Buddhism is a philosophy which was meant to be translated into a way of life.
It is about ‘How do I perceive life and my standing in life?’
Buddhism is supposed to bring those who are able, to accept change for themselves.
Buddhism is expressed as a proposal for life (it offers a solution).
It is not only a way to correctly see reality but also to see reality as a problem that needs a solution. It is an existential problem, our very existence.
As opposed to many other religions, the problem is not the essence of existence (not the question: Why is it good? or Where do we come from and where are we going?) but rather life when we focus on the present – it is what does not change, the same thing always returns…
Life whose basic component is lack of satisfaction. There is frustration because everything changes, but it, the frustration itself is permanent. Buddhist philosophy describes reality as suffering.
Buddhism also has a simpler form (not philosophical) – birth is suffering, disease is suffering etc…
The Buddha describes suffering in his first sermon as not being able to get what you want or not being able to escape from what you do not want.
From here, Buddhism goes on to characterize the cause of frustration/Dukkha (the Second Truth).
There are two causes, an immediate cause and a more abstract cause, they were probably invented in two different circles of thought and then later consolidated.
The answer is not about the world but about us, it points to the personality factors which produce the frustration (Dukkha) within us.
There are two causes for suffering:
- The immediate and simple one: desire
- The more abstract one: Avidya – ignorance (not knowing)
The condition of desire and of ignorance are the same because in both cases something is lacking. You are ignorant when you lack something, when you do not know. Whether we are talking about desire or something loftier related to knowing, we are facing what is lacking.
There is an impulse to fill it.
In Buddhism we are facing an internal structure that we have created and dealing with this fact should bring us to see ourselves in a state of want and frustration.
There is suffering (First Truth), it has a cause (Second Truth),
Third Truth: It is possible to end the suffering – liberation.
For this purpose, we will see the word Nirvana as synonymous with Moksha.
This is a special kind of liberation; one can be liberated without that being conditional on the notion of the existence of another place/level/deity to which one is liberated, or which enables the liberation.
Exiting the boundaries of existence does not happen by going somewhere else above existence, and even more so, it is not conditional on someone opening a gate for you to be able to exit this existence to another.
(Which is very characteristic of monotheistic beliefs, where there is a clear hierarchy.)
The Indian perception of Moksha negates the assumption which allows the opening of a gate to another place.
There is no gate – the gate is I and the guard at the gate is also I.
Ontology is transformed, “what is” is actually spiritual.
The literal meaning of the word Nirvana is blown out/ extinguished. The meaning is significant because when you define liberation as being extinguished/fading it is not possible to say where one is when one is liberated. This question does not only bother Westerners. Nirvana says that there is no question at all and whoever asks where Nirvana is indicates that he does not understand anything.
Nirvana and the liberated in the Parable of Fire:
One of the talks the Buddha has is with the monk named Evche – the monk asks where is Nirvana and where is the one who is liberated?
The Buddha says to him, see the fire, it burns and fades and in the end is extinguished. Can we ask where is the fire? The question has no meaning.
If we ask, then we must receive an answer. You do not understand since you asked the question. The answer is to give up the question. When we don’t see the fire, we don’t ask where it is, so then why ask where is the one who is liberated.
The supposition that what is not here is there, is based on our memory. It is based on physical laws or a Western world view.
If something is erased from my memory my search for it will fade, I will no longer look for it.
Fire makes it possible for us to see. It is a tool of enlightenment in the world, and the tool of enlightenment which enables us to see, is our memory.
Nirvana is a kind of erasure. It is no longer possible to ask anything about something that has been erased.
According to Freud, the hopes in our soul can have the same power whether they are the result of something that happened or whether they are a result of a fantasy.
The idea of Nirvana contains this Freudian idea. Freud would have needed the notion that life does not lead anywhere.
Buddhism did not need to assume this belief because it was there to begin with.
Wittgenstein said: ”…the solution to the problem of life is revealed with the disappearance of the problem.”
This sentence fits Buddhism.
Wittgenstein said that if the question comes up then life has no meaning for me, the question arises when there is a problem. He claims that language cannot contain an answer to the question, but he does say that if there was no problem, there would be no question. At the end of his book he gives the example of a man who takes a ladder to climb a tree.
Wittgenstein said that his book is the ladder – when you climb the tree you will no longer need the ladder or the book (because you will be in another state of consciousness).
