BUDDHIST SPECTRUM

Denigration of the Buddha

E M G Edirisinghe

In the West and in some countries in East, it has become a fashion to denigrate the Buddha with opening Buddha bars and marketing Buddha bikinis, Buddha shoes, Buddha candles, Buddha belts, Buddha rings etc. Apart from a few individual protests, there has been hardly any collective Buddhist voice against these insults on the Buddha. If a thing like this happened in any other religion there would have been a war. What is the difference? What is the reason?

In the first instance, why do they use Buddha image as a trade mark? It is the most accomplished physical and spiritual presentation of human being transformed into an image with extensive capacity to sustain consumer attention. It is so impressive, attractive and serene that it beats any other image on earth. For the Buddhists, Buddha image remains unmatched and insurmountable. They capture only the figure of the Buddha, but fail to get imbibed in the supremacy of the Dhamma which is beyond their comprehension.

Since the parinibbana (death) of the Buddha it was the Dhamma which the people carried by word of mouth and followed its teachings. There were no statues of the Buddha since His demise upto the time of Emperor Asoka during whose reign the Buddha statue was invented. It was about five centuries since the demise of Buddha. Then the followers of Buddha began to pay homage to the image of the Buddha which resulted in them relying more on worship rather than living according to the tenets of the Dhamma. Then the Buddha statue too, had been lined up with those of Hindu gods such as Ganesh, Vishnu, Shiva, Easwara etc for worshipping. However, all the Hindu gods were ‘alive’ while the Buddha was dead. Thus the Buddha statue failed to ‘create fear’ among His followers and it is fear of god that keeps the devotees in slavish fear of god whom they believe would either punish or reward his followers. But, according to the Buddha one is one’s own saviour and no other (aththahi aththano natho).

On the other hand, the Buddhists who are unable to follow the ethical and disciplinary code pronounced by the Buddha find solace and refuge in worshipping the Buddha statues thereby idolizing the figure of the Buddha which is an easier path for the “believers” rather than the ‘followers’. So the people began to appeal to the Buddha through representation of the statues for favours that would meet the demands for mundane favours and comforts.

However, at the bottom of their heart, the Buddhists know that the Buddha has attained Nibbana, therefore they begin to switch on to deities for material gains. Thus the Buddha statue is considered as a mere pictorial representation incapable of granting what they want and desire. So there is no need to be frightened of the Buddha because He is not living as gods are to punish or reward them.

That is why hardly we do hear of desecration of gods worshipped in other religions. They are alive. So some with no hesitation or fear denigrate the Buddha because they know that there is no retaliation by gods or the inherently tolerant Buddhists. Therefore, who is desirous of denting ‘faith’ in the Buddha by desecrating His image fails because what the spiritually awakened Buddhists follow is the teachings of the Buddha which fortifies them in their sojourn in samsara.

What is sacred is the Dhamma which is without parallel in the history of world religions. However, the Dhamma by itself does not assume sanctity because that too is based on the principle of ‘come and see’ (ehi passsiko). Dhamma is the sole truth and is the path to total emancipation. The buddha who delivered the Dhamma in sympathy for the rest of mankind is not more and paying homage to Him alone does not lead one to eventual emancipation.

Why it is so? We respect, honour and is awakened when the national anthem is played; but rarely we do remember Ananda Samarakoon who composed it. “One who conducts oneself in the Dhamma is protected by the Dhamma” but not by the Buddha Himself. Dhamma the sole eternal truth leads one on the path to emancipation. Buddhism is not centred round the Buddha but the Dhamma; this is not so with the theistic religions.

Since nobody can insult or denigrate the Dhamma which shines above all, they try to do so by tarnishing the image of the Buddha by desecrating Buddha statues. Dhamma is the supreme truth that prevails above all assertions and revelations, and tarnishing it is beyond one’s comprehension. So attack on the Buddha statues as the Talibans did to Bamiyan Buddha statues, it is the only option for the anti-Buddhists. Buddhists are not slavish to their religion. They are expected to master the Dhamma and tread the noble path that lies therein leading them to emancipation.

Despite obvious denigration of the Buddha why do the Buddhists do not react violently? If it has happened in any other religion the reaction would have been disastrous. But, Buddhism stands superior to all and remains unperturbed owing to its unique superiority. Buddhism does not wish to build an empire; if Buddhism is to fail the loser will be the mankind. Buddhist does not encourage promotion of economic, political or military supremacy.

Human slaughter and hatred in the name of Buddhism has no hold in it. Buddhists are generally calm not to be provoked to the point of taking revenge from those who denigrate Buddhism. Their religious tolerance is misunderstood as fear and cowardice. Absence of patience and compassion does not go with the spirit of Buddhism. Compassion and non-violence had cost immensely to Buddhism in India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia. Compassion is their strength that lures them to tolerance of ignorance of others.

On the other hand, if gods worshiped in many religions are denigrated such religions could collapse because faith is the soul in such religions. The adherents trying to defend them at cost to their lives, are of the opinion that they would win divine favour paving way to heaven for them. No Buddhist can move towards emancipation by resisting or fighting those who resort to desecration the Buddha image.

