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A statue of Gautama Buddha in Bodhgaya,India. Bodhgaya is traditionally considered

the place of his awakening[1]

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Buddhism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing avariety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based onteachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonlyknown as the Buddha (P!li/Sanskrit "the awakened one"). Itis classified as an Indian religion. The Buddha lived andtaught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent sometimebetween the 6th and 4th centuries BCE.[2] He is recognizedby adherents as an awakened teacher who shared hisinsights to help sentient beings end suffering (or dukkha),achieve nirvana, and escape what is seen as a cycle ofsuffering and rebirth.

Two major branches of Buddhism are recognized:Theravada ("The School of the Elders") and Mahayana("The Great Vehicle"). Theravada—the oldest survivingbranch—has a widespread following in Sri Lanka andSoutheast Asia, and Mahayana is found throughout EastAsia and includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, NichirenBuddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, Tendai andShinnyo-en. In some classifications Vajrayana, asubcategory of Mahayana, is recognized as a third branch.While Buddhism remains most popular within Asia, bothbranches are now found throughout the world. Varioussources put the number of Buddhists in the world atbetween 230 million and 500 million,[3] making it the world's fourth-largestreligion.

Buddhist schools vary significantly on the exact nature of the path toliberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures,and especially their respective practices.[4] The foundations of Buddhisttradition and practice are the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (theteachings), and the Sangha (the community).[5][6] Taking "refuge in thetriple gem" has traditionally been a declaration and commitment to being onthe Buddhist path and in general distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-Buddhist.[7] Other practices may include following ethical precepts, supportof the monastic community, renouncing conventional living and becoming amonastic, meditation (this category includes mindfulness), cultivation ofhigher wisdom and discernment, study of scriptures, devotional practices,ceremonies, and in the Mahayana tradition, invocation of buddhas andbodhisattvas.

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Gautama BuddhaDisciples · Later Buddhists

Dharma or concepts

Four Noble TruthsNoble Eightfold Path

Three marks of existenceDependent origination

Sa"s!ra · Nirv!#aSkandha · Cosmology

Karma · Rebirth

Practices and attainment

Buddhahood · Bodhisattva4 stages of enlightenment

Wisdom · MeditationSmarana · Precepts · P!ramit!s

Three Jewels · MonasticsLaity

Countries and regions

Schools

Therav!da · Mah!y!naVajray!na

Texts

Chinese canon · Pali canonTibetan canon

Related topics

Comparative studies

Cultural elements

Criticism

Contents

1 Life of the Buddha2 Buddhist concepts

2.1 Life and the world2.1.1 Karma as the law of cause and effect2.1.2 Rebirth2.1.3 The cycle of sa"s!ra

2.2 Suffering's causes and solution2.2.1 The Four Noble Truths2.2.2 The Noble Eightfold Path2.2.3 Middle Way

2.3 The way things are2.3.1 Impermanence, suffering and not-self2.3.2 Dependent arising2.3.3 Emptiness2.3.4 Speculation versus direct experience in Buddhistepistemology

2.4 Liberation2.4.1 Nirvana2.4.2 Buddhas

2.4.2.1 Theravada2.4.2.2 Mahayana2.4.2.3 Buddha eras

2.4.3 Bodhisattvas

3 Practice3.1 Devotion

3.1.1 Refuge in the Three Jewels

3.2 Buddhist ethics3.3 Monastic life3.4 Meditation

3.4.1 Sam!dhi (meditative cultivation): samathameditation

3.4.1.1 In Therav!da

3.4.2 Prajñ! (Wisdom): vipassana meditation3.4.3 Zen3.4.4 Vajrayana and Tantra

4 History4.1 Philosophical roots4.2 Indian Buddhism

4.2.1 Pre-sectarian Buddhism4.2.2 Early Buddhist schools4.2.3 Early Mahayana Buddhism4.2.4 Late Mahayana Buddhism4.2.5 Vajrayana (Esoteric Buddhism)

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Ascetic Gautama with his five companions, wholater comprised the first Sangha. Wall painting in a

Laotian temple

4.3 The early development of Buddhism4.4 Buddhism today

5 Schools and traditions5.1 Timeline5.2 Theravada school5.3 Mahayana school5.4 Vajrayana school

6 Buddhist texts6.1 P!li Tipitaka6.2 Mahayana Sutras

7 Comparative studies7.1 List of Buddhism related topics in comparative studies

8 See also9 Footnotes10 References

10.1 Online

11 External links

Life of the Buddha

Main article: Gautama Buddha

The evidence of the early texts suggests that theBuddha was born in a community that was on theperiphery, both geographically and culturally, of fifthcentury BCE northeast India. This community seemsto have had two categories of people, masters andservants. It was either a small republic, in which casehis father was an elected chieftain or an oligarchy, inwhich case his father was an oligarch.

This community was likely not yet absorbed intoBrahmanical culture (the tradition that would evolveinto Hinduism),[8] and it is even possible that theBuddha's mother tongue was not Indo-Aryan.Following the Buddha's death, Buddhist traditionbuilt up an alternative biography and mythologized some aspects of his early life.

According to the Theravada Tipitaka scriptures (from Pali, meaning "three baskets"), the Buddha was bornin Lumbini, around the year 563 BCE, and raised in Kapilavastu, both in modern-day Nepal.[9][10]

According to this narrative, shortly after the birth of young prince Siddhartha Gautama, an astrologervisited the young prince's father—King $uddhodana—and prophesied that Siddhartha would either becomea great king or renounce the material world to become a holy man, depending on whether he saw what lifewas like outside the palace walls.

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$uddhodana was determined to see his son become a king so he prevented him from leaving the palacegrounds. But at age 29, despite his father's efforts, Siddhartha ventured beyond the palace several times. Ina series of encounters—known in Buddhist literature as the four sights he learned of the suffering ofordinary people, encountering an old man, a sick man, a corpse and, finally, an ascetic holy man,apparently content and at peace with the world. These experiences prompted Gautama to abandon royal lifeand take up a spiritual quest.

Gautama first went to study with famous religious teachers of the day, and mastered the meditativeattainments they taught. But he found that they did not provide a permanent end to suffering, so hecontinued his quest. He next attempted an extreme asceticism, which was a religious pursuit commonamong the Shramanas, a religious culture distinct from the Vedic one. Gautama underwent prolongedfasting, breath-holding, and exposure to pain. He almost starved himself to death in the process. He realizedthat he had taken this kind of practice to its limit, and had not put an end to suffering. So in a pivotalmoment he accepted milk and rice from a village girl and changed his approach. He devoted himself toanapanasati meditation, through which he discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way ("madhyam

path"): a path of moderation between the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.

Gautama was now determined to complete his spiritual quest. At the age of 35, he famously sat inmeditation under a sacred fig tree — known as the Bodhi tree — in the town of Bodh Gaya, India, andvowed not to rise before achieving enlightenment. After many days, he finally destroyed the fetters of hismind, thereby liberating himself from the cycle of suffering and rebirth, and arose as a fully enlightenedbeing. Soon thereafter, he attracted a band of followers and instituted a monastic order. Now, as theBuddha, he spent the rest of his life teaching the path of awakening he discovered, traveling throughout thenortheastern part of the Indian subcontinent,[11][12] and died at the age of 80 (483 BCE) in Kushinagar,India.

The above narrative draws on the early scriptures. However, later texts, such as the Mahayana Lalitavistara

Sutra, give different accounts.

Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life. Most acceptthat he lived, taught and founded a monastic order but do not consistently accept all of the details containedin his biographies.[13][14] According to author Michael Carrithers, while there are good reasons to doubt thetraditional account, "the outline of the life must be true: birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakeningand liberation, teaching, death."[15]

In writing her biography of Buddha, Karen Armstrong noted, "It is obviously difficult, therefore, to write abiography of the Buddha that will meet modern criteria, because we have very little information that can beconsidered historically sound... [but] we can be reasonably confident Siddhatta Gotama did indeed existand that his disciples preserved the memory of his life and teachings as well as they could"[16]

Buddhist concepts

Main article: Buddhist terms and concepts

Life and the world

Karma as the law of cause and effect

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Traditional Tibetan BuddhistThangka depicting the "Wheel

of Life" with its six realms

Karma as the law of cause and effect

Main article: Karma in Buddhism

Karma (from Sanskrit: "action, work") in Buddhism is the force thatdrives sa"s!ra—the cycle of suffering and rebirth for each being. Good,skillful deeds (P!li: "kusala") and bad, unskillful (P!li: "akusala") actionsproduce "seeds" in the mind which come to fruition either in this life orin a subsequent rebirth.[17] The avoidance of unwholesome actions andthe cultivation of positive actions is called %&la (from Sanskrit: "ethicalconduct").

In Buddhism, karma specifically refers to those actions (of body, speech,and mind) that spring from mental intent ("cetana"),[18] and which bringabout a consequence (or fruit, "phala") or result ("vip!ka"). Every time aperson acts there is some quality of intention at the base of the mind andit is that quality rather than the outward appearance of the action thatdetermines its effect[citation needed].

In Theravada Buddhism there can be no divine salvation or forgiveness for one's karma, since it is a purelyimpersonal process that is a part of the makeup of the universe. Some Mahayana traditions hold differentviews. For example, the texts of certain Mahayana sutras (such as the Lotus Sutra, the Angulimaliya Sutra

and the Nirvana Sutra) claim that reciting or merely hearing their texts can expunge great swathes ofnegative karma. Some forms of Buddhism (for example, Vajrayana) regard the recitation of mantras as ameans for cutting off previous negative karma.[19] The Japanese Pure Land teacher Genshin taught thatAmida Buddha has the power to destroy the karma that would otherwise bind one in sa"s!ra.[20][21]

Rebirth

Main article: Rebirth (Buddhism)

Rebirth refers to a process whereby beings go through a succession of lifetimes as one of many possibleforms of sentient life, each running from conception[22] to death. Buddhism rejects the concepts of apermanent self or an unchanging, eternal soul, as it is called in Hinduism and Christianity. According toBuddhism there ultimately is no such thing as a self independent from the rest of the universe (the doctrineof anatta). Rebirth in subsequent existences must be understood as the continuation of a dynamic, ever-changing process of "dependent arising" ("prat&tyasamutp!da") determined by the laws of cause and effect(karma) rather than that of one being, transmigrating or incarnating from one existence to the next.

Each rebirth takes place within one of five realms according to Theravadins, or six according to otherschools.[23][24] These are further subdivided into 31 planes of existence:[25]

1. Naraka beings: those who live in one of many Narakas (Hells)2. Preta: sometimes sharing some space with humans, but invisible to most people; an important variety

is the hungry ghost[26]

3. Animals: sharing space with humans, but considered another type of life4. Human beings: one of the realms of rebirth in which attaining Nirvana is possible5. Asuras: variously translated as lowly deities, demons, titans, antigods; not recognized by Therav!da

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5. Asuras: variously translated as lowly deities, demons, titans, antigods; not recognized by Therav!da(Mahavihara) tradition as a separate realm[27]

6. Devas including Brahmas: variously translated as gods, deities, spirits, angels, or left untranslated

Rebirths in some of the higher heavens, known as the $uddh!v!sa Worlds (Pure Abodes), can be attainedonly by skilled Buddhist practitioners known as an!g!mis (non-returners). Rebirths in the arupa-dhatu(formless realms) can be attained only by those who can meditate on the ar'pajh!nas, the highest object ofmeditation.

According to East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism, there is an intermediate state (Tibetan "Bardo") betweenone life and the next. The orthodox Theravada position rejects this; however there are passages in theSamyutta Nikaya of the Pali Canon (the collection of texts on which the Theravada tradition is based), thatseem to lend support to the idea that the Buddha taught of an intermediate stage between one life and thenext.[28][29]

The cycle of sa!s"ra

Main article: Sa!s"ra (Buddhism)

Sentient beings crave pleasure and are averse to pain from birth to death. In being controlled by theseattitudes, they perpetuate the cycle of conditioned existence and suffering (sa"s!ra), and produce thecauses and conditions of the next rebirth after death. Each rebirth repeats this process in an involuntarycycle, which Buddhists strive to end by eradicating these causes and conditions, applying the methods laidout by the Buddha and subsequent Buddhists.

Suffering's causes and solution

The Four Noble Truths

Main article: Four Noble Truths

According to the Pali Tipitaka[30] and the (gamas of other early Buddhist schools, the Four Noble Truthswere the first teaching of Gautama Buddha after attaining Nirvana. They are sometimes considered tocontain the essence of the Buddha's teachings:

1. Life as we know it ultimately is or leads to suffering/uneasiness (dukkha) in one way or another.2. Suffering is caused by craving. This is often expressed as a deluded clinging to a certain sense of

existence, to selfhood, or to the things or phenomena that we consider the cause of happiness orunhappiness. Craving also has its negative aspect, i.e. one craves that a certain state of affairs notexist.

3. Suffering ends when craving ends. This is achieved by eliminating delusion, thereby reaching aliberated state of Enlightenment (bodhi);

4. Reaching this liberated state is achieved by following the path laid out by the Buddha.

This method is described by early Western scholars, and taught as an introduction to Buddhism by somecontemporary Mahayana teachers (for example, the Dalai Lama).[31]

According to other interpretations by Buddhist teachers and scholars, lately recognized by some Westernnon-Buddhist scholars,[32] the "truths" do not represent mere statements, but are categories or aspects thatmost worldly phenomena fall into, grouped in two:

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The Dharmachakra represents theNoble Eightfold Path.

most worldly phenomena fall into, grouped in two:

1. Suffering and causes of suffering2. Cessation and the paths towards liberation from suffering.

Thus, according to the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism[33] they are

1. "The noble truth that is suffering"2. "The noble truth that is the arising of suffering"3. "The noble truth that is the end of suffering"4. "The noble truth that is the way leading to the end of suffering"

The early teaching[34] and the traditional Theravada understanding[35] is that the Four Noble Truths are anadvanced teaching for those who are ready for them. The East Asian Mahayana position is that they are apreliminary teaching for people not yet ready for the higher and more expansive Mahayana teachings.[36]

They are little known in the Far East.[37] Within the Nalanda/Tibetan tradition of Mahayana Buddhism, theFour Noble Truths remain essential to the path.[38]

The Noble Eightfold Path

Main article: Noble Eightfold Path

The Noble Eightfold Path—the fourth of the Buddha's NobleTruths—is the way to the cessation of suffering (dukkha). It haseight sections, each starting with the word "samyak" (Sanskrit,meaning "correctly", "properly", or "well", frequently translated intoEnglish as "right"), and presented in three groups known as the threehigher trainings. (NB: P!li transliterations appear in brackets afterSanskrit ones):

Prajñ" is the wisdom that purifies the mind, allowing it toattain spiritual insight into the true nature of all things. Itincludes:

1. d)*+i (ditthi): viewing reality as it is, not just as it appears tobe.

