Author: mixim

The Rock Star and the Mullahs

THE ROCK STAR AND THE MULLAHS (2003, UK, 56 mins) from Partisan Films on Vimeo.

The Rock Star and the Mullahs is a 53 minute documentary produced in 2003 about the lead singer Salman Ahmad from the Pakistani Rock Band Junoon. Mr. Ahmad returned to his home in Pakistan to speak with conservative religious leaders who argue that music is forbidden in Islam. As you view the video, make special note of the different interpretations of the Qur’an that are represented as well as the issues surrounding what is deemed to be appropriate expressions of devotion.

The Ramayana

The 2010 assault in Kerala occurred on 4 July 2010 at Muvattupuzha near Nirmala College in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India.[3] T. J. Joseph, a professor of Malayalam at Newman College, Thodupuzha, a Christian minority institution affiliated toMahatma Gandhi University[4] had his hand cut off at the wrist as punishment on allegation of blasphemy, by people belonging toPopular Front of India, a confederation of radical,[5][6] fanatic,[7] Muslim fundamentalist[8] and extremist[9][10][11][12][13] organisations in South India.

Some reports indicate the attack resulted from a ruling from a “Taliban-model” court.[14][15] The Minister of Home Affairs of Kerala,Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, made a statement that while government is aware that there is a local Dar-ul Khada set up by the Popular Front of India under the supervision of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, functioning to resolve civil disputes, there were no complaints received that it was passing “Taliban-model” orders.[16][17][18][19]

In 9 October, Delhi University’s Academic Council decided to drop A.K. Ramanujan’s essay 300 Ramayanas from the Delhi University B.A. syllabus, largely due to pressure from right-wing organisations. The Council, which deals primarily with administrative affairs, saw fit to intervene in this case and dismiss the essay, despite recommendation to the contrary by the expert committee. The essay has been the subject of controversy since 2008, when these groups first objected to some of the findings presented by Ramanujan.

Ramayana

The Ramayana belongs to a class of literature known in Sanskrit as kavya (poetry), though in the West it is considered to belong to the category of literature familiar to readers of Homer, namely the epic. It is one of two epics, the other being the Mahabharata, which have had a decisive influence in shaping the nature of Indian civilization. The Ramayana existed in the oral tradition perhaps as far back as 1,500 BCE, but the fourth century BCE is generally accepted as the date of its composition in Sanskrit by Valmiki. Though some right-wing ideologues in recent years, eager that the Ramayana should have the same kind of historicity attached to it as do the scriptures of Christianity and the Koran, have sought to date the Ramayana back to at least 6,000 years and even furnish an exact date for its composition, it by no means diminishes the importance of the text to suggest that the historicity of the Ramayana is the least interesting of the questions that can be raised about it and its characters. Whether in fact its hero Rama, who in Hindu mythology is an avatar of Vishnu but a principal deity in his own right, and who is also worshipped in parts of north India as a king, existed or not is scarcely of any importance. The other kind of excess is to view him merely as a trope — as a sign of patriarchy, for example, or as an insignia of valiant and militant kshatriyahood, which is what the present generation of Hindutvavadis have turned him into.

Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta

The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Pali; Sanskrit: Dharmacakrapravartana Sūtra; English: The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of the Dharma Sutra or Promulgation of the Law Sutra) is a Buddhist text that is considered to be a record of the first teaching given by Gautama Buddha after he attained enlightenment. According to tradition, the Buddha gave this teaching in Sarnath, India, to the “five ascetics”, his former companions with whom he had spent six years practicing austerities. The main topic of this sutra is the Four Noble Truths, which are the central teachings of Buddhism that provide a unifying theme, or conceptual framework, for all of Buddhist thought. This sutra also introduces the Buddhist concepts of the Middle Way, impermanence, and dependent origination.

N 56.11

PTS: S v 420
CDB ii 1843
translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translations: Ñanamoli | Harvey | Piyadassi
Alternate format: [SuttaReadings.net icon]

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Varanasi in the Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five monks:

Dhyāna

Dhyāna (Sanskrit) or Jhāna (Pali) means meditation in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In Buddhism, it is a series of cultivated states of mind, which lead to “state of perfect equanimity and awareness (upekkhii-sati-piirisuddhl).”[1]

Dhyana may have been the core practice of pre-sectarian Buddhism, but became appended with other forms of meditation throughout its development.[2][3]

According to Henepola Gunaratana the term “jhana” is closely connected with “samadhi”, which is generally rendered as “concentration.” The word “samadhi” is almost interchangeable with the word “samatha,” serenity.[37]

In the suttas samadhi is defined as mental one-pointedness.[37] Buddhaghosa explains samadhi etymologically as

… the centering of consciousness and consciousness concomitants evenly and rightly on a single object… the state in virtue of which consciousness and its concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a single object, undistracted and unscattered (Vism.84-85; PP.85).[37]

In the widest sense the word samadhi is being used for the practices which lead to the development of serenity. In this sense, samadhi and jhana are close in meaning. Nevertheless, they are not exactly identical. Samadhi signifies only one mental factor, namely one-pointedness, while the word “jhana” encompasses the whole state of consciousness.[37]

Samadhi also covers another type of concentration, namely “momentary concentration” (khanikasamadhi), “the mobile mental stabilization produced in the course of insight contemplation of the passing flow of phenomena.”[37]

Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: catvāri āryasatyāni; Pali: cattāri ariyasaccāni) are “the truths of the Noble Ones,”[1] the truths or realities which are understood by the “worthy ones”[web 1] who have attained Nirvana.[2][web 1] The truths are dukkha, the arising ofdukkha, the cessation of dukkha, and the path leading to the cessation of dukkha.

