of unrealistic, manufactured idyllic life physically bounded in a palace until hewas twenty-nine. Thus, he was kept away from sadness and death and held in a dream-likerichness until he started a quest to end human emotional suffering including his own. Seeking forlife’s meaning was bon ton for young men at the time. After all, it was his birth which killed hismother and it could be psychologically hypothesized that, as a child, he could have blamedhimself for his mother’s premature death.

In his early childhood three outstanding events occurred, which foreshadowed and blueprinted his teachings. The first one was a spontaneous meditative experience, later a key tohis awakening, which happened at a festival where his father and local farmers went to ploughthe fields with oxen. From under a shady apple tree, the pensive boy quietly followed, in a one-

pointed concentration, a plough cutting the earth. While watching he flowed into a deepmeditative state of absorption ( samadhi); this is a state of flow which leads to forgetting self. Thesecond event happened when he observed a cycle of worldly life: a lizard darted its tongue andate harmless ants, whereupon a snake swallowed the lizard; then an agile hawk swooped, killed,and devoured the snake. Siddharta realized that these creatures live in the illusion of happy lifeshortly, but end up in death. The question dawned: why are creations beautiful and ugly at thesame time? This seems to precurse a nondual stance. The third one was when playing with hiscousin (and life-long adversary) Devadatta, who shot a swan fluttering down in fright and pain.They ran to pick it up. Siddhartha who reached the bird first refused to gave it to his cousin.Devadatta was angry, but Siddhartha insisted that since the bird was alive, it belongs to the onesecuring its possession first. So he took care of it, and liberated the bird when it was healed.Tensions between Siddhartha and Devadatta remained an underlying plot of recurrence ondealing with jealousy, anger, and hatred in The Buddha’s life. These narratives showed thatSiddhartha was, already as a child, predisposed to loving-kindness and compassion.

When it came time for marriage the Raja organized a beauty contest and on that occasionSiddhartha, who was nineteen years old, chose Yasodhara, a three year younger cousin and thesister of the earlier mentioned Devadatta. Like Siddhartha’s mother, she belonged to the Koliyaclan from a neighboring equally rich state. According to tradition Siddhartha had to win her hand by proving his prowess in certain sports: fencing, swimming, archery, and combat in atournament. He was able to achieve all of them. These and other skills like hunting and the art oftribal warfare reveal an aristocratic education of someone of the warrior caste. As The Buddhalater himself stated and registered in a discourse (Sukhamala Sutta), his life was idyllic andlavish. He had a luxurious life in three palaces, corresponding to the cold, the warm, and therainy seasons. Music was played by beautiful women. He was dressed daily in the finest silkclothing and during hot weather a servant was continuously holding a white parasol over hishead to ward off heat. Ten years after marriage a son was born who got the name Rahulameaning fetter, which is a name that also strikes as symbolic in the context. In announcing the birth of his son, Siddhartha pronounced the baby’s name in a way that points to a chain implyingthat his father’s strategy of tying Siddhartha to the householder’s locality, although princely, washaving its intended effect. As the Raja’s son Siddhartha was easily elected to the Kapilivastu


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constituent assembly and as a member he did participate in debating the political issues of thosedays like on water rights for the Shakyas and the Koliyas.

Affluence-Ascetism and Betwixt

At age twenty-nine Siddhartha‘s life changed dramatically. He was allowed for the first time to journey outside of the palace by his father who believed that his son’s development had reachedthe point where it was, for all practical purposes, permanent. The Raja ’s worry about the possibleonset of ascetism had receded into the background. So one day, when the Prince, along withChanna, friend and driver of his horse-drawn carriage, ventured out to a party, they witnessedthings that were previously unknown to him. There were four specific shocks to his senses,which had been carefully manipulated previously to construct a world free of negativeconditions. These four, known as “The Four Sights,” are viewing an old man doubled over andwalking with a cane, a seriously ill and dying man, a man’s dead body awaiting cremation , and awandering hermit who had denied himself any connection with worldly pleasures. Contact withthese scenes was very shocking to Siddhartha considering the fabricated life that he had led in a

proveerbial golden cage which resulted in a worldview construction devoid of pain, suffering,and death.He asked Channa about these dissonant experiences who explained that aging was

something that happened to all beings alike. Likewise, all sentient beings are subject to diseaseand pain. Channa went on to point out to the Prince that death is an inevitable fate that willeventually befall everyone. These ideas were transforming for the Prince who started grapplingwith the quest “how to end existential suffering.” Because illness, aging, and death themselvescannot by any means be prevented or solved, it is about one’s psychology – attitude and thinking – about these things which could thus be denoted as emotional problems. It is noteworthy thatSiddhartha added “birth” to these tragedies, which is rather enigmatic unless one considers the psychology that birth inheres in death which might take place instantly like his mother ’s death aweek after his birth. In a way we all start dying after birth. Anyway, in a psychological sense,The Buddha’s teachings seem to be about preventing the birth/re-birth of negative emotionalexperiences rather than about some physical event. The impact of the human misery encounteredwas thus profound that it caused Siddhartha to question his life and probably also his father’smotives, all of which lead to the very thing his father had hoped to avoid. The fourth sight, thehermit, provided a model for the hope of understanding suffering more clearly and for seekingwisdom to end mental pain accompanying human misfortune. This search for a way to endhuman suffering was the major motive for Siddhartha’s quest. It should however be noted that inthose days, seeking for the “truth” was in fashion for the upper class, particularly young men.Therefore leaving the family was socially sanctioned. After his quest and awakening, Siddhartareturned as The Buddha to his home town. Eventually, all family members became his student.