2. sa"kalpa (sankappa): intention of renunciation, freedom andharmlessness.

#$la is the ethics or morality, or abstention from unwholesome deeds. It includes:

3. v!c (v!ca): speaking in a truthful and non-hurtful way4. karman (kammanta): acting in a non-harmful way5. !j&vana (!j&va): a non-harmful livelihood

Sam"dhi is the mental discipline required to develop mastery over one’s own mind. This is donethrough the practice of various contemplative and meditative practices, and includes:

6. vy!y!ma (v!y!ma): making an effort to improve7. sm)ti (sati): awareness to see things for what they are with clear consciousness, being aware of the

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Debating monks at SeraMonastery, Tibet

present reality within oneself, without any craving or aversion8. sam!dhi (sam!dhi): correct meditation or concentration, explained as the first four jh!nas

The practice of the Eightfold Path is understood in two ways, as requiring either simultaneous development(all eight items practiced in parallel), or as a progressive series of stages through which the practitionermoves, the culmination of one leading to the beginning of another.

The Eightfold Path is little known in the Far East.[39]

Middle Way

Main article: Middle Way

An important guiding principle of Buddhist practice is the Middle Way (or Middle Path), which is said tohave been discovered by Gautama Buddha prior to his enlightenment. The Middle Way has severaldefinitions:

1. The practice of non-extremism: a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence andself-mortification

2. The middle ground between certain metaphysical views (for example, that things ultimately either door do not exist)[40]

3. An explanation of Nirvana (perfect enlightenment), a state wherein it becomes clear that all dualitiesapparent in the world are delusory (see Seongcheol)

4. Another term for emptiness, the ultimate nature of all phenomena (in the Mahayana branch), a lack ofinherent existence, which avoids the extremes of permanence and nihilism or inherent existence andnothingness

The way things are

Buddhist scholars have produced a remarkable quantity of intellectualtheories, philosophies and world view concepts (see, for example,Abhidharma, Buddhist philosophy and Reality in Buddhism). Some schoolsof Buddhism discourage doctrinal study, and some regard it as essential, butmost regard it as having a place, at least for some persons at some stages inBuddhist practice.

In the earliest Buddhist teachings, shared to some extent by all extantschools, the concept of liberation (Nirvana)—the goal of the Buddhist path—is closely related to the correct understanding of how the mind causesstress. In awakening to the true nature of clinging, one develops dispassionfor the objects of clinging, and is liberated from suffering (dukkha) and thecycle of incessant rebirths (sa"s!ra). To this end, the Buddha recommendedviewing things as characterized by the three marks of existence.

Impermanence, suffering and not-self

Main article: Three marks of existence

Anicca (P!li for "inconstancy", usually translated as impermanence) is one of the three marks of existence.The term expresses the Buddhist notion that all compounded or conditioned phenomena (all things and

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The term expresses the Buddhist notion that all compounded or conditioned phenomena (all things andexperiences) are inconstant, unsteady, and impermanent. Everything we can experience through our sensesis made up of parts, and its existence is dependent on external conditions. Everything is in constant flux,and so conditions and the thing itself are constantly changing. Things are constantly coming into being, andceasing to be. Since nothing lasts, there is no inherent or fixed nature to any object or experience.

According to the impermanence doctrine, human life embodies this flux in the aging process, the cycle ofrebirth (sa"s!ra), and in any experience of loss. The doctrine asserts that because things are impermanent,attachment to them is futile and leads to suffering (dukkha).

Suffering or dukkha (P!li !"#; Sanskrit !$# du,kha, which according to grammatical tradition derivedfrom dus-kha "uneasy", but according to Monier-Williams more likely a Prakritized form of dus-stha"unsteady, disquieted") is a central concept in Buddhism. The word roughly corresponds to a number ofterms in English including suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness, sorrow, affliction, anxiety, dissatisfaction,discomfort, anguish, stress, misery, and frustration. Although dukkha is often translated as "suffering", itsphilosophical meaning is more analogous to "disquietude" as in the condition of being disturbed. As such,"suffering" is too narrow a translation with "negative emotional connotations"[41] which can give theimpression that the Buddhist view is one of pessimism, but Buddhism seeks to be neither pessimistic noroptimistic, but realistic. Thus in English-language Buddhist literature "dukkha" is often left untranslated, soas to encompass its full range of meaning.[42][43][44]

Anatta (P!li) or an!tman (Sanskrit) refers to the notion of "not-self". Upon careful examination, one findsthat no phenomenon is really "I" or "mine"; these concepts are in fact constructed by the mind. In theNikayas anatta is not meant as a metaphysical assertion, but as an approach for gaining release fromsuffering. In fact, the Buddha rejected both of the metaphysical assertions "I have a Self" and "I have noSelf" as ontological views that bind one to suffering.[45] When asked if the self was identical with the body,the Buddha refused to answer. By analyzing the constantly changing physical and mental constituents(skandhas) of a person or object, the practitioner comes to the conclusion that neither the respective partsnor the person as a whole comprise a self.

Dependent arising

Main article: Prat#tyasamutp"da

The doctrine of prat&tyasamutp!da (Sanskrit; Pali: paticcasamupp!da; Tibetan: rten.cing.'brel.bar.'byung.ba;Chinese: 緣起) is an important part of Buddhist metaphysics. It states that phenomena arise together in amutually interdependent web of cause and effect. It is variously rendered into English as "dependentorigination", "conditioned genesis", "dependent co-arising", "interdependent arising", or "contingency".

The best-known application of the concept of prat&tyasamutp!da is the scheme of Twelve Nid!nas (fromP!li "nid!na" meaning "cause, foundation, source or origin"), which explain the continuation of the cycle ofsuffering and rebirth (sa"s!ra) in detail.[46]

Main article: Twelve Nid"nas

The Twelve Nid!nas describe a causal connection between the subsequent characteristics or conditions ofcyclic existence, each one giving rise to the next:

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1. Avidy!: ignorance, specifically spiritual ignorance of the nature of reality[47]

2. Sa"sk!ras: literally formations, explained as referring to karma3. Vijñ!na: consciousness, specifically discriminative[48]

4. N!mar'pa: literally name and form, referring to mind and body[49]

5. -a.!yatana: the six sense bases: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind-organ6. Spar%a: variously translated contact, impression, stimulation (by a sense object)7. Vedan!: usually translated feeling: this is the "hedonic tone", i.e. whether something is pleasant,

unpleasant or neutral8. T)*#!: literally thirst, but in Buddhism nearly always used to mean craving9. Up!d!na: clinging or grasping; the word also means fuel, which feeds the continuing cycle of rebirth

10. Bhava: literally being (existence) or becoming. (The Theravada explains this as having twomeanings: karma, which produces a new existence, and the existence itself.)[50]

11. J!ti: literally birth, but life is understood as starting at conception[51]

12. Jar!mara#a: (old age and death) and also %okaparidevadu,khadaurmanasyop!y!sa (sorrow,lamentation, pain, sadness, and misery)

Sentient beings always suffer throughout sa"s!ra, until they free themselves from this suffering byattaining Nirvana. Then the absence of the first Nid!na—ignorance—leads to the absence of the others.

Emptiness

Main article: $%nyat"

Mahayana Buddhism received significant theoretical grounding from Nagarjuna (perhaps c. 150–250 CE),arguably the most influential scholar within the Mahayana tradition. Nagarjuna's primary contribution toBuddhist philosophy was the systematic exposition of the concept of %'nyat!, or "emptiness," widelyattested in the Prajñ"p"ramit" sutras which were emergent in his era. The concept of emptiness bringstogether other key Buddhist doctrines, particularly anatta and prat&tyasamutp!da (dependent origination), torefute the metaphysics of Sarvastivada and Sautrantika (extinct non-Mahayana schools). For Nagarjuna, itis not merely sentient beings that are empty of !tman; all phenomena (dharmas) are without any svabhava(literally "own-nature" or "self-nature"), and thus without any underlying essence; they are "empty" ofbeing independent; thus the heterodox theories of svabhava circulating at the time were refuted on the basisof the doctrines of early Buddhism. Nagarjuna's school of thought is known as the M!dhyamaka. Some ofthe writings attributed to Nagarjuna made explicit references to Mahayana texts, but his philosophy wasargued within the parameters set out by the agamas. He may have arrived at his positions from a desire toachieve a consistent exegesis of the Buddha's doctrine as recorded in the Canon. In the eyes of Nagarjunathe Buddha was not merely a forerunner, but the very founder of the M!dhyamaka system.[52]

Sarvastivada teachings—which were criticized by N!g!rjuna—were reformulated by scholars such asVasubandhu and Asanga and were adapted into the Yogacara (Sanskrit: yoga practice) school. While theM!dhyamaka school held that asserting the existence or non-existence of any ultimately real thing wasinappropriate, some exponents of Yogacara asserted that the mind and only the mind is ultimately real (adoctrine known as cittamatra). Not all Yogacarins asserted that mind was truly existent; Vasubandhu andAsanga in particular did not.[53] These two schools of thought, in opposition or synthesis, form the basis ofsubsequent Mahayana metaphysics in the Indo-Tibetan tradition.

Besides emptiness, Mahayana schools often place emphasis on the notions of perfected spiritual insight(prajñ!p!ramit!) and Buddha-nature (tath!gatagarbha, meaning "Buddha embryo" or "Buddha-matrix").According to the Tath"gatagarbha Sutras, the Buddha revealed the reality of the deathless Buddha-nature,

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According to the Tath"gatagarbha Sutras, the Buddha revealed the reality of the deathless Buddha-nature,which is said to be inherent in all sentient beings and enables them all eventually to reach completeenlightenment, i.e. Buddhahood. Buddha-nature is stated in the Mahayana Angulimaliya Sutra andMahaparinirvana Sutra to not be %'nya, but to be replete with eternal Buddhic virtues. In theTath"gatagarbha Sutras the Buddha is portrayed proclaiming that the teaching of the tath!gatagarbhaconstitutes the "absolutely final culmination" of his Dharma—the highest presentation of truth (other s'trasmake similar statements about other teachings) and it has traditionally been regarded as the highest teachingin East Asian Buddhism. However, in modern China all doctrines are regarded as equally valid.[54] TheMahayana can also on occasion communicate a vision of the Buddha or Dharma which amounts tomysticism and gives expression to a form of mentalist panentheism (see God in Buddhism).

Speculation versus direct experience in Buddhist epistemology

Decisive in distinguishing Buddhism from other schools of Indian philosophy is the issue ofepistemological justification. While all schools of Indian logic recognize various sets of valid justificationsfor knowledge (pramana) Buddhism recognizes a smaller set than do the others. All accept perception andinference, for example, but for some schools of Buddhism the received textual tradition is an equally validepistemological category.[55]

According to the scriptures, during his lifetime the Buddha remained silent when asked severalmetaphysical questions. These regarded issues such as whether the universe is eternal or non-eternal (orwhether it is finite or infinite), the unity or separation of the body and the self, the complete inexistence of aperson after Nirvana and death, and others. One explanation for this silence is that such questions distractfrom activity that is practical to realizing enlightenment[56] and bring about the danger of substituting theexperience of liberation by conceptual understanding of the doctrine or by religious faith.[57] Anotherexplanation is that both affirmative and negative positions regarding these questions are based onattachment to and misunderstanding of the aggregates and senses. That is, when one sees these things forwhat they are, the idea of forming positions on such metaphysical questions simply does not occur toone.[58] Another closely related explanation is that reality is devoid of designations, or empty, and thereforelanguage itself is a priori inadequate.[59]

Thus, the Buddha's silence does not indicate misology or disdain for philosophy. Rather, it indicates that heviewed these questions as not leading to true knowledge.[59] Dependent arising provides a framework foranalysis of reality that is not based on metaphysical assumptions regarding existence or non-existence, butinstead on direct cognition of phenomena as they are presented to the mind. This informs and supports theBuddhist approach to liberation via the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Buddha of the earliest Buddhists texts describes Dharma (in the sense of "truth") as "beyondreasoning" or "transcending logic", in the sense that reasoning is a subjectively introduced aspect of theway humans perceive things, and the conceptual framework which underpins it is a part of the cognitiveprocess, rather than a feature of things as they really are. Being "beyond reasoning" means in this contextpenetrating the nature of reasoning from the inside, and removing the causes for experiencing any futurestress as a result of it, rather than functioning outside of the system as a whole.[60]

Most Buddhists agree that, to a greater or lesser extent, words are inadequate to describe the goal of theBuddhist path, but concerning the usefulness of words in the path itself, schools differ radically.[61]

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In the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha insists that while pondering upon Dharma is vital,one must then relinquish fixation on words and letters, as these are utterly divorced from liberation and theBuddha-nature. The Tibetan tantra entitled the "All-Creating King" (Kunjed Gyalpo Tantra) alsoemphasizes how Buddhist truth lies beyond the range of discursive/verbal thought and is ultimatelymysterious. Samantabhadra, states there: "The mind of perfect purity ... is beyond thinking andinexplicable..."[62] Also later, the famous Indian Buddhist practitioner and teacher, mahasiddha Tilopadiscouraged any intellectual activity in his six words of advice.

Professor C. D. Sebastian describes the nature of enlightenment according to one Mahayana text:[63]

Bodhi is the final goal of a Bodhisattva's career and it is indicated by such words as buddha-

jnana (knowledge of Buddha), sarvjnata (omniscience), sarvakarajnata (the quality ofknowing things as they are), ... and acintyam jnanam (inconceivable knowledge) ... Bodhi ispure universal and immediate knowledge, which extends over all time, all universes, all beingsand elements, conditioned and unconditioned. It is absolute and identical with Reality and thusit is Tathata. Bodhi is immaculate and non-conceptual, and it, being not an outer object, cannotbe understood by discursive thought. It has neither beginning, nor middle nor end and it isindivisbile. It is non-dual (advayam)... The only possible way to comprehend it is throughsamadhi by the yogin

The early texts, in contrast, contain explicit repudiations of attributing omniscience to the Buddha.[64][65]

Furthermore, the non-duality ascribed to the nature of enlightenment in the early texts is not ontological.[66]

Mahayana often adopts a pragmatic concept of truth:[67] doctrines are "true" in the sense of beingspiritually beneficial. In modern Chinese Buddhism, all doctrinal traditions are regarded as equallyvalid.[54]

Theravada promotes the concept of vibhajjavada (P!li, literally "Teaching of Analysis") to non-Buddhists.This doctrine says that insight must come from the aspirant's experience, critical investigation, andreasoning instead of by blind faith. As the Buddha said according to the canonical scriptures:[68]

Do not accept anything by mere tradition ... Do not accept anything just because it accords withyour scriptures ... Do not accept anything merely because it agrees with your pre-conceivednotions ... But when you know for yourselves—these things are moral, these things areblameless, these things are praised by the wise, these things, when performed and undertaken,conduce to well-being and happiness—then do you live acting accordingly.