The four truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism: we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha,[3]“incapable of satisfying”[web 2] and painful.[4][5] This keeps us caught in samsara, the endless cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha and dying again. [note 1] But there is a way to reach real happiness[11] [note 2] and to end this cycle, namely following the eightfold path. [note 3]The meaning of the truths is as follows:[23][16][web 3]

  1. Dukkha, “incapable of satisfying,”[web 2] painful.[4][5] Life in this “mundane world,”[web 3] with its craving and clinging toimpermanent states and things,[4] is dukkha,[3] unsatisfactory and painful;[web 2][4][5][6][18][web 3]
  2. Samudaya, the origination or arising of dukkha. Dukkha, and repeated life in this world, arises with taṇhā, “thirst,” craving for and clinging to these impermanent states and things. This craving and clinging produces karma which leads to renewed becoming, keeping us trapped in rebirth and renewed dissatisfaction;[note 4]
  3. Niroda, the cessation of dukkha. By stopping this craving and clinging nirvana is attained,[25] no more karma is produced, and rebirth and dissatisfaction will no longer arise again;[note 5]
  4. Magga, the path to the cessation of, or liberation from dukkha. By following the Noble Eightfold Path, restraining oneself, cultivating discipline, and practicing mindfulness and meditation, craving and clinging will be stopped, and rebirth and dissatisfaction are ended.[27][28]

The four truths provide a conceptual framework for introducing and explaining Buddhist thought, which has to be personally understood or “experienced.”[29][30] The formulation of the four truths, and their importance, developed over time, when prajna, or “liberating insight,” came to be regarded as liberating in itself,[31][30] instead of the practice of dhyana.[31]

In the sutras, the four truths have both a symbolic and a propositional function.[32] They represent the awakening and liberation of the Buddha, but also the possibility of liberation for all sentient beings, describing how release from craving is to be reached.[33]

The four truths are of central importance in the Theravada tradition,[34] which holds to the idea that insight into the four truths is liberating in itself.[20] They are less prominent in the Mahayana traditions, which emphasize insight into sunyata and the Bodhisattva-path as a central elements in their teachings.[35]

Doing Time Doing Vipassana

Published on Oct 7, 2013
A film by Eilona Ariel & Ayelet Menahemi

This is the story of an ancient meditation technique named Vipassana, which shows people how to take control of their lives and channel them toward their own good.It is the story of a strong woman named Kiran Bedi, the former Inspector General of Prisons in New Delhi, who strove to transform the notorious Tihar Prison and turn it into an oasis of peace. But most of all it is the story of prison inmates who underwent profound change, and who realized that incarceration is not the end but possibly a fresh start toward an improved and more positive life.

– Winner of the Golden Spire Award at the 1998 San Francisco International Film Festival

– Winner of the 1998 NCCD Pass Awards of the American National Council on Crime and Delinquency

Noble Eightfold Path

The Noble Eightfold Path (Pali: ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo, Sanskrit: āryāṣṭāṅgamārga)[1] is one of the principal teachings ofŚrāvakayāna. It is also known as the Middle Path or Middle Way. Its goal is Arhatship.[2] The Noble Eightfold Path is contrasted with the Bodhisattva path of Mahayana which culminates in Buddhahood.[2]

Also called the Eightfold Path of the Nobles, eight concepts constitute the path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right samadhi.[3]

The Noble Eightfold Path is the fourth of the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths, and asserts the path to the cessation of dukkha (suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness).[4][5] The path teaches that through restraining oneself, cultivating discipline, practicing mindfulness and meditation, the enlightened ones stop their craving, clinging and karmic accumulations, and thus end their rebirth and suffering.[6][7][8]It is used to develop insight into the true nature of reality, achieve liberation from rebirths in realms of Samsara, and attain nirvana(nibbana).[5][9][10]

In Buddhist symbolism, the Noble Eightfold Path is often represented by means of the dharma wheel (dharmachakra), whose eight spokes represent the eight elements of the path.

