Buddhism: Origins and History

History and Origins

• Buddhism began with Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha ("Enlightened One").
• He was born around the 6th–5th century BCE in Lumbini, on the modern India-Nepal border, as a prince of the Shakya clan.
• Siddhartha lived a sheltered life until he saw four signs: an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and an ascetic, revealing suffering.
• He renounced his royal life and practiced austere asceticism in the forest.
• He adopted a Middle Way between indulgence and mortification.
• At 35, Siddhartha attained Enlightenment (Bodhi) while meditating under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, becoming the Buddha.
• The Buddha taught to help others overcome suffering, giving his first sermon at the Deer Park in Sarnath.
• The core doctrines were the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, a middle way to liberation (nirvana).
• He gathered disciples and formed a community of monks (the Sangha).
• The Buddha traveled across northern India for 45 years, teaching his Dharma to people of all social classes.
• He passed away in Kushinagar at around age 80, achieving parinirvana (final nirvana).
• His body was cremated and relics were enshrined in stupas, which became pilgrimage sites.

Development and Spread of Buddhism

• The disciples orally preserved the Buddha’s teachings and monastic rules.
• Over time, the teachings were compiled into collections and commentaries in various local languages.
• Early Buddhist councils helped standardize doctrine and monastic discipline.
• Different interpretations emerged, leading to various schools such as Theravādins and Mahāsāṃghikas.
• In the 3rd century BCE, Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire supported Buddhism.
• Ashoka promoted Dharma as a guiding ethic for governance, promoting moral virtues throughout his realm.
• Ashoka saw to the welfare of all subjects through hospitals, wells, and rest-houses, without establishing Buddhism as an exclusive state religion.
• He dispatched missionaries to spread the teachings of the Buddha beyond India's borders, helping establish it in Sri Lanka and across Central and Southeast Asia.
• Buddhism spread southward to Sri Lanka and onward to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, establishing Theravāda Buddhism.
• By the 1st century CE, Mahayana Buddhism entered Central Asia and China, then spread to Korea and Japan, blending with local cultures.
• Vajrayana Buddhism emerged in India and was transmitted to Tibet in the 7th–8th centuries, also reaching Mongolia and other parts of Inner Asia.
• By the end of the first millennium CE, Buddhism was a dominant faith across Asia.
• Buddhism eventually waned in India around the 12th century CE due to integration of Buddhist ideas into Hinduism, invasions, and loss of patronage.
• In the 19th and 20th centuries, Buddhist teachings reached Europe and the Americas.
• Today, Buddhism is a world religion with an estimated 500 million followers.

Core Teachings of Buddhism

• The Four Noble Truths explain the human condition and the path to liberation.
• These truths were expounded in Buddha’s first sermon.

The Four Noble Truths

• The Truth of Suffering (Dukkha): All conditioned existence is marked by dukkha, which includes not just pain, but also unsatisfactoriness or stress in life.
• Dukkha arises because everything is impermanent, even pleasures and attachments.
• The Truth of the Cause of Suffering: Dukkha originates from craving (taṇhā) or attachment fueled by ignorance (avidyā).
• We crave sensual pleasures, continued existence, or things to be different, clinging to experiences and resisting life’s realities.
• The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering: Suffering can end through cessation (nirodha), which is nirvana – eliminating craving and ignorance.
• Nirvana offers peace, freedom, and bliss beyond the cycles of birth and death, escaping samsara.
• The Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering: The Noble Eightfold Path leads to the end of suffering and nirvana.
• Practitioners can purify the causes of suffering by cultivating ethical living, mental cultivation, and wisdom.

The Noble Eightfold Path

• The Noble Eightfold Path is often illustrated by an eight-spoked Dharma Wheel (dharmachakra).
• The path is grouped into three fundamental trainings: wisdom, ethical conduct, and mental discipline.
• Right View: Understanding the Four Noble Truths and seeing reality as it is.
• Right Intention: Developing pure motives that are free from desires, ill-will or cruelty.
• Right Speech: Speaking truthfully and kindly, avoiding lies, harsh words, divisive speech, or idle chatter.
• Right Action: Behaving ethically and non-harmfully; laypeople observe basic moral precepts such as not killing, stealing, or sexual misconduct.
• Right Livelihood: Earning a living in a way that does not cause any harm or injustice.
• Right Effort: Making dedicated effort to purify the mind and cultivate wholesome qualities.
• Right Mindfulness: Developing constant awareness and attentiveness to one’s body, feelings, thoughts, and phenomena.
• Right Concentration: Training in meditation to achieve deep states of mental focus and insight.
• All eight factors support each other and are practiced simultaneously in daily life as an integrated whole.
• It exemplifies the Middle Way, which ultimately leads to enlightenment and nirvana

Additional Key Concepts

• Karma: Intentional actions of body, speech, and mind have consequences that shape future experiences.
• Wholesome deeds lead to positive results, while unwholesome deeds lead to suffering.
• Karma is not fate; it's an ongoing process of creating one's own future.
• Rebirth (Saṃsāra): Existence is an ever-turning cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (transmigration).
• Beings are reborn into new lives based on their karma; escaping this cycle through nirvana is the goal.
• Anatman (Non-self): There is no permanent, unchanging self (atman) in living beings.
• Clinging to a false idea of an independent self leads to egoism and craving, producing suffering.
• Dependent Origination: All phenomena arise in dependence on causes and conditions.
• Removing ignorance and craving breaks the cycle of suffering; understanding this concept helps one see the interconnected nature of reality.
• The Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path are a unifying foundation across all Buddhist schools.

