Buddhism the Facts of Buddhism

Buddhism

The facts of Buddhism are simple and easy to understand. The Buddhists use a sacred book called the Tripitaka, or the Pali Canon. To translate the Tripitaka from an ancient Indian language into English is tough, because it is so long, over forty volumes. In Christianity they believe that Jesus Christ came down from heaven and was the Son of God. In Buddhism, they believe in the wisdom of a very intelligent man named Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. The Tripitaka has three sections of sacred writing the religion call "baskets"; the first "Vinaya Pitaka" (Discipline Basket) a book that has rules; the "Sutta Pitaka" (Teaching Basket) the real things the Buddha did in life; the "Adhidhamma Pitaka" (Higher Doctrine Basket) the teaching of Buddha, or "Sutras" of Buddha.

The Buddhist religion believes that Siddhartha Gautama lived in Nepal, and was born into a royal family, and he became a rich prince. And that situation did not allow him to ever see the poor people that lived outside the walls of his palace. He never saw the way people suffer when they are sick, or when they get real old. So when Siddhartha got married and they had a baby, he went out from the palace walls for the first time, according to Buddhism beliefs, and when he got outside the walls he saw a very old man, a very sick man, and a dead body. Those things worry him.

He also saw a monk outside the wall and this a sign for him that he may leave the life of rich man and be homeless, to learn that suffering experience. This way he become Buddha.

Meanwhile the Theravada approach to Buddhism seems to resonate especially well with some Americans, according to books on the subject. And this paper will examine the question of, why does Theravada Buddhism - more than Zen and Mahayana Buddhism - seem to have found a place among those Westerners who have taken an interest in Buddhism? There are many reasons why the innovations that have occurred regarding Theravada Buddhism have struck a chord with a seemingly growing number of Westerners. This paper will review the precepts and philosophies put forward by those interpreting Theravada Buddhism, and a comparison of Theravada with Zen and Mahayana Buddhism (and Shin Buddhism, a form of Mahayana).

First there is the question of why Buddhism itself is becoming a more popular religion in the West. That question is answered by author James William Coleman in, the New Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition. "One of the most fundamental reasons, then, for the spread of Buddhism in the West is that modern technologies of transportation and communication have brought more and more Westerners into contact with it" (Coleman 203). The rise of interest in and knowledge of Buddhism is directly connected to the better and quicker movement of "ideas" and "beliefs" - at a faster pace "than ever before in human history."

And because of this rapid pace of communication and immigration to the West, the Japanese-American community played a "particularly important role" in introducing Zen Buddhism to North America, and Sri Lankans and Burmese immigrants had a large role in bringing Theravada Buddhism to the UK and the U.S. according to Coleman's book.

As to why Theravada has become an attractive way of practicing Buddhism in the U.S. Donald Rothberg, writing in the Faces of Buddhism in America (Rothberg 268) explains that Theravada has evolved from its traditional and more conservative form in Asia and now is thought of as "socially engaged Buddhism." That means, it responds to and addresses "social action," and is more germane to the average person's "everyday life."

Rothberg asserts that the "1st Precept" of traditionally practiced Theravada is against killing; it implies that one person of Theravadan Buddhist faith should not kill another. But the "socially engaged Buddhism" practiced through Theravada in the West takes it into a broader scope, from individual responsibility to a sense of national social responsibility; in other words, socially engaged Theravadan Buddhism gets into politics, and takes a moral stand about government behaviors. The "collective harming and killing committed by governments...and harming or killing being of the natural world through soil depletion, clear-cutting, lab testing and poisons," Rothberg writes (274), is a violation of the 1st Precept as practiced by those of Theravadan Buddhist faith.

And so, a person of Theravadan Buddhist beliefs would have a right, within the context of being in discussion in the temple, to criticize the Bush Administration for its role in the invasion of Iraq, the occupation of Iraq, and the ongoing tyranny in Iraq. Certainly, the "collective harming and killing" of innocent citizens in Iraq by U.S. forces - sent there by the executive branch under Bush - is an anathema to the 1st Precept of Buddhism.

One can clearly see why this form of Buddhism would resonate with modern, progressive Westerners; because, in a democratic society where the citizens vote to elect leaders to represent them, if the faith of those citizens seems totally removed from the democratic society, it is not relevant to daily living.

There are socially engaged sects of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Cambodia as well as in the West, Rothberg writes (269). The violence perpetrated by the governments of those two nations - and other nations - have given momentum to peace movements within the Theravadan Buddhist community. Theravadan Buddhists have "formed resistance and reconciliation movements in the midst of war and/or oppression in Vietnam, Tibet, Burma, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh," he writes.

In Sri Lanka, the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement - which is, Rothberg explains, "a massive network of village-based community development activists" - has for "nearly forty years linked personal and social liberation." And in Thailand, monks associated with Theravadan Buddhism have "emphasized grassroots activism, community development, and alternative economic forms... [along with] local movements against ecological devastation." Some monks have even ordained trees in order to protect them from logging.