The Noble Eightfold Path is sometimes divided into three basic divisions, as follows:[26]

Division Eightfold Path factors
Wisdom (Sanskrit: prajñā, Pāli: paññā) 1. Right view
2. Right resolve
Moral virtue[29] (Sanskrit: śīla, Pāli: sīla) 3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
Meditation[29] (Sanskrit and Pāli: samādhi) 6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right concentration

The Right View can be further subdivided, states Bhikkhu Bodhi, into Mundane Right View and Superior or Supramundane Right View.[31][32]

This presentation is called the “Three Higher Trainings” in Mahāyāna Buddhism: higher moral discipline, higher concentration and higher wisdom. “Higher” here refers to the fact that these trainings that lead to liberation and enlightenment are engaged in with the motivation of renunciation and bodhicitta.

Wisdom group: paths 1 and 2

“Wisdom” (prajñā / paññā) group consists of the first two paths: right view and right resolve.

Right view

Right view (samyak-dṛṣṭi / sammā-diṭṭhi) is the first of the eightfold path, and it relates to right view about karma and rebirth, and a belief in the importance of the Four Noble Truths and the True Realities.[29] There are two types of right view:

  1. Mundane right view. Having this type of view will bring merit and will support the favourable rebirth of the sentient being in the realm of samsara.
  2. Supramundane (world-transcending) right view. Four Noble Truths lead to awakening and liberation from rebirths and associated dukkha in the realms of samsara.

The Majjhima Nikaya, a Pāli Canonical text, in section III.71, presents the Mundane Right View:

Of those [Eightfold Path], right view is the forerunner. And how is right view the forerunner? One discerns wrong view as wrong view, and right view as right view. This is one’s right view. And what is wrong view? ‘There is nothing given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed. There is no fruit or result of good or bad actions. There is no this world, no next world, no mother, no father, no spontaneously reborn beings; no contemplatives or brahmans who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves.’ This is wrong view.[33]

And what is the right view with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions? ‘There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed.[note 2] There are fruits, and results of good and bad actions. There is this world and the next world. There is mother and father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are contemplatives and brahmans who faring rightly and practicing rightly, proclaim this world and the next after having directly known and realized it for themselves.’ This is the right view with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions.[33][34]

Elsewhere, the Pali texts assert the Supramundane Right View, which is the understanding of karmic and rebirth implications within the Four Noble Truths, such as in Majjhima Nikaya III.248 and Samyutta Nikaya II.5.[35][29]

Right view has many facets; its elementary form is suitable for lay followers, while the other form, which requires deeper understanding, is suitable for monastics. Usually, it involves accepting the following doctrines of Buddhism:[36][37]

  1. Karma: Every action of body, speech, and mind has karmic results, and influences the kind of future rebirths and realms a being enters into.
  2. Three marks of existence: everything, whether physical or mental, is impermanent (anicca), a source of suffering (dukkha), and lacks a self (anatta).
  3. The Four Noble Truths are a means to gaining insights and ending dukkha.

Right view for monastics is also described in the Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta (“Right View Discourse”), in which Sariputta instructs that right view can alternately be attained by the thorough understanding of the unwholesome and the wholesome, the four nutriments, the twelve nidanas or the three taints.[38] “Wrong view” arising from ignorance (avijja), is the precondition for wrong resolve, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness and wrong concentration.[39][40] The practitioner should use right effort to abandon the wrong view and to enter into right view. Right mindfulness is used to constantly remain in right view.

The purpose of right view is to clear one’s path from confusion, misunderstanding, and deluded thinking. It is a means to gain right understanding of reality.[41] Right view in some interpretations, state Chryssides and Wilkins, is ultimately non-view, as the enlightened become aware that nothing can be expressed in fixed conceptual terms and rigid, dogmatic clinging to concepts is discarded.[41]

Right resolve

Right resolve (samyak-saṃkalpa / sammā sankappa) can also be known as “right thought”, “right intention”, or “right aspiration”. In this factor, the practitioner resolves to leave home, renounce the worldly life and dedicate himself to a spiritual pursuit.[25][29] In section III.248, the Majjhima Nikaya states,

And what is right resolve? Being resolved on renunciation, on freedom from ill will, on harmlessness: This is called right resolve.[42]

Like right view, this factor has two levels. At the mundane level, the resolve includes being harmless (ahimsa) and refraining from ill will (avyabadha) to any being, as this accrues karma and leads to rebirth.[29][43] At the supramundane level, the factor includes a resolve to consider everything and everyone as impermanent, a source of suffering and without a Self.[43]

Moral virtues group: paths 3, 4 and 5

Main article: Buddhist ethics

“Moral virtues” (Sanskrit: śīla, Pāli: sīla) group consists of three paths: right speech, right action and right livelihood.[29] The word śīla though translated by English writers as linked to “morals or ethics”, states Bhikkhu Bodhi, is in ancient and medieval Buddhist commentary tradition closer to the concept of discipline and disposition that “leads to harmony at several levels – social, psychological, karmic and contemplative”.[44] Such harmony creates an environment to pursue the meditative steps in the Noble Eightfold Path by reducing social disorder, preventing inner conflict that result from transgressions, favoring future karma-triggered movement through better rebirths, and purifying the mind.[44][45]

Right speech

Right speech (samyag-vāc / sammā-vācā) in most Buddhist texts is presented as four abstentions, such as in the Pali Canon thus:[33][46]

And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, and from idle chatter: This is called right speech.