Major Sects of Buddhism

• The three major traditions are Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna.
• All share core teachings but differ in emphasis, philosophy, scriptures, and methods.

Theravāda Buddhism

• Theravāda ("Doctrine/Teaching of the Elders") is the oldest surviving form of Buddhism, tracing its lineage to the early Sangha.
• It is dominant in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia).
• It emphasizes maintaining the original teachings and monastic life as recorded in the Pāli Canon.
• Scriptures: Key texts are collected in the Tipiṭaka (Tripitaka), meaning "Three Baskets."
• Includes the Vinaya Piṭaka (monastic discipline), Sutta Piṭaka (discourses of the Buddha), and Abhidhamma Piṭaka (philosophical analyses).
• Key Teachings: Adheres closely to the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path.
• Emphasizes personal effort in purification to become an arahant, who achieves nirvana for themself.
• Practice & Emphasis: Places importance on monastic life; meditation techniques divided into samatha (calming) and vipassanā (insight).
• The ideal practitioner is the arahant and directs veneration to the historical Buddha.
• Important Texts & Figures: Pāli Canon, Milindapañha; King Ashoka, Buddhaghosa, Ledi Sayadaw, Mahasi Sayadaw.

Mahāyāna Buddhism

• Mahāyāna ("Great Vehicle") emerged around the 1st century BCE/1st century CE.
• Predominant in East Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam).
• Introduced new scriptures, philosophies, and ideals.
• Scriptures: Revere early teachings and a vast body of Mahāyāna Sūtras in Sanskrit.
• The most famous include the Lotus Sūtra, the Heart Sūtra and Diamond Sūtra.
• Key Teachings: Central is the Bodhisattva ideal: aspiring to attain enlightenment for all beings.
• Wisdom realizes the emptiness (śūnyatā) of all phenomena.
• Introduces Buddha-nature (Tathāgatagarbha): all beings possess an innate potential to become Buddhas.
• Expanded Cosmology: Buddha has three bodies (Trikaya); speaks of many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
• These celestial figures are objects of devotion.
• Practice & Schools: Monasticism is still important, encourages that laypeople can also be exemplary Buddhists and bodhisattvas.
• Specializes in practices: Pure Land Buddhism and Chan/Zen Buddhism.
• Important Texts & Figures: Mahāyāna sutras, treatises by Nāgārjuna and Asaṅga; Bodhidharma, Zhiyi, Honen and Shinran.

Vajrayāna Buddhism

• Vajrayāna ("Diamond Vehicle") emerged out of Mahāyāna around the 6th–7th centuries CE.
• Spread primarily to Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and Mongolia.
• Offers an accelerated path to enlightenment.
• Scriptures: Revere Mahāyāna sutras and a large collection of Tantras.
• Key texts include the Guhyasamāja Tantra, Hevajra Tantra, Chakrasamvara Tantra, Kalachakra Tantra, etc
• Key Teachings and Practices: Incorporates Mahāyāna teachings along with tantric techniques.
• Esoteric practices include: Mantras, Mudrās, Mandalas, Deity Yoga and Identification of opposites.
• Guru/Initiation: Importance is placed on teachers.
• The practices are to achieve enlightenment in a single lifetime.
• Most prominent tradition is Tibetan Buddhism (Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Gelug, etc.)
• Important Texts and Figures: Vajrayana lineages include texts and commentaries by Indian mahasiddhas such as Padmasambhava and Dalai Lamas.

Spiritual Practices in Buddhism

• Buddhist practice ranges from solitary meditation to communal rituals.
• Buddhists have developed techniques to cultivate mindfulness, ethical living, and wisdom.

Meditation and Mindfulness

• Meditation is the means to train the mind, develop insight, and achieve liberation.
• Broad types of meditation include: samatha (calming meditation such as mindfulness of breathing) and vipassanā (insight meditation).
• Mindfulness is the continuous, non-judgmental awareness of one’s present experience.
• Different traditions have specialized meditation techniques: Zen Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism
• Meditation aims to cultivate both calm (samādhi) and insight (prajñā).