Liberation

Nirvana

Main article: Nirvana

Nirvana (Sanskrit; Pali: "Nibbana") means "cessation", "extinction" (ofcraving and ignorance and therefore suffering and the cycle of involuntaryrebirths (sa"s!ra), "extinguished", "quieted", "calmed"; it is also known as"Awakening" or "Enlightenment" in the West. The term for anybody whohas achieved nirvana, including the Buddha, is arahant.

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Mahabodhi temple inBodhgaya, India, where

Gautama Buddha attainedNirvana under the Bodhi

Tree (left)

Gautama Buddha, 1stcentury CE, Gandhara

Bodhi (P!li and Sanskrit, in devanagari: %&'() is a term applied to the

experience of Awakening of arahants. Bodhi literally means "awakening",but it is more commonly translated into English as "enlightenment". InEarly Buddhism, bodhi carried a meaning synonymous to nirvana, usingonly some different metaphors to describe the experience, which impliesthe extinction of raga (greed, craving),[69] dosa (hate, aversion)[70] andmoha (delusion).[71] In the later school of Mahayana Buddhism, the statusof nirvana was downgraded in some scriptures, coming to refer only to theextinction of greed and hate, implying that delusion was still present in one

who attained nirvana, and that one needed to attain bodhi to eradicate delusion:

An important development in the Mahayana [was] that it came to separate nirvana from bodhi('awakening' to the truth, Enlightenment), and to put a lower value on the former (Gombrich,1992d). Originally nirvana and bodhi refer to the same thing; they merely use differentmetaphors for the experience. But the Mahayana tradition separated them and considered thatnirvana referred only to the extinction of craving (passion and hatred), with the resultant escapefrom the cycle of rebirth. This interpretation ignores the third fire, delusion: the extinction ofdelusion is of course in the early texts identical with what can be positively expressed asgnosis, Enlightenment.

—Richard F. Gombrich, How Buddhism Began[72]

Therefore, according to Mahayana Buddhism, the arahant has attained only nirvana, thus still being subjectto delusion, while the bodhisattva not only achieves nirvana but full liberation from delusion as well. Hethus attains bodhi and becomes a buddha. In Theravada Buddhism, bodhi and nirvana carry the samemeaning as in the early texts, that of being freed from greed, hate and delusion.

The term parinirvana is also encountered in Buddhism, and this generally refers to the complete nirvana

attained by the arhat at the moment of death, when the physical body expires.

Buddhas

Main article: Buddhahood

Theravada

In Theravada doctrine, a person may awaken from the "sleep of ignorance" bydirectly realizing the true nature of reality; such people are called arahants andoccasionally buddhas. After numerous lifetimes of spiritual striving, they havereached the end of the cycle of rebirth, no longer reincarnating as human,animal, ghost, or other being. The commentaries to the Pali Canon classifythese awakened beings into three types:

Sammasambuddha, usually just called Buddha, who discovers the truthby himself and teaches the path to awakening to othersPaccekabuddha, who discovers the truth by himself but lacks the skill toteach othersSavakabuddha, who receive the truth directly or indirectly from aSammasambuddha

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The Great Statue ofBuddha Amitabha in

Kamakura, Japan

Bodhi and nirvana carry the same meaning, that of being freed from craving,hate, and delusion. In attaining bodhi, the arahant has overcome these obstacles. As a further distinction,the extinction of only hatred and greed (in the sensory context) with some residue of delusion, is calledanagami.

Mahayana

In the Mahayana, the Buddha tends not to be viewed as merely human, but asthe earthly projection of a beginningless and endless, omnipresent being (seeDharmakaya) beyond the range and reach of thought. Moreover, in certainMahayana sutras, the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are viewed essentially asOne: all three are seen as the eternal Buddha himself.

Celestial Buddhas are individuals who no longer exist on the material plane ofexistence, but who still aid in the enlightenment of all beings.

Nirvana came to refer only to the extinction of greed and hate, implying thatdelusion was still present in one who attained Nirvana. Bodhi became ahigher attainment that eradicates delusion entirely.[72] Thus, the Arahant

attains Nirvana but not Bodhi, thus still being subject to delusion, while theBuddha attains Bodhi.

The method of self-exertion or "self-power"—without reliance on an externalforce or being—stands in contrast to another major form of Buddhism, PureLand, which is characterised by utmost trust in the salvific "other-power" of

Amitabha Buddha. Pure Land Buddhism is a very widespread and perhaps the most faith-orientatedmanifestation of Buddhism and centres upon the conviction that faith in Amitabha Buddha and the chantingof homage to his name will liberate one at death into the "happy land" (安樂) or "pure land" (淨土) ofAmitabha Buddha. This Buddhic realm is variously construed as a foretaste of Nirvana, or as essentiallyNirvana itself. The great vow of Amitabha Buddha to rescue all beings from samsaric suffering is viewedwithin Pure Land Buddhism as universally efficacious, if only one has faith in the power of that vow orchants his name.

Nearly all Chinese Buddhists accept that the chances of attaining sufficient enlightenment by one's ownefforts are very slim, so that Pure Land practice is essential as an "insurance policy" even if one practisessomething else.[73]

Buddha eras

Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha was the first to achieve enlightenment in this Buddha era and istherefore credited with the establishment of Buddhism. A Buddha era is the stretch of history during whichpeople remember and practice the teachings of the earliest known Buddha. This Buddha era will end whenall the knowledge, evidence and teachings of Gautama Buddha have vanished. This belief thereforemaintains that many Buddha eras have started and ended throughout the course of human existence.[74][75]

The Gautama Buddha, then, is the Buddha of this era, who taught directly or indirectly to all other Buddhasin it (see types of Buddhas).

In addition, Mahayana Buddhists believe there are innumerable other Buddhas in other universes.[76] ATheravada commentary says that Buddhas arise one at a time in this world element, and not at all in

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Theravada commentary says that Buddhas arise one at a time in this world element, and not at all inothers.[77]

The idea of the decline and gradual disappearance of the teaching has been influential in East AsianBuddhism. Pure Land Buddhism holds that it has declined to the point where few, if any, are capable offollowing the path, so most or all must rely on the power of the Buddha Amitabha. Zen and Nichirentraditionally hold that most are incapable of following the "complicated" paths of some other schools andpresent what they view as a simple practice instead.

Bodhisattvas

Main article: Bodhisattvas

Mahayana Buddhism puts great emphasis and, in fact, encourages anybody to follow the path of aBodhisattva.

Bodhisattva means either "enlightened (bodhi) existence (sattva)" or "enlightenment-being" or, given thevariant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one (satva) for enlightenment (bodhi)".Another translation is "Wisdom-Being".[78]

The various divisions of Buddhism understand the word Bodhisattva in different ways. Theravada and someMahayana sources consider a Bodhisattva as someone on the path to Buddhahood, while other Mahayanasources speak of Bodhisattvas renouncing Buddhahood,[79][80] but especially in Mahayana Buddhism, itmainly refers to a being that compassionately refrains from entering nirvana in order to save others. So theBodhisattva is a person who already has a considerable degree of enlightenment and seeks to use theirwisdom to help other sentient beings to become liberated themselves.

While Theravada regards it as an option, Mahayana encourages everyone to follow a Bodhisattva path andto take the Bodhisattva vows. With these vows, one makes the promise to work for the completeenlightenment of all sentient beings.

A famous saying by the 8th-century Indian Buddhist scholar-saint Shantideva, which the 14th Dalai Lamaoften cites as his favourite verse, summarizes the Bodhisattva's intention (Bodhicitta) as follows: "For aslong as space endures, and for as long as living beings remain, until then may I too abide to dispel themisery of the world."

According to the Mahayana, a Bodhisattva practices in the six perfections: giving, morality, patience,joyous effort, concentration and wisdom.

Practice

Devotion

Main article: Buddhist devotion

Devotion is an important part of the practice of most Buddhists.[81] Devotional practices include bowing,offerings, pilgrimage, and chanting. In Pure Land Buddhism, devotion to the Buddha Amitabha is the mainpractice. In Nichiren Buddhism, devotion to the Lotus Sutra is the main practice.

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Footprint of the Buddhawith Dharmachakra andtriratna, 1st century CE,

Gandh!ra.

Refuge in the Three Jewels

Main articles: Refuge (Buddhism) and Three Jewels

Traditionally, the first step in most Buddhist schools requires taking refugein the Three Jewels (Sanskrit: tri-ratna, P!li: ti-ratana)[82] as thefoundation of one's religious practice. The practice of taking refuge onbehalf of young or even unborn children is mentioned[83] in the Majjhima

Nikaya, recognized by most scholars as an early text (cf. Infant baptism).Tibetan Buddhism sometimes adds a fourth refuge, in the lama. InMahayana, the person who chooses the bodhisattva path makes a vow orpledge, considered the ultimate expression of compassion. In Mahayana,too, the Three Jewels are perceived as possessed of an eternal andunchanging essence and as having an irreversible effect: "The Three Jewelshave the quality of excellence. Just as real jewels never change their facultyand goodness, whether praised or reviled, so are the Three Jewels (Refuges),because they have an eternal and immutable essence. These Three Jewelsbring a fruition that is changeless, for once one has reached Buddhahood,there is no possibility of falling back to suffering."[84]

The Three Jewels are:

The Buddha. This is a title for those who have attained Nirvana. Seealso the Tath!gata and Gautama Buddha. The Buddha could also berepresented as a concept instead of a specific person: the perfect wisdom that understands Dharma

and sees reality in its true form. In Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha can be viewed as the supremeRefuge: "Buddha is the Unique Absolute Refuge. Buddha is the Imperishable, Eternal, Indestructibleand Absolute Refuge."[85]

The Dharma. The teachings or law of nature as expounded by the Gautama Buddha. It can also,especially in Mahayana, connote the ultimate and sustaining Reality which is inseparable from theBuddha. Further, from some Mahayana perspectives, the Dharma embodied in the form of a greatsutra (Buddhic scripture) can replace the need for a personal teacher and can be a direct andspontaneous gateway into Truth (Dharma). This is especially said to be the case with the Lotus Sutra.Dr. Hiroshi Kanno writes of this view of the Lotus Sutra: "it is a Dharma-gate of suddenenlightenment proper to the Great Vehicle; it is a Dharma-gate whereby one awakens spontaneously,without resorting to a teacher".[86]

The Sangha. Those who have attained to any of the Four stages of enlightenment, or simply thecongregation of monastic practitioners.

According to the scriptures, Gautama Buddha presented himself as a model. The Dharma offers a refuge byproviding guidelines for the alleviation of suffering and the attainment of Nirvana. The Sangha isconsidered to provide a refuge by preserving the authentic teachings of the Buddha and providing furtherexamples that the truth of the Buddha's teachings is attainable.

Buddhist ethics

Main article: The Five Precepts

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$#la (Sanskrit) or s#la (P!li) is usually translated into English as "virtuous behavior", "morality", "ethics" or"precept". It is an action committed through the body, speech, or mind, and involves an intentional effort. Itis one of the three practices (sila, samadhi, and panya) and the second p"ramit". It refers to moral purityof thought, word, and deed. The four conditions of &#la are chastity, calmness, quiet, and extinguishment.

$#la is the foundation of Samadhi/Bh"vana (Meditative cultivation) or mind cultivation. Keeping theprecepts promotes not only the peace of mind of the cultivator, which is internal, but also peace in thecommunity, which is external. According to the Law of Karma, keeping the precepts are meritorious and itacts as causes which would bring about peaceful and happy effects. Keeping these precepts keeps thecultivator from rebirth in the four woeful realms of existence.

$#la refers to overall principles of ethical behavior. There are several levels of sila, which correspond to"basic morality" (five precepts), "basic morality with asceticism" (eight precepts), "novice monkhood" (tenprecepts) and "monkhood" (Vinaya or Patimokkha). Lay people generally undertake to live by the fiveprecepts, which are common to all Buddhist schools. If they wish, they can choose to undertake the eightprecepts, which add basic asceticism.

The five precepts are training rules in order to live a better life in which one is happy, without worries, andcan meditate well:

1. To refrain from taking life (non-violence towards sentient life forms), or ahims"2. To refrain from taking that which is not given (not committing theft)3. To refrain from sensual (including sexual) misconduct4. To refrain from lying (speaking truth always)5. To refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness (specifically, drugs and alcohol)

The precepts are not formulated as imperatives, but as training rules that laypeople undertake voluntarily tofacilitate practice.[87] In Buddhist thought, the cultivation of dana and ethical conduct will themselvesrefine consciousness to such a level that rebirth in one of the lower heavens is likely, even if there is nofurther Buddhist practice. There is nothing improper or un-Buddhist about limiting one's aims to this levelof attainment.[88]

In the eight precepts, the third precept on sexual misconduct is made more strict, and becomes a precept ofcelibacy. The three additional precepts are:

6. To refrain from eating at the wrong time (only eat from sunrise to noon)7. To refrain from dancing and playing music, wearing jewelry and cosmetics, attending shows andother performances8. To refrain from using high or luxurious seats and bedding

The complete list of ten precepts may be observed by laypeople for short periods. For the complete list, theseventh precept is partitioned into two, and a tenth added:

6. To refrain from taking food at an unseasonable time, that is after the mid-day meal7. To refrain from dancing, music, singing and unseemly shows8. To refrain from the use of garlands, perfumes, ointments, and from things that tend to beautify andadorn (the person)9. To refrain from (using) high and luxurious seats (and beds)10. To refrain from accepting gold and silver[89]

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Monastic life

Vinaya is the specific moral code for monks and nuns. It includes the Patimokkha, a set of 227 rules formonks in the Theravadin recension. The precise content of the vinayapitaka (scriptures on Vinaya) differslightly according to different schools, and different schools or subschools set different standards for thedegree of adherence to Vinaya. Novice-monks use the ten precepts, which are the basic precepts formonastics.

Regarding the monastic rules, the Buddha constantly reminds his hearers that it is the spirit that counts. Onthe other hand, the rules themselves are designed to assure a satisfying life, and provide a perfectspringboard for the higher attainments. Monastics are instructed by the Buddha to live as "islands untothemselves". In this sense, living life as the vinaya prescribes it is, as one scholar puts it: "more than merelya means to an end: it is very nearly the end in itself."[90]

In Eastern Buddhism, there is also a distinctive Vinaya and ethics contained within the MahayanaBrahmajala Sutra (not to be confused with the Pali text of that name) for Bodhisattvas, where, for example,the eating of meat is frowned upon and vegetarianism is actively encouraged (see vegetarianism in

Buddhism). In Japan, this has almost completely displaced the monastic vinaya, and allows clergy to marry.