One night Siddhartha decided that the time was ripe to depart. The Prince summoned hisservant-friend Channa to saddle his horse Kanthaka. He kissed Yasodara and Rahula, who werefast asleep, bid them goodbye and cast a last dispassionate glance on them. Great was his lovefor them, but greater his aspiration to acquire the wisdom of ceasing psychological suffering forthe benefit of mankind. As his wife and child had everything in abundance and were well protected, he could leave with peace in his heart. Leaving all behind and being careful to make aslittle noise as possible so as not to awake anyone and to prevent guards from knowing about hisdeparture, he stole away with a light heart at midnight and rode into the dark, attended only by


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Channa who ran behind holding onto the horse’s tail. Legend has it that the horse's hooves weremuffled by good fortune. Thus, he snuck out of the palace to become a mendicant. This event iscalled "The Great Departure.” He journeyed far and having crossed the Anoma River, he restedon its banks where he shaved off all his hair and handed over his jewellery and other worldly possessions to Channa with instructions to return to the palace. He then assumed the yellow garb

of an ascetic and started a life alone and penniless in search of wisdom. He transformed into the bodhisattva (buddha-to-be) Gautama.The Boddhisattva Gautama first associated himself with the lifestyle of the ascetic, a type

of hermit who practices austerities. Having led a lavish life, he reasoned at the time that only alife of denial of worldly pleasures would enable him to break the bonds to his former life andinternalize the realities of existential suffering to alleviate them. Depending on charity,Gautama’s shelter was a tree or lonely cave. Bare-footed and bold-headed, he wandered in thescorching sun and piercing cold. With only a bowl to collect food and a robe to cover his body;his energy was focused on finding wisdom. Initially, he went to the nearby kingdom of Rajagahawhere he was recognised and, upon hearing about his quest, King Bimbisara offered him a shareof the kingdom. Gautama rejected the offer, but promised to visit the Kingdom again when he

had accomplished wisdom. The bodhisattva went on and sought instruction from teachers wholived in caves in the nearby hills. He joined guru Kalama who taught him the “Realm of Nothingness,” an advanced stage of concentration. But Gautama was not satisfied as he did notacquire the wisdom to end suffering, did not attain awakening, and did not experience nirvana.The next was Ramaputta who taught him the final stages of concentration, the “Realm of Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception,” when consciousness becomes so subtle and refinedthat it can’t be said if it either exists or does not exist. With this complete mastery of mind, theaim of the end of suffering was still far ahead: nirvana, the eradication of craving, grasping, andclinging, and the correlates of hatred, greed, and ignorance.

Hereafter the bodhisattva met five ascetic companions who became his followers due tohis sincerity and austere practice of eating only one nut or one leaf a day. This proved to benearly disastrous; almost starved to death after six years living like that and upon collapsing,almost drowned in a river, Gautama reconsidered his path. Hearing sitar music from a boat onthe river, wisdom began in the idea that false tones emerge from strings that are not tuned properly. Thus, he came to the “Middle Way” which keeps balance between self-mortificationand self-indulgence. He stood up and conveyed that he was going to eat, shocking the ascetics.Felt betrayed, they conclude that Gautama had given up seeking; thus they left him. On his wayto the nearby village Gaya the bodhisattva met a thirteen year old girl Sujata. While seeking“blessings” from a fig tree spirit she saw an emaciated man. Thinking that Gautama hadtransformed from the tree, she mistakenly offered him milk-rice in a golden bowl she broughtwith her for the tree spirit. After bathing in the river, he gratefully ate, according to mythology,in exactly forty-nine tiny morsels as, having eradicated all cravings, his stomach had shrunktremendously. Then he threw the golden bowl into the Neranjara River telling himself that if itwould flow upstream, he would become a buddha that day. Lo and behold, the bowl rapidlymoved up the river sand. According to a Jataka tale, it whirled down to “the palace of the water -snake king.” From then on his meditation proceeded from the consideration that just like his body was starving for food his mind was starving for spiritual nourishment.

While meditating in a sala grove at daytime, he moved to a fig-tree in the evening wherea cutter gave him grass. Gautama arranged the blades so he could sit comfortably. The fig-treeunder which he sat was later known as the bodhi-tree or “Tree of Wisdom” (a pipal tree known


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in the West as ficus religiosa). A third generation descendant of the original tree continues livingto this day in a place now called Bodh Gaya. The alleged spot of Gautama’s awakening has become a major tourist attraction. Facing East, Gautama vowed ( Ariyapariyesana Sutta):

Even if my skin, sinews and bones wither away, my flesh and blood in my body dry up,

till I attain wisdom how to end suffering, I shall not leave from here!Clearing his mind, he sat down in a cross-legged position, firm, immovable, and in deepconcentration. What does one see when looking inside? What is there to discover or uncover?How can sitting give any clues regarding liberation of existential/emotional suffering? To beginwith, he remembered his childhood experience at the ploughing festival and went into the flow ofmeditative absorption. Thus began the process of the bodhisattva’s awakening and the very beginning of acquiring wisdom.

Awakening in Emptiness (MTN)

While sitting, Gautama started his inner journey by applying heartfulness and being mindful ofhis breathing ( Anapanasati Sutta). The term heartfulness is preferred here because in the AsianBuddhist languages the mind is located in the heart rather than behind the eyeballs. Byheartfulness of breathing the bodhisattva entered four stages of concentration and absorption( jhana or dhyana) to be explained later. He thus cleansed his heart of impurities gathered in pastexperiences due to births/rebirths of emotional suffering and got three illuminating insights. The first insight dawns when he directed his awareness/attention to whatever appeared on the screenof his mind and when he let emotional events from memory lane pass by without grasping andclinging. While in balance/equanimity Gautama saw without craving the appearing,disappearing, and reappearing of beings in happy and unhappy states linked relationally to hisown karmic/intentional-conduct/inter-action (cutupapatanana) in Dependent Origination. Thushe envisioned the births, deaths, and births/rebirths of emotional episodes. i.e. offeeling/thinking/doing. The second insight was that the bodhisattva focused on the eradication ofthe poisonous “stains” or “taints,” defilements and afflictions of greed-hatred/passion-aversion/approach-avoidance (asavas). In effect he found out how to untie and dissolveemotional knots (asavakkhayanana) ( Mahasaccaka Sutta). His insight and understanding toward buddhahood was about the reality of psychological suffering (dukkha), its arising and cessation,and the method leading to the end of psychological suffering eventually resulting in MTN whichentails an undisturbed serenity and delight. Having seen this, the bodhisattva unveiled realitieswhich ennoble people’s hearts. The third insight is that having gained the wisdom on how greedand hatred (kamasava) come to be (bhavasava), i.e. by irrational views (ditthasava), and how totransform them, Gautama freed himself and was able to also help others liberate themselves(avijjasava). This liberation made an end to the quest and the seeking life he had lived(brahmacariya) thus far. These three insights gained in one night are known as “The ThreefoldKnowledge” (tevijja or trividya).

