Siddhartha Gautama and the Origins of Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama and the Origins of Buddhism

• Siddhartha Gautama (563–483 BCE) renounced his life as a wealthy prince to become an ascetic.
• Siddhartha's teachings led to him being called "the Buddha" and became the foundation of Buddhism.
• The spread of Buddhism is as important as its origins and teachings.
• Buddhism quickly spread from India across Asia via trade networks, evolving as it moved.

Historical Context in India

• Sixth century BCE India saw the rise of new kingdoms, flourishing cities, and increased trade after the Aryan conquests.
• This era also brought religious changes, including the establishment of Brahmanism, which was based on the Vedic texts.
• Brahmanism introduced the caste system, a strict social hierarchy, dividing people.
• Both Hinduism and Buddhism emerged from Brahmanism.
• Hinduism formalized aspects of Brahmanism, such as the caste system and the divinity of the Vedas.
• Buddhism challenged Brahmanism by rejecting the caste system and asserting that anyone could attain salvation through detachment from desire.

The Middle Path and the Four Noble Truths

• Buddhism offers a "middle path" guided by principles Siddhartha Gautama discovered, not extreme asceticism.
• While meditating, Siddhartha had a spiritual epiphany which revealed to him "Four Noble Truths" about the universe.
• The Four Noble Truths: life is suffering, suffering comes from desire, limiting desire limits suffering, and the way to limit suffering is to follow the Eightfold Path.

The Eightfold Path

• The Eightfold Path includes right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration.
• Buddhism teaches that controlling desire and limiting suffering through the Eightfold Path leads to spiritual enlightenment.
• Following the Eightfold Path requires self-sacrifice, dedication, and often adopting a monastic lifestyle, including vows of celibacy, poverty, meditation, and non-violence.

Social Consequences of Buddhism

• Buddhism challenged the authority and status of Brahmins and the caste system in Indian society.
• Enlightenment was not limited to upper castes and welcomed women into monastic life.
• The rejection of the caste system and the accessibility of the "middle path" made it more appealing across Asia and to those in the lower castes.
• The majority of people were unable to abandon worldy possessions and their families.

The Emergence of Mahayana Buddhism

• As Buddhism spread, new versions emerged.
• Mahayana Buddhism, meaning "the great vehicle," allowed people to strive toward enlightenment without becoming monks.
• Mahayana Buddhism became the most widespread form of Buddhism in the world.

The Spread of Buddhism

• Buddhism spread through trade networks like the Silk Road, reaching Central Asia, China, and Southeast Asia.
• Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire (268 to 232 BCE) used his power to spread Buddhism by sending missionaries to Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and Sri Lanka.
• Buddhism adapted to local beliefs through syncretism.
• In China, Buddhism blended with Confucian and Daoist beliefs, incorporating ancestor veneration and filial piety.
• Greco-Buddhism emerged as descendants of Alexander the Great's empire blended Buddhism with Greek culture.
• The Buddha was regarded as a deity, with new Buddhas added to the pantheon.

Expansion in China, Korea, and Japan

• After the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220 CE, people sought meaning in Buddhism.
• Chinese rulers used Buddhism to unite their people, and it spread to Korea and Japan, blending with local practices like Shinto in Japan.

Reasons for Global Spread

• Buddhism offered a universalist message that every individual could attain enlightenment.
• Buddhism was missionary and supported by powerful political figures like Emperor Ashoka and Chinese rulers.
• Buddhism was adaptable, changing to fit different places and people.

Contemporary Buddhism

• Buddhism has approximately 500 million followers today.
• The religion is not singular and has taken on many forms in many places.
• Buddhism originated and spread in India, but gradually became less popular there.
• Countries like Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia have Buddhism as the dominant belief system.
• Buddhism challenged social hierarchies, created opportunities for women, and involved people of all classes in spiritual practice.

The Buddha as a Human

• The Buddha did not claim to be divine or divinely inspired, unlike founders of other major religions.
• The Buddha attributed his achievements to human effort and intelligence, emphasizing that any human can become a Buddha.
• Despite being human, the Buddha was considered superhuman in popular religion.
• Buddhism emphasizes individual responsibility, with humans being their own masters.
• The Buddha is viewed as a "savior" in the sense that he discovered and showed the path to liberation.
• Buddhism offers freedom of thought, essential for realizing truth, and relies on personal realization rather than divine grace.

