Buddhism

The Encyclopedia of World Religions series has been designed to provide comprehensive coverage of six major global religious traditions—Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Roman Catholicism, and Protestant Christianity. The volumes have been constructed in an A-to-Z format to provide a handy guide to the major terms, concepts, people, events, and organizations that have, in each case, trans-formed the religion from its usually modest begin-nings to the global force that it has become.

Each of these religions began as the faith of a relatively small group of closely related eth¬nic peoples. Each has, in the modern world, become a global community, and, with one nota¬ble exception, each has transcended its beginning to become an international multiethnic com¬munity. Judaism, of course, largely defines itself by its common heritage and ancestry and has an alternative but equally fascinating story. Surviving long after most similar cultures from the ancient past have turned to dust, Judaism has, within the last century, regathered its scattered people into a homeland while simultaneously watching a new diaspora carry Jews into most of the contempo¬rary world’s countries.

Each of the major traditions has also, in the modern world, become amazingly diverse. Bud-dhism, for example, spread from its original home in India across southern Asia and then through Tibet and China to Korea and Japan. Each time it crossed a language barrier, something was lost, but something seemed equally to be gained, and an array of forms of Buddhism emerged. In Japan alone, Buddhism exists in hundreds of different sect groupings. Protestantism, the newest of the six traditions, began with at least four different and competing forms of the religious life and has since splintered into thousands of denominations.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the six religious traditions selected for coverage in this series were largely confined to a relatively small part of the world. Since that time, the world has changed dramatically, with each of the traditions moving from its geographical center to become a global tradition. While the traditional religions of many countries retain the allegiance of a majority of the population, they do so in the presence of the other traditions as growing minorities. Other countries—China being a prominent example— have no religious majority, only a number of minorities that must periodically interface with one another.

The religiously pluralistic world created by the global diffusion of the world’s religions has made knowledge of religions, especially religions practiced by one’s neighbors, a vital resource in the continuing task of building a good society, a world in which all may live freely and pursue visions of the highest values the cos¬mos provides. 

An introduction Of Buddhism

The Buddhism’s founder, who lived around 500 B.C.E., and all the ideas associated with that image continue to attract people. The Buddha left no writings of his own, but there is little reason to doubt his historicity—the number of stories and legends surrounding him points overwhelmingly to the presence of a powerful historical figure. There are, in addition, many written references to him; the famous edicts of Asoka were often carved in stone. These refer­ences are dated from well after his life, granted, but they nevertheless give strong material support to his influence. 

The term Buddhism did not exist in any language until the early 19th century, when scholars coined it in European languages to refer to the newly dis­covered complex of religious practices centered on the image or memory of the figure called Bud­dha, the Enlightened One. Early Buddhists, in fact, used such alternative terms as dharma or dharma vinaya, “law-rules,” to refer to their belief system. In Sanskrit sources, these often became the Buddha Dharma, the “doctrines of the Bud­dha.” In Sri Lanka, the teachings are still called sasana, the “teachings,” while in China the tradi­tional term is fojiao (Buddha doctrine or teach­ings), which is also now used as the translation for the European term Buddhism. The word Boud­hism was introduced in the Oxford English Diction­ary in 1801 and emerged as Buddhism in 1816.

 

Buddhist Spirituality 

Students often look for a core teaching in Bud­dhism, and, indeed, different teachers and tradi­tions do emphasize certain teachings over others. Some, for instance, emphasize the transient nature of reality, an aspect noted by the Buddha himself when he explained the nature of dukkha, or suffer­ing. Others, however, emphasize Buddha nature, the underlying reality that gives us something to discover within. And others may emphasize the process of perceiving the unfolding of the world, through the concept of pratityta samutpada, code­pendent arising.

Focus solely on core teachings, however, obscures the essential spiritual nature of the Bud­dhist movement: personal spiritual development. Spiritual change and movement are assumed, longed for, and upheld as ideals. Regardless of tradition, all Buddhists who accept the Dharma, the Buddha’s teachings, will in turn strive to make spiritual progress.

How does a follower of Buddhism approach spirituality, then? First, he or she seeks the clear perception of reality. The Buddha’s teachings help clear away the cobwebs. However, individuals must also strive through their own efforts. Such efforts often include meditation techniques of some sort. Meditation is a term loosely referring to techniques of quiescence and observance. Monks and laypersons over the years have developed elab­orate meditation exercises, from Theravadin vipas­sana to Tibetan visualizations and Chinese Tian Tai ritual. What will result from such techniques of discipline? First, the individual sees through the boundaries of the everyday self. The self is seen as a nonreality, a convenience that impedes clear perception. The meditator will experience non-self-based reality, achieving a “nondiscursive” awareness. The meditator will also cease to cling to the constructs of the mind, which are realized to be ephemeral and insubstantial.