Gautama Buddha as seeker
When the Buddha was still unenlightened and seeking truth, he, like us, sought out the local teachings and practices. Like other spiritual seeker of the time, the yogis, he shaved his head, donned a beggar’s robe, renounced his life and family and entered the forest. He learned practices under 2 masters, predominately meditation and he surpassed them both.
The ancient masters are wise and humble. If a student reported new experiences and attainment, they would admit that they don’t know. Teachers nowadays, both monastic and lay, rarely admit their ignorance. Instead, they are more likely to blame the student for practicing incorrectly.
The Buddha attainted very high levels of meditation, the immaterial jhanas from the 5th to the 8th. Despite being extremely peaceful and content, he realised there was still dissatisfaction and unease within him. So, he struck out the truth himself. He found the 5 yogis in the forest and practiced with them. He kept the old tradition and practiced hard core ascetism. Whatever they were doing, he did the best. For example, he excelled at fasting to the point of near death, with only a skeleton left. He was the best at meditating, sitting all day and all night. He was an inspiration to his friends.
Going against conditioning
But the Buddha was different. He was endowed with high level of self-reflection and awareness. He defied the old practices, started eating food and practiced jhana. When you start going against your conditioning and think outside the box, you lose friends and support. This then filtered out which friends worth keeping.
He broke through ignorance and the illusion of the self, disappeared. When there is knowing without the knower, there is enlightenment, Nibbana. When there is peace and happiness without someone to enjoy them, there is enlightenment. The Buddha knew, he didn’t need to go back to his masters for confirmation. Today, there are certificates and man-made processes to preserve tradition through rites and ritual. Many times, during his 40 years of teaching, the Buddha was the only one who could “see” whether a person was enlightened or not. It required psychic power, the divine eyes, to see all beings of all the realms of existence in the current time. It also required the ability to see whether the enlightened person had any kammic traces left for “Death” to find and for reincarnation.
Teaching
The Buddha taught for 40 years, traveling from towns to villages on foot. He read the room and tailored the Dhamma according to the demographic and the mindset of his audience. Most often, he started at their understanding and logically brought them to the practices of enlightenment. He taught all who would listen, were open and respectful. There was no discrimination based on cultures, race, gender or disability. He taught kings, queens, ordinary people, yogis of different sects, dying people, the mentally ill and beings from other dimensions.
How much dust do you have in your eyes?How developed are your qualities of the heart, of wisdom and meditation?
If your goals are for happiness of this life and the next, then he taught the basic perceptions, morality, generosity, mindfulness and meditation. If your goal is to end all suffering, end all rebirths and attain total freedom, he gave instructions to practice towards full enlightenment, Nibbana. His core teachings, found in the 5 volumes of Nikayas, include jhanas, investigation of the 6 senses, 5 aggregates, and 4 elements, to name just a few.
Saccaka sutta
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.036.than.html
The Buddha had the map and depending on what you wanted and your development, he gave you the instructions to get there, along with all the tips and warning signs. If were dying, he scan your capacity and either taught you the 4 Brahma Viharas, known as the divine qualities, so you could be reborn in heavens. But if you had the capacity to understand, he taught you the Nibbana Dhamma so you could either continue practicing in next life or finish the job as you died.
Community
When someone wanted to enter his community, his ordination was simply “ come monk”. Now, are lengthy processes, rites and rituals. Worse yet, the Theravada tradition has eradicated half of his established monastic community by letting the women’s line die out and refusing to revive it.
As head of the monastic community, all conflicts were brought to him to resolve. Initially there were no rules, but with every report of misconduct, he laid down a rule for that. So, in the 40 years of teaching he laid down 227 for men and 358 for women. These are numbers are questionable and unprovable since there were so many transmission, both orally and written.
What happened after the Buddha died
On his deathbed, the Buddha didn’t leave any succession. He said the Dhamma or teachings should be our teacher. By not establishing any hierarchy, he prevented man from using his teachings as a means of control.
After the Buddha’s death, there was an assembly of arahants or enlightened people, known as the first council. They gathered all the teachings heard from different monks and nuns. Since there was no writing yet, the Dhamma was preserved by oral transmission. The Dhamma compiled then, was the 5 Nikayas, some of the Vinaya and some Abhidhamma.
Around 500 years after the Buddha died, there was a branching off, known now as Mahayana. They have their interpretation of the Dhamma, such as the Lotus, Diamond, Pure land sutras ect.