They must believe that the Dhamma remains true and untarnished despite any derogatory remark or attack on the Buddha who preached the eternal truth in life to reach which the path is long and arduous.

Since blind faith is anthem to Buddhism homage we pay to the Buddha should be through our understanding in depth and practice in the Dhamma.

Those who are living according to the Dhamma have the image of the Buddha ingrained in their mind. The statues of Buddha matter least for them.

Once a man began to insult the Buddha at the end of which the Buddha asked him if he took some gifts to home and if the man at home refused to accept them, what he would do, he said that he would take them back. Then the Buddha said that He did not accept what he said and therefore, to take them back. Buddha never showed any anger or hatred to those who insulted him. So is the attitude of the Buddhists to those who denigrate the Buddha. It only reflects the degeneration of those who insult the Buddha.

What is the relevance of Buddha image to the Buddhists today? The Buddhists who ‘believe’ in the Buddha more than they ‘follow’ him, the Buddha image could inspire them into a degree of rectitude and mood that disciplines them although it has no lasting impact in their journey leading them to emancipation.

The mere appearance of a statue, a holy book, image or something similar could impel the ‘believers’ into loyalty. However, although Buddhists are not supposed to be worshipers of statues but to be the seekers of the spirit of the Dhamma, it could be an inspiration for those who cannot reach the highest goal. Yet, those who think of denigrating the Buddha should at least try to find what the Buddha taught.

As there are no commands in Buddhism which subject the followers to obedience, it remains a religion for the spiritually awakened and mentally disciplined. Once the Buddha said “yo dhamman passathi so man passathi” (one who sees the Dhamma sees me). So those who denigrate the Buddha have not seen the Dhamma. So they deserve sympathy and excuse for their ignorance.

Buddhist philosophy and critical thinking

Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge York University, Canada

The Buddha’s Charter of Free Inquiry and judging truth are found in the Kalama Sutra of the Anguttara Nikaya. In Kalama Sutra Buddha emphasized the importance of critical thinking that involves seeing things in an open-minded way. Critical thinking helps evaluate and challenge the thoughts and ideas and rethink conclusions in the light of new knowledge.

Buddhism was conceived as a rational way of thought, being entirely in accordance with the latest findings of the natural sciences and Buddhism was not based on ‘dogmas of blind belief and revelation’, but on rational thought and experiential examination. (Martin Baumann – Global Buddhism: development periods, regional histories, and a new analytical perspective Journal of Global Buddhism 2001).

Critical thinking

In 1987, Michael Scriven and Richard Paul gave a detailed description on Critical Thinking. According to Michael Scriven and Richard Paul, Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness.

It entails the examination of those structures or elements of thought implicit in all reasoning: purpose, problem or question-at-issue, assumptions, concepts, empirical grounding,reasoning leading to conclusions, implications and consequences, objections from alternative viewpoints, and frame of reference. Critical thinking in being responsive to variable subject matter, issues, and purposes is incorporated in a family of interwoven modes of thinking, among them: scientific thinking, mathematical thinking, historical thinking, anthropological thinking, economic thinking, moral thinking, and philosophical thinking.

The Kalama Sutra and the modern scientific method

Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena acquiring new knowledge or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. It is based on principles and empirical processes of discovery and demonstration considered characteristic of or necessary for scientific investigation, generally involving the observation of phenomena, the formulation of a hypothesis concerning the phenomena, experimentation to demonstrate the truth or falseness of the hypothesis, and a conclusion that validates or modifies the hypothesis. Scientific inquiry is generally intended to be as objective as possible, to reduce biased interpretations of results.

In Kalama Sutra, the Lord Buddha encouraged critical thinking. These are the words of the Lord Buddha in Kalama Sutra.

Do not go by revelation or tradition, do not go by rumour, or the sacred scriptures, do not go by hearsay or mere logic, do not go by bias towards or a notion or by another person’s seeming ability and do not go by the idea ‘He is our teacher’. But when you yourself know that a thing is good, that it is not blamable, that it is praised by the wise.

(Come Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing, nor upon tradition, nor upon rumour, nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise, nor upon an axiom, nor upon specious reasoning, nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over, nor upon another’s seeming ability, nor upon the consideration, ‘The monk is our teacher’. Kalamas, when you yourselves know: “These things are bad, these things a blameable, these things are censured by the wise, undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill,” abandon them.’ Kalama Sutta – translated from the Pali by Soma Thera. The Wheel Publication No 8)

According to Bertrand Russell Buddhism is a combination of both speculative and scientific philosophy. It advocates the scientific method and pursues that to a finality that may be called Rationalistic. In it are to be found answers to such questions of interest as: ‘What is mind and matter? Of them, which is of greater importance? Is the universe moving towards a goal? What is man’s position? Is there living that is noble?’ It takes up where science cannot lead because of the limitations of the latter’s instruments. Its conquests are those of the mind.

Gay Watson of the University of London makes a comparison between modern science and Buddhism. He further says that the Buddhism, based as it is upon experience and a psychological understanding of body and mind, is one of the oldest systems of thought yet most in tune with contemporary neuroscience and with other strands of contemporary discourse. Scientific methods are the procedures, or steps used to gain information on something previously unknown.

