2012年10月18日 星期四
2010年6月30日 星期三
Preface
What is Buddha? If you have ever wondered about what the Buddha really taught. Should Buddhists be ambitious? What does Buddhism say about sex, marriage and divorce? How is meditation practised? These are just some of the many questions yet to be answered.
“All About Buddhism” is an in-depth study of the
most important teachings of Buddhism. This will be the first of its introductory
courses in Buddhism and will eventually be used for a comprehensive course in
Buddhist education. It presents the
ancient teaching as it is ; a humane and dynamic philosophy of life as relevant
today as when it was first proclaimed nearly twenty-five centuries ago. The inclusion of Pali
terms only where necessary, or where they might be of particular interest.
Over
the past decade, there has been an increased interest in Buddhism, an interest
which seems to be accelerating yearly. With this growth in interest, the need
for a thorough introduction to Buddhism has also arisen.
The
likelihood that most Buddhists at some time or other will be questioned about
their beliefs, or perhaps even be called upon to defend them from unfair
criticism is, unfortunately, very likely. This being so, an introduction to
Buddhism should answer some of the questions that are most commonly posed, it
should include some comparisons between Buddhist doctrines and those of other
faiths, and it should remind the reader of the importance of non-retaliation,
tolerance and good manners.
Lastly,
and perhaps most importantly, an introduction to Buddhism should be written
primarily from the Buddhist standpoint.
In
this content almost all the quotations are used from the Pali Tipitaka or from
Buddhist classical literature. After all, the Pali Tipitaka contains the
teachings of the Buddha in his own words, and thus must take precedence over
the opinions of enlightened scholars and philosophers. The classical literature
of Buddhism, on the other hand, has been drawn upon frequently because with its
profundity and beauty it deserves to be more well-known by the general Buddhist public.
Introduction
Buddhism is one
of the major religious and philosophical traditions in the world. It began over 2,000 years ago in northeast India , with the
teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha (the founder). Buddhism spread all over India , and then
northward through the Himalaya mountain passes into China , Tibet , Korea , and Japan . Southward, it reached Sri Lanka , Thailand , Burma (now Myanmar ), Cambodia , and Vietnam .
During the 1900's, it spread to Europe , the United States
of America , and Australia . Buddhism has always adapted
well to other cultures, and has developed distinctive forms in different
countries. The number of Buddhists in
the world is estimated at some 330 million.
Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gotama, who lived in and around the Ganges
Plain during the fifth and sixth centuries BC. Heir to the throne of the Sakyan
kingdom, at the age of 29, Siddhartha renounced his royal heritage to search
for a means of ending the sense of dissatisfaction and futility of which he had
become acutely aware.
Having tried and discarded all the approaches to spiritual practice then available, he discovered a radically different path, a middle way between the extremes of indulgence and asceticism. This brought him the enlightenment he sought; he was known thereafter as 'the Buddha', the enlightened one.
The Buddha summarised his teaching in four statements known as the noble truths: Life in the relative world is fundamentally unsatisfactory and although happiness can be found in the world, all things that give rise to it - possessions, people, wealth, desirable mental states - inevitably age, decay and die.
Our sense of
dissatisfaction is not something that falls upon us out of the blue - we become
dissatisfied whenever we want life to be different from the way it is right
now.
There is an ending of all
dissatisfaction, all suffering, and all distress -Nirvanaor Enlightenment. This
goal is attained by following the Buddhist path, which comprises the perfection
of ethical conduct, meditation and wisdom. (For a lucid modern exposition of
the Buddha's path to enlightenment.
Having established itself in northern India during the 5th century BC, Buddhism was contained within the subcontinent for about a hundred years. The teaching spread to Nepal by the 4th century BC, and reached Kashmir, Sri Lanka and Central Asia by the 2nd century BC. The later spread of the religion occurred partly through trade and partly through the work of missionaries.
Having established itself in northern India during the 5th century BC, Buddhism was contained within the subcontinent for about a hundred years. The teaching spread to Nepal by the 4th century BC, and reached Kashmir, Sri Lanka and Central Asia by the 2nd century BC. The later spread of the religion occurred partly through trade and partly through the work of missionaries.