Mythology has it that at a certain point during this sitting Gautama saw all over anabundance of his own mental projections (illusions and delusions). Meditating deeply he wasassaulted by possibly hallucinogenic experiences in which metaphoric concepts of death weretransmogrified into various embodiments of threat and temptation choreographed by the master“demon” Mara, killer and bringer of death representing greed and hatred/aggression depicted by


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war and storms and sensual temptations through Mara’s daughters. First an army of demons anddevils under the command of Mara threatened the bodhisattva with grotesque shapes and evilintent, to no avail. Then Mara went into direct confrontation with Gautama by throwing a fierydiscus at him only to have the object change into a bouquet of flowers. Appearing again, sheasked him whether he is all alone, in grief and in need of friendship. The bodhisattva replied that

he got rid of the cause of suffering, so he has no desires, no attachments and is peaceful inmeditation. As nothing is “mine,” there is no I/me or self and Mara disappeared. At the end ofthis deep meditation Gautama was also self-critical and introspected about the genuineness of hisloving-kindness, the most important and continuous life thread bringing about compassion and joy. Concluding that he freed himself from the shackles of emotional suffering, he called on theearth to witness his liberation by touching “mother earth” with his right hand while in Lotus posture (bhumi sparsa mudra), signalling that he had reached “the other shore.” Finally, anenormous (emotional) storm threatened to annihilate him, but he was saved by the mythicalMucalinda, a king who took the magical form of a gigantic cobra wrapping itself aroundGautama’s body. Anyway, on the full moon day of May (vesak ), at age thirty-five with the risingof the morning star, he arrived at the end of his quest. The Bodhisattva Gautama emerged from a

deep meditation and became a buddha and later the greatest of all buddhas, hence his moniker“The Buddha.” To date he might be revered as a great healer of the heart and a physician(bhisakko) of the mind. He was in other words a psychologist and a psychotherapist/counsellorwho is an expert in transforming karma.

Having discovered how to end human existential and emotional suffering, the newbuddha’s face shined. Radiating an inner light, he is said to have declared victory with thesewords ( Dhammapada 49, 153-154):

Being myself subject to birth, ageing, disease, death, sorrow and defilement; seeingdanger in what is subject to these things; seeking the unborn, unageing, diseaseless,deathless, sorrowless, undefiled, supreme security from bondage - Nibbana, Iattained it. Knowledge and vision arose in me; unshakable is my deliverance ofmind. This is the last birth, now there is no more becoming, no more rebirth [ofaffliction].

After awakening (Theravada term) and enlightenment (Mahayana term), The Buddha continuedsitting under the bo-tree for seven weeks enjoying serene happiness and bliss. Further insights progressed as to the causality of Dependent Origination ( patticasamutpada), its MTN, and howthis applies to karma: the self chosen intention and action leading to suffering or happiness.Taking Dependent Origination as hypothesis, one could prove or disprove oneself by practisingwhat came to be called insight meditation (vipassana), which might eventually result inexperiencing of nirvanic MTN ( sunyata). Contemplating on the karmic causes and effects ofaffliction, The Buddha saw how this arises (anuloma) in co-dependence: “When this is, thatcomes to be; with the arising of this, that arises” and how this ceases in interdependence/co-dependence ( patiloma) as well: “When this is not, that does not come to be; with the cessation ofthis, that ceases.” This enigmatic sounding thesis refers to karma and its vicissitudes, i.e. affliction’s feeling, thinking, and doing appear and disappear in divided consciousness of body/speech/mind which one can be aware of through attention. The quintessence is that Buddhism teaches to cease self-infliced suffering by depriving self from inherent existence andhow to reach that by meditation and being “herenow.”


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The Buddha was then faced with a dilemma. On the one hand he could choose to securefor himself an individual state of blissful nirvana and deliverance from mental misery.Alternatively he could choose, as urged by his own creative forces, to become a teacher ofmankind, an idea which had motivated him to quest in the first place. In solitude The Buddhagrappled and contemplated that his Dharma is hard to understand and pondered on his reluctance

to teach. Considering compassion for the many people who need liberation, The Buddha decidedto proclaim his “deathless” Dharma, meaning a teaching that will endure the ravages of time. Atthe end of the seven weeks two merchants from Myanmar who were passing by offered rice cakeand honey to The Buddha and they became his first lay students (upasakas).