Life Events of the Buddha

• The Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama of the Shaka clan, had a princely upbringing, married, and had a son.
• He encountered suffering, including old age, sickness, death, and asceticism, which led him to seek liberation.
• Siddhartha renounced his princely life, studied doctrines, practiced yogic austerities, and eventually gave up ascetic practices.
• He attained enlightenment under a Bodhi tree and preached for 45 years, affecting many.
• He experienced parinirvana (extinction) at the age of 80.

Theravada and Mahayana Traditions

• Early followers and the Theravada tradition viewed the Buddha as a teacher, not a savior or God.
• The Theravada tradition prevails in parts of India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Thailand.
• The Mahayana School, formed later, viewed the Buddha as a savior and often a God.
• The Mahayana form of Buddhism is present in Tibet, Mongolia, Vietnam, Korea, China, and Japan.
• Siddhartha Gautama is also known as Shakyamuni.

Diverse Forms of Buddhism

• The religion that originated in India took on so many different forms and adapted in such a variety ways that various sects of Buddhism are often difficult to see how the various sects of Buddhism are related.
• Early forms of Buddhism viewed the Buddha as a man, while later forms deified him.

Origins and Early Practices

• Buddhism originated in modern India and grew into an organized religion with monks, nuns, and lay people.
• Its beliefs were written down, forming a large canon, and Buddhist images were devised for worship in sacred spaces.
• Buddhism spread throughout Asia from India.

Life in the Ganges River Valley

• The Buddha was likely born in Kapilavastu in the Ganges River Valley (modern Nepal) around 560 B.C.E.
• The area faced annual floods, monsoons, famine, droughts, and diseases.
• Brahmanas (Hindu priests) performed Vedic hymns and fire sacrifices to Brahma but did not improve conditions for the common man.
• Hindu society was stratified by castes, with Brahmanas perpetuating a social order favorable to themselves.

The Doctrine of the Middle Way

• The Buddha discovered the Middle Way after experiencing life as an ascetic.
• The Middle Way avoids both worldly desires and severe ascetic discipline.
• The Buddha aimed to purify existing religious practices rather than create a new religion.
• He adopted cosmological perspectives indigenous to the Indus Valley, aligning with Hindu conceptions.

Samsara and Time in Ancient India

• Samsara is the endless cycle of rebirth and death governed by karma (causality).
• Time is measured in kalpa, an unending cycle of Destruction, Rubble, Renovation, and Duration, each lasting 20 kalpa.
  • Destruction: Characterized by fire, water, and wind scourges.
  • Rubble: A dark and empty phase with only wind and seeds of karma.
  • Renovation: A phase of building up from the bottom, starting with wind, water, metal, and then earth.
  • Duration: A phase of preservation, with sentient beings appearing at the end.

Space

• Mount Sumeru (Meru) is the cosmic axis linking heaven and earth, the center of the world.
• Mount Sumeru is surrounded by seven mountain chains and an ocean with four continents.
  • North: rectangle
  • West: circle
  • South: trapezoid (Jambudvipa, where humans live)
  • East: crescent moon

Karma and Rebirth

• Beings move through the world according to karma, the law regulating all life in samsara.
• Karma means action or deed, with every action having a result.
• Karma governs the short-term and long-term, never being destroyed.
• Good deeds lead to good results, and bad deeds lead to bad results.
• Karma determines how a being will be reborn (higher or lower).
• Free will exists, allowing for upward mobility despite past deeds.
• Being reborn as a human is rare and important, especially in the time of Buddha.
• The human realm is the only one where a being can encounter Buddha and benefit from his teachings.

Nirvana

• Nirvana is the goal, representing extinction and liberation from samsara.
• Nirvana is outside the vertical concept of the universe, existing "nowhere."

The Stupa as a Buddhist Monument

• A stupa can represent the Buddha, the path to Enlightenment, a mountain, and the universe simultaneously.
• It is a sepulchral monument containing religious objects or serving as a burial place.
• A stupa is a dirt burial mound faced with stone.
• Early stupas contained the Buddha’s ashes, associating the stupa with his body and energy.