Instead of the usual “abstention and refraining from wrong” terminology,[44] a few texts such as the Samaññaphala Sutta and Kevata Sutta in Digha Nikaya explain this virtue in an active sense, after stating it in the form of an abstention.[47] For example, Samaññaphala Sutta states that a part of a monk’s virtue is that “he abstains from false speech. He speaks the truth, holds to the truth, is firm, reliable, no deceiver of the world.”[47] Similarly, the virtue of abstaining from divisive speech is explained as delighting in creating concord.[47] The virtue of abstaining from abusive speech is explained in this Sutta to include affectionate and polite speech that is pleasing to people. The virtue of abstaining from idle chatter is explained as speaking what is connected with the Dhamma goal of his liberation.[47][29]

In the Abhaya-raja-kumara Sutta, the Buddha explains the virtue of right speech in different scenarios, based on its truth value, utility value and emotive content.[48][49] TheTathagata, states Abhaya Sutta, never speaks anything that is unfactual or factual, untrue or true, disagreeable or agreeable, if that is unbeneficial and unconnected to his goals.[49][50] Further, adds Abhaya Sutta, the Tathagata speaks the factual, the true, if in case it is disagreeable and unendearing, only if it is beneficial to his goals, but with a sense of proper time.[49][50] Additionally, adds Abhaya Sutta, the Tathagata, only speaks with a sense of proper time even when what he speaks is the factual, the true, the agreeable, the endearing and what is beneficial to his goals.[49][50][51]

The Buddha thus explains right speech in the Pali Canon, according to Ganeri, as never speaking something that is not beneficial; and, only speaking what is true and beneficial, “when the circumstances are right, whether they are welcome or not”.[51]

Right action

Right action (samyak-karmānta / sammā-kammanta) is like right speech, expressed as abstentions but in terms of bodily action. In the Pali Canon, this path factor is stated as:

And what is right action? Abstaining from killing, abstaining from stealing, abstaining from sexual misconduct. This is called right action.[52]

The prohibition on killing precept in Buddhist scriptures applies to all living beings, states Christopher Gowans, not just human beings.[53] Bhikkhu Bodhi agrees, clarifying that the more accurate rendering of the Pali canon is a prohibition on “taking life of any sentient being”, which includes human beings, animals, birds, insects but excludes plants because they are not considered sentient beings.[54] Further, adds Bodhi, this precepts refers to intentional killing, as well as any form of intentional harming or torturing any sentient being.[54] This moral virtue in early Buddhist texts, both in context of harm or killing of animals and human beings, is similar to ahimsa precepts found in the texts particularly of Jainism as well as of Hinduism,[55][56] and has been a subject of significant debate in various Buddhist traditions.[54]

The prohibition on stealing in the Pali Canon is an abstention from intentionally taking what is not voluntarily offered by the person to whom that property belongs.[57] This includes, states Bhikkhu Bodhi, taking by stealth, by force, by fraud or by deceit.[58] Both the intention and the act matters, as this precept is grounded on the impact on one’s karma.[58]

The prohibition on sexual misconduct in the Noble Eightfold Path, states Tilmann Vetter, refers to “not performing sexual acts”.[59] This virtue is more generically explained in theCunda Kammaraputta Sutta, which teaches that one must abstain from all sensual misconduct, including getting sexually involved with someone unmarried (anyone protected by parents or by guardians or by siblings), and someone married (protected by husband), and someone betrothed to another person, and female convicts or by dhamma.[60][61]

For monastics, the abstention from sensual misconduct means strict celibacy, states Christopher Gowans, while for lay Buddhists this prohibits adultery as well as other forms of sensual misconduct.[62][63][64] Later Buddhist texts, states Bhikkhu Bodhi, state that the prohibition on sexual conduct for lay Buddhists includes any sexual involvement with someone married, a girl or woman protected by her parents or relatives, and someone prohibited by dhamma conventions (such as relatives, nuns and others).[60]

Right livelihood

Right livelihood (samyag-ājīva / sammā-ājīva) precept is mentioned in many early Buddhist texts, such as the Mahācattārīsaka Sutta in Majjhima Nikaya as follows:[33]

“And what is right livelihood? Right livelihood, I tell you, is of two sorts: There is right livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions; there is right livelihood that is noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path.

“And what is the right livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones abandons wrong livelihood and maintains his life with right livelihood. This is the right livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions.