The 4-Ennobling Realities (4ER)

Having overcome his doubt The Buddha thought to make his Dharma first known to the fiveascetics who were staying in the Deer Park (Sarnath) of Benares. So he left Gaya for a 240 kmwalk. On the way not far from Gaya The Buddha met Upaka, an ascetic who, struck by TheBuddha’s serene appearance, inquired who his teacher is and whose teaching he professes. The

Buddha replied that he has no teacher; that he is the unique peerless teacher, the supremeawakened and enlightened arahant, someone who has eradicated all his inner enemies andattained nirvana’s tranquility. The Buddha declared that he is the victor over affliction and wason his way to Benares to “Set the Wheel of the Dharma in Motion” and to beat the deathlessdrum in a world reigned over by blindness. Then he met a Brahmin by the name of Dona whowas awed by The Buddha’s radiance and followed him to question his identity, whether he is anormal human being, a deity, a spirit, or an angel. The Buddha discarded all these qualificationsand called himself an “awakened” one; someone who has bloomed out of the mud like a Lotusflower which never gets defiled by dirt ( Dona Sutta). He arrived at the Deer Park on the full-moon day and delivered his first “framework” discourse about understanding the Dharma andkarma, here called: the 4-Ennobling Realities (4ER).

This first discourse after awakening is widely known as “The Four Noble Truths.” However, I call this the 4ER because Buddhism as a psychology does pertinently notacknowledge Absolute or Transcendental Truths and is limited to an inner quest aimed atdeveloping noble/gentle human beings. Clearly, the practitioner will not literally become anobleman-aristocrat like a duke or a prince, but rather a “gentleman” or a “gentlewoman,” a person of wholesome moral intentions; thus, someone with a noble heart. A psychological takeof these four reads as follows:

(1) There is karmic emotional dissatisfaction to be insightfully understood as suffering of body/speech/mind which is self-inflicted ; existence is full of psychological distress(dukkha) - a state of being imbalanced due to the human predicament and vicissitudes oflife; life is like a grinding ride with a broken axle-wheel if one craves.(2) The root of suffering is self-imposed grasping and clinging to greed/hatred/ignoranceon the working of the mind and irrational belief in a permanent I-me-mine/self due toirrational/illusory-delusional thinking while living in an impermanent world – dukkha hasa karmic cause which on its turn causes karma due to attachment to self.(3) There is a way out of dukkha by ceasing self-sabotaging greed/hatred/ignorance viainsight in Dependent Origination of feeling/thought/action and a transforming practice


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toward wholesome karma (intentional action) – dukkha can be dissolved by extinguishingneedless grief, fear, anger, and depression (nirvana).(4) The aim of nirvana (emotional extinction) can be attained by countering ignorance onthe mind and irrational self-inflating by an eightfold transforming practice – i.e. “MiddleWay” to the end of suffering – by balancing vision, intention, speech/self-speech, action,

living, effort, awareness, and attention ( Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta).The latter is called here the 8-Fold Balancing Practice (8FBP) and specifiable as follows:

1. Views (on how the mind and karma works which counter ignorance)

2. Intentions (discerning wholesome/unwholsome karmic planning)

3. Speech (meaningful talk and self-talk with emotional impact)

4.

Action (karmic conduct or behavior, its antecedents and consequents)

5.

Living (or livelihood, creating a constructive and meaningful daily life)

6. Effort (zeal, diligence, commitment to lead a wholesome/happy life)

7. Awareness (the mind’s eye, awareness of awareness, or metaperception)

8. Attention (concentration, focus, and being purely attentive from now to now)

All eight points are like a menu in a restaurant – the particular balancing element is foregroundedwhen situationally required. The “Middle Way” is inferred as a state of mind characterized byinner balancing which starts with heedful awareness and from moment to moment bare attention;mindfulness, here called heartfulness. Points seven (awareness) and eight (attention) refer toheartfulness meditation.

The instruction of this core Buddhist meditation is simple. As The Buddha sat under atree in the Iron Age: what can he explore other than his own mind? He smiled, sat, and stayedfocused with whatever appears and its changes in the maelstrom of mind without holding on tosomething or warding anything off. It can be painstakingly difficult to be non-evaluative andkind to anything appearing in body/speech/mind. The effect might be a deep understanding ofDependent Origination regarding feeling/thought/action and insight into the coming about andtransformation of karma as intentional thought and concomitant action. Karma is a centerpiece inall Buddhisms if the quintessence is detoxifying the poisons of greed (fear of losing and grief ofthe lost), hatred (anger toward others or oneself, aka depression) and ignorance on how the mindfunctions. The latter implies that Buddhism is a clinical psychology aimed at counteringemotional disorder, illusions of self, and delusions regarding the supernatural. Its meditationsoffer first person knowledge on mind, no-mind, and inter-mind by experiencing a healing mentalstate of MTN and non-duality. MTN liberates from the dimension of speech and language whichinhere in the shackles of duality and antonyms. It is a healing state of mind. Its activity iscomparable to resetting or rebooting a PC. From this state of MTN one re-constructs a differentkind of reality “as-it-really-is/becomes,” free from emotional suffering and from rebirths of self -sabotaging self-talk. MTN enables easiness in reaching out to others and experiencing a “we-


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ness” of inter-mind aka inter-being. It stimulates us to stop looking at ourselves as isolatedagents hiding inside the skull in-between our ears and boosts a life of joy and fulfillingrelationships. Once we reach this awakened or enlightened state of mind, we are apt to helpothers accomplish the same triumph over daily discontentment and agony in the framework ofkindness and compassion. The admonition is: start meditating-contemplating the 4-ER and the

8FBP in heartfulness… Forty-five Years of Mission

The Buddha delivered ca. 17.500 discourses as jotted down in the scriptures(www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sutta.html), all of them were learned by heart by TheBuddha’s attendant Ananda who was also The Buddha’s cousin. A few discourses weredelivered by the chief scholars Sariputta and Moggallana (sanctioned by The Buddha). The twoallegedly started the Dhamma’s abstracted teachings called the Abhidhamma which is revered asa canonical book by the Theravada. They became the target of mockery in the many laterMahayana sutras which could be viewed as alternatives to the Abhidhamma. For 45 years, The

Buddha insisted: “I teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering”, which he did out ofhis qualities of loving-kindness and from a heart cooled by empathic compassion andsympathetic joy. Here is a representative selection of twelve suttas (www.metta.lk) in randomorder. They are summarized and commented. Note that the Dharma refers to relational ways of being in these instances.

