Buddhism
“To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him” (“Buddha,” n.d.). Buddha who is the founder of Buddhism is also known as Siddhartha Gautama who was born around 560 B.C. (Corduan, 2012; “Lecture 5,” 2018; Morey, 2004; Morgan, 2012). Buddhism is not monolithic but rather a very complex religion containing three primary schools of practice consisting of multiple sects and beliefs within those schools (Corduan, 2012, Geisler, 1999; Morgan, 2012). It also derived out of Hinduism and perhaps was influenced due to the horrible beliefs and implications of the caste system (Corduan, 2012). What is more interesting about Buddhism though is not the beliefs or teachings but rather the way it came into being. Moving forward this essay will present the four sights Siddhartha saw that sparked Buddhism, show how the four sights caused him to seek religious answers, and how this type of reflection is meaningful for spiritual growth.
The Beginning of Buddhism
The story of Siddhartha Gautama is somewhat legendary since many Buddhists have different beliefs of this story and perhaps over time it has become more of a “legend” (Corduan, 2012, p. 315). Conceivably the reason for this is only a few manuscripts of this beginning account of Siddhartha are dated four to five hundred years after his death, and most of the other manuscripts do not appear until 1,000 years after his death (Morey, 2004). The legend usually starts with Siddhartha being born into a royal family and as he exited the womb, “he stood up and proclaimed his exaltation” further stating “this is my last life” (Corduan, 2012, p. 315; Silk, 2003, p. 867). Siddhartha birth caused a prophecy stating he was either going to be a great king by only seeing beauty and youth or Siddhartha would become a great religious monk if he saw disease and death (Corduan, 2012; Morgan, 2012). His father wanted Siddhartha to become a great king, so Siddhartha’s father hid from his child old age, disease, and death to prevent him from being religious (Corduan, 2012; Silk, 2003). It was due to this sheltered life that Siddhartha was curious to see the outside of the palace and eventually persuaded his father to take a chariot ride outside of the palace which is where he discovered the four sights that led Siddhartha to ultimately create Buddhism (Corduan, 2012; “Lecture 5,” 2018; Morgan, 2012; Silk, 2003).
The Four Sights of Siddhartha
The first sight that Siddhartha saw during his chariot ride outside the palace was “an old man on the verge of death” (Corduan, 2012, p. 316). The last three sights that Siddhartha saw was “a man with a disfiguring disease, a funeral procession for a decomposing corpse and a holy monk displaying the serenity of a life of renunciation” (Corduan, 2012, p. 316). Siddhartha’s father, Suddhodana Gautama, took a great deal of effort to purge the area of any evidence of the four elements that would lead his son down a religious path (Corduan, 2012). Unfortunately, the gods of Hindu mythology had a different plan for Siddhartha, and these gods assumed the forms of the four banished influences (Corduan, 2012).
Since Siddhartha was sheltered his whole life from seeing any of these four sights, with each sight Siddhartha would ask the question, will this happen to me too (William, Fausbøll, & Childers, 1925)? In addition to seeing the four sights and asking the obvious question, Siddhartha was shaken, dejected, violently agitated, and finally collapsed in shock over seeing such things (Silk, 2003). Old age, sickness, and death should prompt any person to seek answers to satisfy the soul, and that is exactly what Siddhartha would set out to do. With the new knowledge of old age, sickness, and death, Siddhartha could no longer live his present life of luxury so he abandoned his wife, son, and family and set out to live a life as a monk (Corduan, 2012; Morey, 2004; Morgan, 2012; Silk, 2003). It would take seven years of self-mortification until eventually Siddhartha became a Buddha which means an awakened one, and then Siddhartha would take his experiences and knowledge and create disciples of his new teachings (Corduan, 2012). Siddhartha primary teachings would later be known as the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and the Ten Precepts (Corduan, 2012; “Lecture,” 2018; Morgan 2012).
What now?
Siddhartha came to a crossroad in his life. It was not until he heard and saw the problem of evil, death, and sickness that he invested himself into finding answers to these problems. Death and the afterlife are spiritual matters, and it takes deep pondering and reflection for any person to find suitable answers that satisfy one’s soul. In the Bible, Job asks a similar question and says, “If a man dies, shall he live again” (Job 14:14 English Standard Version). The big problem in this world that every religion must solve is death, evil, and sickness. If any faith is unable to answer these three primary questions of why then it should be no faith to practice or follow at all. During Siddhartha reflections on these fundamental issues, he resolved them all by finding within himself that desires are the problem, and to release a person from all suffering is to detach yourself from everything and in doing so, one will reach enlightenment or nirvana (Corduan, 2012). In Siddhartha's eyes, he was able to find the solution to what he was reflecting on and introduced these teachings into what the world knows now called Buddhism.
Despite the complexity and depth of Buddhism, it had humble beginnings. It all started with a man who was exposed to four different sights (old age, disease, death, and an ascetic), and desired to set out on a quest to find an answer to such problems. It was through deep and agonizing reflection that Siddhartha was able to come to peace with these realities and then had a desire to teach it to everyone who would listen. It was only through the exposure of death, disease, and old age that forced Siddhartha to reflect on these matters. These are the sights that exposed him to spiritual growth and helped push him down to a path of enlightenment.