Meditation

Main article: Buddhist meditation

Buddhist meditation is fundamentally concerned with two themes: transforming the mind and using it toexplore itself and other phenomena.[91] According to Theravada Buddhism the Buddha taught two types ofmeditation, samatha meditation (Sanskrit: &amatha) and vipassan" meditation (Sanskrit: vipa&yan"). InChinese Buddhism, these exist (translated chih kuan), but Chan (Zen) meditation is more popular.[92]

According to Peter Harvey, whenever Buddhism has been healthy, not only monks, nuns, and marriedlamas, but also more committed lay people have practiced meditation.[93] According to Routledge'sEncyclopedia of Buddhism, in contrast, throughout most of Buddhist history before modern times, seriousmeditation by lay people has been unusual.[94] The evidence of the early texts suggests that at the time ofthe Buddha, many male and female lay practitioners did practice meditation, some even to the point ofproficiency in all eight jh!nas (see the next section regarding these).[95]

Sam"dhi (meditative cultivation): samatha meditation

Main articles: Sam"dhi (Buddhism) and Dhy"na

In the language of the Noble Eightfold Path, samyaksam"dhi is "right concentration". The primary means ofcultivating sam"dhi is meditation. Upon development of sam"dhi, one's mind becomes purified ofdefilement, calm, tranquil, and luminous.

Once the meditator achieves a strong and powerful concentration (jh"na, Sanskrit )*+, dhy"na), his mindis ready to penetrate and gain insight (vipassan!) into the ultimate nature of reality, eventually obtainingrelease from all suffering. The cultivation of mindfulness is essential to mental concentration, which isneeded to achieve insight.

Samatha meditation starts from being mindful of an object or idea, which is expanded to one's body, mind

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and entire surroundings, leading to a state of total concentration and tranquility (jh"na) There are manyvariations in the style of meditation, from sitting cross-legged or kneeling to chanting or walking. The mostcommon method of meditation is to concentrate on one's breath (anapanasati), because this practice canlead to both samatha and vipassana'.

In Buddhist practice, it is said that while samatha meditation can calm the mind, only vipassan" meditationcan reveal how the mind was disturbed to start with, which is what leads to knowledge (jñ"na; P!li ñ"'a)and understanding (prajñ" P!li paññ"), and thus can lead to nirv"'a (P!li nibb"na). When one is in jhana,all defilements are suppressed temporarily. Only understanding (prajñ" or vipassana) eradicates thedefilements completely. Jhanas are also states which Arahants abide in order to rest.

In Therav"da

Main article: Jh"na in Theravada

In Therav!da Buddhism, the cause of human existence and suffering is identified as craving, which carrieswith it the various defilements. These various defilements are traditionally summed up as greed, hatred anddelusion. These are believed to be deeply rooted afflictions of the mind that create suffering and stress. Inorder to be free from suffering and stress, these defilements need to be permanently uprooted throughinternal investigation, analyzing, experiencing, and understanding of the true nature of those defilements byusing jh"na, a technique which is part of the Noble Eightfold Path. It will then lead the meditator to realizethe Four Noble Truths, Enlightenment and Nibbana. Nibbana is the ultimate goal of Theravadins.

Prajñ" (Wisdom): vipassana meditation

Main articles: Prajñ" and Vipassana

Prajñ" (Sanskrit) or paññ" (P!li) means wisdom that is based on a realization of dependent origination, TheFour Noble Truths and the three marks of existence. Prajñ" is the wisdom that is able to extinguishafflictions and bring about bodhi. It is spoken of as the principal means of attaining nirv"'a, through itsrevelation of the true nature of all things as dukkha (unsatisfactoriness), anicca (impermanence) and anatta

(not-self). Prajñ" is also listed as the sixth of the six p"ramit"s of the Mahayana.

Initially, prajñ" is attained at a conceptual level by means of listening to sermons (dharma talks), reading,studying, and sometimes reciting Buddhist texts and engaging in discourse. Once the conceptualunderstanding is attained, it is applied to daily life so that each Buddhist can verify the truth of theBuddha's teaching at a practical level. Notably, one could in theory attain Nirvana at any point of practice,whether deep in meditation, listening to a sermon, conducting the business of one's daily life, or any otheractivity.

Zen

Main article: Zen

Zen Buddhism (禅), pronounced chán in Chinese, seon in Korean or zen in Japanese (derived from theSanskrit term dhy"na, meaning "meditation") is a form of Buddhism that became popular in China, Koreaand Japan and that lays special emphasis on meditation.[96] Zen places less emphasis on scriptures thansome other forms of Buddhism and prefers to focus on direct spiritual breakthroughs to truth.

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The Buddhist "Carpenter's Cave" at Ellora inMaharashtra, India.

Zen Buddhism is divided into two main schools: Rinzai (臨済宗) and Soto (曹洞宗), the former greatlyfavouring the use in meditation on the koan (公案, a meditative riddle or puzzle) as a device for spiritualbreak-through, and the latter (while certainly employing koans) focusing more on shikantaza or "justsitting".[97]

Zen Buddhist teaching is often full of paradox, in order to loosen the grip of the ego and to facilitate thepenetration into the realm of the True Self or Formless Self, which is equated with the Buddha himself.[98]

According to Zen master, Kosho Uchiyama, when thoughts and fixation on the little 'I' are transcended, anAwakening to a universal, non-dual Self occurs: ' When we let go of thoughts and wake up to the reality oflife that is working beyond them, we discover the Self that is living universal non-dual life (before theseparation into two) that pervades all living creatures and all existence.'[99]. Thinking and thought musttherefore not be allowed to confine and bind one. Nevertheless, Zen does not neglect the scriptures.[100]

Vajrayana and Tantra

Though based upon Mahayana, Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhism is one of the schools that practice Vajray"na

or "Diamond Vehicle" (also referred to as Mantray!na, Tantray!na, Tantric Buddhism, or esotericBuddhism). It accepts all the basic concepts of Mah!y!na, but also includes a vast array of spiritual andphysical techniques designed to enhance Buddhist practice. Tantric Buddhism is largely concerned withritual and meditative practices.[101] One component of the Vajray!na is harnessing psycho-physical energythrough ritual, visualization, physical exercises, and meditation as a means of developing the mind. Usingthese techniques, it is claimed that a practitioner can achieve Buddhahood in one lifetime, or even as littleas three years. In the Tibetan tradition, these practices can include sexual yoga, though only for some veryadvanced practitioners.[102]

History

Main article: History of Buddhism

Philosophical roots

Historically, the roots of Buddhism lie in the religiousthought of Ancient India during the second half of the firstmillennium BC.[103] That was a period of social andreligious turmoil, as there was significant discontent withthe sacrifices and rituals of Vedic Brahmanism.[104] It waschallenged by numerous new ascetic religious andphilosophical groups and teachings that broke with theBrahmanic tradition and rejected the authority of the Vedasand the Brahmans.[105][106] These groups, whose memberswere known as shramanas, were a continuation of a non-Vedic strand of Indian thought distinct from Indo-AryanBrahmanism.[107][108] Scholars have reasons to believethat ideas such as samsara, karma (in the sense of theinfluence of morality on rebirth), and moksha originated inthe shramanas, and were later adopted by Brahmin

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orthodoxy.[109][110][111][112][113][114] At the same time, they were influenced by, and in some respectscontinued, earlier philosophical thought within the Vedic tradition as reflected e.g. in the Upanishads.[115]

These movements included, besides Buddhism, various skeptics (such as Sanjaya Belatthiputta), atomists(such as Pakudha Kaccayana), materialists (such as Ajita Kesakambali), antinomians (such as PuranaKassapa); the most important ones in the 5th century BC were the Ajivikas, who emphasized the rule offate, the Lokayata (materialists), the Ajnanas (agnostics) and the Jains, who stressed that the soul must befreed from matter.[116]

Many of these new movements shared the same conceptual vocabulary - atman (“Self"), buddha("awakened one”), dhamma (“rule” or “law”), karma (“action”), nirvana (“extinguishing”), samsara(“eternal recurrence”) and yoga (“spiritual practice”).[104] The shramanas rejected the Veda, and theauthority of the brahmans, who claimed to be in possession of revealed truths not knowable by anyordinary human means; moreover, they declared that the entire Brahmanical system was fraudulent: aconspiracy of the brahmans to enrich themselves by charging exorbitant fees for the performance of bogusrites and the giving of futile advice.[117] A particular criticism of the Buddha's was Vedic animalsacrifice.[118] Their leaders, including Buddha, were often known as %rama#as.[119] The Buddha declaredthat priests reciting the Vedas were like blind leading the blind.[120] According to him, those priests whohad memorized the Vedas really knew nothing.[121] He also mocked the Vedic "hymn of the cosmicman".[122] He declared that the primary goal of Upanishadic thought, the Atman, was in fact non-existent,[123], and, having explained that Brahminical attempts to achieve liberation at death were futile,proposed his new idea of liberation in life.[124][125] At the same time, the traditional Brahminical religionitself gradually underwent profound changes, transforming it into what is recognized as earlyHinduism.[104][105][126] In particular, the brahmans thus developed "philosophical systems of their own,meeting the new ideas with adaptations of their doctrines".[127]

Indian Buddhism

Main article: History of Buddhism in India

The history of Indian Buddhism may be divided into five periods:[128] Early Buddhism (occasionally calledPre-sectarian Buddhism), Nikaya Buddhism or Sectarian Buddhism: The period of the Early Buddhistschools, Early Mahayana Buddhism, Later Mahayana Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism (also calledVajrayana Buddhism).

Pre-sectarian Buddhism

Main article: Pre-sectarian Buddhism

Pre-sectarian Buddhism is the earliest phase of Buddhism, recognized by nearly all scholars. Its mainscriptures are the Vinaya Pitaka and the four principal Nikayas or Agamas. Certain basic teachings appearin many places throughout the early texts, so most scholars conclude that Gautama Buddha must havetaught something similar to the Three marks of existence, the Five aggregates, Dependent origination,Karma and Rebirth, the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and Nirvana.[129] Some scholarsdisagree, and have proposed many other theories.[130][131]

Early Buddhist schools

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Main article: Early Buddhist schools

Main article: Buddhist councils

According to the scriptures, soon after the parinirv!#a (from Sanskrit: "highest extinguishment") ofGautama Buddha, the first Buddhist council was held. As with any ancient Indian tradition, transmission ofteaching was done orally. The primary purpose of the assembly was to collectively recite the teachings toensure that no errors occurred in oral transmission. In the first council, (nanda, a cousin of the Buddha andhis personal attendant, was called upon to recite the discourses (s%tras, P!li suttas) of the Buddha, and,according to some sources, the abhidhamma. Up!li, another disciple, recited the monastic rules (vinaya).Scholars regard the traditional accounts of the council as greatly exaggerated if not entirely fictitious.[132]

According to most scholars, at some period after the Second Council the Sangha began to break intoseparate factions.[133] The various accounts differ as to when the actual schisms occurred. According to theDipavamsa of the P!li tradition, they started immediately after the Second Council, the Puggalavadatradition places it in 137 AN, the Sarvastivada tradition of Vasumitra says it was in the time of Asoka andthe Mahasanghika tradition places it much later, nearly 100 BCE.

The root schism was between the Sthaviras and the Mah!s!/ghikas. The fortunate survival of accounts fromboth sides of the dispute reveals disparate traditions. The Sthavira group offers two quite distinct reasonsfor the schism. The Dipavamsa of the Therav!da says that the losing party in the Second Council disputebroke away in protest and formed the Mahasanghika. This contradicts the Mahasanghikas' own vinaya,which shows them as on the same, winning side. The Mah!s!/ghikas argued that the Sthaviras were tryingto expand the vinaya and may also have challenged what they perceived to be excessive claims orinhumanly high criteria for arhatship. Both parties, therefore, appealed to tradition.[134]

The Sthaviras gave rise to several schools, one of which was the Therav!da school. Originally, theseschisms were caused by disputes over vinaya, and monks following different schools of thought seem tohave lived happily together in the same monasteries, but eventually, by about 100 CE if not earlier, schismswere being caused by doctrinal disagreements too.[135]

Following (or leading up to) the schisms, each Sa/gha started to accumulate an Abhidharma, a detailedscholastic reworking of doctrinal material appearing in the Suttas, according to schematic classifications.These Abhidharma texts do not contain systematic philosophical treatises, but summaries or numerical lists.Scholars generally date these texts to around the 3rd century BCE, 100 to 200 years after the death of theBuddha. Therefore the seven Abhidharma works are generally claimed not to represent the words of theBuddha himself, but those of disciples and great scholars.[136] Every school had its own version of theAdhidharma, with different theories and different texts. The different Adhidharmas of the various schoolsdid not agree with each other. Scholars disagree on whether the Mahasanghika school had an AbhidhammaPitaka or not.[136][137]

Early Mahayana Buddhism

Main article: Mahayana

The period of Early Mahayana Buddhism concerns the origins ofMahayana and the contents of early Mahayana Sutras.[138] Thedevelopment of the various Early Buddhist Schools and the arising of

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Rock carving known as "KazakhBuddha" (Almaty Province)

development of the various Early Buddhist Schools and the arising ofMahayana were not always consecutive. For example, the early schoolscontinued to exist alongside Mahayana.

The commonly expressed misconception that Mahayana started as alay-inspired movement is based on a selective reading of a very tinysample of extant Mahayana Sutra literature. Currently scholars havemoved away from this limited corpus, and have started to examineearly Mahayana literature, which is very ascetic and expounds the ideal of the monks' life in the forest. Ascholarly consensus about the origin of the Mahayana has not yet been reached, but it has been suggestedthat when Mahayana became popular, in the 5th century CE, it had become something it had previouslyobjected to: a landed monastic institution with a lay orientation. Prior to this, the movement may well havebeen either a marginalized ascetic group of monks living in the forest, or a group of conservativesembedded in mainstream, socially engaged early Buddhist monasteries. Most scholars conclude thatMahayana remained a marginal movement until the 5th century AD.[139]

The earliest Mahayana Sutras are called the Proto-Mahayana Sutras such as the Ajitasena Sutra whichcontains a mixture of Mahayana and pre-Mahayana ideas. It occurs in a world where monasticism is thenorm, which is typical of the Pali Suttas; there is none of the usual antagonism towards the followers of theEarly Buddhist Schools or the notion of Arahantship, which is typical of many Mahayana Sutras such as theWhite Lotus, or Vimalakirti Nirdesha. However, the sutra also has an Arahant seeing all the Buddha fields,it is said that reciting the name of the sutra will save beings from suffering and the hell realms, and ameditative practice is described which allows the practitioner to see with the eyes of a Buddha, and toreceive teachings from them that are very much typical of Mahayana Sutras. Some early Mahayana Sutrasare Ratnagunasamcayagatha and the Astasaharika.