“And what is the right livelihood that is noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path? The abstaining, desisting, abstinence, avoidance of wrong livelihood in one developing the noble path whose mind is noble, whose mind is without effluents, who is fully possessed of the noble path. (…)

The early canonical texts state right livelihood as avoiding and abstaining from wrong livelihood. This virtue is further explained in Buddhist texts, states Vetter, as “living from begging, but not accepting everything and not possessing more than is strictly necessary”.[59] For lay Buddhists, states Harvey, this precept requires that the livelihood avoid causing suffering to sentient beings by cheating them, or harming or killing them in any way.[30]

The Anguttara Nikaya III.208, states Harvey, asserts that the right livelihood does not trade in weapons, living beings, meat, alcoholic drink or poison.[30][65] The same text, in section V.177, asserts that this applies to lay Buddhists.[66] This has meant, states Harvey, that raising and trading cattle livestock for slaughter is a breach of “right livelihood” precept in the Buddhist tradition, and Buddhist countries lack the mass slaughter houses found in Western countries.[67]

Meditation group: paths 6, 7 and 8

The meditation group (“samadhi”) of the path progresses from moral restraints to training the mind.[68][69] The goal in this group of the Noble Eightfold Path is to develop clarity and insight into the nature of reality – dukkha, anicca and anatta, discard negative states and dispel avidya, ultimately attaining nirvana.[70]

Right effort

Right effort (samyag-vyāyāma / sammā-vāyāma) is presented in the Pali Canon, such as the Sacca-vibhanga Sutta as follows:[46][52]

And what is right effort?

Here the monk arouses his will, puts forth effort, generates energy, exerts his mind, and strives to prevent the arising of evil and unwholesome mental states that have not yet arisen.
He arouses his will… and strives to eliminate evil and unwholesome mental states that have already arisen. He arouses his will… and strives to generate wholesome mental state that have not yet arisen.
He arouses his will, puts forth effort, generates energy, exerts his mind, and strives to maintain wholesome mental states that have already arisen, to keep them free of delusion, to develop, increase, cultivate, and perfect them.
This is called right effort.

The unwholesome states (akusala) are described in the Buddhist texts, as those relating to thoughts, emotions, intentions, and these include pancanivarana (five hindrances) – sensual thoughts, doubts about the path, restlessness, drowsiness, and ill will of any kind.[59][71] Of these, the Buddhist traditions consider sensual thoughts and ill will needing more right effort. Sensual desire that must be eliminated by effort includes anything related to sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touch.[72] Ill will that must be eliminated by effort includes any form of aversion including hatred, anger, resentment towards anything or anyone.[72]

Right mindfulness

Main article: Mindfulness (Buddhism)

Right mindfulness (samyak-smṛti / sammā-sati) in the Sacca-vibhanga Sutta is explained as follows:[46][52]

And what is right mindfulness?

Here the monk remains contemplating the body as body, resolute, aware and mindful, having put aside worldly desire and sadness;
he remains contemplating feelings as feelings;
he remains contemplating mental states as mental states;
he remains contemplating mental objects as mental objects, resolute, aware and mindful, having put aside worldly desire and sadness;
This is called right mindfulness.

This factor in the Noble Eightfold Path teaches the monk to cultivate complete and constant awareness of the nature of reality as impermanent, suffering and without self.[70] The most detailed discussion of the right mindfulness in the Pali Canon is in the Satipatthana Sutta, where the emphasis is to consider the “four contemplations” – body, feelings, mind and phenomena – as just that and nothing more, and not ascribe to them any substantiality, nor self.[73][note 3]

These “four contemplations” through right mindfulness lead to the insight of the three characteristics of existence – anicca, dukkha and anatta, and cover the five skandhas(aggregates, heaps).[75]

Right concentration

Right concentration (samyak-samādhi / sammā-samādhi) is also referred to as right samadhi. Neither the Four Noble Truths nor the Noble Eightfold Path discourse, states Johannes Bronkhorst, provide details of right concentration (samadhi).[76] The explanation is to be found in the Canonical texts of Buddhism, in several Suttas, such as the following in Saccavibhanga Sutta:[46][52]

And what is right concentration?

[i] Here, the monk, detached from sense-desires, detached from unwholesome states, enters and remains in the first jhana (level of concentration, Sanskrit: dhyana), in which there is applied and sustained thinking, together with joy and pleasure born of detachment;
[ii] And through the subsiding of applied and sustained thinking, with the gaining of inner stillness and oneness of mind, he enters and remains in the second jhana, which is without applied and sustained thinking, and in which there are joy and pleasure born of concentration;
[iii] And through the fading of joy, he remains equanimous, mindful and aware, and he experiences in his body the pleasure of which the Noble Ones say: “equanimous, mindful and dwelling in pleasure”, and thus he enters and remains in the third jhana;
[iv] And through the giving up of pleasure and pain, and through the previous disappearance of happiness and sadness, he enters and remains in the fourth jhana, which is without pleasure and pain, and in which there is pure equanimity and mindfulness.
This is called right concentration.[52][77]

According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, the right concentration factor is reaching a one-pointedness of mind and unifying all mental factors, but it is not the same as “a gourmet sitting down to a meal, or a soldier on the battlefield” who also experience one-pointed concentration.[78] The difference is that the latter have a one-pointed object in focus with complete awareness directed to that object – the meal or the target, respectively. In contrast, right concentration meditative factor in Buddhism is a state of awareness without any object or subject, and ultimately unto nothingness and emptiness.[78]