Three Schools of Buddhism
Theravada Buddhism
Buddhism has divided itself up into three primary schools of teaching: Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism (Corduan, 2012; Morgan, 2012). Theravada Buddhism is probably the most ancient form of Buddhism and believes that enlightenment must be achieved by one’s own efforts, without supernatural assistance (Corduan, 2012; Morgan, 2012). Usually when one refers to a monk, most likely that individual belongs to the school of Theravada Buddhism and is mainly practiced in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia (Corduan, 2012). These monks or bikhus are the only people who can achieve Nirvana, and it is the laity’s job to support the bikus (Corduan, 2012).
Mahayana Buddhism
Mahayana Buddhism was formed since there became a debate about the correct meaning of Gautama’s teachings and this spawned multiple sects of Buddhism with Mahayana being one of the schools (Corduan, 2012; Morgan, 2012). Mahayana Buddhism believed there were other hidden teachings of Gautama and also believed that he was more than just a man (Morgan, 2012). Mahayana Buddhism also believes in beings called Bodhisattvas who are enlightened but delay entering into Nirvana to help others find enlightenment (Morgan, 2012). Within this school, though many other popular sects have arisen such as Pure Land (has a lot of Christian practices incorporated into it), Zen (no scriptures but rather meditation), and Nichiren (holds only to the Lotus Sutra for the path of enlightenment).
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is popular in the West, and its monks are known as Dalai Lama’s (Corduan, 2012; Morgan, 2012). Tibetan Buddhism has unique practices such as their use of tantras which are manuals containing “magical words and incantations supposed to protect the user in this life as well as help find better rebirth in the next” (Morgan, 2012, p. 123). Lastly, Tibetan Buddhism has become a popular belief among movie stars which has given popularity to this specific school.
Common Ground
All schools of Buddhism reject the caste system of Hinduism; they reject the sacred scriptures of Hinduism called the Vedas and universally believe in reincarnation and karma. Their idea of enlightenment is reaching a point of extinguishing or ceasing to exist to eliminate suffering (Corduan, 2012; “Lecture 5,” 2018; Morgan, 2012). Lastly, all schools accept Gautama as their teacher who brought forth the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-fold Noble Path (Corduan, 2012; Geisler, 1999).
The Idea of "Self"
The idea of self has a whole different meaning in Buddhism. Buddhism teaches that there is no eternal soul and our human nature is anatman meaning no eternal self (“Lecture 5,” 2018; Lounibos, 2000). The point of Buddhism is to eliminate the idea of suffering, and in order to do that, one must eradicate the idea of desire and self (Corduan, 2012; “Lecture 5,” 2018; Lounibos, 2000). Furthermore, Buddhism teaches that our personality is made up of aggregates which gives us an illusion or perception of individuality, but it really does not exist (“Lecture 5,” 2018; Lounibos, 2000). One of the key teachings of Buddhism about self is found in their scriptures. In a translation of The Heart Sutra Conze (1959) writes,
Therefore, O Sariputra, in emptiness there is no form, nor feeling, nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness; no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; no forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables, or objects of mind; no sight-organ element, and so forth, until we come to: no mind consciousness-element; there is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance, and so forth, until we come to: there is no decay and death, no extinction of decay and death; there is no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path; there is no cognition, no attainment, and non-attainment.
Buddhism Self vs. Christianity Self
This is a radically different idea than what Christianity teaches about self. Lounibos (2000) in his article about self-emptying says, “Ordinarily when Christians speak about "self-emptying," they refer to the biblical text of St. Paul's letter to the Philippians which contains an early Christian liturgical hymn that summarizes the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus Christ” (p. 3). The Greek word kenosisin this context of Philippians means to empty one self. Buddhists speak of the emptying of self in the sense of annihilation or eradication of their existence (Lounibos, 2000). Christians speak of the word “emptying of self” regarding humility, pride, and position. Christians also teach that as a follower of Jesus Christ we have to die to our self-wants and needs and instead take up what Christ wants for us in our lives (John 3:3-7; Matthew 16:24-25). A Christian realizes that their life is not their own since it has been bought with a price and we even need to be willing to die for the Gospel message if that was God’s will (Luke 14:27).
Jesus gives us a new life, a new hope, and a longing for eternal life with Him. A Christian will die to his old self and is a new creation in Christ which is symbolized through Baptism (Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:4). Perhaps this is a good common ground to start a conversation between a Buddhist and a Christian but by no means are they speaking of the same thing.
References
Buddha Quotes (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved from https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/buddha_118245
Conze, E. (1959). Buddhism: Its essence and development. New York: Harper & Row.
Corduan W. (2012). Neighboring faiths: A Christian introduction to world religions(2nd ed.). Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.
Geisler, N. L. (1999). In Baker encyclopedia of Christian apologetics. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
Lecture 5. (2018). INT-244: World Religions. Phoenix, AZ: Grand Canyon University.
Lounibos, J. (2000). Self-emptying in Christian and Buddhist spirituality. The Journal of Pastoral Counseling, 3549-66.
Morey, R. A. (2004). The encyclopedia of practical Christianity. Las Vegas, NV: Christian Scholars Press.
Morgan, G. R. (2012). Understanding world religions in 15 minutes a day. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers.
Silk, J. A. (2003). The fruits of paradox: On the religious architecture of the Buddha's life story. Journal of The American Academy of Religion, 71(4), 863-881.
William, R. D., Foley, R. D., Fausbøll, V., & Childers, R. C. (1925). Buddhist birth-stories: Jataka tales: The commentarial introduction entitled Nidāna-kathā = The story of the lineage. London: Routledge.