Jazmee27 
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When you see a man of the highest caliber, give thought to attaining his stature. When you see one who is not, go home and conduct a self-examination. Confucius
nirvana
Annihilation of the ego; a stale of emptiness or "no-thing-ness"; a stale of bliss: "pure consciousness" thai leads to release from suffering while remaining conscious.
bodhisafivo
An enlightened being who voluntarily postpones his own nirvana in order to help all other conscious life-forms find "supreme release"; not a savior.
himself and all life as part of an unending process of change, a great chain of being through which things come into and leave one form of existence for another. Everything is one. The whole universe is a system of interconnected, inseparable parts, rich and complex, composed of all varieties of life forever moving from one form to another.
The Buddha did not arrive at this perception intellectually. He saw it all at once, in what we in the West might call a mystical vision. The now-Buddha realized instantly how difficult it would be to teach a doctrine that could not be grasped by mere reasoning and that could not be realized by blind faith, but only by unswerving personal diligence. Only by the greatest effort could an individual achieve release from suffering. The price of wisdom is love of the whole rather than love of any one part—including, especially, ourselves.37
Siddhartha had reached a state of bliss and utter detachment called nirvana. Nirvana is annihilation of the ego, a state of emptiness or "no-thing-ness." It is HescrToed as a state of bliss because there is only "pure consciousness" with no sense of individuality, separateness, discrimination, or intellectualizing. It cannot be explained in words because words are limiting and exist to identify similarities and differences. Nirvana is beyond even similarity. It can only be talked around or expressed in contradictions. It transcends all ordinary experience. Nirvana is release from suffering while conscious. (If you do not "understand" what nirvana is, don't feel inadequate. Nirvana must be experienced; it cannot be described or understood.)
Siddhartha now had to make another important choice. He could stay in nirvana, meditating and remaining uninvolved with the commotion and suffering of life. Or he could share his vision. Legend says that "the very earth trembled" while waiting for his decision. At last, the "Great Buddha Heart of Infinite Compassion prevailed."38 Siddhartha refused ultimate release and, because he chose to stay and help others, became the Buddha, "He Who Awoke," or "He Who Became Aware." This helpful part of him is sometimes referred to as "The Walking Buddha," the man who wandered about once more, only now as a teacher rather than as a seeker,
The Buddha who chose to remain among people giving help to other lost souls is known as the Bodhisattva in some branches of Buddhism. A bodhisattvo is an enlightened being who voluntarily postpones his own nirvana to help all other conscious life-forms find "supreme release." A bodhisattva is not a savior. The Buddha did not intercede for others; he showed them a path (a Way). A bodhisattva no longer perceives separateness on any level. The bodhisattva no longer even perceives a separate self, a being, a person.
PHILOSOPHICAL QUERY
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Compare the Buddha's decision to become a bodhisattva with Plato's characterization of the enlightened figure who escapes from the Cave and then returns to help Others. See Chapter 6.
His consciousness forever altered, Siddhartha was at last ready to teach personal transformation through compassion. It did not take long for the Buddha to
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Reply #2661. Dec 09 11, 6:11 PM
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Jazmee27
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Surrounded on his deathbed, as in life, by sadness, wailing, and torment, Buddha remained serene, detached, and accepting.
The superior man is not an implement.
Confucius
acquire many followers. As with other great sages, who the Buddha was became as significant as what he taught. Siddhartha's once-disappointed ascetic companions even became disciples of the Buddha, as did his wife and son. To share his message with everyone, Siddhartha sent groups of his earliest disciples out as teachers. He did not seek converts, and his monks were not missionaries. Their goal was to spread information that all people could use for themselves to reduce suffering.
To live is to die, to be awake is to sleep, to be young is to be old, for the one flows into the other, and the process is capable of being reversed.
Heraclitus
The Death of the Buddha
Legend teaches that the Buddha died from either poisonous mushrooms or tainted pork. His last meal was at the humble home of a blacksmith (significantly, a person of low status in ancient Asian culture). Soon after eating, the Buddha took sick. He asked his host to bury the rest of the food so that no one else would eat it. Calling upon the discipline learned through years of meditation, he was able to control his pain well enough to travel to a certain river. He bathed in the river and then lay down in a mango grove "on his right side in the attitude of a lion with one foot on the other."39
As he lay dying, the Buddha made a special point to tell his closest disciple, Ananda, that the blacksmith was not to blame. The Buddha also sent special word to the blacksmith thanking him for his "alms." By this the Buddha meant that the blacksmith was blessed for having been the vehicle by which the Buddha would
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Reply #2662. Dec 09 11, 6:12 PM
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Jazmee27
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THREE IN THE MORNING
Chuang-tzu (c. 399-295 B.C.E.) is the second great Taoist sage. Very little is known about his life, but the book bearing his name contains some of the richest stories in Taoist literature. The stories attributed to him reflect a generous soul, capable of great humor and great sadness. Here's an excellent example:
On Knowing and Not Knowing the Oneness of Things. Only the truly intelligent understand this principle of the leveling of all things into One.... But to wear out one's intellect in an obstinate adherence to the individuality of things, not recognizing the fact that all things are One—this is called "Three in the Morning." What is "Three in the Morning"? A keeper of monkeys said that with regard to their
rations of nuts each monkey was to have three in the morning and four at night. At this the monkeys were very angry. Then the keeper said they might have four in the morning and three at night, with which arrangement they were well pleased. The actual number of nuts remained the same, but there was a difference owing to (subjective evaluations of) likes and dislikes. It also derives from this (principle of subjectivity). Wherefore the true Sage brings all the contraries together and rests in the natural Balance of Heaven. This is called (the principle of following) two courses (at once).