Scholars say that the first three of The Buddha’s discourses are cardinal. What are TheBuddha’s second and third teachings about? Five days after his first discou rse The Buddhadelivered his second discourse. He again addressed the group of five who became even deeperilluminated after hearing this teaching which came to be known as the “Three Empirical Marksof Existence.” It is on the realities of duhkha, impermanence, and not-self. The Buddha’s proposition is that impermanence is the cause of people’s erroneous thinking about a non-abidingself. The self is a concept or image which evaporates as soon as it is sensed because it is merely atemporary composite of body/speech/mind and a formation of perception-affect- thought andconsciousness/awareness, here called the five psychological modalities ( skandhas). Thesemodalities are impermanent, unstable, and the subject of change in the Dharma. Body, neithermind, nor consciousness, emanating from body/speech/mind, nor perception, nor affect, northought is permanent. Being impermanent, they lack inherent existence or substance and are thusempty (from here on indicated as MT) and if grasped or clung onto due to craving the result will be suffering. Furthermore, none of them can be identified as I-me-mine/self which are each and by themselves abstractions and thus MT semantic social constructions. If there is no self therecannot be a unity with Brahman or a transmigration to an after-life plane like a heaven or paradise in the sky whose existence is debatable and a waste of time to quibble about as that willnot lead to awakening and the end of suffering ( Annatalakkhana Sutta). This makes Buddhism anon-theistic system of meditative action, i.e. an applied psychology that analyses the DependentOrigination of any self-identified experience through the practice of “rational self -talk.” This boils down to three socially de-constructional sentences to be repeated, contemplated, andunderstood in meditational practice as modeled by The Buddha: “Such is not mine; such is notwhat I really am; such is not my self.” Thus one can be MT of self but full of affect and freefrom the toils of craving, grasping, and clinging.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sutta.htmlhttp://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sutta.html


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The third discourse is called the “Fire Discourse” ( Adittapariyaya Sutta) and is about thethree poisons and their toxic consequences. It is thus called because The Buddha used firemetaphors when delivering his talk to a thousand Vedic fire worshippers led by three brothers.They practiced a Brahmanistic fire ritual with liturgical chanting and symbolic offerings to adeity in order to imbibe themselves with its power. The three matted hair Kashyapa ascetics lived

separately with five, three, and two hundred disciples. With much effort and at times usingeducational wonders The Buddha succeeded in convincing them to enter the Buddhist commune by expounding that as long as men live in ignorance they will be the victim of devouring fires.Due to craving one is on fire; greed, hatred, ignorance are fires. Ignorant people are on fire withthe ramifications of birth, old age, illness, and death, including their consequences: sorrow,lamentation, pain, grief, and despair. Fire is burning all the time through the twelve perceptualcategories which are perishable: eyes/visibles, ears/hearables, skin/touchables, nose/smellables,mouth/speechables, and the mind’s eye (a 6

th sense perceiving conceivables). She or he who isable to discern wholesome from unwholesome “perceivables” and “conceivables,” and choosefor the wholesome is a master of sense reactions and can become an arahant (eradicator of innerenemies). Particularly, one is advisably mindful of the wholesome taste of the tongue through

which one utters speech. The audience’s wholesome minds transform greed into heartfeltgenerosity, hatred into loving-kindness, and ignorance into savvy and wisdom. In other words,through Buddhist practice one might extinguish the daily fires of emotional arousal, ofdepression, fear, anger, sadness, and light up the candles of joy and serenity. Legend has it thatThe Buddha performed miracles to convince them. These are most probably not what he did, because the only miracle that he acknowledged is “the miracle of education” ( Kevatta Sutta,Sangarava Sutta and Sammosa Sutta). Magical miracles are additions of his proponents whoseemingly made these up in order to be able to compete in debates with spiritual acrobats of theirtime. The Buddha pertinently rejected magic and forbade his students to trick people. Anyway,after The Buddha’s “firy” discourse, they all cut off their hair and threw away their ritualisticutensils. This event illustrates how The Buddha made use of his audiences ’ wording buttransformed its meanings from the literal into the figurative. The Dhamma is highlycharacterized by metaphoric language.

As the company grew, The Buddha formalized his Order (commune or sangha) with thename of “The Order of The Shakyan Guru.” The Buddha considered the people in his companyfellow-travelers rather than followers and they may descend from any caste and may be male orfemale. Within a year he had more than 1000 bhikkhus or hermits, here inferred as self-appointed scholars who beg through life to secure time to study and memorize Buddhist texts. Tokeep a promise, he went to visit King Bimbisara of the powerful Magadha Kingdom, who wasimpressed by his company of 1000 people and became the Order’s royal patron. He donated tothe prominent Buddha a Bamboo Grove (Veluvana Park) near Rajagaha where he and hishermits could dwell under the trees or in caves and where a hermitage was built later. During thistime two outstanding students and later Sangha chiefs joined The Buddha after Assaji’s talk (oneof the ascetics): Sariputta (who excelled in wisdom) and Mogallana (who excelled in rhetoric).