By the time of the birth of
Christ, Buddhism was established in China, reaching Korea by the end of the 3rd
century.
The increased trade in the
Far East at this time gave greater impetus to the spread of the religion, and
by the 7th century Buddhists were to be found in Java, Sumatra, Japan, Tibet,
Thailand and Myanmar.
Further westward expansion
was halted by Islamic conquests but conversion still persisted; Bhutan, for
instance, was not reached until the 9th century but today is one of the most
strongly Buddhist countries in the world.
Buddhism is not a centralised religion with centralised institutions, although it does have a hierarchical form of organisation within each of the three main groups (see above).
Buddhism is not a centralised religion with centralised institutions, although it does have a hierarchical form of organisation within each of the three main groups (see above).
In countries such as Thailand , Sri Lanka and Bhutan , where the
Government and a large part of the population are Buddhist, the state is very
closely associated with the religion and its organisation and institutions tend
to be more formalised. In other countries, such as Japan , the religion
exists within a looser framework.
The
beliefs of Buddhism
All Buddhists have faith
in: (1) Buddha; (2) his teachings, called the dharma; and (3) the religious
community he founded, called the sangha.
Buddhists call Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha the Three Refuges or
Three Jewels. In the Sanskrit language
the word for the three jewels is triratna.
At the beginning of most Buddhist gatherings and on special occasions,
people say three times: "I go to the Buddha for refuge, I go to the dharma
for refuge, I go to the sangha for refuge."
The Buddha was the founder
of Buddhism. He was a religious teacher
who lived in north-east India . His real name was Siddhartha Gautama. According to later Buddhist accounts, he was
a member of a rich and powerful family.
At the age of about 29, Gautama became overwhelmed with the conviction
that life was filled with suffering and unhappiness. This conviction led Gautama to abandon his
wife and infant son and to seek religious enlightenment as a wandering
monk.
Most scholars think he
lived from about 563 to 483 B.C. However, some scholars claim he lived from
about 448 to 368 B.C. By his own effort he attained enlightenment (a state of
understanding truth) and then taught others how to do the same. The title Buddha means Enlightened One. Buddhists follow Buddha by following this
path to enlightenment in one of its forms.
But Buddhists believe that taking refuge in the Buddha means more than
just following him. It also means that a
person has confidence in the nature of enlightenment, whether it is manifest in
one's own life or in other beings.
Dharma means teaching,
especially the teaching of the Buddha and his followers. Dharma also involves the wider idea of truth,
especially the truth about the way things are.
This idea is taught in various summaries, such as the Four Noble Truths,
the Noble Eightfold Path, the Three Marks of Existence, and the Twelve-Linked
Chain of Dependent Origination.
Buddha preached that existence was a
continuing cycle of death and rebirth.
Each person's position and well-being in life was determined by his or
her behavior in previous lives. For
example, good deeds may lead to rebirth as a wise and wealthy person or as a
being in heaven. A person's evil deeds
may lead to rebirth as a poor and sickly person or even in hell.
Buddha also taught that as
long as individuals remain within the cycle of death and rebirth, they can
never be completely free from pain and suffering. Buddha said people could break out of the
cycle by eliminating any attachment to worldly things. By ridding themselves of such attachment,
people would gain a kind of perfect peace and happiness. Buddha called this state of peace and happiness
nirvana. According to Buddha, those who
are willing and able to follow the Middle Way and the Noble
Eightfold Path will conquer their attachment to worldly things and thus achieve
nirvana.
The sangha is the Buddhist
religious community. It consists of four
groups of people: laymen, laywomen, bhikkhus (monks), and bhikkhunis
(nuns). These people are called the sons
and daughters of the Buddha. The
laypeople support monks and nuns with gifts of food, shelter, and
clothing. In return the monks and nuns
give to the laypeople the example of lives lived close to the example of the
Buddha. Monks and nuns also have a
special task to preserve and pass on the dharma. Often the word sangha is used to mean just
the monastic community. In most Buddhist
countries, monks are expected to live a life of poverty, meditation, and
study. Some Buddhists become monks for
life. Others serve in the sangha for
short periods of time. The monks wear
special orange or red robes, and are a common sight in Buddhist countries.
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