Some scholars, such as Bronkhorst, question the historicity and chronology of these details. Bronkhorst states that this path may be similar to what Buddha taught, but the details and form of right concentration in particular, and possibly other factors, is likely of later scholasticism.[79][80] Bronkhorst states this is likely because Buddha could not have assumed the third stage of jhana, which includes “Noble Ones say”, since he is considered to be the first to reach the samadhi and enlightened state of nirvana, then turning the wheel of dhamma.[79] It is likely that later Buddhist scholars incorporated this, then attributed the details and the path, particularly the insights at the time of liberation, to have been discovered by the Buddha.[79]

Śrāvakayāna

Śrāvakayāna (Sanskrit: श्रावकयान; Pali: सावकयान; traditional Chinese: 聲聞乘; ; pinyin: Shēngwén Shèng) is one of the three yānas known to Indian Buddhism. It translates literally as the “vehicle of listeners [i.e. disciples]”. Historically it was the most common term used by Mahāyāna Buddhist texts to describe one hypothetical path to enlightenment. Śrāvakayāna is the path that meets the goals of an Arhat—an individual who achieves liberation as a result of listening to the teachings (or lineage) of a Samyaksaṃbuddha.

Isabelle Onians asserts that although “the Mahāyāna … very occasionally referred contemptuously to earlier Buddhism as the Hinayāna, the Inferior Way,” “the preponderance of this name in the secondary literature is far out of proportion to occurrences in the Indian texts.” She notes that the term Śrāvakayāna was “the more politically correct and much more usual” term used by Mahāyānists.[1] “Hīnayāna” (the “lesser vehicle”), however, was used to include both Śrāvakayāna and Pratyekabuddhayāna in contrast to the Mahāyāna.

In Early Buddhist schools

At least some of the early Buddhist schools used the concept of three vehicles including Śrāvakayāna. For example, the Vaibhāṣika Sarvāstivādins are known to have employed the outlook of Buddhist practice as consisting of the Three Vehicles:[2]

  1. Śrāvakayāna
  2. Pratyekabuddhayāna
  3. Bodhisattvayāna

The Dharmaguptakas regarded the path of a śrāvaka (śrāvakayāna) and the path of a bodhisattva (bodhisattvayāna) to be separate. One of their tenets reads, “The Buddha and those of the Two Vehicles, although they have one and the same liberation, have followed different noble paths.”[3]

Lotus Sūtra

The Lotus Sūtra (Sanskrit: Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, literally Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma[1]) is one of the most popular and influential Mahayana sutras and the basis on which the Tiantai, Tendai, Cheontae, andNichiren schools of Buddhism were established. For many East Asian Buddhists, the Lotus Sūtra contains the ultimate and complete teaching of the Buddha and the reciting of the text is believed to be very auspicious.[2]

The earliest known Sanskrit title for the sūtra is the Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, which translates to Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma.[3] In English, the shortened form Lotus Sūtra is common. The Lotus Sūtra has also been highly regarded in a number of Asian countries where Mahāyāna Buddhism has been traditionally practiced. Translations of this title into the languages of some of these countries include:

  • Sanskrit: सद्धर्मपुण्डरीक सूत्र Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra
  • Chinese: 妙法蓮華經; pinyin: Miàofǎ Liánhuá jīng, shortened to 法華經 Fǎhuá jīng
  • Japanese: (妙法蓮華経 Myōhō Renge Kyō?), Hokke-kyō, Hoke-kyō (法華経?)
  • Korean: Hangul: 묘법연화경; RR: Myobeop Yeonhwa gyeong, shortened to Beophwa gyeong
  • Tibetan: དམ་ཆོས་པད་མ་དཀར་པོའི་མདོ, Wylie: dam chos padma dkar po’i mdo, THL: Damchö Pema Karpo’i do
  • Vietnamese: Diệu pháp Liên hoa kinh, shortened to Pháp hoa kinh
  • Tagalog: Ang Saysayin ng Baíno

The Lotus Sūtra presents itself as a discourse delivered by the Buddha toward the end of his life. The tradition in Mahayana states that the sutras were written down during the life of the Buddha and stored for five hundred years in a nāga-realm. After this, they were reintroduced into the human realm at the time of the Fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir.

Outline of chapters[edit]

Illustrated Lotus Sūtra handscroll,Kamakura period, c. 1257; ink, color, and gold on paper.