A few centuries after the first council, there was a second meeting. Still, the Mahayana suttras were not allowed to be added because they went against the Buddha’s ethos. He taught to end our own suffering, not to save the universe.
The Spread of the Dhamma
When a new perception first enters a country, it adapts and absorbs some of the cultural practices and views. This has resulted in many different schools of Buddhism today. The core of what the Buddha taught are still there in the Pali Canon, but the cultural add-ons are not. There is no right or wrong, as long as we are aware and have discernment. In this way, we are in the position of pick and choose, not be duped or brainwashed. Experimenting, trail and error is part of life and of the journey.
Examples of cultural add-ons
- Bodhisattva vows and doctrine:
When the Buddha sought and practiced, he did so to end of his suffering. He didn’t do it for the happiness of all beings. Likewise, in his 40 years of teaching, he taught each person to end their own sufferings. Bodhisattva vows and ideology found in Mahayana Lotus sutra which involves seeking enlightenment for the happiness of all beings and forsaking one’s enlightenment, is not Buddhism.
- Pure Land
Doubt and sin were indoctrinated into the people, making them believe enlightenment in this life is impossible. The majority of practices involve generosity, excessive mantras and rituals intending to be reborn in the Pure Land where the next Buddha, Maitreya, resides before being reborn on earth.
- Tantric practices
Tantric practices incorporate rituals, mantras, mudras and visualizations that were not taught by the Buddha.
- Zazen and koans
The practice of zazen and koans is not in the Pali canon. The Buddha taught insight by investigating the nature of the 4 elements. The 6 senses, the 5 aggregates and the 4 noble truths. He did not give out paradoxical, mind twisting questions and statement as in koans.
- Worshiping
Worshipping the Buddha like a god and shelved his teachings as religious sacraments was not his intent. The Buddha left us the Dhamma as a guide and asked that we use our mind’s progress and development as our teacher.
- Cosmology
Detailed cosmology and the intricate working of kamma found in Abhidhamma and some Mahayana texts were discouraged by the Buddha. Questions about the working of kamma was among questions not to be asked, along with many other enquiries that isn’t conducive to our own development and progress towards enlightenment.
- Jataka Tales
Although the fables and stories told in the Jayaka tales may demonstrate the Dhamma, almost all the collections were developed later.
- Vinaya
Most of the Vinaya Pitaka, the rules for monastic found Theravada traditions may have been added in later by Buddhist councils and communities to suit their needs and context. They are meant for people who practice intensely towards Nibbana. Nowadays, monasteries just like other religious institution are being abused and exploited. Some examples includes, misuse of donations for personal gains, turning monasteries into tourist attractions, men authoritarian control and manipulation of the teachings, replaced retirement villages and welfare systems.
- Relics and stupas
The worshipping of relics left by renowned teachers and stupas are not taught in the Dhamma. The Buddha discouraged any rites and rituals.
- Doctrine by channelling
Doctrines not in the Pali canon and professed to come from channelling Sariputra or the Buddha himself, such as the Abhidhamma and Mahayana Sutras were not taught by the Buddha.
These examples showed how Buddhism has evolved and changed over time depending on the culture where the Dhamma took root. For further exploration, refer to sources like the Britannica and World History Encyclopedia.
Likewise, Buddhism that entered the West originally stemmed from Eastern Asian countries and their respective cultural add-ons.The Dhamma too is evolving. Western mind inclines more towards philosophical, psychological approaches, and rejecting excessive rites, rituals, deity and relics worshipping.
Practices such as mindfulness-based therapies, loving kindness meditation and many other concepts are incorporated as part of well-being, mental health and stress management programs. In this way, the Dhamma is pragmatic and accessible to all diverse communities regardless of their background.
Inspiration
Dogma doctrines, dead and dusted
Like a pinned butterfly in the museum
A gentle touch
Comes alive fluttering, dancing
It doesn’t matter how ancient a teaching is, it comes to life when we practice it. The Teaching is mindfulness, morality, meditation and insights. So, when we are those; momentary we are the living teaching. Walk mindfully and the Dhamma walks. Treat people kindly and the Dhamma loves.
When we know through direct experiences,
Dogmas become truths.
When truth expresses through us,
It becomes wisdom and compassion.
So don’t be put off with dusty scriptures. Each of us can breathe life into them, just as every enlightened being before us.