Ethical Conduct and Precepts

• Ethics is the foundation for higher practices
• For lay followers, it is encapsulated in the Five Precepts: refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and intoxicants.
• Monastics follow more extensive codes of discipline (the Vinaya).
• They observe over 200 rules, creating an environment conducive to spiritual progress. Many Buddhists will recite the five precepts regularly as a reminder of their ethical commitment.
• Underlying Buddhist ethics is the principle of ahimsā (non-harm) and compassion for all beings.
• Ethics "supports the path" by ensuring one's actions do not create remorse or agitation.
• Virtues like generosity (dāna) are highly encouraged.

Devotional and Ritual Practices

• Devotion and ritual practice are important parts of the religion, nurturing faith
• Key devotional practices include: Taking Refuge, Chanting and Puja and Pilgrimage.
• Rituals and festivals are frequent: Vesak (Visakha Puja), Asalha Puja, Magha Puja and Kathina.
• Sacred arts, like painting thangkas or carving Buddha statues, aid meditation.
• These practices serve to engage the heart in Buddhism and cultivate faith.

Wisdom Study and Philosophy

• Reflection on the Dharma is a critical aspect of Buddhist practice.
• It nurtures Right Understanding, which is strengthened in Dharma study sessions. -A devout Buddhist might start the day with meditation and end with study, connecting the practical and academic aspects of the path.
• The goal in wisdom study and practical exercise, is to reduce greed, hatred, and delusion, and increase generosity, compassion, and wisdom

Influence on Society and Culture

• Buddhism influenced art, culture, philosophy, and governance.
• The influence is far and wide from monumental architecture to social values.

Art, Architecture, and LIterature

• Buddhism inspired artistic and architectural achievements in Asia.
• The wheel (dharmachakra), lotus flower, Bodhi tree are important and reoccurring symbols.
• Aniconic art was predominated in the early centuries after the Buddha.
• Anthropomorphic images of the Buddha in human form became common around the 1st century CE.
• Architecture: The stupa was an early form of Buddhist architecture.
• Temples and monasteries became centers of learning and culture.
• Painting and sculpture: Buddhist themes have dominated the classical art of many countries.
• The Gandhara and Mathura schools in India set prototypes for Buddha iconography
• Literature: Preservation of Buddhist scriptures led to written literary traditions in many languages.
• Poets and other literature forms contain themes inspired by the religion.

Philosophy and Thought

• Buddhism contributed sophisticated theories of mind, epistemology, and reality.
• Buddhist scholars like Nāgārjuna and Dignāga/Dharmakīrti engaged in debates with Brahmanical and Jain philosophers.
• These dialogues enriched the intellectual life of classical India.

Ethics, Society and Governance

• Buddhism has influenced social values and governance.
• Emperor Ashoka's rule served as promotion of non-violence and more.
• In Tibet, political and spiritual leadership merged into one.
• Merit-making acts provided opportunities for all classes to participate in religious life.
• In China, the religion has at times been supported and persecuted depending on the leader.
• Buddhism ethics led to inspiration behind charitable organizations, like monasteries that ran orphanages.

Comparison with Other Major Religions

• Buddhism originated in the same cultural environment that Hinduism did
• However, it differs from Abrahamic faiths in its theology.

Buddhism and Hinduism

• Buddhism and Hinduism both believe in karma and saṃsāra.
• They practice meditation, value non-violence, and use similar terminology.
• Buddhism's doctrine of anatman deviates Hinduism's idea of ātman.
• Buddhism doesn't posit a Creator God, whereas Hinduism accepts Brahma.
• Buddhism rejected the caste system, differing from orthodox Hinduism.
• Buddhism also rejected the authority of the Vedas and ritual sacrifices.

Buddhism and Christianity

• Christianity centers on belief and salvation through Christ
• Buddhism is non-theistic and emphasizes self-effort and insight.
• Buddhism emphasizes ignorance not sin.
• Both religions discuss existence beyond human life.

Buddhism and Islam

• Buddhism and Islam have similar ideas that contradict each other like reincarnation.
• Islam's code is more theistic than Buddhism
• In contrast, Buddhism advises against alcohol as a precept because it clouds mindfulness
• Buddhism shares common ethical themes with the previously mentioned religions despite drastic contrasts.

Buddhism in the Modern World

Global Spread and Adaptation

• Buddhism adapts to modern values such as egalitarianism and scientific rationalism.
• Buddhist institutions have modernized.
• Monks and leaders are using the internet to grow awareness to the religion.
• Principles from the religion contribute to addressing issues, like poverty and human rights.

Buddhism and Science

• There is a dialogue between Buddhism and science (especially in fields like psychology, neuroscience, and physics).
• Psychology & Neuroscience and the Dalai Lama show similar points of discussion and more common ground.

Modern Challenges and Developments

• Modern Buddhism is facing a wide variety of suppression and conflicting principles.
• The positive side is that there has been efforts to rebuilt monasteries and retain workers.