Buddhism A philosophy and moral practice aimed towards relieving suffering in life by ridding oneself of desire.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Buddhism has around 350 million followers of it's various forms. This foundation of Buddhism is explained in the Four Noble Truths: 1. "Dukkha: Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, & despair are dukkha; association with the unbeloved is dukkha; separation from the loved is dukkha; not getting what is wanted is dukkha. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are dukkha." 2. "The origination of dukkha: the craving that makes for further becoming accompanied by passion & delight, relishing now here & now there i.e., craving for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming." 3. "The cessation of dukkha: the remainderless fading & cessation, renunciation, relinquishment, release, & letting go of that very craving." 4. "The way of practice leading to the cessation of dukkha: precisely this Noble Eightfold Path right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. Samyutta Nikaya 56.11, The Grouped Discourses of Buddha. A common condensation/translation of Buddha's teaching of the four noble truths can be generally rendered as: (1.) Life is Suffering; (2.) Suffering is caused by desire; (3.) To rid oneself of suffering, one must rid oneself a desire; (4.) To rid oneself of desire, one must follow the eightfold path. "Among whatever qualities there may be, fabricated or unfabricated, the quality of dispassion the subduing of intoxication, the elimination of thirst, the uprooting of attachment, the breaking of the round, the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, the realization of Unbinding is considered supreme. Those who have confidence in the quality of dispassion have confidence in what is supreme; and for those with confidence in the supreme, supreme is the result." Khuddaka Nikaya, The Collection of Little Texts. "From the remainderless fading & cessation of that very ignorance, there no longer exists [the sense of] the body on account of which that pleasure & pain internally arise. There no longer exists the speech... the intellect on account of which that pleasure & pain internally arise. There no longer exists the field, the site, the dimension, or the issue on account of which that pleasure & pain internally arise." Samyutta Nikaya 12.25, The Grouped Discourses of Buddha.

Historical Development: In around 624-560 BCE, Siddhattha Gotama, a prince of the Sakya clan, is born in Lumbini (in present-day Nepal). At the age of 29, prince Siddhattha renounces all his wealth and inheritance, and travels the world to find the meaning of life. After seven years of travels, encountering various sages and wise-people and extracting their knowledge, while meditating under a Bo tree in the forest at Gaya (now Bodhgaya, India), Siddhattha Gotama attains enlightenment and becomes Buddha. Two months later he becomes a teacher, and delivers his first discourse near Varanasi, explaining the Four Noble Truths. In around 544-480 BCE, Buddha dies at Kusinara (now Kusinagar, India) at the age of 80. Over the millennium to follow, Buddhist philosophy has split countless times into branches upon branches, and has been assimilated in various ways by cultures around the world. Cultures that have accepted Buddhism do so in decidedly local ways, often combining Buddhism with the worship of their traditional spirits and gods. Buddha called the philosophy and moral practice he founded (in around 585 ~ 525 BCE) Dhamma-vinaya (which translated from Pali means: the doctrine and discipline). The Tipitaka (Three Baskets), or Pali Cannon, which claim to be the original teachings of Buddha, were written in around 100 ~ 82 BCE, some 450 years after Buddha's death. The Tipitaka is split into three sections: the Vinaya Pitaka (the Basket of Discipline), which state the rules for being a monk and contain Buddha's reasoning for each rule; the Sutta Pitaka (the Basket of Threads), a collection of 10,000 discourses by Buddha and his closest followers; and the Abhidhamma Pitaka (the Basket of Higher Dhamma), which contain Buddha's detailed analysis of the principles governing the behavior of mental and physical processes. When Buddha dies, the First Council of Buddhism immediately convenes at Rajagaha, India, where 500 arahant bhikkhus, led by Ven. Mahakassapa, recite from memory the entire body of the Buddha's teachings. The recitation of the Vinaya by Ven. Upali becomes accepted as the Vinaya Pitaka; the recitation of the Dhamma by Ven. Ananda becomes established as the Sutta Pitaka, while the Abhidhamma Pitaka has yet to be decided. Over a century passes before the Second Council of Buddhism convenes in Vesali, India, to discuss controversial points of Vinaya. The first split in Buddhism is made clear at this council, between the reformist Mahasanghika school and the traditionalist Sthaviravadins, who believe that Buddhas are human beings, nothing more nor less. The Mahasanghika are the majority group, believing that Buddhism