Some events are highlighted below to illustrate that family and friends, men and womenalike, played a significant role in The Buddha’s life until his death. As his following grew, TheBuddha revisited his birthplace. King Suddhodana, knowing that his son was lecturing in nearbyRajagaha dispatched invitations. When The Buddha returned to Kapilivastu, five years afterawakening, he had to subdue the pride of his relatives and elderly Shakyans who refused to payhim reverence. But most of the Shakyas rejoiced and prepared a stay for the large company at the


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sangha and all were treated on an equal basis by The Buddha. For The Buddha someone’s background did not matter. Everybody capable of awakening was welcomed into the communeas long as they followed the eight precepts: (1) not to kill, (2) not to steal, (3) not to lie, (4) not toindulge in drugs, (5) not to engage in sexual relations, (6) not to eat after noon or before dawn,(7) not to attend entertainment, like singing, dancing or wearing ornaments or perfume, and (8)

not to sleep on soft or luxurious beds. For lay students, obeyance to the first four preceptssuffices ( Brahmajala Sutta).Last but not least, The Buddha taught his father on several occasions. Raja Suddhodana,

although saddened because his lineage ended after his two sons and grandson left the place, became himself a lay follower after reconciling with his eldest son who renounced any duty ashis successor. As a father he was shocked by his alms-begging which was a shame to the family.But The Buddha retorted that mendicancy was a correct lifestyle for hermits as they have cuttheir family ties. During a fifth monsoon rain retreat The Buddha heard about the impendingdeath of his aged father and went to visit him. Raja Suddhodana, having listened and understoodthe teachings, became an arahant prior to his death. Since The Buddha observed his father’stransformation, he declared that a householder’s liberation is as profound as a hermit’s liberation.

After his father’s death The Buddha settled a long-standing conflict between the Shakyas and theKoliyas on the rights to regulate water from the Rohini River. The two tribes are kinsmen bymany intermarriages like between King Suddhodana and his first (Maya) and second (Pajapati)wives, and between Siddharta and Yasodhara. Inflaming their dispute the Koliyans humiliatedthe Shakyas by pointing at their incestuous past. The Buddha assuaged the feud through adiscourse on the value of water and of human life ( Attadanda Sutta) and on the causes of angerand attachment ( Kalahavivada Sutta). The clans reconciled. Thanking The Buddha for theattained peace each clan had 500 of their men join the sangha. Many of their wives were the firstto become bhikkhunis (female hermit students) in a new Order of women adepts led by Pajapati,The Buddha’s stepmother .

At first the Buddha refused to inaugurate women due to the hardship of sangha life, butPajapati persisted in her argument to join and consequently led a group of aristocratic Shakyanand Koliyan ladies, including Yasodhara, his former wife, and Sundari Nanda, his half sister.They had their hair cut off and dressed in yellow robes, followed the male group to Rajagaha,and reiterated their request. Concerned that admitting women would weaken the brotherhood andshor ten its lifetime, The Buddha again refused but eventually accepted them. After all, women’scapacity to awaken is equal to that of men. However, he gave them additional rules to enter theOrder, e.g. bhikkhunis had to make obeisance to bhikkhus. Well-known is Venerable Nandaka’sexhortation ( Nandaka Sutta) to 500 bhikkhunis on impermanence and the impersonal nature ofthe process of Dependent Origination observable during meditation. As the nature of existence isconsidered to be impersonal, there is no inherently existing self. This applies to men and women.The women’s Order died out on the Indian subcontinent in the year 456 CE but continued in North and East Asia until today.

The Dhammapada recounts the tale of two other renowned bhikkhunis. Queen Khema is praised as the bhikkhuni par excellence; she was King Bimbisara’s beautiful queen who dislikedThe Buddha’s disparaging of beauty. But since the venue where The Buddha had a special retreatwas near , she decided to take a look. Upon arrival The Buddha was delivering a discourse onimpermanence in the audience hall while he was fanned by a heavenly beautiful young ladysitting next to him. At least Khema thought she saw that scene as no-one else seemed to haveseen it. Thus mesmerized, she compared the glaring beauty of the young woman with her own


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appearance and came to see her own body she was so proud of as gradually fading in her mindand turning into an old decrepit body and finally into a stinking decaying corpse eaten bymaggots. While likewise the young beauty on stage withered away in her mind’s eye, ithappened that The Buddha, who was familiar with her attitudes of mind, addressed her by sayingthat a beautiful body eventually turns into a skeleton of bones. Understanding that the lust for

beauty resembles a web wherein the spider that spun it got caught, Khema realized the beautifulinsight of the body’s impermanence and became chief bhikkhuni.The other woman is Kisagotami, a young woman happily married to a wealthy man in

Savatthi. They had one son, a toddler, bitten by a poisonous snake when playing outside.Kisagotami, who had never seen a dead body before, thought that he was just ill. Not acceptinghis death, she went everywhere in the area carrying her child’s body in search of a physician whohas the medicine that could cure her boy. Kisagotami was so desperately pathetic that peoplethought she is crazy. At length a man advised her to go to The Buddha who might have themedicine she was looking for. Thus, she went to The Buddha who offered her a medicine in theform of a behavioral assignment. She would need a handful of mustard seed obtained from ahouse where no one has ever died and which should be given to her by someone who has no

deceased relatives. So, Kisagotami ran from house to house asking for the seed, but could notfind even one. As the day passed by, she realized that there is no single home where death didnot occur. In fact, there are more people dead than alive. Realizing death is universal,Kisagotama could let go of attachment, buried her son, returned to The Buddha, and became a bhikkhuni.

