Buddhism
Buddhism has existed in the world for thousands of years, and currently is the fourth largest religious group on the planet, encompassing a population of approximately 520 million people (almost 7% of the world population).
Origin & History
Buddhism first emerged in the 5th Century B.C.E. in the Indian subcontinent with the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, later to be known as the Buddha, or the “Enlightened One.” Born in the foothills of the Himalayas (now known as Nepal), Gautama was thrust into a life of nobility, as his father was the ruler of the Shakya tribe, a population made up mainly of warriors and nobility (“kshatriya” caste). Prophesied at birth of being either a great king or a great warrior, Gautama was kept sheltered by his father in order to protect and preserve his son’s destination. Living a life of extravagance and happiness, Gautama grew and began a family of his own through marriage and bearing a son. Yet there was a part of him that was curious about what existed outside the confines of his home. Eventually he left for a day and witnessed four examples of somewhat painful realities that had been kept from him all of his life: aging, illness, death and asceticism. These revelations were the catalyst that led to Gautama’s renouncing of his family and life status, and led him to become the founder of what we now know today as Buddhism.
For the first several years of his new lifestyle, Gautama lived among Hindu ascetics, entirely devoted to religion and practiced extreme self-denial and discipline.
Eventually, Gautama realized that in order to live a life of serenity and enlightenment, one must strike a balance between self-indulgence and self-denial, later known as the “Middle Path.”
Under the Bodhi Tree, now seen as sacred to Buddhists, Gautama meditated and achieved enlightenment, undergoing a new identification as the Buddha.
Buddhism, though a worldwide religion, is made up of many philosophical foundations that were taught by the Buddha himself.
Four Noble Truths:
1. All life has inevitable suffering, or “dukkha.”
2. The source of this suffering is desire.
3. Once desire for impermanent things is destroyed, suffering will end.
4. The way to achieve enlightenment is the Eightfold Path.
Nirvana: the final goal of Buddhism (the blowing out of the candle); to be relieved of “self” and false senses of reality, sometimes referred to as a “heaven-like state.”
Lectures
Buddhism in the United States
Types of Buddhism:
Theravada Buddhism - known as “monastic Buddhism”; in order to reach nirvana, one must live as a monk or nun and withdraw from family, work, sex and money. This is perceived by many as extremely close to the teachings of the Buddha, very conservative in nature.
Mahayana Buddhism - more inclusive view on reaching enlightenment, presenting a stronger role for lay people and new forms of ritual. The idea of a bodhisattva emerged from this branch of the faith.
A bodhisattva is one who has attained enlightenment but renounces nirvana in order to help others relieve themselves of suffering.
Vajrayana Buddhism - commonly associated with the Dalai Lama, this branch tends to favor only a select group of individuals who teach of certain “shortcuts” that are available on the journey to reach enlightenment. The impermanence of existence is stressed heavily, illustrated by the creation and subsequent destruction of sand mandalas.
Pure Land Buddhism - originated in Japan, this branch of Buddhism relies on the Amida Buddha (“Buddha of Boundless Light”) for help in seeking enlightenment; Amida Buddha is seen as a savior, similar to Jesus Christ in the Protestant Christian faith.
Engaged Buddhism - different from other forms of Buddhism as it concerns itself with this world only, this branch stresses the interbeing of all humans and adopts Buddhist principles to problems of social or economic nature. Founded by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk born in the early 20th Century.
As early as the 1850s, Buddhist temples and followers were found in the United States, primarily on the West Coast in areas such as San Francisco; this was influenced greatly by the presence of Chinese immigrants working within mining and railroad construction, bringing with them not only Buddhist religious traditions, but also traditions of Daoism and Confucianism.
In the 1890s missionaries brought Pure Land Buddhism to areas such as Hawaii and California, appealing to many Americans as they could see similarities between Christianity and this new Eastern faith.
Popularity grew in the early 20th Century, and in 1944 the movement became known as the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA), holding Sunday services similar to Christian establishments.
Zen Buddhism, a branch of Mahayana Buddhism, was introduced to the United States in 1893; this school of Buddhism stressed awareness, strict meditation and enlightenment.
The “Beat Generation” of the 1950s were influenced by this style of Buddhism, and through writers such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg it was brought into the makings of what would turn into the counterculture of the 1960s.
Derived from Theravada Buddhism, vipassana, or “insight meditation,” has been successfully promoted in the United States.
In 1975, the non-profit organization the Insight Meditation Society was founded, and is rooted in the study of Theravada Buddhism in the U.S.
