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Buddhism Was Invented by the Greeks 2008-10-12 14:34:00 I know this is a provocative title, but here I’m presenting a thesis that may have been overlooked due to assumptions we have in our minds about Buddhism
. Buddhism has been always an example of Asian thought devoid of any European influence. But now, I’m crazy enough to say that it was invented by Europeans?! How could that be? Well, it was the Greek invaders who gave India the Buddha.The Absc Read more:Greeks
, Invented
Emptiness: A Revolutionary Philosophical Concept 2008-10-11 22:30:00 We’ve seen that the Mahayana introduced a lot of important changes into the Buddhist tradition by adding values to this already complex tradition that we’ve studied in some detail. But no change has been so profound and far reaching as the concept that we call emptiness.A Truly Unique Concept
This is a concept that in a negative way challenges or undermines many of the rigid categories of tradi Read more:Philosophical
, Revolutionary
The Celestial Buddhas 2008-10-11 20:39:00 In addition to celestial bodhisattvas, there are celestial Buddhas as well. I said earlier that not everyone is limited to the bodhisattva path, there are beings who reach the end of the path and achieve Buddhahood.Amitābha and the Pure LandOne of the most important of these is the Buddha Amitābha, a name that means infinite light. The story of Amitābha is that when he was a bodhisattva he made
Maitreya: The Future Buddha 2008-10-11 15:50:00 Avalokiteśvara is obviously an important deity in the Mahayana world, but there are others too. I want to mention a few others. One of these is the celestial bodhisattva Maitreya.Waiting In HeavenMaitreya is venerated throughout the Mahayana world and Theravada countries as well as the future Buddha
, the next in the line. He is waiting in a heaven called “Tusita Heaven”, a name that simply me Read more:Future
How Avalokiteśvara (and compassion) is Invoked in Different Traditions 2008-10-11 12:15:00 In my last post, we talked about how the tradition tell us in the Lotus Sutra that if we call on the name of Avalokiteśvara, we will achieve some kind of connection with the compassion of that great deity. It is also possible to invoke the compassion of Avalokiteśvara by chanting a Mantra, a technical phrase that embodies the power of that great celestial figure.The Mantra: “Om Mani Padme Hum
The Celestial Boddhisattvas: Buddhist Deities? 2008-10-07 16:06:00 In the past articles we said that the Mahayana vision of the universe expanded dramatically. I wasn’t just a group of monks imitating the ideal of Siddharta Gautama, but began to imagine themselves as actors on a drama that was really cosmic in scope. The Mahayana begins to imagine a universe that is not populated just by human boddhisattvas, people like you and me, but also by celestial boddhis Read more:Buddhist
Mahayana Buddhism 2008-09-28 20:11:00 The Mahayana, or “Great Vehicle”, changes the style, the tone and the content of Buddhist practice in profound ways. It opens up the practice of Buddhahood to lay people as well as to monks and nuns. It also involves a far more extended vision of the cosmos than anything that came before.The Mahayana movement emerged in the Indian Buddhist community around the beginning of the Common Era. Even Read more:Buddhism
Theravada Buddhism 2008-09-28 10:53:00 The word “Theravada” simply means the “Doctrine of the Elders”. This tradition represents, quite deliberately, a conservative option. It maintains today many aspects of the Buddhist tradition that were practiced in India during those early centuries after the death of the Buddha. It expanded into Sri Lanka and the to the rest of South East Asia.I will try to give you a taste of the history Read more:Buddhism
Bodhicitta and the Boddhisattva Path 2008-09-28 10:06:00 How is the Boddhisattva ideal expressed in ritual and in philosophy? The most important concept to express the Boddhisattva ideal is the concept of the Bodhicitta, a word we translate as the “mind of enlightenment” or you might say the mind that seeks enlightenment.The Mind of EnlightnementTo enter the Boddhisattva path, it’s important to generate this mind of enlightenment. What is it? Simp
The Extended Vision of the Mahayana 2008-09-28 10:05:00 Vimalakirti is a pretty good example of the Boddhisattva ideal, but there are others that are important to mention just to see how broadly the Mahayana ideal was extended.Queen SrimalaThere is an important queen by the name of Srimala who is the focus of another Mahayana text. She is a queen and has a lot of responsibilities that bears in the ordinary life in the palace, and yet, she is portrayed Read more:Extended