  • Ch. 1, Introduction – During a gathering at Vulture Peak, Gautama Buddha goes into a deep meditation, the earth shakes in six ways, and he brings forth a ray of light which illuminates thousands of “Buddha-fields”[note 1] in the east.[21][22] Bodhisattva Manjusri then states that the Buddha is about to expound his ultimate teaching.[23][24]
  • Ch. 2, Ways and Means – Shakyamuni explains his use of skillful means to adapt his teachings according to the capacities of his audience.[25] He reveals that the ultimate purpose of the Buddhas is to cause sentient beings “to obtain the insight of the Buddha” and “to enter the way into the insight of the Buddha”.[26][27][28]
  • Ch. 3, A Parable – The Buddha teaches a parable in which a father uses the promise of various toy carts to get his children out of a burning house, once they are outside, he gives them all one large cart to travel in instead. This symbolizes how the Buddha uses theThree Vehicles: Arhatship, Pratyekabuddhahood and Samyaksambuddhahood, as skilful means to liberate all beings – even though there is only one vehicle.[29] The Buddha also promises Sariputra that he will attain enlightenment.
  • Ch. 4, Faith and Understanding – The parable of the poor son and his rich father, who guides him to regain self-confidence and “recognize his own Buddha-wisdom”.[30][31]
  • Ch. 5, Parable of the plants – This parable says that the Dharma is like a great monsoon rain that nourishes many different kinds of plants who represent Śrāvakas,Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas,[32] and all beings receiving the teachings according to their respective capacities.[33]
  • Ch. 6, Assurances of Becoming a Buddha – The Buddha prophesizes the enlightenment of Mahakasyapa, Subhuti, Mahakatyayana and Mahamaudgalyayana.
  • Ch. 7, The Magic City – The Buddha teaches a parable about a group of people seeking a great treasure who are tired of their journey and wish to quit. Their guide creates a magical phantom city for them to rest in and then makes it disappear.[34] The Buddha explains that the magic city is the provisional teachings of Buddhism and the treasure is enlightenment.
  • Ch. 8, Assurances for 500 Arhats. – 500 Arhats are assured of their future Buddhahood and they tell the parable of a man who has fallen asleep after drinking and whose friend sews a jewel into his garment. When he wakes up he continues a life of poverty without realizing he is really rich, he only discovers the jewel after meeting his old friend again.[35][36] Zimmermann noted the obvious similarity with the nine parables in the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra that illustrate how the indwelling Buddha in sentient beings is hidden by negative mental states.[37]
  • Ch. 9, Assurances for the Trainees and Adepts. – Ananda, Rahula and two thousand Śrāvakas are assured of their future Buddhahood.[38]

The floating jeweled stupa.

  • Ch. 10, Teacher of the Dharma – Presents the practices of teaching the sutra which includes accepting, embracing, reading, chanting, writing, explaining, propagating it, and living in accordance with its teachings.
  • Ch. 11, The Treasure stupa – A great jeweled stupa rises from the earth and floats in the air; a voice is heard from within praising theLotus Sūtra. It is revealed that another Buddha resides in the tower, the Buddha Prabhūtaratna (Many-Treasures) and that there are other countless Buddhas in the ten directions, who are now also summoned by the Buddha. This chapter reveals the eternal nature ofBuddhahood and the doctrine of the existence of multiple Buddhas at the same time.
  • Ch. 12, Devadatta – Through the stories of the Dragon King’s daughter and Devadatta, the Buddha teaches that everyone can become enlightened – women, animals, and even the most sinful murderers.
  • Ch. 13, Encouragement to uphold the sutra – The Buddha encourages all beings to embrace the teachings of the sutra in all times, even in the most difficult ages to come. The Buddha prophesizes that six thousand nuns who are also present will become Buddhas.
  • Ch. 14, Peace and Contentment – This chapter explains that even though life is filled with challenges, if we practice the dharma diligently through thoughts, words, and deeds, we can be peaceful, joyful and content. Virtues such as patience, gentleness, a calm mind, wisdom and charity are to be cultivated.
  • Ch. 15, Springing Up from the Earth – In this chapter countless bodhisattvas spring up from the earth, ready to teach, and the Buddha reveals that there have been innumerable bodhisattvas propagating the dharma for aeons. This confuses some disciples including Maitreya, but the Buddha affirms that he has taught all of these bodhisattvas himself.
  • Ch. 16, The eternal lifespan of the Tathagata – The Buddha explains that he is truly eternal and omniscient and he then teaches the Parable of the Excellent Physician who entices his sons into taking his medicine by feigning his death.[39]
  • Ch. 17, Merits and Virtues of enlightenment – The Buddha explains that since he has been teaching as many beings as the sands of the Ganges have been saved.
  • Ch. 18, Merits and Virtues of Joyful Acceptance – Faith in the teachings of the sutra brings much merit and lead to good rebirths.
  • Ch. 19, Merits and Virtues obtained by a Teacher of the Dharma – The relative importance of the merits of the six senses are explained by the Buddha.