Chuang-tzu, in The Wisdom ofLaotse, Hint, and ed. Lin Yutailg (New York Modern Library, 1976), p. 244.
All humanity is sick. I come
therefore to you as a physician who has diagnosed this universal disease and is prepared to cure it.
Buddha
Who knows why Heaven dislikes what it dislikes? Even the sage considers it a difficult question,
Lao-tzu
escape "the wheel of suffering" and attain nirvana. After sending this message, the Buddha crossed the river and resumed the lion's pose in a different grove.
Just as Socrates reassured his disciples while the hemlock was being prepared for his execution (Chapter 5), Siddhartha reassured his followers that change— including death and decay—is universal, natural, and inescapable. "Do not weep, do not mourn, oh ye monks," the Buddha said.
As a mother, even at the risk of her own life, protects and loves her child, her only child, so let a man cultivate love without measure toward the whole world, above, below, and around, unstinted, unmixed with any feeling of differing or opposing interests. Let a man remain steadfastly in this state of mind, walking, sitting or lying down. This state of mind is the best in the world.40
After his death, the teachings of the Buddha were handed down in the form of an oral tradition, and not until the first century B.C.E. did monks began to transcribe these discourses onto ola leaves. These teachings remained so until modern times, when the Pali Text Society took up the task of editing and printing them. They are now known collectively as the "three baskets": the Vinaya Pitaka (rules for monks}, the Sutta Pitaka {basic teachings of the Buddha), and an organized later commentary known as the Abhidhamma Pitaka. Today, so many people produce books, journaj articles, and video-and audiotaped lectures commenting on "Buddhism" that the diligent seeker will have trouble keeping up with a year's worth. Perhaps this is a tribute both to the profundity of the Buddha's pivotal insight and to a common human hunger for enlightenment.
Although our brief look at this great sage can be no more than a glimpse of the rich and profound legacy left by Buddha's great "experiment," even reflected wisdom casts vajuable light. So let us tread tentatively and respectfully through a tiny corner of one of the world's greatest wisdom traditions.
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Reply #2663. Dec 09 11, 6:13 PM
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Jazmee27
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Only the man of humanity knows how to love people and how to hate people.
Confucius
"He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me"—in those who harbor such thoughts hatred will never cease. For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time; hatred ceases by love— this is an eternal law.
Buddha
We are all chained to Fortune. Some chains are golden and loose, some tight and of base metal; but what difference does it make? All of us are in custody, the binders as well as the bound—unless you suppose the left of the chain is lighter. Some of us are chained by office, some by wealth; some are weighed down by high birth, some by low; some are subject to another's tyranny, some to their own; some are confined to one spot by banishment, some by a priesthood. All life is bondage.
Seneca
1 BUDDHA'S PHILOSOPHY LAB
Contemporary Buddhists sometimes refer to the Buddha's teachings as "scientific," by which they mean that Buddhist teachings can be compared to the kind of coaching provided by an expert athletic trainer who imparts knowledge of training techniques and nutrition based on firsthand experience with what works. For instance, you need not "believe in" the benefits of aerobic training for such training to benefit you—you need only to work out regularly and wisely.
As an archetypal sage, Buddha did not separate "understanding" from "action," "being" from "doing." His naturalistic "holism" reminds us of Lao-tzu's emphasis on spontaneity and Aristotle's characterization of moral virtue as habit (Chapter 7). His humanity reminds us of Confucius's emphasis on jen. From a Buddhist perspective, a change of habit can trigger a change of mind (point of view), which in turn will trigger a change of heart (emotion or affect). Given the organic nature of actions, thoughts, and feelings, alteration of one aspect of our lives always results in corresponding changes in the other two.
This is a profound insight, and I am intrigued by a related theme that runs through Buddhist literature and tradition, going back to the earliest stories of the Buddha himself. That is the theme of taking positive action whether or not we are enlightened and whether or not we are utterly convinced that such action will lead to enlightenment, peace of mind, or "salvation." In wisdom literature, this approach is sometimes referred to as "changing the inner from outside" or by the formula, "As above, so below, as without, so within."
An effective way to get beyond simple intellectual assessment of these intriguing promises is to make regular periods of reflection part of our study routine. We can think of these reflective breaks as experiments in a kind of "philosophy lab." Even at our basic level, such a practice is in keeping with the Buddha's characterization of himself as an "experimentalist" who begins with perception and who "respects facts as they are found in the world."
i UNSATISFACTORINESS AND KARMA
Among the insights Buddha gained during his arduous search for enlightenment, three "realities" command our attention: impermanence, suffering, and egoless-ness. In simplistic, contemporary terms, we can sum up this part of Buddha's teaching like this: "Although nothing lasts, suffering is everywhere, and the 'me' that suffers isn't even real."
As we work through the rest of this chapter, let us occasionally stop and reflect on the extent to which we experience "the fact of suffering" and whatever suffering brings with it. Moments of suffering seem to be surrounded by periods of ease, well-being, and happiness. But to what extent are these positive states lasting? Unmixed? If we are the least bit reflective, we also sense (however dimly) the inevitable return of suffering, letdown, or loss—even in the midst of our greatest sources of joy. This is the bittersweet feeling present at weddings, births,
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Reply #2664. Dec 09 11, 6:14 PM
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Jazmee27
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cannot discuss things with a gentleman who, while devoted to I the Way], is at the same lime ashamed of poor dallies or bad food.
Confucius
Your self-partiality is the root of all your illusions. There aren't any illusions when you don't have this preference for yourself.