Mahayana and the Lay Boddhisattva 2008-09-28 08:24:00 Boddhisattvas described in Mahayana literature are often human beings just like ourselves. I’d like to give you a couple of examples of Mahayana descriptions of Boddhisattvas so that you can get a sense of the kind of persons who were described as Boddhisattvas in this classical literature.Vimalakirti: The Lay BoddhisattvaOne of my favorite in the early literature of the Mahayana is the Boddhisa
Mahayana and the Boddhisattva Ideal 2008-09-27 16:43:00 If we are uncertain about the origin of the Mahayana, what can we say about its teaching? The answer to that question is a lot more clear. The fundamental teaching of Mahayana Buddhism is what is called the Boddhisattva Ideal.What is a Boddhisattva?A Boddhisattva is a Buddha-to-be, somebody who isn’t a Buddha yet but plans to be one in a future life. A Boddhisattva in the Mahayana tradition doe
The Origin of Mahayana Buddhism 2008-09-27 16:13:00 Now we are asking a pretty good and natural question. Where this rare tradition comes from? Where such a radical reform movement arises in the community of the early Sangha?The Second Turning of the WheelOne place to go for an answer to this question is to the Mahayana texts themselves. The texts trace the origin of the Mahayana to what is called the Second Turning of the Wheel of the Dharma durin Read more:Buddhism
, Origin
The One Vehicle and the Skillful Means 2008-09-27 16:11:00 In the last article we’ve talked about the “Parable of the Burning House” and its basic implications: the Buddha is like this father, the little cards were the lesser vehicles that were preached before and that the Mahayana is the real teaching of the Buddha.The One Vehicle
: The Real TeachingIn the text, many concepts are elaborated that are important for us to notice. First of all, the stor Read more:Means
Mahayana: The Great Vehicle 2008-09-23 22:03:00 It is time for us to look at a reform movement that made a radical change in the way people enacted the Buddhist ideal. It changes the style, the tone and the content of Buddhist practice in profound ways, only a few centuries after the lifetime of the Buddha. We call this movement the “Mahayana”, or the “GreatVehicle
”.A Reform MovementTheravada Buddhism in South East Asia is in some ways
Aung San Suu Kyi: A Buddhist Hero 2008-09-22 22:15:00 Aung San Suu Kyi is another striking example of the intersection between religious and political values in the Theravada Buddhist
countries of South East Asia. Aung San Suu Kyi was born in 1945, as the daughter of Burma’s national hero: General Aung San. He was the leader of the Burma’s liberation movement in World War II, who was assassinated in 1947, just after the end of the Second World Wa
Mongkut: King and Monk 2008-09-22 19:24:00 King Mongkut reigned Thailand from 1851 to 1868. He is one of the most striking examples of a righteous king in modern history. He is remarkable because combines the roles of monk and king. He served as a monk for over twenty-five years before he ascended to the throne. He came to his position of king as a person who already had been deeply infused in monastic practice, something that is not co
Ashoka, the Righteous King 2008-09-21 22:28:00 When King Ashoka assumed the throne in the year 269 BCE as Emperor of the Maurya dynasty in India, he inherited a kingdom that had already been substantially expanded by his predecessors. He already dominated a large portion of India, but there was a particular kingdom that resisted domination, the Kingdom of Kalinga.The ConvertionAshoka took as his responsibility to bring the people of Kalinga in
Theravada Buddhism Through its Figures 2008-09-21 21:41:00 Buddhism changed in two ways as it expanded out of its original homeland in Northern India. Disputes within the Buddhist community generated a series of sectarian movements. All this started after the Second Buddhist Council.The Doctrine of The EldersMany of these early sects are really historical objects at this point. We can study them or we can read about them in texts, but we can’t meet them Read more:Buddhism
, Figures
Buddhist Art 2008-09-21 09:53:00 If I ask many of you how you came in contact with Buddhism and how you began to develop some kind of impression about the tradition, I suspect that for many of you, the first contact with this tradition has been through Buddhist
art.Many times I see little images of the Buddha in the offices of people who are not particularly religious. Sometimes the fat little images you see in China. Sometimes t