Some scholars contend that the Mahayana sutras were mainly composed in the south[140] of India, and thatlater the activity of writing additional scriptures was continued in the east[141] and north[142] of India.

Late Mahayana Buddhism

During the period of Late Mahayana Buddhism, four major types of thought developed: Madhyamaka,Yogacara, Tathagatagarbha, and Buddhist Logic as the last and most recent.[143] In India, the two mainphilosophical schools of the Mahayana were the Madhyamaka and the later Yogacara.[144] According toDan Lusthaus, Madhyamaka and Yogacara have a great deal in common, and the commonality stems fromearly Buddhism.[145] There were no great Indian teachers associated with tathagatagarbha thought.[146]

Vajrayana (Esoteric Buddhism)

Scholarly research concerning Esoteric Buddhism is still in its early stages and has a number of problemswhich make research difficult:[147]

1. Vajrayana Buddhism was influenced by Hinduism, and therefore the research has to include researchon Hinduism as well.

2. The scriptures of Vajrayana have not yet been put in any kind of order.3. Ritual has to be examined as well, not just doctrine.

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Buddhist proselytism at the time ofemperor Ashoka (260–218 BCE).

Buddhist traditionrecords in the Milinda

Panha that the 2ndcentury BCE Indo-

Greek king Menanderconverted to the

Buddhist faith andbecame an arhat.

The early development of Buddhism

Main article: Timeline of Buddhism

Buddhism may have spread onlyslowly in India until the time of theMauryan emperor Ashoka, who wasa public supporter of the religion.The support of A%oka and hisdescendants led to the constructionof more st'pas (Buddhist religiousmemorials) and to efforts to spreadBuddhism throughout the enlargedMaurya empire and even intoneighboring lands—particularly tothe Iranian-speaking regions of

Afghanistan and Central Asia, beyond the Mauryas' northwest border, and tothe island of Sri Lanka south of India. These two missions, in oppositedirections, would ultimately lead, in the first case to the spread of Buddhisminto China, and in the second case, to the emergence of Therav!da Buddhismand its spread from Sri Lanka to the coastal lands of Southeast Asia.

This period marks the first known spread of Buddhism beyond India. According to the edicts of A%oka,emissaries were sent to various countries west of India in order to spread Buddhism (Dharma), particularlyin eastern provinces of the neighboring Seleucid Empire, and even farther to Hellenistic kingdoms of theMediterranean. This led, a century later, to the emergence of Greek-speaking Buddhist monarchs in theIndo-Greek Kingdom, and to the development of the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandh!ra. During this periodBuddhism was exposed to a variety of influences, from Persian and Greek civilization, and from changingtrends in non-Buddhist Indian religions—themselves influenced by Buddhism. It is a matter ofdisagreement among scholars whether or not these emissaries were accompanied by Buddhistmissionaries.[148]

The Theravada school spread south from India in the 3rd century BC, to Sri Lanka and Thailand and Burmaand later also Indonesia. The Dharmagupta school spread (also in 3rd century BC) north to Kashmir,Gandhara and Bactria (Afghanistan). In the 2nd century AD, Mahayana Sutras spread from that generalarea to China, and then to Korea and Japan, and were translated into Chinese. During the Indian period ofEsoteric Buddhism (from 8th century onwards), Buddhism spread from India to Tibet and Mongolia.

Buddhism today

Main article: Timeline of Buddhism:Common Era

By the late Middle Ages, Buddhism had become virtually extinct in India, and although it continued toexist in surrounding countries, its influence was no longer expanding. It is now again gaining strength inIndia and elsewhere.[149][150] Estimates of the number of Buddhist followers by scholars range from 230million to 500 million, with most around 350 million. Most scholars classify similar numbers of peopleunder a category they call "Chinese folk" or "traditional" religion, an amalgam of various traditions thatincludes Buddhism.

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Typical interior of a temple in Korea

A monk in the Jade BuddhaTemple, Shanghai, China.

Formal membership varies between communities, but basiclay adherence is often defined in terms of a traditionalformula in which the practitioner takes refuge in The ThreeJewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings of theBuddha), and the Sangha (the Buddhist community).

Estimates are uncertain for several reasons:

difficulties in defining who counts as a Buddhist;syncretism among the Eastern religions. Buddhism ispracticed by adherents alongside many other religioustraditions- including Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto,traditional religions, shamanism, and animism- throughoutEast and Southeast Asia.[151][152][153][154][155][156][157]

difficulties in estimating the number of Buddhists who do not have congregational memberships andoften do not participate in public ceremonies;[158]

official policies on religion in several historically Buddhist countries that make accurate assessmentsof religious adherence more difficult; most notably China, Vietnam and North Korea.[159][160][161]

In many current and former Communist governments in Asia, government policies may discourageadherents from reporting their religious identity, or may encourage official counts to underestimatereligious adherence.

According to one analysis, Buddhism is the fourth-largest religion in the world behind Christianity, Islamand Hinduism.[162] The monks' order (Sangha), which began during the lifetime of the Buddha, is amongthe oldest organizations on earth.

Therav!da Buddhism, using P!li as its scriptural language, isthe dominant form of Buddhism in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand,Sri Lanka, and Burma. The Dalit Buddhist movement in India(inspired by B. R. Ambedkar) also practices Theravada.Approximately 124 million adherents.[163]

East Asian forms of Mahayana Buddhism that use scripturesin Chinese are dominant in most of China, Japan, Korea,Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam as well as within Chinese andJapanese communities within Indochina, Southeast Asia andthe West. Approximately 185 million adherents.[163]

Tibetan Buddhism is found in Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia,surrounding areas in India, China, Nepal, and the RussianFederation. Approximately 20 million adherents.[163]

Most Buddhist groups in the West are at least nominally affiliatedwith one of these three traditions.

At the present time, the teachings of all three branches of Buddhismhave spread throughout the world, and Buddhist texts areincreasingly translated into local languages. While, in the West, Buddhism is often seen as exotic andprogressive, in the East, Buddhism is regarded as familiar and traditional. Buddhists in Asia are frequentlywell organized and well funded. In a number of countries, it is recognized as an official religion andreceives state support. In the West, Buddhism is recognized as one of the growing spiritual influences.Modern influences increasingly lead to new forms of Buddhism that significantly depart from traditional

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Modern influences increasingly lead to new forms of Buddhism that significantly depart from traditionalbeliefs and practices.

Overall there is an overwhelming diversity of recent forms of Buddhism.[164]

Schools and traditions

Main article: Schools of Buddhism

Buddhists generally classify themselves as either Theravada or Mahayana.[165] This classification is alsoused by some scholars[166] and is the one ordinarily used in the English language.[167] An alternativescheme used by some scholars[168] divides Buddhism into the following three traditions or geographical orcultural areas: Theravada, East Asian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism.

Some scholars[169] use other schemes. Buddhists themselves have a variety of other schemes. Hinayana(literally "lesser vehicle") is used by Mahayana followers to name the family of early philosophical schoolsand traditions from which contemporary Theravada emerged, but as this term is rooted in the Mahayanaviewpoint and can be considered derogatory, a variety of other terms are increasingly used instead,including $r!vakay!na, Nikaya Buddhism, early Buddhist schools, sectarian Buddhism, conservativeBuddhism, mainstream Buddhism and non-Mahayana Buddhism.

Not all traditions of Buddhism share the same philosophical outlook, or treat the same concepts as central.Each tradition, however, does have its own core concepts, and some comparisons can be drawn betweenthem.

Mahayana Buddhism shows a great deal of doctrinal variation and development over time, and even morevariation in terms of practice. While there is much agreement on general principles, there is disagreementover which texts are more authoritative.

Despite differences among the Theravada and Mahayana schools there are, for example according to oneBuddhist ecumenical organization,[170] several concepts common to both major Buddhist branches:

Both accept the Buddha as their teacher.Both accept the Middle way, Dependent origination, the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Pathand the Three marks of existence, in theory, though in practice these have little or no importance insome traditions.Both accept that members of the laity and of the sangha can pursue the path toward enlightenment(bodhi).Both consider buddhahood to be the highest attainment; however Theravadins consider the nirvana(nibbana to the Theravadins) attained by arahants as identical to that attained by the Buddha himself,as there is only one type of nirvana. According to Theravadins, a buddha is someone who hasdiscovered the path all by himself and taught it to others.

Timeline

This is a rough timeline of the development of the different schools/traditions:

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Timeline: Development and propagation of Buddhist traditions (ca. 450 BCE – ca. 1300 CE)

450 BCE[171] 250 BCE 100 CE 500 CE 700 CE 800 CE

1200 CE[172]

IndiaEarly

Sangha

Early Buddhist schools Mahayana Vajrayana

Sri Lanka &Southeast Asia

TheravadaBuddhism

Central Asia Greco-Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism

Silk Road Buddhism

East Asia Chán, Tendai, Pure Land, Zen,

Nichiren

Shingon

450 BCE 250 BCE 100 CE 500 CE 700 CE 800 CE 1200 CE

Legend: = Theravada tradition = Mahayana traditions = Vajrayana traditions

Theravada school

Main article: Theravada

Therav!da ("Doctrine of the Elders", or "Ancient Doctrine") is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It isrelatively conservative, and generally closest to early Buddhism.[173] This school is derived from theVibhajjav!da grouping which emerged amongst the older Sthavira group at the time of the Third BuddhistCouncil (c. 250 BCE). This school gradually declined on the Indian subcontinent, but its branch in SriLanka and South East Asia continues to survive.

The Theravada school bases its practice and doctrine exclusively on the P!li Canon and its commentaries.After being orally transmitted for a few centuries, its scriptures, the Pali Canon, were finally committed towriting in the last century BCE, in Sri Lanka, at what the Theravada usually reckon as the fourth council. Itis also one of the first Buddhist schools to commit the complete set of its canon into writing. The Suttacollections and Vinaya texts of the P!li Canon (and the corresponding texts in other versions of theTripitaka), are generally considered by modern scholars to be the earliest Buddhist literature, and they areaccepted as authentic in every branch of Buddhism.

Therav!da is primarily practiced today in Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia as well as smallportions of China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bangladesh. It has a growing presence in Europe and America.

Mahayana school

Main article: Mahayana

Mahayana Buddhism flourished in India from the fifth century AD onwards,during the dynasty of the Guptas. Mah!y!na centres of learning were established,the most important one being the N!land! University in north-eastern India.

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Chinese Ming dynastyporcelain figure of

Guanyin, "Goddess ofMercy."

Chinese Seated Buddha,Tang Dynasty, Chinese

Buddhism is of theMahayana tradition, with

popular schools today beingPure Land and Zen.

Bodhnath Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal

Mahayana schools recognize all or part of theMahayana Sutras. Some of these sutras becamefor Mahayanists a manifestation of the Buddhahimself, and faith in and veneration of thosetexts are stated in some sutras (e.g. the LotusSutra and the Mahaparinirvana Sutra) to lay thefoundations for the later attainment ofBuddhahood itself.

Native Mahayana Buddhism is practiced todayin China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, parts ofRussia and most of Vietnam (also commonly

referred to as "Eastern Buddhism"). The Buddhism practiced in Tibet, theHimalayan regions, and Mongolia is also Mahayana in origin, but will bediscussed below under the heading of Vajrayana (also commonly referredto as "Northern Buddhism". There are a variety of strands in EasternBuddhism, of which "the Pure Land school of Mahayana is the mostwidely practised today."[174]. In most of this area however, they are fusedinto a single unified form of Buddhism. In Japan in particular, they formseparate denominations with the five major ones being: Nichiren, peculiarto Japan; Pure Land; Shingon, a form of Vajrayana; Tendai; and Chan/Zen. In Korea, nearly all Buddhistsbelong to the Chogye school, which is officially Son (Zen), but with substantial elements from othertraditions.[175]

Vajrayana school

Main article: Vajrayana

The Vajrayana school of Buddhism spread to China, Mongolia, andTibet. In Tibet, Vajrayana has always been a main component ofTibetan Buddhism, while in China it formed a separate sect.However, Vajrayana Buddhism became extinct in China butsurvived in elements of Japan's Shingon and Tendai sects.

There are differing views as to just when Vajray!na and its tantricpractice started. In the Tibetan tradition, it is claimed that thehistorical $!kyamuni Buddha taught tantra, but as these are esotericteachings, they were passed on orally first and only written downlong after the Buddha's other teachings. N!land! University

became a center for the development of Vajray!na theory and continued as the source of leading-edgeVajray!na practices up through the 11th century. These practices, scriptures and theories were transmittedto China, Tibet, Indochina and Southeast Asia. China generally received Indian transmission up to the 11thcentury including tantric practice, while a vast amount of what is considered to be Tibetan Buddhism(Vajray!na) stems from the late (9th–12th century) N!land! tradition.

In one of the first major contemporary academic treatises on the subject, Fairfield University professorRonald M. Davidson argues that the rise of Vajrayana was in part a reaction to the changing politicalclimate in India at the time. With the fall of the Gupta dynasty, in an increasingly fractious politicalenvironment, institutional Buddhism had difficulty attracting patronage, and the folk movement led by

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environment, institutional Buddhism had difficulty attracting patronage, and the folk movement led bysiddhas became more prominent. After perhaps two hundred years, it had begun to get integrated into themonastic establishment.[176]

Vajrayana combined and developed a variety of elements, a number of which had already existed forcenturies.[177] In addition to the Mah!y!na scriptures, Vajray!na Buddhists recognise a large body ofBuddhist Tantras, some of which are also included in Chinese and Japanese collections of Buddhistliterature, and versions of a few even in the Pali Canon.

Buddhist texts

Main article: Buddhist texts

Buddhist scriptures and other texts exist in great variety. Different schools of Buddhism place varyinglevels of value on learning the various texts. Some schools venerate certain texts as religious objects inthemselves, while others take a more scholastic approach. Buddhist scriptures are written in theselanguages: P!li, Tibetan, Mongolian, Chinese, along with some texts that still exist in Sanskrit and BuddhistHybrid Sanskrit.