could not be contained simply in the material in human beings alone that what it speaks of must be a transcendental state of being. By around 250 BCE, after another century has past, the Third Council of Buddhism occurs, producing the Sarvastivadin and Vibhajjavadin sects (which die out relatively soon after). The Abhidhamma Pitaka is recited for the first time at this Council, along with additional sections of the Khuddaka Nikaya. The modern Tipitaka is thus thought to have derived primarily from the memorised recitations of Buddha's teachings that had been established at this time. Ten years later, the oldest surviving sect of Buddhism forms in Sri Lanka: Theravada Buddhism, where it remains intact to this day. It traces its own lineage through the traditional Sthaviravadin school, and purports to be the best representation of Buddha's original teachings. In around 100 BCE, Buddhism is rife with schisms and discord between the sects. King Vattagamani convenes a Fourth Council, in which 500 reciters and scribes from the Mahavihara record the Tipitaka for the first time on palm leaves at the Aloka Cave, near Matale, Sri Lanka. The second surviving sect, Mahayana Buddhism, is a collection of a various schools of Buddhism, all of which gradually find their roots in the Mahasanghika school. The exact rise of Mahayana is difficult to determine after the demise of the Mahasanghikas, but most pin its rebirth in China sometime during the Later Han dynasty (25 to 220 CE), in a school called Madhyamika, taught by Nagarjuna, which emphasised emptiness and non-being. During the three Kingdoms era or early Chin (around 200-300 CE), the school of Yogacara formed, which proclaimed that all ideas, that all existence, is based on consciousness, and thus that Ultimate Reality is only perceived and does not have real existence. While there are sects in Buddhism sometimes referred to as the Chinese (10 main sects) and Japanese (6 main sects) schools (from Zen to Lotus to Esoteric to Jodo, etc) for the purposes of this article all fit within the broad spectrum of Mahayana Buddhism. In early 300 CE, when Buddhism was permeating through China, Wang Fu wrote a book called Lao-tzu hua-hu ching (The Classic about Lao-Tzu's Civilising of the Barbarians), which had massive distribution and remains an irritant to Chinese Buddhism even to the present day. Wang Fu recounts a story that when Lao-tzu departed China, he traveled across Central Asia into India, and (depending on the version of Wang Fu's story that has survived): Lao-tzu became the Buddha, he converted the Buddha to Taoism, or, one of his students became the Buddha. Unfortunately, the Buddha couldn't quite get Lao-Tzu's teachings quite right, and

hence, the birth of Buddhism! This story resulted in a battle of historical forgery by both sides: the Buddhists moved Buddha's birth date further and further back, while the Taoists responded in kind with Lao-Tzu's birth date. Chinese Buddhists were finally able to suppress the Taoists claims in around 1200 CE, but Chinese Buddhism would experience a number of divides to gain greater local authenticity and independence. A third school is Vajrayana Buddhism, commonly referred to as Tibetan Buddhism. This form of Buddhism is technically a part of Mahayana based on Tantric Buddhism, which arose in around 500 CE, and employed the use of spells, symbols, and complicated rituals to reach enlightenment. Buddhism had entered Tibet in around 200 CE, but had come under it's own system as Buddhist monks took to controlling society and enforcing their own edicts and morals on others. Their theocracy engrained patriarchy into Tibetan society, severely repressing women, and found a need to make the acts of reincarnation official: to keep power in the hands of the monks, only the monks could proclaim who was the next high ranking official of the empire (aka the reincarnation of the last emperor). This high level of stratification and ranks, dictated through reincarnation, was necessary for running a feudalist society. At the beginning of the 21st century, the three sects divide the Buddhist population thusly: Mahayana: 56%; Theravada: 38%; Vajrayana: 6%.

Comparison of Theravada & Mahayana: While Mahayana views the Tipitaka as a sort of introduction to Buddhism, seeing it's own later texts as more advanced forms of study, even in the Tipitaka one can see differences between the two major schools. In Theravada, the eightfold path is a set of practical, moral guidelines to living (abstention from intoxication, practice of meditation, etc.), through which people can overcome being misguided by false desires. Mahayana and Tibetan

Buddhism emphasise the importance of having "correct" understanding of the eightfold path: with true knowledge lies the ability to transcend reality and attain nirvana. The translation of the Tipitaka exemplifies this difference. To Theravada for example, the Eight Fold Path is: right views, right aspirations, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation. By using the word "true" instead of "right", we would have a common idealist (Mahayana and Vajrayana) rendition of the Eight Fold Path; while "right" is associated with the materialist practices of Theravada. Thus, the fundamental difference between the two schools is the schism between philosophical/moral Materialism and Idealism. Theravadan Buddhism is primarily atheist, denying the existence of god, and sometimes the supernatural. While the ancient doctrine of Theravada denies all forms of the supernatural, after centuries of local practice by peasantry throughout Asia, spirits and gods were slowly grafted onto Theravada by local cultures; in this way leading to a deification of Buddha in areas of SouthEast Asia, and a kind of holiness in monks. From its inception, Mahayana Buddhism concretely integrated with local cultural beliefs in the supernatural (spirits, reincarnation, etc). Tibetan Buddhism takes belief in the supernatural a step further, believing in a Dalai Lama, who is much like a god on earth. Theravada Buddhism explains that the natural world, combined with human relations, constitute a stream of elements of both matter and consciousness (dharmas), which are continually in motion. There is no Absolute Truth, neither is there a metaphysical "soul". The existence of the material self, an ever changing self (anatman), is also not absolute it passes through life and into death, dieing as does the body it is a part of dharma. When humans react to their desires for something, Theravada Buddhism explains, they do so in a way that tries to make concrete the relationship of their individual self with the thing desired (this relationship is called ego). All things desired are transitory however, always changing, coming into existence, then fading away (the principal of impermanence), thus, the existence of the ego is a false attempt towards consistency, because such a relationship cannot be concrete. Selflessness is therefore necessary in order to achieve harmony and balance within an ever changing world. In other words, painting the world with one's own ideas and wishes is a futile and deceptive act, a person's beliefs belong to themselves and guide their own actions; to externalise these beliefs and pretend that the world will comply to them is a mistake! Mahayana and Tibetan Buddhism take a divergence from materialism beginning with their understanding of the self, believing that it does not really exist. Their