Bankei
graduations, other ceremonies of recognition, and such everyday things as petting the dog (and fleetingly realizing that someday she'll die}, watching a beautiful sunset {and reflecting on cycles of life and death). You have the idea. A sense of "impermanence" or "fleetingness" surrounds the highest moments of human consciousness.
At the core of the Buddha's doctrine is the concept of the primal unsatisfac-toriness (dukklta) generated by the perilousness of the human condition and by the inescapability of physical suffering and sickness, psychological conflict, anxiety, and anguish. As if this is not enough, Buddha reminds us that beneath our dissatisfaction lies a profounder insight: the insubstantiality of existence.41
Awareness of insubstantiality is related to the Buddhist doctrines of imper-manence (ever-change) and egolessness. According to the Buddha, what we usually think of as "I" or "an individual" is a continuously changing combination of physical and psychological elements. Out of ignorance, we project a sense of "permanence" onto impermanent conditions. Because all is in flux, we are inevitably disappointed by change, destruction, and loss.4^
PHILOSOPHICAL QUERY
karma
From the Pali kamtna; according to Buddhist tradition, the law of moral causation (moral cause and effect); it includes past and present actions and is not to be confused with fate or predestination: good or bad karma results from our own actions.
Compare Buddha's concept of an "impermanent" self with David Hume's "bundle theory" of self. See Chapter II.
Failing to see the true nature of the complex web of conditions and reactions that we think of as "an individual," our "self" remains subject to suffering and perpetual dissatisfaction. We compound suffering whenever we insist on projecting (expecting and anticipating) the possibility of a continuous life of pleasure, joy, and stability for our individual selves. While in a state of projection, we find it difficult to accept that we are subject to sickness, grief, and suffering. We resist the deeper insight by engaging in repression, aggression, greed, lust (consumption), denial, and anger. So it is that a fundamental "human condition" or "predicament" is our heritage. As one translation of Buddha's First Noble Truth poetically puts it, "When we are born, suffering comes with us."
Is this vision of the fundamental human condition pessimistic? Perhaps it would be, if Buddha had nothing more to teach. But Buddha promised that through a discipline of meditation, we can learn to control unruly desires and realize what happiness is possible given the facts—not our projections—of the ' human condition.
Thus, we see that central to Buddha's teachings is a notion of free will, a belief i that we can control our thoughts, attitudes, and behavior and that thoughts, attitudes, and behavior have consequences. These consequences, their causes, and their control are called karma.
The word karma comes from the Pali word kamma, a term referring to acts of the will that are expressed in thought, word, and deed. The concept of karma combines kamtna faction-cause) with vipaka (reaction-effect). According to Buddhist tradition, karma is the law of moral causation (moral cau^- .md ef-fect)Mtindudes past and present actions, and is not to be confused wjtji fateor . Good 01 bjd karma resuJts finm JJ
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Reply #2665. Dec 09 11, 6:15 PM
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Jazmee27
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41
THE ASIAN SAGE: CONFUCIUS AND BUDDHA
Buddha did not teach that everything that happens is due to karma. In the first place, different laws govern natural change, physical phenomena, certain psychological processes, and so forth. In the second place, if karma alone accounted for the human condition, a person with good karma would always be good, and a person with bad karma would always be bad. Yet such is not the case. Indeed, self-reliance and peace of mind come only from understanding karma and living wisely in light of that understanding. "No one," said the Buddha, "can escape the wheel of suffering who does not understand the causes Qf suffering."
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
Four Noble Truths _
Foundation of Buddha's teachings: (1) to exist is to suffer; (2) self-centered-ness if the chief cause of human suffering; (3) the cause of suffering can be understood and rooted out; (4) suffering can be alleviated by following the Eightfold Path.
Those in the prime of their beauty are proud, those in the prime of their strength are impetuous; you cannot talk to them about Tao.
LieZi
The Buddha's basic teachings rest on what are called the Four Noble Truths:
1. No one can deny that suffering is the condition of all existence.
2. Suffering and general dissatisfaction come to human beings because they are possessive, greedy, and, above all, self-centered.
3. Egocentrism, possessiveness, and greed can, however, be understood, overcome, rooted out.
4. This rooting out, this vanquishing, can be brought about by following a simple, reasonable Eightfold Path of behavior in thought, word, and deed. Change of viewpoint will manifest itself in a new outlook and new patterns of behavior.44
In a nutshell, the Buddha taught that we suffer because we are partial to ourselves. For example, I cannot be bored listening to you complain about your philosophy class for the umpteenth time unless I am judging you or wishing you were talking about something interesting to me. It's the me that gets bored. I cannot be envious of the attention my parents give my brother without being greedy for more attention for me. If I were not greedy for my share, I would be delighted by his delight. The more self-conscious I am, the more me there is to suffer.
*«i*j!TJ'H-''*5fe
Contemporary Buddhist commentators and philosophers use the term ego differently from psychologists; they use it to refer to various self-centered, immature, and selfish tendencies. A person with too much ego thinks of himself or herself as unique and special in ways that emphasize differences. The loss or annihilation of this false ego projection results in the emergence of the soul or true self, the Buddha nature. The awakened or reborn soul/self sees similarities rather than differences, acts from love rather than fear, helps rather than judges. The bliss of nirvana comes from the annihilation of the self-consciousness, judgmen-talism, greed, and fear that characterize ego.
The Buddha taught that the way to transcend the ego and see the interconnected whole of life is through loving-kindness. At the moment we feel love for others we cannot be bored or hostile with them. But it is difficult to maintain our compassion even with those we already love. Can we really alter our viewpoint to love every living thing?