Unlike many religions, Buddhism has no single central text that is universally referred to by all traditions.However, some scholars have referred to the Vinaya Pitaka and the first four Nikayas of the Sutta Pitaka asthe common core of all Buddhist traditions.[178] However, this could be considered misleading, asMah!y!na considers these merely a preliminary, and not a core, teaching, the Tibetan Buddhists have noteven translated most of the !gamas, though theoretically they recognize them, and they play no part in thereligious life of either clergy or laity in China and Japan.[179] Other scholars say there is no universallyaccepted common core.[180] The size and complexity of the Buddhist canons have been seen by some(including Buddhist social reformer Babasaheb Ambedkar) as presenting barriers to the widerunderstanding of Buddhist philosophy.

The followers of Therav!da Buddhism take the scriptures known as the P!li Canon as definitive andauthoritative, while the followers of Mah!y!na Buddhism base their faith and philosophy primarily on theMah!y!na s'tras and their own vinaya. The P!li sutras, along with other, closely related scriptures, areknown to the other schools as the "gamas.

Over the years, various attempts have been made to synthesize a single Buddhist text that can encompassall of the major principles of Buddhism. In the Theravada tradition, condensed 'study texts' were createdthat combined popular or influential scriptures into single volumes that could be studied by novice monks.Later in Sri Lanka, the Dhammapada was championed as a unifying scripture.

Dwight Goddard collected a sample of Buddhist scriptures, with the emphasis on Zen, along with otherclassics of Eastern philosophy, such as the Tao Te Ching, into his 'Buddhist Bible' in the 1920s. Morerecently, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar attempted to create a single, combined document of Buddhist principlesin "The Buddha and His Dhamma"(http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_buddha/) . Other such efforts havepersisted to present day, but currently there is no single text that represents all Buddhist traditions.

P"li Tipitaka

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Pali Canon

Vinaya Pitaka

SV. Khandhaka Vin V

Sutta Pitaka

DN MN SN AN KN

Abhidhamma Pitaka

Dhs. Vbh.Dhk.Pug.

Kvu. Yam. Patthana

Main article: P"li Canon

The P!li Tipitaka, which means "three baskets", refers to theVinaya Pitaka, the Sutta Pitaka, and the Abhidhamma Pitaka. TheVinaya Pitaka contains disciplinary rules for the Buddhist monksand nuns, as well as explanations of why and how these rules wereinstituted, supporting material, and doctrinal clarification. The Sutta

Pitaka contains discourses ascribed to Gautama Buddha. TheAbhidhamma Pitaka contains material often described assystematic expositions of the Gautama Buddha's teachings.

The P!li Tipitaka is the only early Tipitaka (Sanskrit: Tripi(aka) tosurvive intact in its original language, but a number of earlyschools had their own recensions of the Tipitaka featuring much ofthe same material. We have portions of the Tipitakas of theS!rv!stiv!da, Dharmaguptaka, Sammitya, Mah!sa/ghika,K!%yap&ya, and Mah&%!saka schools, most of which survive inChinese translation only. According to some sources, some early schools of Buddhism had five or sevenpitakas.[181]

According to the scriptures, soon after the death of the Buddha, the first Buddhist council was held; a monknamed Mah!k!%yapa (P!li: Mah!kassapa) presided. The goal of the council was to record the Buddha'steachings. Up!li recited the vinaya. (nanda, the Buddha's personal attendant, was called upon to recite thedhamma. These became the basis of the Tripitaka. However, this record was initially transmitted orally inform of chanting, and was committed to text in the last century BCE. Both the s'tras and the vinaya ofevery Buddhist school contain a wide variety of elements including discourses on the Dharma,commentaries on other teachings, cosmological and cosmogonical texts, stories of the Gautama Buddha'sprevious lives, and various other subjects.

Much of the material in the Canon is not specifically "Theravadin", but is instead the collection ofteachings that this school preserved from the early, non-sectarian body of teachings. According to PeterHarvey, it contains material which is at odds with later Theravadin orthodoxy. He states: "The Theravadins,then, may have added texts to the Canon for some time, but they do not appear to have tampered with whatthey already had from an earlier period."[182]

Mahayana Sutras

Main article: Mahayana Sutras

The Mahayana sutras are a very broad genre of Buddhist scripturesthat the Mahayana Buddhist tradition holds are original teachings ofthe Buddha. The adherents of Mahayana accept both the earlyteachings (including in this the Sarvastivada Abhidharma, which wascriticized by Nagarjuna and is in fact opposed to early Buddhistthought[183]) and the Mahayana sutras as authentic teachings ofGautama Buddha, and claim they were designed for different typesof persons and different levels of spiritual understanding.

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Buddhist monk Geshe KonchogWangdu reads Mahayana sutras

from an old woodblock copy of theTibetan Kanjur.

The Mahayana sutras often claim to articulate the Buddha's deeper,more advanced doctrines, reserved for those who follow thebodhisattva path. That path is explained as being built upon themotivation to liberate all living beings from unhappiness. Hence thename Mah"y"na (lit., the Great Vehicle).

According to Mahayana tradition, the Mahayana sutras weretransmitted in secret, came from other Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, orwere preserved in non-human worlds because human beings at thetime couldn't understand them:

Some of our sources maintain the authenticity of certain other texts not found in the canons ofthese schools (the early schools). These texts are those held genuine by the later school, not oneof the eighteen, which arrogated to itself the title of Mahayana, 'Great Vehicle'. According tothe Mahayana historians these texts were admittedly unknown to the early schools ofBuddhists. However, they had all been promulgated by the Buddha. [The Buddha's] followerson earth, the sravakas ('pupils'), had not been sufficiently advanced to understand them, andhence were not given them to remember, but they were taught to various supernatural beingsand then preserved in such places as the Dragon World.

—Indian Buddhism[184]

Approximately six hundred Mahayana sutras have survived in Sanskrit or in Chinese or Tibetantranslations. In addition, East Asian Buddhism recognizes some sutras regarded by scholars to be ofChinese rather than Indian origin.

Generally, scholars conclude that the Mahayana scriptures were composed from the first century CEonwards: "Large numbers of Mahayana sutras were being composed in the period between the beginning ofthe common era and the fifth century."[185] five centuries after the historical Gautama Buddha, with someof them having their roots in other scriptures, composed in the first century BCE. It was not until after thefifth century CE that the Mahayana sutras started to influence the behavior of mainstream Buddhists inIndia: "But outside of texts, at least in India, at exactly the same period, very different—in fact seeminglyolder—ideas and aspirations appear to be motivating actual behavior, and old and established Hinnayanagroups appear to be the only ones that are patronized and supported."[185] These texts were apparently notuniversally accepted among Indian Buddhists when they appeared; the pejorative label 'Hinayana' wasapplied by Mahayana supporters to those who rejected the Mahayana sutras.

Only the Theravada school does not include the Mahayana scriptures in its canon. As the modernTheravada school is descended from a branch of Buddhism that diverged and established itself in Sri Lankaprior to the emergence of the Mahayana texts, debate exists as to whether the Theravada were historicallyincluded in the 'hinayana' designation; in the modern era, this label is seen as in any case derogatory, andgenerally avoided.

Comparative studies

Buddhism provides many opportunities for comparative study with a diverse range of subjects. Forexample, dependent origination can be considered one of Buddhism's contributions to metaphysics.Additionally, Buddhism's emphasis on the Middle way not only provides a unique guideline for ethics buthas also allowed Buddhism to peacefully coexist with various differing beliefs, customs and institutions incountries in which it has resided throughout its history. Also, Its moral and spiritual parallels with other

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countries in which it has resided throughout its history. Also, Its moral and spiritual parallels with othersystems of thought—for example, with various tenets of Christianity—have been subjects of close study.

List of Buddhism related topics in comparative studies

Buddhism and JainismBuddhism and HinduismBuddhism and ChristianityGod in Buddhism (Buddhism, mysticism, and monotheism)Buddhism and Eastern teaching (Buddhism and East Asian teaching)Buddhism and psychologyBuddhism and scienceBuddhist ethics (Buddhism and ethics)Buddhist philosophy (Buddhism and Western philosophy)Buddhism and Thelema[186]

See also

Outline of BuddhismIndex of Buddhism-related articlesList of books related to BuddhismTheravada BuddhismMahayana BuddhismVajrayana BuddhismList of Buddhist templesBuddhism by countryBuddhism by region

Footnotes

1. ^ Info on Bodhgaya (http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/bodgaya.htm)2. ^ "Buddhism". (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved November 26, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica

Online Library Edition.3. ^ Major Religions Ranked by Size (http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Buddhism) ; U.S.

State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2004. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/ Accessed20 September 2008; Garfinkel, Perry. "Buddha Rising," National Geographic Dec. 2005: 88–109.; CIA - TheWorld Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/xx.html#People)

4. ^ Robinson et al., Buddhist Religions, page xx; Philosophy East and West, vol 54, ps 269f; Williams, Mahayana

Buddhism, Routledge, 1st ed., 1989, pp. 275f (2nd ed., 2008, p. 266)5. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=_A2QS03MP5EC&pg=PA85#v=onepage&q=&f=false6. ^ http://www.vridhamma.org/Teachers-4.aspx7. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=qjbBKG06To0C&pg=PA111#v=onepage&q=&f=false8. ^ Sue Hamilton, Early Buddhism: A New Approach: The I of the Beholder. Routledge 2000, page 47.9. ^ UNESCO, Lumbini is the birthplace of the Lord Buddha (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/666) , Gethin

Foundations, p. 19, which states that in the mid-3rd century BCE the Emperor Ashoka determined that Lumbiniwas the Buddha's birthplace and thus installed a pillar there with the inscription: "... this is where the Buddha,sage of the $!kyas ($"kyamuni), was born."

10. ^ For instance, Gethin Foundations, p. 14, states: "The earliest Buddhist sources state that the future Buddha wasborn Siddh!rtha Gautama (Pali Siddhattha Gotama), the son of a local chieftain—a r"jan—in Kapilavastu (PaliKapilavatthu) what is now the Indian–Nepalese border." However, Professor Gombrich (Therav"da Buddhism, p.

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1) and the old but specialized study by Edward Thomas, The Life of the Buddha, ascribe the name Siattha/fitta tolater sources.

11. ^ Keown, Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 26712. ^ Skilton, Concise, p. 2513. ^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism Vol. 1, p. 35214. ^ Lopez (1995). Buddhism in Practice. Princeton University Press. p. 16.15. ^ Carrithers, Michael. "The Buddha," in the Oxford University paperback Founders of Faith, 1986, p. 10.16. ^ Armstrong, Karen (September 28, 2004). Buddha. Penguin Press. p. xii. ISBN 0143034367.17. ^ Journal of Buddhist Ethics: "Zen as a Social Ethics of Responsiveness" (http://www.buddhistethics.org/13/zse1-

kasulis.pdf) (PDF), T. P. Kasulis, Ohio State University18. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 4019. ^ Dr. Richard K. Payne (ed.), Tantric Buddhism in East Asia, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2006, p. 7420. ^ Lopez, Story of Buddhism. p. 23921. ^ Lopez, Buddhism. p. 24822. ^ Keown, Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 10723. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 3424. ^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Volume Two), p. 71125. ^ The 31 Planes of Existence (http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/allexistence.pdf) (PDF), Ven. Suvanno Mahathera26. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 3327. ^ André Bareau, Les Sectes bouddhiques du Petit Véhicule, École Française d'Extrême-Orient, Saigon, 1955, pp.

212–223: the top of p. 212 says "Voici les thèses des Theravâdin du Mahâvihâra:" ("Here are the theses of theTheravadins of the Mahavihara"); then begins a numbered list of doctrines over the following pages, including onp. 223 "Il n'y a que cinq (pañca) destinées (gati) ... les Asura Kâlakañjika ont même couleur (samânavanna),même nourriture (samânabhoga), mêmes aliments (samânâhâra), même durée de vie (samânâyuka) que les Petaavec lesquels ... ils se marient (âvâhavivâham gacchanti). Quant aux Vepacittiparisa, ils ont même couleur, mêmenourriture, mêmes aliments, même durée de vie que les Dieux, avec lesquels ils se marient." ("There are only fivedestinies ... the kalakanjika asuras have the same colour, same nourishment, same foods, same lifespan as thepetas, with whom ... they marry. As for the Vepacittiparisa, they have the same colour, same nourishment, samefoods, same lifespan as the gods, with whom they marry.")

28. ^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Vol. 1, p. 37729. ^ The Connected Discourses of the Buddha. A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya, Bhikkhu Bodhi, Translator.

Wisdom Publications.30. ^ Thera, Piyadassi (1999). "Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta"

(http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.piya.html) . The Book of Protection. Buddhist PublicationSociety. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.piya.html. In what is said in Therav!da to be theBuddha's first sermon, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, which was given to the five ascetics with whom hehad practiced austerities. He talks about the Middle Way, the noble eightfold path and the Four Noble Truths.

31. ^ See for example: The Four Noble Truths (http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/fourtruths.html)32. ^ Gethin, Foundations, p. 6033. ^ (2004), Volume One, p. 29634. ^ Harvey, Introduction, p. 4735. ^ Hinnels, John R. (1998). The New Penguin Handbook of Living Religions. London: Penguin Books. pp. 393f.

ISBN 0140514805.36. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 9237. ^ Eliot, Japanese Buddhism, Edward Arnold, London, 1935, p. 6038. ^ "Once we reject the Four Noble Truths, the essential ingredients of Buddhist practice becomes unintelligible."

–Jay Garfield 1995, ISBN 0-19-509336-4 p29439. ^ Eliot, Japanese Buddhism, Edward Arnold, London, 1935, pages 59f40. ^ Kohn, Shambhala, pp. 131, 14341. ^ Jeffrey Po, "Is Buddhism a Pessimistic Way of Life?" (http://www.4ui.com/eart/172eart1.htm)42. ^ Rahula, Walpola (1959). "Chapter 2". What the Buddha Taught. Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-3031-3.43. ^ Prebish, Charles (1993). Historical Dictionary of Buddhism. The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2698-4.44. ^ Keown, Damien (2003). Dictionary of Buddhism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860560-9.45. ^ Thanissaro Bhikkhu, The Not-Self Strategy (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/notself.html) ,

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See Point 3 – The Canon quote Thanissaro Bhikkhu draws attention to is the Sabbasava Sutta

(http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.002.than.html#ayoniso) .