Buddha said a similar sentence 500 years before. The philosophy which develops in Buddhism after this (like the Abhidharma) tries to explain how Nirvana is possible and what it means.
The Buddhist story is that there is only the path. There is no intention.
When one is ready to understand that the problem is within and the answer is also within then we will achieve Nirvana.
Forth Truth: The road to salvation /to the end of suffering
This truth is about how to achieve Nirvana through 8 stages (the 8 Noble Paths).
They are divided into 3 subdivisions:
- Intellectual – by the correct understanding (the Paradigm). Understanding Buddhist doctrine. Understanding and then internalizing it.
- Normative/Ethical Behavior – Here Buddhism is no different from other ethical philosophies. For example: correct speech – a specific way to behave, do not lie etc… distinguishing between good and evil.
- Meditation – a particular practice which one needs to ascribe to/to make one’s own, specific methods of practice that one needs to develop and nurture in order to implement the other elements of the path.
What is important philosophically is not what the 8 paths are, but rather the very idea that there is a Forth Truth!
The Forth Truth is comparable to a sister in the Western world.
If Buddha is a doctor (gives a diagnosis) then the person needs to be treated.
The Forth Truth enables a person to approach Nirvana. Since there is the Forth Truth, Indian Buddhism does not believe in quick liberation or short cuts, does not accept that one can become enlightened all at once.
In Sanskrit there is a concept “Marga” – consistent and continuous practice.
The importance of Marga in Indian Buddhism is critical (and that is what distinguishes it from Chinese Buddhism).
Buddhism presents itself in India as 3 Precious Gems:
- The Dharma (the path, everything exists in conditional becoming)
- The Buddha (the illustration of the doctrine in the form of a man)
- The Sangha (the community, which is behind the Forth Truth)
Buddhism advocates stepping outside of society.
What helps to leave society (not ascetism but seclusion) are the monasteries.
The apprentice enters them at a very young age and is a candidate to become a monk, often until his maturity.
The monks live under very strict instructions (the Vinaya – do's and don'ts).
Within the Order, there is a regular and routine schedule. You eat twice a day, by begging for alms (one never prepares food alone), you must not sleep on a soft bed, complete sexual celibacy and more…
Every two weeks there are gatherings in which the monks confess their sins and mistakes.
There is no idea that liberation will be achieved in the sense of unity.
On the contrary, liberation will only be achieved by oneself, it is one’s own act.
I can be liberated only within a collective (a very disciplined monastic framework).
I am different from those around me within whose framework I live.
Those around me can improve their incarnation (by giving food to a monk for instance).
Buddhism began in India and spread throughout the East.
It confronted post-Hindu views which began to arise.
Towards the beginning of the second millennium it has been disappearing from India.
During the first millennium AD it started appearing in East Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, China, Japan, Tibet etc.)
It became popular. It was attractive.
In each place Buddhism is different, because it draws from local values, it draws from parts of the subculture to which it comes.
Only in its birthplace is it dying out. Towards 1200-1300 AD Buddhism disappeared from India.
It returned in the 20th century brought mainly by Tibetan exiles who established their center in India.
Why did Buddhism fail in India? There is no answer.
When the Muslims invaded India, they destroyed the Buddhist monasteries. When they destroyed the monasteries, they destroyed the culture which was concentrated there (writings).
In essence, they burned the culture. Whereas Hindi culture is much more oral (writing in their eyes was less desirable) Buddhism was supported by writing.
That may explain why Hinduism survived and Buddhism became extinct in India.
Indian Buddhism never recovered from the Muslim invasion.
Some of the Buddhist philosophical writings have been translated back into Sanskrit from Chinese!!!!
If they had not been translated into Chinese, we would not know of their existence.
One of the traditions says that before Buddha died, he called together his 500 students (the first Sangha). He told them that everything he had taught them was minimal, but he always gave it open-handedly (generously).
And he asked if there was anything that was unclear, and no one answered. There was agreement that he was leaving this world…no one asked where he was going because he was like fire, no one asks where it goes.
Then Ananda said – how beautiful and inviting the silence is, it is a silence of unity (which cannot be expressed in words).
The Buddha scolded him – Ananda you speak by virtue of faith and not by virtue of understanding……
Tags: Buddha Buddhism the Four Truths Avidya Nirvana Moksha the Parable of Fire 3 Precious Gems Wittgenstein Marga Dharma Sangha