Site Visit
Buddhist Meditation service: Chenrezig (Tibetan) Buddhist Temple 953 N. Marshall St., Philadelphia, PA 19123.
Presentation/Discussion: “Introduction to Buddhism." Lecture Notes (8/1/2019)
Dr. Justin McDaniel, University of Pennsylvania
The Self - an illustration: What part of the chariot is the chariot? We are nothing but a bundle of these five aggregates.
1. Form (Pali, rupa)—the physical world, the senses take in physical forms.
2. Sensation or Feeling (vedana)— not “sensations” or “feelings” as they’re meant in ordinary English usage, but our simplest responses to experience: like, dislike, or indifference. Our initial reactions to what we perceive.
3. Perception (sanna)—again, not “perception” as conveyed by ordinary English, but the recognition or interpretation of sense objects followed by mental labeling.
4. Mental formations (sankharas)— you start to put together a mental map, your ability to tell stories about the world and yourself, label making, volitional mental actions, triggered by some object, that produce karma. The stories we tell about our past are inaccurate and incomplete. It is only based on our perceptions of the situations.
5. Consciousness (vinnana)—the sum total of all the self-assessment you have ever done, even the your body holds your identity, scars, wounds - your mind does the same, cognizance, including thoughts, which this system views as sense objects perceived through the “sense gate” of the mind.
Buddhists are content being contextual and contingent. You are the sum total of what you could be. You are possibilities. They don't project identity on others or self. There is no inherent evil or good. We don't have to be controlled by...
Dharma: How do we determine what we should do? What guides us through our day? What gives us contours, shape, and significance? Buddhists point to Dharma (that which is carried). Sometimes translated as________. The Four Noble Truths:
1. All "This" Is Pain/Suffering -- all that you perceive causes suffering. You suffer because you are ignorant of Anicca, Anatta, and Dukkha. Our desire for permanence (even the quest for symbolic immortality) causes us suffering. Our quest for security is focused on future and past but we don't make meaning in the moment. Anatta (non-Self/Non-Substance): self, family, culture, religion, nation, ideology. The false belief in the existence of one true self or soul divides you from others. We pour meaning into our loved ones but we can't make their happiness permanent. Dukkha (pain) physical, psychological, existential trauma. Think you should be happy all the time. Your life comes before other lives. Our perfect day, perfect feelings won't last.
2. The cause of pain: Tanha (desire or craving) for happiness, for revenge, for success, for peace, for power, even for nirvana. Desire is selfish, divides you from others, creates false belief that there is a "self" and an "other." Even the wealthiest people in the world aren't permanently happy. Happiness is elusive.
3. Stop selfish desire - McDaniel says this is a "dumb" one.
4. Maggam - the Eight-fold path -
Sila (precepts)
right speech, action, livelihood
Samhadi (Concentration)
right awareness, concentration, effort
Panna (Wisdom)
right view, wisdom
Wisdom=Radical Selflessness
Right Wisdom: dwelling in the Four Mansions: compassion, warmth, indifference, joy in another's joy
Birth, life, and death has no inherent meaning or substance. Our job is to make meaning. How we treat people has meaning.
Readings and Resources
“A Buddhist Temple Embedded in a Synagogue Tells the Story of South Philly Immigration.”
Click HERE for a short PowerPoint presentation by Dave Krueger on Buddhists in the U.S.
Click HERE for a 60-minute podcast episode titled "Enlightened America: A History of Buddhism in the United States." This history podcast is called Backstory and is produced at the University of Virginia.
Seager, Richard Hughes. Buddhism in America. Columbia University Press, 1999.
Swidler, Leonard. “East-West Dialogue. Do Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity (and Other Religions) Have the Same Mission?” Won Buddhism, IV,6 (1989), pp. 13-26.
Wilson, Jeff. Dixie Dharma: Inside a Buddhist Temple in the American South. University of North Carolina Press, 2012
Readings/Resources
Gregory, Peter N. "Describing the Elephant: Buddhism in America." Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation 11, no. 2 (2001): 233-63. doi:10.1525/rac.2001.11.2.233.
Masatsugu, Michael K. "“Beyond This World of Transiency and Impermanence”: Japanese Americans, Dharma Bums, and the Making of American Buddhism during the Early Cold War Years." Pacific Historical Review 77, no. 3 (2008): 423-51. doi:10.1525/phr.2008.77.3.423.
Park, Jin Y. "Wŏn Buddhism, Christianity, and Interreligious Dialogue." Journal of Korean Religions 5, no. 1 (2014): 109-31. www.jstor.org/stable/23943338.