46. ^ This twelve nidana scheme can be found, for instance, in multiple discourses in chapter 12 of the Samyutta

Nikaya—Nidana Vagga (e.g., see SN 12.2, Thanissaro, 1997a)(http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.002.than.html) . Other "applications" of what might betermed "mundane dependent origination" include the nine-nidana scheme of Digha Nikaya 15 (e.g., Thanissaro,1997b) (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.15.0.than.html) and the ten-nidana scheme of Samyutta

Nikaya 12.65 (e.g., Thanissaro, 1997c). (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.065.than.html) So-called "transcendental dependent origination" (also involving twelve nidanas) is described in Samyutta Nikaya

12.23 (e.g., see Bodhi, 1995). (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel277.html) In addition, DighaNikaya 15 describes an eleven-nidana scheme (starting with "feeling") that leads to interpersonal suffering ("thetaking up of sticks and knives; conflicts, quarrels, and disputes; accusations, divisive speech, and lies").

47. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, page 5648. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 5749. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 5850. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 5951. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 6052. ^ Christian Lindtner, Master of Wisdom. Dharma Publishing 1997, p. 324.53. ^ Dan Lusthaus, "What is and isn't Yogacara" (http://www.acmuller.net/yogacara/articles/intro-uni.htm)54. ^ a b Welch, Practice of Chinese Buddhism, Harvard, 1967, p. 39555. ^ The Theravada commentary on the Nettipakarana, ascribed to Dhammapala, says (Pali "-pam!#a" is equivalent

to Sanskrit "-pram!#a"): "na hi p!0ito añña" pam!#atara" atthi" (quoted in Pali Text Society edition of theNettipakarana, 1902, p. xi) which Nanamoli translates as: "for there is no other criterion beyond a text" (The

Guide, Pali Text Society, 1962, p. xi56. ^ MN 72 (Thanissaro, 1997) (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.072.than.html) . For further

discussion of the context in which these statements was made, see Thanissaro (2004)(http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn44/sn44.intro.than.html) .

57. ^ "Experience is ... the path most elaborated in early Buddhism. The doctrine on the other hand was kept low.The Buddha avoided doctrinal formulations concerning the final reality as much as possible in order to prevent hisfollowers from resting content with minor achievements on the path in which the absence of the final experiencecould be substituted by conceptual understanding of the doctrine or by religious faith, a situation which sometimesoccurs, in both varieties, in the context of Hindu systems of doctrine", Karel Werner, Mysticism and Indian

Spirituality. In Karel Werner, ed., The Yogi and the Mystic. Curzon Press, 1989: p. 27.58. ^ Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "Introduction to the Avyakata Samyutta"

(http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn44/sn44.intro.than.html)59. ^ a b Gadjin M. Nagao, Madhyamika and Yogachara. Leslie S. Kawamura, translator, SUNY Press, Albany 1991,

pp. 40–41.60. ^ Sue Hamilton, Early Buddhism. Routledge, 2000, page 135.61. ^ Philosophy East and West. Vol. 26, p. 13862. ^ The Sovereign All-Creating Mind tr. by E. K. Neumaier-Dargyay, pp. 111–112.63. ^ Professor C. D. Sebastian, Metaphysics and Mysticism in Mahayana Buddhism, Sri Satguru Publications, Delhi,

2005, p. 274)64. ^ A. K. Warder, Indian Buddhism. Third edition published by Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 2000, pages 132-133.65. ^ David J. Kalupahana, A History of Buddhist Philosophy: Continuities and Discontinuities. University of Hawaii

Press, 1992, page 43: [1] (http://books.google.com/books?id=SlDArya3YvcC&pg=PA43&dq=inauthor:Kalupahana+omniscience) .

66. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. 2007, page 109.67. ^ Williams, Mahayana Buddhism, Routledge, 1989, p. 268. ^ Kalama Sutta, Anguttara Nikaya III.6569. ^ raga, Pali-English Dictionary (http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.3:1:489.pali) , The Pali

Text Society70. ^ dosa, Pali-English Dictionary (http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:2598.pali) , The Pali

Text Society

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71. ^ moha, Pali-English Dictionary (http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.3:1:229.pali) , The PaliText Society

72. ^ a b Richard F. Gombrich, How Buddhism Began, Munshiram Manoharlal, 1997, p. 6773. ^ Routledge Encyclopedia of Buddhism. 2007. p. 61174. ^ Access to Insight, a Theravada Buddhist website, discusses Buddha Eras

(http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bullitt/bfaq.html#maitreya)75. ^ Gautama Buddha discusses tne Maitreya Buddha in the Tipitaka

(http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.26.0.than.html)76. ^ Kogen Mizuno, Essentials of Buddhism, Shunju-sha, 1972, English translation, Kosei, Tokyo, 1996, p. 5777. ^ Dispeller of Delusion. Vol. II. Pali Text Society, p. 18478. ^ Coomaraswamy, Ananda (1975). Buddha and the Gospel of Buddhism. Boston: University Books, Inc.. p. 225.79. ^ Cook, Hua-yen Buddhism, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1977, p. 110f80. ^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Vol. 1, page 35181. ^ Harvey, p. 17082. ^ Bhikku, Thanissaro (2001). "Refuge" (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/refuge.html#goi) . An

Introduction to the Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha. Access to Insight.http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/refuge.html#goi.

83. ^ Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha, tr. Nanamoli, rev. Bodhi, Wisdom Publications, 1995, pp. 708f84. ^ Professor C.D. Sebastian, Metaphysics and Mysticism in Mahayana Buddhism, Sri Satguru Publications,

Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica Series No. 238, Delhi, 2005, p. 8385. ^ Professor C.D. Sebastian, Metaphysics and Mysticism in Mahayana Buddhism, Delhi, 2005, p. 8286. ^ Hiroshi Kanno, Huisi's Perspective on the Lotus Sutra as Seen Through the Meaning of the Course of Ease and

Bliss in the Lotus Sutra, p. 147, http://www.iop.or.jp/0414/kanno2.pdf, consulted 5 February 201087. ^ Stewart McFarlane in Peter Harvey, ed., Buddhism. Continuum, 2001, page 187.88. ^ Stewart McFarlane in Peter Harvey, ed., Buddhism. Continuum, 2001, pages 195-196.89. ^ Morgan, Peggy; Lawton, Clive A., eds (2007). Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions (2nd ed.). Edinburgh:

Edinburgh University Press. pp. 62–63. ISBN 97880748623303.90. ^ Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo.

Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988, page 89. He is quoting Carrithers.91. ^ B. Alan Wallace, Contemplative Science. Columbia University Press, 2007, p. 81.92. ^ Welch, Practice of Chinese Buddhism, Harvard, 1967, p. 39693. ^ Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism. Cambridge University Press, 1990, page 144.94. ^ Damien Keown, Charles S Prebish, editors, Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Routledge, 2007. p. 50295. ^ Sarah Shaw, Buddhist Meditation: An Anthology of Texts from the P"li Canon. Routledge, 2006, page 13. Shaw

also notes that discourses on meditation are addressed to "bhikkhave," but that in this context the terms is moregeneric than simply (male) "monks" and refers to all practitioners, and that this is confirmed by Buddhaghosa.

96. ^ According to Charles S. Prebish (in his Historical Dictionary of Buddhism, Sri Satguru Publications, Delhi,1993, p. 287): "Although a variety of Zen 'schools' developed in Japan, they all emphasize Zen as a teaching thatdoes not depend on sacred texts, that provides the potential for direct realization, that the realization attained isnone other than the Buddha nature possessed by each sentient being ...".

97. ^ Prebish comments (op. cit., p. 244): "It presumes that sitting in meditation itself (i.e. zazen) is an expression ofBuddha nature." The method is to detach the mind from conceptual modes of thinking and perceive Realitydirectly. Speaking of Zen in general, Buddhist scholar Stephen Hodge writes (Zen Masterclass, Godsfield Press,2002, pp. 12–13): "... practitioners of Zen believe that Enlightenment, the awakening of the Buddha-mind orBuddha-nature, is our natural state, but has been covered over by layers of negative emotions and distortedthoughts. According to this view, Enlightenment is not something that we must acquire a bit at a time, but a statethat can occur instantly when we cut through the dense veil of mental and emotional obscurations."

98. ^ (Critical Sermons on the Zen Tradition, Hisamatsu Shin'ichi, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2002, passim)Commenting on Rinzai Zen and its Chinese founder, Linji, Hisamatsu states: "Linji indicates our true way ofbeing in such direct expressions as 'True Person' and 'True Self'. It is independent of words or letters andtransmitted apart from scriptural teaching. Buddhism doesn't really need scriptures. It is just our direct awakeningto Self ..." (Hisamatsu, op. cit., p. 46).

99. ^ Kosho Uchiyama, Opening the Hand of Thought: Approach to Zen, Penguin Books, New York, 1993, p. 98

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100. ^ Harvey, Introduction, pp. 165f101. ^ Williams, Mahayana Buddhism, Routledge, 1st ed., 1989, p. 185102. ^ Routledge Encyclopedia of Buddhism, p. 781 .103. ^ Gethin, Sayings of the Buddha, Oxford University Press, 2008, p. xv104. ^ a b c Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Buddhism: The foundations of Buddhism: The cultural context. Accessed

19-07-2009105. ^ a b Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Hinduism: History of Hinduism: The Vedic period (2nd millennium - 7th

century BCE; Challenges to Brahmanism (6th - 2nd century BCE; Early Hinduism (2nd century BCE - 4th centuryCE). Accessed 19-07-2009

106. ^ Warder, A.K. 2000. Indian Buddhism. P.32107. ^ Y. Masih (2000) In : A Comparative Study of Religions, Motilal Banarsidass Publ : Delhi, ISBN 81-208-0815-0

Page 18. "There is no evidence to show that Jainism and Buddhism ever subscribed to vedic sacrifices, vedicdeities or caste. They are parallel or native religions of India and have contributed to much to the growth of evenclassical Hinduism of the present times."

108. ^ S. Cromwell Crawford, review of L. M. Joshi, Brahmanism, Buddhism and Hinduism, Philosophy East andWest (1972): "Alongside Brahmanism was the non-Aryan Shramanic culture with its roots going back toprehistoric times."

109. ^ “This confirms that the doctrine of transmigration is non-aryan and was accepted by non-vedics like Ajivikism,Jainism and Buddhism. The Indo-aryans have borrowed the theory of re-birth after coming in contact with theaboriginal inhabitants of India. Certainly Jainism and non-vedics [..] accepted the doctrine of rebirth as supremepostulate or article of faith.” Masih, page 37.

110. ^ Karel Werner, The Longhaired Sage in The Yogi and the Mystic. Karel Werner, ed., Curzon Press, 1989, page34. "Rahurkar speaks of them as belonging to two distinct 'cultural strands' ... Wayman also found evidence fortwo distinct approaches to the spiritual dimension in ancient India and calls them the traditions of 'truth andsilence.' He traces them particularly in the older Upanishads, in early Buddhism, and in some later literature."

111. ^ Gavin D. Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University — Press : UK ISBN 0-521-43878-0 - “The origin and doctrine of Karma and Samsara are obscure. These concepts were certainly circulatingamongst sramanas, and Jainism and Buddhism developed specific and sophisticated ideas about the process oftransmigration. It is very possible that the karmas and reincarnation entered the mainstream brahaminical thoughtfrom the sramana or the renouncer traditions.” Page 86.

112. ^ Padmanabh S. Jaini 2001 “Collected Paper on Buddhist Studies” Motilal Banarsidass Publ 576 pages ISBN 81-208-1776-1: "Yajnavalkya’s reluctance and manner in expounding the doctrine of karma in the assembly of Janaka(a reluctance not shown on any other occasion) can perhaps be explained by the assumption that it was, like that ofthe transmigration of soul, of non-brahmanical origin. In view of the fact that this doctrine is emblazoned onalmost every page of sramana scriptures, it is highly probable that it was derived from them." Page 51.

113. ^ Govind Chandra Pande, (1994) Life and Thought of Sankaracarya, Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 81-208-1104-6 :Early Upanishad thinkers like Yajnavalkya were acquainted with the sramanic thinking and tried to incorporatethese ideals of Karma, Samsara and Moksa into the vedic thought implying a disparagement of the vedic ritualismand recognising the mendicancy as an ideal. Page 135.

114. ^ "The sudden appearance of this theory [of karma] in a full-fledged form is likely to be due, as already pointedout, to an impact of the wandering muni-and-shramana-cult, coming down from the pre-Vedic non-Aryan time."Kashi Nath Upadhyaya, Early Buddhism and the Bhagavadgita. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1998, page 76.

115. ^ Warder, A.K. 2000. Indian Buddhism. P.30-32116. ^ Warder, A.K. 2000. Indian Buddhism. P.39117. ^ Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. P.33118. ^ Dharmacarini Manishini, Western Buddhist Review. Accessed at

http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol4/kamma_in_context.html119. ^ Warder, A.K. 2000. Indian Buddhism. P.33120. ^ Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught, pages 9-10.121. ^ "The brahmin by caste alone, the teacher of the Veda, is (jokingly) etymologized as the 'non-meditator'

(ajh"yaka). Brahmins who have memorized the three Vedas (tevijja) really know nothing: it is the process ofachieving Enlightenment — what the Buddha is said to have achieved in the three watches of that night — whichconstitutes the true 'three knowledges.'" R.F. Gombrich in Paul Williams, ed., "Buddhism: Critical Concepts in

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Religious Studies." Taylor and Francis 2006, page 120.122. ^ Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo.

Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988, page 85.123. ^ Richard Francis Gombrich, How Buddhism began: the conditioned genesis of the early teachings Continuum

International Publishing Group, 1996, pages 38-39124. ^ Michael Carrithers, The Buddha, 1983, pages 41-42. Found in Founders of Faith, Oxford University Press,

1986.125. ^ Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Routledge 2007, page 21.126. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Vedic religion. Accessed 19-07-2009127. ^ Warder, A.K. 2000. Indian Buddhism. P.35128. ^ A History of Indian Buddhism — Hirakawa Akira (translated and edited by Paul Groner) - Motilal Banarsidass

Publishers, Delhi, 1993, p. 7129. ^ Mitchell, Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 34 & table of contents130. ^ Skorupski, Buddhist Forum, vol I, Heritage, Delhi/SOAS, London, 1990, p. 5; Journal of the International

Association of Buddhist Studies, vol 21 (1998), part 1, pp. 4, 11131. ^ see also the book Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks, University of Hawai'i Press, by Dr Gregory Schopen132. ^ Encyclopedia of Religion, Macmillan, New York, sv Councils, Buddhist133. ^ Journal of the P"li Text Society, volume XVI, p. 105)134. ^ Janice J. Nattier and Charles S. Prebish, 1977. Mah"s")ghika Origins: the beginnings of Buddhist sectarianism

in History of Religions, Vol. 16, pp. 237–272135. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, p. 74136. ^ a b "Abhidhamma Pitaka." Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia

Britannica, 2008.137. ^ Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Routledge. p. 485.138. ^ A History of Indian Buddhism — Hirakawa Akira (translated and edited by Paul Groner) - Motilal Banarsidass

Publishers, Delhi, 1993, p. 8139. ^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism. 2004, page 494140. ^ ‘The south (of India) was then vigorously creative in producing Mahayana Sutras’ – AK Warder, Indian

Buddhism, 3rd edition, 1999, p. 335.141. ^ Mahayanism in all probability germinated in the south, where the offshoots of the Mahasanghikas had their

centres of activities, but where it appeared more developed was a place somewhere in the eastern part of India, aplace where the Sarvastivadins were predominant.' Buddhist Sects in India, Nalinaksha Dutt, Motilal BanarsidassPublishers (Delhi), 2nd Edition, 1978, p. 243)

142. ^ ‘The sudden appearance of large numbers of (Mahayana) teachers and texts (in North India in the secondcentury AD) would seem to require some previous preparation and development, and this we can look for in theSouth.’ AK Warder, Indian Buddhism, 3rd edition, 1999 p. 335.

