Buddhism

1. Buddhism “Everything that arises also passes away, so strive for what has not arisen.” - Buddha

2. Three Marks of Existence Impermanence (anicca) No Self (anatta) Suffering (dukkha)

3. The Greater Discourse on Cause

4. Buddhist Conception of Reality Doctrine of Dependent Arising Reality is a flow of multiple momentary mutually conditioned events.

5. Impermanence is a pervasive feature of the universe.

6. Impermanence (1) All things come into existence and go out of existence. (2) While things exist, they undergo constant change.

7. The 12 Links in the Causal Chain of Dependent Arising

8. John Holder Observation The Buddhist view of reality stands in between the extremes of theories that postulate a transcendent absolute reality (e.g., Brahman in Hinduism) and those that postulate that nothing exists (metaphysical nihilism). “From the point of view of dependent arising, things do exist, but only as complex, interdependent, changing processes.” (Holder, p. 26)

9. Discourse to Kaccayana “‘Everything exists’ – this is one extreme. ‘Everything does not exist’ – this is the second extreme. Without approaching either of these extremes, the Tathagata teaches dhamma by the middle.” (Buddha, in Holder, p. 83)

10. A Discourse to the First Five Disciples Verses of Sister Vajira

11. No Self (Anatta) All Things are Impermanent There is No Self There is no permanent self or enduring mind.

12. “For the Buddhist there is no atman or essential self underlying the changing stream of events which constitute the mind-body complex. The Buddhist doctrine of no-abiding-self (Pali: anatta; Sanskrit: anatman) provided a stark philosophical contrast to brahmanical notions of a substantial self (atman).” – Richard King, Indian Philosophy, p. 78)

13. What is the human person?

14. Personhood in Buddhism Buddhism maintains that a person is a dynamic aggregation of five different elements (skandhas), together called Nama-Rupa Vinnana Consciousness Sankhara Dispositions or Tendencies Sanna Perception or recognition of sensation Vedana Feelings or Sensations Rupa The Physical Body

15. The Skandha-Identity Argument (1) “The self” is not anything other than the five skandhas (individually or collectively considered). (2) None of the skandhas is permanent. Therefore (3) “The self” is not permanent.

16. The Five Elements (skandhas) constitute “the individual person,” though not in any substantial sense. “Self” is simply a name given to the aggregate of skandhas. There is no soul or permanent self residing in or behind the skandhas. There is no “atman.”

17. Buddhaghosa, 5th century CE Buddhist Philosopher “The words ‘living entity’ or ‘ego’ are but a mode of expression for the presence of the five aggregates, but when we come to examine the elements one by one, we discover that, in the absolute sense, there is no ‘living entity’ there to form the basis for such figments as ‘I am’ or ‘I’’ in other words, that in the absolute sense, there is only Nama and Rupa.” - Buddhaghosa

18. The Chariot Analogy

19. Verses of Sister Vajira “Why do you assume a ‘person’? Mara, you have adopted a wrong speculative view. This is only a heap of processes. There is no person to be found here.” “Just as the word ‘chariot” refers to an assemblage of parts, so, ‘person’ is a convention used when the aggregates are present.” (Holder, p. 87).

20. Substantialist Tendencies? In some branches of Buddhism, something similar or functionally equivalent to atman seems to be affirmed.

21. The Buddha-Nature Mahayana Buddhism

22. In Mahayana Buddhism, the “Buddha-nature” typically refers to an innate potentiality in all sentient beings for becoming enlightened. In several scriptures, though, the Buddha-nature appears to refer to an underlying ontological reality, a single essence shared by all sentient beings. It seems to be functionally equivalent to a transcendental Self. This Buddha-nature is said to be uncreated, immutable, and immortal.

23. Tantric Scripture exalts the “beginningless Self,” “the Self of primordial unity,” and “the Supreme Being,” each in contrast to the empirical or phenomenal self. ~ Jeff Hopkins (Mountain Doctrine, pp. 279-294)

24. “Permanent is the Self; the Self is thoroughly pure. The thoroughly pure is called ‘bliss’. Permanent, blissful, Self, and thoroughly pure is the one-gone-thus [i.e. Buddha].” ~ Jeff Hopkins (Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, Trans. Hopkins in Mountain Doctrine, p. 129)

25. “The Buddha-nature is eternal bliss, the Self, and the Pure. Buddha-Nature is not non-eternal, not non-bliss, not the non-Self, and not non-purity” ~ Buddha (Mahayana Mahaparinirvana, Trans. Kosho Yamaoto in Mahanaya Mahabarinirvana, vol. 8, p. 23)

26. What about Anatta? Can this Buddhist view of a transcendent Self be reconciled with the anatta doctrine? Yes. Anatta can be interpreted as “no individual, enduring self” or “no individual soul.” The term “atman” in the Upanishads sometimes refers to the individual soul, sometimes called jivatman.

27. Within the framework of Buddhism, Anatta can mean (i) no permanent individual self or (ii) no permanent self of any sort.

28. “No self means to awaken to a Self that is so vast and limitless that it cannot be seen.” ~ Sekkei Harada (Essence of Zen, p. 63)

29. Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta • So the Buddhist anatta doctrine may be compatible with the conception of Atman affirmed in Advaita Vedanta, namely a single, pure undifferentiated consciousness. • This may explain why bhakti vedantins accused Sankara of being a crypto-Buddhist.