Early Stupas and Symbolism

• Before Buddhism, great teachers were buried in mounds.
• The domed shape of the stupa represents a person seated in meditation.
• The base represents crossed legs (padmasana or lotus position); the middle portion is the body, and the top, with a pole and fence, represents the head.
• Practitioners showed devotion to stupas before images of the Buddha were created.
• Stupas with the Buddha’s ashes were built at Lumbini (birth), Bodh Gaya (Enlightenment), Deer Park at Sarnath (first sermon), and Kushingara (death).

King Ashoka and the Spread of Stupas

• King Ashoka embraced Buddhism and created 84,000 stupas, dividing the Buddha’s ashes among them.
• Ashoka built stupas to provide new converts with tools for their faith, following the Buddha's directive to build them in places that would bring calm and gladness.
• He built stupas where people couldn't reach those containing the Buddha's ashes.
• The Great Stupa (Mahastupa) was built at Sanchi, the birthplace of Ashoka’s wife, Devi.

Function and Karmic Benefits of Building Stupas

• Building stupas spread with Buddhism to Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Thailand, Burma, China, and the United States.
• Stupas remind practitioners of the Buddha and his teachings.
• Building stupas has karmic benefits, such as avoiding rebirth in remote locations and extreme poverty.
• Vast numbers of stupas are found in Tibet (chorten) and Burma (chedi).

Journey to Enlightenment

• Buddhists visit stupas to perform rituals aimed at understanding the Four Noble Truths, ceasing the cycle of rebirth (samsara).
• The Four Noble Truths:
  • life is suffering (suffering=rebirth)
  • the cause of suffering is desire
  • the cause of desire must be overcome
  • when desire is overcome, there is no more suffering (suffering=rebirth)
• Understanding these truths leads to Enlightenment, the complete knowledge of the dharma.
• Buddha means "the Enlightened One," and practitioners seek the knowledge he gained.

Stupa as a Symbol of Enlightenment

• The Buddha directed that his ashes be buried in a stupa at the crossing of the four great roads, the unmoving hub of the wheel, symbolizing Enlightenment.
• The stupa as a circle or wheel symbolizes Enlightenment at its center.
• Practitioners achieve stillness and peace by understanding the Buddhist dharma.
• The square base of many stupas represents the four directions, each with a gate (torana).
• Each gate represents a major life event of the Buddha: East (birth), South (Enlightenment), West (first sermon), and North (Nirvana).
• The torana are directional gates guiding practitioners on the path to Enlightenment.

Stupa as a Microcosm of the Universe

• The top of the stupa has a yasti (spire) symbolizing the axis mundi.
• The yasti is surrounded by a harmika (gate or fence) and topped by chattras (umbrella-like objects).
• The stupa represents the axis mundi, dividing the world into six directions.
• The human body functions as a microcosm of the universe, with the spinal column mirroring Mt. Meru.
• Practitioners aim to climb the mountain of their own mind, ascending through levels of Enlightenment.

Rituals

• Practitioners circumambulate stupas as a meditational practice, focusing on the Buddha’s teachings.
• This movement symbolizes the endless cycle of rebirth (samsara) and the Eightfold Path.
• Walking meditation visualizes Enlightenment as movement from the stupa's perimeter to the unmoving hub at the center.
• Practitioners may use prostrations (movements that bring the body low) to move around the stupa.
• Energetic, circular movement raises body temperature, mimicking the fire that cremated the Buddha, burning away attachments to the mundane world.
• Attachments to the earthly realm are obstacles to Enlightenment.
• Circumambulation reminds practitioners of the Four Noble Truths, not veneration for relics.

Votive Offerings

• Small stupas function as votive offerings, serving as focal points for acts of devotion.
• These are made to gain merit and improve karma.
• Inscriptions on stupas state, “so that all beings may attain Enlightenment.”
• Consecrated votive stupas are used in home altars or monastic shrines.
• Easily transported votive stupas, along with statues of the Buddha and deities, spread Buddhist doctrine across Nepal, the Himalayas, and Tibet.
• Votive stupas are carved from stone or cast in bronze and can serve as reliquaries for the ashes of important teachers.
• The Buddha is often represented at his moment of Enlightenment, making an earth-touching gesture seated in padmasan, within a gateway.