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Reply #2666. Dec 09 11, 6:16 PM
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Jazmee27
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PHILOSOPHICAL QUERY
Think back to circumstances in whkh you were bored or hostile. Did "ego"play a role in your discomfort? Do you believe that all suffering Mines from self-partiality? Discuss.
Eightfold Path Buddha's prescription-' -' for rooting out suffering:
(1) right understanding;
(2) right purpose; (S)*ight speech; (4) right,.' conduct; (5) right livelihood; (6) right effort;
(7) right mindfulness;
(8) right meditation.
Itshould not be thought that the eight categories or divisions of the Path should be fallowed and practised one after the other in the numerical order given in the usual list.... But they are to be developed more or less simultaneously, as far as possible according to the capacity of each individual. They are all linked together and each helps the cultivation of the others.
Wapola Rahula
0 THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
•- ''-"" *,.. MV -'
The causes of suffering, as we know in moments of insight, are located in our
thoughts, words, and deeds; thus, the cure for suffering must encompass how we
live, how we thuik, and what we glean. Buddha's Eightfold Path addresses each of
these in a way that—if practiced—replaces ego projections with a new, clear point
ofview. '. .
According to Buddha, understanding the Four Noble Truths and following the law of karma are keys to release from suffering, hut only if combined as a new way of life that combines three vital components of Buddhist practice into an "Eightfold Path" of wisdom (panna), right conduct (sila),and right mental training (scimodhi). The first two steps along the Eightfold Path ;ire the steps &{ patina; steps three, four, and five are the steps of sila; and steps six, seven, and eight are the steps of samadhi:
1. Right understanding (or views)
2. Right purpose
3. Right speech
4. Right omduct
5. Right livelihood .
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness (or awareness)
8. Right meditation45
Now let's look at a modified version. Gerald Heard, an Anglo-Irish historian and philosopher, phrased the Eightfold Path in an especially contemporary and
insightful form:
1. First you must see clearly what is wrong.
2. Next you must decide that you want to be cured.
3. You must act and
4. speak so as to aim at being cured.
5. Your livelihood must not conflict with your therapy.
6. That therapy must go forward at the "staying speed," that is, the critical velocity that can be sustained.
7. You must think about it incessantly and
8. learn how to contemplate with the deep mind.46
It is probably quite an understatement to note that the wisdom expressed in the Eightfold Path sounds so obvious, almost trivially simple. But simple is not
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Reply #2667. Dec 09 11, 6:19 PM
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Jazmee27
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The Buddhist priest Juran's painting Seeking the Tao in the Autumn Mountains (c. 940-1000) reflects his vision of Tao as the fundamental natural harmony of all things.
The way of the superior man may be compared to traveling to a distant place: one must start from the nearest point.
Confucius
always easy, and we often overlook the obvious. Consider: In many schools of psychology, the most important therapeutic event is the moment of insight, in which the client sees for the first time some important factor in his or her un-happiness. Something similar occurs in many religions, either at the moment of "rebirth" or during periods of atonement. The fallen soul sees by the grace of God its fallen nature and the way of salvation.
One of the most effective treatment programs for alcoholism is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), which is based on a list of guidelines for living called the Twelve Steps. The very first step begins, "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives were unmanageable." The key to the first step is to see fully our own actual condition, whatever it involves. This, of course, is the first step on the Eightfold Path. The difficulty of hewing to the Eightfold Path is underscored by a poignant version of the Buddha's deathbed statement to his monks that ends, "Perhaps someone, somewhere will not misunderstand me."
It helps to remind ourselves that the Eightfold Path is designed to change us by changing our way of seeing things (consciousness), changing our behavior, and changing our emotions. It is designed to subdue our egocentric sense of identity, replacing the self-centered me with a compassionate hea| change the way I view things, I have, in effect, changed the world.
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Reply #2668. Dec 09 11, 6:20 PM
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Jazmee27
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ONE DAY
Some of the richest Buddhist literature consists of stories that reveal the process of enlightenment indirectly. Though highly refined, these gemlike little tales leave the heart of the stoiy unspoken. Thus they function like spiritual inkblots, drawing new insights from each listener's response. Here's a sampler of four:
One day a potential suicide was talking to a Buddhist monk, asking whether he had the right to commit suicide if he wanted to. The monk replied, "Anyone has the right to do anything. Everyone else has the right to resist it."
The student said. "Do you see suicide as a moral act?"
The monk answered, "Where there is no victim, every act is morally right, but I personally think suicide is a symptom of taking oneself too seriously."
One day the Buddhist monk Joshu fell down in the snow. He began wailing and crying for help. Seeing his distress, another monk lay down beside him and began thrashing about, crying and wailing as well. Joshu got up and left.
One day Chinso was up in a tower with some important people, and one of them saw a group of
monks approaching. "Look," he said, "holy men." "No, they aren't," Chinso said, "and I'll prove it." When the monks were directly below, Chinso leaned out of the tower window and yelled, "Hey! Holy men!" When they all looked up in response to his call, he said to his companions, "See?"
One day a rich man asked Sengai to write something ensuring the continued prosperity of his family. Sengai wrote, "Father dies, son dies, grandson dies." This angered the rich man, who said, "I asked you to write something for the happiness of my family! Why do you make such a joke as this?" "This is no joke," Sengai explained. "II your son dies before you do, you would grieve greatly. If your grandson dies before your son, both of you would be brokenhearted. If" your family, generation after generation, passes away in the order I have named, it will be the natural course of life. I call this real prosperity."
The first story is from Camden Benares, Zen without Zen Masters (Berkeley; And/Or Press, 1977), p. 37. The next three are paraphrased from Paul Reps, Zen Flah, Zen Bonn: A Collection ofZenandPre-Zen Writings (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor, 1973). p. 67.