Images of the Buddha 2008-09-20 22:32:00 What are the types of Buddhist images? Some of the early ones are called aniconic images. They represent the Buddha
through symbols, places associated with his life or simply by his absence. We often see images of people bowing down in devotion to the Bodhi Tree and to the empty Throne of the Buddha’s awakening. These images are quite common early in the Buddhist tradition. These are found in ma Read more:Images
The Power of Images in Buddhism 2008-09-20 21:39:00 In the last article we talked about how Buddhist worship in a Shrine. Another questions you might ask about Shrines are: In what sense do these images represent the Buddha? Is the Buddha present in the image? Is the image the Buddha himself?The Sustaining PowerFor Hindus, the answer to these questions would be relatively easy. In Hindu worship, the deity is called to become present in the image. Y Read more:Buddhism
, Images
Buddhist Worship 2008-09-20 16:34:00 How are you going to worship at a Buddhist
Shrine? The Indian word for worship is Puja. In many respects, Buddhist worship is very similar to the worship you would find in the Hindu tradition. You make offerings to the image: fruit, flowers, incense, sometimes a candle. In South East Asia, one of the most important things you can do for an image, is to stake in just a little bit of gold leaf and a
Buddhist Shrines 2008-09-20 00:44:00 If we look back historically at the very earliest representations of the Buddha, we find not statues or images of the Buddha, but Shrines. Holy places that are connected with the presence of the Buddha. The earliest of these Shrines contained relics of the Buddha’s cremation. Later ones were associated with events or objects that were connected with the Buddha’s life.Places of WorshipIn the ea Read more:Buddhist
The Early Sangha 2008-09-19 22:46:00 At the very beginning, the Sangha(Buddhist community) was quite small and consisted of just an informal group of followers. They wandered with the Buddha, as he wandered through the roads of Northern India. It was a diverse community. It is often spoken of as having four parts: monks, nuns, male lay followers, and female lay followers.Buddhist Lay FollowersBuddhist NunsThe First MonasteriesThe Fir Read more:Early
Buddhism FAQs 2008-11-02 19:27:00 I wrote this series of articles to answer some basic questions about Buddhism
. In other articles I talk in more length about Buddhist teachings and history, these articles are a quick read that answer the questions asked more frequently. I’ve put some links in the answers to pages that cover more deeply the subjects.What is Buddhism?What are the basic beliefs of Buddhism?Who is the founder of Bu
Founder of Buddhism 2008-11-02 17:52:00 Who was the founder of Buddhism
? A man named Siddharta Gautama is considered the founder of the Buddhist tradition. He was called the Buddha by his followers, that means the “awakened one”. The Buddhist tradition is named after that title.Historically, we have just a handful of facts we can hold on to tell ourselves about the lifestory of the Buddha. We know, we think we know, that he was born
Gods in Buddhism 2008-11-02 07:58:00 Are there gods in Buddhism
? Buddhism is always differentiated from other religious traditions because its practitioners don’t believe in a creator god or a supreme being. According to the Pali Canon (the mother of all Buddhist scriptures), the Buddha didn’t deny the existence of Brahma (the supreme Indian god), but he saw him and all other gods as subject to change and death, as all other bein
Basic Beliefs of Buddhism 2008-11-02 07:45:00 What are the basic beliefs of Buddhism
? Buddhism is a complex religious tradition. It is hard to cover all the beliefs that Buddhists have, as there are many schools and branches which differ in many aspects between each other. Here, I’m going to talk about the basic teachings that are commonly attributed to the Buddha Siddharta Gautama.First, I want to talk about some beliefs that were present Read more:Basic
What is Buddhism? 2008-11-02 07:21:00 What is Buddhism
? Buddhism is considered a religious tradition by many and a practical philosophy by others. This distinction between religion and philosophy is one that originated among Western commentators, as a distinction between the two isn’t clear in Asia, where it originated.The Buddhist tradition gets its name from a man known by his followers as the Buddha. Buddha isn’t the name of a
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