143. ^ A History of Indian Buddhism — Hirakawa Akira (translated and edited by Paul Groner) - Motilal BanarsidassPublishers, Delhi, 1993, p. 8,9

144. ^ Peter Harvey, "An Introduction to Buddhism." Cambridge University Press, 1993, page 95.145. ^ Dan Lusthaus, Buddhist Phenomenology. Routledge, 2002, pages 236-237.146. ^ Peter Harvey, "An Introduction to Buddhism." Cambridge University Press, 1993, page 113. "There were no

great Indian teachers associated with this strand of thought."147. ^ A History of Indian Buddhism — Hirakawa Akira (translated and edited by Paul Groner) - Motilal Banarsidass

Publishers, Delhi, 1993, p. 9148. ^ Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism, Routledge, 2nd ed, 2006, page 135149. ^ Carol E. Henderson, Culture and Customs of India. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, page 42.150. ^ Joseph B. Tamney in William H. Swatos, editor, Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Rowman Altamira,

1998, page 68.151. ^ Chinese Cultural Studies: The Spirits of Chinese Religion

(http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/lopez.html)152. ^ Windows on Asia - Chinese Religions (http://asia.msu.edu/eastasia/China/religion.html)153. ^ Religions and Beliefs in China (http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/religion)154. ^ SACU Religion in China (http://www.sacu.org/religion.html)

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155. ^ Index-China Chinese Philosophies and religions (http://www.index-china.com/index-english/people-religions-s.html)

156. ^ AskAsia - Buddhism in China (http://www.askasia.org/teachers/essays/essay.php?no=16)157. ^ BUDDHISM AND ITS SPREAD ALONG THE SILK ROAD

(http://www.globaled.org/curriculum/china/bessay1.htm)158. ^ U.S. Department of States - International Religious Freedom Report 2006: China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong,

and Macau) (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71338.htm)159. ^ State Attitudes to Religion (http://www.opendemocracy.net/pix/home/stateattitudes.pdf) (PDF), The Atlas of

Religion, Joanne O'Brien & Martin Palmer, openDemocracy.net160. ^ Center for Religious Freedom - Survey Files (http://crf.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=survey_files)161. ^ The Range of Religious Freedom (http://crf.hudson.org/articledocs/TheRangeofReligiousFreedom.doc)162. ^ Garfinkel, Perry (December 2005). "Buddha Rising". National Geographic: 88–109.163. ^ a b c Major Branches of Buddhism (http://www.adherents.com/adh_branches.html#Buddhism) , Adherents.com,

retrieved on 2008-01-15164. ^ Philosophy East and West, volume 54, page 270165. ^ Keown, Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 1996, page 12166. ^ Smith, Buddhism; Juergensmeyer, Oxford Handbook.167. ^ "Tibetan Buddhism" (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tibetan%20buddhism) . American Heritage

Dictionary of the English Language. Houghton Mifflin Company. 2004.http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tibetan%20buddhism. Retrieved 2007-07-07.

168. ^ (Harvey, 1990); (Gombrich,1984); Gethin (1998), pp. 1–2, identifies "three broad traditions" as: (1) "TheTherav!da tradition of Sri Lanka and South-East Asia, also sometimes referred to as 'southern' Buddhism"; (2)"The East Asian tradition of China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, also sometimes referred to as 'eastern' Buddhism";and, (3) "The Tibetan tradition, also sometimes referred to as 'northern' Buddhism."; Robinson & Johnson (1982)divide their book into two parts: Part One is entitled "The Buddhism of South Asia" (which pertains to EarlyBuddhism in India); and, Part Two is entitled "The Development of Buddhism Outside of India" with chapters on"The Buddhism of Southeast Asia," "Buddhism in the Tibetan Culture Area," "East Asian Buddhism" and"Buddhism Comes West; Penguin handbook of Living Religions, 1984, page 279; Prebish & Keown, Introducing

Buddhism, ebook, Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 2005, printed ed, Harper, 2006169. ^ See e.g. the multi-dimensional classification in Encyclopedia of Religion, Macmillan, New York, 1987, volume

2, pages 440ff170. ^ A Comparative Study of the Schools (http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/comparative.htm) , Tan Swee

Eng171. ^ Cousins, L.S. (1996); Buswell (2003), Vol. I, p. 82; and, Keown & Prebish (2004), p. 107. See also, Gombrich

(1988/2002), p. 32: “…[T]he best we can say is that [the Buddha] was probably Enlightened between 550 and450, more likely later rather than earlier."

172. ^ Williams (2000, pp. 6-7) writes: "As a matter of fact Buddhism in mainland India itself had all but ceased toexist by the thirteenth century CE, although by that time it had spread to Tibet, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia."Embree et al. (1958/1988), "Chronology," p. xxix: "c. 1000-1200: Buddhism disappears as [an] organized religiousforce in India." See also, Robinson & Johnson (1970/1982), pp. 100-1, 108 Fig. 1; and, Harvey (1990/2007), pp.139-40.

173. ^ Gethin, Foundations, page 1174. ^ Clarke & Beyer, The World's Religions, Routledge, 2009, page 86175. ^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Volume One), pages 430, 435176. ^ Davidson, Ronald M. (2003). Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement. New York:

Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231126190.177. ^ Prebish & Keown, Introducing Buddhism, page 89178. ^ A.K. Warder, Indian Buddhism, 3rd edition (2000)179. ^ Eliot, Japanese Buddhism, Edward Arnold, London, 1935, page 16180. ^ Gethin, Sayings of the Buddha, Oxford University Press, 2008, page xiv181. ^ Journal of the Pali Text Society, volume XVI, page 114182. ^ Peter Harvey, The Selfless Mind. Curzon Press, 1995, page 9.183. ^ David Kalupahana, "Sarvastivada and its theory of sarvam asti." University of Ceylon Review 24 1966, 94-105.

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184. ^ Indian Buddhism, 3rd edition, page 4185. ^ a b MacMillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 494186. ^ Thelema & Buddhism (http://www.geocities.com/hdbq111/JoTS/JoTS1-1.pdf) (PDF) in Journal of Thelemic

Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1, Autumn 2007, pp. 18-32

References

Armstrong, Karen (2001). Buddha. Penguin Books. p. 187. ISBN 0-14-303436-7.Bechert, Heinz & Richard Gombrich (ed.) (1984). The World of Buddhism, Thames & Hudson.Buswell, Robert E. (ed.) (2003). Encyclopedia of Buddhism. MacMillan Reference Books. ISBN 978-0028657189.Coogan, Michael D. (ed.) (2003). The Illustrated Guide to World Religions. Oxford University Press. ISBN 1-84483-125-6.Cousins, L. S. (1996). "The Dating of the Historical Buddha: A Review Article"(http://indology.info/papers/cousins/) . Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Series 3 (6.1): 57–63.http://indology.info/papers/cousins/. Retrieved 2007-07-11.; reprinted in Williams, Buddhism, volume I; NB inthe online transcript a little text has been accidentally omitted: in section 4, between "... none of the othercontributions in this section envisage a date before 420 B.C." and "to 350 B.C." insert "Akira Hirakawadefends the short chronology and Heinz Bechert himself sets a range from 400 B.C."Davidson, Ronald M. (2003). Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement. NewYork: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231126190.de Give, Bernard (2006). Les rapports de l'Inde et de l'Occident des origines au règne d'Asoka. Les Indessavants. ISBN 2846540365.Donath, Dorothy C. (1971). Buddhism for the West: Therav"da, Mah"y"na and Vajray"na; a comprehensive

review of Buddhist history, philosophy, and teachings from the time of the Buddha to the present day. JulianPress. ISBN 0-07-017533-0.Embree, Ainslie T. (ed.), Stephen N. Hay (ed.), Wm. Theodore de Bary (ed.), A.L. Bashram, R.N. Dandekar,Peter Hardy, J.B. Harrison, V. Raghavan, Royal Weiler, and Andrew Yarrow (1958; 2nd ed. 1988). Sources of

Indian Tradition: From the Beginning to 1800 (vol. 1). NY: Columbia U. Press. ISBN 0-231-06651-1.Gethin, Rupert (1998). Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-289223-1.Gombrich, Richard F. (1988; 6th reprint, 2002). Therav"da Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares

to Modern Colombo (London: Routledge). ISBN 0-415-07585-8.Harvey, Peter (1990). An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices. Cambridge UniversityPress. ISBN 0-52-131333-3.Gunaratana, Bhante Henepola (2002). Mindfulness in Plain English. Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-321-4. Also available on this websites: saigon.com (http://www.saigon.com/~anson/ebud/mfneng/mind0.htm)urbandharma.org (http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html) vipassana.com(http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/mindfulness_in_plain_english.php)Gyatso, Geshe Kelsang. Introduction to Buddhism: An Explanation of the Buddhist Way of Life, TharpaPublications (2nd. ed., 2001, US ed. 2008) ISBN 978-0-9789067-7-1Indian Books Centre. Bibliotheca Indo Buddhica Series, Delhi.Juergensmeyer, Mark (2006). The Oxford Handbook of Global Religions. Oxford Handbooks in Religion andTheology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195137989.Keown, Damien and Charles S Prebish (eds.) (2004). Encyclopedia of Buddhism (London: Routledge). ISBN978-0-415-31414-5.Kohn, Michael H. (trans.) (1991). The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen. Shambhala. ISBN 0-87773-520-4.Lamotte, Étienne (trans. from French) (1976). Teaching of Vimalakirti. trans. Sara Boin. London: Pali TextSociety. XCIII. ISBN 0710085400.Lowenstein, Tom (1996). The Vision of the Buddha. Duncan Baird Publishers. ISBN 1-903296-91-9.Morgan, Kenneth W. (ed), The Path of the Buddha: Buddhism Interpreted by Buddhists, Ronald Press, NewYork, 1956; reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi; distributed by Wisdom Books

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Nattier, Jan (2003). A Few Good Men: The Bodhisattva Path according to The Inquiry of Ugra

(Ugrapariprccha). University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 0-8248-2607-8.Rahula, Walpola (1974). What the Buddha Taught. Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-3031-3.Ranjini. Jewels of the Doctrine. Sri Satguru Publications.Robinson, Richard H. and Willard L. Johnson (1970; 3rd ed., 1982). The Buddhist Religion: A Historical

Introduction (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing). ISBN 0-534-01027-X.Ito, Shinjo (2009). Shinjo:Reflections. Somerset Hall Press.Sinha, H.P. (1993). Bh"rat#ya Darshan k# r%prekh" (Features of Indian Philosophy). Motilal BanarasidasPubl.. ISBN 81-208-2144-0.Skilton, Andrew (1997). A Concise History of Buddhism (http://books.google.com/books?id=GEKd4iqH3C0C&dq=history+of+buddhism) . Windhorse Publications. ISBN 0904766926.http://books.google.com/books?id=GEKd4iqH3C0C&dq=history+of+buddhism.Smith, Huston; Phillip Novak (2003). Buddhism: A Concise Introduction. HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 978-0060730673.Thanissaro Bhikkhu (2001). Refuge: An Introduction to the Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha

(http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/refuge.html#goi) (3rd ed., rev.).Thich Nhat Hanh (1974), The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, Broadway Books ISBN 0-7679-0369-2.Thurman, Robert A. F. (translator) (1976). Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: Mahayana Scripture. PennsylvaniaState University Press. ISBN 0-271-00601-3.White, Kenneth (2005). The Role of Bodhicitta in Buddhist Enlightenment Including a Translation into English

of Bodhicitta-sastra, Benkemmitsu-nikyoron, and Sammaya-kaijo. The Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 0-7734-5985-5.Williams, Paul (1989). Mahayana Buddhism: the doctrinal foundations. London: Routledge.Williams, Paul (ed.) (2005). Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies, 8 volumes, Routledge, London& New York.Williams, Paul with Anthony Tribe (2000). Buddhist Thought (London: Routledge). ISBN 0-415-20701-0.Retrieved 29 Nov 2008 from "Google Books" (http://books.google.com/books?id=v0Rpvycf1t0C) .Yamamoto, Kosho (translation), revised and edited by Dr. Tony Page. The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra.(Nirvana Publications 1999-2000).Yin Shun, Yeung H. Wing (translator) (1998). The Way to Buddhahood: Instructions from a Modern Chinese

Master. Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-133-5.

Online

Berzin, Alexander (November 2001). "Historical Sketch of Buddhism and Islam in Afghanistan"(http://www.berzinarchives.com/islam/history_afghanistan_buddhism.html) . Berzin Archives.http://www.berzinarchives.com/islam/history_afghanistan_buddhism.html.Wei, Wei Wu (http://www.weiwuwei.8k.com/) (1960). "Why Lazarus Laughed: The EssentialDoctrine Zen-Advaita-Tantra" (http://www.sentientpublications.com/catalog/lazarus.php) . Routledge

and Kegan Paul Ltd., London. Sentient Publications(http://www.sentientpublications.com/authors/weiwuwei.php) .http://www.sentientpublications.com/catalog/lazarus.php.Dhammananda, K. Sri (2002). "What Buddhists Believe"(http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/whatbelieve.pdf) (PDF). Buddhist Missionary Society of Malaysia

(http://www.bmsm.org.my/) . http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/whatbelieve.pdf.

External links

Orange Tip Editions (http://www.orange-tip-editions.com:) Buddhism in everyday lifeReligion and Spirituality: Buddhism(http://www.dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Buddhism) at Open Directory Project

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"Buddhism — objects, art and history"(http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/asia_features/buddhism/index.html) . Asia. Victoria andAlbert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/asia_features/buddhism/index.html. Retrieved2007-12-06.Buddhist texts at Sacred Texts.com (http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/index.htm)Ethical Democracy Journal - Notes on Budhism (http://www.ethical-democracy.org/Buddhism.htm)Buddhism in various languages (http://www.what-Buddha-taught.net)

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