There is, 1 assure you, a medical art for the ioul It is philosophy, whose aid need not be sought, as in bodily diseases, from outside ourselves. We must endeavor with all our resources and all our strength to become capable of doctoring ourselves.
Cicero
What you do not desire, do not effect on others.
Confucius
By one's self evil isdone, by one's self one is purified. The pure and the impure stand and fall by themselves. No one can purify another.... Work with diligence. Be lamps unto yourselves. Betake yourselves to no external refuge. Look not for refuge to anyone beside yourself. Hold fast to the Truth as to a lamp.47
Although Buddha counseled his monks to be lamps unto themselves, and not to seek refuge from others, he did not counsel them to turn away from others. Rather, Buddhist social ethics combine altruistic humanism with the notion of a "righteous" social order. Indeed, Buddha's efforts to reconcile the personal and the social, the spiritual and the mundane, and the intellect with the emotions are appealing to many contemporary philosophers and thinkers.
In contemporary philosophical terms, Buddha's teachings reflect what contemporary psychologist Carol Gilligan labeled "the ethic of care" and "the ethic of justice." {See Chapter IS.) Much of what Buddha taught also seems to fit well with such major "liberation ethics" themes as respect for family, feminist concerns, respect for all life-forms, rejection of social castes, and such.
But Buddhist ethics are circumscribed in a way that most contemporary humanistic ethics are not: Buddha placed dharma, "the cosmic order of the universe," over the social and political order. Our task, whether as citizens or leaders, is to do what we can to see to it that our lives, and those of all creatures, reflect dharma. Although exactly what this means is beyond the scope of our study, we
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Reply #2669. Dec 09 11, 6:21 PM
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Jazmee27
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Whether you believe in God or not does not matter so much, whether you believe in Buddha or not does not matter so much; as a Buddhist, whether you believe in reincarnation or not does not matter so much. You must lead a good life.
The Dalai Lama
Tzu-yu asked about filial piety. Confucius said, "Filial piety nowadays means to be able to support one's parents. But we support even dogs and horses. If there is no feeling of reverence, wherein lies the difference?"
Confucius
can be confident that, for Buddha, social ethics center on organic human relationships "where the ethic of responsibility and the recognition of differences in need" both play vital parts.48
This "holism" is especially appealing in our fragmented, specialized culture. In the following discussion, note how many of today's "hippest," "greenest," and "trendiest" popular moral values reflect Buddhist themes and teachings.
For example, the family constitutes the central unit of Buddhist social ethics. Each member of the family is linked with each other member of the family through reciprocal duties. That is, each family member has a place (function) as part of a whole. From this, it follows that issues of status and "sexual equality" are treated "organically," rather than "formulaically." Buddhist discourses ascribe to Buddha himself the foundations of a long tradition of initiating Buddhist nuns and recognizing that women could rise to the level of sainthood (arahai). Whether or not women could rise to the level of being Buddhas, however, became a source of contention among later traditions.49
Buddha rejected all distinctions based on social status (caste) and color. He taught that the only distinctions that matter are those of character. Like Confucius, Buddha accepted people from all social groups into his spiritual order, making no distinctions based on caste or socioeconomic status. In this, he reminds us of other great teachers and sages, such as Socrates and Epicurus (Chapters 5 and 8).
Buddha's concept of "society" or "family" was much deeper than we ordinarily expect. His concern for all suffering extended throughout the range of sentient life, from humans through animals to lower life-forms as well. Thus, Buddhist ethical concerns guide our behavior in relation to all living beings.
A man who talks much of his teaching but does not practice it himself is like a cattleman counting another man's cattle.... Like beautiful flowers full of color, but without scent, are the well-chosen words of the man who does not act accordingly.
Buddha
Do you know where to stop? Can you let unimportant things go? Can you learn not to depend on others but to seek it in yourself?
Chuang-tzu
Five Precepts
Buddha's core values are reflected in the Five Precepts or "abstentions." Buddha forbade (1) killing or hurting any living creature, (2) stealing, (3) wrong indulgence in sexual pleasure, (4) lying, and (5) use of intoxicants.50 These precepts are the fundamental conditions for living a good life and for establishing a good community.
As you might imagine, questions arose almost immediately over exactly what Buddha meant and exactly how to follow these precepts. Such is always the case with the teachings of truly archetypal (paradigmatic) figures. And that is understandable if for no other reason than their refusal to compromise their fundamental principles. Paradigmatic figures "practice what they preach" with a rare degree of conviction, consistency, and fearlessness. They do not indulge themselves in such popular excuses and evasions as yes-but, you-don't-understand, my-case-is-special, and that-was-then-this-is-now. Consider just one timely topic: human relations with animals.
Buddha flatly condemned animal sacrifice and hunting, both widely practiced in his time. He forbade his monks to participate in warfare and even forbade them to dig in the ground, lest they injure animals, birds, or insects (as well as people). "So, then," you may be thinking, "Buddha forbade meat eating." Here, things get murky.
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Reply #2670. Dec 09 11, 6:21 PM
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Jazmee27
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How can it be known that what I call knowing is not really not knowing and that what I call not knowing is not really knowing?... From my point of view, the principle of humanity and righteousness and the doctrine of right and wrong are mixed and confined. How do I know the difference among them?
Chuang-tzu
Buddha seems to have taught that if one practiced compassion, one would grow inclined toward vegetarianism. But Buddha also taught his monks to follow his practice of silently carrying a begging bowl through the marketplaces and streets, accepting whatever food was offered. This included accepting meat so long as the monk was convinced lhat the meat was not specially killed and prepared for the monk's meal.51 (Monks who were ill were allowed to request certain foods.) And although he taught that the path of "right Jivelihood"prohib-ited selling and killing animals, Buddha did not restrict his monks' food except to forbid what was poisonous.