Avalokiteśvara appears for the first time in the Lotus Sūtra

  • Ch. 20, The Bodhisattva Sadāparibhūta – The Buddha tells a story about the time he was a Bodhisattva called Sadāparibhūta (Never Despising) and how he treated every person he met, good or bad, with respect, always remembering that they will too become Buddhas.[40]
  • Ch. 21, The Spiritual Power of the Tathagata – Reveals that the sutra contains all of the Eternal Buddha’s secret spiritual powers. The bodhisattvas who have sprung from the earth worship the sutra and promise to propagate it.
  • Ch. 22, The Passing of the Commission – The Buddha transmits the Lotus sutra to his congregation and entrusts them with its safekeeping.[41]
  • Ch. 23, The Bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyarāja – The Buddha tells the story of the ‘Medicine king’ Bodhisattva, the story focuses on the practices of self-sacrifice (including the burning of fingers) as well the diagnosis and healing of sickness. The hearing and chanting of the Lotus sutra is also said to cure diseases. The Buddha uses various metaphors to declare that the Lotus Sutra is the king of all sutras.
  • Ch. 24, The Bodhisattva Gadgadasvara – The Bodhisattva “Wonderful Voice” appears to worship the Buddha and his story is told.
  • Ch. 25, The Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara – The Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin) whose name means ‘listening to the cries of the world’ makes an offering to the Buddha and the stupa.
  • Ch. 26, Dhāraṇī – Several Bodhisattvas offer Dhāraṇīs in order to protect those who keep and recite the Lotus Sutra.[42]
  • Ch. 27, King Wonderfully Adorned – A chapter on the story of King ‘Wonderful-Adornment’.
  • Ch. 28, Encouragement of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra – A bodhisattva called “Universal Virtue” asks the Buddha how to preserve the sutra in the future. Samantabhadra promises to protect and guard all those who keep this sutra in the future Age of Dharma Decline.[43]

Teachings[edit]

Portable shrine depicting Buddha Sakyamuni preaching the Lotus Sūtra.[44] The Walters Art Museum.

One vehicle, many skillful means

This Lotus sutra is known for its extensive instruction on the concept and usage of skillful means – (Sanskrit: upāya, Japanese: hōben), the seventh paramita or perfection of a Bodhisattva – mostly in the form of parables. The many ‘skillful’ or ‘expedient’ means and the “three vehicles” are revealed to all be part of the One Vehicle (Ekayāna), which is also the Bodhisattva path. This is also one of the first sutras to use the term Mahāyāna, or “Great Vehicle”. In the Lotus sutra, the One Vehicle encompasses so many different teachings because the Buddha’s compassion and wish to save all beings led him to adapt the teaching to suit many different kinds of people. As Paul Williams explains:

Although the corpus of teachings attributed to the Buddha, if taken as a whole, embodies many contradictions, these contradictions are only apparent. Teachings are appropriate to the context in which they are given and thus their contradictions evaporate. The Buddha’s teachings are to be used like ladders, or, to apply an age-old Buddhist image, like a raft employed to cross a river. There is no point in carrying the raft once the journey has been completed and its function fulfilled. When used, such a teaching transcends itself.[45]

The sutra emphasizes that all these seemingly different teachings are actually just skillful applications of the one dharma and thus all constitute the “One Buddha Vehicle and knowledge of all modes”. The Lotus sutra sees all other teachings are subservient to, propagated by and in the service of the ultimate truth of the One Vehicle leading to Buddhahood.[5] The Lotus Sūtra also claims to be superior to other sūtras and states that full Buddhahood is only arrived at by exposure to its teachings and skillful means. Chapter ten of the Burton Watson translation states: “…Medicine King, now I say to you, I have preached various sutras, and among those sutras the Lotus is foremost!”

The Lotus sutra is also significant because it reveals that women, evil people and even animals can be bodhisattvas and have the potential to attain full Buddhahood. It also teaches that all people equally can attain Buddhahood in their present form. That is, through the Lotus Sutra, people need neither practice austerities for countless kalpas nor wait for rebirth in a different physical form (previous teachings held that women must be reborn as men and then practice for innumerable kalpas in order to become Buddhas). Through its many stories and parables, the Lotus sutra affirms the spiritual equality of all beings.[46]

The Lotus sutra also teaches that the Buddha has many embodiments or emanations and these are the countless bodhisattva disciples. These bodhisattvas choose to remain in the world to save all beings and to keep the teaching alive. According to Gene Reeves: “Because the Buddha and his Dharma are alive in such bodhisattvas, he himself continues to be alive. The fantastically long life of the Buddha, in other words, is at least partly a function of and dependent on his being embodied in others.”[47] The Lotus sutra also teaches various dhāraṇīs or the prayers of different celestial bodhisattvas who out of compassion protect and teach all beings. The lotus flower imagery points to this quality of the bodhisattvas. The lotus symbolizes the bodhisattva who is rooted in the earthly mud and yet flowers above the water in the open air of enlightenment.[48]

The universe outlined by the Lotus sutra encompasses realms of gods, devas, dragons[note 2] and other mythological beings, requiring numerous dimensions to contain them. Buddhas are portrayed as the patient teachers of all such beings who can be bodhisattvas and will ultimately become Buddhas themselves. The radical message of the Lotus sutra is then that all beings can embody the nature of the Buddha and teach his dharma here and now.