Introducing Buddha E-Book

Borin Van Loon

• Herausgeber: Icon Books
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Graphic Guides
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 85

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Meditation, Karma, Zen, Tantric and Nirvana are some of the many Buddhist ideas Westerners hear of frequently, even if their meaning has been lost in translation. This vast and complex non-theistic religion is woven into the fabric of Asian civilisations. from India to the Himalayan regions, China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan and elsewhere. What is Buddhism really all about? Introducing Buddha describes the life and teachings of the Buddha, but it also shows that enlightenment is a matter of experiencing the truth individually, and by inspiration which is passed from teacher to student. Superbly illustrated by Borin Van Loon, the book illuminates this process through a rich legacy of stories, explains the practices of meditation, Taoism and Zen, and goes on to describe the role of Buddhism in modern Asia and its growing influence on Western thought.

Leseprobe

Published by Icon Books Ltd., Omnibus Business Centre, 39–41 North Road, London N7 9DP email: [email protected]

ISBN: 978-184831-768-0

Text and illustrations copyright © 2013 Icon Books Ltd

The author and artist have asserted their moral rights.

Originating editor: Richard Appignanesi

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Part One

Introduction

Was the Buddha an Historical Figure?

The Life of the Buddha

Life in the palace

Outside the Palace

The Quest for enlightenment

Obstacles

Siddartha’s Enlightenment

The Buddha

What the Buddha Taught

The Noble Truth of SUFFERING

The Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering

The Noble Truth of the End of Suffering

The Path

Meditation

Karma

Life of the Buddha

Death of the Buddha

History of Early Buddhism

The Three Yanas

Part Two

The Mahayana Tradition

The Bodhisattva

Expansion of Buddhism

Decline of Buddhism in India

Study and Practice of Mahayana

Pointing the Way with Words

Stages on the Mahayana Path Maitri

The Action of a Bodhisattva

Sunyata

The Two Truths

Mahayana Schools the Madyamika School

The Yogacara School

Expansion of Buddhism into China

Confucianism

Taoism

Chinese Buddhism

Zen Buddhism

Origins of Zen

Bodhidharma

Hui-Neng

Methods of Zen

Zen in Japan

Zen Teaching

Part Three

The Third Turning of the Wheel – Vajrayana the Northern Transmission

Buddhism Comes to Tibet

Vajrayana

Padmasambhava

Crazy Wisdom

The Siddha Tradition

Transformation of Desire

Sexual Tantra

Stages on the Vajrayana Path Warnings

Story of Rudra

Role of the Teacher

Marpa and Milarepa

Trials

The Four Schools of Tibetan Buddhism

Vajrayana Practice

Visualization

Tantric Deities

Tibetan Buddhist Understanding of Death

Reincarnation

Bardo Teachings – the Tibetan Book of the Dead

Near-Death Experiences

Relevance of Vajrayana Buddhism

Part Four

The Traditions of Buddhism Today

Buddhism in the West

Suzuki Roshi

Chogyam Trungpa

The Future of Buddhism in the West

Role of Women

Social Action

Hierarchy

Conclusion

The Spread of Buddhism

Historical Structure

Further Reading

About the Author

About the Illustrator

Index

PART ONE

There is much misunderstanding about who or what the Buddha was. The word Buddha literally means “awakened one”.

Eastern traditions recognize that there have been many buddhas in the past and will be many buddhas in the future.

Nevertheless, there was a historical figure, whose family name was Siddhartha Gautama, and who has become known as the Buddha for this age. He was also known as Sakyamuni Buddha, the sage of the Sakyas. The life and teachings of the historical Buddha are a milestone in human understanding, but the Buddha himself was an ordinary man with no claims to divine origin. Belief in a creator God has no part in the Buddhist religion.

In the Buddhist lineage, knowledge is not handed down like an antique. One teacher experiences the truth of the teachings and hands it down as inspiration to his students. That inspiration wakens the student who passes it on further. The teachings are seen as always up to date, they are not thought of as “ancient wisdom”.

It is like a recipe for bread. Each baker must apply his general knowledge of how to bake bread, but each time it is cooked it is completely fresh.

The doctrine of change and impermanence which is at the heart of Buddhism constantly breaks up any tendencies towards fundamentalism.

The Buddhist experience relies on experiencing the truth for oneself, and ultimately it does not really matter whether or not there was an historical Buddha. However, the traditions and legends that surround the life of the Buddha contain in allegorical form, the precise nature and form of the spiritual journey.