Further, Buddha's adventures among the ascetics made him well aware of the temptation to make a fetish out of dress, diet, or other ritualistic behavior. He did not want to encourage his monks to become food fetishists, equivalent, perhaps, to those individuals Jesus chided for losing sight of the spirit of the law by getting caught up in its letter. In any event, Buddha seemed to view vegetarianism as a positive practice that could, perhaps even would, emerge as a natural consequence of realizing compassion—but he did not require it.
PHILOSOPHICAL QUERY
Discuss some of the difficulties you might encounter by trying to follow the Eightfold Path and the Five Precepts. What, for example, might consist of "wrong livelihoods" (or "wrong college majors")? Are there some jobs that no truly enlightened person could perform? What determines whether an occupation (or college major) is "right"? Explain.
Nobody is normal, everybody is a little bit crazy or unbalanced, people's minds are running all the time. Their perceptions of the world are partial, incomplete. They are eaten alive by their egos. They think they see, but... all they do is project their madness upon the world. There is no clarity, no wisdom in that!
Taisen Deshimaru
THE BUDDHA'S LEGACY
Although Buddha's concern with the moral development of human beings is reminiscent of Socrates, Aristotle, and the Stoics (Chapters 5, 7, and 8), among others, his particular emphasis on emotions and rejection of caste systems (to say nothing of his pacifism) reminds us that he is a paradigmatic Asian sage, not a Western philosopher-sage,
Buddha was a perceptive psychological observer. He realized that even though we all must actively work for our own enlightenment, most of us benefit from the support and guidance of regular, intimate association with others working toward a common goal.53 What he envisioned was the free association of seekers on all levels of the path. What occurred was something else—as subsequent generations of Buddhists developed. In the twenty-five centuries since the Buddha lived, his basic message has been transformed into "schools of Buddhism," each with its own prescribed rules of dress, diet, habitation, and so on.
Buddha himself, however, did not think it mattered where one lived, what one ate, and so on. Any serious seeker following the Eightfold Path would avoid extremes and remain in the Middle Way. Awareness, compassion, and helpfulness are more important lhan the particular clothes we wear or food we eat or place we live: "Let those who wish to dwell in the forest, dwell in the forest, and let
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Reply #2671. Dec 09 11, 6:22 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Let the other man do his job without your interference.
Confucius
Indeed, the saving truth has never been preached by the Buddha, seeing that one has to realize it within oneself.
Sutralamakara
those who wish to live in the village, live in the village."53 Speaking ironically, Buddha said:
If the mere wearing of a robe could banish greed, malice and other weaknesses, then as soon as a child was bom his friends and kinfolk would make him wear the robe and would press him to wear it saying, "Come thou favored of fortune! Come wear the robe; for by the mere wearing of it the greedy will put from them their greed, the malicious their malice, and so on!"54
As happened among the followers of Socrates, Moses, Jesus, and Moham-mad, Buddhist sects and divisions arose after Siddhartha's death. "Experts" in theory and ritual emerged, quarreling and competing for the title of true successor. The two main branches of Buddhism are Hinayana (or Theravada), "the Way of the Elders," and Mahayana, after its founder Mahayana, "The Greater Vehicle of Salvation." Other Buddhist sects such as Tibetan Buddhism and Japanese Zen Buddhism are usually seen as branches of the many-sided Mahayana branch.
The quarrels among Buddhists take less hostile and more tolerant tones than do the quarrels among other philosophies and religions. The power of the Buddha's original vision is perhaps nowhere more clearly felt than in this restraint. Buddhists of one school tend to accept Buddhists of another, for in all cases, "the individual disciple is seen as directly, personally involved in his own salvation, a point of view which allows exceptional latitude in matters of instruction and practice."55
WHAT THE BUDDHA DID NOT EXPLAIN
Some Western philosophers and theologians also find it difficult to accept Buddha's refusal to present a theology or system of metaphysics. But Buddha's goal
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Reply #2672. Dec 09 11, 6:24 PM
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Jazmee27
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Abandon learning and there will be no sorrow.
Lao-tzu
The greatest eloquence seems to stutter.
Lao-tzu
Unawareness of one's feet is the mark of shoes that fit; iwawarenesf of the waist is the sign of a belt that fits; unawareness of right and wrong is the mark of a mind that is at ease. I! does not change inside and is not affected by external events, and one feels at ease in all circumstances and situations. That is to be at ease through unawareness of being at ease.
Chuartg-lzu
What ought to be done is neglected, what ought not to be done is done; the desires of unruly, thoughtless people are always increasing.
Buddha
was pragmatic. He was not a scholar or philosopher in a technical sense, but a sage, an insightful teacher who believed that questions of theology and complex philosophy confuse and distract us from our search for wisdom. Buddha believed that we are best served by dealing with the here and now in helpful, uncomplicated ways rather than fretting and quibbling over unanswerable metaphysical claims and theological doctrines.