premise is that human desire is an illusion, being a false obstacle to the path of enlightenment. They further rationalise that because the self is fooled by desires, then the self must also be an illusion. Further, therefore, they explain that dharma (i.e. the material world), in containing both the self and desire, is also not real. This unreality of dharma, called Sunyata (void), was first espoused by Nagarjuna (2nd century A.D.), who explained that all conceptual thought was unreal, only absolute intuitive knowledge was valid (well over 1000 years later, a westerner named Descartes would establish a similar theory, and give rise to a centuries long era of philosophy). Following these premises, they explain that in order to relieve oneself from suffering, it is necessary to cast off the illusory material world. The principle of Kharma and reincarnation, while having ancient roots in Hinduism, were re-embraced by Mahayana and Tibetan Buddhism, doctrines claiming that the soul was eternal (contradicting the Theravada theory of impermanence, and specifically of the anatman, the always changing self), reborn countless times into the world, bringing with it good or bad conduct, which would be returned in kind. Through enlightenment, they explained, the eternal soul could break the cycle of being reborn into the world countless times, and transcend reality. Western Buddhism: While Buddhism had entered North America (and to some extent Europe) during the mid-1800s due to Chinese imigration, the movement of Western Buddhism began around the 1960s. Since Buddhism (particuarly Mahayana and Tibetan) is seeped in the cultural traditions of the nation's it is practiced, its entrance into the West saw these cultural traditions clash: whether due to the rigidity and sometimes absolutism of the Buddhist structures, to fervent notions of patriarchy, or to belief in any manner of spirits and gods. While Western Buddhism is still very young, almost embryotic, without the strength yet to define itself as its own sect, some observations can be made. One result of the clash in cultures is the Westerners' struggle against selfidentification with Buddhism, while only admiting to be in the practice of dharma. Hitherto, the most successful school of Western Buddhism is based on Theravada. Western Buddhism is unique in that it seems to mix Theravada with Taoism: a blend of the rigidity and structure of the former with the freedom and individuality of the latter. Showing the assimilation of Taosim, Western Buddhists typically believe that both desire and suffering are not wrong, but natural human traits, and that the path of enlightenment is simply the acceptance of reality. Showing the inheritance of Theravada Buddhism, they practice meditation by the clock, with a discipline that views meditation as a fundamental tool never to be let go, they retain the idol of the Buddha, and embrace the many structures and systems that

may guide or prevent a person from enlightenment. Comparison of Buddhism to Taoism: Traditional Buddhism shares a tremendous amount in common with Traditional Taoism, but the two differ in three primary ways: On morality: While Buddhism makes moral judgements, seeing some human traits as wrong and incorrect, Taoism doesn't make moral judgements. While a Taoist may describe a certain trait in a particular instant as preventing a person from seeing reality, the Taoist doesn't feel that is a bad thing; while the Buddhist sees that person as living in chains and feels a need to liberate their morality! Taoism accepts things as they are, and thus, moral decisions and feelings remain internal, while the Buddhist attempts to objectify their morality. In practice: As a result, the Buddhist attempts to structure the world and the path to enlightenment in certain ways. There are 4 truths, an 8 fold path, there are clinging aggregates here and there, and all kinds of things, good and bad, that have been setup to avoid or strive to achieve. Taoism sees such attempts as a part of the problem! That trying to structure one set of rules on the diversity of humanity, no matter how diverse and ammending those rules are, will never quite work! While the Buddhist meditates with special tools, idols, and at designated times, the Taoist believes that meditation isn't different from living normally it is a different thing to do, and has healthy value, but it isn't more nor less important that tieing one's shoes! On enlightenment: Taoism believes that suffering is natural that an attempt to get rid of suffering would be an equal to getting rid of pleasure as well. Taoism is similar to Theravada Buddhism in believing that desires often confuse or prevent a person from accepting what is reality. They share in common the core belief that spiritual progress means being able to accept and live in harmony with the reality of one's self.