The early stories and teachings of the Buddha were not written down until several centuries after his death. They were not seen as the “authorized version”. The Buddha encouraged his followers to put everything he said to the test, and therefore, through the ages, followers of the Buddha have trusted their own wisdom, rather than trying to interpret what might have been meant in old texts.

Prince Siddartha was born around 560BC in a small kingdom just below the Himalayan foothills. His father was a king of the Sakya clan. His mother, Queen Maya was said to be so radiant and alluring that even the gods envied her. She was called Mayadevi “Goddess of Illusion” because her body was so beautiful as to be unbelievable. On the night of the Buddha’s conception, Queen Maya dreamed that a white elephant had entered her womb. The dream revealed to her that the child would be special.

Soon after Siddartha was born, a holy man prophesied:

If he stays in the palace he could become an outstanding world leader, but if he enters the religious life he will become enlightened, a teacher of gods and men. This fills me with apprehension! … I want Siddharta to take over the throne of the kingdom when I die.

The king therefore determined to make the first prediction come true and lavished care and attention on his son. As the prince grew up, he mastered the traditional arts and sciences, becoming skilled in

It will be the hard facts of life that will turn my son’s mind towards religion, so I’ll provide every pleasure and luxury that the world can offer!

In order to keep him addicted to the palace, the king had a chamber of love built, decorated with erotic art. Pleasure girls, skilled in the art of love were invited to the palace. Siddartha’s life in the palace revolved around the pleasures of the senses.

In the course of time, the palace women told him about the world outside the palace and how beautiful it was. Plans were made for the prince to make a journey, but first the King ordered that anyone who was old or sick or crazy or diseased should be cleared from the roads.

The Prince went out of the palace several times, and each time he left, he saw something which disturbed his mind. The first time he saw an old, bent, toothless man.

Now I realize how old age destroys memory and beauty and strength.

The second time he saw a diseased man with a swollen belly covered with filth and flies.

Now I realise how the body decays.

On the third visit, he saw a corpse being carried through the streets, followed by anguished friends and family.

What is the significance of each episode? All human beings suffer the same fate. I am amazed that people can feel at ease when faced with such a threat.

He himself felt frightened and alarmed when he reflected on the inevitability of old age, sickness and death. He became silent and withdrawn.

The world of sensuous passion and the world of learning seem hollow to me now. Look, I want Siddharta to go out again, but with reliable companions to entertain him with stories.

The young men rode out together in the beautiful countryside.

He had lost all sense of the intoxication that comes from a pride in being young and vital and strong.

I feel estranged from their company. Everywhere I look I see suffering.

Withdrawing from his good friends, he went to a solitary spot and sat at the foot of a rose-apple tree. There, he reflected on what he had seen. He directly confronted his fear of death and saw the possibility of achieving composure.

Later, Siddartha met a saddhu or holy man on the road.

This homeless mendicant with no possessions or money seems to have a genuine sense of peace, of having to come to terms with old age, sickness and death.

From then onwards the prince studied the various systems practised among the ascetics and yogins.

These ascetics are as dedicated to pain as the inhabitants of the palace are to pleasure. They survive on roots, berries, tree bark and water. If they dress at all, it is in rags, and they sleep out in the open or in caves or trees. We believe that it is necessary to subjugate the body in order that the mind should be free.

They mortified themselves in various ways, as they still do in India today, never bathing, locking themselves permanently into one posture, sitting submerged in mud.

I vow to gain complete control over my body and mind by ridding myself of all passions, physical and mental.

He suppressed all thought, stopped his breathing for periods of time and starved his body. At the end of his fast he was reduced to a skeleton and collapsed by the side of the river bank. The village children thought he was a dust demon, but he slowly regained consciousness and washed himself in the river.

A village girl brought him some milk and rice and he ate it with gratitude.

Now that the strength is returning to my body, I see that the path I’ve been following has led to nothing. The excessive self-torture has merely worn out my body. I vow that I will not leave this place until my understanding is complete… Or I die.

It is said that the world rejoiced because of Siddartha’s determination to seek freedom, but this aroused the anger of Mara. As well as being an embodiment of death, Mara symbolizes all the obstacles that prevent one from attaining enlightenment.

Traditional descriptions are colourful. “Mara ordered his army to attack Siddhartha with spears of copper, flaming swords and cauldrons of boiling oil. They came riding decaying corpses, and lashing out with hooks and whips and spiked wheels of fire. Some sprouted flames from every hair or rode mad elephants through the tree tops. The earth shook and the regions of space flashed flames. Yet whenever anything touched him, it turned into a rain of flowers, fragrant and soft to the touch.” When the weapons of fear failed to interfere with his equanimity, Mara sent his daughters