Ultimately, Buddha calls on us to adopt a way of life, rather than "a philosophy," as we in the West understand "having a philosophy." Buddha insisted that to discover the truth, we must somehow "set aside" the kind of "analytic thinking" that leads to establishing schools of Buddhism or to quibbling over the correct interpretation of the Five Precepts. (In this, he reminds us of Lao-tzu and other Taoist sages.) Buddha says:
If you will now and at all times, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying, only concentrate on eliminating analytic thinking, at long last you will inevitably discover the truth.... [Relying on analytic thinking is] like using yellow leaves of gold to stop the crying of a child, and (is) decidedly not real. If you take it for something real, you are not one of our sect and, moreover, what relation can it [analytic thinking] have to your real self?... In reality, everything is pure and glistening, neither square nor round, big nor small, long nor short; it is beyond passion and phenomena, ignorance and Enlightenment... ,56
The function of a sage is to engage us, to challenge us to ask the deepest questions; Who am I? How am I to live? And it is to Buddha the sage that we shall turn as we take our leave of the Compassionate One. Perhaps we can experience a pale reflection of the power of Buddha's transforming vision by considering one of his most famous and intriguing sermons, called "On Questions Not Tending Toward Edification." Another title might be, "What You Don't Need to Know to Live Wisely and Compassionately." This sermon touches on one of the most difficult things for most of us to accept: We need to find a way of living a meaningful life in the absence of absolute answers. Here's a brief excerpt from one of the richest passages in Buddhist literature (and one my favorite passages in all literature):
It is as if... man had been wounded by an arrow thickly smeared with poison, and his friends and companions, his relatives and kinsfolk, were to procure for him a physician or surgeon; and the sick man were to say, "I will not have this arrow taken out until 1 have learnt... the name of the man who wounded me or whether the man who wounded me was... tall, or short, or of the middle height,.. whether the man who wounded me was black, or dusky, or of a yellow skin ... whether the man who wounded me was from this or that village, or town, or city...." That man would die without ever having learnt this....
In exactly the same way... anyone who should say, "I will not lead the religious life under the Blessed One until the Blessed One shall explain to me that the world is eternal or that the world is not eternal... or that the saint either exists or does not exist after death";—that person would die... before [it was] ever explained to him.
The religious life... does not depend on the dogma....
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Reply #2673. Dec 09 11, 6:25 PM
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Jazmee27
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It is my contention that in the field of morals... the insight of the sages into the value of disinterestedness has become the clue to otherwise insoluble perplexities.
Walter Lippmann
Accordingly,.. bear always in mind what it is that I have not explained..., And what... have I explained? Misery... have I explained; the origin of misery have I explained; the cessation of misery have I explained. And why... have I explained this? Because ... this does profit, has to do with the fundamentals of religion, and tends to ... [tranquillity], knowledge, supreme wisdom, and Nirvana; therefore, I have explained it.57
PHILOSOPHICAL QUERY____________________
Compare what Buddha "did not say" with what Confucius did not discuss concerning spirits (pages 27—28). Do you think indifference to these matters is wise? Is it "indifference" or something else? Explain.
These teachings are simple truth, and their power is that they can be applied immediately to our everyday life and the world we live in.
Jdsel Tendzin
God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose; take which you please—you can never have both.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
COMMENTARY
As we will discover in the next chapter, Western philosophy (and science) developed in the direction of objective, rational knowledge rather than the intuitive, holistic wisdom of the sages. One result is a technologically oriented Western culture that provides us with material comforts beyond our ancestors' wildest imaginings. But—as the sages remind us—the price for concentrating on this objective, rational paradigm has been alienation from nature and other rich sources of knowledge and wisdom.
The sage did not separate the human from the divine, or daily life from a sacred Way. The sage saw himself as apart o/nature and the cosmos, not apart from it. In our rediscovery of the importance of nature (the environment), we move a little more in the direction of the sage. In our growing awareness of what Carol Gilligan called the "different voice" of compassion and care expressed by women and nontraditional Western philosophers, we move a little more in the direction of the sage (see Chapter 18).
In our haste to acquire sophisticated knowledge and its fruits—prestige, gadgets, the satisfaction of being "experts"—we can easily become unbalanced. Aggressive efforts (yang) to manage, analyze, and possess nature overlook the inevitability of flux (yin must follow yang). For example, using complex engineering principles, people build elaborate houses in the floodplains of the Mississippi River or crowd together in California coastal canyons (yang), only to see storms and fires bring them down (yin). To pursue sophisticated pleasures, we crowd into cities, which run short of water; we dirty the air; we pile up on freeways. Perhaps it would be wiser to pursue harmony, a Golden Mean, and live where we work and build simpler homes where nature welcomes us.
In the last decade, philosophers, psychologists, ministers, environmentalists, and others have increasingly turned toward Asia to complement—as in "complete"—Western knowledge of technique and mastery. Social criticisms of elitist divisions have reawakened us to the need to see beyond differences to some kind of commonality. Perhaps these trends reflect greater sensitivity to the sacred essence the sages "stammer" about.
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Reply #2674. Dec 09 11, 6:25 PM
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Jazmee27
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To be born when you will be born, that's good fortune. To die when you will die, that's good fortune. To be born and yet not to cherish life, that's opposing heaven. Not to want to die when it's time to die, that's opposing heaven.
LieZi
Though my skin, my nerves, and my bones should waste away and my lifeblood dry, I will not leave this seat until I have attained Supreme Enlightenment.
Buddha
Yet in acknowledging the wisdom of the sages, we must not make the mistake of elevating their teachings above Western science and philosophy—or vice versa. To do either is merely to perpetuate the chief problems the sages address: judg-mentalism, partiality, alienation and division, argumentation, and "Doing Something" all the time. In the following passage, Denise L Carmody and John T. Car-mody capture the problem of resurrecting respect for wisdom in today's world and suggest a direction:
... You do not like these quirky phrases? Paradoxes put you off? Ah well, no Eastern sage ever promised you a garden of platitudes.... It is not cruelty that makes good gurus demanding. It is unusual kindness. In the spiritual life you become what you do ... outer persona and inner self must come closer and closer together.