The Buddha used to travel by walking barefoot with a large assembly of noisy hermitsnumbering in the hundreds. There was a tradition not to trample the crops or disturb the animalsin the field, to retreat at one place during three summer months in the rainy season, and towander along during the other nine months. Then, they walked 15-20 km a day and sleptwherever nature provided shelter. The Buddha passed the greater part of his awakened life in theKingdom of Kosala, at Jeta’s Grove or Jetavana near Savatthi, thus called because it first belonged to Prince Jeta who sold it to the wealthy householder Sudatta, also known by his nickname Anathapindika (giver-of-alms) who destined the property for the sangha. As he enjoyeddoing business, The Buddha suggested him to become a lay student and continue his work. As a benefactor until his death, he had a monumental hermitage built in the park (AnathapindikaHermitage). Since then the hermits had a roof above their heads during summer time when theyare around. The Buddha had a favorite place there, a small house called Gandhakuti (“fragranthut” due to the many flowers continuously offered), which had a living room, bedroom, and bathroom, and a balcony where The Buddha could address the sangha. In the vicinity of Jetavanathere were other wealthy patrons. Two of them donated to The Buddha, who was then in hissixties, other hermitages: the rich female householder Visakha’s (Pubbarama Hermitage;Visakhuposatha Sutta) and Kosala’s King Pasenadi’s (Rajakarama Hermitage ; DhammactiyaSutta). One might say that the prosperous Savatthi was a “Buddhist city” packed with bhikkhusand bhikkhunis. Jetavana remained a Buddhist centre until the end of the thirteenth century whenBuddhism disappeared from the Indian subcontinent. Tradition has it that The Buddha spenttwenty-five of forty-five seasonal retreats at Savatthi in one of these hermitages. Thus, Savatthiis the place where The Buddha lived the longest amount of time and where he delivered thelargest number of talks. Each year during the months of September to May The Buddha and hiscompany wandered around in the Gangetic plains delivering discourses to anyone who wanted tolisten.


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The Buddha’s ministry was a great success lasting for forty-five years and wasgenerously supported by many lay disciples, ranging from kings to commoners. In the course ofhis ministry, The Buddha was indefatigable. He travelled on foot with a company of hermits allover Northern India, from Vesali in the East to Kuru (Delhi) in the West, spreading the Dharma for the benefit of mankind. Although his motive was pure and selfless, yet he faced strong

opposition, mainly from the leaders of sects and of the traditional Brahmin caste. Within theOrder, The Buddha also faced some problems and his dealing with them showed his fallibility asa human being who was not immune from family intrigues, anger, and jealousy. Two examplesare the plot of his cousin and brother-in-law Devadatta and the genocide of the Shakya family.Devadatta unsuccessfully plotted in order to take over the sangha. The Buddha looked down athim by calling him “a piece of spittle” who was doomed to go to hell. The conflict led toDevadatta’s attempts to kill The Buddha. At one time when The Buddha was walking on theVultures Peak, Devadatta rolled a huge rock at The Buddha. The rock hurtled down, struckanother rock causing a splinter flying and wounding The Buddha's foot. The Buddha looked upand seeing Devadatta, he called him a fool. In the end, Devadatta left the Order but just beforehis death, he repented and re-took refuge in The Buddha.

When The Buddha was eighty, the year of his death, a massacre took place. KingPrasenajit of the mighty neighboring kingdom of Kosala wanted to become an in-law of TheBuddha and requested from the Shakyas a princess to become his queen-consort. This wouldheighten Prasenajit’s prestige and tie the two states. Stemming from high ranking nobility, the

Shakyas were unwilling to fulfill the King of Kosala’s wish. As they could not openly defy the powerful Prasenjit, a Shakya noble Mahanama offered his beautiful sixteen year old daughter.However, the girl’s mother was an untouchable slave which was a well-kept secret. Believingthat the girl was a Shakya, she became Prasenajit’s queen and gave birth to the Crown Prince

Virudhaka. As he grew up Virudhaka wondered why his Shakyan grandparents never sent himgreetings or presents. At sixteen he visited his Shakya relatives and was received in a specially prepared house. Returning home, one of his escorting soldiers forgot his spear and went back tothe house. There the man saw that slaves cleaned everything the Prince had used with milk andfound out the secret. Virudhaka was enraged. Consequently, King Prasenajit sent Virudhaka andhis mother to the slave quarters.

Speaking to the King, The Buddha acknowledged that the Shakyas were wrong andconvinced Prasenajit that nobility depends on one’s conduct, not on one’s birth. Hence, theadjective ennobling is preferred to denote The Buddha’s prime teaching: the 4ER rather than theFour Noble Truths. Prasenajit followed The Buddha’s advice on the meaning of being noble andreinstalled the Queen and the Crown Prince. Nonetheless, Virudhaka vowed to take revenge bywashing the Shakyas’ houses with their own blood. And once on the throne, Virudhaka, the kingand his army marched to the Shakyan capital. The Buddha made a plea for mercy and asked thenew king to spare his kinsmen. But reminded by a Brahmin of his vow, he marched on againtwice. The Buddha intervened successfully three times by staying and waiting in the hot burningsun. This caused him a chronic headache for the rest of his life. The fourth time, however, TheBuddha dwelled somewhere further away. Doomed by the past deception and the king’sunabating hatred, 10.000 people of The Buddha’s clan were massacred. Eventually only onetenth of the Shakyas could escape (http://venyifa.blogspot.nl/2008/09/story-of-prince-virudhaka-massacre-of.html and http://fraughtwithperil.com/ryuei/2010/06/30/the-end-of-the-shakyas).

In the same year of the massacre The Buddha died probably due to eating poisonmushrooms served by the host of the company, a man from the hostile Jain sect. It has remained

http://venyifa.blogspot.nl/2008/09/story-of-prince-virudhaka-massacre-of.htmlhttp://venyifa.blogspot.nl/2008/09/story-of-prince-virudhaka-massacre-of.htmlhttp://fraughtwithperil.com/ryuei/2010/06/30/the-end-of-the-shakyas/http://fraughtwithperil.com/ryuei/2010/06/30/the-end-of-the-shakyas/http://fraughtwithperil.com/ryuei/2010/06/30/the-end-of-the-shakyas/http://fraughtwithperil.com/ryuei/2010/06/30/the-end-of-the-shakyas/http://venyifa.blogspot.nl/2008/09/story-of-prince-virudhaka-massacre-of.htmlhttp://venyifa.blogspot.nl/2008/09/story-of-prince-virudhaka-massacre-of.html


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unclear whether The Buddha was poisoned by this Jain black-smith who provided the meal andshelter or whether The Buddha’s “parinirvana” was just an unfortunate event. The Buddha’s passing away was in Kushinagar and took place under the shade of two sala trees which are thesame kind of trees he was born under when his mother delivered him eighty years ago. His lastdiscourse messaged that when he is no more, one needs to seek within oneself and remember his

words as a guide to reach the “further shore.” But one must make the effort oneself. His very lastadmonition was allegedly: “Strive on diligently in alert heartfulness!” ( Mahaparinibbana Sutta).Seek within oneself implies a psychology and self-therapy based on one’s own experience as ameasure for wholesomeness.

