The Buddha

Siddhattha Gotama (Pali) was born in Lumbini in northern India in about the fifth or sixth century BCE. At the age of 29 he left his wealthy and privileged background in search of enlightenment. After six years of searching he won enlightenment under the Bodhi-tree at Bodh Gaya. Soon after this he delivered his first sermon, the essence of which was the four noble truths. He spent the next forty-five years teaching and, in the process, attracted a large communal following known as the Sangha. He died at the age of eighty.

The First Council

This meeting of the Sangha was held in Rajagaha a few months after the Buddha's passing away (parinibbana). Its purpose was to come to a consensus on his teachings. The monk Ananda recited the Buddha's discourses or Suttas and the monk Upali recited the rules for the monks, the Vinaya. For several centuries after this, the Suttas and Vinaya were passed down orally from monk to monk. It was not until the first century BCE that the Buddha's teachings were finally written down.

The Second Council

This took place in Vesali about a hundred years after the Buddha's parinibbana to settle a dispute that had arisen about the nature of the arahant (or Buddhist saint) and monastic discipline. This resulted in a schism between the Mahasanghika majority (Great Assembly), largely situated in eastern India, and the Sthavira minority (the Elders), largely situated in the west. The former saw the Buddha as more of a transcendent figure, the latter perceived him as a unique human being, but a human being nonetheless. The Mahasanghikas wished to reinterpret the monastic discipline, whereas the Sthaviras wished to preserve it as it was.

The Third Council - Asoka the Great (272-236)

Two hundred years after the Buddha's death saw the emergence of the first Buddhist Emperor in the 3rd century BCE. His name was Asoka (pronounced Ashoka) Mauraya and he ruled the Magadhan empire. When he first came to power he was more concerned with expanding his empire than with the teachings of the Buddha. However, after seeing the carnage of one particular conflict with the neighboring state of Kalinga - which he had instigated - he turned to Buddhism. From then on he proceeded to turn his empire into what would become the first Buddhist state.

He forbade hunting, encouraged pilgrimage and urged his people to live virtuous lives. This he did by having rocks and pillars inscribed with religious exhortations. For example: 'Respect for mother and father is good, generosity to friends, acquaintances, relatives, Brahmans and ascetics is good, not killing living beings is good, moderation in spending and moderation in saving is good.'

Purportedly, Asoka became concerned that there were many monks who were falling short of the holy life as it should be lived. Accordingly, a Third Council was called in Pataliputra with the consequence that many bogus monks were excluded from the Sangha. He also sent his son, Mahinda, to Sri Lanka who succeeded in converting the Sri Lankan king. Before long, Buddhism became the state religion of Sri Lanka.

The Fourth Council

During the first century BCE, a Fourth Council was held in the Sri Lanka. In the Aloka Cave near the village of Matale, the Buddha's teachings - which up until then had been passed down orally - were written down on palm leaves. This body of writing was collected in three baskets and is known as the Tipitaka or Pali Canon. It consists of the Vinaya Pitaka (the rules for the monks and nuns); the Sutta Pitaka (the Buddha's discourses); and the Abhidhamma Pitaka (a a philosophical and psychological systemization of the Buddha's teachings).

The Rise of Mahayana Buddhism

The time between 150BCE and 100CE saw the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, 'Mahayana' meaning 'Greater Vehicle', as opposed to the more conservative tradition which Mahayanists referred to as the Hinayana or 'lesser vehicle' but which is more objectively known as Theravada. It is likely that this emerging form of Buddhism was influenced by savior cults associated with Hellenism and Zoroastrianism, and the cult of Vishnu to be found in northwestern India at this time. The common features of Mahayana developed out of the concerns and interests of a diversity of separate groups. It is important to note, however, that the Theravada continued and still continues to flourish along side its Mahayana counterpart.

Key Features

Mahayana has a number of distinctive characteristics which can be summarized as follows.

1. There is the bodhisattva ideal, the notion that one strives to win enlightenment not for oneself but for the benefit of other beings, even to the extent of postponing entry into nirvana until all beings have been liberated. A bodhisattva is an individual destined for Buddhahood.

2. The Buddha came to be perceived as more than a flesh and blood human being. The three-body doctrine (trikaya) sees the Buddha as having the Appearance Body, the Dharma Body and the Enjoyment Body. The earthly body of the Buddha - the Appearance Body - is seen as a supranatural manifestation appearing in the world for the benefit of all beings. Sakyamuni, the historical Buddha, was just one of these manifestations. The Dharma Body is the Buddha as the essential 'truth' encapsulated within the Buddhist teachings. The Enjoyment Body was the Buddha as he appears in unearthly realms known as Buddha-fields.

3. There is the emptiness or sunyata doctrine which expounds the idea that nothing that exists has an enduring, permanent essence. In this sense, all things are 'empty'. To realize this fully on an experiential level is to know the truth, to have realized nirvana.

4. With the development of the bodhisattva ideal, the quality of compassion or karuna became much more important than it had been hitherto. Along with this came the concept of skill-in-means, the idea that a bodhisattva or buddha chooses the best means possible to adapt his teaching to the level of his audience.

5. Finally, key bodhisattvas and buddhas were seen as active in the world, helping beings towards better rebirth and ultimately enlightenment. Consequently faith and devotion in these beings became a distinct feature, whereas Theravada (Hinayana) was much more concerned with self-effort than in a cult of personality.

New Scriptures

Whereas for Theravada the Pali Canon was the source of ultimate authority, with Mahayana, new sutras emerged which emphasized some of the key features described above. The most significant include The Lotus Sutra, the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra.

Mahayana Philosophy

As Mahayana developed two schools of thought emerged, the Madhyamika ('the Middle Way') and the Yogacara. The former developed out of the teachings of Nagarjuna (c.150-250 CE), a Buddhist sage from the south of India. His most important work - the Mulamadhyamika-karika (Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way) - aimed to show the truth of the emptiness or sunyata doctrine through the application of dialectic.

Sunyata is beyond opposites, hence the term 'middle way'. His basic argument is that all things are conditioned and therefore cannot be said to have an inherent nature, an undying essence. The world we perceive is made up of ever-changing dharmas, mental and physical constituents that only have significance in the way that they relate to each other. This world, therefore, has a relative truth but is not which is beyond the opposites that make up the world we see.

The Yogacara or 'Mind Only' school emerged in about the third century CE from the teachings of Maitreyanatha. By the fourth century CE it was flourishing, two leading proponents being the brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu from the south of India. This school argued that the world as we perceive it is a creation of the mind. As individuals we therefore create imaginary worlds which are mistaken for real existence. From this ignorance, karmic seeds are sown, falling into what is termed 'store consciousness' or 'base consciousness' out of which the process begins again.

Tantra

Between the third and seventh century CE, a form of Buddhism emerged out of Mahayana known variously as Tantra, Mantrayana and Vajrayana. Tantras were scriptures which emerged around the seventh century CE. They shared much in common with Mahayana scriptures in their emphasis on the bodhisattva ideal and compassion for all beings. But there was also an emphasis on special practices. Some of these would include the drawing of mandalas or 'magic' circles, the adoption of certain symbolic hand gestures known as mudras, the recitation of significant syllables, words or phrases known as mantras, and visualizations. One practice requires the student to visualize himself as a bodhisattva, endowed with all his qualities. There was also the idea that the teachings were best transmitted by an adept, a teacher or guru, who had already mastered these particular practices. A key symbol in tantric Buddhism is the vajra, a diamond scepter which is seen as 'adamantine'. It stands for the indestructible truth that is sunyata. As time went on, Vajrayana became the dominant tradition in Tibet.

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