It is a method for investigating phenomena and acquiring new knowledge. The Scientific Method helps organize thoughts and procedures within limited parameters. However, there are explicit differences between science and Buddhism. Ven Walpola Rahula highlights this fact more elegantly in his writings. Ven Rahula states that Buddhism aims at the discovery and the study of humankind’s inner world: ethical, spiritual, psychological, and intellectual. Buddhism is a spiritual and psychological discipline that deals with humanity in total. It is a way of life. It is a path to follow and practise.

Living message of the Buddha

Bhikkhu Bodhi

The Dhammapada is a work familiar to every devout Buddhist and to every serious student of Buddhism. This small collection of 423 verses on the Buddha’s doctrine is so rich in insights that it might be considered the perfect compendium of the Dhamma in its practical dimensions.

In the countries of Theravada Buddhism the Dhammapada is regarded as an inexhaustible source of guidance and spiritual inspiration, as the wise counselor to which to turn for help in resolving the difficult moral and personal problems inescapable in daily life. Just as the Buddha is looked upon as the human kalyanamitta or spiritual friend par excellence, so the Dhammapada is looked upon as the scriptural kalyanamitta par excellence, a small embodiment in verse of the boundless wisdom and great compassion of the Master.

To draw out the living message of any great spiritual classic, it is not enough for us merely to investigate it in terms of questions that might be posed by scientific scholarship. We have to take a step beyond scholarly examination and seek to make an application of those teachings to ourselves in our present condition.

To do this requires that we use our intelligence, imagination and intuition to see through the limiting cultural contexts out of which the work was born, and to see into those universal features of the human condition to which the spiritual classic being studied is specifically addressed. With these stipulations in mind we will examine the Dhammapada in order to discover what this ancient book of wisdom regards as the fundamental and perennial spiritual problems of human life and to learn what solutions it can propose for them that may be relevant to us today. In this way we will uncover the living message of the Dhammapada: the message that rings down through the centuries and speaks to us in our present condition in the fullness of our humanity.

When we set out to make such an investigation, one difficulty that we meet at the outset is the great diversity of teachings contained in the Dhammapada. It is well known that during his teaching career the Buddha always adjusted his discourses to fit the needs and capacities of his disciples. Thus the prose discourses found in the four main Nikayas display richly variegated presentations of the doctrine, and this diversity becomes even more pronounced in the Dhammapada, a collection of utterances spoken in the intuitive and highly charged medium of verse.

We even find in the work apparent inconsistencies, which may perplex the superficial reader and lead to the supposition that the Buddha’s teaching is rife with self-contradiction. Thus in many verses the Buddha commends certain practices to his disciples on the ground that they lead to heaven, while in others he discourages disciples from aspiring for heaven and praises the one who takes no delight in celestial joys. Often the Buddha enjoins works of merit, yet elsewhere in the work he enjoins his disciples to go beyond both merit and demerit.

To make sense out of such contrary statements, to find a consistent message running through the Dhammapada’s diversified pronouncements, let us begin with a statement the Buddha makes in another small but beautiful book of the Pali canon, the Udana: “Just as the great ocean has but one taste, the taste of salt, so this doctrine-and-discipline has but one taste, the taste of freedom.” Despite their variety in meaning and formulation, the Buddha’s teachings all fit together into a perfectly coherent system which gains its unity from its final goal.

That goal is freedom (vimutti), which here means spiritual freedom: the liberation of the mind from all bonds and fetters, the liberation of our being from the suffering inseparable from wandering in samsara, the cycle of rebirths. But while the Buddha’s teachings fit together harmoniously through the unity of their final goal, they are addressed to people standing at different levels of spiritual development and thus must be expressed in different ways determined by the needs of the people to be taught. Here again water provides a fitting analogy.

Water has one essence chemically, it is a union of two hydrogen atoms with one oxygen atom but it takes on the different shapes of the vessels into which it is poured; similarly, the Dhamma has a single essence deliverance from suffering but it assumes varying expressions in accordance with the dispositions of those who are to be instructed and trained. It is because the different expressions lead to a single end, and because the same end can be reached via teachings that are differently expressed, that the Dhamma is said to be sattha sabyañjana, “good in meaning and good in formulation.”

To make sense out of the various teachings found in the Dhammapada, to grasp the vision of human spirituality expressed by the work as a whole, I would like to suggest a schematism of four levels of instruction set forth in the Dhammapada. This fourfold schematism develops out of three primary and perennial spiritual needs of man: first, the need to achieve welfare and happiness in the present life, in the immediately visible sphere of human relations; second, the need to attain a favorable future life in accordance with a principle that confirms our highest moral intuitions; and third, the need for transcendence, to overcome all the limits imposed upon us by our finitude and temporality and to attain a freedom that is boundless, timeless, and irreversible. These three needs give rise to four levels of instruction by distinguishing two levels pertaining to the third need: the level of path, when we are on the way to transcendence, and the level of fruit, when we have won through to transcendence.

To be continued