Spreading Buddhism

The Buddha was a peculiar teacher, a real brilliant, genius guru. Although his teaching can bedesignated as godly, he was not a god or a son of god, nor a prophet or a messiah. Having noconnection whatsoever with a god, he was no mystical or mythological figure either. He wasfallible as can be inferred from the above. Summarizing his being human even after awakening:

(1) He doubted whether or not to disseminate the Dhamma as it is quite difficult to understand;(2) He made a mistake, corrected by his father, by initiating his son who was under age; (3) Heinitially refused to accept women as bhikkhunis in the sangha; (4) He was no saint as he could beangry and called his cousin, who tried to kill him, names; (5) He did not perform miracles, prohibited his bhikkhus to engage in magic and being rational he only acknowledged the miracleof education; (6) Not discussed yet, in the 9th year of his mission he could not appease a conflictin the sangha which was about the water closet; (7) He could not prevent the Shakyas from beingmassacred in his seventees, despite his waiting in the burning sun and negociating; (8) Hesuffered since then from headaches; and (9) He could not foretell or prevent his own death by poisoning. These instances illustrate that The Buddha was a great teacher from whom we canlearn a lot even 2500 years after his passing away, but he was and remained a fallible human being during all his life, nothing more, nothing less.

Nonetheless, The Buddha was an extraordinary and unique man (acchariya manussa), ahuman being par excellence ( purisuttama). Excelling in being human, he embodied compassionand wisdom ( sasana). All his achievements can be attributed to human effort. Through personalexperience he understood the supremacy of man. Due to his own unremitting energy, unaided byany teacher, he achieved the highest intellectual attainment and mind’s MTN. Never claiming to be a savior who tried to save souls by means of a revelation or contact with a deity or a sky-god,his teachings cannot therefore be subsumed as a religion in the Abrahamic sense. Rejecting allforms of external power, he proved by his own experience that awakening lies fully within man’srange of potentialities. Enlightenment is within everyone’s reach as we all already inhere in buddhanature. Every one of us can make the appropriate effort, break the shackles of bondageand win freedom from attachment by self-exertion leading to insight and understanding how theend of emotional suffering, happiness, and unhappiness come about. This requires psychologicaltransformation, not religion. The Buddha was the first man in history who taught that liberationof psychological suffering can be attained without the aid of a divine power. This freedom will be gained by investing effort to direct intention and action toward wholesomeness.

How to overcome emotional suffering is to be discovered or rather uncovered byourselves in ourselves. The narrative of The Buddha’s awakening shows that he was a role modelfor practicing his teachings, but, pertinently, he is not someone to follow blindly. Helped by the


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Dharma, we can mirror and improve ourselves by using our own experience and judgment onwhat is wholesome or unwholesome. It was through perseverance and self-acquiredunderstanding that The Buddha proved the infinite possibility of man to emancipate towardawakening. No one can “purify” or free another and teachers can only provide guidance; theeffort has to be made by oneself. He did not promise anybody salvation by simply believing in

him. On the contrary, he advised his adepts to work out their own development through theirown commitment and labor to look inside and transform ourselves. To be sure, not claiming to be omniscient, he did not believe in miracles, except in the miracle of education (see alsoKalupahana, 2006, in www.taosinstitute.net/books-for-professionals#horizons%20).

During The Buddha’s time there were two predominant languages in NorthernJambudvipa (ancient name for the Indian subcontinent). One was Sanskrit, used by the highlyeducated, upper class and therefore it is a language that The Buddha also could speak. Sanskrithas survived as a language up until today, although mainly practised in written form particularlyfor religious documents. However, as the vernacular language of the region where The Buddhadwelled was Magadhi and as The Buddha, who wanted to stay close to the common people, hedelivered his talks in Magadhi. This language is quite similar to Pali, the language of the

Theravada scriptures. After being transmitted orally for six centuries, The Buddha’s talks werewritten down on palm leaves as from the year 29 BCE throughout the first century and becamescriptures. Writing things down on palm leaves was the usual way of recording at that time.Three seminal collections of literature came into being. The first basket (Vinaya) deals with rulesfor bhikkhus living in a commune where they study and commemorate texts. The second basket( Nikaya) deals with The Buddha’s and some of his excellent students’ discourses. The third basket ( Abhidhamma) is a body of work intended as interpretation of teachings in abstractedform which was made in over four centuries subsequent to The Buddha’s death and whichimpresses as being unfinished. The three bodies of written text material are collectively referredto as the Theravada Canon aggregating to ten times the Bible (Old and New Testaments). Withthe summary and commentaries authored by Buddhaghosa in the 5th century, original Theravadawritings came to an end. Theravada prevails in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,and parts of Bangladesh. Theravada is one out of eighteen Early Buddhist denominations; theseventeen others are extinct.

A few centuries after The Buddha’s death variations of this early tradition came into being which introduce metaphysical concepts from Ancient Indo-Greece (e.g. Apollo-TheBuddha), Brahmanism (e.g. Shiva-Avaloketishvara), and Zoroastrianism (e.g. Amitayus-Buddha-of-the-West). They came to enjoy wide acceptance as Mahayana in many parts of Asia,including China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia (presently a Theravada country) and later inSikkim, Bhutan, Tibet, Mongolia, Siberia, and on some major islands of the present Indonesia.Mahayana means Great Vehicle. Its adherents derogatorily call Theravada (“Teaching of theElders”)

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