What doth it profit a person if she can assemble any stereo and never hears the music of the spheres? What doth it profit a person to place all his energies in the stock market? Stereos and the stock market have their place—all (he Eastern sages allow them. What the Eastern sages do not allow them is primacy of place.... To hear the Tao in the morning or in the evening, to die content, onemust vacate assembling and selling. The business of life is not business. The business of life is being.... It does not matter that many of our schools know nothing of such Eastern wisdom. The college catalogue is seldom a great book. Real learning occurs in dark nights and painful passages. Wisdom to live goes far below figures and facts.
... If today you would possess your soul, you must empty it of what is lawdry. If today you would hear the Tao, you must attune your inner ear.58
The Asian sage stands between the traditional Western models of a philosopher and a saint or prophet. Saints and prophets of the major Western religious traditions differ from the sage in important ways, The most significant difference is in their relationship to "the one, true God," the Creator who is distinct from His creatures. For the sages, "all is one," and there is no equivalent to the separate God of the Bible.
For the sages, only those who actively work to achieve awareness deserve the title "sage"—and then only if they act on and live by what they have discovered to be true for themselves. No teachings, no scriptures, no theories take the place of experience. When we see clearly, we do not need teachers, scriptures, or theories. When we do not see clearly—for ourselves—nothing else matters.
"All right,' you may grant, "but what about when we do see clearly?" Then, too, it seems "nothing else matters," as this delightful story from the teachings of the ninth-century Ch'an (Zen) master Hsi Yun hints:
Stepping into the public hall [His Reverence] said: "The knowledge of many things cannot compare to giving up the search. The sage is one who puts himself outside the range of objectivity. There are not different kinds of mind, and there is no doctrine which can be taught."
As there was no more to be said, everybody went away.59
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Reply #2675. Dec 09 11, 6:26 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Summary of Main Points
The sage is an archetypal figure who combines religious inspiration with a love of wisdom. Sages understand and teach the requirements of the good life. Sages tend to be humanists who believe that human intelligence and effort are capable of improving conditions in the here and now.
In ancient Chinese cosmology, everything was influenced by the harmonious working together of Heaven and Earth following the Tao, literally "way" or "path." Tao, which cannot be precisely defined, is translated as the source or principle of all existence, me way or path of the universe or moral law. '*** Heaven and Earth constitute a single reality perpetually balancing between two opposing, but not separable, forces: Yin (Earth, passive element) is weak, negative, dark, and destructive; yang (Heaven, active element) is strong, positive, light, and con-structive.
i
Confucius (551-479 B.C.E.) is the Latinized name of K'ung Ch'iu of Lu, a legendary teacher who vainly sought high political office so that he could initiate a series of governmental reforms. He promoted social order based on personal moral cultivation of jen (humanity) and li (custom and ceremony). Confucian humanism, the name given to any philosophy that emphasizes human welfare and dignity, focuses on moderation according to the Golden Mean. A collection of Confucius's sayings known as the Analects is one of the most influential works in Asian philosophy.
Confucius placed great emphasis on the moral example of the chun-tzu. Conventionally either the sovereign or a "cultivated gentleman," the Confucian chun-tzu is the morally superior man, a great
and noble soul as well as a cultivated gentleman. His undesirable opposite is the small or vulgar hsiao-jen. The chun-tzu is a "real person" because he has realized jen, general human virtue rooted in empathy and fellow-feeling. Expressed through conscientiousness and altruism, je?nsthe"one thread" of Confucianism.
Siddhartha Gautama (c. 560-480 B.C.E.) was born into wealth and power as the son of a prince in what today is Nepal. Siddhartha was so disturbed by his first encounters with old age, sickness, and death that he began a search for enlightenment that resulted in his transformation into the Buddha (the One Who Awakened).
Rejecting the extremes of indulgence or denial, Siddhartha proposed a Middle Path. By choosing to remain among people to help other lost souls, the Buddha became a bodhisattva—an enlightened being who voluntarily postpones his own nirvana to help all other conscious life-forms find "supreme release." A bodhisattva is not a savior.
The Buddha's basic teachings rest on what are called the Four Noble Truths: (1) Suffering is the condition of all existence. (2) Suffering comes from pos-sessiveness, greed, and self-centeredness. (3) These traits can, however, be understood and overcome. (A) This overcoming can be accomplished by following an Eightfold Path, a practical cure for the suffering caused by being partial to ourselves: (1) right understanding, (2) right purpose, (3) right speech, (4) right conduct, (5) right livelihood, (6) right effort, (7) right mindfulness, (8) right meditation. The resultant state of emptiness or "no-thing-ness" is known as nirvana.
Reflections
1. What are the qualities of the sage? What function does the sage fulfill?
2. What is the relation between Heaven and Earth in ancient Chinese cosmology?
3. What is humanism and how does it affect the sages' attitudes toward the supernatural?
4. How did living during the Period of Warring States affect Confucius's and Lao-tzu's philosophies?
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Reply #2676. Dec 09 11, 6:27 PM
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Jazmee27
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That's enough for today (chapters 1-2)
I forget when Mom scanned the book into the computer and then downloaded the scanned documents onto a CD so I could take it to the college, but it was a while ago
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Reply #2678. Dec 09 11, 6:33 PM
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Jazmee27
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Shows for tonight:
- "Bombs over Boston" or "Frosty the Snowman" and "Frosty Returns"
- "Drugs, Inc." or "Dateline NBC"
- "Facing Evil"
- "I Survived"
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Reply #2679. Dec 09 11, 6:35 PM
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Jazmee27
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Wishing everyone a quiet evening/morning/afternoon
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Reply #2680. Dec 09 11, 6:36 PM
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This thread has been closed to new replies.
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