30. The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness

31. The Four Noble Truths

32. “Life is suffering.” Broadly understood in the Pali canon to include physical and psychological pain. Lack of satisfaction. Disappointment. Suffering is inevitable. It is a general claim about human life, not a claim that every moment is suffering. Suffering “Dukkha” The origin of suffering is attachment to or the desire for identity and permanence. Desire + impermanence = suffering. Desire is closely connected to individuality, for desire presupposes a subject-object duality. Attachment “Tanha”

33. The third noble truth of Buddhism teaches the cessation of craving or desire as the means of overcoming suffering. If desire for identity and permanence is the cause of suffering, remove this desire and you remove suffering. Absolute cessation of desire is called Nirvana (“to be blown out”). Dispassion The Path The path to Nirvana is in actions and thoughts that lie in between excessive indulgence and excessive self-denial. This is expressed in the eightfold path toward enlightenment.

34. The Eightfold Path 1. The Right View: Believe the four noble truths. 2. The Right Intention: Free the mind from worldly desires, dishonesty, egoism, and cruelty to all living creatures. 3. The Right Speech: Refrain from lying, harsh or hurtful language, and idle talk. 4. The Right Action: Abstain from killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. 5. The Right Livelihood: Avoid occupations that harm other living beings.

35. 6.The Right Effort: Attempt to gain mastery over evil thoughts. 7.The Right Mindfulness: Give special attention to every state of your body, mind, and feelings. 8.The Right Concentration: Concentrate on one particular object to bring about a special state of consciousness by way of a meditative state. The Eightfold path is essential to achieving the six perfections: wisdom, morality, charity, forbearance, striving, and meditation. The Eightfold path is essential to achieving the ultimate state: nirvana, roughly the Buddhist equivalent of Moksha in Hinduism.

36. Nirvana

37. Nirvana: The Ultimate State Nirvana means literally “to be blown out.” What is blown out? “A man comes to believe in his essential nature, to know that what exists is the erroneous activity of the mind and that the world of objects in front of him is non-existent. . .this is called gaining nirvana.” ~ Asvaghosa (2nd century CE Buddhist philosopher) Nirvana is “an indefinable state, independent of all worldly ties, beyond all earthly passion, freedom from all egotistical, false ideas, - in short, it is the exact opposite of everything known to the conditioned, individual existence between birth and death.”~ Von Glasenapp, modern Buddhist commentator

38. Nirvana does not mean unqualified cessation of existence, annihilation, or extinction. Nirvana is best interpreted as the annihilation of ego-consciousness, the death of the cravings that define myself as an individual and that tether it to the world sense experience. Nirvana, then, means the “blowing out” of self only in this specific sense, a blowing out of the desires that constitute ego-consciousness.

39. Buddhism and the Doctrine of Rebirth

40. Physical Death The skandhas, which together constitute an individual personality, are severally and collectively impermanent. Hence, they cannot survive death, individually or collectively. At the time of death, the nama-rupa disintegrates. The individual psycho-physical person that once existed, no longer exists.

41. What Survives Death?

42. Not any soul or enduring mind. The doctrine of anatta prevents this understanding of rebirth.

43. Buddhaghosa considers it a “confusion” to suppose that rebirth involves a “being’s transmigration to another incarnation. . . .a lasting being’s manifestation in a new body.” (Buddhaghosa, Visuddhimagga 17.113-114)

44. First Approximation One’s individual karma survives the death of the self, and provides the basis for the emergence of a new personality. What is reborn is a cluster of dispositions or tendencies that constituted the character of the formerly living person. The person has ceased to exist with death, but his or her character persists and becomes integrated with a new psycho-physical person.

45. "There is rebirth of character, but no transmigration of a self. Thy thought-forms reappear, but there is no ego-entity transferred. The stanza uttered by a teacher is reborn in the scholar who repeats the words” ~ Buddha, The Gospel

46. Refining the Buddhist Concept of Rebirth Karma is not a substance or thing that transmigrates from life to life. Karma “passes” from one life to another only in a figurative sense. Karma conditions dispositions and consciousness in subsequent sets of skandhas. G. Karma B. Karma A. Karma Christina Aguilera’s Life b. 1980 – present Mohandas Gandhi’s life b. 1869, d. 1948 John Bonham’s Life b. 1948, d. 1980

47. There is no identity between sets of skandhas. There is only causal continuity between sets of skandhas. G. Karma B. Karma A. Karma Christina Aguilera’s Life b. 1980 – present Mohandas Gandhi’s life b. 1869, d. 1948 John Bonham’s Life b. 1948, d. 1980

48. Rebirth Analogy. . . cause effect As one fire lights another fire, so one set of skandhas conditions another, but nothing passes between them.

49. Consciousness and Rebirth. . . . The Buddha called that which is reborn vinnana (consciousness), but he was explicit that what is reborn is neither the same as nor different than the person who died in a former existence. Resolution. . . . Buddhaghosa spoke of a “rebirth-linking consciousness” (patisandhi vinnana), the first stirring of consciousness in a fetus contingent on the karmic deposit of a former life and conditioned by a person’s last moment of consciousness (cuti vinnana) before death.

50. Past Life Memories and Rebirth. . . . The Buddha claimed to have remembered many past lives. Does this not imply that “memories” pass from a prior life to a subsequent life? Not Necessarily Just as consciousness from one life may condition the consciousness of a subsequent life, memorial states (a form of consciousness) may be conditioned by past consciousness. Memories as well as dispositions may be effects caused by the karmic deposit of a particular life and its skandhas, rather than things passed on from one life to the next.